3 "New" players seeking assistance

[heffroncm]

Myself and two of my friends are checking out FFXI, first time for one of us and second for the other two. We originally played right after US PC release. So many things seem to have changed since then, and I was hoping you folks wouldn't mind a brief Q&A to help get us on our feet.

1) From what I've been reading, most of the game seems fairly accessible for a party of 3. Is it feasible for the three of us to be able to progress primarily as a party of 3? I remember having a lot of difficulty finding groups for anything except the most popular grinding camps. We'd like to see a bit more of the world this time around, and try to do more of the various quests we could never find help with the first time.

2) Expansions in most MMOs typically target the end game or high level crowd. Does this hold true in FFXI? Specifically, should we be looking to CoP or WotG areas to better our leveling experience?

3) A question about Jobs. Are there any that simply aren't viable or are highly unpopular? I remember from release that BLMs had a heck of a time finding parties, because people just didn't think they could bring the boom. Right now, it seems like there is still a lot of debate over wether to bring a WHM to XP, what kind of tank to use, and wether some DPS jobs like Samurai or Dragoon are worth having around.

4) Is there anything significant I'm missing? Between the FFXIclopedia and the stickies in this forum, there is a lot of information for new players. If you can think of anything big that may have been ommitted from these resources, I would apprecaite it. Sometimes the folks playing a game gloss over very basic assumptions that leave new players feeling very lost.

I apologize if these questions have been answered in a place I should have found already. I've been trolling wiki's and message boards for a couple days trying to find all the information I could, and these are the unanswered questions I have left. Thank you all for your time.

*EDIT*
One thing more: which XP ring is the best to go with? Chariot, Empress, or Emperor? From what I can find, Empress seems the best as it has a higher max bonus than the Chariot and can still be used every day unlike the Emperor.

[Phanex]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

I'm not as experinced as some on here, but I'll give you a little advice for your questions.

1) Well depends on the jobs you and your friends want to lvl. A healer, tank, and a DD might work as a 3 man team but I don't see many of them. Probably because i'm not in the fields that offer that type of setup. Now if you 3 want to trio BLMS, that might work, but you will probably have a bit of down time, and wouldn't be quiet effect till you get Sleep Spell. As long as you 3 don't mind bringing in xp at a slower rate than a 6 man team, meh go for it. But with the new LvL sync system you have more options of inviteing 3 random DDs to the mix of ur team, if one of your friends go a Healer, and a Tank, then you shouldn't have a hard time finding DDs to add to your party.

2) I'll let the elites answer this one, i'm not too familer with those areas yet.

3) I'm don't think there are any "Not viable jobs". It mostly depends on what you are willing to do with that job. Main Heal as a SMN or RDM, or heck even BLMs could main heal with the right subs...

4) The stickies on here have some usefull tips for new players, and FFXIclopedia is the goto guide i use for Quests and ITems and such. Besides if you have a question and don't know where to look for it on FFXIclopedia, just post it up here and someone is always able to find it for you and will usualy post you a link.

As for the ring, it depends on how often you play. I lvl every night, so i use the Empress, but a friend of mine only lvls everyother day, so an Emperor is better suited for him. we'll get about the same amount of xp bounes. As for the Chariot...meh, i know of no one to use it.

[Neomage]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

It's been a long time since I've played(around a year I think), but from what I remember:

1) A three-man team can do pretty well in FFXI, much better then you can do solo anyway. A tank + healer combo will be essential for this to work, so make sure either your buddies or you are up for this. If you have a tank and healer though, it shouldn't be hard at all to find other members for a party up till about 40, after which you may need a support class to entice others.

2) The CoP content officially starts at Lv30, though it progresses through the levels quickly. If you have the guts for it, you can take your three-man group to several CoP areas to EXP with practically no competition from 30-50ish, but you will have a lot of trouble finding others willing(or even able) to go. Most of the CoP content kicks in around Lv60, this is when you will want it the most. As far as WoTG, you can start utilizing that content at Lv10, but in order to get there you will need to pass through extremely high level(70+) areas. If you have the guts for it though, it is very worthwhile. Sneak and Invisible is highly advised. The good news is you only have to make this trip once. Otherwise, WoTG content such as Campaigns and the missions start at around 60 as well.

3) There aren't any bad jobs really, though some have a bad reputation(Beast & Puppetmaster, among others) and you may have trouble finding parties with them, they will work fine in your proposed three-man situation.

4) Not really.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

1) You can trio but don't expect to always get as much exp as you would in a full pt. As long as you don't mind leveling a bit slower, you should be able to trio through the game.

2) No, the lower leveling areas are still mainly in the older areas. Once in a while someone will want to exp in the past but thats about it. I've been leveling some lower level jobs lately and thats the only place I've gone other than the old areas.

