Guides

Your first hour, and the recommended paths after that.

Player Add-ons

Optional Ashita 4 add-on

ScytheSkills 1.1.0

ScytheSkills shows readable English combat-log names for 320 registered custom regional-boss skills. It changes only what you see locally: it does not replace FFXI DAT files or change damage, targeting, effects, timers, or animations.

Download ScytheSkills 1.1.0 SHA-256 checksum

  1. Close FFXI, then open the ZIP.
  2. Copy the enclosed scytheskills folder into your active Ashita\addons folder.
  3. Start FFXI and enter /addon load scytheskills in the Ashita console.
  4. Enter /scytheskills status to confirm the add-on loaded. To autoload it, add /addon load scytheskills as its own line in Ashita\scripts\default.txt.

Your First Hour

What to actually do once you're logged in. Each step assumes the previous one is done. If you haven't connected yet, start with the Play page.

  1. Read the welcome message. On first login you automatically get every map, a server linkpearl, and a welcome packet. Keep the linkpearl — it's how the server announces events and sieges.
  2. Turn on the levelling buff. Type !buff in any chat window. You get scaling Regen/Refresh/Regain and +200% EXP while below 99. At 99 it switches to +200% Capacity Points. Type !buff again to turn it off.
  3. Visit the hub. Type !cc to warp to Chocobo Circuit. This is the server's custom hub zone. It has the auction house, all 9 crafting guild material vendors (no rank required), a crystal vendor, a crystal storage moogle, the Advanced Support NPC for the 15-minute Imagery craft buff, and the mission-item shop (!shop 1 or !shop 2).
  4. Collect your daily Login Points. In any of the three starting nations — Port San d'Oria, Port Bastok, Port Windurst — talk to the Greeter Moogle. You earn 500 points on your first login per Earth day and 100 on each login after. Spend them on Trust Ciphers, mounts, rings, and upgrade items. Full prize list →
  5. Pick a job. All 22 jobs are unlocked at character creation and Advanced Jobs (DNC, SCH, RUN, GEO, etc.) don't need the unlock quest. Your subjob levels with your main (99/99 — not 99/49). Trusts are enabled; see the Trust Guide for party-building recommendations.
  6. Level up fast. EXP is 4×, there is no death penalty, and Fields/Grounds of Valor training manuals are enabled (bonus EXP pages). Records of Eminence objectives award Sparks currency on top. Reaching 99 on a first job is roughly a weekend for a casual player.
  7. Start the hunt. Once you have a capable 99 job, head to Celennia Memorial Library (via Eppel-Treppel in Eastern Adoulin) and talk to the NM Hunts Master. Kill one hunt NM and you've started the 475-NM progression chain that leads to Elite Hunts, milestone Kupon rewards, and eventually a free RMEA weapon at 500 unique kills. Full details on the NM Hunt page.

Recommended Paths

Four ways to approach the server depending on how you want to play. Pick one, or mix.

Path A — Never Played FFXI

  1. Pick Red Mage, Beastmaster, or Blue Mage as your first job — all three handle solo play well. See the Trust Guide for a party to run with them.
  2. Level 1–50 in your starting nation's regions using Fields of Valor manuals. The !buff bonus (see commands list) + 4× EXP makes this fast.
  3. At level 50, do the limit-break quests (Maat). Then keep pushing to 75 through Abyssea custom pops — retail Abyssea plus direct item-trade ??? pops for popped NMs, no KI chain, and selected level 125 boosted variants.
  4. 75→99 via Records of Eminence objectives and Abyssea group parties. Full rate details on the Server Info page.
  5. Once at 99, start on hunt NMs. Pick a low-pressure zone (East Ronfaure, Jugner Forest) and fight your first one. Kills award Scyld currency for the hunt shop.
  6. Do the main expansion missions at your own pace — they're all playable and most give permanent stat rewards and key items. See the Missions page.

