The Maelstrom Barracks does not have a great location to be honest. The Hall of Flames is only about 9 seconds away from the main aetheryte of Ul’dah if you jump up from the flowerbed at the side of the building. It takes about 12 seconds to sprint to the Adder’s Nest in Gridania from the main aetheryte. You’ll be visiting this place a lot, so if it’s a little out of the way and takes you an extra 5-10 seconds that’s going to add up over time. Probably the most important factor in choosing your Grand Company is how convenient it is to get to their headquarters when you need to. PvP ranks for each faction are remembered separately, but you only earn progress towards your current Grand Company. Also keep in mind that you’ll retain any squadron progress but have to unlock them by ranking up again with your new faction.
This can be a lot of gil early on in the game, so before making a second switch I recommend ranking up with your Grand Company. Your first transfer is free, but if you want to transfer again after that it will cost 50,000 gil per transfer. If you want to change it up later, you absolutely can switch (once every 15 days) by speaking to the personnel officer of the faction you wish to join. You’ll also have the option to fight for your Grand Company when you play in the Frontlines PvP mode, and be teamed only with others of your faction (or freelancers placed in your faction). The differences are in the flavour of their stories, quests, and glamours, and of course the different cities where they are located.
What’s the Difference Between the Grand Companies?įunctionally, all three of the Adders, Flames, and Maelstrom are the same.
Here I’ll tell you what your choice affects, and what you should consider when picking between the three Grand Companies. Well it’s actually not that big of a deal at all. You need to choose a Grand Company to align yourself with in order to progress the story, but what does this mean? It sounds important, and people are afraid of making the ‘wrong’ choice. FFXIV confronts you with a decision relatively early on in the game that can give some new players a bit of choice paralysis.