Hello fellow adventurers. In this guide, I want to give you an overview of what it’s like during an expansion release, specifically for casual players, by looking back at my personal experience with previous expansions. I’ve been playing Final Fantasy XIV since 1.0. So I’ve seen quite a few versions of the expansion and feel pretty confident about what to expect.

Additionally, I wanted to show off a tiny detail that people may have missed before that adds to the charm of each expansion update. There is no maximum uptime and readiness check, perfect time management and fastest upgrade experience. Just a look at the next two months, from one casual player to another.

From now on, I will go through it in chronological order until the release of Dawntrail. Before we start, I still want to remind you that if you want to have a comfortable gaming experience after entering the new expansion, it is a wise choice to purchase FFXIV Gil in advance.

Will Dawntrail Conduct A Media Tour?

First, let’s start with the media tour. By the way, all times and dates are from a European perspective.

The media tour will be held from May 15th to May 30th. This is an exclusive event for media, where invited media guests and influencers will get the first look at new abilities, trailers, and test job changes through a limited run of play, usually the first dungeon of an expansion.

Additionally, they will have the opportunity for exclusive interviews. All of this will be done in secret, and you won’t hear much about it until the embargo is lifted.

PLL

During this media tour, there will also be a letter from the producer live on May 16th. In this demo, we regular players will also see at least a job action trailer, some job changes, and possibly a new start screen for Dawntrail.

The second letter from producer live is scheduled to be sent out on Friday, June 14th. This will probably feature a release trailer.

The launch trailer is a story-focused video showcasing actual footage from the game. It will contain a lot of spoilers that many people may want to avoid, so they don’t know what to expect in the next expansion.

In the trailers, you’ll see and hear things that are completely taken out of context, and there are often a lot of red herrings.

Maintenance

The next big thing on the list is Early Access starting on Friday, June 28th and the associated major maintenance.

Every expansion release to date has been subject to 48 hours of maintenance, and this release also has one scheduled for maintenance. But there is a chance it can be extended to 72 hours.

This is because not only did we get a big software update, but the data center also got a physical update with the implementation of a new EU DC called Shadow. Obviously, preparations are already underway, but these times could still change.

On Lodestone, you’ll get actual maintenance times for your region and the usual patch notes. While these patch notes will be quite lengthy this time around, please note that some notes may contain spoilers, such as quest names, potential bosses and screenshots of cut scenes.

Typically, around half of the downtime, updates to the new launcher client and the game itself can be downloaded and installed by opening your usual launcher.

As a reminder, you must be logged in to get game updates. Simply opening the launcher will only update the launcher itself, so be sure to log in ahead of time and get game updates.

Early Access

The official release date is Tuesday, July 2, but most players will need to pay some additional fees to get into Early Access on Friday, June 28.

During this period, the logging queue will be very long. So be prepared to wait, maybe even up to an hour, for the line to finally clear up.

Frequent errors and queue crashes were common on Early Access launch day. Once you successfully enter the game, there is always the possibility of disconnection. So please be patient.

Also note that there is usually an auto-disconnect feature active that automatically logs you out if you haven’t moved for 30 minutes to avoid wasting time.

Because of new graphics updates, loading times may increase and overall frame rate and performance may decrease significantly. There will definitely be a detailed guide to the new graphics settings on Lodestone. Take the time to study them beforehand and it is recommended to set them up to your liking before jumping into MSQ.

Tips

The new main scenario quest will probably begin in Ojika Tsunjika in Old Sharlayan, where the previous quest ended.

Also, this small entrance hall can be very crowded. Check which button on your keyboard or controller is set to target the nearest NPC. By the way, please don’t stand on top of any quest NPCs so people can target them more easily.

It is important to note that one thing that can be activated to reduce the load on the server and clients is so-called instance. In the past, all new regions would have a maximum of three instances when the expansion launched. You can use command /instance to check the instance your character is currently on.

To switch to a different instance, you can go to Aetheryte in the area and select the instance you want to go to. Alternatively, if you have access to the zone border, you can exit and return to get a prompt asking which instance you want to access.

This comes in handy if you’re playing with a group of people, as party members may appear in different instances, even if you travel and teleport together.

Each extension update brings new job actions and abilities. Additionally, some may change and be updated or replaced. Please check your hotbars and the functionality there, and read the tooltip carefully to see if any changes have been made. You will read all the information about job changes on Lodestone in advance.

To unlock the latest area of flying, you may need to collect Aether Currents again. With Endwalker, Aether Compass, a device that helps you locate them, changes from a key item to a collection entry.

Once you complete all available main scenario quests in an area, the mount’s speed on land will increase. However, SDS Fenrir Mount allows you to drive faster on land in no time. If you plan on moving forward as quickly as possible, you may want to consider purchasing a store-exclusive mount before the expansion releases.

As for flying, possibly using Bicolor Gemstones or other new currencies to purchase additional riding maps will also increase flying speed.

As for inventory and items, make sure you have some form of food ready for the 3% XP bonus, as well as enough free space for all the loot and items that will drop.

