If I wanted to get into FFXIV, where would I start?

[Jaylock]

If I wanted to get into playing FFXIV, where would I start? Any recommendations for picking up the game and understanding the mechanics / lore / what to do when first entering the world?

Any good starter guides out there?
@Eleccybubb any suggestions?

[Eleccybubb]

Try the trial Jaylock. It can get you upto 35 if I recall. Also Reddit is a good place to ask around. Hang on I'll update this with some sites for you. Tbh you can get the base game plus 30 days for £10 or around $15 on Steam. It starts off slow as hell with the 2.5 sec GCD though so be warned combat might not be for you. Also if you want to play a Job you have to level 1 class to 30 then another to 15 to unlock it's quest.

Example. You want to be a Paladin.

Level 30 Gladiator
Level 15 Conjurer

http://freetrial.finalfantasyxiv.com/gb/

https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/FF14_Wiki

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/

Those last 2 sites have info about the game. May not be fully up to date in some areas but it's good enough.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/39210/

£10 and it includes 30 days. Basically you've played WoW Jay so it should be familiar just hopping in and setting up the UI. However there are no addons in this other than an unofficial DPS meter which is grey line. You can use it just don't be a dick to others with it.

[Aurimas]

You'd probably start as a Level 1 in either Limsa, Uldah, or Gridania, depending on the class you choose.

[Zafire]

I feel starting in Uldah makes for the best starting experience, but that's just IMO. A lot of that has to do with what happens later though. You get a bit more involved in the characters there.

I ended up spending most of my time in Limsa after I got to 15. Look up what job you want to be, and look at what you need to do to unlock that job. For example, if you want to be a Ninja, start out as a Monk and get it to 15 before you unlock Rogue.

As far as lore goes, the game actually does a wonderful job of slowly laying it out for you. The story in this game, at least at the later levels, can get pretty deep. I appreciated it a lot for that.

[Lynarii]

If you've played other MMOs, getting into the basics is very easy and natural. The only real advice I'd give is to focus on the main story quests (they give most of the exp you need) for your primary class, and save the majority of the side quests for sub-classes.

[Kazgrel]

Try the trial Jaylock. It can get you upto 35 if I recall. Also Reddit is a good place to ask around. Hang on I'll update this with some sites for you. Tbh you can get the base game plus 30 days for £10 or around $15 on Steam. It starts off slow as hell with the 2.5 sec GCD though so be warned combat might not be for you. Also if you want to play a Job you have to level 1 class to 30 then another to 15 to unlock it's quest.

Example. You want to be a Paladin.

Level 30 Gladiator
Level 15 Conjurer

http://freetrial.finalfantasyxiv.com/gb/

https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/FF14_Wiki

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/

Those last 2 sites have info about the game. May not be fully up to date in some areas but it's good enough.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/39210/

£10 and it includes 30 days. Basically you've played WoW Jay so it should be familiar just hopping in and setting up the UI. However there are no addons in this other than an unofficial DPS meter which is grey line. You can use it just don't be a dick to others with it.

One caveat pertaining to purchasing the game via Steam vs. elsewhere: If you buy the game through Steam, you have to buy the xpacs through Steam as well. Likewise, if you buy it, say, from the SE store, or another vendor (Amazon, Newegg, etc.), you have to purchase future xpacs in the same manner, although you can get them from different vendors if needed.

The official FF14 subreddit, as mentioned by Eleccy, is probably the best source for news and info pertaining to the game. Check out the links under the Useful Information list there at the top as well as the Related Websites on the right hand side (may have to scroll down a bit). Lot of useful info between those two.

[Eleccybubb]

Crap I totally forgot about that Kaz. So yeah @Jaylock you buy it through Steam you have to upgrade through Steam. You can't do it any other way or convert a Steam account to a non Steam.

[Jaylock]

If you've played other MMOs, getting into the basics is very easy and natural. The only real advice I'd give is to focus on the main story quests (they give most of the exp you need) for your primary class, and save the majority of the side quests for sub-classes.

So wait, when you start a second class, will all the quests that you did on your first class be done already? Is it like account wide questing?

[Remilia]

@Aberrict actually made a great FAQ.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...antasy-XIV-FAQ

Sticky is a great way to hide threads.

[Katchii]

So wait, when you start a second class, will all the quests that you did on your first class be done already? Is it like account wide questing?

