Embarking on your journey in Final Fantasy XIV can be an exhilarating experience, but the path to level cap can sometimes feel daunting. Whether you’re a fresh adventurer or a returning Warrior of Light looking to level up alternate jobs, this guide will provide you with the most effective strategies to make your leveling process smooth and efficient. Let’s dive into the best methods for your Final Fantasy Xiv Leveling Guide.
Maximizing your experience gain is crucial for faster leveling. Several boosts are readily available to all players. If you pre-ordered the latest expansion or a collector’s edition, you likely received an experience-boosting earring. Joining a Free Company (guild) grants a permanent 10% EXP bonus. Logging out in a sanctuary city or town allows you to accumulate rested experience, providing a significant 50% boost. Lastly, consuming any type of food, easily purchased for very little gil, will give you a consistent 3% experience increase for a duration.
An often-overlooked but powerful bonus is the Armory Bonus. If you are leveling a job that is at a lower level than your highest level job, you will receive a substantial experience boost. This makes it incredibly advantageous to focus on fully leveling one job to the maximum level first before branching out to others.
Leveling Your First Job: The Main Story Quest Experience
For new players, often referred to as “sprouts” indicated by an icon above their heads, the most recommended path for your first job is undoubtedly following the Main Story Quest (MSQ). Located in the top left corner of your screen, the MSQ guides you from level 1 all the way to level 90 (and beyond with future expansions). The MSQ is more than just a questline; it’s an immersive journey through Eorzea, introducing you to essential game systems, unlocking key features, and delivering a compelling narrative that is highly praised within the FFXIV community. While it can be a time investment of around 200 hours for the base MSQ without skipping cutscenes, the rich story and world-building make it an invaluable and enjoyable experience, and a great way to connect with other players.
Alternatively, for those who wish to expedite the process and catch up with friends, Square Enix offers optional story and level skips that boost a job directly to level 80 and allow you to bypass the earlier MSQ content. Another option after using a level boost is to utilize the New Game+ feature, which lets you replay the Main Story Quest at your boosted level, ensuring you don’t miss out on the narrative while still being able to play endgame content with friends.
Leveling Subsequent Jobs: Efficient Methods for Veteran Players
For your second job and beyond, after you’ve experienced the MSQ, several efficient leveling methods become available. A highly recommended initial step is to unlock all Aetheryte flight points in every zone. This will significantly improve your travel time and efficiency across the world. Utilize an Aetherial Compass to locate Aether Currents and complete the associated quests in each zone to unlock flying.
Once flight points are unlocked, your leveling strategy will primarily depend on your level range and personal preference. Here are some of the most popular and effective methods:
-
Dungeons and Roulettes (Levels Below 60): Running dungeons is a classic and reliable way to level. Queueing for Leveling Roulette, Trial Roulette, and Alliance Roulette daily offers substantial experience bonuses and encourages group play. These roulettes scale to your current level and provide a good mix of content.
-
Palace of the Dead (Levels 60-70): This Deep Dungeon is an excellent choice for fast leveling, especially between levels 60 and 70. Palace of the Dead is a rogue-like dungeon that starts everyone at level 1 within its own progression system, making it accessible and engaging even without optimized gear.
-
Heaven-on-High & Bozjan Southern Front (Levels 70-90): Similar to Palace of the Dead, Heaven-on-High is another Deep Dungeon offering fast leveling from 70 to 80/90. The Bozjan Southern Front and subsequent areas like Zadnor and Eureka are instanced zones with unique content, skirmishes, and critical engagements that provide significant experience, especially when participating actively in the zone’s activities.
These methods, while potentially repetitive, are social and relatively quick. Deep Dungeons and Bozjan content also offer a unique way to experience your job at different level ranges, as they often sync your level and skills, allowing you to learn your job’s abilities progressively. This approach also means you can postpone purchasing expensive gear until you reach higher level brackets, primarily requiring Poetics gear at level 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90, and only needing to gear up per role (Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, Physical Ranged, Magical Ranged). When you do decide to buy gear, consider purchasing at levels ending in ‘1’ (e.g., 51, 61, 71, 81) as they offer significantly better stats for often similar or lower prices compared to gear at levels ending in ‘0’ (e.g., 50, 60, 70, 80).
Leveling in Final Fantasy XIV offers diverse paths to suit different playstyles. Whether you choose to immerse yourself in the Main Story Quest or opt for efficient dungeon and Deep Dungeon grinding, remember to enjoy the journey and the world of Eorzea. Happy leveling!
