So after 3 years you still can't solo this game?

[Dartamis]

I quit playing this game about 3 years ago at level 30 because I was sick and tired of having to stand around for an hour looking for a group everytime I wanted to do anything. Any other MMORPG I have played since has had a ton more solo content and while you certainly can't do anything you want solo, at least you can quietly work on your levels if you are bored. I love the final fantasy series and would like to start playing again without having to resort to the crappy beast master class to do so. I'm going to give it another shot since I have some downtime with lotro till the fall. Hopefully I have a better time this go around. Is it still all monster grinding for exp or do you get a significant amount from quests now?

[Ameroth]

Quests? No. That's not a major source of EXP. Want that? Play WoW.

There are more solo opportunities now than there were last year at this time. Does that mean you can jump in as a level 10 MNK/nosubjob and solo to 75 in a few weeks? Nope. The best source of exp for most jobs is still party play. But most people have found ways to solo at most levels for at least some amount of EXP while looking for a party.

And LOL at waiting for only an hour. I'd consider that lucky if I only waited for 1 hr on some jobs (DRK mostly comes to mind).

[Zempten]

Er.....you could always solo on BST. After BST you could technically solo with /BST. They made changes to BST that makes it alot easiar. I won't go into the exact details but you can read up on it on the BST part of the fourms.

You could also use /DNC nowadays for some added curing power at the cost of your TP.

Now they have campaign battles as well that you can use around lvl 60 to chip away at the lvls.

They've also cut down on the exp till next lvl and introduced rings that give exp bonus.

Also they have made changes to Signet & WOTG offers a few new lvling zones (that people don't take advantage of unless you drag them out). Not to mention you can get Sigil (WOTG version of Signet) with combined bonuses of auto-refresh, auto-regen, and increased food duration at a cost of some points. Along with the changes to Signet they've made exp bonuses for smaller parties. Sure it's not THAT great, but it's still something for when you can only find 1 or 2 people to PT at low lvls. It's better then just sitting around waiting like you said.

If you ever took the time to lvl your own personal NPC friend. You could even use that to take out some mobs for a good 1hr or so.

In short, lvling nowadays has gotten ALOT easiar then 3 years ago. It's still a bit of a challange but it isn't like rock climbing a wall just to get to the other side, more like just hiking.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

FFXI isn't going to dumb itself down to the point in which you can pick up and solo from level 1 and no subjob. Its just not how the game works and it never will be like that.

FFXI makes you earn your ability to solo and right now, that's mostly done via NIN, RDM, WHM and DNC subjobs. Plenty of jobs in the game can solo if they have these subjobs going for them, but you must invest some time into party play in order to have them.

Additionally, you're already judging jobs you really know nothing about. BST is a fun job and has benefitted from a lot of recent updates. It never was the only job in this game that could solo, its just a job people still commonly solo on, but plenty of main jobs are fully capable of solo, especially with the subjobs I've listed, those jobs are:

Puppetmaster
Blue Mage
Dancer
Black Mage
Red Mage
Thief
Ninja
Paladin
Summoner
Beastmaster
Dragoon

And others can as well. Well over half of the jobs in this game can solo, its all at varying levels for some, though.

[Zempten]

Exactly how BBQ said it. You only get what you put in. If you can't, then it's probably a better idea to leave things as they are.

[Dartamis]

So we still are spending 99% of our time grinding away mobs? That is so sad. I don't understand why the game makers decided that the only way for this game to work is to force people to group together. There are plenty of ways one could be social or participate in society without having to group together just to level up your char. Just exactly how is a game more fun if you stand around for an hour or longer looking for a group just to level up? I can understand having the need for groups to atain higher end gear from quests, but just to go level up? That's nuts.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

/Woosh

You're not listening to anything we've said, are you?

[Dartamis]

/Woosh

You're not listening to anything we've said, are you?

Yes, if i choose to be a Darkknight, then i can't really solo. That is crap. It shouldn't matter what job you are. Anyone should be able to play through at some level. I don't want to send monsters to fight for me. I wanna smash teeth out and suck the life juice out of mobs with my sword. I should be able to do that on my own.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Dancers can solo, they suck life juice.

Let's go fit you for that frilly top and a rose tiara.

[Dartamis]

Dancers can solo, they suck life juice.

Let's go fit you for that frilly top and a rose tiara.

NICE!

[Zempten]

If you want to be DRK and want to "smash teeth" out of mobs, then just /DNC and get to work. Drain Samba for HP per hit. Curing Waltz for when your HP gets low. Stun/Drain/Absorb line spells as needed. You could even summon your NPC buddy for some extra backup and set it up as tank/healer/dd mode depending on how you want to play.

No matter what your still going to be stuck "spending 99% of our time grinding away mobs" in any MMO. It's just how it works. There's no difference if your doing it with others or by yourself. It's actually more fun to do it with others though imo until you meet some certain individual.

If you dislike the exp PT type setting the only other ways that comes to mind for getting exp is ENMs, repeted BCNMs for COP missions, Besige, Campaign Battle, Campaign Ops, and Ballista (I think they added exp to that right?).

[Feba]

quite honestly, if you're half as thick as you're acting in this thread, the reason you have a problem with FFXI isn't that it's hard to solo.

[Neomage]

If you are truly against party-play, FFXI is not for you and never will be. However, the EXP grind, while certainly the most effective way to EXP, is not the only way.

Starting at 10 (Though it may be hard to get access that early without sneak & invisible), you can do a Campaign Operation once per day for 60-340 Experience Points, depending on your rank and what mission you signed up for. You can store up to 7 credits, so you will not miss out on anything if you miss a day, as long as you do two the next day or something. While it's not much, it adds up over time. You can also attempt to do Campaign Battles, but you will fail miserably until about level 60.

Starting at 20, you can do Eco-Warrior, Garrison, and Chocobo Delivery runs for a 500-1000 EXP scrolls. Eco-Warrior and Garrison are however, a group event, but are fun missions and quests, so you may like them more then partying.

Starting at 30, you can do Promyvion ENMs for cash and EXP. Also a group event, but one again you are not grinding monsters, but rather fighting to the end of a zone then battling a tough boss monster. The experience is variable based on your group, but you will usually get about 3,000 EXP per battle. There are 3 bosses, so you can get 9,000 EXP per week. You can also participate in FFXI's PvP system, Ballista, for very minor EXP rewards.

At 40 and 50, you get access to more ENM battles. If you do all of them, you can easily earn up to 20,000 EXP a week, but some have difficult requirements simply to unlock access.

At 60, you can effectively participate in campaign. Aside from grinding, this is the most viable way to EXP. You also get more ENMs unlocked.

While it is possible to get to 75 on these methods, it is inefficent and will take a long time. I would suggest to grind as much as you can, then when you can't stand it anymore take a break and go some of these quests and missions until you feel good enough to EXP. If you never grind, and refuse to party, go directly to WoW. Do not reactivate FFXI. Do not pay 13 USD.

[Jei]

alas, beastmasters are now harder to solo as well.

[Ameroth]

I hate threads where people come through and beg us to convince them to play a video game. If you don't think you're going to like the game, don't play it and go away. However, if you're willing to listen to advice from people who are trying to give it, and be open-minded, perhaps you'll find FFXI is actually a pretty fun and rewarding game.