Hedging Bets
Location
Required Items
Rewards
What the allowance actually buys
One allowance here buys 698,030 EXP, the best of the 3 Lv 72 Armorer tradecraft leves that record EXP: the runner-up manages 341,890 EXP, 51% less.
Across that rung the return runs from 215,950 EXP to 698,030 EXP per allowance — 3 distinct figures spanning 223%, so the wrong pick leaves 482,080 EXP of the allowance unspent.
On whether to wait: the best Lv 74 Armorer tradecraft leve returns 791,810 EXP per allowance, 13% more than the best on this rung, while the Lv 70 rung behind tops out at 565,870 EXP.
At Lv 72 this data holds 27 leves paying EXP across 2 categories: the 24 Tradecraft ones average 590,811 EXP per allowance, the 3 Fieldcraft ones 1,405,338 EXP, which puts this leve 18% above its own category's average.
Deepgold Surcoat of Maiming ×1 is a Lv 73 Armorer recipe, 3 steps deep through 5 intermediates, costing 24 units of raw material and 41 crystals.
Handing that in returns 29,085 EXP and 170 gil for every unit of raw material the order swallows, and the tree needs Armorer, Blacksmith, Goldsmith, Leatherworker and Weaver.