FFXIV leveling guide: How to level alt jobs fast in Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV is an MMO that allows you to switch your job at the click of a button, without the need to change characters. Your gear automatically assigns, you get a shiny new weapon, and each expansion adds new jobs to try and master. 

Whether you’re just diving into your Eorzean adventure, or you’re a seasoned veteran at this point stuck in a leveling rut, there are a lot of different options for grinding out those levels. With the new level cap of 100 added with Dawntrail, the numbers can seem a little daunting, but there are valuable rewards on offer for those who do the work. 

I know that everyone has their main job, be it Tank, DPS, or Healer, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it to branch out and get a feel for the other roles. Stepping out of your comfort zone and putting yourself in a different pair of shoes can actually help you to understand fights, mechanics, and what’s needed of you in your main role. 

Level rewards in FFXIV

The maximum level back when A Realm Reborn was released was 50, and as previously stated, it’s now increased to 100. Reaching a previous or current level cap with all jobs will gain you rewards, with the value of the reward increasing as you progress through higher levels. We can pretend that the level 90 reward wasn’t a bizarre and widely unloved choice, although I’d like to see it turned into a Dancer weapon so it might at least be useful. 

Regardless, here are all of the level cap rewards from level 50 to 100, including the titles rewarded for leveling all jobs in the Disciple of War (DoW) or Magic (DoM) categories:

EXP boost items in FFXIV

There are a few different items that are available to players in order to boost EXP gain when levelling. The most important of these are the jewelry items that are available as part of pre-ordering future expansions. These can come in particularly handy if you’re leveling a job from scratch, as most of them boost your EXP gain by 30%.

Here are all of the jewelry items and how to get them:

As well as these jewelry pieces, remember to utilize Free Company Actions (or get your FC Leader to make sure they’re active) to get a 10% boost and make sure to eat for an additional 3% boost. These all stack on top of each other, so you can end up with a maximum boost of 43%, depending on what level you’re playing at. 

How to level alt jobs fast in FFXIV

As I said, the concept of grinding out all of those levels for every job can seem particularly daunting, especially with new jobs that start at a lower level than the previous level cap or if you’re just starting out. There is a long list of options when it comes to leveling, but it can be all too easy to get bogged down in routine and forget about the very lucrative side hustles on offer.

Daily roulettes offer huge bonuses

Look, I know that the thought of running Praetorium or Castrum for the thousandth time isn’t the most thrilling of ideas, but there’s a reason that queues do (eventually, if you’re playing DPS) pop: roulettes offer a huge amount of EXP for relatively little effort, and you should definitely get down to business after the daily reset each day. 

The best roulettes for leveling purposes are Leveling, Main Scenario, and PvP. While other roulettes do offer EXP, of course, you can probably give them a miss if you want to get those levels up quickly. Bonus points if you’re the “Adventurer in Need,” which not only increases the EXP you’ll gain but also offers a nice amount of Gil as a passive bonus.

Wondrous Tails is worth the gamble

While Khloe might seem like she’s stingy with her sticker placement, the rewards on offer for Wondrous Tales take a backseat to the amount of EXP on offer for completing her requested nine duties, which is guaranteed to give you at least half a level regardless of what your starting level was.

If you’ve been running your daily roulettes, you’ve likely amassed the full nine retries as well, meaning you can simply pick the easiest duty on the list (usually a low-level extreme trial or Alexander raid), keep using your retries and knock out half a level in under half an hour. 

FATE is guiding you

Forget about that unbelievably cheesy header (I’m not sorry) and focus on the fact that FATEs are an amazing way to crank out EXP in a relatively short period of time. At a minimum, Dawntrail FATEs offer up to around 500,000 EXP per FATE without adding on bonuses, the EXP boosts you have applied, or whether you’ve recently felled a Forlorn Maiden or not. 

Plus, as you grind out those FATEs in Shadowbringers, Endwalker, and Dawntrail zones, you’ll be earning Bicolor Gemstones that can be traded for some pretty epic rewards, so you’re getting something out of it either way.

Trust in Trusts (and Duty Support)

If you don’t feel like waiting for long periods as a DPS player queues for dungeons, consider leveling and using your Trust or Duty Support to get you through content. These features allow you to run through dungeons with a party of NPCs who make up the rest of the party, meaning there’s never a need to queue, and you still get the full EXP that you would for queueing for the same dungeon the old-fashioned way. 

