Thread: The Partying Guide: Tips, Tricks, and Camps.

Table of Contents:

Code:

Introduction ..........................[INTRO1]
Explanation of Structure ..............[STRUC1]
Roles Defined .........................[ROLES1]
         -Sentinel/Tank................[SENTL1]
         -Medic/Healer.................[MEDIC1]
         -Commando/DPS.................[CMNDO1]
         -Ravager/Nuker................[RVGER1]
         -Saboteur/Enfeebler...........[SABOT1]
         -Synergist/Buffer.............[SYNRG1]
         -Scout/Puller.................[SCOUT1]
Party Make up..........................[COMPO1]
What Goes on?..........................[COMPO2]
Where to party?........................[LOCAT1]
Strategies.............................[STRAT1]
Regimens...............................[REGIM1]
Partying and Leves.....................[LEVES1]
Better Knowing your Role...............[ROLES2]
Updates/Version........................[VERSN1]
Legal..................................[LEGAL1]

Introduction and Forward - [INTRO1]
As is, there is a fierce desire to party in Final Fantasy XIV, however, there is also an equally fierce lack of a motivation to do so. Many people enjoy the solo aspect, but would like to have a way to xp out side of guild leves. That is what this guide attempt to solve.

What can be done? First and for most, is to come up with a structure that works, an explanation of what occurs in parties, the defining of each classes general role in a party, and a list of great camps, and strategies. First I need to explain what each of these features means, however.

I also encourage anyone to submit their own feedback, ideas, and camps. I will credit you when I update and put your suggestions into this guide, so don't be shy.

*note 1- this is still in draft form*
*note 2- I plan to eventually turn most of the terms into the FFXIII terms, as I personally prefer those over the classics. They sound more professional and official, while the traditional ones are slang, but still work*

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Structure- [STRUC1]

What is structure? Structure of a party simply means the general roles that comprise a successful party. For instance, in FFXI, the classic standard party involved a tank, a puller, a melee dps, a healer, a refresher/buffer, and a magic dps. Later, the more popular structure became 4 melee dps, a healer/buffer, and a bard who usually served as a buffer but now functioned as the puller.

However, due to the nature of the Armory System, classes can't be pigeon holed into specific roles as easily. Every class has a large potential to do several things, however there are still certain things each class excels at. Let's first begin by defining the roles, and then recommending classes for each role depending on certain set ups. Keep in mind, players should avoid being simply one thing in a party as they won't live up to their maximum potential. Some roles like Healer and Synergist go hand in hand.

[-Note- I've decided to use the FFXIII terms for roles as well as the traditional MMO terms. This is for those who like to role play, or prefer more official terms.]

The Roles -- [ROLES1]

[SENTL1]

Tank [Sentinel] - The tank is an important part of any party. The role of the tank is to keep the attention of a monster, and keep it from harming squishier party members, and disrupting spells and regiments. A tank should usually be either very high in defense and HP, or high in Evasion, or both. It is also imperative to possess an ability to gain a monster's attention like Provoke or Taunt or War Monger. It's also handy to have some ability to restore your own health in case a mage can't get to you right away.

Suggested classes:

Gladiator- With many natural abilities to garner attention and defend oneself, plus the all important ability to use a shield, this class is a shoe in, and will be the standard tank for many a party. Gladiators are at their best against a single target for a long haul endurance match. Against multiple opponents, however, they're not as effective. Many of their abilities lose effect against anything except for their target. However, their naturally high defense, and shield still make them the most iconic of tanks.

Pugilist- With the ability to not only taunt, but to take enmity from allies to boost their own, they have great enmity managing potential. They also have very high natural HP and great Evasion. This makes them great tanks for short periods against multiple targets or against a single strong target. For an endurance match however, they may not fair as well.

Marauder- With the stalwart stance effect boosting parry rates to reduce damage, enhancing enmity generation, and turning many weapon skills into AoE abilities, the Marauder has the potential to tank for burst periods against several targets. With their Broad and Full Swing (Full even enhancing generated enmity) a Marauder can hold many monsters attention off their allies. They also have astonishingly high HP to aid in this endeavor. Against a single target, however, they lose their appeal.

