FFXI related questions

Post by **Tivia** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:56 pm

So as I mentioned I finally came back, I like to maintain my official stance of I am here under protest and duress, but really I am having a ton of fun.

That said, for convenience I went WHM again, the group of friends needed a healer and I figured why not and it guarantees me groups. Obviously ALOT has changed in the game since I played. One thing I noticed that struck me as odd was the sheer number of whm/blm. Now when I played Whm/blm while fine was considered inferior to whm/smn. Yet when I do a search there are near no whm/smn 1 or 2 on average, a handful of whm/sch and a Whole Gaggle of whm/blk. Has something changed that makes blk a better sub then smn? Or is it still the less desirable one and I am just on a server full of lazy whm's?

Next up for grabs, money...Man making money now is brutal. Even when I started on release day crystals sold for decent coin. Now Fire crystals sub 500g/stack???

While I appreciate that it makes it easier for someone starting over to get the required cooking skill, at the same time I need to generate some serious cash. Fishing was how it used to be done, but honest I prefer not to fish again.

I will continue this as I have more to ask, Right now am level 16 with everything except the magick skull for subjob and working on Sandy fame so I can get some actual gear.

Post by **Fiye** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:24 am

Gil income will suck at beginner levels, especially with how much the crystal economy has tanked. Hell, the prices you see for crystals are especially bad thanks to manaburn parties.

As far as WHM/BLM and WHM/SMN goes. Here's how I figure it.

/BLM is easier to level than /SMN.

To me, both work in their proper places. I'd personally use /BLM when I'm NM hunting, and /SMN in Parties, BCNMs, and Assaults.

/BLM has Conserve MP, which is useful as auto refresh, considering it can save a few MP points.

Really, you can hit 75 with WHM/BLM, but WHM/SMN is what you should aim for when you have most of the summons.

With money... I don't know. As far as I remember with WHM, don't spent much money on armor. Focus on just getting spells, upgrade to Seer's, and get Teleports and w***e the f*** out of those for gil.

Post by **Tivia** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:32 am

Thanks Fiye,

Well nabbed 18 tonight...still no skull. Not too surprised though, Valk sucks for the skull drops as I remembered.

Glad to hear that my intuition that /smn was still the superior subjob was still correct. I would rather just put in the extra effort. Besides the level 20 fights are a blast..gonna have to dig up the guide I wrote.

Yea the nice thing about whm is lack of required gear for the most part. I wa afraid someone was going to bring up Tele whoring...was hoping I didn't have to whore myself out but I guess that is the life of a whm.

Post by **Fiye** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:02 am

As far as the skull goes. I'd go for Gusgen mines.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to grab another set for all three times... and then the banshee's item.

For ToAU access (Which you'll need 52-54+) you'll want to bring all SJ items from Mhaura and the Dunes. Hell, it wouldn't hurt to have it to unlock those extra jobs and have access to Whitegate early on.

Also, don't bother collecting every single spell. For now, Cure, Curaga, Protect, Shell, Reraise, Raise, and -na spells will do you fine.

Oh, and regen.

The rest are additional stuff you'll need for special BCs, NMs, or etc...

Post by **Shirai** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:00 am

Well as you say, times have changed and blm has regained some of it's status regarding subjob for white mage.
One of the changes is that people started to realize that subjobs are situational and that none of the subjobs is superior nor inferior depending on the situation.
However it's not until level 50 where you start to see significant differences between the subjobs.

As for /sch, the new kid on the block.
I don't know much about that sub as I haven't had the honors yet to play with it but according to a few friends of mine it is one of the subs that situationally trumps out both blm and smn subs.

Post by **Karou Ariyen** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:44 pm

Shirai wrote:Well as you say, times have changed and blm has regained some of it's status regarding subjob for white mage.
One of the changes is that people started to realize that subjobs are situational and that none of the subjobs is superior nor inferior depending on the situation.
However it's not until level 50 where you start to see significant differences between the subjobs.

As for /sch, the new kid on the block.
I don't know much about that sub as I haven't had the honors yet to play with it but according to a few friends of mine it is one of the subs that situationally trumps out both blm and smn subs.

Sublimation.
Job Ability

* Gradually creates a storage of MP while reducing your HP. The effect ends once an MP limit is reached, or your HP has gone too low. The stored MP is then transferred to your MP pool by using the ability a second time.

