Limited jobs

Limited Jobs are special jobs that have restrictions when forming parties with other players and participating in duties due to containing mechanics that are not balanced for grouping.

The first limited job is Blue Mage, released in patch 4.5. A second limited job, Beastmaster, was released in patch 7.56.

Limited Jobs function independently of other classes and jobs, both starting at level 1.

Restrictions

Limited Jobs cannot be used to progress through the Main Scenario Quests.

Limited Jobs have a lower max level than other jobs. Blue Mage has a level cap of 80, while Beastmaster has a level cap of 50. This effectively means that limited jobs can never participate in endgame raiding in the current expansion.

When playing as a Limited Job, it is not possible to queue for random matching in Duty Finder, but it is possible to participate in duties with other players in preformed or unrestricted parties.

The following duties are inaccessible (even with preformed or unrestricted parties):

• Duty Roulettes
• Field Operations
  • It is not possible to change to a Limited Job after entering these instances.
• Ultimate Raids
• Deep Dungeons
• Variant and Criterion Dungeons
• PvP, including duels
  • It is possible, however, to enter the Wolves' Den as a Limited Job.
• Stone, Sky, Sea
• Hall of the Novice
• Trust, Duty Support, and Command Missions

Starting with Patch 7.5, limited jobs are also no longer able to accept and progress quests that inaccessible to every class or job or which use quest sync, aside from job quests specific to the limited job in question.

Retainers cannot be assigned Limited Jobs.

Beastmaster also cannot use role actions, although blue mage can.

Limited jobs cannot view cutscene #11 of A Terminal Invitation in the Unending Journey.

Leveling Guides

Blue Mage

Blue Mage gains greater experience from battling enemies in the open world than other jobs do. However, no bonuses are granted to experience gained from FATE or Levequest enemies.

The most practical way for blue mages to gain experience is to kill higher-leveled monsters in the open world, for which blue mages receive an experience bonus.
Level 80 mobs provide the maximum EXP per kill for blue mage. (Level 81 enemies will provide roughly 1% of the EXP that these level 80 enemies do).

Because gaining enough experience for the current level cap of 80 in this way is very time-consuming, many players use an alternative method that depends on a particular game mechanic: If the blue mage creates enmity with respect to a monster (e.g. by attacking it with Flying Sardine), but something else then kills the monster, the blue mage gains full experience for the kill. This mechanic can be used to obtain experience quickly in the following manner:

With other players:

• From level 1 to level 80: The blue mage pairs up with a maximum-level player (the two must not be in the same party), they run amok with the blue mage using Flying Sardine to tag the level 80 monsters and then the maximum-level player killing the tagged monsters.
  • The Thavnair route is a loop that goes from (X:12.4, Y:26.7) to (X:13.8, Y:29.9), then mounting to go from (X:20.4, Y:26.3) to (X:14.5, Y:25.5), killing Akyaali Crab and Hamsa.
    With one maximum-level helper, this process should take roughly 30-40 minutes depending on the EXP-boosting items and buffs the Blue Mage is using.
  • The Labyrinthos route is a loop that goes from (X:13.3, Y:7.1) to (X:17.5, Y:5.0) to (X:17.3, Y:7.0), killing Caribou and Limascabra.
    With one maximum-level helper, this process will take roughly 70-90 minutes depending on the EXP-boosting items and buffs the Blue Mage is using.

Solo or with other players:

• From level 70 to level 80: This can be done solo. The blue mage protects themselves by using Mighty Guard and Aetheric Mimicry: Tank, then moves to the northernmost part of The Tempest (X:27, Y:5). This part of the map is populated by level 79 Clionids and Deep-sea Leeches. The blue mage tags the leeches with Flying Sardine and moves them towards a clionid, which will kill the leech, gifting the experience to the blue mage. Care should be taken not to feed more than one or two leeches to the same clionid - if it eats 3 leeches, then it will become "fully enlarged" and gain an attack that can one-shot a player.

Beastmaster

Beastmaster gains EXP bonuses from FATEs, but no bonuses from battling enemies in the open world.

Beastmaster also gains experience from capturing beasts and completing boards in the Crucible of the Unbroken.

With other players:

In general, the most popular ways of leveling are to do level-appropriate FATEs until level 15, then run dungeons in premade parties. When doing FATEs, players can look out for possible FATE enemies to capture and help complete their Master's Bestiary.

