Here is a Quick Begining Guide for FFXI, Found it from a Guy named Clever Ninja, www.ffxionline.com, I did not write this myself.
Table of Contents
A.) Introduction
B.) The Beginning Part I
C.) Skills
D.) Death
E.) The Beginning Part II
F.) Its Party Time
G.) Know Your Role
Introduction
If you're reading this, more than likely you are new to the game, or just looking at the guide <_<. Basically one of the major turnoffs of FFXI to many new players is they don't know how to cope with leveling in this game. This guide is here to help these new players with some basic information on the game. Also, this guide is written through my experiences and knowledge. I personally know Bastok area almost perfectly, but lack in knowing Windhurst and Sandoria's areas. If you want to submit a more in depth explanation for those areas lemme know through PM system and if this guide gets accepted, I'll add it in the future and give you proper credit.
The Beginning Part I
So your level 1. At this time get used to the controls and using the map, as both will become extremely important. At this point, you have two areas you can go to; South Gustaberg or North Gustaberg. South Gustaberg is accessed through either Bastok Market or Bastok Mines, and is the most popular spot since both of these Bastok zones are home to the Auction House. North Gustaberg is accessed from Bastok Port, and is pretty much ignored. For this reason, I suggest going to North Gustaberg. The less people there are, the less competition there will be. Meaning more EXP for you. Anyway before you head, be sure to speak with a guard whose standing near the gate to North Gustaberg(in Bastok it's a huge Galka). Ask him to cast Signet on you. Signet allows you to gain Conquest Points, which are used to purchase various things from guards. Signet also lets you get crystal drops from enemies, which will be your main source of income for awhile. If Signet ever runs out, ALWAYS go back to town and have it recast. Its godly for low levels, trust me.
Ok so you’re ready to get started, so head outside. Unless someone has killed them all, you should notice some Huge Hornets flying around, and the occasional Tunnel Worm. If it’s nighttime, Ding Bats should be visible as well. First, before you EVER fight a monster, use the 'Check' command. It'll tell you the monsters strength compared to yours. The range is like this;
Too Weak - Easy Prey - Decent Challenge - Even Match - Tough - Incredibly Tough
I didn't put 'Impossible to Gauge' there, because many times you will encounter NM's(Notorious Monsters, Boss type enemies basically) that read as Impossible to Gauge, but this is just a disguise to hide their level. People also abbreviate these in game, like so;
TW - EP - DC - EM - T - IT
There are also sometimes other messages like "It has High Defense" or "It has Low Evasion". Again these can be abbreviated into +'s and -'s. So if you see an enemy that after Check reads "This enemy seems Tough. It seems to have high defense and evasion." and you want to tell your party this, you can just say the enemy reads T++.
Anyway, you’re soloing for now, and until you get the hang of the controls and such, stick to anything Decent Challenge and below. Ding Bats would be preferred since they give more exp than Hornets or Worms, and aren't hard at all. Keep going like this until you hit level 3.
Ok, at level 3 check your item menu. You should notice various crystals in your inventory. Crystals in this game don't stack automatically, so depending on the platform you’re playing on, hit a button that'll allow you to access to little Sort window in the upper right corner and hit 'Auto-Sort'. this will stack your crystals for you. Crystals are items that stack to 12. When you have various crystals at 12 stacks, head back to the Auction House and sell them. Make sure to check the Price History to see what their going for before selling them. Any money you make will be put in the Delivery Box in your Mog House, so make sure to check it. You should also have acquired things like Insect Wings and Flint Stones that also sell for a good amount. Once you sell some things and get around 2000-3000 gil, head over to Rex, an NPC vendor in Bastok Ports(coordinates J-7). He sells numerous maps that you'll need. Make sure to buy the Bastok Region one now, but eventually buy them all minus Beadeaux.
Anyway keep leveling like this until level 5. Depending on your class, you can either upgrade your equipment now or tough it out a little longer. But, ALWAYS make sure to research before hand on items, because in the earlier levels most of the items you can use can be quested for almost free. Like at lvl7, if you wear a Shell Shield and talk to someone in a bar at Bastok Ports, all you have to do is walk to the Airport, walk back and you get a free level 9 Sword. This will save you money, which you will be tight on for awhile.