* Obtained: Scholar Level 35
* Recast Time: 30 seconds after the ability is reactivated
* Duration (Charging): Until MP stored is 25% of Max HP or until HP ≤ 50% (Max Sublimation will increase its value by 10 each Merit Points).
* Duration (Charged): 2 hours

Notes/Description

* Stored MP appears as an icon at the top of your screen with a little arrow while charging and a circle when full, the ability needs to be used a second time to transfer the stored MP to your useable MP pool. (You can also reactivate the ability to gain the stored MP before it's fully charged)
* Your character’s HP will slowly decrease (-2HP / Tick) while storing MP and you will be unable to enter healing mode or log out while this ability is in effect. (Stoneskin will absorb damage, allowing resting or logging out.)
* While charging, the HP drain effect of sublimation will wake your character from the effect of sleep.
* The MP limit is 25% of your max HP (before applying "Converts HP -> MP gear"). The MP limit is calculated throughout the duration of the "charging" time. This means you CAN NOT equip HP+ gear for the activation, then switch back to normal gear for the charging time.
* The MP limit does not appear to be affected by Max HP Boost effects from items such as Body Boost.
* Charging will stop once your Current HP drops below 50% of your Max HP.
* While in Salvage, the pathos Debilitation(HP) must be removed with a Humilus Cell before Sublimation can be used, as the ability will complete charging immediately due to the 60% reduction of HP Max. (One can get around this with the use of Stoneskin, however you must be at full HP before activating Sublimation or it will not continue charging)
* This effect persists when changing zones, although will wear off when entering or exiting a BCNM-type battlefield.
* The effect of "Charging" will wear at the completion of a Campaign Battle or Besieged. A completed charge will not wear at the completion of a Campaign Battle.
* A completed charge will not wear when logging off or shutting down.
* This effect wears when entering a Mog House or Rent-a-Room, unless the ability has completed charging.
* Sublimation's status changing from "Active" to "Complete" doesn't cause invisible to wear, however activating the job ability will.
* Refresh effects from food or the Red Mage spell will not take effect while the Sublimation effect is active, either charging or fully charged. Using Sublimation while a Refresh effect is active will overwrite it.
* Refresh effects from the Evoker's Roll, Mage's Ballad or equipments such as Royal Cloak take effect both when charging or fully charged.
* Without Scholar's Mortarboard, MP restored versus time will always equal to 2 MP/tic.
* With Scholar's Mortarboard, MP restored versus time will always equal to 3 MP/tic.
* Equip / unequip Scholar's Mortarboard while charging will affect the charge rate.
* This effect can be removed by Dispel.

All the WHM's in my dynamis shell use /SCH for this very reason. That is something BLM and SMN cannot equal.

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:37 pm

Someone once did a mathematical analysis of /SMN and /BLM. He found the exact number of MP/min you have to spend to make /BLM better than /SMN, not counting any benefits from Aspir. Once the numbers were out there /SMN started being seen less and less.

/SCH is the new in thing. The reason is simple. Even better MP conservation. I saw a WHM/SCH do two R IIIs in less than 45 seconds, weakened. Also /SCH has Aspir and can bring the skill up to B for a WHM/SCH.

Post by **Shirai** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:01 pm

Just keep in mind that with Sublimation on you "resist" refresh.
If you find yourself in a situation where there is no rdm it comes in very handy.
Otherwise, sublimation is a bother and you'll need a good amount of HP to get a good amount of MP return.

However that is only one trump card /sch has.

The other is indeed the job ability that halfs the MP used on your next spell and halfs your cast/recast time.
But with that said /blm /smn/ sch /drk /nin /rdm, it's all situational.

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:08 pm

And as to the Gil thing, while prices for many low level drops are down, the prices of the uber gear are down even further*.

FFXIAH.com is your friend. While you are there check the prices of Zealot's Mitts, Battle Gloves, and any other dropped / chest items you used to lust after in the old days. Also the price of +1 stuff.

The single biggest change for your job and level is the amount of hMP gear available.

*While not exactly low level, the Scorpy Harness +1 is less than 1/2 the price that a normal scorpy used to be.

Post by **Tivia** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 3:26 am

Interesting stuff on blm.

Sch does look interesting, though I have to admit I was grouped with a dancer last night and they are pretty neat. I will admit most of my /smn desires lie in the summon fights at 20 being just pure fun.

Didn't play any today, but have alot of food for thought.

Post by **Karou Ariyen** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:35 pm

Tsybil wrote:And as to the Gil thing, while prices for many low level drops are down, the prices of the uber gear are down even further*.

