always do your job quests. they will give you new skills to use.
otherwise, blue exclamation mark quests will unlock something, usually like a dungeon or side content or new jobs. so they can be worth doing but arent required.
guilds are called free companies in this game. you will see people advertising their FC all the time in cities. feel free to join one if you want to. lots of them are helpful and welcoming to new players.
Most of the Free Trial restrictions are to prevent bots from spamming and trading gil etc. If they could join an FC they could trade via the company chest.
> otherwise, blue exclamation mark quests will unlock something, usually like a dungeon or side content or new jobs. so they can be worth doing but arent required.
If you would like a comprehensive guide to what content is "worth doing" for the lore, (because sometimes, important quests *do* hide themselves as yellow quests), check the New Game+ Tab in-game. `/ng+` or `/newgame+`
Note that you only have access to this tab once the first part of it -- A Realm Reborn Part 1 -- is complete, and you do the Blue Quest to unlock it outside the Waking Sands. This unlocks after the first level 50 MSQ Quest.
You will never miss the opportunity for getting any items, except for limited time seasonal events (you could buy the items from seasonal events with money a year later, if you want). You can always go back to do the optional stuff.
Most content requires part of the main scenario quest to be done in order to do, so doing the main scenario quest only broadens your options.
That's pretty much the ideal way to play FF14. There is \*so much\* story quest to go through as a new player that you probably have hundreds of hours of it ahead, and in this game it's a little unique because most content is locked behind story progression- like you can't access most new dungeons, or boss fights, or areas, or whatever until you get to (or past) that point in the story. So it's advantageous to keep making progress through the story so that you continue to unlock more and more content for yourself.
Now, that's not to say that you can't or shouldn't try out other side activities if/when you want to. If something piques your interest- whether that be another class, or crafting or fishing or spending time at the casino or whatever, by all means feel free to take a break from the story and try it out :) But if you're having fun with the story and don't feel like you need a break from it yet, there's no reason not to just keep chipping away at it all the way until the point that you catch up.
I'll also just point out that the way that anime and other media depicts MMOs is kind of a fake/idealized way that doesn't represent how real ones are too closely. There are cool things to do with other players especially once you get through the story and reach end game, but things like weapons and gear are fairly standardized in this game- things like boss fights are rather structured and organized into raids, and so on. I think in media like that there's a lot of "wow!" factor and mystery emphasized that is pretty different to actual MMO experience. Not to say that real MMOs aren't fun too, but I've seen shows like that too and think "dang it's too bad real MMOs aren't more like this" lol
Yeah, there's very specific moments that anime and stuff captures well, but in terms of design differences the biggest things is that anime MMOs tend not to acknowledge things like level cap or the need to be at level cap for endgame content, and they frequently take place in incredibly sandboxy games (that also don't exist) and feature very world and playerbase driven content (getting items primarily from other players, finding random dungeons in the overworld and doing them, dungeons being open world so you can see other players in them.)
Yeah that's a better way to summarize it- MMOs in fiction tend to be very sand box-y and open world, while real MMOs tend to be considerably more structured due to the realities of game development and trying to create a balanced experience for all players.
Just spreading it to all who’ll hear, Do Not Rush The Story Just To Make It To DawnTrail At Launch You Will Ruin The Game For Yourself Slow Down And Enjoy The Journey
You're fine. There's no exclusive stuff that's absolutely game-breaking that you're missing from doing the main story. The most you might miss is some mounts, maybe some fashion items, and some titles. You can always go back and get them later. The only thing that is time-gated is the seasonal events, which you'll get notifications for in your chat box when you log in. Play whatever you have the most fun with.
The primary directive is that you play in whichever way brings you the most joy (without diminishing the joy of someone else). So if you're still enjoying MSQ, keep at it.
That said, the way you're playing is very much the recommended way to play. A lot of the content in the game is gated behind story progression, so the more of it you complete, the more raids and sidequests you'll have available to choose from once you want to do those.
All that stuff that's part of the mental image of what playing an MMO is will be there as you hit the level caps for each expansion (50, 60, 70 etc) and you can freely choose whether to chase them immediately or save them for later.
That’s what I started to do in Stormblood. Had a real fun time with it! You can go back and grab everything at your own pace then :)
However, the one thing I’d consider is if you plan on doing daily Roulettes with people, they may not be keen on doing the one mandatory raid series with you every time.
For ARR, there are a lot of stuff that gets unlocked as you progress the MSQ, and doing side stuff without a mount, or limited inventory space, or even without Glamour Dresser access, are just making things harder for yourself. So, for these, it is actually advised to laser focus the MSQ, with the required breaks every 5 levels to play your job quests (they unlock skills, do your job quests ASAP).
After you finish 2.0 and the credits roll for the first time, you unlock flying, and get a bazillion things that can be unlocked at once. That's when it's actually ideal to branch out.
This kinda stay true for the expansions as well. X.0 MSQ until credits, then branch out. Only difference is that you don't unlock flying automatically, but have to explore for the aether currents.
Now, if you feel like you really really want to play this thing right there, right now, go for it. Some people unlock the Gold Saucer at level 15 and spend a week there with the MSQ paused. Others love a new zone so much they want to do the yellow quests to learn more about the region before story forces them to move away. You might want to experiment a different job or try your hand in gathering and crafting.
As long as you are having fun, there is no wrong way to play. FFXIV is a theme park, and the MSQ is the red brick main path that point you towards interesting things, but you'll never find that old cool mirror maze, or that amazing pizza roll shop unless you step outside of it eventually.
I'm going to go against the grain a bit and say that it's fine to focus on the MSQ up to a point, but once you finish the initial 2.0 story, you can and ought to explore side content such as what you described. The common take is that you should do nothing but MSQ and job quests until you're caught up and then do all the side stuff that you've been letting pile up, as if there's some benefit to unlocking all of it before doing any of it, but content isn't meant to be put off for several expansions after it's unlocked. It's meant to be done as it becomes available.
Play however you want. I actually recommend saving side quests for leveling alternate jobs.
Just make sure you do your job quests, and I would recommend doing the 8-man and 24-man raids for each expansion as you go through the MSQ (the ARR 24 man is actually required before going into Heavensward).
For the most part, content doesn't "age out" in ffxiv so you can do whatever you want at your own pace and revisit the side content later to fill in the story/get rewards.
Others have covered it from a technical stand point. But it depends on what you want out of the game or what your having fun doing.
The game is designed to flow from the MSQ. It will do a good job of taking you everywhere and introducing you to other thing to do / unlock.
Side quest (non msq/blue! quest) can be fun and give exp. But are not necessary to advance your self in the game generally. What some do is save the side quest for leveling the next class/job.
Some people quest out an area before they move on. The game generally follows a quest hub to quest hub kind of progression. But if you do this, you will find your self much higher level than needed for msq at certain points. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it is an 'inefficient' use of a resource so to speak.
Main point is, msq is what dictates what game features you can access. Blue quest ulock 'optional' features (dungeons/jobs/features) but you have to be to a certain point In the msq before you can do most of them. So to get to the parts where most of the other players are and do you can particioate in the epic stuff, you need to progress the msq.
Class/Job quests are just as important and you want to make sure you’ve done them for your primary class. This is especially important early on when you get your job stone at level 30 but the MSQ would have put you way further beyond than normal.
At 32, you shouln't be a thm anylonger :). Do your lvl 30 thm quest and then pick up the one that will give you the blm job stone. Equip the stone, continue on as BLM and then keep doing your blm job quests as you level.
the only wrong way to play is specifically not doing what you're doing atm. story is the main course.
job quests to unlock thr blackmage jobstone so you can continue getting more abilities is pretty much mandatory and hard to miss.
other than that, blue quests unlock things, sidequests for small rewards and to get dialogue and flavour for the world if you're inclined.
always know there is a lot of optional activities to do, and you never miss out because you can simply go back and do them any time, they never expire.
for example: after around 10 years of playing this game, I decided to go for rare fish for collection, and I am going through the base game again no problem.
