Updated July 6, 2021, by Andrea Shearon: Final Fantasy 14's next expansion, Endwalker, is just around the corner on November 23 of this year and will increase the level cap from 80 to 90. Ahead of the big release, we've updated this guide again to outline the best practices for leveling your Final Fantasy 14 jobs in 2021 based on updates with version 5.5. New additions include making use of the experience gained while working on your relic weapon in Bozja, changes to your daily roulette priority, and the benefits of farming Fates in the areas added with Shadowbringers.
Leveling a new job or base class in Final Fantasy 14 can be a bit of a pain, but there is no wrong way to go about the process. However, there are certainly more efficient ways to get the job done if you're looking to level up on your own without the use of jump potions.
Before proceeding though, it's important to understand that power leveling does you no good if you're still trying to complete the main scenario quests. Following the path the game lays out for you, using the first class you have ever leveled, is the fastest, most efficient way to level 80. Those quests reward you with plenty of experience points, and players following main scenario quests shouldn't hit level gates very often. If you hit those gates, check the Experience Buff section of this guide first, then refer to the level range you're stuck in.
This guide should be thought of as a way to level your second job or class in Final Fantasy 14.
Related: Final Fantasy 14: How To Complete The City Of The Ancients Quest
Experience Buffs
If this is your first time leveling a secondary job, you may be unfamiliar with some of the bonuses you can grab before the leveling process. On their own, these buffs may not offer much, but plenty of them stack for additional experience.
Before you ever enter combat, make sure you have food buffs up for 3% additional experience in combat. Since leveling content is easy, the bonus stat increases don't matter and there's no point in spending extra gil, so grabbing Antelope Steak from an NPC vendor is a good choice. You can find these NPCs in player housing, or by visiting the Alehouse Wench in Gridania (x:17.9, y19.7) or Grege in The Gold Saucer (x5.0, y:6.5).
Next, activate a buff from your Free Company or request that your Free Company leader do so. The easiest to obtain experience buff is The Heat of Battle II, which grants you 24 hours of +10% experience. This can be traded for 7,000 company credits at the Free Company administration area in Gridania, Limsa Lominsa, or U'ldah. The Heat of Battle III also exists for a 15% increase, but grade three buffs are special items that your Free Company will have to craft and likely have limited access to.
Make sure to also take advantage of Rested EXP by logging out or going idle in Sanctuary locations. A Sanctuary is any place with an Aetheryte. Rested EXP is just stored experience, up to 1.5 level's worth, that is relinquished to you as a +50% bonus on all monsters killed until the Rested EXP is depleted.
If this is your second job to level, you should automatically receive an Armoury Bonus. Secondary jobs at levels 1-69 receive a +100% bonus, while levels 70+ only receive +50%. If your highest class level is 80, you will always have an Armoury Bonus when leveling. If your ultimate goal is to level several jobs, it makes the most sense to level one all the way to 80 first, then piggyback off of that achievement with your secondary roles.
You should also use items with experience bonuses, and don't worry about character stats as these items often scale to address levels. Items with leveling bonuses include:
- Moogle Cap – +20% when level 10 and below – obtainable by pre-ordering A Realm Reborn (no longer available)
- Helm of Light – +20% when level 10 and below – obtainable through the A Realm Reborn Collector's Edition
- Friendship Circlet – +20% when level 25 and below – obtainable via Recruit a Friend campaign
- Brand-new Ring – +30% when level 30 and below – obtainable by completing all Adventure Guild Trials for a single role at the Hall of Novice
- Ala Mhigan Earrings – +30% when level 50 and below – obtainable by pre-ordering Stormblood (no longer available)
- Aetheryte Earring – +30% when level 70 and below – obtainable by pre-ordering Shadowbringers (no longer available)
If there's no one you would miss on your current server, you can also transfer severs for a Preferred Server Bonus. These are lower population servers, added with experience boosting incentives to prevent too many new players from adding to the congestion of higher traffic servers. The bonus lasts for 90 days until level 70.
How to Spend Your Roulette Allowance
Leveling, Main Scenario, Alliance Raids, Trials, and Normal Raid Roulettes are all great sources of experience for the time (Main Scenario is painfully long, but often worth it at high levels). They unlock at different levels, but it's not always smart to immediately use them if you plan to grind for the entire day. Level 50/60/70 Dungeon Roulette is also a daily option, but the rewards there are usually not worth it unless you need the Tome rewards. PVP is also a great roulette option, but queue times for all classes can be long. Typically, plan to use these when your grind is getting hard, towards the end of your day.
Roulettes should also be saved for boosting experience on levels that are even numbers. For example, if I am leveling in the 70s, I don't use my roulettes on level 75. New dungeons unlock at odd numbers, so if you're grinding from 70-80, it's better to do the highest available odd level dungeon over and over until you hit level 76. Then, at level 76, you pop all of your roulettes to hit 77 and repeat the cycle day by day.
Levels 1-15 – Low-Level Fates
Perhaps there's nothing flashy you can do here, but popping a bunch of buffs and doing Fates in the beginner areas outside of Gridania, Limsa Lominsa, or U'ldah is the fastest way to level 15. This is easiest with a buddy, but you can do it alone.
Don't bother doing things like Palace of the Dead here, no matter what you're told. That's great for later levels, but early on it's a waste of time with how quickly you can progress in the open world. If the job you're on has a Hunting Log, you can also complete those tasks for a bonus – just don't go out of your way. There are also bonuses in the Challenge Log (obtained from I'tolwann in Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks (x:11.4, y:11.0) for completing Fates.
