Changing from Conjurer to Thaumaturge

[Eollica]

Hello All!
I'm rather new to the game, played in 2016 for 3 months and restarted playing this november. I screwed up on choosing my class. I hate being a healer. And when I reached level 10-ish, I realized Conjurer = healer.
So much for being a noob.
I'm lvl 26 conjurer. I didn't switch to a new class earlier was because I wanted to get the chocobo quest before all else.
After getting all the classes/jobs quests started up to lvl 5, I decided to switch to Thaumaturge. I always liked debuffers and elementalists.
My main questions:
1) Is there a best time/level to move to a new class? Is there any penalty/loss for pausing the questline to level up to 25-ish Thm?
2) Currenlty at level 7 Thm, what is the best way to level up? Is there some powerlevelling system?
3) Can use my Cnj to aid my Thm self somehow?
4) Do players usually level more than one class? Despite hating the role, it's rather useful to have Cure and Raise amongst my skills.

I thank y'all for any and every help!

[Shurrikhan]

1) I'd recommend swapping to other classes of the same armor type before your inventory fills up if you're sure you're going to want more than one class available to you at endgame anyways. Anyone who can get use out of the gear, complete together early on so you can ditch the gear later.
2) Just MSQ, sidequests, FATEs, and guildleves.
3) Not anymore, except that it is already giving THM a exp bonus.
4) Yes. Many level all on one character.

[Eollica]

Thanks so much for your reply!
Also, another thing, what is the bonus/disvantages of upgrading oneself from a class to a job (Dark Mage, Monk, etc)? What are the requirements for that? The promotion itself is a premium optional item from Mog Station right?

[Powe]

Thanks so much for your reply!
Also, another thing, what is the bonus/disvantages of upgrading oneself from a class to a job (Dark Mage, Monk, etc)? What are the requirements for that? The promotion itself is a premium optional item from Mog Station right?

well one disadvantage is not knowing the natural rotation, you'll be thrown into something that you don't know how to do. Just take it nice and slow, took me like only a month to get to lv 50 on smn and that was when leveling was a little bit harder then today.

[Canadane]

Are you talking about the level boost potions? Those come with a variety of disadvantages I suppose.
If you're simply talking about getting your job stone and using the job instead of the class - those aren't exactly optional and they're in the game without an extra purchase. There's a negligible amount of downsides to using a job. You don't want to run on your base class forever. It's more of a natural continuation of your class as you level up.

[Lunali]

One thing to keep in mind, you get a large exp bonus whenever you aren't on your highest level job. Because of this, if you do switch classes you want to minimize the amount of time you have two jobs tied for highest as you won't get the bonus on either of them while they're both highest.

Also, if it wasn't clear from the previous posts, the boost items on the mog station are not to promote your class to a job, they're just to boost your level and get you somewhat set up at your new level. As part of the boost, you will automatically complete the class and job quests up to your new level, which will unlock the job as a side effect. I don't recommend using them for your first class unless you want to use it on a class other than the one you typically play so you can abuse the exp bonus mentioned above.

[MistakeNot]

Thanks so much for your reply!
Also, another thing, what is the bonus/disvantages of upgrading oneself from a class to a job (Dark Mage, Monk, etc)? What are the requirements for that? The promotion itself is a premium optional item from Mog Station right?

Not right - everything from the Mog Station is extremely optional and can be completely ignored.

To switch to a job from a class you need to have finished your level 30 class quest. After doing that there will be a quest somewhere really close to you that will allow you to get the job.
Advantages of a job are an inherent boost to several stats and access to all your job skills. Disadvantage is fewer Role skill slots.
It is strongly recommended to pick up a job as soon as you can.
(Should you really not want the job you can always switch back to the base class by unequipping your job stone - so no disadvantage at all to just picking up a job. This is not recommended however.)

(The jobs introduced with HW (DRK, AST, MCH) and SB (RDM,.SAM) are not based on a class. To switch to those you need own the corresponding expansion and be of the right level and have access to the area where you pick up the jobquest.

(In practice this means level 50 for all those jobs, and having access to Ishgard for the HW jobs.)

[wereotter]

Since it wasn't answered, the fastest way, currently, to get leveled up and carry on with the story is to unlock and use Palace of the Dead. There is a quest in the pub in Gridinia to do this. The biggest disadvantage to this, however, is it can be a bit overwhelming as you'll have access to all your skills to level 60 (I think, maybe less since you'll be in as a class not a job) and you won't really get to learn much on how to play the job.

The next best way is to do a few FATEs and run your hunting log, and levequests. These still push you through levels pretty quickly, and have the added bonus of both not overwhelming you with skills and giving you a bit more time to practice and experiment with how to play the job.

Also most the players I know actively play more than one job, so it wouldn't be strange at all if you chose to keep playing healer while also playing caster.

[Eollica]

One thing to keep in mind, you get a large exp bonus whenever you aren't on your highest level job.

Oh that clarifies it a lot. So if I reach a job through levelling a class, and level multiple classes, I can have multiple jobs as well?

you can always switch back to the base class by unequipping your job stone - so no disadvantage at all to just picking up a job.

Alright, I didn't know at all about the stones. That clarifies a LOT!

Palace of the Dead. The biggest disadvantage to this, however, is it can be a bit overwhelming as you'll have access to all your skills to level 60 and you won't really get to learn much on how to play the job.

That's quite nice. About that Palace fo The Dead thing, I don't know... Half the fun of levelling up is unlocking skills... So maybe for the other classes I'll so it, but not for this one. Great info though, Thank you very much!!

[MistakeNot]

Oh that clarifies it a lot. So if I reach a job through levelling a class, and level multiple classes, I can have multiple jobs as well?

Absolutely. You can have all the classes and all the jobs on a single character. Other than the time needed to level them (and the space required for all the gear), there really isn't any disadvantage to picking them all up.