More on leveling... What the behest!?

Talking about levelling from my previous post was all about grinding and how at 20 it was like hill a SP wall.  This time I'm going to talk about Battle Warden Behests, which for us, is the new way to level.

What is a behest?

A behest is a request, that request comes from a battle warden which appears at each crystal at a camp or out in the field.  The battle warden npc will spawn every hour, on the hour at which point you can sign up by talking to them.  There is a player limit of 15 so you will need to be quick if the camp is pretty busy!  Once signed up the event will begin at 5 minutes past the hour.

So what happens?

Hopefully someone will start group, but if not I would recommend that you just invite all the people with the paper icon next to their name just for the sake of getting things going.  

When the event starts, the battle warden will start moving towards areas where the mobs are.  The even is just like a leve quest and you can see areas on the map where the mobs live.  You run around killing everything listed on the screen.  Once done more appear (usually 2 mobs), after they are delt with, the behest is complete!  Talking to the battlewarden will give you some gil, plus a chance to port back to the camp/area you started in.

Mmmmkay, sounds okay, but how does it make for good levelling?

During the behest, all the mobs that are killed net you SP as if you had just solo'd it.

Yeah, so?

If you get the maximum amount of people (15) sign up, the amount of mobs increase, which at level 20 is around 40+ mobs.  The mobs die so fast and furious in the space of 10 minutes that you can get around 4-5k SP.  In effect your getting SP from grinding roughly the amount you could in just over a hour, but in 10 minutes.  Leaving you about 45 minutes to kill which you could grind some more, or like me switch to crafting.

Conclusion

Levelling by behests will most definitely make the best use of your time, not only does it give good SP, but it also gives you a chance to break up the grind.  Take a break, craft, whatever you like in between!

As always, there is a downside.  As there is a limit to the amount of people who can join, you are not guaranteed a spot, turn up early, keep an eye out, and click fast to get your spot!

Happy levelling! 

Leveling Post Nov Patch

By now I would imagine everyone knows about the Nov update and what it brought to the table.  But what did those figures in terms of required SP per level actually mean in terms of levelling time?

It now takes roughly an hour to get from 1 to 10... It actually took me very little effort to take a DOW & DOM over level 10. The first few levels come fast and furious and it does tend to slow a little the closer you get to 10, but as long as you keep the momentum going, the levels fly by.

Ok so in terms of what was being killed? well it's very simple really, rats & beetles can take you there in no time.  Running out of limsa, I killed rats on the way south to the beetles and started killing them at lvl3.

At level 10 the levelling curve changes, and starts to slow a little.  10-12 can be done in a hour or less killing puk, then moving on to 12-16 which will take roughly 3 hours more working on Dodo's.  After 16 you are looking at much longer levelling times but still within reason easy enough to get multiple levels in a matter of hours.

The real hit is when you hit 20, as soon as that little rank up flutters about, you can kiss that 150-200 SP goodbye, you will be looking at ranges of 60-90 per mob.  The sad thing is I was soloing nanny goats and crabs and still only getting 80-90 per.  I found testing each type of mob to be best, find those who were quick to kill vs dmg taken.  Regardless after 20 you are looking at a level or 2 per level if you work at it.

Partying below 20 seems to hurt SP and XP gains so I wouldn't advise it, unless you are like the Kitn and I who just like to play together.  As a party below 20, 150 SP/XP gains turn in to 70-100.

I'm yet to group up after 20 and see if there is any benefit at all but so far it would seem that party SP/XP doesn't seem to be working very well.

So, there we have it, to recap:

1-10 : Easy as pie, face roll your way to 10 in about an hour.
10-12 : Easy enough in a hour to two.
12-16 : Looking at about 3-4 hours solid grinding.
16-20 : Talking a day or so.
20+ : Yeeeaaaahhh..... Ummmm..... Shoot, hell if I know what to do!

This didn't include any other means of SP/XP gain other than grinding.

Patch Review (November 2010)

After downloading the patch (250~MB) I was some what apprehensive, how much can change in such a small patch.

Macros

First off, if you use macros to change equipment you now need to include the HQ suffix. Naturally this makes perfect sense, and is what I tried to do after creating my first HQ items back at first launch.

/equip main "Bronze Dagger +1"

You also get a nice friendly warning that your equipment is damaged, if indeed it is. Although this message does trigger when your durability is around 70%, maybe even higher.

Disciples of the Land: Fishing

There have been some tweaks to fishing, in that once you have caught or lost your first fish (on cast). You are presented with a message "Your senses tell you that there are [fish name] above/below your position". Although I only tested this for about two hours, it does come true most of the time, and ignoring the suggested position may allow you to catch another type of fish.

Disciples of the Land: Mining / Logging

As you might expect the other Disciples of the Land action follow a similar flow, informing the player that if they change their depth or angle they might harvest that particular item.

