FFXIV Gladiator (GLD) Leveling Guide & Rotation | ShB UPDATED

How to level up your Gladiator (GLD) fast! Learn all about your skills, role actions, and how to level up HERE!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Friends suckered you into the shield? Or are you one of those “career tanks”?  Jokes aside, if you’re looking to rise as a Gladiator, you’ve found the right place. Hopefully, our Gladiator Leveling Guide helps you out!

While this page focuses on Gladiator info like skills, traits, rotation, and playstyle notes. The GENERAL PROCESS that you follow is outlined in our FFXIV General Leveling Guide use it alongside this guide. Looking at that, we’re in the “A Realm Reborn Tier” as we’re only looking to level our Gladiator up to 30.

Gladiator Unlocking? Other basics?

How to unlock the GLD Class? Taken from Gladiator General Guide & FAQ – which you should read if you need more basic info about GLD.

Location: Ul’dah – Steps of Thal, Gladiator’s Guild (6, 10)
Related Quests: (all in the same place)
> So you want to be a Gladiator
> Way of the Gladiator
> My First Gladius
Others: You may also begin the game as Gladiator

Gladiator are a Tank class, falling under the Disciple of War category. Also, if you’re curious about the job you turn into, Gladiator is the prerequisite class for unlocking Paladin.

This guide has three major segments:

  • Gladiator Leveling Rotation & Skill Changes – How new skills affect your play.
  • Gladiator L1 to L16 – General reminders and notes.
  • Gladiator L15 to 30 – General reminders and notes.
  • I’ll mention it again, knowledge from General Leveling Guide is REQUIRED.

I put rotation changes up top as you might reference it often. Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Gladiator Rotation for Leveling, Skills, Traits, Etc.

In this segment we run down how each skill and trait affects your Gladiator’s rotation during the leveling process.

L1 Trait Unlocked Tank Mastery – Passive free stats. It’s basically the groundwork that says, “This is a tank class”. Nothing that really affects your gameplay here.

L1 Skill Unlocked Fast Blade – Your first, and most basic attack! Don’t worry, you’ll get combo skills soon enough.

L2 Skill Unlocked Fight of Flight – Is a DPS cooldown. While FFXIV players can go on and on about burst windows, just keep in mind that in the leveling process, use this LIBERALLY. Optimization can come later, heh.

L4 Skill Unlocked Riot Blade – You can now chain Fast Blade into Riot Blade  is now your basic “rotation”. It restores MP, but that isn’t relevant right now.

L6 Skill Unlocked Total Eclipse – An AoE attack that’s typically best used against 3 or more targets. This is also your default method of gaining threat against multiple enemies for now.

L8 Role Action Unlocked Rampant – Your super basic tank damage mitigation / toughness cooldown. Don’t look down on it, though! Rampart is the “gold standard” of tank CD’s. It’s long, it’s strong enough, it doesn’t have a super long CD. This is great! Protip: Never pop CD’s when you’re “about to die” – try to pop it “when things are starting to get hairy, or a little before that”.

L10 Skill Unlocked Shield Bash – A spammable, long duration stun. Keeping it real, this only has one use early on. If you’re in a dungeon and your healer is a little slow… Simply help your group out by Shield Bashing every enemy in a cycle, so your healers can keep up.

L10 Skill Unlocked Iron Will – A stance that switches on or off that increases your enmity generated. Simple as that. Honestly, as long as you’re the only tank around (Soloing, Dungeons, anything non-raid) just have it on.

L12 Role Action Unlocked Low Blow – An instant OGCD (Off-GCD) Stun. Newer Gladiators and Paladins might laugh at this given you have Shield Bash, this is undoubtedly superior as it doesn’t interrupt your own GCD – think of it as your primary stun.

L15 Skill Unlocked Shield Lob – A basic ranged attack that has increased enmity. It’s never bad to pull a mob with this as it usually tells your friends to focus on that guy. Aside from an opener, it’s pretty bad unless you’re too far to attack your target.

L15 Role Action Unlocked Provoke – An ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL tank skill for dungeons and raids. Please bind it in such a way where it won’t be too hard for you to press it. In terms of leveling and early dungeons, use it to pull back enemies that aggro to others, just make sure you follow it up.

L18 Role Action Unlocked Interject – A “pure interrupt” not tied to a silence or stun. What else can I say, you can randomly interrupt enemy skills with this. It’s only very rarely used on boss monsters.

L22 Role Action Unlocked Reprisal – an incredibly powerful cooldown that isn’t typically useful in the leveling process – but shines in raids. Practice on using it during boss cast bars!

L26 Skill Unlocked Rage of Halone –  Ah, finally! Your combo finisher. Fast Blade > Riot Blade > Rage of Halone is your bread and butter. For quite a while, this will be your strongest attack sequence. It has a bonus of having increased enmity gained, which is welcome in any dungeon.

Completing “The Rematch” at L30 marks your final class quest as Gladiator. You now have the right to become a Paladin!


Gladiator Rotation – L1 to 30 SUMMARY

Here’s the shell of what your GLD rotation is in the early leveling process. Adjust to your currently learned skills.

GLD 30 Single Target RotationGLD AoE Rotation

GLD L30 Single Target Rotation

      • Fast Blade > Riot Blade > Rage of Halone
      • Fight or Flight whenever you can maximize its duration.

It’s a bit unexciting, I know. I suppose its more about “tanking knowledge”, but pretty much every dungeon pre level 30 doesn’t really lend to skill expression…

GLD L30 AoE Rotation

      • 3 Targets is the bare minimum for Total Eclipse spam (4+ preferred).
      • Once a there’s only 2 enemies left, revert to single target.
      • Fight or Flight whenever you can maximize its duration.

Yeah, tank rotations are pretty unexciting this early on.

I know dungeons are pretty junk early on, but here’s the lowdown:
Shield Lob your preferred “main target”, then Total Eclipse a few times to gain aggro (continue spam if 3+ enemies), then do single target combo.

Liberal use of stuns (Low Blow is free!), moreso if your healer is derping.

Gladiator Leveling: L1 to 30

As per the general leveling guide, this tier is divided into two sub-chunks. So I’ll be sub-chunking the following segments into two “tabs” as well. These two tabs represent A) L1 to 16, and B) L16 to 30.


Gladiator Leveling L1 to 30 Activity Flowchart

A rundown of things you can do to gain EXP – again split “to 16”, and “to 30”.

GLD 1 to 16GLD 16 to 30

GLD Leveling Activities to L16

Remember the universal truths: Main Scenario Quest is king, and always have your passive EXP buffs (FC, Food, Chocobo, etc)

Renewable EXP sources

    • FATES (Great when you're in queue)
    • Levequests (Actually good EXP but better saved for DoH or DoL)
    • Deep Dungeon -Palace of the Dead (Repetitive, terrible for LOW levels)

Burst EXP sources

    • Challenge Log* (Complete passively until nearing reset, then force it)
    • Guildhests (First completions per class is mega bonus EXP)
    • Hunting Log (Great source of EXP this early on)
    • Sidequests (Personal preference. Better if in tandem with MSQ!)
    • Duty Roulette: Guildhest (Pretty irrelevant...)

