Leveling Alts Along with Main

[ADarklore]

I didn't come to FFXIV because I necessarily want to play with others, I came because I heard it was a fun game to play with a great storyline, and so far that's what I've found- only been playing for about two weeks. I don't get bored because I can't find people to play with, nor do I get bored with grind... I actually enjoy running the same quests over and over again- probably why over on ESO I have created and deleted numerous alts, I just loved leveling... and yet never felt a NEED to be at 'end game'... I had fun just questing.

So... at this point my Arcanist is level 24, and now I've started leveling Archer and Gladiator. Is there a reason why, in my case (not wanting to rush to level cap), I should or shouldn't level classes at the same time?

I have contemplated buying a Level Boost for a class that I don't care to actually play, just to get a class to level 60. However, I don't want to skip the class questlines for those classes that I DO want to enjoy leveling. Would using a boost in this way be in any way detrimental- or would it help in leveling the other classes by increasing the XP gain? I don't necessarily want to speed level but I also don't want leveling to drag on forever, if that makes sense.

Thanks.

[Legion88]

The class/job with the highest level gets no XP bonus.
classes/jobs, who are not your highest class job get a XP-boost of 50% and if they are below lvl 50 iirc, they get 100% XP-boost but only discipline of war and discipline of magic and only for killing XP, so not for quests.

To your question:
No, it wouldn't be detrimental.
You would secure the XP-Boost for your other classes/jobs until lvl 60 and shorten the needed dungeon runs by a good portion.

Also the main story quests are a very good XP ressource for your "main".

[ADarklore]

The class/job with the highest level gets no XP bonus.
classes/jobs, who are not your highest class job get a XP-boost of 50% and if they are below lvl 50 iirc, they get 100% XP-boost but only discipline of war and discipline of magic and only for killing XP, so not for quests.

To your question:
No, it wouldn't be detrimental.
You would secure the XP-Boost for your other classes/jobs until lvl 60 and shorten the needed dungeon runs by a good portion.

Also the main story quests are a very good XP ressource for your "main".

This was the answer I was looking for. Since I'd be using the boost on a job that I would never want to play in the first place, I wouldn't miss not running the class questline, yet it would secure me XP boost to the lower level classes that I DO want to experience leveling- even if it is only for XP from killing- but since so much of the game involves killing things (including battle leves), it would definitely help. I have not yet decided upon a MAIN class... Arcanist is level 24, but I'm working on Archer now and enjoying it. I figured I'd work on some classes to level 24 and decide from there which to progress through the MSQs. Since it appears the boosting a job to 60 would be beneficial for the XP gain without any detriments in the storyline or quests, I think that's what I'll do.

Thanks again for all the replies. It's nice to be a part of an MMO where the playerbase is a lot more friendly... coming from ESO, their forums are a nightmare of angst.

[CryBloodwing]

Thanks again for all the replies. It's nice to be a part of an MMO where the playerbase is a lot more friendly... coming from ESO, their forums are a nightmare of angst.

ESO playerbase is still 100 times better than WOW's...

Also, for leveling alts, I find it fastest to level tank and healer through dungeon roulettes, especially the one class that is in need. DPS are way harder to level and more boring because you either wait long queue times, or run POTD...

[Niwashi]

Since I'd be using the boost on a job that I would never want to play in the first place, I wouldn't miss not running the class questline, yet it would secure me XP boost to the lower level classes that I DO want to experience leveling

All but one of those classes will automatically get the XP boost anyway, regardless of whether you buy the level boost or not. So you'd be paying just to get the boost on one more class. (Personally, I'd find that benefit too minor to make the purchase worthwhile, but there's nothing actually detrimental about it so long as you weren't going to play the selected class anyway.)

And if you do have the xp boost on all the classes you're playing, you'll have to be careful about alternating which you use for content. If you try doing all the main scenario quests on a class with that XP boost, you could get pretty far outleveled for the quests you're doing. Since you're planning on leveling multiple classes concurrently anyway, you can avoid that problem by doing a few quests with one class, then the next few quests with a different one, and back and forth like that. You just need to give a bit of thought to which you currently want XP on when deciding which to play.

[ADarklore]

All but one of those classes will automatically get the XP boost anyway, regardless of whether you buy the level boost or not. So you'd be paying just to get the boost on one more class. (Personally, I'd find that benefit too minor to make the purchase worthwhile, but there's nothing actually detrimental about it so long as you weren't going to play the selected class anyway.)

And if you do have the xp boost on all the classes you're playing, you'll have to be careful about alternating which you use for content. If you try doing all the main scenario quests on a class with that XP boost, you could get pretty far outleveled for the quests you're doing. Since you're planning on leveling multiple classes concurrently anyway, you can avoid that problem by doing a few quests with one class, then the next few quests with a different one, and back and forth like that. You just need to give a bit of thought to which you currently want XP on when deciding which to play.

Thank you for the advice, and that's exactly how I was planning on playing. Although, I am pretty much using ONE class for MSQ and then using alts for the sidequests, FATES, and Battle Leves. I discovered another plus from the level jump, I was able to get the Chocobo Companion early.

