Category Archives: Informative

เด็กใหม่เล่นไฟนอล 14 ควรทำอะไรบ้าง

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เมื่อก่อนเคยเขียนไว้เป็นลิสต์ภาษาอังกฤษ Newbies “should do” list ซึ่งเขียนแล้วใส่คำอธิบายละเอียดเพลินไปหน่อย มันเลยยาวววววววว ใครสนใจก็ลองอ่านได้ค่ะ แต่ถ้าอยากได้ check list ว่าเลเวลไหนได้สกิลอะไร ได้ฟังก์ชั่นอะไรจากในเกมบ้าง ลองไปดูของเว็บ wiki เหล่านี้ได้:
https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Content_Unlock อันนี้ทำเป็นตารางให้ดูง่าย

https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Guide:Progression_and_Level_Locked_Content ส่วนอันนี้มีรูปปุ่มสกิล/ปุ่มเมนูแบบในเกมแปะให้อ้างอิงกับในเกมง่ายขึ้น

แต่ถ้าจะให้สรุปเป็นภาษาไทยง่าย ๆ (อันนี้เขียนใหม่เท่าที่จำได้ ไม่ได้แปลตรง ๆ จากอันเก่านะ) …. สิ่งที่ควรทำเมื่อเข้าเกมคือ

  • รับทุกเควสต์ที่เลเวลเรารับได้ เดินผ่านที่ไหนรับที่นั่น เควสต์ช่วงเริ่มในเมืองมักจะเรียงมาเป็นลูกโซ่ตามเส้นทางการเดิน ต่อ ๆ กันไป จบเควสต์นึงต่ออีกเควสต์ บลา ๆ ๆ
  • เควสต์เลเวลต้น ๆ ในเมือง มันจะพาเราเดินวนไปรอบเมืองเพื่อทำความรู้จักกับสถานที่และ NPC ต่าง ๆ ให้เรารู้จักเมือง รู้จักเขตต่าง ๆ ว่ามีร้านรวงมีระบบอะไรให้ใช้งานบ้าง อย่าเพิ่งเบื่อนะจ๊ะ
  • ระหว่างเดินทำเควสต์ เจอ Aethernet (เสาเทเลพอร์ตอันเล็ก) ที่ไหน ให้เข้าไปแตะ เพื่อเปิดจุดวาร์ป ที่จะช่วยย่นระยะเวลาเดินทางได้เยอะ ไม่ต้องเดินเอง ใช้เสาวาร์ปเอา
  • ถ้าทำเควสต์ไปตามลำดับ (เรียงตามเวลาการเจอเควสต์และเรียงตามเลเวล) เหล่าชาวเมืองมันจะพาเราไปจนทั่วเมืองในที่สุด ครบทุกเขต เราก็จะเปิดเสาเทเลพอร์ตครบทุกอัน และระบบจะทำการเปิดล็อกจุดวาร์ปไปหน้าประตูเมืองให้ เราจะสามารถแตะเสาเทเลพอร์ตอันใหญ่ (Aetheryte) หรือเสาเล็ก (Aethernet) แล้วเลือกประตูที่อยากออกไปแมปหน้าเมืองได้เลย ประหยัดเวลาเมื่อมีเควสต์ต้องออกไปฆ่ามอนสเตอร์
  • สามารถรับเควสต์ทีเดียว 3-4 เควสต์ แล้วออกไปทำพร้อมกันได้ เพราะบางเควสต์ที่ให้เราวิ่งหรือให้ออกนอกเมือง มันจะมีปลายทางคล้ายคลึงกัน หรือฆ่ามอนสเตอร์ที่อยู่ใกล้ ๆ กัน
  • เควสต์เนื่้อเรื่องมักจะนำไปสู่การปลดล็อกระบบหรือความสามารถใหม่ ๆ ได้ (เช่น levequest เลเวล 10)
  • เควสต์เลเวลต่ำมีรางวัลเป็นเสื้อผ้าเลเวล 5 เลเวล 8 อะไรงี้ ก็ทำแล้วเก็บเสื้อผ้าฟรีไป จะได้ไม่ต้องควักเงินซื้อเอง
  • เมื่อออกจากเมืองแล้วเจอ NPC มีเครื่องหมายเควสต์ ก็กด ๆ คุยไปเถอะ
  • เมื่อออกจากเมืองแล้ว เดินไปเห็น Aetheryte ที่ไหน ให้เดินเข้าไปแตะ เพื่อที่คราวหน้าจะได้เทเลพอร์ตมาได้ ไม่ต้องวิ่งเอง
  • ให้ทำความคุ้นเคยกับปุ่ม Return และปุ่ม Teleport และปุ่ม Sprint (ไว้ใช้วิ่งไวขึ้นได้แป๊บนึง) สามารถลากปุ่มพวกนั้นมาใส่ใน Hotbar (แถบสกิล) ได้
  • เมื่อเลเวล 10 แล้ว จะมีระบบใหม่ ๆ ให้ใช้มากมาย ให้มองหาเครื่องหมายเควสต์ที่ดูแปลก ๆ เช่นมีรูปร่างเรียวยาว (เช่น Chocobokeep ตามแคมป์ – ควรคุย เพราะการคุยเพื่อปลดล็อกจุดหมาย จะทำให้เราสามารถจ้าง Chocobo จากในเมืองไปส่งตามแคมป์ต่าง ๆ ได้ หรือจากแคมป์ไปสู่แคมป์ก็ได้ หรือจากแคมป์กลับเมืองก็ได้) หรือมีสีน้ำเงิน (เป็นเควสต์ปลดล็อกบางอย่าง เช่น ปลดล็อกดันเจี้ยน หรือเป็นเควสต์อาชีพ)
  • ควรทำเควสต์อาชีพทุก 5 เลเวล เพื่อปลดล็อกสิ่งใหม่ ๆ หรือเพื่อรับรางวัลเป็นเครื่องนุ่งห่มจาก NPC
  • เวลาไปเจออะไรใหม่ ๆ ในเกม จะมีหน้าต่าง HELP เด้งขึ้นควรอ่านอย่างน้อยก็คร่าว ๆ หลังจากนั้นถ้าอยากอ่านซ้ำให้เข้าเมนู Syetem => Active Help แล้วลองค้นหมวดหมู่หรือ search คำดู
  • เวลาจะไม่อยู่ (เช่น เดินไปกินข้าว หรือจะล็อกเอ้าท์ออกจากเกม) ควรจอดตัวไว้ในเขต Sanctuary (เวลาเพิ่งเดินเข้าเขต Sanctuary มันจะมีบอกที่กลางหน้าจอแวบนึงแล้วหายไป และข้างแถบ EXP จะมีสัญลักษณ์รูปพระจันทร์เสี้ยวขึ้นมาเมื่อเราอยู่ในเขต Sanctuary) เพื่อเป็นการ “ชาร์จ” แถบโบนัส สำหรับเอา EXP +50% ในการเล่นเก็บเลเวลจ๊อบใด ๆ ก็ตามในวันพรุ่งนี้หรือในครั้งต่อไปที่เข้าเกม

