Multiple Quesions from a Newb

[Enkidoh]

Welcome to Eorzea Nyaria!

Firstly, you can actually get around that annoying 1000 character per post restriction by simply typing a few lines, posting that, then going back and editing the post and adding the rest of what you wanted to type into it (like I'm just doing now)

First, a friend that got me back into Final Fantasy 14, keeps advising me to never do quests outside of my main story quest, and that I should just focus on my hunting log, doing dungeons, and the main story quest. His reasoning is that it "Makes it easier to level your alternate classes later" Honestly, I'm not so sure how I feel about this, or if it's even accurate, so I figured I'd ask, should I be avoiding doing all the side missions? It feels weird to play an MMORPG, where doing all the quests is a bad idea.

Really, it's personal preference - however, the main scenario is designed specifically to be able to level your first class to 50 pretty much exclusively so a lot of players indeed decide to hold off doing sidequests until they get their first class to 50 in order to then use them to level other classes. Having said that though, a lot of sidequests unlock special content (like the Challenge Log, dyeing armour etc) so they're worth unlocking straight away for that reason rather than holding off. It should also be noted there are other ways of levelling classes too so if you want to complete sidequests immediately don't feel bad about doing so! You also get a bonus to exp for all classes that are lower than your highest levelled one too so there is also that benefit to getting a class to 50 as quickly as possible.

Second, Dungeons, good lord these things are LONG. Are all the dungeons so ridiculously long? Every dungeon seems to take no less then 30 minutes to do (Even the really low level ones due to Synchronization), that's assuming no one dies, the group doesn't wipe, and someone doesn't leave (LIke a tank for instance) and you have to wait around until you get another one. Also, I'm not 100% sure of how I feel about how heavily some of the dungeons on the low level dungeon roulette goes, It doesn't really feel fun at all to do the random dungeon finder, only to get put in basically the first one or two dungeons, and have over half your abilities shut off, your experience gained gutted, and your stats reduced so heavily. Is there a 'Medium Level Dungeon" roullete later that I unlock to avoid having to do that darn pirate dungeon for the 6th time with no benefits?

Although dungeons are the fastest means of levelling, they are not the only means - try doing FATEs, your Hunting Log and levequests in addition to it if you're feeling burned out with running dungeons. Also at low levels, there is little reason to do dungeon roulette as the major bonus for them is only available if you do them as a level 50 character. If the Duty Roulette is consistently assigning you Sastasha, then it just means that a lot of new players are attempting it and needing to clear it (especially as you mentioned that you've had parties that keep wiping there - Sastasha is actually a really simple dungeon that most players now just run through). Sadly dungeons just get longer and more complicated, and there are a lot more you will have to do as part of the main scenario. But there is nothing forcing you to actually do them once you've already gone through it once.

Thirdly, Main classes! I recently managed to get to the point where I unlocked the White mage class and then nothing really happens. It kind of felt like a massive let down after all the work I had to put in, I get a bit of a congratulatory message, a promise that at level 35 maybe something interesting will happen, and a small ability that once in a while makes me cast fast That I can't even use in half the dungeons I can unlock It feels extremely underwhelming and dissatisfying, so now I'm at a bit of a loss as to what exactly unlocking white mage does for me, I'm basically just a conjurer by a different name, I know it sounds like a gripe, and honestly it is, but I was expecting something flashy I guess.

So, my third question is mainly to ask what exactly does unlocking main classes give persay? Like, did I get something from becoming a white mage that I'm totally oblivious too as a newb? Or does it really not get anything flashy until later?

Sadly when you first unlock a Job you don't actually get everything that really makes them worthwhile right at the start, but unlock gradually as you level and do the Job quests. A Job is a specialization in that class's role which makes them far more effective, while limiting what abilities you can equip from other classes (in WHM's case, healing). Additionally, it also boosts the controlling stat for that class (for WHM, that is MND). The initial ability yoou get at level 30 for it isn't usually that useful, but don't despair! Stick at it and eventually you'll realize that a Job is far superior to a class in every way. Most of the really useful abilities are gained later, like Regen, Holy and Benediction that you'll find are invaluable and will make things far more enjoyable. And a final benefit is between level 45 to 50 your Job quests will give you your artifact armour for that Job (AF), your first set of 'blue' gear that no only makes you look like that Job's appearance from older FF games (like, WHM AF is a white robe with red triangles), it's stats are extremely potent at that stage of the game and will help you out a great deal. So you Job is basically your class superpowered.

Fourth Question, crafting (professions?) classes, is it worth doing at all at this early point in the game? Or should it be something I should avoid doing until I become better acquainted? (I still get lost in cities) Or heck, is it something I should have started ages ago and I'm an idiot for not doing so? It's totally possible.

You can start to craft and gather if you so wish, there is no right or wrong to when you decide to get into it (I admit I haven't done much crafting and haven't done any gathering yet so someone else would be better placed to answer that question than me I'm sorry.).

Fifth Question: How are you Mr/Ms/Mrs question answerer? I know I have a lot of questions, and I'm probably taking forever with tons of rambling...

Awww, you're fine - this is what this site is for after all! (And I enjoy helping out others just starting their journey in Eorzea so it's my pleasure to answer your questions. ).

Sixth Question: Now that I've unlocked White mage, should I just take it to level 50? Or should I go level something else? I mean, is there really a point in my rushing to the end right now? I know the story only moves forward with your highest level, but hey, I could be setting myself up for failure by rushing level cap! Thus its' a question, hopefully not a dumb question.

And, that's all for this round, stinks to have a 1,000 character cap, so again, sorry about the multi-post.

Again, it's entirely up to you how you level - some people like to try out all classes and Jobs and try to level them at the same time, while others like to level methodically, taking each to 50 one at a time. Having said that, it's worth levelling certain other classes at least partially in order to make use of abilities you can use with your main class/Job (in your case, WHM). WHM makes use of THM (Thaumaturge) and ACN (Arcanist) abilities, so levelling them to unlock some special abilities will be a great help. Specifically, taking THM to 26 for the ability Swiftcast if you haven't done so already is highly recommended, as the worth of this one ability alone cross classed on your WHM cannot be understated. It WILL help you as a healer! No question about it. What else you cross class is up to you, but as long as you have Swiftcast then all will be right with the world.

Anyway, hopefully this wall of text has helped you in your training in the ways of White Magic.

[Nyaria]

Thanks, good to know about the edit post thing!

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

Also at low levels, there is little reason to do dungeon roulette as the major bonus for them is only available if you do them as a level 50 character.

This is not true. While you don't get the tomestones for end game stuff until level 50, pre level 50 does give you a huge experience point bonus for completing the daily roulettes. The bonus also scales with your level, for example if I got sastasha as a level 40 something character, the bonus would be something like 150,000 experience points. The roulettes are absolutely worth doing as a low level job.