[FFXIV] Final Fantasy XIV: Tips for First-Time Players

Posted by zeroinitiate on Sep 10, 2013 in Guides, Tips |

Welcome to my first guide for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. This is for those of you who just rolled your first character, trying to get your bearings and know what there is to know. Hopefully this will let you maximize your early FFXIV gaming experience so you can spend more of your time actually playing than looking for what you need to learn.

Follow the main story.

Quests that allow the story to progress are marked by a different icon compared to non-story ones and is easy to recognize. The primary benefit of following the main story is unlocking everything such as travel, retainers, chocobos, etc. For example:

• Travel to the two other starting cities is unlocked through a main story quest.
• Ditto for retainers. Retainers act as your storage and auction house (known in-game as the market board). Until you unlock them, you won’t be able to sell anything through the market board.

Your initial job choice isn’t final.

You can change to any job you like at level 10. After finishing the job quest that allows you to do so at level 10, simply go to the guild of the job you want to change to and complete the intro quest. After that it’s just a matter of switching weapons when you’re out of combat. For example:

You’re a gladiator. 5 levels later you want to change to a pugilist. First, get your gladiator to level 10. Complete the gladiator guild quest to unlock job switching. Go to the pugilist’s guild and accept the quest from the guild receptionist. He’ll tell you to talk to the guildmaster. Once you complete the quest you’ll be given a pugilist weapon. Simply equip that to become a pugilist. If you want to change back to a gladiator then equip your previous weapon. It’s that simple.

The only catch is that if the job’s guild is in a different city. Let’s say you want to be a conjurer. The conjurer’s guild is in Gridania, which you can’t get to until after you unlock traveling through the main story.

You can use skills from other jobs.

Known as cross class skills, you can use certain skills from other jobs provided you were able to unlock them. So if you want to use Cure, you need to have a conjurer at level 2. After that you can switch back to your original job and equip Cure as a cross class skill. You unlock a cross class skill slot every 5 levels, so a level 10 gladiator will be able to use 2 cross class skills.

Leveling is a mix of traditional questing and F.A.T.E.s.

Once you venture out of town you’ll notice purple-marked spots in your map that appear from time to time. These are F.A.T.E.s AKA timed events that grant XP, gil and Grand Company currency. Hover your mouse over them to find out the level requirement and, if you’re 5 levels above or below them, participate as much as you can. They can grant enough XP to match the usual amount you get from quests and since they usually take only a few minutes to complete, they’re definitely worth your time. In fact, it is completely possible to level via F.A.T.E.S. alone, depending on the area you’re in.

Understand the travel system.

The higher you’re level the more the world is opened to you. Mastering how to travel is going to save you a lot of time in the long run so pay attention to your map and how the game’s traveling options work. Using Return isn’t the only way to instantly get from one point to another.