ข้อควรจำ

  • ของขายในตลาดบนกระดานขายของ เป็นของที่ผู้เล่นเป็นคนเอาไปขาย เพราะงั้นเขาจะต้องการกำไร ราคาจึงมักจะแพงกว่า NPC
  • เวลาจะซื้อของ ให้ลองหาจากร้าน NPC ก่อน ร้าน NPC ในโซนตลาดของเมืองบ้านเกิด (และเมืองอื่น ๆ) มักจะมีของเลเวลต่ำครบทุกอย่าง ทั้งวัสดุคราฟท์ เสื้อผ้าและอาวุธของสายต่อสู้ เสื้อผ้าและอุปกรณ์ของสายคราฟท์และสายขุด สร้อยแหวนเครื่องประดับ อาหารเลเวลต่ำ ถ้ามันแพงก็ให้เทียบราคากับบนกระดาน (ส่วนมาก NPC จะขายถูกกว่ากระดาน)
  • ควรลองกดปุ่ม K (เข้าเมนู Character Config) และ CTRL+K (เข้าเมนู System Config) แล้วลองอ่าน/เขี่ยนู่นเขี่ยนี่ดู เผื่อมี setting อะไรที่จะทำให้ชีวิตเราสะดวกขึ้น

Tiny Tatsunoko

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Well, I wasn’t going to write about this, because everyone knows how to catch it already. But today I happened to have caught a Tiny Tatsunoko minion while using Normal Gig Head. Therefore, I decided I should write about it so people may find this piece of information useful.

*Flash News* While writing this entry, I have also confirmed that Small Gig Head can catch a Tiny Tatsunoko, too! :D I’ve been catching Horned Turbans at Swimming Shadows trying to confirm this. And yes, my theory turned out to be true!

What you need:

  • Unlock Spearfishing (FSH 61) through a quest.
  • Be on or have finished main scenario quest “Under the Sea” (lv 62) to access the quest NPC.
  • Be a fisher of at least level 66 and complete the level 66 class quest for a skill called “Truth of Oceans”.

What to do (short version):

  • Go to The Ruby Sea (X:38 , Y:6), near top right of the map.
  • Spearfish at Lv. 70 Teeming Waters (Kobayashi Maru).
  • Use Small Gig Head and try to catch Bashful Batfish.
  • Catch a lot of Bashful Batfish until the system mentions “Swimming Shadows” 4 times.
  • Activate your “Truth of Oceans” if you haven’t activated it yet.
  • Follow the detection and find Lv. 70 Swimming Shadows.
  • Change to either Normal Gig Head or Large Gig Head.
  • Spear.
  • Pray to Llymlaen for your luck to find a Tiny Tatsunoko.

By the way, I don’t think weather condition affects the catch. I’ve caught it in both Clear Skies and in Cloudy weathers.

Long explanation of how this thing works:

Usually it takes 2 – 4 catches of Bashful Batfish to make a message occur. The quantity and quality are irrelevant. What matters is how many times you’ve caught Bashful Batfish in your spearfish attempts. Er, I have just discovered that it is actually the quantity of Bashful Batfish, because I happened to find a +2 yields node and I got 4 messages in a row and managed to spawn the Shadows within one node. But since Sea Lamp is in the way, sometimes it is hard to get a Bashful Batfish to trigger the spawn. (I don’t mind them that much, though, because Sea Lamps are used in fishing Levequests, so they sell quite well, especially HQ.

  • When I catch a Sea Lamp in first try, I spend 200 GP on Veteran Trade to make it so I’ll only catch a Bashful Batfish until that node ends.
  • I especially like to use Veteran Trade while engaging a node that grants +2 attempts (or +2 yields, due to the discovery in the pic above).
  • The messages that notify you about Swimming Shadows are as follows:
    • With the bashful batfish caught, you sense further movement in the shadows.
    • With the bashful batfish caught, the swimming shadows intensify.
    • With the bashful batfish caught, the swimming shadows begin to take shape!
    • The shadow of an elusive sea creature lurks somewhere nearby!

I should take about 12, or 15 at most, catches of Bashful Batfish to trigger the spawn of a Lv.70 Swimming Shadows at Kobayashi Maru.