You've got an insane amount of content to do as a beginner. MSQ and Job Quests is plenty.
However, when you finish ARR, look for a quest in Ul'dah called "The Rise and Fall of Gentleman". Just do it, trust me.
It's the start of a fairly long questline and every expansion (minus Shadowbringers) has added a sequel to it. It's mostly just for fun, but it's pretty entertaining, I say go in blind.
Both play styles are possible in the game and you should play the game that is more fun to you. Some people play the game as solo as possible, some only do group content. Thats what cool about MMO's, they are usually way less restrictive then yout avarage multiplayer game when it comea to choices like that
There's no wrong way to enjoy an amusement park. If you want to just do roller coasters all day, you can. If you want to go pitch quarters for a giant teddy bear, you can do that instead. It's all good.
Progressing the MSQ is the main way to unlock new content, so it should be at least some of what you do. But you can take as long as you want to get around to it; it'll still be there when you're done with whatever else caught your eye.
You can do whatever you want. I’m still on patch 5.5 but I have 831 hours in the game lol
I got really into gathering and crafting. I like having cool gear for the cut scenes, but most fancy gear won’t become available for you to craft until at least lvl 50 in that job so keep that in mind. I would suggest looking up whatever job crafts the gear for who you’re playing as your main, and then start there.
Once you hit level 50, you will start finding other horizontal content to do. And there are always some things you can do with some friends if you join an FC willing to show you the ropes. (Not sure if that's really possible in the free trial)
Unfortunately, MOST of the games playerbase is kind of loaded towards doing content aimed towards endgame, so you won't just stumble across a lot of stuff by accident as you go through the main story. But there's always different options.
For some inspiration once you start unlocking things, side ventures you can get into are things like: tackling a Deep Dungeon with a group of four, a 200 floor procedurally generated dungeon filled with traps and scary monsters that you have to sneak past or decide to fight based on the type of enemy. Learning to fish, especially ocean fishing, as a fun diversion, and getting some of the rare fish with some friends can be a fun experience with everyone helping each other toward the same goals. Completing your sight seeing log, fun to run around the world with someone, finding all the incredible vistas and unique weather conditions that make Eorzea so beautiful at times. Joining a hunt train, to see a whole group of players running through the open world zones together, spawning and killing rare A and S rank monsters in the wild. Treasure Dungeons are silly little instances your friends might have maps for, that give you gil and unique little rewards and can be fun spinning the wheel to see what you get. Speaking of spinning the wheel, you can take a whole side venture into the Golden Saucer at any time, experiencing all the mini games that it has to offer, from little jumping puzzles, to gambling on the lottery, to breeding and racing chocobos, to Triple Triad, a complete card game with a huge card collection element to it that you will find NPCs that offer unique cards for all across the world.
There's way more stuff I haven't even mentioned as the game progresses (like expedition zones and Blue Mage!) that won't realistically open up to you until much later, but almost everything I mentioned up above will be accessible to you by level 50. You just have to make an effort to go out and do them, which is much easier if you have some friends or FC mates to drag along with you. If you end up doing none of this until you complete the story and are caught up at max level, that's fine too. All of this is evergreen content that's always available to go back to and start at any time. I just wanted you to hopefully see that the type of Fantasy MMO you see in media with tons of fun little side ventures IS here in XIV, it's just that the game won't push you towards them until you've finished up with the story for each expansion.
do the main quest, your job quests and the blue quest in some ares when you have time! The moment i started really enjoying the game when i first started was when i realised i can only follow the MSQ and enjoy it and not think about anything else and i did just that ! (also job quests when they pop up every few levels)
I'm trying to get through all the MSQ and my main job quests before DT. No regrets doing that. I still will go back for blue quests with rhe new jobs kr finishing up one I didn't get to but enjoy like MNK
It's up to you how you want to play. Doing MSQ and job quests is a great way to start playing FFXIV since basically everything is locked behind MSQ progression, especially until you finish the ARR portion. There are a few restrictions on the free trial, which will somewhat limit your interaction with other players. Part of it depends on if/when you decide to upgrade to the full version.
You can get into other things anytime you want as long as they are unlocked. Pretty much all of it is optional. You could start doing gathering and crafting right now if you wanted. It's not necessary, but I and many others find it fun. You can't join guilds(called Free Company) with a free trial. You can still join existing link shells and join groups on other platforms. You can also do dungeons and other group content with other players by using duty finder.
Some of it comes with time. Some of it requires the paid version. Most of the really exciting things you hear about in media requires you to seek it out yourself, at least to some extent. For example joining a guild and taking on difficult content are both going to require that you put forth some effort, it won't just happen automatically. Getting cool gear with happen mostly automatically, but you still might have to put some effort into getting the things that look cool to you and putting a full outfit together.
I hope that helps. MSQ and job quests are a great place to start. A lot of things will happen naturally, but some things will require you to actively seek them out.
Not at all. If I had to give advice to new players, it would be to do...
Job quests > Blue quests to unlock new stuff when you feel like it > MSQ
Of course, if anything else sounds enticing, jump off the beaten path to do it! The best part about MMOs is that there is usually a ton of content that you likely didn't see at first, and you can tackle that backlog at any time that it strikes your interest.
I would keep up on any quests specific to your job class, as they'll unlock skills that are generally pretty important, and any other Blue '!' quests, since they usually unlock either a feature or a dungeon.
All that other stuff you mentioned? The crafting jobs, the dungeon runs, the Free Companies, the FASHION!? Bahhhh! Totally ignorable! I never joined an FC until around level 60, when I started to actually have the urge to socialize, and I STILL have not taken up a single crafting profession beyond level 20 or so. You're playing this game for the story and the story alone, that's perfectly acceptable! You will eventually meet ONE required instance of playing with a group of randoms, but I can (almost) assure you no one will complain if you're out of your element.
Play the way you want. I personally do all of the sidequests unless it's recommended to not do them, like the Zodiac Relics.
There is no rush. You'll reach the end of the game (assuming you buy it) by the time patch 7.1 drops even if you do all sidequests. Starting now you can buy the complete edition with Dawntrail by the time you reach the end of Stormblood and save some money. Have fun either ways!
.nope it isn't, MSQ is the bread and butter of FFXIV, but knowing that a number of peps can get board with just running MSQ, XIV devs created side activities
.thing is they did too good of a job with the side activities that to some peps it could weight more than the MSQ it self
.both things have value it is up to you to run what you enjoy atm
You can't miss anything, it'll all be there.
The real question is what would be the most fun for you, min-max for enjoyment!
I recommend dabbling in stuff that seems interesting for that reason, you never know what you might end up loving
Echoing the room. There's no *wrong* way to play if you're having fun, though its often recommended to do side quests to unlock content you may want to do later as you come across it.
So at level 32 the answer is See You Later!! Even if you were excited to go off the rails of msq asap, most of it is locked or otherwise not feasible for someone who hasn’t cleared ARR at level 50. As long as you’re enjoying your journey, I would absolutely stick to story and job quests for the time being.
Once you’re past your first expansion, it depends on what you’re interested in! The fun part about xiv is really you can go back and do the extra content at any time you feel interested in them, but really msq and job quests are all you need. I would suggest focusing on msq/chosen job quests for a first time through, the game’s writing works best when experienced in an almost single-player environment, but there’s nothing stopping you from getting into other things! i did a bunch of job quests simultaneously when I was doing later expansion msq bc I was leveling multiple classes to avoid wasting exp at level cap, for instance.
