FFXIV Guide A Final Fantasy XIV Leveling Guide

 

KillerGuides Has a New Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Guide. And It’s Fantastic.

Killer Guides has added another unofficial guide to their website. Their unofficial leveling guide is a new guide that promises to get your class to the level cap in 7 days or less.Aside from leveling advice it also delves into equipment and skill rotations as well as some Gil-making options and questing advice.

Given my limited spare time and a desire to spend that time playing FFXIV instead of researching it, I decided to give it a shot and see if the guide lives up to the hype.

Why Killer Guides?

Before deciding to buy a guide, I wanted to see who actually is behind it. As it turns out, all guides on killerguides.com are written by independent authors. Unlike authors of official guides, they didn’t just get an assignment, but are genuinely passionate about the game, having spent an inordinate time leveling their own characters. Their writing is based on the perspective of hardcore gamers and it shows. They aren’t on some developer’s payroll, and their information isn’t edited or limited by what a game publisher might want or not want to reveal about how to play their game.

When you buy a game from Killer Guides you can also be sure that the information is accurate and authentic. Too many independent guides are just slapped together dribble, detailing some random author’s bumbling attempt to beat the game. The Killer Guides editors ensure that a guide contains true and useful information. It has to be more than just a narrative of a play-through. It has to contain real, useful information and well tested and thought out play strategies.

What Kind of Information Can Be Found in the Guide?
While it seems to be marketed as leveling guide, it’s actually a complete guide to FF14. Just about every aspect of the game has a section devoted to it. Everyone can agree that the Final Fantasy world is rich, and the games that come from it have plenty of depth and content. FF14 is no exception to this. The game has many class combinations for character building, thousands of quests and an in-depth crafting system. Each of these elements has a sizable number of pages devoted to mastering them.

Leveling Up Fast
For most players on the look out for an MMO guide, it’s about leveling faster, getting better equipment and not wasting time getting stuck on mundane quests or less rewarding ones.

In the leveling department, this Final Fantasy XIV guide definitely meets the expectations. It details the most efficient way to reach the level cap, including the top quest lines and the most efficient leveling locations.

However, it’s not only about quests and locations. In FF14, the key to an effective character also includes getting skill rotations right. This guide offers a variety of different styles of play and details the tskill rotations that will maximize leveling progress for a wide range of class combinations.

It makes a pretty big claim in that it can get players to the level cap in as little as seven days. I like to switch a lot between alt classes, so while I wasn’t able to test that yet in full, I definitely noticed that I progressed at a much faster pace using the provided leveling guide.

Quest Walkthroughs
No guide would be complete without a detailed walkthrough of quests, and this guide is no exception. It is based on multiple run-throughs of the game and aside from walkthroughs of the main story quests it also provides a very good coverage of additional side quests. Quest walkthroughs are presented in a logical structure and easy to follow steps, so players can easily proceed according to the guide as they progress through the game.

Character Creation
FF14 has a detailed character creation system that can leave new players puzzled and veteran players wondering if there is a killer combination they have missed. FF14’s character generation system means you have a lot of different choices when it comes to getting your race and class combination right. While there are downright right or wrong ways to set up your character, there are definitely a number of considerations that players might fret over. This guide details each choice and how that class will be played optimally. This allows players to choose the combination that fits them best.

Crafting and Money
It’s a material world, and acquiring material things is a goal of many players in the FF14 world. This guide details the best Gil making strategies and promises remarkable increases in players’ incomes if they do them correctly. The crafting system, including resource locations and a comprehensive list of recipes, is also included. At the time of writing there are some serious money makers provided in the guide and – if they guide keeps getting updated – it might be one of the best Gil-making tools out there.

Presentation
This unofficial guide is presented in electronic format. It can be downloaded as either a PDF or eBook file. Inside the guide looks likes any paper guide you might find in the store. It has colorful in-game images and text. Overall, it is presented as professionally as any official game guide.

Overall Impression
There were times where I was happy to sift through forums for hours on end, trying to find some hidden gems or the next secret leveling spot. I believe those times were around 1999 when EverQuest was still a thing and I still in high school. Nowadays, I’d rather go and pick up a single, one-stop reference that includes all the essentials – as long as it does live up to what it promises. Considering the time this guide has saved me – by not having to search, trying things out (before noticing they no longer work) or just doing it the traditional way of trial and error – it definitely was the right choice. As far as boosting game process goes, it pretty much lived up to its promise (though more maps would have been nice). All in all I can wholeheartedly recommend to get your own copy of Killer Guides’ FFXIV Guide.

