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Chapter IV: Kicking the Hornet's Nest
Crash is looking to do some work, but the Adventurers' Guild didn't have anything for him yet. In the mean time, he's been working hard with a bit of hunting and a bit of behind-the-scenes side questing. The result is a little bit of new gear, but he's still using the weathered shortsword he started with.




Music: A New Hope

Every fifth level unlocks a new quest from your class' guild. Crash only had to prove himself worthy to be a Gladiator last time, but now that he's level 5, the guild should have some work for him.



Before we truly continue the story, we need to remember that Final Fantasy XIV is still an MMO. There's a lot of cooperative play, and the classes aren't just about beating a monster on the head in a different way. There are party roles, and FFXIV uses the standard trinity of roles in an MMO: tank, healer, DPS. The DPS role is all about dealing damage, while the healer is self explanatory. Tanking is about holding the enemy's attention towards yourself, and this is the role of a Gladiator. As guildmaster Mylla explains, that shield isn't just for show, ya know?

We do this by eliciting the enmity of our opponents through attacks and techniques designed to incite their hatred. You must learn to draw the enemy's attention to yourself and to trust in your stout constitution to endure. In doing so, you protect your weaker comrades who would otherwise perish.

If you plan to play the game and roll as a Gladiator or Marauder, I really hope you pay attention to this. This right here is the absolute, most fundamental mechanic of those classes and too many players seem to forget this. As a tank, you must keep all enemies focused on you. Unfortunately, as we're all going to learn, this quest doesn't really do much to actually teach you how to tank yet. That comes in the next one. So, what is Mylla's task for Crash?



A bunch of pirates have been causing trouble around the Quicksand and Momodi wants them cleared out. Mylla wants Crash to run up to some burly Mauraders from Limsa Lominsa, and square up to them by using the /me emote. Okay, sure. That's one way to draw attention to yourself, but I don't think it'll be more effective than the lancer piercing a boss with a giant spear in group content.



There are four Marauders located around the outside of the Quicksand.



The /me emote is a little bit provocative. Not quite Provoke or anything, but I guess it works well enough in cutscene quest world.



It seems to work a little too well. These huge Roegadyns flee when confronted by the wimpy looking Crash. I mean, look at those shorts. What a dork.



Three more of those guys and that's Crash done. It's kind of funny being nearby a starting area, because the quest objective contexts it as "face /me". You can tell who the new players are, because they'll spam up the chat log with that until they realise it's just /me.

Since Momodi was the one to put in the request, it's probably a good idea to go check up on her and see if there's any trouble inside too.



'lo and behold, there's another. Well, it's time for Crash to tell him to face /me too.



Oh shit! Who would have thought threatening a bunch of pirates could turn out like this? Crash is in some serious trouble now.







The camera spins around to reveal a man enjoying both his drink and a visit to the official forums. A Gladiator and Marauder arguing again? I'm definitely giving you the authentic vanilla A Realm Reborn experience here.



The man then stands up and proceeds to give a big grin. Everyone, meet the protagonist of the Gladiators' Guild story. What, you thought it'd be Crash? Nope. In certain storylines, the game goes all Mad Max and uses Crash as the agent to experience someone else's tale. I may have recently binged the Mad Max movies.



Pfarmurl the Driven, leader of a troupe of bloody mummers or some such. Aye, I heard you the first time - your voice carries quite well.

Then unless ye want me to split yer skull with me axe, ye better -

The stranger proceeds to talk shit about the pirate in front of him. The pirate throws back, that is until he notices the weapon resting at the stranger's waist.





Th-that sword! It couldn't be... Frenzy!? But only the Sword of Nald would - Bloody hells, it's you!

You know, I've never been one to stand back and watch. Mind if I join the fun?

The character art I have for this guy kind of gives a different tone to the scene. Know that while he's being provocative, and that he's clearly confidently enjoying it. Everything he says, he says with a big, cheerful smile.



The pirate gets spooked and runs away, much to the chagrin of the new guy. Crash also looks pretty disappointed.

<sigh> Looks like it's just you and me. Standing up to that Lominsan was quite brave of you - and quite foolish. I think I like you, gladiator. Name's Aldis, and I'd buy you a drink, but I'm afraid I just spent the last of my coin.

I should point out that while Aldis appears to be a noteworthy gladiator, given that even a pirate from Limsa Lominsa was aware of him; Aldis wasn't a character in 1.0. He's new to this game and so is his reputation. Likely, he became famous between The Calamity and now.

I used to be a young gladiator like you. These days I'm just an explorer of the unexplored, a seeker of as-yet-unknown experiences... Like that beautiful stranger keeping my bed warm right now. Gods, I've missed this city, this wonderful desert jewel of debauchery and sin. Now, if you'll excuse me.



Aldis uses this moment for a chance to peace out, leaving Crash on his own. I want to point out that he genuinely is walking to the Inn here.





