Leveling areas question...

[bungiefan]

Re: Leveling areas question...

I've still to join an abyssea party for exp but a few things I was wondering.
What do you do if you have 0 atmas?
Are you meant to pay to be in and aby party? I've seen a ton of shouts mentioning a fee or people shouting for invites with < Reward > Where the heck am I meant to pull such a ton of gil from and how are newbies meant to have that much?

Cruor (currecy from Abyssea) converts to gil at about 2 gil per cruor. After a few parties in Abyssea, you'll have a ton of cruor, which gets you a ton of gil, which is why leech prices in Abyssea are so high. Gil is near worthless to high level players, so you need a lot of it. Items from yellow abyssea chests are also worth a lot of gil. The things they do want to buy with gil, relics, and high level consumables like ammo, are expensive still.

For Atmas, just pay attention to shouts for NMs that have the atma you need, and let a group know. If you're new to Abyssea, it's understood that you won't have many. Just don't expect to start getting them at level 30. You aren't supposed to go there for your first job until about level 70. Once you've got cruor and atma and abyssite built up, you can leech other jobs from the progress of the first job. Find a LS that does Abyssea and have them help you get important abyssite and atma.

Newbies don't need a lot of gil for initial leveling. Level sync means you don't have to get new gear every few levels. Increased EXP for all enemies, as well as the Field Manual buffs, means you don't have to fight as high level monsters, so you don't need as heavy of armor to survive. You can get by just fine with NPC-sold armor and weapons, using the AH occasionally, especially now that they are all linked. Mage jobs are about the only consumer of a lot of gil, and only for certain spells, when leveling from scratch. Once you max out and start doing Abyssea, you'll have so much money you won't know what to do with it unless you are funding a relic.

Before my account was deactivated from the new payment system, I joined an LS that works on a gil DKP system. You don't have an intangible amount of points stored up, you pay gil to the LS leader for lotting on items, and the gil is then split between everyone that attends the event. When we merc ourselves out, we charge gil, and then it is split into the LS members acting as mercs. Everyone gets rich if they attend events regularly, and everyone gets a chance to bid on items.

Yea well I have started out as a job in Abyssea a few times and then they needed some one on keys so since i have over 1mil curer I was chosen. I went from a lvl 33 job to a lvl 90 + 20 merits in about 8 hours in abbysea. But doing it this does not let you learn how to do your job. Infact as a player you are behind and not well versed in your job so you don't know how to do it. I am learning how to do ninja because of this gimped. It works great for abyssea parties for exp only but if I want to do something in abyssea I will not be ninja since I don't know how to play the job. That is a big problem with the advent of abyssea. it will probably take me a month or two for me to learn the job well enough to play it proficiantly in a normal party setting.

Skilling up is fairly easy in your downtime. Go to Castle Zvahl Baileys (S) and fight Zvahl Fortalices with weak weapons. They have 5k HP and don't fight back, and cap out at level 82 skill caps, with a 30-60 minute respawn, and about 8 spawns, 2 near the front that are aggro-free except for magic. 2-3 nights AFK, checking up on respawns and changing weapons was all it took to cap out all 3 weapons for my SAM. I'll learn the job more by using it to solo the missions I need that my BLM is too squishy for. I don't need a full 8 years to learn a job, though that's what it took to reach 75 on my BLM under the old system. I'd rather have all the abilities at the max level I"m going to be using the job, and tinker with them to learn how they work than go through a grind of years learning them.

The people that care how to learn a job will still do it, they just aren't forced to take a long time doing it. The people that never cared and only wanted the job at max level are still not going to care and aren't going to learn the job.

Curious as to why SE would do this. Just because the game is in its last stretch I suppose?

FFXI had gotten pretty stagnant for the hardcore players who had nearly everything they wanted to do. The census showed a lot of players stuck on missions that needed a lot of people to complete, and had little repetition incentive. The changes made since Abyssea release have made it easier for the casuals and people with few play hours at a time (such as me) to actually make progress, and work in smaller groups. Now everyone can participate in endgame, and a lot more people have completed missions. I've actually started working on other jobs since it's so fast to level them, which means I can do more missions because I can fill more roles. My main concern with the game is to do all the storyline, and that is achievable now, when my time zone, work hours, and frequency of play kept me from that before.

[Squiggs]

Re: Leveling areas question...

What would a game be like if it was just boss battle after boss battle?

Shadow of the Colossus?

[Jessamy]

Re: Leveling areas question...

Actually, I feel that it has. You still have to skillup, but now the tedium of just getting that next level so you can skill up or get new gear, etc, has been seriously limited.

I hate tedium at work, much less in a game I play for fun.

I understand the logic behind levels. What would a game be like if it was just boss battle after boss battle? I think it's a problem with MMOs that because they want to keep you subscribed they institute a grind and call it content. Sure you feel satisfaction when you finally achieve the level or whatever, but it only took a long time because the game developers made it that way to keep the $$ rolling in.

I'm not sure what an alternative is, but I wish a developer would figure one out so I could say, "Yeah, that's what I want to spend my time doing." Right now I'm enjoying the pace of leveling in FFXI. It still takes some time and I'm still learning how to play, but I don't feel like any of it is punishing me for playing the game.

[Murphie]

Re: Leveling areas question...

Actually, I feel that it has. You still have to skillup, but now the tedium of just getting that next level so you can skill up or get new gear, etc, has been seriously limited.

[Mhurron]

Re: Leveling areas question...

