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Final Fantasy XIV is an epic, massively multiplayer online role-playing game, where the characters are cute and the story never ends.
Final Fantasy XIV is part of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series, it is currently the only game in the franchise that is played exclusively online, and it is a subscription-based game. You can enjoy the game on a computer or a Playstation 4. If you are interested to dip your toes into the wondrous world of cute characters with bunny ears, the game offers free trial with limitations. You can create up to eight characters, one for each race in the realm. When you first sign up, the game gives you the option of: Hyur, Elezen, Lalafell, Miqo'te, Roegadyn, Au Ra, Viera, and Hrothgar. Although the races look very different, the character stats are similar. Choosing whichever clan, gender, appearance, patron deity does not affect your abilities. You can customize your character to your liking before going onto the more important choice: your character class.
Because it is a massive world with plenty of information to learn, FFXIV eases you into the game slowly. The trial game teachers you the game mechanics via quests and non-playable- characters (NPC), you can also access the guide through a button in game, just make sure that you are in a safe spot like a sanctuary. When you first play the game, it is daunting to see many cute or daunting looking characters around. First, you will have a little green sprout above your character. That green sprout shows that you have less than 168 hours of gameplay, and most people will leave you alone while you accumulate experience. However, the sprout does not limit your ability to play the game. Sprout status allows other players to know that you are learning the cultures in the game, and will hopefully be more patient as you try out your role in the game.
FFXIV differs from traditional computer games because it needs to be connected to the Internet for you to play it, but the patches and updates are done automatically through a server. If you have a friends in a World, you can join your friends and play together. Final Fantasy series started since 1987, so the game makers have plenty of experience in creating a world that is immersive, easy to understand, and a story that never ends. If you have played previous games in the series, you will be familiar with the cute character designs, original story line, and the beloved Chocobo and Moogle.
While the controls look daunting, it shows that the game designers know what works. The game is easier to play on a keyboard, where you can access inventory, journals and logs with a press of a key. The camera viewpoint moves with a mouse, you can change camera angles via settings to your liking. You can have an adrenaline rush seeing through your character's eyes, or have a bird's eye view of the layout when you are out adventuring. There are also text commands to make your character perform some actions such as bow or dance. But if you are a gamepad person, the option is available.
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Choosing Your Discipline and Roles After you have your character, the next step is to choose a starting class. There are a few options, but they come under Disciples of War and Disciples of Magic. Final Fantasy XIV does not restrict you when it comes to classes and roles, you can freely switch roles when you become comfortable with the game. At the start, pick the class that you are comfortable with.
Disciple of War Roles You can choose to be a Gladiator, Marauder, Pugilist, Lancer or an Archer. Gladiators will become Paladins at level 30, while Marauder will turn into Warriros. These two tank based characters have their own skillset once you level up. Pugilist turns into a monk who likes to fight and move a lot. Lancers and Archers can hit enemies from far without them hitting you. Lancer turns into a Dragoon , while Archers become Bards who love using sneaking up on enemies and using poison.
Disciple of Magic Roles A Conjurer specializes in earth, wind and healing magic. Conjurer becomes a White Mage who can heal and erect magical barriers. Thaumaturge is a are magical attackers who uses Fire, Blizzard and Thunder to destroy enemies. Once you reach level 30, you become a Black Mage. Black Mages can deal damage from afar, and is a popular class to have in boss fights and dungeon quests.
If you like watching enemies die slowly, the Arcanist is your role to be. As an Arcanist, your spells deal damage over time and you can summon a carbuncle to do the attacking instead. Once you reach level 30, you can choose to be a Summoner who attackers, or a Scholar who heals.
