Hello and thanks for looking at this post. We are two returning players who started new accounts a couple of years ago, playing off and on until this past 6 months where for probably obvious reasons we found ourselves sticking with the game.
We've followed the new and returning player guides and have a pretty good grasp of what content exists out there. This has gotten us to what we thinks is probably a mid-tier area of gear progression with mostly +2 AF gear, gear obtained via DI, Ambuscade +1s and +2s, and an eclectic selection of high tier battle items and older gear that has stayed relevant (elemental gorgets and abyssea accessories).
The progress we've made making our patchwork of gear sets has been fun, and very satisfying... but we're beginning to think we may be running out of options for what we can tackle with just the two of us. More and more we come across content you can't enter without at least 3 players or that out match us an our Trusts (one of us did unlock the upgraded trusts).
During this past Anniversary event we got a RDM and RUN to master, but the RUN among us has been pursuing BLU (at the very least while working on the time gated Coalitions) at 605 job points at present.
We would really appreciate some guidance as to what path to take as it is sometimes difficult to tell what content just out-gears and what content's just waiting for us to “get-gud” at it. For now we're thinking to try some Gaes Fetes in Zi'tah.
Currently we are on Bahamut, having move from Asura after our earlier returns to the game. Our progression is still modest, but we prefer the blood-sweat-and-tears approach over mercs (not hating on those that merc).
It may be wise to add what content we've already done so I'll tack that on at the end here:
Nation story missions
RoZ missions
CoP missions
ToAU missions
WotG missions
Abyssea missions (Got Impact robe for RDM and Mighty Guard for BLU)
Up to the last few battles of Voidwatch (waiting for the new battle token we unlocked to stock up)
SoA missions (probably 2-3 months left on Coalition reps)
Ambuscade (we got armor but aren't sure if the weapons are the right choice for RDM, but are aware the club can be good for BLU)
Omen cards up to +2 AF (for RDM and BLU)
Empyrean armor +1
Relic armor +1
Dabbled in Alluvian/Skirmishes
August +ilvl trusts on one of us
There are a few considerations.
If RDM RUN and BLU are your main tools, if you have enough gear you can low-man all of the mid-bosses for Dynamis Divergence with some moderate difficulty. which will allow you to get Relic +2/3.
You may also be able to do Lilith on VE or E, but I'd recommend having either the RUN or BLU as THF, or if one of you has TH4 in gear on one of your jobs that would work too.
You should be able to pretty easily do sinister reign with RDM and BLU if you have the Kaja Swords, I'd just recommend making Machaera+2/3~Thibron offhand for TB Bonus and just using acc food. SR can be helpful for the BLU and RUN, though most things from SR aren't too great for red mage anymore. (This may not really be necessary depending on how geared you are, just an option)
Doing Escha - Zi-tah and Ru-Aun T1's and T2's as well as most Reisenjima T1's should be pretty manageable to kill if both the RDM and BLU are using Kaja/TP bonus sword. As for Ambuscade gear, TP-ing in Ayanmo is generally OK, especially for RDM until you have the better options (consider Taeon and other options, as getting proper haste/dw on RDM can be tricky). On BLU, it should be a priority to make sure the TP set is as good as they can manage, and on RDM you want to ensure you are properly weighing DW and Haste, and getting as much enhancing skill as you can for Temper 2 (as it has a relatively large impact on your overall damage).
Unlike the previous poster, I must strongly advocate against building Almace as things stand. Almace was once a behemoth which stood head and shoulders above its competition, but those days are behind us now. For BLU Tizona is a more compelling use of gil, and for RDM, Crocea Mors or at least Viti Sword +1 should be a priority.
Now at some level, barring having essentially perfect gear, there's only so much 2 or 3 people can do unless you are all willing to multibox. What I would recommend is making a few more friends who can help fill some of the roles you most need. In this case I'd say you need some combination of GEO, COR and/or BRD. Any of these would go a long way, but nearly everything would be in reach with the full hat trick.
There is one last thing I would like to at least stress, even though it may not be an issue with your group.
Know your sets and stats!
You'd be surprised how often people don't know how much Dual Wield they need, or how PDT/MDT(/Shell) work, or how Accuracy works, or what Fast Cast caps at, how DEF Vs Attack works (pDIF) or any number of other things.
As for knowing your sets... Mostly just refer to the guides and attached discussion pages for these things.
