New player guide
guide ยท Server guide
Welcome to Vanadreams, a customised, non-profit fan server for Final Fantasy XI. This page walks you from nothing to standing in Vana'diel, then points you at the things that are a little different here. Take it at your own pace; nothing below is a test.
1. Get the launcher
- Use the Download the Vanadreams Launcher button on the front page of this site.
- Your browser may ask permission before it keeps the file. That is normal for any program you download; choose to keep it. The launcher is signed, so Windows can see who it comes from.
- If Windows still shows a warning the first time you run it, choose More info, then Run anyway.
- Run it. There is nothing to install. Drag it to your desktop to keep it handy; it updates itself from then on.
You need Windows 10 or 11. You do not need PlayOnline or a Square Enix account.
2. Install the game
- Press Setup and point it at a folder. It sets up the loader and everything the game runs through.
- Press Install game. It fetches the whole game already matched to the server. A stopped download picks up where it left off, and Windows asks once, at the end, for permission to register it.
- Already have Final Fantasy XI installed? The launcher can play from your copy instead.
- Press Play.
A new install starts with only three addons switched on, all made for Vanadreams: the music player, a merit-window fix and an Auction House search button. Everything else is off until you tick it on the Addons page and press Save. See Launcher: which addons are on.
3. Make your character
The first time you press Play, the loader asks you to create an account. Pick a name and password, then make your character the way you always have.
- Right after character creation and the opening scene you are asked "Customize your look further?" Say yes to open the Stylist Moogle's menu, or visit the Stylist Moogle later. It is free, as often as you like. See Stylist Moogle.
- Your nation's opening cutscene gives you an Adventurer Coupon. Keep a free inventory slot so it is not lost.
- Every character also starts with a pearl for VanaNews, the server's linkshell. Wear it and say hello.
After that it is just Play.
4. Your first steps
- Follow your nation's beginner tutorial. Finishing it earns the Echad Ring, and the full walkthrough is in the next section.
- Get your nation's Trust permit along the way, and call your first Alter Egos. See Trusts (Alter Egos).
- Type !hangout to visit the Rolanberry bazaar hangout, where most of the useful people stand in one corridor. See The Rolanberry bazaar hangout.
5. Your first quest: the Echad Ring tutorial
Every new character can do this quest, in any of the three starting nations. It is a gentle string of small jobs, and each one pays out as you go. The last step gives you the Echad Ring: equip it and use it for +150% experience until you have earned 30,000 EXP or 12 hours pass. See Tutorial Mini-Quest for the quest entry.
Who to talk to
- San d'Oria: Alaune, Southern San d'Oria (G-10)
- Bastok: Gulldago, Bastok Markets (D-11)
- Windurst: Selele, Windurst Woods (K-10)
Talk to your guide twice to get started, then return to them after each step below.
Step | What to do | Reward |
1 | Get Signet from a gate guard in your nation. | Meat Jerky x6 |
2 | Eat some food. | |
3 | Learn a weapon skill by raising a weapon skill a little. | 100 gil |
4 | Activate Records of Eminence to receive your memorandoll. | Starter items and a crystal (the items depend on your nation) |
5 | Use an Auction House counter. | Conquest promotion voucher |
6 | Reach level 5. | Raising Earring |
7 | Get your nation's Trust permit (see Trusts below). | Warp Ring |
8 | Check the Survival Guides in the two places listed below. | Saltena x12 |
9 | Reach level 18. | Copper A.M.A.N. Voucher |
10 | Set a support job. | Echad Ring and 12 Chocopasses |
Survival Guides for step 8
- Bastok: Bastok Mines, then North Gustaberg
- San d'Oria: Northern San d'Oria, then West Ronfaure
- Windurst: Port Windurst, then West Sarutabaruta
Tips
- Keep a free slot for each reward.
- Steps 2 to 5 take minutes. Steps 6, 9 and 10 come naturally as you level, so just come back when you reach them.
- The Trust permit comes from your nation's Trust quest. For the NPCs, see Trusts (Alter Egos).
- Prefer the old-school slower climb? The Classic EXP band page covers that.
More on the starter gifts: New Adventurer Starter Gifts.
6. What is different here
You will feel most of these without trying. None of them need a manual.
Rates
- Experience, Records of Eminence, TP and item drops are at the standard rate.
- Capacity points are 10x.
- About 1 in 2 monsters leaves a Treasure Casket.
- Monsters are a little tougher: regular monsters have +15% HP and +20% stats, notorious monsters +10% of each.
The full list is on Server rates and TP gain.
Classic mode
Want the old-school climb, with your level held at 75 until you finish that era's content? Talk to MiniFerrin, the automaton outside your Mog House, before any job passes level 30. See Classic mode.
Wear your support job's gear
Your main job can wear the weapons and armour that your support job can wear. A Black Mage with Warrior support can swing a great axe. Put the gear on through your own vanagear sets. See Wearing your support job's gear.
vanagear
Tick vanagear in the launcher's Addons page and type /vg in game. It builds gear sets for your job and level and swaps them for you. /vg help lists the commands that mean something for your job. See vanagear (gear swapping addon).
Trusts
All 122 Trusts are available, each with its own job and abilities. Start with the Trust quest in your nation's capital. See Trusts (Alter Egos).
The hangout: !hangout
Type !hangout, or zone out of Lower Jeuno into Rolanberry Fields, and you arrive at the top of the old bazaar street. Walk south and you pass:
- the Auction Moogle for the Auction House and Mog House menu,
- the Login Moogle for the Login Campaign exchange,
- the Survival Guide and a Home Point crystal,
- the Mog Bonanza plaza,
- the Stylist Moogle and MiniFerrin (Classic mode),
- the Bank Clerk,
- Montblanc and the Clan Provisioner (Clan Centurio),
- the Training Moogle, who spawns a crab to practise your skills on,
- the bazaar shopkeepers.
The Bank Clerk
The Bank of Vana'diel lends gil, paid back automatically from your Auction House sales. If you need a little to get going on a big purchase, talk to the Bank Clerk at the hangout. See Bank of Vana'diel loans.
The Auction House
Every Auction House shares one market, and a trading bot keeps it stocked and buys what you sell, so common items are always there and your drops always have a buyer. The launcher's DreamyAH addon adds a search window. See Auction House.
Login points
Log in once a day to earn login points, then spend them with a Greeter Moogle. The Login Moogle at the hangout has the same menu, and also takes Beastmen's and Kindred's Seals for 10 points each. See Login Campaign rewards.
Stylist Moogle: hair and faces
Change your face style and hair colour whenever you like, free of charge, at the Stylist Moogle in the hangout. See Stylist Moogle.
7. Meet MiniFerrin and VanaNews
- VanaNews is the server linkshell. Everything said in it also appears in the VanaNews thread on the Vanadreams Discord a few seconds later. Discord messages do not reach the game, so to talk back you need to be in game.
- MiniFerrin is the AI who hangs out in VanaNews. He answers when you name him (MiniFerrin, MiniF, mf) or send him a /tell, answers questions about the game and the server (in Japanese too), and cheers you on before big fights. In the world he is an automaton, and he also runs the Classic mode desk. See MiniFerrin's small talk and VanaNews on Discord.
8. If something goes wrong
- If you disconnect or the screen freezes, close the game and log straight back in. See Disconnects (R0) and logging back in.
- If you are stuck, ask in game in VanaNews, or in the Vanadreams Di [cut off]