Why I'm starting to prefer Trusts for dungeon leveling.

[MontyChamberlain]

Since the last months of Stormblood, I've made a goal to level all combat jobs to max level so I can experience all current endgame content. Despite the large variety of leveling methods SE has given us, and the systemic change to FATEs making them widely more feasible to level with, dungeons still currently remain the quickest way to level. I currently have all combat classes 71 and above, so I will be dungeon-running for a long stretch of time.

So far, I have done Holminster Switch, the level 71 dungeon, more times than I care to remember. I've done an amount of it with Trusts enough to level the 6 Trust NPCs to level 73, and I've done it on 7-8 other classes, 3 to 73, and the rest to 71.

I've heard accounts from people who have had their Trust runs take 30 to 35 minutes. I find that quite a bit long, and I can only assume those accounts are from players who are not good with their DPS rotations. The other number is 27 minutes. I don't know why, but this is the exact number of minutes, give or take a few seconds, that I always get with my own Trust runs if I try to complete the dungeon as quickly as I can.

A good, average dungeon run with players takes about 20 minutes. An almost perfect run takes 15 or less minutes, but that's rare with duty finder. I also have to mention that some runs can even take longer than 30 minutes, and this can be due to low DPS, people needing to AFK momentarily for IRL reasons, or a tank dying due to lack of proper cooldown usage or healing. It also needs to be mentioned that, taking into account queue time, it may take longer for a DPS (and momentarily with the rise of people trying out Gunbreaker) to even level overall. However, this is mitigated due to how good FATE leveling has been in ShB.

The Trust system provides a guaranteed method of leveling. It does not have the potential to be the quickest method of leveling at the moment, but the Trusts act in a predictable manner, making runs smooth. It is strange that I am complimenting a system designed for solo play in a MMO, but I feel compelled to do so because of experiences via Duty Finder that I find conflict with my playstyle.

The Duty Finder is great for first-time runs through dungeons, and at the very start of this expansion, the discovery of new environments and dungeon design was definitely enhanced by the fact that I shared that experience with 3 other unfamiliar people. However, when you do the same dungeons potentially 17 times more than the average player, exchanging pleasantries and risking failed runs due to conflicts in play style and skill may get in the way of other goals you may have as a player. As such, I do recommend Trusts for both new players to ShB and veteran players alike!

[RayneBoemir]

I don’t know how long a run takes since I have never timed it; however, trusts don’t AoE and my fingers were starting to hurt from the fact I was the only one doing it, so for me trusts aren’t enjoyable.

[Nix]

I don't mind using the trusts - I often find that it's my only choice because I play a lot while I work, so if I get called away it's no big deal. I can't really dungeon run with real people while I work.... So the longer run times are a nice trade-off for me.

[Naoki34]

I did all my MSQ with the Trust system, except trials ofc.
Now I'm lvl my other jobs, I think just, it's a bit slow waiting for my Scions friends to be at max levels.

I like being able to do my dungeons when I want without a queue. it remains correct in tank/heal 30 min (with Alisae the only dps who's using LB), and less Dps.
it takes 1 or 2 days per job, if I don't need to wait for Scions leveling (+/- 6 dj/lvl for Npc).

Of course, you have to love spam dungeons, I like it a lot with music. it gives me so much loot (1 per chest and last boss give sometime minion/orchestrion), that I find myself 2nd on the classification of the seal of GC lol.

[gumas]

trust is good if you have a lot of free time to spare, or you are not in the mood of rushing considering majority of PUG is pretty much that.

sometimes i just use trust with my DPS and just kickback and relax, like... i spam 1 button and thats it while my right hand is busy with phone game lol. the npc maybe slow but they really doing good job at they do and they just cant die 90% of time, unleash you are the healer obviously.

[Doozer]

The trust dungeons do take longer than the average DF run, but at least the AI knows not to run in front of me when I'm tanking. It gets annoying and stressful when playing with others sometimes because there's always at least one DPS that decides they'll be our tour guide for that run, and they sprint ahead of me, pull things by accident (or even on purpose), and sprint back. The AI knows their place.

[Losara]

The trust system feels great so far since its an instant queue but I don't like having to level them. I understand this was put in place in order to discourage people from avoiding duty finder for convenience sake since that would cause problems down the track.

I use trusts as an alternative if I happen to have done my daily roulette's and want to spam dungeons to get a remainder of a level but find that I will tend to sway towards duty finder due to my trusts not being leveled up yet and unable to participate in higher level content straight away.

[Maneesha]

yes trust can be great for leveling jobs, however as others pointed out, it is a slower run. which has its own positives (afking for a short time and not having to worry about other players or being kicked) and disadvantages (mainly the slow run,but also the fact it gets boring really fast and that you are solo and cant socialize with people,except voice chats or other programs/ingame chats).

however, people still can wait it out and level jobs at a later point with the next (hopefully) deep dungeon.

still i do like to have the option of "trust" to use it for leveling if i want to.

[gumas]

the fact it gets boring really fast and that you are solo and cant socialize with people,except voice chats or other programs/ingame chats

thankgod for podcast and discord chat

[Cranky_Pantaloons]

It might just be me, but this whole post reads way less like a compliment of the Trust system and way more like a compliment to ...yourself.

We get it, no one else plays as well as you do. You're the best. You win FFXIV. *insert very obvious eye roll here*