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From FFXIclopedia, the free Final Fantasy XI encyclopedia
| CAUTION! | ||
| This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and are meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide. Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone. | ||
Contents |
Creating your character
Before getting in to the game you have to create a character. There are three basic choices you have to make: your race (and appearance), job and home nation.
Race
The only advice you really need about this is: choose the one you like the most! You can play any job in the game with any race. Keep this in mind while making the decision. Yes, there are differences in racial stats. I'll explain some of these shortly.
Before I try to explain the differences in racial stats, I'll explain the meaning of them.
AGI (Agility): Agility affects characters evasion and ranged accuracy and also shield and parrying skills. It also affects the critical hit rate of an enemy: the bigger agility a character has, the less he or she receives critical hits. Agility also affects the damage of a Trick Attack (a Thief job ability).
CHR (Charisma): Charisma affects Bard songs and the Beastmaster job ability Charm. It also affects characters ability to resist songs and charm.
DEX (Dexterity): Dexterity affects characters critical hit rate. It also raises characters accuracy (2DEX = 1ACC when using a one handed or hand-to-hand weapon and 4DEX = 3ACC when using a two-handed weapon). Dexterity also affects the damage of a Sneak Attack (a Thief job ability).
INT (Intelligence): Intelligence affects magic accuracy, black magic damage, black magic enfeebles and enhancing magic, ninjutsu and some blue magic. It also affects the damage taken from magic attacks.
MND (Mind): Mind affects healing magic, white magic enfeebles and enhancing magic. It also affects some blue magic and the damage of Monks job ability Chi Blast.
VIT (Vitality): Vitality reduces the damage taken from a physical attack. It also raises characters defence (2VIT = 1DEF).
Ok, those are the basic stats. Now to different races.
Hume
Hume is the most popular race choise in game (29,74% of all characters were humes in 2007).They are also one of the two most balanced races in game (alongside mithras). Hume is a very moderate or versatile race: they aren't exceptionally great in anything but they can perform very well in any job.
More Hume information here.
Mithra
Mithras are another well balanced race in the game. However, they also have the highest dexterity and agility of all races and a little bit lower strenght and vitality than humes. In the year 2007 14,97% of all the characters were mithra. There are only female mithra characters available for players, though male mithras do exist in Vana'diel.
More Mithra information here.
Elvaan
Elvaan is the best race in the game, so you want to pick them! Well, seriously speaking they have the highest Strenght and Mind and the second highest Vitality in game. They also have a lot of HP (hit points). However, they also have the second lowest MP pool of all the races and relatively low Intelligence, Dexterity and Agility. In the year 2007 18,29% of all the characters were elvaan.
More Elvaan information here.
Tarutaru
Tarutarus have the biggest MP pool and the lowest HP. They also have high Intelligence, Agility and Dexterity. Their Strenght and Vitality are a bit low. As a tarutaru, it's easy to play a mage job, whereas it may be a bit challenging to play a melee job. In the year 2007 29,34% of all the characters were tarutaru.
More Tarutaru information here.
Galka
Galkas have the highest HP and the smallest MP pool. They also have the highest Vitality and second highest Strenght and Mind in game. However, they have low Intelligence, Dexterity and Agility in the same way as elvaans. Galka is the rarest race in the game (In the year 2007 7,47% of all the characters were galka). There are only male galka characters.
More Galka information here.
Job
There are 20 jobs in FFXI, but when you first start playing, you can only choose from six of them. The rest will become available when you get to level 30. The job you choose doesn't really matter because in FFXI you can change job any time and you can level all of them to maximum level of 75 if you want.
In FFXI you have two jobs at the same time: your Main job and Support job. When you have selected certain jobs as your Main and Support job, your Support job is only half of the level of your Main job. For example,if you have both Black mage and White mage at level 75 and you change your Main job to Black mage and your Support job to White mage, you'll be BLM75/WHM37. Or if you have level 10 White mage which you set to your Main job and level 75 Black mage which you set to your Support job, you'll be WHM10/BLM5. One important thing to notice is that your Support job doesn't gain levels as your Main job does, so you have to level it separately. When you first start playing, you have only Main job, no Support job. You will do the quest to unlock your Support job at level 18.
Now when I've explained a bit about job mechanics in the game, I'll tell a little about each starting job. I'll start with the three melee jobs.
Monk (MNK): Monk is a very easy job to start with for those who want to play a melee job, because the easiest way to start playing a melee job is to level MNK to 18, then do the Support job quest, and then level WAR to 37 using MNK as a Support job. Then you'll have WAR as a support job for the job you want to level to 75. Monk is a DD (damage dealer) job. Monks use their fists (hand-to-hand weapons) and later also kick attacks to do damage. Monk is a very powerful DoT (damage over time) job.
More Monk information here.
Warrior (WAR): Warrior is the basic support job for most of the the melee jobs in game, so if you want to level one of them, you have to level WAR to at least 37 (for a support job to a level 75 job) at some point. At level 5 WAR gets a Job ability Provoke which turns enemys attention to the player using it. Therefore WAR can play the role of a tank in an experience point party at early levels. It is also a great DD (damage dealer) and uses Great Axe as a weapon.
