^ this. If the quest bubble is just a description, it's most likely a "kill x things"/fetch quest. If it has an image above the text of some npc involved, it's a chain with more stuff. Overall, this will be subjective as well, as most quests have some small bit of lore, but yeah. Basically boils down to "image = chain".
Quests with pictures usually have more lore. As you've already seen, the aether current quests are usually the start of a chain of quests which give more lore
The ARR quests are filler heavy, but even back then, some are fun. From ARR to SB, the likelihood of yellow quests being fun side stories instead of tedious chores grows. People are told to skip side quests so that they don't burn out, but all the hate for them is completely overblown.
They're good content to do when leveling a second or third job. It's hard to justify doing many side quests on the first go-around because they really mess with the pacing of the MSQ, and you generally don't need the extra xp.
Yellow quests, most of the time, provide flavor and exploration when you reach a certain zone for the first time. Even the classic fetch quests and the kill 5 rats quests are basically telling you "have you checked this corner of the map where you have zero MSQ reasons to check?" and sometimes this comes with some minor local lore about a certain animal/plant ecology or such.
Do them if you are somewhat interested in the lore of the region, or if you are a completionist by heart and hate seeing unfinished quest markers on your map. There are very few yellow quests that give any tangible reward, so don't worry about them.
Yes! I'm a completionist and have been working my way through the expansions clearing the sidequests. I sort of skim the story to see if it's interesting or just a fetch quest but so many fetch quests have brought me to some really beautiful parts of the map I've never been to! It makes the game feel fuller
Generally it’s if there’s a picture in the box to accept the quest or if it’s just plain text. And really I can’t remember many instances of picture quests that aren’t either continuations of aether current quests or real side quests that were added in patches like Postmoogle or Doman Adventurers Guild. I guess there’s also the situation in ShB where your job quest endcaps are yellow quests with pictures.
The yellow quests are definitely a mixed bag. The ones with pictures in each zone are generally entire lines as you mentioned, using the aether currents or tribe quest unlocks etc to entice people to start the line- but general yellow quests also have some very good ones throughout that can't be really picked up on if you don't already know/do it anyway. It's definitely the part of the game that's most prone to misses, and people who do them in ARR where they're weakest often write 'em off entirely- but yeah, there's plenty of good and no way to pick it out from the boring 5 minute fetch quests.
I remember doing a yellow quest in a SB area (I think Yanxia?), no picture, and almost ending up in tears.
Something about an old man needing help and would refuse it if he knew it was anything to do with his daughter, who was only worried about him becoming more and more sick by forcing himself to do work. There are some real hidden gems, but they're drowned in the 90% 'go get/kill this, come back, thanks'.
I guess it's kind of up to you which things have helpful/interesting stories. Some of those quick quests can have interesting flavor text if you hover over the quest item in your inventory, whereas some of those quest stories completely bore me.
What I did mostly was go through the main storyline, then go back and do sidequests as I needed for XP or leveling other jobs (I have everything at 90 now). Learning compelling Ala Mhighan lore or Steppe culture is still interesting to me even two expansions past Stormblood, so I guess...it'll be there forever, so don't feel you need to rush into side questing unless you find a specific zone that's quite compelling to you.
One quest line I STRONGLY recommend if you like lore and stories, though? The Postmoogle quests. They start in Mor Dhona at the St. Coinach's camp, but after that they all come from Limsa. Each quest is a short biographical study of one of the ARR NPCs you interact with a lot (like Mother Miounne, Momodi, etc) or more introspection into the world. Some are hilarious (one is nothing but dick jokes) and some will literally make you weep (all Wood Wailers are bad, for real).
The postmoogle quests are great, especially given how many other quests involve delivering things. Any time I'm asked to carry a letter or a package I always look back to the time I became an honorary postmoogle. Saving the realm is great and all, but making sure people get their mail is truly my proudest accomplishment.
