**OFFICIAL** FFXIV:ARR Thread

[PowerYoga]

thanks for the tips!

I've actually been debating if it's worth it to just start a new character and force myself to focus on one specific job, rather than bouncing between classes and getting bored without storyline quests to level up with. might have made a mistake with my first job being an arcanist, since I got to level 35 only to discover that I didn't like the DoT-based playstyle.

no no no no no, don't start a new character. If you don't like the class, just go unlock the other ones and play those instead. If you have problems leveling, do leves and daily dungeons and grind a few fates. It takes less than 2 hours to get to a state where you can spam fates/leves/dungeons for exp on an alt class. (and if you're a crafter you can make HQ gear for yourself to spirit bond for materias)

FF14 is different from other MMOs since one character is all you need. Sure you'll run a bit low on bag space, but every character can be any class. You can tank for friends, and switch to healer for daily dungeons and hop on your dragoon for raids (because you're best with dragoon!).

FF14 also uses an armory bonus system, where any job/classes you're lvling under your Max level job gets a 50% exp bonus. So if you're leveling a monk, you'll get a hefty boost to everything up until lvl 35.

 

[pathos]

no no no no no, don't start a new character. If you don't like the class, just go unlock the other ones and play those instead. If you have problems leveling, do leves and daily dungeons and grind a few fates. It takes less than 2 hours to get to a state where you can spam fates/leves/dungeons for exp on an alt class. (and if you're a crafter you can make HQ gear for yourself to spirit bond for materias)

FF14 is different from other MMOs since one character is all you need. Sure you'll run a bit low on bag space, but every character can be any class. You can tank for friends, and switch to healer for daily dungeons and hop on your dragoon for raids (because you're best with dragoon!).

FF14 also uses an armory bonus system, where any job/classes you're lvling under your Max level job gets a 50% exp bonus. So if you're leveling a monk, you'll get a hefty boost to everything up until lvl 35.

I played at launch, finished up the story mission, and quit the game. Came back recently, and instead of working on end game content, felt like going back and playing more lowbie classes.

I currently have my main - monk, at 50, all other dps classes at level 30 except for arcanist, which is currently 27. I also have a level 30 white mage as well. The only classes I haven't worked on yet is the 2 tank classes.

But, yes, it would be better to level up another class up to 35, and replace the arcanist class as main, even without quests. Normally, I'll do 4 leve quests a day ( i still have them maxed from not playing so long, so would be a waste not to use some), I usually complete the first half of a hunting log at levels ending with 2 or 3, and the last half on levels ending with a 7 or 8 (for example, do the level 21-25 at level 22, and the 26-30 at level 27). The rest of the time, I que up for dungeons, and run around doing fates while I'm in the que.

Doing this kind of thing, it doesn't take any time at all to reach 30.

Oh, since you guys were discussing the expansion, and main story line...I finished the main story line that was available on release, I guess. All the story dungeons and such that was required. Someone mentioned story content from a patch though? I'm trying to decide if I've done that or not....guessing not. How much story content was added with the patch mentioned? And can it be completed with gimp gear (darklight, and still havent finished my epic quest)?

Oh, and I'll note, yeah, the healer que is sooo short. I think the longest I've had to wait in q was 2 minutes. Normally it pops up in 5 seconds, if not immediately. Seriously, beats those those 25-50 minute que's I have as dps.

 

[darkewaffle]

Each major content patch (2.1 - 2.5) has added new story content. Generally they revolve around quelling a new primal threat but there's also a number of new story lines coming into play as well. In essence you can gauge where you're at based off of the primals you've downed in the order of Ifrit/Garuda/Titan > Leviathan > Moogle > Ramuh > Shiva.

Chances are if you do not have a story quest to follow currently you can go pick up the continuation at either the Waking Sands (Vesper Bay, West Thanalan) or at The Rising Stones (in the inn at Mor Dhona) - depending on how far you've gotten.

Darklight will be ok up to... Leviathan/Moogle maybe? Past that I think you might start running into item level requirements for later fights - but the basic Soldiery Tome gear would be an acceptable starting point for anything else and can be had pretty easily with how quickly you accumulate those tomes.

 

[pathos]

Each major content patch (2.1 - 2.5) has added new story content. Generally they revolve around quelling a new primal threat but there's also a number of new story lines coming into play as well. In essence you can gauge where you're at based off of the primals you've downed in the order of Ifrit/Garuda/Titan > Leviathan > Moogle > Ramuh > Shiva.

Chances are if you do not have a story quest to follow currently you can go pick up the continuation at either the Waking Sands (Vesper Bay, West Thanalan) or at The Rising Stones (in the inn at Mor Dhona) - depending on how far you've gotten.

Darklight will be ok up to... Leviathan/Moogle maybe? Past that I think you might start running into item level requirements for later fights - but the basic Soldiery Tome gear would be an acceptable starting point for anything else and can be had pretty easily with how quickly you accumulate those tomes.