Upon reaching level 8, players should capture a Wounded Aurochs from Middle La Noscea (X:18, Y:17), which will be an important beast (Buffalo, #26) for dungeon mob pulls.

After reaching level 15, join or make a premade party and start doing level-appropriate dungeons. Dungeons must be completed synced to receive EXP.

Upon reaching level 18, beastmaster will learn Tempered Release. This is used with Buffalo to make trash pulls in dungeons faster and safer, as beastmaster has no AoE filler combo and limited self-sustain and healing. Players should bring Phoenix Downs in a party of only beastmasters, just in case.

The general strategy for trash pulls and bosses is:

1. Summon Buffalo.
2. Use Buffalo's Tempered Release action: War Cry, which will deal heavy AoE damage and stun the enemies for 15 seconds. Bosses may be immune to stun.
3. If players have captured Chimera, they can use Parting Blow to deal more AoE damage and desummon Buffalo, then switch to Chimera and use its Tempered Release action: The Ram's Voice, for more AoE damage and Deep Freeze. (This step is not mandatory, as Chimera can be difficult to catch.)
4. Once the pack is dead and combat has ended, switch to a different beast, then re-summon Buffalo to re-acquire the One with Nature buff which is required to use Tempered Release. From level 30 onwards, the cooldown of Tempered Release (30s) will also reset upon summoning a beast.

Make sure to keep up with gear upgrades when leveling. Free gear is rewarded from the beastmaster job quests. The level 30 set can be used until reaching level 50.

When leveling with dungeons, players can take the opportunity to fill out their bestiary, which includes but is not limited to:

• Coeurl (#33): Chopper from Sastasha
• Slime (#17): Ichorous Ire from Copperbell Mines
• Dullahan (#18): Doctore from Halatali
• Cobra (#42): Coliseum Python from Halatali
• Antling (#37): Myrmidon Princess or Myrmidon Marshal from Cutter's Cry
• Chimera (#38): Chimera from Cutter's Cry

At level 30, players will also unlock the Crucible of the Unbroken, which also rewards EXP. Although less efficient than dungeons, players can also earn EXP for their beasts within the Crucible, which is helpful if they plan on running it frequently.

Other group methods:

FATE powerleveling from 1-50

Beastmaster can "powerlevel" by taking advantage of their increased EXP from FATEs.

1. Form at least one party of only beastmasters. In each party, the lowest and highest level beastmasters should within 10 levels of each other, preferably lower. One beastmaster is also fine.
2. In a separate party, have a maximum level shield healer ( scholar / sage) and other max level jobs. These players will be helping the beastmasters level. Ideally 1 healer every 2-3 beastmasters.
3. Do FATEs in Dawntrail zones, which reward more EXP compared to lower level areas. The ideal FATEs are the "collect item" FATEs that do not complete until players manually turn in enough items, prolonging the time players can farm them. Boss FATEs should be avoided entirely.
   1. Although any Dawntrail zone works, Heritage Found is the best zone due to its comparatively fewer boss FATEs, lack of level sync, and multiple instances (as of patch 7.56).
   2. The specific FATEs in Heritage Found that should be prioritized are When It's So Salvage (southwest, displays as the Refined Reforger NPC on map) then License to Dill (southeast, displays as the Tonawawtan Provider NPC on map)
4. The shield healer should individually shield each beastmaster to prevent them from dying.
5. The beastmasters should then "tag" the enemies using a ranged action. Prior to level 22, Capture works. From level 22 onwards, using Borrow with a wavekin then Quelling Wave is better due to its longer range and can be spammed. An easy wavekin to tame is the level 6 Black Eft. (Melee actions are much riskier for survivability.)
6. Afterwards, the max level players should quickly establish aggro and kill the mobs. Be wary of FATE enemies with ranged auto-attacks, e.g. from the mechanical sentries in Heritage Found.
7. Repeat until the FATE completes. For "collect item" FATEs, players can wait until the timer is nearly expired, then turn in the items to complete it. Beastmasters will receive EXP not only from defeating individual enemies, but from completing the FATE itself.
8. The beastmasters and max level players can switch roles after some time if the max level players also need to level beastmaster.

The efficiency of leveling increases when there are fewer beastmasters relative to max level DPS, when there are fewer parties of beastmasters, and when the level range within the beastmaster party is lower. Having too large of a level difference will result in EXP penalties.

Overworld enemy powerleveling from 1-50

Beastmaster can also "powerlevel" with the setup described for FATEs above for two parties, but in Dawntrail zones fighting individual non-FATE enemies.

