Is it too late to come back?

[Malackai]

That's the biggest mistake newbies make though, have a look at the amount of stats on a piece of gear from your left side, then compare it with a piece of gear on your right side (armor vs. jewelry).

And then there's the fact that weapon trumps everything :P

Going for jewelry first is the best way to get yourself into content you're just not ready for.

I am far from a newbie tho I worked this way being fully aware of it, I was just trying to circumvent the ilv requirement of the initial story dungeons (ifrit, mog king, levi and ramuth).
In the end it worked out perfectly fine for me as a WHM and while I was farming tomes was just an incentive to chain run ifrit for me because the weapon wouldn't drop (and I dint read in to the relic yet at that point) plus I dint want to go into the post lv 50 the dungeon with a lv 42 weapon and seeing with the current gear I had at that point had no troubles with ifrit so I just committed myself in running that and the daily roulettes both of them (must admit I got very lucky) because the period I was chain running Ifrit there was a large influx of new players for some weird reason so I got lots of first time bonuses.

Btw I dint go accessories fist I went for the belt, and wrists. (besides the weapon these where the most awful parts I had) bought some cheap rings, earrings and neck of the ah.

Let just say in the second day after I hit 50 I bought both of them with some tomes to spare.
Besides the Artifact gear wasn't that bad for the initial story dungeons (used it till ramuh I think) at that point I was swimming in tomes that I bought the legs (already replaced neck and ring) worked my way up till Snowclock in the next couple of days hit the ilv restiction again but I was close, so The day after that I went daily roulettes, finished unlocking crystal tower went first part for the bonus and bought the chest piece. (already had the Ifrit wep but found out about the relic so I started working on that instead)

In the end I might have cost me a 1-2 evenings extra but It dint matter for seeing the story line took effectively up more of my game time then the gear restrictions. that and the distractions of Gold saucer,dailies, crafting etc I knew with my limited playtime I could take advantage of the daily roulette so they where the main source of tome income for me.

I might not have any issues with it because I rolled a healer so I could effectively run the random duties and it was the most effective way to spend my evenings. I definitely would not have done it this way with a DPS class with that I would have focused on the right side gear first.

So in the end I really think it depends on what role you roll and how you spend your available game time I guess

[Deleted]

To share my experience as someone who picked up the game ~3 weeks ago.

I don't have a problem with requiring players to finish the Main Story before accessing Heavensward. In fact, I think it's a great idea. I'm only halfway through the 2.3 quests, but I feel I have at least seen some of what ARR was/is. I've been to all the zones, I've had exposure to most of the main features (dungeons, leves, guildhests, FATEs etc) and I've had plenty of opportunities to play with others and get to know a few people. THIS is how you ease new players into a game.

WoW's free lvl 90 now seems completely misguided to me in comparison. I was the kind of player who thought they only cared about raids and open world stuff was trivial and boring. Well, WoD gave me exactly what I thought I wanted: excellent raid content in a game that is otherwise a glorified lobby (garrison). Turns out I was wrong - I was bored out of my mind months ago. Turns out I do need the whole package to keep me interested and FFXIV does that much better than WoW at the moment. Skipping a whole game's worth of content damages the integrity of the experience the game is designed to provide. I wouldn't recommend the lvl 90 boost for a new player in WoW and I'm quite happy that FFXIV doesn't even give you that option.

Purely in terms of getting ready for Heavensward in time, in my experience doing all the story content is is a bigger challenge than hitting ilvl 90. I'm ilvl 88 now and will have >90 well before I actually need it. With all the first-time ToS bonuses buying ilvl100 gear is not that hard. Also, as has been mentioned, Syrcus Tower seems to be really good for gearing up: as a healer my queues are super quick, the runs take less than 30mins and there seems to always be a first timer for the ToS bonus. That's been my experience at least.

[Kyanion]

Also don't forget your daily dungeon/dailt scenario roulette for 200 tomes total! And if you only have short times to play and/or the queue for crystal tower is to long try queuing for Primal trials Ifrit and Garuda free 15 tomes every kill only takes like 5-10 mins max when you get in. and run the dungeons that give tomes on completion.

You need 3 Thavnairian Mist for the upgrade cost 150 tomes a piece I rather wait with this step and use the tomes for gear first.

personally I focused on the 375 tomes pieces first this meant I was able to upgrade a piece everyday.

