In a recent thread, people started a discussion on what they would like to see in their ultimate FFXI guide. As this was a discussion lead and participated in by real FFXI players (and not some summer intern at Brady ^^), I thought it would make a great outline for a guide for all players.
So here we go.
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Contents
Starting Your Adventure
Choosing Your Character
What's a Moghouse?
The Three Nations
A Brief History of Time - Vana'diel Style
Vana'diel Map Section
City Maps
Party Formation
Leveling Locations
Full Bestiary
Skillchain Chart
Mission/Quest Guide
Job Guides
Magic Guide
Macros
Food Guide
Crafting
Make Yourself a Better Player
Starting Your Adventure
As you start your new life in Vana'diel, any experienced player could offer you two very important words of advice:
Don't Panic.
This is a very big world and it is quite easy for the beginning player to feel lost. We all went through it at one point and then relive it each time we level into a new phase of our adventure.
Remember that we are all working towards a common goal: to make our world a better place for everyone to exist. Work with others, respect everyone you meet, and always remember to have fun, and you will have one of the greatest adventures of your life.
Choosing Your Character
Your first act in joining the world of Vana'diel is an important one. Before you can begin your journey, you have to choose a character that embodies you. Each race is unique and has traits that may affect its effectiveness in certain jobs and situations.
Clicking each race name will carry you to another page that briefly explains the nature of each race and includes a chart of their starting stats for each job class.
Elvaan
Hume
Galka
Mithra
Tarutaru
While any race can play any job class effectively, it must be said that certain races have stats that may be better suited towards specific classes. Stats should not define the choices you make, but they will be part of the player you become.
You will also choose a beginning job class at this point. It is possible to change your job class at any time in the game by asking the moogle in your moghouse.
What's a Moghouse?
It is amazing how many players do not know what their moghouse is when they begin.
In almost all areas of each city, there is an area known as the residential area. You can find these areas on the maps located below or by typing /map into the command line.
By zoning into these areas, you are transported directly to your own moghouse, a residential unit that is home to your own private moogle and mogsafe.
Your moogle provides you with several incredibly handy resources. By talking with the moogle, you will be able to change job classes or place items into your mogsafe.
As adventurers, we will accumulate large amounts of items and equipment. Carrying all of these items with us would be highly inefficient, so you can take the oppotunity to store helpful items in your moghouse for safe keeping. This will allow you to hold on to important items and free up room in your inventory.
One of your first priorities in the game should be to locate the residential areas in your starting city.
The Three Nations
Once you have selected a character race and starting job class, you will be asked to choose a starting city. Each nation is distinct and has its own unique culture.
Each city is also home to certain races. While you can begin in any city as any race, choosing to start in the city associated with your race will reward you with a free level 1 ring that will boost your stats.
The Kingdom of San d'Oria is home to the Elvaan. Elvaans who start in this city are given the San d'Orian Ring.
The Republic of Bastok is home to the Hume and the Galka. Hume or Galka who start in this city are given the Bastokan Ring.
The Federation of Windurst is home to the Mithra and Tarutaru. Mithra or Tarutaru who start in this city are given the Windurstian Ring.
Once you have chosen your race, your starting job class, and a home nation, you will finally be able to enter the world of Vana'diel.
A Brief History of Time - Vana'diel Style
Some of you may find yourselves wishing to know more about the history of Vana'diel. While historical records are few and far between, there do exist some basic histories of our world.
History of Vana'diel
Vana'diel Map Section
The following site is a completely interactive Atlas that provides maps of every known area including NM locations and Treasure chest/coffer spawn points
www.ffxi-atlas.com/
Treasure spawn points and NM locations do not appear on the maps automatically. Rather, if you would like this information, there is a link at the bottom of each map that can be clicked to show these points.
City Maps
You will also find included specific city maps, but in order to speed up the process.
San d'Oria
Bastok
Windurst
Jeuno
Sadly, these maps do not include NPC locations, but they will give you a good map of each city for use with strategy guides.
Also, if you know the specific name or type of NPC you are looking for, you can use the searchable NPC database found at ffxi.cannotlinkto.
