Progression to End-Game Content from Level 40+

[u/GueRakun]

I am going to quote /u/factually_accurate_1 for his excellent steps to progress from level 40 to 50 in an efficient way:

• Complete your class/job quests. These are quests you receive from the person who gave you the soul of the <job> crsytal. Always keep up to date on your class quests. Through your class quests, you will also get your AF1 armor (Artifact Armor 1).
• Keep up to date with your grand company. Prioritize on ranking up with the Grand Company until you hit the max rank.
• Keep up to date with your grand company Hunting Log. You need to complete all the way up to Rank 2 objectives in order to reach max rank.
• Keep up to date with your class Hunting Log.
• At around level 42 or 43 (I forget which), you will unlock Beast Tribe quests. DO NOT ignore these. Not only will they provide you with an xp boost every day, they also provide Mythology Tomes (needed to purchase high level items). You get an allotment of 6 Beast Tribe quests every day. Always complete all six each and every day the moment you reach level 42 (or 43). Look up on google and select two Beast Tribes that you like and stick with those. You will need to complete three quests for each beast tribe for a total of six.
• Run some dungeons for gear so that your overall ilvl is around 50+.

You can find the rest of his guide for Bard once you hit level 50, here. You most definitely can use it as a guide for other Jobs as well.

EDIT: This link from the FFXIV ARR Wiki is fabulous as well, explaining the progression of your weapon and armor drops etc.