Crafter Leveling Guide
This will be a general rundown of ways to optimize experience per hour, in order to expedite the leveling process. There will be some considerations for speed vs cost in the recommendations.
Additionally, it is important that efficiency should not take precedence over fun. If you don't find these practices enjoyable, please take whatever methods will help you avoid burnout.
Do not fall behind on Class Quests! Not only are they easy EXP, but they unlock critical new Actions for your Classes and have free gear!
For assistance with crafting recipes while leveling, players can consult Raphael XIV.
Experience Bonuses
The following are the EXP bonuses that players are able to use for leveling Disciples of the Hand.
- Equipment Acquired Outside of Game
Friendship Circlet (+20%, through level 25) - Acquired through the Recruit a Friend Campaign.
Ala Mhigan Earrings (+30%, through level 50) - Acquired by preordering Stormblood. (This item is no longer available).
- Activated In-game Bonuses
Well Fed (+3%) - Activated by eating Meals.
Earth and Water - Activated by using Free Company Actions (+10%/+20%/+30%, depending on FC action rank) or using 
Squadron Engineering Manual (+15%) from Squadron Missions. (The two versions of this buff do not stack with each other).
Engineering Manuals (excluding the Squadron Engineering Manual). Since these provide the same buff (Crafter's Grace), they do not stack with each other.
Company-issue Engineering Manual II (+150%, through level 50) is the most-effecient option available for 
Company Seals.
Revised Engineering Manual (+150%, through level 80) is the most-effecient option available for 
Purple Crafters' Scrips.
- Passive In-game Bonuses
- Rested EXP (+50% until fully consumed) - Earned by resting or logging out in sanctuary areas.
- Special one-time bonus the first time a recipe is crafted (excluding Master Recipes).
Dailies
- Grand Company Supply Missions become available once the player joins a Grand Company. On supply mission is available per day per crafting class, based on the crafter's level.
Allied Society Quests become available beginning at level 41. A player can complete 12 allied society quests a day, but only 3 from any particular allied society NPC. The Ixal allied society has more than one quest-giver NPC, but later allied societies do not.
Weeklies
Challenge Logs, unlocked with level 15 quest 
Rising to the Challenge.
Custom Deliveries (levels 57+), unlocked with level 60 quest Go West, Craftsman and requiring additional unlocks for each Custom Delivery NPC. A player can complete 12 Custom Delivery turn-ins per week, but only 6 to any particular delivery NPC.
Next Steps
Once you have exhausted all of your repeatable options, the "best" method will depend on your MSQ progression and preference for fast EXP or inexpensive leveling.
This method is reasonably fast but time-gated. Potentially extremely fast but expensive.
Available for levels 1+. Unlocked by completing the starting region's level 9 Main Scenario Quest (
Spirithold Broken, Way Down in the Hole, or Just Deserts).
Pros:
- Players earn EXP for both the craft and turn-in. (The turn-in EXP is not affected by EXP bonuses.)
- Players can purchase completed items for turn-in, which makes this method faster but more expensive.
- Players will also earn gil from the turn-in.
Cons:
- Levequests below level 60 have random availability, so it is difficult produce multiples of a single item for turn ins. Even after this, turning in completed levequest is a bit clunky due to the NPC interface.
- Levequests below level 50 may require the user to deliver items to another location, increasing the time this method takes. (Starting at level 50, the NPC who receives completed items stands near the NPC who issues the levequest.)
- Players generate 3 levequest allowances every 12 hours (42 allowances per week), with a maximum cap of 100 allowances. This greatly limits how often a player can use levequests in bulk.
This method is fast but expensive.
Available for levels 50+. Unlock quest becomes available after level 50 MSQ The Better Half.
Pros:
- Players can craft many of a single item for turn-in. This allows them to use the same macro multiple times, and makes the crafting process fast.
- Players earn EXP for both the craft and turn-in. (The turn-in EXP is not affected by EXP bonuses.)
- Players will also earn Purple Crafters' Scrips, which can be exchanged for gear and items. Scrip gear is perfect for leveling when using this method, as it tends to have good stats (similar to Poetics gear for combat jobs) and crafters will earn significant amounts of scrips through this method.
Cons:
- Players will need to gather or purchase crafting materials. If materials are gathered, this will increase the time this method takes; otherwise it will increase the gil cost.
This method is fast but expensive.
Available for levels 20-80. Unlock quest becomes available after level 60 MSQ Litany of Peace.
Pros:
- Players can craft many of a single item for turn-in. This allows them to use the same macro multiple times, and makes the crafting process fast.
- Players earn EXP for both the craft and turn-in. (The turn-in EXP is not affected by EXP bonuses.)
- Players will also earn
Skybuilders' Scrips (which can be exchanged for items) and Kupo of Fortune cards (which have a lootbox-ish minigame for rare items).
Cons:
- EXP drops sharply at level 80, making this method impractical for levels 80 onward.
- Players will need to gather or purchase crafting materials. If materials are gathered, this will increase the time this method takes; otherwise it will increase the gil cost.
- Many of the materials needed for recipes come from the Diadem, which can make it more difficult to amass a particular type of ingredient quickly and may not be available on the Marketboard.
- Unlike Purple Crafters' Scrips, Skybuilder Scrips cannot be exchanged for crafter gear. Players will need to craft or purchase new gear as they level up.
This method is inexpensive, but slow after level 50.
Available for levels 10-100. Unlock quest becomes available after level 90 MSQ Endwalker.
Pros:
- Players are provided with all materials for the recipe, so there is no ingredient cost for the recipes.
- Missions for levels 10-49 provide roughly a full level's worth of EXP. Missions on Sinus Ardorum often provide more than a full level's worth of EXP. Players can level from 10-50 in less than an hour.
- Players will also earn
Cosmocredits (which can be exchanged for items) and Zone-specific Credits (which have a lootbox-ish minigame for rare items).
Cons:
- Crafting for missions does not provide EXP, only the mission turn-in does. Thus, this method does not gain any benefits of EXP bonuses.
- EXP gain from mission slows a moderate amount at level 50 (dropping to 15-25% of a level) and by a lot at level 90 (dropping to 5-10% of a level).
- Recipe difficulty is synced to the crafter class's level, so repeatedly completed the same mission without improving gear becomes more challenging. Overall this is not a major concern because players earn full EXP with normal quality crafts, so crafting time may just slow by a few additional crafting actions if the crafter doesn't upgrade their gear.
- Unlike Purple Crafters' Scrips, Cosmocredit and Zone-specific Credits cannot be exchanged for crafter gear. Players will need to craft or purchase new gear as they level up.