More Warrior information here.
Thief (THF): In the early levels thieves aren't very strong, so it's a difficult job to start with. At level 15 they get a Job ability called Sneak attack (SA) which helps them to deal a little more damage. At level 30 they begin to shine with their Job ability Trick attack (TA) which helps to balance hate in a party situation and deals some nice extra damage. Even though I don't recommend THF for your starting job in game, it's definitely worth leveling. THF gets some nice Job traits and abilities like Gilfinder and Treasure hunter which help making money in game, Flee which makes your character move faster for a certain amount of time and Steal which is a nice add to farming.
More Thief information here.
And now to the three mage jobs.
White mage (WHM): White mage is a very party based job as a healer. It casts mostly healing and enhancing magic. It's a great mage job to start with because it's nice to be able to cure yourself at early levels when you're soloing. It's also a must Support job for every mage job in game (with the exception of Blue mage maybe). White mage is also the only job that gets the Teleport spells in game.
More White Mage information here.
Black mage (BLM): Black mages are powerful dealers of magical damage. If you like to see big damage numbers, this may be the job for you. In any case, you may want to level BLM to at least 17 because of the Warp spell which lets you to warp to your home point. BLM is also a great support job for WHM (as WHM is for BLM).
More Black Mage information here.
Red mage (RDM): Red mage is a bit more versatile job than WHM or BLM because it has access to both white and black magic. RDM is specialized in Enfeebling magic, which means that a RDM uses DoT (damage over time) spells to make an enemy weaker. Red mages are also common healers in parties. From these three mage jobs, RDM is possibly the most difficult to begin the game with because its role is more complex than WHMs or BLMs.
More Red Mage information here.
So here they are and you may pick any of them. In my opinion, you really can't tell if you like the job or not before you have tried it. Keep in mind that in this game you can change your job any time, so it's a good idea to try them all and see what you like the most.
More jobs and information about them here.
Home nation
Ok, now you've decided your characters race and job. Congratulations! Now there's only one decision left to make: your characters home nation. There are only three options and you really can't go wrong with any of them, so don't panic. As always, pick the one that seems the most appealing to you. However, each of the five races have their own "home nation", and if you pick the city connected to your characters race, you'll get a very nice ring which is useful until level 14. But now, let me tell you shortly about the three starting cities.
San d'Oria
San d'Oria is the kindom of elvaans. The city has its royal looks, and there is a castle and a cathedral too, unlike in any other city. In my opinion, from the three starting cities, San d'Oria is the most easy to move around in. There are three guilds in San d'Oria: Smithing, Leathercraft and Woodworking.
Bastok
Bastok is the republic of humes and galkas. It's a city of industry and mining. Unlike the two other starting cities, Bastok has very different looking areas within the city, for example Bastok mines, Metalworks and Bastok markets. There are three guilds in Bastok: Alchemy, Smithing and Goldsmithing.
Windurst
Windurst is the federation of tarutarus and mithras. This city is the most close to the nature: there are a lot of plants and trees and buildings have kind of a tribal look. Windurst is a nice city but it's the most difficult to move around in. It's also a bit far away from some of the central places in game, so it can be a tricky place to start the game in. There are three guilds in Windurst: Cooking, Clothcraft and Bonecraft.
It doesn't really matter which one of the cities you choose. The easiest thing to do is to choose your home nation based on your characters race.
Anyway, now your character is done and you're ready to step in to the world of Vana'diel!
Starting the game
This chapter is about learning how to change your game settings and move around, getting to know your home city and communicating with other players. In other words, things you have to learn before you can do anything else.
Getting started
You can open your Menu by pressing - from your num pad. This is what you'll see:
The left one is what opens first. You can open another one by either pressing left or right arrow on your keyboard or pressing - key on your num pad again.
The very first thing you have to do after creating your character is to log out from the game and change your configurations. Why? Because the game looks absolutely horrible if you don't do it. Check your Start menu in Windows and select All programs > PlayOnline > FINAL FANTASY XI > FINAL FANTASY XI Config. Now, change the graphics. The most important thing is to change the Screen size resolution to be the right one for your computer. When you're done, log back to the game and start learning how to play.
Some basic commands:
~ You can move your character from 2,4,6 & 8 keys on your num pad.
~ Key 7 on your num pad sets autorun on / off.
~ Key - on your numpad opens the Menu.
~ You can type /map or select Map from the Menu to view a map of the area you're currently in.
~ Keys 9 and 3 on your num pad zoom in and out.
~ Arrow keys on your keyboard let you turn the camera.
~ Ctrl + I opens your inventory.
~ Ctrl + E opens your equipment menu.
You can also change your keyboard settings to "compact" from the Menu > Config > Misc. 2. Most players seem to prefer using compact keyboard, so you might want to try it. Here are the same basic commands on compact keyboard:
~ You can move your character from W, S, D & D keys.
