Proper road with a WHM.

[Zaleshea]

Uhm.....ok. This is the second week I've had this game. And so far, I've had a hard time finding the class that I'm confortable with, besides a magic user. Seeing as I was playing another MMORPG, as a support character, you could consider it my 'natural' skill.

So after...7 deletes, and 5 classes, including Red Mage... I decided to fall back on my roots anyhow, and be a White Mage.

Just...how am I suppose to go about this?

I mean...money is not exactly the easiest thing to get, unless I have signet on, and sell all the crystals I get for 14G.(Which can get me about 400G in like 1 hour). And I know with mages(in general), money is a headache.

And killing those owl looking rabbits, take forever.

I have been reading the threads here, and it seems, it would be suicide to wanna be a lone mage in a party? I was in the other orpg. I feel comfortable being the only healer.

Might I also add, I still have not gotten over my uber shyness in this game, to ask anyone on my server..(San O'daria(sp?), Diablos)

So...how the world do I work this class...? What spells, do you suggest I try to buy...and what not...erm, (and if this in the wrong forum, I'm sorry. Only word on my mind was "White Mage")

Should I try getting in a party right off the bat, or just try to fight solo to a specific level? I have no idea..

[jcp3alex]

suggestion

what I suggest to you is invest in the Strategy Guide, it has a lot of usefull information on getting started, even though I have had this game sice about June, I still refer to it, so go buy one ^^.

[Thoronas]

Re: Proper road with a WHM.

Originally posted by Zaleshea
I mean...money is not exactly the easiest thing to get, unless I have signet on, and sell all the crystals I get for 14G.(Which can get me about 400G in like 1 hour). And I know with mages(in general), money is a headache.

Dear god you're selling your crsytals to NPC's? You 've thrown away hundreds if not a couple of thousand gil. It cannot be stressed enough the Auction House is your friend.

If you're shy just throw uup your Looking For Party flag. As a white mage you'll get a lot of invites.

[Arturo-B]

When you say 14 gil I'm guessing you're selling your crystals to npc's. With some exceptions, most things you'll want to sell at the Auction House. For example 12 fire crystals will sell for 1700-2000 gils. Wind ~1400 or so. Earth ~200-300. Just keep everything you get from fighting monsters at the early levels, and once you have 12 sell it at the auction house.

Re spells, at the early levels you'll want just about all except for some of the bar spells. But they don't really cost all that much. As far as where to go, you'll probably need to fight by yourself until levels 9-10, then move out to La Theine/Konschtat/Tahrongi depending on where you are and start joining parties.

Best Regards,
Alex

[Bamce Sylph]

while selling stuff on ah is good, buying stuff there isn't always good, especially spells, i would look first at magic stores in your area, and note that as your country gets higher rank in the region info screen diffrent spells may become available, some people have been know to buy spells in other places and sell them higher somewhere else, granted they are providing a pseudo service, but it may be easier on yourself to just get them on your own.

for instance on sylph this week, bastok is rank3, and at the magic store, cure2 isn't for sale, leather armor isn't for sale, etc when the nation is higher rank more goods are avaible

[Zaleshea]

Re: suggestion

Originally posted by jcp3alex
what I suggest to you is invest in the Strategy Guide, it has a lot of usefull information on getting started, even though I have had this game sice about June, I still refer to it, so go buy one ^^.

I do have it, but it's so very complex. >_< It helped me weight out all the pros and cons of each class though.

Dear god you're selling your crsytals to NPC's? You 've thrown away hundreds if not a couple of thousand gil. It cannot be stressed enough the Auction House is your friend.

If you're shy just throw uup your Looking For Party flag. As a white mage you'll get a lot of invites.

Well, I didn't know that, didn't know where it was either. ......that is until, I pulled up my menu. And yea, I know about the invite thing. When I was a level 7 RDM, I was getting invites out the butt. But I didn't know how to communicate with them...

And once as a level 3 Monk, I was getting like 7 crystals in a hour. And I would sell them to like any shop close by.

Re spells, at the early levels you'll want just about all except for some of the bar spells. But they don't really cost all that much. As far as where to go, you'll probably need to fight by yourself until levels 9-10, then move out to La Theine/Konschtat/Tahrongi depending on where you are and start joining parties.

Alrighty then...this means, I'll be myself LOL for a very long time. But time rewards people who don't rush against it. So I'll probably be alright..

Well thanks for the suggestions. I'll be getting a ram upgrade tommorow, so this computer wont freeze up everytime a new area comes up. So I'll be able to enjoy this game as a WHM to the fullest. Hope I'm as good in FFXI, as I was in PSO EpII.

[Issaac]

I suggest to lvl alone to lvl 5 and try to find a warrior as a partner with the same lvl as you. Kill even and though together. But it has to be a warrior, no theif no dragon or Dark Knight or monk. Only Warrior! All other classes will make you just die a lot. Make sure he knows whats provokate is for so you are safe to heal him even in middle of the fight. I found now and then a willing partner and at lvl 6 you can kill even maneater hornets for 72exp each in chains.

