Final Fantasy XIV: Journey to Eorzea

First of all, it was with the heavy heart that I stopped Aion after 3 years of intensive play. But after losing the interest of a game that does not allow to be taken on an instance without having the stuff of the instance I preferred to move on to something else. Then the nerve of the game put me ... on the nerves (ok I go out). It's never easy to start an MMORPG again without knowing what it is waiting for us on the end because often we can end up disappointed.

So being a fan of the Final Fantasy universe I decided to test Final fantasy XIV and the Heavensward extension. This trip to Eorzea is truly magnificent and I spent very good moments in front of this MMO (and I will continue). You want to know what is waiting for you in this game before you launch? Read the box below 😀

Where to start ? Let's go on the universe of the game which will be in my opinion the main asset of the game.

Univers final fantasy :

I do not want to spoiler as usual so it will be short. Final fantasy XIV happens in the region of Éorzéa which is itself divided into several political states with sometimes ambiguous agreements and relations:

Limsa Lominsa, the port city. Mistress of the maritime trade, it is directed by Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn (yes I know "to my wishes"). Many thieves are present and can act more or less freely ....
Gridania, the city-spirit. They are confined in a dense forest and their inhabitants believe in the spirits of nature (like Pocahontas). It is directed by Kan-e-senna.
Ul'dah, the fortress is located in the desert. An enormous economic power but a prey to the refugees who are increasingly numerous at the gates of the city. It is run by the mini sausage Lalafell Nanamo UI Namo assisted by General Raubahn Aldynn
Ishgard, the city of mountains. To the nearest dragons, a large part of the main story of the game (epic) will happen in this area. It allied itself with the three great cities but closed on itself after the end of the war against the Gardemaldais.
The Empire Gardemaldais. Owning a very advanced technology, these are the enemies of the Eorzean people.

Classes and job :

What is the difference between class and job?
A class in final fantasy is a bit of learning the future job. Indeed, the finality is to reach the job. In general, you set up a class lv15 and the other lv30 the complementarity of the two classes make you get a job. I advise you nevertheless to look at all the jobs before to not leave blindly. Also the fact of mounting different classes or job will allow to benefit from the system of skills (competences) crossed. In addition to that and as in all mmorpg, fina fantasy XIV offers a selection of craft and harvest class.

What questions should I ask myself before choosing my job?
As with any MMORPG, you must ask yourself: dragoon

Do I want to play a DPS, a Heal, a Tank, a support?
Do I prefer a class with fabrics, leather (grrr), or flat?
Am I looking for a class to be useful in a pre-established group or do I prefer to take a less sought-after class but which exploits me more.
In the end it is often said "play the class you prefer" but some also like to play classes sought because the user experience is often much better.

The disciples of war :

Gladiator: This is the class that will allow to be main tank! Unlike other MMORPGs, FF XIV is not sweet with tanks and you will have some aggro worries at first. But inevitably the game is worth the candle

Marauder: Fighter with the ax, it is destined to become warrior one of the two Offtank of FF XIV.

Master of hast: this is the future class of the dragon knight. Many people mount him first but do not really expect to play a so-called "fragile" class.

Archer: The archery classes have their mouths, this one will make you a future bard.

Pugilist: the pugilist reaches the monk's class, it is a melee class that uses these fists like One Punch Man but less well.

Surinur: last class established in the game, you can embody a Ninja thanks to her.

Disciple of magic

Elementalist: If the pure heal interests you this class is made for you, you will access the class of white mage.320px-MageNoir01

Occultist: black magic is your dada? The occultist will be to you as a second nature. It is indeed this one that will make it possible to reach the job of Black Mage.

Arcanist: This is the base class of the Summoner and the Scholar. You can raise the level of both jobs at the same time. She is helped by her pet to care for. And uses protective rather than restorative magic (this is what sets it apart from the white mage).

Disciple of the hand
These are the craft classes. Practical to collect gils in the game and I must admit that the system of craft is rather well done because you will still have to stay in front of your screen if you want to evolve. FF XIV does not revolutionize crafting but the beginnings are fun. I may be a guide to choosing his first class but not to play it in detail because each class deserves his guide and I am not competent enough to give this kind of information at the moment. (And the class guides are getting overwhelmed so pay attention to what you read)

List of craft classes:

Carpenter
Black-smith
Gunsmith
Goldsmith
Tanner
dressmaker
Alchemist
Cook
Disciple of the Earth
List of harvest classes:

