Leveling first toon..gearing/questing?

Decided on a White Mage and have him up to level 6.

So far I have been taking money as quest rewards and I would like to craft my own armor.

Can I continue to do this tailor my own stuff?

Also, I am avoiding most of the fedex quests as I really want to level by grouping in dungeons and things.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice regarding getting started?

Thanks much.

Well, do keep in mind you'll need to level all 8 crafters (and 2 gatherers, perhaps all 3, to gather mats) if you go that route. I encourage it for later jobs, but for your first 50 I really think you ought to take the equipment for now.

The dungeons start at level 15, so you may as well take some of the fedex quests for now. Also make sure to do all the quests that have the flame symbol around them. Those are the main story quests and you won't unlock anything unless you do them. In particular the airship which will take you to other cities is unlocked as part of the main story around level 15.

Its a toss up if you want the money or items for now. At level 6, I would probably take the equipment if you can use it. There is a quest soon to make sure all your gear is at least level 5. Once you unlock the first dungeon at level 15 you can start relying more on dungeon drops. Or just buy from the NPC vendors.

Once you get to level 10 you will be able to pick up other classes including the crafting. You will need to pick up Arcanist to eventually get white mage (you are still a conjurer). If you want to craft your own equipment you will need Weaver for most of it. Some of the recipes will also use things from Leatherworker, Goldsmith, and possibly Blacksmith but these can also be purchased from the market board.
Note that Arcanist and Weaver are not in Gridania, so you have to have unlocked the airship in order to get these classes anyway.

While you are leveling make sure to go back to the Conjurer guild every 5 levels and do the class quest there.
Until 15 your main leveling will be through quests, the hunting log, and FATEs or leves.

Thanks much guys. Am level 8, and took a nap. Getting back on and will take gear drops. Doing quests and fates, it seems to be going well, can't wait to hit that first dungeon and start grouping :)

Just want to welcome Argus Grey to Eorzea and Balmung!

Thanks for the welcome!

Be aware that the further you go with crafting, the more difficult to obtain materials it'll expect - and so the more you'll be having to raise gathering or other crafting classes to obtain them. Don't let me completely dissuade you from crafting though, because the system for it in XIV is actually really, really fun! Just be prepared that there may come a point where the cost of materials to keep advancing your crafter's level may start becoming more expensive than just doing quests or buying them from vendors!

That said feel free to skip as many sidequests as you want. The ones you absolutely want to do are the Main Story quests (An absolutely huge amount of content is locked behind progressing or completing the main story events - pre-50, systems like Grand Company access, Retainers, and 80% of party content need story progress; and 95% of level 50 content is also locked behind completing the main story!), and the Class/Job specific quests every 5 levels (In addition to good free gear, you also gain essential skills at 15/30/35/40/45/50 from them, and you'll be expected to have them as appropriate). All others are optional.

Up to level 13 and have been doing all of the main quests and those other ones with the special symbol on them.

Picked up botany at 10 but doing ok gearing with the quest rewards.

Will play around with botany more once I can pick up weaving.

Thanks again.

Welcome to the forums and to the game Argus Grey!

As far as crafting / gathering go. To a new player, I would strongly recommend keeping up with Botany/Mining/Fishing as you go along, and keep when you procure for crafting. I don't discourage you from trying to gather crafting early, but it IS a money sink and requires a lot of dedication to get it to a point where it starts being truly useful, so I would suggest waiting and getting serious about crafting at a later point.

My leveling advice. Follow storyline and area quests. Supplement with leves and hunting log and area FATES (if possible) until you get to 16-18. Then you can also intermittently run level-appropriate dungeons until you get what equips you need from them, get exp, and learn group mechanics. Be sure to do your random duty finder daily for a HUGE exp chunk and money.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slowpoke68

Will play around with botany more once I can pick up weaving.

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For the first 11 levels, the main thing weaver will want from botanist is lots of Moko Grass for hempen yarn. But BTN has to be level 15 to gather it, and WVR wants it starting at level 1. Most materials are better matched on levels than that, so this is one of the very few things I went ahead and just bought rather than gathered. (Luckily it's only a couple gil each, but once you start needing lots of it, even a tiny price like that can add up enough to be annoying if you're still low-level and poor like I was.) In most cases, if a crafter needs a certain material at level X, then a gatherer or another crafting class can collect or make it by the time that's level X. (On some the providing class may need another level or two, but rarely another 14 like in this case. In fact, I can't think of any other example where they're this far off.)

Through the first 14 levels, Botanist is only able to gather from trees, and through this period, it's mainly just useful to Carpenter. It's after level 15, when the ability to gather from vegetation patches is added, that BTN becomes useful to Weaver as well. (From there on, it's pretty essential to both, but if weaver is your initial interest, then the early levels of BTN might seem frustrating.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Evankhell

... I don't discourage you from trying to gather crafting early, but it IS a money sink and requires a lot of dedication to get it to a point where it starts being truly useful, so I would suggest waiting and getting serious about crafting at a later point.

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Actually if you start crafting early, it doesn't take long before it's useful, because early in the game what's useful is low-level gear that can be crafted quite easily. (I picked it up as soon as adding extra classes was unlocked at level 10, and it was useful immediately.) On the other hand, if you wait until later in the game when what you want is high-level gear, then yes, it takes a long time to level crafting far enough to do that. And crafting is either a money sink or a time sink depending on whether you gather your own materials or not. (Actually, it's a time sink in either case, but if you gather your own materials, then you can make it free in exchange for being a much greater time sink.)

You should always take gear that says it is "convertible" over the allagan coins. At level 15 you will gain the ability to break it down into materia once spirit bound form a quest in central thanalan. Even the lowest value materia will sell on the market boards for more than you would make off the coins. The main story quests will force you into the area where the quest is eventually (lv 18~). Materia is used for slotting/socketing if you are familiar with other games' terminology.