Final Fantasy XIV is chock full of things to do, places to see, and Jobs to level up. There are so many different classes, in fact, that you’re probably going to want to see them all. And why not? FFXIV Jobs aren’t tied to any specific character, so you can level them all up to your heart’s content, without having to grind through story content all over again. But the XP grind is a different beast all on its own — one that requires quite a lot of time and patience to tame. No need to worry, though. That’s what we’re here for! It’s time to take a look at our FFXIV leveling guide — full of all the tips and tricks you need to grind experience as fast as possible. Let’s get started!
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Deep Dungeons, Dude
Palace of the Dead and its more advanced follow-up, Heaven-on-High, are the only two “Deep Dungeons” in FFXIV (so far). These seemingly endless dungeons full of monsters differ from most of the game’s content in some key ways. Melee DPS Jobs get their positional bonuses without actually needing to position themselves, for one. And you don’t need a specific party composition to find matches. You’re basically just there to kill floor, after floor, after floor of monsters.
If you’re like most FFXIV players, you’re also there to grind XP. That’s because Palace of the Dead and Heaven-on-High are far and away the best source of levels in the game. The former is for getting up to level 60, while the latter will take you from 61 to 70. We have a full Heaven-on-High guide that will take you through the basics and explain power leveling, too. Just know this: basically every other suggestion on this experience farming guide is meant to break up the monotony of Deep Dungeons, while earning you other rewards in the process. If you just want XP, head to Palace of the Dead and/or Heaven-on-High.
Follow the Main Scenario Quest
Maybe this is a no-brainer, but it’s too important not to mention: Always play main story missions as soon as you can. These “Main Scenario Quests” aren’t just massive sources of XP in FFXIV, they’re also the key to unlocking nearly every new activity in the game. Most Trials, Raids, Dungeons, and even a large number of side quests are locked behind story progress at some point or another. These will, in turn, offer you even more ways to level up more quickly. Not to mention they’ll add more and more options to your Duty Roulette. This is also a great source of experience, and adding more variety to each roulette will keep the XP grind from getting too old, too fast.
Keep Your Job Up-to-Date
Similar to the Main Scenario Quest, FFXIV Job quests are also fountains of experience points. And since they’re tied to specific Jobs (meaning you can only get EXP for the class they’re tied to) there’s no reason to hold back. You should complete these as soon as possible to push your respective Jobs ever closer to leveling up. Not to mention, you’ll usually unlock new skills and gear that make the rest of FFXIV much, much easier.
Eat Often and Rest Well
This is actually two tips in one. Aren’t we lucky? Specifically, there are two easy sources of bonus XP available to all FFXIV players looking to grind. Food (which you can craft yourself or buy in any major city) and resting (which you “earn” by logging off in a Sanctuary zone) both provide buffs.
Eating gives a mild, but effectively infinite three percent experience buff — usually in addition to several other combat or crafting advantages. Technically, this only ever lasts 30 minutes per food item, but you can continue to consume for an endless bonus.
The rested XP bonus is a bit more fickle, but also more effective. You can only earn it by logging out in a Sanctuary (any non-combat area that puts a crescent moon icon next to your level bar). This will give you 50 percent bonus XP for any Job — and can accumulate for up to 1.5 levels’ worth of XP. Long story short: Always log off in Sanctuaries!
Guildhests Will Get You Started
These are especially useful for players picking up one of the Final Fantasy XIV expansion classes — like Astrologian, Red Mage, or Dancer, to name a few. That’s because those classes allow players to jump from one completely different role to another, hours and hours into the game. And Guildhests are designed to teach you the basics of a given role. You can find these special missions in the Duty Finder!
Say, for instance, that you level up a DPS class all the way to the level cap. But then you want to try playing a tank. Picking up the Dark Knight will give you a semi-leveled character and some gear, but it won’t actually teach you how to tank for a group in Final Fantasy XIV. Guildhests will walk you through the process step-by-step — while giving you a booster shot of experience for each new one you complete. Not just that: every Guildhests gives bonus XP the first time you complete it on a given class or Job. So you can repeat the same Guildhests across multiple Jobs just to level up faster.
Guildleves Will Get You Over the Hump
FFXIV Guildleves, or levequests, are special, repeatable missions scattered across the world of Eorzea. They are also pretty much specifically designed to help you level up — no matter what Job you’re playing. To access them, you must first unlock Guildleves by completing one of the three following quests: “Leves of Bentbranch,” “Leves of Horizon,” or “Leves of Swiftperch,” depending on your chosen starting area. These side quests unlock after you reach a certain point in the Main Scenario Quest — about when you hit level 10.
From here on out, you can except levequests from designated NPCs outside of major cities. Just search for map icons that look like a silver plate with an exclamation point inside. These characters offer quests categorized as battlecraft (for your main FFXIV Jobs), tradecraft (for your crafting Jobs), and fieldcraft (for your gathering Jobs).
Once you except a leve, you can start the quest at any time. But you’ll be timed from there on out. You can also select from lower and higher difficulty levels, either for an easier time or greater rewards. Though you can pretty much always complete any leve at the maximum difficulty. It will take a little more thought, but they’re all totally doable — even at the lowest possible level where you can except the quest.
Existing Jobs Level You Up Faster
Speaking of multiple Jobs, Final Fantasy XIV has a handy way to level up fast for avid players. It’s called the Armory Bonus, and it can get you up to 100 percent more experience than usual from most activities. You just need to have one combat Job at a level higher than any other combat Job! Doing so will give the lower level classes a boost — up to the point that they catch up with your highest level Job.
