If there is some sort of awesome quote out there in the world about how to traverse things and getting to places faster... I'd put it here. One important thing to know about getting anywhere in Final Fantasy XI is to simply know how to get to places faster and using whatever abilities you have to get to those places faster. I'm going to mention a few things that you should consider looking into but there are many ways to get to places and it all depends on how much you're willing to spend, to do, and really if you really care for it at all.
Teleport Spells
First thing's first are the teleport spells. There are 6 teleport spells (not counting the recently added recall spells):
"Teleport - Mea" - Tahrongi Canyon (I-6)
"Teleport - Holla" - La Theine Plateau (K-8)
"Teleport - Dem" - Konschtat Highlands (I-6)
"Teleport - Vahzl" - Xarcabard (H-8)
"Teleport - Altep" - Eastern Altepa Desert (G-7)
"Teleport - Yhoat" - Yhoator Jungle (F-9)
The first three spells can be learned at WHM level 36, whereas Altep/Yhoat are learned at 38 and Vahzl at 42. However, simply getting these spells by themselves won't get you to where you want to go, you'll need to obtain a key item at each of these telepoints in order to teleport to those areas. In case you're wondering: What happens if you have the teleport spell casted on you but you don't have the key item? Simply: It won't have an effect and you won't get teleported while everyone else hit with the spell will. All you will need to do is simply click on the telepoint crystal at the coordinates mentioned above and you will be fine.
Note that the three mainland teleports are level 36, which means it can be subbed at level 72. Something to note about if you want to quickly reach these areas. Not only can you reach these areas pretty fast but it can be a quick shortcut to the Sea and Sky areas... But, that's for another post.
Warp/Retrace
Black mage, at level 18 and 40, can learn Warp and Warp II respectively. Warp sends you straight to your Home Point, while Warp II allows you to send any party member to their respective home point. Leveling your BLM to at least 18 is very nice when you want a quick way to get back to your Home Point from any other nation or places with Nomad Moogles.
If you manage to get to level 40 or so, you might notice some people saying "D2 please." What the heck is a D2? In the Japanese client of FFXI, the spell is called "De-zone II" and D2 is the shorthand of the spell. It has been generally accepted that saying D2 automatically means Warp II and players of all languages understand that.
Black Mage also learns a spell called Retrace at level 55. Retrace is tied to Campaign in the past. Retrace can send yourself or another party member to the nation that they are allied to in the past. If they aren't allied to any nation, it will simply have no effect.
Outpost Warps
All throughout the mainland of Vana'diel, there are outposts. Each region has an outpost and with a few exceptions, you can teleport to those outposts under certain conditions.
First off, you must do a supply quest to an outpost that you want to teleport to. Once you do it once, you'll have it forever (unless you change nations but it'll be saved once you change back). However, to do a supply quest, your nation must have control of that area. Once you decided what area you want to do the supply quest to, go to any NPC that gives you Signet in your home nation and request to do a supply quest to that outpost. After you get the package, simply go to the outpost and talk to the NPC to finish the quest. You get a few Conquest Points and now it'll be unlocked for teleportation.
Once you unlock a region, you can teleport to there from your nation's Outpost Teleporter NPC:
Bastok - Conrad - Metalworks @ F-8
San d'Oria - Jeanvirgaud - Northern San d'Oria @ D-9
Windurst - Rottata - Port Windurst @ D-5
You can teleport to those regions whenever you want, even if your nation loses control of that region. However, teleporting back is a different story. You can teleport back from those regions back to your home nation but you will be unable to if the beastmen take over the region.
There are also Return Rings and Homing Rings you can buy with Conquest Points from the Signet NPC. All these do will simply teleport you to the outpost of the region that your nation has control over. These items aren't really that great and unless your home point is in Jeuno or something, it won't be that useful at all.
So, there are some small basic ways to get around faster. There's more to cover though, but that's for next time.
Showing posts with label White Mage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White Mage. Show all posts
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Leveling 1-10
It is now time to go out to the wild world of Vana'diel and kill some things. Here are some things you'll notice that is in your inventory; you have some items to start you out. Depending on what job you pick will depend on what items you start with. You should have the level 1 Race Specific Armor (or RSE) that is for your selected race, you should also have a spell scroll depending if you have a mage job and you will have a weapon or a belt if you're a MNK.
