I'm a longtime Final Fantasy fan, but I never actually got around to playing Final Fantasy XI when it was around! Now that this exists, I can't wait to take a shot at it.

My only problem is... I have no idea where to begin! What races/jobs are recommended? Any friends out there I can team up with and adventure with together?

I have a discord! Feel free to add me so we can chat and get something going! Can't wait to experience this.

Discord: Calamity Snake#8245

Cant find that name on discord!

Hey sorry! I edited the OP to include my new username- decided to change it to keep everything I have pretty uniform... for the most part.

Even if you don't plan on playing White Mage long term, it is a good job to have leveled and it is easy to get a party while you are leveling. With WHM, you can get "Sneak" at level 20 and "Invisible" at level 25. This will allow you to be able to get in and out of places fairly easily without the cost of meds, specifically for unlocking other jobs that you may want to play after you get to level 30. Another nice thing about WHM, is the ability to teleport at level 36. With BLM subjob and the ability to "Warp", people will pay you to teleport them and then you can just warp back after you are done assisting them.

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What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

^^^

That's good advice. It's common for people to /shout in town for teleports to get places, so it's a solid way to make a little bit of extra cash.

Also important to know is that you need to build up fame in the cities in order to get access to better quests with better rewards (spell scrolls are often the best rewards). You can build up fame by doing repeatable quests, and there are a lot of guides out there for how to do it quickly and even make money while doing it. Yes, it involves a fair amount of farming. You can see your fame level on nasomi.com

My possibly somewhat-incorrect info on what basic stats are for:
MND = healing power increase (and debuff resistance, I think?)
INT = nuking power/accuracy increase
CHR = for BRD and BST, songs and charming, respectively
VIT = helps you take a hit, ideal for PLD tanks
STR = increases damage (I believe it raises the floor of the damage you output, while attack raises the ceiling, but I might have it backwards)
DEX = increases crits and has a small impact on accuracy
AGI = increases likelihood of parries/blocks, also helps with ranged accuracy

Certain races have advantages over others. Galka have high VIT, so make naturally strong tanks. Taru have higher MP and INT, so are great nukers.

It helps to know what kinds of classes you enjoy. If you like melee combat, choosing a taru won't give you many benefits in that area. And galka mages can struggle with having enough MP at times. But all of the races can play all of the jobs, so if you want to make a choice based on preference or fashion, go for it.

Oh, one helpful thing is that if you choose a race which is 'native' to the starting town you choose, you begin with that nation's lvl 1 ring. It's a small benefit, but is worth considering. Bastok is the home of hume and galka. Windurst is the home of mithra and taru. And Sandy is the home of the snooty Elvaan.

Equipment sets (/equipset 1 is an example) are very useful to make swapping gear easier. Because you need to swap gear a looooooot, especially at higher levels. Macros make your life a lot easier, so you'll need to add macros for every weapon skill (/ws "Wasp Sting" <t>), spell (/ma "Bio" <t>), or job ability (/ja "Provoke" <t>). Definitely look up guides on that.

There are a lot of keyboard commands and shortcuts that are vital as well. CTRL + R to respond to someone is waaaaay faster than typing their name out each time, for instance. And typing /join to join a party you've been invited to is much simpler than going through the menu to do it.

Making money at first is often quite tough, but is always doable. There's a good guide on the forum that'll help a lot. And my go-to for low level farming is always beehive chips from bees (Bastok and Windurst), silk from crawlers (Windurst) and everything you can get from humanoid mobs. Some things are better to sell to NPCs, while some are better to sell on the Auction House.

Good luck! It's a grind, but you'll often find people who are willing to help with advice or support on a quest. If you type /sea all lolbst and see me online, feel free to reach out.

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LSs: DysKai | FunWithJugs | Ragnarok
formerly Krinkle of Kujata
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