an Advice for a pre-newb

[Markus. D]

which race, class, server, places i should start etc.....


im thingking towards humans because i cant seem to focus if im say.... something non-human.


class wise im going for a tactical melee class. (your suggestions please)


oh ps: whats a nice place to sit down and stare at your surroundings while having a cup of tea :P (chat).

ps ps: sorry im involving many typos and almost zilch punctuation.

[Khaotic]

Depends on what you want, melee you should probably go elvaan, RDM(if you consider that melee) I'd personally suggest Mithra, simply because at 75 you'll be rdm/nin most of your time, and being a mithra helps alot. I'll reply again when you give more info, what exactly you want, what exactly you're expecting, we can't just guess what job you might enjoy, etc.

[Markus. D]

rdm? mithra? nin? 0_o

[Rostum]

Well if you go RDM, you'll be a mage your whole life unless you really want to sub ninja at 75. But you won't be 75 for a very very long time.

A very good melee class is a warrior. Very top notch class and amazing damage. Or you can try your hand at samarai, which is all about the skill chains...

...Really, each class is a very good class. So it's up to you. Just look into www.ffxionline.com and check out the class forums. ^^;

Eh, being a Tarutaru is a lot of fun. Hume is also fun. Never liked Elvaan or Galka though. Mithra is basically the same as Hume except with a tail. It's up to you.

Oh and the island off Bibiki Bay is a nice place to relax. =)

[Lionx]

Be whatever race you want, the differences between the races are only a few points in the end, and there are tons of gear that can make up that difference. The only real difference besides looks/emotes are the HP-MP Ratio, in which arent a huge factor when it comes to job choice. I would go with the race you are most comfortable in because jobs are easily changed (especially when you start out) but race is not.

Some abbreviations of jobs are:

WAR-Warrior
MNK-Monk
THF-Theif
RDM-Red Mage
WHM- White Mage
BLM-Black Mage
PLD- Paladin
DRK-Dark Knight
BST-Beastmaster
SAM-Samurai
RNG-Ranger
DRG-Dragoon
SMN-Summoner
NIN-Ninja
BLU-Blue Mage(not out yet)

The places that you start at are kinda moot, the rings you get for being a specific race starting at a specific area is not THAT huge really. Pick the one that you like the best, as the story will interest you more regarding that nation.

I dont understand what you mean by Tactical Melee, judging from what i know, WAR, NIN, and SAM are as tactical as you can get.

[Yeargdribble]

I'd say pick whatever race you want but you will deal with a bit of racism in the game most specifically as it applies to job/race relation.

Really a Taru melee can be just fine but if someone has to choose between inviting a taru PLD and a Galka PLD almost everyone will invite the galka over the taru. Also even though the points are only slightly different by the end of the game I'd say picking race goes like this
1. The race you are most drawn to.
2. The race that fits your job.

Keep in mind you may not stay in love with that job so it could change.

Here is a little run down on the classes:

BLM (Black Mage) - The DD (damage dealer) of choice these days. Since RNG damage got knocked a little everyone and their dog wants to level BLM. Can be a lot of fun and not a job that I would consider extremely difficult. Finding a party will not be difficult if you are BLM most of the time. This job is fairly expensive.

MNK (Monk) - Decent DDs that get more invites than they used to. Endgame these are some of the greatest for XP and are great endgame DDs. There are moderate numbers of them and the middle levels can be a little slower than you might like. Not too expensive except for a few luxury gears that you don't really 'need'.

RDM (Red Mage) - Thought to be one of 'the' soloing classes endgame but I would highly suggest you don't focus your whole game on getting a job that can solo well at the end. It will be expensive and will piss PTs off. By the time you are in your 40s people will NOT want to see you meleeing whether you or anyone thinks it's okay to do it. You may find yourself getting booted and you can get a bad rep for meleeing and not doing your other duties.

RDM gets stupid fast invites because at 41 they get a spell called Refresh. Once you are in your 40s you will have to Refresh pretty much everyone with MP, Dispel any buffs the mob has and continues to put up, enfeeble the mob with all of the appropriate enfeebles, keep people back up cured... etc. It honestly doesn't leave much room for melee and you are very likely to shurk your responsibilities if you attempt it. I'd say only go RDM if you want to be a back line caster not engaged.

RDM is popular throughout the game and you will be very popular for endgame. It is a moderately expensive job

THF (Thief) - One of the other most impressive solo jobs in the game. THF can solo extremely well past 74 (like RDM). It is not necessarily cheap to do so but THF can make a /xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gifton of money very easily. If you want cashflow this job can help (it's also a fairly expensive job to upkeep). Parties will be somewhat scarce and your damage will suck until about 15 and then you get a little better... at 30 you will become much more popular. If you end up with the right gear you can be very very popular for endgame linkshells but don't bet on it. Still you shouldn't have too much trouble getting into one. The cost of this job is offset a bit by the money it can make.