By the way, I suggest getting used to the terminology as most players will describe each job by their 3 letter initials.
Now, you will have very little gil (the currency in the game) and there's a little quest that you can do from the start with a coupon that will get you a little more. Here's where you might be a bit frustrated as you might end up with next to no new equipment if you don't look around a bit. I'll be covering how to get some gil on you in a later post. For right now, I want to concentrate on just leveling your character.
Very important thing: Before you venture outside and kill things randomly, get Signet. There are gate guard NPCs that can give you Signet and it'll help you in various ways:
1. It gives you Conquest Points based on EXP earned. Those Conquest Points can be traded in for new equipment or items that you can sell.
2. When fighting a monster that checks as "Even Match" or lower, you will get a boost to your defense and evasion.
3. When you heal (when your character kneels/sits down to recover HP/MP), your HP will heal significantly faster than if you don't have Signet.
4. Under certain circumstances, you will get more EXP based on the number of party members you have.
Pretty much, its a free enhancement (or buff) that you can get that will only benefit you. There's more to it as we move on to later expansions but for right now, this is all you should be concerned about.
Now that you're outside, here are some general guidelines.
1. When you attack a monster, you will make it go into a "claimed" state. No one outside of you/party/alliance can interact with it.
2. You can "Check" monsters to see what its relative level is at.
Too Weak to be Worthwhile = The monster will net you no XP if you kill it.
Easy Prey = The monster is at a level significantly lower than you but it can still kill you if you're not careful.
Decent Challenge = The monster is just under your level.
Even Match = The monster is your level... but this doesn't mean this is an "even match..."
Tough = The level is slightly higher than your level
Very Tough = And higher...
Incredibly Tough = The monster is to the point where you cannot decern it from high or low level as this is the highest ranking. It can be 30 levels higher from your level or 80 levels higher.
Occasionally, you amy check a monster and it'll say "Impossible to Gauge." Usually these monsters are of the "Notorious Monster" variety. Those types of monsters con drop some rare items but they can be rare themselves. Some of them may only be for story/quest purposes as well and do not drop a single thing.
From level 1-10, you will want to fight things along the "Even Match" area but you will often find yourself killing a lot of "Easy Prey" as you progress higher.
3. In the latest patch, you can now Auto-Sort your inventory. Use this to your advantage and try to keep some of the items on you. Use this to get yourself gil. (This point will be emphasized in a later post).
4. Dying is a bad thing as you can lose EXP. Avoid dying but try to understand how monsters interact with you and so on. Some can aggro (term used for when they attack you without provacation), some can link (term used when a monster assists a monster of the same type) and some won't do anything until you attack them.
5. Avoid partying at this point as it can make the process take longer.
Well, lets get into the job specifics:
WAR
Taking WAR from 1 to 10 can be a very easy experience. Stick to the beginner areas (Saruta/Ronfaure/Gusta) and just kill things relative to your level. You won't learn anything interesting from 1 to 10. At level 5 you will get an ability called "Provoke" and you can start weapon skilling around level 4-6 depending on your skill development. "Provoke" helps you get the attention of the monster you use it on. There's more to "Provoke" but that is for party situations (which will be explained in a later post). If you can, get the Bronze Gear set from the NPC Armor shop in your nation or Auction House. It may be look disturbing to wear but it will help you take hits better. Also, use either a one handed axe or a two handed great axe and try not to use your sword as soon as you can. While WAR can use swords rather well, axes and great axes just dominate the sword in the long run. Get the leather equipment at level 7.
WAR's 2-Hour Ability (called that since you can only use it once every two real earth hours) is "Mighty Strikes." This makes all of your attacks a critical hit for a duration of time. If you use this to try to save yourself, use it early. If you can't really hit the mob before using this, it isn't going to save you for the most part.
MNK
MNK is really no different from WAR at 1-10. You learn the ability "Boost" at level 5. What "Boost" will do is increase the attack damage on your next attack, which then it will wear off. "Boost" can stack on itself, which means if you keep doing Boost again and again and not attack, you will gradually increase that damage. This is very nice to squeeze in some extra damage on your weapon skills.
MNK's 2-Hour Ability is "Hundred Fists." This ability will grant you a large level of attack speed and lets you attack at a much rapid pace. This ability can get you out of a tight spot when you need to unleash a lot of damage at one time.
