Road to Shadowbringers - Useful Guides and New Player Advice (Patreon)

Hello there everyone!

We are just over a week away from the Early Access period of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, and I know some of you will be diving into the realm of Eorzea for the first time. Or perhaps, it's been awhile since you last stepped into the the role of an adventurer. There is a lot of information out there for just about everything you could imagine, so don't be surprised if it feels overwhelming. One thing I've had to learn in my years talking to new players is to try to restrain myself from dumping too much info on them at once. That's because I believe the best course of action is to let you dive into the game first and then be available to answer questions as they arise rather than trying to influence your experience.

GETTING THE GAME

Before you even get into the game, you need to accomplish a few things first. You'll need to download the game client for PC here: 

 https://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/playersdownload/eu/ 

Or PSN here:

 https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0082-CUSA00288_00-C000060000000000 

It is important to note if you play on PC, the STEAM version of the game treated as a separate version from the stand alone PC client version. If you buy the Steam version of FF XIV, you HAVE TO BUY ALL FUTURE EXPANSIONS ON STEAM. Trying to redeem a non-Steam code for any FF XIV content will not work on the Steam version. 

FREE TRIAL

Once you've decided on which version to get, you can now play the base game (A Realm Reborn content) through Level 35 for free, no time restrictions whatsoever. 

During the setup of your trial version of Final Fantasy XIV you should have been directed at some point to create a Square Enix ID on Mog Station:  https://secure.square-enix.com/account/app/svc/mogstation This is where you will handle all account management for Final Fantasy XIV, including registering game codes, setting up your subscription plan, and any other transactions.

UNLOCKING THE FULL GAME

If you decide you want to fully commit to Final Fantasy XIV, whether you want to play through all of the existing content or wait to dive back in at Shadowbringers, you are going to need a base Final Fantasy XIV Online license. 

There are currently two versions of this license available:

The Starter Edition:  https://store.na.square-enix-games.com/en_US/product/444748/final-fantasy-xiv-online-starter-edition-pc-download
The Complete Edition:  https://store.na.square-enix-games.com/en_US/product/444583/final-fantasy-xiv-online-complete-edition-pc-download 

The starter edition provides you the base license that grants you access only to A Realm Reborn. The complete edition provides you the base license with access to A Realm Reborn, but also grants you access to the first two expansions, Heavensward and Stormblood.

UNLOCKING SHADOWBRINGERS (AND PREVIOUS EXPANSIONS)

Given that we are so close to Shadowbringers launch, I strongly advise against buying the Complete Edition as there's virtually no way you will get through all of the content from scratch. Even if you are at the end of A Realm Reborn's patch cycle and ready to jump into Heavensward, you will not get through all of it's and Stormblood's story content in time for Shadowbringers.

My advice is to buy the Starter Edition now as you actually will need this no matter what to play beyond Level 35 (and more specifically for new players trying to access Shadowbringers). Then go pre-order Shadowbringers for your preferred platform: https://store.na.square-enix-games.com/en_US/product/527705/ 

When you buy Shadowbringers and register it to your account, it will unlock all previous expansion content (Heavensward and Stormblood). So again, no need to go for the complete edition right now. HOWEVER, there may be a "new" complete edition at some point which includes the Final Fantasy XIV Online License + all expansions. Should that version appear, it will likely be the cheaper option, but for now, it doesn't exist yet.

 Additionally, for the next week, Heavensward, the first expansion, is free for everyone. Instructions on how to claim your Heavensward code can be found here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/c9bbc9225ec2fad7a30a8cc55e4d62177375d0f2 So if you want to try out more content while you wait for Shadowbringers, this will hold you over for sure.

You will want to pre-order Shadowbringers if you want to play during the Early Access period starting at 2am PT on June 28th. Otherwise, if you don't, you won't be able to access Shadowbringers content until the proper launch on July 2nd. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: This happens every time a new expansion comes out with early access, so please read up! If you pre-order Shadowbringers, you will get an EARLY ACCESS CODE right away, and then you will get a SHADOWBRINGERS LICENSE/CODE later. YOU NEED TO REGISTER BOTH! If you forget to register the latter, you will be kicked out of the game when Early Access ends, you'll probably freak out (especially if you are a new player). By registering your proper Shadowbringers code ahead of July 2nd, you will not have your access interrupted.

SETTING UP YOUR SUBSCRIPTION

So you've purchased the expansion and the base game and are all setup and ready to go. Eventually you are going to need to setup your subscription if you want to keep playing Final Fantasy XIV.  You will need to set this up in the Mog Station:  https://secure.square-enix.com/account/app/svc/mogstation 

Once logged in, you will click the "Your Account" tab, and scroll down to Service Account Status. That is where you can setup your subscription and payment information.

You can view the different subscription tier fees and what they entail here:  https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/product/#usage_fee  For the most part, I would say you only need an Entry level subscription. 

You can pay for your sub time via credit card, through game time cards sold on various online sites and retailers, or you can buy virtual currency called Crysta. Each has its own benefits which you can research on your own, but as a rule of thumb if you think there may be an issue with your subscription payment, take preemptive action rather than waiting for a declined payment to avoid potential headaches.

PICKING A SERVER

I know that seems like a lot, but you're now ready to play the game!  That means logging in and creating a character on one of the various servers hosted on the major data centers. If you're just looking to play on your own, fee free to pick the data center most closely associated with your region of the world (NA, EU, JP) and then whatever server that's open.

However, if you're looking to play with the Allies, you have a few options. The most active server with an Easy Allies presence is Ultros on the Primal Data center. We have an active Free Company (aka Guild) and player base who can help you along your adventures, and you can play with the actual Allies when the opportunity arises. For those of you on the Aether data center, we have a Free Company on Gilgamesh, and those on Crystal, there's an Easy Allies FC on Mateus. The one thing to consider is early on in Shadowbringers, I, as well as most of the other Allies, will be playing on Ultros/Primal first. 

