This guide assumes you have the armory bonus and are using food. It was also written using the Aetheryte earrings 1-70 (pre-order bonus f/Shadowbringers), the Brand-New Ring 1-30 (Hall of the Novice completion reward) and Friendship Circlet 1-25 (Recruit a Friend reward.) The 10% exp buff from the FC actions was also up. I was using the Squadron Battle Manual which is from Grand Company squadron missions. It does not stack with the FC Heat of Battle buff but it gives rank 3. If you do not have these, add an extra run on each dungeon to reach your goal. If you have the road to 60 buff, you can subtract one run roughly from each dungeon set till 60.
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Use Food
Grege The Tap Keeper (x5.4, y6.6) In the Gold Saucer sells cheap food with a stat bonus. One stack should be more than enough to get you from 1-70 while having the food buff up 100% of the time. Using food the entire time you are leveling earns you roughly 3 Million EXP from 1-70.
This guide also assumes you are logging out and getting rested each day. Rested is only gained from logging out in safe areas (i.e. any place with an aetheryte) If you see the moon next to your exp bar you are building rested.
If you don’t like using the duty finder, you can run many of these dungeons with your Grand Company squadron and just do full clears. If you clear 10 dungeons with your squadron you also get a set of workout emotes as a bonus.
The Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High runs chart is down at the bottom, if you are curious.
Things to do while you are in queue
- Side quests
- Fates
- Your hunt log (this gives a ton of exp)
- Hunts (50+) Your daily hunts give a lot of exp. The Stormblood ones give roughly 100k exp per mob set. That is 100k for killing 1-3 mobs. Do them between dungeons.
- Beast tribe quests (The Stormblood ones are the best ones. They give 1.5-3 million exp PER DAY if you do all 6 of them) Beast tribe quests give more experience when you finish reping up them (Bloodsworn reputation or better).
Bonus tip. Use your chocobo, or as I like to call it my chocobro. Stuff will die faster, and it will level too! Also doing your sightseeing log while in queue in HW and SB zones does give a tiny bit of exp each one you complete. It is like 20-50k~ each. It’s better than nothing. So if you see one of those glowing orbs /lookout or /pray in them. Some only work at specific times of day(ex dawn like one of the ones in the ruby sea) and in specific weather. (ex fog.)
Or level a gatherer. The WORST thing you can do while in queue is nothing. Mostly because then you have time to be bored, and boredom causes burnout. It’s a game. It’s meant to be fun. If you aren’t having fun why are you playing? If you get tired of doing one thing do something else for a while. Change it up. Do something new.
Roulettes by order of exp given vs time
- Alliance
- Leveling
- Trials
- Normal raids
- MSQ
- 50/60
- Guildhest (Seriously, these are terrible unless you are like level 10)
Goals for each day
- Each “day” is roughly 4 hours or so of play time, the exception is day 2. It is roughly twice as long as the others. If you feel it is too much for you for one day I would recommend splitting it into two days and only doing 10 levels each day. (Not including queues)
- Day 1 1-30
- Day 2 30-52
- Day 3 52-60/61
- Day 4 60/61-65/67
- Day 5 65/67-70
Day 1
Levels 1-10 or 15
Step 1 Make a friend.
Step 2 Have friend follow you around and 1 shot everything for you while not in a party that you tag all the way to level 10 or 15. Start in the area where your hunt log is so you can kill those too, or just have your friend help you with the first part of your log so you get the bonus exp. This takes 10 to 30 minutes tops. If you don’t have friends you get to do PotD for the next 3 hours or fates.
Between 15 and 30 PotD and running dungeons gives similar exp for time. You will get 1-2 levels per dungeon run or about a level per PotD run. Do what you like best. Do your leveling roulette whenever you are ready to be done for the day that way it will give you the most exp.
At 30 DO YOUR JOB QUEST
Day 2
This is the long day. Feel free do split it into more than one if you like or do your MSQ roulette at the start of day three. For me the the fun really starts at 50+. it is why I try to get so much done in this day.