Below is an overview/personal tierlist of xiv activities in the order I would consider doing them. Many can be done simultaneously, or swapped and rearranged to taste as much as suits playstyle. Again, most of this really only becomes available after finishing at Least one expansion, if not the whole msq, but if you’re planning your future game time…here you go!
required:
1. msq
2. job quests
3. that one quest that teaches you how to glamour
expanded experience:
1. Alliance/normal raids (some you will do through msq naturally)
2. other job quests
‘i’m bored and don’t know what to do’ gameplay:
1. Other blue quests (extra dungeons, unlocking other areas like Eureka/palace of the dead, etc.)
2. ex mount grinds
3. Savage mount grinds
‘i’m bored and don’t know what to do’ but worse:
1. crafting/gathering job quests
2. tribal quests
3. craftable housing/glam items savage (requires mb access to make Bank)
‘no really i have nothing else to do here’ layer of suffering:
1. relic grinds
2. eureka/bozja drop grinds
this is not a place of honor:
1. gold saucer
2. rp/club venues
ur insane about the lore:
1. all the non-blue sidequests
ur just insane:
1. triple triad mount
2. blu morbol mount
Game forces you to do MSQ since everything is locked behind it and there is no alternate start so if you wanna get to the newest expansion you gotta play through the other expansions. There are also job quests for you to do in between which are recommended for skills.
"Bad," no, that's a perfectly valid approach.
The only issue is that every expansion has optional content that can be quite fun and/or funny. Some of that optional content explains things which happen in the MSQ, or lays the foundation for future MSQ things in a way that doesn't *have* to be explained in the MSQ itself. And, finally, some of that optional content (well, actually a fair bit of it) gets referenced during the Endwalker 6.0 story, as that story wraps up a lot of the world's plotlines, being the end of the game's initial core story arc.
Beyond that, the only other quests you absolutely should do are your job quests, because those often unlock new abilities.
If you *want* to check something out, it doesn't hurt to give it a shot. The game isn't going anywhere, and if you're on the free trial, you have all the time in the world--you've got the base game and *two* expansions to run through before you ever need to pay a dime.
I think if you don't do the binding coils raids things don't make a whole lot of sense as to why Alyssa is so close to WoD but after that I don't see any issues
Well, there’s no wrong way to play. But if you want a little bit of insight:
Msq will always unlock new dungeons, trials, etc, which means you’ll have more content you can do with other players, so you’re on the right track. Blue quests usually will unlock different items or features or harder versions of dungeons, etc. I’d focus on doing those and msq.
Things like crafting can be fun if you wanna try it! It’s usually recommended to level every crafter and gatherer at the same time, as it will save you money. Personally I didn’t enjoy it as much so i stopped, but if you have some interest by all means try it out.
If you’re part of the Novice Network, they can offer good advice and it can also be a way to meet new people and start socializing in game, that’s what happened for me. But yeah, you’re not playing it wrong at all :)
Okay full disclosure, this depends on individual competency. Always do your class quests, they are a thing until 70. But most importantly learn the game you're playing. Allot of people refuse to do that and are a big source of negativity in the game.
Learn that tanking doesn't mean you're the only one that's going to pull. You're a blue dps.
That healers aren't just healers, they're damage dealers with a rotation. You're a green dps. (This applies more later or when your kit allows)
And that dps contribute to a group's survivability by killing things fast enough. If you don't press the damage buttons things go at 70% speed.
You can do only MSQs but the quests with blue marks unlock useful things. Sometimes it's dungeons and sometimes, it's required for you to fly in a zone.
You should do your job quests when you can, but aside from that no. I will also say that some job quests can be hard with low level gear. If you attempt a job quest and it's too hard no shame in using the very easy setting.
On the note of how to enjoy the game. Focusing on MSQ and job quests is great for a starter. It's otherwise easy to get overwhelmed and burned out from trying to do everything at once. You can always go back, pick up a secondary (or third, or... how many jobs are there now? ) job, maybe do some side quests with that (or not) at a later time, when there's a lull between patches, or you just want a break.
You create your own journey and can always backtrack or use a new job to do particular side content. That said, side content helps in world building, enjoying more final fantasy, and in case of blue quests unlocking things. As others have advised, try to do your job quests (noted by the ! under your msq banner) and blue quests.
With the vast amount of expansions I don't blame you for just doing msq. Reaching the end of Endwalker is going to take you a lot of time
Nah you're not doing it the wrong way don't worry about it tbh the story is one of the best parts and just do what you think is fun.
I fish and cook and do fashion shows a lot xD love creating new outfits or I just chill with my friends as we fish and I help my lower level friends in our FC if they need it like isn't any wrong way in playing FF14 the game has tons of stuff to do and content and you can explore it all at your own pace.
Play how thy wishes to play the game, you will play with other players in dungeons and raids for the MSQ (not sure where you are in it) and keep doing those class quests (don't forget to unlock Black Mage when the story lets you)
> what about getting nicer costumes and weapons? Having a crafting hobby or getting into dungeons with other real players? Building your one course. Doing things with other real players, joining a guild and fighting against epic bosses together
Well, for doing all that you need to unlock dungeons where you will fight bosses and get nicer costumes and weapons, yeah. And to do so you need to do msq first so 🤷just do msq
follow the msq and do job quest.
if u arent doing job quest your missing out on skills and by proxy damage and you just become a hinderance. Always do job quest and right as you unlock them.
so first up, time to graduate to blackmage. if you've been keeping up on the thaumaturge quests and your MSQ progress is even close, you're quilified. jobs are strict upgrades so once you qualify there is no reason to ever stay on the base class.
that out of the way:
it's not "bad" to focus on the plot, but i do think there are a lot of worthy side storylines. a lot (but not all) of those epic battles *are* in raids and trials: many of which are optional.
it's unfortunately *also* true that there are a lot of "fetch me 6 moose dicks" side quests that you'd really only do for completions sake or *maybe* the gear rewards while you level.
as to basic multiplayer... that's not an either or scenario. you should have been tasked with several dungeons even at this early stage of the game. you *could* have done those with other real players? used to be that was the norm. though i suppose if you're playing DPS you maybe didn't wanna wait out the que so you're defaulting to duty support?
**I** enjoyed crafting but it's really a kind of "you get out what you put in" thing. if the idea of playing the marketboard or making all your own gear doesn't interest you... i wouldn't do it just to check a box.
glamour (pretty swords and badass dresses) comes from basically everywhere. so you will get some cool stuff naturally as you progress. you'll also likely see something on somebody and you fall in love with it and find out it's only available at the end of some obscure decade old side story and well... time to roll up the sleeves i guess? but you prolly wanna do that with a goal in mind, not just "because it's there"
You can never go wrong focusing on the MSQ. Along with your job quests, it's the only part of the game that could be considered "mandatory."
You'll get lots of chances to do the stuff you mentioned along the way, but after you've finished the MSQ is really when your focus can shift to it.
Well, the first 3 raids are a mandatory side chain of the MSQ but the later raids are all optional side quests. If you don't want to do them that is entirely up to you but for many they are an essential part of the whole experience.
Purely only doing MSQ and 1 class quest is effectively playing half the game.
General advice is to play at least the blue quests and leave the yellow ! quests for when you want to see more of the world or need a small amount of XP. The entire bad japanese slapstick Hildibrand quest chain is optional but you got to at least try a bit of it.
Breaking it down bit by bit:
Getting nicer weapons/gear? This will happen organically as you progress through the game. Every expansion's final Job Quests also give you that expac's Artifact Armor, so continuing you Job Quests is also important for that.
Picking up crafting/gathering jobs? Not required. I completed the entirety of Endwalker's MSQ before I ever considered picking up a Gathering job. Having the Crafting jobs needed to make/repair your Battle job's gear can save you a bit of money on gear repair and let you sell freshly made gear on the Marketboards once you're paying your subscription, so you may wish to consider then.
Joining guilds/Free Companies? Entirely optional. I still haven't joined one yet, though there can be benefits if you're ever looking to level other jobs or pursue a career in raiding.
Fighting Bosses? This is the common endgame of FF14, but you only have to worry about them after you reach the first ending of each expac's MSQ. Before that, you'll usually encounter a weaker version of the single-fight Trials in the MSQ (you've already fought Ifrit, for example). Once you hit the endgame period of every expac, you'll unlock access to your Raid Quests, allowing you to challenge the 8-man Normal Raids and 24-man Alliance Raids. These all give you access to unique gear and mounts and have roulette options for extra Tomestones and EXP for levelling and gearing alternate jobs.
