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ILLUSTRATED VERSION ------------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Full OT thread. Community/Reviews/Resources post. This is an image-free version of the NeoGAF Official Topic (linked above). This document was designed for those who have trouble loading images (such as those on mobile devices) or simply want a streamlined version of the OT. Beyond that, this can serve as a handy guide to reference or give to new players with questions. Clicking on the table of the contents below will take you a section or one of its sub-sections. Clicking on a section’s header will take you back to the top. (Table of Contents) The Aethernet ♦Game Information | ♦Official Links ♦Getting Started | ♦System Requirements & Benchmark ♦Product Information ♦Subscription Fees ♦Veteran Program ♦Early & Free Access ♦The Story So Far... | ♦On Hydaelyn… (Story of FFXIV 1.0) ♦On Earth… (Road to ARR) ♦Armoury System | ♦Classes ♦Disciplines ♦Jobs ♦Gear sets & Armoury Chest ♦Class & Job Links ♦Races ♦City-States & Grand Companies | ♦Ul’dah & The Immortal Flames ♦Limsa Lominsa & The Maelstrom ♦Gridania & The Order of the Twin Adder ♦Characters & Community | ♦Grand Companies ♦Linkshells ♦Free Companies ♦Transportation ♦Mounts ♦Companions ♦Markets ♦Retainers ♦Housing ♦Mechanics | ♦Mouse & Keyboard UI ♦Gamepad UI ♦Combat System ♦Combos ♦Limit Break ♦Attributes ♦Duties | ♦Duty Finder ♦Level Sync ♦Quests ♦Guildleves ♦Guildhests ♦FATE ♦Instanced Dungeons ♦Primal Battles ♦Personal Logs ♦Achievements & PS3 Trophies ♦Player vs Player | ♦Mechanics ♦Wolves’ Den ♦Frontlines ♦Crafting | ♦Synthesis ♦Materia ♦Materia Melding ♦Dye ♦Gathering | ♦Botany & Mining ♦Fishing ♦Apps | ♦The Lodestone ♦Libra Eorzea ♦One Time Password ♦Miscellaneous | ♦Credits ♦Links (Return to Home Point) ♦Game Information Release Date 8/27/13 (Worldwide) Platform* Windows / PlayStation 3** (PlayStation 4 - Early 2014) Genre MMORPG Developer Square Enix Rating T * This game is cross-play between platforms using one Square Enix account. Accounts must register that platform’s version of the game in order to play on it. ** SE accounts can only be linked to one Sony Entertainment Network account; However, a SEN account can be linked to multiple SE accounts. Official Links ➡FFXIV Official Website ➡The Lodestone ➡Twitter ➡YouTube ➡RSS Feed ➡Screenshots ➡Trailers ➡Art ♦Getting Started System Requirements & Benchmarks ➡Character Creator Benchmark Minimum System Requirements Recommended System Requirements* Operating System: Windows® Vista 32/64bit, Windows® 7 32/64 bit Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo Graphics: NVIDIA® Geforce® 8800 Series, ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 Memory: 2GB (4GB recommended for 64bit OS) Disk Space: 20GB. Operating System: Windows® 7 64 bit Processor: Intel® Core™ i5 Graphics: NVIDIA® Geforce® GTX 660 or higher, AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 or higher Memory: 4GB of RAM. Disk Space: 20GB. * The performance of the PS3 version can be substantially improved by installing a SSD. Product Information For details on the different editions, pre-order rewards, and retailers: ➡Product Details Additional links: ➡Pre-Order Registration ➡Purchase Flowchart for 1.0 Players Subscription Fees Membership Price/Month Days Legacy* £6.89/€9.99/$9.99 30 Entry £7.69/€10.99/$12.99 30 Standard £8.99/€12.99/$14.99 30 Standard £8.39/€11.99/$13.99 90 Standard £7.69/€10.99/$12.99 180 “Entry” accounts can have 1 character per world and 8 characters total. All other accounts can have 8 characters per world and 40 characters total. * Legacy accounts are ones that were subscribed to Version 1.0 (“1.0” or “1.x”) for at least three months. Legacy characters and worlds (servers) refer to any character or server carried over into A Realm Reborn. Legacy characters are currently restricted to legacy worlds. ➡Subscription Methods Veteran Rewards Players who subscribe to ARR will have special items called Veteran Rewards delivered to all of their characters. This consists of minions, mounts, and unusual items spread over several months. Rewards are based on the amount of days paid for, not played. This means all rewards can be obtained immediately. ➡List of Rewards Free & Early Access Purchasing and registering a new copy of the game for either Windows or PS3 will add 30 days of subscription time. Both can be registered for a total 60 days; however, the same version cannot be registered to an account twice. Unused FFXIV 1.0 codes will register the Windows version and grant 30 days as normal. Everyone who previously registered a copy of FFXIV 1.0 is considered an owner of the Windows version of ARR and does not need to buy the game again (nor can they register another Windows version) under that account. If registered