[MEDIC1]

Healers [Medic] - The literal life of the party. Without at least one healer, even very experienced groups are doomed to failure. However, with the addition of many self healing skills, the healer's job has been made more manageable, but not negated. It is a healer's job to keep everyone's health above a threshold of danger without getting themselves killed. A healer also should keep bad stats off of their allies whenever possible.

Suggested Classes-

Conjurer - The most obvious choice of the position. There are no draw backs to the Conjurer with their great selection of healing oriented spells such as Cure [II/III], and the -na line of spells for status removal.

Thaumaturge - Another option. Not quite as up to the role as Conjurer, but still able to fill in the role. Sacrifice inflicts the helpful Regen status which allows for extra healing even when you can't focus on the job, and can cast Stygian Spikes which will allow a tank to cast cure upon himself should they be needed by helping them keep up their MP pool.

[CMNDO1]

Damage Dealer [Commando] - The Physical attacker of a party. All Disciples of War fall into this category. Your job is to make a monster dead. It's that simple. On the side, your job is to keep hate off any mages if the tank loses hate, but over all, don't compete with him for hate. It just makes everything harder for everyone else. Instead, your focus is on attacking the monster and new to the role from most MMOs is using your abilities to incapacitate monsters. Another important job is setting up and activating regimens.

Suggested Classes:

Gladiator - With "Still Precision" this class has a nice accuracy bonus when fighting. It also has several Weapon Skills that utilize both physical and magical power. They should ditch their shield before taking on this role, as the shield lowers their overall DPS and instead load up on attack abilities.

Pugilist - While many of the abilities on the class lose their usefulness due to their Counter Status, the Pugilist is still an amazing fighter. With abilities like Blind Side, they're very agile and can make the best of their location very easily, while with abilities like Victimize, they benefit very heavily from the presence of a Saboteur.

Marauder - This class has a lot of raw physical power, and can hit a lot of targets at once. It also benefits from a good selection of moves to keep a monster on its toes like Disorient and Skull Sunder. Marauder's also have a large variety of incapacitation moves open up to them once they reach 24.

Lancer - This class is not only a great damage dealer by itself, but also turns those around it into better fighters. Like Marauder, this class is also good for fighting several targets at once, providing you can get a good angle. Many Lancer moves will hit all targets between the lancer and the primary target, which is great if monsters line up or you're dealing with a cluster of lots of small monsters.

Archer - This class has the advantage of range, which allows them to deal damage without worry of area of effect attacks. They also have a variety of Area of Effect moves themselves, and can manage their own enmity when the going gets rough.

[RVGER1]

Nuker [Ravager] - The job here is to destroy an enemy with powerful spells. Working into a regimen to get the best enfeeblements onto a monster is also an important task here. In FFXIV the job of the Nuker has been greatly reduced as skill chains have been removed, and over using magic can slow a group down, but used wisely, it just as effective as ever. A Nuker can hit with the power of a weapon skill and sometimes more whenever they like. A Nuker is best at finishing a monster or depleting HP during a tough spot, and can always beat a monster troubling a group if they're wise in the way of elemental weaknesses.

Suggested Classes:

Conjurer - With all the elements at their disposal, they are quite good in this field. However, many players are going to excel at certain elements and will be more accomplished with some spells over others. Even still, for many fights, a well placed elemental spell can be indispensable.

Thaumaturge - Thaumaturge once again lacks the variety in the field that conjurer has, but that can be a good thing. With the opposing elements of Light and Dark at their side, they don't have to worry with elements and can deliver a strong spell without being caught up in their elemental balance. They also possess abilities that damage a monster's effectiveness in combat.