Minor
Botanist
Sinner
The jobs
Paladin: the main class for Tank, it cashes damage and returns ... not too much. But is this really the purpose of a tank to hit hard? (no)
Warrior: My main class in the game, she taps hard, at much more life point than the paladinde (note my rage as to this class). But apparently it is not made for Main Tank bla bla bla. But we must not listen to clichés
Knight Black: One of the last job set in the game, his paper mache defense makes him a good off-Tank (ok I stop trolling after that), his advantage on the warrior? He has an extra magic resistance buff.
Monk: When the monk types, one can almost hear the mob say "Yamete senpai". It is one of the biggest DPS in the game, but it's a complicated class to master due to its posture shifts, buffs to keep and positional attacks.
Knight Dragon: In my Free Company we have named this class the "carpette spec". If the Dragon Knight is a RP job, you will die and it will pleiiiin of times. In truth it is a class that have found it in the epic of Heavensward, which makes that many novice players choose it without really knowing the stake of the class. Note that the aesthetics of the armor attract many players. Except you of course who on reading it says: "bof I do not find" but we know that you are ... "Exceptional"
Bard: The bard is a support class. She is supposed to buff and "tap", but not enough ... There too you will have to know her class well not to feel useless in a group (and the game is populated by useless believe me)
White Mage: This job is a pure heal, ie he can heal after suffering damage and it is more comfortable to go in raid with at least one white mage for the survival of the group.
Scholar: the scholar is a heal who must anticipate the damage, he can shield before the attacks and has a "middle" heal even if it does not mean much. To compensate for his lack of heal, the job is granted a pet that helps him to cure
Astromancer: the last job of heal, it is located between the two classes and also it possesses a spell that randomly assigns to him useful cards in combat. But it's still random ...
Black Mage: The Black Mage is one of the dps that makes the big figure. Obviously it will be necessary to know its cycle dps to make big score. And if the green plant spec at the bottom of the garden interests you this ultra dynamic class is made for you (thin I still troll)
Summoner: This class is monstrous. She also possesses a familiar, and dowries, many dowries. There will be a skill that allows to spread its Dots on the mobs around the targeted one.
Ninja: the ninja is the class that will make you pass for Naruto. Not true it is a good DPS and it will also have to learn to play its class because it has some subtleties not visible by novices ...
Machinist: It is a support class which, thanks to its turrets, can make PT or PM. It's piou piou piou and it's fun to run and type. That sums up the class!

How well XP on Final Fantasy XIV?

Just like Aion (even if I abandoned this game I have left in the corner of my head), the maximum level is 60. The sources of xp? They are HUGE. A bit surly sometimes but the farm is a bit the base of the MMORPG.

Epic

The epic is the main story of the game, you will have to have a level required to move on to the next quest. You should know that the epic is very advantageous in terms of experience point but that we should not go too fast. Indeed, at the beginning of the epic Heavensward (after the lv50) if you go too fast you will find yourself blocked by a level too low. So do not hesitate to exploit the other systems.

Secondary quests :

You will be able to play ALL classes with the same character. So pay attention to how you spend your XP. Indeed, you will not be able to repeat the secondary quests by changing class.

The hazards (fate)

The vagaries are mini events that will happen on each zone of Éorzéas. Some are used for XP, others for quests (like the crystal tower for example or the weapon ultima), some hazards trigger even other Hazards.

Also note that we can face the terrible Béhémot and Odin with his Zantetsuken pest. Small trick: making team vagaries report more experience than alone, so do not hesitate to ask around you. You do like the kikoos you shout "INV FATE PLZ"

Terms of Reference :

There are several types of warrants that will make you xp very quickly:

The mercenary mandates: These are the mandates for the disciples of magic and war, you will have missions to be executed in a given time with a level of difficulty.

List of mandates by level and map

Harvest / Craft Mandates: These are the mandates for craft classes. You will be able to collect or craft objects that you will be asked, note that this is the fastest way to mount your craft classes.

Tip: This is the fastest way to get to level 15 and unlock the first dungeon of the game.

Refueling missions

It is also a solution to mount your classes of harvest and craft little by little. To access the refueling missions you can use the key combination ctrl + U and so you will see what you need to craft / harvest. The missions are to be returned to an NPC of your Great Company.

The dungeons :

Do you like raging in dungeons? Pick-up (or PQs as my Free Company capiChef) are your Dada?

So this game is for you. Attention nerve crisis to the appointment! The dungeon system is simple, you sign up via the mission tool in a dungeon and the game system does the rest.

You will wait between 0.001 sec for a tank class and 30-40 min for a DPS depending on the dungeon course.