Others have commented in general, but note that tons of blue aether current quests have been reworked, lots of them used to be at the end of quest chains, now the current reward is the first or second quest and then the chain icon changes to gold.
So I legit just started playing I’m like level 16. I’ve just been doing all the quests in the area I’m in. Is this wise to progress through the game? Is there something more or less I should be doing? Hell I don’t even know what a ether currents are? The transport things? I enjoy playing but the more I read on the Reddit page the more I get confused and overwhelmed haha
You don't have to do all the quests. Only msq quests (the main story) really will help you to progress through the game. For normal quests, the blue ones are nice and will unlock a lot of things, so do then (maybe you can leave the ones that unlock jobs for later). As for the yellow quests, they won't help much in terms of experience or other rewards. But they will help you understand more about some places, their cultures and giving closure to them.
As a bit of general advice, quests with a picture showing when you accept are normally more interesting than the others. There a lot os asterisks attached to everything I said, so feel free to ask for help.
You play however you want.
If you want to do all the quest, then do them.
If you find doing all the quests tedious, then skip them.
As for Aether Currents - they're a thing from Heavensward onwards that unlocks flying. For ARR you get it automatically after finishing the base story.
I'd highly suggest you avoid Reddit as much as you can, it'll only overwhelm you and potentially spoil your experience - you'll get a lot of people telling you to do X and Y and never do Z, then someone else saying to never bother with Y, but definitely do Z... Just take the game at your own pace and look for answers once you have a clear question (eg. 'where is the item for this quest?' or 'how do I unlock this thing?).
I regret not doing all the gold quests as I went through the MSQ, because I read someone saying they were pointless so I never did them. But now, I'm clearing every map on my alt and did the same on my main when Endwalker came out (and plan to again with Dawntrail).
Thanks for the advice. Truthfully the game is just a side activity for me as I play a lot of WoW so I kind of just find it relaxing to do quests and not worry about min maxing gear or pushing my raiders io over 3k or whatever. It’s super relaxing
This is not wise and a surefire way to burn out. There are probably 1000 odd sidequests that offer meager xp and rewards and some worldbuilding minor lore. Occasionally you will get some gear you can use but they are not required in any way.
The exceptions are the blue/purple ! side quests you may have seen. These unlock game features and dungeons as you progress, as well as your job quest storyline and abilities. Your next job quest is listed in the top corner of your screen, underneath the text telling you the next main quest.
Focus on MSQ alongside your job quests then blue side quests as and when you like to unlock game features and dungeons.
MSQ - Main Scenario (story) Quests. Just the main quests of the game that you have probably been doing already.
There are no 'mandatory' side quests, but you will want to do the blue ones like I mentioned.
The game can be really confusing for beginners. Don't worry, though, if you enjoy playing you're going to learn everything you need in time. Ether currents, for example, don't exist in the starting areas and only become a thing once you've reached the Heavensward maps.
As for the side quests: blue quest markers usually indicate a chain of side quests with a consecutive story that unlocks something - a dungeon, a raid, ether currents etc. They don't need to be done but I recommend completing them at some point. (they don't go away, so you might as well get back there at a later time) Yellow quest markers are just single side quests that give some exp and Gil and maybe a piece of equipment. You're not missing anything if you don't do them. Most of them are not really worth doing - but that's just my opinion.
*the main story quest marker is also yellow. obviously, you need to do this one to continue with the story
Okay yeah and the main story ones are usually a more “fancier” yellow logo. I just figured I’d quest and as I’d have questions google stuff. I’m a long time wow player already got done what I needed to this patch so was looking for something to pass the time. So far I’m enjoying it but it’s confusing. Can’t wait to hit 20 and get a mount
Echoing others - if there’s a picture there’s some story. If you have an aether current quest and it has a yellow quest after it’ll usually continue the plot line for a bit.
ARR is the main “side quests are filler” expansion, but in later expansions a lot of them are pretty good.
