Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - Beta Phase 3 Impression: Phase 4 August

Status
Not open for further replies.
Just complete my first dungeon run and it was a blast. Probably didn't have as much fun doing a dungeon since a long time, killing everything a bit at a time instead of skipping skipping skipping.
Stuff like this makes me love this game, despite my grievances with the UI.
 
Wife made a character and played to level 5 today on PS3. I saw some of you guys with the GAF tag. We're not going to join until we get a better handle on the game, I think.

So far it seems like it is a pretty cool translation to console, but the one thing that is bothering us is the map and finding objectives. If you're in the right zone, you're golden, otherwise you have to spend some time looking at what area the quest is in and then figure out how to get there with the map.

The fast travel system is kind of disappointing after Guild Wars 2. It should let you know where you're going by pulling up a map and showing you what objectives are there, not just by a name in a list.
 
There are two more tests scheduled for phase 3:

thanks. good to know that we still have more.

I am using this phase 3 to just check out different classes and cities.

So far I love Granadia and Limsa Lominsa. Not so much for Ul'dah.

Still not sure which class I like. tried Lancer, Pugilist and Marauder so far.
 
I can already tell legacy servers going to suck, all low lvl areas almost dead, impossible to group up for story missions if you not fast, and everyone already rolling with their people... That's how it's been on Masamune server, even the chat is dead.. While in new server like ultros all areas are packed and easier to group up. Even the chat is active. I stopped playing my legacy cause its now impossible to group up for the gridania dungeon... Everyone moved on already. Because of this reason SE should let legacy go to new servers. I did fill application so my character can go from Masamune to sargatanas.
I think part of the problem here is that new people are not allowed to join legacy servers yet so of course it won't be as active without them. If they were allowed it would have possibly been a different story. It's unfair to judge it right now as is.
 
Being a conjurer is pretty hard when trying to heal people using the controller controls. I'm lvl14 with mine right now and when I'm trying to target someone to heal them, I usually can only target NPC's, enemies, or items. I was in a fate match and was trying to heal the person taking all the damage and it took me about 3mins of trying to target him with the controller before I just grabbed my mouse and clicked on them myself.

It works sometimes when there's usually open room and only 1 enemy, but when there's lots of items or other things around. Targeting someone with the controller gets hectic. Just to let ppl know I do know how to switch targets with the lock-on button, and using the control pad.

Not a huge problem but just something that occurs often. Any tips, or should I just use the mouse for targeting a player?

I ran two dungeons as a conjurer using a controller, here are my tips:

  • Lock on to your tank 100% of the time. This allows you to cure the tank quickly and easily. It also allows you to see which enemy the tank is targeting, and that enemy's health.
  • Up/Down on the D-pad highlights other party members only. When another party member is highlighted, beneficial spells will target them without removing your lock on the tank.
  • Left/Right on the D-pad usually highlights an enemy. Like the last point, you can use spells like Aero, Stone, or Thunder on a highlighted enemy without removing your lock on the tank.
  • If you need to cure yourself for whatever reason, highlighting an enemy and using a beneficial spell will use it on you. Warning: using a cure spell while highlighting an enemy will heal you, not the tank!.
  • Help out your party by throwing out as many DoTs (Aero/Thunder) as you can, though healing your party members is obviously more important. Luckily, Aero is instant-cast, so keeping it on every single enemy at once is usually pretty easy.
 
I ran two dungeons as a conjurer using a controller, here are my tips:

  • Lock on to your tank 100% of the time. This allows you to cure the tank quickly and easily. It also allows you to see which enemy the tank is targeting, and that enemy's health.
  • Up/Down on the D-pad highlights other party members only. When another party member is highlighted, beneficial spells will target them without removing your lock on the tank.
  • Left/Right on the D-pad usually highlights an enemy. Like the last point, you can use spells like Aero, Stone, or Thunder on a highlighted enemy without removing your lock on the tank.
  • If you need to cure yourself for whatever reason, highlighting an enemy and using a beneficial spell will use it on you. Warning: using a cure spell while highlighting an enemy will heal you, not the tank!.
  • Help out your party by throwing out as many DoTs (Aero/Thunder) as you can, though healing your party members is obviously more important. Luckily, Aero is instant-cast, so keeping it on every single enemy at once is usually pretty easy.