Posted in Review | Tagged final fantasy xiv guide review, guide review 

Final Fantasy XIV Gil Making and Farming Guide

Farming Resources is an expression used in the MMORPG world which means to stockpile several resources that can be later used or sold on the market place for in-game money, FFIXV Gil in this place. The art of farming resources is that of being able to formulate a system with which a player can gather or purchase a great amount of what they desire in the shortest time period possible.

For Gathering Classes, players will build “routes” on specific maps that can be traveled at a predetermined rate, all the while collecting as many natural resources as possible. It becomes a monotonous and tedious task that can prove extremely fulfilling.

Head Up: There’s no gil farming strategy in the world that does not take time. If you dont have it, buying can be an option. I personally recommend MMOBUX.com since it exactly shows what’s the best supplier with the cheapest price.

Resource Farming may also mean keeping a very strict eye on the marketplace, items that flood the market will drop drastically in price over an undetermined amount of time and it may be a short while before this trend fades and the resale value of the item is boosted back up, if at all available.

At which time the farmer can decide to do one of two things, resell the items at a drastically high price that can be brought back down over time, in the hopes that some of the expensive goods clear before then. The second option is to purchase items at a flooded rate and use them to craft other items, that are more rare on the market and regularly sell for a high amount of Gil. The technique is the same as Gil making method in Final Fantasy XV guide.

Art of Farming Gil

Now it’s time to cover the art of farming Gil. Farming Gil can be done, efficiently in a few different fashions depending on which play style you prefer. However either way, it’s about making the most Gil in the shortest amount of time. The most effective way to make a lot of Gil is done at max level, when you have access to the highest class skills and can farm lower level areas, with ease(Read our leveling tips article to find out how to do it). What we’ve devised is a system to implement farming techniques while leveling and then the serious grind at level 60. Below is a list of ways to grind Gil, fast as you level up and then the end-game grind will follow. So if you’re only interested in the end-game grind, feel free to skip right to it.

Grinding Gil early on, is really rather difficult. Most methods employed (Crafting, Questing, and Level grinding) can’t even be learned until you’ve completed the “Level 10 Quest” for your Battle Class. Once you’ve gotten that out of the way, you’ll be able to learn crafting and gathering classes. For game-farming purposes it is advised to take at least one gathering class and either alchemy or culinary.

As all of the products of these professions are and will be greatly sought after by other players. Also, pay very close attention to quest rewards, if you’re already relatively well geared, take the monetary bonus instead of the gear, as low level gear is replaced rather quickly anyways. It is wise to try to not have to sell items to a vendor, as they really don’t help your coin purse any. You’ll find that you feel more inclined to purchase items than to sell any. And any crafting items that drop from monsters during your travels should make their way onto the Trading Post Boards, at a competitive rate, or 300% of their “retail value”. This will gross much Gil, specially in the early age of the game, as everything is needed by someone!

Crafting

The aforementioned is a great way to farm Gil up to level 30, though it can still be utilized as an additional method of farming there are some other tricks available to you, once you’ve reached level 30+. Firstly, with crafting skills (Blacksmith, Armorer, Carpenter, etc.) you’ll be able to start crafting some seriously useful , some to be turned in as Levequest hand ins and others to be sold on the Marketplace. In each Crafting Class list will be a “a” which will signify a fruitful craft. If the Craft is highlighted in gold. Then it is something that will remain popular on the market place! This will assist with choosing which Crafting Classes to level, depending on your end-game goals!

Here’s my system for consistent Gil farming, without having to buy any off of those pesky Gil farmers, unless of course you are one then, well this system wins!

Work as a Team

Working as a team player actually pays! Doing End-game dungeons is a great way to stay in shape and keep the cash flow growing, not only do bosses generate a high Gil drop when defeated, a lot of the items are also good on the market, never vendor high level gear! Run each instance / dungeon and when done, repair your gear and hit the market boards.