THF
THF will probably have a little bit of a rough time getting from 1 to 10, especially with a dagger. If you can, switch up with a sword for the mean time and use that for awhile. Don't forget to switch in your dagger at some point as you will want to have some skill for later monsters. You will get the ability "Steal" at level 5. It is pretty self explanitory as to what it does, just make sure you have inventory space for it.
THF's 2-Hour Ability is "Perfect Dodge." You will dodge every single physical attack done to you. However, you're still vunerable to ranged attacks (arrows, gunshots) and magic damage (elemental, enfeeble). This is great for getting away when you need to run from a losing fight.
WHM
WHM will probably have the hardest time of the six jobs. However, you are able to keep yourself alive and you have some tools to help you survive a bit. Here are the spells you'll learn as WHM:
Level - Spell
1 - Cure
3 - Dia
4 - Paralyze
5 - Banish
5 - Barstonra
6 - Poisona
7 - Barsleepra
7 - Protect (and Protectra)
9 - Barwatera
9 - Paralyna
10 - Aquaviel
10 - Barpoisonra
Cure will heal you for around 20-30HP intially. Dia an enfeebling spell that will deal some damage itself, damage over time and weakens the monster's defense. This is a great spell to cast as a WHM to the monster as it will make your life a lot easier, solo or party. Paralyze also helps as it can randomly cause the monster to skip their next attack. Banish deals direct damage but honestly, its not worth using in most situations.
I want to take this time to discuss spell terminology, mainly the prefixes and suffixes.
Bar- = Gives resistance to the element or ailment
-ra = The enhancement will target nearby party members
-na = The spell will heal the ailment
-ga = The spell will target multiple nearby enemies
The rest of the spells are self explainitory and the game will tell you what they will do. Note that if you're really strapped for gil, at least get Cure, Dia and Paralyze.
WHM's 2hr ability is "Benediction." This will restore everyone's HP to max and cure any status ailments on them. However, this will give that WHM a lot of hate from the monster and it can lead to the death of that WHM. Use with caution.
BLM
BLM has it pretty decent here. This is also a good time to practice timing your spells. In Final Fantasy XI, if you get hit hard enough, you can be interupted in your spell casting. You also must be standing still as well. Try to time your spells between the monster's attacks and you should be fine.
Black Mage gets the following spells from 1-10:
1 - Stone
3 - Poison
4 - Blind
5 - Water
7 - Bind
9 - Aero
10 - Bio
10 - Blaze Spikes
Bind is your friend. Bind will hold the monster in place while you can do whatever you want to them. However, if you hit them hard enough, they may break out of bind. Bio is like Dia but instead of lowered defense on the monster, it's lowered attack. Blaze Spikes is a spell that is cool on paper but ultimately is one of the least important spells you'll cast in a party environment.
BLM's 2hr ability is "Manafont." You will have unlimited MP and you cannot be interupted by physical hits. Use this when you run out of MP or if you need to land that one final nuke to survive.
RDM
RDM is generally like how THF would work out at 1-10 except they have a bit of WHM and a bit of BLM tossed in. Here are their spells:
1 - Dia
3 - Cure
4 - Stone
5 - Barstone
5 - Poison
6 - Paralyze
7 - Barsleep
7 - Protect
8 - Blind
9 - Barwater
9 - Water
10 - Barpoison
10 - Bio
RDM's 2hr ability is "Chainspell." This will remove the casting time and recast time of your spells for the duration of this ability, allowing you to rapidly cast spells. Very handy when you want to overwhelm the monster or need to be fast on the curing. Note that you do use up MP so make sure you have some MP on you before using this.
And that pretty much covers leveling from 1-10. This all just beginner newbie stuff but I want to get this foundation off the ground first. Feel free to spread this post around to newbies to the game. I'll cover some gil making ideas at lower levels and maybe even the older players might find something of value there. Eventually I'll start covering some more advanced things and that should be a good read for players that have been playing for more than 3 years.
Anyways, I hope you learned a few things from this post. Again, feel free to post this around and also leave any comments you might have for any new players. It would help them start in this game and would hopefully lead to more players running around longer.
By the way, I suggest getting used to the terminology as most players will describe each job by their 3 letter initials.
