Am I missing something about leveling?

[Moonflower]

I wasn't in any of the betas for this game so please forgive me if this is a dumb question. I get that FF14 is an open world, but am I missing something about leveling? I am lvl 15 on 2 classes at the moment, and I "think" that my main story won't let me progress until I complete the first dungeon (Sastasha). I have sat in the duty finder more than a few times trying to get into this dungeon with no luck. I find quests here and there, but once they are gone I am forced to do leves and FATE's to level up (which gets quite boring after a while).

I found a guide that basically says "Once you hit 15, just grind out dungeons over and over" .... so is this what the game is about? Grinding FATE, leves, and dungeons? Are there more hubs with quests I can keep doing that I missed? Do I HAVE to complete Sastasha to get my next story quest and to open up Tam Tara?

[Cyfer36]

Nah the grind isnt half that bad until u have like one job maxed out. U just gotta get past that dungeon and there will be a buncha more quests

[Whizawk]

Yes you need to go through the dungeons to advance the main story quest. Though it is not all dungeons, some are optional.
I guess they are correct in saying that once you do all the quests it's grind with FATE parties or Dungeons until they release more quests or the next expansion comes out.

To be honest though it really isn't their fault that people have just rushed to the End Game so fast in a matter of weeks. :P

[Moonflower]

Thanks for the replies guys! As for the duty finder...are people just not using it? The times I have been in it, it shows me as the only person waiting forever, not even dps are added or joining? Is there a better way to go about getting into the dungeons?

[Cyfer36]

Tanks and heals r just scarce i guess. Personally as a tank i rarely wait. U could just try forming a group from your server through chat. Sometimes it can be much more efficient....and im pretty sure it never shows dps the queue til u have tank and heals. They r queued just probably waiting on that 1 key role

[Thunderz]

Grind fates

dungeons and leve's don't give anything close compared to fates

[Cyfer36]

Grind fates

dungeons and leve's don't give anything close compared to fates

true..and u will end up throwin em in regardless cause u will need grand company tokens. Just that one dungeon has to do with the story so u have to do it unfortunatley. After that though theres plenty of quests to level without ever seeing a dungeon...your first job at least

[Yachi]

Thanks for the replies guys! As for the duty finder...are people just not using it? The times I have been in it, it shows me as the only person waiting forever, not even dps are added or joining? Is there a better way to go about getting into the dungeons?

No many tanks and even less healers. As DD you need to wait around 30 minutes to get a party.

[EmiliM]

Yes, you need to finish Sastasha to advance. And a lot of the story contents such as your personal chocobo and grand companies don't open up until you are further along.

As for the duty finder, it's very difficult to get matched right now as a DPS since there is an acute shortage of tanks and healers. The algorithm prioritizes near-complete teams first so if you have 2 DPS and a tank already matched, they will likely get the next healer that signs on, for example. DPSs only get fast matches if there is an existing group that lacks one DPS (unlikely since there are so many), otherwise they will need to wait until they get lucky and an unneeded tank gets matched with them.

A good way to reduce wait times is to create a party with at least one other player. Starting out with a two person party in the duty finder will place your far ahead of most others and makes the system prioritizes your party when assigning matches to you since it favors more complete teams than individuals.

[gamegal71]

The duty finder doesn't update group info until it has a complete group. I discovered this on my first dungeon after restarting the duty finder a few times trying to figure out what was wrong. I knew there were plenty of dps yet it looked like I was the only one being added to my group. If you are dps, expect as much as a 45+ minute wait although I've had some go quicker. Once a group is found, there will be a pop-up which you have 45 seconds to accept. After that the group x/1 x/1 x/2 will show up. As each party member accepts, the numbers fill in and a check appears on each box when requirements are met. If everyone accepts in time, you will enter dungeon. If a party member does not accept, you should get another pop up quickly (last night it took me 3 rounds of these pop-ups before a full group formed).