New Player FAQ

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.

Written by Sushomi. This is a work in progress, so I would ask that other players do not directly edit this guide. If you feel there is an inaccuracy, or a question you think should be added, please reach out to me either in the main Horizon, or the Horizon Wiki Discords.

This page aims to answer questions that new players may have when starting this game. Please note that I'll be keeping this to gameplay questions, as technical issues are already handled elsewhere (see Tech Support).

Character Creation

Does Race/Job Combo Matter?

To an extent, yes. The different races do have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, taru have high INT, AGI, and MP, but low HP, STR, and VIT. This makes them excel at mage jobs and are somewhat weaker at melee and tanking jobs.

HOWEVER, that difference is not significant enough to stop you playing whatever race/job combo you prefer. You're going to be staring at your character for many, many hours, so it is definitely wise to pick whichever race you like the most. For some players, min/maxing stats will be part of the enjoyment. But for most casual players, just know that you can be proficient at any job no matter your race.

Does Starting Nation Matter?

Not really, no. The main impact your nation has on your gameplay is which story missions you will play through. Each nation has their own storyline.

The nation vendors will have some different items for sale, and it can affect which supply quests you have available to you at the start. However, these are fairly minor considerations in the long run and will only affect very early gameplay.

Do I have to pick a certain race/nation combo to get the lvl 1 city ring?

No, you don't. In retail you needed to pick certain combos to get a starting ring. For example, if you chose to play an Elvaan in San d'Oria, you would start with a San d'Orian ring.

This has been changed on Horizon. You now get the city rings on any race upon completing Mission 1-3.

What is hardcore, and how do I start it?

Hardcore is a gamemode where you try to get as many levels as possible without ever dying. It rewards a few cosmetic rewards upon reaching certain milestones.

Hardcore mode can only be initiated on a fresh character, by talking to a designated npc in your starting city.

Upon dying, the character loses hardcore status and continues as a regular character.

For more information on the rewards and the location of the hardcore npcs, please see Hardcore.

Basic Gameplay and Navigation

I've just logged in for the first time. What do I do?

Firstly, you'll have an item in your inventory called the Adventurer Coupon. Check that item's page for a list of npc's you can trade it to. When you trade it to them, it gives you 50gil (not a lot, but it's a start).

Make sure to open your equipment screen (Ctrl+E) and equip your starting weapon. And if you're a mage, go into your items (Ctrl+I) and learn your level 1 spell.

Then I'd recommend checking out the Tutorial NPC in your starting city. They'll give a couple of quests to help get you started, including a voucher for a free exp band (increases exp earned for a short time). So the quests are well worth doing. Note: these npcs will try to give you a quest where you have to obtain level 4. This quest is not actually enabled, so once you have the free exp ring voucher, the tutorial quests have finished.

Can I change jobs?

Yes, you can. You start the game with the six basic jobs (Warrior, Monk, Thief, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage unlocked.

To change jobs, open up your map and look for the Residential Area (it will be denoted by a large square icon that looks like a keychain and keys). If you head there, you'll be able to speak to a Moogle in your mog house who will let you change jobs.

Note that you will need to acquire a weapon and possibly spells for this job, so you may need a little bit of gil before you can realistically change jobs.

Crafting and HELM

What is the best crafting profession for "insert job here"?

Long story short, there isn't a best crafting profession for any specific job. Players from other games might think that you would want leatherworking for jobs wearing light armor, or blacksmithing for heavy armor jobs, etc. However, FFXI's crafting system is quite different to a lot of other MMO's.

Crafting in FFXI is designed to encourage trade, because you can only max one craft, and levelling them up is a HUGE gil sink. If you're looking to make your own armor, then know that it is going to cost you MANY, MANY times more gil to level your crafts and make the item, than it would to simply buy it off the auction house.

Why is crafting not recommended for new players?

Due to the way crafting works, most items tend to cost less than the materials needed to craft them. This is because higher level crafters have a higher chance of creating a HQ (high quality) result, and will often craft a single item many times in the hopes of obtaining the HQ version. This often leads to an over-supply of the NQ (normal quality) version, which in turns ends up with people undercutting each other to try and recoup their gil, to the point that they take a loss on those items.

As such, it is extremely difficult for a lower level crafter to compete with the over-abundance of higher level crafters. Since a low level is FAR less likely to create HQ results, they're forced to take a much bigger loss on most crafts.