*Challenge Log won't be unlocked in this tier if it's your first time around. While you need to be L16 to initially unlock it, it can be used by any level character thereafter. 

Well, there’s not much to point your bow at this early on, but here’s where the arrow falls nonetheless. It’s slim, but you gotta start somewhere.

Of course, adjust this to your own personal preference.

GLD Leveling Activities to L30

Remember the universal truths: Main Scenario Quest is king, and always have your passive EXP buffs (FC, Food, Chocobo, etc)

Renewable EXP sources

    • Dungeons (Stable, "fun", massive EXP easpecially with rested bonus)
    • FATES (Great when you're in queue)
    • Deep Dungeon -Palace of the Dead (Repetitive, but fast)
    • Levequests (Actually good EXP but better saved for DoH or DoL)
    • Beast Tribe (EXP is meh, but great for getting cosmetic items)

Burst EXP sources

    • Duty Roulette: Leveling (The ultimate EXP source until L50)
    • Challenge Log (Complete passively until nearing reset, then force it)
    • Guildhests (First completions per class is mega bonus EXP)
    • Hunting Log (More for completionism or first timers, it's "alright")
    • Sidequests (Personal preference. Better if in tandem with MSQ!)
    • Duty Roulette: Guildhest (Pretty irrelevant...)

A few adjustments to your leveling mentality here, mainly the addition of  Duty Roulette: Leveling, as a daily burst, and straight queuing Dungeons as an option as well.

Of course, adjust this to your own personal preference.

Important Notes (GLD L1 to 30)

A few tough nuts you gotta pick up on, so you don’t end up with aggro when you discover you missed something big.

GLD L1 to 30 Gear Updates:  Needed?

TLDR: Not really significant. This applies to both sub-tiers. Just make sure to pick up whatever along the way, or find dirt cheap upgrades in the MB or wherever (quests etc).

More detailed answer?

In all honesty you DO NOT NEED to put much thought into your gear from Level 1 to Level 30. Simply “get what you can”, with Weapons being the highest priority. You can get gear from Quests, buy from NPCs, Marketboard, Crafting, GC – it’s purely up to you and your budget as to what you wanna get.

Of course getting gear will increase your efficiency (being a little stronger helps kill speed), but this tier is pretty “newb friendly”, and designed as such – PLUS you “outgrow” gear by gaining levels so rapidly that tryharding on gear up to Level 30 is pretty irrelevant.

Just try not to run around naked, and get “what you can” without being outright negligent.


Important notes to keep in mind

GLD 1 to 16GLD 16 to 30

As always, Main Scenario Quest takes the highest priority.

There are too many skills that get unlocked here for me to talk about individually, which is why the skill unlock / rotation segment above should be your guiding light in that regard.

Limited Burst EXP sources take priority: Newly unlocked Guildhests, Challenge Log entries, Hunting Log.

Renewable EXP sources if you need to grind: FATE’s are great, followed by Levequests and if so you choose, Sidequests. (Deep Dungeon: POTD – can you zone it from Level 1? Even if you could, I don’t think I would…)

At level 15 you get access to your first Dungeon, Sastasha, but I don’t see much reason to grind there, unless you wanna burn rested EXP and want to hit 16 ASAP.

At 15 you should catch up and do your class quests, as you do get a skill form it – Shield Lob. Not the most useful skill, I’ll admit, but you gotta do these quests anyway so do them while they’re relevant.

A note on Levequests: Can be an attractive source of EXP. Every tier has “good and bad” levequests so it’s up to you if you wanna go try them out. Main downside is using them up in place of DoH / DoL. Consider using them if you’re at or near the Levequest allowance cap!

As always, Main Scenario Quest takes the highest priority.

Starting L16, you open up Duty Roulette: Leveling, which is you should be doing everyday! This is an important source of EXP – it’s a huge daily burst! Also at L16 you can unlock Challenge Log if you haven’t already.

As a Tank class, you have MASSIVE agency on how quick (or slow) a dungeon can go. If you’re new, don’t be too cocky. A protip is only gather “more than one pack” if you’re sure your healer isn’t panicky, and DPS can kill them “in time”.  Your own cooldowns, FoF and Rampart GREATLY help this.

Overall, the same concept applies. Daily and Weekly bursts of EXP > Basic Renewable EXP sources of your choice > Other side activities to alleviate boredom or monotony.

 Renewable EXP sources? At this point it’s Dungeons, FATES and Deep Dungeons, and maybe some Levequests. Burst EXP sources? Roulettes, new Guildhests, Hunting and Challenge Logs.

Again, as a Tank, don’t expect long queue times for dungeons – so it’s a great source of EXP. A “geared” low level tank that spams dungeons can actually pull 2~ groups at a time, to maximize your own AoE Total Eclipse.

at L20 If you haven’t unlocked your Companion (combat Chocobo), do so now. You can begin the process now – it entails getting your first mount as well (at least for most new players).

At level 30 get your class quests done, as it’s one of the prerequisites to transform into Paladin!

Levequests notes, same as usual. Sad to take ’em away from crafters and gatherers, but it’s viable EXP. Definitely use them up if you’re overcapped on allowances.

As you start doing dungeons and start looting gear, make sure you loot TANK GEAR and not generic “Disciple of War” LEFT-SIDE pieces.

Tanking Gear and YOU

So by now you may have noticed that some left-side pieces are for “Disciple of War”. These generic pieces are often bad for you. Why? The tanking class specific gear (usually “usable by GLD MRD etc etc”) have vastly higher armor and magic defense ratings. Get those!

This info is important from here on, since doing dungeons/roulette is a very good source of EXP.

If you’re one of those “pure POTD” types. Well… Back into the hole for you, I suppose!

Stop at Level 30! Unlock your advanced job as soon as you can!
(GLD turns into Paladin at Level 30)

Gladiator L30 Onward: Unlocking Paladin

STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING ONCE YOU HIT Gladiator LEVEL 30.
Unlock Paladin ASAP!

How to become a Paladin? Unlocking Paladin requires a Level 30 Gladiator and completion of the L30 GLD Class Quest. From there, return to your guild and it should point you to the quest! See: Unlocking all jobs.

The reason we unlock ASAP is, not only to get a new skill at L30 (In your case Spirits Within), but most if not all new skills and traits going forward are for PALADIN and not GLADIATOR, so you have no reason to stay as a GLD any longer.

Gladiator Leveling – Related Reads

Some good reads and related links here:

Summary and Closing

And with that YOU’RE DONE WITH LEVELING Gladiator! Congrats! Hopefully our Gladiator Leveling Guide helped you out. Keep your hopes and shields up high, tanking gets funner and funner as you level up, don’t worry :)


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FFXIV Archer (ARC) Leveling Guide & Rotation | ShB UPDATED

How to level up your Archer (ARC) fast! Learn all about your skills, role actions, and how to level up HERE!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Tempted by the song of “ez ranged deeps”, ey? Aren’t we all! Well if you’re looking to have a shot at Archer, you’ve found the right place. Hopefully, our Archer Leveling Guide helps you out!

While this page focuses on Archer info like skills, traits, rotation, and playstyle notes. The GENERAL PROCESS that you follow is outlined in our FFXIV General Leveling Guide use it alongside this guide. Looking at that, we’re in the “A Realm Reborn Tier” as we’re only looking to level our Archer up to 30.

