It’s no real secret that I’m, well, rather dedicated to my Final Fantasy XIV playing. I wouldn’t say that I’m really what I would call a hardcore player, though, at least not in the classic sense.
Sure, I’ve been tireless when it comes to working on my crafters over the years. I’m always looking for new ways to improve and grow with them, and they’re always the first thing I level up whenever I get the chance. I’ve never really been that way with my battle classes, though. I’ve always been happy to level a handful so I can play the game properly with Shane, and that’s all I’ve ever really wanted.
But it’s inevitable that when you play enough, eventually you’ll run out of things to level. That’s the situation I found myself in last week, even though it was never my goal.
My journey in unintentional leveling
It all started back when we picked up savage raids with our FC members. Usually, the first classes I finish are my ranged physical because they’re my favourites and I figure they all share the same item set so I might as well. In Shadowbringers, that’s all I really got to.
But when we started raiding in Endwalker, we started to need other things. As a player, I tend to be the person who tries to fill a gap for the group. It isn’t just in FFXIV, either; it’s how I started playing healers in D&D, for example.
So when we needed an off-tank for raids, I tried to learn paladin, though thankfully I never had to use it because I’m really not great at it. When we needed a spare healer, I learned astrologian, which, luckily, I’m better at than I was at paladin. And when we needed a melee physical to clear the DPS race in the battle with Erichthonius, I figured out how to be a ninja.
Before I realized it, I had six different classes fully leveled.
And that triggered my completionist brain.
Of course, I couldn’t level one of each class type and not finish them. Just like my ranged physical classes, I now had the gear sets started, so I figured I might as well try and finish them all to save myself the armoury space.
It didn’t happen overnight, nor was it really anything I actively worked toward. It just slowly happened over the course of months, challenge logs, and far, far too many Arkasodara quests.
But what happened when I was done?
I won’t lie; finishing all my classes left me feeling a little lost and empty for a few days. What was I supposed to do now?
It didn’t take me long to find other missions, though, and now they’re just as much of a slow grind. Now, instead of Arkasodara quests, I’m crafting for the Loporrits and gathering for the Qitari and the Omicrons, because I never finished any of them and I want to see what the allied quests give.
I’m (finally) finishing my crafter and gatherer melds, so I can finish gearing up the classes I’ve finished—and so I’ll be ready when the first wave of crafted gear hits with Dawntrail next summer.
I’m happily puttering away on my island sanctuary, which is almost rank 20 now, so I can see what little treasures await us all there.
And of course, as I’m sure you saw in this recent post, I went through a mild Fantasia crisis again, because that’s what happens when I hit barriers in this game. But at least now I can wear hats again.
