New or Returning Players Discussion 2: SoA Homeless Veterans Edition

[Yugl]

Not a double.

[Xerlic]

I'm not sure if these questions belong here or in in the RQT since I'm not starting from scratch, so apologies in advance if this is the wrong place. My Salvage/Abyssea group reactivated pretty much to try neo Salvage.

I stopped playing right before the Tsunami last year so I've done Abyssea, but nothing after that. Most of my questions are going to be BLM and RDM centric which are currently at level 90.

1. Is RDM useful again? I remember never using it once Abyssea came out since a WHM with atmas was much more useful. A lot of posts I've been reading seem to mention SCH a lot so is that the go to mage job now? For that matter, is BLM useful?

2. Are Magian staffs still the best in slot for nuking? I have a bunch of +2 staffs and it seems really easy to fully upgrade them since I just need to buy a bunch of geodes, but not gonna bother if something better exists.

3. Voidwatch and neo nyzul seems to be the new endgame, but is Abyssea +2 gear still considered "good"? I looked at the relic +2 and some of it seems situationally good.

Sorry if it seems like I'm not doing my homework, but I'm honestly not sure how to compare gear anymore. A lot has changed in the past almost 2 years. Thanks in advance.

[Mercilessturtle]

1. RDM is still useless.
2. Magian sticks are still the best.
3. Some emp+2 gear is still good, there's a couple voidwatch pieces that are good, a few relic+2, and most of NNI gear is good.

[Indalecia]

New Neosalvage Morrigan body/feet at the very least are new best in slot, I believe

[Xerlic]

Thanks to the 2 above posters. I'm being told from all angles that I need to level SCH.

[Draggy]

Sigh.... /reactivates account. We made it 11 months FFXI-free this time.

[mallister]

yup. it is a black day for the republic in this household.

[Eldelphia]

Is RDM useful again?

I have WHM, BLM, RDM, SCH, SMN, COR and BRD as well as THF. I don't use my RDM at the moment. I probably would in Salvage but I dbox a RDM mule so I can play my THF. RDM isn't used for Voidwatch or Legion which are the two big events.

A lot of posts I've been reading seem to mention SCH a lot so is that the go to mage job now?

Right now SCH is one of the most popular mage jobs because of Embrava (spell available under Tabula Rasa). However SE have said they're going to nerf this and in fact we were expecting the nerf in the last version update but they pulled it from everywhere bar Salvage II. It's a very useful job but I wouldn't level it JUST to be popular. It's used a lot in Neo-Nyzul Isle right now and for things like Provenance Watcher.

One thing it is very strong for is (with a decent dark magic set) quick stuns using alacrity and SCH gets used for this in Legion.

For that matter, is BLM useful?

Assuming you're done with Abyssea, BLM is still useful in Voidwatch but as far as I can tell not Legion. Unlikely to use it in Meeble Burrows, won't use it in Neo Nyzul Isle.

You will always get mileage out of WHM right now.

Are Magian staffs still the best in slot for nuking?

Yes. Upgrade any you have. If you get Meteor you'll want a Dorje or something similar. Not sure how much point there is in Meteor though to be honest. If you need a solid staff for enfeebling/nuking for elements you don't have magian for, then get a Chatoyant Staff.

is Abyssea +2 gear still considered "good"?

Abyssea +2 still figures highly but depending on your job you'll get a lot of mileage out of the Neo Nyzul gear. Check out Thaumus, Nares and Phorcy's sets. Best nuking hat in game is Nares but the feet have just been usurped by Morri +1. So if like me you love Salvage you're pretty happy right now. Basically NNI is the upgrade to Empy really. Relic +2 is as you noticed situational.

[Moosey]

Finally got everything and issues worked out(resolution was stuck in standard format regardless of actual resolution, and the game stuttering every second or so) and after about 3 years (with a few days in-between) im back...again lol.

On Phoenix, need a home. Any returning player-friendly LS's out there?

[Uzor]

With the new expansion lurking around the corner, I decided to return.

The problem is, though, I can't get Wings of the Goddess to install. I downloaded the entire game (as I don't have the original CD's anymore) and installed the entire game in the NA version. I downloaded Wings of the Goddess in the NA version, too, but it says I can't install it because FFXI is not installed.

So I tried the regedit trick to change it in to the EU version, see if it was actually the EU version that was downloaded. No go.

Any idea how to fix it?

[Judeas]

I haven't played in years.
But I had a 75 WHM and...50 something BRD.

The problem is im not sure it is gonna be possible to reactivate my account.
I can't remember nearly any of the details. And I'm pretty sure I lied about alot of them.
I was 14 at the time and had imported my copy from NA.(Im australian). So I had
to make up some of the details when I made the account. Cause I could only choose
american states. I tried to go through the Chat support but I don't think Barbara was very
impressed with me. Even though I tried to remember as much as possible.
I can't find my game box or manual either so I dont have the game codes. -_-

Anyway would it be worth it starting from scratch or just a waste of time?
Thanks.

[Uzor]

Hehe, barbara is the one I had too when I reactivated it yesterday.

I was in the same position, I had all of the information except for phone number and email, so I couldn't reactivate it. So I called it again, got her again and explained my situation. So she asked for the original registation codes, and that was enough for her to reset the password and reactivate my account.

[Judeas]

I can't find any of that stuff though. I have boxes full of old game boxes and all sorts of other crap.
But FFXI is the one game I cant find. -_-
The frustrating thing is that I'm pretty sure she found my account. Listed under my mothers name.
But I couldn't give her enough information to get her help.
I must of made up my year of birth. And chosen a random state.
The stupid decisions I made as a kid!
She said the date and month I had for my birthday was right but the year wasn't.
My mailing addresses were wrong. Though I remembered my old PO Box that was 10 years and 5-6 houses ago.
Unless I find the registration codes I don't think Ill be able to get my account back.

