A Realm Reborn - Final Fantasy XIV 2.x Reboot

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This post will contain a fat chocobo. The interface and menu system has improved post PS4 release. SubMenu makes sense while being accessible.

[Pea]

This post will contain a fat chocobo. The interface and menu system has improved post PS4 release. SubMenu makes sense while being accessible.

 

Thank you for the alert, I had to prepare myself for the cuteness to be. THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH PREPARATION!!! Rofl... it happily chases the cabbage and then the angry face. Better watch out or it is going to nom you instead. :o

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So true. I also got Monk unlocked as I got Pugilist to 30. Luckily once you unlock the job souls, you level Monk and Pugilist at the same time.

 

I am also catching up on my main story missions. Around level 27 or so, then I can get to the level 30 instance. I got some play in this weekend.

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You punk ass...

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I am on Malboro. When are you coming online? :)

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Ahhhh...lol, still being an achievement whore in SWTOR unfortunately. D:

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Necro bump in the name of reactivating my account. I played a few hours last night and had a good time. Did some quests, played a dungeon (list of dungeons / instances), got invited to a Free Company, tried to remember attack sequences for monk. The Free Company is DraGonGuards.

I'm a 38 MNK on Malboro. I was playing when a realm reborn launched, but the extra UX enhancements are really nice. The Journal shows you active quests and missions, while also giving a clear list of what you completed. Performance is good in-game as I'm running 1080p on max settings @ 60 FPS and seeing no jank at all. I might fire it up @ 4k 30 FPS on the other TV to see how it looks, but I think that TV is limited to 30 FPS @ 4k as opposed to running 60 FPS. Granted that might have just been GTA V and my 4 GB of VRAM maxing out.

PS4 controller works nice, but keyboard is my staple method. Maybe I can get back to firing macros off with my toes :)

There is a new instance called Palace of the Dead. It is similar sounding to the level unlock towers from FFXI, where you start @ level 01 and climb your way to higher level floors. There were a ton of people idling outside the NPC, and from the FFXIV reddit and leaderboard on the SE site, I would say this is a pretty popular activity. Besides main dungeon instances, this seems to be THE place / way to level up quickly.

In addition to a nicer UX interface, the FFXIV website has some nice guides and resources available. It has been some time since I jumped into an MMO and I look forward to exploring more of FFXIV. I still continue to use the FFXIV Benchmark Utility they provide (free download and no account required), so it was a natural fit for me to give the actual game another chance.

Like someone from my dungeon party said last night, 'you weren't afk for 2 years, you quit lol'. There is also an expansion called Heavensward. I know it adds 3 jobs and bumps the level cap from 50 to 60 and contains a bunch of new end-game level content. Besides that I don't know much. I did see you can sample some of the new content in-game before buying the expansion. POTD (Palace of the Dead) being one of these examples.

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Here is a job rundown on unlocking the various jobs / classes. I did buy the (Heavensward) expansion today, so I have it patching now before I get home tonight.

I'm also checking for applicable sub skills to roll with my Monk. Apparently Rouge class unlocks Ninja, that works well with Monk (Pugilist), based on quick job forum reading. Since I only really have Lancer and Pugilist leveled, I have some grinding to do.

There is a helpful reddit thread for new players or returning ones. MSQ is an acronym for Main Story Quests. AKA Missions for us FFXI heads. There is a NPC / Quest line called Hall of the Novice that will give you a ring with decent bonus stats Brand-new Ring, but most of all, a bonus to leveling any job under 30. The Hall of the Novice also features a mentor system. New players have a sapling icon over their heads and apparently offer bonus XP when you party with them. Oh yeah, Carla Picout is my character on Malboro.

If you want to try it for free, download the installer for PC. Since they retuned the game engine with A Realm Reborn, you will not need an insane configuration to run this at maximum settings. Normal settings on more modest configurations will work too. You can run the benchmark tool I linked in the previous post. :)
As I already had an account, I got 4 free days to play from this promotion. The welcome back campaign ends 2017/1/4 (January).

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Telling a story of my gameplay here. I unlocked the Flying Saucer gambling location, unlocked some level 01 classes, leveled some up to 6 and 10, and am looking to continue playing Monk / Puglist from my current level of 39.

Speaking of Classes and Jobs... Jobs are advanced rolls you get access to at level 30, while Classes are the core roles you start playing out as. To unlock a job, most of them require you have the primary class to level 30 and secondary class to 15. Example here is for Monk unlock, I had Pugilist @ 30 and Lancer to 15. Once you unlock the job, it levels with the primary class. To set a job, you equip the Job Stone. On my Pugilist, I equip the Monk stone and it keeps gaining XP on both Monk and Pugilist, as the job is linked to the primary Class. With the stone equipped, you get access to additional abilities and weapon skills.
Of course there are exceptions. The new Jobs from the Heavensward expansion (Dark Knight, Astrologian and Machinist.), do not require the Class pre-requisites and start @ level 30. This being said, you have to unlock the Heavensward content, that to my understanding, starts @ level 50.

