Hello there and WELCOME to our General Leveling Guide for ALL CLASSES. This guide, as a whole, aims to educate on two main points. 1) Tell and remind you all of the ways, systems, tips and tricks to gain EXP – and which ones are good. 2) As you level up, some level ranges (IE “tiers”), have some specific changes or notes to be aware or – these notes are in the subsequent pages. Without further ado – LET’S POWER LEVEL QUICKLY!
Just to clarify, this guide only applies to ALL “COMBAT CLASSES”.
We have separate leveling guides for DoH and DoL classes.
FFXIV Leveling Guide for ALL CLASSES – Navigation:
P1: Methods, and tips for leveling up at any tier.
P2: A Realm Reborn Tier – 1 to 50 | P3: Heavensward Tier – 50 to 60 (Under review)
So here in Page 1 we’ll focus purely on information regarding all activities and systems regarding gaining EXP, which is relevant no matter where you are on your journey. This is VERY LOOSELY ORDERED by “importance”, but make no mistake knowledge on all of ’em is useful.
Also we have Base Class Leveling Guides to use alongside this one:
ACN | ARC | CNJ | GLD | LNC | MRD | PGL | ROG | THM
Main Scenario Quest
“As long as you have an MSQ, do it”.
That says it all. As long as you CAN do a Main Scenario Quest, you SHOULD be doing it. Only if you do not meet the quest level requirements do you go down this list.
EXP, Rewards, progression, and unlocks… MSQ is king. The only time you should consider going down this list and finding other sources of EXP is when you aren’t allowed to do MSQ due to not meeting the MSQ level requirements
TLDR Value rating: EXTREME. Main Scenario Quests are without doubt the highest priority in your list of activities.
Passive EXP Buffs
I mean, seriously, “Why Not?”
This is more of a reminder than anything else. Try to get as many EXP increasing buffs as you can – you might as well right? Every small bit counts. These typically only work UP TO A CERTAIN LEVEL, and typically only work on monster EXP (Amazing for dungeons).
Here’s a few examples of the common EXP bonus buffs:
I know I’m not the fairest proponent of it, but I recognize they do have a place, and when it comes to gaining EXP – Deep Dungeons are certainly in the upper half of options.
TLDR Value Rating: Great, but personally, it somehow achieves being super boring but super involved… IDK maybe I’m biased… While I recognize the good EXP gains it’s a very poor experience when “grinding it out”.
FATEs
“Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant”
– an actual IRL quote on Fate. Lol.
Ah good ‘old FATEs. What can I say? Love ‘em or hate ‘em, I still consider FATEs a very practical source of EXP. They have their place!
FATE’s are great EXP but they suffer from being super inconsistent in terms of many little variables. Fates getting too chunky? You’re too alone? Too many people? Not getting to and getting max rewards from fates? The map you’re in isn’t the best for you right now? Can’t fly? There’s a lot of factors here…
What’s so good about fates? You can do them while queued up. You can do them while watching other things. It’s a low commitment activity that can be done on the “side”. Hell, even ACTIVELY doing FATE’s isn’t bad if you get many variables in your favor.
FATE’s get a bad rep from many older players due to how many subsystems were tied to it back in the day, and it being the clear cut BEST source of EXP too. Times have changed, but I’m keeping the quote up there for all of our painful memories. Remember Atma? Yeah, neither do I.
TLDR Value Rating: Great, but highly variable…
Proper Rotation, Use of skills, etc
Sadly, the git gud reminder has to be mentioned.
Properly playing your job, and subsequently gaining the wisdom of when and how to adjust your playstyle and rotation to fit the content your doing is practically the baseline for “gains”. While this seems like a basic fact for many, it bears stating here. Let’s look at two examples.
Imagine you fudge your AoE rotation in dungeons. There’s definitely a loss of speed there right? With equal gear, a party with better class knowledge will be faster than one that isn’t. Simple.
Let’s say you don’t adjust your rotation to beat up random overworld mobs. Your DoT is unnecessary as you don’t need enough of the DoT to kill it, instead of just straight up attacks? You could lose a little time on each mob. Adjust accordingly!
TLDR Value Rating: Important in many ways. Gaining EXP as a player and human is important too.
Sidequests
Great EXP when LITERALLY in the side.
But as a main focus? hmm
I spoke about this in the MSQ segment. And this one is WILDLY VARIABLE. Basically, sidequests value is highly tied to your Main Scenario Quest. If you can complete them while MSQ-ing great! Drop them if you stray too far.
But of course, you can do sidequests OUTSIDE your MSQ. And, honestly, the wild variance doesn’t disappear in this case either. They can be good or bad. Tagging FATE’s along the way helps, I suppose.
I do know quite a few people who love wiping them out eventually. I did this over the course of many many character leveling cycles.
TLDR Value Rating: Mixed. Use your gut feel, but my advice is to focus mainly on MSQ tied Sidequests. If you wanna do ’em outside MSQ stay within a +/-2 level range.
Battle Chocobo
Soloing a little faster for a microscopic cost?
You’d have to be a bird brain to refuse.
Combat Chocobo’s help you heal and dps (let’s not talk about the tanking part) while not in an instance – this is great for FATEs, beast tribes, and even MSQ!
While not everyone has a super powerful chocobo – you have to start somewhere right? And honestly even a level 1 combat chocobo is better than nothing. The cost is so minimal as well.
