If you are new to FFXIV, you might be drowning in blue unlock quests, and the game doesn’t tell you which ones are essential and which ones you could quickly put off later.
Remember, many blue unlock quests are gated behind the main story progression. So if you’re at the right level for something, but you don’t see it, check your MSQ level because you need not only your character to be at the right level, but your MSQ needs to be at that level or at least maybe beyond it.
I will not mention things that you automatically unlock from doing the MSQ or your class and job quest because that is your top priority. I’m just going to assume that you are doing that stuff first and getting all the unlocks that you naturally get from going through the story doing your class and job quests.
This tutorial aims to demonstrate which quests are critical and which may be postponed.
Level 10: Armoury
Class change becomes available upon completion of the first level 10 class quest. At level 10, you may access the other classes that were shown during character creation.
Level 15: Challenge Log
The challenge log is essential. Do not miss this because not unlocking it is like flushing XP down the toilet. It is a weekly log that gives you big XP just for doing stuff you’d probably do anyway, like doing dungeons, giving commendations to other players.
Glamours, Dye System, Aesthetician System: You can also unlock glamours, dyes, and the aesthetician. Obviously, these are not required, but it’s stuff that I would personally consider to be urgent, and the NPC who does the dye and glamour unlocks is right next to the waking sands where you’re going to be returning a lot.
Level 17: Access for Retainers
This is important since this is your bank, and it is how you list items for sale on the market board for other players to purchase, but you cannot hire a retainer while on the free trial.
Retainer ventures – these are little tasks that you may assign to your retainers to level them up.
The Palace of the Dead is a large dungeon often used to level alt jobs, particularly those under level 40. Your first goal here will be getting through the first 50 floors. There’s a story that goes along with it, and I suggest grabbing three friends. But once you’ve cleared the first 50 floors, you will then be able to queue for floors at 51 through 60 at the NPC with a matched party, and that’s usually what people spam to level alt jobs.
Level 20: You get your first amount (Chocobo Mount Access)
This is right after you pick your grand company through MSQ, and the company seals that you need to buy your Chocobo issuance.
Level 29: White Wolf Gate Access
A quest that will allow you to go out the back gate of Gridania. It takes five seconds to complete; you might as well do it.
Level 30: PVP access
You can and should unlock PVP, but you cannot PVP if you are on the free trial. That said, PVP gives a really good XP, especially the daily frontline roulette.
But I would say go to the wolves den first and set up your bars before you queue in because you’ll be in for a rude surprise when you queue into the match and your bars are entirely unrecognizable.
Chocobo Companion Access: You get your Chocobo fight alongside you.
Level 35: The Sunken Temple of Qarn Dungeon Access
Unlocked during Lord of Crags MSQ.
Note: I recommend you unlock these side dungeons’ access that become available as you level because they are there to help you with XP.
Level 47: Adventure Squadrons
These are a team of AI bots that will pretty much carry you through realm reborn dungeons, and you can level them up, so they become powerful; they are unconcerned if you just sit on your bottom and do nothing while they perform all the hard work of clearing the dungeon for you. However, do not bring them through dungeons in hard mode. To get access to the adventure squadron, you must be a second lieutenant in your grand company.
You can already access samurai and red mage if you buy the stormblood expansion. I would also recommend activating the hunt at your grand company since it is a significant game element. Remember that realm reborn hunt mark bills do not grant XP but starting in Heavensward and beyond, you will get XP for the hunt mark bills, but you need to have unlocked that realm reborn hunts before you can unlock the future expansion.
You may notice that there is a butt load of side content now unlockable at level 50. This can be very stressful but just know that you can safely skip most of it for now. All you need is the hard mode versions of Titan (The Navel), Ifrit(The Bowl of Embers), and Garuda (The Howling Eye) trials; earth, wind, and fire.
You also need the crystal tower raid series in its entirety. Do that, and you are good to go straight on to Heavensward.
It is suggested that you complete the Tam-Tara Deepcroft and the Lost City of Amdapor dungeons hard version. Do not use a duty finder for Urth’s fount or any extreme trials; use a party finder for that. Also, do not attempt the Binding Coils of Bahamut in the duty finder; it is extremely hard.
