Tips and Dungeon Basics for New Players

[chesder]

This is a guide for new players to FF14 which will cover the basic mechanics and interface in Dungeons and other group situations.

-snip-

This is tailored for a player who is unfamiliar with traditional MMOs and also offers information not normally given so as to make your experience more enjoyable.

1. Enmity/Threat

Enmity is your current aggression against a target. The higher it is the more likely the target enemy will attack you. All damage and healing spells and abilities will earn you enmity. For each point of damage you deal, you earn 1 point of enmity against any targets that receive damage, however, for each point of healing you will only gain 1/2 a point of enmity, split evenly among all active targets.

What this means is that against a single enemy, a heal of 1000 will generate 500 enmity, while against 5 enemies that same heal will instead generate 100 enmity against all 5 targets.

Tanks generate enmity the same way as damage dealers, however they also gain bonuses to it through the use of certain abilities and buffs. Generally a tank will have naturally higher enmity than a geared damage dealer.

You can monitor your enmity on a Single target using your party interface.



Here you can see next to each player a bar which represents the enmity on a current target and also a number representing the order of enmity from highest to lowest, with A representing the top threat.

For Multiple targets you can see the threat in the active enemy frame.



This frame displays all targets active in combat and also an icon representing your enmity level on each.



It's up to each player to manage their own enmity and furthermore if you do pull off a tank, it is best to not run away but instead stand still or run to the tank to allow them a chance to pick up the enemy again.




2. The Dungeon Pace

The pace of a dungeon varies based on the number of enemies between bosses and the general layout, but it should be the tank who sets this pace. The tank knows their limits and should be the one to pull enemies so as to not risk death. Pulling for the tank can slow the speed of a dungeon if the tank dies due to the extra enemies attacking him.

Patience is a virtue and as a general rule, if you do not have at least 30 minutes to dedicate to completing a dungeon, you should not do one until you have that time.

Furthermore in some dungeons, enemies pull from great distances, so again let the tank lead the group so that they get initial aggro.




3. Loot

Loot in a dungeon appears in a separate interface menu. Item quality is shown by the color of the item text.

White - Basic quality items

Aetherial - Above average items

Green - Uncommon items with higher stat allocations

Blue - Rare items with the highest stats

These items are also typically given the status of Unique and/or Untradable which is written above the item name.







4. Boss Fights

It is important for each player to know the boss fights of any dungeon. If you are new to that dungeon, you should let your group know and ask for advice on the fights before beginning. Many players will be willing to give you the help you need.

This is far more important in later dungeons where mechanics are capable of killing the average player in one or two hits. Do everyone a courtesy of learning the fights and avoiding any damage you can.

As a tank this is doubly important as boss placement and additional enemies can make even the simplest encounter a nightmare for the group.

In the end you'll thank yourself for taking the time to learn.


5. Tips and Suggestions

Tanks:

Your job is to maintain threat but also to manage your cooldowns efficiently. Use them in succession instead of all at once as this will extend your time with reduced damage.

Also do not be afraid to use cooldowns on trash. This is one of the few times multiple enemies will attack you at once and the damage can get quite intense. Learn what cooldowns you need through practice and use them as you need to.


Damage Dealers:

While maintaining high damage is necessary, you should avoid standing in damaging areas and avoid damage when you are able. A dead damage dealer deals no damage. Take the time you need and avoid a hit, then go back to attacking even if it costs you overall damage.


Healers:

A habit of many is to cast while in harms way as an attempt to negate the damage through the heal. It is a better habit when possible to avoid the damage and instead heal in safety as it will allow you to maintain your mana pool better. You don't want to risk dying to a hit as that will end up with your group dying soon after. Move to safety and cast.





I hope you find this information useful and as always you can ask any question or make suggestions. More guides will be posted covering more early game topics so look back each week to find more information.

You can contact me in game on Jenova - Alex Strasza

[8bithamster]

My tip:

If you win an item through greeding. And don't plan to use it. Some can be sold on the market! (after unlocking retainer).