~ Y sets autorun on / off.
~ Key - opens the Menu.
~ You can type /map or select Map from the Menu to view a map of the area you're currently in.
~ Keys , and . zoom in and out.
~ I, J, K & L keys let you turn the camera.
~ Ctrl + I opens your inventory.
~ Ctrl + E opens your equipment menu.
Getting to know your home city
After the starting cutscene you'll find yourself in your home nation. You'll be given an item called Adventurer Coupon which you are asked to deliver to a certain NPC. When you're done with the quest, you'll receive a reward of 50 gil.
Ok, now you're standing there with your starting gear and some gil and likely no idea of what to do next. Well, getting to know your home nation would be a good place to start, so run around, talk to every NPC you see and open some quests and stuff. Here's an example of a few important places you should learn to find from your home city:
Mog House
Your Mog House is an extremely important place. It's the place where you storage your gear, change your job, pick up the items delivered to you and so on. You can also invite your friends to visit your MH and decorate it to be more personal! Talk to your Moogle to find out more about the use of your MH.
Auction House
Auction House is the place where you'll do most your shopping in game. Learn to use it and remember to use it. Basically, you enter the Auction House by targeting and selecting Auction counter. Then you'll get three options: Buy, Sell and Sales status. If you want to put something up for sale, remember to first check out the current price for that item (by selecting Buy, finding the item and checking the Sales history). If there are several items of the same kind for sale, the item with the lowest price sells first.
NPC vendors
Some items are a lot cheaper when you buy them from a NPC and you can get more money from certain items if you sell them to a NPC than by selling them via AH. So remember to compare prices!
The price of an item sold by NPCs varies based on your current fame in that city. You can get more fame by doing quests. The more fame you have, the cheaper the items are for you. Also, some items are up for sale only when the nation is first or second on Conquest and they might be for sale only for the citizens of that nation.
Nation mission NPCs
Nation missions are the main storyline in game. You can start them around level 10 and you'll propably be level 75 when you finally finish them. You'll need at least rank 5 to get an Airship pass which lets you travel by airship. You also need at least rank 6 to do Zilart missions or to attend to an endgame activity called Dynamis.
Home Point
When you get K.O.d and don't get a Raise spell within an hour, you'll warp to your Home Point (you can also warp there earlier if you want). You can set your Home Point to any Home Point you want and also to your Mog House exit after changing jobs.
Gate guards
Gate guards are one of the most important NPCs in game. They give you Signet, sell you items for Conquest Points and give you Outpost quests. Never leave the city without talking to a Gate guard and getting Signet! When you have Signet on while killing mobs, you'll get crystals, heal faster, don't lose TP while resting, get more EXP while in a party and so on.
Gate guards also give you Supply quest which let you get an outpost warp to certain zone. The gate guard gives you supplies which you have to deliver to that particular outpost. When you'll deliver the supplies, you'll have the possibility to warp from that outpost to your home city and the other way around for a certain amount of gil. Outpost warp is an easy, fast and fairly cheap way to travel around the world, so you should try to do as many supply quests as you can.
Communicating with others
FFXI is a very social game and you'll need other players even to get certain basic things like the support job quest done. So it's important to be social and make friends right from the start. Of course, when you first start playing, it's likely that you don't even know how to talk to other people. Don't worry, as I will tell you. Here are some basic chat commands:
/tell (or just /t) [Person's name] [message] will let you talk privately to a person.
Ctrl + R will let you send a tell to the last person who sent you a tell.
/say (or just /s) [message] will let you talk to everyone near you.
/shout (or just /sh) [message] will let you talk to everyone in the same zone as you.
/party (or just /p) [message] will let you talk to everyone in your party / alliance.
/linkshell (or just /l) [message] will let you talk to everyone in your linkshell.
/cm will let you choose where your messages go if you don't use the commands above. For example, if you write "/cm p" and press Enter, everything you write after that will go to your party chat unless you use other commands like "/l" or "/t" in the beginning of your message.
Also, learn to use the auto-translate function as soon as possible. The are many players who don't speak English and the auto-translate function is a great way to communicate with them. It also makes typing a lot faster and easier as you don't have to remember how to write the names of certain areas, for example. Here's how it works: write the beginning of the word you want to translate and press Tab.
For example, if I want to write "Congratulations!" to someone I type Cong and press Tab. Now I'll get a list of words in the auto-translate system that start with Cong and I select the one I want. Now the word is in my typing line. When I send the message, the translated word looks like this for me: (Congratulations!) For the japanese players the word will show in Japanese, for french players in French and for german players in German.
In the game, there are things called Friend List and Black List. Your Friend List lets you see who of your friends are online and where they are. Black List is for the people whos messages you don't want to read. You can add a person to your friendlist by typing "/befriend [Person's name]". After that, you'll send a message to that person and he or she will have to accept to be added to your Friend List. If you need to Black List someone, you can use the command "/blist add [Person's name]". The blacklisted person won't get a notice about being added to your Black List.
