Skill Ups: A Guide by Kyrial

CAUTION!
	This article is a personal guide. Information expressed in this guide is one player's opinion and may be more opinion than fact. Strategies and information contained herein may not work for everyone. No non-minor changes should be made without consulting the author. Changes or questions should be discussed on the talk page.

Skill Ranks by Job

Skill	A+	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D	E	F
Archery		RNG				SAM		THF	RDM, WAR	NIN
Axe	BST	WAR			DRK, RNG, RUN
Blue Magic	BLU
Club		PLD	WHM, GEO		BLU, WAR	BLM, MNK, SCH	SMN	DRK, RUN	BRD, BST, PUP, RDM	DRG, NIN, RNG, SAM, THF
Dagger	THF		COR, DNC	RDM	BRD, RNG, WAR	BST, NIN	DRK	PLD, PUP, GEO	BLM, SCH	DRG, SAM, SMN
Dark Magic		BLM, DRK							SCH	RDM
Divine Magic		WHM	PLD	RUN					SCH	RDM
Elemental Magic	BLM		DRK		GEO	RDM			SCH
Enfeebling Magic	RDM					BLM, GEO	DRK, WHM		SCH
Enhancing Magic			RDM		RUN	WHM			PLD, SCH	BLM
Evasion	THF	NIN	MNK, SAM, DNC, RUN	PUP			WAR, PLD, DRK, BST	DRG, BLU	RDM, BRD, COR, GEO	WHM, BLM, RNG, SMN, SCH
Geomancy							GEO
Great Axe	WAR			RUN	DRK
Great Katana	SAM							NIN
Great Sword	RUN	DRK	WAR	PLD
Guard		MNK		PUP
Handbell							GEO
Hand-to-Hand	MNK		PUP						WAR, DNC	NIN, THF
Healing Magic	WHM						PLD	RDM	SCH
Katana	NIN
Marksmanship		RNG		COR		THF	NIN		WAR	DRK
Ninjutsu		NIN
Parrying	RUN	COR, NIN, SAM, THF	DNC				BST, DRG, PLD	WAR	BLU, PUP	MNK, RDM, DRK, BRD, SCH, GEO
Polearm	DRG				WAR, SAM					PLD
Scythe	DRK		WAR		BST					BLM
Shield	PLD					WAR			WHM	BST	RDM, THF
Singing							BRD
Staff		PLD		MNK, SMN, WAR	BLM, DRG	BRD, WHM, SCH
String							BRD
Summoning Magic		SMN
Sword	PLD, BLU	RUN		RDM, WAR	COR, DRK	SAM	NIN	BRD, DRG	RNG, THF, DNC	BST
Throwing	NIN					SAM, PUP, DNC		COR, RNG	BLM, THF, WAR, SCH	BRD, MNK, WHM	RDM
Wind							BRD

Automaton Skill Ranks

Skill	A+	A-	B-	C+
Melee		Valoredge Frame	Harlequin Frame	Sharpshot Frame Stormwaker Frame
Ranged		Sharpshot Frame	Harlequin Frame
Magic	Stormwaker Frame (with WHM or BLM Head)	Stormwaker Frame	Harlequin Frame