WAR (Warrior) - Great job to start with and a good low level 'tank' (the one that takes the hits for those that can't). Sadly people do not take WAR as a main very seriously past 30ish though WAR makes a great DD and a fair tank endgame. If you level almost any other melee job you will have to level WAR. Not extremely popular in endgame. Cost is moderate.

WHM (White Mage) - Always popular and a pretty good job though it can be stressful. You will not have trouble with party invites and will have a sure place in endgame. Cost is not extravagant but may seem so because WHM can't make money the same way some melee jobs do.

BRD (Bard) - A fairly difficult job I'd say if you wanna play it correctly. Your job is to make the party stronger and keep things flowing smoothly. A lot of people use this as the fast ticket to 75 because it is a pretty cheap job with insane invite speed. People generally don't see a lot of BRDs in their party spread because BRDs level so quickly. I'd suggest personally not using it as a quick ticket to 75 as you will hate it and probably play it badly in that case as most do. Very popular endgame and a great job. Everyone loves a BRD.

BST (Beastmaster) - A primarily solo job though only because the Brady guide sucks. These can be very useful in a party but people just will not invite them for the most part. Probably the best soloer in the game arguably due to some issues with the claim system. Leveling up will be a bit slower with BST but steady. You don't have to wait for parties to pick you up and since you get 100% of the drops you make a decent amount of money and nobody will complain about your gear but you. Endgame shells will fight over you like almost no othe job.

DRK (Dark Knight) - A cool job and a decent DD. This is one of the least popular jobs in the game and unless you have millions in gear long before you can make millions you might have trouble getting invites. People say the damage isn't good enough and the accuracy sucks but DRK has more at its disposal than just a big sword (or scythe). You can use some black magic. However, it seems that every immature, wannabe goth kid plays DRK and gives it a bad rep... therefore people don't give it much of a chance though it is a good job. You have a chance at getting in an endgame shell but this is an expensive job

DRG (Dragoon) - This job is totally cool but will get almost no invites. Once upon a time DRG was extremely powerful but that was adjusted. Now people won't give them the time of day. By 60 you can be a pretty good soloer but still it doesn't compare to partying for XP and can be frustrating. Somewhat like DRK, DRG is cursed with every 12 year old think it's "OMFG AWESOMEZ" and playing it badly. Therefore the entire communtiy suffers. I always try to pick them up. When played well they are awesome. Fairly expensive just because people won't except you without uber gear but also you have a decent chance of getting into some endgame shell because of certain DRG abilities that are almost useless except in endgame.

NIN (Ninja) - Probably currently the most expensive job by far. If you want to play NIN don't think you will be a cool DD... you will be a tank and you will have to be good at your job to be a tank. You will get a ton of invites. This job is prohibitively expensive though... VERY VERY expensive. I would not suggest starting this as one of your early main jobs... you just can't support it. Later in the game this is one of the top soloing jobs and you will get fought over by good endgame shells. Key word is expensive.

PLD (Paladin) - The tank class. PLD is the tank. For XP everyone except maybe BRD and WHM will strongly prefer PLD over NIN. Invites are pretty quick and this is a pretty cheap job over-all. Also very popular endgame if you are good at it.

RNG (Ranger) - Formerly the gods of Vana'diel but SE adjusted them to where they couldn't just throw hoards of money at the job to be absolutely worshiped. Endgame and for XP they were once worshipped. Now they suffer a fate not quite so bad as the DRK and DRG. It is still a moderately expensive job but not as much as it once was due to the falling out of so many endgame RNGs that couldn't handle not being gods and just quit the game. Still extremely popular endgame and in pretty short supply these days.

SAM (Samurai) - These are DDish. The name of the game with SAM is Skillchain (doing combined weapon skills to make a chain that does more damage). These get moderate party invites and are moderately expensive. The can be useful for very specific things endgame and shouldn't have trouble finding a place.

SMN (Summoner) - I would strongly suggest not making this your main job early on but if you want it to be your main job to BLM or something up to around 65 and then try it. You will be basically a gimp WHM for most of the game and people will use you just as a healer though SMN can function somewhat like a BRD by buffing the party and as a DD by meleeing with their avatars or nuking with their avatars. Still, the quest is very hard and getting your avatars early on is exceedingly difficult and you may find it very frustrating.

