New player questions.

[Lucky7]

In my short time in Vanadiel I think I've been able to learn most of the basics, but there are a couple of things that are still not clear to me and I hope they can be cleared or at least discussed here.

Lets start with the AH:
- Is there a way to sort or filter or search in the AH? Looking for a sword is like looking for a needle in the haystack. If I can enter the name of the item I'm looking for or filter for "any sword between levels 1-10" or at least sort it in alphabetical order it would save tons of times.
- Is there a way for me to know how much the person selling the item is asking for? I know I can look at the "history". I think all that is saying is how much other people paid for the same item in the last X days. But what about this one I'm bidding on? Yesterday there were was a sword that sell days before for 300gil. I placed a bid for 250gil and it failed. Was I short by 50 gill or did this seller put it there for 400 gil?

UI:
- I can see in the top left the buffs/debuffs on me, but I have no idea how long something is there before it goes away. Is there a way for me to get a timer up there for each one? Or do I need to keep my own personal timer?
- Is there a way for me to display the debuffs on my target? I would prefer to be looking at the graphics instead of reading thru the log to see if X spell wore off the target.
- Right now I have everything going to the chat log. If there are many people around it can get really busy and I may miss something sent to me in a /tell. I know I can filter stuff out, but I was wondering if besides filtering if I can get a second tab for the log. Basically having one for combat stuff and another for /tell /party /ls, etc
- exp/hr. I saw a screen shot in these forums with a bar in the bottom that was calculating the exp/hr and other stuff found in Status. Is this an addon or something I can enable in game?

Aggro:
Lets say I'm soloing and there is this other guy soloing next to me. He pulls a mob, but it links and now he has 4 behind him and he is running away to zone out. I want to help and cast a Dia on one of them. What happens?
- Will all 4 stop chasing him and fight me?
- Will only the one I cast Dia on stops to fight me and the others keep running after the other player?
- Will only the one I cast Dia on stops to fight me and the others keep running after the other player, but once the player dies/zones out come after me?

In-game mail: Is there such a thing? I haven't seen a mailbox anywhere. If there isn't, how do I send stuff to other players?

Bazaars: Where are they? How do I look at bazaars from other players? And the must important question, are things there cheaper than in the Ah?

Thanks!

[Nandito]

Re: New player questions.

Let's see here...

In my short time in Vanadiel I think I've been able to learn most of the basics, but there are a couple of things that are still not clear to me and I hope they can be cleared or at least discussed here.

Lets start with the AH:
- Is there a way to sort or filter or search in the AH? Looking for a sword is like looking for a needle in the haystack. If I can enter the name of the item I'm looking for or filter for "any sword between levels 1-10" or at least sort it in alphabetical order it would save tons of times.
- Is there a way for me to know how much the person selling the item is asking for? I know I can look at the "history". I think all that is saying is how much other people paid for the same item in the last X days. But what about this one I'm bidding on? Yesterday there were was a sword that sell days before for 300gil. I placed a bid for 250gil and it failed. Was I short by 50 gill or did this seller put it there for 400 gil?

- While you can't search for an item by it's specific name, you can however sort the way they appear. Basically this is what I do for equipment. Say you want a level 7 sword, you just go to the Sword section, click on any item and you'll see the options History, Place Bid, or Sort. Of course, Sort is what you want. So click that, and choose Levels. Now, every single sword will be from level 1 to 75. Just scroll until you find the level 7 swords!
- That's the beauty of it. You can't tell! You just have to experiment. Look at the history and see how much everyone was bidding for it. Hell, if you see a whole row of 300's, then that's pretty much what everyone is putting it up for. However, some people are lazy and want to get rid of the item quick-- so you can try bidding lowest to greatest. Next time, try 260, then 270, then 280 and blah blah blah.

UI:
- I can see in the top left the buffs/debuffs on me, but I have no idea how long something is there before it goes away. Is there a way for me to get a timer up there for each one? Or do I need to keep my own personal timer?
- Is there a way for me to display the debuffs on my target? I would prefer to be looking at the graphics instead of reading thru the log to see if X spell wore off the target.
- Right now I have everything going to the chat log. If there are many people around it can get really busy and I may miss something sent to me in a /tell. I know I can filter stuff out, but I was wondering if besides filtering if I can get a second tab for the log. Basically having one for combat stuff and another for /tell /party /ls, etc
- exp/hr. I saw a screen shot in these forums with a bar in the bottom that was calculating the exp/hr and other stuff found in Status. Is this an addon or something I can enable in game?

- You're gonna have to keep track of those on your own.
- Not that I know of. I always scroll. Fun fun!
- I'm on PS2 and it's different how I go about it so... someone else grab this one.
- It's simply a 3rd-party program for the PC. Not really legal, so you can go try and find it on Google.

Aggro:
Lets say I'm soloing and there is this other guy soloing next to me. He pulls a mob, but it links and now he has 4 behind him and he is running away to zone out. I want to help and cast a Dia on one of them. What happens?
- Will all 4 stop chasing him and fight me?
- Will only the one I cast Dia on stops to fight me and the others keep running after the other player?
- Will only the one I cast Dia on stops to fight me and the others keep running after the other player, but once the player dies/zones out come after me?

- The one you casted it on will target you, the rest will keep following him. If he zones or dies, as long as they don't link with their own kind or aggro by a specific trait (Sight: If they're looking toward you, Sound: If you're near by them), they will simply disappear back to their spawn point.

In-game mail: Is there such a thing? I haven't seen a mailbox anywhere. If there isn't, how do I send stuff to other players?