[SABOT1]

Enfeebler [Saboteur] - This is an extremely important and often under-appreciated task. It is often another duty of a nuker to take care of. The task of the Saboteur is to cripple and weaken an enemy. This allows Damage Dealers to deal more damage effectively, and reduces damage done to the tank. A good Saboteur can turn an impossible fight into an easy victory.

Suggested Classes:

Thaumaturge- This is the field where this class shines. With Poison to slowly kill a target which may otherwise be hard to damage, Gravity to slow down monsters who run to create distance and use ranged attacks, and Slow to lower their attack speed, Thaumaturge can easily turn the pace of battle in this field. The ability to silence, paralyze, bind, and instill fear don't hurt either. Thaumaturge can also still an enemies strengths and make them their own, or even better, give them to an ally. Very high potential here.

Conjurer- With the Elemental DoTs, Conjurers can open the way for a dedicated nuker to strike, or if the party gets overwhelmed, they have options such as Sleep at their disposal. Over all, Conjurer doesn't shine hear as much as other classes may.

Archer- Archer has a few nice abilities, like Shadowbind, but what really lands it in this list is "Scouring Strike" which dispels 1 effect from a target. They also at high levels gain abilities to reduce enemy TP

Custom Disciple of War - There are many abilities and Weapons Skills that enfeeble. If you've got the mind to, you can build a strong melee Saboteur from all the Disciples of War.

[SYNRG1]

Buffer [Synergist] This is a position that right now lacks any class truly dedicated to the cause. However, it can be performed in part as a secondary function of a few other classes. Your job in this field is to bolster allies and make them stronger

Suggested Classes:

Conjurer and Thaumaturge - These classes are paired together as neither are dedicated to the function, but can still perform. Conjurer has Shock Spikes which deal damage to the enemy and stun an enemy buying a tank precious time to not be hit, while a Thaumaturge can use Stygian Spikes to aid a party in regaining MP. Conjurer also has Stoneskin to reduce over all damage done as well as Protect and Shell which are essential for a tank to survive many hits both physically and magically. Meanwhile, a Thaumaturge can use Initiation to give an ally the effects they've absorbed if they're using their absorb spells. Neither class can commit to Synergist entirely though as none of these spells take a great deal of time to maintain at all time or are just overly expensive to keep on everyone at all times.

Lancer - Lancers are all about team play. They can give a tank their enmity, can bolster ally TP gain, help allies gain back their HP over time, and so many other helpful moves.

[SCOUT1]

The Puller [Scout] This is a function that has once again lost so much of its use in FFXIV. However, It still has a use. Occasionally an impossibly hard level 100,000,000 mob will be standing on top of your level 1 leve quest mob. Running over to fight your monster will result in an aggro from this devilish behemoth and almost assured death before you can even deliver a single hit to his tiny level 1 friend. So how do you handle it? Well, that's what the puller is still there for. Someone with a ranged move can run in just out of the giant monster's aggro range, and use a ranged attack to get the attention of the monster you want, and safely bring it back. Pugilist, Marauder, and Archer all work as they have ranged attacks, providing you have Chakrams, Fransicas, or Arrows.

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So what's a good party make up? [COMPO1]

Well, generally that's up to you. A basic set up that will rarely fail you is 1 Tank, 1 Healer, 1-2 Damage Dealer(s)/Nuker(s), and 1 Saboteur. For most groups, a 5-6 member party works. If you're Trioing, a good rule of Thumb is 2 DoW and 1 DoM. A group of 4 can make do with 3 DoW and 1 DoM. I strongly suggest that for a casual party, you avoid going above 6. The monsters rate compared to the combined strength of the party. With 15 members, you're going to need 3 or 4 dedicated healers just to keep a tank alive after a single attack; and that's against something that rates Blue (easy Prey)! Above 6, your ability to accurately gauge a monster's strength decreases. And while yes, more party members does mean a bigger of bonus for skill up, if a foe is to weak, you may only get 1 attack in per battle, while if a foe is too strong, half the party may get wiped out each battle.

Is this prone to change in the future? Extremely likely. But as things are right now, Try to avoid going above 6.