BLU? (Blue Mage) - One of the new jobs soon to be released. From interviews it sounds like its role in a party will be more of a backrow caster that might have weak melee tendencies a lot like RDM does. I guess we'll have to see what happens with this and all of the other new jobs.

[strawberryman]

Oh and the island off Bibiki Bay is a nice place to relax. =)
I like the Horlais peak hotsprings. ;D

[lordblazer]

I'd say pick whatever race you want but you will deal with a bit of racism in the game most specifically as it applies to job/race relation.

Really a Taru melee can be just fine but if someone has to choose between inviting a taru PLD and a Galka PLD almost everyone will invite the galka over the taru. Also even though the points are only slightly different by the end of the game I'd say picking race goes like this
1. The race you are most drawn to.
2. The race that fits your job.

Keep in mind you may not stay in love with that job so it could change.

Here is a little run down on the classes:

BLM (Black Mage) - The DD (damage dealer) of choice these days. Since RNG damage got knocked a little everyone and their dog wants to level BLM. Can be a lot of fun and not a job that I would consider extremely difficult. Finding a party will not be difficult if you are BLM most of the time. This job is fairly expensive.

MNK (Monk) - Decent DDs that get more invites than they used to. Endgame these are some of the greatest for XP and are great endgame DDs. There are moderate numbers of them and the middle levels can be a little slower than you might like. Not too expensive except for a few luxury gears that you don't really 'need'.

RDM (Red Mage) - Thought to be one of 'the' soloing classes endgame but I would highly suggest you don't focus your whole game on getting a job that can solo well at the end. It will be expensive and will piss PTs off. By the time you are in your 40s people will NOT want to see you meleeing whether you or anyone thinks it's okay to do it. You may find yourself getting booted and you can get a bad rep for meleeing and not doing your other duties.

RDM gets stupid fast invites because at 41 they get a spell called Refresh. Once you are in your 40s you will have to Refresh pretty much everyone with MP, Dispel any buffs the mob has and continues to put up, enfeeble the mob with all of the appropriate enfeebles, keep people back up cured... etc. It honestly doesn't leave much room for melee and you are very likely to shurk your responsibilities if you attempt it. I'd say only go RDM if you want to be a back line caster not engaged.

RDM is popular throughout the game and you will be very popular for endgame. It is a moderately expensive job

THF (Thief) - One of the other most impressive solo jobs in the game. THF can solo extremely well past 74 (like RDM). It is not necessarily cheap to do so but THF can make a /xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gif/xxx.gifton of money very easily. If you want cashflow this job can help (it's also a fairly expensive job to upkeep). Parties will be somewhat scarce and your damage will suck until about 15 and then you get a little better... at 30 you will become much more popular. If you end up with the right gear you can be very very popular for endgame linkshells but don't bet on it. Still you shouldn't have too much trouble getting into one. The cost of this job is offset a bit by the money it can make.

WAR (Warrior) - Great job to start with and a good low level 'tank' (the one that takes the hits for those that can't). Sadly people do not take WAR as a main very seriously past 30ish though WAR makes a great DD and a fair tank endgame. If you level almost any other melee job you will have to level WAR. Not extremely popular in endgame. Cost is moderate.

WHM (White Mage) - Always popular and a pretty good job though it can be stressful. You will not have trouble with party invites and will have a sure place in endgame. Cost is not extravagant but may seem so because WHM can't make money the same way some melee jobs do.

BRD (Bard) - A fairly difficult job I'd say if you wanna play it correctly. Your job is to make the party stronger and keep things flowing smoothly. A lot of people use this as the fast ticket to 75 because it is a pretty cheap job with insane invite speed. People generally don't see a lot of BRDs in their party spread because BRDs level so quickly. I'd suggest personally not using it as a quick ticket to 75 as you will hate it and probably play it badly in that case as most do. Very popular endgame and a great job. Everyone loves a BRD.

BST (Beastmaster) - A primarily solo job though only because the Brady guide sucks. These can be very useful in a party but people just will not invite them for the most part. Probably the best soloer in the game arguably due to some issues with the claim system. Leveling up will be a bit slower with BST but steady. You don't have to wait for parties to pick you up and since you get 100% of the drops you make a decent amount of money and nobody will complain about your gear but you. Endgame shells will fight over you like almost no othe job.

