FFXIV Leatherworker Guide - Make Gear for Your Damage Dealers!

FFXIV Leatherworker Guide

Leatherworker is one of the FFXIV crafting classes focused mainly on creating a specific category of armor. Almost all physical DPS jobs wear leather armor in the game (Dragoon is the only exception to this rule). So if you want to main Ninja, Monk, Samurai, Bard, Machinist, or Dancer – you might want to prioritize Leatherworker as your most important crafting class.

This Disciple of Hand can also synthesize various accessories that are based on leather, as well as some shields for caster classes and fist weapons for Monk and Pugilist. Finally, you can craft some gear for Disciples of Hand and Disciples of Land. Leatherworker’s tools are knives and awls. You can get your first knife, by going to the Leatherworker’s Guild in Old Gridania and completing the initial, simple quest called Way of the Leatherworker. However, you need one of your combat classes to be at least level 10 to start leveling a Disciple of Hand. Don’t forget to complete the class quests along the way!

List of Leatherworker Class Quests

You can usually craft the objective of the quest before even being eligible to accept it. We recommend to do that whenever possible, to save some time.

At the same time, you don’t actually have to craft the quest objectives. You can buy them or get them from other players - the NPCs will still accept them and present you with the quest rewards. The same goes for levequest objectives. That being said, the crafting process itself also grants some experience that can add up to a large sum over time. Moreover, synthesizing these items is the more cost-efficient way of leveling any crafting class. We recommend that you craft all the items yourself unless you don’t know what to do with your Gil.  

How does FFXIV Crafting Work?

The crafting process in Final Fantasy XIV is affected by three major factors. Two of them are attributes that increase the efficiency of your actions. The third one is the resource that allows for performing these abilities. You can boost all three of these stats with sufficient crafting equipment.

Craftsmanship – it increases the efficiency of your most basic crafting actions that increase your progress. It helps with successfully synthesizing items, but does not affect quality.

Control – it empowers your crafting actions that are responsible for increasing the item’s quality. It’s not that important in the early levels, but crafting HQ items becomes significant quite quickly.

Crafting Points (CP) – the resource necessary to perform most crafting actions. The more difficult items can require more actions and a longer crafting process to be created. It probably won’t happen at the early levels, but later on, there can be situations when you fail a craft because you run out of CP. Keep that in mind when upgrading your equipment.

Crafting Process

Pressing the Synthesize button next to an item in your Crafting Log opens up a new dialogue window. The crafting screen displays the most important information regarding the ongoing process. Understanding the indicators and keeping track of them is crucial to your success as Leatherworker and any other crafter.

Progression Bar – it shows how far away you are from completing the process. It’s the most crucial stat since it literally “makes or breaks” the crafted item.

Quality Bar – it indicates your efforts in creating a high quality (HQ) item. The bar shows how far away you are from the maximum that you can get. Below it, you can see a percentage chance of getting the HQ product when you finish the process.

Durability – it shows how many attempts you still have to finish the process. Most crafting actions reduce the item’s durability by 1 (but there are some that can regenerate it). Running out of durability before filling the progression bar, results in a failed crafting process.

Condition – it’s a small feature that makes crafting HQ or collectible items a bit more complex. It’s a unique factor that affects quality-increasing actions. The condition changes after every turn in the crafting process.

Leatherworker Leveling Guide

All the FFXIV Disciples of Hand have a very similar leveling process. Besides the standard experience rewards for successful crafting attempts, it utilizes a few additional mechanics. First of all, there are various turn-in systems in Final Fantasy XIV. Starting with the most standard Grand Company turn-ins that don’t offer great rewards besides the first few levels, ending on multiple custom deliveries that provide really valuable prizes for collectible items after level 50.

Levequests are another great source of experience for crafting classes. They’re repeatable assignments that can grant you additional experience and Gil for providing high-quality items. These tasks will be the primary source of your experience for quite a few levels. However, levequests are limited by allowances. Each FF14 character gets 3 of them every 12 hours and can store up to 100. Taking a levequest costs a single allowance. We recommend collecting a lot of allowances before going into the leveling process.

Finally, if you ever decided to grind EXP by simply crafting a ton of items (it can be a good idea if you need some specific refined materials), you can increase your gains with the right consumable item. They’re called engineering manuals, and they can vary in terms of the effectiveness of the provided bonuses.

Level 1-15

Getting through these levels is relatively easy. As we mentioned, leve allowances are quite valuable, so we’re going to keep them for later levels. Instead, you can focus on Grand Company turn-ins. Their rewards are more than enough to get you through the early levels. Furthermore, the experience of crafting items is also quite significant at this point. It makes buying an engineering manual and just crafting whatever items you can another viable option.

