Newbie WHM search comment questions

[Saren]

Just before I start I wanted to say the board is great, its given me a lot of very useful reading.

Hi all. I am sorry if this is in the wrong place or a repeat (I searched but didn't find anything that really answered what I wanted to ask) I was wondering if someone could answer a few (read several) questions for me please.

To explain: I am new, I am level 13 and am sorting a few final things out before I head off to the Dunes to try and learn to party. Not to get evangelical about it but I do NOT want to be powerlevelled, at all, period.

So really my questions are what is helpful for a White Mage to put in a search comment?

Should I put what weapon I am using in? My various magic skill levels? The fact that I have all my spells? Is it a good idea to put a 'No PL parties please' in, power levelling sounds pretty common in the dunes.

Also which of the comments do I fill in. In exp party where is a 'find member' comment and a 'seek party' comment and another one which I forget. What is the difference? When do they show?

Sorry about the barrage.

Saren.

[Lunaryn]

Just before I start I wanted to say the board is great, its given me a lot of very useful reading.
Hi all. I am sorry if this is in the wrong place or a repeat (I searched but didn't find anything that really answered what I wanted to ask) I was wondering if someone could answer a few (read several) questions for me please.
To explain: I am new, I am level 13 and am sorting a few final things out before I head off to the Dunes to try and learn to party. Not to get evangelical about it but I do NOT want to be powerlevelled, at all, period.
So really my questions are what is helpful for a White Mage to put in a search comment?
Should I put what weapon I am using in? My various magic skill levels? The fact that I have all my spells? Is it a good idea to put a 'No PL parties please' in, power levelling sounds pretty common in the dunes.
Also which of the comments do I fill in. In exp party where is a 'find member' comment and a 'seek party' comment and another one which I forget. What is the difference? When do they show?
Sorry about the barrage.
Saren.

The most useful thing you can put in your search comment is the number of experience points you need to level. This helps party leaders manage the party's level split. At dunes levels there's not really much else to put in there. You can put a comment about not wanting a PL in there, but people who rely on PLs probably aren't reading the search comments of those they're inviting anyway...

[Jei]

Yea your tnk, or @, or current exp/max exp is the most common thing to be there. Later on you should put places you can go in there too.

And put in something to advertise yourself.... I prefer some friendly face =^.^= but some people prefer to put their stat bonus and spells in there. Which is fine for Whm I think if you put "Erase/haste OK" there...

weapon, I think each jobs have their expectation about what weapon they should be using. Not so important I think.... Some poeple put in rare gears they have, but I never take it into my consideration when I invite people really. I care more about the friendliness in their comments.

I don't care about magic skill levels. I only care if mages cast their spells they should be casting.

About PL, I don't know.... chances are, if you're invited as Whm, the PT probably will not have a PL. Because they need healer. Saying "no PL" is a bit extreme these days because dunes PT without PL is as rare as Kraken Club now.

Maybe not a good example because Kraken club isn't that rare actually.

[Saren]

Thankyou both

[Mhurron]

Just don't put in your search comments that you're probably going to kill your party because you're kind of new.

[Auron517]

When in the Dunes, do put stuff like TNL, but it's also nice to advertise yourself when you can. When I was there, I put up the fact that I had a Pilgrim's Wand and was packing Pineapple Juice. These things aren't a necesity, but it will give you an edge over other healers without a proper /seacom.

As for the No-PL Issue, any new Whitemage that wants to level without a PL has my respect. I chose to level in this manner...and honestly, leaving the Dunes would have come sooner, had I not, but the skill you gain more than makes up for it.

Putting "No PL Please" in your comment is a must, but at times won't help at all, because Group Leaders will send you an invite anyways, and then get mad when you want to leave because they brought a PL. It is slightly more difficult, but it is possible. It's up to you to decide wheter or not the skill you'd gain is worth your playtime.

[Shiyume]

My last go through the Dunes as a whm was rough. I had played the job to that point already on another account, which was good because every single party I got into had a PL. In fact, you'll find its almost -assumed- someone in the party is PLing. I don't leave over it because honestly I don't have that much time and I take what I can get. It is, of course, usually an easy way to get out of the Dunes fast.

