Month: April 2015

When first embarking on your FFXIV journey, you will find yourself in one of the following starting zones, depending on which Class you pick.

Gridania – Conjurer, Lancer and Archer
Limsa Lominsa – Maurauder and Arcanist
Ul’Dah – Gladiator, Pugilist and Thaumaturge

These starting zones will be your home for your first 15 levels of play and are designed to teach you the basic mechanics of the game. Your Main Scenario starts here and will lead you right through to End Game, however it is important to note that if you intend to take on a Job, you won’t have the benefit of having your Main Scenarios to guide you through your alternative classes.

When you hit level 15, so long as you have kept up with your campaigns, the real journey begins and you will have the chance to travel to the other three continents and finally, group up to do Dungeons with other players.

Basic Tips for Leveling

– Make sure when you have a little bit of money that you pick up some food (relative to your class) as they give a 3% xp boost

– There shouldn’t be a need in the first 15 Levels to buy armor and weapons. You’ll go through them too fast anyway to justify the expenditure

– Whatever you do, make sure you keep up to date with your Main Scenario. You will not be able to leave your starting location at level 15 unless you unlock the quest for the airship.

– Make sure you also keep up to date with your Class quests for Weapons and Armor every 5 levels. To unlock your weapons and armor via the quest, you will need to complete Solo Dungeons. In some cases, you will also receive permanent skill upgrades.

Terminology References

Aeathernet Points – These are teleportation devices that will allow you to port around town without running from place to place

Alternative Classes – In FFXIV you can level more than 1 class on the same character. This is called Alternative Classes.

Boss – Big Ass Monster you have to fight.

Chocobo – The Chocobo is a mount you’ll be able to purchase at level 21/22. You can ride them around town and teach them to fight alongside you.

Class Guild – Class Guilds are where you will get your quests related to your Class or to obtain and Alternative Class

Class Quest – Quests specifically related to your class.

Classes – The type of character you will play. i.e. Galdiator, Conjurer.

DPS – Damage Per Second. Also a term used to describe classes whose main role is to deal damage to the enemy.

Duty Finder – Duty Finder is an alternative way of saying group matching. If you can’t find a group with the people you play with you can queue up for the Duty Finder and it will find one for you across all servers.

End Game Content – Refers to the things you can do when you reach maximum level for your character

F.A.T.E – Fully Active Time Events. F.A.T.E. events are large scale battles that take place in real time. They can start at anytime and anywhere on the map. They can also be started by NPC’s (Non-player Characters)

FFXIV – Final Fantasy 14 – A Realm Reborn

Grand Companies – Grand companies are factions associated with the 3 different starting areas. There are 3 Grand Companies one for each starting area. Later in the game you can join one of the Grand Companies and earn points (seals) to buy unique items from your Grand Company.

Grinding – Grinding is where you repetitive killing of mobs, gather materials or craft items.

Guildhest – Guildhests are group quests that players can complete for xp. They usually consist of mini dungeons or boss fights.

Hunting Logs – A log obtained after your first level 5 class quest requiring you to kill a certain number of particular types of monsters. Completing an entry grants bonus experience points.

Ifrit – A particularly nasty Boss you’ll encounter in the level 20 dungeon.

Jobs – Each job requires its primary class to be level 30 and the its secondary class to be level 15 before being unlocked through a quest. The job grants new abilities to increase the potential of the primary class allowing the player to fulfil a particular role in group content. Jobs are designed for, though not restricted to, group play where each person has a role to fulfill

Levequests – Levequests are tasks you can obtain though-out the world that. Some examples would be; escorting someone safely through a dangerous zone and kill quests. They give higher xp and Gil than normal quests. You will obtain a certain number of allowances or tokens if you will, for Levequests daily. These can be stockpiled over time or used as you earn them.

Main Scenario – In many games known as Campaigns. These are your main quest lines. This usually provides the baseline for the Lore of the game.

Mob – Small Ass Monsters or any normal monster you have to fight.

NPC – NPC’s (Non Player Characters) are server operated characters, not players

Rank Up – When you join a Grand Company, you are given an entry level rank, similar to an army rank. You are able to improve your rank by doing certain quests, Company Hunting Logs and obtaining Seals.

Seals – Currency used to buy items from the Grand Company.

Stockpile – Allowing something to build up. E.g. if you earn 3 tokens per day and keep those tokens for 4 days, you’ll have 12 tokens to spend.

Tank – The class that can take the most damage and keep the Boss’s attention.

Tank and Spank – Terminology used for a basic boss fight. Tank keeps the Boss/Mobs attention, while the DPS kills it.

Unlocking – Making something available

Walk Through – A detailed guide to the game or instance/dungeon

XP – Experience Points. Also known as EXP

So now that we have gone through the basics, lets go through levelling in more detail

Levels 1-15

Levels 1-5 are pretty basic. You’ll start out doing a lot of quests around town to get to know the area, unlock the Aethernet points, and find your Class Guild.

Tip: Make sure you do your quest line from the Guild – this will allow you to advance considerably in your Class skills

By level 3 you’ll be out of town and travelling around the country side of your starting city. There will be villages and checkpoints where you can pick up quests, however, grinding and doing F.A.T.E.s (random open world mob fights similar to rifts) bring in a lot of xp, so get hunting peeps.

Tip: Even if you are level sync’d for a F.A.T.E., it’s still worth doing for the xp. It’s also important to note that it’s not always better to go for higher level F.A.T.E.s. The closer to your level the F.A.T.E. is, the better the xp gain. For example, you will always get more xp for a F.A.T.E. one level bellow than you will for a F.A.T.E. two levels above you.

At level 5 you’ll receive a quest to obtain access to your Hunting Log. Remember this, as it gives a lot of xp as you are levelling and if you follow it faithfully in later levels you’ll be able to rank up in the Grand Companies for awesome Armor and Weapons.

For levels 6-15 continue along with your Main Scenario, this will unlock more Class Guild quests and progress you along the awesome story SQUARE ENIX has created for us. Along with the basic progression of the storyline, the Campaign and Class Guild quests will unlock your Hunting Log (at level 5), Levequests & Guildhests (both available from level 10).

Your Hunting Log will take you to various zones around your starting locations, but the travel is well worth it as the xp you’ll gain will well make up for the time lost finding the mobs you need to kill to complete it.

Tip: When you complete each section of your Hunting Log, you get bonus xp points

Levequests are kind of like mini F.A.T.E.s, although the types of quests you may be asked to complete are a little more versatile than just killing mobs. These quests may ask you to escort someone or something through danger zones, find items lost, kill a mini boss or of course kill a certain type of mob. Beware though, you are on a timer, so get those quests done fast.

Tip: Levequests are limited in the number you are able to do daily. However you can stockpile them to be used at a later date. They do however give awesome xp and Gil.

Guildhests are instances that one can enter via the Duty Finder and hooray, they are group instances. You will gain access to two new Guildhests every 5 levels starting from level 10. The first time you go into one of these instances you will gain huge amounts of xp and Gil. They are repeatable though and the xp isn’t too bad on consecutive runs.

Recommendations for optimal levelling:

– Don’t skimp out on doing your Main Scenario – keeping up to date with that will ensure that you don’t get stuck back tracking through area’s to catch up, unlock skills and provide you weapons and armor.

– Do as many F.A.T.E.s as you possibly can.

– Other than the first initial quests in town, do as little side quests as you can manage. When levelling your alts/sub classes, you won’t have the benefit of your Main Scenario to boost your xp gain, so you may need your side quests to help boost xp gain and break up the constant grind of F.A,T.E.s and Hunting Logs.

– Try not to use any Guildhests or Levequests on your first class as you will need them to boost your xp gain on your alt classes.

You can reach Level 15/16 relatively easily with your Main Scenario, F.A.T.E.s, Hunting Logs and only a couple of side quests if you find yourself needing to make up half a level in xp points

Levels 16-20

If you have followed your Main Scenario faithfully, at level 15, you’ll find yourself travelling around the world through various Main Scenario quests.

Tip: Do not do any quests in the new towns other than your Main Scenario as you will definitely need them to assist with levelling your alt classes.

Note: You are also able to swap your class for an alt class or the secondary Class required to obtain a Job by going to the Class guild and starting their quest line. When you change your class, your level will reset back to 1 and you will have to level that class up to 15 to further progress on the Main Scenario. You can however swap between the two classes any time you choose by changing your weapon and armor set.