What goes on in a party? [COMPO2]

The simple answer is "a lot." The more complex answer is "a whole lot of complex teamwork and monster management." Each person has a pre-defined role in a party. The beauty of FFXIV and the Armory system is you have the ability to define your role yourself. Just because you play a Lancer doesn't mean you can't try your hand at tanking. Just because you play Conjurer doesn't mean you have to heal. There are some roles that are just incredibly hard to make work, however.

My good friend, Myaavnos, always said in FFXI "If SE didn't want Black Mage to tank, why did SE give them so many great hate tools?" While an incredibly good point (and a joke) we all realize we didn't tank on black mage because it was... Squishy. FFXIV allows you to counter that to some degree with classless gear, but a Conjurer will never tank as well as a Gladiator, and a Marauder will never nuke as well as Conjurer. Does that mean you shouldn't try? Of course not. If you balance your stats right, your Marauder Nukes may make you a more effective Damage Dealer against a Fire Elemental than another Marauder pounding away with Trunksplitter. Just don't expect to outdo the Conjurer pounding away with the same spells.

So, with that out of the way, what can you expect?

Your tank should be keeping a monster's attention while a healer keeps him and the rest of the party alive. Whoever is the Saboteur should work on weakening a monster to make kills go faster while making the monster less dangerous. The Synergist should be enhancing the party's performance and Damage Dealers and Nukers should focus on attacking and Regiments. Lastly, your scout, who should also be working as another damage dealer, should keep his eyes out for the next target.

If you've formed your party well, and have picked appropriate monsters, You should be getting anywhere (with lots of luck) 100 to 600 skill a kill. It will vary wildly, so don't be surprised if you get crappy xp one fight and then amazing the next. SE will make improvements, but for right now, you may find yourself baffled.

Pro-tip - Be smart about how you use your moves. Using your abilities in smart ways or in certain combinations can yield more skill points than just spamming. For instance Combining Bloodbath and Skull Sunder will yield more skill than just Skull Sunder alone. Or casting a heal when several people are in danger will result in much higher gains than spamming a heal while everyone is within 10HP of full. That's not to say get risky with people's lives though.

I've made a party, where do I go? [LOCAT1]

This depends on what your ranks are, how many people you have, and a variety of other factors. This is also how everyone in the community can help out. I implore everyone to experiment, and tell me your experiences. Please post in this thread, or if you're shy, PM me. I'll give you credit unless asked to remain anonymous.

With that out of the way, here are my findings.

[Format: For quick searches, color code the rank by the region. Blue is La Noscea, Green is Black Shroud, Red is Thanalan, Purple Mor Dhona, Grey is Coerthas]

9-14
Area: North of Emerald Moss around the northern Mun-Tuy Cellars zone
Monsters: Galagos and Yarzons
Party size: 3-4 slowly decreasing to Duo. Good for solo from 14 to 17

Rank 11-16
Area: Western La Noscea
Monster: Crabs
Party size: 6 [GLD, THM, CNJ, 2 DD]

Rank 14-18 *Needs further testing
Area: Cassiopia Hollow around any of the subterranean lakes
Monsters: Cassiopia and Puks
Party size: 4-5 decreasing to trio. 3 mobs can support 1 party at the right kill pace, which is good as many of these camps are frequented. Spawn rates higher in tunnels than the lakes

Rank 14-18 *Needs further testing
Area: Nanawa Mines close to the Aetheral Node
Monsters: Coblyns, Puks at higher leves. Run if a Djigga spawns near Puks.
Party Size: 3-4

Rank 16-20
Area: Coerthas from the zone to Black Shroud to Camp Glory
Monster: Squirrels and Does
Party size: 4 decreasing to trio. Soloable at 18+. Larger parties possible around maybe 14.

Rank 28-? *Needs further testing
Area: Nanawa Mines north of the Aetheral Node
Monsters: Antlings, Djiggas?
Party size: 3+?