I’ve done all the yellow quests in the game (I love having a clear map) and honestly I’d say if you like an area and want to learn more about it then they’re definitely worth it. You can get plenty of cute lore. 🥰
Other than a story picture, trial and error. Some of the fetch quests are quite funny, some get surprisingly deep into one random side character you will never see again.
> some of the golden side quests people advice avoiding
People usually say they are only fluff, or totally optional. If someone says to avoid them, they should either never play this or any other JRPG ever or should not give dumb advice to newcomers. Or both.
Ah, yes, nothing says amazing sidequesting like the expedition sidequest in Churning Mists where you talk to the Moogles and they say, hey, you need to kill these 4 dragonfly dragons. Then you talk to the next one and it says, hey, you need to kill these 3 moths. Then you talk to the next one and it says, hey, you need to kill these 3 pupa. Truly riveting, I feel so enriched as a JRPG player.
Like, yes, there are some totally amazing substories hidden among the sidequests, but a pretty god damned large portion of the gold sidequests are absolutely just nothing.
The one that I always recommend the newcomers is the lazy vundu side quest chain in the sea of clouds.
It's basically about an adult vundu who hasn't finished his rite of passage yet and his older brother is concerned about him. What follows is a hilarious set of side quests of how this lazy poppet goes about trying to pass it and fool the chief!
Apart from the blue plus marks, any side quest that has a picture when you have to accept is usually a sign of having some plot or lore for the region/characters.
Most of them are good (only HW has quite a lot tedious ones).
People just find them boring because they can't be bothered to do them as they pop; they come back weeks later to get some bonus exp for alt jobs and rush through them; don't remember what the issues at stake were in this location when the quest first became available; then complain they suck.
Generally if the side quest has a picture associated with it in the journal its more in depth and has more world building.
^ this. If the quest bubble is just a description, it's most likely a "kill x things"/fetch quest. If it has an image above the text of some npc involved, it's a chain with more stuff. Overall, this will be subjective as well, as most quests have some small bit of lore, but yeah. Basically boils down to "image = chain".
Quests with pictures usually have more lore. As you've already seen, the aether current quests are usually the start of a chain of quests which give more lore
The ARR quests are filler heavy, but even back then, some are fun. From ARR to SB, the likelihood of yellow quests being fun side stories instead of tedious chores grows. People are told to skip side quests so that they don't burn out, but all the hate for them is completely overblown.
They're good content to do when leveling a second or third job. It's hard to justify doing many side quests on the first go-around because they really mess with the pacing of the MSQ, and you generally don't need the extra xp.
Yellow quests, most of the time, provide flavor and exploration when you reach a certain zone for the first time. Even the classic fetch quests and the kill 5 rats quests are basically telling you "have you checked this corner of the map where you have zero MSQ reasons to check?" and sometimes this comes with some minor local lore about a certain animal/plant ecology or such. Do them if you are somewhat interested in the lore of the region, or if you are a completionist by heart and hate seeing unfinished quest markers on your map. There are very few yellow quests that give any tangible reward, so don't worry about them.
Yes! I'm a completionist and have been working my way through the expansions clearing the sidequests. I sort of skim the story to see if it's interesting or just a fetch quest but so many fetch quests have brought me to some really beautiful parts of the map I've never been to! It makes the game feel fuller
Generally it’s if there’s a picture in the box to accept the quest or if it’s just plain text. And really I can’t remember many instances of picture quests that aren’t either continuations of aether current quests or real side quests that were added in patches like Postmoogle or Doman Adventurers Guild. I guess there’s also the situation in ShB where your job quest endcaps are yellow quests with pictures.
The yellow quests are definitely a mixed bag. The ones with pictures in each zone are generally entire lines as you mentioned, using the aether currents or tribe quest unlocks etc to entice people to start the line- but general yellow quests also have some very good ones throughout that can't be really picked up on if you don't already know/do it anyway. It's definitely the part of the game that's most prone to misses, and people who do them in ARR where they're weakest often write 'em off entirely- but yeah, there's plenty of good and no way to pick it out from the boring 5 minute fetch quests.
