Rating: 
Summary: What it is lacking...
Review: 1)Detailed maps. Many of the maps that are provided are tiny. Monster spawn points in the game are rather consistent, it would have been ideal to mark out good hunting areas by level on each map.2)A more detailed bestiary. Monsters are listed as classes, however they only use a select few spells/abilities and this list is not given. Monsters that spawn in a particular place are generally one of three consecutive levels (7,8,9 or 3,4,5, etc), it would've been nice to have average life and defense/offense listed. Monsters also have specific resistances to spells (not just element resistance), these needed to be listed, but were not. Perhaps more on item drops is needed as well. 3)Detailed spell mechanics, currently the guide mentions no more about each spell than you can read on the spell scroll when you acquire one (basically no more information than what the spell does). Skill level and stats effect each spell differently and some not at all, it'd be nice to know how it works. 4)The job/subjob combinations listed are ok, but very incomplete. More detailed information can be found online. 5)Quest information is not as complete as it should be. Helpful information is very lacking, basically points out the aim of the quest and where the items/people can be found. No quest difficulty by level information. In a few quests rather important information is missing. To its merits:
Rather useful guild/synthesis information. However, everything else in this guide can be found easily for free elsewhere. 60% of it is general knoledge.
Rating: 
Summary: This book will get you to about lvl 30...
Review: And then you're on your own. This is not the worst thing ever. Naturally it would be a mistake if the strategy guide gave away ALL of the secrets of the game. But that is only the first mistake with this book. First, though, let's talk about the good things this strategy guide has to offer. First off, the book is chaptered off like an instruction manual with the early chapters dealing with "entering" the world of Vanadiel and getting around and along with the other players in the game. The subsequent chapters talk a lot about the jobs, the weapons, the armor, the scrolls, and all of the accessories you can acquire during your playing time. Toward the back end of the book, you get the starting missions for all of the cities and "some" of the quests for the major cities in Vanadiel (note that I say "some"). Finally you get a list of all the regions of Vanadiel and a list of all the monsters and guilds and such. Most of this information will serve you for the first 15-30 levels of the game, and then you can set it aside for a reference when need be. However, you're going to have a hard time using it as a "guide" for anything too complex because of the chaptered layout. If you need to find information linking weapon skills to skill chains to monster strength, you have to do a lot of flipping of pages to get the information you need. Also, if you want to check on weapons for certain jobs, they are not listed with the jobs, they are listed seperatly in the weapons section. Meaning you have to flip back and forth between the two sections to figure out if that's going to work for your character or job. Mr. Lummis, who has not really done strategy guides for RPG's before, can be forgiven (up to a point) for these small mistakes due to the fact that the guide is generally well written and does have some good advice. However, a section pertaining to ALL the job combos rather than a section of emoticons clearly listed in the much smaller (and free with the game) manual would have been a nice touch...or more detailed weapon/armor -> Job charts -> Magic charts (with strength/weakness indicators). Basically, hard core RPG'ers and DND'ers will feel had by this guide due to its simple "booklike" and not "guidelike" feel. However, if you are an rpg newbie looking for a rather well made life preserver to keep you afloat in the "make believe" world of Vanadiel...this is a good place to start. `Revu
Rating:
Summary: This book will get you to about lvl 30...
