Forum

So as I stated in another post I wanted to get a Chocobo. I found that this could not be done as a DoL/DoH and this has been my only focus point so far in the game.

I had Gladiator leveled to 5 and Archer leveled to 12. I wanted to start a new class from level 1 and then take it to 22 to be granted access to Grand Companies and then get my big yellow bird so I could be more efficient when running around doing my gathering.

I chose marauder (gotta love those big axes) and started with the Weathered War Axe. I got to level 5 outside of Ul'dah (didn't take much time) and then started doing some leves at Black Brush to 7 and then some grinding to level 9. After that I did some grinding and leves at Drybone until I hit 15.

This has all been pretty straight forward and not taken too much time (5 - 6 hours maybe?) But I have a feeling that this will slow down pretty soon. I am not getting a lot of XP, appr. 95 - 105 per kill and it takes me a while to do those kills. I have tried to keep the gear as close to my level as possible.

Now I would like to ask what advice you would give to a level 15 marauder who wants to get to level 22. Should I just keep doing leves and grind and if yes... where should it be done. Can I move up to level 20 leves before level 20 (17-18ish?) or is this too difficult.

When I compare marauder to fishing I think this is soooo slow as I, when fishing, would be able to get maybe 150 - 200 exp (maybe more) with every catch and I could just stand in the same spot all the time. Now I am getting less xp per kill, it takes longer and I have to run around all the time.

I just want to add that I am enjoying playing marauder and even though it takes longer it is not really I problem. I just really want that chocobo.

If you have some high-level friends (hopefully a 50THM) and aren't vehemently against powerleveling, there are various ways to go about it.

1) Unclaimed aggro powerleveling (only works at very low levels)

For some reason, if monsters are one-shotted, the exp is granted to the person who got aggro, even if an outside party does the one-shotting. I used this to help my friend level THM from 15~20 in Shposhae (exp tapered off around 18 or 19, might have to move sooner than 20). Here's a map of where I used for a constant stream of aggro monsters; we just went around and around in a circle along the red line I've drawn (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h251/Odlar/Shposhae_PL_Path.png). Once you've gathered up as many mobs as you can handle without dying, the PL just one-shots them all.

Important notes:
• This probably only works well with a THM PL due to their massive AOE
• This requires the PL (or you?) to have Stoneskin (stoneskin 2 is even better) and must cast it on you before every mob round-up, otherwise you'll die.

2) Claimed aggro powerleveling

For some reason, self-buffs claim all unclaimed aggro on you. Round up as many aggro monsters as you can without dying, then pop an instant self-buff like Featherfoot, Raging Strike, or Foresight, then have someone outside the party kill the claimed stuff.

Important notes:
• This obviously requires you to have self buffs, so this may not be an option if you have no other jobs leveled.
• Just like above, having stoneskin cast on you helps greatly

3) Invite/Drop powerleveling

I only learned about this one recently. You can have a high-level claim a bunch of monsters with you in their party (with dia/poison/bio/whatever), then have them drop party (or oust them). All the claimed monsters will remain claimed to you! Then the high-level just slaughters everything while you stand in a nearby safe place. The best part about this method is that you're never in any danger if your nearby safe place is sufficiently safe--all you have to do is invite and oust.

Important notes:
• This is the best option if you're getting several people powerleveled because only two people need to be present--the PL and the person doing the inviting/kicking.
• The best camps for this sort of killing are the small beastmen groups around those unused airship docks out in the middle of nowhere (NE of Horizon, NW of Bloodshore) so the low-level can stand around in complete safety within range to gain exp.
• This works best for moderately-high levels. I used this to take my GLA from 30 to 35 in Coerthas at an Ixali camp west of Glory.

4) Outside party killing

Claim something, have an outside party kill it. Simple as that.

5) Exp leeching

You get exp if you're within 10 levels of the highest level character in the party. This can sometimes allow you to be able to defeat things that would be impossible by yourself. This is only really useful if you can get in a full party where they don't mind that you're relatively useless.


If PLing is not an option, then I agree with all of the advice in the post above.

Edited by user Friday, November 11, 2011 10:13:11 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Be careful with this one. I've heard that people are getting banned for it because it is considered an exploit. It's not quite the same as how PL'ing was broken when grouped with higher level players.

I imagine since it's a known issue it'll be fixed by 1.20 though.

I would recommend playing with the stars on leves, you should be able to do level 10 ones that way until you hit 20. Being a marauder as opposed to say, an archer, you should be able to hold your ground against the stronger opponents. That's mostly how I managed to get to level 30 on pugilist on my own.

Once you get 10 levels over the leve level, it starts giving you a message about reward reduction, so move up to the next level of camp.

If you're just by yourself, Leves are the way to go.

Keep mobs at least "even match" so that you get chain bonuses.
If you're doing a L10 leve, when you hit L11 adjust difficulty to 2 star (changes all target mob from L10 to L13), when you hit 14 adjust to 3 star etc.

Save your "favour" effect for leves with more mobs because you get bonus exp "per mob" in battle leves as well as a bonus at the end of the fight.

There are a few leves "search and discover" types, where you can farm a lot of mobs with the bonus exp. Kill the firefly type mob (for free exp) to get a material to unmask the hidden mob, use it on the target mob, and only kill if it isn't a disguised mob. More fireflies will pop and more undisguised mobs too, then jsut kill the uncovered mob before time runs out to get the win bonus too.

Learn which leves are easy and which are tough in an area and choose difficulty accordingly. I'm a leve 37 Conjurer pretty much through leves only, and there are a few leves Humblehearth that I can do at 4-5 levels below the mob level, but also some that are really hard at the mob level. Learn which ones are easy and which ones kick your tail, and concentrate on the easy ones!

Lastly, if you can, do levels in the town where your class has its guild (once you hit the L20 leves) so you can get guild points to buy abilities).

yeah nice info up there^

I'm kinda like you Kida. In ffxi I would get pwrlvl'd gladly if I was in a pt and someone brought a high lvl mage along or get pwrlvl'd by a friend sometimes but I might enjoy a pwrlvl for a job or 2 in 14 but that's gonna be it. Jobs are so easy to lvl up in this game there is no point. I'm not a big race to lvl cap person.