Keep a clean inventory, to avoid potentially leaving loot behind, Anything with a Gil value can be sold! Sell the high value items on the market (Gear, Crystals, Resources, etc.) but don’t guess a price, check out other items equivalent to what you are trying t sell and undercut their price by 3%. Going in blind will generate little to no gain, then, do a clean sweep of your inventory, vendoring otherwise worthless items to gain that extra 100-200 Gil. Return to the dungeons list and knock out a few more.

Guildleves

Try not to forget about Guildleves, Some of these are a serious life saver. It’s ok to go a day or two without doing them, if you simply don’t feel like it but some of the gathering and crafting Guildleves take only a couple minutes and generate an immense amount of Gil over a short period of time, so it does, in the end pay to level up a profession or two. Knock out the Guildleves and move on to the next step!

There’s no doubt that you’ll get your gathering or crafting Guildleves down to a science, but here’s some help. Gathering, always take difficulty level 4, it never gets too intense specially if you’ve acquired a mount to travel from node to node. Try to accept as many Guildleves as you can and knock them out all at once, before returning to the Levemete. Crafting, you really want to try to focus on the HQ turn ins, they can generate up to 300% more in rewards. So, once you’ve handed in all of your Guildleves you’ll most likely have some NQ items that didn’t make the cut, left over. Get over to the market place and post them for 300% of their retail value, if none are present or 3% less than the existing items of the same description for sale. This will ensure quick sale and thus, you are not holding onto a bunch of the same item that you’ll end up having to vendor.

Crafting items that are in high demand is a great way to make some quick sales, it is also wise to advertise! Let others know, in your guild or in general chat that there are some rare sought after items for sale. Or, sell your services. Players will pay a pretty Gil to have a Master (Crafting Level 50) Armorer make them something specific, to avoid being cheated by Market Place prices and to avoid having to level the class themselves. So really try to spread the word! You do have the option to simply apply your advertisement to a macro and dragging the macro to your action bar.

Track of Resources on the Market Board

It is also nice to keep track of resources on the Market Board, if the stock is dwindling, post up some resources you don’t need at a competitive rate for some very quick return, if something catches your eye it may be worth farming that specific resource. For Resource farming and mapping routes check out each of the gathering classes on how to go about it properly.

The Market board, this is your offline Gil gain, as the market will keep track of all items for sale even when your characters are offline, so it’s generally a good idea to post them for as long as you can and don’t even worry about it until you’ve received some mail about sales. Remember to keep your inventory clear of items you could be making Gil off of on the Market.

Posted in Gil | Tagged buy ffxiv gil, farming resource, ffxiv gil guide, gil farming, Guildleves, market board

FFXIV Leveling Guide in Heavensward (Level 50-60)

Heavensward is the first expansion pack for the Final Fantasy XIV MMORPG. To gain access to the expansion, you must have cleared the main scenario quest “Before the Dawn” (patch 2.55) as a prerequisite and reach level 50. Heavensward content starts at level 50 and continues up to level 60. This guide includes tips that help you reach the level cap in an efficient and stress-free manner.

The level 50-60 experience curve is designed in a way that players cannot attain level 60 on their first job by following the main scenario alone. Therefore it is strongly advised that players participate in the variety of sidecontents available from the beginning of the expansion and in some cases even before it.

Leveling contents:

Sidequests are scattered throughout the new areas and become available as you progress in the main scenario. They provide a significant amount of experience and additional rewards such as new equipment. Some important sidequest chains begin in Ishgard, so players are advised to also complete these quests. However, even by doing every sidequest in the expansion it is not enough to achieve level 60 but you must additionally make use of one or more of the following means to acquire the required experience points quota.

Starting at level 53 players can begin doing Daily Hunts that provide experience and centurion seals, used to obtain endgame equipment. Additional hunts become available at levels 56 and 59, each being repeatable daily. Hunts are unlocked by speaking to Aytienne in front of the Forgotten Knight pub in Ishgard.

The new areas have plenty of FATEs for players to participate in while completing other contents. The mechanics are mostly unchanged from the vanilla version but are a decent source of experience nonetheless. Players are not advised to grind solely on Heavensward FATEs as there are better ways to gain experience currently.