One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is this: find yourself a good Linkshell. Linkshells are the "guilds" of FFXI and they are a great way to make friends and get help when you need it (but remember also to help others whenever you can). There are a lot of Linkshells and they are all different, you just have to find the right one for you. It may take some time, but it's worth it. When you start playing, it's likely that people will offer to give you a linkpearl. When you make friends, you can also ask if their Linkshell is open for new members. If you want, you can also /shout for a Linkshell in a city.
For more information about auto-translate check this great guide: Auto-Translator: In-Depth
Fighting your way up
Well now you've learned everything there is to learn and seen everything there is to see in your home city. So what's next? When are you going to smack some things and show everyone what you're made of? Well, it's time to leave the safety of the city walls and go out into the wild. Check your map and find out where you can leave the city. If you're from San d'Oria, your target is (West or East) Ronfaure, if from Bastok, South Gustaberg and if from Windurst, (West or East) Sarutabaruta. Happy hunting!
Check, attack, go!
When you find a monster, learn to use the check function. Target the mob, press Enter key and select Check (or just target the mob and press Ctrl + C). Now, you'll get a message to your log: "[Insert the mobs name] seems like a Decent Challenge." That means it's a good target for you, because it isn't too difficult and you'll get a nice amount of experience points from it. The weakest monsters check Too Weak (you won't get any EXP from these), then Easy Prey and after Decent Challenge comes Even Match, Tough, Very Tough and finally Incredibly Tough. The message also tells if the mob has low / high evasion compared to your accuracy and low / high defense compared to your attack. When you have checked the mob, target it, press enter and choose Attack.
After the battle, you'll receive experience points and some items. Remember to sort your inventory (it's good to learn to use the autosort function, check that out in your Menu > Config) so that you won't lose anything (you will lose some items if your inventory is full). You can check your inventory by pressing Ctrl + I. Then press + from your numpad and Enter to sort it. When you have a whole stack of something, for example 12 Wind Crystals, you can sell them in Auction House. Selling crystals and another drops you get while leveling up is a great way to get some gil at the beginning. Also, even though you can't sell them, do not throw away Beastmen seals. I repeat: do not throw away Beastmen seals!!! You can use them later to do an activity called BCNM to get items worth of nice money.
Remember to check your HP / MP between the battles. Sometimes you'll need to rest before you can attack another mob. You can heal your HP / MP by pressing * on your numpad or by typing /heal.
When you gain levels, you'll be able to use some Job Abilities and Weapon Skills. You can enter your Job Ability list by pressing Ctrl + J and Weapon Skill list by pressing Ctrl + W. Job Abilities are usable any time their timer is up and Weapon Skills are usable when you have at least 100% TP (you can see your TP on the upper left corner of your screen when you're engaged to an enemy). At level 1 you'll have only one Job Ability which is your so called "2hr". It's usually a very powerful ability and it can be used only once in every 2 hours.
Macros
To make the use of spells, job abilities and weapon skills easier, you should learn to use macros. To find your macro palettes, open your Menu and choose Macros. Now you'll see 20 macro books with 10 macro palettes each. If you open the first book and select the first palette there, you'll see some default macros. Delete them. You'll never need them. Instead, make your own macros. Here are some basic tips:
~ Every macro line starts with / and "ja" (for job abilities), "ma" (for magic), "ws" (for weapon skills) and so on.
~ All the Job ability, Magic and Weapon skill macros must have a target! The target can be yourself (<me>), your current target (<t>), selected player character (<stpc>), selected NPC (<stnpc>) and so on.
~ The basic structure of a macro is:
/ja (or ma, ws etc.) "job ability (or magic, ws and etc.)" <target>
For example, a macro for Job ability Provoke would be:
/ja "Provoke" <t>
Some basic Macro commands
Commands
/ja starts a Job Ability macro ("/ja 'Job Ability name' <t>")
/ma starts a spell macro ("/ma 'spell name' <t>")
/ws starts a Weapon skill macro ("/ws 'Weapon skill name' <t>")
/equip starts an equipment change macro ("/equip [slot] [equipment name]")
Targets
<me> sets yourself to be the target of a macro
<t> sets current target to be the target of a macro
<stpc> let's you select a player character to be the target of a macro
<stnpc> let's you select a NPC (for example a mob) to be the target of a macro
You probably noticed there are six lines in every macro. That means you can combine commands to perform actions in certain order. For example, if you level Monk, you'll want to use Job ability Boost before your Weapon skill. You can make a macro to do this automatically:
Read more about macros from Macro page
Experience points
You get Experience points every time you kill a monster which is Easy Prey or tougher for you. The number of the Experience points received depends on many things, for example your level, monsters level, if you have Signet or not, if you're in a party or not and so on. If you kill Even Match or tougher monsters fast enough, you'll get an Experience points chain, which will give you even more EXP.