Indeed. If the person is in your friend list, you simply go to it and click their name. The options will be Tell (Can't click on it if they're not online) and Send Message. That is what you will use. When they come back online, they're either read the message in their PlayOnline Viewer or will notice a blinking icon on the top right of their screen. Now if you wanna send ITEMS to someone, you need to talk to an NPC near the Auction House. You'd normally just write down their name, pick the items from your inventory (You can only send a max of 8), and you'll send it to his/her delivery box in their Mog House.

Bazaars: Where are they? How do I look at bazaars from other players? And the must important question, are things there cheaper than in the Ah?

Examine another people that have a bag icon before their name, click on their bazaar, and browse around. The price of the item is set by them, you won't have to second guess the price. Normally, people use the bazaar to sell items they can't sell on the Auction House, so it depends on the person. Who knows? Maybe you can get lucky on an item you want.

Oh yeah, and before I finish, always make sure to browse the wares of an NPC first. This is crucial for new players. Nothing is worse than buying a robe for 1000gil from the Auction House, when an NPC in the city you're in is selling them for 200 or such.

[Murphie]

Re: New player questions.

AH:
You can sort the AH by level (as well as other factors). I find the level sort to be easiest, as I can find what I need based on my level rather easily.

The way that the AH is set up, you just have to guess. Someone may be selling for far below the last sale price, or they may be selling for more. The only way to find out is to bid low at first, and slowly increase the amount until you get the item.

UI:
There are no buff timers, unfortunately.

There isn't a way to display debuffs on the mob.

You cannot get a separate tab for the log. One window is it (though you can "hold" things like Tells and other personal chat, which may prove helpful (personally I don't use it).

ExpWatch is a Windower Plugin. It's only available for the PC, and if you're interested in using Windower (which is against the TOS, though many still use it), that's your call to make.

Aggro:
Only the one mob will stop.

There are two Delivery NPCs at every AH. You can send up to 8 items (or amounts of gil) at a time to people. Inside your moghouse, you can receive the items or return them to sender.

If you see a player with a small bag icon to the left of their name, that player has items for sale in a Bazaar. Check them to access the Bazaar option.

[Ellipses]

Re: New player questions.

About the chat log and buffs/debuffs:

I recommend turning off any chat filters you don't actually need. Like missed attacks, things done by "others," etc. It makes it easier not to miss those status messages. Changing the colors might help, too.

Edit: Chat filter guide that I don't think is completely accurate anymore, but it's a start at least.

You can't get a separate tab for linkshell or party chat that's viewable immediately in a separate area, but you can view them separately after the fact. Hit your "change window" button (by default, I think this is + on the keyboard, triangle on the PS2 controller, dunno for xbox), then confirm/enter, then the change window button again. You get the full chat log, then tells, linkshell, say, party, and shout (not in that order) each on a separate page.

[Lucky7]

Re: New player questions.

Thanks to all for your replies. The Chat filter guide is a great read. I still have to play with it, but it definitely helps tons. I didn't think about checking the local vendors for gear/weapon besides the AH. It was a good thing I didn't get some stuff in the AH the other day.

I have one follow up question. I'm currently using a dagger (the one that the RDM came with). I would like to level sword also. Once I hit 10 with the RDM I was thinking of changing to BLM to 1-10. Should I start leveling sword now or just wait till I level BLM? In other words, do the skill i gain on weapons stay with me regardless of jobs or do they reset when I change jobs?

[Raydeus]

Re: New player questions.

Btw did you get a pearl already? If not I'll get you one when I log today (in 4 hours or so), sorry I didn't make it the other day.

[Lucky7]

Re: New player questions.

I still have no pearl. I'll send you a tell when I login tonight. Thanks!

btw, I'm in EST time. I wont be online until 8pm or so (~6 hours from now).

[Murphie]

Re: New player questions.

If you don't see Raydeus online, look for me (Murphie), or Lilithangel, or Mhurron, or even Sevv, though he'll likely be busy.

[Lucky7]

Re: New player questions.

Thanks! Will do.

[Ellipses]

Re: New player questions.

I have one follow up question. I'm currently using a dagger (the one that the RDM came with). I would like to level sword also. Once I hit 10 with the RDM I was thinking of changing to BLM to 1-10. Should I start leveling sword now or just wait till I level BLM? In other words, do the skill i gain on weapons stay with me regardless of jobs or do they reset when I change jobs?

The skills you acquire with weapons and spells stay with you, to a point. Each job has a certain cap with each kind of weapon or magic. So say you got Dagger to 20 on RDM, and then started BLM. At BLM level 1, Dagger would be capped (probably at 3 or something; I don't know the exact number). However, BLM has no skill at all with Sword, and there aren't any BLM can equip (at least not for a while; there may be "All Jobs" swords later on or something).

In general, trying to pre-level the weapon you're going to use on another job isn't all that practical. If you're meleeing with the weapon you want to skill up, it's going to skill up on its own anyway. Pre-leveling it only saves you a little bit of time, nothing terribly noticeable for the most part. As a mage, you're not going to be meleeing in parties much anyway (as a RDM, you can get away with it for a little while; it doesn't take long for the TP you give the mob and the damage/status effects you take from being within AOE range to outweigh the little bit of damage you'll do).

[Feba]

Re: New player questions.

If you don't see me (Murphie) online, look for Lilithangel. After that, you can try Raydeus, Mhurron, or even Sevv, even though they're all cruel bastards.

Fixed.