Final Fantasy XI Official Strategy Guide for PS2 & PC (Spring 2004 Version) Reviews

• An extremely poor and incomplete guide LESS then 1 star

  
  By A25LCGZBT191U9 on 2004-09-29
  This seemingly updated version of the original FFXI official strategy guide was highly anticipated by many of my friends. When this guide was issued I hurriedly ran to the nearest EB and bought this guide thinking it would unravel more of the countless mysteries that surround FFXI and would not disappoint me like the original had. What I received was the exact same FFXI official strategy guide whose pages I had been using as padding material for packages with only about 50 pages of new content added in.
  
  PLAYERS BE WARNED, this guide is NOT worth the money you spend on it, all the information contained within is extremely basic and can be found out from numerous websites or by simply asking ANY lvl 50+ person within the game. This guide is COMPLETELY useless. It does not profile HNMs, gives no information on DYNAMIS, <<>, gives absolutely no system for lvling craft skills or useful info on ANY craft. It gives a player NOT even a conception of how the aggro system, renkei system 50+, conquest system work or how the night and day cycles, moon-phase, affect a player's performance both on the battle field and while crafting and harvesting!!!. This guide does not even give basic lessons in EFFECTIVE PARTY STRUCTURE, something that should be on page 1!! of any guide dealing with a game as party reliant as FFXI (They EVEN SUGGEST making 4 man parties to challenge VT monsters if you cannot make a 6 person group!! That's fine and dandy in the first 15 lvls!! of a 75 lvl game but after that, this advice will HURT you more then help you and your friends will laugh at you for even taking it). This guide does not even offer practical pros and cons for jobs and advanced jobs and even suggest TARUTARU as a race choice for a first time through Dark knight. This guide could be the INSTRUCTION MANUEL for this game and not a strategy guide because it barely gives anything away. Every time I walk through a wall and find a "strange device" and am asked for a password, I curse at this guide and rip another page from its spine. THIS GUIDE DOESN'T EVEN SUGGEST GOOD LVLING LOCATIONS PAST LVL 25!!! There is no mention of the Maat fight nor any real help with ANY GENKAI! a MAJOR part of the game when a character reaches 50+. ANY experienced player knows that this game only BEGINS at lvl 60 and this guide ENDS at lvl 50. 90% of useful game info is MISSING from this guide. It is as if I made a walkthrough of the first hour of a regular console RPG and then leave you to figure out the rest. This is supposed to be a strategy guide. Its supposed to give me answer not leave me with more questions then I went in with!
  OH, you want MORE things that are missing from this guide... hmmm lets see: BCNM 30,40,50,60, garrison, kindred seal BCNM, coffer locations, Artifact armor gear locations, Relic armor descriptions and info on obtaining them, Relic weapons info and info on how to upgrade them, garrison, ballista, the LVLS OF NMS!!!! and HNMS, info on Zilart missions, info on the sky pass, info on Tu'lia and the hall of the gods, info on the GODS, profile of forced NM pops, tricks and secrets such as how to walk on the rail of an airship, info on mining and ifrit's cauldron, info on the AVATAR BATTLES! and fenrir, info on QUESTED RARE/EX items like the Opo Opo Crown, not to mention info on ANY serious quest in the game. So what are you left with: a guide full of "oh this is a sword.. you have to attack enemies for experience"! and other nooblette things like LISTs of weapons and armor in the game... oh , wait they have that list already up in the Jeuno AH you fools!, any noob can check it and see almost ALL the available items in the game, their stats and lvls, and *gasp, even how much they have been selling for! If lists are your fetish then by all means spend the money, you might even take this guide to bed with you! I have seen poor guides before, but this is by far the most infuriating of them all, even 90% of the players in the PICTURES of this guide have armor less then lvl 20 and not one has armor greater then lvl 50.
  But I must confess this guide has served a purpose... It has kept me warm on a particularly chill summer's eve when I used it as kindling to start a fire in my fireplace.
  