I played Rogue to level 10 and had some fun with that. However I'm looking to get my Conjurer to 12, so I can give people Raise. Also leveling Marauder to 10 or so, for some of the Abilities and Weapon skills. Speaking of such, Cross-Class abilities are the benefit to leveling your other jobs. You get a few slots (based on level) that you can use some of the abilities from your other classes. It looks to me like Marauder is more useful than Lancer for Monk, so I will equip those and give it a go.

Dungeons are essentially going to be your quickest way to gain XP. I did a run of Cutter's Cry the other day and got to learn the fight mechanics of the Chimera boss. Violet mode eyes means stay close, else you will get AoE damage. Blue mode eyes means get away, else you will get hit with some big damage. I was getting them confused from party chat, so I probably pissed off some people in the party with the 1st wipe. We did clear it though. As I noted there, I want to keep up on battle strats before entering a zone. However, saying 'It's my 1st time here what should I look out for', tends to give you a brief rundown on the big attacks. It can be hard to clearly and quickly type that in a party though.

Other than special ability enemy attacks, mobs will actually show an orange cone of attack for standard weapon skills. Please get used to evading these ranges, if you job in the party allows it. (IE: you are not tanking) Your healers will be thankful for their extra MP saved. I played a few more dungeons since logging back in, as someone in the Free Company needed some zone clears. Extra note about Dungeons. You DO NOT need to be in the area to start a fight, so long as you did the Quest to unlock access to the area. Once you enroll for duty, you will get a prompt to accept the invite, and will be teleported to the dungeon. :)
Duty Finder is the interface to enlist in Dungeons and other activities. If you wanna solo or 2 person grind out, you can rock some Guildleves or Levelquests.

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I am probably going to change thread order to show newest 1st for these forums. Anyhow, I finished the A Realm Reborn storyline (7th Umbral Era Quests) and am on the Seventh Astral Era Main Scenario Quests. As I'm level 50, I get to run a bunch of Dungeons on Hard mode and do some more Raids. Also in there are more Primal fights.

I'm mostly playing on my laptop and it does a fine job. Since I've been cleaning up and reorganizing the homeplace, I have my desktop moved to a dedicated desk in the bedroom. It's pretty nice to beast out some playing, then turn around to get into bed. Our free company is pretty chill and continues to grow. There is a Discord server I'll jump onto as well.

Main story quests are great experience until you hit level 50. Also when doing the last few dungeons of A Realm Reborn (level 48 to 50) you will have a ton of cutscenes, but will likely need to skip them so your full party (8 people) can clear the zone and boss fights. I got to watch some but will catch the rest on YouTube. Too bad the game doesn't have a cutscene replay option in the menus.
Spoiler in the link, because it's all the cutscenes from the ARR main story, final mission.

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Soldiering on, I am about finished with the 7th Astra Era quests and after a bunch of cutscenes and one more dungeon, I will be on Heavensward content. I'm currently level 52, but I cannot unlock the next series of Monk quests until I'm on Heavensward. Speaking of expansions, Stormblood drops in June of 2017. So I have a few months to play MSQ (Main Story Quest) catch-up.

This reddit guide for Heavensward is pretty helpful, especially for confirming about the job quests post level 50, not being available until you hit the Heavensward content. Also a helpful guide from consoldgames wiki for unlocks.

With the recent 3.5 patch were added some handy UI helpers. Checking your Duty Finder, there is now a green checkmark for areas you completed. This is huge since I didn't know what areas I finished from before I started playing again recently. Cross-server instance matching is a new thing too. There have been about 70 parties up on average, versus about 5 to 10 before the 3.5 patch went live. People in parties have mostly been really cool and that is a a bonus.

As for me, I have to unlock The Hunt (Level 50 mobs), and also increase my standing in my Grand Company by doing Fates. I also have been doing the Relic Weapon quests and am starting the Zenith upgrades. That being said, the 7th Astral Line quest rewards gave me a weapon that is currently higher damage. But the weapon upgrades continue for quite a bit, while not looking as awful as they were in Final XI. As to no real shock, many FFXI players are playing XIV currently, as demonstrated in the Free Company (think of it as a Guild) chat.

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I'm currently level 54 and have done a few runs in Palace of the Dead (accessible in Quarrymill). The zone is pretty cool with it's random rooms and gives a good amount of experience points. The floor progression is similar to Limbus zones in FFXI, if I remember those right. You can progress in levels up to 200, but around 50 you will have to meet a minimum weapon and armor rating in the Deep Dungeon (told by an NPC in town). As you start out, your abilities will be limited starting at level 01 and progressing as you fight through the zones (this applies while in the deep dungeon zone). Granted, you will get exp for your current role, that applies when outside of the zone as well.