• Players have have reported that the EXP earned per kill in most of these zones, and thus fighting level 91 Barbmoles in Urqopacha has been another option.

Solo:

TBA

Experience Bonuses

See also: Experience § Bonuses to EXP

Similar to the non-limited Disciples of War and of Magic, Limited Jobs benefit from the following EXP bonuses:

• Equipment Acquired in Game
  • Brand-new Ring (+30%, through level 30) - Acquired by completing all Hall of the Novice basic training exercises for a single role. Available at level 15.
  • Neophyte's Ring (+30%, through level 60) - Acquired by completing all Hall of the Novice tactical training exercises. Available at level 49 after completing Hearts on Fire.
• Equipment Acquired Outside of Game
  • Friendship Circlet (+20%, through level 25) - Acquired through the Recruit a Friend Campaign.
  • Pre-order earrings such as Azeyma's Earrings (which comes from pre-ordering Dawntrail; no longer available) provide a +30% bonus through the end of the previous expansion's level cap.
    These are generally unavailable after the expansion has released; however, Menphina's Earring (+30%, through level 80) is currently available in the cash shop in the Adventurer's Supply Kit for $10.
• Activated In-game Bonuses
  • Well Fed (+3%) - Activated by eating Meals.
  • The Heat of Battle / Brave New World - Activated by using Free Company Actions or Squadron Manuals. Since these provide the same buff, they do not stack with each other.
    • The Heat of Battle I / II / III (+5%/+10%/+15%, depending on action rank) - Activated by using the corresponding Free Company Action. Most Free Companies will only have rank II available, as rank III actions are more difficult to obtain.
    • Brave New World I / II (+10% < lvl25 / +5% < lvl49) depending on action rank) - Activated by using the corresponding Free Company Action.
    • Squadron Battle Manual (+15%) - Acquired from completing certain Squadron Missions.
• Passive In-game Bonuses
  • Armoury Bonus (+100%, through level 90; +50% through level 100) - Earned on combat classes when below the level of the player's highest combat class.
  • Rested EXP (+50% until fully consumed) - Earned by resting or logging out in sanctuary areas.
  • Mentor Bonus (+20%, through level 90) - Earned while a New Adventurer or Returner is in a party with a Mentor. The Mentor and New Adventurer/Returner both earn this bonus.

Purpose

Limited Jobs are used when the developers are intrigued by a job concept, but they believe it cannot fit within the game's regular design.

For example, Blue Mage's concept revolves around learning skills from monsters (rather than from levelling up). This creates the risk of a high-level Blue Mage who knows no spells – who would be a huge pain for anyone randomly matched with them – or equally, the risk of a low-level Blue Mage who has already learned every ultimate spell – who would be completely balance-breaking.

Rather than erase the interesting parts of these jobs to "fit" them into the broader game design, creating them as Limited Jobs frees the developers to stay true to the job concept and give them wacky mechanics and overpowered skills.

Limited Jobs may have abilities like unresistable stuns, endless DoTs, or even instant kills, and they retain these abilities even while level synced. This makes them extremely powerful during level synced grinds such as Moogle Treasure Trove Events.

They also have unique combat challenges of their own, such as Blue Mage's The Masked Carnivale or Beastmaster's Crucible of the Unbroken.

In terms of gameplay focus, beastmaster and blue mage have important differeences.

Blue mage has:

• A greater emphasis on multiplayer activities, due to the large number of spells from instanced duties (with higher drop rates from doing them synced) and achievements from completing synced extreme trials and savage raids with a full party of blue mages. However, blue mage still has dedicated solo activites, such as the Masked Carnivale.
• A more freeform rotation that can be customized to allow blue mages to adopt tank, healer, and DPS roles. Blue mage does not have a job gauge.
• Easier to acquire gear and no multi-stage gear upgrade system.

Beastmaster has:

• A greater emphasis on solo activites, specifically the Crucible of the Unbroken, which has more in-depth mechanics compared to blue mage's solo combat challenges (Masked Carnivale). Although some beasts come from multiplayer duties, all can be acquired solo using special unlock items.
• A more defined rotation (with job gauges) that can be somewhat customized based on which beasts the player fields. Unlike blue mage, beastmaster learns new actions from leveling up. Beastmaster is primarily a DPS job and lacks healing and survivability outside of the Crucible.
• A more in-depth gear upgrade system involving the Crucible.