FFXIV Pugilist (PGL) Leveling Guide & Rotation (Shb Updated)

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Chances are you’re leveling a Pugilist if you’ve found yourself here. Well you’ve found the right guide! If all goes well our Pugilist Leveling Guide will help you punch through the early game barrier!

WAIT UP! this Pugilist Leveling Guide is best used in conjunction with FFXIV General Leveling Guide. Notably, if this is your first character – follow your story quest! Need a refresher on the: basics of a Pugilist, check that out.

Don’t know where the PGL guild is? It’s in Ul’dah. Have some Accuracy Food? good. Is your battle chocobo (+Gyashl Greens) ready? Good.

Wait a sec, I’m above L30 – I’m a Monk! Then get over to the MNK Leveling Guide.

Pugilist: the early levels

So Hamon just gave your Pugilist weapon? Begin with beating up your hunting log. A level one character doing hunting logs + participating in level appropriate FATES is the most efficient EXP source early on. In your case (Pugilist), you’ll be wandering around Central and Western Thanalan often. Your mission is to clear the early levels ASAP. If you’ve got leves to burn, you can get more EXP here by doing levequests in Scorpions Crossing (Level 1 & Level 5), it’s  north of Steps of Nald from Ul’dah (Western Thanalan). Always tag FATES whenever they’re nearby!

protip: (Cross-Class skills) (Do you have them)? Protect (CNJ 8), and Bloodbath (MRD 8) are what you need for now. They help you kill mobs with a much higher level than you, and significantly reduce the risk of dying.

Level 2 skill reminder – True Strike: This is your first example of a combo. Pugilists are THE combo class so get used to it! It’s important to READ all your skills to get an idea of what they do (and in your case.. WHERE to do them).

Level 6 skill reminder – Snap Punch: The third part of the combo, and your basic combo finisher. Grants a stack of Greased Lightning which increases damage dealt! Keeping your GL stacks is a huge part of being a great PGL/MNK. Get used to it now!

Level 8 trait reminder – Second Wind: The legendary Second Wind. The best damn cross-class skill for struggling in the early levels. Use it often to save yourself from the respawn prompt.

You’ll be Level 10 Pugilist in no time following the above tips. At level 10, finally? Complete any unfinished hunting logs before going on. You gained your first set of  unspent attribute points – place them all to STR. Finally, Check in with the Pugilist guildmaster every 5 levels – level 1 5 and 10 in this case – make sure you do your class quests! Do this as soon as you can for every 5 level interval in the future!

Level 10 skill reminder – Haymaker: A great skill for soloing. Use it when it procs. Its large potency and slow debuff are nothing to scoff at.

Pugilist Level 10 to 16

If you’ve reached level 10. you should get right to doing Guildhests. Haven’t got it unlocked? Go to almost any nearby town (likely Horizon) and unlock it. Completing a Guildhest grants a large first-time completion bonus with ANY class. ON TOP OF THAT you can queue up for Daily Roulette: Guildhests, to get bonus exp once every day! For now, queue up the guildhests Under the Armor and Basic Training: Enemy Parties. AGAIN: First time completion EXP bonus applies for ALL CLASSES!

Teleport (or…walk)  to Aleport in Western La Noscea. Aleport is everyones favorite zone in this level range. Lots of people and lots of FATES means fast spawn times! No FATEs at the moment? Do some Levequests from Aleport. Too easy? Max the difficulty to +4! Too hard? Leves in Swiftperch are 10-14! Punch and grind your pugilist up to level 16…

Reminder Level 15: Queue up for the two new Guildhests – Basic Training: Enemy Strongholds, and Hero on the Halfshell.

Level 15 Skill Reminder – Touch of Death: Your first DoT as a monk. Keep in mind DoT’s need to run at or near their full duration for it to be worth doing. Only consider this when fighting only the toughest of enemies!

Level 16 – the turning point: If you’ve reached Pugilist 16 at last, you can unlock Duty Roulette: Low level  dungeon. Successful completion of this yields a ENORMOUS EXP BONUS ONCE A DAY. Have Challenge Log Unlocked? Hurry up and do so! (It initially unlocks at level 16) You can find out how to unlock the Challenge Log in the General Leveling Guide. Once level 16 is over and done with, everything else gets considerably eaiser. Queue up now!

Dungeons as a PGL: You do more single target damage than you imagine. Touch of Death on multiple enemies if your tank is still new or learning – it’s never cool to pull from your tank.

Skill reminder level 18 – Twin Snakes: A large increase to damage output. This buff should never be down! Any monk worth his gloves should learn how to track and refresh Twin Snakes properly. That includes YOU.

Pugilist: finishing up to level 20: Track down and beat up any unfinished hunting logs! If you want a change of scenery ‘cause you’re sick of Aleport: Bentbranch Meadows (East Shroud) and Camp Drybone (Eastern Thanalan) are also 15+~ zones where you can FATE and Levequest. Check in with your PGL Guildmaster for any available quests, and allocate all attribute points to STR!

Pugilist Level 20 – 30

Keep doing what you’ve been doing to reach this point: Leves, hunt logs and FATES, Daily Guildhest, Daily Low Level Roulette. Move to greener pastures AKA Quarrymill (South Shroud) and continue FATE grinding and Levequest spamming. If you have lower than average gear at this point in the game – you’re gonna feel it BAD… but you’ve been queing Dungeon Roulette – or have you? I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again – Accuracy Food is life.

Reminder Level 20: Queue up for the two new Guildhests – Pulling Poison Posies & Stinging Back.

Level 22 Skill Reminder – Fists of Earth: This is a toggled stance that reduces your damage intake. Its FREE! It’s in your best interest to get used to “always having a fist” on – you’re a pugilist after all.

Alternate FATE spot mid 20’s: Often looked over and quite underrated, the Highbridge Area in Eastern Thanalan (Like this). This place is chock full of FATE’s and there’s like 5 in ONE CHAIN! This chain is great to camp while AFK or waiting for your dungeon queue (Waiting for queue is second nature to melee DPS like PGL).

Reminder Level 25: Queue up for the two new Guildhests – All’s Well that Ends in the Well & Flicking Sticks and Taking Names.

Level 26 Skill Reminder – Arm of the Destroyer: A most SHAMEFUL AoE skill. But I might as well talk about it. Do not underestimate the silence (use it to cancel annoying skills soloing and in dungeons). If you’re using it for damage, I wouldn’t use it on any less than FOUR enemies.

At Level 28: Travel and enjoy the sunny coastline of Costa Del Sol, Eastern La Noscea. FATE and Levequest it up until you get to level 30. Hit level 30? I’ll remind you again – put every stat point into STR, finish any hunting logs if available, and check back on the good ‘ol guildmaster for any PGL class quests you might have left off.

Skill reminder Level 30 – Demolish: Another DoT which takes the place of Snap Punch in your combo. Only do this versus tougher enemies! Like any DoT, don’t clip it!

Pugilist 30 onwards: What to do?

If you’re finished with the (final) L30 PGL class quest (Demolish learned? Then you’ve done the class quest). From here you have two main choices:

• Monk (requires Lancer 15 and PGL 30)
• Alternate job path not yet released

If you’re rushing to MNK – continue with our Monk Leveling Guide. If you might need it to get level LNC 15, might as well endorse the Lancer Leveling Guide.

Sadly, there is no second job path for Pugilists yet – but i’m looking forward to updating this filler sentence in the near future :)

Thanks for using our Pugilist leveling guide! Here’s good luck to bashing your way to 50 – your enemies will need it. For more awesome FFXIV updates, go ahead and Like us on Facebook – and if you need to drop a line, follow us on Twitter!