Challenges :

This is also a big part of the game. Indeed, Final Fantasy XIV offers to make bosses with different levels of difficulty. The loots consist of weapons and frames. The difficulty will be there

Ravana, one of my favorite primordials

Tribal quests :

These quests can be accepted from the beastmen scattered over Eorzea, thanks to which you can have unique objects and frames by unlocking reputation points.

The Sylphes du Refuge :

Amalj'aa of the League of Ashes
The Kobolds of the Career of the 789th Order
The Souvages of the Couvée of Novv
The Ixali of the Ehcatl Test Center
The Vanu Vanu of Nakki Island
The Gnaths of Lot Ast Vath
The Mogs of Bahrr Lehs
Tip: In order to make your alchemist craft easier, you can do the tribal quests of

Hunting contracts :

This is a fairly interesting part of the game. The goal is to fetch mobs that appear randomly in different corners of Eorzea. You will gain rewards and skins for your armor.

The casters :

As with all MMORPGs, you will have a routine to follow (or not) in order to progress faster in the game. The roulettes (or duty) as they are called are available every day and brings back an xp bonus, and memoquartz Which are used to purchase equipment).

Expert roulette: to retrieve traditional mémoquartz
Dungeon 60: to retrieve traditional memoquartz
Dungeon 50: To help up easily to the 50 lv
Challenges: it is roulette dedicated to primordials, in groups of 8 you will have to kill a boss you will first encounter in your epic
Level gain: useful for mounting your classes, it offers a very interesting experience bonus
Epic: replay one of the two important missions in the epic
Guild Operation: Short missions in groups of 4
Front: PVP group event where the 3 major companies compete

Entertainment :

Entertainment is the basis of the MMORPG, if Square Enix offers plenty of game content (story, xp, quest appendix) it will not stop there in terms of entertainment.

The Gold Saucer

The Gold Saucer is the Las Vegas of the game, several activities are proposed:

The chocobo races

The Challenges Triple Triad (FF XVIII)
Shock mascots: in the game you can win mascots and suddenly make them fight for the occasion
The cacpot: a kind of tongue
The megacacpot: a lotterie per week that allows you to win big
JACTA: Creative Random Games Type Fun that pop at certain times
Full of mini-games
The store offers many interesting rewards like the Fenrir mount.

Events :

I must admit that this is not my favorite part of the game. Square-enix offers content to win that I will call "ugly". To illustrate my point, here is the bard of chocobo that there was to win at Easter.

I pass you the superb egg helmet that there was to win. Otherwise the events are quite rare and only on the right occasions.

The PVP

Ah ah ah ah, I hesitated to talk about it but it must be admitted that SE are making the effort and I hope it will improve.

The mission tool provides several modes of PVP but the classes do not sound well thought out and balanced for. For example, you have magic points and technical points.

The sprint skill uses all your technical points, these points are also used for CAC skills. Conclusion, you will not be able to catch up with a magic dps under sprint that hammers you from a distance. o /

Otherwise the modes of play are still funny but it is clearly not the axis of the game that is rather oriented PVE.

Get married!
In a previous post, I was talking about the eternal bond ceremony. It's a time to be there or at least to attend!

The free companies :

You can call it a "guild", it's an important aspect of the game and I'll give you some recommendations. Then yes we can do everything "alone" in the game and thanks to the party finder. But honestly finding people with whom we play daily allows us to:

Retrieve information about classes to play and especially how to better play his class and advise new ones afterwards
Learn to play with the same people to optimize their dungeons
Biting delusions at 3 o'clock in the morning
Keep the craze at play that sometimes become repetitive
Also I advise you to find a Free Company in your language and to choose one with vocal at disposal. Otherwise the progression will be a more complicated point

OSTs

Whether ARR tonight or Heavensward, the game is rich in OSTs. The musical atmosphere is always there in the dungeon, on the maps of Éorzéa ... Below the two main themes respectively answers for A Realm Reborn and dragonsong for Heavensward.

To conclude :

To finish, this game is paying and not it will not pass in F2P and it is much better. It is a very good experience and this MMO corresponds perfectly to what I'm looking for in a game. I find a community much nicer than other games like Aion.

It is also a very beautiful game graphically and the story remains nevertheless well tied and also makes the game interesting. I just regret that some quests are too repetitive and annoying but it's redundant to all MMORPGs.

The fact that the servers are not only dedicated to a language makes trolls and flamingos a bit more rare (but there are exceptions).

At the end of this article I would probably bring to make articles oriented towards this MMORPG especially on the choice of his class hoping that my fellow passers-by transmits their knowledge

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I hope you like this post! You can follow me @anis33 so you don't miss my future posts