6 Ways to IMPROVE in FFXIV!

[@ZeplaHQ]

I got a little carried away with the memes and stuff on this one xD But I was having such a good time adding them 😂 I hope you like it! :)

[@beryl261]

you were right, i thought you were messing

[@spexification]

memes are more attention-catching and help to focus on the video imo, so that’s good!!

[@AtomicBananaPress]

The memes were on point!

[@helloimshawn]

I've always enjoyed the memes, dont stop doing what's fun for you!

[@kfk4441]

You're having too much fun with the channel haha

[@FroggyNakasuko]

I'm usually just lurking but i really want to take a moment to write this: Thank you so much. I think you are the perfect content creator for FFXIV since you are "casual" and "engaged" at the same time. (my personal opinion following now, if any1 feels attacked by this, sorry but maybe think about it) Most content creators are either "super fluffy" and literally telling people to do whatever they want in "difficult content", even if it's 100% hurting the party - OR - "hardcore" people that don't care for anything that isn't raiding. I just love how you simply have a good time while doing casual stuff AND endgame raiding. This is so refreshing to see. Plus the way you shape your videos is super "casual-friendly" and i think everyone can learn something here. Casuals learn how to improve and get so see more of the game and hardcore people may learn to calm down a bit and just chill sometimes. Sorry english isn't my main language but i think i got out what i wanted to sa ~ again, thank you and keep up the great work. I hope many more people may find the way to your channel and stream.

[@KattReen]

This, 100%

[@bobjordan5041]

Toatally agree

[@vinicinfodexota5083]

I agree, people have this notion of ffxiv that everyone is just nice and angels, but no, most people are competitive, specially the hardcore ones, I really dislike when some content creators say "just do what you want, you do you", like, bruv, take some responsibility and teach right

[@Nick_Pixels]

I totally understand and agree! Also if you're looking for a "hardcore" player that has SUPER helpful guides for newbies/people looking to improve (though mostly focused on the basics and how to develop good habits, I believe you can always learn something new) I heavily suggest checking out Wesk Alber's content!

[@ARatherDapperTapir]

Another example of a non-native English speaker, who types better than many native English speakers.

[@PaulHofreiter]

“Quit your job, leave your girlfriend” well Covid preemptively took care of these, a real FFXIV friend.

[@BL4D3RUNN3R0M3N]

Stimmy's paying your sub, too.

[@earendurvoneinzbern7585]

Still working.

[@CMDR_Remus]

Well, I still have the job. But my girlfriend left me during Covid too my dude.

[@MayHugger]

Temporarily or.....

[@maolcogi]

Shit I never even bothered trying to find a girlfriend but Covid did nothing to my job ... it actually made me start working overtime ... 6 days a week for 3 months is =/

[@spiderside3892]

"if someone tells you your class is too complicated for a beginner dont listen to them" me picking up black mage as a sprout

[@souledgar]

“Oh this doesn’t seem too difficult” Job dramatically changes “Ok I can adju...” Job dramatically changes again OTL

[@djslimetime642]

Guides really helped me understand black mage as a sprout! If reading a guide isn't helpful, check out some rotation videos! I personally love WeskAlbers guides, but I bet there's other people that make great vids :)

[@aoifebakunin1966]

Finding a class you like is more important than finding one that's "beginner friendly"

[@mute8375]

The beauty of starting with a high skill ceiling job is the more you learn it and get better at it this will translate into the other jobs you pick up and you’ll notice them being easier or more understandable.

[@spiderside3892]

@@djslimetime642 oh absolutely! wesk alber was a great help back then!

[@frankthrasaric6569]

Just thought I'd say *hi*! Started ffxiv a couple of days ago, coming from 13years of WOW. Feels so much more relaxing playing ffxiv.

[@kevinspee5264]

same here. more enjoyable and in my opinion less toxic players than in WOW

[@Ivanovski_]

Oh the community is definitely less toxic. Yesterday I came across a guy fighting a specific summoned mob for a quest, he was struggling so I helped him out and we slayed it. Afterwards I had to do it too. So I summoned it and we both died. Instead of carrying on with his day he decided to run all the way back to where we died just to help me out. We became friends after that.

[@Oppurtunafish]

You're so right about people taking criticism, everyone has responded poorly to feedback at some point. Learning to seperate your performance from your ego is extremely valuable skill to develop not just in FFXIV, but in all ways of life

[@vVAstrAVv]

I got kicked from potd for just giving the drk advice once lol

[@vVAstrAVv]

@Patriarch Of The Sith yeah i preface that thing eith "can i give you some advice" first now. Its worked out better since

[@Wolfstorm701]

@@vVAstrAVv The key difference tbh is giving unwanted and unwarranted advice as opposed to someone asking for it. Because let's be real, you wouldn't be kicked if the DRK had asked "how can I do better?"

[@vVAstrAVv]

@@Wolfstorm701 yeah but back in hw a drk not being in darkside was really bad

[@rangersmith4652]

The key, if you think advice to another player is warranted, is to ask that player if he or she would be willing to listen to some hints about game play improvement. Nobody--NOBODY--likes unsolicited advice.

