Keep Up with the Mechanics

One allowance here buys 477,930 EXP, the best of the 3 Lv 54 Blacksmith tradecraft leves that record EXP: the runner-up manages 473,220 EXP, 1% less.

On whether to wait: the best Lv 56 Blacksmith tradecraft leve returns 731,480 EXP per allowance, 53% more than the best on this rung, while the Lv 52 rung behind tops out at 629,850 EXP.

At Lv 54 this data holds 54 leves paying EXP across 3 categories: the 24 Tradecraft ones average 400,590 EXP per allowance, the 3 Fieldcraft ones 938,680 EXP and the 27 Grand Company ones 205,186 EXP, which puts this leve 19% above its own category's average.

Gil ranks it differently: 315 gil per allowance is 3rd of 3 on the same rung against 1st on EXP, with the best there paying 936 gil.

Titanium-barreled Arquebus ×1 is a Lv 54 Blacksmith recipe, 3 steps deep through 5 intermediates, costing 47 units of raw material and 40 crystals.

Handing that in returns 10,169 EXP and 7 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 1,433,790 EXP and 945 gil for the 1 allowance it costs, or 1,433,790 EXP per allowance.