Rank 35-40 *Needs further testing
Area: Camp Bald Knoll
Monsters: Vultures, Dormouse
Party Size: 3-5? decreases to Duo at 40.
Notes: I only know about this camp because I witnessed Show Wind of Trabia with his personal healer Noa Noa leveling out here at rank 40 on Pugilist.

Strategies [STRAT1]

Tanking and everyone else: Provoke and Taunt are curious compared to their XI versions. In XI Provoke gave something like 10,000 points of volatile enmity, which is enmity that rapidly decayed over time. In Ballista and over PvP it inflicted the Provoke status which made all attacks from the provoked target hit the provoker. This is how Provoke and Taunt work in FFXIV. They inflict Provoke status which forces a target to focus on the user of provoke. However, the first provoke does not lock down enmity. It is not until the second provoke 15 seconds later that a tank has solid hate. The status only last about 5 seconds, and if anyone gets to crazy in that time, the provoker will lose their target. Upon the second provoke, the user gains much more enmity. It is during this time that I highly recommend mages especially hold back, and don't start their enfeebles and nukes. If they try anything before the second provoke, they're likely to pull hate. Having Provoke and Taunt on may help to speed this enmity cementing stage up.

How to be effective at Saboteuring: This can be hard depending on the needs of the party. Whereas in FFXI you wanted a target dead ASAP, in FFXIV you want a target to survive just long enough for everyone to have a chance to skill off it. Try to focus on debuffs that cause a monster to do less to your tank than those that speed up a fight. Slow, Gravity, Bio, Blind, and Paralyze are all great spells to use. Absorb-EVA is also acceptable for helping the party land blows. However, if a flight starts to draw on to long, and get dangerous for a tank, you will want to finish a monster off.

Magic management: This I can't stress enough. With your MP restoring WS, your 10min MP restore, and any other MP restoring abilities you have, you should be able to last AT LEAST an hour, if not forever. This is truer of Thaumaturge than Conjurer. A Conjurer has to spread more MP out between Stoneskin, Shockspikes, Protect, Shell and Cures. A Conjurer should use up maybe 60% of their MP every 10 minutes, resulting in about an hour before their MP drops below a critical threshold causing them to have to return to an aetheryte. Thaumaturges will be focused more so on debuffs and the like, and should, Sacrifices included, use only 40-50% of their MP every 10 minutes. Because of this, allow a Crystal break every hour or so, but try not to be to liberal with MP. Use your Dart ability if you want some magic skill up. Only use your Nukes to finish a mob off, or if you need to speed up a stage of the fight like the 50%-25% TP spam stage. I highly suggest anyone who wants to do any degree of mage should rank Thaumaturge to 20. At this point, you will have everything you ever need to sustain MP: 10min MP restore, Damnation (and Radiance for CNJ), Stygian Spikes, and Absorb MP [Aspir].

Finding a good camp and great monsters: While trying to avoid the same mistakes that at times made leveling in FFXI tedious (crabs from 15 to 75 sound familiar?) there are some monsters that clearly make better xp target than others. IDEALLY you want something that doesn't have an AI type of "Timid." (more about AI personality types will be added in another guide later). A Timid AI monster means it would rather run that fight or runs when certain conditions are met. Mobs in this category are things like Does or mice. However, they have advantages too as when they're running, they're not killing anyone and allow for a chance to recover. You tend to want a monster than will stay fairly stationary.

Another good quality to look for in a target monster is a lame TP move. What defines a lame TP move? Simple. Anything that doesn't have a heavily detrimental effect on the party. These include things like the Dodo's Rancid Belch (as Sleep, Slow, and Blind only slow down a few members, and there's no damage involved.). An example of a TP move to stay away from would be Impish Incantations which deals very heavy AoE damage. The least amount of risk involved makes a better target. At the same time, a high risk target may yield better rewards, both skill and item wise. If you do decide to fight a higher risk target, make sure you learn how to incapacitate it.