For example, Tamtara drops the Doctore's Robe. I sold that one for 60k on Moogle

[chesder]

Yeah I made a guide part 2.8 that talks about other things not related to anything specific

[FobManX]

That Eminity/Threat section...no idea that was even in the game LOL. Thanks for that, helps a lot as I'm tanking on my DRK.

[chesder]

That Eminity/Threat section...no idea that was even in the game LOL. Thanks for that, helps a lot as I'm tanking on my DRK.

Yeah I was really surprised people didn't know about it. I was talking casually to some of my guildies and they were clueless lol

[8bithamster]

also important. If you think you know threat because you played WoW, you don't.

Enmity works totally different than threat in WoW. Single target is important!

Also, no dungeon marking info? I mark in every dungeon and still have to explain at times what I mean (I mark 1,2,etc)

[chesder]

I wanted to keep this brief and only cover the "must knows" for new players. I am making in betweens covering non crucial information but these are for players who want to get in the game fast and get to cap. I'm actually making a inbetween now talking about how to unlock other things like dying and stylists etc. Planned on talking about item rarity and marking in that one.

[8bithamster]

I would say that following marks is rather crucial information

[Deleted]

Don't forget to speak about Limit Break !

Good guide otherwise.

[D3athsting]

Don't forget to speak about Limit Break !

Good guide otherwise.

Limit Break can be considered FFXIV's equivalent of wow's BL/Hero for the purpose it serves (help killing a boss) but it's kinda different in many ways, it has no cooldown instead relies on the gauge that by default is visible at the top left of the screen, LB gauge only charges when there are at least 4 ppl in the party (light party), gains an additional gauge with full party (8 players) plus a 3rd gauge for 8+ player bosses, the more the gauges the more the LB power.
LB can be used by any player if at least the first gauge is full and doing so consumes all the gauges despite of them being full or not, LB effect is based on player's profession, healers(WHM,SCH,AST) give a strong boost to healing and with 3 gauges they cast a mass ress mid fight, tanks(PLD,WAR,DRK) reduce damage taken for all party casters (BLM, ACN) do a strong aoe attack in the selected area, the more the gauges the wider the area and the damage, ranged physical (BRD, MCH) execute a strong attack in a straight line in front of them, melees (MNK,NIN,DRG) do a strong single target attack, LB has a mid-long cast time and causes a long animation lock so it's advisable to use carefully to avoid getting killed by a telegraph while executing the skill.

[dixincide]

In group content in this game is it similar to other MMOs, where you can seemlessly pull from one pack to the next?

Or do you have to wait between each individual pull for people to get topped off of both health and resource?

[8bithamster]

In group content in this game is it similar to other MMOs, where you can seemlessly pull from one pack to the next?

Or do you have to wait between each individual pull for people to get topped off of both health and resource?

if you have dps with a brain, you can do that (aka, attacking the same target). If you don't, everyone will have enmity, and will get damaged, requiring more downtime between pulls.
Also with tanks btw, MRD tanks have horrible threat increase at lower levels :-(

[FobManX]

Yeah one tip I'd give is for low level dungeons, DPS need to be a little careful, because the Tank classes don't have access to their defensive stances. At least DRKs don't have Grit until, level 30 I think? So in the really low level dungeons(i.e. Tatar)threat can sometimes be an issue. I generally mark one and have everyone focus on it while using AOE to have threat on the others, by the time the main one dies I'm far enough on threat on the others that it doesn't matter.

[8bithamster]

Yeah one tip I'd give is for low level dungeons, DPS need to be a little careful, because the Tank classes don't have access to their defensive stances. At least DRKs don't have Grit until, level 30 I think? So in the really low level dungeons(i.e. Tatar)threat can sometimes be an issue. I generally mark one and have everyone focus on it while using AOE to have threat on the others, by the time the main one dies I'm far enough on threat on the others that it doesn't matter.

Very true, and something that most (if not all) starting guides completely ignore