Skills
I'm going to cut the guide here for a bit to explain something now that you're level 5. You should have noticed if you fought Decent Challenge monsters or higher that you got various skill increases. Weapon skill ups, Evasion skills up, Magic related skill ups(if your a mage class), and a few others. Skills in this game are important, and its one of the main reasons why making and leveling a new character is so hard. Skills in this game determine your effectiveness in that area, and skills can only go up so high for a certain level. To explain that better, let’s say you’re a MNK using a hand-to-hand weapon. Even though its skilling up, you won't be able to hit 10 Skill in Hand-to-Hand till level 3, as at level 2 it caps at 8 I believe, and you don't get skill increases when its capped. You'll know it’s capped since it'll show up blue under Combat Skills in the Status Menu.
Skills carry over to WHATEVER job you make on that character, so next time you level a new character, it'll be easier since you'll have one or several weapon skills capped, parry capped, evasion capped, etc etc. Skills are also the way you learn Weapon Skills. Weapon Skills are attacks that utilize your TP, which builds up for every physical attack you connect that does one or more damage. TP also goes down when you rest, or when you die. At 100TP, you can use a Weapon Skill. Each Weapon Skill is different, and some are superior than others. If your a melee, raising your skill in your weapon will be REAL important. Just wanted to take the time out and note this.
Death
By this point, I'm sure you've aggroed something and died. It happens at least once. After level 4, there is a death penalty; 10% exp loss. The 10% is taken from the exp you need to next level. So if the total exp you needed to get to the next level says 2000, you'll lose 200 exp when you die. If you don't have 200 exp, you'll delevel and it'll strip the exp away from your last exp bar. So basically, try not to die is my point. Although it seems like a lot, 10% isn't that bad. Until level 10, a few minutes is all you need. After that it'll only take a few battles in a party. Don't let this turn you away. This death system is far from bad compared to other MMO's.
The Beginning Part II
Ok, for the most part, you have been in the general area killing enemies. At lvl4 you might have moved west a bit and killed Stone Eaters, which is perfectly fine as their better exp at that level. Now you can start handling different enemies, because now all the Hornets and other enemies will be Checking "Easy Prey" to you, and although easier, you can handle Decent Challenge monsters easy. Start moving more west and fighting different enemies, adding Crabs, Quadav, and Vultures to your leveling mobs(along with Stone Eater). Make sure to check them and see that they're not above Decent Challenge. If they say "High Defense and/or High Evasion", make sure your hp is at a high level so you can handle them.
Keep going like this till lvl8, collecting crystals and drops. Now, if your a melee who can wear the Scale Armor at level 10, I wouldn't buy any armor until then. Just wait it out. If your a MNK/SAM/NIN, get the Kenpogi/Hachimaki type armor at this time. If your a mage, invest in a Tunic since its cheap and gives good DEF, and if your a White Mage/Red Mage, try to get your hands on a Justice Badge. It'll increase your healing power, which you'll be doing at lvl10. Also upgrade your weapons unless your a MNK(I'll say why). If your a WHM or a BLM, invest in a Ash pole if you haven't already, as it gives you a nice boost to your damage, as well as raises your staff skill. It'll only last you to level 10 though.
One IMPORTANT thing. Before leaving, talk to the guard again. Choose the 'spend my conquest points' option. You should have WELL over 1000 if you kept your Signet on like I said. Go to Common Rank items, scroll down and purchase an Empress Band. This item is the best. It has 7 charges, and can be recharged by trading it to a guard before every conquest tally(once a week for us). It costs 100 conquest points per recharge. You have to equip it for 15 seconds to be able to activate it, which you do from the Item Menu(it should come up as blue). DON'T USE THIS NOW. I highly suggest saving this till lvl9, so you can get to lvl10 faster.
Ok, at this point, you have two places to go; either go to Zegham Hills in North Gustaberg(entrance to the hill is on the south-western side of it) and fight Goblins, Ornery Sheep and Maneating Hornets, or head to Palborough Mines and fight Quadav. I personally chose Zegham Hills since Maneating Hornets drop Beehive Chips, which is a MAJOR source of income. No kidding. These things go for 30k on Hades, and that'll fund your low level career for awhile. At level 9 activate your Empress Band, and this will last you until after level 10.
Ok, your level 10. If your a heavy melee, pick up Scale Armor. If your a MNK, talk to a guard and use 1000 conquest points to buy your Rank 1 Knuckles, which will last you a LONG time. If you have conquest points to spare, buy your Rank 1 gloves if your a melee of any kind, as they grant you +3 Attack. If your a RDM, the Spatha from the quest in Bastok Ports will suffice. WHM and BLM can buy a Willow Wand when they get to Selbina. If your a THF, farm crystals until you have enough money to afford a Beestinger, cause it'll last you like, forever.
It's Party Time
There are several ways to get to the Dunes. From Bastok, go to South Gustaberg and take the western most exit leading to North Gustaberg. Here, go North until you reach K. Highlands. Make sure to set your home point here incase you die. In the highlands, your exit to the Dunes is to the north. Only enemies you have to worry about here are Goblins, Quadav, and the very rare Tremor Ram. Nothing else will aggro you. Exit North, and your at the Dunes. Set your home points here. It'll cost you money if your nation doesn't control this area. If your nation DOES control the area, recast Signet. Now from here, if your a BLM/WHM, head to Selbina through the cave up north. Watch out though, as Sand Bats inhabit it and they aggro. Also, if you see something that isn't a Lizard, Snipper, Sheep or Damselfly, it will most likely aggro and own you, so best avoid those. At Selbina, buy your Willow Wand, then trek back to the where you zoned in from the Highlands since at level 10 you'll be fighting Lizards. Now, this is where the game gets better, as this is when you can start partying. To know your role in a party, 'scroll down to the Know Your Role' section.
*Note: When I say 'Optimal Subs', I'm just referring to the cookie cutter proven-to-work subs. There are many combinations that seem unorthodox that turned out to work(NIN/BLM and MNK/DRG to name 2), but the subs listed are ones that people know work without much effort.
Anyway, at level 10 your party exp's in Lizards and eventually Goblins once everyone its higher, at level 13-14 you can move to Snippers, at 16-18 you range from Snippers to Damselfly's to Goblins(oh my :O), and if you plan to stay here till 20, you could either chain the same monsters, or if you have a competent party you could possibly handle Pugils at the beach near Siren Sands. It'll be difficult though.
At 20 you head to Jueno. By this time you should have a linkshell or a few friends, so ask them for help in getting there. At Jueno, set your home point and go to the Auction House and buy 4 Gaussebit Greens. Head to Upper Jueno and start the Chocobo quest. It'll take up to 6 hours. After that, update your gear and head down the main stairway into Qufim Isle. Get a party or start your own, and you'll more than likely head to the lake and fight Worms. Best method I found was to fight worms, and after chaining a few attack a Clipper before the mages have to rest. This will end the chain and give you some decent exp. Watch out at night time though, as Bogy's spawn. If no high levels are coming to camp it, it's best to just wait on the ice in the middle of the lake until daytime.
At 23-24 you can more towards the tower and fight Pugil's/Clippers there. I would advise against Gigas unless they check IT or less, although most of the time I saw IT++ Gigas only. At 25, after getting a good buffer, starting the quest to get your Kazham Airship Pass.
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests...lm=&fquest=215
Thanks to Allakhazam for the quest info btw >_>
After you get your pass, if your a melee make sure you buy a Spike Necklace(not Fang Necklace). It'll last you a LONG time and they're relatively cheap. Update your gear if needed and fly to Kazham.
At Kazham, you'll be partying Yuhtunga Jungle, which is right outside Kazham. You'll be fight Yuhtunga Mandragoras. Be wary of the Goblin Smithy's, as they can seriously own a party. You do this till level 27-28. After this, you take a chocobo and head towards Yhoator Jungle. There you fight, you guessed it, Yhoator Mandragoras! You can stay here till 31, although you can leave at 30 if you wish.