[@scathach8763]

I got into FFXIV like a couple days ago and I just wanna say that your vids have been very helpful for me to get into the game but also just generally fun content keep up the good work! ^^

[@rewind4833]

what class did u pick and did u need any help

[@scathach8763]

I chose Conjurer because I liked the lore behind it and I'm a sucker for healers in games haha 😅

[@rewind4833]

@@scathach8763 great class whm are great did u need any help or are u ok with where you currently are?

[@scathach8763]

@rewind oh I'm fine for now thanks ^^ im planning to finish the story before I really start to dig into the meat and potatoes of the game :D

[@rithli]

Great video! It covers a wide variety of ways to improve; not just practical/objective methods but areas based on mentality as well. Looking forward to the next one. 👍

[@Creedlane]

the guide-making man himself gave his seal of approval :O

[@Karbonblade]

The legend has spoken

[@Ethan-wu4re]

Am a sprout :D fairly new to the game and having a blast. Playing as Scholar and most of the tanks i played with are BEYOND friendly some of them invited me on discord explained the tactics to me even tho I failed a lot of times they never left...it feels like i found my happy little place in this game.

[@ZangiefNoob]

I always thought she called us "buds". I just realized she says "buns". Lifechanger.

[@shumway61]

wow i thought it was bones

[@olkapolka99]

But what does it mean????

[@dongalore9028]

I wasn't sure either but think it is Buns and I have only been following the videos for a week or 2 but my assumption is she plays Viera (bunnies) buns haha 😂 I am glad I wasn't the only person like yeah hi back bud!

[@tomKATT92]

Honestly FFXIV is the nicest community (for the most part) I've been a part of for a game. As a 'sprout' I had no clue what tank stance was in my first dungeon, and the healer politely asked if I had it on and when I said no they told me what it was. There has only been one negative situation and even then it wasn't too bad for me because it's just a game and I play to have fun.

[@Diandredofus]

Well we're only mean to those who get to brayflox with 2 pieces of gear, no jobstone and no idea what stance is and then say "but it's worked so far gimme a break" Def not inspired of any real life events that happened two days ago

[@ClairicBeast]

Had a sprout recently in Tam-Tara not putting on tank stance and then we explained to him for like 5 mins+ how it's called (in both german and english, because he was apparently german) and how the symbol looks like and so on and then he was really thankful and did a pretty good job. I didn't expect that after the early struggle and him searching through menus for his tank stance.

[@mikotolinyara4214]

Same thing happened to me during satasha, my first dungeon as a gld. I knew the name of the ability but not what it did. Healer politely asked me to turn it on and why, I did, and things went far more smoothly after that. Of course I apologized and explained I was new. They were cool with it.

[@Kumiko026]

I am Eorzea’s okayest Dragoon, and I love it!

[@astrealove1]

So you only inspect the floor half the time?

[@Mutski1579]

Floor waifu fetishists unite! Lmao :)

[@elizabethw7698]

I generally enjoy running Mentor queue. 90% of the time, sprouts are open and want to learn. However, the other 10% that jump into EX content without a clue of what to do and willingly go out of their way to refuse to learn...please quit queuing up for anything ever. Joined a group yesterday as a replacement after a couple people left. I get in, quick wipe. I try explaining the fight, and where adds/boss need to be tanked (I always play a tank myself). Other tank says "Mechanics are stupid, just Echo rush it." Two of the other players say "YOLO, we got this" and I can't recall the 3rd person, but it was something similar. The best way to improve is simply to be open to learning. As I said, 90% of people I've never had issue with, and I run Mentor queue to help people learn. The above story is for the tiny toxic people that are ignorant and don't want to learn. To them I simply say: go away and never come back please!

[@patrickoyoung5326]

That bit about the 10% resonates so deeply with me lol. Farm parties ≠ carry people who know nothing about the fight parties. Echo and crafted/tome gear wont help anyone when you cause everyone in the party to take 999999 damage.

[@Beneficialitificul]

Indeed well said.

[@KattReen]

Yeah, that's kinda frustrating lol. Not all mechanics can be cheesed with echo. Like even if it's just lvl 50 leviathan ex, it doesn't matter how many stacks of echo you have when you get yeeted off of that boat lol.

[@Beneficialitificul]

@@KattReen Yep. And there are random one-shot mechanics still in place in certain fights. Gotta be aware of em or you're done lol!

[@frankbrodie5168]

@@KattReen Well yeah. But the more echos you have on that fight, the less time it's going to take to DPS it down, and thus less possibilities for being yeeted.

[@Rendyle]

You have a really sweet and nice persona when explaining things, which helps understanding all the more easier. Thank you for all the help you have given to us, on their new journey in this amazing world of FF14. Really appreciate you and what you do.

[@greb5142]

I like how Zepla say "don't worry that you don't get invited to any raids" while showing a Dragoon.

