My first time time-traveling via the cavernous maws and have many questions.

[Thalyn]

So, here’s the plan, followed by many questions.

I’m level 25 and attempting to get to Windurst in the “past” (in particular, the Windurst Waters (S) cavernous maw link). I used one of the cavernous maws near Jeuno and ended up in Rolanberry Fields (S). I know the route I need to take is: Rolanberry Fields (S) > Sauromuge Champaign (S) > Meriphataud Mountains (S) > Fort Karugo-Narugo (S) > West Sarutabaruta (S) > Windurst Waters (S).

When I used the cavernous maw for the first time, I was presented with a cutscene where the soldiers informed me that Jeuno was “off limits to civilians”. I was instructed to go to the base at the Crawler’s Nest (S)...

Questions:

1) If I don’t go to the Crawler’s Nest (S) to continue with the mission path that eventually rewards me with the ability to participate in campaigns, is that going to prevent me from traveling to Windurst Waters (S) in some way (or cause problems once I reach there)? Examples: guard not permitting me entrance into Windurst because I’m “a civilian”, or vendors/other NPCS being unusable, etc. I do realize I’ll be missing out on the Fort Karugo-Narugo map quest if I don’t go to the Crawler’s Nest (S), but I was planning on just using a printed one.

2) Is Jeuno ever accessible in the past (and thus traveling through it) or do I have to more or less always travel around it?

3) Is chocobo travel an option (in the past) so I can reach Windurst (S) easier, or do I need to rely on my supply of invisibility powders and silent oils? If so, where can the

4) Are signets available in the past (not so much for the conquest function, but rather the combat benefits it adds)?

5) Are there homepoints to bind to along the way in case I get KO’d before reaching Windurst (S)? I saw one NPC with several players around him, but when I spoke to him he noted that I was a civilian and should leave. I haven’t seen a crystal to bind to so far either. If there isn’t one, and I get KO’d, am I transported back to my last homepoint in the present?

6) Having not seen the zone yet, the Fort Karugo-Narugo (S) and Fivespires map is little confusing (map link: Fort Karugo-Narugo (S)/Maps - FFXIclopedia, the Final Fantasy XI wiki - Characters, items, jobs, and more ). Can anyone recommend the safest route through it, including which entry point to take from Meriphataud Mountains (S)?

7) There were quite a few gates which required player interaction to pass through in Rolanberry Fields (S) and Batallia Downs (S). I’ve not started using my supply of prism powder yet because it’s limited, but I was planning on using it for the trip between Sauromuge Champaign (S) and Windurst Waters (S). My understanding is we can’t interact with objects like doors and gates while invisible, which means canceling my invisibility status every time I need to pass through a gate. Are there are lot of them blocking the way in each zone between/including Sauromuge Champaign (S) and Windurst Waters (S)?

I realize these are a lot of noobie questions, so let me say thank you in advance to anyone taking the time to answer some of them.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: My first time time-traveling via the cavernous maws and have many questions.

1) No

2) It's not accessible.

3) Yes but you need to do campaign to get currency to use to rent a chocobo. Chocobo vendors are in town and by teleport crystals.

4) Yes

5) No there are no save points along the way to town.

6) Check FFXIclopedia, the Final Fantasy XI wiki - Characters, items, jobs, and more for that information.

7) No there are not. And yes, it is annoying to have to cancel your invisible. Check FFXIclopedia, the Final Fantasy XI wiki - Characters, items, jobs, and more for information about the zones and what mobs you'll need invisible for. It's quite easy to avoid most invis mobs as long as you pay attention.

[Jarre]

Re: My first time time-traveling via the cavernous maws and have many questions.

When going to bastok (s) with my lvl 45 pld I went through about 8-9 prism potions and the same silent oils, go to ffxiwiki to find out all the agro types so you can avoid them, its a long walk i must warn you and your heart will beat really fast in palces as you run to find a safe spot before your invis runs out. Might be worth obtaining a re-raise scroll and use that to save you being teleported back to jeuno and having to start again. best option is get re-raise via Fields of valour quests, then buy a scroll then you have re-raise x2 to use in case you are unfortunate.

[Elwynn]

Re: My first time time-traveling via the cavernous maws and have many questions.

I used one of the cavernous maws near Jeuno and ended up in Rolanberry Fields (S).

That's good. If you had ended up in the Sauromugue one and not gone back to exit at Rolanberry_S you would have been in a bit of trouble trying to get back. (You can come out in any of the three maws by Jeuno the first time.)

1 - you can go without the invite letter, but there won't be a lot you can do. You need to join a nation so that you can participate in campaign battles or campaign ops so that you can get Allied Notes so that you can use the teleports.

But I can say that Windurst is the easiest one to reach, since most of the path to it is low aggro.

2 - Jeuno_S is still not available

3 - Chocobo travel requires you to 1) have a chocobo license in the regular areas, and 2) have Allied Notes. See #1.