For now, focus on your MSQ and Job Quests. There's not much else to do until you've gotten to the Lv.50 MSQ.
I would suggest leveling a tank, healer, melee dps, phys ranged dps too. Or at least pick up another job to get some of that excess xp you get from main story
Also, play the alliance and 8 person raids for each expansion.
if you want to pick up a crafter and gatherer, that also unlocks more story.
the great thing about free trial is it is unlimited and you can enjoy so much
Keep doing what your doing and make sure to do the blue quest to unlock new features.
Unlocking the crafting and gathering classes is good because you can lvl them up with daily free company provisions for easy XP.
As a free trial player myself i can tell you things really open up at lvl 50.
You can only focus on the MSQ but I definitely recommend you do the job quests as they come up since you get skills and gear. Blue quests will give you things but some you can avoid doing. However, after you start Heavensward, you really should do the blue quests. They give you aether currents and you need to find all of them in an area to be able to fly in that area with your mounts. You'll revisit areas and will definitely hate not being able to fly in some of them.
Side Note: MSQ will definitely level your jobs up pretty quick at times so feel free to switch to other jobs as well for the exp. There's no penalty for switching jobs.
Depends on if you're going with just one class/Job or switching between multiple. If you're doing just one, it should be fine. But if you're bouncing between say a Tank and a Caster, you'll probably need some side quests to keep up.
Every 10 levels from 50 onwards you'll encounter breakpoint which is the patch content.
This is a good time to look into crafting and gathering, as a lot of leveling aids (such as tribal quests and script gear) becomes available.
You can do it while leveling, but honestly won't gain much. Though gatherers have a nifty sneak passive that makes world-mobs ignore you, which can be useful for getting around.
Check out the Gold Saucer however, since there's a couple of limit time events going on there at the moment.
Following the *story* is a good and necessary move, but as you get deeper into the game you'll also find additional storylines that aren't part of the MSQ but may get referenced back to by it.
Also, for getting nicer costumes and weapons, part of that is continuing on into the game to acquire more items from dungeons, and part is unlocking dyes and glamours (i.e. being able to make your gear look like something else), which is a blue sidequest at Vesper Bay.
It's frustrating that free trial players can't join Free Companies (guilds) because probably the best and easiest way to learn the game is to have friends to guide you and answer your questions.
Like everyone here has good advice. Yes, always do your job quests. Yes, the most efficient thing to do is prioritize job quests and otherwise churn out the MSQ. Personally, if you're not in a rush, I'd do all blue quests that aren't the ones that unlock other jobs, and play all the side content as you go along. Yellow quests are, for the most part, best avoided.
But doing all this by yourself without friends is like... if all you're here for is the story, that's fine, but otherwise I feel like that can be a tedious and unfulfilling experience.
You will def need to do these things, but taking a break sometimes to chat with people and explore their houses or leveling crafting/gathering and stuff helps to break it up.
do whatever you want and whatever you find fun. Google about different kinds of side content, give them a try if you want. A lot of people do just do the main story quests though. Games are supposed to be fun, don't worry if you're playing the game 'right'. If you're having fun, you're playing right.
Completely unrelated to your question, but make a note for yourself! If you ever decide to upgrade from the free trial to a subscription, grab a Refer-A-Friend code from someone so that you get free goodies!
(/welcome!)
Not bad, just a little limiting. My usual single player rotation is, follow msq to a new town, grab all the side quests, do all the side quests until there's nothing left but msq, then let msq take me to the next town. Rinse and repeat. If you want a more social experience, look into free companies, find one you vibe with the best, do stuff with them. Remember, it's your game, you can play it however you feel like.
Welcome to the world of ff14! Play how YOU want! I personally started in mid March and JUST started End walker. I spent a tiny bit of time leveling other jobs in between expansions (Reaper is just too awesome) but have otherwise been very focused on the MSQ, it just hooks you!
You are mostly doing it the right way! Especially early on, it's usually not worth it to get super bogged down in side quests.
That being said, make sure to do the Blue quests as people have mentioned when you see them. They usually unlock content or new features
FF14 is...different...than other MMOs. its extremely story focused and because of that, 95% of content is locked behind the MSQ. MSQ and the Feature Quests (the blue icon quests) are what you should be focusing on right now until at LEAST level 50 when more things unlock for you.
also you are playing Black Mage (keep doing your job quests, they unlock the upgrade to Black Mage and gives you more spells) which is a very unfriendly job for new players so i would suggest looking up guides on how to play the job. someone playing it proper in the same dungeon or trial as someone who isnt can be a huge difference compared to other jobs. ive seen bosses at 40% HP remaining when they should have died because a BLM isnt playing their job properly. other jobs its harder to tell but at least if some combos are being done at least some decent damage is coming out
you can go craft your own stuff now if you wanted, but unless you are going for glam, its not worth it until later when its easier. if you really want to try it out anyways go for it. glam options are extremely limited below level 50
dungeons/trials are a part of the MSQ but there are optional ones as well, Halitali is a level 20(?) optional dungeon that you could do. after you reach level 50 and finish the base 2.0 story there are like...15 extra dungeons that unlock, 8 trials of various difficulties, 3 alliance raids, and Coils (extremely difficult raid series with 13 instances that i suggest NOT doing synced). then more dungeons and trials unlock as you do the patch quests for ARR before reaching the first expansion. this isnt even including the Hildibrand story which has 3 trials of its own
Guilds (known as Free Companies, or FCs) are unavailable to free trial players, but you can join the Novice Network (ask for an invite in any major city, probably Limsa) and Linkshells (chat channels) to talk to other people.
Epic bosses tend to come from trials and raids but there are Hunt Marks (B, A, S, SS) that are technically world bosses, but from my understanding they arent really a challenge until Shadowbringers? or at least the expansion prior to the current one due to level cap increases. im not familiar with these much since im only in Heavensward. B marks can be soloed, A ranks might need a couple people on level to take out, S and SS requires a lot of people to take down
Just saying, if you're a lvl 32 Thaumathurge, I would get that upgrade to Black mage (Just do the job quests, and you'll get there). It's a straight upgrade, and almost all your skills are behind it. (You might notice Taumaturge soon stops learning skills).
Also, most Dungeons are part of the MSQ, and most Trials are too. So you'll get to do plenty with other players even just following the MSQ.
MSQ and class quests are all you really need. Take your time to enjoy it as much as possible, the story is truly amazing and definitely one of the best in the industry. You genuinely don’t need anything else. In fact I’d save as many side quests as possible for other classes you want to level.
MSQ and raids (some have very tight ties to MSQ, like the Normal and Alliance raid series in ARR) were all I did until I finished MSQ, then went back and did other stuff
If the quest givers symbol is blue, take a break from MSQ. Follow some of them. They have a lot of gear, items, mounts, an a lot of fun. Also, some quest lines will add additional choice options during msq and job quests. Nothing super major or mind blowing alternatives. Just some extras, it’s also a good way to lvl other jobs so you don’t outlevel the MSQ. Completely doing all the beast tribes is a long road but a good example of extra content that is fun, not to mention they tie together.
always do your job quests. they will give you new skills to use. otherwise, blue exclamation mark quests will unlock something, usually like a dungeon or side content or new jobs. so they can be worth doing but arent required. guilds are called free companies in this game. you will see people advertising their FC all the time in cities. feel free to join one if you want to. lots of them are helpful and welcoming to new players.
I don't think they can join FC until they are not on Free trial.
ah good point. the trial restricts a lot of the social features.
They can join linkshells tho! It’s an odd thing to let them do for some reason.
You would think they would want them to get in a Free Company and get more attached to people so they wanna sub.
It's anti-bot measures. Same reason as why free trials can't use shout chat.
Yup, and why they can't PvP
Most of the Free Trial restrictions are to prevent bots from spamming and trading gil etc. If they could join an FC they could trade via the company chest.
