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Need guidance - overwhelmedFollow

#1 Jul 21 2014 at 8:31 AM Rating: Good
I've been on and off with FFXI since 2004. Since then, I have lost, gained and even had accounts banned. Even so, during these online adventures, I had some idea of what I wanted to do. What to aim for and to achieve. I feel overwhelmed at the moment. I have so many things in my mind and I don't know where to even start with the game.

I am asking for guidance, I'm not sure what steps I need to take to progress my self. I currently do not own the Seekers expansion since I feel there is much more to do and my character would not be accepted into end-game / group based events.

Essentially, aside from the level 75 era and where I was up to date with the game and content etc. I started a fresh account in 2010. I have been very busy and away a lot for work. I tallied up 40~days play time within 4 year essentially.

What I have to work with
- 99 RDM - not full merits / all purchasable spells / appropriate SJ
- Sparks equipment + Assorted AH sets (Fastcast/Stoneskin/-PDT etc.)
- CoP complete
- Rank 4 (need to get to 6 at least)
- Two beneficial Atmas: MM and whatever PW gives

Content is huge and I don't even know where it all fits with how the game has evolved. I'm already behind with Seekers expansion and don't want to miss any remaining opportunity to experience it.

There is so much to do with FFXI and I need help paving a path of what I should do and miss at this point in time.

I don't even know where to begin with equipment. I'm so lost, I don't know what's what or where to get anything. I know Dynamis is now soloable; questions like is it beneficial to farm for armor or just do it if you are working for relic. I don't know.

I don't even know what else there is, meebles? Monstrosity, salvage etc. I don't know what the go is anymore, if it's soloable now, changes, or if it is even needed.

I've attained a lot of stones for Abbysea and lucky enough to find a shout group I could join for an Atma run in my short bursts of playing. I haven't found any of that since I've just started again and was thinking if I need to make a second account just to dual box to experience and complete content in general. Also, is it even worth my time digging through Abbysea at this stage for equipment or should it be something to put on the side to work on and just use it to get some solo EXP.

A heads up is what I'm needing and a point and nudge into the right direction. What to focus on and what to add to the to-do list etc.

I'll start the list by adding
- Get full merits; (Where do alliance EXP happen now? or am I just logging in at the wrong times GMT+10 )



Edited, Jul 21st 2014 2:41pm by Callar
#2 Jul 21 2014 at 8:46 AM Rating: Excellent
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1,304 posts
You could probably accomplish a lot solo in abyssea as rdm/war to tell you the truth. You would have access to sword, club, staff, dagger, scythe, spear red procs for getting your own atmas and stuff as well as T3 and T4 spells for grellow procs for seals etc.

Some things you should focus on are a staff. RDM is a little more limited since it can't use some of the really easy staves, so you will have to hunt down something like Baqil staff from WKR (Wildskeeper Reive) in the new expansion zones, or skirmish staff as you can upgrade it. Skirmish will be a nice place for you all around for armor as well. The hagondes set is going to be your go to nuking set and is very easy to obtain. You will really want to get all of the Estoquerer's set from abyssea to ~double the duration of your buffs on others. Haste II and Flurry II might be able to get you a spot in some of the newer content as well.
#3 Jul 21 2014 at 10:36 AM Rating: Decent
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2,112 posts
Abyssea to level
Start with the older content for missions and work your way forward.

Remember you control your character and u can do what you want to do. That way u can complete old content missions and work your way forward.
____________________________
90drk/90sch/61thf/60war/54rdm/40nin/44sam/
Relic Scythe Finished
Aegis Currency Finished
Drk Job Profile
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/profile.xml?38156

#4 Jul 21 2014 at 12:43 PM Rating: Good
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9,526 posts
Make sure to get as many trusts as possible, having a selection to use for different situations is very helpful.