during 1.x, they also qualify for the Welcome Back Campaign. This means they can play for free until September 9th. Added subscription time is only used after that date. Early access (August 24th to release) will be granted to all legacy accounts and those who register a pre-order code. ♦The Story So Far... On Hydaelyn. . . The realm of Eorzea consists of the continent of Aldenard and its neighboring islands. Within is a variety of terrains and climates filled with opportunities that attract adventurers. For decades these heroes have been in the service of adventurers’ guilds within the governing city-states. From the north, the shadow of the Garlean Empire hangs over these nations. Twenty years ago, the Garleans attacked and subjugated Ala Mhigo, the most militant city-state. Before they could push the invasion any further, the flagship Agrius and dragon king Midgardsormr would destroy one another. Although this saved Eorzea from war, it broke the seal containing the Beastmen deities known as Primals and desolated the Mor Dhona region. Five years ago, newly arrived adventurers were gifted with the Echo, allowing them to see hallucinations of the past (unknowingly at times). They met the scholarly Circle of Knowing in these visions and joined the echo-gifted Path of the Twelve in the present. Two great dangers lay ahead: the Primals who would drain the earth dry when summoned and the returning Garleans that sought to combat them, namely the VIIth and XIVth legions led by Nael van Darnus and Gaius van Baelsar, respectively. Urianger of the Circle of Knowing then began spreading the word of a new Umbral Era, the next sequence in Eorzea’s cycle of joined calamity (Umbral Eras) and prosperity (Astral Eras). Tied to the six elements, a Seventh Umbra Era was never imagined. The lesser moon Dalamud was seen as a harbinger, now red and growing in size. In truth, it was getting closer. With Dalamud locked over Eorzea, abnormalities began to occur; Monsters grew in size and demonic voidsent appeared. Eorzea was politically transformed as well. To combat the Garlean and Primal menaces, the major city-states (sans isolationist Ishgard) channeled all of their resources (including adventurers) into organizations called Grand Companies and formed an Eorzean Alliance. The wise Louisoix and his Circle of Knowing arrived to assist them. Cid nan Garlond, a Garlean defector, warned of the Meteor project. Despite Gaius’s opposition, the increasingly insane Nael revived the project to smash Dalamud, revealed to be manufactured by the ancient Allagans, into Eorzea. Although adventurers were successful in stopping his Lunar Transmitter, the White Raven’s own body began guiding Dalamud. A final battle with him in the skies above Coerthas still wasn’t enough. Louisoix had one last plan: Use a spell directly below Dalamud to summon the power of the Twelve deities. At that very spot, the rogue VIIth legion waited. The Battle of Carteneu began and the White Raven’s true intentions would soon to be revealed. ➡The conclusion to Final Fantasy’s XIV 1.0 Storyline: A New Beginning (Video) ➡FFXIV 1.0 Storyline links On Earth. . . Three years ago, Final Fantasy XIV (1.0) was launched. It was met with an overwhelming negative reception from both players and critics, citing issues such as input-lag on server-based menus, a significant focus on generic quest content with no real end-game, and randomized class progression from repeating actions. In the midst of this backlash, then-CEO Yoichi Wada announced an unprecedented effort to “save” the game. Veteran producer Hiromichi Tanaka stepped down to be replaced by the little-known Naoki Yoshida, a.k.a. Yoshi-P, and the whole team saw a reshuffling. From that point forward, they focused on both making FFXIV playable and the new version which would come to be known as A Realm Reborn, essentially working on two games at once. Beyond just fixing issues, FFXIV saw a slight remake: a combat system resembling a more advanced FFXI, mechanics and end-game content that has been loosely be carried over into ARR, and a new storyline detailing the events that would create Eorzea as we know it five years later. With ARR the game has been remade yet again: the combat system is now of a more common MMO style, a much stronger content pipeline is in place, and the areas and storylines are entirely new. Moreover, Yoshi-P has openly approached players in a fashion that is uncharacteristic of Square Enix. Reception to the game’s beta has generally been positive, with aesthetics and level of polish being at the front of that praise. ♦Armoury System Classes The classes of the Armoury system are based on the weapon or tool characters have equipped in their main hand slot. Changing classes is as simple as switching what is equipped. The Armoury system opens up upon