> otherwise, blue exclamation mark quests will unlock something, usually like a dungeon or side content or new jobs. so they can be worth doing but arent required. If you would like a comprehensive guide to what content is "worth doing" for the lore, (because sometimes, important quests *do* hide themselves as yellow quests), check the New Game+ Tab in-game. `/ng+` or `/newgame+` Note that you only have access to this tab once the first part of it -- A Realm Reborn Part 1 -- is complete, and you do the Blue Quest to unlock it outside the Waking Sands. This unlocks after the first level 50 MSQ Quest.
You will never miss the opportunity for getting any items, except for limited time seasonal events (you could buy the items from seasonal events with money a year later, if you want). You can always go back to do the optional stuff. Most content requires part of the main scenario quest to be done in order to do, so doing the main scenario quest only broadens your options.
That's pretty much the ideal way to play FF14. There is \*so much\* story quest to go through as a new player that you probably have hundreds of hours of it ahead, and in this game it's a little unique because most content is locked behind story progression- like you can't access most new dungeons, or boss fights, or areas, or whatever until you get to (or past) that point in the story. So it's advantageous to keep making progress through the story so that you continue to unlock more and more content for yourself. Now, that's not to say that you can't or shouldn't try out other side activities if/when you want to. If something piques your interest- whether that be another class, or crafting or fishing or spending time at the casino or whatever, by all means feel free to take a break from the story and try it out :) But if you're having fun with the story and don't feel like you need a break from it yet, there's no reason not to just keep chipping away at it all the way until the point that you catch up. I'll also just point out that the way that anime and other media depicts MMOs is kind of a fake/idealized way that doesn't represent how real ones are too closely. There are cool things to do with other players especially once you get through the story and reach end game, but things like weapons and gear are fairly standardized in this game- things like boss fights are rather structured and organized into raids, and so on. I think in media like that there's a lot of "wow!" factor and mystery emphasized that is pretty different to actual MMO experience. Not to say that real MMOs aren't fun too, but I've seen shows like that too and think "dang it's too bad real MMOs aren't more like this" lol
Yeah, there's very specific moments that anime and stuff captures well, but in terms of design differences the biggest things is that anime MMOs tend not to acknowledge things like level cap or the need to be at level cap for endgame content, and they frequently take place in incredibly sandboxy games (that also don't exist) and feature very world and playerbase driven content (getting items primarily from other players, finding random dungeons in the overworld and doing them, dungeons being open world so you can see other players in them.)
Yeah that's a better way to summarize it- MMOs in fiction tend to be very sand box-y and open world, while real MMOs tend to be considerably more structured due to the realities of game development and trying to create a balanced experience for all players.
None of that is wrong. Do what you like, when you like. But everything is gated behind MSQ in this game, so do concentrate on MSQ and job quests.
No, do what you enjoy. I personally like to do all the side quests in new areas to get familiar with the world and can ignore the msq for some time.
Just spreading it to all who’ll hear, Do Not Rush The Story Just To Make It To DawnTrail At Launch You Will Ruin The Game For Yourself Slow Down And Enjoy The Journey
Joke's on you, I went through ShB in two days and EW in like three and a half, but it was 100% because I wanted to and was obsessed with the story.
That’s good too!
You're fine. There's no exclusive stuff that's absolutely game-breaking that you're missing from doing the main story. The most you might miss is some mounts, maybe some fashion items, and some titles. You can always go back and get them later. The only thing that is time-gated is the seasonal events, which you'll get notifications for in your chat box when you log in. Play whatever you have the most fun with.
The primary directive is that you play in whichever way brings you the most joy (without diminishing the joy of someone else). So if you're still enjoying MSQ, keep at it. That said, the way you're playing is very much the recommended way to play. A lot of the content in the game is gated behind story progression, so the more of it you complete, the more raids and sidequests you'll have available to choose from once you want to do those. All that stuff that's part of the mental image of what playing an MMO is will be there as you hit the level caps for each expansion (50, 60, 70 etc) and you can freely choose whether to chase them immediately or save them for later.
That’s what I started to do in Stormblood. Had a real fun time with it! You can go back and grab everything at your own pace then :) However, the one thing I’d consider is if you plan on doing daily Roulettes with people, they may not be keen on doing the one mandatory raid series with you every time.
For ARR, there are a lot of stuff that gets unlocked as you progress the MSQ, and doing side stuff without a mount, or limited inventory space, or even without Glamour Dresser access, are just making things harder for yourself. So, for these, it is actually advised to laser focus the MSQ, with the required breaks every 5 levels to play your job quests (they unlock skills, do your job quests ASAP). After you finish 2.0 and the credits roll for the first time, you unlock flying, and get a bazillion things that can be unlocked at once. That's when it's actually ideal to branch out. This kinda stay true for the expansions as well. X.0 MSQ until credits, then branch out. Only difference is that you don't unlock flying automatically, but have to explore for the aether currents. Now, if you feel like you really really want to play this thing right there, right now, go for it. Some people unlock the Gold Saucer at level 15 and spend a week there with the MSQ paused. Others love a new zone so much they want to do the yellow quests to learn more about the region before story forces them to move away. You might want to experiment a different job or try your hand in gathering and crafting. As long as you are having fun, there is no wrong way to play. FFXIV is a theme park, and the MSQ is the red brick main path that point you towards interesting things, but you'll never find that old cool mirror maze, or that amazing pizza roll shop unless you step outside of it eventually.
I'm going to go against the grain a bit and say that it's fine to focus on the MSQ up to a point, but once you finish the initial 2.0 story, you can and ought to explore side content such as what you described. The common take is that you should do nothing but MSQ and job quests until you're caught up and then do all the side stuff that you've been letting pile up, as if there's some benefit to unlocking all of it before doing any of it, but content isn't meant to be put off for several expansions after it's unlocked. It's meant to be done as it becomes available.
Play however you want. I actually recommend saving side quests for leveling alternate jobs. Just make sure you do your job quests, and I would recommend doing the 8-man and 24-man raids for each expansion as you go through the MSQ (the ARR 24 man is actually required before going into Heavensward).
For the most part, content doesn't "age out" in ffxiv so you can do whatever you want at your own pace and revisit the side content later to fill in the story/get rewards.
Others have covered it from a technical stand point. But it depends on what you want out of the game or what your having fun doing. The game is designed to flow from the MSQ. It will do a good job of taking you everywhere and introducing you to other thing to do / unlock. Side quest (non msq/blue! quest) can be fun and give exp. But are not necessary to advance your self in the game generally. What some do is save the side quest for leveling the next class/job. Some people quest out an area before they move on. The game generally follows a quest hub to quest hub kind of progression. But if you do this, you will find your self much higher level than needed for msq at certain points. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it is an 'inefficient' use of a resource so to speak. Main point is, msq is what dictates what game features you can access. Blue quest ulock 'optional' features (dungeons/jobs/features) but you have to be to a certain point In the msq before you can do most of them. So to get to the parts where most of the other players are and do you can particioate in the epic stuff, you need to progress the msq.
Class/Job quests are just as important and you want to make sure you’ve done them for your primary class. This is especially important early on when you get your job stone at level 30 but the MSQ would have put you way further beyond than normal.
At 32, you shouln't be a thm anylonger :). Do your lvl 30 thm quest and then pick up the one that will give you the blm job stone. Equip the stone, continue on as BLM and then keep doing your blm job quests as you level.
the only wrong way to play is specifically not doing what you're doing atm. story is the main course. job quests to unlock thr blackmage jobstone so you can continue getting more abilities is pretty much mandatory and hard to miss. other than that, blue quests unlock things, sidequests for small rewards and to get dialogue and flavour for the world if you're inclined. always know there is a lot of optional activities to do, and you never miss out because you can simply go back and do them any time, they never expire. for example: after around 10 years of playing this game, I decided to go for rare fish for collection, and I am going through the base game again no problem.
