Many things I'm confused about

Machine11

Hi everyone, sorry to bother you. There are many things I'm confused about, and honestly I thought I'd find out by the time I reach level 200, but I still havent found out and I'm surprised things are so unclear to me at this point.
Here are my questions.
1. My main is a Mechanic. Is that okay, or the class is considered a weird or boring choice? Would others think I'm an idiot for choosing it?
2. I'm level 202, but my damage range is very low. Only about 250-300k when I'm buffed. What are the easiest ways to increase damage without too much work or farming?
3. I noticed almost no one goes to Party quests, and bossing is done almost always solo / alone. Why is that? Which bosses / quests do people do together? It feels like I have to solo everything.
4. I'd like to go to the stronger Chaos bosses, like Chaos HT, Chaos Pink bean and so on but I cant solo them. Whats the easiest way to find players to go with?
5. Are there any Party quests that players do together? If yes, which?
6. All guilds I encountered have a requirement of level 210+, I'm level 202. How do I join a guild if all guilds require 210+?
7. I dont know if its just me, but leveling up is extremely slow and repetitive. Is that normal at my level or I'm doing something wrong?
8. I have many skills and summons as a mechanic, but I dont know how to set them up all on my keyboard. Theres no room / space for all of them. What to do?
9. Some bosses kill me instantly, no matter how careful I am, I always die. Is this normal or what could I be doing wrong?
10. I cant find enough cubes, how do I get cubes easily and how do I craft them?
11. What potentials on my equipment should I be looking for? Is % of my main stat the best option for damage increase?

Neospector

1. You should play whatever you enjoy playing. If other people don't like it, that's on them.
2. You should look at star forcing your equips to add stat, cubes to re-roll potential, flames of rebirth to reroll additional stats, and collecting good gear (namely, Chaos Root Abyss equips). Anything more specific would need us to look at your current equip setup.
3. People primarily care about damage and rewards. Bossing on higher-level bosses like Lucid, Will, and any of the bosses in Tenebris is often done in a party, however.
4. Ask around on socials like discord. You might get a response using megaphones in-game or through a guild, but for Horntail or Pink Bean it's less likely because they're easier bosses.
5. Do together regularly? I couldn't say. Certain events do bring people together for certain party quests, although we haven't had one of those in a few months. Your best bet would be to find a group of friends you enjoy playing with to do party quests.
6. Those are personal requirements of the guild, according to the game itself you can join a guild at basically any level. It might just be a matter of asking around or looking for a guild that's accepting lower-level characters, ideally a more relaxed one that isn't focused on bossing.
7. At level 200 the leveling curve starts to slow down. It's not too big a deal, but grinding will get tougher for more casual players. Best to take it at your own pace.
8. Depends on what you find comfortable. Here's my setup for mechanic, including macros.
9. Many bosses have at least one one-shot attack. The best thing I can advise is to learn the patterns since they're all fairly easy, and otherwise watch other players fight them. Other than that, it depends which bosses specifically you're having trouble with.
10. Crafting is done through the professions tab, but it's a bit tedious. You can get cubes from the reward points shop if you happen to have enough sets completed in your monster collection to gather reward points. There's also some cubes available in the event shops. Overall, monster collection is probably your best bet: try to complete a row or two and send them on expeditions for rewards.
11. %stat is good, although technically ATT is better in terms of sheer damage.