If, however, you are determined to level a crafting profession, you will need to find a good, steady source of income elsewhere to fund it.

Are any of the professions starter-friendly?

If you're dead set of levelling a craft as a new player, then Cooking is generally considered the way to go. It is possible to level cooking up to 60 while making a small profit, but this still requires you to research the available recipes and check how much items are selling for on the auction house and at vendors, then carefully choosing what to craft.

Woodworking and Alchemy aren't too expensive at low levels, but you may find it hard to make any profits until much higher levels.

All of the other professions can be very expensive to level, especially Goldsmithing and Smithing.

What is HELM?

HELM stands for Harvesting, Excavation, Logging, and Mining. It is a collective term for some of FFXI's gathering professions. Note that in addition to these, there is also Fishing, Chocobo Digging, Clamming, and Gardening.

Should I do gathering as a new player?

Each gathering method has its own pros and cons. But most require some form of initial investment.

• Harvesting: Requires the Field gear set to be worthwhile. While wearing the three field gear pieces, your tools (Sickle) won't break. However, harvesting points are generally quite spaced out, and there aren't many good low level spots available.

• Excavation: Has no gear to boost its results, and has a high rate of breaking tools (Pickaxe). No good low level spots, and often doesn't have a great yield.

• Logging: Requires the Field gear set to be worthwhile. Tools (Hatchet can still break even with the field gear. Best done at Ghelsba Outpost as a new player once you're level 12+, but expect a lot of competition.

• Mining: Requires the Field gear set to be worthwhile. Tools (Pickaxe can still break even with the field gear. Best low level spot is in Zeruhn Mines where you can get Iron Ore and Darksteel Ore occasionally (can be done at level 1).

• Fishing: Requires a level 15 job to start, plus a bit of gil for a fishing rod and bait or lure. Takes a long time to level up, but after reaching level 1 fishing (or acquiring a piece of the fishing/angler's set) you can fish moat carps, which generally sell for around 2-3,000 per stack of 12.

• Chocobo Digging: Not really worthwhile for new players. Takes an insanely long time to level up, and is often very overcamped in profitable areas. Zones only have a set number of items per game day, so there is a lot of competition. Also requires level 20 for the Chocobo License, plus a lot of gil to spend of Gysahl Greens.

• Clamming: I might be biased, since I wrote the clamming guides, but clamming can be a great money-maker for new players. It's non-competitive, and doesn't require a massive amount of gil to start. Does require a trek to Purgonorgo Isle in Bibiki Bay though, and a good understanding of the mini game to make it worthwhile. Yields slightly worse results if you don't have the clamming gear from the seasonal summer event (usually starts around August), but still worth a look-in if you're not into fighting over resources with other players.

What about Gardening? Is it any good?

Gardening is a good way to make some passive income as it requires very little effort to maintain. You do need to check your plants each day to stop them from wilting. And you'll need some gil to start off so you can buy flowerpots and seeds.

The downside to gardening is it can take anywhere from 3 to 28 days depending on what seeds you're planting. You can only have 10 pots per character (30 per account if you're using all 3 allowed characters). So you’re limited in how much gil you can obtain from gardening. That said, due to the fact that it requires very little time per day, it can still be worthwhile to supplement your income.

Economy

How does the Auction House work?

Players list an item (or a stack of items) for sale on the Auction House, and specify the minimum price they want to sell for.

Another player then goes to the auction house to buy said item. They are unable to see what prices the items are listed for, but can see the price of the last 10 of that item that sold. They enter their bid, and as long as they have bid over or equal to the minimum being asked for, they acquire the item. If they bid under, they will be told their bid was unsuccessful and can try again with a higher amount.

When there are multiple of an item for sale, the item that sells first will be the one with the lowest minimum bid. If there are multiple with the same minimum bid, then the one that was listed first will be sold first.

For example: Player A lists a stack of wind crystals for 2,000 gil. Shortly after that, Player B lists a stack of wind crystals for 1,900 gil. Player C then goes to buy a stack of wind crystals. They see the last 10 sales were all for 2,000 gil, so they bid this amount. Since Player B listed their item for a lower amount, theirs will sell. Player B will now get 2,000 gil from Player C.

Note: Even though Player B listed the item for less than what Player C bid, they obtain the full amount that Player C bid, not their original asking price.