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I know that I have already taught you how to Powerlevel an Alchemist in FFXIV, but that doesn't mean it's the only easy craft to gain ranks. Recently, I undertook Goldsmithing, and found the power leveling process to be just as good!

Starting Out

If you already have a Rank 10 Alchemist, Preserve will make all Goldsmithing syntheses that much easier. Regardless, there are a few options to choose from before leveling your Goldsmith. If you would like to save money, take a short time to mine for some copper. If not, the Newly Organized Market Wards have made it lots easier to find the raw unprocessed materials.

Goldsmithing Ranks 1-12

If you took the time to gather enough copper ores (yellow copper ore included), you can definitely take the time to make some Copper Nuggets. Currently, they cost only 4 Copper Ore per nugget, and will also set you back 1 Fire Crystal. While this may seem a bit extreme to consume a crystal on a low level synthesis, think again! Each synthesis will bring you 12 Copper Nuggets; 10 syntheses will give you enough Copper Nuggets to achieve Rank 12 and then some!

While the nuggets are recommended for Rank 3's, performing it at Rank 1 is still easy enough to pull off – even without Preserve. If trouble persists early-on, it may be a good idea to gain a few quick ranks via Crafting Levequests.

Once you have gathered all of the Copper Nuggets, it is time to grind up some Copper Fish Hooks. While said fish hooks are far from the most useful items in FFXIV (only 2 recipes in the entire game use them), they make for extremely awesome experience. On top of that, each hook only consumes 1 copper nugget, making it a very viable crafting option all the way to Rank 12!



If you took the time to gather minerals, you should have quite a few Bone Chips sitting in your inventory. One chip can make a Bone Ring, one of the only readily available rings low level players can acquire. Only drawback: each ring consumes 4 Wind Shards - something that isn't readily available to all players.

Whichever route you go about in gaining skill points, Rank 10 will award you with a shiny new ability in tow: Epiphany. I found this to be one of the more useful lower level crafting abilities, and it works especially well when used in conjunction with the Copper Fish Hooks. That being said, take the time to gain a couple more ranks, and you should be able to move onto the next step.

Moving past Rank 12

Once you get to Rank 12, it is time to commence the mass synthesis of Copper Rings. I know a lot of players are pretty lacking in the accessories department, and a willing buyer is never too far away. At Ranks 12-13 the Syntheses can be somewhat rocky, so make sure to use Preserve whenever the opportunity presents itself.

While Getting an Alchemist to Rank 20 was pretty shard-efficient, it can be a little costlier for Goldsmiths. For this reason alone, I know everybody won't be able to go all the way in 1 sitting. However, this should be the least of your concern; the Copper Rings still sell for a pretty good price (1-3k Gil on most servers), which will help fund your Goldsmithing progression for a very long time!

With enough patience, Rank 20 enable you to purchase Brand of Ice from the Goldsmiths' Guild of Ul'dah.

Hopefully this will make all of your Goldsmithing endeavors relatively easy, and cost-efficient to boot. I will update the community as I begin my gradual ascent to Rank 30, but that's all for now. Goodbye, Origin and good luck!

Last week, we wrapped up the very first FFXIV Origin Guides Contest with a bang. In the past week, I know a lot of you have been patiently awaiting the results - without further ado, here they are.

1st Place ($160 Ultimate Game Card) - A Crafter's How-to in FFXIV, by Dunador
2nd Place ($80 Ultimate Game Card) - One from Many: FFXIV Job System and You, by Foray
3rd Place ($40 Ultimate Game Card) - Stacking Diciplines: Low Level Gameplay Enhancement Suggestions, by Phantos
4th Place (12" Cactuar Plushie) - Guild Marks and Guild Quest, by lackofwords

Congratulations to all of our winners, and special thanks to all the contestants that made this event a success. The next contest is never far away here at FFXIV Origin, so check back and see what awesome stuff will be offered next time.

If you were one of the winners in this illustrious competition, please send a PM to Zissling or myself so we can deliver these awesome prizes! All prizes must be claimed within 2 weeks.

Another installment of Ask the Devs is live. This week, they are here to answer many questions about Party-Based Combat, Guildleves and Quests

Party-Based Combat in FFXIV

Q. What is all this hubbub about a so-called “party bonus”?
A. The party bonus is a feature that increases the amount of skill points awarded to players from combat while in a party. This feature will be in effect so long as the difference in class ranks between all party members is between the range of ±5. In addition, the bonus will be greater the more party members there are.

Q. Why did the version update that went live on October 15, 2010 alter the party bonus to be based upon class rank rather than the number of party members?
A. Under the previous settings, since party bonuses were calculated solely on the number of party members, even players who were too low-level to effectively participate in combat were being awarded extra skill points simply by being present in the party. The alterations to the system were made to prevent exploitation of this in the form of “power leveling.”

Q. If I am in a party with someone beyond the ±5 class rank range, will I be getting less skill points than I would be if I were playing solo?
A. No. Rather, the amount of skill points awarded in these two instances would be the same, regardless of whether the player is solo or in a party. If a party bonus is not in effect, the amount of skill points capable of being obtained will be the same.