Path B — Returning Retail Player

  1. Skip the levelling slog: !buff + 4× EXP + 5× skill-up chance and gain gets an old main back to 99 with skills capped in a few sittings. Full rate table on the Server Info page.
  2. Do the custom command tour: !af, !relic, !empy for base job armor sets; !rema for a base REMA weapon (gated: nation rank 10 + 10 HNM kills + 5M gil). Upgraded versions come from the Scyld shop Kupons.
  3. Dive into hunt NMs. Three things are different from retail: you keep kill credit even in a group, there's no fixed ToD — the 9–11 minute window is stable, and the Hunts Master gives you a daily and weekly bounty with bonus Scyld.
  4. Progress the rebalanced relics — every relic WS got fTP 5.0/9.0/13.0 and multi-hit fTP replication. See the full stat changes on the weapon progression page.
  5. For long-term goals, aim at 500 unique NM kills to redeem a free RMEA weapon of your choice (Kupon W-RMEA), and push ML via siege (and eventually the Colosseum).

Path C — Solo Player

  1. Buy Trust Ciphers from the Greeter Moogle — 100 points each (see the Login Points prize list). Priority picks: a dedicated healer, a tank, a nuker, and a buffer — the Trust Guide has the full role breakdown and recommendations.
  2. Level 1–99 as Path A. Trusts scale with your level, and jobs like BST or BLU work well with a small Trust party.
  3. Most of the 475 regular hunt NMs are soloable with a proper Trust party and prepared gear. Stick to 3-NM zones to start. Use !huntstatus to see what you've killed and what's next.
  4. For ML progression, siege is the easiest solo-friendly EP source (just show up and participate). The Colosseum will add a dedicated Solo mode when it launches — 0.5× boss HP, 2.5× EP.
  5. Elite Hunts are tuned for groups but several of the Tier 4 Elemental Seals are soloable with good gear and the right buffs.
  6. When you get bored of hunts, Fay weapon augments are a solo-friendly side path — one Pixie NM per run in a Shadowreign zone.

Path D — Endgame Hunter

  1. Hit 99 on a main DD (WAR, DRK, SAM, MNK) and a support (WHM or SCH). Upgrade job armor with the Scyld shop Kupons.
  2. Run a sweep through the regular NM list, zone by zone. Track progress with !huntstatus. Prioritize milestone thresholds on the Scyld milestone table: 50 (Golden Bomb Mount), 100 (Kupon I-Skill), 200 (Kupon I-Seal — Abdhaljs for +2/+3 armor), 400 (Kupon I-RME — 300 REMA upgrade materials).
  3. At 400 kills, stop and use I-RME to finish a REMA upgrade — see the weapon progression page for the upgrade flow. Your main weapon should be done before you try elites.
  4. At 475 unique kills, Elite Hunts unlock. Start with Tier 4 (Elemental Seals) — each needs zone-specific kill counts + weather.
  5. Clear all field elites to spawn Absolute Virtue. Killing AV resets the field-elite chain — treat it as a prestige run.
  6. Time Devourer is a separate BCNM path — prep a full 6-player group and talk to the Hunts Master.
  7. 500 unique kills = Kupon W-RMEA = a second free REMA weapon of your choice. Between hunt runs, fill lockouts with Dynamis Divergence and Fay augment rerolls.
  8. Push ML 50 via siege and (when it launches) the Colosseum.
Key NPCs

Everything on Scythe runs through a handful of NPCs. Bookmark these.

  • NM Hunts Master · Celennia Memorial Library — hunt progress, bounties, Elite spawn trigger. Enter the library through Eppel-Treppel in Eastern Adoulin.
  • NM Hunt · Celennia Memorial Library — the shop NPC next to the Hunts Master. Spend Scyld on monster suits, event gear, anniversary sets, and milestone Kupons.
  • Greeter Moogle · Port San d'Oria / Port Bastok / Port Windurst — Login Points shop (Trust ciphers, mounts, rings, upgrade items).
  • Callisto · Grauberg [S] (-102, 538) — Fay weapon augments (Succor to the Sidhe). Trade an eligible weapon, fight a Pixie NM, return for augments.
  • Aurix · Ru'Lude Gardens — Dynamis Divergence entry. Trade 1× 100-Byne Bill, Montiont Silverpiece, or Lungo-Nango Jadeshell for an Empty Hourglass (requires final RoV completion; mission-skip completion markers and Scintillating Rhapsody count).
  • Advanced Support NPC · Chocobo Circuit (hub) — 15-minute Imagery buff for any of the 9 crafts.
  • Synergy Engineer · 17 zones worldwide — access to the Synergy crafting system. Found in every capital and major city.