  

• Outdated, and polluted with bad editorial and misinformation

  
  By A17W8W7D7WPD8 on 2006-04-01
  Final Fantasy XI is an MMORPG's with a developer actively supporting it as well as a dedicated user base creatively finding new ways of putting play mechanisms in more and more clever uses. It's a living environment, which no book can ever come close to detailing, and no book can present you with anything better than an incomplete snapshot in time, forever left behind by all the regular game mechanism tweaks and new item additions.
  
  That said, this guide is especially bad, even for a book. Lacking newer items and information on the different updates aside, it has a very misleading section on the different jobs ("classes") and their uses in game. It also fails at helping readers understand the dynamics of grouping ("partying") for gaining experience points and levels, and does not provide any realistic strategy to level crafting for beginners.
  
  For a real guide on how to play the game, the best way is to just play it--and ask for advice from players in the game. Join a "Linkshell" (often called "guild" in other MMORPG's), and hang out with new friends. There is no better or more fun way to learn about the world of FFXI.
  
  For information on various items, quests, missions, crafting, etc., look toward the Web. You can find just about any information you need out there; here's a short list of good sites to start with:
  
  ffxi.somepage.com
  ffxi.allakhazam.com
  mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.jp/ffxi/us/
  wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/index.php/Main_Page
  
  So, skip this book--it'll just put wrong ideas into your head, which you'll have to unlearn. Play the game to understand it, and use the Web as your reference book instead.
  
  (BTW, ignore all the pretty "buy gils now" advertisement on the web pages--buying virtual currencies is rather frowned upon by many players.)
  
  

• Much Better then the Fall 2003 version!

  
  By A2HUKZLAGFHJRT on 2004-04-13
  This book containes information on Final Fantasy XI for both the PS/2 and the PC. This version improves in all Areas it list crafting skills all the was up to level 79. A full map of how to get to every location. Much for detail and helpfull information includeing a more complete list of items, quest, food effect. a Must Buy! If you Own Final Fantasy XI for Ps2 or PC BUY THIS BOOK! I never buy guides but a friend talked me into buying the previous version and it was extreamly helpfull and this updated guide is ever more so!
  
  

• Zero is more like it!

  
  By on 2004-07-13
  Nothing makes me madder than when I'm playing and somone references this POS. For example, most recently while doing the summoners quest, a friend told me that according to "the Guide" that we shouldn't leave Sarabataru otherwise we wouldn't experience all the weather. This guide is the reason we have so many warrior/white mages running around thinking that they are training to be paladins, when in reality they are getting much less party invites, and severely gimping the parties they do get in. "The Guide" recomends taking a Chocobo on your first trip to Jeuno; go figure that one out and then tell me this is still a good guide.
  
  

• um...no

  
  By A18H2035T0M2S5 on 2004-05-15
  This guide is not worth the money, or the time it takes to drive to the store. You're much better off looking up information on the various online sites where it is available. most all of the information in it is based on opinion rather than fact. Descriptions of quests, missions, etc. are incorrect or vague at best. I mean oh, lets give them full page pictures of the emotes, and area maps that are the size of postage stamps. The spell and equipment lists are far from complete. save your money and don't bother with this useless guide.
  
  
• Lacking
  By A164E3G2R2F0WV on 2004-05-14
  In my opinion, this book isn't worth the price you pay. I made the mistake of buying it because I thought it might be useful.

  Pros:
  -It has plenty of information on quests, missions, and jobs.
  -There're pretty pictures! :\
  -There's a big list of all the spells.

  Cons:
  -Alot of the information is incorrect, or vague, at best.
  -There're many things that aren't even covered that are important, and very useful, including, but not limited to: Residence furnishings, Artifact Weapon information, and certain special job abilities(Wide-scan, anyone?), just to name a few.
  -Some of the "strategies" seem a bit opinionated. In some cases you need an experienced opinion, but not in most. Example: His belief that ninja is not particularly a good support job. Many players do think that it is.
  -Lack of ANY maps aside from the four main cities and the port towns, Selbina and Mhaura.
  -Lack of much real...er.. Strategy. Particularly for areas. The only "strategy" in the guide comes from the Job section, where he mentions things you should do as a .