Abyssea is totally soloable. Though I highly suggest getting the upgrade materials from the login campaigns as much as possible - some of the +2 items are on monsters that are a pain to get pops for and a pain to solo. And when they have the seal kupons for 500 points... that gives you a whole set of seals for any piece of Empy equipment. Saves a lot of time and frustration since even with procs some mobs just won't give up the seals you want, and again, some +1 seals are on annoying to pop/annoying to solo monsters. All of it should be doable regardless but I decided it was totally worth not being totally aggravated.

As for what you should do first, just get a set of 117 armor etc... everything else is in whatever order you want. It's worth getting Adoulin though, takes a bit to catch up but it helps with a bunch of things (the 117 armor from adoulin looks nicer and is generally better than ROE armor)

#5 Jul 21 2014 at 2:04 PM Rating: Excellent
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562 posts
Getting SoA would be extremely beneficial to you; obviously that is where all of the most up-to-date content is, but it is also a pretty well made expansion that offers a lot of content for casual and semi-casual players. That said, you don't need to have it to have fun.

In general the value of content looks like this:

Delve (SoA): typically some of the best gear, but a bit demanding on character/gear, particularly for DDs.

"Hard Mode" Mission battles: also some very good gear, but will require some level of progress in relevant missions. You can access this without SoA, and can also use drops to upgrade AF and Relic armors, which in some cases are best in slot. However, like delve, this can be pretty demanding on character development. On the up end, RoE and AH can provide almost all of the items you need to upgrade AF and Relic gear.

Wilds Keeper Revies (SoA): this requires some minimal progress in SoA, but is content open server-wide, meaning you can be horribly equipped an still attend and get rewards--anyone can enter a battle. Further, even if you don't get the drops you want, completing sets of WKRs will allow you to chose a reward, letting you select the gear you with without too much work. Many of these items can be further upgraded simply by having had the event flagged in RoE, and once upgraded, many of these pieces are quite good, especially weapons upgraded in this way when dealing with weaker monsters (any non-SoA content).

Skirmish (SoA): This is the baseline event of SoA; easy to access, fairly easy content, and for the most part generous rewards. A few pieces really shine, and most can be passable when moving into higher level content.

RoE: Everyone should certainly be flagging some of the relevant quests for this as they do just about anything. The gear from it isn't particularly good, but will help you transition into higher level content. More or less, RoE ilvl gear is the baseline for equipment.

Dynamis: armor drops from Dynamis don't have much value, except for a few specific pieces; however, AF and Relic gear can now be upgraded to ilvl 109 and 119, and these pieces can be really good, even at lvl 109, which is relatively easy to do. Further, farming of currency in dynamis forms much of the backbone of the economy now, and if you are capable of doing this, you'll have a good source of income (1 million or more per run, depending on server economy and how good you are). Most jobs at 99 can do this without too much difficulty, especially with RoE gear.

Abyssea: great for exp. Most abyssea gear doesn't have much value in higher level content though. As always, there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, you don't need to expend much effort here, other than using it for fast/easy exp (standard site on most servers is the worms in La'Theine, just show up there and put your flag up)

VWNM: gear from this is mainly outdated, but some items from this content are used for AF and Relic upgrades, and have good cash value. In addition, VWNM is often used to pump out fast exp. Anyone at lvl 99 will have little difficulty in this, so join shouts if you see them (except Bismark in Bibikibi bay, because its a long trip there without the teleport)

Salvage/Nyzul/Limbus: mainly outdated gear, but most of this is soloable at lvl 99+. Limbus may be desired for upgrading your AF. Salvage can net some gil by farming alexandrite.

That is most of the content that I can think of. The game is much more casual firendly now, and if there is older content that you enjoy, you'll find it much easier to tackly these days. Entry restrictions on things like assault, nyzul and salvage are gone or modified, so do the things that you enjoy or always wanted to try out, and have fun.
____________________________
Renatus (Titan)
"We are Dragoons, and to make short work of foppish cavalry is our bread and butter."
-Bob Shaftoe, The System of the World
#6 Jul 22 2014 at 1:52 AM Rating: Good
Excellent responses! Thank you very much! This is exactly what I needed. Explanations of current events, economy insights and as simple as providing names for equipment.

