Combat
Many of the people in Final Fantasy XI are your friends. Many more, and many things which are not
necessarily people, are not your friends. Thus, it will be necessary to kill them and steal their stuff --
this, after all, is the way of the world in RPGs. Combat in Final Fantasy XI is nothing like the systems employed
in the older Final Fantasy games, but it probably won't be too difficult for players of other online
RPGs to grasp. It's a semi-realtime system, blending immediate action with a variety of limitations
necessitated by the persistent online environment.
Targeting And Attacking
When a monster comes into range, you can use an examine command to size up its abilities. If it looks
like a vulnerable enough target, lock on and get things happening. Targeting is activated with the press
of a button. This highlights the active target in the game window and brings up sub-windows featuring
the target's statistics and possible actions for attacking it -- physical attack, magic, item use,
defense, and so on.
Once physical attacks are selected, the player character attacks automatically at intervals
determined by its statistics. Fast characters can attack more frequently, of course, so it behooves
players to train their agility stats. The tempo of attacks is also affected by what kind of weapon is
equipped -- a two-handed sword, say, isn't quite so nimble as a dagger, although it naturally hits harder
when it does land. When attacking, remember that you don't have to whack the attack button repeatedly.
In fact, you definitely don't want to do that. Once an attack is activated, the attack button
becomes the attack cancel button, which releases the target lock and allows the attacker to flee.
Releasing the lock in this way also broadcasts a call for help to the general vicinity.
A Hume Takes On An Enemy
Ranged attacks can be initiated without melee combat going on at the same time. Using ranged weapons is
relatively simple -- equip a weapon in one slot, ammunition in the other, and select "ranged attack"
from the action window. This brings up an indicator to select from the various targets in range, and
confirming the target selection initiates the attack. Of course, ranged attacks won't work when melee
combat is engaged, so it's important to keep one's distance and attack quickly, before an enemy can close in.
Magic
Magic, like physical attacks, functions in real time when doing battle in FFXI. Each spell has the usual
cost in magic points, as well as a casting time, during which the spellcaster is relatively defenseless
(unless his buddies are pitching in), and as in many RPGs, it's possible for casting to be disrupted
if an enemy attacks during that time. Thus, it's important for a spellcaster to develop their evasion
abilities, and a few heavily-armed associates might help as well. Casting time is indicated by
a meter to one side of the screen, and varies according to the spell being cast. More powerful
spells demand a longer setup time, although that can be reduced by improving the appropriate
magic skill.
Magic
Magic in Final Fantasy XI is divided into the same two schools as it is in any other game in the series
(providing you don't count the curious Blue Magic of Final Fantasy IX and others). White mages cast white
magic, black mages cast black magic, and red mages use a smattering of both disciplines. All mages learn
spells the same way, though, by purchasing scrolls and memorizing the spells contained therein. Here's a
list of all the announced spells employed by mages of all types (although only specialists can use
the highest levels). More should be added later, though -- many Final Fantasy staples are obviously
missing from these lists.
Black Magic
Fire 1: Deals elementary damage with a fire attribute to one target.
Blizzard 1: Deals elementary damage with an ice attribute to one target.
Aero 1: Deals elementary damage with a wind attribute to one target.
Stone 1: Deals elementary damage with an earth attribute to one target
-- no petrification effect.
Thunder 1: Deals elementary damage with a thunder attribute to one target.
Water 1: Deals elementary damage with a water attribute to one target.
Fire 1 G: Deals elementary damage with a fire attribute to a group of targets.
Blizzard 1 G: Deals elementary damage with an ice attribute to a group of targets.
Aero 1 G: Deals elementary damage with a wind attribute to a group of targets.
Stone 1 G: Deals elementary damage with an earth attribute to a group of targets.
Thunder 1 G: Deals elementary damage with a thunder attribute to a group of targets.
Water 1 G: Deals elementary damage with a water attribute to a group of targets.
Poison 1: Afflicts an enemy with a mild poison, dealing continuous damage.
Venom 1: Afflicts an enemy with a moderate poison, dealing more continuous damage.
Bio 1: Afflicts an enemy with a severe poison, dealing the maximum continuous damage and
lowering its attack power.
Sleep: Puts an enemy to sleep.
Darkness: Blinds an enemy, reducing its chance to hit.
Stop: Paralyzes an enemy, preventing it from attacking.
Dungeon: Warps the caster and party out of a dungeon and back to safety.
White Magic
Cure 1: Restores the HP of a single ally.
Cure 1 G: Restores the HP of a group of allies.
Raise 1: Brings a single dead ally back to life.
Poisona: Cures the poisoned condition of a single ally.
