The Final Fantasy XIV Leatherworker fills a very important niche. The crafting class creates, well, leather goods. That much should be obvious from the name alone. But what does that actually mean in the world of FFXIV? The answer is slightly more complicated for this particular Disciple of the Hand than other crafting classes. That’s part of why we made this guide!
First, though, let’s go through the steps necessary to unlock the non-combat Job and all of its requisite skills with our Leatherworker unlock guide. Check below for quest locations and more!
FFXIV Leatherworker Quest Locations
Finding your next Job quest in FFXIV can be tedious. You can search through your log of completed quests, which tells you the last mission you completed for any particular class, as well as the name of the NPC you need to speak with for the next one. But where is that NPC? Are they in the same place as last time, or did they move? Assuming you haven’t played a particular class in a while, where the hell was “last time”?
To help with this, we’ve laid out a simple table to indicate the region, coordinates, and required level for every Leatherworker Job quest. Note: The first quest, “Way of the Leatherworker” begins at the Leatherworkers’ Guild in Old Gridania, part of the capital city of the Black Shroud. The coordinates are listed below, but it’s worth noting the guild does have its own Aethernet shard. Odds are you may have already unlocked the node by the time you’re reading this!
| Level | Quest Name | Area | Coordinates |
| 1 | Way of the Leatherworker | Old Gridania | (X: 12.5, Y: 8.3) |
| 1 | My First Head Knife | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 5 | A Test of Technique | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 10 | Geva’s Gambit | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 15 | Working Hells for Leather | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 20 | Aldgoat Everything | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 25 | Skin in the Game | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 30 | Toadskins of the Father | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 35 | Lead by Example | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 40 | Brand Loyalty | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 45 | Dissension in the Ranks | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 50 | Accept No Imitations | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 50 | Turndown Service | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 53 | By Your Bootstraps | Ishgard – The Pillars | (X: 6, Y: 9) |
| 55 | Perfect Pitch | Ishgard – The Pillars | (X: 6, Y: 9) |
| 58 | From the Hoplon to the Brume | Ishgard – The Pillars | (X: 6, Y: 9) |
| 60 | A Winter’s Sale | Ishgard – The Pillars | (X: 6, Y: 9) |
| 60 | A Taxing Request | Old Gridania | (X: 12.6, Y: 7.9) |
| 63 | Mounting Expectations | Old Gridania | (X: 14, Y: 9.4) |
| 65 | The Value of Life | Old Gridania | (X: 12.7, Y: 8.7) |
| 68 | The Trouble with Taxidermy | Old Gridania | (X: 12.7, Y: 8.7) |
| 70 | True to Life | Old Gridania | (X: 12.7, Y: 8.7) |
| 70+ | The Crystalline Mean | The Crystarium | (X: 10.9, Y: 8.6) – Speak to the Recording Node |
| 80+ | Studium Deliveries | Old Sharlayan | TBD |
Notes on The Crystalline Mean
Starting at Level 70 on all FFXIV crafters and gatherers, including the Leatherworker in this case, there are no more class-specific quests. Instead, you gain access to “The Crystalline Mean.” This is a small gathering spot for special NPCs in The Crystarium, back on Norvrandt, after you reach the capital city during the Shadowbringers campaign. It has its own Aethernet point (simply marked as “The Crystalline Mean”). It’s on the upper floor of the city near the Amaro Launch if you have trouble finding it initially. Crafters and gatherers of sufficient level will further find their eyes drawn there by the blue side quest marker. The opening quest is also simply called “The Crystalline Mean.”
There are five notable NPCs in the area with five unique quest chains. Each chain is tied to not just one crafting or gathering class, but several — meaning you can complete any step of the questline as any one of the appropriate classes. The sole exception is the Fishers; they get their own quests separate from any other classes.
Put another way: The Crystalline Mean functions very similar to Role Quests for the combat classes, where any DPS magic-user can complete any step of the DPS magic questline, and so on. In this case, Crystalline Mean missions for the “Facet of Crafting” are shared between Weaver, Carpenter, and Leatherworker. You can complete any quest in their series as any of the three Jobs (so long as they meet the level requirements). Said quests start at Level 70 with “Cherished Memories,” after talking to the NPC Recording Node at (X: 11.5, Y: 8.4) in The Crystalline Mean.
Pretty much every Crystalline Mean mission involves talking to someone, crafting or gathering items, and turning them in — like Custom Deliveries for characters in Idyllshire, Eulmore, etc. You receive XP and Gil for every quest and delivery — as well as Scrips from the latter. This makes the quest chains an excellent way to level up your non-combat classes. You can also use the Scrips to buy useful items and gear as you progress your Disciples of the Hand and Land.
Note: You must complete the Level 72 Main Scenario Quest “The Crystarium’s Resolve” as any combat Job to reach and unlock The Crystalline Mean.
Notes on Studium Deliveries
We don’t currently know a lot about this new series of quests, but developer Square Enix laid out the very basics in a November Live Letter prior to the release of Endwalker. On that topic: These appear to be the Endwalker equivalent of The Crystalline Mean quests. Given the Studium is a confirmed location in Old Sharlayan, it’s fairly safe to say the quests will occur there. Just know this is based on preview information and some educated guesses, so take it with a grain of salt until Endwalker goes live. At that point, we’ll have a Studium Delivery guide to go with everything else.
FFXIV Leatherworker Basics & Importance
The Leatherworker, like every other crafting class in the game, has access to the same abilities as every other crafting class. The difference is almost entirely in what you can make with those skills. In this case, that almost exclusively includes leather armor and equipment used by a variety of non-tank classes. That makes the Leatherworker handy, if not the most exciting Disciple of the Hand. Even so, it has a few advantages over other similar armor-makers.
The Leatherworker, like the Weaver, crafts a lot of its own armor. Said armor is then shared between all crafting classes. This makes them useful to level up early. Most serious crafters in FFXIV acquire every Disciple of the Hand in the game — and Leatherworkers can make their armor and accessories better as you max out each of these Jobs. Leatherworkers are also responsible for much of what gatherers (i.e. Miners, Fishers, and Botanists) wear in the field. Gatherers then harvest the materials needed by most of the crafting classes. It’s like a digital circle of life, but with… rocks and stuff.
The downside is that Leatherworkers don’t actually benefit from gathering classes as much as other crafters. Most Leatherworker recipes require raw materials dropped from monsters in the game world. That’s not a deal-breaker; everyone has at least one combat Job since you need one to progress through FFXIV anyway. However, monster parts are rarely guaranteed from kills.
Instead, they have a random chance to drop a random number of the items you need. In comparison, gatherers can use skills to guarantee materials and/or boost the chances of getting more items per drop. This means you’re less reliant on yet another special class as a Leatherworker — though most crafty players play as gatherers, as well. The net benefit is pretty low. On the bright side, you can use a Retainer to harvest monster parts for you. Training up a Retainer into a combat class is a solid way to make money since you can sell the tedious-to-acquire beast materials to other crafters if you don’t need them. Not to mention you can get yourself more skins to make into leather for yourself. It’s a win-win.
Later on, Leatherworkers (like Weavers) can become endgame moneymakers by crafting rare cosmetic items for Glamours. Leatherworker and Weaver each have their own subsets of items that only they can make. Any hardcore crafter will probably want to level up their Leatherworker class at some point, as a result. You might as well start (and start profiting) early!
And there you have the very basics of how to unlock the Leatherworker (and why you should) in FFXIV. Not to mention you now also have a handy list of locations to check as you progress through the class quests and your adventure. Best of luck slicing through those missions!
