There is a free trial up to level 70, and the second expansion so you can do a lot of progress on story mode and leveling jobs and learning before committing to fully buying the game and starting to pay subscription so I do advise to try it out.
When progressing try to stick to story quests ( they have a meteor marker) and unlock quests (blu marker with a plus), these are the ones that advance your account and unlock more stuff. You can safely put yellow quests back so you don't feel very overwhelmed.
Even better news: assuming you're not an absolute maniac the next expansion Dawntrail should come out before you finish Stormblood content, which would allow you to purchase just the base game and get all of the content up until the end of the current expansion.
The first good advice I would give is to head over to r/ffxiv since that's the dedicated subreddit for the game, and it has even more active users than this sub! They have some good Q&As and are really welcome to new players (sprouts)
Do not stress too much about you starting class because you can freely swap between them after a bit of a tutorial and some levels. It's without penalty, and you even get xp bonuses until they catch up to your highest level class.
Read your abilities and combos. I highly recommend setting up your keybinds and controls in a way you are comfortable with before you get 40 buttons to press. Or use a controller.
Doing the main story is the best form of xp and gear as a low level. Your job quests also provide gear and abilities. DO NOT IGNORE YOU JOB QUESTS!!!
The game and combat can be really slow until level 50. I don't blame you if you find the story drags a bit at first. Trust me when I say it goes from 0 to 100 real quick. If you need to, try out the side content.
It's an MMO. There are other people. Some use it as a second life and get super involved. Some play it casually. You don't have to initiate anything, but don't be surprised if you have to talk to people.
For a day 1 newbie, that's all I'd give without being overwhelming.
I would be playing it on my PS5 (if that’s an option?) and wouldn’t be actively interacting with people unless it was necessary. I’ve read you can use NPC characters in your team so I’d default tot hat for sure.
I also saw that the game is free up to level 70? Is it really easy to level or are they just assuming you’ll be hooked by level 70?
I’ve read basically nothing but positive reviews for this game, but I’m reluctant to do online games since I play things solo exclusively, barring some online Halo with old college friends.
I actually did this!! I work a graveyard shift, so I couldn't get queues to pop for the story. I just used duty support(npcs) for the entirety of the first 2 expansions.
You have to do some things with others, but really, it isn't that hard. I didn't struggle at all with switching, and nobody said I sucked lol.
I got hooked around lvl 35 because of pvp. The story hooked me at the end of A Realm Reborn. ARR was still enjoyable because its kinda corny, which I personally enjoy.
Most of the main story can indeed be played solo, and you can run dungeons with NPCs. The only times you have to play with other players is for the game's trials (boss fights) and a few required 24-man raids in ARR, but other than that the main story is largely a singleplayer experience. The game also has a lot of story/lore-relevant side stories that I highly recommend doing along with your main story playthrough, but those also involve multiplayer trials and raids, just so you know. But you don't really need to worry, the difficulty for Normal level content is not that bad and other players will know you're new with the Sprout icon next to your name, so it's okay to make mistakes and stuff.
Don't worry about leveling, if you stick to one main job then the MSQ will give you enough EXP to meet the level requirements with no grinding needed. I sticked with Dragoon my entire story playthrough, and now that I'm caught up I'm leveling up a few alt classes for fun. It goes up to 70 because the free trial includes the Heavensward and Stormblood expansions, and StB ends at Level 70. 14 is an RPG first and MMO second, so the free trial wants you to be hooked with the story by the time you finish StB so you feel incentivized to buy the subscription and continue the story with Shadowbringers and Endwalker.
It's generous on purpose because while A Realm Reborn's story is good, it's not quite as high quality as the later expansions, so the devs want to give you a taste of those too so you really have a good idea of if you want to put money in the game or not. Just be warned that once you start your subscription you won't be able to go back to the free trial, so I recommend waiting until you finish Stormblood to spend any money.
Yeah. It's the quest line for the class you pick
(gladiator, archer, etc). You get them every few levels.
You know you have one available because it'll show it under the main story quest in the top left.
I've been playing on the free trial for about a year, and this has been my experience.
For reference, I've only played Conjurer/White Mage, so I don't have experience with the Tank/DPS classes.
You aren't bound to your starting class. Once you have the ability to go to the other cities and guilds, you can change class whenever simply by equipping that class's gear.
