What's your story?

[Sacrosankt]

White Mages, what did u do (in detail) from level 1 - 37(ish). Tips, anecdotes, etc are very welcome. I would like to know much about how things begin, how you start out etc... as because I will participate in the beta on the 17th, I'd like to gain as much knowledge as possible so I could perform to the best of my abilities on that day.

sac

[Icemage]

Re: What's your story?

Uh... my story is 2-2.5 years old. All of the stuff that I did as a low level WHM don't apply any more.

Still, there's some general advice that I always give to new players:

- Play smart. This means noticing what works for you, what doesn't, and making adjustments to your play style to compensate for your weaknesses.

- Pay attention. Listen to what your party members have to say, and learn how to take constructive criticism. Watch what other players do, and try and understand how it helps (or hurts) the party, then incorporate that knowledge into your own game play.

- Be nice, but don't let people take advantage of you. Being a jerk comes back to haunt you in FFXI as you build a reputation. The worse your reputation is, the less likely it will be that good players will be willing to interact with you (and you, in turn, don't want to interact with bad players if you can avoid it).

- Resist the urge to "rush". The servers aren't getting shut off tomorrow, you've got plenty of time to get where you're going. FFXI isn't a race, and it's not about who gets to level 75 first, or "keeping up" with your friends, or any such silliness. Play at your own pace, play to enjoy the game, and always remember that your real life is way more important than any game (family, friends, school, work, etc.).

---

WHM-specific advice:

- You are not an attacker. Don't sit there and waste your MP casting Banish if no one is hurt - rest and get more MP so you can continue fighting after the current enemy is dead.

- Watch your hate levels. Monsters really don't like it when you cure players that they've attacked, and they tend to take it out on you, so don't go cure crazy with big healing spells unless you absolutely have to. Under no circumstances should you EVER heal yourself with a cure spell when under attack, as that will just make the monster stay on you even more.

- Resting is important. Don't just stand around if a battle has ended. Sit down and /heal so you can have as much MP as possible when the next battle starts.

- Pay attention. Be aware of what enemy attacks can do, what special status effects they can give, and be ready to remove those effects from your party members when necessary. Make sure you see when effects wear off (Protect, Shell, Regen, etc.) and be prepared to recast such effects as needed.

- Don't panic. Some players find being responsible for the health and welfare of the party to be stressful. Even if this describes you, stay calm. You can't respond intelligently to crisis situations if you're not thinking clearly, and you're much more likely to make a mistake that will make matters worse if you panic.


Icemage

[babelle]

Re: What's your story?

thought i'd reply with some of the low level stuff and hope it helps out some-one get used to the job, at the moment i'm a 55 whm but my early days aren't quite forgtten~ forgive me if i ramble.

first of all the first 10 levels- whm is tough to solo >.<
I'm sure some players may say this isn't the case but the first 10 levels are pretty tough espically if you are a new player however if you take it slowly and don't rush(as icemage put it) you'll find that slow and steady exp(how you gain levels) is better than none at all~ or even worse taking on something that will kill you and lose some of the exp you just gained.
When i started leveling whm i killed bees and only bees around the entrance(started in bastok) until i hit level 5 with signet cast (wind crystals give you way much more gil than earth- on asura earth=2k wind = anything from 5k to 12k) once I hit 5 i moved into zehrun mines, Why? Well the best thing about zehrun is not much aggro(a couple of gobs and jellies but if once you know where they you can avoid them) which is a nightmare for the beginning player also money wise again(always think of the money ) zehrun soot sells nicely as well and it drops enough to make it worthwhile. I leveled here til i reached 7 or 8.

Once i hit level 8 i moved to north gustaberg(from port bastok entrance) until i hit level 10 then made my way to the dunes.

Like i said you only want to be killing EP to DC once you hit 7 or 8 even a DC can whack you around a bit as whm.

It will take you longer to level your whm to 10 than most other jobs however you will find that as soon as you hit dunes it will all be worth it~ thats when the exp starts to roll and you remember why you wanted to do this job.

Equipment wise~ your starting equipment will do you until you reach levl 8 dont be tempted to get the level 1 robe set as it has the same defence as your starting stuff. Where you can always try to as well find out if you can get your stuff from a npc its usually cheaper. Always remember spells over equip. I'm sure you can find any other whm equipment guides on many another forum so i won't detail it all here.


Have fun with whm though remember noone plays the same many time you will hear someone say but you need to do this whm~ by all means try it if it doesn't work for you go back to the way you were playing.

I seriously love my job the first time i rose someone from the dead i felt like i had arrived, the first time i saved a party from death by using a well timed benediction in the dunes was and still is one of my favourite moments in the game. Being able to say I quested all my tele-port scrolls and was able to use them when i dinged 36 and have my party cheer me on made me know i had chosen the right job.