Q. Is it possible the class rank range for party bonuses will be adjusted in the future?
A. We initially set the difference to 5 to combat the issue mentioned above. We will continue to monitor community feedback and look at how parties are formed - depending on these results we may tweak these values in the future.

Guildleves

Q. What can you tell me about exchanging regional leves?
A. The exchange of regional leves may be carried out under any of the following circumstances:

• The maximum of eight plates has been reached for the regional leve in your possession
• You wish to abandon the duty of the regional leve in your possession
• Supplementation of a completion bonus to the regional leve you wish to undertake

When exchanging regional leves, you may select up to four to exchange for the one you wish to receive. Should a regional leve in your possession be displayed in a white font, regardless of whether its status is completed, failed, or not yet undertaken, it may be selected for exchange. In the event that you select a leve already in your possession, your current leve will automatically be exchanged for the newer of the two.

Q. What should I do if I want to place a completion bonus on a regional leve?
A. When exchanging regional leves, a completion bonus will be attached should the number of ☆ marks be more than one. The bonus will be greater the larger the number of ☆ marks, up to a maximum of eight.

A regional leve with no completion bonus applied.


A regional leve with a completion bonus applied.

Q. How do I increase the number of ☆ marks?
A. Either of the following two methods may be used to increase the number of ☆ marks.

• Exchange for a regional leve with a different issuing authority (☆ +1)
• Exchange for a regional leve with a different motif (☆ +1)

Increasing the number of ☆ marks related to a leve’s reward in no way influences its degree of difficulty, nor impacts it in any other adverse way.

Q. What type of specific effects does increasing a regional leve’s degree of difficulty have?
A. Increasing the degree of difficulty will result in more powerful enemies, larger amounts of experience and skill points, and greater rewards. At present, the degree of difficulty may not be changed once a regional leve is underway, but the version update scheduled for late November will introduce a feature which allows players the option do so.
* Lowering the degree of difficulty will also cause the reward to be scaled down accordingly.

Q. I saw a treasure chest while I was out doing a regional levequest! Is there always a treasure chest somewhere on a levequest!?
A. While on a regional levequest, treasure chests may appear based on the levequest location, but there is no guarantee. The chances of a treasure chest appearing, however, may be increased through leve linking.* Upon opening these chests,** players will be rewarded with gil and, in rare instances, items. Should a chest be opened by a player in a party, gil will be automatically split and distributed to party members on the levequest, while items will be placed in a random member’s loot list.
* A leve link is created when a party member initiates a regional leve of which other party members are also in possession. Party members not in possession of the guildleve will not be part of the link, but instead will be leve sharing.
** Select the Examine command which appears in the Interactions menu when in proximity to a chest to open it.


Q. Why are there no rank 20 regional leves for miners outside of Limsa Lominsa?
A. Beyond rank 20, regional leves for Disciple of the Land classes are issued only from certain authorities. Below is a table displaying which nations issue leves for which classes.



* After the November version update, all nations will issue regional leves for all classes, regardless of rank.

Quests

Q. Why can I no longer undertake the rank 20 armorer quest after accepting the rank 20 blacksmith quest?
A. The blacksmith and armorer class quests have been grouped together. Though players are free to choose either of the classes they wish, they will only be able to complete the quest for one of the two. For example, if a player has undertaken the rank 20 blacksmith quest, the rank 20 armorer quest will become unavailable. The player will, however, again become free to choose either blacksmith or armorer for the rank 30 quest. Quest content and rewards will be adjusted to fit the class chosen for the each quest.
* Quest progress for both classes can be viewed by opening main menu >> Journal >> Blacksmith & Armorer Quests.

I know this was a pretty massive update, but the information was actually quite jam-packed and highly valuable. If you are still curious as to what is coming in November, you can read the previous installment of Ask the Devs.

We can all be thankful in knowing that another FFXIV patch has been implemented on all the servers. Before you jump straight into action, take a quick glance at this week's patch notes.

I really wish the targeting function was brought to other NPC's than those who are in charge of repair. After all, you should refer to our Repair Guide instead of give those dirty NPC's your hard-earned gil.

As far as skills are concerned, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Fastcast got a huge boost. As expected, it looks like Lancers will also get a functional Fleet of Foot going forward. Despite SE listing Farshot under their Current Known Issues, it didn't get fixed today - seeing as it requires a rank 46 archer, this is hardly a big deal.

All in all, it was a decent patch. I didn't expect it to be anything huge like the November Patch, but at least it's a start.

Moments ago, I just received word of new FFXIV updates via the Lodestone. Today, Square Enix announced the time change mentioned in yesterday's news, and also has taken the time to cover current known issues.

Time Change (October 22, 2010)

I guess we will have to wait another day to find out whether or not a patch will come with this week's maintenance.

Current Known Issues in FFXIV

I'm sure a lot of Lancers out there are now rejoicing, for Fleet of Foot will be working as intended very soon (perhaps after the upcoming maintenance)! Looks like the range issues on Farshot are going to be remedied as well.

They better apologize, because those are two massive bugs. That's all for now, all we can do now is hope that another patch is indeed on the way!