You can buy a ring which will give you an experience points bonus for certain amount of time / EXP with your Conquest Points from a Gate Guard. There are basically two choices: Empress band and Emperor band. Empress band gives +50% bonus to experience points you receive, it has maximum bonus of 1000 points (with time limit of 180 minutes) and it can be used on seven days in a week. Emperor band gives also +50% bonus to experience points you receive, but it has maximum bonus of 2000 points (with time limit of 210 minutes) and it can be used on only three days in a week.
It might be a good idea to buy one of these two rings as soon as you have enough Conquest Points. When you want to use the ring, just equip it and open your inventory. Then, when the name of the ring turns blue, select it and select "Use". Now you'll receive the EXP bonus and after this you can equip another ring without losing the bonus. You can also load the ring for Conquest points when you've used all the charges on it by trading it to a Gate Guard.
Monster behaviour
When you first step out from your starting city, you'll see mobs which won't attack you unless you attack them. But remember that there are some aggressive mobs that will attack you as soon as they detect you. Some of these mobs detect by sight, some by sound, some detect low HP and some aggro only if you cast magic near them. It's nice to know what kind of monsters are aggressive and which aren't.
Also, some monsters aren't aggressive but if you'll attack one of them, the others of the same kind will link with it, in other words also attack you, if they are too close to the one you attacked. So be careful, or instead of one mob you'll get too many to handle.
Monsters also have their strenghts and weaknesses. Some are weak to certain type of damage (for example piercing or magic) and resistant to other. Most of the monsters have also elemental strenghts and weaknesses.
Another good thing to know about monsters is what kind of special moves they use. For example, mandragoras use this nasty move called Dream Flower which will sleep all the characters in range. It's good to know how to avoid this if you're a healer, so that you won't sleep when your party members need curing.
Use the first ten levels of the game to learn how to fight, how and when to use Weapon skills and Job Abilities, how to make and use macros, how to avoid aggroing or linking monsters and so on. Sell the drops you get in the AH or to a NPC and get some equipment. Remember to do some quests too, they are fun and some of them give you very nice rewards. But most importantly, remember to have fun!
Equipping your character
New players have often difficult time trying to find out what to wear and when. In this section I'll try to give you some basic tips which will hopefully help you to make decisions regarding your gear.
First of all, you can open your Equipment menu by pressing Ctrl + E. You will see your current stats and equipment. As you can see, there are 16 equipment slots:
The purpose of your gear is to improve your stats and those Attack and Defense numbers you see under the equipment slots. For example, here's another screenshot of me as level 1 Ranger/Warrior, now wearing my starting gear:
As you can see, my Strenght, Mind and Attack stats just got up by 1 point each and my Defense got up by 8 points. That means I can hit monsters a little harder and I can also take a few more hits.
When you're level 1, there isn't much gear you can equip, so the starting gear is just fine. But when you gain levels, aim for bigger numbers on stat boosts and try to fill every slot in your equipment menu. Also, remember to keep your gear up to date.
But which numbers to stare when selecting new gear? Well, basically, if you're a melee, your most imortant stats are Accuracy (or DEX) and Attack (or STR). So try to get as much ACC+, DEX+, ATT+ and STR+ as possible (remember that 2DEX=1ACC and 2STR=1ATT on one-handed or hand-to-hand weapons and 4DEX=3ACC and 4STR=3ATT on two-handed weapons). In my opinion Accuracy is more important than Attack because it isn't very useful to boost your attack strenght if you'll miss half of your hits.
If you're a mage, most important things for you are MP, MND (especially if you're a WHM) and INT (especially if you're a BLM). If you aren't a taru, you should concentrate on getting as much MP+ equipment as possible. If you are a taru, you probably don't have to worry so much about your MP and you can concentrate on boosting your MND and / or INT.
Some great pieces of gear for levels 1-30
I've tried to gather here some great pieces of equipment for you to consider. I've tried to find as much as possible either completely free or cheap equipment that are easily obtainable for a new player. I hope you find this information helpful.
Melees
Head
Traveler's Hat Free!
Compound Eye Circlet Free!
Royal Footman's Bandana Free!
Legionnaire's Cap Free!
Mercenary's Hachimaki Free!
Empress Hairpin Free!
Royal Squire's Helm Free!
Centurion's Visor Free!
Mercenary Captain's Headgear Free!
Body
Royal Footman's Vest Free!
Legionnaire's Harness Free!
Power Gi Free!
Mercenary's Gi Free!
Centurion's Scale Mail Free!
Mercenary Captain's Doublet Free!
Hands
Leather Gloves Free!
Gloves Free!
Royal Footman's Gloves Free!
Legionnaire's Mittens Free!
Battle Gloves Free!
Lizard Gloves Free!
Mercenary's Tekko Free!
Race Specific Equipment hands Free!
- Hume, Elvaan and Tarutaru RSE Hands have some ok stat boost for melee jobs (STR and DEX). There might be some better choises for melees, but these are a free option.
Royal Squire's Mufflers Free!
Centurion's Finger Gauntlets Free!
Mercenary Captain's Gloves Free!
Legs
Sitabaki Free!
Freesword's Slops Free!
Royal Footman's Trousers Free!
