New to Crafting, Need Advice

[Kincade]

What's the best (fastest) way to level a craft? I started as a Leatherworker and I find it a bit slow-going. I've made one of everything available on my Log and have done the levemetes a few times, but is there a way to speed things up a little?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Koga_Edge]

have you joined a GC yet? you'll be able to turn something available to your craft/lvl for exp(decent for your level) and seals, this helps abit.
you can also turn in quests as your crafter for a boost,

[Johnist]

1 - Craft HQ Items / Raise Quality while Crafting
2 - Turn in HQ Items for Levequests (200% Bonus) / Turn in HQ Items for Supply Mission (GC) (50% Bonus)

[HEC]

Thanks for the tips Johnist!

[Kincade]

Thanks. I *just* joined a GC, but I haven't done anything with them yet. I'll look into it when I log in tonight...

[Aurelious]

Thank you Koga and Johnist. I have been wondering why I had 5 provisioning and two gathering per day for my Grand Company and my wife only had two for provision and 1 for gathering, it never dawned on me that was because I had 5/8 crafts unlocked and all gathers and she only had 2 craft /1 gathering. So I'll get the rest unlocked for both of us so we have maximum turn ins a day for seals.
Also, you don't have to be that class when you turn in to get the exp for that class. It will allocate it automatically and level up if necessary (will say in chat box which class leveled). I have had fun doing the crafting to make the equipment (if in a rush I can buy what it wants but this is like all things, gil =/= time dependant on person)
*EDIT DUE TO LENGTH*
Biggest thing I can advise for crafting is DO NOT QUICK SYNTHESIZE as this will cut the EXP by half. This would only be done when it would no longer award you xp would you want this option. Also try to boost Quality as much as you can, as this will increase xp per craft by a noticable margin...but never at the risk of failing the synth. Just keep an eye on CP, Durability and progress (always progress once first so you know how much you will progress per option) that way you can calculate how many turns you will need to finish it, then work on quality. also dont forget that fails do occur and to risk accordingly.

[Bixby]

...and have done the levemetes a few times...

That's... uh... not the strategy I would employ. (Levemetes are NPCs.)

Always push quality as high as you safely can. Even if you don't actually HQ, you get bonus XP for raising the quality. And if/when you get to recipes that take other crafted items you can make yourself, do so. It's a bit slower to get the end result, but it's much more XP for me to go iron ore > iron ingot > iron plate/rivet > iron whatever than it would be to just buy the iron plates/rivets (also cheaper in most cases), especially since I can push quality up on every individual step.

Leveling the other crafting classes can also help. Each crafting class gets a skill at level 15 that all the other DoH classes can pick up as a cross-class skill. Some of them are very nice to have.

[Orophin]

I've been leveling my mining alongside my goldsmithing, and after gathering a stack of materials I can usually get about two levels (mileage may vary based on craft level) off of that by pushing quality to the max while still being able to finish the synth. I'm regularly getting 200-250% bonus XP from boosting quality.

[Kincade]

Thanks for all the advice. That, along with a crafting macro I found, helped me zip through a few levels last night. Very much appreciated

[Johnist]

The 'Condition' of the Item means how much your QUALITY will increase (if 'Touch' ability is Successful). Note: Anytime you have an EXCELLENT 'Condition', the following step will ALWAYS be 'Poor' condition. The following are the Conditions and their Touch multiplier:
Poor - .5 Quality increase
Normal - 1.0 Quality increase
Good - 1.5 Quality increase
Excellent - 2.0 Quality increase

Remember, that each DoH gets a CROSS-CLASS Ability at Level 15. At the moment I've only got 2 above 15, so these are the 2 'Cross Class' DoH I have.
Carpenter - Rumination (Removes Inner Quiet and Restores CP Based upon # of Times Quality increased)
Goldsmith - Manipulation (Cost 88, Durability increases by 10 after each step for next 3 steps. If Durability hits 0 and progress is not full, Synthesis still fails.)

My Combo:
Inner Quiet
Steady Hand
Manipulation
3x Quality increase (Medium if available)
Progress / Rumination.