FFXIV Lancer (LNC) Leveling Guide & Rotation (Shb Updated)

How to level up your Lancer (LNC) fast! Rotation, useful reminders, and the best places to be in any level – HERE!

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A brave one, aren’t you? If you’re here, you’re in the business of leveling up a Lancer (LNC). Well here’s a tip, and a spear to go with it – “Stick ’em with the pointy end”. Our Lancer leveling guide will help you punch right through the early levels!

This page is strictly for Lancer – focusing more on LNC specific info like skills, traits, and playstyle notes. The GENERAL PROCESS that you should be following is outlined in our GENERAL LEVELING GUIDE: Which you should be using ALONGSIDE THIS GUIDE.

Lancer: Unlocking, and other basics

How to unlock the LNC Class?

Location: Old Gridania, Lancers’ Guild (x:14.3, y:5.8)
NPCs: Jillian, Ywain
Related Quests: (all in the same place)
> So you want to be a Lancer
> Way of the Lancer
> My First Spear
— Others: You may also begin the game as Lancer

Lancers are Melee DPS classes, falling under the Disciple of War category. STR is your main stat which increases melee damage.

You should be using a Healer chocobo companion. I don’t think Tank chocobo’s can keep up?

You may also want to check out our Lancer General Guide & FAQ for other basic info.

Leveling Methods, References and Reminders

In these boxes, I’ll put info that you’ll likely be referring to (or discovering) while leveling up your Lancer.

EXP Grinding Methods

Here’s a generic outline of what you should be doing at any given time. The higher it is, the more value it is for EXP.

Leveling ActivityUnlocks & Notes
Main Scenario QuestIf this is your first character. Only stop and go down the list if you’re locked out.
Duty Roulette: LevelingComplete Sastasha and Tam-tara Deepcroft in the main scenario.
Palace of the DeadUnlocks at L17 for your first character, and you can zone in at L1 thereafter.
FATESThe baseline activity for gaining incidental EXP.
GuildhestComplete each one ONCE for each class. Roulette version optional.
Hunting LogGives some decent EXP if you’re bored or in queue. Terrible if you skip a tier.
Challenge LogUnlocks at L17 for your first character. Best done “passively” until nearing week end.
Dungeon GrindGrinding dungeons via Duty Roulette: Leveling or straight queue.
LevequestsHonestly, Battlecraft leves are only so-so… Where? See: Levequests Guide

I give you many options because sanity, boredom, and changing it up are important to many people. Again, more detailed info can be found in the General Leveling guide.

Bonus EXP and other EXP effects

There are a few bonus EXP items you can equip for some minimal gains.

Heat of Battle (Free Company Action) 10/20/30%
Eating ANY FOOD BUFF +3% (You can buy from NPC IE Boiled Egg)

Moogle Hat until L10
Friendship Circlet until L25
Brand-new Ring until L30
Ala Mhigan Earrings until L50

These mainly work for monster kills, so don’t sweat it if you don’t have ‘em. Your journey is long, and killing monsters isn’t that large of a source of EXP.

Last but not least of these reminders, always logout at a sanctuary. It’s noted by the moon icon on the right side of your EXP bar. You gain rested EXP in these areas!

Lancer Leveling – 01 to 30

If this is your first character:
MAIN SCENARIO QUEST IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY.

L1 Skill Unlocked – True Thrust: For all intents and purposes – your basic attack.

L4 Skill Unlocked – Vorpal Thrust: Combos from True Thrust. This is the very beginnings of your rotation.

L5 LNC Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Gridania – Lancers’ Guild. These spawn every 5 levels up until 50, and can give you notable rewards (besides, you NEED to do them to become a Dragoon).

L6 Skill Unlocked – Impulse Drive: Has almost no use this early on. There was a purpose for gaining this on low levels back in the day, but that’s long gone. Ignore this skill for now but keep in mind it is part of a future combo.

L8 Role Actions unlocked!

So you’ve unlocked your first role action as Lancer. If you’re new, you access this by pressing (default) P > Role. Slots for role actions are unlocked at 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 for base classes. Technically you unlock more at 32 onward, but you should advance to Dragoon by then.

For a glimpse into the future, see: Melee DPS Role Actions.

L8 Role Action slot I unlocked – Second Wind: Regains some HP – great for soloing. You have no choice right now so slot it in.

L10 Skill Unlocked – Heavy Thrust: Gives you a passive damage buff (whether you strike from front or side). It’s your first positional attack! Obviously while soloing, it’s quite difficult to get the potency bonus from the side. The buff you get though, ALWAYS KEEP IT UP!

