Returning To FFXI

I'm returning to FFXI after a very extensive break. I just have a few questions about what plugins are being used still and are highly recommended. My main job is BLU so I was also looking for a base spellcast file as I deleted the one I had before.

I'm going to add this in but what should I be doing off the bat once I reactivate to start catching up as I had quit before SoA had even been released?

Additionally, Spellcast is no longer supported. Gearswap is the replacement for most of it. BG has a thread for lua files: http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/119444-Gearswap-Shop-Thread

What Gearswap doesn't do is the input parsing that Spellcast does, but that's handled by the shortcuts addon (so you can just type something like //cure 4 instead of /ma "Cure IV" <t>). If you don't have a working XML anyway, just disable Spellcast and get those two addons.

Thank you Refresh and Isio for the links and info.

Are there any additional new plugins for windower that I should be looking at for my BLU or just in general or will the basic ones that have always been out suffice?

AzureSets is something you may wanna look into for BLU specifically.