Desynthesis Unlock and Levelling in FFXIV

Last updated on Sep 07, 2024 at 09:00 by Shikhu 1 comment

Welcome to the guide on Desynthesis in Final Fantasy XIV. This guide covers the basics of Desynthesis, including its uses, how to unlock it, and how to level it efficiently.

1.

What is Desynthesis?

Desynthesis is a system for Disciples of the Hand that allows you to break down items (e.g. dungeons, trials, and crafted) into the requisite crafting materials and other materials. This can allow you to passively obtain items whilst doing routine content such as roulettes. This can be a great source of passive materials or additional income.

1.1.

How do you Unlock Desynthesis?

In order to unlock Desynthesis, you must reach Level 30 with each Disciple of the Hand Crafting class. So if you wish to desynthesize items on any class, you will need to have all classes at Level 30 or above. The full list of requirements can be seen below:

You can access the Desynthesis action from the Actions & Traits menu within the Character tab in the section General. This action can be assigned to your hotbar

Items that are available to be desynthesized can be seen from the item information pop-up when you hover over an item. It will specify a recommended skill level which is not important for leveling but helpful in knowing when you reach the requirements for "Rare" drops.

FFXIV Recommended Desynthesis level
1.2.

Where Can You Find Your Desynthesis Level?

If you wish to view your Desynthesis levels, then you can do so from the Character menu by navigating to Classes/Jobs and selecting DoH/L. The small menu-bar graphically shows how close you are to capping your Desynthesis level. If you click on a DoH class, then it will bring up the Desynthesis Skill menu.

2.

What Does Rare do in Desynthesis?

Having your Desynthesis level be at or above the item level of the item you want to break down increases the chances of obtaining "Rare" items. This ultimately means a few things:

  • Items now drop their HQ counterparts roughly 20-30% of the time.
  • Increased drop rates of items which players may consider "Rare" such as Primal materials, demimateria and items you may not consider to be a crafting material for that item. There is no verifiable information of what items specifically count as rare.
  • Many items which have a chance to drop multiple of themselves and will always give their maximum amounts. This is primarily crafting materials or demimateria at higher Ilvs.
  • There are no items which are only unlocked when you gain "Rare".

It is not worth actively levelling Desynthesis just to gain an increased rare chance on some items. It is rarely worth the cost and most items of value are at lower levels anyway. For example lv50 Big Fish.

3.

What Determines How Much Desynthesis XP You Gain?

At a first glance, Desynthesis XP seems almost entirely random but this is not actually the case. The game has a base amount (shown as "good" in the example) and then 4 other factors of that base. The game will randomly roll to pick from any of those.

A table example of Desynthesis XP gains.

The amount of Desynthesis XP gained is based on the following factors:

  • Bacon Broth Icon Bacon Broth and Tinker's Calm Icon Tinker's Calm buffs.
  • What your Desynthesis level is (not relative to the item your breaking down).
  • What your Desynthesis level is (relative to the item your breaking down).

What i mean by relative and not relative to the item your breaking down, is that before ilv279 you have a higher base XP gain. You also gain less XP once your desynth level is +10 to the items Ilv and gain 0XP once your +50.

4.

Desynthesis Levelling Methods

There are a few methods to level Desynthesis each with their own benefits and downsides, these are:

  • Passive Levelling (Recommended at Endgame, impossible on Culinarian).
  • Mass buying items off of the marketboard or from vendors.
  • Mass Levelling using the Highest ilv item that is cheap.
  • Targeted Levelling using curated items at various ilv ranges in our guide below.
4.1.

Passive Desynthesis Levelling Explained

Passively levelling desynthesis means simply breaking down items as you get them from running other pieces of content. For example using gear dropped in dungeons or purchased via Allagan Tomestones. Because there are no experience point penalties or bonuses for your desynthesis level being below the level of the item your breaking down, you can simply use whatever items are cheap or convenient.

This method is of course slower but requires no real investment into desynthesis as you slowly level from completing roulettes and running endgame content. This is often the best method when your chosen class gets to endgame levels because items can become expensive.

