FFXIV Miner Job Guide (Patch 6.5)

The multiple locations in Final Fantasy XIV offer more than the regular type of challenges. To those looking for something other than slaying enemies all the time, they should consider picking up a gathering job, like Miner.

Responsible for mining precious stones and other materials crafters need to create weapons, armor, and accessories, Miner is extremely useful for those willing to level this job up.

In this guide, players will learn about all the methods and good practices available to level up Miner, depending on their level. This is not a guide for powerleveling and no method here requires high amounts of gil, making the explanations and suggestions friendly to beginners. 

How to unlock the Miner job in FFXIV

Unlocking Miner – like all the other Disciple of the Land jobs – is pretty simple and players can do it right at the beginning of the game. First, players need to go to Ul’dah - Steps of Thal at X: 11.3, Y: 14.3, where they will find Linette, the NPC who gives the “Way of the Miner” quest. The only prerequisite to accepting this quest is to have a level one class or job. After completing the quest, players unlock the Miner job.

An introduction to Miner in FFXIV

Miner is one of the Disciple of the Land classes in FFXIV whose focus is collecting materials from all the different regions in the game. Alongside Botanist and Fisher, Miner is part of one of the economic pillars of the game. 

Gathering is an important activity in the game since it gives players access to materials needed to craft items with Blacksmith and all the other crafting classes. Besides that, players can sell these materials on the Market Board, making Miner a good source of gil.

When it comes to the actual gameplay, playing Miner demands players to explore the maps in the game to find mining nodes. These are marked on the minimap when the Prospect ability is on. In order to find where the materials are, players should check the Gathering Log, which lists the materials separated in levels and shows their locations as well. 

Once a mining node is found and players interact with it, a new window opens, showing all the materials available in that spot. Some information is also displayed there, such as the chance of successfully collecting the items and the chance of obtaining more than one item per try. These are affected by two of the three main attributes related to Miner: Gathering and Perception. The third attribute is the Gathering Points (GP) which are spent when players use some skills. 

By clicking on one of the items, players perform a gathering attempt. Each node, in general, allows five attempts. Many skills in the Miner’s kit can either improve the chances of collecting items, such as Sharp Vision, or speed up the process by increasing the yields with King’s Yield and similar skills. The job also has access to Gatherer Role skills, which are shared with Botanist and Fisher. These are important tools that help players find mining spots and make them show up on the minimap, so keeping them in the hotbar is mandatory.

How to level up Miner in FFXIV

The process of leveling up Miner in FFXIV is based on completing different activities that reward players with experience points. Different from Disciple of War and Disciple of Magic jobs, gatherers can’t complete Main Scenario Quests and run dungeons, for example. Even so, by understanding the tools available at certain levels until the level cap, players can actually speed up the process. 

General Miner tips for FFXIV

By talking to the Quartermaster NPC in the Grand Company, players can exchange Grand Company Seals for the Company-issue Survival Manual and Company-issue Survival Manual II. Using them increases the amount of experience players gain when collecting materials as a Disciple of the Land job. Players should use the first version up to level 40 and then start using Survival Manual II until they reach level 50. Otherwise, the effect is halved. There are also Revised Survival Manuals, exchanged for White Gatherer’s Scrips, which work up until level 80 before the effect is halved.

Using food regularly also increases a little bit of the experience players gain. Players don’t need to worry about using specific food for this since what matters is the buff every food gives to experience gained. 

After players reach level 60, daily quests called Tribal Quests become available for gathering jobs. Players can complete up to three Tribal Quests every day for each tribe in the game, to a max of 12 quests per day. Doing this daily is a good habit since the quests give some experience and they reward players with tokens that can be exchanged for gear, mounts, and other items.

As players level up Miner, they should try to keep their gear updated. Gear is how players increase their Gathering, Perception, and GP numbers. In the first 50 levels, gear is not that important and players don’t need to look for new pieces of equipment every three levels, especially if following the steps explained in this guide. However, after level 50, having a good gearset is crucial to keep the leveling process. 

When players reach higher levels, they should start collecting special materials called Collectables as their main source of experience. Collecting these not only demands higher numbers of Gathering, Perception, and GP, but players need to also use specific skills to do so. By interacting with a Collectable item in a node, a different window appears showing the Collectability of the item, its Integrity, which determines how many collecting attempts or other actions can be performed, the Miner’s Primary, Secondary actions and Bonuses. Working as a mini-game, players need to reach high numbers of collectability by using a combination of Primary and Secondary actions without losing too many Integrity points.

For specific descriptions of each skill in Miner’s kit, be sure to check the FFXIV official guide. 

