Although I am currently in the spilt choice of deciding what I want to do with raiding in Final Fantasy XIV, I figured I would give a few pointers for any of those that may be looking to getting into raiding and my experiences when it comes to what people are looking for in raid groups and hopefully give a few pointers to helping you stay in the perfect group you may find!
Before searching for a group
So the first major step it’s quite simple and you will find that common sense is well a common theme in this tiny guide but alas let’s get on with it.
- Get all job skills.
- Get ALL cross skills for your job.
- Get gear for the end game.
So the first one is simple and most people should do by just playing the game but make sure to unlock every single job skill that you can. I have seen quite a few people who never bothered doing the job quests are level 50 and end up losing on so much useful stuff.
Yes, even Eye for an Eye is worth it.
The next one is your cross skills and while you do get quite a few with your sub-class at level 15 there are many like Swiftcast and Provoke that although “technically” you don’t need you would be making end game raiding far harder for yourself and everyone with you.
And the next one is even more simple – just make sure you got the actual gear needed to enter. Nothing worst than seeing a DPS switch over to tanking accessories just to enter a raid and then switch it back again. While some people are very skilled and able to do content under geared – good chances if you are looking for a group you ain’t at that point yet.
Pre-Raid
Make sure your gear is fully repaired!!!
So you found a raid group – good but that’s only apart of what you should do. This next bit will go into a couple of things you should always do before you enter for a raid to help avoid causing issues with your raid group – trust me when I say some parts below may not apply to your group based on how they are.
- Craft or buy food.
- Craft or buy potions
- Materia meld any gear you may have.
- Arrive on time, repair and be ready!
So the first thing is to make sure any supplies you will need for the whole time you will be raiding which is why I would advise to at least be able to earn gil, gather all the materials to make your supplies or be the crafter itself but regardless how you need to make sure to come with everything needed.
With the current patch in Final Fantasy XIV all end game gear released for this cycle can now have materia melded and with beast tribes and Void Ark offering free materia there is no reason not to meld up your gear so I would advise to get that done as soon as you can.
Won’t lie, don’t miss making all the raid food!
The final thing I can advise before raid and I can not stress this enough is to sign online in advance and be ready to be invited. This means do not enter duties, do maps, trials or anything else that stops you from being invited as you want to be ready to enter as soon as the agreed raid time starts and this also means making sure your gear is completely repaired to at least 100% (that’s long enough for one raid instance timer). Its also worth looking up guides should your group need it but if you are going for early progression you are likely to be learning via trial and error.
During the Raid
So hopefully at this point you have entered the duty on time and you was ready to go (and hopefully the rest of your group was too).
- Sign into any voice program.
- Learn from mistakes.
- Respect your co-raiders.
- … and enjoy yourself.
The first one is a given but make sure to sign into any voice program your raid group is using and that your microphone (if you are going to use one) is ready. I can not stress enough that when you are on the voice chat make sure to stay quiet during the raid itself (varies per group) and allow the raid group and other people to chat when needed but make sure to always be polite and respectful to everyone within your group.
Really make sure you are having fun.
Learning from mistakes is another. It’s okay to fail and its okay to learn but make sure you are progressing on every single wipe. If you do not understand something make it known to the raid so it can be explained – no one likes that one person holding a group back over something basic.
And now we get to my final tip and it is just this – make sure that you are having fun. There is no point raiding (well unless you are being sponsored or paid to do so) if you are not enjoying yourself and that you come to dread raid day – no one wants someone to raid simply because they feel they need too.
And with that advise I do hope people reading who are thinking about raiding remember that really its all about common sense and do not be a dick to your raid group – people just want to have fun and progress.
With all that said and done with your firsr raid over – raiding isn’t for everyone and there isn’t any harm shopping around for other groups that fit your game play better – some groups may simply feel better, others may progress faster and others may just be more skilful but with the right group raiding can be fun for everyone but if you end up disliking raiding I would advise to drop out and reflect upon if raiding is suitable for you.
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