3) Drg used to be made fun of but now they are very desirable in the game, especially higher levels at bird camps. LOL If you are talking about just leveling desirability, bsts and pups have a lot of difficulty partying if they choose to. Thfs can also have a hard time. Endgame desirability is another story entirely but I don't think thats what you were aiming for.

4) I always tell new players to spend a few hours walking all over there city and familiarizing themselves with their maps. Also talk to all the NPC's, some will give you quests and others will just say stuff but it helps you to discover things and remember places in your hometown. Once you graduate to the Jeuno area, do the same with that city....do it with every city that you eventually discover. FFXIclopedia is your bible.

As for the ring, exactly what Phanex said. It depends on your play style.

[heffroncm]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

Thank you for the information and advice. So far, we have one person who wants to go WHM, one person who wants to be a THF, and myself who is going to play a tank, prolly go PAL in the end. Should work out for quite a while. We'll probably just stick to original content, take our trio out to a campsite of VTs and see what we can do.

TGM, special thank you for the "talk to everyone" advice. It's the best thing there likely is to tell a new player of this game. Not only does it give you a firm basis in knowing where things are, collect a number of good starter quests, and root you in the storyline, but it very much describes the pacing of this game. You spend your first few hours with very little combat, talking to people and doing things other than leveling. Taking days or weeks away from the leveling grind to pursue other aspects is just part of what FFXI is about.

One other thing that surprised me, as none of the 'newbie' pages mentioned it in any sort of detail: you cannot seem to party in the low levels. My memory is hazy, but I seem to remember JL 10 as the point where you could invite and accept invitations?

Again, thanks for all your help.

[godsaiyan]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

Well if u r gonna start i recommend joining the Remora Server and seeking jamiefulton, thats me. I will let u join my linkshell which has a good amount of players ranging from beginners to end gamers. If i am nopt aroound, /tell deafdragon, deafbutterfly, elizar, Jaydog, forque, Echos, Dakaran, Galen or any1 u see wearing a sack for the linkshell: theblackdragonclan. We welcome any1 and we will help out where ever we can. Trust me, the LS gets things done and done well and u will meet many friendly ppl on it.

Hope 2 c u soon

[Elwynn]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

2) The CoP content officially starts at Lv30, though it progresses through the levels quickly. If you have the guts for it, you can take your three-man group to several CoP areas to EXP with practically no competition from 30-50ish, but you will have a lot of trouble finding others willing (or even able) to go.

My main reason for not wanting to re-do the first three promies except for people in the LS (or as 7th man) is that Reraise is level 33. But in less than two weeks it becomes level 25. RR is such an amazing headache reducer that any WHM who has it won't want to go without it.

Of course the other reason is that nobody in a pick-up party is likely to have been farming for animas, which make the three promy fights incredibly easier. (Assuming you get people to use them at the right time too.)

[Neomage]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

Of course the other reason is that nobody in a pick-up party is likely to have been farming for animas, which make the three promy fights incredibly easier. (Assuming you get people to use them at the right time too.)

That's the main reason why most promy runs fail. People are to dang lazy to farm em. I used to make a killing back in the day(when I was like 40 myself) mercing myself out to farm animas(easy to solo as BLM)I would have 3-4 people go AFK in one of the craigs, farm a recollection for each of them, then walk away with 40k. Then I would learn later they died on the run(Because they only animas they used were the ones I farmed) and they would pay me to farm some more. Easier then silk threads. Note that re-raise earrings are available at that level...

[TheGrandMom]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

I just did the Promies again on another character. I had tried and tried to get this character through them for years....yes, years. I had done 17 failed pickup parties and that was AFTER I started counting so theres about 10 more attempts to add to that. I got Holla and Mea done but eventually gave up trying because the parties seemed to get dumber and dumber and my blood pressure couldn't take it anymore. LOL With my other character's data being damaged now, I HAVE to get access with another character on the same server. So an ls member with an alt teamed up with me and we are trying to get CoP done. The Promies were a BREEZE compared to all my past attempts! Anima are AN ABSOLUTE MUST. Smn's are a big help too! LOL I hope we are going to advance more tonight. We did minotaur on Monday night but last night we did 14 KS99 battles and I was too pooped to stay up for more CoP.

[Neomage]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

That's one of the things I really like about FFXI. The battle's aren't simply overpowering the monster or zerg rushing it - they involve strategy.

[heffroncm]

Re: 3 "New" players seeking assistance

Hey folks. Wanted to drop by to say thanks again. My little group is up and rolling on Alexander. I'm doing my best to take it slow and focus on money making this time, so I don't end up stuck with a near 40 char with no good gear. With about 30k worth of ore and ingots waiting to sell, I think I've a good start for first job level 7.

One tip that I haven't seen posted directly, is to make the absolute most out of the Field Manuals. When you've only 60 gil to your name, that extra 300 an hour really adds up and can be the seed money for some big things if you watch the market.