why am I forced to do this quest?

[LyonheartLakshmi]

You really won't find much sympathy when it comes to G2, at least not from those of us who have been playing this game for a long time now. See, SE "adjusted" the difficulty of those 3 G2 NMs so that a party of players 50 to 55 now stand a chance at defeating them. Before this update, you needed an entire alliance of players at that level. Just having 2 or 3 level 75s wasn't sufficient to defeat them.

[Ameroth]

I probably wouldn't get upset except for the fact that it is a quest which is IMPOSSIBLE TO SOLO. Thanks to SE, I am basically stuck at lvl 50

Did you miss the part where FFXI isn't one of those "Do-it-yourself" MMOs that require you to almost never play with other people? It's not terribly difficult to get a few high level folk to come hold your hand through it. Like the others have pointed out, it used to be much more difficult than it is now. The drop rates are kinda nasty, but honestly, G1 doesn't take much more time than 1 normal exp party would (unless you bring 2+ people that need G1 as well). You can miss 1 or 2 nights of partying; not that bad.

[Icemage]

Number of people required for G1:

- 4 for Garlaige citadel (just to open Banishing gates to get to Explosures). Aside from that, virtually any level 75 player can get you the bomb coal by themselves.
- 1 person for Exorays and their exoray mold. These things are laughable at level 75.
- 1 person, maybe two if you have the wrong jobs, for ancient papyrus from Liches, either in Eldieme Necropolis or in Toraimarai Canal.

G2 isn't hard either. I solo'd all three G2 NMs for someone about a week ago. It took forever on RDM due to their high HP, but wasn't even vaguely difficult.

G3 can be done with 1 level 75 as long as you have one person who has a crimson orb, and someone at level 75 who can take out the guards next to the lever door in Oztroja.

As mentioned by others, this is much, much easier than it used to be.


Icemage

[Grizzlebeard]

God, I remember doing G2 with an alliance years ago. Still gives me the sweats remembering all those idiots running around aggroing eyes and everything else that moved then people screaming for invis every second step we took towards the NMs.

[Karinya]

The original level cap was 50 when the game first came out by the way.

Nothing to say about the subjob quest (which could have been done with a normal level party)

In Valkurm, maybe. In Bubu it could be done by a normal level alliance. Not without some deaths, but it got the job done.

or the extra job quests (which also could have been done with a party at that level)?

Some are soloable, even; bard, ranger, dark knight come to mind. Actually, I think most are soloable, except for RoZ jobs.

Genkai 1 items can be obtained with a lv48-50 party (I got 2/3 while leveling normally, and the third with friends). Genkai 2 will need more, but I'm not sure how much it's been toned down. (I went with a 36 person double alliance, actually really fun). Genkai 3, 4, and 5 are soloable.

I did Genkai 2 with one alliance, back in the day. It really didn't take more than that even before adjustment.

Nowadays, though, it's easier to find a couple of 75s to help than an alliance of high 50s.

How many people actually solo genkai 3? (Actually, I'm not sure that one *is* soloable. Doesn't it take two people to operate the switches at the top of Castle Oztroja? Unless you just happen to find a coffer key party hanging out there and opening the door for you, that is.)

[StarvingArtist]

Genkai 3 is much more solable now than when it first was introduced. Granted, when it first came out there were so many people who needed it, alliances formed very easily on a daily basis ("hallways of death").

Beaudeaux/Qulun Dome is soloable if you can sneak yourself. The original location of the ??? used to be by the spot where Za'Dha Adamantking spawns. Davoi/Monastic needs a quest done to get by the Wall of Banishing, but the ability to invis yourself makes it solable also. The original ??? used to be under where Hexspinner/Overlord spawns. Oztroja is a little more tricky, but I've been able to open the door switch > invis > get past the door on my own. The ??? used to be at the very top where the second Yagudo High Priest is.

[Aksannyi]

I soloed G3 ... it worked out pretty well because the RMT were there in Castle Oztroja to open the gate for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to.

Damn those RMT, ruining the economy, but they have their uses.