Ffxiv New Player Guide 2020/03

[RSS News]

This is a work in progress of a new player primer and guide as the old one is nearly 3 years old. Let me know what you think.

So you're a new or prospective player with questions. Well I'm going to try and answer the big ones.

Questions about getting started

• Is it a good time to get into FFXIV?: Yes. FFXIV launched it's third expansion in Summer 2019 and it is one of the most critically acclaimed games from last year and most acclaimed MMO expansions. Class balance is fantastic right now. Playerbase is growing and active. There is regular content every few months (main patches with smaller updates between) and just an absurd amount of content to do.
• Does this game require parties?: It is pretty heavy on 4 person dungeons and 8 person boss fights but there is fantastic matchmaking.
• What is endgame like?: Endgame is really whatever you want. There is high end raiding, master trader crafters and gatherers, Housing, Roleplay, a really great glamour system. optiosn are pretty endless.
• How do I start?: do the free trial first. It's free, doesn't require a subscription and lets you got to level 35 on any job or class.
• Does World or Data Center matter?: Data Center matters a good bit, worlds less. You can party up with and match with anyone on your data center. The only restriction to Worlds are you can only be in a Free Company (Clan) based in your world. They do have Fellowships and linkshells that are cross-world. If you have friends on a world definitely try and play on that world as it's better ot be in the same world. Here is a summary of world statuses. Congested worlds cannot take new characters; sometimes you can squeeze in off peak times but it's difficult. Preferred worlds give double experience until you reach 70 for 90 days. Standard worlds are standard. Transferring later costs $10 USD. Some worlds on the Europe data centers focus on certain languages. Some worlds also focus on roleplay if that's what you want.
• How do I buy if I like it?: There is the Starter Edition which is $20 USD. Shadowbringers expansion is $40 USD and includes the prior two expansions Heavensward and Stormblood. There is also a complete Edition with both of those for $60 USD. Starter edition or completed edition include 30 days of game time.
• How do I get everything setup?: Generally through SE's website for this game called Mogstation. Link
• For PC should I buy from Steam or Square Enix?: Both are fine BUT you are locked to that environment for PC forever. Steam has more sales, but if the steam servers are down you may not be able to play. Square Enix is a little safer.
• Is there a subscription?: Yes. It is $13 for one character per world or $15 for up to 8 characters per world. This is world not Data Center.
• Is this subscription worth it?: No one can tell you what your money is worth. I personally have spent much less money per hour of playtime in FFXIV than I have with almost any other game. I do recommend paying month to month or with time cards so you can more regularly evaluate your subscription.
• What matters in character creation?: Very little. Race does not matter to stats at all. Neither does chosen deity. Starting class only chooses which city you start in and this only matters for the first 15 levels. *You can level every single class and job on one character and it is awesome. Appearance can be changed with an item called a Fantasia. You get one for free after beating the story. They can also be purchased on the game store for $10 (less if bought in multiples). Name can be changed for $10.
• Is there a referral program?: There is. Another player can give you a refer a friend code which you need to enter before you pay your first subscription. The referrer gets some rewards and the new player gets some gear including a headband which boosts experience below level 25.

So you've played for a little and are overwhelmed? Here I will try and help out.

New player tips:

• Is there a wiki?: There are two really: Consolegames and GamerEscape. Consolegames is better for quests and Gamerescape is better for item information in my experience.
• What should I be doing?: generally when in doubt do your main story (MSQ, quest symbols that look like meteors). Side quests with + signs and blue backgrounds unlock new things. Normal gold quest markers are side quests and may give gear or items or jut experience. Do your job quests as you play as they give gear and new skills. But also do what you enjoy. There's a lot of freedom.
• How do classes work?: Classes and jobs are classified as DPS, healers and tanks. Normal parties require 2 DPS, one healer, and one tank. Classes can be upgraded to jobs at level 30 by following job quests. Jobs are stronger and better in every way. Expansion jobs don't have classes. Arcanist can become two jobs: Scholar and Summoner which are a healer and DPS respectively. Classes info and Jobs info. You can level every single job on one character. Every class or job has a different level but shares story progression. Jobs lower than your highest level job get boosted experience.
• How do I play my class/job?: There are good guides online but they focus mostly on endgame. Read your tooltips. There is also SE's job guide which gives some tips and has all the tooltips conveniently. It also just takes practice. Don't have to be perfect Day 1, just keep trying.
• How do I play my role?: There is a great in-game training tool called Hall of the Novice. It is available in any of the major cities at an NPC called the Smith who has a big sprout icon above his head. This training is pretty basic but really helps. It also gives a good set of level 15 armor that can last at least 5 levels and a ring that boosts experience until level 30. What gear do I equip and where from?: In the character menu there's a recommended equipment button. Use that. There's some niches when it doesn't work but starting out it's fine. Gear can be obtained from quests, vendors, crafting or dungeons. Job must match your class or role.
• How do I level?: the MSQ will cover nearly all your leveling on your first class/job. In expansions you may have to supplement with other tools. For the first 15 levels your Hunt log is really solid experience; just pull it up and kill the things it tells you to the number of times it tells you to. Dungeons starting at 15 become a really good source of experience. Dungeons do have matchmaking time which can be longer for dps. There is a role neutral deep dungeon called Palace of the Dead which is available starting at level 17 (being role neutral you may not learn your job well for the rest of the game). FATEs (world events) can help a little but generally don't give great experience till later expansions. Roulettes give boosted experience once a day and are good. These mostly focus on dungeons and trials.
• How do I level Faster?: As mentioned above, classes/jobs lower than your highest level class/job get boosted experience (+100% under 70, +50% under 80). The Brand New Ring from Hall of the Novice gives +30% experience under level 30. The Friendship circlet from refer a friend gives +20% experience under level 25 (recommend gear will unequip this so you may have to overwrite that). All food items give +3% experience.
• How do I get to endgame?: hit level 80 and complete all the current story. It will take a while. I don't recommend you rush. You can level and story boost for money but you really miss out on a lot of enjoyable content.
• What about crafting and gathering?: These are definitely helpful. You won't need them for your first job but they can help get gear and make some money in game. If crafting it is helpful to also level gatherers so you can be self sufficient on resources. If crafting you generally need to level 7 out of 8 of the crafter roles as they all rely on eachother. The exception is Culinarian which uses a different resource pool entirely. On gatherers you need Botanist and Minor for most crafts. Fisher is generally on its own but feeds into Culinarian.

If you have more questions:

• Google can usually help.
• Check the wikis.
• Ask other players.
• The subreddit has a daily questions thread which is very helpful.
• You can also post your question as a topic.

Good luck!

submitted by /u/engineeeeer7
[link] [comments]

Continue reading...