Archer Unlocking? Other basics?

How to unlock the ARC Class? Taken from Archer General Guide & FAQ – which you should read if you need more basic info about ARC.

Location: Old Gridania, Archers’ Guild (15,12)
NPCs: Athelyna, Luciane
Related Quests: (all in the same place)
> So you want to be an Archer
> Way of the Archer
> My First Bow
Others: You may also begin the game as Archer

Archers are Physical Ranged DPS classes, falling under the Disciple of War category. Also, if you’re curious about the job you turn into, Archers are the prerequisite class for unlocking Bard.

This guide has three major segments:

  • Archer Leveling Rotation & Skill Changes – How new skills affect your play.
  • Archer L1 to L16 – General reminders and notes.
  • Archer L16 to 30 – General reminders and notes.
  • I’ll mention it again, knowledge from General Leveling Guide is REQUIRED.

I put rotation changes up top as you might reference it often. Without further ado, let’s get to it.


Archer Rotation for Leveling, Skills, Traits, Etc.

In this segment we run down how each skill and trait affects your Archer’s rotation during the leveling process.

L1 Skill Unlocked Heavy Shot – ROTATION AFFECTED This is your “basic attack”.

L2 Skill Unlocked Straight Shot – ROTATION AFFECTED There is a small chance after using Heavy Shot that Straight Shot becomes usable. Basically, “Spam Heavy Shot, then Straight Shot when Available”.

L2 Trait Unlocked Heavier Shot  – This trait is what allows you to use Straight Shot. How it affects your rotation is already mentioned above.

L4 Skill Unlocked Raging Strikes – ROTATION AFFECTED: Your first DPS cooldown! Use it liberally while soloing or in dungeons. In dungeons, I suggest using this at the start of a new pack, and during bosses. Don’t hold on to it too much. Ultimately DPS cooldowns can be a very high level topic, but this is not the place for that.

L6 Skill Unlocked Venomous Bite – ROTATION AFFECTED: Your first DoT (Damage over Time) skill! OPEN every fight with this skill (Unless the monster is so weak that the DoT isn’t worth it – just heavy shot instead). Obviously, refresh it if it’s about to fall off. Typically in FFXIV you want to refresh DoT’s with a duration of 3s or less. If you’re fighting multiple monsters, using this on all of ‘em is legit.

L6 Role Action Unlocked Leg Graze – Your first Physical Ranged DPS Role Action! Causes Heavy on an enemy (slows movespeed). There is really not much of a use here, except letting enemies get to you slower. Only for desperation in dungeons or soloing… Very slim usage – can often be left unbinded as there are very few encounters where this is irrelevant.

L8 Role Action Unlocked Second Wind  – A burst self-heal which you’ll grow to be very familiar with. Helps with all types of content! Sustain during Boss FATES, emergency healing in Raids, etc.

L10 Role Action Unlocked Foot Graze  A ranged Bind (Target cannot move)! Useful for preventing melee enemies from reaching you. Practically speaking, this skill is great for stopping enemies so you can run away or interact with objects / NPC’s without being interrupted by damage.

L12 Skill Unlocked Bloodletter – ROTATION AFFECTED: Use it every time it’s available. Simple as that. It’s Off-GCD (OGCD) So you have no reason to delay firing this off ASAP.

L15 Skill Unlocked Repelling Shot – (Requires CLASS QUEST completion) Your basic mobility skill. For soloing, it simply helps you move faster in between mobs. For dungeons and especially raids, this is a great repositioning tool. 

L18 Skill Unlocked Quick Nock – AoE ROTATION AFFECTED: An INCREDIBLY EFFICIENT AoE attack that’s effective to use even against 2 targets. Obviously incredible at 3+ targets.

L20 Trait Unlocked Increased Action DamageThis does nothing that actually affects your gameplay, but simply increases your damage dealt by a %. Can’t complain.

L20 Role Action Unlocked Peloton AMAZING skill for movement! You’ll be surprised how much time this cuts in towns, questing, dungeons, make it a habit to always have Peloton up when you can! Keep note it doesn’t stack with Sprint. Newer players might think I’m memeing, but you too will come to love Peloton!

L24 Role Action Unlocked Head Graze A ranged interrupt! Stop enemies from casting their skills – while not super useful solo, it has niche applications in dungeons and raids. Just be aware you have it!

L30 Skill Unlocked Windbite – ROTATION AFFECTED: (Required CLASS QUEST completion) Another DoT, which has many OP connotations in 2/3 multi-target scenarios. Windbite should be your opening shot on enemies that will survive majority of its duration. Simply add it into your rotation “BEFORE” you’d usually do Venombite. 

Completing this quest and unlocking Windbite marks your final class quest as Archer. You now have the right to become a Bard!


Archer Rotation – L1 to 30 SUMMARY

Here’s an overarching shot of what your ARC rotation is in the early leveling process. Adjust to your currently learned skills.

ARC 30 Single Target RotationARC AoE Rotation

ARC L30 Single Target Rotation

    • Fire Bloodletter whenever it’s available.
    • Windbite if enemy will survive more than 9s
    • Venombite if enemy will survive more than 9s
    • Straight Shot if available.
    • Heavy Shot spam.
    • Use Raging Strikes liberally.

ARC L30 AoE Rotation

    • Quick Nock spam if 4+ Targets (Don’t Multi DoT)
    • Quick Nock if 3 Targets (Multi DoT still viable)
    • Multi DoT’s if 2 Targets  > Quick Nock spam.
    • For any scenario, use Bloodletter whenever available.
    • Use Raging Strikes liberally.

DoT’s still have the quick “9s lifespan” rule. If they die too quickly after the DoT, value is lost.

Archer Leveling: L1 to 30

As per the general leveling guide, this tier is divided into two sub-chunks. So I’ll be sub-chunking the following segments into two “tabs” as well. These two tabs represent A) L1 to 16, and B) L16 to 30.


Archer Leveling L1 to 30 Activity Flowchart

A rundown of things you can do to gain EXP – again split “to 16”, and “to 30”.

ARC 1 to 16ARC 16 to 30

ARC Leveling Activities to L16

Remember the universal truths: Main Scenario Quest is king, and always have your passive EXP buffs (FC, Food, Chocobo, etc)

Renewable EXP sources

    • FATES (Great when you're in queue)
    • Levequests (Actually good EXP but better saved for DoH or DoL)
    • Deep Dungeon -Palace of the Dead (Repetitive, terrible for LOW levels)

Burst EXP sources

    • Challenge Log* (Complete passively until nearing reset, then force it)
    • Guildhests (First completions per class is mega bonus EXP)
    • Hunting Log (Great source of EXP this early on)
    • Sidequests (Personal preference. Better if in tandem with MSQ!)
    • Duty Roulette: Guildhest (Pretty irrelevant...)

*Challenge Log won't be unlocked in this tier if it's your first time around. While you need to be L16 to initially unlock it, it can be used by any level character thereafter. 

Well, there’s not much to point your bow at this early on, but here’s where the arrow falls nonetheless. It’s slim, but you gotta start somewhere.

Of course, adjust this to your own personal preference.

ARC Leveling Activities to L30

Remember the universal truths: Main Scenario Quest is king, and always have your passive EXP buffs (FC, Food, Chocobo, etc)

Renewable EXP sources

    • Dungeons (Stable, "fun", massive EXP easpecially with rested bonus)
    • FATES (Great when you're in queue)
    • Deep Dungeon -Palace of the Dead (Repetitive, but fast)
    • Levequests (Actually good EXP but better saved for DoH or DoL)
    • Beast Tribe (EXP is meh, but great for getting cosmetic items)

Burst EXP sources

    • Duty Roulette: Leveling (The ultimate EXP source until L50)
    • Challenge Log (Complete passively until nearing reset, then force it)
    • Guildhests (First completions per class is mega bonus EXP)
    • Hunting Log (More for completionism or first timers, it's "alright")
    • Sidequests (Personal preference. Better if in tandem with MSQ!)
    • Duty Roulette: Guildhest (Pretty irrelevant...)

A few adjustments to your leveling mentality here, mainly the addition of  Duty Roulette: Leveling, as a daily burst, and straight queuing Dungeons as an option as well.

Of course, adjust this to your own personal preference.

Archer Leveling L1 to 30 Important Notes

Here we talk about important things to keep in mind during the process – essentially some straight shots to make sure you hit so you don’t get shafted.

ARC L1 to 30 Gear Updates:  Needed?

TLDR: Not really significant. This applies to both sub-tiers. Just make sure to pick up whatever along the way, or find dirt cheap upgrades in the MB or wherever (quests etc).

More detailed answer?

In all honesty you DO NOT NEED to put much thought into your gear from Level 1 to Level 30. Simply “get what you can”, with Weapons being the highest priority. You can get gear from Quests, buy from NPCs, Marketboard, Crafting, GC – it’s purely up to you and your budget as to what you wanna get.

Of course getting gear will increase your efficiency (being a little stronger helps kill speed), but this tier is pretty “newb friendly”, and designed as such – PLUS you “outgrow” gear by gaining levels so rapidly that tryharding on gear up to Level 30 is pretty irrelevant.

Just try not to run around naked, and get “what you can” without being outright negligent.


Important notes to keep in mind

ARC 1 to 16ARC 16 to 30

As always, Main Scenario Quest takes the highest priority.

There are too many skills that get unlocked here for me to talk about individually, which is why the skill unlock / rotation segment above should be your guiding light in that regard.

Limited Burst EXP sources take priority: Newly unlocked Guildhests, Challenge Log entries, Hunting Log.

Renewable EXP sources if you need to grind: FATE’s are great, followed by Levequests and if so you choose, Sidequests. (Deep Dungeon: POTD – can you zone it from Level 1? Even if you could, I don’t think I would…)

At level 15 you get access to your first Dungeon, Sastasha, but I don’t see much reason to grind there, unless you wanna burn rested EXP and want to hit 16 ASAP.

At 15 you should catch up and do your class quests, as you do get a skill form it – Repelling Shot. It’s not much, but it does help walking around. Typically you don’t want to keep your class quests incomplete anyway.

A note on Levequests: Can be an attractive source of EXP. Every tier has “good and bad” levequests so it’s up to you if you wanna go try them out. Main downside is using them up in place of DoH / DoL. Consider using them if you’re at or near the Levequest allowance cap!

As always, Main Scenario Quest takes the highest priority.

Starting L16, you open up Duty Roulette: Leveling, which is you should be doing everyday! This is an important source of EXP – it’s a huge daily burst! Also at L16 you can unlock Challenge Log if you haven’t already.

Overall, the same concept applies. Daily and Weekly bursts of EXP > Basic Renewable EXP sources of your choice > Other side activities to alleviate boredom or monotony.

 Renewable EXP sources? At this point it’s Dungeons, FATES and Deep Dungeons, and maybe some Levequests. Weirdly enough, Archer feels terrible in Deep Dungeons, but great in Dungeons (and “ok” in FATEs). Burst EXP sources? Roulettes, new Guildhests, Hunting and Challenge Logs.

L18 unlocks Quick Nock skill: This is a pretty damn underrated “breakpoint” for Archer leveling. Honestly, this skill is so unbelievably powerful for this level. It allows you to AoE down mobs efficiently while most other classes simply don’t even HAVE an AoE skill. This places dungeons a little higher on your “priority” list, as there’s quite a bit of AoEing down mobs here.

The early ARR dungeons aren’t that exciting, but at least Quick Nock makes it a little faster for you. No joke, it’s relevant. Imagine running a dungeon with zero AoE (It’s the reason why most tanks will not speedrun / pile up these low level dungeons).

at L20 If you haven’t unlocked your Companion (combat Chocobo), do so now. You can begin the process now – it entails getting your first mount as well (at least for most new players).

At L20, you unlock the Role Action Peloton, which you should get used to using all the time. I mentioned it in the rotation segment, but it bears repeating here – any increase in speed is welcome.

At level 30 get your class quests done, as it’s one of the prerequisites to transform into Bard!

Levequests notes, same as usual. Sad to take ’em away from crafters and gatherers, but it’s viable EXP. Definitely use them up if you’re overcapped on allowances.

Stop at Level 30! Unlock your advanced job as soon as you can!
(Archer turns into Bard at Level 30)

Archer L30 Onward: Unlocking Bard

STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING ONCE YOU HIT ARCHER LEVEL 30.
Unlock Bard ASAP!

How to become a Bard? Unlocking Bard requires a Level 30 Archer, and completion of the L30 ARC Class Quest. From there, return to your guild and it should point you to the quest! See: Unlocking all jobs.

The reason we unlock ASAP is, not only to get a new skill at L30 (In your case Mage’s Ballad), but most if not all new skills and traits going forward are for BARD and not ARCHER, so you have no reason to stay as an ARC any longer.

Archer Leveling – Related Reads

Some good reads and related links here:

Summary and Closing

And with that YOU’RE DONE WITH LEVELING Archer! Congrats! Hopefully our Archer Leveling Guide helped you out. May your arrows always find their mark.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

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FFXIV Leveling Guide for ANY CLASS & JOB – ShB Updated!

How to get EXP fast and powerlevel any DoW or DoM! Get to max level as fast as possible with the least BOREDOM :)

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

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 | CNJGLD | 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

Sidequests alongside MSQ?

Sidequests WHILE hammering our your Main Scenario Quest is great value.

Not all sidequests are equal, and not all sidequests should be done if you’re looking for “speed” or “efficiency”. I know a lot of people, and myself included that ended up completing all sidequests after a few toons. Ultimately, it’s up to you – but augmenting your MSQ with “value sidequests” is amazing.

TLDR Value rating:  High if alongside MSQ. Don’t be afraid to drop ’em if you move onto another area or something. Can’t be perfect about it, but don’t be too stubborn either.

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:

Passive EXP Buffs

Armory Bonus: Gives you a large EXP bonus (mainly on killed mobs) IF you have another class at a higher level level than your current one. This is why you should focus on reaching max level of one combat class ASAP.

+EXP Equipment: These are tied to various pre-orders and such so If you have ‘em great. Example is the Moogle Hat, or Aetheryte Earring.

Food Buff: +3% EXP for ANY food buff (even Boiled Egg from NPC). Stats might make your leveling experience faster but that’s negligible.