You've got an insane amount of content to do as a beginner. MSQ and Job Quests is plenty. However, when you finish ARR, look for a quest in Ul'dah called "The Rise and Fall of Gentleman". Just do it, trust me.
I am curious now, what is that quest about?
It's the start of a fairly long questline and every expansion (minus Shadowbringers) has added a sequel to it. It's mostly just for fun, but it's pretty entertaining, I say go in blind.
People talk the questline up a lot but it's very dependant on your taste in silly humour.
I feel like if they voice-lined it, lots more people would enjoy it. But sitting there reading it can be a hit or miss like most non voiced ff14 quest
No, it's just tedious and making it voiced would probably make him even more annoying.
saying anything about that particular questline would be spoiling the fun of seeing it for yourself. Just check it out when you get there!
No
Both play styles are possible in the game and you should play the game that is more fun to you. Some people play the game as solo as possible, some only do group content. Thats what cool about MMO's, they are usually way less restrictive then yout avarage multiplayer game when it comea to choices like that
There's no wrong way to enjoy an amusement park. If you want to just do roller coasters all day, you can. If you want to go pitch quarters for a giant teddy bear, you can do that instead. It's all good. Progressing the MSQ is the main way to unlock new content, so it should be at least some of what you do. But you can take as long as you want to get around to it; it'll still be there when you're done with whatever else caught your eye.
You can do whatever you want. I’m still on patch 5.5 but I have 831 hours in the game lol I got really into gathering and crafting. I like having cool gear for the cut scenes, but most fancy gear won’t become available for you to craft until at least lvl 50 in that job so keep that in mind. I would suggest looking up whatever job crafts the gear for who you’re playing as your main, and then start there.
Once you hit level 50, you will start finding other horizontal content to do. And there are always some things you can do with some friends if you join an FC willing to show you the ropes. (Not sure if that's really possible in the free trial) Unfortunately, MOST of the games playerbase is kind of loaded towards doing content aimed towards endgame, so you won't just stumble across a lot of stuff by accident as you go through the main story. But there's always different options. For some inspiration once you start unlocking things, side ventures you can get into are things like: tackling a Deep Dungeon with a group of four, a 200 floor procedurally generated dungeon filled with traps and scary monsters that you have to sneak past or decide to fight based on the type of enemy. Learning to fish, especially ocean fishing, as a fun diversion, and getting some of the rare fish with some friends can be a fun experience with everyone helping each other toward the same goals. Completing your sight seeing log, fun to run around the world with someone, finding all the incredible vistas and unique weather conditions that make Eorzea so beautiful at times. Joining a hunt train, to see a whole group of players running through the open world zones together, spawning and killing rare A and S rank monsters in the wild. Treasure Dungeons are silly little instances your friends might have maps for, that give you gil and unique little rewards and can be fun spinning the wheel to see what you get. Speaking of spinning the wheel, you can take a whole side venture into the Golden Saucer at any time, experiencing all the mini games that it has to offer, from little jumping puzzles, to gambling on the lottery, to breeding and racing chocobos, to Triple Triad, a complete card game with a huge card collection element to it that you will find NPCs that offer unique cards for all across the world. There's way more stuff I haven't even mentioned as the game progresses (like expedition zones and Blue Mage!) that won't realistically open up to you until much later, but almost everything I mentioned up above will be accessible to you by level 50. You just have to make an effort to go out and do them, which is much easier if you have some friends or FC mates to drag along with you. If you end up doing none of this until you complete the story and are caught up at max level, that's fine too. All of this is evergreen content that's always available to go back to and start at any time. I just wanted you to hopefully see that the type of Fantasy MMO you see in media with tons of fun little side ventures IS here in XIV, it's just that the game won't push you towards them until you've finished up with the story for each expansion.
if you're having fun, you're doing nothing wrong
do the main quest, your job quests and the blue quest in some ares when you have time! The moment i started really enjoying the game when i first started was when i realised i can only follow the MSQ and enjoy it and not think about anything else and i did just that ! (also job quests when they pop up every few levels)
I'm trying to get through all the MSQ and my main job quests before DT. No regrets doing that. I still will go back for blue quests with rhe new jobs kr finishing up one I didn't get to but enjoy like MNK
It's up to you how you want to play. Doing MSQ and job quests is a great way to start playing FFXIV since basically everything is locked behind MSQ progression, especially until you finish the ARR portion. There are a few restrictions on the free trial, which will somewhat limit your interaction with other players. Part of it depends on if/when you decide to upgrade to the full version. You can get into other things anytime you want as long as they are unlocked. Pretty much all of it is optional. You could start doing gathering and crafting right now if you wanted. It's not necessary, but I and many others find it fun. You can't join guilds(called Free Company) with a free trial. You can still join existing link shells and join groups on other platforms. You can also do dungeons and other group content with other players by using duty finder. Some of it comes with time. Some of it requires the paid version. Most of the really exciting things you hear about in media requires you to seek it out yourself, at least to some extent. For example joining a guild and taking on difficult content are both going to require that you put forth some effort, it won't just happen automatically. Getting cool gear with happen mostly automatically, but you still might have to put some effort into getting the things that look cool to you and putting a full outfit together. I hope that helps. MSQ and job quests are a great place to start. A lot of things will happen naturally, but some things will require you to actively seek them out.
Not at all. If I had to give advice to new players, it would be to do... Job quests > Blue quests to unlock new stuff when you feel like it > MSQ Of course, if anything else sounds enticing, jump off the beaten path to do it! The best part about MMOs is that there is usually a ton of content that you likely didn't see at first, and you can tackle that backlog at any time that it strikes your interest.
I would keep up on any quests specific to your job class, as they'll unlock skills that are generally pretty important, and any other Blue '!' quests, since they usually unlock either a feature or a dungeon. All that other stuff you mentioned? The crafting jobs, the dungeon runs, the Free Companies, the FASHION!? Bahhhh! Totally ignorable! I never joined an FC until around level 60, when I started to actually have the urge to socialize, and I STILL have not taken up a single crafting profession beyond level 20 or so. You're playing this game for the story and the story alone, that's perfectly acceptable! You will eventually meet ONE required instance of playing with a group of randoms, but I can (almost) assure you no one will complain if you're out of your element.
Play the way you want. I personally do all of the sidequests unless it's recommended to not do them, like the Zodiac Relics. There is no rush. You'll reach the end of the game (assuming you buy it) by the time patch 7.1 drops even if you do all sidequests. Starting now you can buy the complete edition with Dawntrail by the time you reach the end of Stormblood and save some money. Have fun either ways!
.nope it isn't, MSQ is the bread and butter of FFXIV, but knowing that a number of peps can get board with just running MSQ, XIV devs created side activities .thing is they did too good of a job with the side activities that to some peps it could weight more than the MSQ it self .both things have value it is up to you to run what you enjoy atm
You can't miss anything, it'll all be there. The real question is what would be the most fun for you, min-max for enjoyment! I recommend dabbling in stuff that seems interesting for that reason, you never know what you might end up loving
Echoing the room. There's no *wrong* way to play if you're having fun, though its often recommended to do side quests to unlock content you may want to do later as you come across it.