In the meantime, don’t forget about your class quests. The first one requires crafting Leather. It consists of 1 Earth Shard and 1 Animal Skin. Then, at level 5, you’re going to need 3 Leather Chokers. Each one is made of 1 Earth Shard, 1 Wind Shard, 1 Leather, and 1 Animal Sinew. The level 10 Leatherworker quest requires 12x Hard Leather. The recipe for 1 is 1 Earth Shard and 1 Animal Hide.

Finally, for the next class quest, you will need to bring two items. Hard Leather Caligae can be crafted with 1 Earth Shard, 1 Wind Shard, 1 Hard Leather, 1 Beast Sinew, and 1 Bronze Rivets. Meanwhile, Hard Leather Choker has a very similar recipe, consisting of 1 Earth Shard, 1 Wind Shard, 1 Hard Leather, and 1 Beast Sinew.

Level 15-20

Level 15 is an excellent point to start using the leve allowances. The value of experience from crafting process and the Grand Company turn-ins diminishes quite heavily. Meanwhile, leves offer nice rewards, especially if you provide the HQ items (it’s really important if you want to be efficient with your allowances – and you definitely should be).

Every level tier features multiple levequests. Some of them are often more efficient than the others (in terms of difficulty, material prices, et cetera). The best ones for this tier are Skin of Their Backs and A Rush on Ringbands. The first one requires Aldogoat Leather that’s crafted out of 1 Earth Shard, 1 Aldgoat Skin, and 1 Alumen. To complete the latter, you will need Hard Leather Wristband – they’re made of 1 Earth Shard, 1 Wind Shard, 1 Hard Leather, 2 White Coral, and 1 Fish Glue.

The level 20 class quest requires melding materia. It can be done with the help of a dedicated NPC, but you can also do it yourself if you complete a quest called Waking the Spirit given by F’hobhas in The Bonfire. After that, you can make the Goatskin Leggings out of 1 Earth Shard, 1 Wind Shard, 2x Aldgoat Leather, and 1 Undyed Cotton Cloth. Then, you can finally meld them with any level 1 materia and turn them in.

Level 20-25

At this point, we’re going to recommend something called a “triple leve.” It’s a levequest that lets you turn in the objective three times, for only a single allowance. This type of assignment is often going to be valuable since it usually requires rather easy items to craft, and the triple reward can sometimes outweigh the other options.

In this tier, the best triple is called Packing a Punch, and it requires Hard Leather Cesti. They’re made of really cheap materials: 1 Earth Shard, 1 Wind Shard, 1 Aldgoat Leather, 1 Beast Sinew, and 2 Bronze Ingot. It’s the best option in terms of the amount of Gil that you have to spend on mats. If you care more about the allowance efficiency and experience gains, you can go for a more expensive, single leve called Open to Attack. Its objective is a Goatskin Jacket. It’s made of 2 Earth Shards, 1 Wind Shard, 3x Aldgoat Leather, and 1 Beast Sinew.

The level 25 Leatherworker quest is the first one that requires a high-quality item to be completed. You were probably already crafting HQ items for increased levequest rewards, but it still might be a good idea to upgrade your gear with some Control. For the HQ Toad Leather, you’re going to need 2 Earth Shards, 1 Gigantoad Skin, and 1 Alumen.

Level 25-30

The best triple levequest in this tier is called Belts Served Cold, and it requires a Voyager’s Belt. This item’s recipe consists of 2 Earth Shards, 1 Wind Shard, 1 Aldgoat Leather, 1 Beast Sinew, and 1 Iron Ingot. For a more time effective, but also more expensive and difficult option, you can go with Just Rewards. This assignment requires turning in Goatskin Wristband. You can craft them with 3 Earth Shards, 2 Wind Shards, 1 Aldgoat Leather, 2 White Corals, and 1 Fish Glue.

To complete the next class quest, you’re going to need an HQ Toadskin Jacket. This item is made of 3 Earth Shards, 3 Wind Shards, 2x Toad Leather, 1 Aldgoat Leather, and 1 Diremite Sinew.

Level 30-35

In this tier, once again, we’re going to recommend one single and one triple leve. The best single is called Slave to Fashion, and it asks you to bring a Boarskin Choker. Its recipe is 4 Earth Shards, 3 Wind Shards, 1 Boar Leather, and 1 Hippogryph Sinew. As far as triple leves go, we recommend the Subordinate Clause. You’re going to have to craft a Goatskin Choker – this accessory is made of 2 Earth Shards, 2 Wind Shards, 1 Aldgoat Leather, and 1 Diremite Sinew.