Heat of Battle FC Buff: Your guild can activate this Free Company action which gives a % based EXP bonus on kills.

TLDR Value rating: Extreme, seeing as these are mostly passive bonuses which require little to no effort to retain.

[/su_spoiler title]

This is really high up on the list as getting massive chunks of EXP for next to zero effort is… how do I put it… “We take those”.

Duty Roulettes

Your daily injection of EXP crack.

Roulettes are daily “quests” that require you to do a certain type of content, and get bonus rewards (notably EXP) for the first completion every day. Various roulettes rise and fall in value depending on which leveling tier you’re in, but generally speaking they will be one of your main sources of EXP.

I will talk about each roulette type more specifically in each leveling tiers notes, as there are roulettes you should avoid or prioritize depending on where you’re at in the leveling tiers.

But, basically speaking, if you’re leveling ALTS. Roulettes are THE HIGHEST PRIORITY IN GAINING EXP. Not all of ’em, but likely multiple of them will always be.

TLDR Value rating: Extreme, but also extremely volatile. Each roulette type has its ups and downs, and be forewarned: some dungeons or trials are terrible.

Rested EXP

Imagine being paid extra for something you’re already doing.
Like Michael Jacksons documentary, “This is it“.

This one’s quite important as it can heavily change what your next best activity down the line is. Rested EXP is present in many MMORPG’s and FFXIV is not an exception.

Rested EXP augments kill EXP. Simple as that. This of course pairs EXTREMELY WELL with Dungeons.

I don’t need to go into detail of Rested EXP mechanics here, but I must remind you that the best way to GAIN IT is by logging out in a Sanctuary – signified by the Crescent Moon icon near your EXP bar.

TLDR Value Rating: Extreme when paired with activities that use it up quickly. It’s straight up passive EXP. Be wise about how to use it.

When your Rested EXP runs out? It’s the opposite feeling…
Like the Michael Jackson documentary, “Leaving Neverland“.

Challenge Log

Another source of “Free EXP” with little effort.
Sadly I ran out of documentary puns.

If you like gaining random EXP out of nowhere for things you’re already doing – then the Challenge Log is your friend! For the most part, you don’t have to specifically CHASE these so it’s another source of, technically passive, EXP.

Each entry is not equal. While all rewards typically give a percentage of your current level – there are rewards that stop scaling after certain levels. It’s not all that straightforward or clear, but I’ll do my best on the best advice tier by tier.

Chasing after the more obscure ones (IE, 10x Guildhest) isn’t always the best idea, so I wouldn’t sweat being a completionist in this regard. Also, be careful on accidental completions like “Clear Dungeons 5 times”, or “Duty Roulette Dungeons 3 times”. Mistakenly hitting those on a max level class is a mistake i’ve done dozens of times.

TLDR Value Rating: Extreme, but don’t get too excited… not all entries are worth chasing. Get the ones you barely have to work for – or the ones you don’t even notice completing.

Dungeons

Essentially the baseline for gaining EXP. You’ll often hear,
“Is it better or worse than dungeons?”

Doing dungeons, ideally as part of a roulette, is obviously value right? But how about “raw”, like just queueing up for a dungeon straight up? It’s still intense value. 

Ideally you’re completing dungeons that are closest to your level.  These give you MASSIVE EXP, and even loot that inevitably strengthens your character for further leveling.

Even if dungeoning “raw” is value – you typically have rested EXP which skyrockets to near untouchable levels of valuetown. It’s also something you’ll inevitably run into doing roulettes. It’s just great all around.

TLDR Value Rating: Godly. Dungeons + Rested EXP (and hopefully chain bonus) is hard to beat. Even without rested and chain, they’re an engaging source of EXP which is “fun”, and allows improving your personal class mastery.

There are also a few dungeon-related subsystems


Squadron – Command Mission

Allows you to enter certain dungeons with chosen members of your Squadron.

This allows you to skip queue times, and potentially improve your AoE clearing speed depending on what DPS class(es) you bring. Double Thaumaturge / Black Mage seems to be a good idea for the most part.

Sadly, I’m well aware not many players bother to advance their squadron as it can be quite a pain to do so – so this option isn’t available to everyone. I suggest building them up slowly over time so you can one day use Command Missions if you so desire.

I’ll get into more detail about this subsystem in the tiers they are relevant.

Trust System

Allows you to enter certain dungeons without other players, instead going in with set NPC’s. Introduced at the Shadowbringers tier, this is a great inclusion if you need to get into dungeons and skip queue times.

Honestly, it’s not even slow. They’re better than noobs. It’s also a great way for you to familiarize yourself with a dungeon if you’re the type to be afraid of a new dungeon and don’t want mean players to criticize you. Can’t hurt to try out a dungeon first.

I’ll get into more detail about this subsystem in the tiers they are relevant.

Deep Dungeons

“It’s always changing”

Examples of these are the ARR “Palace of the Dead”, and Stormbloods “Heaven on High”. These Deep Dungeons really run it either hot or cold with the FFXIV community.

These are short encounters which DO NOT USE your current gear levels (that’s one reason why some people do ‘em), but instead use their own intrinsic gear level system (that’s another reason some people DON’T do ‘em). Starting from scratch surely feelsbadman. 

Mahiko Sans PERSONAL NOTE and OPINION

The above quote is from my friend Raika Tsunami. It's true! My opinion on Deep Dungeons is, too, "Always Changing".

Always changing from BAD TO WORSE. Every time I think "Hey, maybe it won't be so bad", and every time I end up saying "It's worse than I remember!". There are player types that can tolerate this. But Halone help me... I ain't one of 'em.

And while I know he's memeing. My friendship level with him will always be changing as well, as long as he "promotes" Deep Dungeons.

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?

Combat leves simply STOP EXISTING after a point

Battlecraft Levels stop at L58 (Level 58 levequests have no penalty to EXP until after you hit level 60). Similarly, GC levels stop at L45 (Level 40 Levequests have no penalty to EXP until after you hit level 50). While you technically can do these after their EXP penalty kicks in, I hope I don’t have to tell you NOT TO.

Basically, after Ishgard (in Stormblood and Kugane tier) battlecraft levequests simply vanish. GC leves vanish upon reaching Ishgard (Heavensward tier).

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 | CNJGLD | LNC | MRD | PGL | ROG | THM


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.

FFXIV Rogue (ROG) Basics Guide & FAQ – Shadowbringers Updated!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Resolved to go Rogue? I recommend you regale our reading on FFXIV Rogue Basics Guide & FAQ. As implied, this is for players wanting to know the absolute basics, and answer some of the most common questions regarding ROG.

Likely, one of the main reasons you’re here is either unlocking Rogue, or wondering about the eventual advanced jobs you can evolve into, Ninja.

How to become a Rogue? Unlocking ROG:

You can unlock the Rogue class by going to the Rogue Guild in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (around 8,16), look out for the quests either “Way of the Rogue”, or “So you want to be a Rogue”.

Rogue is the ONLY base class you CANNOT start the game as.

Other unlocking prerequisites? I’m 99% sure you need to complete the Level 10 class quest of your STARTING CLASS if you want to unlock any other new ones.

Why should I play or choose Rogue?