FFXIAH.com is your friend. While you are there check the prices of Zealot's Mitts, Battle Gloves, and any other dropped / chest items you used to lust after in the old days. Also the price of +1 stuff.

The single biggest change for your job and level is the amount of hMP gear available.

*While not exactly low level, the Scorpy Harness +1 is less than 1/2 the price that a normal scorpy used to be.

I have almsot 3 75 Jobs (pup has 2 more to go.) How is a high level supposed to make money anymore. I can't even get a 60k ring to sell anymore.

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:46 pm

Try gardening. Wildgrass seeds, target crop Tokopekko Wildgrass or Garidav Wildgrass, sell straight to NPCs. If you want long term crops, Tree Cuttings for Platinum Nuggets. Farm the cuttings yourself for bigger profit.

I also make good Gil Chocobo Racing on an alt. I can usually win the C 3 races, 50K prize. The "Free" runs make a minimum of 28 chocobucks / day for anything resembling a racing bird, and 10 Chocobucks = 12 Tokopekko Wildgrass or Garidav Wildgrass @ ~ 450 each to the NPCs. Many do Chocobo Digging or the Hot and Cold game too.

Post by **Karou Ariyen** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:51 pm

Tsybil wrote:Try gardening. Wildgrass seeds, target crop Tokopekko Wildgrass or Garidav Wildgrass, sell straight to NPCs. If you want long term crops, Tree Cuttings for Platinum Nuggets. Farm the cuttings yourself for bigger profit.

I also make good Gil Chocobo Racing on an alt. I can usually win the C 3 races, 50K prize. The "Free" runs make a minimum of 28 chocobucks / day for anything resembling a racing bird, and 10 Chocobucks = 12 Tokopekko Wildgrass or Garidav Wildgrass @ ~ 450 each to the NPCs. Many do Chocobo Digging or the Hot and Cold game too.

Raptor Skins in stacks fetch 38k on Hades.

Post by **Tivia** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:53 pm

Might look into chocobo racing once I get a bit of time on my hands. Right now most of it is devoted to subjob and leveling.

I did make some decent gil yesterday afternoon, I made the run to jeuno and found out that my original "Starters" for money making still made money. I still can't believe i can make 3-8k a pop profit off stuff vendor bought in the same city. So I stashed away about 80k after a couple of hours yesterday buying and selling. After that I managed to rustle up a few people to get my last subjob item from gusgen. Got 1 skull to drop, lost the lot and the next 25 ghouls didn't drop one with 2 THF's in the group...Seriously. Unfortunately ended up dieing about 8 times and nearly lost 18 due to a bot group who kept attempting to ks our ghouls and kept training me. So will continue to hunt for my skull later tonight once I can get a little buffer exp again.

Post by **Sugami** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:49 am

Chocobo racing is a bigger time and gil waste than chocobo raising

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 4:07 pm

Sugami wrote:Chocobo racing is a bigger time and gil waste than chocobo raising

50 to 80K a RT day says it isn't. That's about 50 minuets a day, and I only need to pay attention 30 seconds of every 5 minuets.

Of course if I didn't enter the Crystal Stakes (C1 races) I could make that much Gil 5 out of 7 days....

And don't ask me how much it cost to raise my racer, I didn't keep track.

Post by **Karou Ariyen** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:02 pm

Tsybil wrote:
Sugami wrote:Chocobo racing is a bigger time and gil waste than chocobo raising
50 to 80K a RT day says it isn't. That's about 50 minuets a day, and I only need to pay attention 30 seconds of every 5 minuets.

Of course if I didn't enter the Crystal Stakes (C1 races) I could make that much Gil 5 out of 7 days....

And don't ask me how much it cost to raise my racer, I didn't keep track.

It cost me around a grand total of 20k for my racing bird. my secret was buying Sandy Carrots, and ocassionally having to buy gyshal greens on the ah (13k worth, the rest was sandy carrots from the vendor and crystals to grow my own Carrots, those ones that start with a Z). Now many people will say, But Karou, you've raised 3 birds. 20k?! Well here's the thing, My first chocobo Sakura Angel was my bird of transport, I didn't understand the raising system and she was test bless her yellow hide. Next was a male birdy and well, Male's are more costly to raise. I didn't abandon him, not at all, I mated him, then retired him because I couldn't afford to finish raising him ;; That popped out my Swift Illusion, Now she's actually a 2nd Generation Bird. Sakura and my male bird were both first generation eggs. Swift Illusion was raised with the intention of having a fast bird. It worked. She's a top racer on Hades and my personal transport. I sink 25k on whistle recharges every time, why? Because I <3 her so much.