NPC Database
Party Formation
In order to gain experience in your adventures and achieve new levels, it will become vital to form good groups, also known as "parties". It is also important to make yourself an effective, efficient member of any party in order to maximize everyone's journey.
When forming a party, a leader should take several factors into account including:
1) What jobs are available in my level range?
2) Where are we going to camp?
3) What mobs will we be facing?
4) Are there any special circumstances I should consider?
The first question is the most vital. Each party has certain basic requirements and, if you cannot organize these required roles, your party may not succeed. When beginning a party, a potential leader should type
/sea all (level range) inv (ex. /sea all 18-20 inv)
into the command prompt in order to search all of Vana'diel for people who are seeking a party and who fall into your appropriate level range.
In order to maximize experience points from each mob fought, it is important to consider the difference between levels of all party members. In an ideal situation, there should be no more than 3 levels in difference between the highest level party member and the lowest. A difference of any more and your experience point accumulation may suffer.
Once you have a list of all players looking to join a party in your level range, you should try finding people to fill the vital party roles.
The main role in a party is the tank (also known as a meat shield). It is the job of the tank to grab the attention of the mob being fought and keep its attention over time. This way all attacks are focused at that player and the other party members can work together to kill the mob.
The jobs usually associated with the tank role are Paladin (PLD) and Ninja (NIN). Warriors (WAR) can also make good tanks.
Another vital main role is main healer. It is the job of the main healer to ensure that the rest of the party members, and in particular the tank, are healed as quickly as possible to prevent death.
The job usually associated with the main healer role is White Mage (WHM), though Red Mages (RDM) and Summoners (SMN) can be quite effective in this role.
It is also important to consider another healer as a support role in the party. It can be difficult for one player to heal the entire group. A support healer can actually increase your effectiveness as a group. Red Mages (RDM) and Bards (BRD) make great support healers.
Note: It is always a good idea when inviting a Red Mage or Summoner to a party as a main healer, to make sure they are aware of this. Some Red Mages and Summoners do not enjoy the role of main healer.
The remaining positions can be then filled with other job classes that will do damage to the enemies (also known as Damage Dealers or DD). Make sure that you try and balance your party as much as possible.
Job Classes usually associated with the Damage Dealer role are Black Mage (BLM), Monk (MNK), Thief (THF), Warrior (WAR), Beastmaster (BST), Dark Knight (DRK), Dragoon (DRG), Ninja (NIN), Ranger (RNG), Samurai (SAM), and Summoner (SMN).
Leveling Locations
People are of many minds on what exactly is the best area to level at for each level. Despite the common concensus, there are many suitable leveling locations open to players at each level.
That being said, some locations have advantages over others. There are generally accepted locations where most people level and expect to level as they play.
Possibly one of the best studies of leveling locations and campsites would be an Allakhazam thread created by AmbroseOdin. It includes the basic leveling locations, as well as specific camp locations for each area and a listing of which mobs to target for each level range.
Leveling Locations/Campsites
Full Bestiary
Frankly, the best bestiary I am aware of is that found on this site. Mobs can be searched by both family and area.
Bestiary Listings
Or you can use the searchable mob database found at ffxi.cannotlinkto.
Mob Database
This database can search all known mobs by location, family, level ranges, as well as several other factors.
Skillchain Chart
I could not hope to improve on the amazing chart done by Aden. It is easy to use and is an important resource for any player.
Aden's Renkai Chart
Or you could also use the diagram provided by Kitsune available at gamefaqs.com.
I might also suggest that melee and mages alike read the following guide on skillchaining and magic bursting. It will help you understand how each system works and how to set up your timing.
FFXI Faqs
Mission/Quest Guide
This site actually provides a huge resource for missions and quests including pretty much anything you will need to know to complete them.
Missions
Quests by Type
Quests by Area
These sections also include information on each jobs AF quests, but you can also find useful AF guides in each job class forum.
Black Mage AF
Red Mage AF
White Mage AF
Thief AF
Warrior AF
Bard AF
Beastmaster AF
Dark Knight AF
Dragoon AF
Ninja AF
Paladin AF
Ranger AF
Sadly, these are the only guides I could find, though there are detailed explainations on both this site in the quest section and on MysteryTour.
