FFXIV Rogue (ROG) Leveling Guide & Rotation (Shb Updated)

How to level up your Rogue (ROG) fast! Rotation, useful reminders, and the best places to be in any level – HERE!

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Attracted to the whole double-wielding, stealth, and “jutsus”, ey? Well, I ain’t here to judge. But I am here to give you tips in this Rogue Leveling Guide – which, if you found yourself here, is likely your goal! Believe it!

This page is strictly for Rogue – focusing more on ROG specific info like skills, traits, and playstyle notes. The GENERAL PROCESS that you should be following is outlined in our GENERAL LEVELING GUIDE: which you should be using ALONGSIDE THIS GUIDE.

Rogue: Unlocking, and other basics

How to unlock the ROG Class?

Location: Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks, Rogues’ Guild (x:8.1, y:16.5)
NPCs: Lonwoerd, Jacke
Related Quests: (all in the same place)
> So you want to be a Rogue
> My First Daggers
Note: Rogue is a base class that you CANNOT start the game with.

Rogues are Melee DPS classes, falling under the Disciple of War category. Unlike other melee classes, Rogues use DEX as their main stat.

You should be using a Healer or Tank chocobo companion (admittedly ,I don’t have much experience with Tank chocobos, are they even good?).

You may also want to check out our Rogue General Guide & FAQ for other basic info.

Leveling Methods, References and Reminders

In these boxes, I’ll put info that you’ll likely be referring to (or discovering) while leveling up your Rogue.

EXP Grinding Methods

Here’s a generic outline of what you should be doing at any given time. The higher it is, the more value it is for EXP.

Leveling ActivityUnlocks & Notes
Main Scenario QuestIf this is your first character. Only stop and go down the list if you’re locked out.
Duty Roulette: LevelingComplete Sastasha and Tam-tara Deepcroft in the main scenario.
Palace of the DeadUnlocks at L17 for your first character, and you can zone in at L1 thereafter.
FATESThe baseline activity for gaining incidental EXP.
GuildhestComplete each one ONCE for each class. Roulette version optional.
Hunting LogGives some decent EXP if you’re bored or in queue. Terrible if you skip a tier.
Challenge LogUnlocks at L17 for your first character. Best done “passively” until nearing week end.
Dungeon GrindGrinding dungeons via Duty Roulette: Leveling or straight queue.
LevequestsHonestly, Battlecraft leves are only so-so… Where? See: Levequests Guide

I give you many options because sanity, boredom, and changing it up are important to many people. Again, more detailed info can be found in the General Leveling guide.

Bonus EXP and other EXP effects

There are a few bonus EXP items you can equip for some minimal gains.

Heat of Battle (Free Company Action) 10/20/30%
Eating ANY FOOD BUFF +3% (You can buy from NPC IE Boiled Egg)

Moogle Hat until L10
Friendship Circlet until L25
Brand-new Ring until L30
Ala Mhigan Earrings until L50

These mainly work for monster kills, so don’t sweat it if you don’t have ‘em. Your journey is long, and killing monsters isn’t that large of a source of EXP.

Last but not least of these reminders, always logout at a sanctuary. It’s noted by the moon icon on the right side of your EXP bar. You gain rested EXP in these areas!

Rogue Leveling – 01 to 30

If this is your first character:
MAIN SCENARIO QUEST IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY.

L1 Skill UnlockedSpinning Edge: Your “basic attack”. It eventually links up to your basic DPS combo.

L2 Skill UnlockedShade Shift: A strong defensive cooldown. It gives you a shield based on max HP. While its primary use is in high end content, be aware of it during the leveling process – it may save a death or two.

L4 Skill UnlockedGust Slash: Your first combo! Its from Spinning Edge > Gust Slash. The very beginnings of your future rotation.

L5 ROG Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks – Rogues’ Guild. These spawn every 5 levels up until 50, and can give you notable rewards (besides, you NEED to do them to become a Ninja).

L8 Role Actions unlocked!

So you’ve unlocked your first role action as Rogue. If you’re new, you access this by pressing (default) P > Role. Slots for role actions are unlocked at 8, 12, 16, 20. and 24 for base classes. Technically you unlock more at 32 onward, but you should advance to Ninja by then.

Here’s a list of the Melee DPS Role Actions you’ll be getting as you progress.

L8 Role Action slot I unlockedSecond Wind: A free heal is a free heal. This is obviously great while leveling up and you should be using it often.

L10 Skill UnlockedHide: Allows you to sneak around undetected! It’s actually pretty great in PvE / questing. Use it when you need to interact with objects guarded by NPC’s!

L10 ROG Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks – Rogues’ Guild.

L10 Hmm... Guildhests?

Are guildhests worth it while leveling? Note that you get a large bonus EXP for the first time you complete a guildhest with that class. This is pretty worth it!

I mention this now at level 10 since we have a special guildhest – Under the Armor. It’s the fastest guildhest and people use this as the unofficial hest to queue up for to nail the Challenge Log entries quickly. It also helps for the quick completion of the “Player Commendation” entry.

The roulette is so-so. I like it very early on when the hests are limited to the extremely easy ones.