Easter Egg

There may be a slight variation at the end, some even call it Easter Egg.

The extension may update images of Roulette of Duty Finder. For example, graphics of Expert Roulette and the highest level dungeon Roulette will always feature newly added jobs and races.

In Endwalker, this is Sage, Reaper and Male Viera. So in Dawntrail, expect to see Viper, Pictomancer and a Female Hrothgar appear in these images.

Now the last and most important thing is to have fun and take your time. You can only experience this new story chapter for the first time once. So you can explore new worlds at your own pace. Have a nice day!

With the much-anticipated FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail drawing near, just under 2 months away, are you feeling prepared? Here's an extensive list of everything you should do to ensure you're fully ready for the exciting launch!

Main Scenario Quests

Your first priority should be to catch up on the Main Scenario Quests (MSQ). You can't start Dawntrail if you haven't finished the existing MSQ content. If you're starting fresh with Endwalker, be ready because there are 108 quests to get through in those 50 days. For the Post-Endwalker MSQ, those quests number is a total of 47. Start getting to work on those now.

You'll have to do this as part of the MSQ anyway since the Post-Endwalker quests are Level 90, but make sure you get one job to the level cap as this is the level that the Dawntrail quests will start at. Even if you can complete them at a lower level, like Level 88, it may hamper you when it comes to dungeons, trials, so make sure you're as high as you can be.

Tomestones

Speaking of Tomestones, these are obviously going to change with Dawntrail. However, once you reach Level 100, you'll be able to turn all Comedy Tomestones into the next lower tier. So, for the release of Dawntrail, you should ideally be capped on the Allagan Tomestone of Comedy because that will give you an immediate gearing advantage.

You could also cap your Allagan Tomestone of Causality and the Allagan Tomestone of Poetics, especially if you haven't played the game in a while and you're lacking in Allagan Tomestone gear because all the item level 650 gear that you can get from vendors now. The Tome of Allagan Poetics will be available immediately after the expansion launches and you'll be able to exchange these Tomestones with Auriana in the Mor Dhona.

One very efficient and fun way of farming Allagan Tomestones before the expansion is doing the Hunt Trains. There's a Conductor who leads players from A-rank to the next, and each one that you slay in an Endwalker zone is going to give you both Allagan Tomestone of Comedy and Allagan Tomestone of Causality.

Duty Roulette

If you do want to level via Duty Roulette in FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail, then you should make sure to unlock as much of the content in the game as possible before the release of Dawntrail. I would strongly consider leveling a Healer or Tank on the side using roulettes because you're going to get the adventurer need bonuses pretty much every time.

Materia Transmutation

Now let's talk about how you can make some easy FFXIV Gil whenever the Dawntrail comes out. First of all, right now is a good time to store and stack up on all material that is available in the FFXIV. You can actually do something called the Materia Transmutation. This lets you turn 5 pieces of unwanted material into another type of material that can even be of higher level.

Meaning all of your Level 9 and 10 material that are basically worthless right now have a chance of giving you material that might be worth 10,000 to 15,000 Gil whenever the Dawntrail comes out. This is a much better use of material than trying to sell it for 500 or 400 Gil on the Market Board.

Grand Company Seals

Something else that you can prepare without having a crafting job is the Grand Company Seals. This is the currency that you can use to get various materials at your respective Grand Company. There's a good chance that there will be new materials added to the Grand Company vendor that will be used in crafts all throughout FFXIV. And it's just a good resource to have either way.

So before the Dawntrail comes out, you should make sure to get this as high up as possible. You may be capped, and all of this is going to be very time critical. So within the first few days of the launch, you should be checking this out if you want to get as much Gil as possible out of this. Everyone will be in a rush to make all the new gear and various other consumables.

Greetings, fellow gamers! The premier Gold Saucer event in Final Fantasy XIV, Make It Rain Campaign, is coming back in 2024! In this guide, I'll walk you through the details of this seasonal event, covering how to get started and the fantastic rewards that await you.

The eagerly anticipated Make It Rain Campaign event this year is scheduled to commence on Wednesday, May 15th, and will continue its festivities until Friday, May 31st. With the theme 'March on, Imps!', this event promises an exciting custom quest line and a host of rewards tailored to fit this theme.

How To Start This Event?

Your starting point will depend on your chosen class within one of 3 prime territories in the FFXIV. To embark on this adventure, your character needs to be at least Level 15 and complete one of the quests: Gridanian Envoy, Ul'dahn Envoy, or the Lominsan Envoy, depending on your initial starting point.

Upon successfully wrapping up these quests, your journey will lead you to Ul'dah, more precisely to the Steps of Nald. Located at coordinates X:9.4, Y:9.2, just before the city gates, you may find the quest which named 'Of Impish Importance' there, and it kicks off with a conversation with the Quevain himself.

Make It Rain Campaign Rewards

In the next part, let's take a look at the rewards of the Make It Rain Campaign event. The rewards for this event are quite extensive, featuring 2 housing items and a remarkable 2-piece costume.