  • Optional things to do when you find a node of Swimming Shadows:
    • Eat a Gatherer’s food, like a Nomad Meat Pie (sold by NPC at Reunion, Azim Steppe) because the fish WILL escape A LOT. You want to decrease the escape chance as much as possible.
    • Before engaging the node, wait for your GP to regenerate to full.
    • Shoo the fish you don’t want, using Veteran Trade. Only once.
    • Use Calm Waters to increase available attempts. I usually use this twice.
    • When bubbles appear, wait for 1 or 2 ticks of GP generation before spearing, in order to allow enough time for GP to refresh, hoping for the 2nd Calm Waters.
  • The Swimming Shadow reacts like BTN and MIN Unspoiled Node. You can only engage it once. If you disengage before it is depleted, it will still disappear.

Funny thing about all of the Swimming Shadows is that the node will always be “Undiscovered fishing hole” and, unfortunately and irritably, they have no Fishing Log of their own.

Fish list at Lv.70 Swimming Shadows:

Small Gig Head
– Bashful Batfish (use Veteran Trade to shoo this!!!)
– Horned Turban (CUL ingredient)
– Tiny Tatsunoko

Normal Gig Head
– Spiny Lobster (crafting ingredient for cooking)
– Swordtip (crafting ingredient for cooking)
– Tiny Tatsunoko

Large Gig Head
– Thousandfang (Collectable fish for Yellow Gatherer’s Scrips at level 70, also great for level 280+ CUL Desynthesis skill up.)
– Mitsuriku Shark (Red Gatherer’s Scrips, if I remember correctly *but it doesn’t always appear on Rowena’s House of Splendor wanted list, you need some luck to get it on the list.*)
– Tiny Tatsunoko

So, you see, there are 3 types of things you can catch at this Lv 70 Swimming Shadows with each type of Gig Head. That’s why it’s difficult to reliably land a Tiny Tatsunoko. Because even if you shoo one type of unwanted fish away, the other one will still be in your way. XD But at least Veteran Trade can get rid of one of them.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Happy hunting!

P.S. Here’s my personal record of which gig head can spear which fish, it’s incomplete but it might become useful to some people. https://goo.gl/n9xbTq

 

Hotbars and Actions

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*This guide is OBSOLETE as of Stormblood release, in June 2017, because there is no more “Cross Class Action” and they implemented a new system called Roles. So you select the skills/spells from role list in a similar way with this.*

Sorry, had to split this entry into a new one because it’s long and has so many screenshots.

Now let’s talk about Hotbars and Actions (Abilities/Skills/Spells).

You can put many things in your Hotbar for fast access or execution. Now, let’s see what you can do about your hotbar and skills and spells.

(See my messy Hotbars HAHAHAHA)

First, open your Actions & Traits menu by using shortcut button, P. Or open it manually from main menu => Character => Actions & Traits.

In the left pane, select “Actions” for active skills. It will list your currect class/job skills, arranged chronologically by level.

Usually, when you newly level up and learn/acquire a new spell or skill, the spell/skill will automatically appear on the next available slot on Hotbar 1. But if your Hotbar 1 is full, it may or may not show up on Hotbar 2. If it does not appear, you have to manually put it on the hot bar in order to able to use the spell/skill.

Also, if you don’t like where the skill was automatically assigned, you can “Unlock” your hotbar arrangement and rearrange the spells/skills as you like by dragging and dropping it. To unlock your Hotbar buttons, click on the lock (padlock) icon on the right of your Hotbar 1.

Next, let’s explore your additional abilities. These are sometimes called “Cross-class skills” and it can only be acquired by leveling up other class/job. Once you learn the skill or spell from other class, when you come back to play your main class, you can “steal” or “borrow” some spells/skills from other class.

Select “Additional” category on the left pane of your Actions & Traits menu. You will have to drag and drop the ability from this window onto your Hotbar.

For example, I have Swiftcast ability and have it selected in my Additional ability menu, but didn’t have it on my Hotbar. So I click on it and hold the mouse button…..and then drag it to the desired spot on my Hotbar.

To remove the spell/skill from your hotbar, to make an empty slot again, you can either drag the skill and throw it away outside of the hotbar area (make sure the Hotbar is unlocked) or you can right click on the spell/skill and choose “remove” on the menu that appears.

Oh, but if your “Additional” ability menu is empty, you have to select the class you want to borrow it from. Here, in the pic below, you can see that at level 20, we’re allowed to choose 4 cross-class abilities. To choose a skill/spell, you have to select the check box to make it appear below.

When you select other class in the menu on the left, it will show available abilities from the other class. Here, in the example, I select ACN (Arcanist) abilities and enabled Eye for an Eye skill.

I can now drag “Eye for am Eye” from Additional abilities window onto my Hotbar.

Oh, and after this, if I want to change to enable other spells/skills instead, I can uncheck the box of “Eye for an Eye” to make the slot empty again. The skill on my Hotbar will become dim (grey out) and can no longer be used, until I reselect it again.

One interesting thing about Cross-class skills is that when you’re under the effect of Level Sync (like, going into a dungeon that’s lower level than you, or participate in a FATE at lower level than you) the Additional Abilities available slots will be limited (capped down).

See that I had unlocked 4 slots for Additional Abilities, up to level 40. But now I am level 20, so the system only allowed me to use 2 cross-class skills, showing 4/2 beside the Level Sync status symbol. The ones in the slots of higher level are disabled (greyed out, or dimmed).

When inside the dungeon, if you have no enmity (no aggro, meaning not fighting or did not do anything to help the party member who’s fighting) you can rearrange (change order) of Additional Abilities to make you able to access the skills/spells that you need more than the others.

Please note, though, that swapping Cross-class skills inside a dungeon has the same effect as changing class/job outside of Sanctuary area, most of your abilities will become “used” and need to wait for the recast cooldown timer.

Here, for example, if you enter the dungeon with abilities arranged in this order, you cannot cast Protect for your party. You can rearrange the order by drag and drop, to exchange spots of the abilities.

