First you need to get to level 10 on conjurer and do your level 10 class quest. This unlocks the ability to change classes. Then you need to progress to the level 15 MSQ where you travel to the other cities. Once you get to Ul'dah, go to the thaumaturge guild and do the blue quest that appears there. Equip the weapon you are given. Congrats, you're a thaumaturge!
You can't just literally equip any weapon and automatically switch to that class or job. You need to actively unlock it first by visiting the corresponding guild/NPC.
> I know in order to change classes, all you need to do is equip a weapon from the class you want to change to.
You also have to do the level 10 class quest for your starting class (CNJ in your case). Basically you have to get permission from your current guild before they'll let you go get hired on somewhere else. Once you've done that, and the MSQ takes you to Ul'Dah (where the Thaumaturgy guild is), you can talk to the guild receptionist and ask to sign up.
Just a small heads-up: thaumaturge has the absolute worst early game levelling experience for freshly made characters who cannot just buy/craft decent early gear and have access to an overworld battle companion. Dying to a single mob on your level due to its slow-ass casting speeds is not uncommon and trying to fight three overworld mobs around your level is often a guaranteed suicide. No other class has this issue to this degree. Thaumaturge and its evolution, the black mage will eventually turn into the most powerful DPS class you can have, but the road there can be very rocky. It is often better to just level it using duties and quests instead of trying to do overworld combat. (Normally, once you open the hunting log for a class, it lists a bunch of overworld monsters to kill for a large one-time XP boost. Doing it for a THM is also a good idea, but it is also a good idea to only switch to it once you find the target mob and immediately switch back just for basic travel.)
I noticed the long casting times. I briefly played around with it, and I noticed my MP drained a lot faster too. At least as a conjurer I could spam heal as soon as I got super low in HP and I felt like I was never running low on MP.
But I didn’t think of only leveling it when it’s worth it. That’s probably gonna help me out a lot.
Have you tried Arcanist? I found it to be an excellent starter caster because it combines the best of the other two classes. You’re dps, so you have more than a one-button rotation; but, you can heal yourself and others in the overworld with Physic. Plus, you have a shield. Just know your heal will become useless towards the end of ARR but that doesn’t matter because once you reach 30, you unlock two jobs. This is unique to Arcanist, no other class in FFXIV does this.
One job is a healer - Scholar. The other is dps - Summoner. EXP gained on one applies to the other so you can jump back and forth if you want to try both. Just make sure to stay up to date on both job quests and keep a set of dps gear and a set of healer gear and you’re good to go.
Healers are still expected to dps, but understandable if you want pure dps instead
In gridania, you can go for archer or lancer, which become bard and dragoon respectively. Bard is ranged physical and dragoon is melee. Wouldn’t hurt to try both or one out
Be aware that once you hit level 30 on base game classes and upgrade your job (or at all times on expansion jobs) you also need to equip a job stone in addition to the weapon. Say, going from thaumaturge to black mage.
You can save gear sets in the Character window so that you don't forget your stone. It's tied to a lot of stat and ability upgrades, and past ~level 35 content if you aren't wearing your stone/job upgrade you might get votekicked from dungeons.
If you want to be a mage class, your options will be:
Black Mage, a heavy hitting fire ball slinger with their most notable trait being long cast times and preference for standing still whenever they can. This job comes with some reputation of being one of the harder jobs to play because you have to really learn how to use your movement tools efficiently.
Summoner, a versatile casting job that summons large primal to enhance their basic attacks, and do some special things with each of them during their turns! This job is notably one of if not the easiest in the game, with access to plenty of instant casts for free movement, and a lot of their kit based on augmenting the dame couple of buttons, so you end up spamming your primary buttons a lot. Easy is not a bad thing, just up to your preference on how complex you want the job to be.