[@LagunaLeonhart]

The amount of disclaimers and hypotheticals in the first 3 minutes is higher than my DPS, maybe, maybe not, I'm not sure, I haven't acquired a log, I haven't got a log, I don't know a guy, but maybe hypothetically I do lol

[@Lizard14]

I really appreciate how you said it took you a month to understand a job and it's ok to not understand guides right away. A lot of people like to say some jobs are "brain dead" and then there I am struggling to understand what I'm doing at first. I know they do get easier and then it seems obvious when you're used to it, but that's only after you've learned them! And different people learn in different ways. Today I'm comfortable with how the game works and I can pick up things faster, but it took me a REALLY long time to not embarass myself as my main job when I first started. The thing that helped me the most was helpful advice and looking at certain logs that PC players uploaded for me :P

[@kenzieduckmoo]

It’s Log, it’s Log It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood. It’s Log, Log It’s better than bad, It’s Good!

[@bewitchingsingularity]

Everyone has a log. Come on and get your log. Everyone needs a log. Log, log, loggggg.

[@socklips7655]

What rolls down stairs, Alone or in pairs, And rolls over the neighbors dog, It's great for a snack, and fits on your back..

[@Kaira90211]

I read the title as 6 ways to improve FFXIV and I was like "2 things. Let me go on a new dinner date with Aymeric that doesn't get interrupted. Make it to where npcs can have certain emote reactions to your emotes." Imagine Haurchefant blushing in response to you blowing him a kiss, or hugging back if you hug him.

[@laowhy86]

Taiwan ftw

[@deinemudda7351]

based

[@bophadesknutz7798]

Taiwan #1

[@chocodropdrugs]

This reminds me that I was raiding as a monk since shb came out, doing all the trial extremes and eden savage raids from e1s - e8s and it was around e5s that I realized I should use Perfect Balance in my rotation. You never stop learning, guys. You never stop learning.

[@Itsyagirl_Eve]

I just picked up FF14 coming from WoW. I am so glad I found your channel. I cannot find the words to express how much your content helped me as a new player. Especially when it comes to mentality between the games. Slowing down and playing the game for the story and learning how to play BRD along the way has made my experience so far so rewarding and so much more fun then I have in WoW these days.

[@Twiner101]

These are amazing tips! I used to main WAR, and I had misread upheaval. I thought it was another spender for my beast gauge, and thought I should never use it because it was worse than fell cleave. Read a guide, and found out upheaval was an oGCD. Fixing small mistakes like these can make you such a better player in the game.

[@VincentArchrat]

In terms of ACT, I think it's fine if you just want to improve yourself, you can always use ACT without being a jerk to other players. Toxic players will be toxic, with or without ACT. I use it all the time, I wanna see my performance after I finish certain contents.

[@galux7346]

ACT is an amazing tool for improving your performance quickly. But such information always gets taken to the extreme by so many people that i'm honestly quite glad it's not allowed as it should not be expected that everyone has the dps meter.

[@cmdranipsycho1548]

I love how you hit all the points and kept making me laugh the whole time with the memes, One of the best videos to best explain expectations and setting strong goals. Great vid, keep them coming!

[@hamptonwooster]

How to improve. Step 1: Use ACT "Cries in PS4"

[@drakeway981]

Thats why she's saying to use logs others MIGHT be doing without your necessary input.

[@Khastrx]

Lmao you don't need ACT to know your job and play it well. High-end content like Savage is a different matter as it potentially helps to see damage output, but generally certain players are just lazy and spam whatever they want without trying to improve.

[@mynameispash6427]

@@Khastrx in Savage? Really? (Genuine curiosity, have not dipped my toes beyond extreme yet)

[@Hanzo1]

@@Khastrx I agree, I just use my logs to guage my improvement. ffxiv analysis is really good with fixing your mistakes though

[@hamptonwooster]

@@drakeway981 I know it would just be nice to be able to do it yourself

[@shinobuseisune2623]

Lots of really great advice at the end, and some good advice throughout. You or if someone writes for you are very smart and kind hearted Zepla. Thankyou

[@reneschmaderer]

Just a short tip to train your rotation, go into Zurvan trial unsycn. There you can easily try out your rotation and if you fail just jump down and retry. It is the fastest way to reset your cooldowns I found until now.

[@flygonkerel781]

nice tip!

[@volks8722]

Nice video as always! Just wanted to add to the 'Check your damage section'; it's still ways better to get your log from someone else if you don't have access/don't want to use a third party program. This is because SSS Dummy is not the best way to measure your DPS. Because: 1) SSS does not account for a job’s RDPS contribution via skills like Battle Voice 2) SSS is a 3 minute burst window where you adjust your rotation to fit in that period and does not reflect a realistic raid scenario 3) Different jobs will be in peaks and troughs of their burst windows 4) Different jobs have different SSS dps requirements 5) SSS is not accurately tuned for the jobs they are supposed to represent in most cases 6) 3 minutes is short enough to be able to be affected by lucky DH Crit bursts 7) Certain jobs gain dps by having additional party members like Dancer/Monk (taken from Kupo Bot '!faq sss' command)

[@rufayniad6592]

TY Zepla HQ! I have had advice from a couple, rude comments from others, and then other contrary advice from others. After playing so long (one of the original FFXIVers as well as BETA players), to have put in the hours of additional research and then to use that advice followed up by having others "gang up" on me so that nothing makes sense anymore is maddening. I gave up on one job for the "abuse" and was contemplating giving up on a 2nd job for this same reason. After watching your advice here, I may just give RDM one more go. I would hate to have all of the hours of research and mounds of notes be for naught without putting up enough fight to make it work better.

