Tips for Xbox Console Players New to FFXIV

It's been a long wait, but finally, Microsoft and Square Enix have come to an agreement on how Final Fantasy 14 should be handled when it comes to the Xbox port. This announcement came during the North American Fanfest held in Las Vegas, Nevada in July of 2023.

With that being said, we want to help prepare our new console Warrior's of Light for their experience in Eorzea with up-to-date information on how to play Final Fantasy 14.

Open Beta begins on February 21st, 2024. The open beta test will only be available to new players who will be playing FFXIV for the first time. Take this opportunity to invite your Xbox-owning friends who have never experienced the ever-expanding world of FINAL FANTASY XIV and adventure together!

For more information, please visit the official news post from Square Enix.

Combat Jobs (Classes) follow the "trifecta" scheme in Final Fantasy 14, that being the roles of Tank, Healer, and DPS. While each role has it's own specific responsiblities within the game, all three roles main basic function is to deal damage. Yes, even healers. Healers and DPS can be broken down even further into their own sub-roles.

Healers fall into two categories, Regen or Shield. Regen Healers are classified by their ability to restore large amounts of player health quickly, while Shield Healers are built around mitigating damage before it even has the chance to hurt party members. In end-game, most 8-person parties will have one of each.

DPS fall into three categories, that being Melee, Caster, and Ranged. Melee Jobs have something called "positionals", which give bonus damage for hitting specific parts of the boss, and for the majority of their rotation must be within close proximity of the boss. Caster's do exactly what their name's imply; they use casted abilities to deal destructive damage to enemies. Some Casters have more freedom of movement than others, but overall this role very much plays into the wizard fantasy of gameplay. Last are Ranged Jobs, known for their freedom of movement and party utility. While they typically deal slightly less damage than the two previous DPS roles we mentioned, they're still mandatory in end-game parties for the mitigative and healing actions they bring, as well as the bonus 1% damage they bring just by existing.

For a full understanding on the role of your choice, you can follow the links below for more detailed information.

For those of you who have played MMOs in the past, you may be thinking a controller may feel clunky, or even borderline unusable. We're here to tell you, that is not the case for this game! Since the game was created with intent to be played on both PC and Playstion, the controller support is actually quite good. In fact, Microsoft's controller layout has a slight edge over the Playstation controller, due to where the left thumb stick is located, allowing for easier movement while continuing to deal damage to enemies.

There's a few settings you may wish to change once you boot up the game for the first time:

• Character Configuration
  • Control Settings
    • General
      • Movement Settings: Change this to Legacy. Generally, Standard is used for mouse and keyboard gameplay.
    • Target
      • Target Settings: Turn off "Automatically lock on target when initiating auto-attack", as well as "Switch target circle to target select". "Automatically face target when using actions" and "Disable targetting of pets and minions when in battle" should remain turned on.
      • Auto Target Settings: Both of these options should be turned on, with the drop down assigned to "Closest Range".
      • Target Type: This is purely preference. Try both and see which you prefer.
    • Filters
      • Target Filter Settings: Enable target cycling.
      • While weapon is sheathed: All.
      • While weapon is drawn:: Custom - Select All Enemies, and Aggroing Enemies. All other options should be turned off to make targeting during combat as smooth as possible.
      • Filter Customization: Off.
    • Character
      • Battle Effects: Set Own to Show All, Party to Show Limited, Others to Show None, and PvP Opponents to All. This is done to remove screen clutter and see important cues from the enemies you're fighting. Otherwise, your screen will be nothing but explosions from the people you're playing with, and most boss tells will be unreadable.
    • Mouse
      • These are completely up to your discretion. If you connect a mouse (it has its benefits for certain activities), these settings can be adjusted at your own discretion.
  • Item Settings
    • These settings are completely up to you and have zero basis on the control scheme you're using.
  • UI Settings
    • General
      • Main Menu: Gamepad Mode Type
    • HUD
      • These settings are player preferance. Adjust to how much information you want shown on your screen.
    • Party List
      • Party List Sorting: Depending on your role, you may want to alter this for what you're playing. For example, if you've decided to heal, You may wish to keep a specific order with the tanks having a higher priority on the list for ease of access when filtering through with the D-pad. Likewise, as a DPS, keeping other DPS near the top may prove to be beneficial for you to track personal buffs, or even apply specific single target buffs to your party members.
      • Role Sort Settings: Beyond just general role sorting, you can also sort jobs within a role based on preference. A good example of this being useful is when playing in Party Finder, you may want higher personal damaging jobs higher than supports in order to have an easier time applying buffs to them.
  • Display Name Settings
    • Adjust these however you want. Under the General Tab, you'll be able to set job icons to people's names in order to have better visual clarity for party members.
  • Hotbar Settings
    • Cross: Due to using a Controller, we will mostly be using the Cross-style hotbar. Other hotbars can be utilized based on preference, but should only be used to track actions, and not for actually pressing skills.
      • General Settings: All of these settings should be turned on, except "Display hotbar help" and "Use pet hotbar". There are some niche use cases for the pet hotbar, but generally you will not want to have it up, as it will get in the way while cycling hotbars.
      • Cross Hotbar Controls: Hold
      • Cross Hotbar Display Type: D-pad + Actions / D-pad + Actions. This makes both triggers function the same for both trigger pulls.
    • Custom
      • Expanded Hold Controls: Turn on, and Select Cross Hotbar 3. If you set both to Left, it won't matter which Trigger you pull first, it will always pull up your third hotbar, left side. If you set them to Left and Right, the order will matter, but it will also give you more button options. This is preferance based on the player. Third hotbar can be used for actions such as Tank Stance, anti-knockback, Sprint, or battle potions.
      • Set Selection: Enable customization when weapon is sheathed, and select hotbar 1 and 2. Likewise, do the same thing for when the weapon is drawn. This will ensure you will only cycle through applicable hotbars with useful actions. To access other hotbars on the fly, you can manually swap by holding down the right bumper and using face buttons or the D-pad to do so.
  • Log Window Settings
    • Absolutely player preference. These are all for notification sounds or chat logs.

Feel free to change anything you don't like, but the settings above should be more than enough to get used to the game. I've been playing on PC for years with an Xbox controller, and these are the settings I myself use, while playing all roles.

Unlike other MMOs, the Free Company system (or Guilds, we just use a different name) is not really used for raiding or other combat content. Free Companies are mostly used for socializing with friends, and it's also the main way people can take part in Final Fantasy's expansive Housing content, one of the selling points of the game.

Aside from decorating, Housing is the only way to access certain activities such as Airships and Submersibles. These two things are created through Crafting, and can be used to collect rare materials that can either be sold for a large amount of Gil (the currency of Eorzea) or used to create strong Free Company buffs that, among other things, can be used to gain more experience or even extend the duration of consumables.

To join a Free Company, you can either request to join through the Company Profile of someone you meet, you can be invited to one manually, or you can simply make your own! Do note, if you decide to make your own, you will need the signature of three other people to create it, and those people also need to not be in a Free Company of their own already.

It should be known, while not an official activity sponsored by Square Enix, Housing is also used by many players to roleplay (RP) and throw parties inside of the residential districts. Some of these RP venues are absolutely over the top, even having DJs play music through a Twitch channel while you have fun with your friends in their themed house.

To best assist you in your new adventure, we've compiled a couple tips to get you started and set on the right path! Head over to our New Player Guide to make sure you're prepared to start your new adventure in Eorzea.