You have a single character in the game world, and that one character is able to be every job/ class. Every quest, except daily quests obviously, are a one time thing. So once you do a quest on that character, regardless of what job/ class you were when you did it, you can't do it again. Leveling your second or third job/class (class is the starting one ie Arcanist, Archer, Marauder etc and Job are the advanced version is Scholar/ Summoner, Bard, Warrior, etc...) can be a challenge because you won't have story quests or some area quests to use to do them.

Remilia provided a link to a decent guide. There's simply too much information to go over in a post, given the scope of the FFXIV world. Just have a look at the FFXIV subreddit and the link Remilia provided and that should be enough to get you going.

As for starting, just do the free trial and get a feel for it. You'll understand it better once you've actually seen and experienced it in game.

[Eleccybubb]

So wait, when you start a second class, will all the quests that you did on your first class be done already? Is it like account wide questing?

Yeah you can be every class/job including crafters and gatherers on one toon. There is even a cheaper sub option called entry which allows for one character per server instead of 8 per server.

[Binaris]

You only need one character that can be all classes. Quests don't reset so they are limited.

As it seems this might be your concern. Leveling other classes is easy is often done now through dungeons and a place called POTD which is a dungeon scaled to allow 4 dps to go without any concern. Fates are an option but not nearly as used. Repeatable quests called leves are also an option, but they are more used for leveling crafting and gathering classes.

[Lynarii]

So wait, when you start a second class, will all the quests that you did on your first class be done already? Is it like account wide questing?

Questing is account-wide, but as your highest level class gets high enough in levels, it gives an exp bonus to other classes. Combined with having unlocked all the dungeons and roulettes and other perks of having a higher level class, it's not too bad to level up extra jobs even without quests. They simply give you a few more options if you want them.

[Binaris]

Questing is account-wide,

No. it is CHARACTER wide

[Kyriani]

For leveling alt combat classes/jobs, I turn to Fates, Dungeons, and Leves as the primary ways I get xp. Doing the daily dungeon roulette alone is worth almost a full level of xp until you hit around 51-60 ish, but still worth doing daily in conjunction with the daily guildhest roulette, chain running fates and dungeons, and doing leves.

[Deleted]

As many have mentioned, the biggest things of FF14 compared to WoW;

Massively slower combat pace (not a problem for most, its still done well so it works)
You will hit dead-ends if all you do is quest, you will need to do shit on the sides (I haven't leveld a char after the +50% main quests bonus) so theres a chance this is fixed.

With that said its not all doom and gloom, the combat really isnt that big an issue unless you've got a frantic need to mash a button (you can still do it, just wont be skills flying off). FF14 is with me being humble, a mile ahead graphics wise. Some pictures people take on the reddit, or just scenarios you may find if you enjoy looking over beauty of environment and what have you, you can literally sit there and get lost in how amazing it actually is.

Dungeons are the same, I would say a pug WoW dung is prolly 2-3x faster than pugging in FF14 cos most people dont know how to deal damage.
Raiding in FF14 is probably harder than in WoW, its 8man content and a mistake usually leads to wiping, you either wont make the DPS check or its a mechanic that wipes you.

[Binaris]

As many have mentioned, the biggest things of FF14 compared to WoW;

Massively slower combat pace (not a problem for most, its still done well so it works)
You will hit dead-ends if all you do is quest, you will need to do shit on the sides (I haven't leveld a char after the +50% main quests bonus) so theres a chance this is fixed.

With that said its not all doom and gloom, the combat really isnt that big an issue unless you've got a frantic need to mash a button (you can still do it, just wont be skills flying off). FF14 is with me being humble, a mile ahead graphics wise. Some pictures people take on the reddit, or just scenarios you may find if you enjoy looking over beauty of environment and what have you, you can literally sit there and get lost in how amazing it actually is.

Dungeons are the same, I would say a pug WoW dung is prolly 2-3x faster than pugging in FF14 cos most people dont know how to deal damage.
Raiding in FF14 is probably harder than in WoW, its 8man content and a mistake usually leads to wiping, you either wont make the DPS check or its a mechanic that wipes you.

Combat is slower, but it works later on because mechanics matter. It is not simply a case of constant damage being taken for the healer to heal, you need to dodge. But early on that slow pace pushes a lot of people away.

I know you haven't played in a while, there are many options for leveling now to supplement main quest and side classes, hell potd gives .5 to 1 level each run under 50. Also, the requirement for multi classes will be gone in SB with how the cross skills are being redone.

The pug dungeons arent as bad as you try to make it. Typically they run 20-30 minutes. very rarely does someone suck so badly that my groups take longer than 25.

