Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

[Melsiren]

How do Warriors play in FF XIV?

A very offensive oriented tank, it reminds me a lot of the MoP era Tank.

They work off two stances, Defiance which is your "tanking" stance, and Deliverance which is your damage stance. While in Defiance you some abilities grant you a stacking resource/buff called Wrath that you can spend on stance related abilities. Same goes with Deliverance but you gain a resource called Abandon, though Abandon and Wrath stacks switch to one another based on which stance you're in. So if you have 4 Abandon, and swap from Deliverance into Defiance you now have 4 Wrath stacks.

Explaining the finer detail would take far too long, just know it's a very aggressive tanking style.

[Deleted]

Ok that sounds horrible, and definitely not like something I would like to play actually.

So what are the "noob" friendly classes then? Monk? Or is that not even a starter class? Ninja sounds cool, but is it?

What does MCH, DRG and DRK stand for. DRK = Dragon Knight?

How do Warriors play in FF XIV?

Gonna give you my 2 cents as well.
If you want to play each class well, all classes in this game are fairly complicated at lvl 60 with the exception of paladin which is very very simple but comes with it own complexity simply because it a tank and it requires boss positioning and proper use of cooldowns. Rotation wise though it is very very simple.
As you gain more experience more classes that were overwhelming before will start to appear as more simple (like the warrior and the ninja) while others (like the dark knight and the dragoon) will remain a challenge that requires time and expertise to master.
In the end, regardless of difficulty, pick the class that appeals to you the best as you are more likely to put the time and will into mastering it. Be open to advice and put the effort into playing the class right and it ll soon feel much much smoother.
Sadly one thing this game lacks is giving you the right idea of the class right away. Some classes start of really really lame and easy and end up becoming super fun at max level with a very high skill ceiling (dragoon comes to mind as I found it mind numbigly boring at 50 but a masterpiece at 60)
Anything you need advice with I am open to helping you. I dont want to sound like an elitist but I have been playing mmos on a very serious level for many many years, clearing the hardest content on all of them withing a reasonable time frame and this game is no different. My expertise in this game lies in the field of the tanks (mainly the dark knight) but I can help with anything you would like. If you play on Phoenix EU I could even help you and guide you through the game on a more personal level.
I hope I was of good help and I ll be up for whatever you need me.

[Faroth]

Another thing worth noting is you can play in Palace of the Dead, which uses a separate, stand alone, leveling system. Starting on floor 1-10 and working your way up to 51-60 you'll quickly level to 60 while inside. When you leave, you'll get a chunk of xp and return to your normal level outside the palace.

This lets you dabble in different classes and see how they play at 60.

[avoidconfusion]

Another thing worth noting is you can play in Palace of the Dead, which uses a separate, stand alone, leveling system. Starting on floor 1-10 and working your way up to 51-60 you'll quickly level to 60 while inside. When you leave, you'll get a chunk of xp and return to your normal level outside the palace.

This lets you dabble in different classes and see how they play at 60.

Is this a legit way to level to 60? :P

[AcidicSyn]

I've heard it is; but is substantially slower; just consistent and reliable. And of course only recommended after you've leveled your main/first job to 60 via completing the MSQ

[Faroth]

Is this a legit way to level to 60? :P

It is, but it can get rather grindy if you focus only on it. For your first class, I'd suggest following MSQ and doing dungeon runs (leveling roulette). If you hit an MSQ quest you can't take because you're too low level, then you can hit Palace of the Dead. It tends to take 4 runs or less (and they are usually fairly quick, 20 mins or less) for a level in the higher level range.

It's a very good way to get some extra xp to level additional classes to 60.

Key thing to remember is the MSQ is required to unlock everything from features, some emotes, and expansions, so don't look for ways to race to 60 and skip the MSQ. Plus the story ain't half bad imo.

[Florena]

Also you don't get gear from it, other than being able to get a good lvl 60 weapon geom potd.

Gear is irrelevant inside potd, it has its own independent system for that too, but if you say level from 16 to 60 in potd not only would you sti have msq to do if it's your first job but you'll have crap gear until you buy or earn better.

[xerus]

Could have just told him they mean Machinist(gun user) Dragoon(spear user) and Dark Knight(2h sword user with dark magic and a tank NOT a dps)

There are a lot of acronyms used in the game. Instead of possibly having to define every new one that comes up in conversation I thought having a concise list of all the terms used would be more helpful. Plus they each have links to the wiki page describing the jobs and the requirements to get them.

[TheCount]

There are a lot of acronyms used in the game. Instead of possibly having to define every new one that comes up in conversation I thought having a concise list of all the terms used would be more helpful. Plus they each have links to the wiki page describing the jobs and the requirements to get them.

When I first started the ACN(arcanist) and ARC(archer) really confused me. You get used to it real quick though.

[Deleted]

Ok that sounds horrible, and definitely not like something I would like to play actually.

