One of the most commonly hardship that new players have in the game is making money or gil. Especially the younger players who are new to MMORPG. Final Fantasy XI is different from console rpgs so new players from the Playstation 2 have a hard time grasping on how to make money properly. This is especially evident during the early release of the game on the Playstation 2 where there were lots of new players introduce in the world of MMORPG. Once you understand how to make money then it's just a matter of spending the time to make it. Of course the drawback is that a lot of players are discourage from spending the time to make money as people want to play the game for fun and not want to feel like it's work. However there's no other way around it. If you want to make money then you'll have to spend the time to work for it. There are various ways of obtaining money in this game, mining, farming, crafting, BCNM, and NM hunting are the most common ways. Farming is the central way to get money while others such more or less a quick rich technique in hopes of making it big in one strike. You could say that farming is the 9-5 jobs while other techniques is playing the lottery in hopes of making it big. 9-5 job is the most common way of working for money and like in real life, it can be very boring but it will bring you the steady income that you need to live in this game.
Here we take a look at what to farm from level 1-30 so you can make the money you need to update your gears and spells. Please remember that the higher you go in level, the more money you need to buy things and as such, you will need to adapt and change what you farm to get the money you need. Simply farming what you farm at level 1-30 for money won't cut in when you'll be needing 1 million gil at the upper 60s level so remember to adapt to what you farm for the items you need. Also remember that each server's economy maybe slightly different so check to see what the going price rate is on your server before you decide to start farming for those items.
What is farming?
Farming is a phase that players in FFXI like to use to describe going out to kill mobs to get item drops in hopes of selling them at Auction House to make money. These items can be commonly drop items to very rare drop items. So if you hear someone say, "I need to go out and farm." It means they need to go out and kill some mobs to get items to sell for money.
Farming at what level?
You can farm at any level but technically from my own experiences, it's a lot easier to farm with low level jobs than with a higher level jobs. Especially farming with a job level between 15-30. I find that mobs tend to drop items more frequenly at the lower level than at the higher level. Again this is only base on my experience and opinioin as oppose to it being fact.
Job or subjob to use?
It is essential to farm with a thief that is level 15 or higher as the main job or a sub job. At level 15, a thief get's the ability known as Treasure Hunter. Treasure Hunter increases the frequency of drop rates as well as the amount of possible items that will drop from a mob. You'll find that without using a level 15+ thief as a main job or sub job, farming for items will be much slower so it's a good idea to level a thief to at least level 15 from Treasure Hunter. It will help you out in the long run.
Level of mobs to kill?
Try to farm Easy Prey mobs as oppose to Too Weak To Be Worthwhile. It will be much harder to farm from Easy Prey at the higher level which is why it's best to farm with a lower level job than a higher level one. What's the difference between Easy Prey and Too Weak? For one, Too Weak mobs don't give conquest points, drop beastmen seals and crystals so you lose out on those if you are farming on Too Weak. Another drawback base more on my observation than fact is that Too Weak mobs don't drop items as much as Easy Prey mobs even with Treasure Hunter from a Thief. So try and find an area where the mobs are conning Easy Prey for you to kill. Of course if that's not available then you take what you get. Better to kill Too Weak than to kill nothing.
Farming for Mobs and Items
Here we'll take a look at what mobs to kill and what items are worth farming for. Again remember to adapt your farming techniques as you gain higher in level and need more money than before.
Level 1 to Level 20 Farming
Bats - There are two types of drops you can farm from bats. One is bat fangs which sells for about 1500 Gil per stack of 12 bat fangs. This isn't really your target for farming when it comes to killing bats but they do drop from bats. 1500 Gil might not be a lot in the later stages of the game but they should serve your purpose in the level 1-10 range. Bat Wings sells for about 3000 Gil per stack of 12 bat fangs. This is your target when farming Bats for money. Bat Fangs and Bat Wings both drops from bats so you'll looking at a combo of both giving you an average of 5000 gil combine. The good news is that bat wings and bat fangs are fairly common drops from bats so it's very easy to be making stacks of them in less than an hour, especially when you are subbing thief or farming them as a thief. King Ranperre's Tomb is a great source to farm for bats at the lower levels. You an easily make a train of bats and killl them all and get a few stacks within an hour time of work. Don't forget that wind crystals also drop from bats if the level of the job you are farming with isn't too high in level.