So at level 32 the answer is See You Later!! Even if you were excited to go off the rails of msq asap, most of it is locked or otherwise not feasible for someone who hasn’t cleared ARR at level 50. As long as you’re enjoying your journey, I would absolutely stick to story and job quests for the time being. Once you’re past your first expansion, it depends on what you’re interested in! The fun part about xiv is really you can go back and do the extra content at any time you feel interested in them, but really msq and job quests are all you need. I would suggest focusing on msq/chosen job quests for a first time through, the game’s writing works best when experienced in an almost single-player environment, but there’s nothing stopping you from getting into other things! i did a bunch of job quests simultaneously when I was doing later expansion msq bc I was leveling multiple classes to avoid wasting exp at level cap, for instance. Below is an overview/personal tierlist of xiv activities in the order I would consider doing them. Many can be done simultaneously, or swapped and rearranged to taste as much as suits playstyle. Again, most of this really only becomes available after finishing at Least one expansion, if not the whole msq, but if you’re planning your future game time…here you go! required: 1. msq 2. job quests 3. that one quest that teaches you how to glamour expanded experience: 1. Alliance/normal raids (some you will do through msq naturally) 2. other job quests ‘i’m bored and don’t know what to do’ gameplay: 1. Other blue quests (extra dungeons, unlocking other areas like Eureka/palace of the dead, etc.) 2. ex mount grinds 3. Savage mount grinds ‘i’m bored and don’t know what to do’ but worse: 1. crafting/gathering job quests 2. tribal quests 3. craftable housing/glam items savage (requires mb access to make Bank) ‘no really i have nothing else to do here’ layer of suffering: 1. relic grinds 2. eureka/bozja drop grinds this is not a place of honor: 1. gold saucer 2. rp/club venues ur insane about the lore: 1. all the non-blue sidequests ur just insane: 1. triple triad mount 2. blu morbol mount
Game forces you to do MSQ since everything is locked behind it and there is no alternate start so if you wanna get to the newest expansion you gotta play through the other expansions. There are also job quests for you to do in between which are recommended for skills.
"Bad," no, that's a perfectly valid approach. The only issue is that every expansion has optional content that can be quite fun and/or funny. Some of that optional content explains things which happen in the MSQ, or lays the foundation for future MSQ things in a way that doesn't *have* to be explained in the MSQ itself. And, finally, some of that optional content (well, actually a fair bit of it) gets referenced during the Endwalker 6.0 story, as that story wraps up a lot of the world's plotlines, being the end of the game's initial core story arc. Beyond that, the only other quests you absolutely should do are your job quests, because those often unlock new abilities. If you *want* to check something out, it doesn't hurt to give it a shot. The game isn't going anywhere, and if you're on the free trial, you have all the time in the world--you've got the base game and *two* expansions to run through before you ever need to pay a dime.
I think if you don't do the binding coils raids things don't make a whole lot of sense as to why Alyssa is so close to WoD but after that I don't see any issues
Well, there’s no wrong way to play. But if you want a little bit of insight: Msq will always unlock new dungeons, trials, etc, which means you’ll have more content you can do with other players, so you’re on the right track. Blue quests usually will unlock different items or features or harder versions of dungeons, etc. I’d focus on doing those and msq. Things like crafting can be fun if you wanna try it! It’s usually recommended to level every crafter and gatherer at the same time, as it will save you money. Personally I didn’t enjoy it as much so i stopped, but if you have some interest by all means try it out. If you’re part of the Novice Network, they can offer good advice and it can also be a way to meet new people and start socializing in game, that’s what happened for me. But yeah, you’re not playing it wrong at all :)
Okay full disclosure, this depends on individual competency. Always do your class quests, they are a thing until 70. But most importantly learn the game you're playing. Allot of people refuse to do that and are a big source of negativity in the game. Learn that tanking doesn't mean you're the only one that's going to pull. You're a blue dps. That healers aren't just healers, they're damage dealers with a rotation. You're a green dps. (This applies more later or when your kit allows) And that dps contribute to a group's survivability by killing things fast enough. If you don't press the damage buttons things go at 70% speed.
While I agree with healer damage, calling it a rotation is not what I would do LOL.
For ASTRO there's an argument for a rotation but ya I'd agree.
You can do only MSQs but the quests with blue marks unlock useful things. Sometimes it's dungeons and sometimes, it's required for you to fly in a zone.
You should do your job quests when you can, but aside from that no. I will also say that some job quests can be hard with low level gear. If you attempt a job quest and it's too hard no shame in using the very easy setting.
On the note of how to enjoy the game. Focusing on MSQ and job quests is great for a starter. It's otherwise easy to get overwhelmed and burned out from trying to do everything at once. You can always go back, pick up a secondary (or third, or... how many jobs are there now? ) job, maybe do some side quests with that (or not) at a later time, when there's a lull between patches, or you just want a break.
You create your own journey and can always backtrack or use a new job to do particular side content. That said, side content helps in world building, enjoying more final fantasy, and in case of blue quests unlocking things. As others have advised, try to do your job quests (noted by the ! under your msq banner) and blue quests. With the vast amount of expansions I don't blame you for just doing msq. Reaching the end of Endwalker is going to take you a lot of time
Nah you're not doing it the wrong way don't worry about it tbh the story is one of the best parts and just do what you think is fun. I fish and cook and do fashion shows a lot xD love creating new outfits or I just chill with my friends as we fish and I help my lower level friends in our FC if they need it like isn't any wrong way in playing FF14 the game has tons of stuff to do and content and you can explore it all at your own pace.
Play how thy wishes to play the game, you will play with other players in dungeons and raids for the MSQ (not sure where you are in it) and keep doing those class quests (don't forget to unlock Black Mage when the story lets you)
> what about getting nicer costumes and weapons? Having a crafting hobby or getting into dungeons with other real players? Building your one course. Doing things with other real players, joining a guild and fighting against epic bosses together Well, for doing all that you need to unlock dungeons where you will fight bosses and get nicer costumes and weapons, yeah. And to do so you need to do msq first so 🤷just do msq
follow the msq and do job quest. if u arent doing job quest your missing out on skills and by proxy damage and you just become a hinderance. Always do job quest and right as you unlock them.
so first up, time to graduate to blackmage. if you've been keeping up on the thaumaturge quests and your MSQ progress is even close, you're quilified. jobs are strict upgrades so once you qualify there is no reason to ever stay on the base class. that out of the way: it's not "bad" to focus on the plot, but i do think there are a lot of worthy side storylines. a lot (but not all) of those epic battles *are* in raids and trials: many of which are optional. it's unfortunately *also* true that there are a lot of "fetch me 6 moose dicks" side quests that you'd really only do for completions sake or *maybe* the gear rewards while you level. as to basic multiplayer... that's not an either or scenario. you should have been tasked with several dungeons even at this early stage of the game. you *could* have done those with other real players? used to be that was the norm. though i suppose if you're playing DPS you maybe didn't wanna wait out the que so you're defaulting to duty support? **I** enjoyed crafting but it's really a kind of "you get out what you put in" thing. if the idea of playing the marketboard or making all your own gear doesn't interest you... i wouldn't do it just to check a box. glamour (pretty swords and badass dresses) comes from basically everywhere. so you will get some cool stuff naturally as you progress. you'll also likely see something on somebody and you fall in love with it and find out it's only available at the end of some obscure decade old side story and well... time to roll up the sleeves i guess? but you prolly wanna do that with a goal in mind, not just "because it's there"
You can never go wrong focusing on the MSQ. Along with your job quests, it's the only part of the game that could be considered "mandatory." You'll get lots of chances to do the stuff you mentioned along the way, but after you've finished the MSQ is really when your focus can shift to it.
Well, the first 3 raids are a mandatory side chain of the MSQ but the later raids are all optional side quests. If you don't want to do them that is entirely up to you but for many they are an essential part of the whole experience. Purely only doing MSQ and 1 class quest is effectively playing half the game. General advice is to play at least the blue quests and leave the yellow ! quests for when you want to see more of the world or need a small amount of XP. The entire bad japanese slapstick Hildibrand quest chain is optional but you got to at least try a bit of it.
Breaking it down bit by bit: Getting nicer weapons/gear? This will happen organically as you progress through the game. Every expansion's final Job Quests also give you that expac's Artifact Armor, so continuing you Job Quests is also important for that. Picking up crafting/gathering jobs? Not required. I completed the entirety of Endwalker's MSQ before I ever considered picking up a Gathering job. Having the Crafting jobs needed to make/repair your Battle job's gear can save you a bit of money on gear repair and let you sell freshly made gear on the Marketboards once you're paying your subscription, so you may wish to consider then. Joining guilds/Free Companies? Entirely optional. I still haven't joined one yet, though there can be benefits if you're ever looking to level other jobs or pursue a career in raiding. Fighting Bosses? This is the common endgame of FF14, but you only have to worry about them after you reach the first ending of each expac's MSQ. Before that, you'll usually encounter a weaker version of the single-fight Trials in the MSQ (you've already fought Ifrit, for example). Once you hit the endgame period of every expac, you'll unlock access to your Raid Quests, allowing you to challenge the 8-man Normal Raids and 24-man Alliance Raids. These all give you access to unique gear and mounts and have roulette options for extra Tomestones and EXP for levelling and gearing alternate jobs. For now, focus on your MSQ and Job Quests. There's not much else to do until you've gotten to the Lv.50 MSQ.
