Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

• The various choices you make at character creation have minimal gameplay impact, so just focus on making a character you find aesthetically pleasing.

• The main questline should be your top priority as many gameplay features such as mounts are unlocked by progressing in it. Any non-main quests that unlock something upon completing them (known as "Feature Quests") are marked with a + next to the quest icon and are also worth picking up.

• Remember that any sidequests you complete will remain completed even if you switch classes. If you're not in an immediate need for the reward or experience, it can be a good idea to leave some for your other classes.

• You will eventually be asked to choose a Grand Company to join. They are largely identical aside from their location, so go with whichever seems coolest. You can also change your GC later if you want.

• In addition to using the normal teleport location list, you can also teleport to any attuned Aetherytes by simply selecting them on your map.

• Every city has a system of fast-travel points to every important building called the Aethernet. By unlocking all these points (just run to them and activate), you'll gain access to fast-travel out all the main exits for that city.

• Non-expansion jobs are unlocked upon reaching level 30 in a class and following your class quest line.

• Always make sure you do your class/job quests as they become available, which is every 5 levels in the base game and every 2-3 levels in the expansions. They usually net you a new weapon, a new ability, or more.

• Every combat class/job receives a +100% experience bonus if you have a higher level class already, up to level 60.

• Being in or logging out in a Sanctuary (practically any area with an Aetheryte you can teleport to) will slowly accumulate a +50% "Rested" bonus to all experience gained for up to 1.5 levels. This applies to all classes and jobs, including crafters and gatheres.

• While gathering and crafting classes can be extremely useful once leveled up, they also take a lot of time and effort to reach that point. The game does provide various ways to level them up such as Beast Tribe daily quests and Grand Company turn-ins, but even so it's best to focus on at least one combat class/job first and come back to them later if you feel so inclined.

• For crafting leves, you get double experience when you turn in the High Quality version of the item. The same applies to most other sources of experience that require item or material turn-ins, such as the daily Grand Company supply & provision missions.

• New characters benefit greatly from being created on "preferred" and "new" servers. Doing this will give you a special buff called "The Road to 60" for 90 days or until the world is no longer considered "preferred". This buff gives you +100% XP whenever it's active, on any class. Additionally you'll get some silver chocobo feathers which can be traded for free low level gear. Furthermore, players on "new" servers get a gift of 1,000,000 gil when they hit level 30 on their first class which is no small amount for a new player.

• There's several other items you can get for XP bonuses in the low levels. If you have a friend that plays, get a Recruit A Friend code from them. Otherwise, you can find RAF codes from other players very easily. (Goons have a whole thread in Private Games) This *must* be used before you subscribe to your first month and is entered in the same place you set up your account. Doing this gives you a few rewards, including a head piece that awards +20% XP under level 25 on all classes. You can also get a Brand New Ring from the Hall of The Novice just outside Aleport. This increases your XP by +30% under level 30. Add this to the Armory bonus for having another job at a higher level (+100%) and the Sanctuary bonus for idling in towns and settlements (+100%) you're looking at up to and over +300% XP on every class you level to 60. This alone can massively overlevel you for the main story quests, which is good because there's sooo many 1-50 quests. The story starts going much quicker once you clear the A Realm Reborn storyline. It also speeds up the 1-30 levelling, which is pretty dull on some classes.

• Speaking of having a friend that plays, most level 70 jobs can solo every dungeon and boss fight from 1-60. This lets you get through all the low level dungeons in just a few minutes each and move the story along much faster. You're not missing anything by breezing through trash mob fights, all the real story stuff comes before and after the dungeon.

• Enjoy brainless grinding while you listen to music or watch TV? You can unlock The Palace of The Dead at level 17. This uses a separate leveling system then the rest of the game and features randomly generated dungeons in chunks of 10 floors. Each reward XP to your actual class upon completion. Realistically, you won't need to grind here at all as a new player. But if you're bored and want to grind up another job a few levels, you can't go wrong. Plus, it has a small storyline and rewards so you'll want to do it at some point. There's a "sequel" in Stormblood called Heaven on High you can do at level 61 that's the same concept.

• If you want to play to raid in the endgame, consider there are a few jobs that are not "in the meta" and are less likely to find a group over other classes. Dark Knight, Machinist, Samurai, and Black Mage are the current black sheep. You can certainly be raid viable with these jobs if you perform well and have high DPS, but some groups won't even consider these factors. All other content can be done on any job without issue.

• There's optional dungeons and content in the 50s and 60s you can ignore and come back at a higher level with better gear if you want. This applies especially to the 24 player alliance raids, which can be utter shit at their original item level but much more tolerable when everyone comes back stronger. Again, you can certainly do them at the bare minimum level. But be prepared to die to some mechanics most people ignore or half-ass now. No one does the pre-Stormblood Extreme difficulty primals and raids as they used to be either, so you'll need to learn how the fights are done now as opposed to a guide from back when it first came out.

• Don't worry about keeping your gear updated with every level you hit. Tank jobs should try to stay fairly current, but until you hit 50 you can lag a few levels behind. Stay on top of your weapon though. Weapon damage is one of the most important stats in the game. Once you hit 50 you can get tomestones (endgame currency) from various sources and then purchase the best level 50 gear right away. Same thing at level 60. Same tomestones too, FYI.

• If you're lazy and have money to burn, you can buy an item with from the cash shop that will level a job straight to 60 with full gear. Most recommend against this because you don't learn the job properly, but it's your money. Personally I say at least get one job to 60 naturally before you consider it. There's another one that will skip all the quests through ARR and another that will skip you all the way through the Heavensward storyline. Again, not recommended for new players. But if you wanted to make an alt or a new character on a different server for whatever reason, it eliminates the time and effort of completely restarting.