Originally Posted by
Tokitoki
Save all your gear at the start and combine it to get at least 3 star gear for as many realms as you can. Some items off the top of my head: Kunai (IV), Bronze Helm (V), Mythril Helm, Dagger (IX), Bronze Helm (II), etc. There are also a few pieces of 4* gear you get as rewards for completing dungeons. Diamond Helm, Light Rod, Light Staff, Killer Bow, a Harp, and maybe a few others.
Synergy adds 10 levels to a character from that realm and gives increasing gains the higher level the equipment. There are ranges for the gains, though. I think it's something like 1-5, 6-10, 15-20, or so where anything in that range gains the same bonus. In order to gain more it has to go to the next tier.
At this point in time. Complete a fair number of regular dungeons, then try to get through the two current events if you're able to get your guys to around level 30. The event reissues do not come around too often, but they do add characters back in after a bit by completing Bonus Quests which can be viewed in the Realm screen then hitting Dr. Mog in the top right Quests icon.
Along those lines, I strongly suggest you keep up with your dungeon quests so that you do not have to go back and repeat dungeons a second time. Make sure you also check out the ability quests you have available. A lot of times the quests will reward you with the full amount of one of the types of orbs you needed to complete the creation or honing of that ability.
Honing is very important as you're probably realizing. You only have a certain number of uses for an entire dungeon and Ethers do not drop often enough to rely upon them. In the later stages you'll gain Record Materia that allow your Black, White, and Summoning magic spells to be recharge between each stage, however rationing is still important. When you've got some more time in, and you're going to start challenging the boss rushes, ability uses is going to determine what you get out of the event. You could refresh ability uses by using Mythril, but you wouldn't want to do that for each battle because it's just an overall loss. You also should not heal between stages using Mythril. If it's really that critical that you beat a given boss, but you're out of ability uses, the best option is to let your party KO and then use a Mythril to refresh. By doing so you will get your abilities refreshed, all characters healed, and also gain an additional buff.
As far as abilities to hone, you're going to need a few of the basic abilities to get started before you can get too far in. This includes things like Blade Bash, Jump, Thunder/Fire/Blizzard, Cure, etc. I would generally say only hone these until you get to the point that you can complete the current content (for your level) so as not to waste gil and orbs on abilities you won't use later.
Some abilities that will last you a while: Dark Buster, Venom Buster, Double Cut (I have 2 of these at rank 4), Power Break, Armor Break, Magic Break, Mental Break, the -ga line of spells (this includes Slowga and Silencega), Tempo Flurry, Faith, Spellblades (Fire Strike, Thunder Strike, etc as well as their -ra tier), and Intimidate.
That seems like a lot, but you'll work through it between the classic dungeons and the daily dungeons to get the orbs you need for each ability. Do not worry about 4* abilities and Summoning magic just yet. In order to get most of the 4* and higher orbs you'll be completing events and elite dungeons or farming specific fights for drops. 4* orbs can also drop during the daily dungeons, but some people have more luck than others. I generally don't walk away with too many 4* orbs on any given day; maybe 3-4 at most.
Party composition is pretty standard. I generally take 2 strong melee, 1 support character (to use breaks, dark/venom busters, etc.), a WHM, and a BLM. As far as characters to level; Cloud is a good all around character. He can use spellblades, combat abilities (breaks, double cut) and has one of the higher ATK stats. Zack is pretty much the same as him. DRK Cecil is a strong physical attacker, but can't use spellblades. Sephiroth is the same. Wakka and Tidus are both good attacker/support characters and I believe they are both available through Bonus Quests. You'll also want to level Black Mage, White Mage, and Summoner up to 50 eventually to gain their Record Materia that refreshes the relative spells.
Don't be discouraged if you can't complete whole events at this point. Try to get the characters if you can, but if you get stuck you'll spend your time better honing abilities and level your party than you would banging your head into an event above your means.
I guess the last thing for now would be Roaming Warriors. Try to get some good friends that have buffing abilities. Attack Soul Breaks are good as well, but I find myself using buff abilities 99% of the time. These would include Stoneskin II, Sentinel's Grimoire, Boon, Lunatic High, Hymn of Fayth, Advance, Runic, etc. Things to avoid: Single target attacks and default SBs (the ones that are automatic for that character).
That's all I've got for now.