Now, you will have very little gil (the currency in the game) and there's a little quest that you can do from the start with a coupon that will get you a little more. Here's where you might be a bit frustrated as you might end up with next to no new equipment if you don't look around a bit. I'll be covering how to get some gil on you in a later post. For right now, I want to concentrate on just leveling your character.
Very important thing: Before you venture outside and kill things randomly, get Signet. There are gate guard NPCs that can give you Signet and it'll help you in various ways:
1. It gives you Conquest Points based on EXP earned. Those Conquest Points can be traded in for new equipment or items that you can sell.
2. When fighting a monster that checks as "Even Match" or lower, you will get a boost to your defense and evasion.
3. When you heal (when your character kneels/sits down to recover HP/MP), your HP will heal significantly faster than if you don't have Signet.
4. Under certain circumstances, you will get more EXP based on the number of party members you have.
Pretty much, its a free enhancement (or buff) that you can get that will only benefit you. There's more to it as we move on to later expansions but for right now, this is all you should be concerned about.
Now that you're outside, here are some general guidelines.
1. When you attack a monster, you will make it go into a "claimed" state. No one outside of you/party/alliance can interact with it.
2. You can "Check" monsters to see what its relative level is at.
Too Weak to be Worthwhile = The monster will net you no XP if you kill it.
Easy Prey = The monster is at a level significantly lower than you but it can still kill you if you're not careful.
Decent Challenge = The monster is just under your level.
Even Match = The monster is your level... but this doesn't mean this is an "even match..."
Tough = The level is slightly higher than your level
Very Tough = And higher...
Incredibly Tough = The monster is to the point where you cannot decern it from high or low level as this is the highest ranking. It can be 30 levels higher from your level or 80 levels higher.
Occasionally, you amy check a monster and it'll say "Impossible to Gauge." Usually these monsters are of the "Notorious Monster" variety. Those types of monsters con drop some rare items but they can be rare themselves. Some of them may only be for story/quest purposes as well and do not drop a single thing.
From level 1-10, you will want to fight things along the "Even Match" area but you will often find yourself killing a lot of "Easy Prey" as you progress higher.
3. In the latest patch, you can now Auto-Sort your inventory. Use this to your advantage and try to keep some of the items on you. Use this to get yourself gil. (This point will be emphasized in a later post).
4. Dying is a bad thing as you can lose EXP. Avoid dying but try to understand how monsters interact with you and so on. Some can aggro (term used for when they attack you without provacation), some can link (term used when a monster assists a monster of the same type) and some won't do anything until you attack them.
5. Avoid partying at this point as it can make the process take longer.
Well, lets get into the job specifics:
WAR
Taking WAR from 1 to 10 can be a very easy experience. Stick to the beginner areas (Saruta/Ronfaure/Gusta) and just kill things relative to your level. You won't learn anything interesting from 1 to 10. At level 5 you will get an ability called "Provoke" and you can start weapon skilling around level 4-6 depending on your skill development. "Provoke" helps you get the attention of the monster you use it on. There's more to "Provoke" but that is for party situations (which will be explained in a later post). If you can, get the Bronze Gear set from the NPC Armor shop in your nation or Auction House. It may be look disturbing to wear but it will help you take hits better. Also, use either a one handed axe or a two handed great axe and try not to use your sword as soon as you can. While WAR can use swords rather well, axes and great axes just dominate the sword in the long run. Get the leather equipment at level 7.
WAR's 2-Hour Ability (called that since you can only use it once every two real earth hours) is "Mighty Strikes." This makes all of your attacks a critical hit for a duration of time. If you use this to try to save yourself, use it early. If you can't really hit the mob before using this, it isn't going to save you for the most part.
MNK
MNK is really no different from WAR at 1-10. You learn the ability "Boost" at level 5. What "Boost" will do is increase the attack damage on your next attack, which then it will wear off. "Boost" can stack on itself, which means if you keep doing Boost again and again and not attack, you will gradually increase that damage. This is very nice to squeeze in some extra damage on your weapon skills.
MNK's 2-Hour Ability is "Hundred Fists." This ability will grant you a large level of attack speed and lets you attack at a much rapid pace. This ability can get you out of a tight spot when you need to unleash a lot of damage at one time.
THF
THF will probably have a little bit of a rough time getting from 1 to 10, especially with a dagger. If you can, switch up with a sword for the mean time and use that for awhile. Don't forget to switch in your dagger at some point as you will want to have some skill for later monsters. You will get the ability "Steal" at level 5. It is pretty self explanitory as to what it does, just make sure you have inventory space for it.