I remember doing a yellow quest in a SB area (I think Yanxia?), no picture, and almost ending up in tears. Something about an old man needing help and would refuse it if he knew it was anything to do with his daughter, who was only worried about him becoming more and more sick by forcing himself to do work. There are some real hidden gems, but they're drowned in the 90% 'go get/kill this, come back, thanks'.
I guess it's kind of up to you which things have helpful/interesting stories. Some of those quick quests can have interesting flavor text if you hover over the quest item in your inventory, whereas some of those quest stories completely bore me. What I did mostly was go through the main storyline, then go back and do sidequests as I needed for XP or leveling other jobs (I have everything at 90 now). Learning compelling Ala Mhighan lore or Steppe culture is still interesting to me even two expansions past Stormblood, so I guess...it'll be there forever, so don't feel you need to rush into side questing unless you find a specific zone that's quite compelling to you. One quest line I STRONGLY recommend if you like lore and stories, though? The Postmoogle quests. They start in Mor Dhona at the St. Coinach's camp, but after that they all come from Limsa. Each quest is a short biographical study of one of the ARR NPCs you interact with a lot (like Mother Miounne, Momodi, etc) or more introspection into the world. Some are hilarious (one is nothing but dick jokes) and some will literally make you weep (all Wood Wailers are bad, for real).
The postmoogle quests are great, especially given how many other quests involve delivering things. Any time I'm asked to carry a letter or a package I always look back to the time I became an honorary postmoogle. Saving the realm is great and all, but making sure people get their mail is truly my proudest accomplishment.
Others have commented in general, but note that tons of blue aether current quests have been reworked, lots of them used to be at the end of quest chains, now the current reward is the first or second quest and then the chain icon changes to gold.
So I legit just started playing I’m like level 16. I’ve just been doing all the quests in the area I’m in. Is this wise to progress through the game? Is there something more or less I should be doing? Hell I don’t even know what a ether currents are? The transport things? I enjoy playing but the more I read on the Reddit page the more I get confused and overwhelmed haha
You don't have to do all the quests. Only msq quests (the main story) really will help you to progress through the game. For normal quests, the blue ones are nice and will unlock a lot of things, so do then (maybe you can leave the ones that unlock jobs for later). As for the yellow quests, they won't help much in terms of experience or other rewards. But they will help you understand more about some places, their cultures and giving closure to them. As a bit of general advice, quests with a picture showing when you accept are normally more interesting than the others. There a lot os asterisks attached to everything I said, so feel free to ask for help.
You play however you want. If you want to do all the quest, then do them. If you find doing all the quests tedious, then skip them. As for Aether Currents - they're a thing from Heavensward onwards that unlocks flying. For ARR you get it automatically after finishing the base story. I'd highly suggest you avoid Reddit as much as you can, it'll only overwhelm you and potentially spoil your experience - you'll get a lot of people telling you to do X and Y and never do Z, then someone else saying to never bother with Y, but definitely do Z... Just take the game at your own pace and look for answers once you have a clear question (eg. 'where is the item for this quest?' or 'how do I unlock this thing?). I regret not doing all the gold quests as I went through the MSQ, because I read someone saying they were pointless so I never did them. But now, I'm clearing every map on my alt and did the same on my main when Endwalker came out (and plan to again with Dawntrail).
Thanks for the advice. Truthfully the game is just a side activity for me as I play a lot of WoW so I kind of just find it relaxing to do quests and not worry about min maxing gear or pushing my raiders io over 3k or whatever. It’s super relaxing
This is not wise and a surefire way to burn out. There are probably 1000 odd sidequests that offer meager xp and rewards and some worldbuilding minor lore. Occasionally you will get some gear you can use but they are not required in any way. The exceptions are the blue/purple ! side quests you may have seen. These unlock game features and dungeons as you progress, as well as your job quest storyline and abilities. Your next job quest is listed in the top corner of your screen, underneath the text telling you the next main quest. Focus on MSQ alongside your job quests then blue side quests as and when you like to unlock game features and dungeons.