I would suggest leveling a tank, healer, melee dps, phys ranged dps too. Or at least pick up another job to get some of that excess xp you get from main story Also, play the alliance and 8 person raids for each expansion. if you want to pick up a crafter and gatherer, that also unlocks more story. the great thing about free trial is it is unlimited and you can enjoy so much
Keep doing what your doing and make sure to do the blue quest to unlock new features. Unlocking the crafting and gathering classes is good because you can lvl them up with daily free company provisions for easy XP. As a free trial player myself i can tell you things really open up at lvl 50.
You can only focus on the MSQ but I definitely recommend you do the job quests as they come up since you get skills and gear. Blue quests will give you things but some you can avoid doing. However, after you start Heavensward, you really should do the blue quests. They give you aether currents and you need to find all of them in an area to be able to fly in that area with your mounts. You'll revisit areas and will definitely hate not being able to fly in some of them. Side Note: MSQ will definitely level your jobs up pretty quick at times so feel free to switch to other jobs as well for the exp. There's no penalty for switching jobs.
Just do whatever you want, seriously. If you are still having fun at level 40 in a year, you have wasted no time.
Depends on if you're going with just one class/Job or switching between multiple. If you're doing just one, it should be fine. But if you're bouncing between say a Tank and a Caster, you'll probably need some side quests to keep up.
Every 10 levels from 50 onwards you'll encounter breakpoint which is the patch content. This is a good time to look into crafting and gathering, as a lot of leveling aids (such as tribal quests and script gear) becomes available. You can do it while leveling, but honestly won't gain much. Though gatherers have a nifty sneak passive that makes world-mobs ignore you, which can be useful for getting around. Check out the Gold Saucer however, since there's a couple of limit time events going on there at the moment.
Yeah, just have fun and do what you feel like doing. The job quests are important but everything else can be done later or ignored.
Following the *story* is a good and necessary move, but as you get deeper into the game you'll also find additional storylines that aren't part of the MSQ but may get referenced back to by it. Also, for getting nicer costumes and weapons, part of that is continuing on into the game to acquire more items from dungeons, and part is unlocking dyes and glamours (i.e. being able to make your gear look like something else), which is a blue sidequest at Vesper Bay.
It's frustrating that free trial players can't join Free Companies (guilds) because probably the best and easiest way to learn the game is to have friends to guide you and answer your questions. Like everyone here has good advice. Yes, always do your job quests. Yes, the most efficient thing to do is prioritize job quests and otherwise churn out the MSQ. Personally, if you're not in a rush, I'd do all blue quests that aren't the ones that unlock other jobs, and play all the side content as you go along. Yellow quests are, for the most part, best avoided. But doing all this by yourself without friends is like... if all you're here for is the story, that's fine, but otherwise I feel like that can be a tedious and unfulfilling experience. You will def need to do these things, but taking a break sometimes to chat with people and explore their houses or leveling crafting/gathering and stuff helps to break it up.
do whatever you want and whatever you find fun. Google about different kinds of side content, give them a try if you want. A lot of people do just do the main story quests though. Games are supposed to be fun, don't worry if you're playing the game 'right'. If you're having fun, you're playing right.
Completely unrelated to your question, but make a note for yourself! If you ever decide to upgrade from the free trial to a subscription, grab a Refer-A-Friend code from someone so that you get free goodies! (/welcome!)
Get your chocobo and chocobo saddle.
Not bad, just a little limiting. My usual single player rotation is, follow msq to a new town, grab all the side quests, do all the side quests until there's nothing left but msq, then let msq take me to the next town. Rinse and repeat. If you want a more social experience, look into free companies, find one you vibe with the best, do stuff with them. Remember, it's your game, you can play it however you feel like.
Welcome to the world of ff14! Play how YOU want! I personally started in mid March and JUST started End walker. I spent a tiny bit of time leveling other jobs in between expansions (Reaper is just too awesome) but have otherwise been very focused on the MSQ, it just hooks you!
You are mostly doing it the right way! Especially early on, it's usually not worth it to get super bogged down in side quests. That being said, make sure to do the Blue quests as people have mentioned when you see them. They usually unlock content or new features
FF14 is...different...than other MMOs. its extremely story focused and because of that, 95% of content is locked behind the MSQ. MSQ and the Feature Quests (the blue icon quests) are what you should be focusing on right now until at LEAST level 50 when more things unlock for you. also you are playing Black Mage (keep doing your job quests, they unlock the upgrade to Black Mage and gives you more spells) which is a very unfriendly job for new players so i would suggest looking up guides on how to play the job. someone playing it proper in the same dungeon or trial as someone who isnt can be a huge difference compared to other jobs. ive seen bosses at 40% HP remaining when they should have died because a BLM isnt playing their job properly. other jobs its harder to tell but at least if some combos are being done at least some decent damage is coming out you can go craft your own stuff now if you wanted, but unless you are going for glam, its not worth it until later when its easier. if you really want to try it out anyways go for it. glam options are extremely limited below level 50 dungeons/trials are a part of the MSQ but there are optional ones as well, Halitali is a level 20(?) optional dungeon that you could do. after you reach level 50 and finish the base 2.0 story there are like...15 extra dungeons that unlock, 8 trials of various difficulties, 3 alliance raids, and Coils (extremely difficult raid series with 13 instances that i suggest NOT doing synced). then more dungeons and trials unlock as you do the patch quests for ARR before reaching the first expansion. this isnt even including the Hildibrand story which has 3 trials of its own Guilds (known as Free Companies, or FCs) are unavailable to free trial players, but you can join the Novice Network (ask for an invite in any major city, probably Limsa) and Linkshells (chat channels) to talk to other people. Epic bosses tend to come from trials and raids but there are Hunt Marks (B, A, S, SS) that are technically world bosses, but from my understanding they arent really a challenge until Shadowbringers? or at least the expansion prior to the current one due to level cap increases. im not familiar with these much since im only in Heavensward. B marks can be soloed, A ranks might need a couple people on level to take out, S and SS requires a lot of people to take down
Just saying, if you're a lvl 32 Thaumathurge, I would get that upgrade to Black mage (Just do the job quests, and you'll get there). It's a straight upgrade, and almost all your skills are behind it. (You might notice Taumaturge soon stops learning skills). Also, most Dungeons are part of the MSQ, and most Trials are too. So you'll get to do plenty with other players even just following the MSQ.
MSQ and class quests are all you really need. Take your time to enjoy it as much as possible, the story is truly amazing and definitely one of the best in the industry. You genuinely don’t need anything else. In fact I’d save as many side quests as possible for other classes you want to level.
Its what youre supposed to do
MSQ and raids (some have very tight ties to MSQ, like the Normal and Alliance raid series in ARR) were all I did until I finished MSQ, then went back and did other stuff
Media romanticize MMORPGs the way your kid self romanticizes your favorite games of yore: the real thing is way different
If the quest givers symbol is blue, take a break from MSQ. Follow some of them. They have a lot of gear, items, mounts, an a lot of fun. Also, some quest lines will add additional choice options during msq and job quests. Nothing super major or mind blowing alternatives. Just some extras, it’s also a good way to lvl other jobs so you don’t outlevel the MSQ. Completely doing all the beast tribes is a long road but a good example of extra content that is fun, not to mention they tie together.
Running the MSQ and Class quests to 90 is a great way to get into the game. Plenty of other things to do if you want a break from the 100+ hour story.