completing the lv. 10 class quest and requires registering at guilds to unlock classes. Legacy characters will immediately be able to switch between classes they have leveled, but are restricted the same way for other classes and are not consider members of any guild. Each class has its own level and set of attributes. Disciplines Classes are grouped into four types of disciplines. Disciplines of War and Magic make up the battle classes. The Disciplines of Hand are the crafting classes and Disciplines of Land are the gathering classes, neither fit for combat. Certain actions (weapon skills, spells, etc.) acquired by a class can be carried over to other classes. In addition to which actions being specified, there are several restrictions: some actions are held within discipline groups (e.g. offensive magic) and battle actions are only available to battle classes. Jobs Jobs are advanced forms of battle classes unlocked through quests accessible upon reaching lv. 30 on the corresponding class and lv. 15 on one other. As each job is an extension of a class, they use the same level and (mostly) actions. Switching to a job is as straightforward as switching classes, except using the “soul” slot instead. In exchange for new actions and further specialization, jobs only allow access to a fewer amount of cross-class actions of two specific classes. A class can have access to multiple jobs, but this is currently only observed with the Arcanist. Gear Sets & Armoury Chest Based on the Armoury system, gear sets can be saved and instantly loaded onto characters (allowing for a one-button class switch on the go). They draw upon the game’s Armoury Chest: a separate inventory for equipment which holds up to 25 pieces per slot. Additional gear sets become available upon joining other guilds, though they are not tied to any class. Characters can’t change their equipment in battle, thus they can’t switch their class or job either. Some content, like dungeons, also restrict class/job switching. List of Classes/Jobs (Including job secondary classes on the right) Discipline of War / Discipline of Magic / Discipline of Hand / Discipline of Land Class Job Secondaries Gladiator (GLA) >> Paladin (PLD) MRD, WHM Pugilist (PGL) >> Monk (MNK) LNC, MRD Marauder (MRD) >> Warrior (WAR) GLA, PGL Lancer (LNC) >> Dragoon (DRG) PGL, MRD Archer (ARC) >> Bard (BRD) LNC, PGL Conjurer (CNJ) >> White Mage (WHM) THM, ARC Thaumaturge (THM) >> Black Mage (BLM) ACN, ? Arcanist (ACN) >> Summoner (SMN) CNJ, ? ↳↳ Scholar (SCH) THM, ? Class Class Alchemist (ALC) Culinarian (CUL) Armorer (ARM) Goldsmith (GLD) Blacksmith (BSM) Leatherworker (LTW) Carpenter (CRP) Weaver (WVR) Miner (MIN) Fisher (FSH) Botanist (BTN) Starting City-State Characters will begin their adventuring career in one of three city-states, as decided by their first class (a discipline of war or magic). This is due to the preliminary storyline guiding players to the respective class guild and travel between cities being difficult for the first dozen levels. Players should consider that the original choice for class and city-state won’t matter much at all after roughly 15 levels. One shouldn’t feel they are making a permanent choice when picking their class. Below are the guild locations by city-state: Ul’dah Gladiator - Pugilist - Thaumaturge - Alchemist - Goldsmith - Weaver - Miner Limsa Lominsa Marauder - Arcanist - Armorer - Blacksmith - Culinarian - Fisher Gridania Lancer - Archer - Conjurer - Carpenter - Leatherworker - Botanist ♦Races Races have different starting attributes, but these differences quickly become negligible. It is better to pick a race for aesthetic reasons, as classes can be switched freely. (The same can be said for patron deity.) A later patch will add a “barber shop” for changing hair style and other features. Additionally, one of the veteran rewards is a complete character remake. Hyur Naming Conventions Miqo’te Naming Conventions Elezen Naming Conventions Roegadyn Naming Conventions Lalafell Naming Conventions ♦City-States & Grand Companies Ul’dah & The Immortal Flames Amidst the arid region of Thanalan, the mercantile metropolis of Ul’dah serves as a beacon to all traders. Decorated in the finest gemstones and fabrics, this city-state provides for any vice or indulgence – if one has the gil. Paralleling its patron deity Nald’thal, Ul’dah balances its prosperous and nether elements on a loose scale. In the shadows, tensions are building between the Syndicate, a group selected by wealth, and the royal Sultana, Nanamo Ul Namo. The Immortal Flames is the grand company of Ul’dah. This contingent is led by Raubahn Aldynn, an Ala Mhigan man so successful in the coliseum his blood money has earned him a seat on the Syndicate. In a political landscape that strongly favors the elitist Syndicate, the lone devoted Raubahn