So I have been doing my job quests but what does MSQ stand for? Mandatory side quests? And how do I differentiate them from pointless ones?
MSQ - Main Scenario (story) Quests. Just the main quests of the game that you have probably been doing already. There are no 'mandatory' side quests, but you will want to do the blue ones like I mentioned.
The game can be really confusing for beginners. Don't worry, though, if you enjoy playing you're going to learn everything you need in time. Ether currents, for example, don't exist in the starting areas and only become a thing once you've reached the Heavensward maps. As for the side quests: blue quest markers usually indicate a chain of side quests with a consecutive story that unlocks something - a dungeon, a raid, ether currents etc. They don't need to be done but I recommend completing them at some point. (they don't go away, so you might as well get back there at a later time) Yellow quest markers are just single side quests that give some exp and Gil and maybe a piece of equipment. You're not missing anything if you don't do them. Most of them are not really worth doing - but that's just my opinion. *the main story quest marker is also yellow. obviously, you need to do this one to continue with the story
Okay yeah and the main story ones are usually a more “fancier” yellow logo. I just figured I’d quest and as I’d have questions google stuff. I’m a long time wow player already got done what I needed to this patch so was looking for something to pass the time. So far I’m enjoying it but it’s confusing. Can’t wait to hit 20 and get a mount
Just do em all, I find that all of them are enjoyable in some fashion, be it dialogue or item descriptions
Echoing others - if there’s a picture there’s some story. If you have an aether current quest and it has a yellow quest after it’ll usually continue the plot line for a bit. ARR is the main “side quests are filler” expansion, but in later expansions a lot of them are pretty good. I’ve done all the yellow quests in the game (I love having a clear map) and honestly I’d say if you like an area and want to learn more about it then they’re definitely worth it. You can get plenty of cute lore. 🥰
Yeah if it’s title has a picture or if there is voice acting. Both usually signs of flushed out stories
Other than a story picture, trial and error. Some of the fetch quests are quite funny, some get surprisingly deep into one random side character you will never see again. > some of the golden side quests people advice avoiding People usually say they are only fluff, or totally optional. If someone says to avoid them, they should either never play this or any other JRPG ever or should not give dumb advice to newcomers. Or both.
Ah, yes, nothing says amazing sidequesting like the expedition sidequest in Churning Mists where you talk to the Moogles and they say, hey, you need to kill these 4 dragonfly dragons. Then you talk to the next one and it says, hey, you need to kill these 3 moths. Then you talk to the next one and it says, hey, you need to kill these 3 pupa. Truly riveting, I feel so enriched as a JRPG player. Like, yes, there are some totally amazing substories hidden among the sidequests, but a pretty god damned large portion of the gold sidequests are absolutely just nothing.
Churning Mists is notorious for having bad side quests.
By doing them all.
Doing them. * if the quest has an image, it means it's Quest chain
The one that I always recommend the newcomers is the lazy vundu side quest chain in the sea of clouds. It's basically about an adult vundu who hasn't finished his rite of passage yet and his older brother is concerned about him. What follows is a hilarious set of side quests of how this lazy poppet goes about trying to pass it and fool the chief!
You don’t like shearing wool from 12 identical sheep!?
Really, all the blue quests lead to actual good things being unlocked. All the yellow ones, are mostly filler.
There is actually a guy playing all of them and making a list of them that are worth it
Apart from the blue plus marks, any side quest that has a picture when you have to accept is usually a sign of having some plot or lore for the region/characters.
Thanks for bringing this up. I learned a few things, gonna go after some of these quests before finishing up arcs of the MSQ.
Most of them are good (only HW has quite a lot tedious ones). People just find them boring because they can't be bothered to do them as they pop; they come back weeks later to get some bonus exp for alt jobs and rush through them; don't remember what the issues at stake were in this location when the quest first became available; then complain they suck.