Gathering classes, also known as Disciples of the Land, harvest natural resources throughout Eorzea. Disciples of the Hand can utilize these natural resources to craft equipment, consumables, and countless useful items. Gathering classes consist of Botanist, Fisher, and Miner.

Players wishing to unlock these classes may do so after reaching level 10 (or higher) as a Disciple of War or Disciple of Magic by talking to the Guild Receptionist in their respective gathering guild.

Gathering classes are ill-suited for combat, preferring to use stealth to hide from enemies, though doing so reduces movement speed. Just like crafting classes, they cannot participate in any Duties, as there are no resources to be found in any of them. Gatherers also have an exclusive selection of levequests focused entirely on gathering specific materials.

Disciples of the Land do not have access to any cross-class abilities from the other disciplines (Disciples of War, Disciples of the Hand, and Disciples of Magic). However, they share their various tracking and increased "Crafting Catalyst Yield" abilities with the other gathering classes, though only Miner and Botanist have a use for them. Gatherers also gain one cross-class slot every five levels up to level 50.

As expected, EXP is typically acquired by gathering items. Botanist and Miner gain an increasing temporary bonus to the amount of experience earned for your current gathering node by successfully increasing their Gathering Chain. A Gathering Chain is an in-game term used to describe the process of successfully gathering multiple items in a row without missing before you run out of gathering attempts. If you gather multiple high-quality items in a row, you increase your HQ Chain. Failing to receive an item (either by missing or running out of attempts) breaks all gathering chains.

All three classes gain a significant bonus whenever they obtain a high-quality (HQ) item, and a smaller bonus when they collect a resource for the very first time. The base amount gained depends on the level of the item gathered, not the level of the resource spot, though most items are of a similar level.

We’ve already touched on gathering or, to be more precise, Disciples of Land. These classes– Botany, Mining, and Fishing–are must-haves if you plan to engage in crafting. You can even forget about crafting altogether and rely on the Disciples of Land for FFXIV Gil. With gathering, especially if you prioritize nodes that either can’t always be found or require Tomes of Regional Folklore to be discovered, you can make quite the amount.

Another upside to the gathering is that it’s much cheaper compared to crafting since you’ll only be spending for gear and teleportation only. Once you reach higher levels and are already in full battle gear, you’ll only be spending for the latter.