Quick Links
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 90. Those quests reward you with plenty of experience points, and players following main scenario quests shouldn't hit level gates very often.
This is true now more than ever with Endwalker. 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.
Updated April 15, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: The last time we gave this guide an overhaul, Endwalker had just launched. Needless to say, a lot's changed since then, so it was high time we included new content like Eureka Orthos and double-checked earlier passages for continued accuracy.
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 percent 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, Y:19.7) 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 percent 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 percent 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 percent 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 1-79 receive a +100 percent bonus, while levels 80+ only receive +50 percent. If your highest class level is 90, 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 90 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 percent when level ten and below - obtainable by pre-ordering A Realm Reborn (no longer available)
- Helm of Light - +20 percent when level ten and below - obtainable through the A Realm Reborn Collector's Edition
- Friendship Circlet - +20 percent when level 25 and below - obtainable via Recruit a Friend campaign
- Brand-new Ring - +30 percent 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 percent when level 50 and below - obtainable by pre-ordering Stormblood (no longer available)
- Aetheryte Earring - +30 percent when level 70 and below - obtainable by pre-ordering Shadowbringers (no longer available)
- Menphina Earring- +30 percent when level 80 and below - obtainable by pre-ordering Endwalker (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 80.
How To Spend Your Roulette Allowance
Leveling, Alliance Raids, Trials, and Normal Raid Roulettes are all great sources of experience for the time. 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 50/60/70/80 Dungeon Roulette is also a daily option, but the rewards there are usually not worth it unless you need the associated Tomestones.
PVP is also a great roulette option, and in the past, queue times could be a problem. That's far less of an issue now, with the most recent mode, Crystalline Conflict, being fast to get into most times of day. Better still, it's fast to get out of - the matches don't last more than a few minutes at a time.
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 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 entirely by this point. 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. Do note, you'll need to have reached the 51st floor in Palace of the Dead. But if you've been following along with the guide, that shouldn't be an issue.
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
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 is arguably the fastest way to level secondary jobs from 71-80. 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.
Levels 81-90 - Fates And Relic Grinding
As of this writing, Endwalker has reached 6.35, with 6.4 right around the corner. In the past, this was our only section on 81-90. That's changed, as you'll soon see - but this section's still totally worth consideration.
For starters, while this guide's express purpose is to aid players in leveling secondary jobs, we would be remiss not to mention that Endwalker's main story quests offer up more experience than ever. Your primary job shouldn't hit a single stopgap keeping up with the MSQ, and even if it does, a short spurt with side quests is guaranteed to do the trick.
Trusts, dungeon runs with NPC allies originally introduced with Shadowbringers, can be a handy way to sprint through even levels if you're so inclined. They'll take longer on average than a traditional multiplayer dungeon will, since your fellow Scions aren't exactly inclined to blitz through boss fights, but at the bare minimum Trusts can be used to help you get the hang of the game's increasingly complex mechanics.
Right now, Fates offer a terrific amount of experience and should be considered a prime source of leveling outside of Duty Roulettes. As always, Fates are also a great source of rewards including mounts, minions, faster route traversal (handy for, somewhat ironically, doing further Fates), and more.
Levels 81-90 - Eureka Orthos And Tribal Quests
Endwalker 6.35 has introduced to the game a third Deep Dungeon called Eureka Orthos. Beware that this is currently tough content. You can level your jobs from 81-90 here, yes, though most players tend to regard the place as something to complete in full, as the challenges are quite sturdy.
To give you an idea of how much more difficult Eureka Orthos is than Palace of the Dead and Heaven-on-High, consider the following. You cannot progress past floor 30 without being made to create a premade party. While it'll inevitably get easier in the years to come, right now this place is just that hard.
An alternative you might consider is the Arkasadora Beast Tribe Quests, introduced several months back. These are the highest-leveled Beast Tribe quests for your primary Jobs right now, so the payoff is pretty good. You can also partake in Omicron and Loporrit Beast Tribe Quests, though note that these are primarily for Gathering and Crafting, respectively.
One last bit of advice, and while this technically holds true for most of Final Fantasy 14, it can be especially worth noting in Endwalker. Sightseeing should be reserved for secondary classes. While you're out traipsing about the new expansion's beautiful zones, you'll bump into all sorts of vistas.
The experience there scales generally with whatever job you're on, and since you can't actually take advantage of Endwalker's Sightseeing system with a job until it's at least 80, this is a perfect way to bolster the grind to 90.