"A Guide to FFXI That Even A Monkey Could Understand" Part 3 - Game Mechanics
The 3 Kingdoms & The Conquest System
All characters in FFXI are alligned with one of the three major kingdoms. You choose one at character creation, but it's possible to switch later in your adventuring career (there is a variable gil fee associated with this). Which kingdom you choose will determine where you actually physically begin adventuring in Vana'diel, as well as what your beginning story missions will be. You can choose any kingdom, regardless of your character's race, but if you choose one where your race is dominant, you will start the game with a ring which grants a few small stat bonuses. It's a nice bonus, but it does become obsolete in time, so it shouldn't be the main deciding factor for which kingdom you start in.
The Kingdom of San d'Oria
San d'Oria is home to the Elvaan, and also the most traditional of the three kingdoms. It's a typical medieval castle-town, but without all the plague and downtrodden serfs. Harpsichord music fills the air while you stroll through flower gardens set against a backdrop of red brick walls. Rolling green plains stretch-out around the castle. It is a place of proud heritage, religion, and tradition.
The Republic of Bastok
Home to the Humes and the Galka, Bastok is a more industrialized city. Stone buildings line the brickroads which wind over bridges and past waterwheels. The mighty smokestacks of the forges, symbols of progress, stand on the horizon. Built in a hostile and rocky environment, Bastok is a testament to the determination of the Humes, made possible by the back-breaking labor of many hard-working Galka. It should come as no surprise that it is also home to this Final Fantasy's incarnation of Cid. (You didn't think they would make a game and leave him out, did you?)
The Federation of Windhurst
The TaruTaru make their home here, in a really big tree, watched over by their feline protectors, the Mithra. It's a bit like a cross between the Kokiri & Ewok villages, with just a little bit of Keebler thrown in for flavor. Structures are built directly into trees, or on wooden walkways over water. Tribal music can be heard throught this densely wooded area. It is a place of powerful magic and natural beauty.
The Grand Duchy of Jeuno
There is a fourth kingdom, located at the center of the world, between the other three kingdoms. It is an idyllic utopian kinda place which acts as a neutral moderator between the other kingdoms. Jeuno was actually responsible for instigating the whole conquest system in the first place. The less that is said about this kingdom, the better. It's existance isn't really a secret, but I'm told it's something you've just got to experience in first person, rather than read about in an FAQ.
The Conquest System
The three kingdoms are more or less at peace with each other - they all pretty much acknowledge that the endless hoardes of beastmen are a bigger threat than the other kingdoms. However, they are all still interested in expanding their own personal territories, so they have come up with a peaceful system of conquest that could only happen in a video game. Basically, the more beastmen that representatives of a given kingdom kill, the more land that particular kingdom gets. How do they keep track of all this? Every time you leave town, be absolutely sure to get the NPC gate guard to cast a "Signet" spell on you, this will allow any kills you make to count towards the conquest. There is absolutely no downside to this. Player deaths count against the conquest, and beastmen will get points for killing you wether you have Signet on or not. Rule #1 of adventuring in Vana'diel: Don't leave town without your Signet!
The Benefits of Conquest
Okay, so you've been a good little citizen and routinely commited genocide on the beastmen. What does this mean in practical game terms? Every (real world) week, Squenix tallies the total kills in every area and compares them between all 3 nations and the beastmen. Whoever comes out on top has control of that area until the next week's tally. Why would you want control of an area? Well, first of all, you must have control of an area if you want to get any crystals. (Yes, the crystals are back again, and more important than gil.) Normally when you kill monsters you will get crystals as part of the booty, but if beastmen control the area - no crystals. Crystals are important for item synthesis (which will be described later) and you can also hand-over piles of crystals to your kingdom to help improve your rank (described in just a moment). Also, every week each kingdom's total kills are tallied against each other, and the three kingdoms are ranked. Having your kingdom at #1 can affect numerous things. Such as which "conquest items" are available for purchase, and how much it costs to switch to another kingdom. (Conquest items will be explained later.)
Missions & Rank
"Missions" make up the story of FFXI. They all involve some task for your kingdom, and as you perform them you will increase in rank and the story will open up before you. Since FFXI is really a free-exploration style game, you can choose to do the missions whenever you feel like it. You can rush through the missions as quickly as your level and power will allow, or you can ignore them altogether - it's entirely up to you. Most of the missions follow the pattern of 3 missions per rank, with the 3rd mission resulting in you achieving the next rank, so people often refer to the missions as 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and so forth, not unlike stages in the older SMB games. Someone from Bastok, currently at 3rd rank, and working on their second mission would be on mission B3-2. With extreme amounts of gameplay, and numerous allegiance shifts, it is possible to achieve rank 10 in all three kingdoms!
