Desynthesis Unlock and Levelling in FFXIV
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.
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.
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:
- Unlock Quest: Gone to Pieces
- NPC/Location: Syntgoht - Ul'dah - Steps of Thal (x14.0, y10.0)
- Level 30 on your desired Disciple of Hand
- Requisite Quest: Life, Materia and Everything
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.
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.
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.
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.
The amount of Desynthesis XP gained is based on the following factors:
- Bacon Broth and 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.
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.
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.
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 and 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 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 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 | ~36 | ~22 |
50-120 | Hallowed Chestnut Ring | ~36 | ~22 |
120-210 | Larch Ring | ~59 | ~37 |
210-300 | Zelkova Ring | ~88 | ~55 |
300-440 | Lignum Vitae Ring | ~175 | ~110 |
440-490 | Horse Chestnut Ring of Gathering | ~63 | ~40 |
490-544 | Ironwood Ring of Crafting | ~68 | ~43 |
544-590 | Integral Ring of Crafting | ~67 | ~42 |
590-620 | Ginseng Ring | ~38 | ~24 |
620-674 | Acacia Ring | ~68 | ~43 |
674-720 | Claro Walnut Bracelet of Gathering | ~67 | ~42 |
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 | ~42 | ~27 |
50-100 | Mythrite Scythe | ~21 | ~13 |
100-210 | High Steel Claw Hammer | ~70 | ~44 |
210-300 | Molybdenum Mortar | ~88 | ~55 |
300-410 | Titanbronze Claw Hammer | ~138 | ~86 |
410-520 | Bismuth Mortar | ~151 | ~94 |
520-570 | Manganese Mortar | ~72 | ~45 |
570-620 | Mountain Chromite Awl | ~63 | ~40 |
620-680 | Titanium Gold Culinary Knife | ~76 | ~47 |
680-720 | Passive Farming at Endgame | N/A | N/A |
680-720 | Ra'Kaznar Raising Hammer | ~59 | ~37 |
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 | ~22 | ~14 |
50-100 | Mythrite Alembic | ~29 | ~17 |
100-200 | High Steel Thermal Alembic | ~62 | ~39 |
200-270 | High Steel Helm of Fending (Or Maiming) | ~62 | ~39 |
270-340 | Deepgold Rail Frypan | ~86 | ~54 |
340-410 | Deepgold Wings of Fending | ~88 | ~55 |
410-530 | Bismuth Fat Cat Frypan | ~151 | ~94 |
530-570 | Manganese Chocobo Frypan | ~59 | ~37 |
570-673 | Cobalt Tungsten Kite Shield | ~129 | ~81 |
673-720 | Black Star Ring of Crafting | ~67 | ~42 |
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 | ~31 | ~19 |
50-125 | Agate Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) | ~38 | ~24 |
125-265 | Triphane Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) | ~105 | ~66 |
265-395 | Islewolf Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) | ~159 | ~100 |
395-525 | Ametrine Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat excluding Crafting) | ~163 | ~102 |
525-560 | Star Quartz Ring of Aiming (Or Any Stat) | ~45 | ~28 |
560-590 | Integral Ring of Crafting | ~47 | ~29 |
590-665 | Ihuykanite Bracelet of Healing(Or Any Stat) | ~94 | ~59 |
665-720 | Black Star Earrings of Crafting | ~78 | ~49 |
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, 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 | ~29 | ~18 |
50-90 | Wyvernskin Ring | ~28 | ~18 |
90-210 | Gyuki Leather Ring | ~75 | ~47 |
210-300 | Gazelleskin Ring | ~88 | ~55 |
300-340 | Smilodonskin Ring | ~80 | ~50 |
340-405 | Atrociraptorskin Amulet of Aiming (Or Any Stat) | ~82 | ~51 |
405-540 | Kumbhiraskin Ring of Gathering | ~169 | ~106 |
540-590 | Ophiotauroskin Ring of Gathering | ~72 | ~45 |
590-655 | Loboskin Amulet of Healing | ~82 | ~51 |
540-590 | Gomphotherium Ring | ~25 | ~16 |
674-720 | Passive Farming at Endgame | N/A | N/A |
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 | ~31 | ~19 |
50-125 | Rainbow Halfgloves of Scouting | ~38 | ~24 |
125-265 | Bloodhempen Armguards of Striking | ~105 | ~66 |
265-340 | Brightlinen Turban of Crafting | ~91 | ~57 |
340-430 | Dwarven Cotton Bandana | ~125 | ~79 |
405-540 | Fingerless Darkhempen Gloves of Healing | ~119 | ~75 |
540-570 | AR-Caean Velvet Work Cap of Crafting | ~38 | ~24 |
570-660 | Sarcenet Trapper's Hat of Gathering | ~113 | ~71 |
660-720 | Thunderyards Silk Cap of Crafting | ~84 | ~53 |
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 | ~379 | ~237 |
440-525 | Gaja Codex | ~107 | ~67 |
525-570 | Ophiotauroskin Magitek Codex | ~61 | ~38 |
570-665 | Ceiba Round Brush | ~119 | ~75 |
665-720 | Claro Walnut Flat Brush | ~124 | ~77 |
665-720 | Passive Farming at Endgame | N/A | N/A |
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 720 using normal fish. In patch 7.1 there are big fish added that you can also desynth. Save the fish for later patches. You can spend the time now starting to stockpile big fish with the 7.1 fish being relatively easy to catch and can then use them later on once the desynth cap is around 730 or 740 where normal fish will stop being effective.
Changelog
- 18 Nov. 2024: Updated for 7.1.
- 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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This guide has been written by I'nanghal Shikhu (Discord - Shikhu). He is a Crafting & Gathering theorycrafter, mentor for The Balance and also a guide maker for Teamcraft alongside Icy Veins. He also managed to obtain 10 top 12's on the leaderboard during the Ishgard Restoration rankings.
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