The majority of a player's time spent in game will be spent leveling Disciples of War and Magic. Due to the armory system of shared skills, players will continually need to work on leveling jobs to the required level to unlock access to necessary skills. There are also a number of other incentives, such as the availability of advanced jobs, for players to level all of their jobs. Therefore, methods for gaining experience points quickly and effectively are important for players to understand.
Leveling a player's first job is substantially different than with other jobs. This is due to the presence of the storyline quests, first time completion bonuses on guildhests and dungeons and that fact that the player does not have access to equipment, a mount or many skills from other jobs. Therefore, players are at their weakest during this phase, but they have the benefit of quite a few bonuses. As a result, the first stages of the leveling process are significantly different, but the experience becomes more normalized around level 25-30. As a result of this, the first job walkthrough section is broken up by level range.
This stage begins with the tutorial, and is designed to allow players to get a feel for the gameplay and the setup of the starting cities. The interface is shown, and the experience point requirements for each level are very minor. Players should take their time and complete all of the simple quests in town. They allow players a chance to learn the layout of the town, how travel works and how to interact with non-player characters.
The hunting log is not an option until players complete the job quest at level 5. Also, FATEs are a good thing to do when they are conveniently located, but there is no reason to join a group with the express intent of chaining FATEs at this point. The rewards simply do not merit the time spent. Instead, focus on following the storyline quests and doing any and all additional quests in the outposts that are located by your home city. Also, when you encounter monsters that are at your character's level, take a few minutes and chain a few of them.
Remember, at level 5, complete the quest for the job at the local guild master. The reward is an upgrade to a player's equipment and also allows you access to the hunting log. It is a good idea to take a moment when venturing back outside of town and complete the convenient hunting log entries. This will save time in the form of doubling back later, and give a boost to this early experience point phase. Even with this detour, the process to achieve level 10 should be simple and quick.
At this point in the leveling process, options open up. However, since this is a player's first job, the focus for leveling should still be completing the storyline quests. For the most part, players should continue moving forward through the quests, and completing any additional quests that are in the same general vicinity of the storyline quest givers. Leveling should, if this process is followed, take care of itself.
There are a few simple things that can make a player's life much easier during these levels though. The first is the guildhest mechanic. These become available at level 10 after completing the quests that unlock both guildleves and guildhests. Since the bonus for completing these for the first time are significant, they should be done one time as soon as they become available. They also represent a nice way for players to get acquainted with fighting in a party. There is no real need though to do them more than once for additional experience points.
At this point in the game, FATEs become much more lucrative in terms of the rewards given for completion. It is a viable option to use them as a primary source for experience points. That said, since players will not have access to mounts at this level on their first playthrough, and since the rewards for moving through the storyline are so important to the gameplay experience, this should not be done. By all means, participate in every FATE that pops up along the way while completing quests. Just do not spend an undue amount of time grinding through FATEs. This can lead the job level to become significantly higher than the storyline quests, and make completing them a bit of a bore.
At around level 15, the storyline quests will push players into the first tier of dungeons. The names of these three dungeons are Sastasha, Tam-Tara Deepcroft and Copperbell Mines. These dungeons should be completed immediately using the duty finder. Players will likely be considering running them multiple times for equipment, particularly if they play a heal or tank role in a party. These jobs tend to have very short wait times for groups to form. Again, this can lead players to become overleveled compared to the storyline quests, and while this is not a game breaking problem, it can make finishing the storyline boring for some time. It also makes the rewards from the storyline quests less meaningful, since the experience points rewards become smaller in comparison to the needed amount to level. It is best to unlock these dungeons, run them once and continue on with the quest line.
If equipment quality is a concern, be sure to use the vendors in town as a way to improve the overall performance of your character. Gear is readily available from these vendors, and while this is not the most powerful gear in the game, it will make the leveling path much easier. Also, remember to complete the job specific quests at level 10, 15 and 20. The rewards usually include weapons, some armor and important skills. Also, if these quests are picked up at the earliest possible point, they usually involve locations that are near the storyline quest regions. That makes the whole process much more convenient.