Hrm, I know I downed the first 3 primals, I can't remember if I've downed Leviathan or not. I might have been waiting on getting my epic weapon quest up to that point (I think I need leviathan for my epic...havent looked at the quest since I started back up though, so might be wrong) I have definately not killed the 3 last ones though. I suppose I should stop playing the alt classes and start working on my monk gear instead.

Right now, my quest log is filled with quests for me to join the duty finder and enter hard mode dungeon "x", oh, and some quest to kill ultima i think, but of course, they all seem to requires a 80 level gear score, and my darklight isn't cutting it, heh.

I might go ahead and raise guardian and marauder up to 30 first, since I've now raised every other class up to that. I really don't think I'm tank material though. Well, I though the same about healing, but apparently I didn't do to poorly, if you take how many player rec's I got running the healer versus every dps class I ran.

Grinding end game gear is the one thing I despise about mmo's more than anything, I guess thats why I'm putting off working on my epic or armor upgrades so much /sigh. At least everything else I tend to dislike in mmo's (like, say, pickup groups), have been fairly innocuous in ff14, so maybe the end game grind wont be so bad either.

 

[PowerYoga]

I'd just queue up for the story dungeons. Duty finder ramuh, leviathan and shiva are great since they pop up in trials and people burn them very quickly. The rest of the stuff (steps of faith, etc) should be done fast-ish.

also i110-130 gear is stupid easy to get now a days. Do your weekly expert/hard mode dungeons, get a few soldiery pieces and you'll have enough ilevel to run world of darkness until you have i120 average gear. Toss in a few poetic pieces here and there and you'll be caught up.

If there's one thing the game's good at doing it's catching people up with gear. Even the expert dungeons drop i100 green gear.

 

[darkewaffle]

Yar, getting your gear up is very easy to do. You will need to clear each dungeon/primal once before the Roulettes become enabled but in doing so you will accumulate a lot of Soldiery tomes along the way. I wouldn't even use the word "grind" to describe it.

 

[pathos]

Yeah, decided to stick to my monk for now, and work on gear. Saved up enough soldier to buy some shoes, and almost enough for gloves. Will probably go for pants and bp next.

Also, worked on my epic. I think I'm on the last step, the 3 hard mode primals. I've had to do regular mode ifrit several times lately, on low level roulette quests on my alt classes, but I'll need to youtube the hard mode to see whats different. And, I don't remember the next 2 primals at all, much less the hard mode. But, will hopefully knock all that out soon.

I actually had to do hydra 2 times. First time didn't complete the quest, and then noticed I didn't have the quest knuckles equipped, but my regular weapon /sigh

edit - oh yeah, while work on my epic, had to go to ak...and i specifically told em i was back from a long absence, and wearing crap gear. The other dps did complain once or twice about the lack of dps.... thats the one thing I hate about gearing up, when everyone else already has. Everyone expects you to be in end game gear, and complain when you aren't.

 

[pathos]

Well, after much effort, I've gotten 2 pieces of weathered gear, shoes and gloves, and finished my epic. Took me a bit to figure out how to unlock hard mode garuda and titan. But, while I was in the sands, I started back up on my main storyline. Gotten it up to where they decide to move to revenants, or something.

Oh, and I will note - I knew the old epics wouldnt be the best weapon around anymore...i knew it...but, just seeing thats it's score is 80, and the weathered gear I'm farming soldiers tomes are 100 makes me want to cry just a little. I really don't want to see what they are going to make me go through to get my next weapon...i really don't.

 

[darkewaffle]

Getting the relic weapon to 90 is pretty easy really and provides a nice glamour if nothing else. I would not recommend fussing with any of the additional upgrades from 90 at this point however - technically it can go to 135 but with the expansion in two weeks you're much better served doing other stuff.

 

[PowerYoga]

what you should do is finish up your storyline quests and any random quests you want to do. expansion being around the corner, you'll want to finish up everything as they'll raise the level cap and your gear will be left in the dust anyway.

 

[pathos]

what you should do is finish up your storyline quests and any random quests you want to do. expansion being around the corner, you'll want to finish up everything as they'll raise the level cap and your gear will be left in the dust anyway.

Well, I'm around 100 soldier from getting my third piece of weathered, so I'll probably get that, plus 1 more, that will at least finish up my visible set, at the very least.

I THOUGHT I was making pretty good progress on my main storyline quest, then I hit where they are forcing you into a guildhest. I've never actually joined one of those ever, so I actually had to look up online to see what they actually were. Then I took a peak at what I had left on the main storyline quest.

Not only are they making me do 2 guildhests, but I'm still in the first patch of storyline, only 2 to go after that, heh.

Do people even still do guildhests? Of course, people like me who are show at doing the main storyline still have to do 2 (well, all the ones in between, since you unlock them 1 at a time)...but, other than that?