However, I have also had wipes due to the PT relying on PL's too much. The PL can't see everyone's HP, so they might miss something and things can go very bad very fast. I've also had nice PLs that respected my whmness and only acted in emergencies. This I don't have a problem with, because the Dunes are dangerous at a time when you're still learning and if you can be spared death that's okay. But too many PTs use PLs as a crutch and this really is the worst for whms who can't learn how to heal well, and PTs end up dying more later on.

So, its good you're not taking the easy way out, but you should be ready to have a lot of PLs. My recommendation is if you're going to talk to your PT about it, don't approach it abrasively. Just tell them that you need to learn how to heal and such, because if you start an argument straight out it wont end well for anyone.

Good luck!

[Sabaron]

WHM is the class that suffers the most from PLs. The most recent update also quietly "fixed" the best way to skill up healing, so healing skill up is now only possible in PT or versus hostiles. The old method was to find non-aggressive IT++ mobs and heal them. This has been blocked without any notice from SE. PL'ing on a WHM will basically have the effect of eating into your Healing Skillups (and Enhancing too if the PL is throwing buffs on which they usually do). As a WHM, the worst way to level is PL'ed. When you receive and invite, make sure you let the leader know all the info you've put in your search comment b/c sometimes they won't be looking at it. When an existing PT is seeking a WHM, a lot of times, the leader will invite you in order to lock out other invites and then ask... This is very rude, but it happens a lot. I usually accept blind invites and then, once I've had a chance to look at the PT, just give them a blind disband. There's no reason they should deserve an explanation from me when I was rudely "drafted" into join their party.

[Shinhiryu_Kage]

WHM is the class that suffers the most from PLs. The most recent update also quietly "fixed" the best way to skill up healing, so healing skill up is now only possible in PT or versus hostiles. The old method was to find non-aggressive IT++ mobs and heal them. This has been blocked without any notice from SE. PL'ing on a WHM will basically have the effect of eating into your Healing Skillups (and Enhancing too if the PL is throwing buffs on which they usually do). As a WHM, the worst way to level is PL'ed. When you receive and invite, make sure you let the leader know all the info you've put in your search comment b/c sometimes they won't be looking at it. When an existing PT is seeking a WHM, a lot of times, the leader will invite you in order to lock out other invites and then ask... This is very rude, but it happens a lot. I usually accept blind invites and then, once I've had a chance to look at the PT, just give them a blind disband. There's no reason they should deserve an explanation from me when I was rudely "drafted" into join their party.

So that's what happened to Healing Magic skill lol. I was like "wtf! I can't spam cure in my downtime while lfg to raise my skeelz0rz. what gives?" Right now my healing magic is 10points below cap. I never had the problem in the past when I played WHM to 75. Starting over a new character these days on FF11 is like playing in a whole new world. It's funny though, because the experience is rewarding in most aspects and just perplexing in alot of others, considering I was use to playstyle from the days right after NA launch. w

Anyways, welcome Saren to the FFxionline forums. It's nice to always have new people and feel free to post as you wish. However, alot of veteran members post here so, from time to time, you may get the notorious "use the search function" reply in your posts if they are about common, general, and notorious questions about FF11.

Don't let that sway you however, everyone is really awesome here. If you have any questions about WHM, Icemage is your man. He's been here quite a long time and is sort of legendary when it comes to WHM playing style. lol There's several others also that help out, so ask away.

In my own response to your question, I'd like to add that including how much MP you have total can also help you. When I lfg these days on my galka, playing a whm, I have to include how much MP I have, what tyep of juice I'm using and that I am an experienced player. I get pt invites like a snap and have no trouble being a galka. I usually get lots of "ooOos and aaaahs" about my MP pool too. I worked to make sure its high.

YES EVEN GALKAS CAN BE MAGES TOO. muahahah

[Saren]

Thanks for all the advice I have a much better idea what to put in now.

Shinhiryu_Kage - Thanks for the welcome . I solemnly pledge to continue to use the search function and Icemage had sort of jumped out as someone whose posts are worth paying attention to

The only thing that no one has really answered and sorry if its being stupid but....why are there three different comment boxes for exp parties? Does anyone know what the difference is between them?