DRK (Dark Knight) - A cool job and a decent DD. This is one of the least popular jobs in the game and unless you have millions in gear long before you can make millions you might have trouble getting invites. People say the damage isn't good enough and the accuracy sucks but DRK has more at its disposal than just a big sword (or scythe). You can use some black magic. However, it seems that every immature, wannabe goth kid plays DRK and gives it a bad rep... therefore people don't give it much of a chance though it is a good job. You have a chance at getting in an endgame shell but this is an expensive job

DRG (Dragoon) - This job is totally cool but will get almost no invites. Once upon a time DRG was extremely powerful but that was adjusted. Now people won't give them the time of day. By 60 you can be a pretty good soloer but still it doesn't compare to partying for XP and can be frustrating. Somewhat like DRK, DRG is cursed with every 12 year old think it's "OMFG AWESOMEZ" and playing it badly. Therefore the entire communtiy suffers. I always try to pick them up. When played well they are awesome. Fairly expensive just because people won't except you without uber gear but also you have a decent chance of getting into some endgame shell because of certain DRG abilities that are almost useless except in endgame.

NIN (Ninja) - Probably currently the most expensive job by far. If you want to play NIN don't think you will be a cool DD... you will be a tank and you will have to be good at your job to be a tank. You will get a ton of invites. This job is prohibitively expensive though... VERY VERY expensive. I would not suggest starting this as one of your early main jobs... you just can't support it. Later in the game this is one of the top soloing jobs and you will get fought over by good endgame shells. Key word is expensive.

PLD (Paladin) - The tank class. PLD is the tank. For XP everyone except maybe BRD and WHM will strongly prefer PLD over NIN. Invites are pretty quick and this is a pretty cheap job over-all. Also very popular endgame if you are good at it.

RNG (Ranger) - Formerly the gods of Vana'diel but SE adjusted them to where they couldn't just throw hoards of money at the job to be absolutely worshiped. Endgame and for XP they were once worshipped. Now they suffer a fate not quite so bad as the DRK and DRG. It is still a moderately expensive job but not as much as it once was due to the falling out of so many endgame RNGs that couldn't handle not being gods and just quit the game. Still extremely popular endgame and in pretty short supply these days.

SAM (Samurai) - These are DDish. The name of the game with SAM is Skillchain (doing combined weapon skills to make a chain that does more damage). These get moderate party invites and are moderately expensive. The can be useful for very specific things endgame and shouldn't have trouble finding a place.

SMN (Summoner) - I would strongly suggest not making this your main job early on but if you want it to be your main job to BLM or something up to around 65 and then try it. You will be basically a gimp WHM for most of the game and people will use you just as a healer though SMN can function somewhat like a BRD by buffing the party and as a DD by meleeing with their avatars or nuking with their avatars. Still, the quest is very hard and getting your avatars early on is exceedingly difficult and you may find it very frustrating.

BLU? (Blue Mage) - One of the new jobs soon to be released. From interviews it sounds like its role in a party will be more of a backrow caster that might have weak melee tendencies a lot like RDM does. I guess we'll have to see what happens with this and all of the other new jobs.


Bard really isn't that difficult if oyu like it lol I went through some sort of rennesiance when i picked up the bard job. The first Ten levels suck, but once you do them. Its smooth sailing. And WHM is a great sub but people will invite you no matter what you sub it with (seriously one time I thought I had it subbed with WHM and took me a whole hour to find out I had it subbed with WAR XD) but sub it with WHM you barely heal your just there for emergencies, but you'll have all the WHM buffs also and all the protectra spells very very useful. Songs are expensive if oyu buy them from auction house. So don't become a consumer of music. You can get them from mob drops.

Bards are excelent in Ballista. I suggest if you use Bard for Ballista sub it with THF for Steal and you can get some easy petra's that way.

[Lionx]

Not extremely popular in endgame. Cost is moderate.

Totally disagree, you may or may not have seen WAR and MNK-burn parties with a BRD that literally TEAR through the moon area of Ro'Maeve. They are top of the line, WARs that is. Great tanks and Melee, its all about the skill and dedication. WARs can equal and suceed other jobs if done correctly with the right skills and setups.


PLD (Paladin) - The tank class. PLD is the tank. For XP everyone except maybe BRD and WHM will strongly prefer PLD over NIN. Invites are pretty quick and this is a pretty cheap job over-all. Also very popular endgame if you are good at it.

Disagree as a WHM, with a good NIN i am completely useless compared to my other mage counterparts, if i have to say PLDs are WHM's best friends in terms of party compatibility. A NIN is better off with RDM BRD BLM combination.

I disagree with /THF, i rather have /WHM for stoneskin and blink. /THF can steal yes but as a BRD they will target you first and you might not have lullaby up and get pwnt, therefore giving the other team a free gate breach and advantage. I would stay back and support everyone and Curaga is a HUGE boon whether you think it helps or not.