At level 35, the Leatherworker quest requires HQ Boarskin Ringbands. They consist of 4 Earth Shards, 4 Wind Shards, 1 Boar Leather, and 1 Steel Ingot.

Level 35-40

We still rely on levequests as the primary source of experience. Supply Side Logic is a triple leve that requires 5x Boar Skin (so 15 for the triple reward). This material is crafted from 4 Earth Shards, 1 Boar Hide, and 1 Alumen. As for singles, Through a Glass Brightly is a great option. To complete this assignment, you’ll have to bring Fingerless Peisteskin Gloves. They consist of 4 Earth Shards, 4 Wind Shards, 2 Peiste Leathers, 1 Boar Leather, and 1 Steel Rivets.

The next class quest has HQ Boarskin Smithy’s Gloves as its objective. You can synthesize them with 5 Earth Shards, 4 Wind Shards, 2 Boar Leathers, 1 Hippogryph Sinew, and 1 Steel Ingot.

Level 40-45

Levequests in this tier is not that great. Some of the items might be quite difficult to make. Others can be expensive or offer underwhelming rewards. That being said, leves remain the most effective way of gaining experience; you just have to pick the right ones.

Foot Blues requires you to bring Boarskin Moccasins. Their recipe is 5 Earth Shards, 4 Wind Shards, 1 Boar Leather, 1 Aldgoat Leather, 1 Hippogryph Sinew, and 1 Rubber. You can also choose a slightly more expensive, but also a more lucrative option in The Birdmen of Ishgard. To complete this assignment, you’ll have to craft a pair of Boarskin Culottes. They consist of 5 Earth Shards, 4 Wind Shards, 2 Boar Leathers, and 2 Undyed Woolen Cloths.

The level 45 Leatherworker quest is quite advanced since it asks you to bring three high-quality items. Fingerless Raptorskin Gloves are made of 5 Earth Shards, 5 Wind Shards, 2 Raptor Leathers, 1 Boar Leather, and 1 Cobalt Rivets. Raptorskin Choker can be crafted with 5 Earth Shards, 5 Wind Shards, 1 Raptor Leather, and 1 Raptor Sinew. Finally, Raptorskin Targe consists of 5 Earth Shards, 5 Wind Shards, 1 Raptor Leather, 1 Aldgoat Horn, 1 Mythril Rivet, and 1 Oak Lumber.

Level 45-50

Don’t worry if you’re starting to run out of leve allowances – after this tier, you’re going to use less of them. However, we still need levequests to reach level 50 breakpoint. The assignment called Tenderfoot Moments requires crafting a pair of Hunting Moccasins. They’re made of 6 Earth Shards, 5 Wind Shards, 2 Boar Leathers 1 Raptor Sinew, and 1 Rubber. Another good option is called Spelling Me Softly, and its objective is bringing 5 Raptor Leathers. Each one can be crafted with 5 Earth Shards, 1 Raptor Skin, and 1 Black Alumen.

The next class quest used to be the final one in the vanilla version of the game, back when level 50 was the maximum you could get. It requires Raptorskin Jerkin melded with Gatherer’s Grasp Materia III. The base item consists of 6 Earth Shards, 5 Wind Shards, 2 Raptor Leathers, 1 Boar Leather, 1 Undyed Felt, and 1 Electrum Ingot. This quest will reward you with a handy Leatherworker knife.

Level 50-60

As we mentioned, progressing past level 50 marks the slight departure from levequests as the primary source of experience. The expansions raised the level caps of all classes, but they also introduced some helpful ways of leveling them. We recommend prioritizing beast tribe daily quests and collectible turn-ins.

Moogles Daily Quests

The Moogle dailies are a great way of getting some cheap and easy experience as a Disciple of Hand. Unlocking them and getting some Moogle reputation is worth considering. Even if you don’t have enough Gil to buy expensive materials or get a high-end crafting gear, you can still progress with the beast tribe dailies. The biggest problem is the fact that you have to finish a quest chain that consists of 20 tasks. That said, as soon as you unlock them on your character, you can use them for all your Disciples of Hand, so it’s even more worth it if you’re planning to level more crafters. The first quest in the line is A Pebble for Your Thoughts and the last one’s called Trick and Stones. They’re all based around the Moogles’ territory – The Churning Mists.