  All in all, this guide is not worth the buy, heck, Elshimo is like an afterthought in the guide, despite the fact that you spend way too much time there, in many cases. I think that this guide could be actually good, given that it had alot more real information, and some real strategies for alot of other things.
  
  

• Please pay attention to the negative reviews
  By ABYY4O9HX3ZF1 on 2005-05-20
  This guide is a waste of money and very much out of date. It also appears to have been composed by a team of players who never got their Limit Break 1 to get past level 50.
  
  Does not include the Chains of Promathia expansion missions.
  
  Includes no missions past Rank 5.
  
  No Rise of Zilart missions (an old expansion that comes bundled with the US version). Considering this is an 'Spring 2004' edition, this is inexcusable.
  
  A skillchain chart that is incorrect.
  
  Job guidelines that will quickly get you blacklisted or at least give you a negative reputation on your server. Just ask any Warrior what they think of the book.
  
  The quest and mission guides it does provide are extremely abbreviated to the point of being deadly in some cases, when you'll wander aimlessly in a dangerous zone because the instructions are incorrect or not detailed enough.
  
  No maps. There's a useless large map of Vanadiel. You'll never need it, though it makes a cute poster I guess. What's really needed is a set of detailed maps for each area and dungeon.
  
  Crafting guidelines are a joke. There are recipies, but that's about it. And not all of them are there. Also, there have been several updates to crafting since this was published: new food, new recipies, adjusted food effects, adjusted yields on certain syntheses.
  
  In sum, a terrible guide. I understand that this game is always getting updated and the world changes every few months or so (economy, job trends, party strategies, crafting), but there is simply too little information in this guide.
  
  So how do people get guidance in this game? Consider googling 'final fantasy allakhazam' for the answer. It's what everyone uses and will probably continue to use until the game dies.
  
  
• A Good Buy!
  By AZY726MUK5GIK on 2005-11-22
  This book is a good book for beginning players and even a strong experienced player who needs some help doing a quest or finding a certain item. This book contains quests, missions, jobs, races, and more. It is worth the 15 dollars needed to buy it. I only gave it 4 stars because if you are a master at this game, and I mean MASTER! This isnt the book for you. The next one could have a little more info for very strong players of the game.
  I think this book is a good buy.
  
  
• This Guide Used To Be Good
  By AOKM449R7UEI6 on 2006-01-15
  With the new expansion coming out for this game on the XBOX 360, another updated strategy guide will be coming out soon. This book is excellent for quests and some missions, but it's also 2 years old. While all the quests are still there, websites such as allakhazam have more up-to-date information on quests and missions than this book would. I recommend you the reader to either wait for a newer release of this book, or just use an online reference site.
  
  
• Very Helpful
  By on 2004-04-16
  This book has lots of quest/misison information descriptions of all the core and advanced jobs with information on how to group, equip, and what spells you get. Tons of equipment, potion/food effects, and more than enough information on mobs and NM's to keep you flipping through the pages. Also has a primer on the conquest system and has helpful macros for all jobs. I think I'll buy the updates twice a year.
  
  
• A good buy
  By on 2004-05-04
  This is an update to it's Fall 2003 edition, which was it's first run through. As owner of both, let me give you a quick rundown. The first book was geared toward the newer player: enemies, spells, abilities, etc did not exceed a certain level (50). Also in the first book were thumb-sized images of maps of most areas (quite helpful) which sadly, are missing from this book. However, that's about all I have problems with. Keep in mind this book is up to date as of April 2004 (an update hapened in May), but don't discount all the wonderful information. More quests, abilities, spells that go up to 75, A little more detail in some of the missions, this is the 2nd edition. Not found in the first is an expanded meal effects and some excellent beginning strategies that will be used well into the advanced levels. All in all, a great resource, for the PS2 and the PC!
  
