For the first character class you level up in Final Fantasy XIV you’ll receive the brunt of your experience by playing through the story. By the time you finish the Shadowbringers expansion, you’ll have at least one class at level 80 (the current level cap). However, FFXIV offers a unique system that allows you to level every single character class on a single toon, and leveling another class after completing the story can be time-consuming.
The best way to level a character, after doing your daily quests, is to run the highest level dungeon you’re capable of entering. This is especially useful to tank and healer jobs, as they typically have a significantly shorter queue time than DPS classes, but all classes will join the dungeon spam when leveling. Here are the best dungeons to run (and the best levels to run them):
Haukke Manor (levels 28-32) 
This dungeon is significant because it’s the only dungeon in your level range even after unlocking your first job stone. Thankfully, leveling up to 30 is usually pretty quick, but even after that you’ll have to run Haukke Manor once or twice more before you can move on to the next dungeon. Remember to pick up the keys, and after the 2nd boss, type “/return” to teleport to the beginning of the dungeon.
The Aurum Vale (levels 47-50)
I can already hear the collective sigh of the Final Fantasy XIV community upon hearing this dungeon’s name. The Aurum Vale is, notoriously, one of the most difficult dungeons for newer adventurers (and even experienced veterans still have difficulty with it). But it’s the only dungeon between 47 and 50, meaning you’ll likely need to run this a few times to hit the original level cap. Remember to watch your debuffs!
Dusk Vigil (levels 51-53)
Luckily for us, Square Enix learned their lesson about spacing dungeons between levels after the Aurum Vale, so there’s never a leap as large as the 47-50 jump after that. Dusk Vigil is one of the simpler dungeons to run, and should easily level your character up to where they need to be. Try to stay behind the 1st boss, fire the cannon at the dragon in the 2nd boss, and don’t stand in the AoE markers on the 3rd boss.
Mt. Gulg (levels 79-80) 
I know this one doesn’t seem like a huge leap, but once you hit those upper levels your experience gain feels significantly slower. And besides hitting the level cap, 80 is also when you get your final capstone ability and unlock your whole kit. It’s the prize we’ve been aiming for, so hitting it feels pretty important. You’ll still have to run Mt. Gulg 4-6 times before getting enough experience to level.
Main Scenario Quest: The Praetorium (levels 50+)
Okay, I know this one is cheating because it’s more specifically about the daily quest and not the dungeon itself, but I see too many people sleeping on this one. Getting the Praetorium on the MSQ daily is the single largest experience gain in the game. Yes, it’ll take you about 45 minutes and you can’t skip those long, bland cutscenes. But the typical dungeon run takes 15-20 minutes and gives you a fraction of the experience. You save time in the long run doing the MSQ Praetorium, and you have extra time to browse YouTube videos or write that novel you’ve dreamed of writing.
And there you have it! The top 5 best dungeons to level in FFXIV. I hope you found this list useful!
