Speak Softly and Carry a Metal Rod
Location
Required Items
Rewards
What the allowance actually buys
One allowance here buys 681,530 EXP, the best on the Lv 68 Goldsmith tradecraft rung — matched exactly by 1 other leve of the 3 there, with the rest trailing at 333,810 EXP or less.
On whether to wait: the best Lv 70 Goldsmith tradecraft leve returns 693,190 EXP per allowance, 2% more than the best on this rung, while the Lv 66 rung behind tops out at 1,084,260 EXP.
At Lv 68 this data holds 27 leves paying EXP across 2 categories: the 24 Tradecraft ones average 550,185 EXP per allowance, the 3 Fieldcraft ones 1,189,544 EXP, which puts this leve 24% above its own category's average.
Palladium Rod ×1 is a Lv 69 Goldsmith recipe, 2 steps deep through 4 intermediates, costing 24 units of raw material and 33 crystals.
Handing that in returns 28,397 EXP and 146 gil for every unit of raw material the order swallows, and the tree needs Alchemist, Blacksmith and Goldsmith.