Now this is where the fun begins. Your Main Scenario will lead you to your first 3 dungeons (click the links for walkthroughs); Satasha (lvl15), Tam Tara Deepcroft (lvl16) and Copperbell Mines (lvl17). They are relatively simple in their execution; though build in complexity as you go through each one

Tip: The first time you do any dungeon, you will need to speak to the NPC at the door of the dungeon to unlock it. After that you will be able to enter the dungeon via the duty finder. The Duty finder can be used either as a solo player or in a group.
Note: You will want to do your Instances as close to the level requirement as possible for the first time as you will get chain bonuses (additional xp) for killing the mobs in them.

Hallelujah! No longer do you have to rely on basic grinding methods to lvl. These instances are repeatable, drop rates are pretty awesome and the xp is decent. However, make sure you don’t forget to advance through your Main Scenario and Hunting Logs, some of which you’ll be able to complete in the instances.

And let’s not forget the Levequests, if you are inclined to use your points, Guildhests and side quests.

As you move through your Main Scenario, you’ll open up more instances at level 20, one via the Main Scenario itself – Bowl of Embers, and one from a side quest you get at the White Sands -Halatali(don’t worry, your Main Scenario will lead you to the White Sands there over, and over, and over again ).

Tip: In order to get your Chocobo later in the Main Scenario you must successfully complete Bowl of Embers (Ifrit). I know that this falls into the natural progression of the Main Scenario, but this fight was worthy of mentioning as a tip

These two instances is where you’ll see the biggest change in the complexity of instances. While the first three generally are almost tank and spank, with a few quirks in Copperbell Mines, these two definitely kick start you into thinking more strategically.

Recommendations for optimal levelling:

– Mix up your levelling with a few repeats of these dungeons just to break the monotony of grinding out F.A.T.E.s and quests

– Keep up with your Main Scenario and Hunting Logs

– Do as many F.A.T.E.s as you can

– Try not to obtain too many side quests, Levequests and Guildhests – yes you will need them when levelling your alt classes

Instance walk through credit: All links to Instance walk throughs are courtesy of Eorseareborn

Level 21-25

Early on, the Main Scenario will lead you through introductions to the Grand Companies. Be prepared peeps, you’ll need to choose one! I recommend doing some research on the different Grand Companies before choosing one, as each one has different items in the shop that will suit different class.

When you’ve chosen which Grand Company you like, you’ll now open a set of Hunting Logs – specific to your Company and new quests become available – Woot! Lots more xp opportunities.

By choosing a Grand Company, you now unlock the ability to purchase your very own Chocobo! Chocobo’s are well worth having – if you don’t already have a mount – as they make running around the area’s go faster and you’ll be able to train them to fight alongside you when questing when you reach lvl 30. I don’t know how many times my Chocobo (Bodyguard as I called him) saved me from untimely deaths. Thanks Bodyguard!

Tip: You will need to hunt Company Seals to purchase anything from the Grand Company, including your Chocobo. F.A.T.E.S, Grand Company quests and Hunter Logs all give good Seals so make sure you get grinding for those Chocobo’s

Tip: The best place to grind out F.A.T.E.s in these lvls are in East Shroud and South Shroud (Gridania area).

At level 23 you will gain access to the next instance Thousand Maws of Tot-Rak, unfortunately, in phase 3 this was the only instance between the levels of 21-29, so my recommendation is stick to the same formula you used in the earlier levels, F.A.T.E.s, Levequests, Guildhests, Hunting Logs and quests with the odd entry into the instance to break the monotony.

Tip: Don’t forget to keep up with the Class quests

Recommendations for optimal levelling:

– Keep up with your Main Scenario and Hunting Logs

– Do as many F.A.T.E.s as you can

– Try not to obtain too many side quests, Levequests and Guildhests – yes you will need them when levelling your alt classes

Instance walk through credit: All links to Instance walk throughs are courtesy of Eorseareborn

Level 25-35

If you wish to follow traditional lvling paths, then following your Main Scenario is the way to go. Make sure you pick up any F.A.T.E.s, Hunting Log kills, Levequests and Guildhests.

At 29, you’ll be able to do your next instance, Haukke Manor. When doing this instance, you will notice a marked difference in difficulty from the previous instances to date. This instance gives great xp and awesome gear for its level, particularly accessories.