and his army empower the more compassionate Sultana to stand a chance. Limsa Lominsa & The Maelstorm Off the windy meadows of La Noscea on the volcanic island Vylbrand is the thalassocracy of Limsa Lominsa, a maritime power. While the city’s many bridged island towers are a beauty to behold from afar, Lominsans tend to be more vulgar (and cutthroat) than most Eorzean folk. Part of this is due to a spotty history with piracy. Using her power over all ships in Lominsan waters, the ex-pirate Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn cleaned up the place when she became admiral and, later, chief admiral. Led by the admiral herself, the Maelstrom heads Limsa Lominsa’s crimson-bannered military. Over the five years since she became chief admiral she has done the impossible and made marauders trade their axes for tools. For some, however, old habits die hard. The thalassocracy also has not one, but two beastmen tribes trying to summon a primal on its doorstep. Gridania & The Order of the Twin Adder The Twelveswood, known as the Black Shroud to outsiders, is a dense, ample forest home to the protective, yet wrathful elementals. Within it, the nation of Gridania pays its upmost respect to these spirits, and thus nature itself. From construction to resource extraction, citizens are dedicated to harmony with the environment, lest they face certain death. The conjurers and, above them, the padjal Seedseers speak with the elementals directly and lead the nation by their will. Closest to the Garleans, the Elder Seedseer had the Order of the Twin Adder revived to bolster Gridania’s defenses. Forever youthful like all padjal, Kan-E-Senna is deceptively wise and confident. It was her who allied the three grand companies. She must not only face several threats, but meet them without upsetting the peace between the elementals and mankind. ♦Characters & Community Grand Company The grand company (GC) characters join works as an allegiance to one of the three nations. The city-state characters begin in only affects the central storyline for the first few levels; the GC they join will mark their true home. Characters in a GC will be able to use and purchase associated gear and other items with company seals. GCs can be joined through the central storyline, somewhere a little above lv. 20. Switching GCs is possible, but associated seals and gear will be unusable until returning. Characters will never be isolated based on GCs. An exception to this may be certain PvP content. ➡Grand Companies Linkshell Invitation-based chat channels called linkshells (LS) can be used for virtually any purpose, including casual conversation. Characters can be members of up to 8 LSs at a time. Players will be able to browse and chat with all of their LSs at any given moment. Free Company Players can also join together to form an organization (i.e. “guild”) called a free company (FC). Unlike LSs, characters can only be in one FC. In addition to having a chat channel and shared storage, members of FCs will be able work together to gain free company EXP and credits to earn expanded features and benefits. This includes company-wide bonuses with both low-level and end-game utility. FCs can also obtain customizable crests, which can be put on equipment. Although FCs branch off GCs, there are no restrictions based on allegiance. Transportation Characters can instantly warp back to their home point once every 15 minutes, or upon defeat, with return. This first requires attuning to (i.e. touching) one of many aetherytes found around the world. Players can also teleport their party to any aetheryte they (including the party members) have visited with a fee of gil. Additionally, characters can warp between the aethernet shards situated within city-states free of cost. More physical modes of transport include ships and airships, which also cost gil and are instantaneous. Access to airships is unlocked through the central storyline at around lv. 15. Chocobo porters are safe automated chocobo rides that will take players to and from locations where they’ve spoken with a chocobo porter. At lv. 10, temporary mounts called rental chocobos become available from chocobokeeps found in cities. Mounts As the name implies, mounts are creatures or vehicles ridden to increase movement speed. The typical mount is a personal chocobo acquired after buying a chocobo issuance from a GC using company seals at around lv. 20. There are also several other mounts to obtain (e.g. the Coeurl from the CE), but they may first require having a personal chocobo. Chocobos can be outfitted with barding and it has been said magitek armor will have customizable parts. Companions Companions are NPC allies summoned to join a party outside of dungeons or cities. This mainly consists of using a personal chocobo for battle, although