After taking into consideration the responses, I have now a good idea of what I want to achieve before I dive into Seekers.

Also, thanks for pointing out the login campaign. I have purchased the the Trust NPC and I have enough (when the campaign finishes) to purchase 2 x Coupons to trade for seals to upgrade Empyrean armour; which is better than missing the event completely!

For those that have been lurking the forum and in the same boat or new player into FFXI. Hopefully the following run-down will be of use to provide structure. This isn't 100% accurate but a representation.

* I did not know this when I re-started, click on all HOME POINTS as they now act as point-to-point teleportation*
* Also outpost quests - not sure how relevant they are anymore, but I suppose no harm in doing still*
* Save all Beastman Seals*
1-18; Make use of Signet / RoE / items can be AUTO sorted through menu / FoV / GoV Trust NPC introduction

18; unlock Sub Job / Travel to Jeuno / unlock Chocobo (can' t remember if you can start breeding own also)

30: Unlock advanced jobs / Start on missions to rank 3 at least / level SJ if needed / unlock Abbysea entry to start collecting stones / can also unlock Kazham airship pass / NPC - LinkPearl becomes available

30-50 Can leech EXP at Abbysea if already done all Limit Breaks or level with trusts: First LB available.
- Can be used catch up on Rank missions or take a time out to explore CoP Holla / Dem / Mea

50-55: 2nd LB. If you already have started on CoP and have a 65+job and want to level SAM with trust NPC, can go and get Soboro for multi-hit fun.
55-70: Limit Break as you need / job AF armour / Maat Fight /
75-99 EXP through Abbysea or other means / more limit breaks /
- Cap merits
- Get equiped with Records of Eminence Sparks gear as a base standard

For money: can unlock Rank 6 for dynamis entry farm some currency to get you started. Or can farm Record of Eminence in order to purchase weapons to NPC to a vendor. Alternatively, can purchase the skill-up items to sell.

- Work on Empyrean Armour +2 for macro-pieces (IF need be, not sure if this applies to all jobs)
- Can also farm Dynamis for Relic armour to upgrade to i109/119

As mentioned earlier, can purchase I-Kupon for 500 login points with the login campaign which will upgrade your Empyrean Armour to +1 (Ie. gives you necessary seals to upgrade the item)

- From here; So you don't burn out. Have a plan in place. Have a main mission that will progress you with the game and a side-quest which deals with OLDER content for story and area unlocks.

There is still so much more to do and you don't want to be overwhelmed and just stop playing in general.

Ie. finally hit level 99, full merits, full RoE equipment. If you are interested in doing end-game; First mission is to look into Wildkeeper Reves and Skirmish. Your side project can be say, working towards skillups / SubJobs / CoP Story Line / Mission levels / Fishing etc.

You can take a time out and do OLD content story wise and for Sea/Sky access - CoP and Zilart.
Attain the Primal Avatars / Fenrir. ToAU For Alexzander and Odin Summons etc. Also experience Wings of the Goddess / Mini Moogle Expansions. Just to name what's on the top of m head.

Also your beastman seals would have acculumated duing the session. This is used for BCNM that provides beneficial loot to use or to sell. I'm not sure what to aim for anymore, perhaps Utsusemi: NI still. Can also do Up in Arms for a chance for a Kraken Club. I'm personally 0/32.

Which leads to my next point: If you plan on leveling summoner, don't do the level 20 mini battles. Level up, unlock the Prime avatars the normal way. This leaves you to get the mini-tuning forks as an awesome teleport in the future. This might be a bit out-dated due to current teleportation methods within the game that I am not aware off. But, it's a nice quick way to teleport right to the crystal. Another alternate method to earn some gil if not feeling like farming and doing something different.

I rambled a fair bit during this write-up. Hopefully it provides some help. I thank you all for the responses again!