Legionnaire's Subligar Free!
Mercenary's Sitabaki Free!
Centurion's Cuisses Free!
Mercenary Captain's Hose Free!
Feet
Bounding Boots Free!
Royal Footman's Boots Free!
Legionnaire's Leggings Free!
Mercenary's Kyahan Free!
Race Specific Equipment feet Free!
- Tarutaru and Mithra RSE feet are ok for meleeing because of the STR boost. Hume, Elvaan and Galka RSE Feet are nice for Trick Attack macro if you play THF.
Royal Squire's Sollerets Free!
Centurion's Greaves Free!
Mercenary Captain's Gaiters Free!
Back
Rabbit Mantle Free!
Traveler's Mantle Free!
Waist
Heko Obi Free!
Mercenary Captain's Belt Free!
Neck
Justice Badge Free!
Wing Pendant Free!
Tiger Stole Free!
Ears
Optical Earring Free!
Rings
Mages
Head
Traveler's Hat Free!
Compound Eye Circlet Free!
Body
Royal Footman's Tunic Free!
Linen Robe Free!
Priest's Robe Free!
Hands
Gloves Free!
Zealot's Mitts Free!
Race Specific Equipment hands Free!
- The Elvaan, Mithra and Galka RSE hands are great for mages because of the MP+.
Legs
Freesword's Slops Free!
Feet
Race Specific Equipment feet Free!
- Hume, Elvaan and Galka RSE feet are great for mages.
Back
Mist Silk Cape Free!
Waist
Heko Obi Free!
Friar's Rope Free!
Neck
Justice Badge Free!
Black Silk Neckerchief Free!
Holy Phial Free!
Ears
Rings
Teaming up
Around level 10 soloing will become slow and players start looking for EXP parties that can take down tougher enemies and receive faster EXP. Most of the parties from around level 10 to 20 are in Valkurm Dunes. It's actually a nice place if you don't count the billions of goblins that want to eat you alive.
How to get there
From San d'Oria: The map of the Valkurm dunes is included to the map of San d'Oria region, so you don't have to worry about that. Exit San d'Oria to West Ronfaure and head to La Theine Plateau. Go across La Theine Plateau (if you've never been here before, get a Holla gate crystal from Crag of Holla on your way) and you'll be in Valkurm Dunes.
From Bastok: If you have started your game in Bastok, you don't have the map of San d'Oria region which includes Valkurm dunes so you have to buy one. It costs 200 gil and you can purchase it from either Karine in Bastok Markets (H-9) or Rex in Port Bastok (J-7). When you have the map, exit Bastok to South Gustaberg (from either Bastok Markets or Bastok Mines). Then zone to North Gustaberg from (E-6). Continue north to Konschtat Highlands (if you've never been here before, get a Dem gate crystal from Crag of Dem on your way). The zone to Valkurm dunes is at (G-3).
From Windurst: If you have started your game in Windurst, you don't have the map of San d'Oria region which includes Valkurm dunes so you have to buy one. It costs 200 gil and you can purchase it from either Mhoji Roccoruh in Port Windurst (G-9) or Pehki Machumaht in Windurst Woods (H-11). It's a good idea to buy the map of Bastok region at the same time. If you have the Kolshushu region Outpost warp done, you can just warp to the Outpost in Buburimu Peninsula from Port Windurst. If you don't have it yet, exit Windurst to East Sarutabaruta from Windurst Woods, head to Tahrongi Canyon and zone to Buburimu Peninsula from (K-8). It might be a good idea to get the Mea gate crystal from the Crag of Mea while you're there, too. In Buburimu Peninsula, zone to Mhaura from (I-9). From there, take a ferry to Selbina (it costs 100 gil). Selbina is a little village next to Valkurm dunes.
It's good to get the Valkurm dunes (Zulkheim region) Outpost warp as soon as possible so you don't have to run there every time you want to get exp. Also, when you're there, set your Home Point to either Selbina or (if it's under your nations control) the Outpost in Valkurm dunes.
Finding a party
Ok, so now you're there and ready for party, but how will other players know that? You have to put your party flag up. You can do that by either entering Menu and selecting Party > Seek party or simply typing "/inv". Now you should have a green exclamation point next to your name. But you're not done yet. When party leaders are looking for members to join their party, they look (well, at least they should) peoples search comments to decide who to invite. You can use your search comment to tell what kind of party you're looking for, how much experience points you need for your next level and so on. You can edit your search comment by going to Menu and selecting Search > Comment > Edit comment. Now a box with three empty lines will open and you can type your comment there. It's good to at least tell how much EXP you need for next level (At least on my server people use @ for this. For example if I need 1000 exp to gain a level, I write @1000 on the first line of my search comment).
When you've received an invitation you can join the party by typing "/join". Now you'll be able to view the list of your party members from your Menu and you'll also see them on your map. Usually when the party is full (max 6 members) the leader will tell you where to gather.
Your role in a party
There are a few different roles in a typical EXP party:
Puller (THF, BRD at later levels, any melee with ranged weapon) is the person who leaves the camp to pull a mob back to the party. Pullers job is to keep experience chains going.