Parana: Removes the paralysis condition from a single ally.
Lidark: Cures the darkness condition of a single ally.
Vocal: Removes the silence condition from a single ally.
Dia 1: Deals gradual light damage to a single enemy and lowers
their defense power.
Dia 1 S: Deals gradual light damage to a group of enemies
and lowers their defense power.
Banish 1: Deals a blow of light power to a single enemy.
Banish 1G: Deals a blow of light power to a group of enemies.
Protect 1: Protects a single ally from physical attack.
Shell 1: Protects a single ally from magical attack.
Blink: Blinds an opponent, making it easy to evade their attacks.
Stoneskin: Stops a certain amount of damage from every attack.
Aquaveil: Lowers the probability of a magic attack being interrupted.
Slow: Decreases the frequency of an opponent's attacks.
Haste: Increases the frequency of an ally's attacks.
Hold: Paralyzes an opponent, preventing any action.
Silence: Stops an opponent from casting magic spells.
Skills
In addition to the special skills each job picks up, characters can and must learn ordinary skills in order
to get by in the world of Vana'Diel. These cover basic combat and magic abilities, making it easier
to dodge, deal damage, cast spells, and the like. At each step up in level, a character gets a chance
to raise certain skills of their choice. This is a rundown of the announced skills as yet:
Weapons
Players must become proficient with a particular type of weapon in order to use it effectively in combat.
The higher a particular weapon skill, the better a character's hit percentage and damage bonus with
that weapon will be. Conversely, a character with a low weapon skill won't do very well when forced to use
that type of weapon in a pinch. Listed weapon types so far include: unarmed combat, daggers, one-handed
swords, one-handed axes, and one-handed clubs.
Tactical Points serve as a reward for using the weapons with which a player is skilled. Inflicting
damage upon an enemy thus adds to the Tactical Point gauge, which goes up through 100% all the way to a
potential 300%. These points are expended to perform special attacks, weapon techniques specific to a
particular weapon skill or weapon group that are learned through use of those weapons. The TP gauge
decreases over time, when a player isn't fighting, so continuous combat is necessary to use weapon skills on
a regular basis.
Evasion
Evasion is the ability to dodge an opponent's attack, especially important for lightly-armored and agile
thieves. The higher the evasion skill and corresponding
statistics, the more likely the chance of a dodge.
Shield
Equipping a shield lends itself to a better passive defense, but the higher a warrior's shield skill, the
more likely it is they'll also be able to actively block an opponent's attack and take no damage
whatsoever.
Parry
Parry is similar to shield, but it only requires the equipment of a weapon to get a shot at blocking
attacks. Shield may be assumed to be a little more effective, although the type of weapon equipped should
affect the usefulness of the Parry skill.
Magic
Like weapons, different types of magic also require skill proficiency to increase their effectiveness.
Mages, and non-mages who happen to have a magical profession as their support job, must study different
categories of magic to use the spells contained therein. There are six types of magic: holy magic
(general white magic spells), recovery magic (cure and status removal spells), support magic (defensive
spells), weakness magic (black spells such as Poison), spirit magic (black attack spells), and dark magic
(darkness and a few other black spells).
Synthesis
Finally, there are skills for item synthesis -- check for a full discussion of that subject in the section
about Crystals.
Guilds
Guilds are tradesman's organizations built around specific synthesis skills. Joining a guild (which
doesn't appear to be too strenuous an effort) allows access to its various services, which are helpful in
several ways. First, going to the guild and training is required to raise the level of an
associated skill. Guilds also offer more direct assistance in certain tasks. When attempting a
difficult item synthesis, you can go to the guild and get help from an expert, which increases the chances
of success. Finally, guilds also maintain shops that sell items they make, or raw materials for making
those items yourself. The FFXI site lists the following guilds so far:
Culinarians' Guild: That's Square's language, not ours. If your vocabulary is not so mighty,
"culinarian" means "cook." This guild thus pursues the art of preparing delicate and tasty foods (which
is more useful a skill than you might think -- look elsewhere for the rundown on food).
Blacksmiths' Guild: Blacksmiths forge swords, armor, and tools from base metals. The best swords are
found in San D'oria, although Bastok has more advanced technology in general, perhaps even including
firearms.
Boneworkers' Guild: Exactly what it sounds like, workmen who craft items out of bone. What items
they might be remains a bit unclear.
Fishermens' Guild: Fishermen teach the art of, well, fishing, as well as the crafting of tools useful
for that purpose. And they'll probably sell you some tasty fish, too.
Carpenters' Guild: Woodworkers run this guild, which appears to mainly be devoted to large-scale
building and joining projects.