So what about camps? Well, FFXIV is designed to have a much more mobile party. If you want to do an old fashion camp, then look for caves and tunnels or passes. These areas have much higher spawn rates and are easy to make an escape if the going gets rough. Alternatively, if waiting on spawns isn't your thing, find a good stretch of area with lots of monsters. There are always stretches you and your party can roam that are packed with what you're looking for if you keep your eye on the map. You camp can range over a malm (mile) in game. If you're afforded the luxury by the local killer-flora and fauna, start close to an aetheryte camp and see how well your MP fairs and then steadily move outward.

Don't be greedy: Everyone wants a chance to gain skill ups. The cap per fight appears to be 600 skill. If you have gotten close to the cap, you should hold back and let everyone else get a chance to hit the target. The goal is for EVERYONE to level and have a good time. If you're getting a lot of skill, and someone else isn't then hold back and let that person get some hits in too.

Having trouble getting skill to begin with?: I play with an rl friend. He was having trouble breaking 100 skill a fight soloing, I played 1 fight for him, and he got 315 skill. He nearly hit me, but I tend to get high skill a lot when I do level. So here's what I do. TAKE YOUR TIME. My friend tried this, and started averaging around 200 skill a kill. First, make sure your weapon is not to high above you. Those recommended ranks are there for a reason. Using a weapon to far above you will gimp your skill accumulation. Second, let your stamina regenerate and don't spam attacks like crazy. Take your time and be tactical. If you spread your attacks out over time, you're more likely to skill. Third, use your abilities in smart combinations. Making the most out of an ability yields more skill.


Keep your gear in good condition: To get the most out of your gear, it needs to be in the best shape. Broken weapons can hinder your skill gains, and cause you to do bad damage. Everyone's gear needs to be kept in good shape. It also seems some materials wear down faster than others, like Brass gear wears down in 2 hours, whereas bronze lasts 2 days.

More Coming Soon!!

Battle Regimens [REGIM1]

Coming Soon!!

Partying and Guild Leves [LEVES1]

Coming Soon!!

Better knowing your Role [ROLES2]

This section will be dedicated to linking to other guides to help you get a more comprehensive look at how to play your role. I will also delve into my own experiences, as well as those of others to give you the best tips on how to really excel at any class you play.

Sentinels

So you've decided to become a group defender? Well, that's all well and good, but where do you start? As we've established, Pugilist, Gladiator, and Marauder are all pretty good at this. Post November '10 update, Marauder is even more cut out for the job than before. Before we really get into the meat, let's review what the pros and cons are for each available sentinel/tank class.

Gladiator: The Premier Sentinel. In fact, they're the only Disciples of War who actually have access to shields, and thus, the namesake subclass. Gladiators are great for any long haul endurance match. They can usually handle anything, as well as distract targets the party isn't ready for while the group dispatches far worse baddies. The main drawback to Gladiator is despite their position as the poster boy of Sentinel, they're ineffective at several targets and in fact are hindered against multiple targets by many of their own abilities. Nothing a few subbed abilities can't handle though, right?

Pugilist: Light in defense, heavy on evasion. Pugilist tank by avoiding hits, and countering when they do. They also have moves to steal hate from allies, and if they do lose hate, they cause use blindside to spike damage and take it right back. Plus taunt allows them to be reliable. The main drawbacks are the fact they do have low defense, and they have to stay mobile at times, which might get tricky for other members to keep up with.

Marauder: The less known option, Great for short bursts against several targets. And, post November '10 update, they have more enmity tools at their disposal. Since sub-Taunt and Provoke have been increased to 40 second recast, Disorient has been given an enmity boost. They also get Warmonger, and AoE provoke at 30, not to mention aoe attacks to keep the attention of lots of things. The main problem we have here is their speed. Marauders rely very heavily on not moving to maintain their power. Any knock back or slight position adjustments, and they lose some effectiveness.

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How should I got about abilities and stats?