Disciple of Hand and Disciple of Land The Disciples of Hand and Disciples of Land are not part of the selection stage because they are non-combat classes. If you have the intention of trying to buy, seek to join the crafting and gathering guilds at the area that you are in. There are eight Crafting Guilds and three Gathering Guilds,
Character Class: Your Role in FFXIV FFXIV does not limit your roles in the game, even during the trial. While there are some limits to the free trial, such as a level cap of 60 and not being able to participate in certain event, the game allows you to try all the job classes. To be able to change roles or classes, first you have to join the guild.
Depending on your starting role, you start the game at different cities. Each cities will have different guilds, but as you play the game, more areas will open up. You could join all the guilds in the city as you complete the main quest, because you will have a different level for each role. Hence, you have to level up each job roles to obtain a skill you want, since the experience points do not transfer.
Quests in FFXIV Currently there are four expansions after the base game A Realm Reborn, so you will always have something to do in Eorza. As this version of Final Fantasy XIV is Patch 2, you start after the disasterous first patch, which ended with Bahamut destroying the land. In this new era (Seventh Umbral Era), the story starts differently depending on the role that you initially picked. The main quest will converge at It's Probably Pirates, after which all classes will have the same story line.
The main quest icon is an exclamation mark in a sun shape, and it will usually trigger cutscenes with conversations. Completing a main quest will unlock features such as airship travel and a personal chocobo mount. When you play the main quest, you will learn a lot about the history of Eorza and the role you must play in the game.
While you are going through the main quests, you may be distracted by many of the side quests that pops up along the way. The Class quests and job quests that are given by your class guild master and other leaders, and you earn new tools and skills when you complete them. Some quests are level dependant to encourage you to level up quickly. Feature quests are quests that unlock certain features that makes you life easier in the game, however they are not part of the main quest. You can access certain areas in Eorza only by accepting Feature Quest.
To gain more gil and experience points, the never ending side quests offer a distraction from the main quest, and is helpful if you are looking to gather materials along the way. Some side quests are repeateable, you can tell by the repeating circle icon. Side quest icon is just a gold bubble with an exclamation mark.
Travel On land, you get to ride on the Chocobo, which is a bird that is native to the Final Fantasy Universe. To ride a Chocobo, talk to a Chocobo porter to be on your way. Once you have attuned yourself with the Aetheryte Crystals, you can teleport quickly to another attuned crystal, with a fee. Once you unlock the airship travel, you can then fly between cities. If you have been doing side quests, you may have gil to spend for teleportation, which is the quickest way.
Weapons and Armor When you pledge to join a guild, you will be given a weapon or a tool for the non-combat classes, with the exception of the Adventurers' Guild. You can spend gil to buy weapons, or craft your own once you have the skill set and materials. There are many weapons and armor, and swapping each weapon will change the class of your character. However, if you have not joined a guild, you may not be able to equip a certain weapon. Weapons and armor maybe class specific and have corresponding levels, if you level is too low, you cannot equip it. Hence, do not be shocked to see your armor becomes unequipped when you switch classes. Always be mindful to check your armor between weapon swaps, especially when you are out questing.
Monsters When you first leave the city, the monters are low level to help you familiarise with attack controls. As you move forward in the map, you will notice that the same monsters may have higher levels. Some quests requires you to slay monsters and collect drops, but you do not have to aim for the higher level ones to get the job done. The monsters will have a sign to show how passive or aggressive they are, the blue ones will not attack unless provoked, while the red ones will attack when they see you.
Even when you are out gathering items, if you accidentally hit a monster while hitting the tree, they might attack you in retaliation. You will have to switch to weapons if you want to save your skin. If you die outside of the santuary, you will revive in the city or your set home point. If you die in a dungeon, you will end up outside it.
Full Game Once you reach level 60, you will not be able to level up the class any more. If you are doing the main quest, it stops after Heavensward quest. After you subscribe to the game, you will be able to access more features the game has to offer, such as player housing, item trading and marketboard for rare items. You will be lost in the beautiful world of Eorza, following your character's footsteps in discovering the lore of Eorza. Please do share your game experience in the comment area below, so that more people will like this game!
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