Tank (PLD, NIN, also WAR and other melees at earlier levels) is the person who tries to keep the mob attacking only him / her by using abilities (and magic) to keep the hate of the mob.
DD (MNK, DRG, BLU, SAM, BLM...) is a damage dealer who tries to do as much damage as possible without taking mobs hate from the tank.
Healer (WHM, sometimes RDM or SCH) is quite obvious... Healers job is to keep everyone alive, cure negative status ailments and use enhancing magic like Protect, Shell and Haste.
Support (BRD, COR, RDM, SCH) role is for the jobs that enhance partys performance and weaken the mobs. They're also backup healers or damage dealers.
The levels 10-20 are all about starting to learn your role in a party. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask your party members. If you're a mage, you have to learn about MP management and how to avoid pulling hate from melees. If you're a melee, you'll learn when and how to use your job abilities and hopefully also how to make skillchains.
The most fun thing ever - skillchains and magic burst!
Weapon skills are based on a certain element(s). When certain weapon skills are done in a certain order, they'll form a skillchain which will deal an extra amount of damage to an enemy. Based on that skillchains element(s), a mage can also cast a spell which will cause a Magic Burst, which means that the spell can do more damage than it would do otherwise. Here's an example of a simple low level skillchain and magic burst made by me (Evyen) and my automaton (Comedie):
First my automaton starts with a weapon skill Slapstick which can open Reverberation and Impaction skillchains. After that I close the skillchain with my weapon skill Combo, which can only be used to close or open Impaction skillchain, so the skillchain will be thunder based Impaction. After the skillchain Comedie casts Thunder which will cause a magic burst.
If you can build a skillchain and a magic burst based on what the monster you're fighting is weak to, you're able to deal more damage and therefore gain experience points faster. So learn to make skillchains, although it might seem difficult and complicated at first. After all, it's mostly about timing and remembering the elements your weapon skills are based on.
Here are some helpful links about skillchains:
- FFXIclopedia Skillchain page
- FFXIclopedia Magic Burst page
- Aden's Renkei Chart
- http://magitekarmy.com/skillchain.php
Be prepared
When you decide to go lfp, you should be prepared to spend some time and gain a few levels in a party. Don't join a party if you don't have time for it. I personally think that you should be ready to spend at least an hour or two in a party. If you have to leave before the party disbands, let everyone now that beforehand and ask if you should find yourself a replacement. If you're asked to find a replacement, do your best to find someone who is at correct level range and who is able to fill your role in the party as well as possible.
Also, make sure you have the gear you need when you gain levels in that party. Early levels pass quickly so it's good to carry equipments for the few following levels with you. The same goes with spells: remember to have at least the most important spells for the next few levels with you.
On the last note, bring food with you! Food is not optional, but a vital part of your performance. Here are some cheap foods you can start with:
For melees
Stackable: 12
Food Effects: (30 minutes, All Races)
- Strength +3
- Intelligence -1
- Attack +22% (Cap: 30@136 Base Attack)
Sold by several merchants for 100~ gil each.
Stackable: Not stackable
Food Effects: (3 hours, All Races)
- Charisma -10
- Accuracy +10
- Ranged Accuracy +10
- Evasion +10
- Arcana Killer
- Resist vs. Dark +25
Sold in AH, price varies.
For Mages
Stackable: 99
Food Effects: (3 minutes, All Races)
- MP Recovered While Healing +5
- Resist Slow
- Plantoid Killer
Sold by a NPC in the 1st nation in conquest for 10~ gil each.
Stackable: 12
Food Effects: (30 minutes, All Races)
- MP +25
- Intelligence +3
- Agility -1
Sold in AH, price varies.
Useful links
Places to see, things to do
In the world of Vana'diel, there's always something new to experience. This section is about how to enter the areas you haven't been to before and what kind of things you can do during your journey.
Moving around
There are several different travelling options in game. When you first start playing, you have to run everywhere. At level 10 you'll get the chance to use your first Outpost warps. At level 20 you can quest yourself a chocobo license. Around level 25 you'll do the quest to get Airship pass for Kazham and when you get rank 5 in your home nation, you'll get to travel around the world with airships. Also, there are teleports, runic portals in Aht Urhgan areas and Cavernous Maws in the past. There are also several NPCs that can warp you to certain areas.
Outpost warps
Outpost warp means warping between your home nation and an outpost. You can open an outpost warp by doing a supply quest to that outpost. You get supply quests from gate guards in your home nation and you can do a supply quest to any area that is currently under your home nations control. Get as many outposts as possible, they are a fast and easy way to travel!
All outpost have level limitations (from level 10 to level 50) and warping between your home country and the outpost will cost you gil (price depends on who controls the zone).
Teleports
White mages can use teleport spells to transfer their party to a different location. To travel with teleport, you need to get teleport gate crystal from a teleport crag. When you have the crystal and someone in your party casts teleport spell, the whole party will be transfered to that crag. Teleport crystal is a permanent key item, which means you only need to get it once and then you can use that teleport as many times as you want.