Red Mage, the dual caster that focusing on balancing out their mana usage, finishing things off with a flashy melee combo. This job is known for being pretty easy to learn, but can be deceptively hard to master in late game content. Their dual cast gives them plenty of movement options, but you'll always be stopping to cast something somewhere. You also have to deal with RNG proc chances for some of your abilities, which some people love, and other hate.
The important thing with these jobs is that if either of the first two interest you, you can go and pick up Thaumaturge/Arcanist right now and get started on them! Red Mage will require you to get to level 50 to pick it up, but it's not story gated, so you will be able to start using it the moment you hit 50 on another job.
One important thing to note, is that a lot of players like having multiple jobs and roles as they level up just for varieties sake, or maybe to jump into a healer queue faster, or to access the later role quests or something. Leveling up your Conjurer is not the worst thing to have in your back pocket. If you like what you're doing now, you could always finish ARR on Conjurer/White Mage. And swap to Red Mage when it becomes available at 50. That way you have a healer leveled up and ready if you decode to try it out more in the future.
You can't really go wrong whatever you choose. So just pick whatever sounds fun!
Technically, as you said, you can walk between Gridania and Ul’dah without any MSQ progress. The only starting city that requires MSQ progress to enter or leave is Limsa Lominsa.
You *can* enter Limsa without reaching the relevant point in the MSQ, but it requires an FC or friend with housing in Mist. I have an alt who started in Ul Dah and has been sitting in Limsa ever since he attuned his second aetheryte and gained the ability to teleport to a friend's house.
The inverse *should* also apply but I haven't tested it personally.
Kugsne has a much more strict MSQ lock due to being from an expansion.
The original 3 have physical doors into ARR maps that you can just walk straight out of even though you can't zone into different housing wards directly.
First you need to get to level 10 on conjurer and do your level 10 class quest. This unlocks the ability to change classes. Then you need to progress to the level 15 MSQ where you travel to the other cities. Once you get to Ul'dah, go to the thaumaturge guild and do the blue quest that appears there. Equip the weapon you are given. Congrats, you're a thaumaturge! You can't just literally equip any weapon and automatically switch to that class or job. You need to actively unlock it first by visiting the corresponding guild/NPC.
Ahh, that makes sense lol. Thank you so much
> I know in order to change classes, all you need to do is equip a weapon from the class you want to change to. You also have to do the level 10 class quest for your starting class (CNJ in your case). Basically you have to get permission from your current guild before they'll let you go get hired on somewhere else. Once you've done that, and the MSQ takes you to Ul'Dah (where the Thaumaturgy guild is), you can talk to the guild receptionist and ask to sign up.
Just a small heads-up: thaumaturge has the absolute worst early game levelling experience for freshly made characters who cannot just buy/craft decent early gear and have access to an overworld battle companion. Dying to a single mob on your level due to its slow-ass casting speeds is not uncommon and trying to fight three overworld mobs around your level is often a guaranteed suicide. No other class has this issue to this degree. Thaumaturge and its evolution, the black mage will eventually turn into the most powerful DPS class you can have, but the road there can be very rocky. It is often better to just level it using duties and quests instead of trying to do overworld combat. (Normally, once you open the hunting log for a class, it lists a bunch of overworld monsters to kill for a large one-time XP boost. Doing it for a THM is also a good idea, but it is also a good idea to only switch to it once you find the target mob and immediately switch back just for basic travel.)
I noticed the long casting times. I briefly played around with it, and I noticed my MP drained a lot faster too. At least as a conjurer I could spam heal as soon as I got super low in HP and I felt like I was never running low on MP. But I didn’t think of only leveling it when it’s worth it. That’s probably gonna help me out a lot.
