Soul of the Crafter in Final Fantasy XIV
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How to get and use Soul of the Crafter in Final Fantasy XIV

Make the most of your specialisms.

If you’re leveling your crafters in Final Fantasy XIV, it might be a good idea to look into turning your favorites into Specialists. To do this, you’ll need Soul of the Crafter, which will give unique perks and actions when unlocked. 

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Soul of the Crafter works differently to Soul Crystals (or Job Stones, they’re both the same thing). Instead of automatically getting a Crystal at a certain level, you need to unlock Soul of the Crafter through a side quest, and then assign specific crafting classes as specialisms. It gets a little convoluted, but I can talk you through it. 

How to unlock Soul of the Crafter

Lydirlona in Final Fantasy XIV
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After reaching level 55 in any crafting class, you can head to Mor Dhona and talk to Lydirlona (X:22.3, Y:6.8) to pick up the quest ‘Beloved of the Builder’. After completing this quest, you’ll gain three Soul of the Crafters, which can be exchanged for specific crafting souls. 

To exchange a Soul of the Crafter for a specific classes Soul Crystal, you’ll need to talk to Alderan in the Pillars (X:14.6, Y:10.7). Select which class you want to specialize in, and then give up one of the Soul of the Crafters.

How to change which classes are specialist

Alderan in Final Fantasy XIV
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If you want to switch specialisms, you’ll first need to get your hands on another Soul of the Crafter. Luckily, these are pretty easy to come by and you can purchase them in exchange for Scrips from any Scrip Exchange. Currently, they cost 480 Purple Crafters’ Scrips each. 

With a new Soul of the Crafter in hand, simply head back to The Pillars and talk to Alderan again to switch your specialism. It’s worth remembering that you can only have three specialist crafting classes at any time, so you’ll need to choose carefully when deciding.

What does Soul of the Crafter do?

Becoming a specialist in a class gives unique actions in Final Fantasy XIV
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After you’ve turned the basic Soul of the Crafter into a Soul Crystal for a specific crafting class, that class will gain a small boost to all of its stats:

  • +20 Craftsmanship
  • +20 Control
  • +15 CP

You’ll also gain some unique actions which are only accessible on a crafting class which has a Soul Crystal. These actions all cost 0 CP, so they’re very useful when crafting more difficult recipes:

ActionWhat it does
Careful ObservationDo nothing for one step, preserving the status of any actions currently in effect
Heart and SoulAllows the execution of Precise Touch, Intensive Synthesis, or Tricks of the Trade
Quick InnovationGrants Innovation for one turn

Are there any specialist recipes?

Specialist recipes are shown in the Crafting Log in Final Fantasy XIV
Screenshot by Destructoid

With each new round of Master Recipes, new Specialist Recipes are added. To craft these, the required class will need to have a Soul Crystal attached, and you’ll also need to unlock the specific Master Recipe books. 

As of patch 7.05, there are four specialist recipes:

ItemSpecialism requiredMaster recipes bookRecipe
Electrope BardingArmorerMaster Armorer X1 Resilient Armor
2 Softsilver Ingots
1 Spodumene
2 Ra’Kaznar Ingots
Resilient Sword StandArmorerMaster Armorer X1 Resilient Armor
3 Ra’Kaznar Ingots
2 Claro Walnut Lumber
1 Black Star
Skyruin TrophyArmorerMaster Armorer X1 Ruinous Plume
3 Ra’Kaznar Ingots
2 Claro Walnut Lumber
1 Black Star
Skyruin BardingGoldsmithMaster Goldsmith X1 Ruinous Plume
2 Garnet Cotton
1 Softsilver Ingot
2 Thunderyards Silk

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Paula Vaynshteyn
With her first experience of gaming being on an Atari ST, Paula has been gaming for her entire life. She’s 7,000 hours deep into Final Fantasy XIV, spends more time on cozy games than she would care to admit, and is also your friendly resident Whovian. Juggling online adventuring with family life has its struggles, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.