How am I supposed to level in Pagos?

[Aster_E]

You can Challenge Log it up to 25, do the "quests" to unlock the light grind, and then sit in the train during what remains of peak hours, emptying out your shoehorned kettle every few bars of light as the exp takes you to 35.

OR

You can pretend Eureka doesn't exist, and just grab a relevant iLV weapon already, which can last you to the next expansion.

[Esp]

You can pretend Eureka doesn't exist, and just grab a relevant iLV weapon already, which can last you to the next expansion.

This is what I did. I just farmed Suzaku for my weapons and never looked back.

[Deceptus]

This is what I did. I just farmed Suzaku for my weapons and never looked back.

What you don't like farming for weeks for a weapon you can get better from Suzaku in a day or two?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

What you don't like farming for weeks for a weapon you can get better from Suzaku in a day or two?

B-But those three extra materia slots!! They make it absolutely worth the grind in boring, unimaginative content... said no one ever.

[Aster_E]

B-But those three extra materia slots!! They make it absolutely worth the grind in boring, unimaginative content... said no one ever.

*Laughs maybe a little too hard at this*

[Nicodemus_Mercy]

You can pretend Eureka doesn't exist, and just grab a relevant iLV weapon already, which can last you to the next expansion.

This is the option I went with. After the horrific experience I had in Anemos, and the horror stories I've read about Pagos, I decided that I just can't punish myself like that for a weapon no matter how good it might end up potentially being. Eureka is just not fun for me. It's downright painful "content" to engage in. I play games to have fun not torture myself. Doing literally ANYTHING else in FFXIV is more fun than stepping foot into Eureka. I am fairly confident that if the relic wasn't tied to it, Eureka would see far less traffic than it does. I can only hope future xpacs never use this style of content again, at least not for relics.