Yeah the only downside to the dungeon daily is I can only queue for the low level one. I'm still too low ilevel to get the high level version. I'm trying to avoid doing the low level stuff because you don't get the tomes if you take a non-50 into those.

- - - Updated - - -

This was me when I came back in April, finally finished the ATMA quest, and read about what all came next.

heh yeah I didn't even read past the Atma quest, I'm not doing the Atma grind. Maybe new weapons in the expansion will be fine.

- - - Updated - - -

That's the biggest mistake newbies make though, have a look at the amount of stats on a piece of gear from your left side, then compare it with a piece of gear on your right side (armor vs. jewelry).

And then there's the fact that weapon trumps everything :P

Going for jewelry first is the best way to get yourself into content you're just not ready for.

Yeah I mean my first investments with tomes was Chest/Legs, and I just upgraded my relic to 90 using tomes. I know the allure of cheap upgrades is out there but even with more ilevel they are downgrade jewelry over mine that has materia so I'm saving those til last.

[Malackai]

Yeah the only downside to the dungeon daily is I can only queue for the low level one. I'm still too low ilevel to get the high level version. I'm trying to avoid doing the low level stuff because you don't get the tomes if you take a non-50 into those.

I just checked but the low level on does give 100 tomes bonus on the first clear of the day regardless if there are non lv 50 in there o.O

[Kyanion]

I just checked but the low level on does give 100 tomes bonus on the first clear of the day regardless if there are non lv 50 in there o.O

I mean I switch to my level 29 cnj and the duty roulette bonuses change from 100 tomestones to serpent seals

[Scufflegrit]

I mean I switch to my level 29 cnj and the duty roulette bonuses change from 100 tomestones to serpent seals

Right, you have to choose between getting bonus exp while doing the low level roulette on a class you are still leveling, or getting bonus tomestones if you run it as a 50. And it does kinda suck that you have to choose, but it's also kind of understandable since you can only get the bonus once per day per roulette.

[Kyanion]

Right, you have to choose between getting bonus exp while doing the low level roulette on a class you are still leveling, or getting bonus tomestones if you run it as a 50. And it does kinda suck that you have to choose, but it's also kind of understandable since you can only get the bonus once per day per roulette.

Yeah I mean I need tomestones more than I need anything right now, so I have to suffer through low level dungeons where my pet heals the whole thing and I don't have many spells to choose from. It is very dull but hopefully I only have to do that a couple more times at worst.

[Sorrior]

That's the biggest mistake newbies make though, have a look at the amount of stats on a piece of gear from your left side, then compare it with a piece of gear on your right side (armor vs. jewelry).

And then there's the fact that weapon trumps everything :P

Going for jewelry first is the best way to get yourself into content you're just not ready for.

Nah I see it as I can get dungeon gear easy enough or drops for right left is ALOT more rare if not clearing primals.

Then there is also that as a fresh 50 accessories are likely your lowest ilv item.

Oh as fot VERY VERY first 50.weapon consider GC weapon what we used to use before our relic

[Grym]

Yeah I mean I need tomestones more than I need anything right now, so I have to suffer through low level dungeons where my pet heals the whole thing and I don't have many spells to choose from. It is very dull but hopefully I only have to do that a couple more times at worst.

If you play as SCH, start practicing healing + dps (Cleric then dot up, maybe Shadow Flare as well).

It is pretty much almost required of SCH at raids.

[Kyanion]

If you play as SCH, start practicing healing + dps (Cleric then dot up, maybe Shadow Flare as well).

It is pretty much almost required of SCH at raids.

Oh I'm great at switching between cleric stance getting off my dots/shadow flare and switching back when needed. Just lower level dungeons lock out so many of your spells there is no challenge and it feels like the worst time sink.

[Grym]

Oh I'm great at switching between cleric stance getting off my dots/shadow flare and switching back when needed. Just lower level dungeons lock out so many of your spells there is no challenge and it feels like the worst time sink.

Up until like Lv30, I could main heal on my BLM/THM and tank on SMN, so I would imagine you probably could have act like a full time dps and just use pet to heal XD

[Sorrior]

Up until like Lv30, I could main heal on my BLM/THM and tank on SMN, so I would imagine you probably could have act like a full time dps and just use pet to heal XD

That is actually what most Scholars do when sub 30

[Kyanion]

Up until like Lv30, I could main heal on my BLM/THM and tank on SMN, so I would imagine you probably could have act like a full time dps and just use pet to heal XD

I mean I do. But it is very boring because you are locked out of many of your spells.