Returning to FFXI 2011: POL Shift and Abyssea starter kit

[Misi]

See LadyKiki's Thread for a more in depth compilation of overall FFXI changes.

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Square Enix Account Transfer Information [ Mandatory for all users as of October 1, 2011.]
Disclaimer: check the official POL website for everything game related, especially with things as sensitive as billing. Below is just a crash course in what to expect and to know where to start if you find yourself in a jam. Also do your own research to determine what is right for you.

• All FFXI players need to do the POL shift to continue playing and paying for Final Fantasy XI.
  
• You do not need to buy a security token, though it is recommended to have one for extra account security.
  
• Right now as of Sept. 2011, you have two billing options : click and buy and square enix' crysta system. If you go with C&B your card has to be verified by visa and or 3-D secure
  
• There are also "hidden fees" and bad customer service associated with C&B. Most users are trying to avoid this if they can. If you like them and this method works for you, awesome!
  
• If you go with Crysta, you go through UltimatePay which uses paypal. (The lesser evil until they add a direct payment method again, if you don't mind buying extra amounts of crysta,)
  
• Always keep track of your crysta balance because they will not auto-bill you like current XI billing through POL. It is all manual. Failing to take these steps closes your account down, and you have to Call SE, pay a reactivation fee on top of your monthly fee. Avoid it if you can.
  
• If you pay attention to your email, they do warn you that you are about to be billed and they do send a receipt but do not include what your remaining crysta balance is, Just how much you spent. You have to sign into your SE account for current balance.
  
• If you've deleted your character or need to do a reactivation process take that into consideration with the above steps to make the transition as easy as possible.
  
• SE also acknowledged that the user base is displeased with the billing changes and released this statement.
  

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Back to FFXI After a long break? Boarding the Abyssea Train?
Don't get overwhelmed, this will look like a lot, but other then NMs a lot of this stuff can be done solo or with 3/4 people. more people if your group is lacking atma.

• Users must have installed and registered FINAL FANTASY XI, PlayOnline, and the "Rise of the Zilart" and "Wings of the Goddess" expansions in order to play "Vision of Abyssea", "Scars of Abyssea", and "Heroes of Abyssea."
  
• Players need to complete the quest "A Journey Begins" and "The Truth Beckons" to start collecting "Traverser Stones" Your ticket into the Abyssea worlds. It takes 20 real time hours to gain 1 traverser stone. It's best to do the quest then wait a few days to let them build.
  
• Always confirm your Visitant status with the Conflux Surveyor. You have 5 minutes to do this before you get kicked out of the zone. If you do get kicked out, you lose your time stone, and have to wait an hour to re-enter. If you flag time and DC, you can sign back on as long as you do so before your abyssea time is up. If you don't sign on before then, it eats your time and you get kicked out. So always maw hop, use a warp scroll or other method of exiting when your done with abyssea for the night.
  
• Maw locations
  
• Abyssea has a fame system and quests for each abyssea zone. Much like nation conquest.
  
• You need to participate in Bastion to get Resistance Credits to purchase certain Empyrean base armors. Other armors are gotten by cruor and vary zone to zone. Only Scars of Abyssea zones have Bastion. You can also gain XP here, but it is hit or miss and eats away at abyssea time.
• You can enter Abyssea with any job that is at least level 30. because your level is so low,(even at 75,85) it'll take extra long for you to start gaining XP in a XP party. same for people who are not in immediate level range as everyone else. You will also be expected to help open chests if you are leeching XP with forbidden keys via cruor. sold by the cruor prospector.
• Traverser stone regeneration wait can be reduced by obtaining Celerity Abyssites : Azure, Ivory, and Crimson
• The amount of traverser stones you can hold are increased by 1 with a maximum of 6 by getting Avarice Abyssites: Viridian Ivory and Vermillion
  
• The duration of each stone may be increased by 3 minutes each by obtaining the Sojourn Abyssites: Ivory, Scarlet, Jade, Sapphire , Emerald, and Indigo. up to a current maximum of 48 minutes per stone.
• XP in abyssea : It's recommended to follow the abyssea quest line and kill the zone bosses so you can start unlocking atma slots. This will require a party and use of abyssea's trigger system.
• SAVE UP MERIT POINTS. They now go to 20. cap them out you will need these for the new limit quests. Speak to Nomad Moogle located in Ru'Lude Gardens
• GENKAI: 80: 5 kindred seals and 3 merit points | 85: 5 kindred crests 4 merit points | 90: 10 kindred crests 5 merit points plus winning a mini game. | 95: 1 kindred's crest, 10 Merit Points, random item, and mini game win.
  
• Ask to lot kindred crests in your abyssea XP party. most people will not need them, at least for quest related items by that point.
• Abyssea partys use a lights system. a proper party will cap this asap and have you gaining a great amount of XP within an hour, hour and a half.longer depending on party speed and your starting level. If you leave the zone this will reset. But not if you temporarily DC. If you do DC, you will lose Abyssea Buffs but not lights. Your abyssea timer still ticks away while booted though, keep that in mind.
  
• You can see your current abyssea lights by resting.
  
• You can get your first Lunar Abyssite by building up cruor, and the other two by the quests on that page. You also need cruor to buy maps, armor, some atma and to unlock confluxes and use them in the zones (mini teleports) You get the other two lunars by doing the story progression and defeating key NMS.
  
• You should obtain Abyssite of Discernment by killing the list of Caturae. Once you have that you will receive clues in your chat log on what element the monster's trigger weakness is or what weapon type for weapon skills.
  
• Here is a picture list of the triggers. Whatever one triggers a reaction from the NM should not be reused again during that fight. So one for red, yellow, and blue only.
  
• lastly, you can go for Atma of the Apocalypse by defeating the end boss for abyssea. (spoiler in link)
  
• Once you defeat the end boss and complete the quest : meanwhile, back on abyssea you get Abyssite of the Cosmos you can now purchase an item called Primeval Brew for a discounted price of 200k instead of 2 mil.

I'm aware this is a lot to post. but it really does become second nature after a week or two, maybe a month. I'll make changes accordingly. If anyone has anything useful to add, PM me and I'll add it with credit!

- Misi