Most of the endgame savage raids are reminiscent of thogar mythic train schedule memorization. Be in the right place or die. At that point you are thankful for the methodical combat instead of high speed whackamole. I would agree that they are harder in that there is much more accountability for each player. FF requires all 8 people playing well, most wow mythic fights can afford some sloppyness and still pull off a kill with people on the floor.

I would also say, coming from wow, the big difference comes in how classes play.

Tanks * at max lvl * begin to focus more and more on dps. Stance dpsing into dps stance to balance threat and survival with maximizing output.

healers *mainly at max* learn to stance dance between healing and doing damage, good ones significantly affect how a dungeon or raid goes shaving minutes off a run doing roughly 1/3 the dps of a competent damage dealer.

DPS actually has complex rotations to work with, it is mentioned many dps suck, they do, and that is because dps rotations are long and small mistakes cost big dps. DPS is IMO the hardest role to play well in this game with only a few exceptions.

[Deleted]

25minutes for a dungeon is in my eyes insanely too long. A guild grp of people that don't suck can do it in 8-12(depending on dungeon). When I was playing it, it was that Sohm Al in the sky, fighting hraesvelgr or whatever his name was, basically the fight against the dragon on the bridge trials. Pugs would take 20-30minutes, a proper guild grp would do it in 10-12, that in my eyes is a massive difference, and its not always only cos my crew had gear, its cos a lot of people dont know how to push their maximum dps in that game, it is harder to do damage than in wow.

Honestly in wow, tanks already are all about the DPS in WoW too, same goes for healing.

POTD giving that much xp sounds like its a pleasure to level shit in there, only question is, that XP youre mentioning - is it with the armory? cos 100% increased XP isnt little :P

Cross class changes youre mentioning, to my limited understand right now is just wishful thinking. Sure they redo dark skin and whatever paladin one is, but Foresight is weaker than both of those and I doubt they'll merge that in. Also, Awareness is likely not being flat out given to WAR/DRK, at least I would imagine it not to be. Cross classing high level skills is probably the most annoying thing of FF14

[Binaris]

25minutes for a dungeon is in my eyes insanely too long. A guild grp of people that don't suck can do it in 8-12(depending on dungeon). When I was playing it, it was that Sohm Al in the sky, fighting hraesvelgr or whatever his name was, basically the fight against the dragon on the bridge trials. Pugs would take 20-30minutes, a proper guild grp would do it in 10-12, that in my eyes is a massive difference, and its not always only cos my crew had gear, its cos a lot of people dont know how to push their maximum dps in that game, it is harder to do damage than in wow.

Honestly in wow, tanks already are all about the DPS in WoW too, same goes for healing.

POTD giving that much xp sounds like its a pleasure to level shit in there, only question is, that XP youre mentioning - is it with the armory? cos 100% increased XP isnt little :P

Cross class changes youre mentioning, to my limited understand right now is just wishful thinking. Sure they redo dark skin and whatever paladin one is, but Foresight is weaker than both of those and I doubt they'll merge that in. Also, Awareness is likely not being flat out given to WAR/DRK, at least I would imagine it not to be. Cross classing high level skills is probably the most annoying thing of FF14

ignoring the self horn tooting of dungeon time, you went witht he standard internet gamer response there.

Otherwise, yes, at the end of a run, that is counting the 50% increase from armory.

As for cross classes to your admittedly limitted understanding.

What we learned so far, instead of cross class skills, they will be grouped up by roles and specific skills will be shared among each of those roles. We dont know all the details, but the general idea is combining certian skills and having you able to choose from the pool. For example rampart and shadowskin becoming the same skill and tossed into role skill pool which was mentioned in the korean live letter.

They are spreading info in various places, not as easy to find like it is with wow on here. But we know for a fact that cross skills are being made role skills and not requiring other classes. it is not wishful thinking. As you havent played in a while, perhaps before providing outdated info or questioning others, you may want to do a bit of legwork.

[Deleted]

Isnt 1-50 armory 100%? Or whatever the levelcap-10 is.

Sure well see how they do it, I remember them promising Paladin buffs for entirety of a1-a4s and they never came until whenever they made tanks go Vitality over Strength, and even then no good groups took a PLD over a DRK&WAR, so wouldn't know. Im more curious how they make parry useful with 4.0. Getting parry on gear was literally a wasted stat, so yeah. What "they say" and what "they do" has always been two separate things.

As far as self tooting goes...literally any decent group did the same, thats why you made linkshells with good people in them to clear stuff quickly :P