Because leveling was ever content that was worth spending a lot of time doing.

Yes, basically removing leveling has been such a boon to the game.

[Murphie]

Re: Leveling areas question...

Because leveling was ever content that was worth spending a lot of time doing.

[Squiggs]

Re: Leveling areas question...

Compared to WHM/RDM, RDM/WHM is pretty scarce nowadays.

Was there ever any incentive to check out the less-explored areas? Before Abyssea, wasn't it: solo to Qufim; then sync to Qufim until you can do E.Ron (S); then sync to E.Ron (S); until you can do Woodlands or Thickets; then skill-up in the Tree or do pages in Terrigan? At least now you are in the less-explored places. I only had one or two parties in Garliage and the Nest while levelling, but now they are the go-to places for upper-30s to upper-50s. I never went to Gusgen unless I was farming a skull for someone, now that's the place for low level exp. And I had never been to the lower level of Bost{tab} before. Seems to me that the "less-explored" areas are now the areas that used to be the most-explored.

I explored plenty while I was levelling up, but rarely did I do it for XP. I usually just wanted to see the place, I didn't want to party there.

[Belus]

Re: Leveling areas question...

I guess, but... I dunno. Doesn't seem to give any more incentive to check out the less-explored places. If everyone's just doing what they can to get to Abyssea, what's the point anymore?

Also, is it me, or is every other character a RDM/WHM? I see way too many of them. All level 90, of course.

[Squiggs]

Re: Leveling areas question...

I don't know the exact reason, but it makes it more accessible to the casual player. So, I'm thrilled with it.

[Belus]

Re: Leveling areas question...

Curious as to why SE would do this. Just because the game is in its last stretch I suppose?

[Elwynn]

Re: Leveling areas question...

Abbyssea Grounds of Valor happened.

Level 1-10 in a couple or hours solo
Level 10-30 in a couple of hours in Gusgen mines.
Level 30-57 in about 6 hours in Crawler's Nest or Garlaige Citadel, and to 60-65 after a couple hours more, but probably a bit slower than other things. (and unlike Abyssea, you can log out in zone for things like food and sleep, while keeping your XP/Prowess bonuses)
57-75 ???
65-75 Campaign Battle (you get no skill-ups, but now you can hit Kuftal and Teriggan crabs)
75-cap Abyssea worms, etc. alliance (70 or even less for healers, just need Cure IV and Raise)
... PROFIT!

I haven't needed to figure out the 60-75 range yet (still six jobs to get there), but Bostoneaux Oubilette GoV sounds like it may do what is needed.

Also, if it's your first time, you have to stop every five levels starting at 50 for limit break quests.

And this is with essentially no leeching. Going in a little under-leveled for GoV means that you will become a sync soon enough (always important with all the over-leveled players trying to get to 75 in the Nest), so it's not really leeching. Leeching is when you're so far underleveled that you can't hit anything, or you can't heal for a decent amount, or you just go AFK except to use a book every 5 minutes or so.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Leveling areas question...

I've still to join an abyssea party for exp but a few things I was wondering.
What do you do if you have 0 atmas?
Are you meant to pay to be in and aby party? I've seen a ton of shouts mentioning a fee or people shouting for invites with < Reward > Where the heck am I meant to pull such a ton of gil from and how are newbies meant to have that much?

If you don't have any atmas you're either gonna bank on the cruor buffs being enough or you'll just be an active leech, like the majority of the people in the party will be anyway. Seriously, there's usually all of about 4 people that carry the entire alliance and everyone else is just there for the ride in some form or other. I wouldn't stress over it too much. Jump in, get your feet wet and watch for shouts in Port Jeuno to go atma hunting.

As for the gil, that's more for when people want to just park their character and afk while they level. That's how I finished /WHM. I leveled it to 37 back at the 75 cap and hated it. So this week I finally decided I should probably get it up to speed on the off-chance that I ever need it, but I couldn't be arsed to actually play White Mage so I paid a few hundred thousand to afk in somoene's party. It was that or leave it buried forever at 37.

[Squiggs]

Re: Leveling areas question...

it will probably take me a month or two for me to learn the job well enough to play it proficiantly in a normal party setting

You've got one week to learn, then I need you to tank something for me...

[pxch]

Re: Leveling areas question...

I soloed SAM to 30 in about 12 hours. Starter zone till about level 10, Crag zone entrance till about 15, then near the crag till 16 I think. Then Buburimu outpost till about 20, then outside Mhaura till 25, then Battalia Downs till 30. After that it was another 6 hours to 71 in Abyssea.

You can do parties for Grounds of Valor EXP bonuses, but I was doing short stretches of play late at night, so I just soloed them.

Yea well I have started out as a job in Abyssea a few times and then they needed some one on keys so since i have over 1mil curer I was chosen. I went from a lvl 33 job to a lvl 90 + 20 merits in about 8 hours in abbysea. But doing it this does not let you learn how to do your job. Infact as a player you are behind and not well versed in your job so you don't know how to do it. I am learning how to do ninja because of this gimped. It works great for abyssea parties for exp only but if I want to do something in abyssea I will not be ninja since I don't know how to play the job. That is a big problem with the advent of abyssea. it will probably take me a month or two for me to learn the job well enough to play it proficiantly in a normal party setting.

[Takelli]

Re: Leveling areas question...

I never had atmas when I was in an aby party. I never farmed them or anything, because I just didn't have the time to spend on them. As for paying... Maybe that's for people to leech? I never had any issue getting an Abby party on my sam.