just hit 10, hit dead end it seems!

[myndreach]

well i hit level 10 and am having a hard time making progess...

gustaberg areas are poor xp/too weak, but wadi or highlands are too tough!

any ides? thanks in advance! :handsdown

[riceburner4540]

level 10 is prime time for a whm to start partying. at lvl 10 whm, i leveled offa sand hares in valkurm in parties...they were pretty good exp and not too challenging, except for whenever they did foot kick twice in a row or something. then, someone dies >_<. so basically yeah, once u hit 10 stop soloing and start partying.

[Rones]

This is the time for the wake up call. Hope you liked soloing for exp, you won't ever do it again as a whm except for gil but not exp. :spin: Head to valkurm dunes and hop into a party. Whms are nothing without a party. ;)

[riceburner4540]

luckily, parties are nothing w/o a whm...most of the time ^_^

[myndreach]

so head to Valkrum dunes as level 10? i can't even handle stuff in the Highlands yet, which is closer to Bastok, leading me to believe its a lower level area.....im near the ngustaberg-->highlands zone, so ill go to the Dunes next time im on
:)

min level shows 15, while the highlands is 10 ???

[Issaac]

entrance monsters in valkum are for lvl 12-14 groups. I dunno about the hares and i never lvled a character lvl 10 there, so i cant speak for the hares. But i found groups in konschtat frequently. Put up your lfg flag and if you have all your spells needed set home point in valkum dunes (if you need to go to town back, set it at N-Gustaberg). Now head to D-7 (just hug wall right, if you have the dunes in your back). D-7 is a place where worms spawn exclusivly (only at night a bogy spawns in the cave ther, so stay away from the cave at night) They are from lvl 7 to 11 and nice to solo. If you get in trouble - run and hope you get not binded. i lvled there every single character i have from lvl 8up. Its very very easy there for black mages with water.

So solo there a bit and hold your lfg flag up. Normaly at least when oyu hit lvl 11 you should get your first dunes group invite for lizzards at entrance. After that you never solo again ^^

[myndreach]

(^_^) to issac thanks for info!

[Miriamel]

I started leveling my BLM at 11 in Valkurm, I believe my WHM got the first invite at lv10. Hares are good, but the average melee party level should be around ~12.

Thing is that WHMs get Cure II at lv11, which will make you ultimately more valueable in Valkurm. ^^~

[Rones]

I started lvling my whm in valkurm at 9 with another mage and a group of lvl 10-11 melees. 10-11 is usually the starting point for mages in valkurm and 11-13 for melees. Its ok for the mages in your party to be a little lower than the average party lvl.

Or try hunting the worms on the west side of highlands. They are in a little side valley and excellent for soloing.

[Khaelyn]

You'd probably be better off looking for a party in town to go to Valkurm or Konschtat with than wandering the Dunes alone. Put a comment in your search field that you want to level somewhere.

[myndreach]

well i was in 3 different parties last night at the dunes and everyone of them wanted to hunt lizards, which i hate because of links...everytime we would get links and get in over our head and someone would die....why do people insist on hunting those things? our groups were usually level 10-12

then just now i go to the worms spot...find a worm, fight, and get absolutely slaughtered.

so highlands worms are not good....i don't know how you soloed them...i used paralyze, dia, banish, went to melee and tried to keep myself alive with cures but to no avail...

so im at a wall again...this game is seeming more and more like just another leveling treadmill...usually it takes at least a month to seem that way, but im only level 10 and playing a week lol....

edit hehe okay so it was just probably a bad night of partying...hope it goes better in the future...
about the worms...lol i had changed some macros the night before and forgot i changed my cureself macro lol so i wasn't really curing myself lol

[Rones]

When I soloed (only low lvls), I usually start with a paralyze and save the rest of the mp to heal myself. Also don't attempt a worm that is more than even rated. If your mp goes below the worms health just run out of its magic casting range and rest up, they can't chase.

Lizards are the only thing a 10-12 party can hunt in valkurm. You will have to get use to linking, 80% of monsters link or are aggresive in this game, so it will be a factor from now on. Your problem is your puller was a newbie at party work. Try to party with players who have subjobs or advanced jobs (like samuri, dark knight, summoner) because they all have lots of experience of working in a party. If you think lizards are bad, wait till you try the Gobs with their bomb area of attacks that hit all your melees. :spin:

Some parties are just bad though. :sweat: Everyone gets them now and then. Just take them with a grain of salt and try to find a new one.

[cavill]

Yes Valkurm but need 6 player party killing sand hares ONLY! Anything else u will die.
Or u can get a party in la theine for a couple levels then head to Valkurm.

[Miriamel]

Originally posted by Rones

Lizards are the only thing a 10-12 party can hunt in valkurm.


Untrue. Sand Hares (San d'Oria entrance) are by FAR easier to fight than Lizards, give more EXP and are safer at that.