Crash figures that he should speak to Momodi about the noise, and to let her know that the job is done.

I swear, if I hadn't seen Aldis with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it was him. Everyone here thought he died years ago. Listen, Crash. Do me a favour and don't tell Mylla about meetin' Aldis, alright? She doesn't need this sort of drama.

Message received.



Well, Crash still needs to report to Mylla. With his moment of respite over, he takes the main entrance into the Steps of Thal through Ruby Road Exchange. I've not been down this street before. It's a smaller market than the one on Sapphire Road Exchange, but it also has dancers entertaining the shoppers. You can pick up a linkshell here, which is basically a chatroom that you can have up to eight of.



Alas, we've received reports of axe-wielding raiders assaulting merchants traveling through Scorpion Crossing. It seems words will not suffice, after all. I want you to finish what you've begun, Crash. Head to western Thanalan and see that Pfarmurl the Driven and all those who have shared in his crimes never trouble the people of Ul'dah again.

Mylla congratulates Crash on his return, but informs him that there's currently something bad happening nearby. There's marauders running around attacking merchants in western Thanalan? Uhh... that wasn't Crash's fault, was it? She seems to believe it's the same group. Also, how did word reach her of this so quickly when the Quicksand is almost practically next door, but Scorpion Crossing is outside the gates of Ul'dah?

You know, for training, this seems like quite a lot to ask for. Sure, let's send the newly recruited Crash Screen off to go fight a band of pirates. This can only go well.


Music: To The Sun



Scorpion's Crossing is located at the foot of the Eighty Sins of Sasamo in western Thanalan, where we murdered some animal life last time. It's a stop for trade passing through with produce from Vylbrand, either on their way to Ul'dah or to the neighbouring nation of Gridania.

Also, look! It's a Cactuar. They like to strike a pose and close their eyes, imitating real cacti. I really like how they move, because it looks like they're sneaking around and hoping not to be noticed. Sadly, most of the Cactuar in this footage were too cautious around Crash and I didn't capture their movement.



Crash needs to find the marauders, and there's no better way than simply asking around. The nervous merchant behind the boxes would probably do the trick. Probably because of the giant quest marker above his head.

They...they tore me from my saddle and took everything I own! Bring my goods back to me, I beg of you!

That... doesn't really tell me where they are. The merchant is hanging around at one of the entrances to the Crossing, so it's safe to assume that the pirates went through the gate this way. Crash should follow this path right here. It leads towards a small, dying settlement called the Silver Bazaar.



Scattered along the path are some Caravan Sacks. There's only two, and investigating them spawns a Murderous Marauder.


Music: The Land Burns



Despite how big and scary Roegadyns can be, these guys don't actually hit very hard. They can cast Barbaric Surge, which increases damage output, but there's not much that you can do to stop it at this level and the buff isn't actually very harmful either. The usual tactics for fighting open world enemies apply here.



Murdering the first marauder levels Crash up to level 6, learning Fight or Flight. Which we now learn at level 2. Instead, modern Gladiators will learn Flash.



Flash is the first AoE ability for Gladiators. It doesn't do any damage. For just now, its only use is to Blind, which it didn't even originally have when first unlocked at level 8 (Blind was added by a level 20 trait). It actually serves another purpose, but that won't be relevant until our level 10 class quest. Worth noting is that Flash is a spell, so it can be used after Fast Blade without interrupting Savage Blade, though you still have to wait the 2.5s global cooldown before and after using it. As a spell, it costs MP instead of TP.



The last Caravan Sacks spawns Pfarmurl the Driven, himself. Since the game is still easing players new to the genre into the game, Pfarmurl isn't anything to write home about. He's pretty much another trash mob, but he's the first we've encountered with a particular mechanic that's central to the combat later in the game.





Occasionally, enemies will sometimes charge an attack. These charged attacks can also have an Area of Effect (AoE) indicator, which tells you the range of it. Most of the time, they're fairly easy to dodge, but it's worth keeping an eye out. Failing to dodge them usually results in more harm than the enemy's regular weaponskills or auto-attacks, but they can also debuff you with ailments like paralysis. This one just does extra damage.

I want to point out that there's actually a very important trick to avoiding AoEs. Damage is calculated immediately at the end of the cast, meaning that Crash has to be outside the AoE indicator before the cast-time is over. Despite damage being displayed after the attack animation, Crash can stand in front of the animation fine without cause for concern. New players that are unaware of when the damage is calculated often feel like they're hit because of lag, but this isn't usually true.



This fight is also a good time for Crash to muck around with his new ability Fight or Flight. It's got a nice little twirl. Also, despite how that gif may make things look, you can move around battle animations and avoid AoEs fine. Only certain abilities will animation lock you in place, and spells wills also interrupt if you move during the cast, but otherwise there's nothing restricting your movements.

