Final Fantasy 14: Complete Ixali Beast Tribe Reputation Guide

The Ixali Beast Tribe focuses on crafting, not combat. I’ve spent years crafting in Final Fantasy XIV and I’ll explain how the Ixali help you level Disciples of the Hand while you earn rewards only they sell.

🦅 Where the Ixali live and who they are

The tribe lives in the South Shroud. They’re birdlike craftsmen who prize precision and tools over swords. In my experience their quests feel less like busywork and more like practice—like tuning a violin rather than swinging a blade.

Their society revolves around making things: simple tools, gears, and odd mechanical trinkets. You’ll learn recipes and be asked to deliver crafted goods or gather materials. It’s peaceful play, and honestly, it’s a nice break from dungeon spam.

📍 How to unlock Ixali quests

You must reach the point in the story that opens beast-tribe content (the original A Realm Reborn MSQ progression includes the quest “The Ultimate Weapon” around level 50). After that, head to South Shroud and find the Ixali quest giver—look near Hawthorne Hut for “A Bad Bladder” (yes, that’s the name!).

Requirements (quick):

• One crafting job (Disciple of the Hand) at level 1+
• Main story progress to the relevant ARR MSQ
• Access to South Shroud

This doesn’t always work the same for everyone—depends on patches and your starting point—but those are the basics. Pay attention to early dialogue; the opening quests teach the Ixali daily loop.

⭐ Ranks, rewards, and timing

Rank	Rep Needed	Key Rewards
Neutral	0	Basic materials
Recognized	150	Ixali gear, minions
Friendly	360	Advanced mats, music rolls
Trusted	510	Mounts start appearing
Allied	720	Full vendor access, Allied-only items

Expect to spend weeks, not hours. We found a steady pace (15–30 minutes daily once optimized) gets most players to Allied in roughly 6–8 weeks. There are exceptions, of course—if you skip days it stretches out.

🛠️ Daily quest types

There are three main daily activities:

• Crafting deliveries — you make items with temporary recipes.
• Material gathering — nodes around South Shroud and nearby zones.
• Transport/delivery — move goods between camps; quick and low effort.

Crafting deliveries give the most job XP for your hand disciplines (surprisingly efficient compared to some leves at certain levels). Why? Because the Ixali recipes scale with job level and reward job experience directly—so you get craft XP while pushing reputation. Nice, right?

💰 Ixali Oaknots and what to buy

The tribe uses Ixali Oaknots. You earn them from daily quests; higher-rank quests pay more. Save oaknots for exclusive rewards—mounts and minions—unless you desperately need a material.

Category	Oaknot Cost	Example
Materials	1–5	Rare ores, lumber
Equipment	3–8	Ixali-themed crafting gear
Minions	7–12	Wind-up Ixal
Mounts	~120	Allied-only mount

Vendor items become available as your rank rises. To be fair, market board prices often beat vendor costs for basic mats—so don’t buy everything from the Ixali. Plan purchases: oaknots are finite and the exclusive stuff is the real prize.

“If you want the mount, save oaknots early and resist buying consumables.” — my craft-group’s favorite rule

🎯 How I farmed Ixali rep efficiently

Short version: rotate crafting jobs, pre-gather materials, use a retainer tab for Ixali stuff. That worked for me and for teammates.

Long version: start with the highest-reward quests for your rank. Switch jobs every day if you’re leveling many Disciples of the Hand. Pre-stack commonly requested mats; I keep a retainer tab labeled “Ixali” (yes, messy but effective). Use free company crafter buffs when possible and eat food for tough requirements. This approach reduces time and gives balanced job progress across crafters.

Timetable and targets

Estimate (typical routine):

Neutral → Recognized: ~1 week
Recognized → Friendly: ~1–2 weeks
Friendly → Trusted: ~2 weeks
Trusted → Allied: ~2–3 weeks

Totals vary. I hit Allied faster by prioritizing high-rep quests and rotating jobs; you might go slower if you don’t log daily.

Tips, caveats, and a weird insight

• Tip: do crafting quests with a high-level job for more XP (depends on your niche).
• Caveat: some vendor items are overpriced if you can craft them yourself.
• Weird insight: occasionally a crafting delivery yields better XP per minute than the comparable leve—odd, but true (I tracked this in April 2025 while testing).

Controversial take: the Allied mount (Direwolf in older notes) isn’t worth the time for casual players. Save me a seat when you debate this—people fight over mounts, seriously!

Quick reference

• Unlock: finish relevant ARR MSQ and go to South Shroud.
• Focus: craft deliveries for XP, gather when needed.
• Money move: save oaknots for mounts/minions.

Honestly, if you like crafting, the Ixali are one of the most rewarding grinds. If you don’t—well, you’ll still get helpful mats, but the charm might not stick. Want a final nudge? Try a week of daily Ixali quests and see how many jobs you level—bet you’ll be surprised. (Yes, really.)

— Written by me, a longtime crafter and player who still checks vendor stock on patch days. Oops, I mean—who still gets excited about a good schematic!