  
• Good For Those Who Are Just Getting Into The Game On Their Own
  By A1XVLXTHEZVMR5 on 2006-03-01
  Like my title for this review states, I'd say that this guide is pretty good for how "old" it is (or how long it has been out for). But it helped me get into the game and get started pretty well once I started playing Final Fantasy XI on the PC for the first time. For those who think it is there to guide you all the way through this great MMORPG, think again, because it is just to help you get around in the beginning, not complete the game. In my experience and with the experience with my friends that play "MMO's" it is quite difficult to complete a MMORPG, especially one like FF XI. If you're one individual that is just getting into MMO's, pick up FF XI and the guide to help you with your first few adventures in the grand world of MMORPG's.
  
  
  
• Two Years Later and I Still Use This Thing...Sometimes.
  By AYNNRRGR9DVIJ on 2006-04-21
  Even though it is two years old (and I've been playing for about that amount of time) it still has some helpful info. Of course it doesnt have any of the recent higher level things because when this guide came out there were'nt that many high level players. Also SE does not want to give away too much end game information. SE wants people to keep paying money to find out for themselves. Even though some of the quest are a bit dated it gives me a starting point. Without this guide to show me certain quests I wouldn't even know where to start to look online for it. Oh, and about the job info, the guide was written the way SE intented the jobs to be used, not the way the players use them now (Ninja was never supposed to be a tank you know.) But anyway...to the real points >>>
  
  1) The guide IS 2 years old going on 3.
  
  2) It does have a nice list of guild recepies. (I have level 49 Clothcraft and I love this list!) (However there are NPC's in game that can tell you everyhting you can make up to your current skill level.) On a side note: The way you actually have to fish has changed because of an update, so ask a fellow fisherman for help if you are just learning :-)
  
  3) It has a decent mob list. No mobs from the past 2 years. Most of the ones that people level off of are in there, and it does show weaknesses,how they aggro, their jobs and their levels. Has no Notorious Monster information though.
  
  4) Has a good gear list too. Yes you can see it in Jeuno if you just search through the Auction House. But it's still nice to have on hand at any given moment. It shows which jobs can use the gear and all the status info on the items. It also shows some Rare/EX gear which cannot be found at the Auction House.
  
  5) Only covers the orginal version with the Rise of the Zilart expansion pack (although Zilart Missions are not actually mentioned in the guide. Which would have given away secrets to the then new expansion pack at the time.) It does have a decent quest list for these cities (I still can't do some of them because my fame is too low XD)
  
  6) There is a skillchain chart. However it does not show all the skillchains (even some of the lower level SC's are missing.)
  
  7) Only has maps of the 4 moajor cities. These maps are easily obtainable in the game itself. It does have some key NPC locations based on the quests that the guide provides so you dont have to hunt for Tapoh Lihzeh (she is an NPC that provides a low level repeatable quest that can actually help build Windurstian fame)or any other strangely named NPCs.
  
  9) Some of the job info is no longer correct due to updates in gameplay. Most of these updates are on the advanced (unlockable) job classes, so by the time newer players are introduced to these jobs they should already have been made aware of these incorrections.
  
  In all this is a fairly decent guide that is still useable (for how much longer is unknown.) I would still recommend it to new players ONLY if they can buy it at the suggested retail price of 19.99 or lower.
  
  
• Waste of money
  By A2YTSJHOIL1W30 on 2004-05-03
  These guides are very thorough but there's nothing in them that you can't find on-line and with all the patches for this game, they become quickly outdated. Save your money and don't buy.
  
