Character creation
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The Character creation tool is also available for free in the latest Final Fantasy XIV benchmark. Users can pre-create as many characters as they'd like and save presets for later import. These presets can be used during the actual in-game Character creation or for making Retainers. This is especially useful for trying to get into crowded servers at off-peak hours as it greatly speeds up the process.
This section will go on to explain how to create your character.
Manipulating the Character Creation Screen
Mouse and Keyboard
Dragging the mouse while holding down the left mouse button will rotate the camera. Dragging the mouse while holding down the right mouse button will rotate your character. You can also zoom in and out with the camera by scrolling the mouse wheel up and down. Holding down the mouse wheel and dragging the mouse will adjust the height of the camera.
Gamepad
Moving the left or right analog stick will rotate the camera. You can also zoom in and out by holding down LB and moving the right analog stick up and down.
Character Creation Screen Controls
1. Change background image.
2. Change character gear.
| Race | Displays default race gear. |
| Job | Displays job-specific gear. (Available only after selecting a class) |
| Smallclothes | Displays undergarments. (i.e., no gear equipped) |
3. Toggle between standing and unique character poses.
4. Return to the character selection screen. Current character progress will be lost.
| 1. After logging into the game, press START. * The title screen will change according to the entitlement status of your account. |
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| 2. Select New Character on the Character Selection screen. | 
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| 3. Select a race, clan, and gender. * Starting STR, DEX, VIT, INT, and MND attributes will differ depending on your race and clan. However, this difference is very minor. Gender has no effect on starting attributes. |
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| 4. Customize your character's appearance. | 
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| 5. Select your character's birthday and patron deity. * Some older guides refer to the elemental resistance of each patron deity. This has been removed from the game. |
 
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| 6. Select your character's starting class and city-state. About Classes In FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn, a character's class is determined by the weapon or tool they have equipped. Furthermore, a character's starting city will be determined by their starting class, as no starting city houses all class guilds. |
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| 7. Select a World for your character. About Worlds The World that your character will inhabit can be chosen during the character creation process. Worlds are divided into six different data centers based on the location of their servers. To ensure you encounter the fewest number of latency issues, it is recommended, but not required, that you select the group that is closer to where you will be playing. Legacy Worlds (servers existing since the original launch) are indicated in parenthesis. Also, your character's World can be confirmed by referring to the Character Selection screen or the "Welcome to [World name]!" message that is displayed upon logging into the game. * When creating a character, only Worlds associated with your selected data center will be available. Please choose carefully when seeking to play together with friends. |
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Playing With Friends
FINAL FANTASY XIV has been divided into several Data Centers, each containing several Worlds.
Players can enjoy the same story and game content regardless of which Data Center they choose to play on. However, it is not possible to play with players from different Regions.
To play together with friends, please make sure to create characters on the same World, or at least the same Region.
Although certain Data Centers are recommended for certain regions of the world, there are no region restrictions, and you may select any Data Center you choose.
Players on both the Windows, Mac, and PlayStation® platforms share the same Worlds.
Once you've selected a Home World for your character, you can freely travel to another World with the World Visit System or Data Center Travel System, but certain systems are only available on your Home World.
* Players in the same logical Data Center but on different Worlds may be matched together when using the duty finder.
Changing Home Worlds
Players may use an optional Home World transfer service to change Home Worlds (including moving to a different Data Center). Please note this transfer service will incur a fee.
To make use of the Home World transfer service, please proceed to the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station.
| 8. Enter a forename and surname for your character, and click Confirm. Forenames and surnames are restricted to 15 characters or less, with a combined limit of 20 characters. * No two players on the same World may have the same forename and surname. * * Players who cannot decide on a name may choose to have a name randomly generated based on their clan and gender. You are free to change the randomly generated name if you desire. |
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| 9. If you are satisfied with the character you have created, press OK to begin adventuring in the game. | 
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Legacy Character Transfers
Any pre-existing characters from Patch 1.23b will be present on the character selection screen. The names of characters transferred from Patch 1.23b will remain unchanged regardless of length.
Saving Character Appearance Data
Players can save the appearance of their characters and reuse them when creating additional characters.
* Please refer to the most recent patch notes for up-to-date information.
Character Creation Walkthrough
Final Fantasy XIV is just like any other MMO in existence, before you get started into the fantasy-filled world of an MMO, you've got to make yourself a character. Whether that character is the spitting image of your or they look as close to a humanoid-bird creature as you can get them, you're going to need that character one way or the other.
To start things off, let's go with the one thing that is essentially going to define your character: their class. There are a number of different classes from you to choose and depending on how you would like to play that character then there are a couple of different roles that coincide with each class, so keep that in mind when you're finding a class for your brand new character.
These classes are as follows; along with their perspective role:
- Gladiator – Tank
- Marauder – Tank
- Lancer – Melee DPS
- Pugilist – Melee DPS
- Archer – Physical Ranged DPS
- Thaumaturge – Magical Ranged DPS
- Arcanist – Magical Ranged DPS
- Conjurer – Healer
There's a lot to choose from in terms of classes, but they're all relatively simple to get the hang of once you make a start on them. Again, if you're someone who's ever played an MMORPG before then you know what to expect with each class and their role.
You've got the DPS who are designed to deal as much damage as possible; the healer who is expected to heal and keep people alive during the fight; then we've got the tank who is designed to take a real beating, sustain all the damage, and keep any enemies focused on them so the rest of the team can do their thing without any trouble getting in the way. Simple enough!
After you pick your class, you're going to want to pick a race for that character and they are as follows. Do note that some options are not available unless you own the required expansions:
- Hyur (Human)
- Miqo'te (Cat-person)
- Lalafell (Halfling)
- Elezen (Elf)
- Roegadyn (Orc-like Human)
- Au Ra (Lizard-person)
- Viera (Bunny-person) - Requires Shadowbringers for female, Endwalker for male
- Hrothgar (Bipedal Lion) - Requires Shadowbringers for male, Dawntrail for female
Each race does have some very tiny passive differences to one another; such differences that make negligible impact on your character towards the end of the game. Ultimately, though, what race you pick isn't particularly important, so feel free to pick the race that you find most aesthetically pleasing – certainly when you realize that you're going to be stuck with them for the remainder of your time inside the game. If you are unhappy with the appearance of your character, you may edit it with the use of a 
Fantasia. You receive one free Fantasia upon completion of 
The Ultima Weapon and one upon completion of 
Bottled Fantasy.
Be aware that the class you choose, and not your race, decides where your character's starting city is going to be.
Look below to see where you will spawn in the world, due to your chosen class:
- Gridania – Archer, Conjurer, Lancer
- Limsa Lominsa – Marauder, Arcanist
- Ul'dah – Gladiator, Pugilist, Thaumaturge
Alongside all of this, you can also choose from a variety of gods that have no stat effect at all as of patch 4.2. Make a lore-based decision based on whatever sounds cool or your head-canon / role-play for your character.
That pretty much wraps up all of your major decisions when it comes to choosing how you want to create your character, with the exception of how you wish for them to look. Basically, let's put it this way; if you can think about an inch of your character you want to edit then you probably can! Regardless of how you'd like to see your new character, there's plenty to change in the form of hairstyles, eye colour, positioning of their nose; pretty much the works!
So, feel free to delve into the character creator and enjoy just how deep and detailed it can be; providing you wish to spend so much time on perfecting your character. If you don't really care, simply keep hitting random until you're happy to some degree and make your start on the big-bad world of Final Fantasy XIV.