Exp'ing

So I'm level 18, just spent the last few hours doing Guildleves at Dry Bone and just wanted to know if I'm doing anything wrong...

Basically, progression is going immensely slow. The mobs in the Guildleves net me around 30exp each, and at the end I get 600-700exp. Then once I'm done with the four, I have to go back to Ul'dah and register another four and do it all over again. Surely there must be a better way to level up.

I don't ever recall FFXI being this bad, despite it being known as a grind fest back in the day.

I had the same problem. Once you hit level 18 then progress pretty much stops. The storyline missions give you the most exp and the most money so if you have any available, you should do them. Also, if you haven't already, try doing leve quests at 3 stars(so mobs will be around L18). Once you get to L20, look me up. I'll probably be in Camp Horizon.

Wow, that's insanely low. Are you invoking guardians favour? What number of stars are you using for the difficulty level? Are you struggling against the mobs? How much do you get for taking on a marmot/dodo that is close to your level?

I can grind for more than that. =x

I ran out of Guardian's Favor, and I was trying 2-3 star but the mobs kept running away to spawn more mobs, so taking on three at a time was extremely rough as an Archer. So I ended up just going back to 1 star because at most the 3 star gave maybe 40exp extra.

The problem is probably that I'm an Archer. And despite being able to quickly bind all three mobs and being able to take advantage of what little range power I have at this level, it still isn't enough.

I'm an Archer too, so I know exactly what you mean. Heres a few things I learnt over time:
Make sure you learn cure from the conjurer class, it doesn't provide you with much health but its recast time is very fast and it will keep you alive for a couple of hits.

Stone skin is also a useful conjurer skill, it'll block the first few hits you get or if the mob is weak it will block all hits for about 4mins.(You need to cast this before every fight).

When ever you successfully land bind, change target and pull the rest of the mob away from the bound enemy. This stops you from being hit by its long range attack and also keeps it bound for like 30secs. Hitting it again unbinds it, which is really annoying.

Spam Wide Volley, I dont think its as strong as puncture but at least it hits multiple enemies, giving you less work overall.

I've noticed that after patch 1.19, mobs have been given specific territories. Pulling the mob out of these territories will cause them to loose interest with you, they will stop attacking and head back in. This will give you a chance to reapply stone skin and cast a couple of healing spells. But dont take too long because their health will start to regen.

If your still having trouble with 3 stars then try upgrading your gear....but that can be expensive.

I hope what I mentioned helps.

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Originally Posted by *Devore*

Stone skin is also a useful conjurer skill, it'll block the first few hits you get or if the mob is weak it will block all hits for about 4mins.(You need to cast this before every fight).

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If you fight fast enough, you should be able to do a couple of fights per stoneskin... although that largely depends on the level of enemy you are fighting and I imagine Archer is harder to do this with.

I'll add that on top of Stoneskin/Cure from Conjurer, it is immensely advantageous to level Pugilist to L10 or L12 or whatever it is that you get Second Wind at. Second Wind is, for me, without any doubt the most useful skill when leveling between 1 and 20. It basically uses 250TP - which you should pick up in one or two auto-attacks - and heals you over 100HP.

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If your still having trouble with 3 stars then try upgrading your gear....but that can be expensive.

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Unless you know me and Danielle. :aimsun: If you're on at the same time as us, I have every crafter up to 20 and Danielle is excellent with her weaving and I'm pretty sure her leatherworker is up to 20 as well.

Mailboxes will be awesome once they are implemented so I can help you guys out a little easier. =|