4 - The WoTG signet is Sigil. And it has options for refresh, regen, longer food duration, and lowered XP loss from KO... but they cost Allied Notes. See #1. Note that you do NOT gain Allied Notes from regular combat like you get CP or IS from the other two signets.

5 - Home points are in each main city, and the Retrace spell always sends you to the home point of your WoTG nation. The NPC with people around is for outbound warps, to any zone that you have previously entered. Again, Allied Notes see #1. But nothing along the way, other than HP in Jeuno and going through the Rolanberry maw. Maws sort of can work like home points, but most of them are too far off the path to be of use when unlocking areas.

6 - FKN is kind of confusing, but basically all the Meriph_S entry points are about equal because of the layout of FKN.

7 - Remember what I said about low aggro? The WoTG areas tend to have low aggro (or sparse aggro) along the main paths, but if you walk off it a bit, you'll get sliced like deli meat. But I was able to unlock ALL of the WoTG areas with a level 1 mule, and I don't think I even used powder/oil much if at all.


So here's what I did to get a level 1 mule started:

* Start mule in Jeuno and set HP in Lower Jeuno just in case. I leveled up the mule on another job to get enough FoV tabs to use Repatriation to get back to the home city.

* Go into Rolanberry Maw, come out another maw and go back in and out, then off to Rolanberry. (In this case it was Batallia) There's basically no aggro you can't avoid, even that one gobbie bst at Sauromugue_S J-9.

* Go to Crawler's Nest_S, get recommendation letter, start FKN map quest. Do FKN map quest (using wiki to get the answers right), go back to CN_S and pick up map.

* Go to Sauromugue, then follow the southern route through H-9. Walk around the J-9 gob, then head to Meriph.

* Take the D-6 exit to FNK because it's closest. At this point, I haven't had to use any oils or powders, just be paitent and walk around what few things show up.

* Head to F-7 (the gate "A" on the map). You'll have to watch out for gobs (just avoid them) and raffs. Raffs are sound aggro, but they should be sparse enough to avoid.

* Go through the tower to the "C" or "D" exit. The rest of the route to Saruta is completely aggro free, just don't take that side path to the coast.

* Head to the tower at H-6. Watch out for raffs along the way. The road is aggro-free all the way from the tower to the gate at J-8 and the maw at H-9. You might want to visit the maw first to unlock it.

* Check wiki for which NPC you need to talk to to sign up, then you will get a quest to putty up all three Horutoto towers. One of them is outside the gate, F11 is easy to get to without sneak or invis if you pay attention, and F4 you might have trouble with raffs at G-5. Go back to the NPC and you're done.

* I reached this point with no oils or powders or deaths on a level 1 character.

* If you don't want to fight in campaign battles right away (especially if your char is level 1), you can wait a couple of days, then you will have Campaign Ops available, and can do Streetsweeper I a few times to get more than enough notes for teleports.

At this point I should go ahead and write a guide for unlocking all three areas. I still have a mule left without WoTG unlocked.

[Thalyn]

Re: My first time time-traveling via the cavernous maws and have many questions.

Thanks everyone for the detailed info!

But I was able to unlock ALL of the WoTG areas with a level 1 mule, and I don't think I even used powder/oil much if at all.

I had read somewhere that you had to be at least level 25 to use the maws, but if that's not true then I'd definitely rather try this as a level 1 job. Against the mobs in these areas level 1 or level 25 isn't going to make much difference survival wise, and I'd rather be immune to the XP loss. That would remove a *lot* of the stress.

Again, thanks! I'll be trying this plan out if I can ever get back into the game (my account was closed today due to not having a 3-D Secure credit card, even though it's not September 1st yet).

[Elwynn]

Re: My first time time-traveling via the cavernous maws and have many questions.

Of course I should point out that I knew my way around the place and where the aggro was. In fact, that's why I went to Windurst first.

Pashhow and Grauberg required me to be very careful about aggro, especially right around the tele crystal. And for San d'Oria, I cheated a bit by zoning into Jugner, then warping back in so I wouldn't have to go through Vunkerl Inlet. There's quite a bit of "cheating" you can do if you've already done it before on another character.

[Durahansolo]

Re: My first time time-traveling via the cavernous maws and have many questions.

That's good. If you had ended up in the Sauromugue one and not gone back to exit at Rolanberry_S you would have been in a bit of trouble trying to get back. (You can come out in any of the three maws by Jeuno the first time.)

I did that not knowing how hard it was to get back to Sauromugue, otherwise I would've went to rolanberry before I came back. I ended up having to NIN 2HR near the Maw and have a friend go through Sauromugue (S)'s Maw and stand on the hill in Sauromugue to tractor me up the hill. He was also going to come back through and raise me, but instead a random WHM came out of the Maw, saw me laying there, and gave me a Raise. This was somehow easier than finding 4 people to open all the Banishing Gates in Garliage Citadel.