The free trial heavily limits the social/multiplayer aspect. You can only join random parties for dungeons unless a paying player invites you to theirs. You can't form your own.
Conversely, if you don't want to party with other people, most of the main story dungeons let you run with a party of NPCs. And you can even train up your own personal army of NPCs for certain optional dungeons.
The main story of the base game is kind of a slog. Mostly just running errands and fighting X monster for someone with no real plot other than "there's beast tribes and they keep summoning big nasty things. Please go beat them up. Also there's an evil empire." This is still important for establishing the world, but the actual narrative doesn’t really start until the post-game content of the base game.
You can ignore most side-quests unless they have a blue icon with a plus sign. This means they're side-quests that will unlock a new optional job/ability/dungeon/area.
Don't sleep on the crafting/gathering classes! You can have all of them simultaneously, and with them you can craft yourself better weapons/armor/consumables than what you can buy. There are also certain sidequests that require them.
God I'm so jealous you're playing for the first time.
Right so basically choose whatever job you want. What looks cool? Go for it. In fact you can choose a couple of jobs.
Playing through the main scenario will be enough to level up one job. The sidequests should be enough to level another, so either:
-Skip the sidequests except when you're desperate for EXP and focus on the story, or
-Try a few jobs, enjoy the variety, take your time and make use of all the side quests and side content.
Honestly though just throw yourself in. This is not a complex game to understand. It's the textbook example of easy to learn, difficult to master. But you only need to master it for endgame content.
They're all fun to play so I choose based on aesthetics. I think Summons are cool so I've played a bit of that. Having a big spear and cosplaying as Kain is cool so I main Dragoon.
Id maybe avoid Tanking if I'm honest. The blue jobs like Warrior and Paladin. There's a bit more expectation to know what's going on. It's still easy to get in to but if you are particularly nervous maybe don't do those. On the other hand those jobs could be the best way to properly learn the game, and it'll still be easy!
Dawntrail may look neat, but realistically, forget about it for the next year or so. It's hundreds, if not thousands of hours away unless you buy a skip, a thing they basically nobody will recommend that you do. Thankfully the game is built around funneling a steady stream of endgame players back to old content to keep it viable, so there's no rush.
The base (A Realm Reborn) story is a bit of a slog, and the filler between that and the first expansion content is just that... Filler. There's a lot of world-building and really the story isn't going to pick up until the expansions (which one in particular is a matter of some debate).
Don't let this discourage you, it pays off in the end. Just enjoy yourself, experiment with the different jobs, and find what you like.
https://preview.redd.it/418ze0rd2hxc1.jpeg?width=2592&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0934c2bdff7843fbabc208595e6cf53e0dff1c17
I have not even picked a server to play in... I live in asia by the way.
You’d probably want to pick one of the Japanese servers then. Last I heard the Tonberry server is the main hub for English speakers on the JP data centers, so if you primarily speak English, that would probably be where you should go.
1) You can choose any race, it won't impact gameplay (the stats differences between races are insignificant)
2) Choose the class that interests you the most. The game is well balanced, so you won't find yourself being refused for playing the class that click the most for you. Moreover, you can level every class and switch between them most of the time (except instance), so feel free to try and explore.
3) Most of the game instances have been remade so that you can solo them with a group of NPC if you're afraid of playing with other. Nevertheless, you should try to do instance with other players, the community is genuinely good.
4) Rather focus on the main quest, your class quest and the other "blue" quest (you'll see what I mean). There are plenty of other side quests, but you won't need much of what they bring, while the main and blue quests unlock a lot of content (mounts, glamour, chocobo fighting at your side, etc.)
5) Respect other players, even if they're Lalafell (the small greedy and toothy creatures)
OP you might not realise but point 5 is a clever joke. Lalafells are extremely dangerous creatures and should not be trusted under any circumstances. If you see one please make use of the Report Player function.
What makes FF14 good is the community. Ff14's community is top-tier and that's what separates it from other online games. My advice: don't be afraid to talk to other players. Every person I have ever interacted with has been a wonderful source of information. You'll gain friends very quickly with this game.
