If you bought the game at this point in its life cycle, I think the most fun you guys could have in it is to do all the story content in it as a duo. That alone will keep you occupied for quite a bit of time, considering there are a lot of storyline missions to do. To make things easier, you should start out in the same nation, because the three nations have different storylines that converge at certain places. Being from the same nation will make it a lot easier to get them done as a team.
I am kind of reluctant to telling you to go out and grind to the max level as fast as possible, because aiming for that can be a bit draining, and might make you feel like it is too boring. I'd say just try to kill the enemies that are in your way when you go out to finish quests and missions, and see how far that takes you. If you hit a brick wall in difficulty, you might want to spend a bit of grinding.
Beware of certain strange monster spawns though. Certain enemies in certain starter areas are made a lot stronger than you'd expect them to be. These enemies might have the same monster model, but a different name, and will destroy you in one or two hits. Always take care to /check enemies whose names you do not recognize, no matter which are you are in, or what they look like. Monsters of the exact same name will usually be roughly within the level range you might expect, but sometimes vary from area to area.
Example: Borer Beetle in area A might be levels 28-30, while Borer Beetle in area B might be lv 30-34. However, a Borer Beetle will never be level 50-56 regardless of area. However, you might find situations where you have a Borer Beetle and Bloodbath Beetle both in area A, and the Bloodbath Beetles are level 70+ even if it looks the same.
Note: Even though the game loves alliterations, I don't think Bloodbath Beetle is an actual enemy name. It was just an example.
Now, missions and quests. Almost everything that advances the story are classified as missions, while other quests are classified as... well, quests. There are a ton of missions to do. To begin with, you have your nation's missions which can be started right away even at level 1, but completing them as a duo might prove difficult until your levels approach 10. The mission rank corresponds to which levels the game expect you to be able to clear them at. rank 1 should be easily doable by someone at level 10, rank 2 should be easily doable by level 20. Some missions can't be done solo at those levels, though, but a duo of level 30 should be able to do the rank 3 battlefield, if they have decent gear and tactics. the rank 5 mission fights were designed to be cleared by a full party of level 50 characters, because level 50 was the game's level cap at that time. However, now you can clear them at a higher level if you wish to. Two characters at level 65 might be able to handle that fight now, if the gear is good.
Then we also have the Chains of Promathia missions, where the first mission is designed to be clearable by full parties at level 30, the second mission at 40, and so foth until lv75. As a duo, adding 10 levels to your characters should be suffuficient to beat them (except perhaps one, let's take that when you get there).
Treasures of Aht Urghan start at a bit higher level. You'd probably want to be level 50+ just to do the first one. The difficulty level rises sharply and you'd probably want to be level 75 before getting halfway through the storyline, and maybe level 85+ to duo the final fight. The final fight was clearable by a full party of lv75s when it was released, as that was the game's level cap at the time.
There's also Rise of the Zilart, where I don't really remember how the difficulty progresses, but also that was released in a time where lv75 was the maximum.
The add-on scenarios (crystalline prophecy, shantotto ascension, moogle kupo d'etat) are also designed for a lv75 cap (but some parts can be completed at a lower level). The Abyssea add-ons are designed for lv75 to lv90. Seekers of Audolin is intended for lv99.
On top of this, you are also free to change allegiance and do the missions of the two other nations as well.
As a duo, you might want to select jobs that complement each others. An attacker and a healer, for example. You could probably get away with two classes that can both attack and heal, such as red mage, as well.
At level 30, the game will let you start quests to unlock other jobs. Some jobs can be unlocked through quests that don't even require combat, while other jobs might require you to clear enemies that are somewhat brutal at lv30, and wouldn't be possible to do at that level without a well coordinated and well geared party. For those, you might just want to wait until you are a higher level, or ask somebody to help you.
Which server is it you are playing on?




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