Armor: Imp Outfit

Let's dive into the main event rewards: the Imp outfit, comprising the Imp Head and Suit. The Imp Head is a versatile piece that can be worn by all classes and genders from Level 1 onwards. What's more, it's dyeable, opening up a world of creative possibilities for customization.

Moving on to the chest piece, the Imp Suit, which cannot be equipped with arm, leg, or foot gear. Now, this might sound limiting at first, but fear not, especially if you're new to the game. You can still pair your regular gear alongside these suits to wear them as glamour.

Items: Housing Items

Further from the armor, we will then look at 2 different housing items rewards - the Cactuar Dining Table and the Senor Sabotender Chronometer, which are one for indoor use and one for outdoor display.

The outdoor item comes with 2 Sabotenders surrounding a clock piece, making it an eye-catching furniture. As for the indoor housing item, it's likely to cater to various roleplay activities, offering a versatile addition to housing setups.

MGP In Gold Saucer

Let's delve into another exciting aspect of the Make It Rain Campaign event: the substantial increase in MGP rewards at the Gold Saucer, bolstered by an impressive 50% throughout the event's duration. It's all about maximizing your Final Fantasy XIV MGP gains during the event.

Now, for those of you who are not familiar with the Golden Saucer, you may question its significance. However, with the influx of new and returning players, the Gold Saucer has become a veritable treasure trove of rewards.

From coveted mounts to captivating glamour items, Orchestrion Rolls, essentially customizable music tracks for your home, and exclusive collaboration event rewards like those from the ongoing Final Fantasy XIV event, there's an abundance of enticing prizes to be won.

It proves to be profitable for acquiring the MGP Platinum Card in the FFXIV. Thus, having an ample reserve of MGP is always a prudent move - you simply can't go wrong with it. Therefore, this event is very worthy for players to participate!

Today, let's dive into the essential aspects of getting ready for the Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail: retainers, currencies, and gear. They all provide us with fantastic opportunities to amass a significant amount of Gil and set ourselves up for success.

Farm Gil With Retainers

We'll first look at retainers. These can take a good while to level to 90, so start getting prepped now to be ready for the Dawntrail. In addition to new materials selling for reasonable amounts on release, expect new Retainer minions, which will fetch hundreds of thousands, if not millions, for a decent period after the expansion launch. So, it is great for farming for gil.

There are 4 unique sets of rewards of retainers: one set unique to each of battle, Fisher, Miner, and Botany classes. Within battle classes, the specific battle job doesn't actually affect the type of items you can obtain. It just affects the type of gear you'll be able to equip to the retainer. For the majority, sticking with 2 retainers is fine. Just make sure that each retainer is set to a different class type.

One very important factor, which should influence not only which types you assign but also which battle job in particular you pick, is the fact that your retainers can only level up to the same level which your actual character is for that job. You can't change the job of your retainer without it going all the way back to Level 1.

If you are looking to level Pictomancer or Viper first and want a matching retainer, then you can level a battle retainer now, picking any star in battle class. But do not assign it a specific battle job at any point. Instead, level it to Level 90 as a base class, then simply wait for the Dawntrail, where you'll then be able to assign the new jobs.

At Level 1, setting your retainers on just 2 18-hour exploration missions should get them to Level 10, where they will unlock the important Quick Ventures, which do not have any gear or stat requirements all the way to Level 90. And you're also not required to have actually gathered certain materials before you can send your retainer out to get them.

Currency Crafting & Gathering

The next section about currencies, and kicking off with those related to battle classes. With a view to making some FFXIV Gil come in FFXIV 7.0, I would strongly recommend capping Bicolor Gemstones from FATEs, Sacks of Nuts from hunt trains, and Faux Leaves from Unreal trials. These have all stayed consistent across both expansions, so there's an outside chance they remain the same in the Dawntrail.

Next on currency are those related to crafting and gathering. I would strongly recommend capping all white and purple scrips. Purple scrips will likely have very valuable new crafting and gathering materials added to them, and potentially new fishing baits.

All crafting items and white scrips should become convertible to gain you more purple scrips. The purple scrips will likely be needed for new gathering tools and crafter recipe books, so it's good to be kept to get a head start in unlocking those valuable new FFXIV 7.0 materials and recipes.

It's also extremely easy to cap white and purple scrips if you start now, as you can net 2,000 plus of each per week for about 10 minutes' work via custom deliveries. You can do some serious prep by stocking up on turnning in collectibles, as all of these will be tradable for purple scrips after FFXIV 7.0 launch.

Gear Preparation

The final section is gear. First up, battle gear for your main class. You'll already be in high enough gear to get into the Dawntrail. You may want to prepare gear to support leveling for a class that you are looking to level outside of your current main, including the new jobs Pictomancer and Viper.