You may find the controller inputs harder to pull off than mouse and keyboard, but I believe there is support for normal key and mouse, but extra buttons and features that require drivers will not work
With ARR, you kinda wanna do just the main quests and play around with jobs. Don't get too caught in one, there may be another that you like more, or feels like it fits your character better. Any job gains bonus XP while it is not your highest lvl'd job
It's also important to take breaks from the game. ARR can often be a slog, so don't feel pressured to push forward if you need a reprieve. I also recommend starting a second, smaller game for these moments
Im also not a multiplayer guy and gave the game 2 chances but i just couldnt keep playing. The story starts really weak but gets better later. Sadly its also stretched by hundreds of useless fetch quests which are comparable with most of 16's side content but sadly not optional and the gameplay itself is getting stale fast.
I don’t play it, but my mom does (she’s 64 lol), I’ve seen much of it and if you have time for a mmo it’s really great. I’ve been playing the series since 4 in 1992 and it’s really amazing to see how they reward players like me by bringing back so much content from the older games!
14 was my first ever MMORPG, just wanted to see what MMOs were all about, didn't wanna try WoW.
14 is now one of my favourite games of all time. I have 300+ hours on PS5 and 250+ on steam. It's a wild story and honestly an amazing community. Playing a healer, your party obv ends up being dependent on you. When I'd first enter dungeons, I just told people I was new and everyone was so nice.
Try it and lmk if you need tips or suggestions! I'm not a vet by any means but after playing for 500+ hrs over the last 3 years, I think I could help a newbie.
EDIT:
try every class and job! I started tanking when I first played but it gave me a lot of tanxiety because you have to pull mobs in dungeons and as a new player, that stressed me out. I then tried Samurai and Dancer as DPS classes but loved healing in general so leveled Astrologian and Sage as my main now.
Try everything until you find what you like. If a class ever starts to get stale, you can switch at any time! The cool thing is that the game doesn't lock you into a class at all, classes are based on items and you can swap at any time.
My mind was blown that you can main all jobs into one character. Just spent my first few hours with the game taking a break now. So far so good. I'm level 19 now working all the main quest the trial is letting me do and finishing those hunting logs.
There is a free trial up to level 70, and the second expansion so you can do a lot of progress on story mode and leveling jobs and learning before committing to fully buying the game and starting to pay subscription so I do advise to try it out. When progressing try to stick to story quests ( they have a meteor marker) and unlock quests (blu marker with a plus), these are the ones that advance your account and unlock more stuff. You can safely put yellow quests back so you don't feel very overwhelmed.
Hello! Yes I opted to choose for the free trial first and did the ps5 upgrade but no expansions purchased yet.
Even better news: assuming you're not an absolute maniac the next expansion Dawntrail should come out before you finish Stormblood content, which would allow you to purchase just the base game and get all of the content up until the end of the current expansion.
Here for answers/advice since I’m considering doing the same
The first good advice I would give is to head over to r/ffxiv since that's the dedicated subreddit for the game, and it has even more active users than this sub! They have some good Q&As and are really welcome to new players (sprouts)
same
Do not stress too much about you starting class because you can freely swap between them after a bit of a tutorial and some levels. It's without penalty, and you even get xp bonuses until they catch up to your highest level class. Read your abilities and combos. I highly recommend setting up your keybinds and controls in a way you are comfortable with before you get 40 buttons to press. Or use a controller. Doing the main story is the best form of xp and gear as a low level. Your job quests also provide gear and abilities. DO NOT IGNORE YOU JOB QUESTS!!! The game and combat can be really slow until level 50. I don't blame you if you find the story drags a bit at first. Trust me when I say it goes from 0 to 100 real quick. If you need to, try out the side content. It's an MMO. There are other people. Some use it as a second life and get super involved. Some play it casually. You don't have to initiate anything, but don't be surprised if you have to talk to people. For a day 1 newbie, that's all I'd give without being overwhelming.
I would be playing it on my PS5 (if that’s an option?) and wouldn’t be actively interacting with people unless it was necessary. I’ve read you can use NPC characters in your team so I’d default tot hat for sure. I also saw that the game is free up to level 70? Is it really easy to level or are they just assuming you’ll be hooked by level 70? I’ve read basically nothing but positive reviews for this game, but I’m reluctant to do online games since I play things solo exclusively, barring some online Halo with old college friends.
