Altepa v. GarlaigeFollow

This is exactly my point. Yet everyone DOES go to Garlaige while there is this great spot, Altepa, toltaly empty.

Another thing I don't understand is why so many people don't have the gate crystal. All you have to do is go from a STARTING CITY through Zeruhn (sp?) mines, Korrokloka tunnel (whic for the most part has VALKURM level enemys), and then Eastern to Western Altepa desert. Altepa is soooo wide open you don't have to worry about aggro. The only place you do is Korrokloka tunnel and all you'll need is a couple prism powders and silent oils... or a WHM to sneak/invis.

OK, Garlaige can be a nightmare if you are camping the wrong spot, and/or if you have a bad puller. Simply don't camp on or near the stairs. There are plenty of other camps there. One is directly south of the stairs (dead south, all the way), you will have to make you way through two rooms to the right to avoid a unpassable hole in the floor, use sneak or oils. Take the time, spend the money on oils or whatever, and you won't be dissapointed. I will never camp on or near the stairs again.

Another camp is right next too the banishing door. This camp can support 2 parties, sometimes two is even better than one, to help clear out possible links. There are a few more camps that are not near the stairs, and will not get any trains, but do require sneak and a little walk to get there.


That being said, Altep is my favorite. Big open space, killer ex, minimal trains (which can be easily avoided), rarely and competition, and if ex slows down, just jump over to W. Altep.

Also, I have not read any mention of the entrance of SSG in Yut Jungle. I personally have had great experiences there. You do not need anything more than a Cho to get there, and there are never parites there. The place can support 2, maybe 3 parties. As with Altep, if ex gets slow, just cross over into SSG. Very easy access for newb and experienced player alike.

Garlaige Citadel:

Good points:
--Close to Jeuno & easily accessable by walking or Chocobo.
--A lot or most players at around levels 32-35 or 48-51 party there--usually easier to get party there.
--All said, the zone to Sauromugue is close by, at least for the lower level parties on the top level.
--The bottom level is an excellent place to party from about 46-50.

Bad Points:
--Ungodly, Narrow Hallways on the upper levels.
--Usually Overcrowded.
--Crapload of Aggroing Mobs.
--Trains, trains and more trains.

Altepa:

Good points:
--Almost always uncrowded.
--Close to Rabao for supplies/job changes.
--Several Good places to level that are close to zone.

Bad points:
--Often quite difficult to get a full party to go there.
--The trip through Korroloka Tunnel (which is necessary the first time you go there) is a pain; finding the Altep Crag without a map is also a pain. This bad point is usually eliminated the first time you go there.
--The XP, at least in the zone part of the desert, drops off substantially after about 34.

My bottom line is, I will always prefer Altepa over Garlaige, but the last two times I have leveled at Garlaige (for my RDM and my BRD), it wasn't that bad. You will always hear horror stories about the trains, but then again you will hear much the same at Valkurm, Crawlers Nest and other places. If you choose your camp wisely, have a puller who's worth his or her salt and know when to call for help, Garlaige isn't nearly the hellhole that some players would have you believe.

--Chef

For garlaige:
-when you get there check to see if there is a PT at the first banishing gate
-if there isn't -> go there!

The banishing gate is awesome (no trains!!!) and allows you to get the best ininterrupted leveling in that area. I reccomend a PT 33 min and I think it tinkers out by 36-37. (32 can do it but IT++ with high evasion {no, thanks})

For altepa:
-good camps are north of the telepoint, E/W zone, north of the korroloka tunnel zone.
-level range is 32-35 on beetles (at 35 they decline somewhat), higher or lower do spiders or dhamel/antican, respectively.

other camps to think about:
-Behemoth's Dominion 34-36 (Gaylas)
-Zi'tah (gaylas)
-SSG zone
-CN entrance
-???

There are alot of options! make pt in jeuno and decide where you'd like to go. (/search 'area' see how many pt's are there before you leave)

If you want to get even more crazy, cater your pt to the skillchain the mobs will be most weak against (mnk>bones, rng>flies) and you'll be tearing it up in no time XD

Jatao, take it from your pal Grommmet here:

Most of these comments are correct. I'll try to distill them as follows:

1) Altepa is better. Better "XP value," IMO. Fewer links, virtually no trains. Rabao is pretty nearby.

