Tales of Adventure

[Marito]

I’m level 42. I really enjoy the game but for personal reasons I don’t intend to run any dungeons as part of a group. (I know this is going to attract a large amount of criticism). Levelling is difficult because I’m barred from some options like beast tribe quests because I haven’t completed some quests which require group dungeon running. Would purchasing a Tales of Adventure solve this problem? I don’t want to promote my level, just be able to run more of the content which would make levelling easier. Also, what would I have to do to reach the point where I could use the Shadowbringers trust system?

[Penthea]

I’m level 42. I really enjoy the game but for personal reasons I don’t intend to run any dungeons as part of a group. (I know this is going to attract a large amount of criticism). Levelling is difficult because I’m barred from some options like beast tribe quests because I haven’t completed some quests which require group dungeon running. Would purchasing a Tales of Adventure solve this problem? I don’t want to promote my level, just be able to run more of the content which would make levelling easier. Also, what would I have to do to reach the point where I could use the Shadowbringers trust system?

You can't escape doing things with groups in this game. Trusts only cover dungeons. You will still need player groups for trials (8-man one boss content), and some of those are part of the main story so you can't skip it.

[SamRF]

Use Tales of Adventure only if you're okay with skipping all the main scenario quests until Shadowbringers (highly advice against this if it's your first play trough).

One thing that might offer you a solution is joining a big FC and ask a high level player to carry you through the dungeons without level sync, you won't have to do anything since they 1 shot everything. If you're fortunate enough to have a nice Novic Network community, you can ask there and I'm sure there will be someone willing to do that for you.

I know you didn't ask for this but I'd still just suggest to do the dungeons as DPS. DPS is redundant in the MSQ mandatory content so it really doesn't matter what you do or how you perform, and I'm sure vast majority won't even acknowledge you no matter how you play (unless you're afk or something). Only purpose for dps in dungeons is to kill stuff faster, if there are any dps checks, you can be assured that they can probably easily be done with 1 dps less. You can disable chat and all communication with the party and treat it as if you're playing with NPC.

All things considered, 1 single run of those instances takes very little time in comparison with the amount of content it unlocks.

[Crushnight]

I’m level 42. I really enjoy the game but for personal reasons I don’t intend to run any dungeons as part of a group. (I know this is going to attract a large amount of criticism). Levelling is difficult because I’m barred from some options like beast tribe quests because I haven’t completed some quests which require group dungeon running. Would purchasing a Tales of Adventure solve this problem? I don’t want to promote my level, just be able to run more of the content which would make levelling easier. Also, what would I have to do to reach the point where I could use the Shadowbringers trust system?

It would complete main scenerio quests (MSQ) up to the set interval you purchased not any side quests including beast tribes.

Anything that is level locked would still require you to level up to the appropriate level.

However I strongly urge to get used to doing group content or you will be roadblocked by the lv73 8 man trial which cannot be skipped until next expansion release and this will gate you from everything else in Shadowbringers, story, Shadowbringers beast tribes, gathering spots, gear.

FFXIV is still an MMO just with heavy solo aspect yet it still requires you to do group content.

[Brightamethyst]

but for personal reasons I don’t intend to run any dungeons as part of a group.

Then you're playing the wrong game. EVERYTHING is locked behind some amount of party content. A story skill will only delay the inevitable. Eventually your options will be to join a party or quit the game. In Shadowbringers (level 71+) you can use trusts to run dungeons, but trials (8-man boss fights) cannot be run with trusts.

Out of curiosity, why play an MMO in the first place if you have such an aversion to joining parties?

[yukiiyuki]

MMORPG btw

[Enla]

As has been stated, Trusts only cover 70+ dungeons. They don't actually cover trials or the raids, and you'll need to complete three of the former to even beat ShB's story.

[Packetdancer]

I’m level 42. I really enjoy the game but for personal reasons I don’t intend to run any dungeons as part of a group. (I know this is going to attract a large amount of criticism).

Honestly? The story skip will... well, skip all the story up to the beginning of Shadowbringers. And ShB is something which builds on everything which came before it, and it draws lore even from some bits of old raid content (in particular the first 24-man raids back in A Realm Reborn). Jumping right to ShB strikes me as a little like watching Avengers: Endgame as your first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.

And as others have noted, it won't solve your problem. While trusts can run the dungeons with you, they cannot run the 8-man trials, and Shadowbringers' main story has three of those. Further, as you progress the main story into the 5.x patches, there's a minimum gear level requirement for later dungeons which cannot be met solely by the gear dropped from the main scenario quests. You will either need to get dungeon drops, buy tomestone gear, or buy crafted gear and upgrade it (which takes spending some tomestones). Now, you can get tomestones from things like hunt marks and FATEs trains, so skipping out on dungeon roulettes (which are one of the best ways to get tomestones) will not completely block you here, but it'll definitely make for slower going.

What I'd honestly do is find a group you trust and run dungeons with them. I don't know what the personal reasons are for not running group content—nor will I pry—but you're not the first person I've seen with that opinion. I had a friend who had severe nerve damage in his hands from military service, which made it really hard for him to play. He wasn't terribly confident or comfortable in group content as a result of this, and so never felt comfortable with PUGs. He never played FFXIV—he passed away before Heavensward even came out—but while few other games have so MUCH group content in the main story quests, FFXIV isn't the only one that has SOME. So it was still a problem. But he had friends who he trusted and knew wouldn't judge him or his performance, and so when he did have to do group content in anything he'd turn to us to run it with him and help him get through.

I do hope you can find a path forward that helps let you enjoy the game, either way.

[VenKitsune]

I’m level 42. I really enjoy the game but for personal reasons I don’t intend to run any dungeons as part of a group. (I know this is going to attract a large amount of criticism). Levelling is difficult because I’m barred from some options like beast tribe quests because I haven’t completed some quests which require group dungeon running. Would purchasing a Tales of Adventure solve this problem? I don’t want to promote my level, just be able to run more of the content which would make levelling easier. Also, what would I have to do to reach the point where I could use the Shadowbringers trust system?

It's an MMO, it's going to require some manner of interaction with other players. What's so difficult about queueing up for a dungeon and spending 20 minutes clearing it with 3 randoms?
If you want to avoid people COMPLETELY to the point of not even wanting to do dungeons because of it, this game may not be for you - Again, its an MMO, not a single player RPG.

[Paladinleeds]

ok, so while people do bring up a valid point of it's an MMO, I am going to have to throw my weight behind trying to get friends you trust. I see you're on my datacentre so I'm happy to help where possible. Group content can be daunting, but if someone says they struggle, like you've mentioned here, I'm extremely forgiving (I'm forgiving in general to anyone but myself, gotta work on that). I'll even try and see if there's anything I can do to help you overcome it, be it by adjusting the strat a bit, giving you ideas of where you can stand to make your life easier, etc. At the end of the day it's a team effort. So if someone struggles because of disability, mental health issues, etc, then I'll see what I can do to pick up the slack. As a healer main, that tends to mean doing quite a bit.