At Lvl 30, you will be able to obtain a Job (enhanced version of your main class). In order to be eligible for a Job however, you must have lvl’d an alt/sub class. The combinations required to obtain the specific Jobs are as follows;

WHM (White Mage) – Conjurer Lvl 30/Arcanist Lvl 15
SCH (Scholar) – Arcanist Lvl 30/Conjurer Lvl 15
SMN (Summoner) – Arcanist Lvl 30/Thaumaturge Lvl 15
BRD (Bard) – Archer Lvl 30/Pugilist 15
PLD (Paladin) – Gladiator Lvl 30/Conjurer Lvl 15
DRG (Dragoon) – Lancer Lvl 30/Marauder Lvl 15
WAR (Warrior) – Marauder Lvl 30/Gladiator Lvl 15
MNK (Monk) – Pugilist Lvl 30/Lancer 15
BLM (Black Mage) – Thaumaturge Lvl 30/Archer 15

To obtain your Job, you first must complete your lvl 30 Class quest, which unlocks the Job quest. Once you have your Job, you are able to swap between your Classes and Jobs by equipping/un-equipping your Soul Crystal. You are able to obtain multiple Jobs so long as you have classes at the required lvl to meet the requirements. As you continue to lvl, your main Class and your Job lvl together.

You will also be able to obtain a quest to train your Chocobo in combat. Make sure you pick up this quest – My Feisty Little Chocobo, which is a side quest that you can pick up in Camp Tranquil (South Shroud) as he will be invaluable for solo grinding.

At 32 you’ll be able to do Brayflox’s Longstop, my favourite instance to date. It has amazing xp, good drop rates and is enjoyable to run. What more could you ask for? This is where the team work and strategy really kicks in and you have to start planning out your instance runs more careful. Brayflox is a good instance to farm out to level 35 if your interest is in instances.

Tip: Don’t forget to keep up with the Class quests

Recommendations for optimal levelling:

Although the above is extremely effective for lvling at a reasonable pace, my recommendation is, if you can, get a group together (preferably 8 people but any size group is fine) and grind out F.A.T.E.s. If you choose your location wisely, and have a decent party, you will fly through these 10 lvls in no time.

The best location to F.A.T.E grind at this lvl is in Eastern La Noscea (Limsa Lominsa).

Tip: If you haven’t unlocked that part of the map, you will be able to access it via exiting the Limsa Lominsa Lower Docks area heading towards Middle La Noscea. From there, head north. When you get there, explore the map to find the Aeathernet crystals at Wineport and Costa del Sol. Once done, you can start your F.A.T.E grind.

When grinding out F.A.T.E.s there are a few things to remember;

– To maximise the xp gain, be ready to teleport from town to town at moment’s notice. When one person ports, they can port the entire group, so long as the party members are not in mid cast or on a Chocobo. Communication is essential for successful group porting

– Know your F.A.T.E.s. Some F.A.T.E.s give more xp than others. One you definitely do not want to miss is “It’s Not Lupus”, otherwise known as “Cancer” as the xp gain here is 4 times greater than any other F.A.T.E. in the area.

– Some F.A.T.E.s require you to gather items for an NPC waiting nearby, if you do one of these F.A.T.E.s, hold the turn in for the items until the last minute of the F.A.T.E. to maximise the xp gain from mobs in the F.A.T.E. as they do not affect the F.A.T.E timer. So as long as nobody turns in anything you can sit there and AOE grind the mobs, this will easily get you 30+ exp chains and which will dwarf any reward exp from other fates

– You do not need to be at the F.A.T.E. until the very end. When the duration bar (which is situated in the quest log on your right hand side of the screen) hits 60-75% complete, move to the next F.A.T.E (if one is available). This will gain you chain your xp, giving you xp bonuses. However it should be noted that if you are lvl synced and you leave (and thus become un-synced) you will get no exp

Tip: One last tip about fates is to “tag” as many mobs as you can, this is basically like free exp for being the first group to hit a mob. Tagging a boss mob will normally net you an extra 500-1000 exp, while the smaller normal trash mobs will give you exp normal for your lvl. On many of the fates where they have you kill a bunch of mobs, tagging them can net a large amount of extra exp for basically doing the same thing.

Instance walk through credit: All links to Instance walk throughs are courtesy of Eorseareborn

Level 35-40

If you decided to lvl via F.A.T.E. parties, at lvl 35, once you’ve done your Job Quest, it would be a good idea to go back and catch up on your Main Scenario quests, as lvl 35-40 are a lot slower to lvl due to not having a decent place to farm F.A.T.E.s.