If I was going to start a new character anyway I suppose it doesnt hugely matter. But it'd be kind of nice to get my old account back.
In Australia am I suppose to get a NA or EU account?

[Nishida]

I left because I got annoyed with the process to get empy weapons when everyone pretty much ingrains in your head that you have to have them. Camping a bunch of lottery NMs that can takes hours per spawn (meanwhile basically doing jack shit in game) and then farming 50 items per NM for 2-3 NMs..it was just a tedious slog of unfun. I'm wondering, with SoA coming, if there will be a possibility of getting weapons from the expansion that will function well enough and not make me required to own an empy.

For that matter, are there any NOW that I can do all endgame with if I don't have them? I feel like empys should not be a REQUIREMENT. I don't see how at 75 cap there was items like Hagun that basically were awesome and didn't force you to get a relic for example. My jobs are MNK BLU NIN. I have good gear for them, but just dont have the empys. Any word of advice or thoughts on this? Is there ever a way to play this game and not totally suck without having an empy? I want to come back for SoA, but if I am forced to farm an empy before being able to enjoy anything I probably won't ever come back.

[Cairthenn]

You can get by with certain AH weapons thanks to the introduction of merit weaponskills. OAT and STR Magian Weapons also tend to be decent. Many Empyreans have been outclassed by Relics, which can be obtained fairly easily through casual farming of Dynamis. To be honest, Empyreans are really easy to come by with the cap at 99, it's kind of silly to be completely against working toward one.

[Kincard]

I honestly think it took as much time (if not more) to make the gil (or farm ENM etc) for something like Hagun back in the TOAU days VS getting an Empyrean now, assuming you wern't in an LS that constantly sold abj/HNM Drops for millions at a time.

[Nishida]

To be honest, Empyreans are really easy to come by with the cap at 99, it's kind of silly to be completely against working toward one.

When I was camping the NMs for my NIN katana, it was taking hours for each pop, and so to pass the time I was playing another game. Only then did I realize I was thoroughly wasting my time on FFXI because in the time it took to camp one NM I was able to do so much more in the other game. I'm familiar with the grind that is FFXI for things, but I guess what I'm trying to say is..in 2012/13, that grind is a bit too outdated and not worth it anymore. The new FFXI system with leveling, etc. even goes against this old grind style and makes leveling and progression a lot faster, but to institute the empyrean weapons as an almost required item is pretty dumb.

As for farming for a Hagun..when I played 75 cap it was during ToAU/WotG releases..and Hagun was only 2-3 mil, so I never dealt with the old pricing on it. My MNK has a pair of Brawny Adargas which cost at least 1m on the AH and they pale in comparison to Vere, for example. Empy's should be the same calibur as a relic in that the elite strive for and obtain, but they aren't required to do well in endgame. Anyways, it sounds like what I feared is true..tis a shame to miss out on the new expansion for such a silly reason.

[Buffy]

When I was camping the NMs for my NIN katana, it was taking hours for each pop, and so to pass the time I was playing another game. Only then did I realize I was thoroughly wasting my time on FFXI because in the time it took to camp one NM I was able to do so much more in the other game. I'm familiar with the grind that is FFXI for things, but I guess what I'm trying to say is..in 2012/13, that grind is a bit too outdated and not worth it anymore. The new FFXI system with leveling, etc. even goes against this old grind style and makes leveling and progression a lot faster, but to institute the empyrean weapons as an almost required item is pretty dumb.

As for farming for a Hagun..when I played 75 cap it was during ToAU/WotG releases..and Hagun was only 2-3 mil, so I never dealt with the old pricing on it. My MNK has a pair of Brawny Adargas which cost at least 1m on the AH and they pale in comparison to Vere, for example. Empy's should be the same calibur as a relic in that the elite strive for and obtain, but they aren't required to do well in endgame. Anyways, it sounds like what I feared is true..tis a shame to miss out on the new expansion for such a silly reason.

Could always play a mage? And empy BRD in high demand, no NM camps for that trial. And relic weapons are an easy farm, two hours a day for a couple months.

[Zag]

Could always play a mage? And empy BRD in high demand, no NM camps for that trial. And relic weapons are an easy farm, two hours a day for a couple months.

Kinda annoys me in a way that you have posted this a few posts up and noone has mentioned yet, that the respawn on these monsters has been changed to 10-15 mins from the previous (1-3 hours?).

Empyreans are way too easy to get and you try to get one if you can.

However, The TP bonus Great Katana is good if you are SAM, The magian staves are good for mages if you have those jobs and I think thats all you can fly with honestly.
I'm just a blunt guy. Noone is gonna take a half ass weapon into a Neo-Nyzul or a legion event where timing is everything.

To the above poster that said relics out class empyreans.... There is way more 99 relics then 90+ empyreans so comparing a weapon that is 9 levels higher then the empyrean counterpart is ridiculous.
(I'm Well aware that Ragnarok just destroys everything though.)

Expansions always dramatically change the game, so we don't know which job will get the bad end of it (mnk zilart, drk abyssea, rdm VW era, etc.) and which job will become king (mnk salvage, mnk abyssea, war legion and einherjar, sam lolcolibre camp) etc. by next expansion.

[Judeas]

Also if I buy this off Steam do you have to log in through steam or like open the game through steam like I have to do with some other games?
Or is it totally seperate after you buy it?