magitek armor has been hinted at. Chocobos gain skills by players putting skill points earned from battle into defender, attacker, or healer specializations. They have four freely switchable tactical stances which mirror the specializations and include a hybrid free stance. Companions are not to be confused with minions: collective pets with no battle application. Markets Functioning as an “auction house” of sorts, players can sell items on the market through a retainer and purchase those player-sold items through market boards found in cities. There is an assortment of search features to find specific items and price history for previously sold items. The market is globally linked, but shifting tax rates will differentiate from where one decides to sell goods. There is a transaction fee for purchasing from retainers outside the city-state. Retainers Retainers are fully customizable NPCs players hire from retainer vocates after unlocking them during the main scenario at around lv. 20 (unless they were carried over with a legacy character) to store and sell possessions. They are contacted and managed through summoning bells found at the adventurer’s guild and market area of each city, among other places. A character can have two retainers to their name, each carrying up to 170 items (more for crystals and gil) and selling up to 20 items on the market for as long as a week. In the future, retainers will be able to do more, such as gather for you. Housing In a later patch, players will be able to purchase expensive plots of land in shared instanced areas for housing, both small and large. Land deeds can be bought for personal or FC use and be freely traded or sold to other players. With property owned, players can build, expand, and add furniture to houses of their liking. Adding things like battle trophies, parks, or chocobo stables will grant benefits (e.g. EXP bonus) to be shared with fellow FC members. This also includes a storefront for selling goods. Owners can set permissions depending on how they’d like to use the property. As there is limited space, developers will add a new instance only when the current one is getting full (similar to Dragon Quest X). ♦Mechanics Mouse & Keyboard There are two UI designs instead of a hybrid for mouse & keyboard and gamepad, a first for a Final Fantasy MMO. This allows for more mouse-specific features, such as mouse-over for action targets. Virtually any option can be placed on a hotbar (e.g. actions, emotes, macros, menus, gear sets/class change). It is highly recommended, when starting out, players go through all the settings and adjust as necessary. There are also settings to play with just a keyboard, like players could in FFXI. (It goes without saying that Windows users are able to use gamepads.) Gamepad The only option for PS3 players, FFXIV has been designed to accommodate gamepads. Most notably, there is the cross hotbar: players activate hotbar commands by holding “L2” or “R2” (default) in conjunction with the face buttons and D-pad. Using “L1” (default) in the same fashion can change tab targeting modes or enable cursor control (with “R3”). “R1” (default) is used to cycle between or select different hotbars. The same rules for hotbars apply here (and, again, it would be best to first configure controls, camera, and UI). A XMB-like main menu has also been implemented. Combat System FFXIV: ARR could be described as a “tab-targeting MMO”, combining mechanics of the previous iteration of FFXIV with a more common style similar to World of Warcraft. There is free movement and it mainly consists of selecting a target while using actions on hotbars. Some of these actions are tied to the global cooldown, a shared cooldown timer of roughly 2.5 seconds, while others will have no interaction with it (likely having a longer cooldown). The claiming system for monsters outside duties is very loose. The first player/party to attack an enemy will always get EXP and quest progress, but anyone else will be rewarded if they make a solid contribution to the fight. Similar to FFXI, consecutively defeating worthy enemies gives a chain bonus to EXP earned. Characters will be defeated when their HP is depleted to 0. Battle actions will often require spending MP (e.g. spells) or TP (e.g. weapon skills), two resources that recover very slowly while in battle. CP or GP will take the place of MP while crafting or gathering, respectively. The Armoury bonus gives more EXP when on battle classes other than the highest leveled. Additionally, standing in sanctuaries or an inn room will generate a rested bonus to EXP, even while logged out. Combos Combos are an extra effect granted when specific actions are used in a timed sequence. Additionally, proper positioning can enhance some actions and such positions are usually required for