The bonus starts at an extra 100 percent XP, until you reach level 60. That will probably happen somewhere in the Heavensward campaign if you’re following the Main Scenario Quest for the first time. The level boost drops to 50 percent extra experience once you reach level 60 — but that’s still nothing to sneeze at. The downside, of course, is that this won’t help you if you’re just starting out.
Always Hit the Daily Roulette, Especially if…
The Duty Roulette is, for a lot of people, probably the primary way to level up quickly in Final Fantasy XIV. It allows you to jump into Dungeons, Trials, and other group content with a squad full of strangers. In exchange for helping them through story bits, you get a nice stipend of bonus XP. It only works once per day per type of activity, though. You can continue to use the roulette as many times as you want, but the main bonus only applies on the first completion. That’s still a huge boon — especially when you factor in the focus and relative speed of killing enemies and bosses in a group.
The Squadron Supreme
If you want to avoid matchmaking altogether (e.g. if you’re playing a DPS class), there are A.I. companions available to run dungeons with you. Shadowbringers introduced the “Trust” system for this very reason — allowing folks to run through story dungeons with Y’shtola, Urianger, and other story-critical characters. Before that, though, we had Squadrons.
These semi-nameless randos are A.I. buddies you can recruit at the backroom of your Grand Company headquarters (located in Ul’dah, Limsa Lominsa, or Gridania respectively). You can have up to eight at one time — each set to one class or another. The idea, however, is to build balanced squads for four-player dungeon content. That’s one healer, one tank, and two DPS. You can send these squads on missions to passively accrue rewards, even when you’re not playing, like Retainers on exploration missions. Said rewards are great XP boons themselves. They often include Battle Manuals that offer bonus experience for killing creatures, such as in dungeons.
Speaking of dungeons, though, you can also take Squadrons into most of the early ones from your barracks. These are identical to their Duty Roulette counterparts. Except you don’t need to matchmake. Instead, you select three of your A.I. companions to fill the missing roles and play the so-called group content by yourself. The whole process is a little outdated; it feels slightly stale abandoned by developers in favor of the Trust system. Yet the consumable manuals alone make it a great companion to Palace of the Dead and other XP grind hotspots.
Check Your Challenge Log Every Week
FFXIV doesn’t really draw much attention to this little feature; it’s tucked away in the Logs section of your main menu. It is, however, a stellar way to grind levels in the game — mostly because you’re probably already filling it out without realizing it.
Just head to the aforementioned Logs menu in Final Fantasy XIV. Now go to the very bottom option — Challenge Logs — and take a peek. You’ll find a smorgasbord of weekly challenges to complete, all of which award one kind of currency or another, as well as oodles of XP. Something as simple as completing three Duty Roulette missions will offer the same experience as four or five side quests at your appropriate level. You don’t have to play a low-level Job the whole time, either. You can just get 99 percent of the way there, check the Challenge Log, and finish the final step as whatever Job you want to gain the ultimate reward.
The Logs section of your main menu has other goodies, too. You can perform class-specific hunts for random creatures, for one. These also provide bonus XP. Although it’s usually a bit less than the weekly challenges that reset every Tuesday.
Grab Centurio Clan Hunts Every Day
Hunting is a great way to level up in FFXIV. You just need to unlock the system by joining one of the three Grand Companies in Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, or Ul’Dah first. After that, you can start mashing specific monsters for bonus XP and gil. There is, however, an even better class of hunting with even better rewards. You just need to reach the Heavensward expansion — along with the Foundation district of its capital city, Ishgard — to start.
From there, you can accept the side quest “Let the Clan Hunt Begin.” Doing so will unlock a series of daily bounties for particular monsters. Slaying the requisite amount of each won’t just award gil and a special currency called Centurio Seals, but a healthy helping of XP to level up your FFXIV Jobs as well. Later on, you can unlock even more hunts in Kugane (once you reach the Stormblood expansion) as well as weekly “Elite” hunts. All are good for XP, and the Centurio Seals you acquire are key to several gear upgrades in the FFXIV endgame.
FATEs Are Your Friends
When all else fails, FATEs are always a reliable — if somewhat slow and repetitive — means to power level in FFXIV. Just camp out in a zone that’s the appropriate level for the Job you want to grind, and start picking off the purple splotches one by one. If you’re lucky, or do some asking around, you can also hop aboard impromptu “FATE trains.” This is basically just an unofficial sort of group of strangers that flits from one FATE to the next, clearing them as quickly as possible through sheer numbers. Watch for folks shouting out rare monsters in general chat to see if you can join one!
Your Friends Are Also Your Friends
There’s really no reason not to join a Free Company in FFXIV. These player groups — otherwise known as guilds in most MMOs — are exceedingly common and very often open to recruitment. Odds are you’ll get spammed with invites to them, if you just stand in the Aetheryte Plaza of any capital city (Limsa Lominsa is our number one recommendation). And if someone offers, you can search for that player’s details in-game to look up the specifics of their Free Company.
There are more tangible benefits to belonging to a Free Company than just having people to chat with, too. Any one of them can provide weekly buffs — including bonus XP to help you level up. These are completely passive, and likely free to you, the average player. So as long as you’re playing anyway, you might as well try to find a Free Company you like. You never know! You might even make some friends along the way.
And that’s it for our FFXIV power leveling guide! We hope this helps you on your quest to reaching the level cap, and all the beautiful benefits that entails. For more tips to FFXIV Jobs and other activities, make sure to check back later. In the meantime, take care!
