Adventures in Eorzea is a blog series on the developments of Sharjeel Makna, a level 60 Warrior (…and Warrior of Light!) within the wonderful world of Final Fantasy XIV. The series aims to highlight ongoing content updates in the game while providing commentary and opinion on the various additions to the title and giving brief insight into the culture of the online game’s community. To read up on other posts in this series, follow this link. 

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sharjeel Makna. I am a Lalafell, a race that may get a bad rap sometimes but is truly the master race. I am based in the city state of Uldah, a desert city which is a hub of commerce and trade. I align myself to the grand company there, known as the Immortal Flames, which serve various tasks to better protect and grow the realm. I am a level 60 warrior. For those that do not know, a warrior is a tank class, which typically is on the front lines in battle, taking damage from enemies in order to protect the other players from dying. A warrior is particularly unique in that it is well known for its ability to do a large amount of damage as well in addition to tanking. In my free time I enjoy traveling the world sightseeing and treasure hunting, as well as mining, which provides my main source of income in the form of gil.

Since the start of the seventh astral era (a method of measuring time in the world of Eorzea), I have [Editor’s note: Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward spoilers redacted]. I’m here to share some of what I have done in the ever expanding realm of Eorzea since the start of this past year, and hope to keep you posted on my travels and antics as time goes on!

[Editor’s Note: Sharjeel Makna recently transferred from the Ultros to the Balmung servers].

One of the most important first steps for any adventurer is to join a Free Company, or a guild as it is known in many other lands. Your free company serves as a strong foundation for community, FC members typically partake in content such as dungeons, raids, and treasure hunts together while also chatting and hanging out in between and during such quests. Balmung is a very packed server with many free company’s to choose from, it was certainly overwhelming. I eventually settled on a free company themed after Final Fantasy’s Chocobo mascot. The free company, called Chocobo Inc., was filled with an inclusive group of folks and I instantly felt at home.

Plus, they had a beautiful Chocobo themed house for me to hang out in!

My biggest fear going into any new group of people is that I would not feel included, but this has never been the case in Final Fantasy XIV’s community. The great thing about the free company system is that there are free company’s for everyone: roleplayers, high end hardcore end game content players, and casual fans who may only be into the story, and larger free companies that do all of the above! For any new adventurers, make sure to shop around for a free company that is the right fit for you.

At the 2016 Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, Square Enix revealed the next expansion, Stormblood, and explained, that like the dragoon for Heavensward, the primary class of Stormblood would be the monk. Now, while I already had a backup class in the long range machinist, I never quite clicked with its playstyle and so quickly dropped it, so I thought it would be worth a shot to try my hand at training as a monk before Stormblood releases (after all, who does not want that sexy monk outfit featured in the CGI trailer of above?)

Since the opening up of Ishgard in Heavensward, it has become increasingly easy to level up new jobs from 1-50. This is great for adventurers who would like to experiment with or consistently use multiple classes. So far, I have been really enjoying playing as a monk, the job is known to be fast paced and requires me to carefully position myself in relation to my foes. I am currently a level 54 monk (levels 50-60 take a considerably longer time to level up) and am starting to get a bit overwhelmed by all the new abilities I am gaining, but am looking forward to hitting my goal of reaching 60 on monk before Stormblood is out. I may have finally found my secondary backup class!

 One of the most important first steps for any adventurer is to join a Free Company, or a guild as it is known in many other lands. Your free company serves as a strong foundation for community.

Speaking of Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, one of the greatest things about the event is it being a huge meet up of like minded Eorzean adventurers. It was there that I made a good friend, Ludo Sklavo, who I later joined in game. Since meeting in game, we have been primarily undertaking the Palace of the Dead together, a rouge-like randomly generated dungeon that provides tons of rewards and challenge for those that dare to travel to its highest floors. It’s also been a great way to achieve the aforementioned leveling of my monk. Other than that though it has just been fantastic hanging out with Ludo in game, a friend I made both on and off line. It really shows the power of the friendships that can form in Eorzea!

In the next Adventures in Eorzea, we’ll discuss my gambling addiction at the Gold Saucer and more. Please look forward to it! Have any questions about Final Fantasy XIV that you would like to see explored? Comment below and we will try to incorporate your wants in next month’s update!