Skill Levels by Rank

	A+	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D	E	F
Lv. 1	6		5						4
Lv. 2	9		7						6
Lv. 3	12		10						9		8
Lv. 4	15		13						12	11	10
Lv. 5	18		16						14		13
Lv. 6	21		19						17	16	15
Lv. 7	24		22			21			20	19	17
Lv. 8	27		25			24			22	21	20
Lv. 9	30		28			27			25	24	22
Lv. 10	33		31			30			28	26	24
Lv. 11	36		34			33			31	29	27
Lv. 12	39		36			35			33	31	29
Lv. 13	42		39			38			36	34	31
Lv. 14	45		42			41			39	36	33
Lv. 15	48		45			44			41	39	36
Lv. 16	51		48			47			44	41	38
Lv. 17	54		51			49			47	44	40
Lv. 18	57		54			52			49	46	43
Lv. 19	60		57			55			52	49	45
Lv. 20	63		60			58			55	51	47
Lv. 21	66		63			61			58	54	50
Lv. 22	69		65			63			60	56	52
Lv. 23	72		68			66			63	58	54
Lv. 24	75		71			69			66	61	56
Lv. 25	78		74			72			68	64	59
Lv. 26	81		77			75			71	66	61
Lv. 27	84		80			77			74	69	63
Lv. 28	87		83			80			76	71	66
Lv. 29	90		86			83			79	74	68
Lv. 30	93		89			86			82	76	70
Lv. 31	96		92			89			85	79	73
Lv. 32	99		94			91			87	81	75
Lv. 33	102		97			94			90	84	77
Lv. 34	105		100			97			93	86	79
Lv. 35	108		103			100			95	89	82
Lv. 36	111		106			103			98	91	84
Lv. 37	114		109			105			101	94	86
Lv. 38	117		112			108			103	96	89
Lv. 39	120		115			111			106	99	91
Lv. 40	123		118			114			109	101	93
Lv. 41	126		121			117			112	104	96
Lv. 42	129		123			119			114	106	98
Lv. 43	132		126			122			117	109	100
Lv. 44	135		129			125			120	111	102
Lv. 45	138		132			128			122	114	105
Lv. 46	141		135			131			125	116	107
Lv. 47	144		138			133			128	119	109
Lv. 48	147		141			136			130	121	112
Lv. 49	150		144			139			133	124	114
Lv. 50	153		147			142			136	126	116
Lv. 51	158		151			146			140	130	120
Lv. 52	163		156			151			145	135	124
Lv. 53	168		161			156			150	139	128
Lv. 54	173		166			161			154	144	133
Lv. 55	178		171			166			159	148	137
Lv. 56	183		176			170			164	153	141
Lv. 57	188		181			175			168	157	146
Lv. 58	193		186			180			173	162	150
Lv. 59	198		191			185			178	166	154
Lv. 60	203		196			190			183	171	159
Lv. 61	207		199		198	192			184	172	161
Lv. 62	212	211	203	202	201	195	194		186	174	163
Lv. 63	217	215	207	205	204	197	196		188	176	165
Lv. 64	222	219	210	208	206	200	199	198	190	178	167
Lv. 65	227	223	214	212	209	202	201	200	192	180	169
Lv. 66	232	227	218	215	212	205	203	202	194	182	171
Lv. 67	236	231	221	218	214	207	205	204	195	184	173
Lv. 68	241	235	225	221	217	210	208	206	197	186	175
Lv. 69	246	239	229	225	220	212	210	208	199	188	177
Lv. 70	251	244	233	228	223	215	212	210	201	190	179
Lv. 71	256	249	237	232	226	218	214	212	203	192	181
Lv. 72	261	254	241	236	229	221	217	214	205	194	183
Lv. 73	266	259	246	240	232	224	219	216	207	196	185
Lv. 74	271	264	251	245	236	227	222	218	208	198	187
Lv. 75	276	269	256	250	240	230	225	220	210	200	189
Lv. 76	281	274	261	255	245	235	230	225	214	203	191
Lv. 77	286	279	266	260	250	240	235	230	218	206	193
Lv. 78	291	284	271	265	255	245	240	235	222	209	195
Lv. 79	296	289	276	270	260	250	245	240	226	212	197
Lv. 80	301	294	281	275	265	255	250	245	230	215	199
Lv. 81	307	300	287	281	271	261	256	251	235	219	202
Lv. 82	313	306	293	287	277	267	262	257	240	223	205
Lv. 83	319	312	299	293	283	273	268	263	245	227	208
Lv. 84	325	318	305	299	289	279	274	269	250	231	211
Lv. 85	331	324	311	305	295	285	280	275	255	235	214
Lv. 86	337	330	317	311	301	291	286	281	260	239	217
Lv. 87	343	336	323	317	307	297	292	287	265	243	220
Lv. 88	349	342	329	323	313	303	298	293	270	247	223
Lv. 89	355	348	335	329	319	309	304	299	275	251	226
Lv. 90	361	354	341	335	325	315	310	305	280	255	229
Lv. 91	368	361	348	342	332	322	317	312	286	260	233
Lv. 92	375	368	355	349	339	329	324	319	292	265	237
Lv. 93	382	375	362	356	346	336	331	326	298	270	241
Lv. 94	389	382	369	363	353	343	338	333	304	275	245
Lv. 95	396	389	376	370	360	350	345	340	310	280	249
Lv. 96	403	396	383	377	367	357	352	347	316	285	253
Lv. 97	410	403	390	384	374	364	359	354	322	290	257
Lv. 98	417	410	397	391	381	371	366	361	328	295	261
Lv. 99	424	417	404	398	388	378	373	368	334	300	265

Tips For Skilling Up

• To find good mobs to skill up on, use the first chart to determine what rank your job has with the skill you wish to raise. With that in mind, use the second chart to see what level your skill is currently at. The best mobs to skill up on are mobs that are around the level you'd have that skill. For example, a THF with 142 sword skill would see that they had a D ranking in Sword, and that this is in the range of level 52. So ideally, he or she would want to skill up on mobs that are around level 52. Once skillups slow down on those mobs, repeat the process.
  
