I Maul Right

One allowance here buys 63,890 EXP, which places it 5th of the 6 Lv 45 Blacksmith tradecraft leves that record EXP — a figure 1 other leve on the rung matches exactly. The best of them, I'd Rather Be Digging, returns 137,400 EXP for the same allowance, 115% more.

Across that rung the return runs from 63,890 EXP to 137,400 EXP per allowance — 3 distinct figures spanning 115%, so the wrong pick leaves 73,510 EXP of the allowance unspent.

On whether to wait: the best Lv 50 Blacksmith tradecraft leve returns 456,810 EXP per allowance, 232% more than the best on this rung, while the Lv 40 rung behind tops out at 79,510 EXP.

At Lv 45 this data holds 52 leves paying EXP across 2 categories: the 48 Tradecraft ones average 98,250 EXP per allowance, the 4 Fieldcraft ones 733,026 EXP, which puts this leve 35% below its own category's average.

Cobalt Sledgehammer ×1 is a Lv 44 Blacksmith recipe, 2 steps deep through 3 intermediates, costing 8 units of raw material and 24 crystals.

Handing that in returns 7,986 EXP and 39 gil for every unit of raw material the order swallows, and the tree needs Alchemist, Blacksmith and Carpenter.

The record carries a repeats value of 2. This site reads that as 2 further turn-ins on the same leve — an assumption, because the source data defines no meaning for the field — which would put the ceiling at 191,670 EXP and 939 gil for the 1 allowance it costs, or 191,670 EXP per allowance.