This question is semi irrelevant as, along with any of the other base classes, the only reason you’re a Rogue is simply a stepping stone into Ninja. But, I’ll give you a little description of what to expect anyway.

Ah, so you wanna be a Ninja? To each their own I suppose, heh. Seriously though, Ninja is a very technical melee DPS class which has the very cool Mudra system (the hand signs, if you’re wondering) and somehow after years of refinement finally feels pretty fluid and fun. So if you wanna omae wa no shinderu as Ninja, you better start omae wa no level uppu your Rogue.

You’ll do well to learn a little more about what you’ll eventually BECOME:
FFXIV Ninja Basics Guide.

Rogue Crafters and Gatherers?

I often get asked “What Disciple of Hand or Disciple of Land classes go well with ROG?” Another related question to this is “Should I level them with my Rogue simultaneously”? 

Leveling up your DoH and DoL classes should be thought of as a separate goal all on its own. I suggest leveling up DoH classes all together, and all DoL classes together (except the optional Fishing). Do not try to align your combat class levels to your non-combat levels. Trust me.

My only advice related to this is to never cap your levequests. If you’re at max leve allowances, feel free to spend them on Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, or Battlecraft leves just to uncap ‘em.

What’s the best race for Rogue?

TLDR: I don’t know a single person who changes race for their main class for stats. The gain is not even .1% from worst to best. My advice? Choose for aesthetics.

If you REALLY wanna do it, check out our FFXIV Racial Stats Guide, which, FAIR WARNING – I am about to recheck and update next week. But honestly, it’s best you don’t even click on that – THE MICROSCOPIC INCREASE IN STATS IS NEAR IRRELEVANT.

Related Rogue Guides – Read More!

Here’s a few useful links for you

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

  • A small skill list for “human readability”, as the in-game one seems like the best source for EXACT information.
  • List of relevant links for this for Rogue, and some links for Ninja.

Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & In Closing

Well that’s it for our Rogue Basics Guide & FAQ. There’s not much to say but these are really basic little guides to help out the budding or confused ROG, and hopefully future NIN! Hopefully we answered a few of your questions.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.

FFXIV Pugilist (PGL) Basics Guide & FAQ – Shadowbringers Updated!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Pondering on Pugilist? Pray you peruse our prose in our FFXIV Pugilist Basics Guide & FAQ. As implied, this is for players wanting to know the absolute basics, and answer some of the most common questions regarding PGL.

Likely, one of the main reasons you’re here is either unlocking Pugilist, or wondering about the eventual advanced jobs you can evolve into, Monk.

How to become a Pugilist? Unlocking PGL:

Primarily, you can begin your journey into Eorzea and start the game as a Pugilist – simply choose it as your starting option upon character creation.

If you didn’t start as a PGL, you can unlock the Pugilist class by going to the Pugilist Guild in Ul’dah – Steps of Nald (around 9,10), look out for the quests either “Way of the Pugilist”, or “So you want to be a Pugilist”.

Other unlocking prerequisites? I’m 99% sure you need to complete the Level 10 class quest of your STARTING CLASS if you want to unlock any other new ones.

Why should I play or choose Pugilist?

This question is semi irrelevant as, along with any of the other base classes, the only reason you’re a Pugilist is simply a stepping stone into Monk. But, I’ll give you a little description of what to expect anyway.

Monks are your mobile, hectic, “martial artist” melee DPS job. They’re a fair bit demanding on positional requirements, and have an extremely fast GCD – which may or may not be to your liking. Beating people up with fist weapons is an MMO aesthetic many get knocked out for, so if you’re hyped about Monk, you gotta first get your Pugilist stronk.

You’ll do well to learn a little more about what you’ll eventually BECOME:
FFXIV Monk Basics Guide.

Pugilist Crafters and Gatherers?

I often get asked “What Disciple of Hand or Disciple of Land classes go well with PGL?” Another related question to this is “Should I level them with my Pugilist simultaneously”? 

Leveling up your DoH and DoL classes should be thought of as a separate goal all on its own. I suggest leveling up DoH classes all together, and all DoL classes together (except the optional Fishing). Do not try to align your combat class levels to your non-combat levels. Trust me.

My only advice related to this is to never cap your levequests. If you’re at max leve allowances, feel free to spend them on Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, or Battlecraft leves just to uncap ‘em.

What’s the best race for Pugilist?

TLDR: I don’t know a single person who changes race for their main class for stats. The gain is not even .1% from worst to best. My advice? Choose for aesthetics.

If you REALLY wanna do it, check out our FFXIV Racial Stats Guide, which, FAIR WARNING – I am about to recheck and update next week. But honestly, it’s best you don’t even click on that – THE MICROSCOPIC INCREASE IN STATS IS NEAR IRRELEVANT.

Related Pugilist Guides – Read More!

Here are a few useful links for you:

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

  • A small skill list for “human readability”, as the in-game one seems like the best source for EXACT information.
  • List of relevant links for this for Pugilist, and some links for Monk.

Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & In Closing

Well that’s it for our Pugilist Basics Guide & FAQ. There’s not much to say but these are really basic little guides to help out the budding or confused PGL, and hopefully future MNK! Hopefully we answered a few of your questions.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.

FFXIV Lancer (LNC) Basics Guide & FAQ | Shadowbringers Updated!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Looking into Lancer? Launch yourself into and lift your limits with our FFXIV Lancer Basics Guide & FAQ. As implied, this is for players wanting to know the absolute basics, and answer some of the most common questions regarding LNC.

Likely, one of the main reasons you’re here is either unlocking Lancer, or wondering about the eventual advanced job you can evolve into, Dragoon.

How to become a Lancer? Unlocking LNC:

Primarily, you can begin your journey into Eorzea and start the game as a Lancer – simply choose it as your starting option upon character creation.

If you didn’t start as a LNC, you can unlock the Lancer class by going to the Lancer Guild in Gridania – Old Gridania (around 14,6), look out for the quests either “Way of the Lancer”, or “So you want to be a Lancer”.

Other unlocking prerequisites? I’m 99% sure you need to complete the Level 10 class quest of your STARTING CLASS if you want to unlock any other new ones.

Why should I play or choose Lancer?

This question is semi irrelevant as, along with any of the other base classes, the only reason you’re a Lancer is simply a stepping stone into Dragoon. But, I’ll give you a little description of what to expect anyway.

Dragoons are, well, “Draconic Lancers”… I don’t know what else to say. Fans of the general Final Fantasy series would know them well, and the FFXIV Dragoon is the good ‘ol high flying DPS you imagine them to be. Heavy hitting, long combos, and lots of positionals! So if you want don that Dragoon – get on the Lancer leveling opportunet

You’ll do well to learn a little more about what you’ll eventually BECOME:
FFXIV Dragoon Basics Guide.

Lancer Crafters and Gatherers?

I often get asked “What Disciple of Hand or Disciple of Land classes go well with LNC?” Another related question to this is “Should I level them with my Lancer simultaneously”? 

Leveling up your DoH and DoL classes should be thought of as a separate goal all on its own. I suggest leveling up DoH classes all together, and all DoL classes together (except the optional Fishing). Do not try to align your combat class levels to your non-combat levels. Trust me.

