Hi, I'm A Noob Who Doesn't Want To Be A Noob!

Level 50 PLD/SMN/WHM/BLM/SCH/MNK, all i90 minimum with i95 wep, i103 PLD and i96 MNK, already downed t9, get on my level.

But whereas I'm pro as hell in that game, in XI I'm nowhere close, it's quite evident seeing how the people who've played the game longest are so far above us who are only just now seriously getting into it, if I hadn't been playing XIV since beta I wouldn't be as far along as I am in that game. When you play an MMO which are all about grinding, the people who play longer have such an advantage over those who haven't been playing as long it's unreal.

Wow! I would think that going from 14 to 11 would make me think I'd developed cataracts. Good for you!

The community has really come a long way, it's refreshing to see these type of posts. maybe thats whats attracting people back to the game.

They are nice, and it's great! Then again there's even more jerks, so it can be even more of a turn off. Sadly nice person isn't on my server :c


I bet, BRD always seemed like the best support job in this game. I'm probably not one to level bard though, or enjoy it, and I've done a lot of leveling lately so it's gonna be a while if I ever get the desire to level something again

Keep in mind that SAM is useful in some battlefields but undesirable in others. The state of the game is most people do stuff with only one party setup in mind and are unwilling to try to mix it up.

You really SHOULDN'T need to level X job you don't like to get gear for Y job you do like, but sometimes it is inevitable.

Lucky for you SAM is at least more useful than something like PUP. :( SAM should be able to do most delves, and most merit battlefields.

Also, it really doesn't take much to get geared decently enough to start being included in activities in FFXI.

There seems to be a good SAM guide out there that looks like it was updated recently which is a sticky in the Sam Forum.

Start with:
ItemSet 319030
Then work Toward:
ItemSet 318980
as far as TP set goes.

Focus on reforging your relic/af gear. SKNM20 shout groups should happen decently for those and doing one run of 6 pops will get you more than enough REM pages to reforge 1 piece of gear. Sparks equip is more than enough for normal or below. Alternatively, the next update will let you bring trusts into those battlefields so you could solo them.

I would recommend just buying pages 6-10 via sparks.

Like others have said do voidwatch for gil. Don't feel bad shouting because really even a party of 6 with sparks gear should be more than enough to farm most mobs. You'll probably get more than 6 pretty easily. You'd just want at least 1 war and 1 blm to help with procs though.

Alternatively Salvage or Dynamis may be something you could look into for solo.

Lastly, I know this topic was made looking for a LS on your server to help you out, but really you'd get much better luck just shouting on your server in game for a shell. More often than not if you find a big enough social shell most people are willing to do the started battlefields and stuff without too much emphasis on gear.

He wanted to play a fun game.

The sticky was what I was using as a reference to items I should get, so I did see those, and I am working towards that gear. I'll definitely do some VW then, and if sparks gear is good enough then I'll be quite fine.

Yeah, it seems it'll be best to shout for a linkshell, still, thanks to everyone for all the advice so far, if you have any other tips you want to send me, please feel free to do so!

(poor PUP, they get no love ;_;)

Yeah sparks should be fine for most content you need to get you geared/gilled. Salvage, Dynamis, Voidwatch, Skirmish (Rala/Cirdis/Yorcia), SKNM20 (Normal and Below). It's a pretty solid all around set. People just dislike it because if it's ease to get.

Pup is my favorite job for dynamis ws proc no competition with a cure auto......so don't let anyone sway you away the job has a lot of uses to help you solo things you need.

Back to the whm talk... Luckily you don't want to go go that route because regardless of how you can get it to cure cap or not you don't want the responsibility of keeping dd alive in delve until you are a seasoned player. These people who are telling you it's easy are very good players and are not taking into the fact you don't know delve at all. Maybe in a full ally you could get away with it. But sole healer is harder than that.

There is a difference between getting invited to delve and actually winning. Brd whm sch 99 absolutely will get invited but if you do not know the jobs we'll or are geared with proper sets you could be the reason they lose. Stick to gearing the job you like because you can do it on your own. While you are doing that you will gain more experience and hence know what you will have to do to get into end game.

That's exactly what I was leaning towards. Leveling a mage or support is all well and good, but if I don't like it and feel pressured to play it, I'll just do bad, get people killed, and that's not going to help anyone. If it's endgame, it's not supposed to be easy, so I need to stick with actually learning how to play one job as opposed to 3 or 4, and move to others when I actually know content and what I'm supposed to do.

