Best "by myself" leveling methods for alt jobs in Stormblood levels?

[Omedon]

So like a lot of people I'm heading back to FFXIV while WoW takes its sweet time. I don't say that to poke at WoW, but to point out that I'm blatantly a tourist FFXIV player who isn't a lifer. I tend to focus on things that set the game up to be fun to play again when I come back, like last time I leveled all my crafters and set up my pre-trust NPC dungeon party (the grand company one that works for ARR and heavensward) for leveling other classes.

But I always run into the same problem: Once I hit stormblood levels, the bridge between the GC party and ShB Trusts is just a roadblock.

The point of this thread is to ask which methods of "not needing the community's help," generally solo methods of leveling are best for bridging this gap. Hell, if I recall, combat levequests dry up up here too! I recall soloing some fates, but it felt like these were only viable with a tank job and a DPS/healer chocobo.

I'm almost certainly going to spend some time leveling alt jobs within the next year or so, how does a player who doesn't want to do roulettes with strangers get through stormblood levels? What are my actually useful options? No dungeon roulette, no role agnostic tower of the dead or whatever it's called, just me and maybe an NPC or two. And please don't recommend one-time sidequests, I'd like to maybe do more than one class.

If such options exist, I'd like to know them, so thanks in advance for any and all helpful replies!

[The Casualty]

If the intent is to do content with absolutely no one else through Stormblood levels, your best options are:

1. Heaven on High. Should be doable with any class as long as you use potions. Do the first 10 floors, kill the boss, repeat.
2. FATEs. With a healer chocobo, you should be able to solo most fates, even tanking as something like a black mage. If you have the poetics gear, you should have no problems with damage/survivability.
3. Beast Tribes. Your options here are Ananta and Kojin for DoM/DoW classes. These are limited but will grant a fairly decent chunk of experience, and give a bonus to that amount once you have them capped out.

I haven't done levequests for experience in a few years. I can't speak to how much exp those will grant, but those are an option.

[Irian]

Pretty much what you're looking for is FATEs. They're good experience if you get good at pushing through them quickly, and chocobos make them fairly easy for DPS to solo.

[Wangming]

Well you are handicaping yourself by not doing roulettes, but as the others said, FATES are good. Back when Stormblood was new, everyone was doing Yanxia FATES to spawn the giant fuckoff kitsune. Good times.

[Omedon]

If the intent is to do content with absolutely no one else through Stormblood levels, your best options are:
2. FATEs. With a healer chocobo, you should be able to solo most fates, even tanking as something like a black mage. If you have the poetics gear, you should have no problems with damage/survivability.
3. Beast Tribes. Your options here are Ananta and Kojin for DoM/DoW classes. These are limited but will grant a fairly decent chunk of experience, and give a bonus to that amount once you have them capped out.

These are the options that I find most attractive. Honestly, I liked doing FATEs on DRK, (my main class), and I wondered at the viability of DPS classes. Maybe I'll give it a go!

Never even considered beast tribes as I've had three stints in ARR (Launch, a couple years ago, and now) and I've never done a single beast tribe quest! I'll have to look into that, thanks for mentioning it!

[draugril]

Any sidequests you haven't done yet also help. And I'm not sure if they go this high, but it's worth checking to see if you can do squadron missions.

But I would nevertheless strongly recommend doing your roulettes. They remain a key source of experience and will make it a lot less painful to get through those levels. What are you trying to avoid by not going this route?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Squadrons are only good up until level 50. After that, you will level up faster doing literally anything else.

PotD and HoH is a thing but is very risky because of how RNG can screw over your run. Best done as Red Mage.

Someone mentioned beast tribes, but really, beast tribes give out a pittance of EXP for the amount of time required to do them. The only time beast tribes are ever good for leveling is for leveling up crafters from Heavensward through Shadowbringers. Otherwise, you only do beast tribes for the story and the mounts, not for the exp.

Your best bet is to do FATEs.

[Omedon]

Squadrons are only good up until level 50. After that, you will level up faster doing literally anything else.

PotD and HoH is a thing but is very risky because of how RNG can screw over your run. Best done as Red Mage.

Someone mentioned beast tribes, but really, beast tribes give out a pittance of EXP for the amount of time required to do them. The only time beast tribes are ever good for leveling is for leveling up crafters from Heavensward through Shadowbringers. Otherwise, you only do beast tribes for the story and the mounts, not for the exp.

Your best bet is to do FATEs.

Yeah, FATEs seem to be the consensus, and of course I can roulette if I’m feeling it, I’d just like a reasonably efficient fallback where I’m on my own time.

As a WoW player I’m just used to most DPS classes being LOLworthy compared to tanks in open world content soloing, and I hope that’s not the case in XIV.

[Thestrawman]

Yeah, FATEs seem to be the consensus, and of course I can roulette if I’m feeling it, I’d just like a reasonably efficient fallback where I’m on my own time.

As a WoW player I’m just used to most DPS classes being LOLworthy compared to tanks in open world content soloing, and I hope that’s not the case in XIV.

You'll struggle with any boss fates as a dps, depending on your self healing abilities. But the other types are easily done by dps. Just don't expect it to be fast.

[Omedon]

You'll struggle with any boss fates as a dps, depending on your self healing abilities. But the other types are easily done by dps. Just don't expect it to be fast.

That is one thing I loved as a Dark Knight with a heal/DPS chocobo: As expected from my WoW experience, I was nigh untouchable soloing against relatively “par” boss FATEs. I can’t imagine a black mage has the same experience, nor do I imagine Squeenix has a problem with that imbalance in a game where everyone can play every class! That disparity is inexcusable (and very present) in WoW, but in FFXIV everyone is a button press away from being the ideal overworld class (a tank) for overworld adventures!

[Kazgrel]

You've basically narrowed yourself down to FATE farming in SB zones, which is the slowest way to level alts, although with people leveling BLU and/or clearing FATEs in those zones for their ShB relic weapons, it may not be so bad.

[drix93]

I found fates and roulettes to give really good XP and Sastasha and those other dungeons give good XP too. Be sure to wear your XP gear and food.