This is super helpful for healers!
 
I ran two dungeons as a conjurer using a controller, here are my tips:

  • Lock on to your tank 100% of the time. This allows you to cure the tank quickly and easily. It also allows you to see which enemy the tank is targeting, and that enemy's health.
  • Up/Down on the D-pad highlights other party members only. When another party member is highlighted, beneficial spells will target them without removing your lock on the tank.
  • Left/Right on the D-pad usually highlights an enemy. Like the last point, you can use spells like Aero, Stone, or Thunder on a highlighted enemy without removing your lock on the tank.
  • If you need to cure yourself for whatever reason, highlighting an enemy and using a beneficial spell will use it on you. Warning: using a cure spell while highlighting an enemy will heal you, not the tank!.
  • Help out your party by throwing out as many DoTs (Aero/Thunder) as you can, though healing your party members is obviously more important. Luckily, Aero is instant-cast, so keeping it on every single enemy at once is usually pretty easy.

Thanks for the tips, I didn't know up/down was players only. I haven't ran a dungeon yet because I haven't been able to group up yet, but when I do I'll be sure to remember these.
 
I wonder whats going to happen to the majority of shout conversations once the duty finder is implemented...unless its only going to be for certain dungeons?
 
Being a conjurer is pretty hard when trying to heal people using the controller controls. I'm lvl14 with mine right now and when I'm trying to target someone to heal them, I usually can only target NPC's, enemies, or items. I was in a fate match and was trying to heal the person taking all the damage and it took me about 3mins of trying to target him with the controller before I just grabbed my mouse and clicked on them myself.

It works sometimes when there's usually open room and only 1 enemy, but when there's lots of items or other things around. Targeting someone with the controller gets hectic. Just to let ppl know I do know how to switch targets with the lock-on button, and using the control pad.

Not a huge problem but just something that occurs often. Any tips, or should I just use the mouse for targeting a player?

Yeah, targeting in FATEs with a controller as a healer is awful. If you want to target other players using your dpad, you have to deselect your current target and put away your weapon. Once you do that, you're able to cycle through PCs as well as monsters and NPCs. (At least from what I've seen) It's a pain and I'm hoping they fix it. I use my mouse as well and yeah- it's not nearly as efficient as I'd like it to be. Luckily, parties are much easier to heal in.
 
Alright anyone know how to do the quest "If Ye Lose Faith" in Central Shroud I believe. You're supposed to lay three flowers at 3 locations. 2 of them are easy. The third spawns 2 enemies at level 10 each. I had some trouble but I managed to kill them both, yet when I approached the place to initiate the action they spawned again. I can't finish the action because they interrupt me. How do I do this? Do I need another player or something?

I ran up, it pauses you while the adds spawn, once you can move again, run to the spot where you have to lay the flowers. You should be able to get the cast off b4 the adds get you. Then I just ran away.
 
this.

I'm also surprised that many new players are starting on a new server.

I agree that if I were a legacy player that had a significant investment in friendships, characters, gold, ect I'd def stay on a legacy server. However, as someone that considers himself a "new" player, starting on a new server just makes sense to me.
 
I did three dungeons today with some people. Fun times. I'm starting to really love this game, though I do have some problems with the PS3 version:

PS3 controls are still kinda rough. Especially the targeting.
Sometimes the game will crash to XMB.

Well, aside from this... I'm having a lot of fun.
 
So where is the Final Fantasy in this Final Fantasy game? I've seen moogles and chocobos, and that's it. Why are the classes I can choose made up instead of from past games? I would know what I'm choosing if I could select a dragoon, but I have no clue what a lancer is. What's a pugilist? Is that a monk? Do I get to choose a Final Fantasy class later in the game?

Edit: Ok, I found the answer on the official page

"By achieving sufficient mastery in a certain class, adventurers will be able to begin undertaking the mantle of a related job. For instance, gladiators may rise up as paladins, stout swordsmen who shield comrades from harm; thaumaturges may aspire to become black mages, masters of offensive magic; while conjurers may find a new calling as white mages, masters of healing."