Pictomancer and Viper's opening quests will give you a set of item Level 550 left side gear, along with a weapon. In preparation, I would recommend stashing away a set of Level 80, item Level 530 accessories, purchasable from your Mor Dhona for Poetics. Remember that Pictomancer will utilize the caster gear set and Viper will utilize Scouting gear, the same as the Ninjas. It's then a pretty good idea to prep a set of Level 90 gear to support the leveling of those jobs.

I'd recommend any combo of 640 crafted gear off the market board or current gear from the latest Alliance raids. Ideally, utilizing whatever pieces you may already have. The other option is to cap your Allagan Tomestone of Phantasmagoria, as on FFXIV 7.0, our current gear, pre-upgraded to 660, will be available for purchase for Poetics.

Lastly, gear prep for crafting and gathering. If you're already highly geared, close to the BiS, then you're all set. You should find yourself being able to head straight to Level 100 and craft the new top crafting and gathering gear without the necessity of upgrading your own gear first.

Hello players! FFXIV Dawntrail is nearly two months away from its official release, so here I want to talk about the 5 best classes to start the new expansion to help you prepare.

In this guide, we’ll consider factors such as ease of use, versatility, and enjoyment of the game to find the class that best suits your play style. So, let’s start finding Final Fantasy XIV class that’s right for you!

1. Dragoon

Anyone who knows me knows that Dragoon has been my dominant class for the past many years, and there’s definitely a reason for that!

First, it’s easy to learn. Rotations slowly increase as you level up, and early level actions are focused on restoring health while dealing extra damage.

What’s more, with the role ability, Second Wind for emergency healing, limited support actions, and the ability to jump in and out of combat almost at will, Dragoon’s versatility is very high, while the required skill level is quite low. This is very advantageous for players who are short of FFXIV Gil early in the game.

The biggest problem with this class is that some people find the repetitiveness of the lower level rotations too boring. But if you find it fun to stab things with a stick, or enjoy jumping around an arena, Dragoon is definitely a good choice!

2. Paladin

I know a lot of players are tired of the advice to play tanks, but even if tanks aren’t for you, Paladin is a great option to help the class level up.

With excellent defense and the ability to heal himself, Paladin is the king of tanks in single-player games. Whether you’re fighting your way through MSQ, farming for XP, or guiding your Duty Support team through dungeons, Paladin is the best early-game tank class with incredible forgiving abilities.

You don’t even have to master your rotation to accomplish most things, and your various magic and physical AOE attacks make you the most powerful killer on the field early on.

Paladin is easier to learn than other tank classes and is a lot of fun with massive giant sword AOEs. If you like a class that has both survivability and damage, Paladin might be a superb choice for you!

3. Machinist

Physical ranged classes are very useful for some low-level players, as they allow you to run anywhere on the battlefield dodging AOEs and still have the ability to damage what you want.

Machinist is very good at damaging enemies and has some amazing burst damage. But they also have the benefit of having nothing expected in group content other than being the major force between battles. You don’t have to worry about supporting actions like Bard, choosing a dance partner like Dancer, or helping healers with raises like some Magic DPS.

You just jump into whatever fight you’ve got lined up and do your thing. Once you get good at understanding all of your abilities and adapting to your rotation, you can summon your Automaton Queen to the battlefield. She can ignore the mechanics because no one can tell her what to do.

You have to reach Ishgard during Heavensward to unlock this class, but when you do, it starts at level 30, allowing you to bypass the starting area as you level up. If you just want to experience immersive combat and own a Flamethrower, Machinist might be for you!

4. Samurai

If you are looking for a more up-close and personal class, Samurai is the answer. Like Machinist, Samurai is a DPS with almost no party utility. No matter what happens, your role is to deal as much damage as possible in order to end the fight faster.

Keep in mind that the rotation of each Samurai takes a little time, but once you understand how it works, the class is relatively easy to play. It’ll provide the capabilities to suit almost any situation you find yourself in.

This isn’t available until you reach level 50, though, so it’s a bit of a wait for new players. But it starts at level 50, so you don’t need to go through the usual leveling process from scratch. If you’re not interested in your current class, this is a great option to try new things without feeling like you’ve lost any progress in the game.

5. Summoner

Maybe after reading this you are still not sure what you want to choose after entering Dawntrail. If you want to try everything, but you don’t have the time to play to upgrade everything you want, then maybe you should check out Summoner.

Summoner has been reworked to be easier to learn than before, and rotation has been made easy, but there’s still some wiggle room for refinement for those with a desire to learn.

You can pick Arcanist at level 1 so you can grab this from the start, and pick Summoner as your job at level 30. You also get a raise so you can help out the healers during tough times and get some extra rewards for being a valuable member of the team.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of playing as a Summoner is that it also automatically increases your Scholar level. Even if you haven’t accepted the job yet, when you do, it will be at the same level as your Summoner.

This way, if you want to complete healer role quests in Dawntrail, or are brave enough to try a healer, you don’t have to spend time leveling up!

So what do players think? What class do you want to play? What classes do you think I’ve missed that are more early-stage friendly? See you in the game!

