Final Fantasy XI Update

Final Fantasy XI Online prepares for a huge September update geared for new and old players alike.

Final Fantasy XI may be one of the most hard-core MMORPGs out there, but this September it will become a whole lot friendlier to new and casual players. For years, leveling up has been a huge hassle in Final Fantasy XI because players had to find other players at the same level - or somewhat close enough - in order to form a party. However, as the game ages and more and more players end up at the highest level (75), it's become increasingly difficult to find lower level parties. This is particularly troublesome because certain core roles, such as the tank, can be filled by very few jobs, so when those are leveled up to max, other jobs get stuck in a rut.

But Square Enix is coming to the rescue with a brand new Level Sync system! With Level Sync, everyone in a party will be lowered to the same experience level. This means that your level 75 friend can invite you to join the game, then sync down and adventure with you. The best part is that synced players will earn full experience as if they were at the lower level. So if you're the only level 60 character on your server, at least you can level up with that group of 30s, eh?

While FFXI has featured level caps in the past, where certain zones would lower your job level to a fixed point (eg: Promyvions lock your level at 30), you all the equipment that was a higher level would be unequipped. Another big change with the Level Sync system is that gear will be scaled down, meaning that you will not have to have multiple sets of gear to do all that lower level stuff. I can't wait to help level Capt. Maverick's level 10 noobie in my full Dragoon Artifact Armor from Dynamis!

Another nice change is that XP gains from monsters will be raised, primarily in the lower level (Easy Prey and Decent Challange) spreads.

This, along with Level Sync and the boosts to Duo and Trio exp groups from a while ago, will make casual play with friends much more viable, and will also give players some more opportunities to level up solo.

Also being updated are Adventuring Fellows, the game's NPC companion adventurer system, which accompany and fight beside players. These build upon the improvements added last update to fellows and include new armor pieces and a superior system for changing your fellow's appearance.

For end-game players, changes to the Nyzul Island Exploration event and the Nyzul Relic Weapons will make the former easier to complete and the latter easier to acquire and upgrade. A number of other features will grace the September update which are of interest only to higher level

players: Beastmen and Kindred seals can be stored on Shami rather than having to turn them in for orbs each time you want to do a BCNM and Chocobo rentals will be available in the past Vana'diel, though sadly the chocobo whistle will remain unavailable, nor will chocobos of the past be able to dig.

Full information about the September update is available at Square Enix's official Final Fantasy XI website:

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml