Stuck, not sure what to do next. Follow

Yorcia Skirmish is the one you want to do if soloing. Trade Copper Vouchers for Obsidian Fragments, then once in the event, spend like 600 or so on worms to defend your base and then a couple for offense while you roam and build up some more to spawn more attackers later. You don't want to fight the enemies that come from the objective (they'll hand you your butt), but free roaming stuff is fine. It might take a while to put together the right set, but it'll generally be better than Sparks gear and it can be augmented if you're not hurting for gil. Though, some gil will have to go into accessing Skirmish itself.

Beyond that, getting some of your AF/Relic to 119 is just a matter of grinding sparks to convert to pages if you can't find BC groups. You'll want some gil for the trade components, too, which could cost over a mil per depending.

If you haven't already, though, work on RoV. You should probably be able to get to the Reisenjima wing on sparks gear, but after that you're gonna want better gear. The more ideal solution is to hope someone might let you mooch upgrades from other events, but XI hasn't really changed in that a lot of people are closed circle and putting PUGs together can be extremely hit and miss.

Well, depending on how many quests you've gone through, you might be able to just snag a good reserve right off the bat. Stuff like job levels and mission progress can contribute. Also be sure to have Rieve things set when go through Adoulin zones to collect Biovaucs and whatnot. They'll offer small permanent JP bonuses once completed. However, the best standalone Sparks quest tends to be the one that asks to gain EXP. If you're strong enough to solo Adoulin mobs or even early Escha Ru'Aun things, a single mob kill would be an objective clear. Downside is this is a 2 hour window that might not cooperate with your schedule, so I'd try to find the table to see when you can best try to get it. Unfortunately, you won't be able to upgrade your Empyrean gear without Vagary clears, so I'd target your more useful AF and Relic if you see a good piece listed. Also be sure to go through your daily/unity quests.

A lot of these are better done in small groups than solo, but I understand your time limitations.

Have you tried any of the abjuration NMs in Escha Ru-Aun (sky)? Some of those can be a bit easier once you know their "trick" although those that summon helpers or adds will probably be tough to handle solo.

On my server (Phoenix) there are occasional shouts for Reisenjima farming, but I'm honestly not sure how well those groups fare.

There is now a wide, *wide* variety of i119 gear, and some of it varies enough in effectiveness to the point where I really wonder why they stubbornly cling to a i119 max when it's clear as day that some i119 pieces are better than others. In short, just because you're in i119 duds doesn't mean that you will necessarily be able to take on current endgamey type mobs effectively :<

Since it sounds like you're playing alone, trust setups are very important; almost as much so as your gear and sometimes even more so. Something I highly recommend doing as a melee class if you haven't already is to join Sylvie's unity. She is the only geomancer trust and is packing atk or acc bubbles (depending on whether or not you need acc) and enemy -def bubbles for you that will greatly enhance your melee potential on most moderately difficult targets.

When I fought Taelmoth, he was a jerk and kept throwing out 1-shots with Benthic Typhoon and such.

Belphegor (Herculean feet, Odyssean legs) is a wuss as long as you bring a light-based dispel. As BLU it's a trivial solo as long as I set Blank Gaze, but you may need additional help. So far he's been the only Reisenjima NM I've been able to kill >_>