Leveling your starting class later?

[Jinnka]

I've recently returned to the game, and have decided to start a new character for a few reasons. I had only a level 51 warrior before - now, after trying every class a bit, I'm interested in maining Ninja.

This comes with a...unique problem. I can't start as a Rogue, despite this being the first job I want to level to 60. I don't want to take the time leveling a job I don't fully enjoy to 50/60 before the job I'm actually interested in, but with the way the Armoury bonus works, it looks as though I either have to do that, or choose one class to ditch since leveling them to 60 without the MSQ will be a pain without the Armoury bonus.

Is this true, or is it actually viable to level your starting class after you've already gone through the MSQ? (Returning to my old character isn't an option for me, so please don't suggest it - I just want to know what you guys think I should do in this situation.)

[Korina]

Why not just start with pugilist if you want a new character and get that up to 15 then start on rogue. That way you don't have to worry about leveling your sub class and can just jump to being ninja.

[Jinnka]

Why not just start with pugilist if you want a new character and get that up to 15 then start on rogue. That way you don't have to worry about leveling your sub class and can just jump to being ninja.

This is actually what I have in mind to do - my concern is that if I later want to level pugilist past 15, it would be incredibly difficult to do so since I no longer have the exp from the MSQ to ride on, and I have no Armoury bonus, so leveling any other way becomes half as effective since I lose the 100% boost for every mob kill.

I was mainly hoping someone who has actually done this before could maybe give me some input on how difficult it was to go back and level up the class you started as after completing the MSQ on a different one. I have at least moderate interest in all of them...so I'm struggling with the idea of basically abandoning one of them entirely, just to level the job I want to play the most, first..

[Felis]

Level up a class to level 15 (or to level 10 if you start in Limsa), do the level 10 class quest (and the lv 15 mainstory quest if you started outside of Limsa) and then join the Rogue guild.

[Taramin]

EXP is fine for any class you level second. Just run the low level roulette, and/or specifically queue for the highest level dungeon that class can do, the armory bonus kicks in as long as the class is lower level than your highest leveled class, not just at cap. I don't remember if it's reduced at all, but even a one level difference will give some bonus.

[FMElan]

There's more than enough experience through the MSQ and sidequests to level two, or even three(if you dungeon a lot) Jobs to 50 by the time you reach the end of ARR. Almost all the experience in 1-50 has doubled from your first time in, plus you get an extra +50% to your experience for being under 50, and that's not even considering the armory bonus when you actually get one job to 50, or Hunting Logs, Fates, etc.

[Gamer3427]

Since you asked it in an odd manner, I'm only guessing at what you're wanting to know here. It is my understanding that the armory bonus is not tied to your first class, but is tied to your highest level class, with ALL classes that are a lower level, including your starting class, receiving the exp bonus. Say you level pugilist to 15, then switch to rouge/ninja and level that to 60. Your pugilist will receive the same exp boost as any class you play. Again, the system is NOT tied to what class you first play as. The first class you play as only affects which city state you start out in, and absolutely nothing more.....

[Sylve]

I was mainly hoping someone who has actually done this before.

With the roulettes and how good Dungeon EXP is, leveling any Class/Job without the MSQ is easy, if a bit time consuming compared to the MSQ. Just remember Food buffs and the Heat of Battle FC Action if you have access to it. Dont forget to get your Rested EXP up as well.
Use your daily allotment of Leves too, Hunt log etc.

Its really quite easy to level without the MSQ.

Way back when ARR launched, I jumped onto the ACN hypetrain and got that to Summoner before figuring i didn't really care for it as much as i thought i would, jumped back to PGL (I started PGL during Beta) and burned back to the level 32 MSQs i was up to in a couple of days, and that was before all the changes to lower level EXP gains.

[Kemonologist]

Leveling all job to level 60 without MSQ isn't hard if you don't force to get it as soon as possible. FATE, Battlecraft Leve and Challenge Log give good XP for raise you to level 50 quickly. Daily roulette is the good boost for leveling if you do it everyday, you will get 50%-80% of EXP from it. And spam dungeon for leveling isn't bad now. You can get a level form 2-3 run with bonus (food, FC buff, Rested) and some XP from other method during wait.

[Niqote]

Hunting Log
Fates
Dungeons
Quests
Weekly Challenge Log <- Unlock this as soon as you can
Hunts
Leves
Daily Roulettes
Buy a stack of Lowland Grapes for 396 gil from a NPC for a constant +5% exp boost

Many players are all 60's or have alternative characters. You will have no issue finding things to grind experience from. The only problem is if an attitude of wanting everything handed to you is present. But if you are cool with working at it then have fun ^^