Leatherworker (LTW) is a flexible crafting class in Final Fantasy XIV that makes armor, belts, accessories and glamour pieces. I’ve played this class for years and, in my experience, it rewards patience and market sense. The skill cap for crafters is 90 (Endwalker launched 2021-12-07), and that matters because many endgame leather recipes require top-tier stats.
🎯 Where to begin
Go to Old Gridania and talk to Geva at (12.6, 8.1) to start the “Way of the Leatherworker” quest. You need any Disciple of War or Magic at level 10 to unlock it. Your starter kit gives you a Bronze Awl and basic recipes; update those tools often because gear boosts crafting success and quality.
Beginner tip: keep your main and secondary tools current. Why? Better tools raise your chance to hit HQ items, which speeds leveling and sells better on the market.
Early play (levels 1–15) teaches Basic Touch, Basic Synthesis and Inner Quiet. Learn what each skill changes: Inner Quiet builds a multiplier; Basic Touch raises quality; Basic Synthesis advances progress. Use them together deliberately.
đź“‹ Materials and where to find them
Raw hides come from monster drops and retainers. Refined leathers are processed from those hides. You’ll also need reagents like Alumen and Growth Formula—buy from guild vendors or the marketboard. I’ve noticed players who stockpile a few stacks of common hides (Animal Hide, Rabbit Hide, Goatskin) save huge time when leveling.
| Type | Examples | Source | Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw Hides | Rabbit Hide, Goatskin | Monster drops, Retainer ventures | 1–20 |
| Refined Leather | Leather, Hard Leather | Self-crafted, Marketboard | 5–35 |
| Specialty | Dragon/Beast hides | High-level hunts, raids | 50–90 |
Specialty items become essential later. Plan ahead and store them when you can—depends on your niche and your server’s market. (Yes, that means some farming.)
⚡ Leveling 1–90: practical path
Do guild quests until about 15, then focus on leves and HQ crafting for XP. Courier leves often give the best return for time versus effort. Between us: using HQ turns speeds you up dramatically, so learn to push for HQ consistently.
From 50 onward, use Grand Company turn-ins and the Ishgardian Restoration (Firmament) for steady XP without eating leve allowances. Beast tribe crafting quests (Ixali, Moogle, Namazu, Dwarf) are useful daily tasks; they’re short and often worth the effort.
There are exceptions: sometimes farming a specific item for profit will slow your level progress but earn more Gil. It depends on your goals.
🔧 Rotations—what to do and why
Early rotations are simple: Inner Quiet, a few Basic Touches, finish with Basic Synthesis. Why this order? Inner Quiet multiplies each touch, so you get more quality per action. Later you add Steady Hand for reliability and Great Strides to make a big quality spike before a Byregot’s finish.
Mid rotation example:
1. Inner Quiet
2. Steady Hand
3. Basic Touch Ă—3
4. Great Strides
5. Innovation (if available)
6. Byregot's Blessing
7. Complete with Basic Synthesis
Advanced rotations use skills like Muscle Memory, Veneration and Manipulation to juggle progress and durability. Watch crafting conditions (Good, Excellent) because they change the math; use Good/Excellent for touch-heavy phases and Poor for synthesis. Here’s the funny part: mastering conditions is often more important than having perfect stats!
đź’° What sells well
Glamour pieces often give the largest margins—players pay for looks. Leveling gear sells steadily with smaller margins. Consumables and intermediate materials move fast but need volume to be profitable. Use tools like Universalis to check price history before you craft.
| Category | Margin | Stability |
|---|---|---|
| Glamour | Very high | High |
| Current raid accessories | High | Volatile |
| Leveling gear | Medium | Steady |
Controversial take: specialist certification often benefits sellers more than buyers; some players treat it like a cash grab. I’ll say it—marketboard prices are sometimes inflated by sellers hoarding stock. That isn’t always fair, but it’s real.
🏆 Advanced: efficiency and planning
Cross-class skills matter. I recommend raising Carpenter and Goldsmith for their useful actions. Why? These skills offer game-changing options like Byregot’s and Innovation that increase HQ chances—so investing time in other crafting classes speeds up your Leatherworker performance.
Macro crafting is useful for mass production, but test them on cheap mats first. A bad macro can waste hundreds of thousands of Gil if you aren’t careful. Retainer ventures are free labor: set them to hunt for high-value hides and gatherers for steady materials.
/ac "Muscle Memory"
/ac "Manipulation"
/ac "Veneration"
/ac "Waste Not II"
/ac "Groundwork"
/ac "Great Strides"
/ac "Byregot's Blessing"
/ac "Careful Synthesis"Tip: keep several macro versions for different item difficulties. Also join a crafting Discord or linkshell—community intel on upcoming patches (watch official posts and major fan sites) helps you speculate on demand before it spikes.
“If you want steady Gil, craft what people need to level.” — practical advice I give to friends often.
Oddly enough, one counterintuitive insight: crafting a mid-tier item in bulk can out-earn a rare expensive item because turnover is constant. Surprise: steady sells often beat flashy, once you factor in time.
Finally—this won’t work the same on every server. Prices differ between data centers and transfer servers. If you plan to specialize, watch your server’s market for at least a week before investing heavily. And yes, sometimes you’ll mess up and waste mats. It happens. Learn from it, stash lessons, and try again.
Short summary: learn the core skills, keep tools updated, focus on HQ, track the market, and plan for 90. I’ve found that leatherworking becomes enjoyable once you stop chasing perfect rotations and start thinking like a small business owner (inventory, pricing, timing). Happy crafting!