So what are the "noob" friendly classes then? Monk? Or is that not even a starter class? Ninja sounds cool, but is it?

What does MCH, DRG and DRK stand for. DRK = Dragon Knight?

How do Warriors play in FF XIV?

Dragoon is probably the easiest to learn because it's completely reliant on muscle memory, you are basically never doing anything out of line
Quite a lot of spells though, so be ready to bind ctrl+ etc. too.

For the most part however, it's truely just - 1 2 3 + 4, ctrl 1 ctrl 2 ctrl 3 + 4 - and then some inbetween oGCDs. (very very rarely something else)
Some damage skills offer excellent and unmatched movement capabilities that can/will allow for 0 downtime when switching to adds, though timing is always somewhat important since they are part of your damage rotation...and you need to pay some attention to where exactly you are in your rotation because the Dragoon rotation is basically a freaking huge chain that involves several dots, buffs, debuffs that all come together very nicely in the end.
This is mostly relevant when you are switching targets etc.... but as I said, it's mostly muscle memory and rarely reactive.

They look extremely badass too due to them relying on heavy armor. Their AoE burst is pretty good too, though not sustainable (long enough for any dungeon trash though).

Their flanking requirements are also extremely easy and forgiving, unlike Monk's for example. Your rotation is basically leveling together with your character too, you get one piece of the chain after the other, whenever the chain gets "too long" to maintain your buffs/debuffs, their buff/debuff duration increases with the help of passives etc.
Sometimes early on and for a rather short amount of time, you'll find yourself only pressing one button though (lvl ~10-18 or something, Impulse Drive). But since early game is pretty boring for every single class, it doesn't really matter... and it'll only last a few hours anyway.

Oh and the most important part, I can still enjoy myself watching the attack animations of DRG, they are stunningly beautiful, especially Chaos Thrust and Spineshatter Dive, holy molly. Comboing elusive jump to get into a range with a Dragonfire Dive for an add nuke always adds some stylpoints.


If this were pre-Heavensward though, I'd recommend playing BLM, not sure if they changed anything significant later on, but on HW release, that class was just a pain in the ass to play imho (at least if you wanted to squeeze out literally everything). So rewarding if you actually managed to do it though... but no way I'm touching anything that resembles something like the rune of power in WoW etc.

[Aruhen]

I'd never recommend Dragoon just because of Jumping... I mean its a meme for a reason rofl.

[dope_danny]

I'd never recommend Dragoon just because of Jumping... I mean its a meme for a reason rofl.

Yeah movement locks are not beginner friendly, shit even LBs have been the death of a greenleaf player who doesnt know a huge blowout aoe is incoming

I'd say arcanist is the best to start with myself. You get a solid dps class with a tanking pet and a healing class as well. Its easing you into it. Thaumaturge was my starting class and unless its changed a lot there was a fair few times i had to rely on sleep and run till i cross classed physick/cure. Its rotations simple but its the glass cannon. Summoner can heal and has the tank wall to give the space to breathe and learn your rotation better.

[Kazgrel]

Is this a legit way to level to 60? :P

Yes and no. Yes in the fact that you can level jobs to 60 this way. I also say no because even with having all the abilities at your disposal, PotD mobs often die so fast that you don't really get a good opportunity to develop a feel for the rotations/priorities of different jobs. Course, that goes out the window if you push floors 101 and up, but those aren't floors you'd want to run on a job you're unfamiliar with anyway.

[Katchii]

Yeah movement locks are not beginner friendly, shit even LBs have been the death of a greenleaf player who doesnt know a huge blowout aoe is incoming

I'd say arcanist is the best to start with myself. You get a solid dps class with a tanking pet and a healing class as well. Its easing you into it. Thaumaturge was my starting class and unless its changed a lot there was a fair few times i had to rely on sleep and run till i cross classed physick/cure. Its rotations simple but its the glass cannon. Summoner can heal and has the tank wall to give the space to breathe and learn your rotation better.

I second arcanist. It plays REALLY boring the first few levels though since you don't get most of your damage over time abilities until much later so you're left spamming Ruin most of the time, but it's really beginner friendly as there's not much you can do wrong to end up dead as long as you pay attention to enemy AoEs. Once you get the tanking pet which is I think level 15? it's ridiculously easy to solo quest as long as you're appropriately geared...and still easy, just longer and more heals to throw out if you aren't properly geared. After you get to I think level 16 or so you have multiple DoTs to manage so the class gets more rewarding and fun to play and you are able to get the DPS gear set from the Novice training arena (forget what it's called) which sets yo up really nicely for gear and IMO is a really nice looking set.

