Blue Mage leveling, 1 to 80

1. Why you grind mobs and nothing else

The 10x bonus applies to open-world enemy kills only. FATEs and guildleves are excluded from the bonus, dungeons pay normal rates, roulettes won't take a limited job at all, and deep dungeons are closed to Blue Mage entirely. Every efficient route in existence is some flavor of "kill field mobs faster."

2. The helper method

Full kill credit goes to whoever tags the enemy first. So: you tag, your max-level friend (standing outside your party) cleans up, you collect the full 10x. Don't party up: level-disparity penalties will eat the experience. An instant cast like Flying Sardine makes tagging painless.

3. Solo: freeze and shatter

Once you own Ram's Voice and Ultravibration, gather a pack, freeze it, and shatter it: Deep Freeze holds 12 seconds, Ultravibration instantly kills everything frozen at or below your level. The cooldown is two minutes, or the time it takes to enter any Duty Finder instance and immediately leave, which resets it. That loop is the fastest solo method in the game.

The infamous Tempest leech trick (feed Deep Sea Leeches to Cleonids at Ono's Cups and collect the kill credit) still works and can gift 30+ levels off one meal, but it's a player-discovered stunt with instant-death downside. Community consensus, not official guidance.

4. Where to grind

1. Labyrinthos (1-80) Caribou in the northwest, around X:12 Y:8. Melee-only mobs, dense chains, no penalty for starting at level 1. The default helper zone: 70-90 minutes to cap.
2. The Tempest (1-80) The Rave Cave at Ono's Cups (X:29 Y:6). Interconnected loops, no backtracking. Also home of the leech trick.
3. Thavnair (70-80) Crabs and Hamsa along X:12-14 Y:27-30. The fast finisher: 30-40 minutes with a helper.
4. Kholusia beach (65-70) Dense, safe, boring. A good self-sufficient bracket.
5. Azys Lla (55-60) First island, northwest corner. Best pre-Stormblood option if your story progress stops in Heavensward.

Solo without endgame access, run the classic ladder instead: Thanalan and La Noscea through the 20s, the Shrouds and Coerthas to 45, Mor Dhona to 50, then one expansion zone per five levels until Labyrinthos takes over.

5. Boosters that stack

All of these stack with the 10x bonus: rested experience (+50%), any food (+3%), the Free Company battle buff (+15%), the Brand New Ring to level 30 (+30%), the Aetheryte Earring to 70 and Menphina's Earring to 80 (+30% each, preorder items), and the Road to 90 world buff (+100%) if you're on a new or preferred world. The armoury bonus is the one classic booster that does not help here.