a test of the dunes

[Ritual]

ok me and my brother both play on the same server and r both useing WAR at lvl.12 and he said the line i hate the most in the game "lets head to the dunes to level up more" every time i play the game with friends or random ppl its always the same thing over and over.

so i proposed a test he gos and levels in the dunes i try to level at g.outpost and the challenge was set, with him been 500xp infront of me i didnt fancy my chances but we did it anyway we played for 2 hours and in that time he had joined a party, met up, found a camping spot and started hacking up crabs and flys. while in the 2 hours we had to play i slaughterd almost 20 orcish before he found a party and 5 more by the time he met up and found a camping point all in all putting me 50xp in the lead!

true he receved huge amounts of xp but between healing his WHM, BLM and pulling i was able to kill 3 more beastmen and catch up quickly it was fearly even until his team had to dispand because a few needed sleep and went offline leaving him with a BLM and a SAM while they struggled to get a new team i killed over 23 orcish and even managed a few grunts forcing me to level by the time he got a team together

in the end it was me leveling up 1 lv by the time he got half way to his, my advice stay away from partying and the dunes until your roughly 17 to 18 leveling up is easily done outside of that sunny beachjust my tip for the day

[Mikh07]

Re: a test of the dunes

{That's interesting.}

[Doll]

Re: a test of the dunes

That is a pretty interesting idea. I would like to try that once, preferably when I have a different job.

[Jei]

Re: a test of the dunes

good party > solo > bad party.
Unfortunately good party is quite hard to come by in the dunes. Still a good learning experience tho.

[Ryouken]

Re: a test of the dunes

Lvling in the dunes is a tricky subject, it can be REALLY good or REALLY bad for gaining exp. If your brother had gotten into a good PT, then he would have gained exp far more faster than you...

My advice is to stick with the dunes, while it can sometimes be a hassle to get into a PT (trust me I know the feeling of having to wait half an hour to join a PT), it can still be a great place to gain exp quickly...

[MadCrom]

Re: a test of the dunes

good party > solo > bad party.
Unfortunately good party is quite hard to come by in the dunes. Still a good learning experience tho.

LOL i could not agree with you more. I have been in my fair share of not so good parties and very good parties. But the things you learn from a party that is either doing well, or not so well is important for the rest of your adventures . Pretty much the building blocks of the rest of the game. I hate the Dunnes but Like you said "good learning Experience".

But there are also alot of things you learn when you solo so IMO Either one works Just have fun!!

~~~Snoogins~~~

[DrivenTooFar]

Re: a test of the dunes

I say stick with the dunes also. It is crappy but that is where you first learn how to party with your job. You don't want to get to the Dunes at 17 and totally suck because your not familiar with the party mechanics of your job. However, if you are expierienced then it would be alright to wait until later.

O the other hand, if you happen to get in a party with a PL which seems to happen half of the time, you will level much quicker then soloing.

[Lonerwolf]

Re: a test of the dunes

But powerleveling is the source of all evil.

[Ryouken]

Re: a test of the dunes

But powerleveling is the source of all evil.

lol, I think that depends on who is being PL'd

If newbs are being PL'd constantly and end up gaining most exp that way, then the result is a high lvl newb who totally relies on high lvl players to do their lvl grinding for them and has no concept on how an actual PT works...

If a newb is PL'd every now and then, and still participates in PT's with no PL, then the result is a high lvl newb who knows what he's doing and knows the mechanics of PT's...

I for one am grateful for PL's, since there are times when you really get tired of taking 4 hours to make a dent in your exp and are still having problems with the monsters constantly killing your PT members, those are times when you need a PL to help you out

I believe PLing is a tool that, if used responsibly and correctly, is a good means to helping you lvl grind quickly

... but thats just my opinion

[Jei]

Re: a test of the dunes

well, that is one thing you'll learn from bad parties too ^^ You'll start to see the PT builds that work as oppose to the ones that don't work.
Sometimes I see people of very balance jobs seeking for parties. Nin Thf Sam War Mnk Rdm Brd Whm Blm seeking for example. And I'd get invited into a PT of Thf Sam Mnk War War Blm. Man, this is like a heart brokenning moment.

[Jinnai]

Re: a test of the dunes

All the smart people just go back to leveling in Tahrongi with the Dhalmels =P.

[JeanRC]

Re: a test of the dunes

Let me give some tips about dunes. Or actually it can be use at any other level too.
When you get an invite, make sure that leader or guy who ask you for pt send you a reasonable tell asking you to pt and after you agree he invite you. Not invite you without any tell or any answer and then he invite you. Most probably if he did not send you a tell or you have not reply on the tell and he invite you mean that he dont know how things work well in ffxi which mean he wount be able to make a good pt. So avoid him and his pt.

2nd, ask what job and level is in the pt, if its not full with the right job like 1 tank 2 melee or 3 melee, 2 MP mage or 3 mage total 6 then ask him what other job and level he going to invite. Keep in mind its always good to invite tank and melee job as the highest level in the group due to they will be tanking and trying to hit it. With their level lower then the highest in pt will cause them not to be able to hit well or tank well for a good exp monster. A gap of 3 level is the max where most pt will work so dont get any pt which get out of range and if you are making a pt make sure the highest level is not going to level up very fast if the gap is 3 level. ask him for his tnl or @ exp to level up. MP mage = mage that has more mp so they can last longer in fight to cure. when a pt has 1 tank 3 melee with 2 mage only this 2 mage need to have more mp. By saying more mp meaning they should not be brd ,cor or galk blm/rdm unless this brd,cor,blm,rdm has astral ring and a lot of mp eq.

3rd, No offence but usually new people cant make good pt which mean no sub job leader or maybe rank1-2 level 1-20 people so try to avoid joining their pt considering with the above tips i said to judge it. Why i said so? because they are not really experience enough to made a good pt usually unless they have other character that are higher level etc. If they are new they should not try to make pt but join a pt. Even some experence people dont like to be a pt leader since its pretty troublesome and as a leader you should make all the decision and it will greatly effect how good the pt works.

I still have more tips to share but i dont think i will. If anyone follow this few tips on top, i am sure at least 80% of the pt you be in will be decent enough to beat any solo exp.

[Mikh07]

Re: a test of the dunes

well. . its either waiting for prime party members that may never come (for hours) or getting exp . .

[Stormcrow]

Re: a test of the dunes

well. . its either waiting for prime party members that may never come (for hours) or getting exp . .

or the 3rd option is dying every other pull and ending up with less xp than you started with, like what happened to me last night


I have found that soloing to at least 12-13 and then going to the dunes has been working out well for me. Plus once you hit level 12, you can kill most things in Konschtat Highlands or La Theine Plateau while seeking if there are a lack of other jobs seeking.

[Fether]

Re: a test of the dunes

or the 3rd option is dying every other pull and ending up with less xp than you started with, like what happened to me last night

I think most pties in dunes actualy prefer that option. =))