How do you level crafts?

[AamesxDavid]

Not going to lie: my initial intention was to simply make a post bitching to SE about the (lack of) local leves, but at most, I'm sure it would just start a flame war. So what the hell, you guys probably know more about this than me: how the hell do you level your crafting classes?

I've been trying to rely solely on local leves, but boy do those dry up quick above level 30ish. Particularly for Alchemy. I can't find a leve above level 30 for Alchemy, meaning there is not one SINGLE useful leve for my 36 Alchemist. Am I really supposed to be repeating the one level 30 Alchemy leve in Ul'dah over and over for the paltry amount of experience I get from it?

Do you guys just have to end up buying your materials to grind? Any suggestions for recipes? I've tried buying the materials for the most basic recipes around my level, but I only found about a dozen crafts' worth of materials. With no local leves and no materials to buy, that leaves me with having to farm materials, extending the amount of time it's going to take me to get the two levels I need for my Alchemist exponentially.

Would it be that hard for SE to make sure there's at least ONE local leve for each level range? I've heard this complaint from others about other crafting classes, so why does it seem like nothing has been done?

I can only guess that SE is just setting aside crafting revisions until 2.0 because people don't like crafting as much right now, but couldn't they at least make it a little more accessible in the mean time? I never crafted in FFXI because it was such a pain, and so when I saw the local leve system, I thought it was brilliant. Why abandon the best thing FFXIV's crafting had going for it?

Sorry, trying not to rant. Anyway, suggestions?

[Pawberry]

Just craft tons of teensy-weensy stuff. Sure, it might take you longer, but whatever. It's one way. I'm sure others have suggestions. Find a way to turn lead into gold.

[Wobi]

Every now and then you run in a 1-3 level range where there are just no good leves. Find a decent synth you can make fairly inexpensively in a large quantity to get you past the rut. 40 and 45 leves are gravy. Not sure if there are any 50's, somehow I feel that final stretch is going to be the death of me.

[Antanias]

If you're gonna craft, you might consider leveling a gathering job that can supply the materials. Cuts down on costs and earns you more gil in the end.

[Teakwood]

I haven't leveled Alchemy on a character since early after release, but- have you looked in LL and Grid for leves? Sometimes individual cities have dry spots for leves in a certain range.

[Senuska]

I can say from experience that crafting is a time consuming process. To get the most EXP out of a synth (if there are no local leves to be found) is to craft things 9-10 levels about your current level. I did that with steel ingots on my armorer and i got 999 exp per synth. I use Mooglebox for all me recipes and crafting needs. It has an accurate list of things to craft and a very powerful array of filters.

[Valtrex]

I've found crafting to be the easier of the two. Try leveling Mining without leves, its fun getting 80xp per success when you need 100k to level.

[Nix]

Every now and then you run in a 1-3 level range where there are just no good leves. Find a decent synth you can make fairly inexpensively in a large quantity to get you past the rut. 40 and 45 leves are gravy. Not sure if there are any 50's, somehow I feel that final stretch is going to be the death of me.

Rely on your locals! Even though the actual synth xp may dry up a little, the bonus for completion is lovely

Now as for how I level. . . 1-40 I will farm the mats for if I can, leve if I need to fill a gap. But then 40-50 on locals only, sell the leve rewards for extra gil. The completion bonus usually hovers at around 3~4k per leve so it adds up nicely!

[indira]

crafting will probably be easier in 2.0. im just gonna wait till then to finsh. hard to stay awake while doing it now.

[Mikita]

The local leves tend to go by 10's with very few in between (level 25, 35, 45) ... so if you're level 20 ~ 24-ish then you get only a little EXP per synth doing level 20 leves, until you can undertake level 30 leves.

Because of this I usually just grind my way through, using my rested bonus and Engineering Manuals plus the 3% food bonus. If you find recipes that are just barely attemptable at your level then you can get quite a bit of EXP from ever synth. With the bonuses, 2000 ~ 4000 EXP per synth is quite possible... and at at least now the Quality if your synth really gives you more EXP.

The individual crafting class forums often have How To Level guides which are very helpful.

Gathering your own materials means you don't need to buy stuff, but you trade off your own time instead. The alternative is to look for cheap materials in the market wards (the How To guides often give this sort of advice as well) or find a Gathering partner if possible.

For Alchemy in particular, there are a number of level 41 recipes to create crystals... and the fish are often quite inexpensive. I'm also leveling Alchemy and Crimson Crayfish or Black Sole are abundant and cheap. Much better than doing the leves, IMHO.