So, let's get into the real meat and bones of the situation. As a Sentinel, your #1 priority should be dedicated to being able to take a savage beating lesser folk would die from and be able to say "Thank you sir, may I have another?" With that in mind, It's probably a VERY GOOD idea to focus on VIT as a core stat. Pumping VIT exclusively is a full hearty effort though. While VIT gives you higher HP (3HP per VIT I think) and better defense, STR is also a good idea. Marauder and Pugilist probably realize this due to their nature as Commandos, however, Gladiators need it just as much to augment the power of their shields. Shield damage reduction is based on STR.

Now, here's where you'll see some variation. If you're a Pugilist, you're going to want to focus on DEX next. DEX affects your Accuracy, *Evasion*, and critical hit rates. I would also suggest the same for a Marauder. Gladiator on the other hand, I would suggest MND next. Gladiators will often try to simulate Paladins, thus need more MP. They also have more Weapon Skills that require MP. The other reason is their magic defense. Monsters tend to AoE magic attacks a lot, so it's never a good idea to skimp on magic defense, but it's most important for the sentinel, especially since you'll need to take less damage and be ready to survive the next melee strike after a devastating magic attack.

Low on your list will be PIE and INT. Due to high number of status inflicting moves Marauder has, they might want to afford some point into PIE, and due to the magic damage on skills, Gladiators may wish to look at Intelligence. Pugilists also may want to look into Piety simply because of victimize, and landing extra debuffs before using it can't hurt.

Suggested Stat loadout graphs:

GLA-
STR ****
VIT *****
DEX ***
INT **
MND ****
PIE *

PUG-
STR ****
VIT *****
DEX *****
INT *
MND ***
PIE **

MRD-
STR *****
VIT *****
DEX ****
INT *
MND ***
PIE **

In Depth Strategies -Gladiator-

In Depth Strategies -Pugilist-

In Depth Strategies -Marauder-

Suggested move list: Light Swing, Broad Swing, Heavy Swing, Full Swing, Disorient, Warmonger, Provoke/Taunt, Defender, Enduring March, Trunk Splitter (II), Brandish (II), Bloodbath (II), Second Wind, Skull Sunder, Fracture, Foresight, Rampart (II), Sentinel. If magically attuned, then Absorb DEF, Absorb ATK, Drain, and MP Siphon are good suggestions.

Your first action in attacking a target should be Disorient. Disorient lowers a targets evasion while gaining respectable enmity. It can also be stacked 3 times, and gives your party an immediate accuracy boost. Once everyone gets started attacking, you can follow up with a provoke or Taunt. Also, Disorient as much as possible. Even if it's at level 3, it still gives hate.

This also aids in how Provoke and Taunt work, as they require people to strike before provoke will keep enmity off of them.* Once you have Enmity established, you want to move as little as possible. If you're fighting something with Knock Back, or need to change positions even a tad, use Enduring March first. Fighting Knock Back targets, keep it on as much as possible. It's also a good idea to keep defender up, especially during times when you have Stalwart Stance up.

If single target tanking, avoid AoE moves as they can attract unneeded attention, and if you're fighting several targets, as if oft done during leves, use the area of affect moves to exclusivity. Broad and Full Swing will help you keep their attention, providing you don't over do it on your stamina. They also help in speeding up the time it takes over all to eliminate all targets.

Make good use of your Parry Counters. Fracture will save you a lot of health over time when targets can't use a TP move. The more targets you have attacking you, the more often you can use it. It's a great, cheap weapon skill that packs a lot of punch.

Don't stress your healer. Sure they can AoE, but AoE heals get a lot of hate. When possible, Heal yourself. And when possible, use Bloodbath in combination with a weapon skill. You get the most out of Bloodbath this way. Be wary that if you AoE it, it only absorbs from the first monster hit. So don't go brandishing in hopes you get a huge boost.


*Assuming provoke works by covering the enmity of pre-established people on the list, and not covering people who add their names after.
More Coming Soon!!

