With Final Fantasy 14’s new Dawntrail expansion sailing over the horizon, many people may be feeling tempted to blitz level new characters, or alts as they’re commonly known, to catch up with it all. It may seem like a daunting process, but not to fear as there’s many different things that can aid you on this journey.
Here are 10 of the best ways to level your alts!
1. Have a Snack
Even the warrior of light deserves a little treat
Meals are one of the simplest, and most easily available ways to boost your experience gain at any level. All meals, and some raw ingredients, when consumed provide you with 30 minutes of +3% experience points, on top of whatever attributes are also amped up. You can consume two of the same meal at a time to increase this to an hour’s worth.
Meals can be grabbed from multiple places; most markets should sell some, you could learn to make them yourself as a Culinarian, or if you have a house you could acquire some of the tabletop furnishings that provide a set amount of meal servings. If you’re purely focused on the experience gain, I recommend stocking up on a large supply of the cheapest items available from the market in your starting town. Remember, you can’t explore dungeons on an empty stomach!
2. Allied Society Quests
You can find friends anywhere
By aiding the various settlements across the realms, you’ll both be helping them and yourself thrive. These are a selection of daily quests, usually rather quick to complete, that reward you with experience and unique items. They initially become available after reaching the level 41 Main Scenario Quest, and after that each subsequent expansion level syncs their respective Allied Society quests to the level it starts as. While this does mean the experience they give is less effective at later levels, they are a fantastic way of boosting your jobs in those early sections.
You can also acquire a great variety of minions and mounts, as well as useful chocobo related items, emotes and crafting supplies. Some of the stories are greatly enjoyable as well, so they’re worth checking out if you’re willing to spare a few minutes out of your daily routine.
3. Join a Free Company
Not so grand, but hey it’s free!
This is an option available if you have a paid subscription. Free Companies are essentially like guilds in other MMOs, organised groups of players who have banded together to offer all manners of support and benefits. They’re a great way to make friends who you can call upon when you need a hand for duty queues or escorts, but there’s so much more than that. Chocobo stables to train your trusty steed, actions that when activated provide 24 hour buffs such as experience boosts and teleport fee reductions, public chests where people can store or share things, and even the ability to buy a private room.
It’s not particularly hard to find a Free Company to join; almost everywhere you go you’ll find someone advertising theirs in the chat logs. If you’re the type who likes to explore their options though, there’s always the Community Hub which allows you to search and find the right one. Don’t be afraid to reach out before missing out on such a versatile opportunity.
4. Hunt Log
Faster Lalafell, kill kill!
The grind through the base game story ‘A Realm Reborn’ can be quite the slog for repeat players. So, I’m here to remind people who may have forgotten about the existence of Hunt Logs. Organised by class and level, it contains entries of various enemies, and a tally of how many you need to kill. Completed entries reward the player with a substantial amount of experience. I cannot understate how much I suggest taking some time to power through these to power level your classes, in turn making it easier to speedrun through the rest of the base game. Not to mention, this bonus experience is just being topped on what you’d earn just from the kills themselves.
5. Roulettes
If it’s Sastasha again I’m gonna eat my socks
This might be a bit obvious, but also worth reminding of. After all, the purpose of these is to grind for experience and tomestones. There’s a healthy variety of types available depending on what you’re feeling.
Levelling roulettes are the standard. Consisting of most dungeons and some trials, providing a substantial amount of experience that’s designed to boost you through your levels. If you’re only up for something shorter, guildhests are a quick run and effective at early levels, and later on you can upgrade to trials and normal raids, both also fun and quick to complete. If you’re in for something longer with more rewards however, the alliance raid roulettes may not be ideal for repeat grinds but just one run will be all you need.
Each roulette provides an experience bonus reward once per day before refreshing. It’s also worth noting though they always have an ‘adventurer in need’ bonus however. Whether they’re in need of tanks, healers or dps, queueing as the listed class will give you something a little extra, so always check.
6. Accessorise
Saving the world and looking good doing it
There are a few different pieces floating about that, if you have access to, will be invaluable in your gear sets. Not all of these will necessarily be available anymore, as they were given out as gifts for pre-ordering past expansions. If you missed these opportunities though, don’t worry as there are still a couple of other options.