  
• Highly recommended, with notable upgrades to its information
  By A14OJS0VWMOSWO on 2004-06-12
  Now in an updated edition for Spring 2004, Final Fantasy XI Online Offical Strategy Guide is a resource packed with full-color screenshots and in-depth strategy, and an absolute must for anyone interested in the complex and enthralling massively multi-player online role playing game that is Final Fantasy XI, currently available for both the personal computer and the Playstation 2 entertainment system. Final Fantasy XI is an extremely challenging game, that when first started up may overwhelm the player with menus upon menus, and the seemingly towering challenge of raising one's lowly level 1 character to fame and fortune. The Final Fantasy XI Online Official Strategy Guide covers everything from basic statistics for all race and class combinations, to general gameplay advice, a glossary of common acronyms and abbreviations used online, a long list of monster battle tactics and weaknesses of monsters, a trade skill database, maps, a weapon and item database, detailed quest walkthroughs, and much, much more. Highly recommended, with notable upgrades to its information to reflect the ever-changing online world.
  
  
• Strictly for beginners only
  By A2ZLUV10Y2CPC3 on 2005-03-16
  As many MMORPG guides are, this guide lacks a lot of detail in the lists (equip/craft/quest/mission/bestiary etc). Since stuff get added all the time.
  
  It's only useful for a new playing, just entering MMORPG world, who might find the info at early sections of the guide interesting, the very basics.
  
  Job descriptions are only partly correct, and job abilities, spells lists are out of date.
  
  Equipment list was decent for its time of publishing, since then the number of equips probably doubled or tripled.
  
  Guild recipes is one of the worst parts, it only tells you which rank the recipe is in (eg recruit, novice), but not the recipe cap, making it useless for someone skilling up a craft. Also it only covers up to Artisan rank (lvl80max). All the newly added recipes are not there of course.
  
  Only a handful of quests are given for each realm, far less then the actual amount even at its time of publishing. Quest descriptions/guidance are insufficient for many quests.
  
  Missions only go up to Magicite (Rank 5) for each nation. No rank 6-10, no Zilart, no Promathia.
  
  Beastiery is fairly good, for the areas that it covers. I find the Lvl min-max range info useful. Some Zilart and all promathia areas are not covered.
  
  A very basic skillchain chart is given, only covers up to the 150 skill WSs, and of course no lvl3 chains. There is a list saying which mob-family is weak to which elements, which I found useful. The new mob families introduced since zilart are not covered.
  
  Magic and food effects tables were sufficient for its time, but now much has changed.
  
  Overall it makes a pretty poor reference book, but the MMORPG world is ever-changing, so you can't really expect too much.
  
  
• Useful guide for a fun game
  By A21Q29J3ZWPDNP on 2005-09-02
  While this guide isn't a complete walkthrough, it does have a lot of valuable information for all players. Granted it stops giviing mission info past level 5, and doesn't really appeal to the higher level people, but does it really need to? The whole point of any Final Fantasy is exploring and finding things out on your own. This guide shines most with the craft skills such as cooking, goldsmithing, clothcraft and so on. If you want to know a food effect, this guide will tell you. It will also help you if you're just starting out. Most of the race/job recommendations make sense, and you'll have some help with your first few quests and missions. This wasn't meant to be a hand-holder through this game. Just a tool to help you out with some of the more confusing points, as well as getting new players started on the right foot. I recommend this guide to anyone who plays this game.
  
  
• OK to get you started, but take it with a grain of salt
  By A17952OK41K41H on 2005-09-12
  The good:
  For getting started and getting your fame up, it has a good selection of quests for each nation--though it gives you no idea of the minimum level you should be to take on those quests. It also gives some (very short) crafting recipe lists that will help you get started. It gives you an idea of what each job is about, as well as listings of spells & abilities and when you get them, but be sure you read the rest of my review.
  
  The single most helpful thing in the book is the little chart of monster family weaknesses. FFXI has an elemental system, but it frequently violates its own rules, and this table does help to keep some of that straight.
  