That's better!
 
I agree that if I were a legacy player that had a significant investment in friendships, characters, gold, ect I'd def stay on a legacy server. However, as someone that considers himself a "new" player, starting on a new server just makes sense to me.

I'm really surprised they decided to go this route with legacy players. I figured it would be like GW2... have ARR take place a few hundreds years after 1.0. Legacy players are decedents of those characters... give em some exclusives items, maybe a few quest references and maybe even a little more cash to start out.

So where is the Final Fantasy in this Final Fantasy game? I've seen moogles and chocobos, and that's it. Why are the classes I can choose made up instead of from past games? I would know what I'm choosing if I could select a dragoon, but I have no clue what a lancer is. What's a pugilist? Is that a monk? Do I get to choose a Final Fantasy class later in the game?

I believe the class specializations are named after classic FF jobs. There are lots of enemies, items and abilities pulled right out of classic Final Fantasy too (lots of armor styles a reminiscent of FFXI). Story from what I have gathered so far (I am skipping lots of it) has tons of FF staples.
 
So I'm just running around trying to do the gather the missing crates mission, and I accidentally jumped off a high place into this barrel. Now I can't move and am forced to teleport back. I don't think it's bad or is mad or anything, I just think it's funny lol. You can't even see my head (I'm a lallafel btw).
j4bnuoHYbWwdn.BMP
 
So, I've never touched an online Final Fantasy game until this weekend, and I've got a question. If someone has engaged with an enemy, can I then help them out without causing a hit to the XP they'll get from the battle (like I'm used to in WoW). Or, does it not work that way in FFXIV?
 
I'm playing on PC so I'm not sure if they make the controls different on the PS3 version. On here the r1 is used to select 8 different skill slots, so it's not used for targeting.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

EDIT: Also could someone send me an invite to the GAF guild or free company. My name is Funny Dude and I'm on Ultros. I've been trying to send a tell to the people in the OP but it won't work for me for some reason. I type everything correctly but it says their bouund by duty or something.

We were running a bunch of dungeons today and me, Strawberry, and Xar were all in the same group. All those communications are blocked while you are in a dungeon for some reason.

Will definitely get you in next test. If you see anyone running around, feel free to ask them. All members have invite privileges.
 
I believe the class specializations are named after classic FF jobs. There are lots of enemies, items and abilities pulled right out of classic Final Fantasy too (lots of armor styles a reminiscent of FFXI). Story from what I have gathered so far (I am skipping lots of it) has tons of FF staples.

That's good to hear. I recognize the funguar from early in the game, but the squirrel and lady bug enemies can go straight to hell. I'm not getting the Final Fantasy flavor I was hoping for yet, but I'll keep looking.
 
Wow had so much fun this beta, sad its already over gonna miss my Ultros peeps. I lvled my CNJ to 18 and managed to finish all the available story dungeons which were pretty fun especially copper bell. They really sped up CNJ a lot it makes healing less stressful and soloing easier really loving it so far :D. Big thanks to robokitty, xarielle, and google for helping me run the last two dungeons btw.
 
So, I've never touched an online Final Fantasy game until this weekend, and I've got a question. If someone has engaged with an enemy, can I then help them out without causing a hit to the XP they'll get from the battle (like I'm used to in WoW). Or, does it not work that way in FFXIV?

If they claimed it I don't think there is anything you can do to harm them. On the other hand, you only get exp if you generate a certain amount of enmity. Ultimately, you are generally not going to be getting your exp from monsters scattered around.
 
I am done for the weekend. Cant wait to start playing for real on a character that wont get wiped.

Tried out crafting and gathering classes more this weekend. Crafting was fine other than not being able to make things in bulk. I could see not allowing finished products to be made in bulk but components that go into that product should be. For example I should be able to queue up 10 Leather pieces but not 10 Leather Hats. Gathering seemed very grindy so I didn't want to really go too far with that. I have been playing on PC with KB/M and I tried a controller just for the heck of it and I was terrible at using the controller. I figured it would be nice for some comfy couch grinding but I would have to get used to it.