You can’t tell me a couple Gyashl Greens and the occasional Thavnairian Onion is stopping you from maximizing your feathery friend?
TLDR Value Rating: It’s a passive boost to soloing speed and greatly helps with healing, especially for FATEs.
Beast Tribe Quests (Repeatable)
“Rewarding”, but not typically “beast” in terms of EXP.
Mainly good for “getting something done ALONGSIDE something else”, or for “completion”, IE getting mounts and pets. While they can be a decent source of EXP they’re limited, and designed to be a little more annoying to complete compared to other EXP sources. Also, you’re gonna be tied to the map they’re in and the level ranges of the quests you’re allowed to do.
It’s wildly varied from tribe to tribe and tier to tier as well! The sheer difference of happiness (or unhappiness) from, let’s say, Sylph to Ananta is staggering!
TLDR Value Rating: Not so hot for EXP, kinda random, but great for hitting two birds with one stone. Or two Sylphs with one keyboard.
Hunt Bills
Get your maps ready.
Every tier (Honestly, while this can be done in the ARR tier, I consider this system to be practically active at the Heavensward tier onward) you can get Hunt Bills from various cities which require you to kill enemies listed on these hunt bills to get bonus EXP. This is kind of like the Hunting Log, but repeatable everyday for the basic marks.
This is so-so for me. You get certain currencies that help you buy certain things… but the EXP is supplemental at best. If you can knock ’em out while walking around, why not?
Tryharding to complete these logs daily for EXP purposes is, IMO, purely an anti-boredom mechanic or something to do in queue.
Levequests (Battlecraft, Grand Company, Temple)
Better saved for DoH or DOL – but can be a filler
Either Battlecraft or GC Levequests are a, uhh, “viable” source of EXP but is fraught with some limitations. Levequest TYPE and even more on a micro level, SPECIFIC LEVEQUESTS can either be terrible or godly and change in between every tier.
Example… There are some amazing GC Leves which require killing one “elite” boss-type enemy… these are amazing! There are terrible “beckon leves” with NPC’s which are, for a lack of better words, “SLOW AF” – these are terrible! See what I mean?
Temple Levequests? Are simple “fat” leves found ONLY in the Heavensward tier that require 10 Leve allowances for a higher reward. But not 10x the reward. They’re simply a way to dump excess levequests. Not bad if you’re leve capped.
Quite simply, only consider using leves if you’re capped on leve allowances or don’t need ’em for DOH or DOL. Otherwise, I would be wary using them.
TLDR Value Rating: Greatly variable. Can be “quite good”, or “straight up bad”. Takes allowances from better uses such as leveling DoH or DoL.
Hunting Log
An interesting and cute subsystem that sadly went away…
Personally, I do these before I “graduate” into the next tier. So I make sure I complete it every 10 levels. Is it worth it? If you’re in queue why not. Do FATE’s along the way. Also, I typically do these when I’m a little short and need to level up to unlock a new dungeon or something.
But these are only up to L50, only for base classes and jobs which evolve from them. It’s something to note.
I know doing these unlock certain things like GC ranks or something? IDK, it’s been a while. Completing it on at least one character is recommended…
TLDR Value Rating: Meh. Great for newer curious players.
Guildhests
Better than nothing. Almost.
You unlock a new guildhest at Level 1, 5 and every 5 levels afterward. These give you bonus exp for, take note, “Your first completion for each new class you did it on”.
So for example you did “Under the Armor” with Pugilist, you gain a chunky EXP bonus, then doing “Under the Armor” again with Gladiator gives you chunky EXP bonus again.
However, past this point Guildhest usefulness and efficiency falls off a cliff. They’re only used past this to knock out Challenge Log entries (OF WHICH THESE ENTRIES ARE QUITE POOR).
TLDR Value Rating: Great for every first completion per class, and almost utterly useless afterward. (This uselessness extends to Challenge Log guildhest entries and Duty Roulettes)
Basic Grinding
It’s bad.
Absolute worst way to gain EXP. Never “grind for the sake of grinding”, killing overworld mobs. Killing random monsters without a higher goal should never be considered a viable source of EXP.
I have it on the list for one reason: to tell you how bad it is. THAT’S how bad it is. It’s not good. Don’t do it. Avoid this at all costs.
Really, I’m not kidding. It sucks. As much as I would like to express this using a more grandiose vocabulary, I can’t be bothered. It just plain sucks.
Summary & Closing
As important as Tychus Findley’s advice on gaining EXP is,
“Hell, it’s about time”
My own quote should be taken with equal measure…
“Hell, it’s about sanity too”
– Mahiko San
That’s about it for Page 1 of this guide. If you have any suggestions feel free to let us know. Again, this portion of the guide is meant to be a glossary or reminder of sorts as to what mechanics, activities and other tips and guidance for GAINING EXP FOR YOUR COMBAT CLASS. Level “range” of “tier” specific advice goes in every page going forward.
FFXIV Leveling Guide for ALL CLASSES – Navigation:
P1: Methods, and tips for leveling up at any tier.
P2: A Realm Reborn Tier – 1 to 50 | P3: Heavensward Tier – 50 to 60 (Under review)
Also we have Base Class Leveling Guides to use alongside this one:
ACN | ARC | CNJ | GLD | LNC | MRD | PGL | ROG | THM
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