So a little lost on leveling

So I been questing along, got to level 20 and there are zero quests. Well some but they don't go anywhere. I have not been doing guildhests cause I don't really like doing them while leveling, maybe playing other MMOs and getting abused all the time helped with that.
I have read up from a year back that you need to do guildhests to unlock the main story line. Is this true? Or is there something I seem to be missing? I have been basically running around the city plus outer areas, finding a few quests, but like I said above they are just 2-3 quests then stop.

I'm seriously at a lost at what to do, but slowly unlock all the guildhests, which I am only up to the 4th one. So any help would be great!

Unfortunately the fastest way to level up in this game is spamming these super boring things called fates. And or que dungeons.

Go back to the towns you have previously been in and look for the main story line quests. These are your main key to leveling and taking you to new areas. Being as you are already lvl 20, and I'm assuming since you are doing Guildhest you have not unlocked Sastasha, which is the first dungeon you encounter via the main scenario. In that case I would suggest checking Western La Noscea first. Once you have cleared Sastasha, the main story line quest will continue, unlocking more dungeons and carrying you along your way.

The only thing relating the main scenario to guildhest is once you are 50+ theres a parti n the main scenario down the road that requires you to complete 3 or 4 of them, but thats it.

Not playing the tank anymore, couldn't seem to change my character on the forums. Got a lvl 21 Thaumaturge. So guildhest queues alone are having me wait 20-25 minutes.
Don't really care what is the faster, just some form of direction. The last main story quest I did was, where I unlocked the Airship, went around to the other two cities and unless I missed something, it just stopped. I did a few level 15 quests which just felt silly doing at level 19 then went back to Ul'dah. Couldn't see anything new there and went out in the world basically. Found a few quests in the East Shroud but that didn't last long. Have been doing the hunting log which I find cool.

Though looking now I do have a quest to talk to a guard outside of Sastasha.
But if I'm understanding it right, am I somewhat forced to do dungeons to level up? And are quests basically rare? My plan was just to quest to level, while doing Fates along the way.

If you do the story in sync with whatever job/class you want, and of course do your class quests, it pretty much is a good streamlined way to get your first class to max level.

There's no point in maxing your level before doing the story, you are sync'd down to the level you are roughly supposed to be at (for example level 20 story quests, you'll be synched down to level 20 if you're higher).

Problem with skipping main quests is that a big portion of the sidequests in the game are tied to main quest progression. If you don't do main quests, you can't level up on the sidequests either. So yes, I really suggest you do the dungeons tied to the main story even if you skip the optional dungeons. :) There is absolutely no benefit to skipping main quests, and since many other features are tied to main quests too, you'll just badly nerf your progress if you skip them.

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Originally Posted by Gunnlang

Though looking now I do have a quest to talk to a guard outside of Sastasha.
But if I'm understanding it right, am I somewhat forced to do dungeons to level up?

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You have to do the main scenario dungeons at least once in order to continue the story, and most other content is locked behind your progression in the main story. After your first run of a dungeon, you have the opportunity to repeat it as often as you want, for more XP, gear drops, or just practice with your class's role in group content. Repeating dungeons is optional (though often recommended as a good way of leveling faster), but for most of them, the first run that forms part of the storyline is required. (There are also some other dungeons that aren't in the main storyline, and for those, even the first run is optional, though you'd be missing out on some rewards if you skip them.)

Also, at the point you're at now, there are three required storyline dungeons in a row. (Well, with just a single quest in between each to send you to the next area and explain the purpose behind the next one.) After that, the main story will return to a series of soloable quests you can do.

(Oh, and you can always tell which quests are in the main scenario by the ring of fire surrounding the ! quest icon.)

Ah thanks for your help guys. Yeah just noticed that you could tell if it's a main quest or not. Feel most nub at this point. Just completed the first dungeon, the wait really is a killer though.
Thanks for clearing it up all though. :)

I see you're also on Lich, the best server.

Don't hesitate to send me a /tell if you need any help. :)

Wish I was still on Lich, my server seems dead. Started on a new server Mateus cause a friend was meant to start up.. which never happened.
I don't mean to seem some noobish, but completely those 3 instances, kept going with the storyline to hit "Lord of the inferno" trial/instance. Figure I can leave the cave, but another wait. I don't like waiting cause I feel more nervous, besides my net sometimes randomly kicks me off which doesn't help matters.
But the last instance we waited for 80 minutes for it to pop. Which for an average wait of 30 minutes.. it just feels stupid. I know I could be leveling mining or something else. But honestly wanted to wait till max level to do all that.