  The bad:
  Some job combos suggested are just horrible. The writers don't really seem to "get it" as far as what Ninja is about, for example. They make claims that Ninja doesn't make a good subjob (so why is EVERYBODY subbing nin?) and that parties that are light on healers will likely not invite a Ninja (on the contrary: the Ninja's ability to avoid taking hits makes them ideal for a party light on healers, provided you go against the right targets). They give no real in-depth info on how to play any of the jobs. I get the feeling that none of them played any of the jobs past level 30. All the cool stuff happens later in the game. The Red Mage section doesn't talk about Refresh, or emphasize enfeebling, or let players know that they aren't really a substitute Black Mage or Warrior. The Dark Knight section doesn't caution players against trying to be a melee'ing Black Mage, but even suggests BLM as a sub (only workable in the right situations with Taru, and even then I'd rather see /WAR or /THF).
  
  It gives NO info on artifact armor, level caps, Zilart (I can excuse Promathia because this was published before then). Stopping missions at Rank 5 is a travesty, as the original (pre-Zilart) release of the game went up through Rank 6 (defeating the Shadowlord) and level 50 to "complete" the storyline.
  
  A lot of info is wrong. Flash, for example, is not a RDM spell. It flat-out doesn't talk about the real pros and cons of the races and what jobs suit them best. It instead tries to find something good to say about all races for all jobs. While I'm not about to say that a Taru can't be a Dark Knight or a Galka can't be a White Mage, it would be nice to see more guidance given in that area--so that new players could at least start out with a combo that isn't going to take a million gil to get through level 25. On that subject, some much more detailed crafting info and general gil-making info would be useful to the novice.
  
  In short, this guide is ok for looking up quests quickly, or looking up monster weaknesses or what element Fragmentation is, or at what level your job gets its next cool ability, but that's really about all it's good for. I don't know anyone who uses the lists of equipment. They are so outdated it's a joke anyway.
  
  If all the useless fluff were taken out and it were published in a ring-binding that you could lay flat or fold back on itself, and cut the price in half, it would be worth that. But for this price, I can't really recommend it. There are plenty of websites that will help you more.
  
  
• This is a must have for a new player
  By A131O2IPWKF2U6 on 2005-11-08
  This guide is a must have for a new player. It gives a basic introduction to everything, is very readable, and makes an extremely handy reference while reading the game.
  
  More detailed versions of pretty much everything in this book is available online and some of the information is almost goofy. Those are fair complaints.
  
  Some of the things in this book that are essential and hard to find elsewhere include:
  
  1) A complete list in one place of all the beginning quests in all cities.
  
  2) Tables for each craft showing what can be made at each level. (Very useful when trying to choose which craft to level.)
  
  3) An introduction to each job including what spells and abilities each job gets at each level.
  
  4) Suggested job/subjob combinations and the advantages/disadvantages of each.
  
  5) Weapon skill tables for every weapon class.
  
  6) Tables for most regions showing which monsters are found there, what their level range is, and (most important) what their behavior is. (Do they link? Do they aggro?)
  
  7) A basic skillchain and magic burst chart.
  
  8) Full effect tables for most food, drinks, and potions.
  
  You can read this book and get a good feel for a significant fraction of the game.
  
  
  
• Meh
  By on 2004-05-31
  Final Fantasy XI presents a enjoyably challenging and redeeming system of play, and it deserves an equally redeeming guide. This how, does not make the cut. Do not be intimidated (or encouraged for that matter) by it's length, because half of it is utterly useless. Not only is it big on uselessness, it's slim on the areas that players could actually use, like strategy of missions/quests and how to acquire items. My final verdict, mediocre at best.
  
  
• O.o A Customer from Rossville, GA United States comments
  By A3E54R1JCS88S5 on 2005-03-08
  Not sure what guide your friend is using but there is nothing to any of these references in my guide. Would never have gotten half the quests I have completed done without it. It's an awesome guide and the summoner guide was very helpful telling you how to get the ruby, what weather is needed and listing in a table the 13+ areas to get them all. The guide on the WAR btw says that WAR/WHM is useful for SOLOING not partying. And the only reference I could find on the Jeuno/Choco thing was that when you reach 20 you can head to Jeuno for your Chocobo license.
  