#7 Jul 22 2014 at 7:17 AM Rating: Decent
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121 posts
Lot of advice that I didn't completely read through, so I apologize if this was missed, here are my top 2 pieces of advice:
- Be kind to everyone. Even if someone's being a ****, and you'll meet someone like that, just shrug it off. You'll make more friends and have way more help if you're a nice person willing to help others.
- Find a great social linkshell. Folks in a great social linkshell are always willing to help and tend to organize smaller events, like lower tier Skirmish, Voidwatch runs, Abyssea clears, etc. Stuff that can be easily done with 3-4 people.

I don't have a ton of time to play so I do almost everything solo unless we're doing a social ls event. I've had a lot of fun since the level increase and the easier content. If this was old FFXI where soloing was much more difficult, I'd be gone by now.
#8 Jul 22 2014 at 9:12 AM Rating: Good
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2,626 posts
You were mentioning abyssea, I'd perhaps get some relevant atma's as like a poster said above, as rdm/war you have access to lots of red procs, you could get all the pop sets for the atm's you want and do a quick /yell to get others to join as there will be others that want good atma's that missed the abyssea train.

When it comes to abyssea armor, the best way to get it really is the login campaign, this can be even more beneficial if you have a mule or 3 because the seals and +2 items can be sent to each other (just not other players). One set of armor costs 500login points, then the +2 items to upgrade it cost 200points per item, so 1200points to +2 a piece3 of abyssea gear or 1800 if its a body piece, you can see how quickly you could gain abyssea armor if you decide to level other jobs through having a couple of mules.

I only suggested getting the atma's because they mean your 'abyssea ready' should you go after a emph weapon, or help a friend or for whatever other reason but abyssea armor is generally just macro in/out pieces now but they are important to have like standard artifact armor was/is.


I just started back 2weeks ago, I'm on Sylph, I also don't have SoA, the main reason I don't have it is because I would have to completely uninstall steam's ffxi, then buy the Seekers addition, then spend a day updating the game and even re-writing macro's although ive been told I can save the file that stores those.

My main target atm is unlocking weapon skills, Victory Smite, Blade: Hi, Tachi: Fudo, and Wild Fire - thats a long journey in itself, BUT it gives me plenty to do, solo-ing WoE for coins, solo-ing Dyna for currency/making gil (making gil has never been so easy now), solo-ing Limbus just to finish off +1-ing all old AF so its ready for upgrading to ilevel109 without the double cost in rem's tales, then the final thing I need to start doing is the new upgraded battlefields which I havn'nt done any of yet to bring the challenge back into my game. All that there is keeping me so busy I don't feel I need SoA right now even though I know im missing out, but if I did get SoA I know I'd stop doing so much of what I'm doing now, I'm also working my way through WotG missions just for completions sake, its the final mission line except SoA? and VWNM I hav't completed. So there is much to do without SoA. and ilevel 117 gear allows you to compete without feeling overly gimp. Cheap, cheerful, and ugly gear that does the trick. If your on Sylph send me a /tell Sandmaster and we can do some stuff together.

Good luck!
#9 Jul 22 2014 at 6:00 PM Rating: Good
Wow, I did not know they were tradable. That seems really amazing and efficient. Since I've missed most the login campaign and I don't have any alternative characters. If I were to purchase and max out my character availability, I'm assuming there's no requirement for this campaign? That I can just keep them level 1 and login to purchase the items to send over? This is making me excited :-)

Just wanted to add in regards to seekers expansion. I thought despite your current version of the game, with or without expansions etc. that the game files were already accessible and just needs the cd key to be updated on your account?

Edit: auto correct fails and in regards to seekers expansion

Edited, Jul 23rd 2014 12:02am by Callar

Edited, Jul 23rd 2014 12:09am by Callar
#10 Jul 23 2014 at 11:17 AM Rating: Good
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9,526 posts
yeah level 1 mules get the same points as everyone else. Unfortunately the mules are charged monthly so maxing out might be a bit pricey... I only have a few mules for that reason. It is a good way to make some gil though.

Not all items are sendable however - like beastman seals etc - and a lot of the pop items (Shanks, pondweed etc)

Edited, Jul 23rd 2014 10:18am by Olorinus
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