The Yo-Kai Watch collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV has returned on April 24th, which offering 17 weapons, 17 minions, and 3 mounts available during the event. Given the significant interest of players in the Yo-Kai Watch event, let me share some essential information to help you get started!

Yo-Kai Watch Event Explained

To participate in the Yo-Kai Watch event, you first need to pick up the quest in Old Gridania at the Poor-heeled Youth NPC, and this will start the Yo-Kai quest line. Once you receive the item, the Yo-Kai Watch, remember that you need to physically equip it for your character.

If you're a returning player and can't remember where you left your Yo-Kai Watch, you can use an in-game search function to locate it. To get the Yo-Kai Watch back with FFXIV Gil, visit a recompense officer in a starting city-state. Along with the quest, you'll receive the Yo-Kai Medals and the Legendary Medals. These 2 currencies are used to purchase minions and weapons, respectively, from the Wandering Executive.

Framer's Kit

If you've already collected all 17 Yo-Kai minions, or you're close to doing so, then the 17 weapons aren't necessary. Instead, you can obtain the new Framers Kit reward. It is obtained by befriending all 17 minions. Unlike the mounts, you don't need to collect all 17 weapons to receive this item. This makes it a bit easier to obtain, but it's exclusive to this updated version of the Yo-Kai Watch event.

If you're a returning player who has already collected all the weapons and minions in previous iterations of the event, this is the only new addition to pick up. However, if you haven't completed it in the past years, you can still participate and use any leftover medallions from the previous years.

Legendary Yo-Kai Medals

Once you have the Yo-Kai Watch, equip it on your character and start participating in Fully Active Time Events (FATES) across various areas, like La Noscea, the Black Shroud, Thanalan, Heavenward areas, or Stormblood areas. Achieving silver or gold ratings in these FATES will earn you some Legendary Yo-Kai Medals.

Exchange For Minions

Then you can use these medals to purchase minions from the Gold Saucer vendor. The first minion costs only 1 Yo-Kai Medal, but subsequent purchases increase to 3 Yo-Kai Medals each, with 17 minions available. These medals are guaranteed drops as long as you have your Yo-Kai Watch equipped during the FATES.

Once you have one of the minions, summon it, then start to do Fates again. Now, since you have the minion summoned, while doing a select few Fates, they will complete on silver or gold rating and give you a chance of a legendary Yo-Kai Medal of that specific minion dropping.

Exchange For Weapons

However, only certain zones will be applicable to each minion. And that means if you're going for a specific weapon, you need to look at what weapon comes from what minion and what area you need to farm Fates with that particular minion out. So make sure you get the right place and have the right minion out.

Once you have the ones that you need, you can exchange those Legendary Yo-Kai Medals for the weapon of your choice in the Gold Saucer. The first weapon that you actually do costs 5 Legendary Yo-Kai Medals in total, but every weapon past that first one will cost you 10 Legendary Yo-Kai Medals. Choose the weapon you want to farm for the most first, as it is the easiest obvious to get.

Tips And Tricks

It’s worth noting that you don’t actually have to have the Yo-Kai Watch equipped at this point if you’re just after the Legendary Medals and let’s say you already have all the minions you want or all of the minions in Yo-Kai Watch event. Then un-equipping the watch will actually save you some inventory space because this will then stop the normal non-Legendary Medals from dropping.

It is only the minion being summoned out while you complete the specific Fate on that list that will give you the chance to drop Legendary Medals. The Yo-Kai Watch does not influence that drop chance. Obtaining 13 minions will get you the Whisper A-go-go mount.

In this guide, we’ll cover how to read Combat UI setting in Final Fantasy XIV, learn the details of each status effect display, and how to interpret enemy aggro. Whether you’re a new player looking to learn something new or a seasoned veteran, this guide will be helpful. Let’s get straight to it!

Target Bar

Let’s take a look at the target bar first. As long as you have a target, the target bar will be displayed. The target bar displays your target name and its current target. Whenever your target uses a skill, a progress bar will appear to indicate its casting time.

Shadowbringers introduces interruptible actions. When your enemy uses an ability that can be interrupted, the progress bar will flash a redder color. At this time, you can use skills such as Head Graze and Interject to interrupt and cancel the action.

Besides displaying the target’s health as a bar, you can enable an option in the character configuration settings that also display the target’s health as a percentage. I recommend doing this because it’s less intrusive and gives you a more accurate idea of your target’s current health at a glance.

Any status effects your target has will appear below its health bar. Note that status effects shaped like arrow pointing down are harmful to the target, while arrow pointing up effects are beneficial.

Some effects have a countdown number that indicates the number of seconds remaining before the effect expires. If the number is green, it means you caused the impact. If the number is white, someone else has caused the effect. Whenever you have a focus target, the same information in the target bar is always copied in compact form.

By default, your own current status effect is displayed at the top of HUD. Likewise, arrows pointing up mean they are good for you, while arrows pointing down mean they are bad.

If you want to customize how these effects are displayed, HUD Editor allows you to tailor it to your liking and even split the display of effects by type. If you have a beneficial effect and for some reason want to remove it, you can actually do that by right-clicking on it with your mouse or clicking on it with a controller and calling it using the confirm button.

Party List

By default, Party list is displayed on the left side of the screen. It displays basic information such as your party members’ health, abilities they may be using, and any status effects affecting them.

If you would like to increase or decrease the number of status effects displayed by each party member, you can change this setting in the character configuration settings. Status effects with numbers in the upper right corner are stackable. This means that each status effect will be different, but the common mechanism is that when a threshold is reached, a new effect will be triggered.

Note that any debuff with a blue bar on it can be removed with Esuna. So if you are playing a healer job, keep an eye out for these as you will be responsible for removing them.

Just like status effects on your target, the time remaining before a squad member’s status effect wears off on its own will be displayed as a countdown value. If you don’t see this, you can turn it on in the role configuration settings.

If the player currently has a protective damage barrier, a yellow bar will appear next to or above the player’s current health bar. Damage taken will first lower the barrier before reaching health.

When you have an enemy target, the party list will show your party members’ aggro against the target in two different ways.

First, a small bar will be displayed below each team member’s job icon. The fuller the bars, the more your target wants a piece of them. Additionally, you will see a numbered grade next to the bar, ranging from 8 to 1 or the letter A. The lower the number, the higher the aggro the player will receive from your target. The letter A means your target is actively targeting that party member.

Enmity List

Speaking of aggro, let’s take a look at Enmity list that is displayed below Party list by default. Enmity list shows all enemies you are currently fighting. It will again display basic information such as the enemy’s current health and any abilities they are currently using.

There will be a colored icon next to the enemy’s name, indicating the amount of aggro the enemy currently has against you. Green means they are not interested in you. A yellow or orange triangle means you’re a little annoyed with them, while the direction of the triangle indicates whether your aggro level is rising or falling. Red means they will attack you directly or within a range.

So, if you’re playing a tank job, you’ll generally want them to be red. But if you’re playing a healer or DPS job in your party, you’d better hope they’re green, otherwise you’ll die easily. Therefore, it’s important to be prepared and spend FFXIV Gil to buy a health potion before you start.

Alliance List

Whenever you are in an instance of multi-party alliances, Alliance list is displayed. You’ll be able to view the current health of alliance members, but each party member can also display two additional metrics.

Red arrows pointing down indicate that the alliance member has at least one debuff. A red frame around a member indicates that they are the target of your current hostile target.

So, looking back at the party list, you’ll see that in this case, the highest aggro level for any member of your party will be 1, not the letter A, since your targeting is focused on alliance members.

Flying Text & Pop-up Text

The last thing we want to discuss is how to interpret damage and healing numbers in combat. There are two different number types: Flying text and Pop-up text. You can enable or disable them independently in role configuration settings.

Flying text represents healing, damage, or status effects caused or received by your character. When you heal or damage a target, numbers flying up on the screen will indicate the amount of healing. When you are the recipient of healing or damage, numbers will fly down.

Healing, damage, or status effects affecting members of your party are indicated by Pop-up text. This text color also has meaning. The damage you deal to the target is shown in orange. Damage taken by you or a party member is shown in red. Restored HP or MP appears in green.

Starting with patch 6.3, damage numbers also include an icon indicating the type of damage dealt. This can be physical, magical, or unique damage. Among them, a large text represents a direct hit. An even larger text and an exclamation point represents a critical hit. Finally, the critical direct hit uses two exclamation points.

That concludes this guide. I hope this has been helpful to you. As always, continue your adventure!

Do you like fishing in Final Fantasy XIV? Fisher is one of three Disciples of the Land jobs in the game, and it undoubtedly provides one of the unique experiences as a gatherer.

As a fisher, you’ll travel around the world and catch unique fish and creatures of all sizes, each telling its own story about the area and the world in which they live.

Fishing is a fun and relaxing activity in FFXIV, but it can be stressful if you don’t know what you’re doing. Don’t worry, though, by following this guide, you’ll unlock your first fish Fisher catches and start experiencing all the content Fisher has to offer.

How To Unlock Fisher?

First, you can unlock Fisher at Fishermen’s Guild, located in the coastal city of Limsa Lominsa. You can join a guild after completing level 10 Disciples of War or Magic job quest. Just talk to Guild Assistant twice to unlock Fisher job and get your first Fishing Rod.

Equip Your Fishing Rod

Next, equip Fishing Rod you got and transfer your job to Fisher. But if you want to get some better gear, you can contact any Fieldcraft Supplier and buy it.

In Limsa, you can contact Iron Thunder to purchase a new Fishing Rod, or Syneyhil in Hawkers’ Alley to purchase armor. In later levels, you can also use Gatherer Scrips to get gear, but this is a bit more difficult.

Start My First Fishing Rod Quest

Once you’re ready, return to Fishermen’s Guild and talk to Sisipu Sipu to begin your first Fisher job quest: My First Fishing Rod. In this mission, Sisipu asks you to use Lugworm as bait to catch five Lominsan Anchovy in the waters outside Fishermen’s Guild.

Apply Bait

To catch Lominsan Anchovy, we need to use Bait skill. Open Bait and Tackle window, click on Lugworm in Bait window to apply them. The check mark will show the currently applied baits.

Please note that this window will display all baits in our inventory. But if you have unlocked Retainers or Chocobo Saddlebag, the bait stored in it will not count!

Since some baits only work in certain types of biomes, you can check the bait description to see which types of biomes the bait is suitable for.

You can get bait from merchants and Scrip Exchange vendors around the world. They usually sell bait for their area, so if you want to save some inventory space, just check to see what the merchant is selling.

Fishing Tips

With Lugworm applied, we can now start fishing. Run to the edge of the pier outside Fishermen’s Guild until Cast skill lights up, and you can go fishing in the nearby fishing hole.

Each fishing hole has many fish for you to catch. Each fish has one of three bait types and is marked with one to three exclamation points on Fisher of Lights’ head. These baits also correspond to the movement and sound of the rod when a fish bites.

When you see an exclamation mark appear above your head, press Hook skill within 3 seconds to reel in the fish. Sometimes the fish escape and that’s okay! Just cast back out again. No matter what, you can always catch your first fish!

Now let us know more. Cast out and reel in the other fish as before. Every time you cast a bait, maybe another fish will come out of the fishing hole and bite the bait you used. Depending on the bait you use, some fish may bite more often than with a different bait. As you level up and gain new baits and fishing skills, you’ll have greater control over which fish bite and which fish don’t.

Then continue Casting and Hooking until you get all 5 Lominsan Anchovy required by Sisipu. You may also get a bunch of other types of fish, and selling them can net you extra FFXIV Gil income.

Unlock Ocean Fishing

Once you have everything you need, return to Sisipu to complete your first Fisher job quest. After completing the first mission, you can unlock Ocean Fishing, which will be one of the best ways to level up your Fisher.

What’s Next?

Now you have unlocked Fisher and caught your first fish. You can continue to upgrade Fisher through Ocean Fishing, Overworld Fishing, and turning in fish to your Grand Companies.

Every time you catch a new fish that’s not in your Fishing Log, you’ll earn extra XP, so be sure to explore any fishing holes you come across and stay up to date on your Fisher job quest. You’ll unlock more fishing hole biomes and even skills to make your fishing even more powerful.

Even after completing the major mission, you can enter new areas and cities and enjoy new baits, fishing holes, and even job quests. Once you reach level 50, you’ll be able to start Big Fishing, another unique aspect of fishing in Final Fantasy XIV.

Regardless, by fishing, you will experience a unique way of seeing the world of FFXIV, traveling to off-the-beaten-track locations and spending time admiring the world of Eorzea. Good luck and happy fishing!

Let's delve into the recently released Viper Weapons in FFXIV Dawntrail Benchmark. An interesting thing that some may overlook is the option to select a gear set when creating your character in the Benchmark. This choice affects the weapon your character starts with in the Benchmark.

Viper Weapons Overview

As a Viper, you may be particularly intrigued by the variety of weapons available, including some unexpected ones. Let's explore them together.

• Level 100 Artifact: This is the iconic weapon often seen in promotional material. It's likely the starting weapon players will receive when selecting their initial gear. This weapon will likely be used to open the Coffer at Level 80 when unlocking the job.
• Edenmorn Weapon: An intriguing addition as it introduces weapons from older raids, a departure from previous patterns.
• Omega Set: Despite being from an older raid, it offers a unique weapon set, adding variety to the choices available.
• Genji Set: Featuring an ornate weapon, this set originates from mid-tier Stormblood raids, showcasing the creation of entirely new weapons for this set.
• Grand Company Set: This set could serve as a leveling weapon or potentially be the Level 90 artifact obtainable from the vendor in Sharlayan, as seen in previous expansions for new jobs.
• Alexander Weapon: While also part of the Dwarven set, its inclusion in multiple sets suggests a desire to offer more options to players.
• Ironworks Weapon: An unexpected inclusion, given its Level 50 gear designation. Its presence for a Level 80 job raises questions about its relevance.
• Dreadwyrm Set: A classic addition from previous expansions, maintaining its presence in the lineup.
• Hellhound Set: Originating from PvP content, its appearance in the Benchmark adds an interesting dynamic to the available weapon sets.

