If you have an extremely strong area of effect (AoE) weapon skill, then maybe you can. But, you'd need to be able to one shot mobs that will give your NPC xp, and I doubt anyone has an AoE weapon skill that strong. One method that may work is whittling down the mobs until they are each killable by a Circle Blade or another AoE weapon skill. The flaw with this method is that your NPC may use its weapon skill to kill a mob and despawn leaving you hanging with a bunch of too weak mobs to kill for nothing. The only way around that is to not engage the mobs and whittle them using ranged attacks or spells.
- Shield
- Warns when low on HP (when dialogue is set).
- Has Resist Sleep and Undead Killer (can intimidate [cause them to be paralyzed at random times] undead).
- Provoke Usage: At beginning of the fight, after 30 recast, when your HP is below yellow, if you sheath and redraw your weapon.
- Warns when low on HP (when dialogue is set).
- Attacker
- Has Double Attack and Counter.
- Warns when low on HP (when dialogue is set).
- Warns when TP has reached 100% (if dialogue is set).
- Weapon skill usage: Will warn if your TP is around 50%~99% (if dialogue is set) and will wait for you to reach 100%.
- Will hold weapon skill if mobs are close to death even if you have 100% TP or higher.
- Will otherwise use it immediately.
- Has Double Attack and Counter.
- Healer
- Uses White Magic (Cure III, Cure IV, Protect II, Shell, Stoneskin, Dia, Haste, Slow, ...)
- Will warn when low on MP (if dialogue is set).
- Will warn when regained enough MP while resting.
- Doesn't have skill in Hand-to-Hand so will only use one hand if given Hand-to-Hand Weapons.
- In Battle: Will cast Cure, Paralyze, Silence, Dia, Slow etc while fighting with weapon.
- Will cast Haste on you when NPC attains level 40.
- Will still cast Silence on non-magic caster mobs...
- Other: Casts Protect and Shell, Cures if hurt and removes negative Status Ailments.
- Can sometimes cast Raise in a party of more than 2 PC's.
- Uses White Magic (Cure III, Cure IV, Protect II, Shell, Stoneskin, Dia, Haste, Slow, ...)
- Etc.
- Weapon skills are dependent on the weapon your NPC buddy is using.
- Sneak Attack and Trick Attack-able.
- Lifetime: 45-57 minutes or 15-20 kills (non-exp and pet-only kills included).
- Weapon skills are dependent on the weapon your NPC buddy is using.
- Cesti (level 1) (Hand-to-Hand)
- Bronze Knife (level 1) (Dagger)
- Xiphos (level 7) (Sword)
- Claymore (level 10) (Great Sword)
- Bronze Axe (level 1) (Axe)
- Butterfly Axe (level 5) (Great Axe)
- Bronze Zaghnal (level 1) (Scythe)
- Harpoon (level 1) (Polearm)
- Kunai (level 1) (Katana)
- Uchigatana (level 12) (Great Katana)
- Ash Club (level 1) (Club)
- Ash Staff (level 1) (Staff)
- The best weapons seem to be Uchigatana (Great Katana) (highest level weapon, highest damage, and lowest delay, most expensive, and easiest to skill chain with), Claymore (Great Sword) (mid-range level, damage, delay, and priced), and Butterfly Axe (Great Axe) (low level and priced, but high delay).
- Trying to trade two Kunai (Katana) for dual wield will not work. The NPC will just use a Kunai and a shield.
- August 18th, 2005 Edit - I strongly recommend that you do not give your NPCs a Staff. NPCs will use the AoE weapon skill called Earth Crusher which may get your NPC killed.
- The best weapons seem to be Uchigatana (Great Katana) (highest level weapon, highest damage, and lowest delay, most expensive, and easiest to skill chain with), Claymore (Great Sword) (mid-range level, damage, delay, and priced), and Butterfly Axe (Great Axe) (low level and priced, but high delay).
- Bronze Knuckles (level 5) (Hand-to-Hand)
- Bronze Dagger (level 1) (Dagger)
- Bronze Sword (level 1) (Sword)
- Two-Handed Sword (level 20) (Great Sword)
- Brass Axe (level 8) (Axe)
- Greataxe (level 12) (Great Axe)
- Brass Zaghnal (level 10) (Scythe)
- Bronze Spear (level 7) (Polearm)
- Wakizashi (level 7) (Katana)
- Tachi (level 8) (Great Katana)
- Bronze Hammer (level 5) (Club)
- Ash Pole (level 5) (Staff)
- The best weapons this time seem to be Two-Handed Sword (Great Sword) (highest level weapon and damage, relatively low delay, but most expensive), Tachi (Great Katana) (low level and damage, but low delay, least expensive, and easiest to skill chain with), and Greataxe (Great Axe) (mid-range level and damage though high delay, but mid-range priced).
- Same deal with Wakizashi (Katana) as Kunai for dual wield. The NPC will just use a Wakizashi and a shield.
- Yes, some of the second stage weapons are retrogrades as oppose to upgrades.
- August 18th, 2005 Edit - Be mindful that some weapons offer AoE weapon skills. A quick list includes Spinning Attack for Hand-to-Hand (Mnk 49), Cyclone for Dagger (Thf 41), Circle Blade for Sword (Pld 49), Shockwave for Great Sword (Drk 49), Spinning Scythe for Scythe (Drk 41), and the aforementioned Earth Crusher for Staff (Pld 23). Keeping the weapon until your NPC reaches the level of the job that can use the specific weapon skill is fine. But, keeping it after could get your NPC killed. This means that Great Katana, Great Axe, Polearm, Axe, Katana, and Club are safe to give NPCs without having to worry about switching.
- August 16th, 2005 Edit - A recent discovery in the second weapon upgrade cut scene is that Luto will accept shields as well as weapons. It is possible this shield option is only seen by those whose NPCs are Shield types or were given a one-handed weapon for their first upgrade. Of course, NPCs cannot use a two-handed weapon plus a shield. If you trade a shield that Luto will accept after trading a two-handed weapon, the two-handed weapon will probably be lost. Currently, the only known shields Luto will accept are Lauan Shield (level 1) and Shell Shield (level 7) (from FFXIOnline).
- The best weapons this time seem to be Two-Handed Sword (Great Sword) (highest level weapon and damage, relatively low delay, but most expensive), Tachi (Great Katana) (low level and damage, but low delay, least expensive, and easiest to skill chain with), and Greataxe (Great Axe) (mid-range level and damage though high delay, but mid-range priced).
The problem with pioneering new game features is that you don't have a guide to follow or reliable information to fall back on. It's trial and error. Fortunately for others, there are people like me who document this stuff so that others can learn from our mistakes and not make them themselves. And, I've made several mistakes with this quest so far. ^^ It is my sincere hope those who read this journal are advancing their NPCs well. And, you're welcome.
- The behavior of Fellowship NPCs has been adjusted.
- Fellowship NPCs will now disappear after defeating a predetermined number of enemies even if the NPC remains in battle mode. (This means only the first 15 kills will count even if Black Mages nuke to kill 16-20.)
- Signal pearls will now fail to activate when the number of members and Fellowship NPCs in a party totals six or more.
- An issue wherein the special properties of certain equipment intended to affect a player's wyvern or avatar extended to Fellowship NPCs has been addressed.
- When asking for a new signal pearl, the relationship between a player and a Fellowship NPC will now worsen slightly.
- After certain conditions are met, players will be able to keep their Fellowship NPC around for extended adventuring.
I read a report on Allakhazam that someone lost the ability to change his NPC's appearance (headgear) after dropping the pearl, but the NPC still had their headgear on. Later on, that same person reported that he got the option back later. He speculates that dropping a pearl costs the player seven or eight calls worth of relationship. He got these numbers because he had the appearance option for two days (four calls) before the patch, then got the option again 3 days later (three calls). This seems logical to me.
![[DIR]](http://web.mit.edu/icons/back.gif){kind=icon}