Version Updates: [VERSN1]

10-22-10: First version
10-23-10: added to suggestions segment
10-25-10: More sections and camps added. Added Credits and Thanks section.
11-01-10: Fixed some word choice mistakes (Roll vs. Role), added camps.
11-04-10: Added Table of Contents.
12-10-10: Finally back to work. Updates on how to play roles better in Better knowing your Roles.
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[LEGAL1]

Thanks and Credits and legal
Credits-
Varizen/Lusavari Rosenrot: Author

Thanks to-
Aspect and Zissling: Thanks for making Origin a great community where I can work on a project like this.
The Community at Origin

Wigglestyx and Dyire for all their hard work on KI over the years.

My beloved Linkshell Sancta Arma. Vel, Nako/Lime, Dwimm, Cammy, Kil, Kim/Cary, Aura, Trist, Rune, and Kaine, you guys have no idea how much you've helped me make this guide a success.

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This guide is written by and is the property of Varizen/Lusavari Rosenrot. Linking to this guide is acceptable and encouraged, however I ask that you do not publish this guide on other sites without first asking me. More than likely I will approve.

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This late on a Friday night, the first thing that popped to mind was partying IRL, but the 2 shots of tequila I had a few hours ago hindered me from immediate realization (overall, it still only took about 5 seconds for it to hit me). Anyways, this is already a great guide in its early stages, and I'm sure everybody (myself included) would love to see what's next.

I know the zone location part is particularly helpful, and is something people should find particularly helpful in the early stages of the game. With enough feedback, I know that part alone will surely make it a home run among all existing Partying Guides.

Originally Posted by Aspect

Anyways, this is already a great guide in its early stages, and I'm sure everybody (myself included) would love to see what's next.

Thanks Aspect. That means a lot ^^

It took me 3 hours to get that much already. It's 7 pages in word as is.

Anyway, Goals:

Have a complete list of areas for partying in all areas
A section on how to effectively party with Guild Leves
A listing of suggestions for each class on what to do in classes
tips on effective gearing (Oh god, seeing people with gear 5+ levels above them grinds my gears. If you didn't know, gear stats are cut to less than half if they're above you by to much. Something can say +30 hp, but if you're 5 levels under you get +9)


Once we can just do <pos> I'll add coordinates. Anyway, I'm sure you and Ziss can already supply good info for camping. :P

I suspect that separate documents for details about the various party roles (tank, steady dps, spikey dps, healer, debuffer, buffer, puller) is merited. Giving the roles the attention they deserve will turn this guide into an over-long monstrosity.

I wanted to give them a basic outline. I've accomplished what I set out to do on that front. I agree though that to give them real justice on the task, another guide might be better. For now though, I think my abridged versions will do the job.

I'd like to have a 1 stop shop where you can have something defined and think about how you fit into that. Eventually the community will expand on what I have here with guides like "How to be a better tank" and the like.

I plan to eventually add in a table of contents and make it ctrl+f friendly as well ^^

Well... Each server has it's own culture. You're on an RP server. If you're into RP, you might wanna check out the Role Play Coalition to find a shell. If not, either change servers, or start shouting. Most of the people you'll play with these days are around the 10 or 20 camps.

There's a Leveling Guide on Eorzeapedia, so you can use that, but I'm avoiding a link to it as I want this to be MY guide, not my plagiarized guide of other people's leveling spots in general.

My advice to you is rank to 13, go to the rank 20 aetheryte, and start shouting for people to do leves with you. With persistence, I promise SOMEONE will join. you might even get 2 or 3 people. I'll be writing a partying and leves section soon. I just need a little more time and experience.

I had no idea it was an RP server o.o I shoulda done some research...oh well.
to that effect tho, would it take very long to get to 10 with those garlond goggles? registered them after i hit 8, before I read up on them.
I'm not out to be the lone wolf, it just ends up that way :/

Shouldn't take to long. Rank 10 is something you can get in 2-3 hours of a hard night.

Once you have your registered items, you should be gold.

---------- Post added at 07:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

New version update: Table of contents added for easy browsing. Find what you're looking for faster than ever!!

Going to bed now.... but the updates have started!!

In depth strategies are in the works.