Did a few instances as a healer. Really fun. I like that aggro even matters for healers. Reminded me of a toned down LOTRO as far as healer threat management goes. The 3rd instance was the best of the 3 I did.

I have mostly jumped around between various classes and races since this 3rd stage of the beta has started. Tried most of the classes, got a feel for the 3 starting areas. I would have liked to try out jobs but they weren't available for non legacy players. I now have all the basics pretty much understood. Cant wait till phase 4 and launch.
 
Done for the weekend also.
Did Brayflox which is the last instance in this beta.
It is an awesome outdoors dungeon (the first one so far), which means it can be bright (during in game day time) instead of all the dark color themed dungeon so far.

Here's my character logging for the week =D

 
I didn't get to play at all this weekend outside of like a 20 minute block the first day. :( Lame. Hopefully I can do a bit more next time.
 
So, I've never touched an online Final Fantasy game until this weekend, and I've got a question. If someone has engaged with an enemy, can I then help them out without causing a hit to the XP they'll get from the battle (like I'm used to in WoW). Or, does it not work that way in FFXIV?
You can get into a fight with their monster, and I do think there's an EXP penalty, but I think they'll still get rewards and the lion's share of EXP is from quest completion anyway rather than just attacking monsters. Nevermind that during Fates it's so chaotic it's not worth sweating at all.
 
thanks. good to know that we still have more.

I am using this phase 3 to just check out different classes and cities.

So far I love Granadia and Limsa Lominsa. Not so much for Ul'dah.

Still not sure which class I like. tried Lancer, Pugilist and Marauder so far.

I have to echo this sentiment. Played through both Elf land and Pirate land previously and I'm not feeling Ul'dah. I had planned to play through it this weekend but didn't get far.

----

The introduction of legacy servers has certainly ruined my fun because my friend is a 1.0 player and my legacy character is practically new. Now we'll have the problem of legacy vs new servers at phase 4 because I don't think they want to give up their old character and I don't want to play with an already established population.

Legacy kills friendships.

On another note I've been wondering what race everyone plays to be due to the overwhelming number of people with tails I see running around. Is there an exisiting poll for GAF?
 
Yeah, I want to try to barrel through the introduction in Ul'dah during Phase 3 and NEVER BOTHER WITH IT in the full game for introductions. I like it more than Bastok in FFXI, but that's not saying much. Too bad I only have about 2 hours left for this part of Phase 3.
 
I can safely say one thing for sure, I sure did post in this thread a ton.

I wish it was phase 4 already :(

Edit: I should probably stop harassing GAF members when I run past them ;)
 
Has anyone figured out a good way to do hunting log for grand company which are rare mob with location "levemate" tagged?

I know some of them are "wanted" mob which spawn rarely, are there actually mob from levequest (that will probalby be easier than waiting for wanted mobs)
 
I can safely say one thing for sure, I sure did post in this thread a ton.

I wish it was phase 4 already :(

Edit: I should probably stop harassing GAF members when I run past them ;)

Most of the ones I ran by don't even acknowledge me despite me waving/bowing/saluting/etc.
 
Got to level 16 this weekend. Happened to run into an officer on the Duty, Honor, Country quest, who let me in the GAF FC. This game is fun, and I hope we get the same turnout on release.

Gonna do some dungeons next week. If anyone needs a Gladiator-Tank, I'm your man...
 
Hating on Ul'dah? No way.
I just like more forested or otherwise non-desert areas. Plus coming off of Bastok as basically my only FFXI experience I'd like something LESS Bastok at the start.

But that's OK to blitz through for phase 3 I imagine.
 
Did they rebuild the actual town of Limsa any? I remember it being fairly obnoxious at 1.0 launch to get around in.
 
Did they rebuild the actual town of Limsa any? I remember it being fairly obnoxious at 1.0 launch to get around in.
On a related note: just how much of the game world IS the same? Is it almost more a matter of sharing names than anything else, or is a significant amount of it recognizable? Because, uhh, there'd have to be a LOT of rebuilding after that ending CGI.
 
Hating on Ul'dah? No way.

People only liked the Barrens because it was easiest to navigate and didn't feel poorly scaled with all the crappy looking obstructions. Here it's just sort of bland with how good the scaling and details are. Elf main city is easiest to navigate in my opinion so I'll probably start there, Limsa isn't that bad when you get used to the floors.