Quests & Fame
"Quests" are just what the name implies, little sidequests that you can go on. Unlike missions, quests don't have anything to do with the game's story, some can even be repeated multiple times. At first, the kind of quests you will be able to go on will have you doing menial labor for townsfolk, like picking-up people's groceries, or making some sausage for a hungry Galka. Completing quests usually results in a modest cash rewards, but more importantly, every quest, however mundane, will go towards increasing your fame. Fame is linked to the area where you completed the quest, so for instance, you may have a different fame in San d'Oria than you do in Windhurst. Higher fame will get you discounts in stores, as well as grant you access to more important quests later.
Almost everything you can achieve in the game to improve your character has a quest associated with it. Most notable would be the infamous "sub-job" quests, which you must complete before you can set a sub-job. There is a quest you must complete before you are allowed to rent chocobos, there are quests to improve the size of your "gobbie bag" (your item carrying capacity), there are even quests you must complete before you can rise beyond a certain level (the "genkai" or "level-cap" quests).
Titles
Many quests will grant your character a title. These can range between anything from "Purveyor of fine foods", to "Paragon of Black Magery", to my personal favorite "TaruTaru murder suspect". Sometimes your title may even change several times over the course of one quest. These titles are just like the clan titles in FFTA - purely ornamental in nature. If you don't like your current title, there are certain NPCs who will allow you to revert to any previous title you had... for a small fee.
The Job System
FFXI marks a return to the sort of job systems seen in Final Fantasies 3, 5, and Tactics. If you enjoyed any of those games, then you'll feel right at home here.
Job Levels
In FFXI your character doesn't have just one overall class level, rather they have levels in any number of different jobs. One character could be a 70th level Monk, a 35th level Thief, and a 20th level White Mage. You may change freely between any of the jobs you currently have access to, and level up (or down) in each of them individually. For instance, when you have set Warrior as your job, you will have all the stats of a Warrior of your current level, and you can equip any weapons & armor that a Warrior could. When you go out adventuring, any experience points you earn will go towards increasing your Warrior level. If you then wish to improve the level of another job, such as monk, you must first switch to that job. If your Monk level was lower than your Warrior level, you will find yourself weaker than when you were a Warrior, and will naturally have to go back to earlier areas and level-up off of weaker prey.
Death & Experience loss
Whenever your character dies in FFXI, you will lose some of your experience. The exact amount of experience you lose will be equal to 10% of the amount of experience you need to get to the next level. For example, if you need 3,000 exp. to get from 5th level to 6th, then if you die while you are 5th level, you will lose 300 exp. It is possible that if you die enough times in rapid succession, you will actually level down. Upon dying, you can chose to return to your home point, or you can lie there for as much as one real-world hour, waiting for someone to revive you. (Despite the obvious handicap of being a corpse, you can still call for help.) If you are revived by one of the various Raise spells, you will recieve back a portion of the exp. you lost. Raise 1, for instance, will only restore 25% of what you lost, but Raise 3 will bring you back with no experience loss whatsoever!
Active Abilities
Every job comes with certain abilities which are automatically learned at certain levels. These include a Warrior's ability to taunt the enemy and a Thief's ability to steal items. All these abilities have different "recharge times" which determine how often they can be used. For example, a Warrior can only taunt once every 30 seconds, and a Thief can only steal once every five minutes. Every job also comes with one, very powerful ability, available at first level, which can only be used once every 2 HOURS of real-world time. Naturally, these are referred to as 2-hour abilities (2HR). They are typically used as a last resort, and some are noticably better than others. For example, a Warrior's 2-hour ability allows him to make every one of his attacks a critical hit for 45 seconds, whereas a Thief gets 30 seconds during which they can perfectly dodge any incoming physical (but not magical) attack.
Passive Abilities
Every job also gains certain abilities which do not need to be activated - they are always in effect. These can include simple bonuses to HP or to MP regeneration, or they can be special unique abilities. For example, the Monk gains the passive ability to counterattack in response to a physical attack starting at 10th level.
Setting a Sub-job
Once you have completed the sub-job quest (which you may attempt once any one of your jobs reaches 18th level) you may set a sub-job in addition to your main job. A sub-job may not be more than half the level of your main job, if it is, it will temporarily be leveled-down. For example, if you are a 20th level Warrior, and a 15th level Monk, and you set Warrior as your main job and Monk as your sub-job (WAR/MNK) then you will be a 20th level WAR, and a 10th level MNK. You do not permanently lose Monk levels this way, they are just temporarily suppressed.
When you set a sub-job, you gain a stat bonus roughly equal to 1/4th of what you would have if that job were your main job. (If you're curious to see the effects of various job combinations on stats, you can check out the stat calculator that I mentioned before.) You also gain any of the active & passive abilities that job would normally have at that level, except for the 2-hour ability. In the previous WAR/MNK example, you would have a Warrior who would also have the Monk's counterattack ability. Your main job still determines what you can equip though. You cannot, for instance, sub Ranger and create a Bard who can wield guns. Also, when adventuring with a sub-job, only your main job gains/loses exp. Therefore it is occaisionally necesarry to switch jobs and "level your sub".