EXTRA: if you’re a healer and you want to help the party DPS (shooting offensive spells at enemies) and you want to stay on Cleric Stance, you can use the Cross-Class skill swapping trick to enable Cleric Stance, use it, and stay in Cleric Stance, then swap other spells or skill to be enabled instead. Or if you know the party will finish the dungeon within 30 minutes (before Protect wears off), you can also use Protect on the party, and then swap Additional skills, putting Protect spell away and selecting other spells instead, too.

Hotbar : Customizing your Hotbars

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As you can see, on your game screen, there are rows of skill bars with 10 buttons each, this is called Hotbar.

By default, when you newly start the game, it will show only 2 bars, but you can config your settings to make it show more. You can rearrange the buttons order, you can move your bars to specific part or corner of your screen. You can also set or assign (keybind) shortcut button for each of the hotbar button as well. (Like, ALT+1 or CTRL+5, or even SHIFT+CTRL+0 – but we will explain Keybind settings in depth later.)

To access your Horbar configuration, first hit K button to open your System menu and select Character Configuration.

Then among the red and gold buttons on the left pane, select “Hotbar Settings” category. You can see in the pic below that there are checkboxes. When you check it, the interface of you gameplay screen will show the hotbar you select.  The unchecked ones will be hidden, invisible.

On the right, you can also select the form of the specific hotbar. They can be vertical or horizontal, and can appear as 1 row, 2 rows, or 4 rows.

Look at my Hotbar 10, for example. Now it’s invisible because the box is not checked.

When you check or light up the checkbox of Hotbar 10, it will appear somewhere on your screen. You can drag it to reposition to anywhere you like.

See how when you change choice of form, it became 3×4 row instead of 1 long row.

Next, let’s explore one function of the Horbar Settings: Enable hotbar cycling button. This setting applies to your default Hotbar 1. When it is enabled (it’s enabled by default), you will see the arrow button above and below number 1 of Hotbar 1, on your screen. When you click the arrow, it will show other bar instead of Horbar 1.

This is good for when you want to quickly access other Hotbar that you didn’t set to show. For faster selection, you can also use Shift+1 or Shift+5, for example, to immediately jump to the hotbar number that you desire.

When you uncheck the box for “Enable hotbar cycling button” it will no longer let you use the arrow to change hotbar display. But you can still use the Shift+NUMBER command to jump between horbars.

NEXT: Hotbars and Actions (Abilities/Skills/Spells)
NEXT: Hotbars and putting things on your Hotbars.

HUD Layout

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Alright, now let’s talk about HUD Layout. HUD means Head-Up Display, and it refers to all the menu and user interface you see on your screen.

Extra note: When you want to take a screenshot without seeing the interface, you can hit the button: Scroll Lock (ScrLk) on your keyboard once, and all HUD will be hidden. If you hit the same button again, they will come back. If you use Notebook computer and don’t have Scroll Lock button, you have to manually set a Keybind (assign shortcut keys to commands) in the Keybind menu.

To access HUD Layout menu, you must look at your main menu (the row of small buttons that are red and gold) and use the “System” button.

The “System” button will bring up a small list. There, you can see some menu have its own Shortcut Key already assigned. They will show the name of button as a reminder for you when you want to use shortcut key.  Now, select HUD Layout.

This will bring up a transparent overlay, telling you where things are. Usually, the default HUD setting is cumbersome…. Now you can rearrange everything to your liking. You can either use the mouse to grab and drag any window in HUD Layout setting, and move it to anywhere you want. But if some HUD frames are too close to each other or overlap, and you cannot grab the one you want, you can use this pulldown menu to make the wanted HUD frame become selected, then you can drag it to the spot you like.

There are 4 slots to save HUD Layouts, this is useful if you have different HUD Layouts specially designed for different situations or different dungeons. If you want to copy a HUD Layout from a slot you saved, to a new slot, you have to use the gear (cog) button here.

And select the original slot, and select the destination to copy. Now, from example screenshot below, your slot 4 will have same setting as slot 1.

If you select other unsaved slot, it will show default HUD Layout, like this.

Now, don’t forget to hit “Save” button before you exit the menu.

Some elements of the HUD can be dragged and dropped on play screen without having to go into HUD Layout menu. Hotbars, for example, can be grabbed with your mouse cursor (if you didn’t disable drag and drop for Hotbars.) You have to aim for the Hotbar’s number in front of the row, right click with your mouse, hold and move, then release the mouse button where you want it to stay.

Same for the Chat box. If you grab and hold the first tab, you can move the whole chat window and reposition it.

If you grab on other tab of chat, however, when you drag it, it will pop out and separate from the main chatlog window. You can float it anywhere, so now you can read 2 chat tabs at the same time. If you want to put it back together, you have to click on the X button to close the float window.

I think that’s it for HUD Layout guide.

Chat Log Settings

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OK Today we’ll talk about Chat Log Settings.

When you’re in a battle, or on a busy place with a lot of crowds, most of the time your chatlog (message display window) will run so fast and you can easily miss a message from your FC or friends because it get pushed off the top of your tony chat screen before you could read it or notice it.

Here’s one method to reduce or avoid that.

First, look at your chat message box, there should be a + button which allos you to add a new “tab” in your chatlog window. Everyone starts with 3 tabs already created for you, and you can add the 4th one. You can also rename any of the old tabs and reconfig them any way you like.

Chatlog_00

For me, I named my 4th tab “CHAT” but since it might get confusing while I’m explaining things here, I changed the name to “Conversation.”

Chatlog_01

How to config a chat tab? You have to look at the bottom of the chatlog window again, and find the button with gear (cog) symbol. When you click it, it will bring up the Chat Log Settings window.