There are three teleport grags near the starting cities:
1. Crag of Holla [Teleport-Holla], La Theine Plateau (near San d'Oria)
2. Crag of Dem [Teleport-Dem], Konschtat Highlands (near Bastok)
3. Crag of Mea [Teleport-Mea], Tahrongi Canyon (near Windurst)
You should get these three as soon as possible.
Also, there are three other Teleport grags in higher level places: Teleport-Yhoat (Yhoator Jungle), Teleport-Altep (Eastern Altepa Desert) and Teleport-Vahzl (Xarcabard).
Chocobo license
When you reach level 20, you can travel to Jeuno and do a quest to get yourself a chocobo license.You can't ride a chocobo until you have a license. You can rent chocobos in cities and also near almost every teleport crystal. The price depends on your level and how often people use that place to rent a chocobo. When you have a chocobo license, you can rent a chocobo from cities after level 15 and from other places after level 20.
Airships
Airships travel between Jeuno and cities. When you reach rank 5 in your home nation, you'll get a key item Airship pass which will let you use airships. It costs 200 gil to travel by airship. However, you'll need also Kazham airship pass to travel to Kazham. You should quest it around level 25.
Runic Portals
Runic portals are a way to travel in Aht Urhgan areas. There are six staging points with runic portals, and when you have opened a runic portal you can warp between that portal and Aht Urhgan Whitegate. You can open a portal by traveling to a staging point and using the portal to warp back to Whitegate. After that you can warp from Hall of Transference in Whitegate to that staging point. You'll need an Runic portal user permit which can be bought from a NPC in Hall of Transference for 100 Imperial Standing. You need a new permit every time you travel from Whitegate to a staging point unless you're doing Assault.
Cavernous Maws
Cavernous Maws are much like runic portals, but they're used to travel between the present and past (WotG) areas. The first time you enter the past you have to use one of the maws near Jeuno. You can exit the past from any cavernous maw, but you can't enter the past from a maw you haven't used before.
Escaping the grindfest
FFXI is a game where you'll never run out of things to do. Most of the time your problem will be you have too many thing you'd like to do and too little time for that all. FFXI has a very rich end game but there are also tons of things to do before that. This section of my guide is about some of the activity options you'll have on your way to 75.
Level 10+
This is the time when you start partying. But besides exping, you'll have the possibility of doing many quests in all the starting nations. Also after level 10 you'll be able to do the rank 2 missions in your home nation.
Level 20+
This is the Jeuno time! After surviving the Dunes you'll get to travel to the first bigger city Jeuno, where you can quest yourself a chocobo license. Before level 25 you should also quest yourself the Kazham airship pass which lets you travel to Kazham. At level 25 you can also do the missions for rank 3 in your home nation. The missions will take you to all of the starting cities, so you'll definitely get to see the world around these levels.
Level 30+
This is where the real fun begins. You'll be able to open all the advanced jobs! ToAU jobs (Puppetmaster, Corsair and Blue Mage) require you to travel to Aht Urhgan areas so this is also a good time to do the quest to get Aht Urhgan access. Just don't get too excited about all the new jobs and forget to level your support job to 37.
At level 30 you can also do the first level capped Chains of Promathia missions. They are a bit challenging and very fun. Gather a party from your friends and try them out!
Level 40+
Now you're past the subjob levels. There isn't really much special about these levels, except that you can start your Artifact Armor storyline and quest yourself an AF weapon. Also, this is a good time to do rank 5 mission for your home nation to get the airship pass.
Level 50+
There's much going on at these levels. You can quest and wear all your AF armor on your way from level 50 to 60. Your level is capped at 50 and you have to start doing genkai (limit break) quests to increase your level cap. You'll also be able to do Assault now! Gather a group of friends together and try one with a level 50 cap. It's also possible to do the rank 6 missions at these levels. First of them is capped at level 50 and the second is uncapped but possible to complete with a party around level 55. Rank 6 in your home nation will give you access to Zilart missions.
Level 60+
The last level capped CoP missions are capped at 60, so you'll be able to complete most of the CoP storyline at this point! Also, at this level you'll be able to get full exp from campaign battles which are a nice way to spend time and get some exp. Depending on your job, you might also be able to get decent exp from Besieged. Level 66 is also the earliest time when you can try to do your last genkai quest, the Maat fight, that'll increase your level cap to the final 75.
Level 70+
Welcome to the endgame! You'll be able to do complete all the storylines in game: nation rank missions, Zilart missions, CoP, ToAU and WotG! Rank 6 in your home nation will give you access to Zilart missions and an endgame activity called Dynamis. Zilart missions will give you access to Sky, CoP will give you access to Sea and Limbus and ToAU will give you access to Salvage. Many missions to do, new areas to unlock and explore and some very interesting activities!
Read more about in game activities:
All levels:
Level 20+
Level 30+
Level 50+
Level 60+
Level 70+