Review: And then you're on your own. This is not the worst thing ever. Naturally it would be a mistake if the strategy guide gave away ALL of the secrets of the game. But that is only the first mistake with this book. First, though, let's talk about the good things this strategy guide has to offer. First off, the book is chaptered off like an instruction manual with the early chapters dealing with "entering" the world of Vanadiel and getting around and along with the other players in the game. The subsequent chapters talk a lot about the jobs, the weapons, the armor, the scrolls, and all of the accessories you can acquire during your playing time. Toward the back end of the book, you get the starting missions for all of the cities and "some" of the quests for the major cities in Vanadiel (note that I say "some"). Finally you get a list of all the regions of Vanadiel and a list of all the monsters and guilds and such. Most of this information will serve you for the first 15-30 levels of the game, and then you can set it aside for a reference when need be. However, you're going to have a hard time using it as a "guide" for anything too complex because of the chaptered layout. If you need to find information linking weapon skills to skill chains to monster strength, you have to do a lot of flipping of pages to get the information you need. Also, if you want to check on weapons for certain jobs, they are not listed with the jobs, they are listed seperatly in the weapons section. Meaning you have to flip back and forth between the two sections to figure out if that's going to work for your character or job. Mr. Lummis, who has not really done strategy guides for RPG's before, can be forgiven (up to a point) for these small mistakes due to the fact that the guide is generally well written and does have some good advice. However, a section pertaining to ALL the job combos rather than a section of emoticons clearly listed in the much smaller (and free with the game) manual would have been a nice touch...or more detailed weapon/armor -> Job charts -> Magic charts (with strength/weakness indicators). Basically, hard core RPG'ers and DND'ers will feel had by this guide due to its simple "booklike" and not "guidelike" feel. However, if you are an rpg newbie looking for a rather well made life preserver to keep you afloat in the "make believe" world of Vanadiel...this is a good place to start. `Revu
Rating:
Summary: there is an updated verison
Review: because online games such as these change on a regular basis, this particular book is out of date as a newer version has been issued. also since there is another expansion for teh final fantasy 11 game called Chains of Permathia, another version, probably called fall 2004 will probably be released soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, for an instruction manual...
Review: FFXI is my first MMORPG that I've really gotten into, so I'm still learning the ins and outs that most MMORPG gamers take for granted as "Common Knowledge". I picked up this book to help me, and specifically, for maps and lists of items/spells/monsters etc... Unfortunately, I find the instruction manual that SHOULD have come with the game itself. Don't get me wrong, the info I wanted is in here but sadly, the maps are exactly the same ones as the in game maps, with no added information to help you out. The book gave me some really good tips and hints, but its mainly a beginners guide, don't expect it to go far into telling you how to do quests or items worth's etc... Its a good book for a beginner, but if you're not a beginner like me, its really a useless book for you, its disappointing, most of the stuff in this guide really should have been part of the manual that came with the game.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadful, and largely useless
Review: First of all, i would like to add that this guide is a complete rip-off. It only covers up to level 50, and wen it was released, half of the quests listed were incorrect. DO NOT BUY THIS. No use spending so much money on a guid that covers half the levels, no expansion areas, no enemy drops or pictures, and certainly didnt cover ANYTHING after lvl 50, including monsters. It is the worst guide I have ever seen
Rating:
Summary: worst guide EVER
Review: First of all, i would like to add that this guide is a complete rip-off. It only covers up to level 50, and wen it was released, half of the quests listed were incorrect. DO NOT BUY THIS. No use spending so much money on a guid that covers half the levels, no expansion areas, no enemy drops or pictures, and certainly didnt cover ANYTHING after lvl 50, including monsters. It is the worst guide I have ever seen
Rating:
Summary: What guide?
Review: First off I don't want to sound unreasonable....that being said...this guide pretty much sux. In truth, the come-with documentation for the game sucked even more but this is supposed to be a guide. I know there is a TON of information to deal with in this game and to put all of it together would leave you with something resembling War & Peace but this guide is all but useless, especially at higher levels. If you're looking for a cursory overview of the game and its concepts AND you have some cash to burn than pick it up. If you are looking for anything approaching an in depth catalog of creatures or items or quests than this will leave YOU feeling burned. The maps are helpful for sure and for a newb this guide may help for a while but in the end you will find yourself frantically flipping thru pages looking for info that's just not there. My question is "Will anyone be doing a proper FF XI guide"?
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: Have played PC games since 1984 and have bought more then my fair share of Strategy Guides. This is among the best, if not "The Best" Strategy Guide I have ever owned. It is highly detailed and unlike so many other MMORPG's, FFXI has been out in Japan for over a year, so the information in this book is up to date. There is fantastic information on everything, including differences in races, jobs, spell listings, weapon tables, monster tables, full Bestirary, complete crafting, etc.etc.... more then I can write in this review. Also included is a detailed table on Skill Chains and Magic Bursts. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Good to have around, but...
Review: I think anyone that plays this game should have this book around, especially if you are new to RPGs. It's a good guide to have on hand for quick references and basic information. I gave it 4 stars because it tends to be a little too basic here and there, and some of the missions could use a little more detail. You will find out when you start playing the game that there are lots of key details missing in the book. But, there are tons of sites on the internet out there to give you all of those extra details... and other players in the game will help you out as well.
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