Post by **Tivia** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:40 pm

Update:

Got my subjob item the next day, after spending another 6 hours and god knows how many ghoul kills in gusgen. Seriously I had the same problem last time I played. My luck on drops is utterly HORRID.

Money making is a different story however. While I have not had much time to level, I have managed to load in and play the AH game. This for me is fantastic since I can accomplish something while only loading in for about 15 minutes since I am busy atm. Which is a good thing because seeing the Custom Choco's run by me has given me an intense "OMG I GOTTA HAVE ONE" feeling.

I spent some time doing the halloween quest obviously, Warp items at this rank = Pure Win. I just need the Sandy one to drop so I have an easy non conquest way back.

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:00 pm

Once, just once, I got the skull to drop off the very first Ghoul. A total stranger accosted me for help in the Dunes. I told him about the sucky drop rate and Gusgen Mines but agreed to try to get him one till sunrise. Spoted a Ghoul is less than three mins. killed it and presto. I told him to tell all his friends about his luck.

And that kitties is why I usually take LS members to Bubu and the Mahara side subjob quest. If the Bloody Robe is not a 50% drop, it isn't as low as 33%. I usually get a Ruby for them too while waiting for nightfall.

Post by **Tivia** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:57 pm

Been spending my time doing the halloween events.

Had better luck then usual, got all the warp staves and every single hat for a total of 150 ginger cookies. I couldn't be more pleased.

Naturally got the warp items off pyra as well, My god those are nice. Have been a huge help working cooking. Speaking of cooking I had completely forgot about moghancements until I went to expand my mog safe. Needless to say I stocked up on loads of water items.

Post by **Fiye** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:20 am

Hehehe, you can also go into other people's Mog Houses. So you can craft inside their houses for the benefit.

Post by **Tivia** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:32 pm

Oh Really?

This I did not know..That definitely eliminates the dilemma of having to change my room element as I get higher in skill. Now I just gotta make some friends who keep a high room element in the ones I am missing.

Post by **Tivia** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 4:51 am

Thank you for introducing me to the wonderful world of Choco raising and betting. I have not budged out of the Choco circuit except to check my chick in days now...

I suspect my linkshell is going to be having an intervention here soon since everytime they ask where I am..the answer is always Chocobo Circuit!

Sounds like my friend and my street racing habit xD (Don't listen to hollywood. Around here we go for city streets that are not used during the night and block off roads.) That also goes for me and my AFK Habit too, one day I'm going to go "AFK" turn around and my LS will be standing there staring at me

Post by **Tivia** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:00 pm

So I broke down and started fishing since i got tired of trying to find what I needed to raise cooking on the ah. I honestly don't know what everyone is complaining about with the new system. I am at 15 fishing now and have pulled in a stupid amount of moat carp and pipira that I have raised cooking to 21 on at virtually only crystal cost.

The downside is I decided to snag a chevel salmon for my next fishing rank while I was at it. First cast 1 salmon..so feeling like stockpiling a few for eggs later I cast again. Second cast I get a log and snap my mithran rod..Seriously that crap was supposed to be rare../sigh. No biggie I guess, just sold a few stacks of fish and bought a composite. Problem solved.

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:08 am

Any place you can fish salmon, you can catch Arrowwood Logs. Those will snap a Mithran rod.

Btw the new hot non R/E fishing rod is the Halcyon (sp?) rod. Arrowwood Logs will snap it as well.

I got fishing into the 40 range on my first start, never got it up there since. I find skillups horridly slow with the "new" system, but I catch more fish.

Post by **Shirai** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:53 pm

Halcyon and Composite are the two rods I keep on me.

Comp. for large fish Halcyon for small.

The site I currently use to find which fish is good to skill up on or make me some money from (Even if I have to NPC them) in the area I am being bored at that moment is:

http://www.finalfishing.com

Vatrina · Post by **Vatrina** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:48 pm

Hume fishing rod. (Sounds odd I know.) Been using one since I could first make them with my WW skill, and haven't broken it yet. Course I do most of my fishing in Jugner at the lake just for fun. Bass, trout of all colors, they come up pretty easy. Snagged a few catfish in that lake too, but the worst I've done to my rod is snap my line when I can't get pull it out of the water.