My only advice related to this is to never cap your levequests. If you’re at max leve allowances, feel free to spend them on Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, or Battlecraft leves just to uncap ‘em.

What’s the best race for Lancer?

TLDR: I don’t know a single person who changes race for their main class for stats. The gain is not even .1% from worst to best. My advice? Choose for aesthetics.

If you REALLY wanna do it, check out our FFXIV Racial Stats Guide, which, FAIR WARNING – I am about to recheck and update next week. But honestly, it’s best you don’t even click on that – THE MICROSCOPIC INCREASE IN STATS IS NEAR IRRELEVANT.

Related Lancer Guides – Read More!

Here’s a few useful links for you

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

  • A small skill list for “human readability”, as the in-game one seems like the best source for EXACT information.
  • List of relevant links for this for Lancer, and some links for Dragoon.

Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & In Closing

Well that’s it for our Lancer Basics Guide & FAQ. There’s not much to say but these are really basic little guides to help out the budding or confused LNC, and hopefully future DRG! Hopefully we answered a few of your questions.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.

FFXIV Conjurer (CNJ) Basics Guide & FAQ – Shadowbringers Updated!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Curious about Conjurers? Come and correct your course with the help of our FFXIV Conjurer Basics Guide & FAQ. As implied, this is for players wanting to know the absolute basics, and answer some of the most common questions regarding CNJ.

Likely, one of the main reasons you’re here is either unlocking Conjurer, or wondering about the eventual advanced job you can evolve into, White Mage.

How to become a Conjurer? Unlocking CNJ:

Primarily, you can begin your journey into Eorzea and start the game as a Conjurer – simply choose it as your starting option upon character creation.

If you didn’t start as a CNJ, you can unlock the Conjurer class by going to the Conjurer’s Guild in Gridania – Old Gridania (around 7,11), look out for the quests either “Way of the Conjurer”, or “So you want to be a Conjurer”.

Other unlocking prerequisites? I’m 99% sure you need to complete the Level 10 class quest of your STARTING CLASS if you want to unlock any other new ones.

Why should I play or choose Conjurer?

This question is semi irrelevant as, along with any of the other base classes, the only reason you’re a Conjurer is simply a stepping stone into White Mage. But, I’ll give you a little description of what to expect anyway.

White Mages are your simple but relatable “Healer / Cleric” class. Known pound for pound as having the heaviest heals. They’ve a very “Holy / Good / Nature” kind of vibe. Fans of the general Final Fantasy franchise will recognize the red triangle robe! So if you can’t wait for White Mage healin’ you better get into the leveling Conjurer feelin’.

You’ll do well to learn a little more about what you’ll eventually BECOME:
FFXIV White Mage Basics Guide.

Conjurer Crafters and Gatherers?

I often get asked “What Disciple of Hand or Disciple of Land classes go well with CNJ?” Another related question to this is “Should I level them with my Conjurer simultaneously”? 

Leveling up your DoH and DoL classes should be thought of as a separate goal all on its own. I suggest leveling up DoH classes all together, and all DoL classes together (except the optional Fishing). Do not try to align your combat class levels to your non-combat levels. Trust me.

My only advice related to this is to never cap your levequests. If you’re at max leve allowances, feel free to spend them on Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, or Battlecraft leves just to uncap ‘em.

What’s the best race for Conjurer?

TLDR: I don’t know a single person who changes race for their main class for stats. The gain is not even .1% from worst to best. My advice? Choose for aesthetics.

If you REALLY wanna do it, check out our FFXIV Racial Stats Guide, which, FAIR WARNING – I am about to recheck and update next week. But honestly, it’s best you don’t even click on that – THE MICROSCOPIC INCREASE IN STATS IS NEAR IRRELEVANT.

Related Conjurer Guides – Read More!

Here are a few useful links for you:

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

  • A small skill list for “human readability”, as the in-game one seems like the best source for EXACT information.
  • List of relevant links for this for Conjurer, and some links for White Mage.

Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & In Closing

Well that’s it for our Conjurer Basics Guide & FAQ. There’s not much to say but these are really basic little guides to help out the budding or confused CNJ, and hopefully future WHM! Hopefully we answered a few of your questions.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.

FFXIV Thaumaturge (THM) Basics Guide & FAQ – Shadowbringers Updated!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Trying out Thaumaturge? Thank the twelve you’ve tread into our FFXIV Thaumaturge Basics Guide & FAQ. As implied, this is for players wanting to know the absolute basics, and answer some of the most common questions regarding THM.

Likely, one of the main reasons you’re here is either unlocking Thaumaturge, or wondering about the eventual advanced job you can evolve into, Black Mage.

How to become a Thaumaturge? Unlocking THM:

Primarily, you can begin your journey into Eorzea and start the game as a Thaumaturge – simply choose it as your starting option upon character creation.

If you didn’t start as a THM, you can unlock the Thaumaturge class by going to the Thaumaturge Guild in Ul’dah – Steps of Nald (around 7,12), look out for the quests either “Way of the Thaumaturge”, or “So you want to be a Thaumaturge”.

Other unlocking prerequisites? I’m 99% sure you need to complete the Level 10 class quest of your STARTING CLASS if you want to unlock any other new ones.

Why should I play or choose Thaumaturge?

This question is semi irrelevant as, along with any of the other base classes, the only reason you’re a Thaumaturge is simply a stepping stone into Black Mage. But, I’ll give you a little description of what to expect anyway.

If you ever wanted to stay still, tunnel, and blame your teams’ strategy for why you died then Black Mage is for you! Seriously though, they’re the least mobile DPS class, with the tightest cast bar and timing requirements. Some say refining your Black Mage is an artform, level up your Thaumaturge as a start for!

You’ll do well to learn a little more about what you’ll eventually BECOME:
FFXIV Black Mage Basics Guide.

Thaumaturge Crafters and Gatherers?

I often get asked “What Disciple of Hand or Disciple of Land classes go well with THM?” Another related question to this is “Should I level them with my Thaumaturge simultaneously”? 

Leveling up your DoH and DoL classes should be thought of as a separate goal all on its own. I suggest leveling up DoH classes all together, and all DoL classes together (except the optional Fishing). Do not try to align your combat class levels to your non-combat levels. Trust me.

My only advice related to this is to never cap your levequests. If you’re at max leve allowances, feel free to spend them on Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, or Battlecraft leves just to uncap ‘em.

What’s the best race for Thaumaturge?

TLDR: I don’t know a single person who changes race for their main class for stats. The gain is not even .1% from worst to best. My advice? Choose for aesthetics.

If you REALLY wanna do it, check out our FFXIV Racial Stats Guide, which, FAIR WARNING – I am about to recheck and update next week. But honestly, it’s best you don’t even click on that – THE MICROSCOPIC INCREASE IN STATS IS NEAR IRRELEVANT.

Related Thaumaturge Guides – Read More!

Here’s a few useful links for you

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

  • A small skill list for “human readability”, as the in-game one seems like the best source for EXACT information.
  • List of relevant links for Thaumaturge, some links for Black Mage.

Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & In Closing

Well that’s it for our Thaumaturge Basics Guide & FAQ. There’s not much to say but these are really basic little guides to help out the budding or confused THM, and hopefully future BLM! Hopefully we answered a few of your questions.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.