Now look, I’m the first to admit that this method can, at times, be infuriating. The NPCs seem allergic to AOEs, so you’ll be single-targeting every enemy in every dungeon that you run. Sometimes, the healers seem intent on letting you die, and you’ll have to adjust to coded placement to avoid them stacking AOEs on top of your head. Not to mention the fact that Alisaie is an absolute nightmare with a Limit Break…

However, I’ll take all of that over 30 minutes or more queues to run a single dungeon on a DPS job. Plus, this can be done solo, so you can just zone out and rest assured that you’re not endangering or annoying other players if you get something wrong. It’s also an excellent way to get to grips with mechanics that you aren’t entirely sure about without feeling embarrassed at your own mishandling of them. 

And, as an added bonus, all of the loot is yours, so if you want to get your hands on a particular glamor set of minions, then this is a great way to do that.

Allied Society Quests are worth doing

Formerly known as Tribal Quests and even more formerly known as Beast Tribe Quests, Allied Society Quests can offer up a large amount of EXP for a very small amount of work. There are multiple Allied Societies for each expansion, with higher-level Societies offering up more EXP for quests completed. 

You get an allowance of 12 Allied Society Quests per day, with three available from each Allied Society every day, and you can easily gain a third to a half of a level, depending on the level of the Allied Society Quests themselves. Currently, the highest-level Allied Society is the Pelupelu in Kozama’uka. 

Each Allied Society has rewards on offer for increasing your reputation with them, including emotes, mounts, minions, titles, and even some glamor items that aren’t to be sniffed at.

Keep an eye on your Challenge Log

After completing the level 15 quest “Rising to the Challenge” (head to Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks and talk to I’tolwann (X:11.4, Y:11.0) if you haven’t done this yet!), you’ll gain access to the Challenge Log.

This log is split into different categories, including Battle, Crafting & Gathering, and Levequests. While some challenges reward other currencies upon completion, such as Wolf Marks or MGP, battle challenges will reward you with a huge boost of EXP (sometimes over a million) for completing certain tasks like running a fixed number of dungeons, giving a fixed number of commendations, or even running FATEs.

The Challenge Log refreshes at the same time as the general weekly reset, 2 a.m. on a Tuesday, so make sure you complete them before this happens to get the most EXP for your efforts.

Side quests are boring, but (arguably) worth it

They might not offer up the biggest amount of EXP, but side quests are just sitting there waiting to be done and give added background lore that you’d otherwise miss out on. I suggest this as a last resort, but if you’re at a loose end and waiting for a dungeon to pop, clearing out an area of side quests can be a good way to get some extra EXP when all else fails. 

How to level crafters and gatherers in FFXIV

While there aren’t as many options for leveling, crafting and gathering jobs in FFXIV, there are still a few things you can do to prevent you having to quick-synth hundreds of items. 

Manuals are always useful

Don’t be scared away from using manuals by the “effect is halved after level ??” in the description. Yes, you won’t get quite the 150% boost to EXP, but you shouldn’t turn your nose up at a 75% increase in crafting or gathering EXP. 

I say this from personal experience: yes, doing this is awkward. You’ll need to keep an eye out for the notification telling you that you’re no longer getting an EXP boost, stop crafting or gathering, and then use another manual before continuing to do whatever you were doing. However, seeing those levels go up so quickly is definitely worth it.

These can be purchased from any Scrip Exchange vendor for 30 Purple Scrips each. Make sure you get the Revised version, as these will last you the longest. Engineering Manuals apply to crafting classes, while Survival Manuals apply to gathering classes, so make sure you get the right one as well.

Leves, GC hand-ins, and Custom Deliveries are incredibly lucrative

Leves are a valuable source of large amounts of EXP, and there are Leves available at all levels. Crafting Leves require you to craft certain items (or purchase them on the Marketboard ready-made if you’re rolling in Gil and feeling lazy), then hand them in to get the EXP. Handing in HQ items will 

Gathering Leves are harder to cheat (except Fishing, which can also be completed using items purchased on the Marketboard), but they’re still not difficult. You’ll need to go to a certain location, gather up a certain number of items, and then talk to the Leve person wherever you picked up the quest. Bonuses are applied for overachieving during the Leve quest, so the better you do, the quicker you’ll level up. 

Custom Deliveries are available in each expansion, with higher-level Custom Deliveries NPCs offering higher amounts of EXP for hand-ins. These will require you to craft high-level items, but if you’re over-leveled by ten levels, you can use the “Trained Eye” ability to instantly score 100% collectability, maximizing the amount of EXP you get for handing items in. 

GC hand-ins are, by far, the easiest way to level up crafters and gatherers. Each day at 3 p.m. EST / 12 p.m. PST, your respective GC will have a new selection of items that they want to hand in. As with Leves, handing in HQ versions of these items will give you double the EXP, and you’ll find a whole bunch of people leveling up at the GC each day after the reset.