Gunbreaker - Leveling Question

[RedDevill]

Hello everyone, quick background info first. I restarted playing FF14 couple of weeks ago. I love the community, very helpful. And wanted to ask a question.

I am currently level 63, progressing through the Stormblood MSQs. (as a DPS queue times for Dungeons/Trials sux, but hey, thats DPS life)

My main aim is to play the new Gunbreaker tank Job. As Tanking is the role I always play. And given the info on the sites, I dont need to complete the Stormblood MSQ to start playing the class.

What my question is, is it better to wait for the expac and then do the Stormblood MSQ on the Gunbreaker, as MSQ gives alot more experience than regular quests. And also gives a break from running roulettes.

Initially I thought, that to play the new jobs you need to do the Stormblood MSQ. But that is not the case, at the same time, getting one class to lvl 70 will only give exp boost from 1-60, so Gunbreaker wont benefit.

I am new to this game, so I do not know much about Palace of the Dead etc, I just know how to level through Daily Roulettes, MSQs and Sidequests.

So my plan is, to stop MSQ progression on my Blackmage, wait for Gunbreaker, level GNB to lvl 64 and then continue MSQ progression from there.

Can someone more experienced advice on this? Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. (Also I dont mind waiting a while to do the new content, as my main aim was always to play Gunbreaker)

[Doozer]

Well since it only comes out in a month from now, it's not a huge wait. You could always level crafters and gatherers in the meantime, as well as most of the beast tribe stuff. Leveling DoW/DoM classes and the MSQ are a pretty small section of the game.

Only you can decide, but there's plenty of things for you to do in the meantime if you choose to wait. You wouldn't be wasting your sub or anything.

[BiffWellington]

One reason I would consider continuing the MSQ and getting to 70 now is to have access to the level 70 poetics vendor right off the bat when Shadowbringers goes live. This would let you get a head start on gearing up your Gunbreaker for going from 70 to 80.

From what I've read, you'd still get that experience bonus you mentioned on your second job after level 60, but it would be halved. And this may change with the expansion; it might be dropped from +100% to +50% at level 70 instead.

Edit: Actually, considering with such a change they'd probably also make you get one job to 80 to get this bonus, that last part might not be all that helpful after all. Never mind that part.

[Veliena]

If your main goal is to play gunbreaker I would stop the msq as you have thought about, and pick up with the gunbreaker. There are a few reasons to do this. 1. They will likely add gear to the 4.1-4.5 msq so that you can get the gear needed to complete the SB msq. if you were to do it the other way you'd need to aquire gear for the new job either now through tomestones crafting ect. It would also take some of the grind away, since you will have msq quest to do and if you preordered, the new ear rings that give bonus xp to level 70.

[RedDevill]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I think this is what I am going to do.

1. Stop MSQ right now, (currently at lvl 64)
2. Start doing other Jobs, I want to do Botanist and Carpenter. Crafting and Gathering is pretty cool.
3. Might try to level up another Healer Job as well, just to try and get an idea on how much exp I can get in a day.

Thanks again.

[BiffWellington]

Definitely a fine choice, there. Enjoy the Gunbreaker!

[Greven]

I think you should complete the SB main quest story so you'll be on par for ShB:

It will feel frustrating at the beginning when everybody are doing the new things and you can't. It's actually a nice experience once in a while to try "new" things, maybe have a little party chat trying to understand a boss mechanic, instead of arrive after everyone know everything and you're the only one new. Nothing against it but it can always be like that while a new expansions is a rare event.

You should reach 70 by doing the main story alone so don't bother with repeating duties, just do your more useful dailies.

With preorder you get early access and and exp buff earring. During those few days of early access you can unlock GNB and take it to 70. Earring buff + your FC will have exp buff up, get some cheap food for 3% extra and join all the people doing the same thing, probably doing mass kills of FATEs. Quick and easy. You'll be ready to start ShB with your new GNB 70 in shiny coat.

Until early access, after you have a lv70 job and SB story done you could dwell on the the rest.

It's my subjective opinion obviously but I really don't see why pausing the story now.

[MaraD_]

PotD is unlocked in Gridania Adventures guild.
Its good exp below Lv50, and ok exp above Lv50.
at Lv61 Heaven on High is the replacement, and is much faster exp. (and with how long it takes to get a group, even as tank or healer, due to everyone going to heaven on high, this is still better. no point in waiting 30+min as a tank or healer)
heaven on high is in the ruby sea. i forget where the quest giver is, but you'll find them.

anyways, stop the MSQ, and just get a job to 70, so the GNB will gain more exp faster, and u wont have to frequently stop and grind, mid story.
(also do the roulettes once a day to get a chunk of exp needed, which helps a ton in the 60s. not so much trials, 50/60/70 dungeons, and leveling roulette only gives decent exp if its within 5-10 levels of your current level, or sastahsa/tam tara/copperbell. if u get something like haukke manor, you're honestly wasting the roulette as it wont even give you a 10th of a levels worth of exp. (sastasha, w/o a roulette bonus would give u more exp from the mobs alone) so yeah, its a bit of a gamble, due to how they messed with it in secret over time.))

[Iscah]

There are definite advantages to doing Stormblood while it's quiet there, and letting the crowd clear out of the new areas before you get to it.

(I'm not looking forward to having a sea of people crowded around all my quest targets...)

One reason I would consider continuing the MSQ and getting to 70 now is to have access to the level 70 poetics vendor right off the bat when Shadowbringers goes live. This would let you get a head start on gearing up your Gunbreaker for going from 70 to 80.

I don't think that's necessary though - you don't *need* the Lv70 armour until you move up into Lv70 content. You only really need to be geared to match the content you're currently doing.

Also, I'm not sure, but do the vendors unlock once the expansion is no longer current? You can access the Heavensward vendors as soon as you reach Idyllshire, but was that the case during Heavensward or did they change it after Stormblood released?

anyways, stop the MSQ, and just get a job to 70, so the GNB will gain more exp faster

I don't think you need to worry about that. As long as you're doing all your MSQ quests with the class, and also running roulette dungeons (and/or sidequests) along the way, you should be fine.

Though of course, it's not a bad idea either, if you want to work on it before 5.0 releases.

[BiffWellington]

I don't think that's necessary though - you don't *need* the Lv70 armour until you move up into Lv70 content. You only really need to be geared to match the content you're currently doing.

True, but in the process of leveling from 60 to 70 you're likely to find yourself capped on poetics more than once. It's good to be able to spend them as you go, so you can earn more.

Also, I'm not sure, but do the vendors unlock once the expansion is no longer current? You can access the Heavensward vendors as soon as you reach Idyllshire, but was that the case during Heavensward or did they change it after Stormblood released?

Now, this I'm not sure about; I just started this game last fall. I do remember having access to those vendors right off the bat when I got Idyllshire, now that you mention it.