On top of combat and crafting, three FFXIV Gathering Jobs, Botanist, Miner and Fisher, allow you to harvest the land around you. All three are experts at procuring materials to sell or to craft with. Most FFXIV crafting jobs made easier by picking up a gathering job or two to gain their own materials instead of having to spend the gil to buy them from the marketboard.
Much like the other Jobs in FFXIV, all gathering Jobs become unlockable after you’ve done the level 10 quest for your first Job, but each one is in a different city so we’ll show you exactly where to find them.
It’s worth noting that gathering happens out in the wild where monsters could potentially attack you - luckily gathering Jobs all have stealth skills to keep them safe. Gathering nodes of various levels can be found on every single map except the major cities.
Depending on how you want to play, we can also help you with FFXIV combat jobs and have a handy FFXIV leveling guide to let you level up all your roles fast.
Botanist
Botanists are the woodsmen of Eorzea - they use hatchets to cut down trees, and scythes to harvest vegetation. They gather lots of logs and branches that feed well into the Carpenter job, but also lots of food items useful to Culinarians and insects that are useful to Alchemist’s potions. The Botanist guild can be found in Gridania (the starting city set in the forest) in the Old Gridania half of the map just a little further north of the Conjurer’s guild.
You’ll need to talk to the receptionist and then the Guildmaster Fufucha to join. The first few quests will have you searching the North and Central Shroud areas close by, before expanding to other parts of Eorzea and beyond.
Miner
Masters of stone and earth, Miners unsurprisingly mine for materials using pickaxes and sledgehammers. They collect a lot of metal ores that are extremely useful for Blacksmiths and Armorers, but also a lot of gems for Goldsmiths and a range of Fossils and soils useful to Alchemists. They also get the coolest-looking gear of all three of the gathering jobs.
You’ll find the Miner’s Guild in Ul’dah (the desert city) in the Steps of Thal half of the map - it’s just a bit further on from the Goldsmith guild but down quite a long path. Speak to the receptionist and then the Guildmaster Adalberta Sterne to join. She’ll sent you to Central and Western Thanalan nearby before you go further afield.
Fisher
Fishing is a bit of a special case in FFXIV. While Fishers is a gathering Job it also has a lot more to it than the other gathering Jobs. The Fisher Job uses rods and bait to catch fish and other sea creatures primarily used by Culinarians for cooking, but also by Alchemists. The caught fish don’t have as much utility as other materials, but a lot of different types can be added to fishtanks as housing decorations.
Despite its lack of utility, fishing is the most in depth of all of the gathering jobs and is definitely used as a hobby in its own right. There are no visible nodes to gather, you’ll need to test different bodies of water around the world to see what lies beneath. You’ll have to master bait types, weather and times of day to reel in certain fish, and you’ll even unlock other types of fishing, such as spearfishing which has its own minigame, as you level up. We’ll talk more about that below.
To unlock Fisher you’ll need to head to the main Aetheryte in Limsa Lominsa and follow the steps down to the water where you’ll find the guild nearby. Talk to the receptionist and then Sisipu to start fishing for yourself - the first few quests can be completed by the water right next to the guild.
If testing lots of different baits at different fishing holes and waiting around for various weather changes doesn’t sound like you’re thing, don’t worry - there’s also a far more casual way to level called Ocean Fishing. You can unlock this mode as soon as you’ve unlocked Fisher and there’s no level restriction. Essentially Ocean Fishing involves going on a voyage and catching as many fish as you can to get as many points as you can. It doesn’t matter what you catch and you only have to worry about three types of bait.
Voyages are instanced a bit like dungeons are so you’ll end up on a boat for 24 players. They also only leave at certain real world times so you can only catch one every two hours. The voyages themselves only last for about 20 minutes and you’ll gain a lot of levels incredibly quickly.
You can unlock Ocean Fishing by talking to Fhilsnoe who is right next to the Fisher’s guild. You’ll then be directed to the docks near the Arcanist’s guild which is where you’ll find boats for voyages.
Spearfishing
Another mode of fishing that appears in the Stormblood expansion of FFXIV, Spearfishing involves timing stabs with your spear while underwater to catch as many fish as you can. It’s a bit like a timed reaction minigame where various shadows swim past at different speeds and you need to line up your shot to grab them.
You’ll be able to unlock Spearfishing after completing the level 63 main scenario quest ‘In Soroban We Trust’ which is when you unlock the ability to swim underwater. You’ll also need to have your Fisher at level 61. Once you’ve met those requirements head to Tamamizu in The Ruby Sea and talk to Sumitsubo. He’ll give you your first spear to start stabbing fish with.
