Fates or Dungeons?

[BostonBarter]

Im going to be leveling my 3rd 50 here soon, and i have always done fates as a primary way to level. Now it seems that no one does these anymore? Are dungeons the new way to level?

[i2agnarok]

I'm working on my 4th 50, myself.
On my server, Fates are fairly scarce except for two areas: Costa del Sol and Coerthas.
Coerthas is always extremely crowded with anyone from level 38 all the way through 50.
All other levels are a toss-up, with a higher chance of the area being dead.
Dungeons are instant or near-instant for Tanks and Healers, abysmal for DPS.
Or at least, that has been my experience.
Drives me mad, personally, as I'm tired of being in Coerthas, but the other zones are only worth it if you have enough people to burn them quickly.
Which you won't, because everyone is in Coerthas and won't bother leaving.

[Merlinian]

I do the following, now leveling BLM to 50 to eventually get archmage:
- starting area 1-15
- roulette once 16
- daily roulette and guildhest roulette afterwards
- dungeons as needed
- as DPS while waiting for dungeons to pop: FATES
- FATEs 15-20 Aleport, 20-30 Quarrymill, 30-35 Costa, 35-47 Coerthas
- 47-50 AV 1st room: 100,000/10mins on second jon with rest XP

I should mention that I only level 2nd jobs with rest XP.

[ShadowDan]

Dungeons are the way to go indeed; do one Roulette per day and then queue up for the highest one available to you. With the hunting log, class quests and maybe a few FATEs here and there, levelling is not a pain anymore like grinding FATEs used to be.

Did someone say Archmage? That was the first title I got!

[TomTom1968]

If you are not in a rush, levelling through DF provides you with a level up almost each day you complete a dungeon through Duty roulette. Going through lower dungeons again takes care you know these dungeons better. And you can help low level players by providing them with insights and skill tips. Also don't forget that they added items you need for housing and pvp you only get in these low level dungeons which is an extra incentive for handworkers.

FATES are no longer faster than levelling with dungeons since they also raised the general EXP in low level dungeons..yesterday (Level 42 monk) I got 3k from each mob in Brayflox which was very nice. 5 mobs = 1 fate in Coerthas. And dungoens aren't as repetitive and grind heavy as FATES. I do FATES when they are close but intentionally joining a group for hours? That's history in my book and I am glad it is this way. Only reason to make a few FATES might be the GC coins you can earn but there are plenty of dailies you can do with your DOL/HOH chars and additionally you can return the not needed items you get from dungeons.

[i2agnarok]

^ The only reason I think FATEs may seem faster is if you're a DPS. Once you add in the time you spend waiting for the next dungeon to pop, it feels like it evens out a bit, without the downtime. With FATEs also being extremely auto-pilot, you don't have to depend on anyone not doing their job and causing headaches for everyone else, so it may simply feel less...involved.

For this reason, I now try to do FATEs (outside of a party) while waiting for Duty Finder to get me in as a DPS (there isn't a problem with my Tank or Healer classes, but everyone is aware of that by now).

Though you bring up an interesting point that I hadn't bothered to test yet because I didn't want to waste time: getting 3k per mob in Brayflox with a lvl 42, was that going through the dungeon normally, or was that through the Duty Roulette? The reason I ask is because I ran some lower level FC members through a dungeon and noticed at the end that the XP bonus still seemed rather significant; I hadn't been looking at the XP being dropped and when the dungeon ended, I progressed through a rather significant portion of the XP bar.

Don't take it the wrong way, I love dungeons and hate FATEs, so anything I can do to avoid them, I will take.

[TomTom1968]

^^ normal dungeon no roulette. And yes waiting times for DPS count in but I see it quite relaxed. I register to roulette and just go on with my business until the pop up comes. I may have to change the character then but so far it worked out good. Even when I am in the middle of a fight and miss the time frame to enter the dungeon, it most of the time doesn't take long for a new attempt.