Wide Level Gaps Between Quests

[Leafay]

Hi All! First time here!

I've only been doing MMOs since last February thanks a bad injury, starting with League of Angels and Everlight. I'm only so-so and manage to get around and just managed to break into double-digit levels. I heard lots good about Onigiri so this weekend tried and like it! The keyboard way is kind of rough for me so I hope to find a better way.

Okay, my "problem" is I did 5 subquests for merchants then at the temple met Lady Shizuka and Yoshitsune who joined me on two small missions that bumped me from 1 to level 5 within one day. Afterwards the hunky but lazy (BS'ing) temple gatekeeper hit me to do a dragon purge quest and that the "test" I have to do first has a normal rating of level 10. But I only just made level 5. I'm wondering whether I skipped some small quests to level up with, but I got no clue to do that.

Does that mean I have to fill in 5 levels to reach that Big Quest level 10 test with lots of "grinding" and subquests? Subquests are fun, so can I use them in place of grinding and would they also level me up quicker? I hope to buddy up with other newbies to share subquests with so I'd appreciate any tips where they meet. Googling for it does no good!

So far I like MMOs and I hope to really get into Onigiri by using all the real deep complex stuff to sharpen my skills. It's awesome what there is to learn and use!

Thanks for any help and if you're another newbie I'd be glad to buddy-up to level-up with you!

[Celie]

The recommended level for any dungeon can hardly ever be trusted. Oftentimes, due to the lower EXP rates at this server, one will have to complete dungeons that are a good few levels above them, not that it is too large an obstacle to overcome.

For example, here is a list of dungeons above my level that I have cleared during key points in the early-mid game.

Kishinden (Level 10): Cleared when I was level 7
Sakurajima Depths (Level 18): Cleared when I was level 14
Room of Rites (Level 23): Cleared when I was level 17
Yomotsuhirasaka (Level 33): Cleared when I was level 23
Yellow Dragon Spire (Level 43): Cleared when I was level 30

This was done with a fairly moderate amount of grinding (an hour or so everyday), so if one was to rush the key points more quickly (by being carried on a party and/or being skillful), the level gap would grow even more quickly.

Subquests are generally more efficient/fun than dungeon grinding at first, but dungeon grinding is always there to stay, whereas subquests will eventually run out (most of the time). At level 5, a good grinding spot would be Cave of Dreams, which gives about 500 pooled + 250 earned exp per run as well as decent weapon drops.

tl;dr: Grind up a level or two, then take on Kishinden and go along your way; or just ask a party to carry you through the dungeon.

[Leafay]

The recommended level for any dungeon can hardly ever be trusted. Oftentimes, due to the lower EXP rates at this server, one will have to complete dungeons that are a good few levels above them, not that it is too large an obstacle to overcome.

For example, here is a list of dungeons above my level that I have cleared during key points in the early-mid game.

Kishinden (Level 10): Cleared when I was level 7
Sakurajima Depths (Level 18): Cleared when I was level 14
Room of Rites (Level 23): Cleared when I was level 17
Yomotsuhirasaka (Level 33): Cleared when I was level 23
Yellow Dragon Spire (Level 43): Cleared when I was level 30

This was done with a fairly moderate amount of grinding (an hour or so everyday), so if one was to rush the key points more quickly (by being carried on a party and/or being skillful), the level gap would grow even more quickly.

Subquests are generally more efficient/fun than dungeon grinding at first, but dungeon grinding is always there to stay, whereas subquests will eventually run out (most of the time). At level 5, a good grinding spot would be Cave of Dreams, which gives about 500 pooled + 250 earned exp per run as well as decent weapon drops.

tl;dr: Grind up a level or two, then take on Kishinden and go along your way; or just ask a party to carry you through the dungeon.

Thanks for the welcome tips and encouragement, Celie! I'll be sure to give it a try ASAP!