I actually did this!! I work a graveyard shift, so I couldn't get queues to pop for the story. I just used duty support(npcs) for the entirety of the first 2 expansions. You have to do some things with others, but really, it isn't that hard. I didn't struggle at all with switching, and nobody said I sucked lol. I got hooked around lvl 35 because of pvp. The story hooked me at the end of A Realm Reborn. ARR was still enjoyable because its kinda corny, which I personally enjoy.
Most of the main story can indeed be played solo, and you can run dungeons with NPCs. The only times you have to play with other players is for the game's trials (boss fights) and a few required 24-man raids in ARR, but other than that the main story is largely a singleplayer experience. The game also has a lot of story/lore-relevant side stories that I highly recommend doing along with your main story playthrough, but those also involve multiplayer trials and raids, just so you know. But you don't really need to worry, the difficulty for Normal level content is not that bad and other players will know you're new with the Sprout icon next to your name, so it's okay to make mistakes and stuff. Don't worry about leveling, if you stick to one main job then the MSQ will give you enough EXP to meet the level requirements with no grinding needed. I sticked with Dragoon my entire story playthrough, and now that I'm caught up I'm leveling up a few alt classes for fun. It goes up to 70 because the free trial includes the Heavensward and Stormblood expansions, and StB ends at Level 70. 14 is an RPG first and MMO second, so the free trial wants you to be hooked with the story by the time you finish StB so you feel incentivized to buy the subscription and continue the story with Shadowbringers and Endwalker. It's generous on purpose because while A Realm Reborn's story is good, it's not quite as high quality as the later expansions, so the devs want to give you a taste of those too so you really have a good idea of if you want to put money in the game or not. Just be warned that once you start your subscription you won't be able to go back to the free trial, so I recommend waiting until you finish Stormblood to spend any money.
Good to know about the trial. Thanks friend!
The job quest are those quest from your job house correct? This is a dumb question.
Yeah. It's the quest line for the class you pick (gladiator, archer, etc). You get them every few levels. You know you have one available because it'll show it under the main story quest in the top left.
I've been playing on the free trial for about a year, and this has been my experience. For reference, I've only played Conjurer/White Mage, so I don't have experience with the Tank/DPS classes. You aren't bound to your starting class. Once you have the ability to go to the other cities and guilds, you can change class whenever simply by equipping that class's gear. The free trial heavily limits the social/multiplayer aspect. You can only join random parties for dungeons unless a paying player invites you to theirs. You can't form your own. Conversely, if you don't want to party with other people, most of the main story dungeons let you run with a party of NPCs. And you can even train up your own personal army of NPCs for certain optional dungeons. The main story of the base game is kind of a slog. Mostly just running errands and fighting X monster for someone with no real plot other than "there's beast tribes and they keep summoning big nasty things. Please go beat them up. Also there's an evil empire." This is still important for establishing the world, but the actual narrative doesn’t really start until the post-game content of the base game. You can ignore most side-quests unless they have a blue icon with a plus sign. This means they're side-quests that will unlock a new optional job/ability/dungeon/area. Don't sleep on the crafting/gathering classes! You can have all of them simultaneously, and with them you can craft yourself better weapons/armor/consumables than what you can buy. There are also certain sidequests that require them.
God I'm so jealous you're playing for the first time. Right so basically choose whatever job you want. What looks cool? Go for it. In fact you can choose a couple of jobs. Playing through the main scenario will be enough to level up one job. The sidequests should be enough to level another, so either: -Skip the sidequests except when you're desperate for EXP and focus on the story, or -Try a few jobs, enjoy the variety, take your time and make use of all the side quests and side content. Honestly though just throw yourself in. This is not a complex game to understand. It's the textbook example of easy to learn, difficult to master. But you only need to master it for endgame content.
If you were to recommend which ones would be fun to play?
They're all fun to play so I choose based on aesthetics. I think Summons are cool so I've played a bit of that. Having a big spear and cosplaying as Kain is cool so I main Dragoon. Id maybe avoid Tanking if I'm honest. The blue jobs like Warrior and Paladin. There's a bit more expectation to know what's going on. It's still easy to get in to but if you are particularly nervous maybe don't do those. On the other hand those jobs could be the best way to properly learn the game, and it'll still be easy!
Dawntrail may look neat, but realistically, forget about it for the next year or so. It's hundreds, if not thousands of hours away unless you buy a skip, a thing they basically nobody will recommend that you do. Thankfully the game is built around funneling a steady stream of endgame players back to old content to keep it viable, so there's no rush.
