finally got in!!! new player to FFXI

[Bahamut2000X]

2 DD - DRK WAR THF MNK DRG BLU RNG PUP

I fixed your list to make it more accurate on the best DD there is.

[Markus. D]

with a PL probably the only good thing is that you can recklessly cap things like a Red Mages Enfeeble or Enhance... or even dagger/sword if the party lets you.

[Dante WolfWood]

k thanks for the advice. I tried to form my own party today; not enough people so...I decided to make a run to bastok. I joined the alchemy guild and bought me a...brass xiphor? or something like that had double the damage and less delay of the sword I had. (also have willow wand for incase I cant melee)

O dp have some problems tho:
I'm having trouble making gil here w/o signet at bastok...and it will be hard to rank up at windurst for the alchemy guild in Bastok....any tips? no where near lvl enough for chocobo.

I dont plan on leaving bastok/Dunes until I hit lvl 18 and get subjob; then I plan to go back to windurst and lvl BLM and WHM...in the meantime...where can I get some gil while in this transaction?

edit: corrected the name of the sword.

[Del Murder]

You can get signet in any nation. You need to find your nation's Embassy in Bastok. Go in the big building called 'Metalworks' and then go upstairs. The Windurst Embassy is up there. A guard in there can give you signet.

I wouldn't start levelling a craft until you get more familiar with the game.

[Mirage]

Crafting usually requires a big investment before it starts paying off.
But yeah, if there is a PL present, focus on offense instead as a rdm. If the PL needs no help whatsoever, you could just engage in close combat while casting magic.

[The Mog Ninja]

PL=good

almost all the time (on Hades) someone will be PLing u, so if that bothers u , u might as well give up on FFXI right now. PLs also ROCK for getting ur subjob and such. so my point is... ur gonna be having a lot of PLing done, so try not 2 get 2 P'd off with em

[Markus. D]

pre-20 at least.

post 20... I would probably say that is the best time to get familiar partying without them.

try to figure what things you cant access quickly or effectively enough (food items for example mid-battle... or even weapon switching) and Macro them

all sorted.

[Mirage]

Not too rare to get PLs from 20-30 either. After that, they're rare.

[Dante WolfWood]

well, I mean; I hate to say it; but I hate PL's...it takes the fun of of it...

I was in a party yesterday;

War,War,THF,MNK,RDM,RDM(me)

We had THREE PL's...I had no part in the party whatsoever except for enfeebles; and the EXP sucked because the players didnt know what to do....they would cast everything they had bc their mindset was "we have PLs; Just do anything to kill the mob faster" and I hate that. (everybody kept stealing hate from PLs and didnt know what Hate was...can tell they had PLs from day one)

after awhile, I got in a REAL party.

War,War,Thf,MNK(friend of mine),WHM,RDM (me) and No PL

It was wonderful; we had to focus; the War's had to cooperate and hold hate together, the WHM and Me discussed what enfeebles we each were gonna used, and how not to over cast magic to take hate. Even me,War,War,MNK tried to SC when we got the chance. I would just hit the sword Macro and hack away when they needed me to. The EXP was wonderful!

I love that, thats fun to me; not watching lvl 67 people control the party when they are not even part of the party.

But, according to you guys guess I gotta get over it, and do it anyway. oh well, I can deal with it...

I can get signet as bastok? CRAP...another long run to bastok, lol.

[Darius]

PLs will eventually go away the higher you get in levels. If you know the mechanics of how a party is supposed to work then dont worry about a PL pling a party your in. Use it to your advantage and just spam enfeebs and darks to boost thier skill levels. I had a PL (no one I knew, just someone in the party had someone PL them) for my RDM between levels 11 and 17 and in that time I spammed those 2 magic skills and maxed them out for each level. Very easy and stayed safe the entire time.

I wouldnt worry about it. One day you may even PL a friend in an LS in the dunes. *shrugs*