[@Caique_Mota]

Important note: this is NOT only for high content, this include casual content too, don't be that person been carried, don't be an ice mage, freestyle samurai or a healbot. At least know how your class work and play properly. More faster the adds/bosses died, more faster the content is cleared, less heal is necessary and less mitigation too. Be a good player, this game needs that!

[@SanjiTyloxion]

I know a guy who knows a guy, who knows another guy. Who let me know that this one time I was Tanking I ended up doing more damage than the DPS players lol. Hypothetically.

[@RikuMasamune]

Same, as a GNB I was top DPS and most aggro against SMN and SAM as well.

[@georgewashington7982]

In savage raid in or in casual shit lol? Cus I’m always top 3 in dmg as a gnb in casual content, but don’t care about that cus it’s casual content. In savage I be doing 13.7k dps as gnb and definitely not anywhere near the top

[@cjchristopher8092]

I've never played FFXIV but I watched the video about buying plots. What an interesting world to be part of!

[@PristinePanda]

im really happy i found your channel! i recently got back into ffxiv after taking a long break (been playing since ARR started but i have taken several long breaks and i'm still in the post-base pre-heavensward content ^^; ) so i often have a hard time getting back into the game since im so behind. but youre really pleasant to listen to and watch.

[@Narrendor]

I live for your gifs and memes like this, bless

[@ludwigbeethoven5186]

This is so funny... I usually only find time to play in the middle of the night after an extraordinarily long day so if my dps drops off or I miss a cooldown it usually is because I fell asleep while playing...

[@Mutski1579]

I've done that as the healer. Still got commended! Lmao

[@Jedi11knight]

Thank you so much for posting this video! It has helped me so much! You are awesome!

[@BUUUUUD]

"Your dps and performance in this video game does in anyway reflect your self worth" Well somebody better tell that to the people over here on Balmung lol.

[@lyconxero457]

A point I feel like you should have made which really helped me in my playing is to PLAY OTHER JOBS IN FFXIV!!! The game is designed for it to be EASY for you to play multiple jobs or even ALL the jobs on a single character and the biggest help on improving your FFXIV play is to experience all that it has to offer. I'm not saying to do this right away, mind you, but once you're considering going into Savage or above level content it's nice to have a firm understanding of how the jobs work in the game. This is especially true for the different roles as you will have a much deeper appreciation for your fellow party members if you've not only DPS'd as a Bard but also know what it's like to be a melee or caster DPS along with tanking and healing. You may even come to discover that you actually LIKE playing more than one job which makes you even more valuable for raid groups. I mean, it's GREAT that so many people seem to love Dragoon for some reason but if you also happened to like playing Ninja/SAM/Monk then a group looking for two melee players that already has a Dragoon would be a viable option and you might even switch around roles on re-clears. Or if you're a Black Mage main but your group could really use a SMN or RDM to help with prog and you're already familiar with those jobs and don't hate playing them then you could pick up that role and help carry them over the finish line. All this is to say that while it's great having a "main job" that you love to play in the game I believe it is worth it to invest some of your time learning about the other jobs in the game. Even if you decide that you only want to raid on a single job at least you'll have the knowledge and experience of playing the other roles to speak knowledgeably with others in your group about them.

[@georgek5766]

The part where you're trying to say we should secretly parse while at the same time trying not to say it, was so funny :D

[@Asha414]

I had someone tell me I was throwing out the biggest DPS in Delubrum Reginae out of the entire raid and they asked how I was doing it. I replied “Would you believe that it’s just intense button mashing?” Cause it was 😆

[@Jasou2]

Great list for almost anyone looking to improve I'd say. Can confirm a lot of these resources are the key difference to improving for harder content

[@jasoncarnelian3325]

This is one of three channels I willingly sit through ads for. Love this channel.

[@Strauss994]

A FOTC gif in the wild :o Great video by the way!

[@Orion26DML]

I’m a month long player. Free trial Story I’ve been a Dragoon Dungeons I’ve been a WM I was really feeling good about my healing skills.... Got to Heavensward and picked up Astro. Got to lv. 50 and started running random duties. Playing on PS4 and never even expanded my hotkeys past the original 16 set up. Got to Wandering Hard 2 days ago and it was my first wall. Only 2 deaths getting to the final boss. But that last guy wiped us 5+ times and it was clearly my fault. I didn’t even have my MP restore available. Or sprint to get back to the boss lol. My set up was terrible and i was missing important skills stills. That gave me a huge boost tho as my motivation is up and I’ve spent the last 2 days setting up extended hotkeys and practicing rotations. I feel great using everything in my arsenal now. And I’m almost ready to retry that dungeon as my Astro ! (WM I probably could have done first time as it’s more straightforward but that isn’t the point) I just feel bad for the players i bailed on and wasted their time.... Unless they got another healer added to them when i left... not sure how that works.

