FFXIV Dawntrail Guide FAQ: Answering the Most Common Questions

So You Just Hit Dawntrail, Now What

I remember loading into Tuliyollal for the first time. That city is overwhelming. Every NPC wants to give you a quest and the map feels like a maze for the first hour. So here's what I tell everyone who asks: MSQ first. Every time. No contest.

The MSQ gets you the level 100 cap, every dungeon, every trial, both new jobs, your first set of artifact gear. Side quests in Dawntrail give maybe a fifth of the XP of a single dungeon run. Honestly just skip em. Come back later if you really want the lore.

And yeah the MSQ is long. Roughly 40 to 50 hours with cutscenes. If you're tryharding for raid week one you can blitz it in maybe 25 to 30 hours by skipping everything. But the story... tbh it's kinda divisive this time around. My advice: watch the voiced cutscenes, skim the rest. Not sure about this but I think the English voice acting is actually better than Endwalker. Your mileage may vary.

Leveling to 100, What Actually Works

Between 90 and 100 you need about 47 million XP per job. The MSQ feeds exactly one job from 90 all the way to 100. So if you're leveling alts, you gotta have a plan.

I've tested pretty much everything at this point. Here's what actually works, from fastest to slowest.

Highest available dungeon spam is still king. Three to four runs per level depending on which dungeon you're running. Trusts give you zero queue time but slower clears because the NPCs don't AoE properly. Real players are faster but you might sit in queue for 10 minutes at off hours. So it kinda balances out.

Daily roulettes. Leveling plus MSQ roulette together is about 40 to 50 percent of a level per day. And Frontline PvP roulette is the dark horse. Huge XP, and here's the trick: queue as whatever job has the shortest wait, then swap to the job you actually want XP on before the match starts. I've done this for like six alts now. Works every time.

Bozja and Zadnor still work from 90 to 100. Roughly one level per hour with a decent group. Mindless but reliable.

FATE farming in Dawntrail zones is slower. Maybe 1.5 to 2 million XP per hour. But you're also grinding bicolor gemstones for the mount. If you need both anyway, it's not wasted time.

Wonderous Tails. One book turned in on the job you're leveling is half a level. Free. Weekly. Don't skip it. I forget half the time and then kick myself on Tuesday.

But here's the thing most guides don't mention. Armoury Bonus still works from 90 to 100. Any job below your highest gets double XP from everything. So level your main to 100 first, then every alt after gets the bonus. Combine that with Menphina's Earring if you pre-ordered, that's another 30 percent under level 100. Stacking these makes the grind way less painful than it looks on paper. Actually not painful at all, honestly.

Viper vs Pictomancer, Which One Should You Play

Both become available at level 80 in Ul'dah the second you register Dawntrail. No MSQ progress needed. So which one do you pick?

Viper is a melee DPS. Feels like a faster flashier Rogue with some Ninja DNA mixed in. Dual blades that combine into a twinblade. The core loop has you weaving flank and rear positionals to build Rattling Coils, then dumping them on big Reawaken hits. At 100 the burst window is about 15 seconds of pure weaving chaos. APM is around 43 to 45. Samurai territory. If you actually enjoy positionals you'll love Viper. If you hate them, tbh you'll still spend like 60 percent of each fight dancing between flank and rear anyway. No escape.

Pictomancer is a magical ranged DPS. Whole different vibe. You paint motifs. A creature, then a weapon, then a landscape. Each is a 3-second cast, and then you unleash them as instant-cast nukes during the burst window. The rhythm is about 45 seconds of painting prep into 15 seconds of absurd burst damage. A good PCT rivals Black Mage numbers, but you also get a party shield, a raid buff that gives plus 1 percent damage per party member, and actual mobility during filler phases. The catch? If you die you lose every painted motif and restart from zero. One death and your parse is gone. Brutal.

I've found that PCT parties tend to clear faster in prog because the raid buff compounds across 8 people. But Viper wins on pure personal DPS against a training dummy. In pug savage, PCT gets invited faster. For parsing, Viper is top 3 melee.

So my take: pick Viper if you want busy melee gameplay with a high skill ceiling. Pick PCT if you want caster flexibility with actual party utility. Both are strong. Both are fun. PCT punishes mistakes harder though. Like way harder.

