1st time preparing for an expansion

[Bacent]

You can also get this from squadrons. Gives the same EXP for 2 hours that a grade 3 action does

[Rufalus]

Tbh the main content in this game is so casual that nobody really needs to do any preparation. Your first run through the msq will gear up the job you're currently playing, plus another couple jobs if you do the sidequests for more gear coffers. The dungeons along the way may get you gear for all the other jobs depending how many times you run them. Even if you don't want to do crafting to fill remaining gaps, people will sell that crafted stuff cheap on marketboard, especially since quests give you hq gear for free.