pancakesandsex
Member
Welcome to the new Final Fantasy XI Community Thread!
The new expansion "Seekers of Adoulin" has finally arrived, and with it pioneers new and old have made their way to Vana'diel in search of adventure. This of course means it's time to revamp the community thread yet again!
I run a social linkshell on Sylph called IHOP. Please contact Pancakesandsx, Seigyoku, or Aurellius for a pearl if you happen to be on the server.
Player Directory
Since figuring out who is who between the various usernames everyone has can be confusing, I made a handy google doc to keep track. If you decide to join us, add yourself to the doc!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsK-qSOSLMrJdDJZTzRtb1ZBSzNMYlBfVzdnT1FNbFE#gid=0
New to FFXI?
Many of you will be playing FFXI for the first, time, some of you will be returning after so long it’s like a brand new game anyway. Here are a few things you should know.
New Player Tutorial:
-Several years ago a Turtorial was added. If you’re new to the game I suggest you follow it. It’s got some useful stuff that might give you a little more direction.
Adventuring Primer:
-Here's an explanation of some new leveling content including Trust and Records of Eminence.
Quests:
-There are a TON of quests.
-Quest are a needed component to get fame in many cities. This stat affects your ability to flag quests AND vendor prices, so even the smallest quest is often worth doing.
-The game won’t tell you when you get quests, you can check your log, but there is no other indicator for when something counts as a quest besides some fanfare when you complete one
-Once something hits your log, try looking it up on http://wiki.bluegartr.com/bg/Main_Page if it’s not immediately clear what to do. The game is very critical reading oriented in this respect.
Missions:
-The main storyline of the game is played out in the missions.
-These are like really important quests, and are acquired from the gate guards in your starting town. There are also expansion missions, which are usually triggered by entering relevant areas once certain conditions have been met.
-Access to certain areas of the game, and many forms of endgame content are locked behind missions.
Leveling:
-Two major systems have been introduced to aid leveling. Fields of Valor and Grounds of Valor
-People generally solo to about 10 or 20, then look in popular Grounds areas for an alliance to move up higher.
-Once you hit level 50 you will be capped until you undertake a Limit Break every 5 levels up until 99. These need only be done once, but certain jobs have special ones that are part of a larger questline, so you may want to do those too for fun!
-Remember, while you can level to cap very quickly in Abyssea, that doesn’t mean you’re automatically ready for all the level cap content. It’s not a race to the top, and you’ll only have a bad experience if you try and rush to do content that’s beyond your means.
Skill ups:
-Levels aren’t the only thing that matters. So does skill! You gain skill through repeating actions against monsters close or higher in level. Try and keep your skills up to date with the monsters and quests you are going to tackle, or you’ll have a lot of trouble living to tell the tale! The good news is you can now skill-up on Easy Prey monsters, and cap your skills on Decent Challenge ones!
There is also equipment and food that increases the rate of skill ups. Some of it is rare or pricey, but worth it if you need it. Several people in the shell can craft the food as well, so if you need some, don’t be afraid to ask.
Artifact Armor:
-Once you hit level 40 and begin your Limit Breaks, the quests for job specific gear called Artifact Weapons and Artifact Armor will open up. This gear gives you that classic Final Fantasy look for your job, and often comes with some nice effects to augment your abilities. There are more powerful sets like this later as well called Relic and Empyrean as well as Level 99 Artifact Armor
Gameplay Systems and Notable Changes for Returning Players:
Version Update History.
Returning Player Guide by Byrth from BG
-Slightly out of date but still very useful returning player guide from around the time Seekers was released.
Limit Breaks are now soloable:
-The June 14th 2012 and March 27th 2012 updates introduced some new key items that make the limit breaks completely soloable up until level 95-99.
You can now pass the banishing gate in Garlaige Citadel and the weighted doors in Quicksand Caves alone by completing a quest.
-Do the quest Open Sesame
-Obtain a Pouch of Weighted Stones
Dynamis, Limbus Einherjar, and Salvage have been revamped:
-Entry fees have been reduced or eliminated, limbus chips are now tradable.
-You can enter Dynamis, Limbus, and Einherjar enter once per day (Dynamis is jp midnight, others are on a 20 hour cooldown)
-Einherjar has a new hard mode version of Odin with better loot.
-Limbus has new areas and bosses which still require doing the old content.
-Salvage drop rates have increased. There are new salvage areas as well.
-A new Nyzul Isle event has been added
-Can be done with a small party (barring Odin II) for progression, gear, money
What is this Abyssea thing everyone keeps talking about?
-Get the initial quests for this started as soon as you hit 30
-Beginning the first few quests allows you to accumulate stones required for access
-There is no upper limit on these, so start right away so running out isn’t an issue when you need them!
-Abyssea Guide
Voidwatch:
-Start this as soon as you hit 75
-Talking to the npcs in each city gets you a fast way between a lot of far away places
-Advancing through the tiers gets you more warps
-This also operates on stones that accumulate at a slower rate than Abyssea. Start this asap so you can have them when you need them, even if you don’t plan to do anything with this for a long time.
-While this event is no longer very popular, it is possible to advance through the content with 6-12 people due to the strength of new equipment if you properly prepare.
-Voidwatch Guide
Monstrosity:
-A new system that allows you to play as a monster and battle level restricted players for unique accessories.
Trust:
-A new system where you can summon popular NPCs as adventuring companions.
Records of Eminence:
-This new system of questing was introduced in the December 11th 2013 version update (scroll down a little on the link to read up on it).
Other Notable Changes and Adjustments:
-Quality of life adjustments:
**The ability to teleport between Outposts in vanilla XI using a new book.
**The ability to teleport between Home points, and the addition of home points to almost every battlefield entrance.
**The ability to purchase previously quest-only maps.
**The ability to access mog house storage from any mog house.
**The ability to enter salvage, meebles, and assaults with less than 3 people.
**25% increased base movement speed.
-Researchers from the West have arrived to help you get around Vana‘diel in the blink of an eye! Once you can start this quest in Jeuno, it’s a great way to get access to some out of the way places quickly. Nothing facilitates getting things done faster quite like mobility!
-The entire enmity system is undergoing an overhaul. Things are in a state of flux as adjustments are made, things are broken etc. Summaries of recent changes can be found here and here.
-Defence has been adjusted to actually matter and monster level correction has been altered or removed. Most of this stuff won’t affect you below level 75. The basic jist is that hard things will now hit harder. Some details here.
-You can follow the latest news about updates and adjustments on the Official Forum or on Blue Gartr
What’s new in Adoulin?
New Jobs:
Geomancer
Rune Fencer
New Events and Systems:
Coalitions & Coalition Assignments - The bulk of the new content revolves around the Coalitions of Adoulin, and the tasks they present. Rank up in each coalition to increase the amount of available tasks!
Reives - The new ad-hoc battle event in which both monsters and obstacles are fought to clear the way and make the harsh Ulbukan terrain easier to traverse.
Skirmish - A 6-man battle event. Entry is gained by collecting pieces of simulacrum from Coalition tasks, monsters, HELM, and Reives. Powerful weapons can be found in this event.
Mog Garden - A new way to acquire items previously only available via gardening, harvesting, excavating, logging, mining, and fishing.
Delve - New high level battle system featuring notorious monsters with interesting damage gimmicks under a 45 minute time limit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this game free to play yet?
-No, deal with it.
So since SoA isn’t available for the PS2, does that mean PS2 support was dropped?
- SoA was released for the PS2 in Japan only. (Fun Fact - no PS2 version was EVER released in Europe.) The PS2 lives on. And even if they did drop it tomorrow, it won’t magically cause the game to upgrade.
Hey, I used to play this! Can I get my old character back?
-Yes, using the Character Reactivation Service
How do I get access to the Mog Satchel?
Get the security token for about 10 bucks, or get the software token for your smartphone. The software token didn't work initially but it does now.
http://www.square-enix.com/na/account/otp/token.html
Trailers and Media
Final Fantasy XI Treasures of Aht Urghan Trailer
Final Fantasy XI Wings of the Goddess Trailer
Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection Abyssea Edition Trailer
Final Fantasy XI Seekers of Adoulin Vanafest Trailer
Final Fantasy XI Seekers of Adoulin Pre-Release Trailer
Final Fantasy XI Seekers of Adoulin Launch Trailer
A Little FFXI Story
Norio Wakamoto Promotional Videos
Where to Buy
Steam
Amazon Download (Ultimate)
Amazon Download (Expansion Only)
Gamersgate
There is also an Xbox 360 version, but the pc version is really the way to go if you have the option.
Other Links:
Official Forum
Blue Gartr Forum
Windower - 3rd party tool that adds things like recast timers and other useful features. Windower 4 is the preferred version to use as it auto updates and includes access to all plugins and addons.
There are several very useful community sites which make it easier to manage (and be a part of) group content, and track your progress in game.
FFXIAH - Auction house tracker, also tracks progress
Guildwork - MMO social networking site, incredibly useful
Linkshell Community - SE's Official LS community site
Thanks to Seigyoku for help with the thread and Aeana for help with the images!