Once you get to level 30 you can then choose to continue as a DPS by changing to Summoner (provided you have Thaumaturge leveled to 15) which allows you to continue using your tanking pet, or switch to Scholar to be a Healer (provided you have Conjurer to level 15) which changes your pet to a healing fairy that can't take a hit. Healers get groups faster using the duty finder so there are pros and cons for each. Both classes are still under the Arcanist base job too, so no matter which one you choose, you'll be leveling both...meaning if you choose Summoner and level it to 60...you'll automatically have a level 60 scholar once you unlock that class. I chose to solo quest as a summoner and use my scholar to do the dungeons required for leveling to reduce queue times...the only downside to this is you need to maintain two completely different gear sets so you need to either spend some extra cash, take up crafting to make your own stuff or quest in a lot of extra areas to get class specific gear.

[Kazgrel]

Ooof...Keynote from Fanfest will be 9:30 AM GMT on Saturday, with the Live Letter (which will likely focus on what remains of HW) at the same time on Sunday. That's 4:30 AM for me, so looks like I'll just have to check in online whenever I wake up each morning for the full scoop.

[avoidconfusion]

I started a Gladiator for now, quite liked the look of the Paladin in the videos actually! Will also try Ninja at some stage I think because their attack animations look so ace!

[Deleted]

I'd never recommend Dragoon just because of Jumping... I mean its a meme for a reason rofl.

Naah... Dragoon is tanky enough to eat anything and heal back up just fine. (without bothering a healer)
When you finally reach content where this is not the case anymore, you learned to play "around" a single 1s-movement-lock spell that has a 30s CD.

Pretty much every other class is much harder to play because of stancedancing/maintaining stacks and resources

[Melsiren]

I started a Gladiator for now, quite liked the look of the Paladin in the videos actually! Will also try Ninja at some stage I think because their attack animations look so ace!

Serious advice if you're going to be leveling Gladiator, in the 15-25 range. Flash is your friend, use it liberally on trash until you get sub 30% mana and then use riot blade to prepare for the next trash pack. You already leveled Archer, I would cross class into Raging blows while you can (You will not be able to the moment you become a PLD. Straight shot can also be cross classed at low levels, giving you a static crit increase that is an easy maintenance buff that can really help with threat from the crit offers, bonus points if you've leveled monk and have internal release.) and pair it with Fight vs Flight on bosses and just do your savage blade combo to gain massive enmity early on, and if you feel good on threat/emity Riot blade does is the higher Potency combo before Rage of Holone. With that said, PLD will still be rough from 30-40 compared to both WAR and DRK, however be smart about your Holone combo spread out threat/emity when needed and remember to manage your mana and spend it on flashes on AOE and you will be fine. You will not have your defensive stance from 30-40 so you will be forced to use Sword oath, just use small CDs on pulls that you feel squishy on to help the healers it's manageable.


GLD feels very weak at low levels compared to the other tanks, many people get put off by this but play smart and you'll be fine. The only gripe I hear with people have with it other than the PLD leveling blues, is the fact it is the "Simple" tank out of the three, just as WHM is the "Simple" healer.

[Binaris]

Paladin is a great place to start. Be forewarned. It has some threat issues early on and dont get their threat stance until 40 when ther other 2 tanks get it at 30.

Tips.

Flash is your friend. Abuse it. It does no damage but is good amount of aoe threat. You can actually blow your entire mp pool on it and use the riot blade combo to max out mp before next pull.

Tab target, familiarize yourself with the enemy list. spread your damage on the different targets you tank.

Learn to read the threat indicator on party list. You can prevent issues from happening by being aware.

Use your cooldowns on pull. I typically alternate rampart and convalescence pull to pull.

Upgrade your weapon religiously. High quality if possible. As threat will be the primary reason to hate paladin before 40, minimize it.

[avoidconfusion]

Serious advice if you're going to be leveling Gladiator, in the 15-25 range. Flash is your friend, use it liberally on trash until you get sub 30% mana and then use riot blade to prepare for the next trash pack. You already leveled Archer, I would cross class into Raging blows while you can (You will not be able to the moment you become a PLD. Straight shot can also be cross classed at low levels, giving you a static crit increase that is an easy maintenance buff that can really help with threat from the crit offers, bonus points if you've leveled monk and have internal release.) and pair it with Fight vs Flight on bosses and just do your savage blade combo to gain massive enmity early on, and if you feel good on threat/emity Riot blade does is the higher Potency combo before Rage of Holone. With that said, PLD will still be rough from 30-40 compared to both WAR and DRK, however be smart about your Holone combo spread out threat/emity when needed and remember to manage your mana and spend it on flashes on AOE and you will be fine. You will not have your defensive stance from 30-40 so you will be forced to use Sword oath, just use small CDs on pulls that you feel squishy on to help the healers it's manageable.


GLD feels very weak at low levels compared to the other tanks, many people get put off by this but play smart and you'll be fine. The only gripe I hear with people have with it other than the PLD leveling blues, is the fact it is the "Simple" tank out of the three, just as WHM is the "Simple" healer.

Okay I am not sure I understand what you are saying to be honest. :P

Are you saying I should use the Archer and switch jobs over? Currently I created a new character for the Gladiator... was/is that a mistake?

Warriors looked great too maybe I should try them? I read that they are harder to play though?