  

• You will receive skill ups on any mob that is Decent Challenge or above for your skill. Since the 2/14/11 update which changed this (previously you only recieved skillups from mobs Even Match or higher), this has become a bit more complicated. See below for more information.
  
  

• Any Decent Challenge mob can cap your skills, but different level ranges have different levels that are considered Decent Challenge to them. This probably sounds more complicated than it is; just look at the table below to see what levels are Decent Challenge at each given level:

Your Level	Level of Decent Challenge Mobs
1-30	1-2 levels lower than you
31-40	1-3 levels lower than you
41-50	1-4 levels lower than you
51-60	1-5 levels lower than you
61-70	1-6 levels lower than you
71-99	1-7 levels lower than you

• With weapon skills, if you do 0 damage, you will not receive a skillup. This was not always the case, but was changed in a certain patch. (Note: There are conflicting reports over whether you can skill get skillups on 0 damage hits. Some say it's just more rare now, while others say it is completely impossible. From my own experience, I've gone for an hour straight spamming my ranged attack macro on Steelshells, and despite good accuracy, I didn't get a single skillup. All my hits were for 0, including critical hits.)
  
  

• A Puppetmaster's Automaton skills up exactly in the same way players do; they just have different skills (Melee, Ranged, and Magic). Their skill ranks depend on their frame/head, and can be seen in the secondary chart above.
  
  

• Evasion skill is raised by getting hit (whether the attack connects or not) with physical attacks by mobs Decent Challenge or higher to your skill level, similar to how weapon skills work. (Note: There are multiple reports of people having capped evasion on Decent Challenge mobs one way or another; it is unknown how this happens, but the theory is that it is some kind of bug or glitch in the system.)
  
  

• Guarding skill and Parrying skill are raised by taking hits to the front of your character when your weapon is out (i.e. engaged to the mob). Hits to your back do not count, sadly, so you cannot engage and then turn around. Again, the mobs must be of an appropriate level for your skill for you to receive skillups.
  

• A common method for skilling up Parrying and Guarding is to engage a mob, hit it once, then switch target to another mob that is out of melee range (without moving). In this way, you still have your weapon out, and are facing the first mob, but you aren't attacking it, so you can keep it alive as long as you want, for skillups.
  

• Shield skill is raised by taking hits to the front of your character. Your weapon does not have be out to receive shield skillups, but you still can't be hit from behind and get skillups. As always, the mobs must be of an appropriate level for your skill for you to receive skillups.
  
  

• Any magic that deals damage is leveled just like weapon skills, with the exception that you still receive skillups when the spell does 0 damage.
  
  

• Healing, Enhancing, and Summoning magic skills are raised by casting the magic. Note that Healing magic can also be used to deal damage to Undead mobs, and doing so makes skillups work the same way as weapon skills and damage dealing magic. Skillups are faster this way, but the downside is that you have to fight things using this method.
  
  

• Enfeebling magic works the same way as weapon skills. If the spell is fully resisted, you will not receive a skillup.
  
  

• Singing and instrument skills are raised in mostly the same way as their corresponding magic types. Enfeebling songs that are fully resisted will give skillups, but songs cast on mobs below Decent Challenge to your current skill level will not. Buffs can give skillups at any level.
  
  

• You cannot receive skillups on a skill that comes exclusively from your subjob. For example, a THF who subs WHM will not receive skillups in Healing magic, even if their skill is not capped. The same goes for weapons; using the example from before, a THF subbing WHM will not receive Staff skillups by using a staff, even if their skill is not capped.
  
  

• You can receive skillups from mobs in Dynamis and Besieged, though up to what level is uncertain. It should be noted, however, that mobs in Besieged have extremely high evasion. As such, it is less practical to level weapon skills on them (until high levels) than it is to level magic skills on them.
  
  

• When it comes to Evasion, Guard, Parrying, and Shield, there is a certain priority the game uses. It checks your evasion first, then Parrying, then shadows from Blink/Utsusemi, then Guard/Shield (you can't guard with a shield equipped, so these share a slot). What this means is that evading attacks is bad when leveling Shield, Guard, or Parrying. Typically when leveling these skills, you want to wear as much gear with Evasion penalties as you can. Shadows from Blink/Utsusemi are okay for Parrying, but Shield/Guard are checked after shadows (since you have to be hit to guard or block with a shield).
  
  

• Gear or merits that give +skill levels to the skill you are skilling up do not force you to fight higher level mobs to get skillups. Skillups are earned as if you did not have that additional skill. The additional skill simply helps your accuracy, (which is always good ^^). For example, if a BLM with 158 Elemental magic skill equips an Ice Staff (+10 Elemental magic skill), they will still receive skillups on mobs level 47-48 (and of course, higher level mobs as well). The additional skill simply helps them land their spells better.
  