Now you're level 30. You can start advanced job quests if you haven't done then yet, you have a majority of your class’s abilities at your disposal, and you also have access to most of your RSE(race specific gear). If you got this far, congratulations, you did what many newcomers couldn't do. Give yourself a pat on the back for a few seconds I guess >_>.
Know Your Role
Each job and subjob combination fulfill a certain role in the party. Some fill them better than others. Let's see exactly what you should be doing in a party, and what you should be wearing.
Warrior
Good old Warrior. Warriors should be using Great Axe or Axe, as they have the highest skill in those weapons. In a party, you will most likely tank. To tank, you should be casting your 'Provoke' ability every 30 seconds. If your not tanking and the tank isn't in trouble, or your not partying with a Ninja tank, don't use it. All you'll be doing is damage dealing if your not tanking, which you'll be very good at.
Optimal Subs- MNK, RNG or DRG level 20-30, THF after level 30, NIN after 50
Thief
Damage dealing. Seriously, that's it. You can use Steal every 5 minutes to better yourself, but until level 15, all you'll be doing is utilizing auto-attack and using your Weapon Skill every once in awhile. At 15, you learn Sneak Attack. Basically it deals critical damage, even more when done behind the enemy. So your basic routine should turn into Attack > Get 100TP > Sneak Attack > Weapon Skill every minute. You can EASILY break 100 damage every minute with this. You'll pull hate off the tank constantly, no joke. But make sure you always have a ranged weapon with ammo(if it applies), as 9.5 times out of 10 you'll be the puller.
Optimal Subs- WAR, RNG or DRG level 20-30, NIN after 50
Monk
Damage dealing. Seriously, just auto attack. That's it. With a WAR sub, you can actually tank if necessary. Boost generates aggro, at level 15 you get a HP boost and Dodge, which raises your evasion. It's highly possible to tank, although I wouldn't do it. As mentioned, Boost generates aggro. Don't Boost to much, as you don't want the tank loosing control of the mob. Save your Boosts for before you execute Weapon Skills.
Optimal Subs- WAR, THF after 30, WHM at 75 for Chi Blast spamming.
White Mage
Main Healer. That's it. You should sub BLM for the stat boosts, although subbing SMN for the large MP boost is viable. All you do basically is cast Protectra and Shellra on the party, and heal the tank when he takes damage. Don't overheal though, and don't spam heals. The tank shouldn't be getting hit that hard that you need to keep spamming Cure II's after it's done cooling down.
Optimal Subs- BLM and SMN
Black Mage
Damage dealer. You just cast spells and deal damage. On the occasion that your party sets up a skill chain, ask for the element and after the skillchain forms, cast a spell correlating to that element. It will cause a Magic Burst, making the spell do more damage. Take it easy on the spells though. If you do nothing but cast spells, you'll eat through all your MP AND cause a lot of aggro. BLM's wear practically paper thin armor, you won't survive long. I assure you. In parties, you may also need to backup heal, so sub WHM
Optimal Subs- WHM
Red Mage
Ok, this job is a touchy subject for me, cause it has its share of good and bad players. A RDM can main heal and can nuke decently, but its best used or healing and debuffing. Casting spells like Dia, which lowers the targets defense, and Paralyze, which gives the monster the Paralyze status and can cause them to lose attack turns, are what their best at. One thing I think needs to be said; meleeing. I particularly don't want RDM's meleeing. They don't do high damage as you level up, and you hitting for 1-2 damage still gives the monster TP. Monster getting 100 TP = bad. So I’ll put it like this; if your main healer, you shouldn't have even hit the attack button. Just stay disengaged and heal the tank, and throw out the occasional Dia and Paralyze. If your back up healer, your debuffing comes first. If your done debuffing for now, and no back up heals are needed, then you can go in and melee. For a little awhile.