 

 

Chatlog_02b

This window can be found, in other method, by opening your “Character Configuration” menu (keyboard shortcut : K button) and select “Log Window Setting” on the bottom of the left pane. Then you will see “General” menu by default.

For configuring the Log Filters for each tab, you have to look and click the tab you want to set. This time, let’s set the newest tab first, my Conversation tab.

Chatlog_03

I suggest to set Conversation tab to show all chat message, and hide all battle/system messages. You can look at “Chat” category in the Log Filter menu and check/uncheck things on the list. I highly recommend showing (check) Say, Tell, Party, Free Company, and Linkshell.  If you think you need to hear the Yell and the Shout, for hunting or for eavesdropping the public, you can also check the Yell and Shout filter to have them shown.

For 24-man content, like raid dungeons, it is recommended to set Alliance messages to show as well, because sometimes people discus battle strategies in Alliance channel.

For me, my 3rd tab is “Event” and I set it like the pic below. This will allow me to click on that tab to read what I might have missed while talking to an NPC spamming OK OK OK without reading carefully.  XD
Chatlog_04

Then, for those who have multiple linkshells, or dislike the default chat font colours, you can access “Log Text Colors” menu and reassign other colour to each of your chat message category.

For me, I set each linkshell a different colour, to decrease the chance of getting confused about who said what from which linkshell, and less likely to reply in the wrong one.
Chatlog_05

In Log Details menu, you can also optionally add Time Stamp to each of your chat tabs. You can also change font size.

Chatlog_06

Last but not least, you can set Sound Notification for each channel of the chat.

You can select the sound individually, and then test it to see whether you like it or not, before hitting OK or Apply button to save your settings

Chatlog_07

I set notification sounds to all these because I want to hear the beep when anyone talks in my FC, LS, PT, and in private message. If your LS talks all the time, however, I would recommend turning the sound off, because it can get annoying.

And then, when you’re on your main screen, if you want to read the Conversation tab, you have to click on the tab button under your chat window, it will show only the messages that you set in the Log Filters. This way, it is easier to catch up with your FC conversations or to reread it after the time has passed.

Chatlog_08

FFXIV : Chat input modes

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Today I’m going to talk about in-game chat system.

First of all, there are many “channels” of chat.

Chat_Channel1

 

♥ Types of chat ♥

Tell : Private message, you talk to other person one-on-one. Default color is pink.

Say : Public message, only people near you will see it. Default color is white.

Party : Party chat, only party members will see it. Default color is cyan blue.

Alliance : Alliance chat, to communicate with members of the 3 parties that were formed into an alliance. Default color is deep orange.

Yell : Public message, will be seen by people in slightly larger area than “say.” Default color is yellow.

Shout : Public message, everyone currently in the same area map as you will see it. Default color is pale orange.

Free Company : FC chat, only members of the same Free Company will see it. Default color is pale blue.

Linkshell : LS chat, only people in the same linkshell will see. One person can be in 8 linkshells at the same time. Each linkshell will have its own separated chat and you have to send message separately if you’re talking in 2 or more LS at the same time. Default color is bright green.

Novice Network : Special chat for Novices (newbies/beginners). Sometimes you might get invited into the Novice Network. In that chat, people can ask questions and the Mentors (more experienced players) can answer or explain things. Default color is pale green.

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♥ Changing chat input mode ♥

When you log in, the chat mode will always set default input on SAY. If you want to change the default input, there are 2 ways to do it.

Chat_Channel2

 

  • Click on the bubble button on the left of your chat input box, and then select the mode you want.
  • Type the chat mode command, and then hit enter. This will save your selected input mode.
    • Tell : /t Name Surname – For /tell mode, you need to specify recipient name.
    • Say : /s
    • Party : /p
    • Alliance : /a
    • Yell : /y
    • Shout : Shout cannot be set as default mode, you have to manually change it to shout every time you want to shout.
    • Free Company : /fc
    • Linkshell : /l
    • Linkshells : /l1 (for LS #1) /l2  (for LS #2)  /l3 (for LS #3, and so on)
    • Novice Network : /n

 

If you only want to temporarily change the chat input mode for just 1 message, you can easily do it any time before sending the message: before typing, in the middle of typing, after finishing typing the sentence. Just use ALT (Alternate) and a shortcut key that you set for each channel (mode). If you didn’t set it, the default key will be:

  • Tell : ALT + T
  • Say : ALT + S
  • Party : ALT + P
  • Alliance : ALT + A
  • Yell : ALT + Y
  • Shout : ALT + H
  • Free Company : ALT + F
  • Linkshell : ALT + L
  • Linkshells : Hitting ALT + L again and again will cycle through all of your LS.
  • Novice Network : ALT + N
  • *Special* ALT + R : Reply to the most recent person who sent you a /tell. If you hit the buttons ALT + R again and again, it will rotate between more persons who had sent you a /tell previously.

 

To type in the chat input box, you can either use your mouse to click inside the box, or hit Enter key once to make your input cursor appear in the chat input box. When you use the ALT shortcut key from the list above, it will also automatically target and activate the chat input box, so you can start typing your message without having to manually click on the box.

Newbies “should do” list

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Ah… there are many new players in my Tonberry FC now so I’m making a list of what to learn about as a newbie. Please note that these are just my suggestion, it is not mandatory. But many things in this list will make your life easier or at least more convenient.

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Update notes:
25 Jan 2017 – adding:
Hunting Log (lv 5),
Guildhest (lv 10),
Dye Quest (lv 15) and Ferry from Limsa,
Guildhest Roulette (lv 17),
Challenge Log (lv 17),
Gold Saucer, and <pos>
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*Note* Before you buy anything from the Markey Board, remember that people selling stuff on the marketboard usually aim for profits, so things are usually more expensive. If you want to buy extra equipment (besides the free equipment you will get from doing quests) you should browse shops and stalls in the market area where real NPCs are selling many kinds of stuff.