But Altepa's also (considered to be) harder to travel to. Hence, it's harder to join "pickup" PTs there, and it (Altepa) is best reserved for when you have a solid 2-4 hour chunk of time AND SO DOES THE REST OF THE PT. Replacements CAN be had for Altepa PTs, but it's a lot harder, usually, to get them quickly than for Garbage parties.

2) (Flip side) Garlaige has more links and trains, and requires a lot more puller-skill. But it's considered quicker to get to than Altepa, and it's easy to get into a "pickup PT." You're more likely to encounter party-member-turnover in Garlaige, but then, it's usually easier to find replacement members than it is for an Altepa party.

So my bottom-line is, "try to get an Altepa PT first, before you 'settle for' one in Garlaige."

Jatao {Elvaan} {Paladin} {skill} {Impossible To Gauge}

PS: Jat, I'll be happy to take you get your Altepa tele-crystal (and then into nearby Rabao to get necessary maps). It means walking through the Korroloka Tunnel (blind; no map for you yet because said map is purchasable only in Rabao!) and across the desert (ditto).



Edited, Tue Mar 22 14:11:57 2005 by MJS

/wave Jatao, Grommet. Its me Gaf :D

One thing I noticed today when I was riding to get my yhoator gate crystal is that the same mobs that people fight in the mid 30's in CN are all over the place around the telepoint, yet no one was there leveling off them.

Theres alot of good leveling places in the game. Sometimes it requires a little footwork though.

Altepa anyday over Garliage. When theres too many people in the citadel, you always have the problem of chains. When levelling my initial job, I levelled in the citadel, when levelling SAM, I levelled in Altepa. Not onlyis the exp great, but the sole fact that the downtime is less than in the citadel. I reccomend anyone get the crystal for Altep, it has been more handy thene the crystal s of the other tele-points. Just my 2 gil.

I've had no help from a LS (mainly because the one I just quit was terrible with events/helping people) and I've leveled in Garlaige, and run to Altepa.

My party in Garlaige sucked. We had a THF who wouldn't SATA off me (First voke) unless he had enough to do a Weapon Skill, and he used flee randomly to run around for fun. We had good mages and a good NIN tank, but this THF managed to break the party apart after 2000 EXP. Also, when we got a replacement, someone trained citadel bats and tier II beetles, so we had to EXP off of Sauromugue stuff for a while.

Altepa, I went solo trying to get to Rabao. I was able to dodge aggro from EVERYTHING in the desert, except a sabotender. There were 2 parties at the zone, and rather than kill them I thought I'd hoof it to the crystal and tag it before I died. I died about 2 steps from the crystal, because either another Sabotender, or Cactrot Rapido himself linked with the Sabotender. Not the best experience in the world (-600 for the litteral people). I also hate how in order to get the map of Altepa, you need to run through it, that annoys me.

I prefer Altep.

Everytime I have partied in Garbage Citadel it has alway been a hastle. Too many people are camping the entrance or a party pulls a fallen major all the way to zone to mess with the lower level people.

In altep at the early levels you can camp the two different zone lines. The one at kor tunnel and the one close to the crystal. After xp drops there all you do is pop over to the other side and fight spiders for awhile. After spiders it is time to goto the zone line near the outpost. Dhamels for tp and goblins for good xp. At night make sure to pull back a bit so as not to aggro any lost souls from low hp. Around 40-41 you can start takeing the lost souls and lesser manticores in addition to the goblins. Next stop revelation rock for beetles.

The run to Rabao isn't too bad without a map.

When you come out of Kor tunnel stick to the right wall. Once you get out from the mouth of the tunnel just stay on the right wall until another cliff wall appears in front of you. Run to that wall and keep the wall on you right hand side. Just follow that wall until you come to a guard for what every city controls the region. Follow the tunnel down to zone. You can make this part of the run without sneek or invis if you are carefull. I usually wait until I see the first scorpion and then put sneek up to be on the same side.

After you zone in run up the tunel until you get to open air. Apply sneek and invis at this point (sneek is for the ants and invis is for the cactus that always seems to be there if I didn't use invis). Run along the cliff wall on the left side. When you get to the point that you can see a cliff wall jutting out like a penisula then make the mad dash across open sand to it. Keep the wall on you right side and follow it until you come to a tunnel. When you zone through the tunnel you are now in Rabao.

Maps are sold near the AH.

Grab a chocob and go get the telecrystal. Head back to where the guard was. Check you map and you should see a ruin SW of the guard. Chocob over to it and you should see the crystal at the bottom. Get off your chocob and grab the crystal.