FFXIV Gathering (DoL) Gear Guide

Confused about when or what DoL / Gathering gear you should get? When and what are the best gathering gear upgrades, and why? Find out all about that here – and save money on your road to a level 50 gatherer!

Why upgrade your Gathering gear?

Moreso than crafting, better gathering gear = faster levelling. We all know how “exciting” it is levelling a gathering class, ey?

The importance of high Gathering Stat:

Striking at a node and not getting anything means ZERO exp, BROKEN CHAINS and ultimately, wasted time (and money! since you could have gotten the item!) So first and foremost you’re going to want as much gathering as possible.

Gathering is insanely useful in maximizing Levequest EXP. more on this later…

The importance of high Perception Stat:

If you’re doing a lot of grinding, Perception becomes very useful in boosting you EXP gains. Why? At max, you have a 15% chance to gather HQ items without a buff. Let’s compare a gatherer with 0% HQ chance versus 15% HQ chance: 100+[(2*100)*0.15] (HQ percent chance) = 30% Average EXP Bonus.

If you aren’t a level 50 calculator, then it’s fine. All you need to know is that being capped in perception gives you quite a sizeable exp bonus. 30% is not a joke, and it stacks with chains, food and rested EXP.

Perception however, isn’t useful if you’re planning to use levequests… why?

Gathering gear, Levequests and You:

Since getting HQ items is impossible during leves, Perception is useless during a leve attempts. Gathering becomes the single most useful stat, with GP as a supporting stat.

If you’re planning on grinding, both Perception and Gathering are important. However, Gathering is still your most important stat. Why? Again, ENSURING exp gains and ENSURING chains is your first goal. Then once that’s fulfilled, modify it with Perception for massive exp gains.

So we can conclude, during leveling up, Gathering is the most important stat, whether you choose to grind or use leves. And if you’re planning to do a bit of both, getting Perception is a great bonus to grinding. So what does this mean in terms of gearing up?

GP – How useful is it?

Going to level 50, GP isn’t exactly a sustainable resource to rely on. It’s a welcome boost, but not exactly necessary. At 50 though, that’s a completely different discussion…

Gathering gear upgrade strategy

Okay so you want Gathering, no matter how you level up. In terms of gear slots that would be the: Main Hand, Off-hand, Chest (coincidentally they also give huge perception, and are considered critical upgrades). So you want these no matter what you’re going to do. Upgrade as often as possible.

Two more pieces give Gathering: Gloves and Pants. These are less critical, and you should upgrade if you can afford it. Gloves are more powerful than pants! Around 50% more gathering is found on gloves compared to pants! Keep this in mind when buying upgrades.

Now for Perception… The most important pieces were already mentioned above (MH, OH, Chest). The rest are: Helmets, Boots and Belts. Again when thinking of bang for buck – Helmets are the best investment, which are usually 100% more powerful than boots. And belts are the worst investment, as they’re only half as powerful as boots typically!!!

Overall, a cost-efficient upgrade path will be discussed in the end of this post, before that – tables of what level you get upgrades…

Gathering Critical Upgrades – What Level?

The table below represents the levels you get a new DoL chest, Miner main and off-hands, Botanist main and off-hands, and fishing main hand. (All possible critical upgrades)

Disciple of Land (DoL) Body pieces

The table is sorted by (at least in my opinion) importance. The left side being more important and more worth the investment, and gets less important as you go right. Gear marked (G) gives gathering, and (P) gives perception. So ignore the Perception pieces if you’re primarily thinking of getting to 50 using Fieldcraft Leves.

Disciple of Land (DoL) GP pieces (Accessories)

While not super important while leveling up… you cant really be “sad” to have more MAX GP.

Summary: DoL Cost-efficient upgrade path

First of all – Everything below level 15~ is negligible. and you don’t need to really think about your gear before then.

Main Hand, Off-Hand and Chest should be upgraded when you can afford it.

As a side upgrade to Gathering: updating your Gloves are a good idea every now and then. Legs are less imporant. Here’s our suggestion for a cost-efficient upgrade path:

• Gloves: (16) (25) (35) (45)
• Legs: (15) (27) (40). The level 27 ones are from ANY Grand Company, and are pretty worth it.

If you need more Perception, Helmets are the best investment. Helmets generally come from weavers or armorsmiths. The weaver ones are typically more expensive. So here’s a pretty cost-efficient path:

• Head: (13) (19) (31) (35) (42) (47). Want something in the 20’s? (27).
• Boots are okay, and you probably wont need more than: (15) (30) and (40).
• Waist is even less important. (17) and (37) should be fine.

Of course feel free to pick anything up you can afford, and check the Market Board when you reach the levels in the tables above.

Be sure to check out our Mining Leveling Guide, and Botany Leveling Guide, which make great additional resources to this guide.
Also, Mining Node/Material Locations, and Botany Node/Material Locations [Mining is 1-50, BTN is in the proces of being updated…]

Whacking at nodes got you to 50, huh? Then it’s time to gear up. Check this out: Gathering End-Game Gear (+Max Melds) Guide.

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