Doom approaches Eorzea. It’s nice to think that we as players won a temporary victory and a brief respite from that oncoming destruction, but let’s face it: We all know from trailers and outside sources that it’s just a momentary win. Cities will burn, lands will be razed, and the best we can hope for is that when we emerge once more, the world is a better place. Final Fantasy XIV is getting a lot of upgrades in version 2.0, but a whole lot of the game is going to be flushed away first.
How long do we have? The rest of the month, certainly. Most of September, probably. More than that? Dubious. So it’s time to start making a bucket list for Eorzea-that-is before it becomes Eorzea-that-was, since we all know that a lot of things are changing by then. I’m not talking about finishing out the storyline missions; if you haven’t already done that, then odds are you’re not too concerned about doing so. I’m talking about the things you need to do in order to prepare for the end, stuff that you should start knuckling down and doing. Maybe some of it won’t be necessary after all, but it’s better to assume that the clock is running for you to take a last look.
Explore Shposhae
More than likely, the current instanced regions in the game will still be there after the version change, but Shposhae is a little less certain. It’s not instanced like the others; it’s really more of an extension of La Noscea, and it’s easy to skip over as you rise in levels. So it’s very possible you’ve never been, and it’s also very possible that after the version update, it won’t be around to check out any longer.
This is a shame because while it’s not the most interesting dungeon, it’s still got some interesting scenery and neat little notorious fights. By your mid-30s, you can safely explore it without any issues, and if you’re at 50, you can definitely search through the whole area and kill anything you want while you’re there. So go ahead and prowl around, check out some of the coffers and notorious monsters, and take some pictures. It’s well worth the look.
Pick up some dated gear
Odds are good that “dated” gear will still be craftable until the changeover, but once 2.0 hits, it’s gone for good. This is especially worth noting for roleplayers because there are some things that you can do with several pieces of dated gear that you can’t do with other equipment. Only dated heavy armor can be slapped on Lancers, for instance. Most dated equipment just has optimal classes and levels rather than required ones. The list goes on, and it all boils down to the simple fact that there’s some neat stuff to be had if you get it before the cutoff.
Roleplayers should put forth the effort to find some of the unique gear that’s good for costuming and not so good for actual stats. Non-roleplayers have less to worry about, since you need to worry about stats more than looks, but there still might be a couple of neat pieces for ambling around town. Depending on the skill levels involved, some of the components needed for dated gear can be nabbed for a song right now, so it’s worth doing the research.
Raise one class of each Discipline to 50
Depending on where you are, this may be less desirable or even not doable. But it’s worth the effort because there are going to be a lot of new things worth exploring once the update hits… and nothing helps exploration like having a nice safe class for exploring. Raising one of each to the level cap gives you plenty of space to learn the new high-end of the game rather than re-learn the leveling march.
If you somehow have all of your classes to an equal point and need advice about which to raise, I’d aim for Conjurer, Botanist, and Culinarian. Food is bound to be useful after the patch, healing is always desirable, and trees seem to be slightly more plentiful than mining points. That having been said, if you’re a 39 Miner, you would be really dumb not to push along to the last few levels.
Pick some classes not to level
Look, there’s going to be a whole lot of new stuff to explore when the update hits. And while you could just go through from the top and blow through everything as a Level 50 Gladiator, that would also be really boring (and annoying to anyone competing with you for quest targets). No, you want to also experience the game from the bottom up, and that means picking out certain things you’re just not going to fool around with right now.
Sometimes, that’s not really possible. I don’t have a single class in War or Magic at less than 20, but I can avoid leveling anything that low. You might have a whole lot of classes at 50, but you can at least steer clear of the handful you don’t have maxed. And if you’ve gotten everything to the level cap already… well, odds are good you’re already in the Legacy program, so you’ll be able to make more characters to patch that hole.
Get your house in order
If you’ve got a lot of superfluous junk in your inventory, I recommend ditching it, crafting with it, or just selling it. We know that we’re losing some space with the update, so you’ll want to pare down to what’s actually important. Selling stuff also nets you some additional cash flow, and I can’t imagine that walking in with a full coin purse will be a bad idea.
Get your jobs unlocked if you’ve been waiting, grab some artifact armor if you can, and generally batten down the hatches. There’s a storm coming.
Do you want to learn more about FFXIV Power leveling ?