From 30
- Haukke manor 1x
- Level 32 Brayflox 3x
- Level 35 Qarn 3x
- Level 38 Cutter Cry 2x sometimes fates or a 3rd run is required
- Level 41 Stone Vigil 2-3x
- Level 44 Dark hold 2x
- Do a Leveling roulette or your hunt log
- Level 47 Aurum Vale 2x (You should be 50 after this, depending on how much you skip. LET THE PODS HATCH you get SO much more exp if you let them hatch before killing them)
- MSQ roulette If you get Praetorium you get ALMOST 2 levels with no rested IF you do it as SOON as you hit level 50. DO YOUR JOB QUEST
- Do your Trials roulette
- Do your Alliance roulette.
- Catch up on your class quests if you haven’t.
Day 3
DPS keep following this, but Tanks and healers you have a choice here. Do every dungeon once. And I mean EVERY dungeon. Start at the level 50 ones and go from there. Do them all. Hard modes included. This should get you to Stormblood if you do all of the dungeons from 50 all the in-between ones and all of the level 60 ones as well. There are 17 level 50 dungeons, 5 in between dungeons and 13 level 60 dungeons. By the time you do them all once you should be at least probably halfway through Stormblood, then you can continue on with those, starting with Sirensong. This is the more fun way and it is a good way to learn your class. It is MORE runs but it isn’t boring, because everything is new. I do not recommend this for DPS because some of these queues can be quite long if you don’t have a tank or healer queueing with you.
- Level 53 Sohm Al 3x or 2 and a leveling roulette if you have it. (or save it to skip a vault run)
- Level 55 The Aery 3x
- Do your alliance roulette.
- Level 57 The Vault. You have a choice to make here do it or do a lot of PotD side quests and fates, or do the vault 3 times and then your leveling roulette, and your trails, and your 50/60.
- Level 59 Gubal 3x Or 2 runs and then completing your fate challenge for the week and a few HW beast tribe dailies. You really only need 2.5 gooble runs.
- At 60 DO YOUR JOB QUEST.
Choices again at 60, I tend to do my roulettes first thing here to get right into Stormblood dungeons. Alliance + Leveling + Trials will get you to 61 or you can just run Gubal Library another 4 times. If you don’t have enough poetics you can alternatively do the Aetherochemical Research Facility. It gives roughly 300 poetics a run and people need it for the MSQ so you quite often get the first time bonus poetics with it. Do your Stormblood beast tribe dailies once you hit 60 if you have them unlocked.
Day 4
Your leveling and alliance roulettes here pretty much each remove one of the runs needed from either dungeon. Use your trails when you don’t quite have enough exp to push you into Violet Tides, same with your Stormblood beast tribe dailies. 50/60 is hit or miss at this point. Normal raids is about 5% of a level in 5 to 10 minutes. Do it for funzies or if you need that little extra.
- Level 61-63 Sirensong Sea 6 runs (w/out rested)
- Level 63-65 Violet Tides 7 (w/out rested)
Day 5
- Level 65-67 Bardam’s Mettle 6-7 runs of this place or 3 runs your leveling roulette, your alliance roulette and your trials roulette. (If you have had lots of fast queues and haven’t been doing your hunts or fates or beast tribes you might need a 50/60 run here if you don’t have much rested as well.) I always pick option B because I hate this dungeon.
- Level 67-69 Doma Castle 6 runs, unless you have 3 friends, if you have 3 friends you can queue up kill everything up to and including the first boss and then leave and do it again. Should take you maybe 5 minutes to do this and gives you a mil, mil and a half of exp. Do this 15-17 times (if you don’t have rested) like 10 times if you do. Should take you an hour, hour and a half. It’s mind numbing but it is the fastest way.
- Level 69 Castrum Abania. Run this 3 times (if you have no rested, 2.5 really) 2 times if you have rested. Don’t bother with anything else. Nothing else gives this much exp. One run of Castrum without rested is something like 3.5million exp. (4.5million~ with rested) Not even your Alliance or MSQ roulette gives that much exp. Sometimes the queue can be long 15-20 minutes, but at this level your Stormblood beast tribe quests will give 350k~ each. Meaning if you do them and maybe one or two hunts, you can shave off that third run of Castrum. Your beast tribes and your hunts for the day will give you roughly 3mil or so, which /should/ give you just though exp to shave off that last run, if you are luckily. If you aren’t, do a fate or two, or just complete your fate challenge log for the week if you haven’t.