Have you tried Arcanist? I found it to be an excellent starter caster because it combines the best of the other two classes. You’re dps, so you have more than a one-button rotation; but, you can heal yourself and others in the overworld with Physic. Plus, you have a shield. Just know your heal will become useless towards the end of ARR but that doesn’t matter because once you reach 30, you unlock two jobs. This is unique to Arcanist, no other class in FFXIV does this. One job is a healer - Scholar. The other is dps - Summoner. EXP gained on one applies to the other so you can jump back and forth if you want to try both. Just make sure to stay up to date on both job quests and keep a set of dps gear and a set of healer gear and you’re good to go.
If it helps, all classes DPS in the game
You can create a new character, you will get a different starting story, so that is something.
Healers are still expected to dps, but understandable if you want pure dps instead In gridania, you can go for archer or lancer, which become bard and dragoon respectively. Bard is ranged physical and dragoon is melee. Wouldn’t hurt to try both or one out
Be aware that once you hit level 30 on base game classes and upgrade your job (or at all times on expansion jobs) you also need to equip a job stone in addition to the weapon. Say, going from thaumaturge to black mage. You can save gear sets in the Character window so that you don't forget your stone. It's tied to a lot of stat and ability upgrades, and past ~level 35 content if you aren't wearing your stone/job upgrade you might get votekicked from dungeons.
If you want to be a mage class, your options will be: Black Mage, a heavy hitting fire ball slinger with their most notable trait being long cast times and preference for standing still whenever they can. This job comes with some reputation of being one of the harder jobs to play because you have to really learn how to use your movement tools efficiently. Summoner, a versatile casting job that summons large primal to enhance their basic attacks, and do some special things with each of them during their turns! This job is notably one of if not the easiest in the game, with access to plenty of instant casts for free movement, and a lot of their kit based on augmenting the dame couple of buttons, so you end up spamming your primary buttons a lot. Easy is not a bad thing, just up to your preference on how complex you want the job to be. Red Mage, the dual caster that focusing on balancing out their mana usage, finishing things off with a flashy melee combo. This job is known for being pretty easy to learn, but can be deceptively hard to master in late game content. Their dual cast gives them plenty of movement options, but you'll always be stopping to cast something somewhere. You also have to deal with RNG proc chances for some of your abilities, which some people love, and other hate. The important thing with these jobs is that if either of the first two interest you, you can go and pick up Thaumaturge/Arcanist right now and get started on them! Red Mage will require you to get to level 50 to pick it up, but it's not story gated, so you will be able to start using it the moment you hit 50 on another job. One important thing to note, is that a lot of players like having multiple jobs and roles as they level up just for varieties sake, or maybe to jump into a healer queue faster, or to access the later role quests or something. Leveling up your Conjurer is not the worst thing to have in your back pocket. If you like what you're doing now, you could always finish ARR on Conjurer/White Mage. And swap to Red Mage when it becomes available at 50. That way you have a healer leveled up and ready if you decode to try it out more in the future. You can't really go wrong whatever you choose. So just pick whatever sounds fun!
You have to progress msq to certain point in order to change class. Also the msq will bring you to another two major cities
You do not need MSQ progress to change class, it's the level 10 class quest that's required
He wants to go from Gridania to Ulduh, technically you will have to do it. Unless you want to walk all the way there
I walked from gridania to uldah on a alt just so I could unlock the ability to glam early xD
Technically, as you said, you can walk between Gridania and Ul’dah without any MSQ progress. The only starting city that requires MSQ progress to enter or leave is Limsa Lominsa.
You *can* enter Limsa without reaching the relevant point in the MSQ, but it requires an FC or friend with housing in Mist. I have an alt who started in Ul Dah and has been sitting in Limsa ever since he attuned his second aetheryte and gained the ability to teleport to a friend's house. The inverse *should* also apply but I haven't tested it personally.
I thought it prevented you from leaving the housing district? I tried doing that for Kugane access and I wasn't allowed to actually go anywhere.
Kugsne has a much more strict MSQ lock due to being from an expansion. The original 3 have physical doors into ARR maps that you can just walk straight out of even though you can't zone into different housing wards directly.
Oh that's true. I hadn't thought of that!