Optimal Subs- WHM
Advanced Jobs
I'm not going to touch up Dragoon, Dark Knight or Samurai since your basically just damage dealers. Optimal subs for both are WAR, and THF after 30/60. Not covering the new expansion jobs either.
Bard
You're like god. I want to make this perfectly clear. You make pt's go from chain 4's to chain 8's, easy. Your role in a party is support. Songs you sing boost certain stacks, like Minuet boosts accuracy while Sword Madrigal boosts attack power. You can also do things like put a mob to sleep if one accidentally aggroes your party during battle. The key to being a good BRD is to have the party in good formation. Separate the melees from the mages. As a bard, use a flute to give each group different song buffs. If your whole party is resting, switch to a Harp and give the whole group an HP regen buff. String Weapons like a Harp have a wide range of effect, while wind instruments like a Flute have smaller ranges of effect. Knowing when to use each is important. You are a important member of the party, but don't let this inflate your ego. Parties can and will disband you if you have an attitude, it HAS happened.
Optimal Subs- WHM
Summoner
Until the mid 20's, your not that sought after. You can be invited to heal sometimes, but aside from that parties don't go crazy over SMN's until you get higher up. When you do, you'll be wanted. Knowing when to use which avatars is key. Casting Garuda's Aerial Armor before battle, and having Leviathan cast Tail Whip during battle are examples.
Optimal Subs- WHM
Beastmaster
If you choose to party as a BST, try not to charm a pet unless you get a link or a mob accidentally aggroes you. It'll siphon away 30% of your own exp, which adds up. Basically just damage dealing is your role, with backup healing if you sub WHM
Optimal Subs - WHM, WAR, and NIN after 20
Ranger
Damage dealing and pulling. You guys can put out MAJOR amount of damage, no joke. You need to know when to do it though, as its very easy to pull hate even off one of the best tanks. Especially after level 30 when you get Berserk if you sub WAR. Played right, a RNG can be a great damage dealer in any party.
Optimal Subs- WAR, NIN
Paladin
Tank, all you do. You will sub WAR, and between Provoking and casting Cure's you'll hold hate on the monster. Damage wise you won't be that great, but as long as you keep the mob busy you're doing good enough. Make sure you always have a shield on as well.
Optimal Subs- War only
Ninja
Tank, at level40 you can start to effectively be a damage dealer through ninjutsu though. Basically NIN's are blink tanks. At level 12 you can use the Utsusemi: Ichi scroll to learn...Utsusemi:Ichi >_>. All Ichi ninjutsu have a 4 second cast time, and a recast time of 30 seconds, and gives you 3 shadows. Whenever you don't evade or parry an attack, you'll lose one of your shadows. Now, until you learn Utsusemi: Ni(level 37), tanking like this is a little hard. It can be made easier if you wear certain equipment(+AGI weapons, +Evasion gear like the Cotton Headband), but you also need to wear damage dealing gear to hold hate(+2 STR Courage Rings, +Attack and +Accuracy, etc etc) to be a good NIN tank. If your having this problem, have one of the DD's in the party sub WAR and cast Provoke whenever you need to cast Utsusemi: Ichi. They can momentarily tank it until you Provoke the mob back to yourself.
At lvl40, you learn the Ni version of all your elemental spells. Ni ninjutsu have a 1.5 second cast time(good) and a 45 second recast time. Now the elemental jutsu are special because when you use one, the mob becomes weak to another element. So in a sense, Ninja's have an elemental wheel they can perform that involves going around and casting their whole line of elemental jutsu, each one being stronger than normal. You have access their Ichi versions at lvl15, but with a 4 second cast time its not viable unless your not tanking, or trading aggro with another NIN tank. At lvl51 you can wear the elemental staffs, which further boost the strength of an element, like Fire Staff will boost Fire, etc etc. At 51, its actually viable to sub BLM to increase the strength of your elemental jutsu, and do nothing but use the elemental wheel in-between your castings of Utsusemi: Ichi and Utsusemi: Ni.
Optimal Subs- WAR, BLM at 40, better at 51
So Your New Eh? 
Linear Mode