Culinarian can not level via passive methods because they require big fish for the final desynthesis levels. This means you either need to buy the fish from the marketboard, farm big fish, or wait for a new expansion which has higher ilv non-big fish.

5.

Desynthesis Levelling Advice

Listed below you will find levelling advice for each class for items you can either farm or buy. I would not personally recommend buying items to level as it is rarely worth the cost.

Make sure to use Bacon Broth Icon Bacon Broth and Tinker's Calm Icon Tinker's Calm to speed up the levelling process. Because of how powerful these buffs are when combined, i recommend trying to bulk desynthesize to make the most out of your buffs.

It does not matter if your 20 levels or 200 levels below an items Ilv, you gain the same experience regardless. This means that you can simply spam the highest Ilv item in our guides, it will be easier but more expensive.

Estimations are not always guaranteed to be perfect but provide a rough amount of items and materials you may need to gather to level this class. Feel free to sell any additional items to make some gil, but you also may need to buy more items.

Carpenter Blacksmith Armorer Goldsmith Leatherworker Weaver Alchemist Culinarian
5.1.

Carpenter Desynthesis Levelling

Carpenter generally covers a majority of accessories for Disciples of Hand and many of the combat-related classes, as well as the weapons for White Mage and furniture.

Lignum Vitae Ring Icon Lignum Vitae Ring is the level range where things start to drag a little. Luckily, this is an incredibly easy item to make.

Level Range Recommendation Unbuffed Estimate Fully Buffed Estimate
1-50 Yew Crook Icon Yew Crook ~36 ~22
50-120 Hallowed Chestnut Ring Icon Hallowed Chestnut Ring ~36 ~22
120-210 Larch Ring Icon Larch Ring ~59 ~37
210-300 Zelkova Ring Icon Zelkova Ring ~88 ~55
300-440 Lignum Vitae Ring Icon Lignum Vitae Ring ~175 ~110
440-490 Horse Chestnut Ring of Gathering Icon Horse Chestnut Ring of Gathering ~63 ~40
490-544 Ironwood Ring of Crafting Icon Ironwood Ring of Crafting ~68 ~43
544-590 Integral Ring of Crafting Icon Integral Ring of Crafting ~67 ~42
590-620 Ginseng Ring Icon Ginseng Ring ~38 ~24
620-674 Acacia Ring Icon Acacia Ring ~68 ~43
674-710 Claro Walnut Bracelet of Gathering Icon Claro Walnut Bracelet of Gathering ~47 ~30
5.2.

Blacksmith Desynthesis Levelling

Blacksmith is generally by far one of the more important classes that you can level desynthesis on. This is driven by the vast majority of weapons and tools are covered by Blacksmith. Most importantly, this includes the extreme primal weapons.

Blacksmith becomes a bit grindy around the 300-520 range until you start to farm cheap hunt items. If you do not want to craft a few hundred tools i would suggest skipping to higher level crafts say i570 onwards if they are cheaper.

Many of Blacksmith's recommendations do not necessarily need to be that exact item. Many DoH DoL tools are crafted by this class and use similar materials. If you find that a specific craft at that ilv is cheaper on your server then do that.

Level Range Recommendation Unbuffed Estimate Fully Buffed Estimate
1-60 Steel Doming Hammer Icon Steel Doming Hammer ~42 ~27
50-100 Mythrite Scythe Icon Mythrite Scythe ~21 ~13
100-210 High Steel Claw Hammer Icon High Steel Claw Hammer ~70 ~44
210-300 Molybdenum Mortar Icon Molybdenum Mortar ~88 ~55
300-410 Titanbronze Claw Hammer Icon Titanbronze Claw Hammer ~138 ~86
410-520 Bismuth Mortar Icon Bismuth Mortar ~151 ~94
520-570 Manganese Mortar Icon Manganese Mortar ~72 ~45
570-620 Mountain Chromite Awl Icon Mountain Chromite Awl ~63 ~40
620-680 Titanium Gold Culinary Knife Icon Titanium Gold Culinary Knife ~76 ~47
680-710 Passive Farming at Endgame N/A N/A
680-710 Ra'Kaznar Raising Hammer Icon Ra'Kaznar Raising Hammer ~40 ~25
5.3.

