If you’re looking for tips on how to level up the fastest and most efficient ways, then luckily for you we’ve lined up some great and useful tips for you in our FFXIV leveling guide!
EXP buffs from food
To start off, if you want more EXP (Experience Points) from absolutely everything, there are ways to get it passively. The first way is by eating Food within the game. Don’t worry, any food will do so it won’t break your bank.
Log out in a Sanctuary
As per most MMOs, if you log out in a safe area like a Sanctuary or town, you will receive a boost to your EXP earnt the longer you stay there. So if you have a feeling you’re not playing for a while, or going on holiday, make sure you log out somewhere safe!
Story Quests
Now, onto the main meat of this FFXIV leveling guide. The biggest source of EXP by far is going to be the main story quests. These will net you the most, especially in the beginning of the game. About level 30 you will run out of these, so if this is your first character you will want to experience them for the story, as well as the giant amounts of EXP. They will also guide you through to different areas, as well as to Guildhests that you can partake in.
Always do class and job quests
Your starting Class will give you quests every 5 levels, which will give a lot of EXP. Once you have reached level 15, you are able to select a Job. You will only be able to level up one of these things at once, but the quests will give a huge chunk of EXP.
Always do the daily roulette
The Daily Roulette will give you bonus EXP for a randomly selected quest. This is not a small amount, you can mostly level up completely, so this is worth pursuing especially if you are in between class and job quests, and are logging in everyday to gain some EXP.
Guildhests
You will come across Guildhests as you progress through the game, they are what other games call instanced dungeons. Certain ones will become accessible when you are 5 levels below recommended, but this means your EXP gains will be much higher. If you have friends who are running it, or you feel safe enough to attempt it at a lower level, it is worth it. You will have to join the ‘looking for group’ queue to enter a Guildhest, and if you are a tank or healer class this should go quite quickly. If not however, then whilst waiting you can do...
Hunting and Challenge log quests
You can regularly pick up or receive Hunting quests, or Challenges. These can be extremely simple quests, such as kill a handful of mobs or complete several Guildhests. Whilst waiting for a Guildhest these can be done in quite quick succession. The Challenge Log resets every week, so it's worth finishing them off if you find yourself having to wait around.
FATES
FATES are boss fights that will spawn in the world at intervals. You will not be able to fight them alone, so you will need to group up with other like-minded adventurers to take them down. You may get these as targets in your Hunting Log, but apart from that it won’t give as much EXP as a Guildhest or a story quest. There are groups of players who will be purposefully hunting down FATES, so again it could be a good way to farm some EXP when you’re waiting around for a Guildhest group.
Guildleves
Once you have finished the story quests, then your main source of EXP will be the Guildleves, the repeatable quests that you can do everyday, along with the Guildhests described below. These are not difficult quests that can be completed rather easily. You can set them to the highest difficulty, and do them a few levels below, and earn nearly double you would get off of a standard story quest. This is quite good! Some of them can be solved without combat as well which makes them especially easy and useful for all players.
Dzemael Darkhold Guildhest
Guildhests are the instanced areas that you can either take part in solo or in a group. At level 44 you can enter a Guildhest called Dzemael Darkhold Guildhest. A common tactic to gain EXP fast is to clear the first room, leave the area, come back and repeat. This may not be as fun but you will level up very quickly.