Vocabulary o wo

[Niwashi]

6: Correct again. Once you hit 50, the logical way we level is with better gear, which is where iLvl comes into play. All equipment has a physical level (what level is required to equip it) and an iLvl which is sometimes higher than the required level. Your iLvl is an average of all of your gear currently equipped.

Just wanted to add that, although Camalott is right that 50 is where Item Level (iLvl) plays its most important role, it's not where it first comes into play. All equipment has an Item Level, and even some of the low-level stuff has item levels higher than their (equippable) level. For instance, there are some bonus helms that are Level 1 and Item Level 11, and the first trio of dungeons drop gear that's Level 15 and Item Level 17. While leveling, any piece whose iLvl is higher than its level is clearly a good piece.

Item Level doesn't, however, mark all reasons for a piece to be better or worse than another one, though. For instance, with crafted gear, a High Quality piece is better (usually significantly better) than its Normal Quality equivalent, but they'll share the same Item Level. Also, when materia is added to gear, it can make the gear significantly better, but that's not indicated by the Item Level, which will remain the same. So when it comes down to deciding which piece is better than another, Item Level gives you a quick indicator of whether it's likely to be, but check all the actual stats if you want to be sure.

2. Seals vs Tomes (I know you can buy armor with either, but again is there an efficient way of spending these and when?)

One big difference is that you'll start accumulating GC Seals at around level 20, whereas the major sources of tomes come into play at level 50 (and maybe some hunts in your late 40's). Getting your chocobo mount and then ranking up in your GC are generally the first two priorities for spending GC seals, but once you've done that, there are several levels of gear available that make good alternatives to dungeon drops either for players who like to solo and don't run enough dungeons to get drops, or simply if your luck with drops hasn't given you an update for a particular gear slot for a while.

Once you get to endgame, GC Seal gear provides some nice starting pieces that you can wear while earning the tomes that will provide upgrades to it. (Edit: I should say, GC gear provides starter weapon and jewelry. You'll get your first set of endgame armour from your level 45 & 50 job quests.)

4. Weapons/Armor (I guess to sum this reply up. Haha. Do I have to buy armor and weapons at all, or do I just wait till 50 to get them from seals, tomes, and drops? Again most efficient way to prepare for end game when to buy, where to buy, etc.

Dungeon drops are nice when you get them, but you may not get every piece at the time it would be most useful. Any slots you haven't gotten a drop for in several levels you'll want to upgrade some other way. Whether you craft those upgrades, buy them with gil from players who do, or buy them with seals from your Grand Company comes down to how much time, gil, and seals you have to spend. Early on, I either crafted gear myself or bought crafted gear from the Market Boards. (The high-quality crafted stuff is quite good.) That's largely because I was saving my GC seals for ranking up in the GC. As I neared endgame and reached max rank, then I started accumulating more seals than I needed, so bought some gear through the Grand Company instead.