 

[darkewaffle]

They provide significant XP bonuses while levelling and there's a roulette specifically for Guildhests that a lot of people will do as a daily as well. So yes for the most part.

 

[PowerYoga]

I do guildhests roulettes every day, and it's very easy to find a group for it I imagine since many people use it to level as well.

 

[pathos]

thats good. thanks. Perhaps after my story roulette and low level dungeon roulette today, I'll start working on that.

 

[pathos]

well, release coming up quicky, and no chance of me being caught up story wise, but thats ok, as long as I can still q up and complete the primals and dungeons I need to advance, which I assume wont be problem.

I am up to the point where I need to que up for snow piercer, or snow white, or whatever it's called , so made some decent progress over the weekend.

I will note -

Spoiler

leviathan

- actually extremely easy

Spoiler

king moogle

- watching it on utube, seemed kind of interesting...actually doing it kind of sucked though.

Spoiler

ramuh or whatever

I'm melee dps, so entering this fight with other melee dps who cant be still, or keep distance, kind of sucks. Keep away from me with your stupid lightning ring, thanks. We got this one done faster than the one above though, 1 death for this, vs 2 for the previous.

IN the mean time, I did manage to collect 5 pieces of the weather gear, and upgrade to a relic+1 as it used to be called (can't remember the current name). I figure I'll probably finish up the old content in 1.5 to 2 weeks, as long as they aren't any que hold ups from people only doing new content, and not old.

 

[PowerYoga]

all the story primal fights are trivial and they all show up in trial roulette so you should be fine. 2-3 days is more than enough time to finish all of it, there's not too much there.

The side dungeons like the crystal tower take a lot more time to unlock.

 

[darkewaffle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGFZ6RJqTWY

New HW trailer, pretty slick.

 

[darkewaffle]

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/e76258d6487ea30feb388f9ecc0a926fddc9eca8

3.0 patch notes - real long

Man I'm going to have trouble finding room for five new hotkeys on scholar at least. Pet control takes up a lot of slots ><

 

[PowerYoga]

I've been waiting for the desynth for so long...

 

[darkewaffle]

I was actually a little surprised they jumped desynth all the way to 170 or 180 or whatever it is. I thought they might not 'inflate' it so much but I guess they're sticking with the same formulae. Thankfully I didn't spend much getting 110 in my desynths up til now as that's going to be pretty trivial.

 

[darkewaffle]

Hopped on the PC before work this morning to start the DL, 10GB isn't too bad and I appreciate them having the download available quite early relative to the maintenance.

 

[PowerYoga]

I'll DL it tonight. I stocked up on i100 and i110 accessories with soldiery, ready to desynth them for a quick boost.

 

[darkewaffle]

Logged in for just a bit this morning to feed the bird and poke around. Just a few things I noticed:

You can play mini-cactpot more than once per day with +100 MGP per additional card.

Some of the new crafted items bring back previous item appearances but make them available to different classes, very glad to see.

FC workshop looks pretty cool but it also seems that progressing on any of the FC crafts requires a party of 4 DoH in the FC (they're built in stages and I think moving from stage X to Y is what requires a party). I may be a bit screwed there, maybe you can buy a workaround or maybe that gets changed when a bunch of bitching inevitably ensues lol.

Each crafting class now gets it's own 'lower ceiling higher floor' version of Byregots Blessing and an interesting new touch that increases IQ stacks even when it fails (or so it sounds) - I'm not sure if that means it will grant 2 IQ stacks during a success or not. I hope so, it'd probably supplant HT then.

Materia appears to only go up to Grade V currently, but grade V seems substantially stronger than IV in most cases.

"Old" primal weapons for DRK/MCH/AST were implemented.

I think I'll call out Monday, looking forward to seeing everything. I'm quite glad that Coerthas isn't ALL snowy, I love the way the foresty/hinterlands areas look.

 

[pathos]

I logged on, beat shiva, and then advanced through 1.4 into the 1.5 patch. And, apparently they added equiptment to the main story line quests. I earned a ilvl 110 monk, ninja, and white mage weapons, for the 3 quests just after shiva.

Kind of glad I didn't finish up the main story line for the expansion now. Free gear is always good

Since then, only earned money. Wondering if I had gotten past the armor gear before the expansion, or if it will come later.

I got no tomes for doing a low level duty by the way. I thought they had taken those away completely, and then I remembered, before the expansion, you only earned tomes when you were at max level...and I'm now 10 levels lower than max....so, maybe you only get tomes for doing it at level 60 now, heh.

Oh, and the low level duty was me (monk) and 1 each of the new classes. They are...pretty strange.

 

[cbrunny]

Heavensward is pretty good so far. Have only played an hour or two but a solid expansion it appears to be. DX11 looks great but AMD as usual bringing up the rear has no CF support or Eyefinity support. an FC-mate has SLI & Surround and it works, but my AMD system is sitting there pushing a measly 1080p. Unhappy.