Key Points:
- 🐌 Don't feel like you need to rush through everything.
- 🕊 Flying mounts can be a bad thing, actually.
- ☀ Don't feel stuck!
After 1,000 hours of FFXIV there are a lot of things I wish I did differently. And I don’t mean things like daily quests I should have done which I just covered last week.
No, what I’m talking about is playing the game to make it as enjoyable as possible for you. Whatever that looks like.
Take Your Time
There's no reason to rush through.
For context, when I started playing FFXIV, I had friends that were way further along in the game than I was. Some were up in Stormblood. Others were tackling the newly released Endwalker.
Meanwhile I was just getting my legs in Gridania. And let me tell you, I was taking my time.
Back then I was doing what I found to be most enjoyable. That meant doing all of the main quests in a zone until it asks me to go somewhere else. Before moving on I’d do every single zone quest (yes, both the blue and yellow quests).
At the time, with pressure from friends to hurry up and get caught up so we could play together, it did feel like a slog sometimes.
Eventually I gave in and started just doing MSQ every time I played. Completely ignoring not only the yellow quests, but the blue ones too.
Looking back some of my fondest memories are clearing Gridania, La Noscea, and Thanalan. You get SO MUCH more lore, backstory, and immersion when you’re dealing with zones one by one. It gives everything time to breathe.
As someone who rushed MSQ, I really didn’t even get to just exist in the world as story beats happened. There was always something else I had to rush off to do next. And now that I’m returning the quests feel hollow. My Warrior of Light has done SO MUCH now. It’s unfortunate but side quests in the Heavensward zones mean a whole lot less now.
So my first recommendation is that: play the game how you like. Don’t let friends try and rush you through every expansion so you can play together.
For one, they can absolutely level sync and play with you, but also you aren’t going to miss much by taking your time. FOMO isn’t a big thing IN FFXIV. Everything will be there waiting for you.
Live Without Flying Mounts
If you want a more immersive experience.
The second thing I’d do differently comes thanks to the Elder Scrolls Online which doesn’t have flying mounts. As someone who started with ESO and knew they were standard in other MMOs, we begged Zenimax Online Studios to add them.
Finally getting one in FFXIV felt SO good. But it’s not until you get your hands on one (and have had experience with a game where you’re forced to stay grounded) that you realize the harm they cause.
Once I unlocked flying, whatever zone I was in became arbitrary. No matter how interesting it was, I’d take off, turn on auto fly, and wait to arrive. In ESO you can’t do that. Every movement around the world is by hand and you have to pay attention. It’s so much more immersive and really forces you to become more knowledgeable about the zones you’re in, not just the hot spots where activities take place.
That said, give it a shot. Don’t make a friend rush you to all the aether currents. Try to earn them yourself and even then, consider staying grounded. It’s a much more immersive experience.
Switch Classes More Often
Don't lock yourself into just one class.
The final thing I’d change is to be less afraid of switching classes. I don’t know about you, but I arbitrarily picked Lancer when I started and despite that, basically felt locked into it for my entire playthrough.
Not only is that a waste of XP because MSQ gives you more XP than one class requires to get to level 90, but also there’s nothing to be afraid of.
If I was so tired of melee DPS, why couldn’t I have just switched to Archer/Bard at any given point? For some reason I had convinced myself that I would be bad at the new class and it would cost me DPS which would make people angry so I should just stick it out and wait.
But you can’t wait forever. Eventually you’ll hit 90 and probably want to try other classes. You might know the dungeons and stuff better, but you’re still going to be learning a new class.
And let’s be realistic. Most of the FFXIV community doesn’t care how good or bad you are. As long as you communicate, so many people in this game are forgiving and understanding. So do yourself a favor and try another class or two, even if you don’t stick with them. And that’s especially true if you’re a DPS and are considering Healer or Tank. Having one of those classes is really helpful for when you don’t feel like waiting in the abysmal solo DPS queues.