Guildleves are also back. This time you are given the choice to do Temple leves instead, that use up 10 leve allowances but provide roughly twice as much experience for completion. They are perfect for casual players that frequently find themselves with 100 allowances built up and no plans to use them all. If you are constantly using each allowance however it is more efficient to stick to the normal levequests.

There are in total five new leveling Dungeons that become available at every odd level starting from 51. Please note that the level 51 dungeon is optional and is unlocked by a sidequest in the Coerthas Western Highlands. The dungeons provide good amounts of experience and also drop equipment. Due to the high amount of experience and gear rewards these dungeons provide, it is recommended that players leveling their second job use them to grind.

Sightseeing log now gives experience for every vista you locate. While searching for these vistas is not the most efficient method of acquiring experience, you may encounter some of them when doing other contents. While standing on the glowing spot, type /lookout or, in some cases /pray, to receive the experience bonus. The flying feature is required for many if not all of the vistas.

Other contents that you can participate in for experience even before accessing the Heavensward include the challenge log, level 50 FATEs and the various Duty Roulettes. Participating in these contents will make it easier to keep up with the ever increasing experience curve during levels 51-60.

Leveling tips:

Heavensward has introduced flying to Final Fantasy XIV as a new means of transport, and the new areas are made with the feature in mind. Players are thus advised to unlock the ability to fly in each area to make it easier to finish quests and participate in activities like FATEs and sightseeing.

Flying can be unlocked by collecting Aether Currents. After having attuned to every current in an area of which there are 15 in total, you may fly using the various flying mounts available. The currents are found in the field using an Aether Compass or are given as a reward from certain quests. The compass will tell you the distance and direction of the closest current to you and can be accessed from the key items tab of your inventory. The currents resemble green objects that look like a concentration of wind. You may check your Aether Current progress under “Travel” in the menu at any time.

The last Aether Current is usually rewarded by one of the final main scenario quests in the area, often involving clearing a dungeon or trial as a prerequisite. Since the ability to fly makes it much more efficient to complete the expansion contents, especially the sidequests, players should therefore prioritize completing the main scenario and sidequests up to the point where they can receive all the Aether Currents before tackling the rest of the quests in the area. At later levels more sidequests will unlock in the previously visited areas, making it even more beneficial to work on unlocking flying in the expansion. Some late-game dungeons, such as the Neverreap in Sea of Clouds, are also inaccessible by foot.

The leveling dungeons will provide best experience during odd levels as you can take benefit of the experience chain system. This type of leveling concept is similar to all FF installments including in the coming FFXV as seen from http://www.finalfantasy15guide.com/.To get the most out of these dungeons, it is recommended that players run them during the odd levels, while saving sidequests and other non-repeatable contents for the even levels.

Finding sightseeing vistas is not as difficult as one might think. Usually if there is a particularly tall structure nearby, chances are you will find a vista at the top.

As a reminder, food gives you a 3% experience bonus, so you should have some on you when running dungeons and FATEs. Even a cheap food will do. The bonus will add up during the ten levels!

Lastly, monsters are stronger than before so having your chocobo companion out in the field speeds things up tremendously. While you may get a slight penalty to your experience received from monsters, the increased kill speed will more than make up for it. Be sure to unlock the ability to fly with your companion from the level 52 quest “I Believe I Can Fly” for the extra convenience!

With these tips getting to level 60 should be smooth flying. Good luck!

Posted in Guides, Leveling | Tagged Aether Currents, Chocobo, dungeons, Guidleves, Heavensward, leveling dungeon, Leveling Tips

The Jobs of Final Fantasy XIV

Update: This article is just a brief primer on jobs. Since the time of writing, I’ve found this guide. I recommend you head over and get yourself a copy as well. Not only does it have an insanely detailed chapter on the jobs, but an absolutely brilliant leveling guide as well (see my review). I so wish I had gotten that when I first bought the game – it would have saved me a lot of time (which could have been used to improve the design of this blog instead :))

Final Fantasy games have been a huge hit with gamers all around the world for many years now. Starting way back in the early days of gaming, role playing games were some of the first in-depth and complex games to hit the market. Typically consisting of heavy story elements and character progression to level up, role playing games have kept their popularity over the decades and remain widely popular today. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a new RPG in the Final Fantasy series.

