A bunch of questions

[Teiren]

Just in case you still check this thread, I thought it'd be fun to go through these. Sorry for repeats of other answers already posted:

1. What bonuses are you looking at that might seem additive? EXP bonuses show in the chat log, and Fight or Flight really does increase physical damage by 30% like it says. All buffs stack. Now that I think about it, maybe you're looking at Internal Release? That ability, and any other action, does indeed directly add crit by the shown %. Crit Rate gained from the stat itself is actually a little bit low.

2. The levelling rate is really consistent. It is very easy to greatly overlevel with dungeon and FATE EXP if you're also doing every single quest there is. This is a personal taste thing if you like being overlevelled or not, but even if you're at the "correct" level, there's still never a real challenge in the Main Scenario by intentional design.

3. If you're curious about the exact numbers, each point of STR or VIT increases Attack Power by 0.45. That's why VIT is better; same AP gain but also gain HP. Therefore, there's no serious reason to increase anything besides VIT with bonus stat points. The bonus stat system was kind of a failed experiment by the devs, unfortunately.

4. Before Patch 3.2, released February 22 this year, only STR increased tanks' Attack Power at 1 per point. However, STR never gave HP, so I have no idea what that person was thinking. There's a lot of idiots on the internet, sadly.

5. Shields with different block numbers are also a bit of a failed experiment by the devs. Nothing's hard enough to make them matter at all. The best shield would have equal values of Block Strength and Block Rate, which is what most shields at Level 50 and 60 have if I remember right. If you had to choose between only high Block Strength or high Block Rate, I believe high Block Rate would be better because the base block amount is still meaningful.

6. Already answered.

7. You listed them all. But at Level 50, you will gain +50% EXP from FATEs for below Level 50 on any class. That may require finishing the first part of ARR's Main Scenario to unlock, but it's permanent.

8. Crafters & Gatherers just have the levequests and story quests. They're just plain not treated quite the same as Battle classes.

9. It's difficult for me to understand alts. The most legitimate reason I've seen people give is that they view certain races as better fitting for certain classes, which is fair. Like a Roegadyn for Warrior and Miqo'te for Monk. So it's largely a roleplay/immersion reason.

10. Chat bubbles have deliberately not been implemented because the PS3 wouldn't be able to handle them. Yes, it's sad and very stupid, but getting this game to run on PS3 was a primary focus of the FFXIV remake process a few years ago. People can't wait until PS3 support is dropped and stops holding the game back as much.

11. Sorry, I never got around to playing in The Gold Saucer.

12. If you're familiar with the term "snapshot," that's how every periodic effect works. The strength of the DoT or HoT applied at the time of application stays the entire time, including ground targeted actions. I think it makes sense in this game because most actions performed are deliberate with an opportunity cost, so many DoTs/HoTs aren't purely upkeep maintenance like in WoW. However, Bard, Machinist, and Summoner all do involve "maintenance" DoTs and, for only Bard & Machinist, maintenance buffs.
A couple more details about periodic effects: First, all periodic effects, and a variety of other things, are controlled by a server wide, 3 second tick. It doesn't matter when the periodic effect is applied, it will do damage/healing based on that global tick period of 3 seconds. Second, in general I've found that all DoTs, except one from Pugilist, are worth using if the afflicted target will live 9+ seconds. It almost seems intentionally designed that way.

13. As long as you're giving the tank about 5 seconds to generate enmity, you should never have to worry about pulling aggro after Level 40, within reason. If you do, that is a VERY bad tank if it's a normal situation. Your job is to do damage. The tank's job is to keep aggro, so let him/her worry about that. There is one ability that casters can use if you levelled Archer to 34 called Quelling Strikes. That ability halves enmity generation for 15 seconds, but it has a 2 mins cooldown, so it's not really something to fall back on. Btw, ironically it's harder for tanks to keep aggro below Level 30 (Level 40 for Paladins), but at the same time, the enemies in dungeons at that level and below aren't a real threat, so it doesn't matter.
When it comes to DoTs, they literally deal their damage over time, so an Arcanist/Summoner really should never have to wait for the tank to generate enmity within reason. As for when you should cast all 3 DoTs, refer to my answer above. In general, yes, it's practically always worth casting them as an Arcanist/Summoner because almost all of your damage is periodic whether it's through the DoTs or your pet. The order I recommend is Miasma, Bio II, Bio, but it really doesn't matter and it'll change as fights go on. Just tab through the targets and keep casting DoTs. The more targets, the more DPS for an Arcanist/Summoner!

14. The three new classes in Heavensward are based in a new city where the Heavensward story revolves around, so that does indeed involve being Level 50 and completing all of ARR's Main Scenario which leads to that city.

15. As a new player, you'll almost never be using the Armoire. Throughout the years, the game has had a lot of seasonal events and nice-looking costume items to go with them, and the Armoire is primarily to store those items. Later, you can store certain Job-specific gear.