Best Jobs at Level 100, What's Actually Good in 7.0

Based on savage clear data and rDPS logs after the 7.0 patch dropped.

Tanks: Dark Knight and Gunbreaker are basically tied for damage right now. Warrior still can't die. You can solo dungeon bosses from 40 percent HP. It's honestly kind of dumb how immortal they are. Paladin is fine. Just the boring pick.

Healers: Scholar is still the prog king with chain stratagem and fairy sustain. Astrologian got a rework. Cleaner card system, stronger burst heals. If Endwalker card RNG scared you off, give it another shot, it's way more approachable now. White Mage is simple and effective. Sage got minor buffs, nothing crazy.

Melee DPS: Samurai, Viper, and Reaper are top 3 in rDPS. Ninja's Trick Attack got nerfed enough that the raid contribution dropped noticeably. Monk got yet another rework and it's actually strong if you learn the new Blitz system. Dragoon is solidly middle of the pack. Consistent. Not flashy.

Ranged DPS: Dancer is the best physical ranged for party contribution. Bard buffs got consolidated so it's less piano keyboard now than before. A good Machinist out-damages a bad Dancer, but that's kinda always been true.

Caster DPS: Pictomancer and Black Mage are the top two. PCT for party utility, BLM for personal damage. Summoner is the easiest job in the entire game, almost braindead. Red Mage got some QoL love: faster melee combo and a bigger Verraise mana pool. So it's genuinely the best prog caster if your group wipes constantly. And mine does, so...

My honest picks if you're coming back to the game right now. Tank: Warrior if you want sustain to cover your mistakes, Gunbreaker if you want damage. Healer: Scholar is always in demand in PF, or White Mage for simple. Melee: Viper is new and strong, Samurai is always top tier. Ranged: Dancer is easy and PF always needs one. Caster: Pictomancer if you want the new hotness, Summoner if you want braindead easy.

Dungeons and Trials, Quick Reference

Dawntrail launched with 8 leveling dungeons and 3 expert dungeons. The three experts for your weekly tome cap are Worqor Zormor, Skydeep Cenote, and Vanguard. About 12 to 18 minutes each depending on your party. Decent runs. Not soul-crushing like some past expert roulettes.

Trials. Valigarmanda at level 93 is the first wall. The ice to fire transition catches people off guard every single run. Zoraal Ja at level 99 is the hardest MSQ trial. If you're healing, seriously watch a guide before queueing. The arena-wide after adds wipes unprepared parties like 90 percent of the time. I've seen it happen so many times it's almost funny. Almost.

Normal raids drop iLvl 710 gear and upgrade tokens. Alliance raid drops iLvl 720 with a weekly lockout. Run both every week if you're gearing.

Endgame Gearing Path at 100

The chill path to raid-ready in week one without losing your mind.

Finish MSQ. You get free iLvl 690 artifact gear, left side only. Run expert roulette and level 100 dungeons for iLvl 705 accessories. Cap your weekly Comedy tomes, 450 per week, for iLvl 720 tome gear. Do normal raids AAC 1 through 4 for iLvl 710 gear and upgrade tokens. Buy or craft iLvl 710 HQ pieces for whatever slots you're still missing. Augment tome gear to iLvl 730 with tokens from normal raids plus alliance coin. At around iLvl 715 to 720 average, you're savage-ready for floor 1. No joke.

Full left side plus weapon crafted gear costs about 3 to 5 million gil week one. Drops to 1 to 2 million by week three. With a crafter friend, materials are about 800k to 1.2 million. So worth it if you know someone.

And here's what nobody mentions. The 7.0 relic weapon isn't out yet. Square said 7.1 or 7.2, which probably means 7.2 honestly. So your weapon options at launch: Extreme trial at iLvl 715, crafted HQ at iLvl 710, or tome weapon at iLvl 730 which takes 7 weeks of tokens. Everkeep EX is the fastes path to a decent weapon. Farmable in an afternoon if your group knows the fight.

So for now the best route for most people is crafted 710, then Everkeep EX 715, and then wait for relic. If you're not doing savage week one, there's literally zero reason to rush the tome weapon. Spend your tomes on armor instead. The weapon slot will get sorted eventually.

Anyway that's where things stand right now. Patch 7.1 will probably shake everything up but for the launch window this is what I've been telling everyone who asks. Hope it helps.