Armorer Desynthesis Levelling

Armorer is similar to Blacksmith and even shares intermediate materials. Whilst it does not have as many items that you can desynthesize outside of shields or some left-side gear, typically from Fending/Maiming, Armorer is often easy to level at endgame due to shields being a cheap item.

Level Range Recommendation Unbuffed Estimate Fully Buffed Estimate
1-50 Steel Frypan Icon Steel Frypan ~22 ~14
50-100 Mythrite Alembic Icon Mythrite Alembic ~29 ~17
100-200 High Steel Thermal Alembic Icon High Steel Thermal Alembic ~62 ~39
200-270 High Steel Helm of Fending Icon High Steel Helm of Fending (Or Maiming) ~62 ~39
270-340 Deepgold Rail Frypan Icon Deepgold Rail Frypan ~86 ~54
340-410 Deepgold Wings of Fending Icon Deepgold Wings of Fending ~88 ~55
410-530 Bismuth Fat Cat Frypan Icon Bismuth Fat Cat Frypan ~151 ~94
530-570 Manganese Chocobo Frypan Icon Manganese Chocobo Frypan ~59 ~37
570-673 Cobalt Tungsten Kite Shield Icon Cobalt Tungsten Kite Shield ~129 ~81
673-710 Black Star Ring of Crafting Icon Black Star Ring of Crafting ~48 ~30
5.4.

Goldsmith Desynthesis Levelling

Goldsmith covers the vast majority of accessories in the game, in addition to weapons for Red Mage, Astrologian, Sage, and Black Mage. This class can be ideal for making use of accessories that you loot from dungeons.

Goldsmiths primary method tends to involve rings which is why the level ranges generally end in 5 while levelling this class. They also often have incredibly easy items which you can make.

Level Range Recommendation Unbuffed Estimate Fully Buffed Estimate
1-50 Horn Ring Icon Horn Ring ~31 ~19
50-125 Agate Ring of Aiming Icon Agate Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) ~38 ~24
125-265 Triphane Ring of Aiming Icon Triphane Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) ~105 ~66
265-395 Islewolf Ring of Aiming Icon Islewolf Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) ~159 ~100
395-525 Ametrine Ring of Aiming Icon Ametrine Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat excluding Crafting) ~163 ~102
525-560 Star Quartz Ring of Aiming Icon Star Quartz Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) ~45 ~28
560-590 Integral Ring of Crafting Icon Integral Ring of Crafting ~47 ~29
590-665 Ihuykanite Bracelet of Healing Icon Ihuykanite Bracelet of Healing(Or Any Stat) ~94 ~59
665-710 Black Star Earrings of Crafting Icon Black Star Earrings of Crafting ~58 ~37
5.5.

Leatherworker Desynthesis Levelling

Leatherworker is the most difficult and expensive to level. This is due to all of the crafts requiring leather, which can only be obtained either farming monster drops, Gemstone trading, or retainer ventures. This class can have a lot of mileage of use, however, as desynthesis of any items that are from Leatherworker (dungeons) can be reduced into leathers. A majority of the left-side gear for Disciples of Hand/Land and War/Magic can be reduced from this class.

Because mob materials can be difficult to farm at lower levels, an alternative option would be rush straight to i540 using only Kumbhiraskin Ring of Gathering Icon Kumbhiraskin Ring of Gathering, which will take ~504 unbuffed or ~315 buffed. This then uses a single material from Bicolored Gemstones making it easy to farm. I would not recommend this if you plan to buy your way through.