UI Improvements

If you are playing Final Fantasy XIV like me, on what is called the bare minimum specification you will now find that the over all user interface is much more responsive. The game no longer freezes (between 5-10 seconds) when trying to: run into and new area, perform any crafting, view inventory, transfer items to your retainer, buy/sell items from shops, browse other players bazaars, view the world map, attempt to repair your items and change your equipment by the character page. Good Job :)

Synthesis

If you have not already checked out the Lodestone web site, I suggest you do. There are a flurry of changes to recipes which in my opinion should have been there are the start. Lesser rank items now require lower level materials, making them easier to make and source. As far as I am aware there have been no changes to how synthesis is performed. You still have a choice of Normal, Fast and Quality, whilst trying to keep the elements in harmony.

Retainers

Your retainer will still appear in the Market Ward, unless there is some server maintenance; where they seem to disappear. Unless I have missed it, there is no global search for items, although viewing items for sale on other retainers has improved in speed, as mentioned above in the general UI update.

Disciples of the War

Pretty much all classes that like to go out, and help keep the local aggressive monster population down, will now notice that you actually receive skill points / experience based on your class rank not your physical level. This certainly helps out when you have spent most of your time playing Disciples of the Land classes, and your physical is far higher than your chosen rank two class job. You also seem to get the skill points / experience after defeating the monster not during. You also seem to get shield skill points even if you do not actually use your shield in battle. So my tip, equip that shield or buy a very cheap one, if your job allows it.

Full Patch Update Details (11/25/2010)

In a brief summary: lots more monsters, more inventory space both player and retainers (Yay!), only NQ items and super quality (+3's) drop from monsters, ammo stack count increase to 9999, some interesting fishing changes (will test and review).

Comprehensive Version Update Detail: Check out the full list

Smallclothes no longer suffer wear!

Smallclothes no longer suffer wear, and therefore no longer require repairs.
Smallclothes which suffered wear prior to the version update have been restored to pristine condition, and all unsightly stains removed. This includes smallclothes within bazaars marked as "seeking repairs," which can be equipped as normal after they are removed from the bazaar.

Now what am I going to do with all the undergarments I receive from my in-laws during the holiday period.

Comprehensive Version Update Details (11/25/2010)

Some exciting changes to the synthesis recipes, you no longer need items found on high rank monsters or sourced by high rank synthesis items for low rank or starter items. I especially like that you are able to make smithing nuggets with shards, and not crystals.

Comprehensive Version Update Details: Check out the full list

Final Fantasy XIV: Guard / Block / Repair

First off, let me change in to my crafting gear :) You can not fight, with damaged goods! Looks like my Bronze Dagger requires some repairing... There you go, good as new. Having equip macros speeds up class changing :) All ready? Off we go. Target spotted! Start the attack, followed by a "Shield Block" You can normally get 3-4 attacks before your shield arm drops, reset it when it does... That's it, remember keep your guard up at all times :)

Final Fantasy XIV: Fishing (Finding the Sweet Spot)

You will notice that once I get a nibble, I use the "Jig" command, my remaining stamina drops a little. I then use another "Jig" command in the middle position. The stamina goes down once again, but now I am shown a message "You take in some line.", I translate this to mean I am getting close. I pick another position just to the right of the previous one, and catch the fish. Always watch your stamina bar, if it goes down in large chunks you are way off target.

New Outposts: Wineport

Jumping from outpost to outpost I came across Wineport. A small fortified location with Eastern La Noscea, boosts a small gathering of citizens and a blacksmith forge. The local citizens talk about the local soil being particularly good for growing wine, although I was unable to find a merchant in which to purchase a bottle or two. Sadly I was unable to find any merchants in this fort that I could trade my wares.

New Outposts: Wineport

FFXIV Gathering Impressions (@Tankthat)

While search the web for various information about gathering (Disciples of the Land) experiences I came across this post: FFXIV Gathering Impressions.

The post comments on the annoying lag (server delay) you can get when harvesting throughout the land of Eorzea, and the shear randomness. I especially like the comment about harvesting ore and wood. You would think that a Disciple of the Land who trained as a Botanist would be able to tell a Oak tree from a Maple tree; or a trained Miner would be able to seek out required minerals. Although, the flip side could be certain mining veins or tree being over camped.

Perhaps a possible solution could be to create prospect skill that gives you a list of the main minerals in the mining node or tree; "This mineral vein contains 40% copper ore, 5% tin ore and other minerals"*

*And by other minerals I mean: fine sand, bone chip, elemental rock etc.

I guess this could this translate into fishing, "This fishing spot contains some black frogs...". Not quite giving the game away but giving the adventure a little information to make an informed choice.

Inspect Water, anyone?