FFXIV Gladiator (GLD) Basics Guide & FAQ – Shadowbringers Updated!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Getting into Gladiator? Go and glimpse into our FFXIV Gladiator Basics Guide & FAQ. As implied, this is for players wanting to know the absolute basics, and answer some of the most common questions regarding GLD.

Likely, one of the main reasons you’re here is either unlocking Gladiator, or wondering about the eventual advanced job you can evolve into, Paladin.

How to become a Gladiator? Unlocking GLD:

Primarily, you can begin your journey into Eorzea and start the game as a Gladiator – simply choose it as your starting option upon character creation.

If you didn’t start as a GLD, you can unlock the Gladiator class by going to the Gladiator Guild in Ul’dah – Steps of Thal (around 9,12), look out for the quests either “Way of the Gladiator”, or “So you want to be a Gladiator”.

Other unlocking prerequisites? I’m 99% sure you need to complete the Level 10 class quest of your STARTING CLASS if you want to unlock any other new ones.

Why should I play or choose Gladiator?

This question is semi irrelevant as, along with any of the other base classes, the only reason you’re a Gladiator is simply a stepping stone into Paladin. But, I’ll give you a little description of what to expect anyway.

Paladins are your hallmark tanks for FFXIV. Personally, I feel they have the most varied and powerful defensive raid utility skills, and a self-heal – while having a rather unique Physical and Magic rotation cycle. They’re your usual sword and shield tank with a very “Holy, Knightly, Heavily Armored” aesthetic and feel. So if you’ve standing firm on your path to Paladin, you gotta get that Gladiator leveling happenin!

You’ll do well to learn a little more about what you’ll eventually BECOME:
FFXIV Paladin Basics Guide.

Gladiator Crafters and Gatherers?

I often get asked “What Disciple of Hand or Disciple of Land classes go well with GLD?” Another related question to this is “Should I level them with my Gladiator simultaneously”? 

Leveling up your DoH and DoL classes should be thought of as a separate goal all on its own. I suggest leveling up DoH classes all together, and all DoL classes together (except the optional Fishing). Do not try to align your combat class levels to your non-combat levels. Trust me.

My only advice related to this is to never cap your levequests. If you’re at max leve allowances, feel free to spend them on Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, or Battlecraft leves just to uncap ‘em.

What’s the best race for Gladiator?

TLDR: I don’t know a single person who changes race for their main class for stats. The gain is not even .1% from worst to best. My advice? Choose for aesthetics.

If you REALLY wanna do it, check out our FFXIV Racial Stats Guide, which, FAIR WARNING – I am about to recheck and update next week. But honestly, it’s best you don’t even click on that – THE MICROSCOPIC INCREASE IN STATS IS NEAR IRRELEVANT.

Related Gladiator Guides – Read More!

Here are a few useful links for you:

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

  • A small skill list for “human readability”, as the in-game one seems like the best source for EXACT information.
  • List of relevant links for this for Gladiator, and some links for Paladin.

Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & In Closing

Well that’s it for our Gladiator Basics Guide & FAQ. There’s not much to say but these are really basic little guides to help out the budding or confused GLD, and hopefully future PLD! Hopefully we answered a few of your questions.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.

FFXIV Arcanist (ACN) Basics Guide & FAQ – Shadowbringers Updated!

DAWNTRAIL Guides! Dawntrail L90-100 Miner Leveling, Botanist Leveling
Dawntrail Normal Raid Guide (Quick, Spoiler Free)
See:
Viper STARTER Guide / Rotation | Pictomancer Starter Guide / Rotation


 

Ascertaining to be an Arcanist? Arrive unto answers with our FFXIV Arcanist Basics Guide & FAQ. As implied, this is for players wanting to know the absolute basics, and answer some of the most common questions regarding ACN.

Likely, one of the main reasons you’re here is either unlocking Arcanist, or wondering about the eventual advanced jobs you can evolve into, Scholar or Summoner.

How to become an Arcanist? Unlocking ACN:

Primarily, you can begin your journey into Eorzea and start the game as an Arcanist – simply choose it as your starting option upon character creation. 

If you didn’t start as an ACN, you can unlock the Arcanist class by going to the Arcanist Guild in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (around 5,11), look out for the quests either “Way of the Arcanist”, or “So you want to be an Arcanist”.

Other unlocking prerequisites? I’m 99% sure you need to complete the Level 10 class quest of your STARTING CLASS if you want to unlock any other new ones.

Why should I play or choose Arcanist?

This question is semi irrelevant as, along with any of the other base classes, the only reason you’re an Arcanist is simply a stepping stone into both Scholar and Summoner. But, I’ll give you a little description of what to expect anyway.

Scholars are a technical shielding / mitigation healer job (which still retains the pet, don’t worry). They’re a type of healer which rewards encounter knowledge and healer duo cohesion more so than its peers. While not known for sheer power, they are hyper efficient and have tools to help any situation.

Summoners are a DoT / Pet based magical DPS job which has been known to have a multi-phase rotation. Their job identity has been the most “fluid” of all, as they’ve been soft reworked quite a bit over the years.

So if either or both of these jobs got you thinking, go get your Arcanist levels dinging! You’ll do well to learn a little more about what you’ll eventually BECOME:
FFXIV Scholar Basics Guide, FFXIV Summoner Basics Guide.

Arcanist Crafters and Gatherers?

I often get asked “What Disciple of Hand or Disciple of Land classes go well with ACN?” Another related question to this is “Should I level them with my Arcanist simultaneously”? 

Leveling up your DoH and DoL classes should be thought of as a separate goal all on its own. I suggest leveling up DoH classes all together, and all DoL classes together (except the optional Fishing). Do not try to align your combat class levels to your non-combat levels. Trust me.

My only advice related to this is to never cap your levequests. If you’re at max leve allowances, feel free to spend them on Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, or Battlecraft leves just to uncap ‘em.

What’s the best race for Arcanist?

TLDR: I don’t know a single person who changes race for their main class for stats. The gain is not even .1% from worst to best. My advice? Choose for aesthetics.

If you REALLY wanna do it, check out our FFXIV Racial Stats Guide, which, FAIR WARNING – I am about to recheck and update next week. But honestly, it’s best you don’t even click on that – THE MICROSCOPIC INCREASE IN STATS IS NEAR IRRELEVANT.

Related Arcanist Guides – Read More!

Here are a few useful links for you:

Upcoming Odds and Ends

Here’s a few things we’ll be adding on here in the near future:

  • A small skill list for “human readability”, as the in-game one seems like the best source for EXACT information.
  • List of relevant links for Arcanist, and some links for Scholar and/or Summoner.

Feel free to suggest anything else via comment or socials!

Summary & In Closing

Well that’s it for our Arcanist Basics Guide & FAQ. There’s not much to say but these are really basic little guides to help out the budding or confused ACN, and hopefully future SCH and/or SMN! Hopefully we answered a few of your questions.


Join our IRL Cross-World Linkshells (socials lol): 

Contact us about anything and everything. Don't be shy! Love our guides and want to let us know? Got questions or corrections? Suggestions for improvement? TALK TO US! How, you say?

Comment below if it's about this guide. Message us on any of our socials above about anything.  We're organizing our email situation if you're into that.