Efficient Windurst Starting Guide 1-11

CAUTION!

This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and are meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide. Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone.

Hello and welcome. Here is an extremely streamlined leveling route for beginning Windurst citizens on the Horizon server. By the end of this guide you will have:

• Level 11
• Rank 2--having completed the first three Nation Missions
• 25,000 gil worth of items in your posession, as well as the nation ring, and an item that grants bonus experience.

The guide is geared both towards brand-new and returning players. If you are not new to the game, you're going to value this guide for its efficiency. All of these things are accomplished--at the same time! If you're new, I've tried to provide you with all the necessary information. If you follow this guide, you'll be methodically introduced one-by-one to a variety of the game's concepts and challenges while exploring its vibrant world, and you will end up ahead of the average player.

As fitting to this game I've tried to retain a little mystery and discovery. I won't hand you every answer, but I will give you all the tools you need to attain them yourself. You'll benefit from paying attention to what NPCs say, experimenting, clicking links in the guide, and thinking things through. That said, if you ever get stuck, try a /shout ingame or ask on the discord server. Help is never far away.

This guide will still work well if you team up. Feel free to bring some friends.

If you're rank 1 and want to use this guide to level a second job, you can. Get to level 5 and then proceed immediately to the first Mission

By the end of the guide you'll have been introduced to the three major gameplay loops of the game: advancing the story, making gil, and leveling up--and you'll be in a great position to enter party-based play with others. From there it is your destiny. Please enjoy.

-Yam, Sept. '24

The Adventurer Coupon

To begin, open the map and proceed to the point labeled with a green and yellow "beginners'" arrow. Your first task is to teach yourself how to trade your Adventurer Coupon to the NPC located there. Trading is the main mechanism in the game to complete quests or give NPCs the items they desire. You'll be doing this often so make sure to learn it well. Next, proceed to Windurst Woods

Tip: To efficiently travel around Windurst there are "Warp Tarutarus" positioned around the city. Their locations are shown here

Tutorial Quest #1 In Windurst Woods find the Tutorial NPC, Selele, located beside the gate at K-10 Proceed through the Tutorial Quest until she asks you to get a Weapon Skill. Harara, W.W. is a Conquest Overseer, which means she can give you Signet. Always try to have Signet when fighting monsters Now that we have the Signet buff, it's advisable to set your Home Point here before you leave: Inspect the huge cyan-colored crystal.

East Sarutabaruta

Time to leave the city and begin your first foray of combat. Once outside, figure out how to eat a strip of your Meat Jerky. Learn how to equip your weapon, and consume your spell scroll if you're a mage. Your primary goal is to stay in this close vicinity and slay easy, level 1 monsters until you reach level 5. Your second goal is a Rarab Tail. Keep slaying until you find it. We will need this for an upcoming quest. If you stray too far you will absolutely be ruthlessly slaughtered by a monster. Once you reach a high enough skill level with your weapon, a Weapon Skill will appear in the menu. Practice using it. Level 5 Once you have reached job level 5, successfully executed a Weapon Skill, and obtained a Rarab Tail, it's time to head back into the city.

Hint: Only one type of monster in the vicinity drops Rarab Tail, but which type may surprise you... Tip: Weapons are the most important way to improve your damage, while food is the second most important--even moreso than armor

Tutorial Quest #2

Windurst Woods

• Talk to Selele and advance the Tutorial Quest. She'll instruct you how to craft an item. Do so, then progress to the stage of the Tutorial Quest where she asks us to visit the Auction House

Let's get started on the main story. Speak with the nearby Gate Guard, Rakoh Buuma. She will assign you Windurst Mission 1-1: The Horutoto Ruins Experiment We must head to the Orastery in Port Windurst (E-7) You can walk there if you prefer to get your bearings around the city, but somewhere nearby us is a Warp Taru if you prefer quicker travel...

Tip: You can obtain Nation Missions by speaking with a Gate Guard stationed at any of the city gates, or at the center of the city, outside the entry to Heavens Tower

Port Windurst

Once at the Orastery head inside and speak with the mages until you get a clue to the whereabouts of the minister. (cutscene) After the cutscene, take a detour down an alleyway and behind a warehouse to G-5 You will encounter a gang of children. Speak to their leader. (cutscene) Once you've handed over your Rarab Tail, you can continue to speak to them for another quest. Return to the Orastery and speak with the Warp Taru up on the roof

Windurst Walls

You'll be whisked away to to the roof of the Auction House in Windurst Walls. Proceed below and inspect the Auction Counter to try it out. If you would like you can sell your reward from the previous quest for a nice chunk of change. If you happen to have found any beaten-up pieces of wayward mail the nearby postman Ambrosius will be interested to see them returned. Walk South from the Auction House & enter Windurst Woods

Tip: Usually on the Auction House it's most efficient to sell items 12 at a time, in stacks. Listing single items is very time consuming so consider hanging onto them until you have completed a full stack.

