A Guide to Building a Solid Set PartyFollow

So… You want to build a set party.

Most people have had this thought at some point. Whether you’re a disgruntled whm or a melee sick of lfg, it’s pretty much crossed everyone’s mind. You get into a great group and all of sudden the idea seems to manifest itself. Well, before you set the next meeting, perhaps you should look at a few things. I see many people jumping in with both feet, only to end with something that simply will not work. So, here’s my little guide to building an effective, lasting set party.

1) Expectations

You’ve got six people together. You seem to work well together. Now’s the time to discuss overall expectations of the possible set party. Are some of your members only leveling subjobs or jobs they play just for fun? How far to do they want to take this job? Along with that, you must consider how fast you want to reach your goal. Do you want to only level a couple of times a week or plow through the exp five or six times a week? Let each member clearly state their expectations and make sure it’s something that can be agreed upon by the group and truly addresses the ambitions of each player.

2) Scheduling

So, you’ve got the first bit worked out, so let’s look at scheduling. What time zone is everyone in? Are there some players on the east coast and a few on the west? Some people tend to forget the three-hour gap between the coasts. Are some members students, whether college or primary/secondary, or employed? Can sessions be scheduled that feasibly fit everyone’s schedule and run long enough to make serious exp gains? Keep in mind there’s usually about an hour of time spent just assembling and getting to the hunting grounds.

It’s also good to take a peek down the road, too. Is someone going to be moving in a couple of months to a place without Internet access? Is someone’s schedule going to be changing relatively soon? Discuss whether or not this matters as a group so that everyone continues to understand what is expected of them. Also, will your schedule continue to give the party members time to farm?

3) Player expectations

Some people spend a lot of time farming for the best equipment and expect those around them to have the same standards. The nin/war spending so much to effectively blink-tank maybe, over time, somewhat begrudge the whm still wearing a lvl 11 doublet. While this isn’t a major point, it is something to consider.

Also, how does everyone get along? Do you see yourselves as a group of friends enjoying the game with the benefit of exp, or a group of professionals doing a job? Nothing is wrong with either view, just some people are more comfortable in one environment than in the other and thus it ends up on my list of things to consider.

4) Party setup

For the sake of argument, let’s say you’re starting this party in the low 40’s. In your rise toward the glory of 75, you could see places such a Crawler’s Nest, Yuhtunga Jungle (gobs at the IC zone), Altepa, Quicksand Caves, Gustav, Kuftal, Cape Terrigan, Valley of Sorrows, Boyahda Tree, etc. These have mobs that often require certain jobs to be considered a good place to hunt. We know we need a tank and a healer. A dispeller/debuffer of some type and then fill in the blanks. In my own opinion, this takes the form of a tank, whm or rdm/brd, blm, and other spots to be filled as needed. Of course you can play around with this, but keep in mind the mobs you’ll be fighting in the future, the need for bursts, strong healing, solid damage, etc. Think about it and see what works for you. Planning on using a blink-tank, then consider picking up a thf. You know, things like that =)

5) Misc.

There are always other things to consider that aren’t listed above. Some people really like set parties because it gives them a consistent schedule. Others prefer the ability to meet other people through pickup parties, as this too can be beneficial (many events in this game rely on knowing quite a few people).

Consider also the level of each player. I’ve personally found that it’s good to keep everyone within about 10k of each other, with the tank traditionally on the higher-level side. Again, this is a finer point and one you can decide on later.


So, there you guy. Ray’s guide to building a set party. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Great guide Raynil!

I've never had much interest in a set party. Sometimes I think I wouldn't mind. With my Ranger it can sometimes be sporadic as to when I have the ammo to party based on how well the party the night before went, etc.

But still, great information!!

ahh... many good points, though I never really considered a set pt for myself.

My schedule is to awkward, and the Job I wanna level depends on my mood, so I couldn't be consistent.

Rate up^^

Apoc - thanks very much for your additions. You shed much light on the topic that I didn't specifically go into, but a definately issues that should be addressed in some form when forming a set party.

Thanks for the input, guys^^

To me the biggest killer to a set party is how fast people want to level up. Schedule can be worked out, but if it turns out that a set can only meet up for maybe a couple times a week, and you want to party everyday, then there will be a problem. A set party takes patience above all us. Unless your set is made up of people who have hours and hours to play every day, then you will never level as fast with a set party as you will with a pickup. If you don't want to wait for hours to get a pickup, or don't want to risk partying with people you don't like or don't know what they're doing, then maybe you should look into a set. Partying with people you know and enjoy can make leveling up a fun experience.

Raynil's set is pretty much the example that all set's should follow. They are all friends and none of them are freaks about leveling to 75 as fast as possible. They're also all good at what they do, which makes leveling that much more enjoyable.