  

• Magic that does not do damage (Paralyze/Slow/Flash/Aspir, etc; not DoT spells like Dia and Bio) can be leveled on Hpemdes in Al'Taieu, as they will not actually attack you until they have been dealt damage. This cannot be done with Enhancing or Elemental magic, unfortunately, as there are no non-damaging spells that target the enemy in these categories. Healing Magic spells *may* work (I've not personally tested this). Below is a list of spells for each magic type that will not cause a Hpemde to attack, while giving skillups:
  
  

Skill	Non-damaging spells
Blue Magic	Sheep Song, Soporific, Sound Blast, Chaotic Eye, Blank Gaze, MP Drainkiss, Stinking Gas, Geist Wall, Awful Eye, Jettatura, Frightful Roar, Filamented Hold, Light of Penance, Feather Tickle, Yawn, Voracious Trunk, Infrasonics, Sandspray, Enervation, Lowing, Temporal Shift, Actinic Burst, Cimicine Discharge, Demoralizing Roar, Auroral Drape
Dark Magic	Absorb-ACC, Absorb-AGI, Absorb-CHR, Absorb-DEX, Absorb-INT, Absorb-MND, Absorb-STR, Absorb-TP, Absorb-VIT, Aspir, Aspir II, Stun
Divine Magic	Flash, Repose
Enfeebling Magic	Addle, Bind, Blind, Blind II, Dispel, Gravity, Paralyze, Paralyze II, Silence, Sleep, Sleep II, Sleepga, Sleepga II, Slow, Slow II
Ninjutsu	Aisha: Ichi, Hojo: Ichi, Hojo: Ni, Jubaku: Ichi, Kurayami: Ichi, Kurayami: Ni, Yurin: Ichi
Singing, String, and Wind)	Light Threnody, Dark Threnody, Earth Threnody, Foe Lullaby, Water Threnody, Wind Threnody, Fire Threnody, Ice Threnody, Lightning Threnody, Horde Lullaby, Magic Finale, Battlefield Elegy, Carnage Elegy, Foe Lullaby II

Finding Suitable Skill Up Mobs

• The best way I've found to do this is to decide on a type of mob you want to fight (usually something easy, like crabs, but there's no reason you can't farm while skilling up!), then go to the category page for that mob family (example: Category:Crabs) and look for mobs in the level range you want. Remember that ideally you want mobs around the same level as your current skill. You can always go higher (or lower, as long as they are Decent Challenge or higher), but skillups will tend to be slower until they are in the normal EM range for your skill.

• With the new level caps, people have been having a harder time finding places to skill up. While there were still many options at 80, at 85, just about all mobs are Decent Challenge or lower, and thus will not let level 85 players cap their skills. (This is not true as of 2/14/11, but whatever. :P) While mobs in Abyssea will work, there are a few new mobs that were added along with the rise in cap to 85 in Aht Urhgan areas. Below are the ones I have found so far, though I may be missing a couple. All of them are level 88-89 (possibly as high as 90 for some), making them Tough to Very Tough at 85. This means that, aside from skilled soloers, you will likely need to bring a couple people to be safe when fighting these.
  
  

