Your first 50 hours in Eorzea

Choose a first job

Your first job choice is mostly about comfort, not permanent commitment. Final Fantasy XIV lets one character level every combat job, crafter, and gatherer, so the best first pick is the role you will actually keep playing through the Main Scenario Quest.

• Pick tank if you like short queues and leading enemy pulls. Paladin and Warrior are the clearest early examples in the local job wiki.
• Pick healer if you are comfortable watching party health and encounter movement at the same time. White Mage and Scholar are the early references to compare.
• Pick DPS if you want fewer party responsibilities while learning the world. Dragoon, Monk, Ninja, Bard, Black Mage, and Summoner cover different pacing styles.
• Do not restart your character because a first job feels wrong. Unlock another job later and keep your MSQ progress.

Follow the MSQ spine

The meteor-shaped Main Scenario Quest marker should be your default route. Normal side quests are optional unless they unlock a feature, a duty, a system, or a job/class tool you need. The ARR 2.0 roadmap covers the story path in more detail; this page is the day-one practical layer.

• Use MSQ to unlock city travel, airships, dungeons, trials, mounts, retainers, Grand Company access, and later expansion entry.
• When the game sends you to a new city or camp, attune to the aetheryte before leaving.
• Keep one combat job near MSQ level. Spreading experience across many jobs too early slows the first character down.

Use Hall of the Novice

Hall of the Novice is worth doing as soon as the game offers it. It teaches basic party responsibilities and rewards early gear. The Brand-new Ring has historically been one of the strongest early leveling rewards, so new players should check the current in-game reward text and complete the exercises before pushing far into dungeon queues.

• Treat Hall of the Novice as a role tutorial, not a skill ceiling.
• If you switch from DPS to tank or healer, rerun the relevant exercises.
• Keep the reward gear until dungeon/MSQ rewards clearly replace it.

Keep job quests current

Class and job quests are not optional flavor. They teach the job identity and can unlock job actions, gear, and the job stone transition. If your job quest tracker has a new quest, handle it before pushing many more MSQ levels.

• Around level 30, make sure you complete the class-to-job transition where your chosen job requires it.
• Equip your job stone once unlocked. Forgetting it is one of the classic new-player mistakes.
• Use the local job wiki pages for high-level identity and official job guide links for current action lists.

Unlock travel and retainers

Early quality of life comes from travel and inventory systems. Prioritize aetherytes, airship access, your Grand Company path, chocobo mount access, and retainers as they become available through MSQ and feature quests.

• Attune in every settlement you visit; future cleanup becomes much faster.
• Unlock your mount when the game pushes you into Grand Company progression.
• Retainers matter for storage and selling items. Do not hoard every low-level material before that system opens.

Learn duties without overfarming

ARR introduces group content gradually. Sastasha, Tam-Tara Deepcroft, Copperbell Mines, and the first primal trials teach party basics. Clear what the MSQ asks for, learn enemy telegraphs, then move on unless you specifically need gear.

• Use Duty Support when available if you want a calmer first look.
• For real players, greet the party and say it is your first time. FFXIV players generally expect first-time bonuses and new-player clears.
• Do not grind one low-level dungeon for perfect drops while MSQ rewards are replacing gear quickly.

Start side systems in batches

Side systems are best unlocked in groups instead of all at once. Once MSQ progress opens the map, come back for glamour, dyes, Gold Saucer, crafting and gathering, optional dungeons, trials, and collection goals.

• Blue-plus quests are usually the signal that a quest unlocks something meaningful.
• Gold Saucer and glamour are fine early diversions, but they can eat hours if you are trying to reach expansions.
• Crafting and gathering become easier once travel, retainers, market access, and a basic gil cushion exist.

What to ignore early

Do not let advanced optimization crowd out the first 50 hours. Relic weapons, Savage raiding, perfect rotations, market flipping, high-end crafting macros, and old Extreme mount farms are better after your character has core systems unlocked.

• Read story at your own pace; do not optimize the fun out of the first run.
• Save serious gil-making guides until you understand retainers, market taxes, and material demand.
• If a guide assumes max level, tomestones, raid finder, or high-end rotations, bookmark it for later.

Related on TJPedia

ARR 2.0 roadmapWiki: JobsWiki: SastashaWiki: Bowl of Embers