Level Range Recommendation Unbuffed Estimate Fully Buffed Estimate
1-50 Toadskin Ring Icon Toadskin Ring ~29 ~18
50-90 Wyvernskin Ring Icon Wyvernskin Ring ~28 ~18
90-210 Gyuki Leather Ring Icon Gyuki Leather Ring ~75 ~47
210-300 Gazelleskin Ring Icon Gazelleskin Ring ~88 ~55
300-340 Smilodonskin Ring Icon Smilodonskin Ring ~80 ~50
340-405 Atrociraptorskin Amulet of Aiming Icon Atrociraptorskin Amulet of Aiming (Or Any Stat) ~82 ~51
405-540 Kumbhiraskin Ring of Gathering Icon Kumbhiraskin Ring of Gathering ~169 ~106
540-590 Ophiotauroskin Ring of Gathering Icon Ophiotauroskin Ring of Gathering ~72 ~45
590-655 Loboskin Amulet of Healing Icon Loboskin Amulet of Healing ~82 ~51
540-590 Gomphotherium Ring Icon Gomphotherium Ring ~25 ~16
674-710 Passive Farming at Endgame N/A N/A
5.6.

Weaver Desynthesis Levelling

Much like Leatherworker, Weaver commonly reduces left-side gear for Disciple of Hand/Land and War/Magic classes. Many of the items from Weaver will require Leathers in order to craft. You will typically be using this class to desynthesize many items from dungeons as it does not craft any weapons.

Level Range Recommendation Unbuffed Estimate Fully Buffed Estimate
1-50 Velveteen Shortgloves Icon Velveteen Shortgloves ~31 ~19
50-125 Rainbow Halfgloves of Scouting Icon Rainbow Halfgloves of Scouting ~38 ~24
125-265 Bloodhempen Armguards of Striking Icon Bloodhempen Armguards of Striking ~105 ~66
265-340 Brightlinen Turban of Crafting Icon Brightlinen Turban of Crafting ~91 ~57
340-430 Dwarven Cotton Bandana Icon Dwarven Cotton Bandana ~125 ~79
405-540 Fingerless Darkhempen Gloves of Healing Icon Fingerless Darkhempen Gloves of Healing ~119 ~75
540-570 AR-Caean Velvet Work Cap of Crafting Icon AR-Caean Velvet Work Cap of Crafting ~38 ~24
570-660 Sarcenet Trapper's Hat of Gathering Icon Sarcenet Trapper's Hat of Gathering ~113 ~71
660-710 Thunderyards Silk Cap of Crafting Icon Thunderyards Silk Cap of Crafting ~65 ~40
5.7.

Alchemist Desynthesis Levelling

Alchemist has an incredibly easy item you can desynth to speed through half of the levels which makes this a relatively simple class. Outside of a few useful furnishings, Alchemist's main crafts are books for Summoner and Scholar alongside Pictomancer weapons.

Level Range Recommendation Unbuffed Estimate Fully Buffed Estimate
1-440 Dishware Icon Dishware ~379 ~237
440-525 Gaja Codex Icon Gaja Codex ~107 ~67
525-570 Ophiotauroskin Magitek Codex Icon Ophiotauroskin Magitek Codex ~61 ~38
570-665 Ceiba Round Brush Icon Ceiba Round Brush ~119 ~75
525-570 Claro Walnut Flat Brush Icon Claro Walnut Flat Brush ~27 ~17
674-710 Passive Farming at Endgame N/A N/A
5.8.

Culinarian Desynthesis Levelling

One of the complexities with Culinarian is that it deals exclusively in fish. For this reason alone, it is strongly recommended that you primarily consult the Market Board. Particular recommendations will not be highlighted for this given the chance for supply/demand to change on the fish. You can filter the marketboard according to Seafood, which will give you a list of all purchasable fish.

That being said, to hit the current i710 cap using fish that are always above your Ilv will take around 720 total fish unbuffed and 449 with buffs.

Get started with lower level Desynthesis on fishing you can go to: Holasfhis - Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks (x10.4, y13.7) to purchase low level fish.

You can get to desynthesis level 710 using normal fish. Until patch 7.1 there are no big fish available but later in the expansion you will need to use big fish to level any higher than 740.

6.

Changelog

  • 07 Sep. 2024: Updated for Dawntrail.
  • 30 Mar. 2023: Updated to 6.55. Overhauled advice based on new desynthesis theorycrafting from the Cloud DC tests.
  • 20 Feb. 2022: Guide added.
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