Need help with leveling. something, anything.

I am playing this game with a group of 3 other people. I am currently level 35, 2 others are lvl 36(with more levels in crafting by a lot) and another 1 is pretty much 50.

I have 2 problems, 1, i dont even like my class as much as i thought i would(WHM) and i really want to just roll a bard.

problem 2) unfortunately i am by far the slowest leveler because i cant just focus on this game constantly, when i play i always have to do something else, i cant say.... play this game for hours straight just powering through levels like they can. honestly its just hard for me to keep up with them, and honestly kind of hard to get the motivation to keep playing.

what do you guys do to level? any "secrets" to speed through it? any patterns you do? what keeps you motivated to keep on grinding through experience?

Do you do your hunting log objectives? There's a tonne of exp there.

it seems like for me to do my hunting log i have to go out of my way, and i think im only on the 2nd log, which seems a little behind for my level

Fates are faster then questing if you just want to power through it.

WHat keeps a majority of us going is how much me love the game (when we can get on) and the people we play with. It's the experience you get out of the game, not what the game give you. You need to make it fun for yourself. You don;t want this to feel like a "job" that you have to do. We're all gamers here, some more hardcore than others, some with a lot more free time than the rest. Just take it easy and enjoy yourself. fates are fun and can level you up fast, there's guildheist or leves. There's a lot of ways to speed up the process and take your friends along for the ride as well.

You should really do the hunting logs. Don't worry about them being "out of the way" (i never found them to be) They give a huge chunk of exp. When i've been leveling my side classes, the hunting logs are probably the biggest source of easy exp i've found. You get a decent chunk for each entry you do and then a big whooping chunk for finishing a list. If you are behind on the logs, doing them all up to your current level should really give you a nice boost.

Also remember every class has its own hunting log, so unlike quests which can run out, you can hunt with every class and get that awesome exp.

Aside from that...fate grinding. I've been doing it a bit and I'm pretty bored of it already. It is good exp though. Maybe do some for a bit then take a break and do something else so you don't get burned out on them.

Grinding that 2nd and 3rd class is brutal. Hunting logs for sure, then just repeat levequests at or below your level, I was doing level 10's at level 13-14, decent and quick exp. then catch a fate if it popped in the area I was in. Main story line and dungeons help too. But they are going to have to do something for the basic "go to way" of leveling outside of these options.

The point of leveling is it's the vast majority of the game, and teaches people how to not only play their job, but play it from reflex.

If there was a way to "skip ahead" to catch up with people that play more than you, why arne't they doing it, furthering the gap?

The whole point of hte game is to go on an adventure, it's not just about the destination. Leveling isn't an obstacle between you and fun. Fun can be had while leveling. Go for a walk, grab another job, look around, shop, craft, quest, adventure. Have you been to all 3 cities? What about some outlying areas? Have you stopped to look at the scenery all around you? Talked to the npc's? They were all programmed with chatter and banter and stories for a reason, not to be completely ignored.

If you want to feel distracted, get into a FATE party and pay more attention to the reason the FATE is there than just grinding on the mobs. You might find it's enough of a distraction to satiate your ADD. :)

I'm level 38 and never done the hunting log. I have a feeling if I had I would be 40 something by now.

Level 30-40 is best spent in Costa Del Sol and Caerthas Highlands. In costa del sol get a timer on It's not Lupus (Cancer), between 30 and 37 it nets about 12,000 exp for a Gold Completion. Right near there is Return of the King, it nets way less exp but it pops constantly and rewards bomb ash and decent GC seals. Right near there is a fate with bulls and a fate with crabs, they net over 7k exp. Slightly up the coast from their is an escort fate. The trick is to stick around long enough for cancer to pop then you chain out return of the king, the crab fate, the bull fates, and then go up the coast and do the escort fate. When everything is done and on timer, go into town and pick up some leves (do the quests there too). I went from 32-36 in one sit doing this... Then I moved to caerthas highlands and did all the quests I could (main story line taking me here as well) and I went from 36-38 in the same night. Also because I knew the TOD of cancer I kept porting back to costa del sol everytime cancer was about to come up for that 10k+ exp.