Levels 16-30 – Palace of the Dead
No need to find a buddy for this one, as queuing in for Palace of the Dead will find you three new friends to run the dungeon with. You'll first need to travel to New Gridania and begin the quest The House That Death Built by speaking to Nojiro Marujiro (x:12.0, y:13.1). To go in, you'll need to speak to the Wood Wailer Expeditionary Captain in South Shroud's Quarrymill (x:25.2, y:20.6).
There are 200 floors in Palace of the Dead, but you are not looking to do all 200 of those floors. Climbing that high for leveling is a waste of time, so keep it to floors 51-60. You'll just reset and queue for those floors every time.
Levels 31-60 – Palace of the Dead, Dungeons, and Leveling Roulette
Things really start to slow down once you hit level 50. If you're a DPS, Palace of the Dead will always be your fastest route until you hit level 61 and can do Heaven on High. The queues are far too slow for dungeons and roulettes to make meaningful bumps in your daily grind, but Palace of the Dead is usually instant.
However, if you're leveling a Tank or Healer, you should consider grinding dungeons beginning at level 50 and above. The queues are often instant, especially if you're playing a Tank. The EXP reward is better, but Palace of the Dead is still acceptable if you're sick of grinding the same dungeons again and again. Sticking to the formula here of grinding Heavensward dungeons on odd levels (51, 53, 55, etc) is still the best for these roles. Use your roulettes to supplement experience on even levels, saving them as long as you can before the daily reset.
Levels 61-70 – Heaven on High, Dungeons, and Leveling Roulette
Take the same approach you had to 31-60 and apply it here. Heaven on High replaces Palace of the Dead. You'll unlock Heaven on High in The Ruby Sea by speaking to Hamazake (x:6.2, y:11.7), who will give you the quest Knocking on Heaven's Door.
After you complete his task, you can enter Heaven on High by speaking with Kyusei in The Ruby Sea (x:21.4, y:9.2). You'll grind Heaven on High the same way you did Palace of the Dead until you hit 70. Remember, it may be faster to grind dungeons at odd numbers and supplement with roulettes until you run out if you're leveling a Tank or Healer.
Levels 71-80 – Dungeons and Roulettes
The real grind begins at 71, but now you're just left with dungeons and roulettes. Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High are a waste at these levels, even with DPS queues taking a long time. It's better to enter Shadowbringers areas and participate in Fates while you wait for queues to pop. The "How to Spend Your Roulette Allowance" outlines how you should level here the best. Hold onto roulettes as long as possible for even levels, grind the highest level dungeon you can in between.
Levels 71-80 – Fates and Relic Grinding
It's worth mentioning that Shadowbringers Fates do provide excellent rewards for those looking to craft or pick up collectibles like Triple Triad cards and minions. If you are well into Shadowbringers content, you should be able to begin collecting Bicolor Gemstones from Fates in the new zones if you want to pick up those goodies. It's not the absolute fastest way to level, but it's still a fine tactic and achieves two goals at once.
In each of Shadowbringer's seven zones, you'll find an NPC with a little pink and blue gem icon where you can trade-in your Bicolor Gemstones. These cap at 1,000, so make sure you're spending them and don't overcap. You'll need to complete 60 Fates in each zone to achieve Rank 3 (the max reward rank). You can check your progress in each zone by clicking the Travel menu option and selecting Shared Fate.
If you're looking to complete your 5.x relic weapon, then this arguably the fastest way to level secondary jobs. The good stuff happens in The Bozjan Southern Front, so you'll need to complete the quests The Bozja Incident by speaking to Cid in Rhalgr's Reach (x:11.8, y:11.8) and Fire in the Forge by speaking to Gerolt in Gangos (x:6.3, y:5.1). When it's time for you to finally enter the actual instance for Bozja, you'll talk to Sjeros in Gangos (x5.5, y:5.4) and he'll let you in.
You can take any job that's level 71 into Bozja, the level doesn't matter, because the zone automatically syncs you up to level 80. While this guide isn't looking to walk you through the entire relic weapon grind, the Bozjan Southern Front Fates you complete while earning Mettle for your relic weapon should quickly boost your experience bar. Fates can reward several million experience points and the Critical Engagements do the same thing. Even if you aren't keen on seeing the entire process all the way through and completing your weapon, it's still probably worth unlocking the first area and grinding Bozja fates over rerunning Shadowbringers dungeons.
Additional Tips
Always pay attention to queue times. If you're leveling at 3 am on a Healer on a North American server and it's taking a long time to get in a dungeon, it may be faster to do Palace of the Dead. Don't spend 15 minutes in a queue when you could already be wiping up mobs in Palace.
Also, keep up with your Job quests. They're often big boosts in experience and you'll grab things you need from these tasks. You can also take on side quests while waiting for long queue pops if you're over level 70.
Daily allotments from Beast Tribes are also helpful, but they don't scale with level. That means, if you're doing Heavensward level 50 Beast Tribes at level 79, you won't see a meaningful bump. Make sure you're working on Beast Tribe quests at the appropriate level range for the expansion they were included in. The Pixies in Shadowbringers are a great way to get big boosts when you're struggling to make it to level 80. Also, you can pick up cute mounts and minions from these tasks.
Next: Final Fantasy 14: How To Get The Cerberus Mount