THF's 2-Hour Ability is "Perfect Dodge." You will dodge every single physical attack done to you. However, you're still vunerable to ranged attacks (arrows, gunshots) and magic damage (elemental, enfeeble). This is great for getting away when you need to run from a losing fight.
WHM
WHM will probably have the hardest time of the six jobs. However, you are able to keep yourself alive and you have some tools to help you survive a bit. Here are the spells you'll learn as WHM:
Level - Spell
1 - Cure
3 - Dia
4 - Paralyze
5 - Banish
5 - Barstonra
6 - Poisona
7 - Barsleepra
7 - Protect (and Protectra)
9 - Barwatera
9 - Paralyna
10 - Aquaviel
10 - Barpoisonra
Cure will heal you for around 20-30HP intially. Dia an enfeebling spell that will deal some damage itself, damage over time and weakens the monster's defense. This is a great spell to cast as a WHM to the monster as it will make your life a lot easier, solo or party. Paralyze also helps as it can randomly cause the monster to skip their next attack. Banish deals direct damage but honestly, its not worth using in most situations.
I want to take this time to discuss spell terminology, mainly the prefixes and suffixes.
Bar- = Gives resistance to the element or ailment
-ra = The enhancement will target nearby party members
-na = The spell will heal the ailment
-ga = The spell will target multiple nearby enemies
The rest of the spells are self explainitory and the game will tell you what they will do. Note that if you're really strapped for gil, at least get Cure, Dia and Paralyze.
WHM's 2hr ability is "Benediction." This will restore everyone's HP to max and cure any status ailments on them. However, this will give that WHM a lot of hate from the monster and it can lead to the death of that WHM. Use with caution.
BLM
BLM has it pretty decent here. This is also a good time to practice timing your spells. In Final Fantasy XI, if you get hit hard enough, you can be interupted in your spell casting. You also must be standing still as well. Try to time your spells between the monster's attacks and you should be fine.
Black Mage gets the following spells from 1-10:
1 - Stone
3 - Poison
4 - Blind
5 - Water
7 - Bind
9 - Aero
10 - Bio
10 - Blaze Spikes
Bind is your friend. Bind will hold the monster in place while you can do whatever you want to them. However, if you hit them hard enough, they may break out of bind. Bio is like Dia but instead of lowered defense on the monster, it's lowered attack. Blaze Spikes is a spell that is cool on paper but ultimately is one of the least important spells you'll cast in a party environment.
BLM's 2hr ability is "Manafont." You will have unlimited MP and you cannot be interupted by physical hits. Use this when you run out of MP or if you need to land that one final nuke to survive.
RDM
RDM is generally like how THF would work out at 1-10 except they have a bit of WHM and a bit of BLM tossed in. Here are their spells:
1 - Dia
3 - Cure
4 - Stone
5 - Barstone
5 - Poison
6 - Paralyze
7 - Barsleep
7 - Protect
8 - Blind
9 - Barwater
9 - Water
10 - Barpoison
10 - Bio
RDM's 2hr ability is "Chainspell." This will remove the casting time and recast time of your spells for the duration of this ability, allowing you to rapidly cast spells. Very handy when you want to overwhelm the monster or need to be fast on the curing. Note that you do use up MP so make sure you have some MP on you before using this.
And that pretty much covers leveling from 1-10. This all just beginner newbie stuff but I want to get this foundation off the ground first. Feel free to spread this post around to newbies to the game. I'll cover some gil making ideas at lower levels and maybe even the older players might find something of value there. Eventually I'll start covering some more advanced things and that should be a good read for players that have been playing for more than 3 years.
Anyways, I hope you learned a few things from this post. Again, feel free to post this around and also leave any comments you might have for any new players. It would help them start in this game and would hopefully lead to more players running around longer.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Deciding Your Job and Race in Final Fantasy XI
When you first start off Final Fantasy XI, you can choose from five different races and six basic jobs. While you have to select from one of the six basic jobs to start off with, you can change at any time without worry of losing your current job level and you can also unlock 14 other "extra" jobs in Final Fantasy XI. For now, we're going to concentrate on what you will be starting with: The Basic Six.
First off, deciding what race you want to be will determine how your stats will roll out for your jobs. Again, there are five classes with no difference between male and female characters stat-wise.