It is important to note that, unlike in Final Fantasy Tactics, if you are currently in a non-spellcasting job, you will not have any MP. It doesn't matter if you are a TaruTaru or a Galka. This is important to know if you want to try and sub a spellcasting job under a non-spellcasting one. A 20th level WAR, with a 10th level WHM sub, will only have as much MP as 1/4 of what a 10th level WHM would have. This might be useful, if you want to be able to cure yourself a few times while soloing, but it's practically useless in a party situation where you have a full WHM on duty. The general assumption is that it's best to sub fighting jobs under fighting jobs, and spellcasting jobs under spellcasting jobs, but there are still some cases where you can safely express your creativity without limiting your abilities.
Learning Spells/Songs/Techniques
You do not automatically learn spells as you level up in the various spellcasting jobs. Instead, you must find or buy all of your spells on scrolls. Each spell has a level requirement as well, before you can learn it. When you learn a spell off a scroll, the scroll is consumed - you can never unlearn a spell and get the scroll back. Many people believe this makes the spellcasting jobs more expensive, since warriors can sell back their low-level armor and weapons once they become obsolete, but spellcasters can't sell back Protect 1 once they have learned Protect 2. Songs for Bards and special techniques for Ninjas must also be learned off of consumable scrolls.
Weapon & Magic Skill Ranks
For every type of weapon in FFXI, there is a skill to go along with it. There are even skills for the different types of spells, and for things like parrying, using a shield, and singing. Higher weapon skills will increase your accuracy and damage with the corresponding weapon type. Higher skills with spells will make them more effective, healing spells will heal more HP and status-inducing spells will be more likely to take effect. You improve your skills simply by using the appropriate weapon or type of spell, over and over and over. Keep attacking monsters with daggers, and your dagger skill will improve. Each of these skills has a cap, based on your class & level. Once you reach the cap you won't be able to raise that particular skill any more until your level increases.
Skill ranks are the one thing that stays with you when you switch jobs. They may be reduced by the cap, but the total points will already be there. For example, a 30th level Warrior, who has been using longswords all the time, switches to being a 1st level Paladin. His one-handed sword skill will already be maxed-out, and it will probably remain maxed at the cap until his Paladin level exceeds his Warrior one. This can give you some advantages, if you know what jobs you will be switching between, and plan ahead. For instance, a Warrior planning to become a Dragoon someday might want to work on his spear levels while he is a Warrior, while a Warrior planning to become a Paladin would focus on longswords.
Weapon Skills
When your weapon skill ranks reach certain numbers, you will learn special techniques called... wait for it... "weapon skills". (Some weapon skills can only be used by certain classes.) These weapon skills work similar to the limit breaks of FF7. Below your HP & MP meters, there is a third meter, TP or Technique Points. Whenever you deal or recieve damage, the TP will go up. Once it reaches 100%, you can perform any weapon skill that you know with your equipped weapon. The TP meter can actually go all the way to 300%, but a weapon skill will drain all available TP when activated. Extra TP beyond 100% will increase the weapon skill's effect in some way, based on the skill, but it's usually not worth waiting for. It is possible for players to perform a particular series of weapon skills, one after another, in order to create a "skillchain". (More on that later.)
Your Mog House
Your Mog House is your character's own private quarters, the only place you can go in Vana'diel where no one will be able to disturb you. It exists offscreen, in the "residential district" of your home town. It's called a Mog House because, well, it has a moogle in it. (At last, you can own your very own pet moogle!) Your moogle is who you talk to when you want to change jobs, or if you want to access your "Mog Safe", which is where you can store extra items you don't have room to carry around yourself. You can do anything you want here, try out different job or equipment combinations, or just take pictures of your character standing around in their underwear. (FFXI is rated "T" for Teen!) You can even decorate your Mog House with furniture you buy in game, or grow potted plants and make flower arrangements. Your house will also have a "delivery box" where items & gil can be delivered. You can send an item to the delivery box of anyone on your server as long as you know their name.
Macros
It's possible to access most in-game commands via a standard drop-down menu system, like you find in console RPGs. It's also possible to play the entire game just using your keyboard, entering commands by typing them in or using keyboard shortcuts. You can also program in sets of commands as "macros". Macros can be as simple as a single command, or a whole series of linked ones. You could, for instance, create a macro that allowed you to taunt the monster you currently have targeted, then count down 30 seconds, and tell you when your taunt ability is ready to be used again. You can have up to 10 different sets of 20 macros each. Macros are activated by hitting the number keys in combination with the alt key.
Next, it's time for the eagerly anticipated Part 4 - Basic Jobs