[@SMNtheNight]

As someone who has pretty terrible social anxiety, setting aside your issues and ego to accept your mistakes in order to improve is actually very liberating. It's like a weight off my shoulders to admit that I screwed up a mechanic and/or need help better understanding it, because otherwise if I stay silent I just end up continuing on with that guilt weighing me down. It probably affects how well I'm playing too, and in my eyes it's really disrespectful to your group to be playing subpar because you assume they are rude people before giving them a chance. As Zepla has so wisely stated, your worth as a person is not diminished if you accept help. That's an extremely unhealthy way to approach anything in life. Rather, accepting support will only help you grow as a person AND you'll be better at the video game. What a deal!!

[@GameTalkers]

Awesome shirt, thank you for wearing it :D

[@DualXZ]

The more I play healer and the more experience I get with it, the more I began realizing the *wildly* different playstyles each group has. Some tanks are mindful of their surroundings and whether or not they have a sprout, actually communicating, testing the waters with the first pull to see how much the healer or group can handle, etc. Others ask at the beginning if big pulls are okay or not, if people know mechanics, etc, they wait and DON'T JUST RUN OFF LIKE CRAZY and expect people to use sprint too, etc. And others just..... do whatever the fluff they want. They do huge pulls without asking, just run off forward and aggro whole damn Eorzea, DONT FREAKING USE ANY MITIGATION (akjsndasjkmcjasjkncjkascnaskjdcbnwuejck) and after all that crap, instead of maybe checking if the healer is okay or has enough mana (can happen more than you might think) they just start the boss or pull a huge wave of mobs again, just.... ugh. As a healer I feel very confident now to heal through any of those things above, and usually I adjust to the situation but tanks that are assholes or just want to rush through the content are beyond annoying-- different people have different playstyles x_x Same goes for tank of course, since the elements of what I wrote above apply, minus the healing. Bottom line, if you have a decent amount of experience under your belt as as healer and if your tank is a sprout/trying tank for the first time, just try to adjust to that. If they're communicating, you can boost their confidence a bit by saying it's okays to pull some more if they're alright with it, saying you got them. If they're not, that's okays too, as long as they're willing to learn. Same goes if you're playing a tank. Be mindful of your healer and how they're fairing. If they're consuming too much mana and forget to use lucid dreams, *remind* them. If you feel they're struggling to heal through larger quantities of adds, either pull *less*, or if you know how that healing class functions, give them tips. This is all assuming people communicate... ain't usually not fix if they don't/ignore you :c As a Dps, for the love of Emet-Selch, *try* to learn the mechanics. First timers and striving to improve is perfectly okay though! Hell even second, third, fourth timers etc still die to stuff, myself included and that's alright as long as you're making an *effort* to learn. Be mindful that although dying is okay, in harder, more demanding content each time you die you'll be putting a strain on your healer(s) and tank too. Don't feel bad for dying, but at the same time DO NO just have the mentality that "Oh it's whatever, I'll just get rezzed even though I keep dying over and over to same thing".

[@Kedium_Speaks]

I've been stuck in Heavenward for like 4 years... recently started playing again. Maybe its because of my constant Quitting but I feel like that storyline is taking forever.. But THe QOL improvements like being able to fly mounts in old areas, helps me catch up in doing repeatable beastmen Quests.

[@Sage125]

@2:11 now this is the quality content that I subscribed for... ;D

[@animelytical8354]

"Mention". The very beginning has me smiling. And I'm just a demo player so far 🤣

[@MoRanes]

Love this video and message 🙌🙌 Thanks for being awesome!!

[@dungeonscrew491]

I just joined the discord and I can confirm the community is amazing and sprout help is great

[@romzen]

Zepla is basically hammering trivial knowledge into our low attention span brains with all these memes. Thank you so much!

[@nathiirblacktongue1683]

"Hey Buns." "Thanks, Zepla, I've been working on my computer chair buns. I'm glad you noticed."

[@zacharyjstokes837]

I played FFXIV for about 5 years back when it was new and stopped playing for a very long time. I am just now returning to the game and I have been watching all your videos, without sounding like a creep lol you're videos are relaxing and calming to watch and I enjoy them 😊

[@LoliO.]

You nailed it in the opening Zep, we don't need to be the best to help others, we just all need to strive for improvement

[@Dharengo]

At the cost of your fun with the game? “It’s just a game” is that a weak mindset?

[@LoliO.]

@@Dharengo if not ever getting want better at anything is how you have fun, I apologize for the difficulties every aspect of life bring your way. I never said more dps, tighter rotation, perfect play. Maybe for some improvement is dodging an attack they struggle with, learning a marker they don't know, learning to use party finder. These are all improvements and for some these are a bigger accomplishment than they are for others.

[@Dharengo]

@@LoliO. Well, there's no need to jump all the way to the other extreme. It's just, I've had experiences with people who use "wanting others to improve" as an excuse to bully people. Telling people who are more focused on experiencing the game than squeezing out every last bit of DPS to kill something half a second faster that they have some kind of "unwillingness to self improve". You know, "Saying 'it's just a game' is a weak mind set.", you know what I speak of, right? Some of us just aren't epic gamers nor do we have any desire to be and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I play FF14 to destress.

[@LoliO.]