Miner job quests in FFXIV

As with all the other classes and jobs in FFXIV, when players unlock Miner, they get access to a chain of quests. These tell a narrative that contextualizes the mission of exploring wild areas looking for minerals and ores.  

Miner quests do more than just introduce players to all the basic aspects of Miner. By completing these missions, players receive pieces of equipment, consumables, and skills as rewards. Completing these also adds a good amount of experience. Running these missions as they become available helps speed up the leveling process. 

Because these quests usually involve sequences of dialogues, looking for materials to deliver, and cutscenes, running these missions can take some time. They work greatly as a short break from hours of grinding or rotations of Collectables. 

Here is a list of all the Miner quests in FFXIV.

How to level Miner fast

Level 1 - 70

From level one to 10, players can just go to any area around one of the three city-states, Ul’dah, Limsa Lominsa, or Gridania, and collect everything they find there. 

After level 10, players have some options to choose from. First, Diadem. This is a great place for players to grind levels without worrying about upgrading their gearset. However, only players that have already reached level 60 with one Disciple of War or Magic and have completed the “Litany of Peace” quest can unlock The Firmament by completing the “Towards the Firmament” quest, found in the Foundation. 

Players can access the Firmament by interacting with the Foundation’s Aetheryte and from there they can go to Diadem. In this special instance, players have up to three hours to explore some areas and collect materials. By combining a session of Diadem with a couple of  Survival Manuals, players will level up pretty fast. 

The second option is using Levequests alongside completing the Gathering Log. These aren’t the most efficient ones but work really well until level 50.  Players should take advantage of the Botanist quests to gain experience and pieces of equipment as well. 

At level 50, players should unlock Collectables, even though these shouldn’t be their main focus in this tier. By visiting Morgayne in Foundation at X: 10.1, Y: 10.4, players can start the “Inscrutable Tastes” quest that unlocks the Collectable system.

Lastly, once players hit level 60, they can unlock the first Tribal Quests for gathering classes, the Namazu. Players need to go to Azim Steppe and talk to Floundering Namazu who gives you the “Something Fishy This Way Comes” quest. 

Level 71 - 80

Once players get to level 70, the method to level up chances considerably. Grinding in the Diadem becomes less viable. The solution is to start gathering Collectables. Players obtain some experience from collecting these materials, but they should focus on delivering them to specific NPCs.This is where the majority of the EXP will come from.

First, there is the Custom Delivery system. This is a list of clients to whom players can deliver collectables to and earn a considerable amount of experience. In addition, the Custom Deliveries reward players with White and Purple Scrips, which players can exchange for gear, Master books, and materia. Because there is a weekly limit of deliveries, these aren’t the main source of experience. This role falls to the deliveries made to the Collectable Appraisers. While these NPCs reward players with less experience and scrips than the Custom Deliveries, there is no limit to the number of collectables you can exchange with Appraisers. 

Shadowbringers added the Crystarium Deliveries to the game. These are special missions that reward players with experience and scrips, making them extremely helpful to move to the next tier. Choose carefully, because Crystarium Develiries Miner quests are shared with Botanist and players can’t repeat them once they’re completed the first time.

Players, at level 70, can unlock new Tribal Quests, the Qitari, which gives daily quests for Disciple of the Land classes. To access these missions, players need to go to The Tak’tika Greatwood and talk to the Concerned Mother NPC to begin “ The Stewards of Note” quest. Completing it unlocks the Qitari Tribal Quests.

Level 81 - 90

In this tier, Collectables are still the bread and butter when it comes to leveling up. Players should keep focusing on delivering materials to Collectable Appraisers and completing Custom Deliveries. But, with Endwalker, more options were added for players who want to level up Miner.

At level 80, players get access to the Studium Deliveries. Similar to the Crystarium Deliveries, there are a few quests that reward players with experience and scrips. Miner and Botanist share the Studium Deliveries missions again, so remember this when choosing which class is receiving the rewards. Players can unlock the Studium Deliveries by talking to Qih Aliapoh, an NPC found in Old Sharlayan to begin “The Faculty” quest. This quest is only available for players who completed the “Inscrutable Tastes” quest and the “Sound the Bell, School’s In” Main Scenario Quest. 

There are also new Tribal Quests in this tier. By talking to Jammingway, an NPC found in Ultima Thule, players can begin “ The Café at the End of the Universe” quest. Completing it will unlock the Omicron Tribal Quests which offer missions for Disciple of the Land classes.

Miner levequests in FFXIV

Levequests are extremely helpful when it comes to leveling up classes and jobs. Players should consider using them whenever they want to take some time away from grinding in Diadem or while they wait for a timely node to appear. However, centering the whole leveling up process around using levequests is not the most efficient in many cases, like when players should focus on grinding on Diadem or gathering Collectibles.