I do have another question though... having jumped one class to 60 using the boost... I have acquired both Samurai and Red Mage jobs... I absolutely LOVE Samurai. In DCUO I played a couple of powers that were 'combo' powers, so I understand how the system works. However, is it even possible to use Samurai or even Red Mage in lower level MSQ dungeons? I figure I could run the dungeon with SAM/RDM and then switch back to another class to turn in the quest for the XP. But, I'm not sure if you could use higher level class with lower level MSQ quests or not? I do understand that higher level skills will be greyed out for lower content, but would be nice to know if it were possible to even do.

[Legion88]

Thank you for the advice, and that's exactly how I was planning on playing. Although, I am pretty much using ONE class for MSQ and then using alts for the sidequests, FATES, and Battle Leves. I discovered another plus from the level jump, I was able to get the Chocobo Companion early.

I do have another question though... having jumped one class to 60 using the boost... I have acquired both Samurai and Red Mage jobs... I absolutely LOVE Samurai. In DCUO I played a couple of powers that were 'combo' powers, so I understand how the system works. However, is it even possible to use Samurai or even Red Mage in lower level MSQ dungeons? I figure I could run the dungeon with SAM/RDM and then switch back to another class to turn in the quest for the XP. But, I'm not sure if you could use higher level class with lower level MSQ quests or not? I do understand that higher level skills will be greyed out for lower content, but would be nice to know if it were possible to even do.

It is possible to do MSQ quests with a high lvl job and the turn in with a lower lvl job, but the lower lvl job has to be at least of the lvl of the quest.

This also works with battle leves, but i can't say if the reward gets lowered for this.

[VileIves]

I do have another question though... having jumped one class to 60 using the boost... I have acquired both Samurai and Red Mage jobs... I absolutely LOVE Samurai. In DCUO I played a couple of powers that were 'combo' powers, so I understand how the system works. However, is it even possible to use Samurai or even Red Mage in lower level MSQ dungeons? I figure I could run the dungeon with SAM/RDM and then switch back to another class to turn in the quest for the XP. But, I'm not sure if you could use higher level class with lower level MSQ quests or not? I do understand that higher level skills will be greyed out for lower content, but would be nice to know if it were possible to even do.

The skills will be unavailable, yes. Fortunately, they thought of that when designing classes that don't start at 1 and they will have around the same amount of abilities as everyone else at lower levels. Sure, if you get dropped into a level 17 dungeon as a Samurai, you'd probably only have one or two buttons to press, but you'd be able to do it. And yes, all melee have combo systems in place to make it a bit more engaging, while DPS melee also have the thing of positional requirements for maximum damage (which is a pain to do consistently outside of group content). If you really, really like combos, could try out Monk or Dragoon.

Samurai's combos are like, 1-2-3 1-4-5 1-6. Monk has an interesting setup where their combo pieces are interchangeable but instead follow a 1-2-3 stance rotation with some choice in what to use for each stance so it could be like 1-2-3 or 4-5-6 Or 1-5-3. Then there's Dragoon which has two combos, but at max level the combo is like, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-5-4. It gets a little crazy when factoring that and different buffs, positionals and non-rotational buttons to throw in there. Of course, wouldn't recommend laying the keybinds out like that either and would GREATLY recommend setting comfortable keybinds if you were to play a melee job. It's a bit easier for casters, though having important buttons on easy keys benefits them just as much.

Ultimately, it comes down to which ones you prefer most, dungeons grant a decent amount of experience, though a large portion of it ends up being split between monster kills (which benefits your lower level characters) and the end of dungeon duty finder bonus (which is higher for your highest level character). I played to 70 with mostly only one class before I started branching out and didn't hit any snags at all, not sure how much extra you might have to do if you ended up splitting them by only getting exp on some characters from quest turn-ins, since quest turn-ins have level requirements as well if you end up outpacing the quests you might not be able to turn them in on a lower character.

[Iscah]

However, is it even possible to use Samurai or even Red Mage in lower level MSQ dungeons? I figure I could run the dungeon with SAM/RDM and then switch back to another class to turn in the quest for the XP. But, I'm not sure if you could use higher level class with lower level MSQ quests or not? I do understand that higher level skills will be greyed out for lower content, but would be nice to know if it were possible to even do.

As others have already said, you can take your high-leveled jobs into low-level dungeons but they are synched down and only have a few skills available. Have a look through your skill descriptions in the Actions and Traits menu - it will list the level at which you "learned" these abilities (even though you really got them all instantly at Lv50). Level synch for dungeons gives you access to your skills based on these levels.

As for handing in the quests, all the game checks is whether your current level is equal to or higher than the quest level - so you can do this not just with another battle class, but actually with crafting or gathering classes as well! In ARR anyway. They 'fixed' that for Heavensward.

[Valkorian]

need to? no, play how you want and how you enjoy. the need is to change the style of play or what to do. unless you NEED to play redmage, samurai or something then you have to have a high level class to unlock them. Since you enjoy the story and question, there isn't a need to except for what class you enjoy killing stuff with.