Sorry Ul'dah fanboys, but your city is bottom tier!

Did they rebuild the actual town of Limsa any? I remember it being fairly obnoxious at 1.0 launch to get around in.

Reminded me to check one detail.

The musketeers guild used to face NW, while it now sits on a directly N path, so a number of things are different, but it still resembles the old one quite a bit. Feels a lot easier to navigate to me, I remember how much I hated the original.
 
On a related note: just how much of the game world IS the same? Is it almost more a matter of sharing names than anything else, or is a significant amount of it recognizable? Because, uhh, there'd have to be a LOT of rebuilding after that ending CGI.

Just towns & place names so far. Totorak is very similar to the 1.0 version.
 
People only liked the Barrens because it was easiest to navigate and didn't feel poorly scaled with all the crappy looking obstructions. Here it's just sort of bland with how good the scaling and details are. Elf main city is easiest to navigate in my opinion so I'll probably start there, Limsa isn't that bad when you get used to the floors.

Sorry Ul'dah fanboys, but your city is bottom tier!

This is not a thing that happened.
Nobody likes the Barrens!
 
I'm a Legacy player who is starting fresh on a non-Legacy server. It's a new game and I want to start again from the beginning. More to the point, I have almost every job to 50 on my old character. It would be totally pointless to do the new story with forced level sync and nothing to gain plus a shitload of gil so I never have to use anything than the best available gear. It seems so pointless to play a Legacy character as opposed to starting again with everyone. And honestly I'm amazed that more Legacy players don't feel the way I do. Imagine if you could take your level capped character from EverQuest to EverQuest II. Even if you could, would you really want to?

I'm def leaning toward starting fresh for a lot of the same reasons as you. I only played 1.0 for a couple months so I didn't accomplish much or make any real connections in the legacy world. I do think that the economy on those legacy worlds will be a nightmare for anyone starting out fresh. I also think that the leveling experience will be more balanced on the fresh servers, it seems to me that a huge portion of the people playing on legacy servers had most, if not all, classes at 50... which means there will probably be more summoners than everything else combined.

Are there many people considering doing a fresh start once 2.0 releases? I played long enough to get pugilist to 50 and dabbled with the other jobs a bit, but I'm a little concerned about legacy servers and trying to start new stuff fresh from the beginning.

Even at 10%, there's still gonna be a shit load of gil floating around on those servers. Is 2.0 economy going to focus more on crafting? If so, won't the immediate influx of maxed out crafters make it tough for anyone else to get rolling?

I'm just thinking about all this stuff as someone who got one job to 50 and then stopped playing, so I'll basically be coming back more or less level 1 (because I have absolutely no freaking clue how to play pugilist now).

Yeah, I'm about 90% sure I'll be taking this route also. As much as I enjoyed my time on Sargatanas, in the face of 4 level 50 classes, and a Goobue mount + other stuff, the idea of starting fresh in a new economy with everyone starting from scratch again just sounds way more interesting to me at this point.
 
I just like more forested or otherwise non-desert areas. Plus coming off of Bastok as basically my only FFXI experience I'd like something LESS Bastok at the start.

But that's OK to blitz through for phase 3 I imagine.

Thanalan is pretty green in certain areas. The real beauty is the city itself though.
 
Thanalan is pretty green in certain areas. The real beauty is the city itself though.
Yeah, it's why I said it's an improvement over Bastok, Bastok was just plain barren whereas this is more like sparse greenery. Though the city itself of Bastok was better to explore I thought.
 
I'll be starting fresh on ultros as well. The only thing I'll miss is my gobbue mount but eh, I didn't like it that much anyways because the camera was so zoomed in.

It seems like I've spent more time in the character creator then actually playing the game. Finally got a chance to really play today and I'm enjoying it. Can't wait to try out the instances next week.

I'm Silent Protagonist btw, be sure to /wave if you see me.
 
The most fun I've had so far: running from Gridania to Ul'dah with my friend. Just exploring and seeing what's out there was pretty cool. Once I reached Ul'dah I felt like a fish out of water.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom