Getting around in MMO games is always a huge pain point. These games’ maps are designed to make you spend as much time as possible just getting from point A to point B. Final Fantasy XI was notoriously bad for this, making players invest hours upon hours into the game before giving them more autonomy. But in Final Fantasy XIV, the team at Square Enix has provided many different ways to get around.
Travel Tips for Final Fantasy XIV
First of all, there are a few things you need to know as a new player, when you’re first starting out. You won’t have many options available, but you can make sure to set yourself up for an easier time later. For starters, you want to make sure you make the sprint button as easy to use as possible. It’s a moot point on PC but if you’re using a controller, it’s a good idea to put it on your secondary hotbar so you can hit it fast. Sprinting only lasts for a few seconds but it can make getting around towns and cities less painful. You can also auto-run, which you can map in the game’s settings menu.
Related: Final Fantasy XIV: All New Realm Reborn Flying Areas
After that, when you’re starting out, you want to make note of the crystal structures strewn throughout your starting city. This is Final Fantasy XIV’s fast travel mechanism, the Aetheryte Network. Each major location has an Aetheryte crystal, a massive blue structure usually right in the middle of high traffic areas. You can “attune” to each crystal, which will then make it an available teleport point on your map. For a proportionate gil cost based on your distance, you can teleport to any Aetheryte you’ve activated. You can also set a “home” Aetheryte, which you can teleport to for free once every 15 minutes.
The larger cities also contain Aethernet Shards, which are small chunks of Aetheryte used for local teleportation. You’ll be able to find several of them, and as soon as you attune one it’s added to the list of fast travel points you see when you interact with one you’ve attuned already. This makes getting around those large areas significantly easier, since you can’t use mounts in these spaces. Making sure to hit every one when you’re in a new city makes your life much easier in the long run.
All the major, vehicular forms of transformation come easily, as encountering and using each one is a part of the main storyline in A Realm Reborn. And since new players get all kinds of EXP bonuses, getting to the level requirements is less than trivial. Still, you’ll be introduced to airship travel around level 15, which takes you between Eorzea’s three main cities for a low price. Around level 20 you’ll get your first mount, a chocobo you can summon in most areas outdoors. Before you get your mount, you can utilize Chocobo Porters, which you can find in most towns (marked by a chocobo icon on your map). For small fees they’ll take you between chocobokeep stables, which is handy for those early fetch quests.
Once you get a mount, the world is wide open, especially now. For the latest patch, the team at Square Enix expanded flight to the Realm Reborn areas, and removed the flight quest from the game. So once you get your chocobo, you can double-tap the jump button and take to the sky immediately. This is the fastest way to get around that doesn’t cost money, and it’s fun to boot!
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- Final Fantasy XIV Rising Event Guide (2020)
If you’ve found yourself deeply scarred by MMO travel in the past, I don’t blame you. But if you’re on the fence about giving Final Fantasy XIV a whirl during its latest wave of popularity, hopefully this guide eases your fears. Travel is surprisingly easy in Final Fantasy XIV, which is yet another factor of many in its favor as a great, accessible MMO. Let us know what you think over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!