@@Dharengo I didn't flip, you were assuming I'm one of those bullies. I have played since 2.0, most of my friends list is sprouts I've met in leveling roulette. I am not perfect, I don't stream, I don't get all the savage clears before they're outdated, I'm not in the top 10 percent of any of my main classes in terms of dps. I do however see my areas I lack and I improve with every pull I make. Everyone should do this, not because I want them to, but because it is how we as animals work. If we feel accomplishment we feel better about ourselves. One of the greatest ways to feel accomplished is teaching other players, it verifies and validates your knowledge, but leaves you open to other perspectives to improve yourself further. So again we don't need perfection, we don't need top tier play. Every person for their own mental well being and for their enjoyment of the game should have a habit of constant and never ending improvement. If they take that mentality to other things as well, it will help them find success in that too.

[@Dharengo]

@@LoliO. I never said you ‘flipped’ O_o Some of us just want to relax though. Is that really such a bad way to play? I’m having tons of fun with the game, without doing any of that hardcore stuff. I don’t see why I should play like a pro and constantly be pressured to be better than everyone else. My ‘mental well-being’ is just fine while I’m playing.

[@mdxcloud23]

great video! love that I found you as I dive deeper into FFXIV and I am still loving it!

[@rayyanchile8728]

Well when I play as a tank I always love making new strategies in dungeons that will make the run more smoother and faster.

[@MarkusAndersen96]

Zepla uploaded! Yay

[@JB1111-g4k]

Thank u as ALWAYS 4 ur great advice!!!

[@fogibp2807]

I kind of agree about not switching too much but it's also interesting to practice different roles or jobs. You can get such a better view of overall fight mecanics. Well, you won't start by that to improve fast but it's good when you want to dive deeper in HL contents. Thanks for your video

[@edein607]

I've been playing for a few weeks now, about the same time I found your videos. Thank you for convincing me to give the game a shot. Loving it so far.

[@Jack-The-Gamer-]

I’m from West Virginia, and you make me feel like people won’t look at me like I’m an idiot when I talk because of my accent. Thanks!

[@SquareGrills]

Hi Zepla, I joined FFXIV about 3 months ago and have fallen in love with the game, 700 hours deep and starting to clear extremes with my buddy, and you are my favourite FFXIV youtuber by a mile. Could you do a video on how to find a static for newbies like myself? It often feels like you need logs to get a good static and a good static to get good logs, and I hate PuG groups!

[@OmegaYoshi13]

Machinist is currently that one DPS that I main and it called to me since I started the game/unlocked it. other machinist mains have given me some tips/tricks on how to improve, one of them was to stop using Bioblaster on one mob/boss as I used to rely on it heavily when farming mounts or when running Castrum Lacus Litoire/Delubrum Reginae

[@galaz1an]

The stick to a class and care about a class are very very good points. I used to be a strict astro main, and practically refused to play Whm or Sch. I leveled them, but wouldn't do anything with them People I frequently talk to kept bashing on Sch for being the "bad healer" this and that. So I learned it out of spite I went from completely hating the playstyle and heal style, to now being a full time Scholar main. It's weird to think about, but at the same time... I'm glad I found my place as a Sch. As an Astro I felt like I was always competing.

[@chess629]

Thnx for all the info,just started again and so much changed in the years i was on a hiatus.😃

[@wackywarrior001]

Wow refuge, your great, so excited to be a “ bun “ feel part of the bun army , but the bun army weapons are hugs and compassion 😇

[@faeynxiv]

I was literally editing a video on this topic when you uploaded. Excellent advice as always though :') I'm not salty

[@astrealove1]

I picked up Dancer yesterday, after having played only caster & healer before, it was a bit tricky to pick up & play, but well worth the investment, I still don't fully get the rotation, but it's smoother than I thought it would be.

[@BazzFreeman]

One of the best ways to improve if you're not doing it already is ABC. Always be Casting. FFXIV, once you get all your abilities gives you lots of tools GCDs and oGCDs to weave in between them. This is why the long GCD is good. But even without doing that, just make sure you are always pressing a button, if you're a healer, if no one needs attention, do some damage, even if it's only 1 Assize, as they say, every little helps. This also helps you learn your rotation or priority system.

[@KaiserDragonTV]

@zeplaHQ the BEST way to improve FF14 is to add a inventory system like WOW or GS2 with a Block Storage for crafting mats of any kind a better way to sort the inventory in mass storage to cut down on feeling overwhelmed or needing to constantly run to and from Storage npcs when swapping from farming to battle. As well as a Housing instanced system like EQ so the AVERAGE person can get a house as well...

[@GhostOfLorelei]

I heard so much crap about MNK that I actually convinced myself I didn’t like it (after 300 hours of maining it, learning it and loving the game). So I dropped MNK and took another job to 80. I got really good at it actually (if, uh, “my friends” ACT logs are an indicator), but started hating the game. It was weird because I had somehow, via some serious cognitive dissonance, convinced myself I _should_ like the job and that, therefore, the problem was FFXIV itself (even though I still loved the story and the world...I somehow thought I didn’t like the game :| ). I starting playing less and less and, after several months, 80% of the way through ShB...... was barely logging on at all (maybe once a month). Yeah, that’s right, the best part of the story, and I was convinced I didn’t like the game O_0! I was on the verge of dropping my sub when a very wise friend asked me if I was entirely certain if I liked my new job. We talked about what it was I actually like about playing games (any games) and I mentioned I liked being up close, focusing on the action (not random procs) with a fair amount of complexity and some sort of focus on being in the right position to pull off an attack. It was at this point I realized my mistake ;) I went back to MNK, despite the fact everyone around me seems to dislike the job, and am enjoying myself immensely for the first time since, well, dropping MNK. Moral: it can be very easy to fold to peer pressure (especially if you lack confidence in your knowledge of the game and what you may like, as I did). But ALWAYS be sure to play the job you enjoy or your enjoyment, and thus motivation, will plummet. It probably goes without saying, but it’s hard to improve at a game you don’t play.