I upgraded my relic weapon to Zenith Relic grade (02) but continuing that sequence is a waste, since Anima (03) weapons are available upon completing the Heavensward quest line and being level 60. In the mean time, those Allagan Tombstone of Poetics that you get from dungeons and so on, can be trades in Mor Dhona for item level 120+ gear (Ironworks equipment. Luckily for me, before that, I have been doing well with Quest reward gear from NPCs.
I'm on Quest 30 of of 94 for Heavensward MSQ (Main Story Quest) currently. In Heavensward zones, you get to unlock flying around zones. To unlock, you will need to find athernet orbs and also complete some quests to gain the rest. Once you collect them all for a region, you will be able to fly around said zones.
Here is a wiki page with the Full Breakdown of Tomestones.

Finally, Materia can be socketed into your gear by the jewel looking icon for Materia in most major towns. It used to be limited to crafting by players, but I suspect that was a high barrier to entry, so they added the NPCs. I think I mentioned this before, but you can break down old armor for materia as well. The equipment will be destroyed in the process, so do so with caution. I got some moderate materia from level 30s range gear, but have been getting decent IV grade materia from quests. So for me, I'll be gathering more Tombstones to upgrade my armor level to 130, to hold me off until level 60 armor drops from dungeons. I also have The Final Coil of Bahamut to try as I got that unlocked. In somewhat of moderation, since the Stormblood expansion releases in June of 2017 and I have that purchased. Luckily on this timeline, I should well be able to be 60 and access the new content when it releases.

Best feature of this game over Final XI, is the instances and ability to join people for a run. Granted playing a damage dealer is relative easy street (depending on who you ask), but I do get into a zone within 10 minutes or less on average. Versus sitting in a town for a whole weekend, spamming general chat and hoping people would join your party... party finder is a blessing. It lets me have the fun of playing a zone or boss fight, without needing to peck out a set schedule to run with dedicated people. I can run with people from the free company if they are online and not busy, but it's far from the only option, as it was in Final XI.
I am also ranking up in my Grand Company. Think of this as your Home Nation in FFXI. Grand Company Leves will be a good supplement to fighting in random FATEs around the zones. It does look like you will get more seals per Leve than you would in the FATEs though, so mix them both in.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Pic0o
Leve and such

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I have been getting the Aethers so I can fly in the Heavensward zones and doing main story quest. I'm on Quest 72 of 94 and @ level 58, so I near wrapping up the Heavensward content and then into the 40 quests for Dragonsong.

Once I clear Heavensward, I'll relax a few days. Especially since the new Zelda game will be out, so I can play that on Wii U. My current Item Level is ~ 136, so once I hit 60, the end-game dungeon and extreme fights will be a thing. I'm not looking to go hardcore on that though. I will be into getting my Palace of the Dead weapon upon hitting 30 weapon and armor rating. Flying around the heavensward zones is really enjoyable. I did a ton of side-quests this weekend, as they give decent equipment rewards and pretty simple exp for completion. This is a lower intensity way of gaining levels, instead of playing the dungeon lottery 24/7. Most pickup parties I get are good and quick, but there are always the ones that drag on.

Questing also lets me play at my own pace while being able to go afk at my leisure. Dungeons, even if a good run, tend to take 20+ minutes. I'd average that closer to 40 minutes out of the 90 they give you to complete. I also got some more levels on my standing with the Grand Company. Levels are certainly very quick to gain seals, they are just repetitive.

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Level 60 Monk, On the last MSQ of Heavensward for that storyline and I did my level 60 Job ability quest. I'm taking a breather before I try all the Extreme fight modes and will probably jump into those in a couple of weeks. In respect to exploration of the world, it seems almost every mob is a sight aggro enemy. So long as you don't get stuck into place, if you can ride a chocobo, you can likely avoid dying of aggro.

Flying around zones is fun. Some of these expansion zones look amazing and are worth just flying around for the scenery. I didn't see if there would be a level cap increase with Stormblood, but if there is, I like side quests as opposed to being stuck in dungeons all day, because you can take a break easier and resume where you left off.

2017-03-13:
I finished Heavensward MSQ this weekend and am into the Dragonsong Quests. Also now that I did that and am Level 60, I get to grind for Seals via Daily Quests and such, so I can get Item Level 230+ gear. I also added some furniture to my residence in the Guild House / Free Company.

Edited March 13, 2017 by Pic0o

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I have dabbled a bit with Final XIV since last year.  I'm currently level 63 and working my way through the Stormblood main story quests (MSQ).  After a few more quests I'll have unlocked Diving, so I can swim / dive.

As has been the case, the main story is pretty good.  Instances queue up fairly fast.  My gear is kind of lacking, since I was mostly tooled out from running the palace of the undead back from before Stormwind dropped.  Quest gear does help get your armor class up while you level and exploring the world areas is pretty fun.  Here is my Character on Malboro.  I have a few days on my subscription and will probably jump on more tomorrow evening.  I'm currently on MSQ To Bend with the Wind.  When I started playing again a few weeks ago, I resumed from In Crimson It Began.  I'm pretty sure I was rushing ahead too fast when the expansion initially came out, as I kept failing to complete that quest.  Beat it my 1st try after re-subbing a few weeks back so maybe it was patched too?