Even if it seems unfair, this game requires you to be, most of all, flexible. There are two jobs that are used in every single end-game event with the exception of Dynamis/Salvage farming- bard and white mage. WHM is a little easier to gear, BRD is a little easier to play. If you have one of those jobs as an option, you will find that progression in FFXI comes exceedingly fast. Edit: minimum reqs. for BRD- 3 songs, +3 instruments. For WHM- capped cure potency with AF3 body + legs, -cure cast time set.

There's nothing wrong with samurai. It is the best DD for two Delve areas (Yorcia and Ceizak), acceptable for three others, and only Marjami is it a handicap. The problem with trying to main SAM as a new player is that you are going to be competing for DD slots with a lot of people that highly outgear you. 75% of players in FFXI have a good 119-geared heavy DD job, even ones who play support/mages. You could do paladin, but be aware that paladin has a hard gearcheck for endgame.

Anyway, best of luck to you! Hope to see you running around in a couple of months as a geared samurai :)

If you're looking for folks to hang out with, send me a tell in game (Jeanpaul). I'm always down for messing around in older content, and I've managed to make several friends who are just as easy-going about the game as I am. I don't have my own linkshell made or anything, though. Like yourself, there are still plenty of players who are all about taking their time to enjoy the game and it's refreshing to see people who haven't already exhausted themselves on endgame content.

Also, don't feel the need to level a job just to get invites. Any content can be completed with any job as long as you understand your enemy and your own abilities. Some jobs just happen to have advantages for the situation. Most people have had bad experiences with some of the harder content (or alternatively, they only attempt strategies that have been shown to work on sites like this and BG), so they stick with what they feel is the most assured way to win. Just remember that it's a game after all; I'd rather have fun but lose than win but be bored.

Granted, you will progress much faster if you play an in-demand job like WHM or BRD, but you also are playing a game. If you don't want to play those jobs because they aren't fun for you, then don't. You can make progress even in endgame with limited jobs. You will be playing catch up a lot or relying on friends to be accepting of less optimal setups, as PUGs and more hardcore LS's rarely stray from convention. I've got VD wins and noteworthy gear while having basically only SAM MNK and BLU. I have many other jobs I play occasionally, but those are what I almost always attend runs as, and my group is pretty accommodating.

Bottom line, it's a game, if you aren't having fun, who cares how shiney your shineys are?

Don't trust him, Urteil doesn't really run a linkshell, but a sect!

Can and will do, currently working on finishing that damn CoP storyline (and having no idea what the hell is going on), once I do that it'll be Sea spam till I have the recommended reforged relic/artifact pieces I need to not suck.


It's something I kept in mind when I was picking a job to get to 99 after I already leveled SMN and found it wasn't exactly the best job to bring to any real parties. A job that was not only in demand, but I would have fun with. It came down to leveling RNG, MNK, or SAM, so I chose SAM (RNG I would need a relic, and I found SAM to have more visual and skill appeal than MNK, even though it seems MNK is the one and only go-to endgame dps).


But if we're all in a cult together, won't we just get along that much more?

You don't need a relic on RNG. It helps, but don't be fooled by the shouts for relic RNG. That's mostly so difficult AA's can be facerolled by idiots. The non-relic 119 bow options put out really strong damage numbers, but you have to be careful with them.

Also, relic bow is a good goal for samurai. With Tsurumaru and Yoichi, and 99 SAM/99RNG, you are prepared to be a DD on any endgame fight in FFXI now.

I agree with this sentiment entirely. It is a game, play as you will.

Being flexible, however, will get you to your ideal -anything- faster.

I don't want people to think my standpoint is "I only play what I want, I don't care what people need, I'm selfish and only care about myself". It's more like "I only have the time and energy to focus on one job at a time, so I want to focus on the one I'm enjoying playing the most, even if it's going to take more time/energy in the long run to achieve my goal".

Going off to have an early bedtime, will lurk this thread more when I wake up.

There's nothing selfish about playing jobs you enjoy. Expecting others to drag you along is another thing, and whining about not getting to do stuff as well. I knew I would be excluded from some content by choosing to play those jobs, and I don't fault anyone for not bringing me to a particular fight. I will drag out one of my more useful jobs if I am deadset on getting into a run.

Chains of Promathia FINALLY done, I feel I would have enjoyed it if I actually knew what was going on (and oh my god navigating the Al'Taeiu palace was the nightmare to end all nightmares). Now that I can start working on reforging my gear, what else should I be doing while I work on that?

So far I've joined and successfully farmed some VW, and can do some dynamis myself, so what other methods or things can I do to improve myself? Also, how do you all recommend I use my job abilities, tp, and weapon skills to ensure I'm doing as much damage as I possibly can?