[@felixvelariusbos]

FFXIV meta is so weird. Like seriously, everything is balanced enough that there's no reason not to play what you enjoy. Maybe because it's all so close together (performance-wise, not look-n-feel wise) we have to nitpick over the smallest things. Honestly what gets me is the semi-pressure to always be leveling other jobs/roles.. I love Warrior, it's the job I see my character as, etc, but I got super out of practice on it because I decided I needed to level up a bunch of other jobs I hadn't picked up yet. Needed to really get good at DPS roles even though I don't personally enjoy them. Ended up burning myself out trying to level up all these other jobs that didn't really call to me. I'm back from a break now and been exclusively playing WAR. It's like a lightbulb of "oh yeah! this is why I like this game!"

[@daisukeshiro1734]

good video, I'd say learning other roles is super useful too, even just at a basic level. I had to learn summoner because our BLM wanted to switch to melee for tea and it taught me a lot more about playing than I probably would of known if I just stuck to melees and tanks.

[@daynadurrell3995]

I like your videos Zepla. you always do such a great job and I love puns. Keep killin it!

[@sabbath0208]

Nice shirt! Just a Taiwanese living in the US who play FFXIV passing by

[@eambot]

love your videos. well spoken and informative! keep it up!!

[@Wukong330]

the balance and logs helped me out alot. im not doing terrible in ffxiv now

[@BigCowProductions]

One idea I don't like is how everything is like 'learn your rotation' - 'do this opener'. I want to be able to have options, and not just one right way. Which classes would serve that the best?

[@theinternationalhouseoftsu3873]

I agree so much with everything you said in the video. I mained BLM from ARR to just after a certain fight with a certain dude in the “opulent” area of ShB (apologies for the awful description, just want to avoid major spoilers) and had a “guy who knows a guy” parse me (I played on PS4 at the time) who told me honestly that my DPS wasn’t great, but said that I might be better on another class, the criticism was constructive and I picked up SAM. I did e5s and e6s in pf on it and found it really hectic, but I do love the class. For the current raid tier I joined a static so I could improve while in a raid situation as I learn better as I go. Unfortunately that static fell apart soon after the tier began and six of us reformed a new static. Since then my understanding of my rotation, my ability to optimise and map my buffs/third eye/bloodbath through the fights and the general good fun I have with the static has seen my DPS improve a lot (We’ve yet to clear phase two of e12s but we’re getting there) but I honestly think that I wouldn’t have improved as much had I not listened to the criticism, found a class I wanted to play and found a group which has been supportive and fun. Considering this time last year Cinder Drift Ex used to terrify me to now where I’m clearing savage content and looking to move into ultimate raids after the tier. I am looking at DRG for the next expansion as main so I’ve begun working on that class now too.

[@MilkAndSugar16]

Problem with being open to criticism is that some ppl will try to boost their own ego by berating others and even start to bully you at some point.

[@Dharengo]

This is why I say advice-givers need to have patience. “Bad players” have to deal with a lot of crap. Give them a break and be patient.

[@MilkAndSugar16]

@@Dharengo It's not about patience. Just acting like a normal decent person is enough. But every more often, ppl act entitled and become toxic. And someone doesn't need to be a 'bad' player. There's much distance between actually bad and optimal players. Someone can have a good rotation etc., but may still learn something new to optimize even further. Nothing wrong with that.

[@Dharengo]

@@MilkAndSugar16 Even if you try, they might snap at you for giving unwarranted advice. It's a knee-jerk reaction. If you have any idea what it's like to be bombarded with people who claim to "only want to help". You gotta be a little patient. I've been on both sides of this. I asked a Red Mage whether it was normal to hard cast Impact. They snapped at me at first, but then they realized that they were, in fact, doing it wrong. I had a similar experience with tanking and mass pulls. First I thought the healer couldn't keep up so I offered to slow down. They said I wasn't using my defensive actions correctly. I snapped at them a little. But then they explained, and I learned that Quietus gives back MP (during SB days), and thus I can safely spam TBN. A little patience goes a long way, even if you get a snappy retort at first.

[@MilkAndSugar16]

@@Dharengo I also have been on both sides. So yeah, I absolutely do have an idea what's its like. And I have been snaped at too, which is why I do not give out unasked advice anymore. Only if someone is messing up a mechanic, which causes us to wipe multiple times, then I tell ppl what they're doing wrong. I was talking about people, who are open to advice and actually WANT to learn something new. But, unfortunately, there are a lot of ppl who will try to use this as an opportunity to boost their ego. I had this happen at a static once. There was a guy, who was giving out advice in a 'normal' manner at first. And even if I had not always asked for it, I at least thought about it and didn't complain. But then he started to pick on me all the time. When we were learning a new fight, he would always comment on everything I was doing wrong, even when he did just as many mistakes as I did. So one has to be careful with people who give out advice. It might turn into bullying.