Hume
A human-like race who have average stats. This race is perfect for those who want to be the "Jack of All Trades" as this race is not the worst nor are they the best in any job or situation.
Meant for players who: Wants to experience all jobs on a balanced ground.
Elvaan
A race that resembles elves from other fantasy lore. They lack Mana Points (or MP) but they make up for it with brute strength boosts. While not the most preferred class for mage jobs, they excel in damage dealing jobs.
Meant for players who: Wants to play melee jobs and hit hard while doing so.
Tarutaru
A race that resembles little children. While they may be small, they pack a huge amount of Mana Points and intelligence for nuking. However, they lack the stats to do well on a melee job... but that doesn't mean they can't play them well either.
Meant for players who: Wants to play mage jobs and have a large MP pool to support it.
Mithra (Female Only)
A cat-like race that can only be played as a female. Their main focus are the supportive melee classes that specialize in dexterity and agility. They lack a bit of charisma (for whatever reason) and vitality but can handle melee and mages job just as well as hume. Note that if you pick this race, you will be hit on by every male that plays this game... you have been warned.
Meant for players who: Want to play specialized jobs and want to have something decent to look at on screen for the long periods of time they will be playing this game.
Galka (Male Only)
A large and brute race that can probably punch a train off the tracks if they wanted to. However, don't be confused by their large size: they actually have the second highest strength in the game compared to elvaan. They have a huge lack of MP but they can take hits like a champion with their increased vitality and health points (or HP).
Meant for players who: Wants to be able to take a few more hits and be large and in charge.
While there are some huge racial differences (almost 10 STR difference between Tarutaru and Elvaan for example), for the most part, it will be your play style that will change based on race. So, if you want to play a Tarutaru Samurai (like myself), you'll keep up with an Elvaan Samurai based on your gear and aggressive play style compared to the Elvaan. With that in mind, there are ways to adjust your stats outside of gear such as food items and the merit system. To put it simply, pick whatever suits your play style.
With races out of the way, lets get into the basic six jobs. In Final Fantasy XI, there are six jobs that are initially unlocked for you to pick from. These jobs are the bare basics and while they might not appeal to you, some of these jobs you might want to consider leveling to use them as a support job (or subjob). Also note that you will need to level at least one of these jobs to level 30 to unlock the extra jobs.
Warrior (WAR)
Warrior can use almost any weapon-type in the game and has decent stats for a damage dealing job and even a tank job in certain situations. However, what sets WAR up is that they have some nice abilities that makes it excellent for a subjob and have a lot of options for equipment as a main job. While WAR can equip dual axes with Ninja subjob (Ninja has a Dual Wield trait), with an update to two-handed weapons, Great Axe has been a great option for WAR. Note though: people will expect you to tank at times. Concentrate on being more of a tank being able to take hits rather than a tank that can do a large amount of damage and you should be fine.
Monk (MNK)
Why get an axe or a sword when you can just use your own fists? Monk is the perfect example of a high DPS (damage per second) job where their multiple hit rounds make up the majority of their damage. They have access to some great gear as well if you were to pursue an end game career. Otherwise, the job is mainly focused on dealing damage and sometimes tanking in some situations.
Thief (THF)
Thief is one of the specialized melee classes in the game. While its own melee hits are fairly weak, they can attack really fast. What makes them shine is the ridiculous amounts of damage they can do with Sneak Attack. Stack up Sneak Attack on top of a weapon skill and you got yourself pure damage. However, what really makes THF a great party member is that they can "plant" the hate gained from the damage dealt to a monster onto another party member using Trick Attack, making them great when paired up with a tank. They are highly evasive and can solo rather well at the later levels. Not to mention that they have passive abilities to make item drops more frequently.
White Mage (WHM)
White Mage is your basic healer job. Fairly straight forward and simple yet hard to master as mana point conservation is key to playing the job well. Don't even think about pulling out a club and whacking monsters over the head, they are quite too weak to do so for the most part in any experience point party (XP Party) and you would be quite pressed to do so with all the responsibilities you have in front of you. Thankfully, there are quite a few things you get as a white mage to make your job easier in Final Fantasy XI but remember that a white mage's job first and foremost is to heal and support the party.
Black Mage (BLM)
White Mage is for healing as Black Mage is for causing damage by using elemental magic (or nukes). Nuking in Final Fantasy XI can deal a lot of damage and can be very lethal... to both the monster and the black mage themselves. Because black mages can deal so much damage, it can cause the monster to turn their attention to the black mage and when a black mage gets hit, it gets hit HARD as it lacks a lot of equipment and stats that would allow it to survive a lot of damage to themselves. We will be covering the concept of enmity and hate in Final Fantasy XI in a later article but take note from Stan Lee: "With great power there must also come great responsibility."
Red Mage (RDM)
This is one of my favorite jobs to talk about, mainly because it is a job that is extremely powerful but is also the object of many misconceptions. First of all, the original concept of Red Mage was that it is a job that can do a bit of everything from meleeing to nuking to healing to support. For the most part, yes red mage can do all of those things in Final Fantasy XI. As time went on, red mage has been focused more towards a support and healer job, along with the excellent ability of being able to enfeeble (or debuff) the monster with variable ailments. There are many things a red mage can do and to call it the "jack of trades" jobs right now would be far from the truth as it would imply that it is not a master of any concept, which surely red mage has mastery in a few areas. Note one thing though: meleeing isn't one thing they're great.
Once you decide both your race and your job, you will also need to select a nation of allegiance. This is all purely for starting position and storyline purposes and can be changed under certain conditions if you prefer to move to another nation. There is one advantage you can get though depending on your race and what nation you pick. If you pick the following combinations, you will get the following items.
Hume or Galka in Bastok = Bastokan Ring
Tarutaru or Mithra in Windurst = Windurstian Ring
Elvaan in San d'Oria = San d'Orian Ring
While the stats of these rings are nice for when you start off, these rings will soon be replaced at around level 14. You can also obtain these rings after increasing your nation rank to 3 and purchasing it with conquest points.
But what in the world of Vana'diel are conquest points, nation rank, and so on? They aren't anything you should be worrying about at this very moment if you start the game but in the next post, I'll be covering your leveling journey from 1 to 30. Along with this, I'll be tossing out some shortcuts that will help you along your way, especially with making gil in Final Fantasy XI and some resources to look up for when you need some help.
First off, deciding what race you want to be will determine how your stats will roll out for your jobs. Again, there are five classes with no difference between male and female characters stat-wise.
Hume
A human-like race who have average stats. This race is perfect for those who want to be the "Jack of All Trades" as this race is not the worst nor are they the best in any job or situation.
Meant for players who: Wants to experience all jobs on a balanced ground.
Elvaan
A race that resembles elves from other fantasy lore. They lack Mana Points (or MP) but they make up for it with brute strength boosts. While not the most preferred class for mage jobs, they excel in damage dealing jobs.
Meant for players who: Wants to play melee jobs and hit hard while doing so.
Tarutaru
A race that resembles little children. While they may be small, they pack a huge amount of Mana Points and intelligence for nuking. However, they lack the stats to do well on a melee job... but that doesn't mean they can't play them well either.
Meant for players who: Wants to play mage jobs and have a large MP pool to support it.
Mithra (Female Only)
A cat-like race that can only be played as a female. Their main focus are the supportive melee classes that specialize in dexterity and agility. They lack a bit of charisma (for whatever reason) and vitality but can handle melee and mages job just as well as hume. Note that if you pick this race, you will be hit on by every male that plays this game... you have been warned.
Meant for players who: Want to play specialized jobs and want to have something decent to look at on screen for the long periods of time they will be playing this game.
Galka (Male Only)
A large and brute race that can probably punch a train off the tracks if they wanted to. However, don't be confused by their large size: they actually have the second highest strength in the game compared to elvaan. They have a huge lack of MP but they can take hits like a champion with their increased vitality and health points (or HP).
Meant for players who: Wants to be able to take a few more hits and be large and in charge.
While there are some huge racial differences (almost 10 STR difference between Tarutaru and Elvaan for example), for the most part, it will be your play style that will change based on race. So, if you want to play a Tarutaru Samurai (like myself), you'll keep up with an Elvaan Samurai based on your gear and aggressive play style compared to the Elvaan. With that in mind, there are ways to adjust your stats outside of gear such as food items and the merit system. To put it simply, pick whatever suits your play style.
