In search of friends, and aid.

[Xesaniel]

Hello,

My name is Xesaniel and I'm looking for a few answers for some questions I have, and to see if there might be someone who could sort of tutor me in the ways of this game. I've read the manual, and looked over the forums so I hope I am not a complete newb to this. I'll get on to my questions then, as to not bore you.
Before I do though, please take into account I have not yet played this game, it won't be for another two--three days yet before I can.

1) I plan on being a Black Mage, is that reasonable--or rather... sane for a beginner?

2) When I do start out, what should I do? I get told to do quests, and I also get told to just go out and bash a few things on the head. I like quests, but I also like blowing things up... Which is best in the long-run?

3) Just what the heck are linkshells? Are they the guilds of other MMO's?

4) If I am looking for max ability to deal damage, what race--advance-subjob should I pick out? ((I'll be playing with the latter of course,))

5) I'll be on my 360, I have a USB keyboard to plug in, and a headset. My concerns here are, if I use the headset will others be able to communicate with me via voice? And If I use the 360 controller, will I need the keyboard, or any combination therein?

6) Did I confuse/aggravate you to no end? I would certainly hate to. Honest!!

Thanks in advance!

-~-Xesaniel

[Rodin]

Re: In search of friends, and aid.

1) I plan on being a Black Mage, is that reasonable--or rather... sane for a beginner?

Black Mage is actually one of the easier jobs at lower levels. You'll notice at 55 a drop in invites, and it slows down to a screeching halt at 65. But by then, hopefully you'll have the skills and equipment to solo certain mobs to get to 75. That's what I had to do. Had BLM at 66 when ToAU was released.

2) When I do start out, what should I do? I get told to do quests, and I also get told to just go out and bash a few things on the head. I like quests, but I also like blowing things up... Which is best in the long-run?

There's actually fairly low questing done in this game compared to other games. You'll quest to get some things you'll need in the beginning, maps and other things, but most quests are done for Rare/Ex items. Not many people do quests that give a 500 gil reward. As BLM, you'll be blowing shit up.

3) Just what the heck are linkshells? Are they the guilds of other MMO's?

Yeah, they are.

4) If I am looking for max ability to deal damage, what race--advance-subjob should I pick out? ((I'll be playing with the latter of course,))

Honestly, this is what most people play FFXI for. Now, mindless TP burns rule the earth. There's also a compromise you'll have to make. The damage dealing jobs have a low invite rate compared to a support job like RDM, COR, or BRD, and healing jobs like WHM or RDM. (SMNs don't do too good in TP burns from what I'm told, but I've never actually seen one in a TP burn.)

5) I'll be on my 360, I have a USB keyboard to plug in, and a headset. My concerns here are, if I use the headset will others be able to communicate with me via voice? And If I use the 360 controller, will I need the keyboard, or any combination therein?

No, you can only communicate by keyboard. On Xbox 360, you can talk to people on your Xbox Live friend list. But you can only talk to one person at a time.

6) Did I confuse/aggravate you to no end? I would certainly hate to. Honest!!
Thanks in advance!

Nope, standard newbie questions.

[Xesaniel]

Re: In search of friends, and aid.

Thank you very much! I have one more quick question! After I posted that, yes even an hour, I went and looked about for the keyboard, turns out its broken beyond repair. I'll probably go out later and get a new one, my question then is; is there a specific model I should get in order for it to run on my 360? Regardless, is one brand really better than the next?
Okay so two questions! Sorry, and thanks once again in advance!

EDIT:: Oh yes, and whats TP? Sounds like something I used to do to the crazy lady's house on Halloween. Any correlation?

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: In search of friends, and aid.

EDIT:: Oh yes, and whats TP?

TP is short for Tactical Points. You gain fractional TP by hitting stuff with a weapon (not spells), and from getting hit physically. Once you have 100% TP or more, you can unleash a Weaponskill (WS), if you have managed to learn one or more WS previously.

Using the WS consumes all your TP, though you do gain some TP back if your Weaponskill manages to damage the enemy. WS's usually are more powerful than a regular hit (though not always), and sometimes have special effects on you (e.g. Regain MP) or the target (e.g. Bind, poison, silence, etc.).

1) I plan on being a Black Mage, is that reasonable--or rather... sane for a beginner?

It's fine, though you should realize that you can switch between any job without penalty.

If you aren't completely sure which job you'd like to try, have a look at this FAQ: Which Job Should I Play?

I do encourage every new play to level White Mage at least a little, though, since it's such a handy Support Job to have. (It's also a fun Main Job, but a lot of people would disagree with that statement.)

2) When I do start out, what should I do? I get told to do quests, and I also get told to just go out and bash a few things on the head. I like quests, but I also like blowing things up... Which is best in the long-run?

Get used to the game, run around and talk to NPC's, then level up a little just outside of the starting city.

Where you go from there, is up to you--and there are a lot of places to go.

4) If I am looking for max ability to deal damage, what race--advance-subjob should I pick out? ((I'll be playing with the latter of course,))

No one job is the best damage dealer in all situations. Take Black Mage, for example.

At Lv.50, BLM gains a very powerful spell, Freeze. When I first used that spell, it did close to 1000 points of damage in one shot (during something called "Magic Burst"). In EXP partying, no other job can exceed that at Lv.50 except maybe Summoners, and they can only do so once every two hours.

Over time, though, did I do the most damage in the party? Heck, no.

Freeze consumes a whooping 307 MP to cast (around half of MP pool?), and takes nearly 18 seconds to cast. I can ill afford to toss that out all the time. Not to mention after casting, the monster would frequently come after me, and waste the healer's MP--Black Mages have bad defenses, and takes more damage for each hit taken.

It was actually more sensible to stick to smaller nukes most of the time and help out the healer with curing than doing more damage with my MP, since I used to static with very good melee DD's.

Black Mages are the kings of damage on demand, but do poorly when it's one monster after the next in quick successions. Fortunately or unfortunately, that is exactly what most EXP parties want--to the exclusion of all else--starting around mid Lv.50's.

5) I'll be on my 360, I have a USB keyboard to plug in, and a headset. My concerns here are, if I use the headset will others be able to communicate with me via voice?

I'd just forget the headset; the PC and PS2 clients have no build in support for voice chat (not sure about xBox360 version), and thus most of people do not use voice chat--and those who do, do not all use the same service.

[Shadowneko]

Re: In search of friends, and aid.

to add something:

Xbox360 users only have access to Xbox Live's private chat feature which is...well limited to Xbox 360 users and even then it's not that great from what I've read.

The odds that everyone you meet will play on a 360 aren't that good in this game. I mean us PS2 and PC users have been here a very long time and you're going to want to talk to us and the only way to do that is to start typing!

[Xesaniel]

Re: In search of friends, and aid.

Thank you all very much! I appreciate the help! Hopefully I can find a few people like you guys--or gals if that be the case--when I actually get to play! I can't wait, I told myself years ago I was going to get this, then my girlfriend said I absolutely had to play Ragnarok Online, which was fun I'll admit, then it was WoW... Some ten years later, yes I am not talking literal, I've managed to actually go ahead and get this. Thank you all once again, and take care indeed!