I finally made it to Kugane and I see why everyone likes this town. This place is huge and the music is awesome too.
Even with the preorder earrings I’m having to do plenty of grinding to advance the story in storm blood. The gameplay is really fun but I was hoping to there wouldn’t be so much grinding this time around. Oh well.
if you like Kugane, you would love the new main city in ShadowBringer. I think it's bigger than Kugane and just as beautiful (plus they give you a super nice suite for your inn room). I've just unlocked the last new zone earlier today, and all the new zones are wonderful and HUGE!
as for grinding, make sure to hit all the daily roulettes for the extra xp (especially if you have the job that they need at the moment). and log out in inn rooms or your house bed since that'll give you some extra xp bonus stacks. how are you on MSQ? don't forget that those give you a lot of xp too as you progress. when I was lvling my alt jobs, I just get the Shire gear set for my job and run roulettes all day long and while repetitive, it does help with getting to 70. sadly, as much as I understand you want to get lvl fast, this IS a sub based MMORPG, so progress will come in a slow but steady pace. but then again, for $25, you can get a job to 70 right now in the Mogstation if you really want to... however, everything you do in the game WILL add up and it'll all go to getting you one step closer to the goal line, which I love about this even if it's something that people might not really feel it sometimes. so just keep at it, don't try to rush since there's just SO much you can do and enjoy the ride.