  
• It may be flawed but its still good
  By A3JE59CBA6V4IC on 2005-03-28
  First off i would like to say the guide is really helpfull for level 40 characters who have been wasting most of there time on leveling. This book helped me on things like mob elements and many easy money making quest. As far as the missons go I can tell why it stops at rank 5(Rank 5 is the rank where you can ride an airship and also th last rank to give any special things, like being able to enter a ballista match at rank 3). I read another review that said that it did not cover the conflict system wich i am happy it doesnt for it is explained several times during the game and also in the manual. Also the crafting part of the guide is better than decent for it covers the easy and helpfull crafts rather than the new lvl.150+ crafts which are for people lvl.60+. The only flaw in the game was that it did not cover the Zilart/Promithia mission but this is under standable for in no strategy guide has the ending been revealed and also finding out what happens on your own in an MMORPG is half the fun.()====()XXXXXXXXX>Bye.
  
  
• creating mis-informed players everyday
  By A1AZ61AL94O6 on 2005-09-13
  If your buying this book as a basis for the FFXI world then ok yea it might give you the basics. If your buying this book as a end-all info source. BE WARNED! #1 there are many "rumors" that this guide spreads. (BST kill xp and are not involved in xp parties. *BZZZZZZZZ* wrong!) #2 They give a nice over view but lack the indepth accuracy that will create really stupid players. Go on and say "Brady Guide says...." in any party, alliance, or chat channel. You'll be laughed at by players. #3 There is so much to this game you can't fit it in a book. Nice attempt brady, but try again when you get facts straight.
  
  
• Obsolete Guide, But Still Helpful
  By A3JWOROH7YZ018 on 2005-10-04
  While this guide isn't the best and most complete of all guides, it still offers very basic and very helpful advice to any new-comer to FFXI. FFXI is a very dynamic and fluid MMOG. It is consistently altered by updates and the no one even to this day knows everything that lies hidden within the game, except for the creators of course. With that in mind, I wouldn't expect any hard copy game guide to be accurate. I am level 70 now and I still use this guide. But be warned, there are many mistakes and typos within this guide that you'll have to be on the lookout for. But the reason i use this guide is because it does give accurate charts for elemental weaknesses of monsters (even though they really need to make that system more efficient within the game), it does have a decent crafting guide for quick and easy reference (take into mind that this book was made quite a while ago and a lot more items are available to synthesize now), and it is 90% accurate on the basic quests offered throughout the game. When this book came out, i don't even think that lvl 75 was available to anyone yet. Maybe not even lvl 70. They increase the lvl max with updates in the early months of the game, and this guide was created around that time. So in that aspect, you have to give this guide some credit as being fairly correct for the timeframe in which it was written. So many updates have made this book obsolete in a matter of speaking, but still fairly useable. It is worth the money. (But please don't listen to the author's "suggested" alternate subjobs for certain classes, OH plz don't. I hate to see war/whm's running around thinking they're as good as a pld b/c they're NOT.
  
  
• Just the Basics, but Be Wary
  By A1QRLBNAA3NBR4 on 2005-10-20
  While overall I'm disappointed with this game guide, combined with asking questions of other players in the game, it has assisted me in advancing to Level 56 and completing various quests. But there are many, many errors. Oftentimes the locations of quest items or quest "???" points are incorrect. Some monster attributes are incorrect, which got half my party killed once. Some bats were listed as non-aggro and non-linking, but they did aggro and they did link. On some quests, NPC names are given, but no coordinates. Some areas are listed briefly, but no maps are supplied at all. Furthermore, this book is horribly out-of-date. Chains of Promathia has been added, as well as various quests and areas added through game updates.
  