With races out of the way, lets get into the basic six jobs. In Final Fantasy XI, there are six jobs that are initially unlocked for you to pick from. These jobs are the bare basics and while they might not appeal to you, some of these jobs you might want to consider leveling to use them as a support job (or subjob). Also note that you will need to level at least one of these jobs to level 30 to unlock the extra jobs.
Warrior (WAR)
Warrior can use almost any weapon-type in the game and has decent stats for a damage dealing job and even a tank job in certain situations. However, what sets WAR up is that they have some nice abilities that makes it excellent for a subjob and have a lot of options for equipment as a main job. While WAR can equip dual axes with Ninja subjob (Ninja has a Dual Wield trait), with an update to two-handed weapons, Great Axe has been a great option for WAR. Note though: people will expect you to tank at times. Concentrate on being more of a tank being able to take hits rather than a tank that can do a large amount of damage and you should be fine.
Monk (MNK)
Why get an axe or a sword when you can just use your own fists? Monk is the perfect example of a high DPS (damage per second) job where their multiple hit rounds make up the majority of their damage. They have access to some great gear as well if you were to pursue an end game career. Otherwise, the job is mainly focused on dealing damage and sometimes tanking in some situations.
Thief (THF)
Thief is one of the specialized melee classes in the game. While its own melee hits are fairly weak, they can attack really fast. What makes them shine is the ridiculous amounts of damage they can do with Sneak Attack. Stack up Sneak Attack on top of a weapon skill and you got yourself pure damage. However, what really makes THF a great party member is that they can "plant" the hate gained from the damage dealt to a monster onto another party member using Trick Attack, making them great when paired up with a tank. They are highly evasive and can solo rather well at the later levels. Not to mention that they have passive abilities to make item drops more frequently.
White Mage (WHM)
White Mage is your basic healer job. Fairly straight forward and simple yet hard to master as mana point conservation is key to playing the job well. Don't even think about pulling out a club and whacking monsters over the head, they are quite too weak to do so for the most part in any experience point party (XP Party) and you would be quite pressed to do so with all the responsibilities you have in front of you. Thankfully, there are quite a few things you get as a white mage to make your job easier in Final Fantasy XI but remember that a white mage's job first and foremost is to heal and support the party.
Black Mage (BLM)
White Mage is for healing as Black Mage is for causing damage by using elemental magic (or nukes). Nuking in Final Fantasy XI can deal a lot of damage and can be very lethal... to both the monster and the black mage themselves. Because black mages can deal so much damage, it can cause the monster to turn their attention to the black mage and when a black mage gets hit, it gets hit HARD as it lacks a lot of equipment and stats that would allow it to survive a lot of damage to themselves. We will be covering the concept of enmity and hate in Final Fantasy XI in a later article but take note from Stan Lee: "With great power there must also come great responsibility."
Red Mage (RDM)
This is one of my favorite jobs to talk about, mainly because it is a job that is extremely powerful but is also the object of many misconceptions. First of all, the original concept of Red Mage was that it is a job that can do a bit of everything from meleeing to nuking to healing to support. For the most part, yes red mage can do all of those things in Final Fantasy XI. As time went on, red mage has been focused more towards a support and healer job, along with the excellent ability of being able to enfeeble (or debuff) the monster with variable ailments. There are many things a red mage can do and to call it the "jack of trades" jobs right now would be far from the truth as it would imply that it is not a master of any concept, which surely red mage has mastery in a few areas. Note one thing though: meleeing isn't one thing they're great.
Once you decide both your race and your job, you will also need to select a nation of allegiance. This is all purely for starting position and storyline purposes and can be changed under certain conditions if you prefer to move to another nation. There is one advantage you can get though depending on your race and what nation you pick. If you pick the following combinations, you will get the following items.
Hume or Galka in Bastok = Bastokan Ring
Tarutaru or Mithra in Windurst = Windurstian Ring
Elvaan in San d'Oria = San d'Orian Ring
While the stats of these rings are nice for when you start off, these rings will soon be replaced at around level 14. You can also obtain these rings after increasing your nation rank to 3 and purchasing it with conquest points.
But what in the world of Vana'diel are conquest points, nation rank, and so on? They aren't anything you should be worrying about at this very moment if you start the game but in the next post, I'll be covering your leveling journey from 1 to 30. Along with this, I'll be tossing out some shortcuts that will help you along your way, especially with making gil in Final Fantasy XI and some resources to look up for when you need some help.
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