Liquid Competence
Location
Required Items
Rewards
What the allowance actually buys
One allowance here buys 1,086,090 EXP, which places it 2nd of the 2 Lv 84 Alchemist tradecraft leves that record EXP. The best of them, Rebuilding to Code, returns 1,746,150 EXP for the same allowance, 61% more.
On whether to wait: the best Lv 86 Alchemist tradecraft leve returns 2,028,020 EXP per allowance, 16% more than the best on this rung, while the Lv 82 rung behind tops out at 1,525,130 EXP.
At Lv 84 this data holds 18 leves paying EXP across 2 categories: the 16 Tradecraft ones average 1,208,414 EXP per allowance, the 2 Fieldcraft ones 2,702,320 EXP, which puts this leve 10% below its own category's average.
Gil ranks it differently: 4,960 gil per allowance is 1st of 2 on the same rung against 2nd on EXP, with the best there paying 4,960 gil.
Competent Craftsman's Draught ×3 is a Lv 85 Alchemist recipe, a single step, costing 8 units of raw material and 15 crystals.
Handing that in returns 135,761 EXP and 620 gil for every unit of raw material the order swallows.