In any case, with the pirate crew only partially slaughtered and their captain dead, I guess it's time for Crash to return the lost goods that he picked up.



Along the way are some Hammer Beaks, a Ziz-type enemy which is passively hanging out near Scorpion's Crossing. It's also on the Gladiator hunting log. This is what I mean by the hunting log being fairly convenient, where the appropriate level monsters are placed where you'd be doing some other task anyway. Hammer Beaks also have a cone AoE, and failing to avoid it will inflict Crash with poison. Poison works a bit differently in this game, where it doesn't do damage based on HP but instead will do a specific potency of damage every Eorzean minute, roughly. You can remove it with an Antidote if you have one, because this is Final Fantasy.

Crash just needs to slay three Hammer Beaks to complete their entry on the challenge log.




Music: A New Hope

After ticking off another entry on his hunting log, Crash hands over the lost items to the merchant and departs for the Coliseum. His good deed is done today, even if this is likely the fallout for him provoking a bunch of pirates for inefficient tank training.



And the quest is over! Mylla is happy that the pirate captain is done for. The quest went on a lot longer than I remember, but Crash is done for another few levels. Once he reaches level 10, Crash will finally get a real tanking tutorial.



Mylla will also reward Crash with a shiny new sword. It's 1/10th of a second faster (not that it changes anything), and has higher physical damage. Weapon damage is a damage modifier stat that affects the damage output before Crash's skill potency does. Basically, 100 potency will still be 100% damage, but the value of that damage will be higher. Potency as a skill measurement is really nice and you can see how this keeps old skills relevant as they scale.

The Bronze Bastard Sword is also in the tier of weapons to first provide an attribute bonus. Final Fantasy XIV gear has its own level which determines the stat cap. An item level 5 weapon will look like this, with just one attribute at +1. The higher item level equipment will generally always be better. I'll talk about the fringe examples when we get there. I'll also talk about the primary attributes in another update.



Mylla will also offer some other items that Crash can choose to get alongside the weapon. The only one worth attention is this: the Custom-made Cuirass. It'll be the only body armour available specifically for tanks for a few more levels. Armour design was kind of a little bit different in the early levels of A Realm Reborn; this cuirass has different defence and magic defence values, but that won't be true for tank armour later in the game. This is just a leftover from 1.0.

Strength increases Attack Power of melee classes by an equal amount to its value, which sort of counts as the base damage stat. Rogues are a weird melee exception that use Dexterity (which is provided with Strength on the other gear options), and tanks have their own thing. The Cuirass also has Parry Tenacity. Fortunately, you don't need to care about Parry anymore since it was replaced by Tenacity. Tenacity reduces the damage received while increasing the damage dealt. It's a stat that only works if you're a tank.

With that out of the way, it's time to return to the Adventurers' Guild and see if Momodi has anything for Crash.





All Cutscenes and Dialogue

Pfarmurl the Driven Battle
I actually pop my off-cooldowns before the start of the fight to capture a clean .gif of Fight or Flight. It's a bad habit to get into, so don't go emulating this. You can also see the AoE hit even though I "dodged it".



During a brief window between the second Heavensward content patch and the Stormblood release, the primary attributes worked differently for tanks. The following was written before it was reverted back.

I just wanted to talk about Strength again, but for tanks. Getting 0.45 Attack Power per point versus DPS classes getting 1 Attack Power per point can sound pretty bad. Before the Heavensward update, The Gears of Change (aka 3.2), Strength actually provided 1 Attack Power per point for tank classes too. There was an interesting meta forming in which tanks would focus more on Strength than their actual primary attribute, so the stat was nerfed for tanks.

The real issue was that tanks would also want DPS equipment. When equipment is dropped in party content, this resulted in more people chasing after specific gear which left tank gear rendered useless and reducing the chances that DPS would get what they need. Strength wasn't just nerfed though, as the tank primary attribute was also buffed. We'll get to that later, though.



We met our first Roegadyn today, so now is a good time to cover them. That leaves two more A Realm Reborn races that we've yet to meet.

Roegadyns are the largest race in vanilla FFXIV. Being able to play as a female Roegadyn is actually a new addition in A Realm Reborn, as 1.0 made them a male-only race similar to the Hyur Highlander.



The first Roegadyn clan - the Sea Wolves - are notorious in Hydaelyn. Hailing from the islands of the North, they're often brutal pirates who leave the women and fishermen behind, even when they immigrated to Eorzea. They're the largest population in the city-state of Limsa Lominsa, located on the island of Vylbrand.

The Hellsguard are the second Roegadyn clan. They're primarily mountain dwellers, growing up in volcanic regions and guarding what they believe to be the gate of the underworld. The Hellsguard are valued as smithies and guardians.

It may be surprising to find that Hellsguard also make very capable healers, though they're also strong as well. Meanwhile, the Sea Wolves are the toughest around and are the most capable tanks and melee fighters.