[Icemage]

Quick tips on important things to include in search comments:

- XP to next level (usually phrased as "@<some number>" so if you're 1500 XP to your next level, you'd put "@1500". This is a common abbreviation understood by almost all players, Japanese, North American, and European alike.

- Your current home point. This is usually phrased "HP: <location>". This is useful once you pass around level 30 when everyone just goes off and does their own thing while looking for parties.

- State your available subjobs. You don't have to mention their levels if they're high enough to be capped. So if you're a level 27 White Mage with 15 levels of Black Mage and 13 levels of Red Mage, you can say "SJ: /BLM, /RDM" in your comment. Also be sure to mention non-standard subjobs that still work if you have them properly levelled, such as /BRD.

- If you have the ability to instantly warp back to your Home Point, that might be worth putting in, especially if your HP is in a convenient place like Jeuno or Aht Urhgan Whitegate. As a WHM, you'll "probably" not need to do this once you hit level 34, since chances are you'll be using a Black Mage subjob and thus have the Warp spell available to you.

- If you think there's a lot of competition for your party slot, put something in to set you apart from the crowd - either a cool comment, funny emoticon, a brag sheet about useful gear (useful = elemental staves, vermillion cloak, etc. not Astral Ring).

- If you are currently in immediate risk of being level capped at 50, 55, 60, etc. because you have not cleared the appropriate limit break quests, make sure to note it in your comment. For instance, if you're @3000 to 51, but have not cleared Limit Break 1 to rise above 50, you should put "G1: X" in your comment to tell people you have not cleared Genkai 1 for access to level 51-55. (Genkai = Japanese term for limit breaks). If you HAVE cleared the appropriate quest, then use "Gx: O" to indicate you're done with the limit break in question (i.e. "G3: O").

- If you're in a level range that demands special zone access either due to quests or access to expansion content, make sure you note what zones and teleportation crags you can access at your current level. Noteworthy areas that apply are Kazham in the 23-30 range, the Altepa gate crystal in the 32-38 range, and probably a handful of other zones that I've forgotten about. Rule of thumb for this is to do a "/sea all ##-##" for people in your immediate level range. If you don't recognize one of the zones they're in, check on http://www.ffxi-atlas.com and see if you need anything special to go there.

- Noteworthy spells that you have access to. Erase at level 32 WHM is a selling point. Teleport-Altep in the 44+ range is also useful at times. Raise II at 56, Raise III at 70 round out the WHM-specific list of useful magics you should definitely remind potential invitees about.


Icemage

[Illuen]

WHM is the class that suffers the most from PLs. The most recent update also quietly "fixed" the best way to skill up healing, so healing skill up is now only possible in PT or versus hostiles. The old method was to find non-aggressive IT++ mobs and heal them. This has been blocked without any notice from SE. PL'ing on a WHM will basically have the effect of eating into your Healing Skillups (and Enhancing too if the PL is throwing buffs on which they usually do). As a WHM, the worst way to level is PL'ed. When you receive and invite, make sure you let the leader know all the info you've put in your search comment b/c sometimes they won't be looking at it. When an existing PT is seeking a WHM, a lot of times, the leader will invite you in order to lock out other invites and then ask... This is very rude, but it happens a lot. I usually accept blind invites and then, once I've had a chance to look at the PT, just give them a blind disband. There's no reason they should deserve an explanation from me when I was rudely "drafted" into join their party.

WTF? When/How did they change it? I loved being able to completely cap Healing Magic with an hour or two to spare and a colibri to follow x.x

[Sabaron]

The very last update (December). I was skilling heal day before update... Came back... LS mate trying to do same thing, (he does this frequently as most WHM did) didn't work...

[Aksannyi]

Oh man, that sucks about the healing magic thing. So I can't even spam the hell out of it on the Airship anymore? Is it the same for enhancing magic, as well? I used to spend my entire Airship rides casting all of my buffs until I ran out of MP (which, as RDM, is almost impossible to do!).

Why the hell would they change that? What was it hurting for us to skill up outside of a party?

[Sabaron]

No, no... It still works if you cast on yourself... It's just not nearly as fast as casting on non-hostile IT mobs. The method was to skill up Healing Magic by casting on IT++ mobs because you skill up at the same rate as you would if you were say... nuking it except that you can't possibly fail and nothing bad can happen to you, so the skillup rate was quite good.