Right now I feel I have a few choices, level a tank, suck it up and deal with it that I be forced via the main storyline into instances/trials whatever over and over or flat out quit.
I can deal with waiting.. but after waiting 80 minutes for one instance. Just feels overkill. Got 4 levels while waiting so I out level everything I'm doing as well.

With my girlfriend looking ahead through the storyline, looks like you get sent back into them over and over, if they are instances or whatever. Seems like I could get my mining to level 50 before I get this mage to level 50.
Sorry don't mean to seem like I'm complaining, just someone be blunt and say "yes go level a tank, it's doomed"
Sorry for the double post, says it was too long.

Yes you do get sent through many instanced dungeons over the course of the main scenario, just needing the clear them once each.

some level a healer or tank class and keep it up to date to do the dungeons and then continue with their main class for the content. But that would require doing dungeons a few times with the healer or tank to keep it at par with your favorite DPS class.

Seems like it be easier having a tank in there. Though probably be heaps faster anyway.
But since I was wondering and it's easier putting it in here than making another thread. Is there any servers that seem friendly with high pop than most. Or just a luck of the draw type a deal?

Hmm I hear Mateus has a large population, I guess it really depends on the time you're playing...
for example here on Lich, it's an EU server but since I'm in the US, most of the time it's off-time and I don't see many people (works for me because my laptop is slow, haha). Though I've seen the weekends during peak hours and it can get pretty crowded. I leveled and main Bard first, longest queue I waited for was maybe two hours... it can be pretty brutal, yeah :( Though I did every sidquest I could, haha. I also leveled solo, didn't do it with friends hadly at all.

I really like FFXIV's story though so that's a big incentive to get through everything. If you don't like the story I can see how it can be very painful to level/wait.

I got a warrior or whatever they called on Lich. I did like how many people there was around, did hit a queue at one point logging on what was pretty shocking.
Mateys seems dead to me, though I'm an aussie. So seems mostly completely off peak when I'm playing. They must not care for the housing, lich is basically full and mateus is basically empty.
I love the story, just waiting over an hour to keep going with it, feels very annoying. Then if I run into bad luck, got a tank that was meant to use a shield, wasn't and didn't care to learn.. fun times.

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Originally Posted by Limelol

And honorable mention is the challenge log. Obtained via quest, but it's definitely something people should pick up asap. It's pretty much a bunch of challenges that you're already doing and it rewards exp.

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I dont think I would of ever of looked into this if you didnt bring it up..
I am level 38 so I missed a bit, but thank you!

I guess getting the challenge log is optional...

It seems worse at the beginning, largely because of having three dungeons in a row, and then only a few levels until a primal trial, so that's four instances in a relatively short timeframe. Usually they aren't bunched up together quite that much, so it doesn't seem as bad.

Main Scenario dungeons and trials:
Level 15: Sastasha Seagrot
Level 16: The Tam-Tara Deepcroft
Level 17: Copperbell Mines
Level 20: The Bowl of Embers (Trial)
Level 24: The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak
Level 28: Haukke Manor
Level 32: Brayflox's Longstop
Level 34: The Navel (Trial)
Level 41: Stone Vigil
Level 44: The Howling Eye (Trial)
Level 49: Cape Westwind (Trial)
Level 50: Castrum Meridianum
Level 50: The Praetorium

Well making a tank seem to make zero difference.
My DPS I can sign up from an US server at US peak time and wait for 90 minutes. Make a tank on a EU server, though it was early morning for them. Waited 20 minutes for the first guildhest and gave up at that point. You think it be faster.. though this game doesn't seem made for people from my timezone unless I go into a server where I can't understand a word anyone is saying.

You said Australia, right?

I know a lot of people consider Tonberry server the unofficial SEA seerver, and a lot of it is English speaking.

Yeah from Australia, looked into Japanese servers cause my ping seems a lot less by far over the other servers. But seems Tonberry is locked, just like it was locked when I started a few weeks back. I did look up a random one, went on peak time. Didn't even come up on the search with more than 40 people that spoke English. Which would screw me over pretty hard end game.