Windurst Woods

• Continue walking south until you can take a detour West (right). This path leads to your Mog House, your ingame residence. Continue inside.
  • Take a break here to store all items that you aren't using in the Mog Safe to free up inventory space.
  • Make sure to keep and store any Beastmen's Seals you have found. Later on, they will offer a chance to obtain fabulous rewards
• Head back to the Eastern gate to complete the Tutorial Quest with Selele.
• We're rewarded with a free, incredibly useful item from the Conquest Overseer.
  • There is a difference between the three rewards, but don't concern yourself too much with which you choose. Recharging is the same price as a new ring so once you've used it up it is completely safe to dispose of and try one of the others. You'll find which you like best.
  • Take a look at the other items the Conquest Overseer offers. Some are quite good, and many are in demand on the Auction House for tidy profits.
  • If you can afford it purchase an Instant Warp scroll from the Overseer. You should always have a warp in your inventory--don't leave the city without it! Sooner or later it will save you a long walk.
• When ready, depart the city.

Windurst Mission 1-1

East Sarutabaruta

Our destination is entry tower #5 of the Inner Horutoto Ruins Equip and use your EXP band. Along the way we're going to start encountering monsters above our level, and aggressive monsters who will attack unprovoked. You're going to want to check each monster you encounter to determine how strong it is relative to you, and avoid or kill monsters as you go, appropriate to your level. Bat trios aren't aggressive, but single bats are. Our next quest objective is 4x Wild Onion. These are dropped by Goblin Thugs so keep an eye out for them. Crawler type mobs are a good source of profit Try to reach level 6 along the way. If you'd like less of a challenge, add 2 levels to each recommendation Once you've reached J-7, the cat outside the entry might have a clue as to the whereabouts of the minister.

Tip: When the game says a monster is an "even match," it really means it. Your chances of survival are probably 50% or less. It's recommended to stick to "decent challenge" or "easy prey" monsters. Try not to get into any fights you can't finish--Once a fight starts with a monster, the only escape is changing zones or death.

Inner Horutoto Ruins

Proceed below and search for where the minister lies in hiding. If you enter a gray, rocky cave area--a “beetles burrow”--do not proceed further into it! The minister is not this way. After you find the minister and get a cutscene you are tasked to search the 6 Ancient Magical Gizmos around the room until you obtain Cracked Mana Orb While you do so, try to reach Level 8 Once found, warp or walk back to town. Once in town, use the Warp Taru beside the roundabout to reach Port Windurst. Head to the Orastery to complete Mission 1-1!

Windurst Mission 1-2

• Speak with a Gate Guard to obtain Windurst Mission 1-2: The Heart of the Matter
• Proceed to the Manustery in Windurst Woods (H-9) and talk to Apururu.
• Our next destination: entrance #4 of the Outer Horutoto Ruins, at (J-11).
• You must speak with the taru, Pore-Ohre, who is stationed at the entrance to the tower.
• Be very careful of Balloon type mobs. They are stronger than other mobs, aggressive, and lie hidden inside.
  
• Bat trios continue to be passive, but single bats are aggressive.

Outer Horutoto Ruins

• Be very careful of Balloon type mobs. They are stronger than other mobs, aggressive, and lie hidden inside.
• Bat trios continue to be passive, but single bats are aggressive.

Often there will be other players here of your level. If you'd like, see if they want to team up. Our main goal is to inspect all 6 Ancient Magical Gizmos, placing our Dark Mana Orbs inside. Two are hidden Once we've done so, proceed inside the doorway on the eastern wall (cutscene) Retrieve all 6 Glowing Mana Orbs from the Ancient Magical Gizmos Try to obtain 4 Wild Onions before we leave, or plan to buy them on the Auction House Continue leveling here until you're level 10 Head up the stairs and exit the ruins (cutscene) Return to town.

Windurst Woods

• Return to Apururu at the Manustery (H-9)
• Turn-in your 4 Wild Onions to the children in Port Windurst to complete Know One's Onions

Windurst Mission 1-3

Obtain Windurst Mission 1-3: The Price of Peace from the Gate Guard in Port Windurst. If Windurst controls West Sarutabaruta, now is a great time to speak with the Conquest Overseer and pick up the Supply Run Mission because the outpost is on the path of the next Mission. If you haven't already, it's time to learn to start using the rest of the wiki, your invaluable companion to ffxi! Follow the wiki instructions for Windurst Mission 1-3, leave through the Western gate and level to 11 once inside Giddeus

Congratulations! You've completed the guide and are now in a commanding position to progress in the game. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we all have.