combos. Actions that are readied to combo will be highlighted on a hotbar. This also applies to other actions with conditional effects (e.g. being required to evade an attack first). There are also a few actions that directly influence others, such as having a chance to make another action free. Pugilists have their own pseudo-combos with forms: short lived status effects enabling weapon skills that chain into other forms. Limit Break Characters will have access to very powerful actions called limit breaks when in a “light party” (4 or more members) or “full party” (8 members). In order to use a limit break, the party will need to fill a shared meter called the limit gauge through dealing and healing damage. When the gauge is full any one party member can activate a limit break based on their party role (tank, melee, healer, or caster) and how many full gauges the party has, if multiple gauges are accessible. Attributes Starting at lv. 10, players will earn bonus points they can allot to attributes. Classes have separate allotted points, which are also used for their jobs (even for Arcanist). Allotment can be reset with items. Strength (STR) Increases melee attack power and percentage of damage mitigated by block and parry. Dexterity (DEX) Increases ranged attack power and the chance of blocking or parrying an attack. Vitality (VIT) Increases maximum HP. Intelligence (INT) Increases attack magic potency. Mind (MND) Increases healing magic potency. Piety (PIE) Increases maximum MP. Accuracy Increases accuracy of physical and magical attacks. Crit. Hit Rate Increases the probability that an attack will deal critical damage. Skill Speed Reduces recast time of weapon skills. Spell Speed Reduces the cast and recast of spells. Determination Increases the amount of damage dealt by all attacks and the amount of HP recovered by spells. ♦Duties Duty Finder Duty finder is both the main method to access instanced duties and a way to randomly match players together to create or fill up parties (drawing only from regionally-linked servers). Characters are restricted to the flagged class/job when the party is assembled, but are not while it is still assembling. There is also the option to join ongoing duties with missing spots. Parties require specific roles (e.g. 1 tank, 1 healer, and 2 damage dealers) unless fully assembled beforehand. Once the party is assembled, characters are teleported to an instance shared between servers. When the duty is over, they will be brought back exactly where they left. (There is also a player search function with party seeking tags in the game, but it doesn’t integrate with duty finder.) ➡Duty Finder Developers’ Commentary Level Sync Players with characters that are above a recommended or required level of a duty can opt to or will be forced to level sync and match that level (or a few levels above it). Higher-level gear can still be used and will scale down. Characters will gain EXP based on their newly synced level. Quests Being one of the more frequent activities players will engage in, quests are anything listed in the journal that isn’t a guildleve or any other kind of duty. Like other duties, the journal will explain where and how accepted quests can be done. The solo instanced quest battles will grant an enhancement upon retrying after defeat. Players will find quests easily using the recommendations menu. -Main scenario quests feature the game’s central storyline, while also working as a guided tutorial for the first two dozen levels. During the main scenario players will likely access most types of content for the first time. Voice acting is limited to these quests. -Side quests present the other stories of Eorzea. A few will introduce new utilities (especially those that branch off the main scenario). They are the source of many EXP and the ideal way to level the first few classes. -Class & job quests are noteworthy as they unlock new actions to use as characters go through a class/job’s storyline. For jobs, this is the primary source of actions and progression. Guildleves Guildleves are acquired from a levemete NPC once that area’s guildleves have been unlocked. The first set is accessed through the main scenario at around lv. 10, another from a quest directly following that, and the rest by doing quests for other levemetes at the required level. Guildleves are used to do levequests: repeatable duties which reward EXP, gil, and items. Once the player sets the difficulty (based on level), they will need to reach the marked location and complete their objective. The reward will be based on difficulty and a performance rating. Players can leve link to team up on duplicate levequests so they only have to be done once. Occasionally, wanted targets and treasure coffers will appear for a bonus. Accepting or retrying a levequest upon failure