Expected Weapon Set

Let's outline the weapons that players can expect to see:

• Deep Dungeon Weapons: Each job typically receives weapons from deep dungeons such as the Palace of the Dead, Heaven-on-High, and the Eureka Orthos weapon set. These sets are consistent across all jobs.
• Level 80 Weapons: Players can anticipate weapons from various sources at Level 80, including the Edenmorn, Omega, and starting weapons. The Augmented Cryptlurker, obtained from Tomes, will probably be a favored choice upon unlocking drops.
• Endwalker Weapons: As players progress through Endwalker, they can obtain weapons from dungeon drops like the Tower of Zot, Tower of Babil, Vanaspati, and Ktisis Hyperboreia. Crafted weapons will also be available between these dungeon drops.
• Level 89/90 Artifact Weapons: Depending on game design, players may acquire Level 89 or 90 artifact weapons either through quests or from a vendor in Sharlayan, where they obtained their Level 89 gear in Endwalker.
• Level 90 Tome Weapon: This Augmented Credendum weapon will become the new standard at Level 90, accessible through current Tomes.
• Orthos & Enaretos Weapons: These weapons from Eureka Orthos will also be part of the weapon lineup.

Old Ultimates Weapons

Regarding these unexpected weapons, like the Edenmorn weapons and the Omega weapon, is that they serve as base weapons for new ultimate weapons in the future. Obviously, the Omega weapon would make sense as a reward for top content. It could be a base weapon for that in the future. Similarly, the Edenmorn weapon is likely a base weapon for the new Eden Ultimate that's forthcoming.

However, things get interesting when we consider other weapons. For instance, the Genji weapon，which is not something expected from a leveling weapon. This could potentially be a base weapon for DSR, if this trend continues. It's possible that we might see weapons for every Ultimate for every job, as currently, some jobs don't receive rewards for certain Ultimates.

The Alexander weapon could be a reward, serving as the base weapon. The Ironworks and Dreadwyrm weapon are likely base weapons as rewards. I believe the developers might start providing rewards for these new jobs in Old Ultimates.

Recently, Final Fantasy XIV was finally confirmed to release its expansion, Dawntrail, on July 2, 2024. And in this expansion, the character’s level cap will be increased from 90 to 100. So, as the release date gets closer, it’s urgent that we quickly upgrade our characters from level 80 to level 90.

That’s where this guide comes into play. Here, we’ll provide some ways to help you farm XP and help your character reach the current level 90 cap as quickly as possible. Whether you’re new to FFXIV or a veteran returning to the new expansion, this guide will help.

Before jumping in, I want to remind you that purchasing some FFXIV Gil in advance will make your upgrade process twice the result with half the effort! Without further ado, let’s get started!

Leveling Roulette Dungeons

First, our priority is to participate in Leveling Roulette. Leveling Roulette in FFXIV contains a variety of dungeons and is one of the best ways for you to earn XP, Gil, and Company Seals.

Especially later in your journey, Leveling Roulette dungeon will also be a significant source of Allagan Tomestones. This is also key to getting powerful gear for other jobs you decide to upgrade.

In addition, this is also a good way to complete the weekly challenge log, as challenging “Feeling Lucky” and “Dungeon Master” can be a good experience point increase. Just run it every day to get rewards, and you’ll also get tons of XP from challenge log entries.

However, the downside is that you need to queue to enter the dungeon. Don’t worry though, the best way to shorten your queue is to join right after the daily reset, as this is when the most people are online.

Complete Daily Reputation

While you’re waiting for the queue to pop up, you can start with priority two, Daily Reputation quests. However, there are only two reputations you need to focus on: Pixies from Shadowbringers and Arkasodara from Endwalker. If you’re lucky enough to complete Leveling Roulette dungeon before completing your daily reputation, join Frontline Roulette now.

Frontline Roulette

Frontline is a large-scale PVP mode that features three teams of up to 24 players each.

But many friends are hesitant to join PVP, worried about wasting time because of failure. But actually joining the queue with 23 other allies, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Because no matter what, over 80% of people join this queue just to get Roulette reward.

And adding Frontline is a benefit for everyone, since it requires 72 people to start the game. So, put one of your spells in your hot bar, follow the crowd, and you’ll be fine.

Spam Dungeons Of Similar Levels

Let’s move on to the next leveling method, which is finding the dungeon closest to your level and spamming it. The only enemy here is queue time. Likewise, joining immediately after the daily reset will significantly reduce queue times.

There is an option here to use AI for teammates, which I recommend doing if you plan on upgrading multiple jobs.

Essentially, you have to level them up from level 71 to level 90 by running dungeons with them. It’s called Trust system and you can find it under Duty Menu.

Some dungeons allow you to sync them to the desired level, so you can spam a level 89 dungeon, for example, even if you’ve never accessed them before.

Bozjan Southern Front

Finally, for those of you who are complete strangers, there is a somewhat hidden place called Bozjan Southern Front. This is level 71 Field Operations introduced by Shadowbringers. What can you do there that’s worth your time?

You can do this by finding a group in chat and start doing FATEs with them. Normal FATEs, also known as Skirmishes, award you a small amount of XP, while Big FATEs, also known as Critical Engagements, award you a large amount of XP.

The nice thing about it is that you can grind as much as you want in there. I need to remind you that many people have focused on farming Bozjan Clusters but have not been awarded XP because XP only comes from completing FATEs.

That’s all for today. If you’re a veteran and find yourself here, be sure to share your own tips on how to level up effectively! Good luck!