I'd say the fact you are requesting advice in advance and looking to take on board any advice is a good sign~hope you enjoy whm!!

[bikkebakke]

Re: What's your story?

Utilize Regen! It is probably the most mp efficient spell at these levels.

[JeanRC]

Re: What's your story?

die before the tank die this show that u are doing your job and the tank is not doing his ;p

[Eldege]

Re: What's your story?

at 25 or so learn how to cast regen and take a knee to heal up mp durring a fight. then cast a cure II. Just standing around the whole fight when you have regen working isnt the smartest things.
most fights when i do this the tanks hp dosnt go below 2/3's and almost always have 100 extra mp. at lower lvls just because you get Cure II dosnt mean you should use it. when im a drg or rdm or pally, i cant tell you the number of times i have a take that will Just use cure II and how the rest of the party has more down time and higher chance of death. dont make +MND your only gear. you have the Healing magic skill's to cap so it wont be that big of a deal. maybe you get your cures up by 1 or so (Cure healing for 31 instead for 30) its not going to save your party but in place of that you can get +6 or so mp that will help you cast another cure that could help alot.

one other thing, keep your pally at about 4/5th of there hp so they can cure them selfs for hate.

[Gwynn]

Re: What's your story?

-Don't show off with big Cures if they're not needed.
-Get the best gear you can get, but improving your playing skill is more important.
-For the love of god, don't sub DRK (Bad experience with a Galka WHM/DRK -_-)
-Erase, while not completely necessary, is a very useful spell and you should obtain it if at all possible.
-Use Cookies! The +hMP is extremely noticeable and beneficial and will make your load much easier to bear.

[bikkebakke]

Re: What's your story?

I used Cure I all the way to 30 where I stopped. Cure I plus Regen is all you need.

[Armando]

Re: What's your story?

Regen = . It's ridiculously MP-effective. Cure I heals 30 HP (at max) for 8 MP. Cure II when capped is the same thing, 90 HP for 24 MP. That means they heal 3.75 HP for each MP point. Regen, on the other hand, will cure around 120 HP (varies a bit) for 15 MP. That's 8 HP per MP, even more MP-efficient than Divine Seal + Cure II. Also, the reason you're being told not to use Cure II immediately is mainly because of MP-efficiency. By the time you get Cure II, your normal Cure should already be curing for 30, but Cure II will only be healing for about 70. 70 for 24 MP is worse than three Cure I's. So, save Cure II for when it's already healing for 90, or in emergencies when the tank is dying.

Regarding soloing 1 to 10, it's going to be rough (it always is when you don't have a sub job yet) but there are a few ways to make it easier. For one thing, you have to think like you're a melee. Equip yourself with the highest defense armor you can find, and equip the highest DMG club/hammer and highest DEF shield available. You're going to have to fight at close range since you're alone, so you want to maximize your efficiency there, and conserve your MP for Cure so you can avoid downtime. Also, target mainly Easy Prey mobs, sometimes Decent Challenges if your Weapon Skill is ready. It's much better killing 4 EPs for 25 EXP each and still have HP/MP left over than trying to take on an Even Match for 100 EXP and barely surviving, and having to stop to rest every time you fight one. Also, if you target mainly weaker mobs, you'll get more drops. Finally, try to target Goblins, Orcs, Birds, and Lizards for Fire Crystals; Bats, Yagudo, and Bees for Wind crystals; Crawlers for Silk Thread, and Sheep for their skins. Water and Earth Crystals really don't sell very well. Finally, food. You should ALWAYS be using food when fighting. When you're soloing, you want Meat Jerky: Attack+27%, STR+3, INT-1.

Keep in mind that this is for soloing only! When partying, you want +MP, +MND, and +"MP recovered while healing." Hammers and defensive armor are of no use when someone else is taking the hits for you ^^ And like they said, you want Cookies for partying most of the time. They really speed up the rate at which you can recover MP, and this is a very crucial factor in how fast you can get EXP.

Oh yeah! Curaga is a very good and MP-efficient spell for when people are taking area of effect damage and the whole party is in the orange/red. However, be warned! If you combine Divine Seal with Curaga mid-fight in the low levels, that's pretty much the same as Benediction - you'll heal everyone for 180 HP, which means you healed your party for up to 1080 HP all at once...at that point, the monster will be EXTREMELY angry at you, and it'll take divine intervention or a smart Paladin to take it off of you. Try to save Curaga (and Divine Seal) for in between fights, unless your party's at the risk of wiping out from another area attack ^^