Some new questions on FFXI please help

[Antmf]

Hey all, I am an avid mmo player having played EQ DAOC Shadowbane WOW and now GW am interested in playing this game and was wondering what the grind is like... I mean I like being in grps and love being social in these types of games but dont want to play for 2 years to make cap level. I hate the real slow tedious grind lol. Any way if it does take a while to level does it feel like wow or EQ you are leveling just to level or is it fun not having to kill the same mob over and over and over? Also what class is easiest to start with? I normally play a rogue or assassin type class in mmo's but alos enjoy supprt type classes but refuse to be a healbot. so any recommendations would be appreciated. Was thinking maybe a thief somewhere down the road or maybe a bard but hear they arent that good in pve and really sux in pvp. How does this game look graphics wise and is early leveling a pain to atleast get to the leveles when you can find party's to group with easier? Please answer or point me in the right direction due to the fact I am thinking of quitting my wow acct and start playing ffxi. Please let me know thanks...

[Sevv]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

Hey all, I am an avid mmo player having played EQ DAOC Shadowbane WOW and now GW am interested in playing this game and was wondering what the grind is like... I mean I like being in grps and love being social in these types of games but dont want to play for 2 years to make cap level. I hate the real slow tedious grind lol. Any way if it does take a while to level does it feel like wow or EQ you are leveling just to level or is it fun not having to kill the same mob over and over and over? Also what class is easiest to start with? I normally play a rogue or assassin type class in mmo's but alos enjoy supprt type classes but refuse to be a healbot. so any recommendations would be appreciated. Was thinking maybe a thief somewhere down the road or maybe a bard but hear they arent that good in pve and really sux in pvp. How does this game look graphics wise and is early leveling a pain to atleast get to the leveles when you can find party's to group with easier? Please answer or point me in the right direction due to the fact I am thinking of quitting my wow acct and start playing ffxi. Please let me know thanks...

if you want to it 75 quick

Whm, Rdm, Nin, Brd your best bets.

Thf is most like what you normally play altho it wont level as quick as you would like.

Brd isnt very good in pvp, but lvls very quickly.

Whm and Rdm would be your healbots as you said.

Nin lvls very quickly post 37, and is good in pvp (this may be your best bet) but its a tank class.

just a quick over view.

[little ninja]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

if you want to it 75 quick
Whm, Rdm, Nin, Brd your best bets.
Thf is most like what you normally play altho it wont level as quick as you would like.
Brd isnt very good in pvp, but lvls very quickly.
Whm and Rdm would be your healbots as you said.
Nin lvls very quickly post 37, and is good in pvp (this may be your best bet) but its a tank class.
just a quick over view.

You left out Warrior you silly goose.

Leveling is easy or hard depending on the class you choose. Sev posted the majority of them that are your best choices. Also the amount of time you can put into it is also a factor.

Youd be surprised, But for the most part you lvl off of pretty much the same thing thru out most of your FFXI career.

[Chanse]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

Here's my two cents.
FFXI is a bit different compared to other games because of the Subjob systems. You don't want a kick ass character with a Gimp Subjob. So deciding on what you wanna take to 75 and knowing what SJ is best for that main job is a big deal and with a good plan you can get your character up to 75 pretty quick. Alot of people who take long to reach the cap are either indecisive on what to play or just because that's their pace. I see no rush in getting to 75 except for the reason that I quit once already and really miss the things I did when I hit 75.
Some of the jobs I see that are frustrated to find in order to start a PT are TANKS & MAIN Healers. Then once you get into a higher level, REFRESHERS are also needed to have a fast pace EXPing. So these jobs are probably the best bet on fast leveling. Here are some of what I think are good fast leveling Jobs.
TANKS = Low Level - WAR : Higher Level - PLD or NIN (PLD has a better chance of keeping hate, but I may be wrong... NIN gets into PT quicker.)
HEALERS = WHM is the first choice. But in higher level or depeding on the type of TANKS you have RDM and SMN can be a good choice.
REFRESHERS = RDM, BRD (I think BRD wins on this, because their songs can effect all jobs enhancements), and COR.
DAMAGE DEALERS = RNG (I think they are the highest DD in the game... but very expensive), MNK (a steady DDer and easier to maintain due to the fact that you don't shoot money at mobs or having to rest for MP), BLM (best DD for magic, downside is you have to rest for MP). Other jobs can be great DD also depending on what you SUB and how you equip your character.
FFXI is a Party based game play so each job has a specific role they play in the battle. So this can be an argumental subject... but this is just my opinion and if you join Good Luck and Welcome.