MysteryTour AF Guides
Job Guides
Each job forum on this site includes detailed job guides with pretty much any information you may need. These guides were written by various posters and were compiled by AmbroseOdin.
Black Mage
Red Mage
White Mage
Monk
Thief
Warrior
Bard
Beastmaster
Dark Knight
Dragoon
Ninja
Paladin
Ranger
Samurai
Summoner
Magic Guide
This database includes every magic spell listed by job and location. It also includes a search function that can be searched using a spell name.
FFXI Spell Database
Each spell listing also includes where each spell can be obtained and approximate price listings if it can be bought.
Macros
While the menu system is easy to navigate and control, it may take more time than a particular situation may allow. Be it that emergency provoke or that last second cure, every little bit of time saved can greatly help you.
The menu system allows you to set up predefined command actions, known as "macros". Basically, they allow for the player to define specific actions to occur at the touch of a button (or two).
Just as each job class has unique abilities they must harness to work effectively, so too will each class have their own macros. I would suggest you take the time to set up a macro set you feel comfortable with and that will maximize your effectiveness. To help you, this guide explains the macro creation progress and how to enter commands properly.
Macro Guide
Food Guide
There are several food guides floating around, though the one I find most frequently updated would be the food database on this site.
Allakhazam Food Guide
What Can I do Besides Leveling/Questing?
For many people, the constant experience grind can get a little tiring. Even the best of us will want to find other ways to occupy our time and enjoy our world of Vana'diel.
What few people know is that these things can also be highly rewarding and profitable. Here are just a few of the many sidequests/events available to players.
Garrison
A personal favourite, garrison is a special battle event in which a number of players must defend an outpost of their nation against an onslaught of mobs. I have written a more detailed guide here.
Ballista
What is an MMORPG without some form of player versus player combat action? This battle event is a combination between capture the flag and full on war in which two teams can compete at any given time. A good basic guide already exists on this site and can be found here.
BCNM (Burning Circle Notorious Monsters)
All across Vana'diel, there are special arenas accessible through the use of "burning circles". Seals obatined from various mobs around the world (Beastman Seals, Kindred Seals) can be traded to an NPC in Jeuno for a special orb that corresponds with the number of seals traded. Different BCNMs require different orbs. Each BCNM also limits the number of players that can participate.
Trading an orb to an appropriate burning circle will transport you to an arena where you will face a difficult NM challenge. Winning can earn you great rewards.
A listing of all known BCNMs and the appropriate orb required for each event can be found at MysteryTour.
MysteryTour BCNM Listing
Promyvions
The Promyvions are special areas that were added in the Chains of Promathia (CoP) Expansion. Once the quests have been activated and carried to a certain point, a player will be asked to investigate strange occurrances at the crags. Investigation will reveal entire new areas to explore and new enemies to face.
Each Promyvion area is unique and can only be completed by winning a final boss battle. These boss battles are difficult, but if you manage to survive all three battles, you will open up entire new areas to the game including Lufaise Meadows and the Tavnazian Safehold.
More information about what one can expect and some basic strategies can be found in a great guide written by Darkprayer.
Darkprayer's Promyvion Guide
ENMs (Empty Notorious Monsters)
Similar to BCNMs in the respect that it is a special arena event that can be participated in by a limited number of players.
They do, however, differ from regular BCNMs in that they occur in areas added in the Chains of Promathia (CoP) Expansion. A detailed listing of the various ENMs and where each is located can again be found at MysteryTour.
MysteryTour ENM Listing
Crafting
Along with the crafting forums on this site, I would also suggest crafters check out these following site as it provides great information for crafters.
FFXI Crafting Timer
Making Yourself a Better Player
It is important to remember that while you are an individual, you are part of an adventuring community. I would suggest you take the time to learn the ins and outs of your job, as well as the basic etiquette expected by other players.
To this end, this following guide describes some basic gaming etiquette that each player would be wise to follow.
Etiquette Guide
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I will update this as time permits. Hopefully, this will make a good beginning for anyone out there that needs help or is just getting started.
Hope you like it.
Edited, Wed Jun 1 15:18:31 2005 by Taodyn