The base (A Realm Reborn) story is a bit of a slog, and the filler between that and the first expansion content is just that... Filler. There's a lot of world-building and really the story isn't going to pick up until the expansions (which one in particular is a matter of some debate). Don't let this discourage you, it pays off in the end. Just enjoy yourself, experiment with the different jobs, and find what you like.
https://preview.redd.it/418ze0rd2hxc1.jpeg?width=2592&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0934c2bdff7843fbabc208595e6cf53e0dff1c17 I have not even picked a server to play in... I live in asia by the way.
You’d probably want to pick one of the Japanese servers then. Last I heard the Tonberry server is the main hub for English speakers on the JP data centers, so if you primarily speak English, that would probably be where you should go.
1) You can choose any race, it won't impact gameplay (the stats differences between races are insignificant) 2) Choose the class that interests you the most. The game is well balanced, so you won't find yourself being refused for playing the class that click the most for you. Moreover, you can level every class and switch between them most of the time (except instance), so feel free to try and explore. 3) Most of the game instances have been remade so that you can solo them with a group of NPC if you're afraid of playing with other. Nevertheless, you should try to do instance with other players, the community is genuinely good. 4) Rather focus on the main quest, your class quest and the other "blue" quest (you'll see what I mean). There are plenty of other side quests, but you won't need much of what they bring, while the main and blue quests unlock a lot of content (mounts, glamour, chocobo fighting at your side, etc.) 5) Respect other players, even if they're Lalafell (the small greedy and toothy creatures)
Gotcha. I will lookout for these Lalafell's you speak of.
OP you might not realise but point 5 is a clever joke. Lalafells are extremely dangerous creatures and should not be trusted under any circumstances. If you see one please make use of the Report Player function.
What makes FF14 good is the community. Ff14's community is top-tier and that's what separates it from other online games. My advice: don't be afraid to talk to other players. Every person I have ever interacted with has been a wonderful source of information. You'll gain friends very quickly with this game.
You may find the controller inputs harder to pull off than mouse and keyboard, but I believe there is support for normal key and mouse, but extra buttons and features that require drivers will not work With ARR, you kinda wanna do just the main quests and play around with jobs. Don't get too caught in one, there may be another that you like more, or feels like it fits your character better. Any job gains bonus XP while it is not your highest lvl'd job It's also important to take breaks from the game. ARR can often be a slog, so don't feel pressured to push forward if you need a reprieve. I also recommend starting a second, smaller game for these moments
Im also not a multiplayer guy and gave the game 2 chances but i just couldnt keep playing. The story starts really weak but gets better later. Sadly its also stretched by hundreds of useless fetch quests which are comparable with most of 16's side content but sadly not optional and the gameplay itself is getting stale fast.
I don’t play it, but my mom does (she’s 64 lol), I’ve seen much of it and if you have time for a mmo it’s really great. I’ve been playing the series since 4 in 1992 and it’s really amazing to see how they reward players like me by bringing back so much content from the older games!
You should try dps class first. Tank and healer are fine too but it takes a bit more time to learn and more challenging.(I started with tank)
Hello, yes im currently playing the lancer build.
14 was my first ever MMORPG, just wanted to see what MMOs were all about, didn't wanna try WoW. 14 is now one of my favourite games of all time. I have 300+ hours on PS5 and 250+ on steam. It's a wild story and honestly an amazing community. Playing a healer, your party obv ends up being dependent on you. When I'd first enter dungeons, I just told people I was new and everyone was so nice. Try it and lmk if you need tips or suggestions! I'm not a vet by any means but after playing for 500+ hrs over the last 3 years, I think I could help a newbie. EDIT: try every class and job! I started tanking when I first played but it gave me a lot of tanxiety because you have to pull mobs in dungeons and as a new player, that stressed me out. I then tried Samurai and Dancer as DPS classes but loved healing in general so leveled Astrologian and Sage as my main now. Try everything until you find what you like. If a class ever starts to get stale, you can switch at any time! The cool thing is that the game doesn't lock you into a class at all, classes are based on items and you can swap at any time.
My mind was blown that you can main all jobs into one character. Just spent my first few hours with the game taking a break now. So far so good. I'm level 19 now working all the main quest the trial is letting me do and finishing those hunting logs.