  I will say that having this book by your side is better than not having it at all. I fully intended to play this game without a game guide, but the world is so huge and there's so much land to cover that I was finding it very difficult to complete quests without more information about where parts of quests could be completed, where to find quest items or where to find monsters which drop the items needed for a quest. If you have an extra computer besides your gaming machine, you might be better off just keeping it up and running so when you need information, you can simply get it from the web. I plan on getting a laptop computer for this specific purpose, and at that point, my books will probably not get much use.
  
  
• Use the Internet Instead
  By A3TSB3MKTNS4B2 on 2007-12-23
  For one of my favorite games, I really don't like to bash it like this. However, this guide was, and is even moreso now 3 years later, pathetic. Back in the day, it was decent, but the lack of maps, real strategy for quests and the exclusion of things including skill caps for crafting really killed this. Not to mention there are only strategies listed for missions until you reach Rank 5. There's still 5 more levels to be reached afterwards.
  
  To add insult to injury, there's nothing on any of the expansions, and at the time of this guide's release, Rise of the Zilart had already been released, yet there was no mention of the Zilart missions here. While it's understandable there wasn't anything for Chains, Treasures, or Wings, they still could've included something for this, let alone continuing the trend of releasing new volumes of the guide quarterly to keep players up to speed, but alas.
  
  There is no mention of Dynamis, Beseiged or Sky, as well as guides for Level Limit Breaks.
  
  I've come to love Brady Games and, while I do get some help out of this guide, I would much rather use a website like Killing Ifrit, Allakhazam, or FFXIclopedia.
  
  ***3 stars for occsional usefulness***
  
  
• Not the best player's guide I have read
  By A2YOGE3CF7BQR1 on 2004-05-17
  Its not the worst either, but this one could have gone a bit further. I was especially disappointed with the map treatments - most were too small to but useful.
  
  
• Hmmm
  By A324507DQU0XOI on 2004-06-30
  Hard to say really. But, i msut commend the guide for being MUCH better than the first one... Weapons, armor, skills, characters, are all organized in a much better fashion than before. It is very user friendly, with an updated Quest log for each town, in each zone. Semi-detailed mission database, and a good character and job layout in the beginning.
  Here is the annoying thing about the guide... finding specific details on quests, and missions, and Notorious Monster drops, as well as any monster drops, or stolen items, is impossible. There is no minute detail to anything, just generalized instructions on who to talk to. Most of the time no directions, or clues as to where specific areas may be. Highly annoying. However, it is worth the buy just the same, simply for the charts, character creation information, and well... the generalized info just the same.
  Happy gaming
  
  
• Pretty good...
  By APZK69DL432LL on 2004-07-03
  I got this for my birthday, and I was pretty happy with it. It had a bunch of stuff on the crafting skills, told you about your job, subjobs, quests, missions...Until you actually tried to do some of the quests only from their instructions. It was nigh on impossible. So, I currently refer to this book (it is a book, nearly 400 pages long) for the basic, sketchy information on something. And if I need anything more complicated, I go straight to www.google.com "final fantasy xi " it works very well, and I almost always use a great site ... Alakazham or something like it. VERY detailed, great site. I would use it over the guide, but the guide can be used while playing, and the website you have to get up (or turn off FFXI if on the computer version) Soooo...4/5 is for it's accuracy and "pretty pictures". lol...
  
  
• Last version
  By A2I3W24749EIR2 on 2004-12-16
  When i got this game, the guide really helped alot. It, however, dosn't cover all online gudes can, and has to be updated often. witch brings me to the point of saying: This is last season's version!~! This guide will not cover anything about Chains of Promithia
  
  

• Final Fantasy XI Atlas
• Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection 2007
• Final Fantasy XI Online: Wings of the Goddess Expansion Pack
• Final Fantasy XI Online Official Strategy Guide (Fall 2003 Version)
• Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection 2008