[Sevv]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

You left out Warrior you silly goose.
Leveling is easy or hard depending on the class you choose. Sev posted the majority of them that are your best choices. Also the amount of time you can put into it is also a factor.
Youd be surprised, But for the most part you lvl off of pretty much the same thing thru out most of your FFXI career.

war generally can lvl slowly it levels quick but not like the others, if you have alot of dds like on ifrit there is 20 or so 67-68 wars lol

[Antmf]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

As compared to wow or eq lineage 2 can anyone tell me the difference in grinding is in terms of leveling speed. Also Is a bard or thief a fun toon to play I don't want to play a WHM because I hate playing a healbot so I guess I narrowed it down to bard or thief. Thanks...

[Sevv]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

i didnt play eq or lineage i did play a lil wow, and yes it is more of a grinding sort of leveling, but taking breaks for quests etc or chatting with friends really help the "grind". brd would be more of a repeatative job then thief IMO. Best part is you can switch back and forth as much as you want until you find a job you like.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

war generally can lvl slowly it levels quick but not like the others, if you have alot of dds like on ifrit there is 20 or so 67-68 wars lol

I concur. The mid levels (all of those levels pre-Rampage) can be very slow. Before we become Rampage spammers, we're usually just considered yet-another-DD, or tank option #3. And when the party lowers themselves to inviting us to tank, they usually just bad mouth us through-out the duration of the party.

[Yeargdribble]

Re: Some new questions on FFXI please help

I mean I like being in grps and love being social in these types of games but dont want to play for 2 years to make cap level.

Really doesn't sound like the game for you. It doesn't take 2 years (for most), but it's no short ride.

I hate the real slow tedious grind lol.

By comparison it's more grind than the games you are familiar with. For a new character non-XP grinding situations (missions, quests) are few and far between.

Any way if it does take a while to level does it feel like wow or EQ you are leveling just to level or is it fun not having to kill the same mob over and over and over?

FFXI will give more of a community atmosphere if you get into a LS so you may feel less like you're leveling just to level. However, there is no Gen chat or anything like it such as in WoW. Many people that come from other MMOs comment about how quiet and barren it seems by comparison. In general you are leveling just to level so you can do other things (but what MMO isn't that way?).

Also what class is easiest to start with? I normally play a rogue or assassin type class in mmo's but alos enjoy supprt type classes but refuse to be a healbot.

Thief (rogue-esque) is probably the hardest (arguable with White Mage) job to start with. Red Mage is an easy start but if you wanna stay away from healing that's a no.

If you wanted to be a Thief you would start Warrior... level to 18... get the subjob quest done and then come back and change to Thief (now with the Warrior subjob) and level up again (from level 1). You'll have to also keep the appropriate subjobs leveled which will include Ninja later and once you're past 37 you'll need to level your Warrior subjob again too most likely.

Was thinking maybe a thief somewhere down the road or maybe a bard but hear they arent that good in pve and really sux in pvp.

Bard is not like Bard from other games. It is pure support. You will not be hitting anything. For most of your levels you will sing 2 songs on melees, run back and sing 2 songs on mages and you'll be singing a few songs on the mobs at the appropriate times while back-up healing. Bard is not for you in FFXI.

PvP? FFXI and PvP? No. Technically there is PvP in FFXI, but you can't duel and you can't attack fellow players really in any way. The only way are in the specific conflict things like Ballista where you are playing a mini-game and you happen to be able to kill players while doing the mini-game. However, Ballista is very dead these days and it's hard to have a match and there's a chance you'd be the only one to show up (they are on scheduled times).

If you want reasonable PvP, FFXI doesn't have it in any capacity.

How does this game look graphics wise

The game looks fantastic if you have a decent machine to run it on. Doing registry tweaks can make it look even better. Most machines now can make it look nice and it even looks okay with so-so settings. I far prefer its looks to WoW. The character detail and gear look much better. However, everyone does kinda look the same and there is not much variety in gear (even if there was you're almost required to wear specific gear by the community within a certain margin).

and is early leveling a pain to atleast get to the leveles when you can find party's to group with easier?

1-10 is generally done solo. It's pretty easy on most jobs. At 10 you will have to make the trek to Valkurm Dunes and start getting parties. People are painful noobs and parties don't last long sometimes. If you're unpopular or without a subjob, you will have trouble getting a party at first. The second time through Valkurm (after the subjob quest) is a little easier. For the first 40ish levels of the game you go through a very specific set of areas and LFP can suck a lot.

What sucks the most is you CAN NOT solo. At least not reasonably. They've made it a little better, but you still can't even begin to get a reasonable amount of XP toward your level. So soloing with LFP is not an option for most.

Please answer or point me in the right direction due to the fact I am thinking of quitting my wow acct and start playing ffxi. Please let me know thanks...

If you're coming from a WoW/EQ background you might find FFXI very frustrating. Keep that in mind before canceling your WoW account.