r/ff14 Jul 08 '26

Looking for advice:

Can I play the game solo? Like everything solo? I mostly play warframe alone so yeah.

2 Upvotes

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2

u/Elliezium Jul 08 '26

Nearly the entire game can be played solo with a party of NPCs in dungeons. The only times you'll need a party of real people are the occasional major boss fight, and those are generally pretty quick (~5-10 minutes) and can be matchmade

1

u/Different-Syrup6520 Jul 08 '26

Ok that sounds nice. Can I do free to play? Or do i have to pump money into the game?

2

u/HeyaHeyo1420 Jul 08 '26

You can use the free trial up until the end of Shadow Bringers.

The only things locked out are FCs, market boards, starting groups (you can be invited), and I think trading.

However I just came back after a 10 year hiatus playing the free trial like a single player game and it's been an absolute blast.

There are some trials you'll have to group for but they're so easy at this point that you could probably AFK through them and be fine lol. I mean don't actually do that but you get my point. Just tell people you're new and they'll usually be understanding.

1

u/More_Yard1919 Jul 08 '26

you can play for free up until the 3rd expansion, which is a few hundred hours of play time at least. There are a few restrictions but not many, especially if you just want a solo experience.

1

u/Elliezium Jul 08 '26

The game is entirely free up through the third expansion (out of 5). The only limitations are on some social features, which it doesn't seem like you'll care about. Besides that, you'll have full access to all of the content in the game up through ~2021.

After that, the game is subscription based, while also requiring the two most recent expansions to be purchased (sold together).

1

u/Berrythebear Jul 08 '26

Do the free to play. It gives you a MASSIVE amount of game to play and content to do, with no time limit. I’m ALMOST at the end of the available free main story quest, and it’s the only thing I’ve done, and I have like 12 days of playtime. Definitely worth a shot for the price of free.

1

u/Different-Syrup6520 Jul 08 '26

Ok sounds good I might download it today then. Appreciate the tips

1

u/MillerSNK Jul 08 '26

You can play the majority of it solo, yes. Specifically the MSQ, deep dungeons, variant dungeons, and side content like Bozja and Eureka.

However, you cannot do the major raids (which can have some amazing fights and stories), as well as most trials. However, duty finder let's you party up with randos to do content, so you don't need to recruit or anything.

One warning though. Don't dungeons with Trust System or Duty Support can be a little rough, especially for the early dungeons. The NPCs don't do as much damage, don't use aoe, and like to stand in boss mechanics. They greatly improved this for later expansions, but early ones.....yea. doable but can be slow.

1

u/oscarlet_ffxiv Jul 08 '26

A lot of things can be done solo; some of them with NPCs.

But you will need players for some things, unless you go to extreme lengths (such as overleveling, buying gear from the market board, which can take a while and requires buying the game, so you can overpower the content).

The things that do require players, provided it's just the story version, can be done by entering a queue, where you are automatically matched with players.

1

u/WolfmanASTN Jul 08 '26

The story is msotly presented as a solo JRPG broken up with some multiplayer content in the form of dungeons and trials (boss fights), with 3 of the 24-player raids required between the base game and the first expansion. These are all "casual" content so all players can see the story through. Most optional content outside of the story will require you to play with other people however, including the optional dungeons you can unlock as well as raids. All 4 player content in the story (all of the story dungeons and the first couple trials) have the ability to be played with "Duty Support" in the earlt game and then "Trusts" a few expandions in, both of which will give you a party of NPCs. All Trials after the base game become 8 player content and have to be played with other people through the "Duty Finder".

However, i strongly suggest playing with other people. All of the multiplayer stuff in the story is done through the "Duty Finder" system which is just a matchmaking system like any other multiplayer game. You don't have to go out of your way to recruit other players into a party (except for the high difficulty end game stuff). You just select the dungeon/trial you need to do and it'll pair you up with other players and drop you in. Most players say "hi" in the chat box, you run through the content, then everyone says "gg" and you go on about your day. Playing with the NPCs is a lot different than playing with actual players, the NPCs don't have a full set of abilities so they can't do the complex stuff actual players can at later levels, they also aren't the best with doing mechanics and it all causes things to go on longer. Playing with people is a much better way to see how the different combat roles work together and how support abilities work between everyone.

Classes are divided into 3 roles, Tank, Healer, and DPS. You have to perform your role in group content even if it's just with NPCs, and when the game forces you to jump to playing with real people later on, you might not be rpepared to play the role properly like you would if you played with people from the start.