Skeletons - Bone Chips sells for about 3000 Gil per stack. This is your target when farming off of skeletons in King Ranperre's Tomb or Horutoto Ruins. A decent amount of gil per hour can be made from doing this at the lower levels however the drawback is that skeletons don't drop anything else good besides bone chips. Skeletons don't even drop crystals.
Rabbits - Rabbit Hides sells for about 4000 gil. Fairly decent drop rates and great for lower level farming outside of San D'Oria and Windurst. 4000 gil can be a lot of money for those from level 1-15. Again try farming for a couple of hours with thief as sub job or main job and you'll be able to get a few stacks provided you have Treasure Hunter. You can also farm earth crystals from these rabbits in addition to the hides that they drop if these rabbits are still checking to you as Easy Prey.
Bees - Beehive Chips is your main goal here. These go for 9000 gil which is very good to farm for those around level 10-20. The drawback is that the chips aren't common drops but it's nothing too bad. Keep in mind that as you farm from bees, you'll be making stacks of honey pot too. Combine the profit that you make from a stack of honey pots and a stack of beehive chips and you'll see why farming off of bees is an excellent source of money for those that are level 10-20. Giddeus, near Windurst is a great place to farm for bees or just right outside Windurst and Bastok. Wind crystal also can be farm from the bees.
Crawlers - The best source of money for low level players to mid level players is silk threads. A stack of these can go for 26000 Gil. These are drop from any crawlers. The great thing about this is that low level players beginning at level 10 can pretty much start farming these right outside of Windurst very quickly. However the silk threads are a rare drop but if you think about the time it takes for you to get a stack and what the stack is worth, it's well worth the time to farm them. Earth crystals can also be farm from these crawlers if they are still checking to you are Easy Prey. However stack of earth crystals aren't high in price. Average price is about 1500 gil.
Level 20 to Level 30 Farming
Lizards - Lizard Skins go for about 13000 Gil per stack. They are consider a rare drop from lizards but it's not that rare so you can make a stack of these pretty quick. Best place to farm these are from lizards in Valkurm Dunes. You might want to wait till your about level 23 before you decide to farm these from the lizards there. If the lizards are still checking to you as easy prey, you can also farm fire crystals from them. A stack of fire crystal can sell for 5000 gil.
Tigers - At about level 28-30 you might want to start looking at farming tigers in Jugner Forest. There are a few caves there were tigers spawn. Killing tigers will yield Black Tiger Fangs, or Tiger Hides, or Lightening Crystals. A stack of fangs can go about 12000 gil while hides which aren't stackable go about 500 gil. Add in the lightening crystals that should still be dropping at the level 28-30 and you can make some easy quick money within a couple of hours.
Beetles - In addition to tigers in Jugner Forest, you can farm beetles there as well on the east side of the forest. What you are looking for are Beetle Jaws which are rare drops from the beetles. A stack of these can go as high as 30000 Gil. You really need Treasure Hunter if you're trying to farm Beetle Jaws from beetles.
Goobbue - At level 30, you might want to consider heading to Pashhow Marshlands to farm next. There are many things you can farm in the Marshlands. But the main thing is you'll want to farm Goobbue in the Marshlands. Goobbues are scattered throughout the Marshlands so farming them can be difficult due to all the wondering around. However kill Goobbues can give you some very good drops. Boyalda Moss sell for about 9000 gil a stack which isn't too shabby. But your main object at level 30+ with a thief as a sub job is trying to get tree cuttings from Goobbue. These are very rare drops from those Goobbue out there but with persistant you may make a stack but it might take you a couple of days. However the good news is that a stack of tree cuttings can sell for 80000+ gil depending on your server. This is where you start to adjust your farming techniques a bit and aim for the drop items that sell for a lot more than what you normally would farm for at the lower level. Equipment and gears will start to be cost quite a bit at level 30+ so by ths stage you should be thinking about chaning your farming techniques.
Hopefully this small little guide will help some of you beginners on what to farm and where to farm while you make your way to level 30.
Author: -Rpgdreamers