But before you go out you should learn to handle the auction house and the communication system.

And please dont sell anything to the vendors. Buy there if its cheaper than in the AH (most beginner spells are more expansive in the AH then at the vendor if avialable)

[Tobold]

Re: Proper road with a WHM.

Originally posted by Zaleshea
I have been reading the threads here, and it seems, it would be suicide to wanna be a lone mage in a party? I was in the other orpg. I feel comfortable being the only healer.

Most parties survive quite well on just one white mage. Especially if that Whm is a Taru and thus has enough MP. A second Whm is usually welcome, but not strictly necessary, more like a luxury.

White mage is probably the class that will get invites into groups the easiest. But groups usually start around level 12, and soloing until then is not exactly easy as whm. Don't just kill rabbits, move a bit further and /check for decent challenge and even match mobs. At these low levels you can still kill even match mobs, if you learn how to heal yourself in combat with a macro (/ma "Cure" <me>).

Spells you should buy every spell that you can learn, with the possible exception of the spells whose name starts with Bar-. If you sell your crystals to the AH instead of to NPCs, you should have enough money for that. If money is still a problem, do some quests.

[Tulen]

Since you can pretty much change class at will, only reason to delete is to pick a new race or starting city.
Also, you're going to want to have another class leveled for when you hit 18 and get a sub job. From the starting jobs, your best 2 options are a black or red mage.

Also, look into the quests in town. There are a few quick easy equipment or gil quests, also those also give you fame which you'll want later. Just starting as a whm in San, can think of 2 quick quests you may want to do, one for a free robe, another for a shield. Also can turn rabbit hides, flint stones, and bat wings in for $$ or sell on AH.

The magic shop in San is in the port area.

[Arturo-B]

Re: Re: suggestion

"
Alrighty then...this means, I'll be myself LOL for a very long time. But time rewards people who don't rush against it. So I'll probably be alright.. "

It shouldn't be too long. Once you get the hang of it it really only takes a couple of days. At the beginning it is hard as you are learning what you can fight and how, and what commands do what. I think my first job probably took me around a week or so of play on evenings to get to level 10. Nowadays it takes me maybe 8-10 hours or so to get a job to level 10. Any mage class is rough for the first 10 levels though. Once you can get parties it becomes much easier. Perhaps part of why a lot of people don't like or give up on whm.

You might also think about taking something really easy like monk to level 18, get a subjob, then try out whm. I found that levelling whm from 1-10 was really easy with a blm subjob.

[Zaleshea]

Anyhow, while using my WHM, which I had got to 6...I witnessed what every other WHM fears. Serious aggro. Oh my god, the monsters COMPLETELY ignore EVERYONE else, and go straight after the healer~! ACK

This goblin got his ass beat by like 2 warriors, and he get taking a bite out of WHM crime. I was like "ohhhhhh hell no, I can't deal with that kind of pressure!"

So, I dropped it as a main job, and gonna make it a sub.

[ming]

If the warriors (or with warrior subjob) know what they are doing, then they will provoke the monster off of the white mage if aggroed. You'll have to be careful about hate control too. It isn't too difficult to play as main healer whm though.

You can take a look at http://woys.hp.infoseek.co.jp/forNA.html made by a JPN player that explains a few basic things about FFXI.

[SkaBoss]

That's a common fear among new WHMs, seeing the monster turn from the melees and coming your way. You're probably going to see this no matter which mage class you choose. You just have to have faith that the melees will get the mob off of you. Even as a taru mage, you can take a few hits before you die.

[Iyo]

Zaleshea -- BE Zaleshea

You were talking about how you were being shy... It's normal... But remember you're not "you" there... You are "Zaleshea." Just play the part! A cute, small, Taru in a strange Hume land.

I'd recommend starting in Windhurst... San'd tends (on any server--EVEN SINCE BETA) to have people that aren't as friendly as Windhurst... hehe.

Okay, call me biased... ;p

Never the less, talk to people--at the gates, at the auction houses... Cast protect on people... start conversations!!!
Ask for help... Whatever...

The game really comes to life when you're running with others there!!!

Good luck!

[Sinzer]

You do realise crystals stack? Use the sort command on your INV to save space.

Go out and hunt until your Inv is full or you need to return for signet or something.

Buy spells for the next couple of levels in advance. So you don't need to return for them.

Don't worry too much about equipment until around level 10+ just buy enough to cover your body up, you won't be stuck at a level for long enough to justify a lot of investment.

Form groups yourself make sure you get experienced players, if you don't party you won't learn who is good, if you are leader you can give more direction and tell your tanks to provoke.

You will need more mages in the group, 1 WHM and 5 melee is an awful PT setup. 2 WHM and 4 melee is not much better, support line should ideally contain 1 RDM, 1 WHM, 1 BRD, 1 SUM or 1 BLM. Only use two of one mage/support if none else are available, 2 WHM slows the damage down considerably.

Take your time and just enjoy the game.... why re-roll a char? The differences between races are minimal, the only race that has a real problem is Galka, their MP is abysmal.

Simply change your job at your moogle house.