L10 LNC Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Gridania – Lancers’ Guild.

L10 Hmm... Guildhests?

Are guildhests worth it while leveling? Note that you get a large bonus EXP for the first time you complete a guildhest with that class. This is pretty worth it!

I mention this now at level 10 since we have a special guildhest – Under the Armor. It’s the fastest guildhest and people use this as the unofficial hest to queue up for to nail the Challenge Log entries quickly. It also helps for the quick completion of the “Player Commendation” entry.

The roulette is so-so. I like it very early on when the hests are limited to the extremely easy ones.

L12 Role Action slot II unlocked – Arm’s Length: Prevents knockback. Only has niche uses in raids – not very useful right now, however.

L15 LNC Class Quest unlocks Piercing Talon: check in on your guildmaster in Gridania – Lancers’ Guild.

Piercing Talon: A ranged skill that has little to no practical use (except squeezing out tiny value in raids).

L15 Unlocks - Duty Roulette Leveling

DR Leveling is an insane source of EXP and you shouldn’t let a day pass without doing it!

However, in this day and age there is a problem.

There are people who are the “Pure Palace of the Dead all the way BBY” types (nothing wrong with that), who may shun doing DR Leveling simply because they have no gear to speak of.

Don’t be dismayed due to a lack of gear! Grand Company seal gear is more than enough during this phase of the leveling period. It’s essentially FREE! NQ’s or cheap pieces from the market board can supplement the blanks. You can even buy from NPC’s!

These dungeons aren’t tuned to be very punishing, and being at a lower item level isn’t the end of the world.

L16 Role Actions Slot III Unlocked – Leg Sweep: Not bad! A stun is great for soloing and dungeons – allowing you to effectively nullify the damage your target does for a short time. It also allows you to perform positional attacks while soloing! Great for the early levels and all dungeons.

L17 Unlocks - Challenge Log

Keep in mind it unlocks at L17 FOR FIRST TIMERS, but if you do have it unlocked, the Challenge Log can be abused from L1 for other classes.

The Challenge Log is a great way to gain EXP on the side. You should seek to complete as many relevant entries as you can before the week resets – at which time try to chase the good ones before it’s too late!

Not all entries are equally good – check the General Leveling Guide for tips.

 

L18 Skill Unlocked – Life Surge: Turns your next action into a critical strike. Best used with your heaviest skills (IE Combo finishers). For now, that’s True Thrust.

L20 Role Actions Slot IV unlocked – Diversion: Reduces threat generated. It’s quite useless for solo content. Its main purpose is for raids.

L20 Trait Unlocked – Enhanced Strength. 

L20 LNC Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Gridania – Lancers’ Guild.

L24 Role Actions Slot III unlocked – Invigorate: Ahhh good ‘ol Invigorate. Gives you a chunky amount of TP. Great for any party content. Never leave home without it in your Role Actions!

L25 LNC Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Gridania – Lancers’ Guild.

L26 Skill Unlocked – Full Thrust: Your basic DPS combo finisher! It goes from True Thrust > Vorpal Thrust > Full Thrust. Use your Life Surge on this from now on.

Once you hit level 30 FULL STOP! It’s time you evolve into a job class – in your case that’s Dragoon (DRG)! The prerequisites to unlocking the quest are simply finishing ALL LNC class quests up to level 30.

L30 Class quest unlocks – Blood for Blood, and the prereq for Dragoon:

Blood for Blood: is a DPS increasing cooldown. The drawback is something you should be wary of in some raids. Increased damage TAKEN can be quite crippling for progression.

Completing this quest marks your final class quest as Lancer. You now have the right to become a Dragoon!

How to become a Dragoon?

The quest to become a Dragoon is Eye of the Dragon, found in Lancers’ Guild. Completing this quest gives you Soul of the Dragoon, and Jump skill.

Soul of the Dragoon is your job soul crystal. To become a Dragoon you merely have to equip it (it’s on the lower right most equipment slot). Equipping the soul crystal is a tiny bit of a hassle since you have to rebind your skills, and reconfigure your equipment set. But it’s okay since you’ll likely never be a Lancer again.

And with that YOU’RE DONE WITH LEVELING Lancer! Congrats! Hopefully our Lancer Leveling Guide helped you out. Feel free to, err, Jump into our Dragoon Leveling Guide.

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Author: FFXIV Guild

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