For Sam it's not always about WS as soon as possible. It is more about timing a ws. Try to skill chain off of other people's ws. If you don't have fudo, I suggest getting it unlocked as it makes light very easy. You can use log in points to get all the items you need for unlocking that ws.

Make sure you use meditate gear...hasso gear...5/5 overwhelm and try to face the enemy as much as possible when you ws. Don't forget to eat food.

And best advice just keep killing stuff and everything will fall into place.

Familiarizing yourself with Adoulin is a good idea (assuming you have that expansion), particularly since most of the zones require key items to access or traverse. Be warned, though, that the enemies in these zones are beyond level 99 so you may get your butt beat if you're careless. On the plus side, you'll be getting a decent amount of experience points and capacity points, and more likely to get Sacred Kindred Crests, which will be helpful in upgrading some of your choice pieces of armor.

To help bridge the gap between having outdated gear and amazing gear, you might wanna spend a little time in Abyssea if there are things there that are irreplaceable, like certain pieces of armor or accessories that improve some of your abilities. While you're in there, it is very easy to farm up Sparks for Records or Eminence.

If I have time to play today, I'll send you a tell and we can go explore and look for stuff on your most wanted list.

Flexibility will most likely land you more invites than if you only had one type of job to offer to those delve runs etc. Also, I would highly suggest doing your research to as what your role would be in those runs. For example, it's surprising (at the same time not surprising) to see some WHMs who don't know what sacrifice does... Moreso Arise!

I really have to echo you doing some Wildskeeper Reives. Otomi & Yaoyotl Helms are both useful, as are some other stopgap gears like Whirlpool/Ejekemal Greaves, not to mention the chance for a JSE cape with every WKR. worst case scenario, you get three you don't need and trade for one you do. you also get chances at moneymakers like higher tier Faithful pieces for Skirmish.

Worth noting that WKR is likely to be very popular for a while after the June update changes (new drops, KIs used to augment WKR gear). So don't worry if you aren't seeing a lot of shouts or WKR activity right now, it's coming soon and will probably be in heavy rotation for a couple months after the new update.

I'd strongly advise anyone needing to gear up make sure you get prepared by making progress in the Adoulin mission storyline until you can unlock the ability to buy WKR entry key items. That requires doing a small number of CS missions then needing to use a lot of imprimaturs to progress further. That's going to require some waiting while your imprimaturs replenish over time, so get on it ASAP. You'll also want to build up some bayld so you can afford lots of WKR KIs.

Success, I was thinking that unlocking the Naakuals would be tougher, since I read it takes a LOT of imprimaturs at low adoulin fame, but adoulin fame level 2 and 21 imprimitaurs and I got the cs to continue with the mission, so yeah :P.

Gil earning is nice so far, 3.4 mil made off of vw at this point and bought the mid end tp pieces I could off the sam guide, got my rajas ring as well and with that am working on collecting the mats and items I need for reforged artifact. As I work on those, I just want to confirm that if I shout for a SKCNM and spend my own crests people will be fine with me showing up as a SAM in outrider, right? >.< I know the alternative to getting Rem's Tales is sparks, but at 50k sparks a reforged piece I'd rather save sparks till I need pages 6-10.

As for reforged relic, how far along should I get my relic pieces before I upgrade them? Currently, it seems the most efficent is to buy the forgotten items to magian them from base to +2 and upgrade them from there to reforged using 10 chapters, the trial to get the augmented +2 feels like quite a bit of work just to knock off 5 tales, though if you guys have an alternative I'd love to hear it. Also, any other general tips would still be wonderful! (and also I'll start leveling WHM after I get SAM some more work, and I'll beg for advice when I get that far)

Glad things are looking up for you. I usually go from a base +2 to reforged because farming sparks is easy and dynamis is a good money maker so I don't want to waste a farm on xping gear.

Having leveled a mage job to gear the job I loved back at 75 I would caution you against doing so. Yes, it's effective to gear your favorite job. You're likely going to be stuck on x mage job for at least a year if not longer because it's likely the group you've joined as a mage already has really well geared DD (who may only have DD jobs leveled). If you like playing a mage job, definitely play it. If you don't like it you will find it makes the game less enjoyable to play being stuck on a job you don't like.

Also while easy to gear at an acceptable level, WHM is not the only support job out there (if it's just healing you don't enjoy). You might find scholar more fun (if you like stunning things), cor is super fun (although slightly less in demand for some events), geo is quite entertaining (also less in demand but pretty useful in delve 2.0). Obviously bard would take a lot of work to gear so not worth it for a casual thing.

edit: actually I forgot about your summoner. SMN is useful for DM 2 and delve 2. You might consider gearing that job a bit more.

The only relic regorge I use is the body. Other than That I like the AF or delve gear.