Best City to Level From 1?

[Mhurron]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

What area you prefer is not the topic you started, what area is best was. There is no best no matter what area you may prefer.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

The best place to start really depends of if you have any job goals from the outset. If you wanted to be a Ninja or had read up enough to know you'd need a Ninja subjob early on, then I would suggest Bastok or Windurst first since both offer opportunities for Tenshondo fame.

There are also two pre-requisite quests you must do before you can start the PLD quest at 30, so if that was your interest for an advanced job, then you might wish to start in Sandoria.

Any mage its best starting out in Windurst for scrolls there, though BLMs will always be forced to hoof it to Sandoria for the quested Drain Scroll.

If crafts are a concern I would start out in Sandoria if you skewed to woodworking since Gheselba Outpost offers logging. Smithers and Goldmithers could start in Bastok. Fisherman and Cooks should start in Windurst.

But if none of that concerns you and you're just looking for fast leveling and ease of travel, then San'doria is probably the best place for that.

[Armando]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I usually level in Windurst because 1) it's my home nation (and for a reason...) 2) I like the scenery and music best, and 3) it brings back many memories of when I first started.

It's natural some people will prefer one area over the another. I find Gustaberg to be a depressing place, especially after camping Lizzy 24/7 for the six days before X-mas in an attempt to get the boots for my ex. That drove me insane and personally I can't stand Gustaberg any more. It also has its outpost further away than other nation's newbie zones do, which is annoying.

[Ameroth]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I honestly don't think there is a "best city" to level from 1 up. It's all really your own personal preference. Example: I prefer Gustaberg mainly because when I started the game, I started in Bastok. However, I've leveled a few jobs outside Sandy, and took SMN from 1-11 outside Windurst.

Like someone else mentioned, lots of zones are mirrors of each other in terms of mob levels. No starter area is specifically better than any other starter area.

[bri360]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I find that I level much faster in bastok than any other city, maybe its just because im used to it and I know the best spots in gustaberg, but still the layout and monsters make it very easy to get to 10.

[Lunaryn]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up yet...

I'd say Bastok wins hands down for 1-5 (or at least 1-4) for Zeruhn mines. South Gustaberg offers a high concentration of level 0 mobs near each entrance to Bastok, but at various other levels it's somewhat more sparse. However, the mines provides a high concentration of level 1-2 mobs and a decent sampling of level 3-4 mobs, IIRC. Bats, which may only be found outdoors at night, can be found at all hours in Zeruhn. I've always found that I can level through the initial stretch of a job much faster in Zeruhn.

Post level 5, Zeruhn isn't worthwhile and one would move on to South Gustaberg and/or Dangruf Wadi. However, if you can move between cities, I tend to prefer other locales particularly in the 8+ range.

[Silent Howler]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I usually level in Windurst because 1) it's my home nation (and for a reason...) 2) I like the scenery and music best, and 3) it brings back many memories of when I first started.

It's natural some people will prefer one area over the another. I find Gustaberg to be a depressing place, especially after camping Lizzy 24/7 for the six days before X-mas in an attempt to get the boots for my ex. That drove me insane and personally I can't stand Gustaberg any more. It also has its outpost further away than other nation's newbie zones do, which is annoying.

Same here. So far every job I have leveled from 1 has always started in Windurst. Even when I unlocked Nin, the quest finishes in Bastok and I could have easily started leveling there, but I went all the way back to Windurst. (Although I did need to work on my Norg fame a little bit too for Utsusemi.)

I think Gustaberg might be my least favorite location in the game... Not because of bad exp or anything, it's just it feels so..cold. And I hate having to go through South Gustaberg if I want to get to Konschtat Highlands. It's easier to get out of the starting zones in the other two nations. (Although you don't really have to worry about that until after lvl 10.)

I know both Bastok and Windurst have very nice concentrations of lvl 0 and 1 mobs near the exit for just getting started. Not so sure about San d'Oria. I've had the least leveling experience there, but from passing by the mobs do seem a little more spread out.

[Murphie]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up yet...

I'd say Bastok wins hands down for 1-5 (or at least 1-4) for Zeruhn mines. South Gustaberg offers a high concentration of level 0 mobs near each entrance to Bastok, but at various other levels it's somewhat more sparse. However, the mines provides a high concentration of level 1-2 mobs and a decent sampling of level 3-4 mobs, IIRC. Bats, which may only be found outdoors at night, can be found at all hours in Zeruhn. I've always found that I can level through the initial stretch of a job much faster in Zeruhn.

Post level 5, Zeruhn isn't worthwhile and one would move on to South Gustaberg and/or Dangruf Wadi. However, if you can move between cities, I tend to prefer other locales particularly in the 8+ range.

I feel the same way about Bastok for 1-5. Though, if there are more than one or two other people in there, the mobs get scarce quickly.

I still prefer to level outside Sandy, because I know where all the little pockets of mobs are, but if Zeruhn is empty, I love to stack up on bat wings and dust (or whatever that stuff is, I can't remember).

[Lunaryn]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

Zeruhn Soot. Nice simple way to work on your Bastok fame. Also, if you have the inventory space to spare, combining leveling with mining can work well, though this works best if you have Smithing high enough to process Iron Ore as you get it rather than having to sell or stockpile it. Zinc is worth saving and taking to Port Bastok if you haven't gotten Tenshodo Fame 4 yet. Otherwise, that too can be processed if Goldsmithing is high enough and as you get sufficient Copper (you may well get more Zinc than Copper, but every little bit of stacking helps).

[Evion]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

My opinion of what is best is the majority's opinion of what is best. I'm certainly glad all of you have offered up opinions/information on 1-10 lvling areas. I too believe Gustaburg is a barren and sad place. I think that is one of its very few downfalls. Almost forgot about the mines! Soo easy to get to 4 in there... maybe 20 minutes with Empress Band. I think potential crafters should start in Windy or Sandy (Except Goldsmithing, but who does Goldsmithing anyway...). I think BST starts best in Basty as well. Charming Lizzies to stomp Bees is SOOOO nice.

[Lunaryn]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I tend to find Bastok best for smithing. At very low levels it won't matter much whether you go with Bastok or Sandy aside from guild tests, but once you're dealing with Iron you want to hang out in Bastok.

Bastok also has the Alchemy guild, though so many low level things depend on regional supplies or stuff vendored in Sandy or Windy that you'd have a decent argument for any location. In fact, I'd recommend having a character in each city if you plan to work seriously on Alchemy. From what I've heard Cooking is worse.

[Kailea]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

easiest way to answer OPs question, start in the nation belonging to your race, so you can get a free level 1 ring, then choose a job based one of the rings stats ;p

[Evion]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I like that Kailea! I didn't mention Basty for Alchemy because the synth items are so common in each city...

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

I started in Sandy and it wasn't too bad, but from now on whenever I level a job out, I do it in Windurst. Its honestly a little harder than sandy, but its made up for by the amount of gil you can make by killing bees and crawlers while leveling. By the time I make it to the Dunes from Windurst I've typically pocketed a decent sum of gil. More so in the olden days than today.

[Pteryx]

Re: Best City to Level From 1?

There's also the question of which nation's story sounds the most interesting to you since, while you can change nationalities, there are significant penalties associated with this, including the loss of all your hard-earned outpost warps.

So, would you rather hear a tale of a succession problem and the race to control a legendary weapon, a tale of racial tensions and the full background of the Shadow Lord, or a tale of struggling against fate as a powerful force of nature? -- Pteryx