will cost a single leve allowance. Allowances refresh at a rate of three every 12 hours, up to a hundred. There are battlecraft, fieldcraft, and tradecraft guildleves associated with respective discipline types. Guildhests Characters can speak with a battlewarden to participate in guildhests (and use duty finder thereafter) after completing a quest that samples guildleves following their unlocking. These are small scale battles which often require special tactics. Guildhests are highly instructive and work to teach inexperienced players how to use strategies for complex encounters. A large EXP and gil bonus is granted on the first completion of a guildhest. FATE Full Active Time Events (FATEs) are dynamic encounters which will randomly appear in the game world, marked by blue circles on the map, open to everyone who enter their boundaries. FATEs will sometimes occur in a sequence that may change depending on how previous events unfolded (e.g. having to rescue NPCs after failing to protect a settlement). These encounters will scale based on the number of participants, balancing factors such as the number of NPC allies. Although primarily a source of EXP, certain FATEs have unique loot (e.g. Behemoth, Lightning). Each FATE has a recommended level, with characters over (without level sync) and under it being penalized. ➡Collaboration (FFXIII Lightning FATE) Instanced Dungeons Large instanced areas with unique bosses and mechanics, instanced dungeons serve as a primary piece of FFXIV’s group content. This includes everything between 4-man leveling dungeons starting at level 15 and multi-party alliances of 24 players doing end-game raids. Earlier dungeons will be revisited later on with “hard mode” versions, with new enemies and paths. The Crystal Tower and Great Labyrinth of Bahamut, the two main raids, will grow with content updates. Primal Battles Primals are the “summons” equivalent of FFXIV, although they are mainly antagonistic. One way primals will be faced is through the aptly named primal battles. These are multipart battles within small areas. At launch, players can challenge Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan. Three tiers of increasing difficulty are planned: “story”, hard, and extreme. Primal battles are different from instances of facing primals in FATEs (e.g. Odin) or dungeons (as speculated with Bahamut). Personal Logs Characters can use guild or GC associated hunting logs to track down and defeat specific monsters for EXP or seals. The crafting log is used to initiate synthesis and gives bonus EXP with new recipes. Similarly, the gathering log tracks and rewards new items gathered. For fishing, this functionality split between the Fish Guide (records fish and gives EXP) and Fishing Log (records fishing areas). Achievements & PS3 Trophies Achievements are extraneous goals which can reward name titles and, rarely, unique items. Achievements are separate from PlayStation trophies. ➡Achievements ➡PS3 Trophies ♦Player vs. Player Mechanics Player vs. Player (PvP) combat has been described as being designed to be different from the usual mechanics. A whole separate set of actions will be earned from and used for PvP. It’s been said some of these actions may change based on Grand Company allegiance. The Morale attribute lowers the damage taken from other players. PvP won’t be available at launch; the Wolves’ Den will come in the first patch after release, while Frontlines (along with less understood content, like companion vs. companion battles) is coming much later. Wolves’ Den The Wolves’ Den is an island arena where players can take part in straight 4v4 or 8v8 matches with the victory condition being the other team having no surviving members. If time runs out, both teams lose. PvP points used to purchase special actions, equipment, and items will be earned from dispatching enemies or winning matches. The Wolves’ Den requires lv. 30 to be unlocked and is accessible through the Duty Finder. Frontlines Another mode of PvP will be large open-areas, called Frontlines, where three armies of the Grand Companies will clash over lucrative ancient ruins. Little is known about it other than it will feature players battling over forts and crafters being more involved. ♦Crafting Synthesis Having 8 classes dedicated to it, crafting is a major part of FFXIV. With a tool equipped and the crystals and ingredients held, players can begin synthesis from the crafting log menu. This process primarily consists of using actions to fill the progress bar (based on the craftsmanship attribute) at the expense of durability, which causes failure upon hitting 0%. Using actions to instead fill the quality bar (based on the control attribute) exponentially increases the chance of making a high quality (HQ) item and adds to EXP awarded once the progress bar