The Splendors Exchange

The first collectible turn-in system in the game is associated with Rowena’s House of Splendors. To get access to it, you have to complete a quest called Inscrutable Tastes. The way it works is straightforward. Every day, Rowena posts a new list of items that are in demand. You can craft these collectible items and turn them in for really worthwhile rewards. Besides large amounts of experience and Gil, you’ll also receive crafting scrips. You can later trade them for some useful items for Disciples of Hand. Unfortunately, the amount of these deliveries that you can make every week is limited.

Level 50-60 Class Quests

At level 53, you’re going to have to craft HQ Wyvernskin Workboots. They’re made of 4 Earth Crystals, 3 Wind Crystals, 2 Wyvern Leathers, 1 Holy Rainbow Cloth, 1 Rainbow Thread, and 1 Rubber. Then, the level 55 quest requires HQ Dhalmelskin Leggings of Scouting. They can be crafted with 4 Earth Crystals, 4 Wind Crystals, 2 Dhalmel Leathers, 1 Ramie Cloth, 1 Titanium Ingot, and 1 Rubber.

The next Leatherworker quest becomes available at level 58. Its objective is an HQ Dragonksin Choker. This accessory consists of 5 Earth Crystals, 5 Wind Crystals, 1 Dragon Leather, 1 Hardsilver Ingot, and 1 Ramie Thread. Finally, the level 60 class quest requests crafting a Chivalric Longcoat of Aiming. This physical ranged DPS body armor is made of 2 Earth Clusters, 1 Wind Cluster, 3 Amphiptere Leathers, 1 Chimerical Felt, 2 Aurum Regis Nuggets, 2 Dawnborne Aethersands, and 2x Grade 1 Dexterity Dissolvent.

Level 60-70

This tier is exceptionally similar to the previous one. You can get access to a new set of dailies that offer better rewards. Namazu Beast Tribe Quests also require a chain of quests to be unlocked, but it’s a slightly shorter one. The line of 14 tasks starts with Courage the Cowardly Lupin and ends on Tricks and Stones. The dailies themselves are once again really easy and cheap.

Custom Deliveries

This level range offers a bit more options in terms of the collectible turn-ins. Of course, you can still use the House of Splendors, but higher-level ventures offer slightly more lucrative rewards. At level 60, you can get access to M’naago Custom Deliveries in Rhalgr’s Reach. It’s unlocked with a quest called None Forgotten, None Forsaken.

Then, when you hit level 62, you can get access to Kurenai’s Custom Deliveries, you have to complete the quest: The Palace of Lost Souls. Finally, at 66, you can unlock Adkiragh’s Custom Deliveries in Idyllshire with the quest Between a Rock and the Hard Place. Sadly, the weekly allowances are shared between all the custom deliveries (with the exclusion of The Splendors Exchange, even though it works very similarly).

Post 60 Class Quests

The remaining class quests are pretty much a formality. The task givers provide you with all the necessary materials besides the elemental crystals, and the recipes are straightforward. At level 63, you have to craft an HQ Large Dhalmel Cape. Then, at 65, you have to provide HQ Grizzly Bear Gloves. The objective of level 68 Leatherworker quest is an HQ Dashing Dhalmelskin Jacket. Finally, for the level 70 task, you’ll make an HQ Large Gagana Cape.

Level 70-80

The recent Shadowbringers expansion increased the level cap by another 10. At the same time, it didn’t provide that much leveling content for crafters and gatherers. There are no new advancement quests for these classes. Instead, there is one new custom delivery system and a new mechanic called Crystarium Deliveries. They group several Disciples of Hand and Disciples of Land to provide them with shared quests. You can unlock them with a quest called The Crystalline Mean at level 70.

At level 70, you should complete the quest called Oh, Beehive Yourself, to get access to Kai-shirr’s Custom Deliveries in Eulmore. In terms of leveling, you probably have to rely on custom deliveries as much as possible. You can do some levequests, but they’re not that effective anymore. In the first few levels past 70, you can keep doing the Namazu dailies, since they’ll remain quite valuable. There’s not much more beyond that.

FF14 Leatherworker

At this point, you should be a level 80 Leatherworker (or close to it). You can start crafting endgame gear for your favorite physical DPS job and make some Gil by selling your products to other players. Leatherworking is a great class that can provide useful equipment for many combat jobs as well as crafting and gathering classes.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a successful MMORPG by Square Enix. The game takes place in the beautifully designed land called Eorzea. FF14 has already received three large expansion packs: Heavensward, Stormblood, and most recently - Shadowbringers.