[@benhutchison2538]

Your content is great. Informative, funny, I could go on and on. Best of all no matter whats going on they are also oddly calming and relaxing.

[@DaysforDaays]

Your hair looks so pretty here! This Style is a real good fit for you C: Thanks for the video!

[@ACCW42]

Yes, definitely find out what the static wants from raiding before joining. But also if your views and goals shift, be sure to communicate this to them sooner rather than later. No one will know there's a problem if nobody says anything.

[@pessimystique]

My girlfriend recently got me into playing FF XIV. I've always loved FF, but always kinda wrote XIV off as some weeb game. I'm glad I was mostly wrong :) I'm also a former WoW player. Anyway, your videos have become a great resource for information and insight and I just wanted to drop a comment and show some appreciation. Look forward to more and hope you're doing awesome!

[@ImPersonNation]

I just very recently entered Haukke Manor (my newbie hellhole I call it) Where I had my first encounter of a dps not doing combos. A dragoon who for the first half never used True Thrust. Funny when I realized their spear throw was more powerful than their up close moves. (This is in the response to the criticism segment)

[@bishopvida]

i love how, in kind of a weird way, this isn't like tips or the like, it's more of a life philosophy discussion applied to games.

[@stemax44]

i want to improve but i cant stay more than 2 week on one job i like to play a lot of different job and "renew" my experience of fight so staying in one particular job is hard did you have a advice for people like me ? Really really good vid like usual !

[@kevingames363]

One thing you could try is choose one job to focus on with high level content. Then switch to other jobs for things like roulettes. I'm doing that now, trying to learn melee dps for savage and extreme content but I bring my tanks out to do everything else

[@meulord888]

Back when I was a sprout, I would join dungeons and say like Hey I’m new here is there anything I should know for casual content and I’d have tanks and heaters alike go If you don’t already know the dungeon inside out then leave. After I completed stormblood, it’s then I decided to become a tank to help sprouts, so they would not be discouraged like I was back in the beginning. Still have to deal with healers mad that I won’t pull the whole dungeon but as a tank, I want to help sprouts.

[@danielisbell]

I think the only time I had issues was my first Praetorium run. It was back when you could skip cutscenes, & they just raced through telling us to watch in an inn later. I'm so glad they changed it. Outside of that, people were always very helpful with story content. Now, if I'm running a dungeon & notice it's slower than it should be, I'll try to watch what the other players are doing to see if I can help. I do have to say I agree with your healers though. If you're comfortable doing larger pulls & your healers are as well, that's better experience for your DPS than single pulls. Only pulling 2-3 mobs will sometimes make it unclear whether single target or aoe is better. A nice big pull gives them a chance to really get used to the aoe rotation & learn to target mobs that will give better damage spread. Between BLM being awkward for aoe at low level & staring with a single pull tank friend, it took longer than it should have for me to really learn to aoe effectively.

[@Dharengo]

I don’t think it’s bad to help people get used to pulling the whole dungeon though. My rule of thumb is I do multi pulls until it turns out the healer can’t keep up or someone (nicely) asks for smaller pulls.

[@Derdaida]

your dancer log is insane, holymoly! Mind if i take this log of yours to show this to my dancer in my static? Might be useful to get his buffalignment and dance uptime a bit better with our group, in addition he is a big fan of yours, so seeing a log from you might motivate him even further :)

[@garnet1223]

I'm actually really high key happy that action is taken against players who use dps meters to call people out and be toxic. I'm pretty sure that directly helped with the community being as good as it is today. Controversial thing to say on my part considering how I know how important the meter is, but really it should be a tool used for your own personal improvement :) and im glad you use it for that reason too like thats a good idea

[@ВадимГромов-я3й]

Ye, quite a nice community when you can't call out monkeys doing sb dps in shb content because it's "toxic". But hey, it's not toxic to ruin all the other's people fun by not caring to at least press your buttons in order :^)

[@AquilaCat]

All the memes are amazing, I love this

[@ericnicholson4471]

10/10 memes and 10/10 advice

[@durgan5668]

Patience, and humility. AHA! I knew there was a catch. Fine then. My patience is on back-order, but I'll pay to have it over-nighted when it gets to the transportation area. See? I can be patient. As for humility, that's easy. I'm very proud of my humility, so that's not a problem.

[@mosley3485]

I recently started playing FF14 (coming from WoW) and I'm finding the way that people talk about addons really confusing. I use a lot of addons in WoW. Should I be using them in FF14 or not? Does using addons violate ToS? Is there a risk of being banned for using addons?

[@inxfamas2647]

I usually dont leave comments but I was impressed to see the Flight of the Conchords gif

[@aleph-tav]

Your content is great thanks!

[@Puckanm]

I hate that DPS logs are frowned upon in ff14 but thank you very much for the Blackmarket info /wink New Sub Here! I Start the game this friday and really think Im gunna go nuts :)