Level 1 – Do all the level 1-3 quests in your starting town. You can quickly open your Journal which is where you can view all your quests by pressing keyboard’s default shortcut key: J.

You should also go visit your “Mog Mail” at a Delivery Moogle (there’s a mailman moogle in towns and at most of the camps outsidde.)

*Remember* When you go away from keyboard (idle) or want to log out from the game, try to log out in the town or at Aetheryte if you’re outdoor, because these areas have Sanctuary effect which will grant EXP bonus after you stand in it for a very long time.

*Important* Try to touch (attune) to every Aethernet (mini aetheryte in the town) that you see. It will help you get to places in the town faster by using it to warp around.

Level 3 – By the time you finish all of these small quests from townsfolk, you will have have been introduced to all of the key locations in the town, and have visited all aethernets in your town. After attuning to all Aethernets in one town, you will see a pop up text saying you have unlocked other 2 or 3 Aethernet destinations as well. Earning these new destinations will let you exit the town to any of the desired gate, making you travel much faster using Aethernets.

Level 5 – By this time you should have already been familiar with your class (job) guild and you should take guild test quest every 5 levels, so that you can get free gear. These free level 5 gear from guild quests and sidequests will be important to you soon, because at level 5, there is a Main Scenario Quest (I usually call these MQ – Main Quest) or Story Quest that requires you to wear level 5 gear as a part of equipment inspection.  (Character and Equipment menu – Default Shortcut key: C)

Also, by finishing guild test quest of your class at level 5, the system will introduce you to a Hunting Log. (Default Shortcut key: H) This is a very good source of EXP. Open your Hunting Log and check to see what type of enemies you have to kill. When you complete the kill order, you will be rewarded with EXP. If you finish all the orders from level 1 to 10, and you level up to level 11, the Hunting Log will unlock next tier of list for you.

Level 6 – If you explore the map outside of the town far enough, you will reach an outdoor Aetheryte, we usually call it a Camp. These field Aetherytes serve as Teleport Destinations, just like the one in town.

When you’re exploring, if you need to meet up with a friend but they can’t find you, you can type <pos> in the chat to make it show coordinate of your current location. You can read other entry for more details here http://www.aleczan.com/FFXIVARR/2013/handy-coordinates-marker/

To open in-game map, you can either click inside the compass (mini map) on your screen, or use the default shortcut button: M)

Level 7 – Continue to explore for more sidequests and MQs suitable for your level. For leveling up, you might also want to try participating in F.A.T.E. outside of the town. FATEs happen on the map where there is a blue circle. The active help system in the game will pop up a window to explain about it when you join a FATE for the first time.

Level 10 – If you have been following the MQ and keep it up to your level, you will now be introduced to Levequest (I call it LQ) counter in the town, and will be allowed to access an Inn Room. But level 10 has many new things to learn, so I’ll list what you should get acquainted with:

  • Levequest – Very good for EXP.
  • Guildhest – Will explain below.
  • Inn Room
  • Chocobo Keepers – inside the town and at Aetheryte outdoor
  • Rental Chocobo
  • Chocobo Porter – very good for commuting, it is usually much cheaper than Teleporting
  • Ability to switch class – You need to finish your guild test quest for level 10 in order to acquire this ability. The Guildmaster will tell you about it when you finish the quest. Then, you can visit other guilds and try other classes, including Crafting and Gathering classes.
  • Gearset List – This will be unlocked after you unlock the first 2nd class.
  • Cross-Class skills – in your Action & Traits menu (short cut button is P) you can see “Additional” tab which allows you to choose skills/spells from other classes you have leveled up. Make sure to check it every 5 or 10 levels to see if you get new available slot for cross-class skills.

Eventually, the Levemete at level 10 camp will ask you to visit a Battle Warden who will introduce you to Guildhest. It is very short duty where you can practice battle as a party. Some of the Guildhest duties also have specific objective, so please read the objective window that pops up at start, or pay very close attention to what the NPC says on your screen during battle. When you complete both the level 10 Guildhests, it will unlock level 15 ones, and when you finish those, you can go to level 20 ones and so on (when your current class meets the level requirement). You also get a “first time” EXP bonus when you win against that Guildhest on a specific class/job you’ve never used in that Guildhest duty before. So make sure to come back to doing low level Guildhests on your new class later, if you level up more than 1 class.

*Gear Check* Undergearing is bad. You have gimp stats and gimp damage. It will hurt the performance and hinder your party badly. Make sure to upgrade your gear, at least the main hand (weapon) and the big pieces on the left side of the equipment window (Head, Body, Legs, etc.) every 5 levels. For example, when you’re level 16, if you’re wearing gear from level 10, you will find it a little difficult to kill enemies. If you’re using level 10 gear, you should upgrade to a level 15 set when you’re level 15.

On the other hand, if you get green equipment or pink equipment from dungeons, those are a little superior to normal gear of the same level. So they give you stats that are about as good as normal gear that is 3 level higher. (I approximate things by my feeling, not by actual math or statistics). So these pink gear will stay decent for about 8 levels. If the gear is level 15, you should replace it with better gear when or before you hit level 23.

If your normal gear is a High-Quality version, however, it will last about 5 levels longer than NQ (normal-quality) version of itself. So you can probably wear these HQ gear for about 10 levels. For example, your level 15 HQ gear might be fine when you’re level 24, but when you’re level 25 you should replace it and get a gear from level 25 set instead.

At low levels, right side (rings, earring, etc.) stuff and belt are difficult to find due to level restriction and level gap, so it is alright if you can’t fill your right side equipment. “The Hall of Novice” trainings will give you a VERY GOOD free ring, though. So, I highly recommend finishing the trainings.

Level 15 – Make sure to visit an NPC named “The Smith” who is located next to inn room NPC. You can get FREE EQUIPMENT for level 15 for your type of class (Physical DPS or Mage or Tank) from finishing all the Training sessions with him in “The Hall of Novice.”  These level 15 equipment will be good until about level 22.

Also, when you start the “Envoy” quest, you will be able to ride the Airship to any of the 2 other starting towns. Remember to touch the Aetheryte of the new town you visit. Now is a good time to explore and test the “Save as favored destination” function in your Aetheryte menu.

From here, you will be introduced to your first Dungeon (after “Call of the Sea” main story quest) and you will have to enter and finish 3 dungeons before you unlock new facility.

*Tips* Duty Finder default shortcut key is U button on the keyboard.

*Before going into the dungeon* make sure you finish your class’ guild test quest for a level 15 reward, which teaches you an important class ability/skill/spell.

At level 15, you can also take a quest at Vesper Bay to enable using Color Dye on your gear. If you want to experiment with different colors on your equipment and be fashionable, you should do this quest! Quest is from NPC Swyrgeim at Western Thanalan ( 12, 14), quest name is “Color Your World” and the NPC will request a bottle of Orange Juice from you. If you do not have any Orange Juice in your inventory, turn around and visit a Vendor NPC near the spot (name is Merchant & Mender, he’s inside a small tent near there) and check his shop (select Purchase Items) and buy a bottle of Orange Juice from him for 7 gil. When you finish the dye quest, you can select any dye-able gear and use a bucket of dye to change it to a color you like. You can buy dyes from NPC shop in a market area in any of the towns. 

Also, if you have already finished the Envoy quest, the pier in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks, near Arcanist Guild, will allow you to pay for a Ferry ride from Limsa to Vesper Bay. This is much shorter and faster route than using Horizon teleport and walk/run/chocobo to Vesper Bay.

Level 17 – After finishing all 3 required dungeons through story quests, there’s a level 17 MQ that will reward you with an access to Retainer Service. A Retainer is your storage. You can “hire” 2 retainers for free.

What does a retainer do?

  • Keep your stuff, so your person’s inventory won’t explode.
  • You can deposit money with them (you get no saving’s interest, though, duh!)
  • You can put items up for sale on the Marketboard.
  • If you do a specific quest, you can send your retainer out to hunt for items, they will level up and have access to more items if you keep sending them out to hunt.
  • You can select a class (job) for your retainer. You can also dress them up for fun and for stats.

By finishing your first 3 dungeons (or maybe you only need 2 from 3, I’m not sure), you now can do Duty Roulette: Leveling. This is a very very powerful tool to gain EXP (and money). It will give you a huge chunk of EXP when you finish a dungeon using this Roulette. The reward can be claimed only once a day. 

You can also use Duty Roulette: Guildhest to earn your daily rewards (bonus EXP, gil, and Grand Company’s Seals if you have joined a Grand Company).

Finishing the first 3 dungeons will also grant access to Challenge Log. This is yet another wonderful way to earn EXP and gil. You have to finish a short quest named Rising to the Challenge from Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks, in the same room you spoke with Baderon. The Challenge Log have a ton of objectives with a mountain load of rewards attached. It resets weekly on Tuesday, so if you finish all objectives that you can, you can have them again next week . You can even get rich in Manderville Gold Saucer Points (gambler’s currency, hahaha!!) by doing the Gold Saucer objectives. (You can access Gold Saucer by doing a quest on the street in Ul’dah, at around Ul’dah – Steps of Nald ( 9  , 9).)

Level 20 – A Main Quest of level 20 will eventually reward you with an ability to choose a “Grand Company” (GC, for short). You can switch to join other GC later of you wish.

At this point you should do FATE battle or do GC Levequests for GC Seals. For a CHOCOBO license!!!! Buy  Chocobo Issuance (cost 200 GC Seals) from a Quartermaster at your GC office and finish the “My Little Chocobo” quest at the commander in the same room. Chocobo is a mount which will let you travel faster in the field.

Level 25 – Not much new information to learn here, or I just can’t recall anything important (sorry, the memory is hard to retrieve because it’s been a VERY long time since I started). You should, however, try to visit different camps (field Aetherytes) in order to take quest at Levemates to unlock the camp’s LQ. Remember, LQ is a great way to level up.

Level 30 – Time for joy! Now you can get the quest to unlock a Battle Chocobo, the quest is called “My Feisty Little Chocobo” and can be found at Camp Tranquill in The Black Shroud region. This quest requires level 30 and a long travel, and a few fights. But it will really worth it. Your Chocobo Companion can be summoned (with Gysahl Greens) to help you fight in the field and in FATE. It will help A LOT for sidequests and Main Quests.

At level 30 of a specific class, you can also unlock “job” system, which will require you to level up a specific 2nd class as “sub class” before taking the guild test quest. Your class, when upgraded to a job, will be more powerful in battle. Your cross-class skill choices, however, will become more specific and limited.

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That’s all I could write for today. If I recall something else, I will come back to write more.

 

 

T9 meteor positioning diagram

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My friends on Tonberry (The Catketeers) needed help on SCoB turn 4 or T9 (Nael deus Darnus), so I made an easy diagram to assist them. After a few tries, we figured out that we could not use the same positioning as my Ragnarok FC (En Taro Adun, or 4Aiur) used, so they adapted until they found a comfortable solution. I then made it into a picture to help other friends who were absent understand the plan easier.

4Aiur used this when we passed with undersized party. Then, when time came for the Caketeers to tackle this battle, I initially drew this (in Paint, ugh!!) for the kitties before we developed a new plan.

T9_Diagram_Comets2

But when the party has more people, like, let’s say 6, it becomes a bit complicated and confusing for the Catketeers to reposition for 2nd meteor without colliding with someone else. So the kitties suggested this formation instead:

T9_Diagram_meteors

I also added some important info in the diagram for easy memorizing.