Level 50: Heavensward
When the MSQ leads you to Heavensward, you may unlock the Heavensward jobs of machinist, Astrologian, and Dark knight. You also unlock The Hunt.
You also unlock lots of Side Dungeons, Trials, and Raids. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by this, so here’s all you need for Heavensward:
All you need for Heavenward is the hard mode version of ifrid, titan, and geruda trials, earth wind and fire and the crystal raid tower series before you go to Heavenward.
Level 51: New side dungeon The Dusk Vigil
You can also unlock flying in the Coerthas Western Highlands Heavensward zone. Though unlike in realm reborn, where you got flying just from doing the MSQ, from now on, you will now need to get Aether currents to unlock flying in a zone.
Note: You will need to get this Aether current quest to fly in a specific zone moving forward. You can unlock these quests as you level up and move to a different map.
Level 53: Rank 1 Heavensward Daily Hunts
You can unlock your daily hunts for Heavensward. These are the ones that start giving you the extra daily XP if you do them.
Level 56: Rank 1 Heavensward Daily Hunts.
Level 60: Elite B Rank Heavensward Weekly Hunts
You get to unlock the elite B weekly hunts for Heavensward.
Wondrous Tales Access – you can also unlock Wondrous Tales, which I strongly recommend doing. It gives a ton of XP.
If you own Shadowbringers, you can unlock a dancer and Gunbreaker as soon as you reach level 60. Just like with realm reborn, when you hit level 60 and you finish your Heavensward story, you’re going to be flooded with a ton of blue unlock quests yet again, but good news, you can safely ignore them and move right on to Stormblood.
This is the list of the side dungeons, trials, and raids that you could unlock at 60 at your leisure that I suggest.
- The Warring Triad – the three bosses with the containment bay names before moving on to Stormblood. It’s not required, but it’s pretty sweet.
- The Fractal Continuum
- The Lost City of Amdapor (Hard)
Level 60: Stormblood One-star Hunts Access
- Elite B Rank Heavensward weekly hunts
- Anima Relic Weapons
Level 63: Stormblood Two-star Hunts access.
Heaven on High – very similar to the Palace of the Dead
Stormblood two-star hunts access.
Level 66: Stormblood Three-star hunts access
Level 70: Stormblood Elite Hunts Access
As before, with reaching the level cap and finishing that expansions story, you are once again faced with a plethora of unlocks for side dungeons, trials, and raids. But as before, you do not have to do any of this now. You are safe to move right along to Shadowbringers and, you know, do the side stuff when you feel like it.
But for me, what stands out here if you’re just looking for suggestions is the Ivalice raid storyline. It’s required for your Shadowbringer’s relic weapon if you plan on doing that. And maybe the Hunt for Omega raids.
I skipped over the Eureka unlock that you get at level 70. This is a series of four different instanced zones involved in the acquisition of the Stormblood relic weapon. Although this is fun, and I love the Baldesion Arsenal raid, it is a side content you can do after reaching max level.
Level 70: Shadowbringers access
Get the Shadowbringers One-nut Hunts Access
Level 73: Shadowbringers Two-nut Hunts Access
I know up to this point we have been skipping the beast tribe quest, but you do not want to miss Pixies Quests because they give insanely good XP, definitely worth it.
Level 76: Shadowbringers Three-nut Hunts Access
Unlocked by my favorite quest name in the game, “How do you like tree nuts?”
Level 80: Shadowbringers Elite Hunts Access
You can unlock Stone, Sky, Sea access. It is a way to sort of figuring out what your DPS is kind of like.
For Shadowbringers, there are two side dungeons that you should do right away because they are freaking amazing. The Twinning Dungeon access and Akadaemia Anyder (Duty) Dungeon access. Do not even hesitate to go do those asap.
There’s also the Eden eight-man raid series (Eden’s Gate Access) that you can do and the near 24-man alliance raid series(The Copied Factory Access), and the Bozjan Southern Front Access, and the Sorrow of Werlyt trial series(Cinder Drift Trial access),
The Bozjan Southern Front Access is all related to you getting your relic weapon for Shadowbringers. I would suggest starting with the Sorrow of Werlyt, those trial bosses because the story is awesome.
Then I guess you’re just going to be catching up on all the stuff that you put off up to this point, and you’re going to be very busy for a while.