L12 Skill UnlockedAssassinate: An “off-gcd” (OGCD) skill that can only be used against low HP targets.

L12 Role Action slot II unlockedArm’s Length: Only useful in a select few high-end raids…. very niche. Almost useless in the leveling process.

L14 Trait UnlockedAll Fours: A weird trait that is almost useless in this game. Rogues take less falling damage but you never actually die from falling unless you’re in combat…

L15 ROG Class Quest unlocks Throwing Dagger: check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks – Rogue’S Guild.

Throwing DaggerA ranged attack. Not too hot. There really isn’t much else to say about this skill.

L15 ROG (continuing) Class QuestMug. Jacke will direct you to Western La Noscea for this quest.

Mug: Another OGCD that you should spam every time it’s available. Ignore the “bonus item” clause…

L15 Unlocks - Duty Roulette Leveling

DR Leveling is an insane source of EXP and you shouldn’t let a day pass without doing it!

However, in this day and age there is a problem.

There are people who are the “Pure Palace of the Dead all the way BBY” types (nothing wrong with that), who may shun doing DR Leveling simply because they have no gear to speak of.

Don’t be dismayed due to a lack of gear! Grand Company seal gear is more than enough during this phase of the leveling period. It’s essentially FREE! NQ’s or cheap pieces from the market board can supplement the blanks. You can even buy from NPC’s!

These dungeons aren’t tuned to be very punishing, and being at a lower item level isn’t the end of the world.

L16 Role Actions Slot III Unlocked Leg Sweep: Put this in your first Role Action slot! A stun is SUPER VERSATILE in low levels! Interrupting enemy mobs so you don’t have to move out is great for melee. Stunning also provides damage mitigation (the mob won’t attack), which is a great little bonus in dungeons. It also allows you to land Trick Attack in solo encounters!

L17 Unlocks - Challenge Log

Keep in mind it unlocks at L17 FOR FIRST TIMERS, but if you do have it unlocked, the Challenge Log can be abused from L1 for other classes.

The Challenge log is a great way to gain EXP on the side. You should seek to complete as many relevant entries as you can before the week resets – at which time try to chase the good ones before it’s too late!

Not all entries are equally good – check the General Leveling Guide for tips.

 

L18 Skill UnlockedTrick Attack: Ahhh, the infamous Trick Attack! “Trick” causes a good chunk of damage AND makes the target suffer from “increases damage taken” – if they’re struck from behind. While the latter part of the skill may be difficult to trigger in solo PvE, stuns and Hide help! Great versus bosses!

L20 Role Actions Slot IV unlockedDiversion: Useful only in dungeons and raids. Pulling from the tank is never good.

L20 Trait UnlockedFleet of Foot: A very unique passive you should be aware about. Rogues and Ninjas actually move faster than other classes!

L20 ROG Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks – Rogues’ Guild.

L24 Role Actions Slot V unlockedBloodbath: TP is TP – without it, you can’t DPS! You should never leave home without it! Put this in your second Role Action slot!

L25 ROG Class Quest – check in on your guildmaster in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks – Rogues’ Guild.

L26 Skill UnlockedAeolian Edge: Your first complete combo! It goes from Spinning Edge > Gust Slash > Aeolian Edge. The addition of a combo finisher improves your damage output quite a bit!

Once you hit level 30 FULL STOP! It’s time you evolve into a job class – in your case that’s Ninja (NIN)! The prerequisites to unlocking the quest are simply finishing ALL ROG class quests up to level 30.

L30 Class quest unlocksJugulate, and the prereq for Ninja:

Jugulate: is Yet another OGCD that silences. While its potency is small, it’s better than zero! The Silence effect… hmm, honestly the more experienced you are with the game, the more you know when silence is actually usable. It’s almost strictly worse than stun in a vast majority of cases. Situations do exist where certain skills can only be silenced. A vast majority of the time, you’ll just be using this as bonus DPS.

Completing this quest marks your final class quest as Rogue. You now have the right to become a Ninja!

How to become a Ninja?

The quest to become a Ninja is Peasants by Day, Ninjas by Night, found in Rogues’ Guild. Completing this quest gives you Soul of the Ninja, and the skills Ten and Ninjutsu.

Soul of the Ninja is your job soul crystal. To become a Ninja you merely have to equip it (it’s on the lower right most equipment slot). Equipping the soul crystal is a tiny bit of a hassle since you have to rebind your skills, and reconfigure your equipment set. But it’s okay since you’ll likely never be a Rogue again.

And with that YOU’RE DONE WITH LEVELING Rogue! Congrats! Feel free to teleport behind the Ninja Leveling Guide. Hopefully our Rogue Leveling Guide helped you out… and if it didn’t – nothing personnel, kid.

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2 thoughts on “FFXIV Rogue (ROG) Leveling Guide & Rotation (Shb Updated)”

  1. How long has it been since this has been updated? I noticed that some of the info is outdated, most likely due to the Stormblood release. It would do well to update it just to help out players that are just now picking up the rogue class

    1. The base class leveling guides will be updated once I’m done with DoH and omega guides. Stormblood changed a lot especially cross class skills and the levels with which they come out.

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