The game features a ton of content for players to participate in including jobs. Jobs allow players to specialize in a certain style of play that comes into affect when playing with large groups. Players can choose a job once they have mastered their main role as a class with different ways of FFXIV Gil farming. Below is the list of jobs in Final Fantasy XIV and a short description of what each job is. This should help any player pick the perfect job for their character!

Bard – The Bard provides buffs to the party through song while shooting enemies from a distance with bow and arrow.
Black Mage – Black Mages are kings of destruction magic and dealing damage to multiple enemies at once. They are also able to ensnare enemies with spells.
Dragoon – Dragoons utilize their enhanced attack power to deal extra damage from the skies during attacks.
Monk – The Monk uses elemental skills to attack enemies as well as to protect friendly party members. The Monk is also a skilled Pugilist.
Paladin – Paladins act as the party’s tank. He/she utilizes a shield to provide heavy defense to the entire party and keep enemies at bey.
Scholar – The Scholar’s magic is very broad in skill but not quite as powerful as either Mage class. What the Scholar lacks in power he/she makes up for in variety.
Summoner – Summoners summon magical creatures to help fight with a defend the party.
Warrior – Warriors are another tank class whose main role is to attract multiple enemies while teammates deal damage.
White Mage – White Mages are great healers and a necessity to any party.

Overall Final Fantasy XIV has a lot of great and interesting classes to choose from. There is something for everyone in the party to pick, and each class will help to ensure the party succeeds!

On the chance of repeating myself, this article is just a brief primer on jobs. Since the time of writing, I’ve found this guide. I recommend you head over and get yourself a copy as well. Not only does it have an insanely detailed chapter on the jobs, but an absolutely brilliant leveling guide as well (see my review). I so wish I had gotten that when I first bought the game – it would have saved me a lot of time (which could have been used to improve the design of this blog instead :))

Posted in General, Guides, Jobs | Tagged bard, black mage, dragoon, ffxiv arr classes, ffxiv realm reborn class, game guide, guide, job, monk, paladin, scholar, Warrior, white mage

The Overview of 4 Disciples of FFXIV Realm Reborn

Update: This article is just a brief primer on disciples. Since the time of writing, I’ve found this guide. I recommend you head over and get yourself a copy as well. Not only does it have an insanely detailed chapter on disciples, but an absolutely brilliant leveling guide as well (see my review). I so wish I had gotten that when I first bought the game – it would have saved me a lot of time (which could have been used to improve the design of this blog instead :))

In Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the player has the option to choose from four different classes, which include: Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic, Disciples of the Land, and Disciples of the Hand. Each class has its own unique set of skills that the player may pursue upon sufficient mastery within that class.

All players begin the game as either a Disciple of War or a Disciple of Magic. As the game progresses and the player gains experience they may take up the other two classes to diversify their skills to make more gil. Choosing the right adventuring style, or class, is as simple as changing the item that is in your possession. As the player gains even more experience they are capable of performing increasingly unique actions as seen in this site. Moreover, reaching a particular level of mastery within that class will unlock jobs, which contain even further specialization. Every fighting style and method of adventure is entirely up to the player.

Disciples of War – These followers can dedicate themselves to mastering weapons along with the battles that are fought with them. The skills that these instruments of combat can choose from include the Gladiator, Pugilist, Marauder, Lancer, and Archer. Each of these disciplines allows the player to master a particular set of weapons and style of fighting.

Disciples of Magic – This path calls for those with a passion for constant study and expertise in sorcery of every form. Devotees adhere to artifacts in order to beckon forces within themselves to utilize spells in combat and reinforce those in need. The skills that this classification offers are the Conjurer, Thaumaturge, and Arcanist.

Disciples of the Land – This pathway permits the player to harvest nature’s abundant resources utilizing a large selection of tools. The player gains great knowledge and various skills to provide from the world’s resources to its inhabitants. These disciples can choose skills as a Miner, Botanist, and Fisher.

Disciples of the Hand – For players whose calling is creation and art, this discipline offers a vast array of tools to utilize in order to harness the crafter within them. Everything from the most elusive article of clothing to the utmost precious metal, these experts in craftsmanship can keep their culture alive through the art of synthesis. This discipline has the most skills to choose from out of all of the classes which include the Carpenter, Blacksmith, Armorer, Goldsmith, Leatherworker, Weaver, Alchemist, and Culinarian.