Leveling: PotD or MSQ?

[Bacent]

I'd say yes in Palace for subclass stuff for soul stones, as well as when you get the level 46-ish gap for a few levels before hitting 50. Palace is a great way for EXP and all, but it doesn't really teach you much about the class

[Taika]

Main scenario + daily leveling roulette + weekly challenge logs + hunting logs (pre 50) and hunts (post 50) will get her far. For extra exp, can run either the highest level dungeon available (provides gear and is a good place to learn to use your abilities and learn how party mechanics work) or PotD.

Side quests are worth doing after level 50 I think.

[Venjenz]

You can't get to 60 with only the MSQ, unless you have a significant level lead from elsewhere. You gotta pad that with dungeons, PotD, side quests, FATEs or whatever.

From my experiences anyhow.

This.

MSQ alone will not level you to 60, even an alt class getting the bonus will need to add in some dungeons, FATEs, challenge log, etc.

[HyoMinPark]

I would definitely recommend your wife progressing through the MSQ with regards to her main job. She can use PotD to get pugilist to level 15 (so that she can unlock bard), any alternative classes/jobs she would like to level (I would recommend getting Lancer to 34 for Blood for Blood, but that is entirely optional for the time being), and during any lulls there may be in MSQ quests. I know that there's a little bit of a lull around level 44-ish, but you also have two dungeons you can do during that time to try and give you a little bit of experience (especially do them for the first time bonus experience): Dzemael Darkhold and Aurum Vale.

Dzemael Darkhold (Level 44 dungeon)
Aurum Vale (Level 47 dungeon)

Both of these dungeons are unlocked via Sidequests, so your wife will have to step off to the side from the MSQ for a bit to unlock and run them. I, personally, don't find either that bad, if you can get a good group for them. And both give nice amounts of experience. I also recommend her keeping up with her Hunting Log, as that's basically free and easy experience, and completing her Guildhests up until the final one at level 40 for the first time bonus experience as well. Do Leveling Roulette daily, since it also gives a very nice chunk of experience regardless of the duty you get.

Obviously, with any other lulls in levels between MSQ quests, your wife can fill with PotD or, even better, Daily Roulettes. Once she hits Heavensward, I don't remember there being any significant periods where you have to level up to progress with the MSQ; maybe around level 55-56, but she can easily get plenty of experience by running her Daily Roulettes (be sure to have her unlock as many level 50 dungeons as possible so she can do her Level 50 Roulette--some level 50 dungeons are Sidequests, and not part of the 2.x MSQ, so she'll have to do a little bit of digging, but the FFXIV Wiki and Gamer Escape sites has pages for each dungeon, and the quests you need to unlock them).

Obviously, if she has additional questions, feel free to ask them here. A lot of us are more than willing to help out fellow players, especially those that are returning to the game. :3

[Aeeninwen_Taldel]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll recommend to her to use PotD for her cross-class stuff, and MSQ for leveling. Can you get to 60 with only MSQ, or do you need to do all the regional side quests too? I honestly don't remember, since I tend to burn through the leveling content very early.

For me, I had to do a couple runs in POTD for the last 3 levels to be able to progress on the story quest. I'd hit lvl 57, do the MSQ, then have 1/4 a bar to fill. 58 was similar. 59, I only got 1/5th my exp bar filled, and had to do several POTD runs to get to lvl 60.

[Astrus]

I'd recommend doing the MSQs and supplementing that with daily roulettes (and maybe a few short stints in PotD if she falls behind on the required levels).
PotD is great for getting fast XP, it's decidedly suboptimal for getting more than a general idea of what you're doing with your class.

She'll need to do the MSQ eventually so she might as well do them as she levels and use other things to shake up the flow when the story feels like it's starting to drag.
Leveling in PotD does get old after a while, trudging through that until 60 and then having to do the enirety of the MSQs when they're mostly "low level errands" sounds like it's not the best of experiences to me. We already have people complaining about having to do the 7th Astral Era Quests before getting to HW.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

TC, I've got to agree with the above advice : have her use MSQ to level, doing side quests and Roulettes and PotD when level locked out of the next MSQ, or for leveling other combat classes for cross class skills and for Bard. Bear in mind, with Stormblood a month away, there may not be any need to level Pugilist and Lancer beyond the PGL 15 for Bard, depending on just what they do with the cross class system.

[Kethic]

Thanks again for all the advice. I passed it along, and her response was mixed. Put bluntly, she doesn't like combat, and is looking to minimize time fighting to get through the content, so she can play with botany and cooking. We'll get the MSQ done, and see what needs to filled in afterwards. Not going to bother with cross class skills. Is it even worth bothering with Bard instead of plain Archer?

[HyoMinPark]

She will definitely need to unlock Bard. Just to make it easier on herself, since people will make comments about Level 60 archers in content.

I totally get wanting to mess around with crafters and gatherers. I enjoy it myself. Unfortunately, SE still hasn't really implemented a way to progress as something other than a Disciple of War or Disciple of Magic.

If she wants a sort of plus, Bard is a sort of support job. While she'll be expected to DPS, Bard can also provide party support, such as MP/TP regen and a lovely song called Foe's Requiem that helps casters deal more damage to mobs/bosses. It's not a true support job, but it is different from your average melee or caster.

[Kethic]

Fair points. I suspect she won't do a single dungeon or combat content after she hits 60, except what's necessary to hit 70 in SB. The combat class is a necessary evil at this point, but one we want to minimize going up, and which will likely be ignored entirely once she arrives.