Your problem is your puller was a newbie at party work. Try to party with players who have subjobs or advanced jobs (like samuri, dark knight, summoner) because they all have lots of experience of working in a party. If you think lizards are bad, wait till you try the Gobs with their bomb area of attacks that hit all your melees. :spin:


Having a subjob merely means you have a job at lv30, doesn't mean the player has lots of experience.. ^^;

I regard class and level of subjob, rank and the search comment as important factors when making a party.

[Rones]

Whoops, forgot about sand hares. I'm use to lvling off on the lizards from the bastok side. I didn't mean those with a sub job or advanced job were competly experienced pros, but typically they fare better than straight newbs on their first job to reach lvl 10. ;)

[specular]

Vomp Hill, it's right out the Bastok gates. I leveled my caster jobs up to 12 there. and my NIN too actually.

You can fight Wasps & the occasional Goblin. Watch out, some will be too difficult. The XP gets slow around 11 but the number of Fire & Wind Crystals you get in return makes up for it.

As mentioned, when you hit 12 it's time to party :spin: and you'll have some nice Gil to buy spells.

[myndreach]

Originally posted by specular
Vomp Hill, it's right out the Bastok gates. I leveled my caster jobs up to 12 there. and my NIN too actually.

You can fight Wasps & the occasional Goblin. Watch out, some will be too difficult. The XP gets slow around 11 but the number of Fire & Wind Crystals you get in return makes up for it.

As mentioned, when you hit 12 it's time to party :spin: and you'll have some nice Gil to buy spells.

thats a good idea...i was there around level 8 or 9, and fought a few things...they were tough then but i managed...i haven't been back though since hitting 9 or so and it may actually be good! thanks for the reminder! :handsdown

[Claritin]

At lvl 10 the person who said San Hares at the Sandoria entrance was kinda right... that is a great place to lvl.. but they meant at the La theine zoneline in Valkrum.

Lvl 10 is when you start grouping for most classes.... lvl 12 for a few... and a couple I think can go to lvl 15 (PLD and BST)

Sand hares are nice because besides blind and an occasional small damage AE tail whip type attack you are OK. After them you move to lizards which Petrify and you have no cure for... and after them you go to crabs which have very high DEF.

When you hit the crabs... you need a crab apron for sub job quest

Then you move to Damselfly's and save thier worm drop for subjob.. and be on the lookout for ghouls.. they spawn at night and are slightly harder than flies.. both of these AE. When you can't find a fly Goblins are good too.... beware of gambler and leecher.

The 3rd part of the subjob quest is the Majicked skull from the ghoul... they are rare and odds are you will have to leave Valkrum at about lvl 17-18 to go to Gusgen mines.. you will want a really well balanced part to go in there but ghouls are more common in there and also drop the skull.

At about lvl 18 switch to Pugils at the coast line.

And NEVER fight the Bogy's (ghost looking monsters.. big brown blobs... this is true in any zone you can get exp in... always stay away from ghosts)

As soon as you get subjob... switch to RDM or BLM as main job and use WHM as sub job... get it to half the lvl of your main job plus 1-2 levels then switch back.... if you don't have a near-maxed sub-job when you hit lvl 20 you will have a real hard time getting groups.

Hope that helps.

PS.. BLM is the prefered sub-job (slightly more mana and mana conservation skill... but where it really shines... WARP... This spell is valuable as hell especially when you get your teleports)... but RDM is a bit more durable and more fun to lvl since they solo better (and slightly better enfeeble skill, with parry as a bonus).... so it is equally as viable.

[iczelion74]

Why is everyone so damn Valkrum Crazy! It use to be a rule to go to Valkrum for levels 15-20 and now people leave as low as 8-9 to go there and this leaves alot of the old places for 8-15s to level empty as hell, and it makes it difficult to find a party.

Tahrongi and Shakrami Maze are two prime examples, hell in a group of level 9s--11s in the Maze you get a guaranteed 180-200 every kill and can easily go from 9-15 in a full day of playing....THEN you can go to Valkrum! Two months ago these zones were packed with players now there are usualluy 10-15 players in each zone, because everyone is already in Valkrum even though there is excellent EXP and money to be made here!

Now I realize Windys not your home city do it may not apply to you but Ive have seen many many great zones for parties 9-15 stay completely empty because evryone runs to the overcrowded Valkrum.

[Dux]

I notice you are TaruTaru and presumably from Windurst so as an alternative suggestion....

You should be in Shakhrami Maze not Valkrum Dunes. The EXP you get from the Dunes is not worth it compared to the effort you put in. Killing Maze Makers in Shakri Maze gets 180-240 EXP per kill (with chains) and they are not as hard as the stuff in Valkrum. (Hint: get more BLMs and less WAR)

I was leveling my BLM until level 16 in there and IT Maze Makers were still giving 160-180 EXP. The team had lvl 13 WHM in it as well and we had very little down time.

Shakhrami is far superior to Valkrum Dunes for EXP than Dunes. The only down side is that too many people go to Valkrummy Dunes and Shakhrami can be a bit low on people. Still if you can find a party there (as WHM this should not be an issue) you would do better to ignore Valkrum Dunes until levels 14-16.