Grats you are 70! DO YOUR JOB QUEST
PoTD
Total Runs: 96
Level 1: 1 runs
Level 3: 1 runs
Level 6: 1 runs
Level 9: 1 runs
Level 11: 1 runs
Level 13: 1 runs
Level 15: 1 runs
Level 17: 1 runs
Level 18: 1 runs
Level 20: 1 runs
Level 21: 1 runs
Level 22: 1 runs
Level 23: 1 runs
Level 24: 1 runs
Level 25: 1 runs
Level 26: 1 runs
Level 27: 2 runs
Level 28: 1 runs
Level 29: 1 runs
Level 30: 1 runs
Level 31: 2 runs
Level 32: 1 runs
Level 33: 1 runs
Level 34: 2 runs
Level 35: 1 runs
Level 36: 2 runs
Level 37: 1 runs
Level 38: 2 runs
Level 39: 2 runs
Level 40: 1 runs
Level 41: 2 runs
Level 42: 2 runs
Level 43: 1 runs
Level 44: 2 runs
Level 45: 2 runs
Level 46: 2 runs
Level 47: 2 runs
Level 48: 2 runs
Level 49: 2 runs
Level 50: 2 runs
Level 51: 3 runs
Level 52: 2 runs
Level 53: 3 runs
Level 54: 4 runs
Level 55: 3 runs
Level 56: 4 runs
Level 57: 5 runs
Level 58: 4 runs
Level 59: 5 runs
Level 60: 8 runs
Heaven on High
Total Runs: 42
Level 61: 4 runs
Level 62: 4 runs
Level 63: 4 runs
Level 64: 4 runs
Level 65: 5 runs
Level 66: 5 runs
Level 67: 5 runs
Level 68: 5 runs
Level 69: 6 runs
I wrote this guide after leveling 6 jobs to 70 in about a month and a half and figured I should share all the little tips and tricks I picked up along the way, because i had people constantly asking how I leveled so fast. Well now you know.
Tips for gearing while leveling.
First off. EVEN IF IT IS A DOWNGRADE keep it if it is AT YOUR LEVEL. A lot of these dungeons, especially the later ones, give you a gear piece from the set that drops in them. Example for those of you with the leveling earring KEEP THE EARINGS THAT DROP. This prevents the dungeon from giving you the earring for 3 runs. Same goes for gear that is not an upgrade. Eventually the dungeon WILL give you an upgrade you need, Your chance of getting one you do need goes up if you keep the gear you don’t. Also that being said if you plan on leveling multiple jobs in the same classification, melee for example, these jobs share gear. Keep your old gear. Then you will have it for when you level the next class. Like if you level your Monk first keep the gear and level SAM next. SAM and MNK use the same gear outside of weapons. DRG shares right side with them. NIN shares its right side with BRD and MCH. Save yourself the trouble of regearing. At 50 and at 60 your biggest upgrade you can get is the Ironworks [Mor Dhona (22.8, 6.7) is where you buy the ironworks gear] and Shire weapon [Idyllshire (5.7 , 5.2) is where you buy shire gear] respectively. You should have plenty of poetics to buy them and augment them. The ironworks gear can be augmented at North Shroud (30.4 , 20.1). It’s the Fallgourd Float aether. Shire gear can be augmented in Idyllshire (6.6, 7.3) from Seika the gear improver. Carbontwine is what you need to augment Ironworks weapons 1 per weapon. Illuminati Deepest Gobdip is what you want to augment shire weapons you only need one per weapon. After that your chest and legs are you biggest upgrades.
Making dungeons go faster. The best tip for this is to do the entire dungeon like as if it were one big boss fight. Use your damage cool downs on trash. Trash is 90% of the dungeon. Make it die faster. Stuff that dies faster has less time to kill the tank and is less stress on the healer. Tanks USE COOL DOWNS ON TRASH. If you don’t know if you can handle it use a cool down. Keep one up at all times. Don’t blow them all at once. Your healer will love you and it will let them dps more. If your healer gets to dps stuff dies faster. The dungeon goes faster. Also be friendly. Say hi when you enter one and thanks for the party when you finish the run. Happy people are more likely to try harder resulting in faster runs. If you need help or tips on how to play your class join the Balance discord. They have guides on how to play every class at peak performance. They even have crafting and gathering guides.