Firstly, and most notably, the Brand-New Ring, is given to those who complete the Hall of Novice training exercises for any of the role types. You can do these by talking to the Smith, found in your city hub’s local tavern. The ring provides a healthy +30% bonus to experience gain up to level 30, which makes it ideal for new characters. For another additional boost, there’s also the Friendship Circlet, an item available via the Recruit a Friend Campaign. If another player, or you yourself, shares a recruitment code, then after 30 days of subscription time you’ll have this item sent to your in-game mailbox. This headpiece gives +20% bonus up to level 25.
If you’re more concerned about making it through the midway point of levelling however, there is one more option, if you’re willing to grind through Bozja. You must have completed the associated achievement ‘Lost and Found IV’, which requires having 1000 forgotten fragments appraised. From there you’ll then be able to purchase the Bozjan Earring from any Calamity Salvager, giving you a +10% experience boost until level 80.
7. PVP
Come at me bro, I’ll take all 72 of you
PVP, or player vs player, content in FF14 has three different modes, which are Frontlines, Crystalline Conflict, and Rival Wings. This game mode is initially unlocked in your starting city hub, moving to the Wolves Den Pier in La Noscea for handling rewards and other details. Frontlines is the first to be unlocked, and the most accessible so this is what I’ll be describing here. In this mode, 72 players are sorted into three alliances based on the three Grand Companies. Your goal varies, points generally being earned by either knocking out other players or achieving a task based on the map.
It’s one of the most chaotic experiences you’ll have in the game. Understandably, it can seem overwhelming, but the benefits are worth it, and once you get to grips with each mode it can be really fun and rewarding to trounce the other teams. Not only does it dish out a great amount of experience points, but for the most part you’ll get it just for staying semi-active. You don’t even have to win, just participate. Secondly, you don’t have to play as the class you queue in with. The queued in class is the one that gets the experience, but you’re able to switch at your team base. I’d recommend giving it a try at least a couple times, once to see it and twice to see it more clearly.
8. Fate Farms
They will suffer a terrible fate
FATE is an acronym that stands for Full Time Active Event. These pop up all over the realm and you’ll usually be able to spot them by the purple symbol (pictured above) either on the mini map or next to overworld enemy names. Successful completion of the FATE will reward experience points on top of other rewards. It’s not uncommon for people to party up and burn through FATEs together, achieving higher rankings of completion and better experience earning rates. When in doubt, check your local party finders or give a shout in chat to see if anyone is about.
Here’s a couple other tips on things to look out for before you go on the grind. Some FATEs have a specific EXP Bonus, noted both on the map symbol, or under the name of the FATE when you enter it. Also, if you ever spot an enemy called The Forlorn, or the Forlorn Maiden, make sure you strike it down before the FATE ends. If defeated then everyone who participated will receive the ‘twist of fate’ buff, which then significantly boosts experience gained for all following FATEs. This buff will disappear if you leave the area so make good use of it while you have it.
9. Side Quests
Sir, please look at me I’m trying to help you
When in doubt, there’s always this classic video game mechanic to fall back on. If you ever find yourself needing a small push over the edge to level up, try seeking out the nearest sidequest. These are always marked by a yellow exclamation symbol, as pictured above, both on the map and in the overworld. Most of these can be pretty quick to resolve, usually having you take something to someone, culling a couple of wild beasts and so on. Since you’ll be able to see how much experience you’ll get on completion before accepting, it won’t take long to find one or two that suit your needs.
One tip though that you might not have thought about. If you’re purely focused on speedrunning the process with your alt, be wary of sidequests that have images in their acceptance screen. This can indicate longer cutscenes or storylines involved. Try to pick up ones with the basic layout of experience points and whatever other rewards are offered.
10. Duty Support
Avengers, assemble!
This suggestion isn’t so much about the experience grind, but it’s something to consider if you’re just trying to get through the game quickly. Queue times can really slow things down, and are often impacted by various factors from job type, duty type and peak times or seasons, like we’re in currently with the release of a new expansion. Thankfully though, Square Enix have taken it upon themselves to update the older dungeons with the duty support system seen in later expansions. This allows players to enter certain duties, mostly dungeons, with a team of NPCs which allows them to skip the wait. It’s also a nice addition for people who prefer to play solo in general.
These may just be ten methods I recommend, but the world of Final Fantasy 14 is vast, so don’t be afraid to get out there and discover what works best for you. If you found this article useful, then think about giving these a read to supplement your alt levelling journey.
