FFXI: A Quick Guide to Anyone Returning to FFXI

   A good friend of mine texted me today mentioning that she is returning to FFXI. My first words to her was "The game has changed alot." So, this inspired me to write the following about what has recently changed in the last few years in FFXI, sense the the mid 08s'. This article is for people who left remotely in between ToAH & WotG:

JOBS
   Corsair, Blue Mage, Puppetmaster, Scholor, and Dancer have all been introduced to the game. Corsair has become key for helping with sleeps (with elemental shots) and assisting the PT in small buffs. Blue Mage has become the ultimate solo machine, able to face many types of mobs. Puppermaster, once a job that was often made fun of, can now out-nuke most Black Mages with the BLM Puppet. (Way to make me feel useful, Ana!)
   Once upon a time, PLDs were always needed but a good PLD was rare. Now they are the lolJob, with people often placing them under the "Forever Alone" category. With new combinations of subjobs and level caps being raised, alot of jobs have become more self sufficient. BLM/RDM can refresh and convert, WHM/SCH can Hastaga and spam abilities that lower enmity towards them.
   New abilities came as well with these new levels; WHMs can sleep mobs, BLMs can take damage to HP and swap it with MP, THF can take the blame for other people's hatred. Not to forget that SMNs can now summon Odin & Alexander for a few moments & NINs have gotten all the spells they've ever needed including Ninjetsu items that can be use universally with certain spells.

Mithra armor still looks like less then other races.

GEAR
   With the introductions of Abyssea, the 3rd tier of JSE was introduced. Easy to obtain, but only good once you've upgraded them. Easier to obtain, but god-awful to look at Auror gear was made available along with Pearl & Teal gear, rounding out armor that is decent & decently obtainable.
   Your old gear can easily and sadly be replaced with superior gear once you reach the level, but some of your really rare pieces can now be upgraded via Synergy, the new crafting job that is like no other.
   A good weapon can be easily obtained but if you're one that seeks more, you now have multiple choices including building a weapon from ground up via Trails of the Magian, where you can make a weapon that attacks more then once per turn or has certain elemental attributes. (Ex. Thunder = Dex & Acc augments & Ice = Elemental Magic + INT upgrades.) Mythic & Empy Weapons have been introduced, with the latter a little easier to obtain and usually superior to Mythic & Relics.

EXP
   EXP has never been easier. FFXI really went into easy mode. With increased EXP for EP-EM mobs & The introduction to Fields of Valor, a system where you take out a certain set of mobs in the area & then rewarded with more exp & gil for completing the grocery list of death. Then there is Abyssea..
   People are known to "Key Whore" in Abyssea, where you go in at the minimum level of 30, and gain massive EXP from 17 other people killing mobswhile you pop open chests that give time extensions, exp, and even rare items. Abyssea is the best place to EXP, (went from BLM 80 to 85 and also got 3 levels on SMN in one 6 hour group.) but sometimes makes it hard to skillup, bringing back skillup pts of old times.
Normal 6-man pts are rare, mostly replaced with smaller groups completing Fields of Valor.

ENDGAME
   Numerous endgame battlefields exist, each with it's own storyline & gear. alot of it was over-shadowed by the abyssea gear. You can still find groups low-manning end-game stuff such as Dynamis & Limbus. These once had 18+ per fun, now can be easily beaten with a well-trained group of 8. Dynamis went under a huge reconstruction, making it more of an extra EXP zone with rare drops, even though the CoP Dynamis zones remain the same. Sky & Sea has some benefits, but finding a group may be hard unless you have friends.

ECONOMY
   This one is short & sweet:
Things cost less, buy money has become scarcer. You can make a decent coin if you try, but no playing means no money.
FRIENDS
   Friends as always good thing, but some people prefure to dual or even triple box instead of dealing with others. Sad, but successful.

Classic picture of Anapuna and I farming my Carby Ruby.

EVERYTHING ELSE
   Like I said before:
      The Game Has Changed.

  Some can say for the better, alot say for the worse. The game doesn't have to many challenges anymore, and has become newbie-friendly. Personally, the game changed at the right times for me. I went though the hard times of leveling BLM and SMN, beating the first two expansions, and completing a set of relic gear before changes came along and made it easier. I welcomed the changes so leveling my second & third jobs became easier & beating the bitch that is CoP once more with my better-half, Yopo.

I'm using this opportunity to use old LiveJournal icons. ^^

 
   For more information, I found a complete post from Eosun.org (Formerly QCDN.org)
http://www.eosun.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60434

Links to the more popular events now-a-days:

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Abyssea
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_the_Magians