2024 Server Overview / Getting Started Guide by Amalia

## Overview

Cactuar is a unique server aimed at recreating the end of the Wings of the Goddess era, while including a sprinkle of FFXI quality of life features introduced since then.

With the ability to effectively have two main jobs at once, it’s possible to level up and get a fair bit done on your own, but the core of the server still lies rooted in group content–getting together with others to go after bigger stuff.

There’s also a lot to be said for how opening up new creative job / gear combinations freshens up a game that’s been around for 20+ years.

*Much of the info in this doc was originally included in this extremely helpful guide GoGo wrote a little while back:*

New Player Guide - by GoGo

*We’ve had a few changes to the server since then, so I just wanted to try to compile info that would be useful to someone starting out, and also to someone that hasn’t played FFXI in a while. I’ll keep updating this as I think of more info I forgot to include, and please let me know on Discord if there’s anything you’d like to add, or if anything needs to be adjusted!*

*~Amalia*

## Server Commands

**!help**

* Unstuck command
* Add a "Cactuar" linkshell pearl to your inventory
* Add all maps

**!flip**

* Temporarily swaps your main and sub-job, to enable you to equip gear normally only usable by your sub-job. Swapping back to your main job by using the command a second time will not unequip gear equipped in this way.
* \*\*NOTE\*\* This requires having unlocked your sub-job.

**!dw**

* Temporarily swaps your main and sub-job, to enable you to equip gear normally only usable by your sub-job. Swapping back to your main job by using the command a second time will not unequip gear equipped in this way.
* \*\*NOTE\*\* This requires having unlocked your sub-job.

## Server-Specific Changes

* Sub-job level is doubled (up to a maximum to match your main job’s level):
	+ For example, if your main job is lvl 75, and you change your sub-job to something you have leveled to 37, your main/sub-job levels would be 75/75. Alternately, if your main job is lvl 60, and you change your sub-job to something you have only leveled to 20, your main/sub-job levels would be 60/40. This effectively gives you two main jobs, and allows for a lot of unique job combos that wouldn’t be viable/useful at 75/37 max.
* Job Traits stack for your main and sub-job:
	+ For example, a 75BLM/75RDM will receive +32 Magic Attack Bonus from the “MAB IV” trait they get as a lvl 70 BLM, and an additional +24 Magic Attack Bonus from the “MAB II” trait they get as a lvl 40 RDM, for a total of +56 MAB just from traits).
* It is possible to equip items only usable by your sub-job:
	+ This allows for some powerful gear being available to jobs that otherwise wouldn’t have access (ie: Hecatomb gear being available to a DNC if they sub a job able to wear Hecatomb).
	+ \*\*NOTE\*\* This requires either using the !flip command mentioned above, or using something like Ashitacast.
* It is possible to hold more than one “Rare” item (ie: 2x Evoker’s Rings, or 2x Thief’s Knife, etc…).
* Some Fields/Grounds of Valor book buffs are enhanced beyond what is available on retail FFXI (Regen scales with job level, Refresh is 3mp/tick), and are EXTREMELY useful in both leveling and general/endgame content.
* New characters receive a Sprout Beret via delivery box to aid in leveling 1-30:

* Custom updated AF weapons, as well as slight adjustments to a small number of other items.
* Player dashboard available on the website that shows exact skill level for all crafts/fishing/chocobo digging. Chocobo digging skill-ups are shown in-game.
	+ https://cactuarxi.com/players.php
* Login Points: 100 login points are granted every day. Available rewards are listed here:
	+ Login Campaign

## Travel

* Each of the 3 starter cities (Bastok, San d’Oria, Windurst) have Explorer Moogle NPCs that offer teleportation services to either of the other 2 starter cities, Selbina, and Mhaura (there is no custom teleport directly to Jeuno):
	+ Cost: 300 gil
	+ Bastok Mines: K-8 (near Mog House)
	+ Northern San d’Oria: L-10 (near Mog House)
	+ Port WIndurst: L-4 (near Mog House)
* Chocobos: The chocobo license quest is available in Jeuno at lvl 20, as is the quest to unlock your own personal chocobo.
* Unlocking Outpost Warps is HIGHLY recommended, as it’s by far the fastest way to get around once they’re available.

## Inventory / Storage

* Available anywhere:
	+ Inventory: Starts at 30 slots, all Gobbiebag quests are available (Max 80 slots)
	+ Mog Satchel: Starts at 30 slots, matches the player's max inventory slots (Max 80 slots)
	+ Mog Sack: Starts at 30 slots, expandable to 80 (the max matches your max inventory slots after speaking with an Artisan Moogle)
	+ Mog Case: Starts at 80 slots (Max)
	+ Mog Wardrobe:
		- 1-4: Starts at 80 slots each (Max)
		- 5-8: Available for purchase with gil, with it getting incrementally more expensive as you add more, up to a max of 80 slots per wardrobe:
			* Mooglin NPCs offer expansion:
				+ Bastok Markets: I-10 (near Mog House)
				+ Southern San d’Oria: M-5 (near Mog House)
				+ Windurst Woods: F-8 (near Mog House)
* Available only in Mog House:
	+ Mog Safe: Starts at 30 slots, expansion quests are available (Max 80 slots)
	+ Mog Safe 2: Starts at 80 slots (Max)
	+ Storage: Based on placed furniture in Mog House (Max 80 slots)
	+ Mog Locker: Available for rent in Aht Urhgan, starts at 30 slots, and is expandable (Max 80 slots)

## Gearing

* Make use of Records of Eminence (RoE) challenges (Menu >> Quests >> Records of Eminence >> Objective List, then look through and add challenges you can complete–some are repeatable). Sparks you earn from completing RoE challenges can be used to purchase a large amount of gear that’s extremely useful while leveling. RoE NPCs can be found here:
	+ Bastok Markets: I-11 (Isakoth)
	+ Southern San d’Oria: G-10 (Rolandienne)
	+ Windurst Woods: J-10 (Fhelm Jobeizat)
* Beyond Sparks gear, if there’s specific crafted gear you’re looking for, and it’s not on the Auction House, chances are there’s someone in the default “Cactuar” linkshell, or on Discord that can craft it. Build relationships, treat people with respect, and people will most likely be happy to help you out.

## Leveling / XP

* Fields of Valor / Grounds of Valor tome challenge pages are extremely useful in getting XP. Most of the time the XP rewards will far exceed what you can get by just killing enemies. It also allows you to continue getting good XP as long as the “target” enemies are at least Easy Prey. It is very possible to level completely solo.
* As mentioned above, make use of buffs available from FoV/GoV books–Regen and Refresh are particularly strong.

## Making Gil

Depending on what jobs you level, buying spell scrolls will likely be one of the main things you’ll need gil for. Beyond spell scrolls, gil isn’t an enormous factor–the main uses being specific higher-ticket items that might be on the AH, crafting, or purchasing Mog Wardrobe expansions.

* Gil rewards granted from completing FoV/GoV challenge pages will give you a fair bit of gil while leveling.
* Excess Sparks (earned from RoE challenges) can be used to purchase gear to then sell to vendors, or you can ask in the linkshell if there are any items crafters are in need of, and they may be willing to pay more than you could get from NPCs (A maximum of 35,000 sparks can be spent by each player per conquest tally, or real life week).

## General Tips / Useful Info

* If you’re new to FFXI, or haven’t played for a while, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get used to looking things up on various FFXI Wikis. There’s a huge amount of info about the game that’s not found within the game itself. Google is generally way better than the search on the Wiki itself, so I’d recommend using that to find whatever you’re looking for (ie: Google search for “ffxi relic weapons”, then go to your page from the results). I generally refer to the https://ffxiclopedia.fandom.com/ Wiki for most info, but there’s still useful info on https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Main\_Page as well, depending on the subject.
	+ \*\*NOTE\*\* Since this server intentionally only includes most content from around the end of the WotG era, some pages on the Fandom Wiki will have info that doesn’t match the version of the game we’re playing. For some info, you may want to make use of the Wiki’s “View History” function to find the version of the page you’re looking at from around 2009: Some parts of the game are more closely aligned with current retail FFXI, while others are not (ie: We do have “New Dynamis” that does not require the purchase of an hourglass every time you enter). For some things like this, searching Discord or just asking people in game might be the most helpful:

* HIGHLY recommend getting at least 2x Warp Rings from Conquest NPCs as soon as you can.
* Leveling THF either as your first job, or one of your first subs to 37 is extremely useful. It allows you to farm gear you may want for all your other jobs much more effectively (Treasure Hunter job traits, and Treasure Hunter bonuses from 2x Thief’s Knife stacks, for an easy TH4 bonus).
* If you’re wanting to jump in and contribute to end-game activities after recently hitting 75, support-focused jobs can be very helpful, even without much gear (RDM, WHM, BRD, COR. RDM is particularly useful/versatile, both for group and solo).
* Since the server is relatively low-population currently, give some thought to having at least one job available that can be more or less self-sufficient. This will pay off for both doing things solo, or when tackling content with a relatively small group.
* Having effectively 2 main jobs opens some very powerful combinations, particularly if you have a low damage, but high TP gain melee weapon, but use ranged weapon skills to deal heavy damage.
* Some items that were generally ignored/not highly valued on retail FFXI can be extremely useful here. Here’s one example, but there are many more (this is just to get you thinking of possibilities):
	+ Avatar Belt, since you can basically play any job as your main, and use SMN as your sub-job, you still gain the benefit of the item (latent is activated when SMN is set as your sub-job):

* It is possible to hold more than one of the same BCNM orb, but there is a known bug that can make all orbs in your inventory “break” after using only one. It is recommended to place all orbs in your satchel, case, or sack until you’re ready to use it.