As a brand new level 50, you will now be entering an end-game where most players are already very well-geared, with many players having multiple classes with end-game gear. It can be quite intimidating to get started in end-game content given that established players typically insist on minimum average item level for groups.

Here is an easy means of progression that any level 50 can use to progress into end-game without drawing too many complaints for being undergeared. This guide assumes you already have taken the time to unlock all your class skills (via your class quests) and level up all your side-jobs for cross class skills.

Step 1: Daily Duty Finder Runs
As a fresh level 50, your first priority should be to participate in some easy duty finder runs in order to get your hands on some Tomestones of Philosophy. You can trade in Tomestones of Philosophy for Darklight Gear via Aurianna, an NPC that resides in the northeast corner of Revenant’s Toll in Mor Dhona.

Even a poorly-geared and brand-new level 50 character can get a quickly 400 Tomestones of Philosophy each day by participating in the daily Duty Roulette: Main Scenario (worth 300 Tomestones of Philosophy – 100 for the clear and 200 as the bonus reward) and Duty Roulette: Low Level (worth 100 Tomestones of Philosophy plus a bonus 10 Tomestones of Mythology).

Complete these two dailies each day for a few days in order to purchase a piece or two of Darklight equipment. You can also find an okay starter weapon via Grand Company seals (complete the quest line in order to unlock Lieutenant) or by buying it off the Auction House.

Step 2: Duty Roulette: High Level
After you get a couple pieces of Darklight gear, you should have no problem queuing up for “Duty Roulette: High Level” once each day. If you can help it, do not unlock hard mode Copperbell Mines, hard mode Haukke Manor, or Pharos Sirius. If you unlock these dungeons, they might come up in your Duty Roulette: High Level option. While this is not a bad thing once you have some gear, if you are queuing with just two pieces of Darklight and the rest crummy gear, you will be a burden to the group.

Continue to complete the other two Duty Roulette options as well. Each day, this will net you approximately 500 Tomestones of Philosophy (300 from main scenario, 100 from the high level run, 100 from the low-level roulette) and 80 Tomestones of Mythology (10 from the low-level roulette, 40 from the high-level roulette, and 30 from the high level run).

If you do this for 7-10 days, you will wind up with ~6-7 more pieces of Darklight gear and also hit the cap of 450 Tomestones of Mythology for the week. You will also likely pick up a couple of green drops from your Amdapor Keep and The Wanderer’s Palace.

If you have completed all three daily quests and want to continue gearing up, queue for Amdapor Keep or The Wanderer’s Palace. Running these will net 100 Tomestones of Philosophy each time, a chance at starter item level 55 gear, and Tomestones of Mythology (though these are capped at 450 for the week, resetting Monday at 10 AM EST).

Step 3: Crystal Tower & Relic Weapon
Once you have hit 6-8 pieces of Darklight gear (average item level of 65+), you are ready for the Crystal Tower. This is a 24-man dungeon which drops item level 80 pieces (Darklight is item level 70; Tomestone of Mythology gear is item level 90). It also provides 200 Tomestones of Philosophy and 50 Tomestones of Mythology for each completed run. However, you can only loot 1 piece of gear from Crystal Tower each week (resetting on Monday at 10 AM).

Once you reach this point, after the reset, you will want to run the Crystal Tower until you get your item level 80 piece, collecting Tomestones of each type along the way. This will give you 1 item level 80 piece each week and help boost your Tomestone counts in the process.

Unlock your relic, pick up a piece or two of Crystal Tower gear, and use your excess Tomestones of Philosophy to finish your Darklight set. This process will only take two weeks at most if you play an hour or so a day.

Step 4: Continue Crystal Tower & Hit Your Mythology Cap Weekly
After you unlock your relic weapon and finish off (or come close to finishing) your Darklight set, you can discontinue the Duty Roulette: Main Scenario and Low Level options (though low-level roulette is great for leveling up new classes).

Use your Tomestones of Mythology to buy a piece or two of item level 90 gear and to upgrade your Relic Weapon to the +1 version.

Step 5: Difficult End-Game Encounters
Once you finish off your Darklight set, acquire a relic weapon, have a few pieces of Crystal Tower and Mythology gear, your equipment will be reaching an average item level of 75+. At this point, you can comfortably participate in most end-game content.

Once you reach an average item level of 80+, you can handle all content in-game. If you want to min-max your equipment, consider raiding The Binding Coil turn 5 for item level 95 weapons as well as Extreme Mode Garuda (who drops item level 90 rings). Also, consider that some of the item level 90 weapons earned from defeating all three extreme mode primals are superior to their relic zenith counterparts.