is full. Using HQ ingredients gives a boost to starting quality. Crafters must be mindful of stability, represented by the color of the glowing light, which can make actions risky. Quick Synthesis, obtained by reaching lv. 10 with any DoH class, will give instant results at the expense of quality. The condition of equipment will decrease through use (and characters being defeated) until becoming useless at 0%. Equipment list a DoH class and level that can repair it with dark matter. Currently, characters can only repair their own gear. For everyone else, certain NPCs will repair it for a fee of gil. Materia Equipment with slots can gain more attributes through crafters affixing materia to it. Players can do a quest available at lv. 19 to unlock the ability to permanently convert pieces of gear with a 100% spiritbond rating into materia. Spiritbond on equipment is earned upon use in battle, gathering, or crafting, which immediately prevents it from ever being traded or sold. The type and strength of materia is depended on the converted item. Materia can be removed from equipment, destroying all of it, by speaking to the NPC who gives the materia quests, Mutamix Bubblypots. Legacy characters will find their materia and melded equipment “cracked”. This materia can be exchanged for new ones or towards a currency that buys rare equipment. Materia Melding To meld materia onto equipment, a discipline of hand must first complete a second quest available at lv. 19. Eligible gear lists a required class and level for melding. Materia also must be affixed to equipment of a minimum item level (not the required level to equip) and be used with the stated catalyst item. After another DoH quest at lv. 25, crafters can use advanced melding to affix more materia than an item has slots (up to a total of 5). Advanced melding has a risk of failure that will cost the materia and catalyst used in the attempt. Based on the item, there are maximum enhancement values that cap how much gear can give of a single attribute, negating stacking. Crafters can meld equipment in the inventories of characters who Request Meld. Dyes Upon completing a side quest at lv. 15, players can use dye items on most visible equipment. There are no color restrictions and changing colors just requires using another dye. Some equipment, including a lot of dungeon loot and job artifact armor, can’t be dyed, but this may change in the future. Dyes can be crafted by any DoH class, as lv. 30 recipes. ♦Gathering Mining & Botany Gathering is essential to the economy as it is the source of crystals, catalysts, and many crafting materials. Botanist and Miner operate very similarly to each other. Gathering as either comprises finding a point on the map to either mine/quarry or log/harvest and then engaging it. This will bring up a window showing gatherable items, along with the chance of success (based on the Gathering attribute) and chance of obtaining a HQ item (based on the Perception attribute). Unknown items are obscured until gathered for the first time, which is both more difficult and rewarding. Consecutive successful attempts will provide an increasing chain bonus to EXP and enable some actions until a failure occurs. As gatherers level up, they will gain access to more points with new items to gather. Although DoL classes are unfit for confrontation, they can still travel through dangerous areas with stealth actions. Fishing Although fish (and other materials) can be sold and used for recipes, fishing is meant to be a casual activity for quieter moments. Fisher is by far the simplest class. Fishers simply designate some bait through the Bait action and use Cast near a body of water (or similar, as sand and sky fishing is later possible). They will have a few seconds to use Hook to reel in a fish tugging at the line (based on the Perception attribute). Which fish can be caught is based on the area, the bait, and misc. factors like weather. At lv. 30, Mooch allows fishers to sometimes use the HQ fish they just got caught as bait for the next cast. ♦Apps The Lodestone Redesigned since 1.0, The Lodestone is the official community and database site of FFXIV. Here players can access a game database, the forums, player blog posts, character data, manage FC features, and other utilities. It is also where news, patch notes, and direct messages from the developers will be posted. All players should check The Lodestone frequently. Libra Eorzea Libra Eorzea is a free app based on the Lodestone which is accessible through mobile devices. It will thoroughly cover characters, actions, items, quests, etc., serving as a guide for the entire game. It will be released for iOs devices a week from launch and to Android devices soon after. More advanced features, like market access, have been hinted at as a later addition.