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Now in an updated edition for Spring 2004, Final Fantasy XI Online Offical Strategy Guide is a resource packed with full-color screenshots and in-depth strategy, and an absolute must for anyone interested in the complex and enthralling massively multi-player online role playing game that is Final Fantasy XI, currently available for both the personal computer and the Playstation 2 entertainment system. Final Fantasy XI is an extremely challenging game, that when first started up may overwhelm the player with menus upon menus, and the seemingly towering challenge of raising one's lowly level 1 character to fame and fortune. The Final Fantasy XI Online Official Strategy Guide covers everything from basic statistics for all race and class combinations, to general gameplay advice, a glossary of common acronyms and abbreviations used online, a long list of monster battle tactics and weaknesses of monsters, a trade skill database, maps, a weapon and item database, detailed quest walkthroughs, and much, much more. Highly recommended, with notable upgrades to its information to reflect the ever-changing online world.

Nothing makes me madder than when I'm playing and somone references this POS. For example, most recently while doing the summoners quest, a friend told me that according to "the Guide" that we shouldn't leave Sarabataru otherwise we wouldn't experience all the weather. This guide is the reason we have so many warrior/white mages running around thinking that they are training to be paladins, when in reality they are getting much less party invites, and severely gimping the parties they do get in. "The Guide" recomends taking a Chocobo on your first trip to Jeuno; go figure that one out and then tell me this is still a good guide.

I got this for my birthday, and I was pretty happy with it. It had a bunch of stuff on the crafting skills, told you about your job, subjobs, quests, missions...Until you actually tried to do some of the quests only from their instructions. It was nigh on impossible. So, I currently refer to this book (it is a book, nearly 400 pages long) for the basic, sketchy information on something. And if I need anything more complicated, I go straight to www.google.com "final fantasy xi <whatever i needed>" it works very well, and I almost always use a great site ... Alakazham or something like it. VERY detailed, great site. I would use it over the guide, but the guide can be used while playing, and the website you have to get up (or turn off FFXI if on the computer version) Soooo...4/5 is for it's accuracy and "pretty pictures". lol...