The explosion radius that WILL ignite the meteor and kills everyone (except the tank(s)) looks like this when in battle:

14195432_10153799554021127_7020810618535135815_o

In the screenshot above, I was standing between 2 meteors. That spot is just outside of the danger radius, if you put the meteor close enough to the edge of the room to allow more distance.

T9_Meteor_Placement_good_resize

When well-placed, the meteors won’t explode. The above pic shows an example of good placements.

Why Stoneskin?

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This is rather funny and yet is a serious business at the same time, so after thinking about it, I’d like to share my thoughts here.

Today I went out with real life friends who happen to play FFXIV on Tonberry. One of them mentioned playing WHM in a DF with stranger tank and getting asked (or more like criticized on) how she’s using Stoneskin too often, and getting told that it is a WASTE OF MP.

EXCUSE ME!

The question instantly made me frown and be ready to flip.

If one is just curious and asks why we, some WHM, if not most, like to use Stoneskin THAT much, I wouldn’t mind, and would gladly explain. But when it comes with negative notion, or saying it’s a waste, I’m ready to fume.

But I’ll try to stay civil here.

First off, Stoneskin, unlike Regen or Medica II, does not create any enmity when pre-applied. That is, if we use Stoneskin on a tank, then, when tank runs into a group of enemies, an enemy yet unclaimed by the tank won’t glare at us like “Oh this healer had already put a buff on this guy, I better kill her first.” So Stoneskin is a nice buff to have on the tank, or everyone, before the fight starts. Why? It absorbs a chunk of HP damage, equals to 10% of HP of the person whom we cast it on. So, let’s say if a tank has 30,000 HP, this Stoneskin will shield the tank for 3,000 HP damage.

Secondly, that 10% HP shield will buy us some time, at least for a few seconds. It is very useful when tank is making a long (large) pull, where the party doesn’t stop to deal with one group of enemies, but keeps moving forward for the 2nd or 3rd group of enemies before gathering them for AoE kill. While running, ideally, a healer MUST NOT Regen and shouldn’t cure the tank, because Regen will instantly pull enmity to the healer when they link or see the tank and aggro tank without claiming. And since the party is still running forward, casting Cure is kind of out of practice. Landing a Cure can also pull enmity if the tank hasn’t secured enmity on all of the enemies yet. Pulling aggro off the tank while running for a long pull can mess up the battle and may cause death. In this scenario, pre-cast Stoneskin is the best option for the healer. Sometimes if the Stoneskin wears off mid-pull, and if I see that the tank had already claimed all the current mobs, I will even Swiftcast Stoneskin before we reach the next enemy to refill the shield. This way I can start the fight with (Cleric Stance) Aero III or Holy instead of cure bombing the tank when we arrive at the destination.

Thirdly, although Stoneskin, at level 60, consumes 884 MP, while Cure only consumes 442 MP yet can heal about 3800 HP (testing at 1168 Cure Potency) non-critical. This may make Stoneskin inferior to Cure in term of MP efficiency in mid-battle situation. However, there are circumstances when spending 884 MP on Stoneskin is far more favorable. One of those circumstances is when we are on Cleric Stance mode. In Cleric Stance, my Cure (442 MP) can only do about 600 HP. Whereas Stoneskin still shields the same amount of HP (10% of max HP of the target person). Yes, Stoneskin isn’t affected by the Cure Potency penalty (switch) from Cleric Stance. If we’re nuking, on Cleric Stance, using Stoneskin is not just more proficient, but also more sensible and natural, as it does not require the WHM to switch off Cleric Stance to maximize the MP-efficiency of spell.

As for my own application of Stoneskin, I like to cast Stoneskin on tank (or myself, depending on the situation) in between my Holies, especially after first Holy, because spamming 2nd Holy immediately after the 1st will just nullify the Stun effect (yet still chips down the number of Stun we can do before fully resisted, if I’m, not mistaken). Sneaking Stoneskin (or Aero III instead, if applicable) will help me delay my casting long enough to finish 2nd Holy right after the first stun effect on enemies wear off.

Also, alongside Medica II and Regen (and perhaps an Asylum, if needed), a Stoneskin will usually make the tank recover HP in the middle of the horde of enemies, instead of losing it, which allows the WHM to leave the tank unattended even longer. We can use that duration to take care of other shit, be it a debuff that needs Esuna, or a DPS needing a Cure (I usually just throw them a Regen if thay aren’t taking more/continuous damage), or someone needs a Raise, or for me to run out of AoE range, etc. This, mind you, can be done without the hassle of switching Cleric Stance off, whereas utilizing Cure or Cure II will require us to do so.

My static tank used to tell me sorry for not standing still or stopping before running out of range when I cast Stoneskin. I said it’s fine. Then he said he’s glad I’m not mad at him, but he has a reason. If he stopped or stayed for every Stoneskin I cast on him, we could waste about 5 minutes through out the dungeon. XD So, I started to time my Stoneskin better. I aim to cast it right before the last enemy of the group die, so that the party can immediately go on for next pull. He never questioned me why I use Stoneskin that much, nor did he tell me it’s a waste of MP. And tell you what, to me, Stoneskin is something special. When I cast it on my tank, it is the collaboration between the healer and the tank (spell target) because it does not rely on MY stats, but the tank’s stat – Max HP. It is the reflection of the tank’s HP pool, not my MND or my Cure Potency. So when I cast it on a tank with 38k HP, that’s a WOW. 3800 HP free damage shield where I won’t have to cast a cure for!

And no, that does not mean we do spam Stoneskin all the time during battle in place of Cure. As I said, we are aware that it uses double the amount of MP required for Cure, so it has different application and is used in specific circumstances.