Now unfortunately, the servers are getting a bit crowded on Primal (and Aether). It is likely you might have a hard time getting a new character on Ultros. That being said, if you can create a character on any server on Primal, you can still play with us because FF XIV allows for people to play and interact with anyone on the same data center. We can run content together, and as of the last major patch, you can actually come physically visit Ultros and interact with us "in-person" on the same server. You just can't join the Free Company unless you are a native resident of Ultros.

Even more unfortunate is that the option to make a character on another server and then pay for a transfer to Ultros or Gilgamesh is not possible as they're classified as "congested" and are not open to new character creation. As of today, Mateus is still open to transfers and new character creation. At some point in the future, it may be possible to server transfer to Ultros or Gilgamesh, but for the immediate future if you are a new player your only option to play with us right away is to create a character on an open world on Primal and then join our cross-world linkshell (I'll have more info on that below) to communicate with us and find out how to play together in instanced content.

You can check the current status of all worlds at any time here:  https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/worldstatus/ 

BEGINNER'S GUIDES

Once you've created a character and are settled on a server, you can begin your adventure. For those of you who are newcomers, immediately below is a link to a really good Reddit post with pretty much all of the information you could possibly want as a beginner.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/a58g18/a_master_beginners_guide_to_ffxiv_1st_edition/ 

Even if you are an experienced player, there is probably good info in that post you may not have known. It contains links to other comprehensive guides and overviews for various aspects of the game, too. I would definitely recommend you spend some time with the guides to setting up your hotbars, customizing your HUD, and adjusting other game settings, as well as the run down on the various controller settings you can tweak as this game features probably the best controller support of any MMORPG. 

STORY SKIP/LEVEL BOOSTS

One final element to consider if you are a new player is whether or not to utilize a "Jump Potion". Jump potions are items you can purchase on Mog Station that allow you to either level boost a job, or skip ahead in the story. Currently, jump potions allow you to boost to level 60, the current level needed to begin the most recent expansion, Stormblood. As for skipping ahead in the story, you can currently select to skip over just A Realm Reborn, or both A Realm Reborn and Heavenward. At some point after Shadowbringers launches, we will get a new level boost option that takes you to 70, the level you need to be to begin Shadowbringers content, as well as a new story skip option to jump to the start of Shadowbringers story.

You can read up on the existing options here:  https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/tales_of_adventure/ 

I can't stress this enough, but I strongly advise you to avoid either option unless you are 1) a returning FF XIV player who has played a significant amount of the game and/or 2) an experienced MMORPG veteran. Even then, I really feel unless you've played some of Stormblood at Level 60+ with all the changes that happened to the core game mechanics at that expansion's launch, you should probably consider jumping back in at where you left off to get a feel for all the new updates.

Using either of these options as a new player without any experience is a bad idea. You are going to be thrust into the most recent content with veteran players who will expect a level of competency when running this new content. If you are expecting to learn-as-you-go and don't really understand how to play the game yet, you are going to get called out on it a lot by other players. This is unfair to veteran players and a bit unreasonable - if you are running the latest content, a level of basic understanding of the game is common courtesy. 

MY ADVICE TO A NEW PLAYER

As a new player, I strongly recommend you play through ARR on a base job. By level 15, you will get a good feel of what it's like to be a DPS, Healer, or Tank. There is very little variation in how any dps, any healer, or any tank plays at that low level, so if you are not enjoying a DPS class by that point, but like a healer, I would suggest sticking with the healer. Don't worry too much about trying out different jobs in each roles yet. By level 30, the training wheels will begin to come off and the variation in each specific job will begin to manifest. It is from level 30-50 that you will get a better taste of what your job has to offer. 

Playing through ARR will also teach you most all of the basics of how to play this game for most basic content like dungeons, 24-person raids, and primal battles. These types of content will be required of you through the rest of the game and knowing how to handle yourself in each will make it much easier going forward. If you feel like you are absolutely, positively in command of the game at level 50, and that everything through the end of ARR (Patch 2.55) is a breeze, then maybe consider using jump potions if you want to catch up. Just know you are missing out on a really amazing storyline in Heavensward (I would argue is the best story so far) and a pretty good story for Stormblood. 

And remember, just because players are running the new content doesn't mean we can't run older content with you. A lot of the dailies force veterans into older content to help newer players get caught up, and if you so desire, there is always the option to blaze through old content via the "unsync" option which lets players run older content without any level restriction (so imagine a level 80 max gear player running through the first level 16 dungeon). 

So, if you're going to be playing FF XIV for the long haul, it is really best you learn how to play the game properly, and you will get so much more enjoyment out of all the upcoming updates having experienced the existing story/content.

I know this is a massive post, so thanks if you made it this far. You can always look up all this info on your own, or you can simply ask us in-game. I'll be starting up the Road to Shadowbringers streams starting tomorow and running through the end of next week before the big 24-hour maintenance window to help newer players try to catch up, too. You can always ask me questions on stream, too.

As I alluded to above, I will be making an official Easy Allies cross-sever linkshell on each NA data center so that new players who can't yet join us in the Easy Allies Free Company on Ultros can still communicate with all of us easily.

And again, regardless of your feelings on Reddit, the official FF XIV subreddit has a ton of useful information and links to extremely helpful resources that are essential to most players (including me). They're all listed on the right hand side of the subreddit homepage here:  https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv 

I'm sure I forgot something essential, so feel free to point out things I should add or address in this post in the comments below.

Look forward to seeing all of you in-game soon!

L&R,

- Damiani