Tip: Do not forget your F.A.T.E.s however, as they will give you an occasional boost to xp gain. So make sure you do any you come across as you pass through areas doing your campaign

Once you have caught up in your Main Scenario, you will encounter a new trial Trial Lord of the Crag(required lvl 34) where you will meet Titan. This fight is very similar to the fight you had with Ifrit in earlier lvls. So watch out for ground AOE attacks.

From there, you can move straight into the next dungeon The Sunken Temple of Qarn (required lvl 35). This dungeon is not tied into the Main Scenario and can be picked up from the Waking Sands in Vesper Bay (Ul’Dah). This dungeon is the first which applies multiple strategies when fighting bosses for successful completion.

At lvl 38 another dungeon becomes available called Cutter’s Cry. Unlike, Sunken Temple, this dungeon is relatively easy, and can be skipped, unless you are aligned to the Ul’dah Grand Company as you will have mobs on your Hunting Logs that can only be found here.

Tip: Make sure you keep up with your Hunting Logs for the additional xp and your Class Quests.

Both your Main Scenario and Hunting Log will lead you to a new area called Certhas. This area will be your home for the better part of your lvl 40- 45 grind.

Recommendations for optimal levelling:

Unfortunately there really isn’t any optimal way to gain xp while lvling from 35-40, so this would be the perfect time to make sure that your Main Scenario and Hunting Logs are up to date before moving into the next area

Level 40-45

After enjoying a slower pace of lvling for the last 5 lvl’s it’s back to the grinding of F.A.T.E.s, however, unlike previously, you will need to keep up with your Main Scenario a little more faithfully than you have previously.

Your F.A.T.E grind will take place in Coerthas, but do not expect the same consistency of available F.A.T.E.s as you have previously been accustomed to. They do however give pretty good xp, especially “The Flight of Savara” which a three part F.A.T.E. The second part of the F.A.T.E. is called “The Fight of Savara” and the third is “The Fall of Savara”.

The first dungeon you will encounter will The Stone Vigil (required lvl 41). This dungeon is not particularly difficult, but it does keep you on your toes.

Once you hit 44, you will be able to pick up a quest from your Grand Company that will allow you to start advancing your final ranks, which until now was capped. This quest will lead you to the second and last dungeon before the final grind to 50 begins called Dzemael Darkhold. Watch out here guys, if you thought you needed to be on your toes before, think again. Some fancy kiting is required for the bosses in this dungeon.

At lvl 44 your Main Scenario will lead you to your next big fight The Howling Eye – Garuda. Be prepared for some real fancy footwork here.

Tip: We recommend delaying this instance until you hit lvl 45 so that you can use your Artefact Gear from your Class quest.

Recommendations for optimal levelling:

– Keep up with your Main Scenario and Hunting Logs

– Do as many F.A.T.E.s as you can

– Try not to obtain too many side quests, Levequests and Guildhests – yes you will need them when levelling your alt classes

Level 45-50

Whew, you are almost there guys, just a few more lvls to go.

The first thing you should do when reaching 45 is your Class quest so that you can obtain your first 4 pieces of your Artefact Armor and go fight Garuda in the The Howling Eye quest.

After the quest is completed, head to the Ceruleum Processing Plant and join in the F.A.T.E. hunt while finishing off your Main Scenario.

Tip: Where possible, don’t miss the F.A.T.E. “Dark Devices”. This is a four part F.A.T.E. which gives wicked xp, especially if you have a group that knows how to maximise the first phase by tagging as many mobs as possible for xp.

As you get closer to the end of the Main Scenario you will need to complete 3 new 8 man dungeons before being able to get the final pieces of your Artefact Armor.

The first dungeon is classed as a trial and is called Cape Westwind at lvl 49. As it is a trial dungeon, it is very easy to do and is a good lead up to the next two dungeons.

The second dungeon is called Castrum Meridianum and you will obtain entry when your move through your Main Scenario when you reach lvl 50. This dungeon is considerably more difficult but not so difficult that you shouldn’t be able to complete it with ease if you have a good party.

The last dungeon in this chain, and the final component of your Main Scenario is The Petorium, which is also available at lvl 50. This dungeon is a combination of the last two dungeons and 4 consecutive bosses. If possible try and get a group of trusted players together to do this run, however it isn’t impossible to run a pug group.

Once this dungeon is complete, you will be able to obtain the rest of your Artefact Armor, all of the End Game Content and have finally completed lvling. Congratulations!