| Combat seems to become more fun when you get a bit higher, and start organising and pulling off big skill chains and magic bursts, and also when groups can start pulling off things like IT chains with close fights but pulling it off because players are starting to get better. General concensus is that Valkrum Dunes is hell and the worst part of the game. Quifim isnt much better, and Khazam can suck, but after that is when the game really gets good.
When I initially started playing, it started to pick up around the time I got to Khazam around 30. Part of this is because sub-jobs open up more abilities, as a lot of sub's first job abilities start around 10 and 15, plus you generally get the good main job abilities around 30. Also around 30 it seems like you start to group with more variations of jobs in groups and jobs start to come into their own.
If your just starting, I would suggest doing some other things besides just grinding xp. Granted you need to xp, but throw some other stuff in there too. I would really recommend to start on some missions, as they are extremely fun, and things like making your first trip to Jueno, getting your chocobo license are all coming up soon and will break the xp grind up a bit more too.
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