Monster	Family	Zone	Approximate Location	Notes
Orichalcumshell	Crabs	Mount Zhayolm	(C-9)	As always, crabs make for great skillup mobs. The camp, however, is quite out of the way.
Sulphuric Jagil	Pugils	Mount Zhayolm	(I-10)	Camp is at the Engraved Tablet. Some Wootzshells (level 70-71) may be mixed in with them.
Scoriaceous Eruca	Crawlers	Mount Zhayolm	(E-6) - (D-6)	Far from ideal, as they are mixed in with Dahaks (level 82-83), and the occasional Phasma (73-76) at night. Additionally, Incinerate can be dangerous at high HP. They do sleep at night, however, causing them not to aggro or link.
Deforester	Crawlers	Aydeewa Subterrane	(D-7), (D-8), (E-7), (E-8) Map 2	Far better than the Erucas above; these are normal crawlers, and at a less out of the way camp, without other mobs mixed in. You can chocobo to entrance 5 from Wajaom Woodlands (G-7), and from there it is a short walk to camp. Unknown yet if they link; if they do, it could be a problem without a sleeper. However, they are on a 16 minute repop timer, being in a dungeon.
Mycoskulker	Funguars	Aydeewa Subterrane	(I-9) - (I-10) Map 5	Quickest way to get to them is to enter from (G-10) or (E-9) of Wajaom Woodlands (entrance 3 or 4). This will put you on Map 4. Then go to the drop marked A, and you'll be in the room with these. Less than ideal, as funguar TP moves can be somewhat annoying, but not too horrible. Note that when I checked out this camp, there were NO mobs that checked Tough; only Very Tough. Again, these are on a 16 minute repop timer, being in a dungeon.
Nostokulshedra	Sea Monks	Arrapago Reef	(E-6), (F-6), (G-6), (G-7) Map 1	In all honesty, this is a horrible location. The quickest way involves going from the Ilrusi Atoll staging point, then heading to the spot marked A on Map 2. This will put you close to the camp, however you'll have to pass imps and a Soulflayer or two on your way, which are true sight and true sound, respectively. Additionally, they have 2 AoE moves that will wipe shadows, and are on a 16 minute repop timer, being in a dungeon.
Naraka Bat	Giant Bats	Arrapago Reef	Unknown	I haven't actually found these yet. If they aren't in too bad a place to get to, these might be nice, as bats tend to be decently easy.
Slough Skua	Birds	Caedarva Mire	(F-9) Map 1	These are pretty convenient too. Take the west exit from Nashmau, and it's a short walk to camp. It's worth noting that these are the only mobs I've found that Thief's Hide ability will work on, so THFs working on skilling evasion (or even other things) solo will want to consider this camp. They also don't aggro, though they do link. It's pretty easy to pull them without links, however. They're also on a 5 minute repop timer like the Zhayolm mobs, being in a field area.
Vauxia Fly	Flies	Caedarva Mire	Unknown	I just found out about these (I suspected there had to be another new mob in Caedarva Mire, since the others zones all got at least 2!). Dunno where they are yet, but I suppose it doesn't matter too much; flies suck to fight, what with Cursed Sphere and their tendency to link. The only thing they have going for them is that they are on a 5 minute repop, being in an outside area.

• With the rise in cap to 90, SE added some new T-VT @ 90 mobs to WotG areas. This time, thankfully, they are all in outdoor areas, so they all have 5 minute repops. :)
  
  

Monster	Family	Zone	Approximate Location	Notes
Hispid Rarab	Rabbits	West Sarutabaruta (S)	(G-11) - (H-11)	Rabbits aren't exactly the easiest mobs (Whirl Claws hurts), and if they link it could be a problem. Short walk from town, though.
Condor	Birds	Meriphataud Mountains (S)	(E-9), (E-10), (F-9), (F-10)	Annoyingly far from the place you teleport into the zone from town, but birds aren't too hard usually. They tend to be pretty spread out too, making it easy to avoid links if they do link.
Gouger Beetle	Beetles	Sauromugue Champaign (S)	(K-6) - (K-7)	Beetles are quite nice, between not-too-dangerous TP moves, somewhat high defense (longer lasting mobs means more skillups per mob!), and MP to Aspir.
Drachenlizard	Lizards	North Gustaberg (S)	(D-7), (D-8), (E-7), (E-8) (both sides of the river)	Lizards wouldn't be my first choice of skillup mobs, between Fireball and Baleful Gaze. They probably link, too.
Feyweald Sapling	Saplings	Grauberg (S)	(G-11)	Yuck. Saplings are annoying, with AoE sleep from Slumber Powder and their tendency to link. If you're doing a trial that requires Treant kills and you want some decent exp and skillups to go with it though, this might be nice.
Champion Crawler	Crawlers	Rolanberry Fields (S)	(F-8), (F-9), (G-8), (G-9)	Crawlers are pretty nice and easy; this looks like a great spot. They seemed to be spread out enough to easily avoid links, as well. And the camp isn't that far from where you teleport in from town.
Gnoletrap	Flytraps	Jugner Forest (S)	(J-10), (J-11), (K-10)	Not too far from the Campaign fort, but flytraps are not very nice mobs. AoE sleep from Soporific, cone paralyze from Palsy Pollen, and slow from Gloeosuccus. Bleh.
Duriumshell	Crabs	Vunkerl Inlet (S)	(H-7)	As usual, crabs are awesome. These don't aggro or link, and a pixie wanders through camp occasionally. (An Air Elemental does as well during wind weather, but it is Too Weak at 75, let alone 90.)
Tsetse Fly	Flies	Batallia Downs (S)	(E-5), (E-6), (F-5), (F-6)	Flies are unfortunately pretty annoying mobs to fight, between links and Cursed Sphere. They're about as far as you can get from the spot you teleport in from town, too.

• Please try to use common etiquette when choosing a skillup location and avoid using mobs that people are XPing on as your skillup mobs.