Experience
What is Experience?
Experience is the point system that drives the advancement of many aspects of the game, including but not limited to:
- Leveling of combat classes (Disciples of War and Disciples of Magic)
- Leveling of crafting/gathering classes (Disciples of the Hand and Disciples of the Land)
- Leveling of combat companions (specifically the Combat Chocobo, which is not covered in this guide currently)
There are many ways in which to earn experience, including but not limited to:
- Killing Monsters
- note: with Patch 6.0, monsters inside dungeons no longer give Experience. The equivalent EXP was rolled into the bosses themselves.
- Completing Leves
- Participating in FATEs
- Completing Side Quests, Class Quests, and Main Storyline quests
- Completing Challenge Logs
- Completing Hunting Logs
- Completing Duty Roulettes
- Running Deep Dungeons
In addition to all of this, there are various ways in which you can boost the amount of experience you get from any of these particular activities! These come in many forms, specifically:
- Food buffs (Obtained from eating food items)
- Buffs from your Free Company (Obtained by having "Buff Actions" activated by high-ranking guild members)
- Wearing the Moogle Cap (Obtained by pre-ordering A Realm Reborn)
- Wearing the Helm of Light (Obtained by purchasing the A Realm Reborn Collector's Edition)
- Wearing the Friendship Circlet (Obtained by recruiting a friend, or being recruited by a friend - and subscribing for at least 30 days)
- Wearing the Brand-new Ring (Obtained by completing all of the Hall of the Novice for a singular role)
- Wearing the Ala Mhigan Earrings (Obtained by pre-ordering Stormblood)
- Wearing the Aetheryte Earring (Obtained by pre-ordering Shadowbringers)
- Wearing the Menphina's Earring (Obtained by pre-ordering Endwalker)
- Rested EXP (Obtained over time by resting or logging out in 'Sanctuary' areas ((places with Aetheryte Shards)))
- Armoury Bonus (All combat classes lower-level than your highest level combat class will have a +100% EXP buff towards applicable activities until level 70, where it decreases to +50%)
In addition, some servers with low populations are designated as "Preferred", providing a passive buff called "The Road to 80" while on any class below level 70. This buff doubles all experience earned AFTER applying the appropriate bonuses. When there is a queue, character creation on a Preferred server is unavailable. Character creation becomes available during times of the day when there isn't much user activity, such as late at night or in the mornings. You can easily create a new character on a Preferred server if you are available during that time. To track availability of new character creation on a Preferred server, you can use the official Server Status web page. You can also use the log-in client by clicking the Server Status icon in the top-right corner. The servers designated as Preferred typically change when a new patch is released. After the Preferred server changes, the buff will last for the remainder of 90 days since character creation. Upon attaining level 30 in any class, the character will be gifted one million gil, applicable once per account per data center, and 15 days of free play time, applicable once per account. Reference
Below are tables that denote the breakdown and application of the various EXP buffs to EXP-gaining activities in the game:
Armoury Bonus
The Armoury Bonus is additional experience granted to any combat class you have that is NOT your highest level class. From levels 1-69, you receive +100% additional experience for secondary classes that are lower level than your highest level class. At level 70, this bonus decreases to only 50%. The amount of experience granted has nothing to do with the distance in levels from your highest class.
Additionally, the +10% experience from The Heat of Battle II (FC buff) - will multiply against this buff to provide an additional 10% experience. So the Armoury bonus is 100% (armoury) x 10% (fc buff) = 120% total instead of just 110%, while the FC buff is active. This is different from the other bonuses, as they are not multiplied against the Armory bonus but are additive.
The Armoury Bonus, as previously mentioned - does not apply to non-combat classes such as gatherers & crafters.
Examples:
- Your highest level combat class is 20. You are playing as that class. You receive no armoury bonus.
- Your highest level combat class is 20. You are playing as a second combat class that is less than level 20. You are now receiving armoury bonus exp.
- Your highest level combat class is 20. You are playing a second combat class that is also level 20. You receive no armoury bonus.
The Armoury Bonus applies to the following sources of Combat EXP:
- Fates
- Leves
- Kills
- Main Story Quests
- Palace of the Dead
- Dungeon Completion
Combat Class EXP Table
| Kills | Leves | FATES | Side-Quests | Main-Story Quests | Challenge Logs | Hunting Logs | Level Max | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | +3% | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| FC Buff: Heat of Battle | +5% | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| FC Buff: Heat of Battle II | +10% | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| FC Buff: Heat of Battle III | +15% | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| Squadron Battle Manual | +15% | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| Moogle Cap | +20% | No | No | No | No | No | No | 10 |
| Helm of Light | +20% | No | No | No | No | No | No | 10 |
| Friendship Circlet | +20% | No | No | No | No | No | No | 25 |
| Brand-new Ring | +30% | No | No | No | No | No | No | 30 |
| Ala Mhigan Earrings | +30% | No | No | No | No | No | No | 50 |
| Aetheryte Earring | +30% | No | No | No | No | No | No | 70 |
| Menphina's Earring | +30% | No | No | No | No | No | No | 80 |
| Rested EXP | +50% | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| Armoury Bonus (pre-80) | +100% | +100% | +100% | No | No | No | No | 79 |
| Armoury Bonus (80+) | +50% | +50% | +50% | No | No | No | No | None |
| The Road to 80 | +100% | +100% | +100% | +100% | +100% | +100% | +100% | 79 |
Notes:
- Heat of Battle buffs cannot be stacked nor will they stack with Squadron Battle Manual (the manual overwrites).
- The Road to 80 is only available to characters created on 'Preferred' worlds and lasts for 90 days or until the server's status changes, whichever is longer.
Crafting/Gathering EXP Table
| Gathers | Crafts | Leves | Side-Quests | Challenge Logs | Crafting Logs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | +3% | +3% | No | No | No | No |
| FC Buff: Helping Hand | No | +5% | No | No | No | No |
| FC Buff: Helping Hand II | No | +10% | No | No | No | No |
| Squadron Engineering Manual | No | +20% | No | No | No | No |
| FC Buff: Earth and Water | +5% | No | No | No | No | No |
| FC Buff: Earth and Water II | +10% | No | No | No | No | No |
| Squadron Survival Manual | +20% | No | No | No | No | No |
| Moogle Cap | +20% | +20% | No | No | No | No |
| Helm of Light | +20% | +20% | No | No | No | No |
| Friendship Circlet | +20% | +20% | No | No | No | No |
| Ala Mhigan Earrings | +30% | +30% | No | No | No | No |
| Rested EXP | +50% | +50% | +50% | No | No | No |
| Armoury Bonus | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Crafter's Grace | No | +150% | No | No | No | No |
| Gatherer's Grace | +150% | No | No | No | No | No |
| The Road to 80 | +100% | +100% | +100% | +100% | +100% | +100% |
Notes:
- Armoury Bonus does not provide a bonus to DoH/DoL classes
- Earth and Water and Earth and Water II cannot be stacked
- Two of the same FC EXP Buff cannot be stacked with each other
- The Squadron manuals do not stack with FC buffs. The GC/Script manuals do.
- The Road to 80 is only available to characters created on 'Preferred' worlds and lasts for 90 days or until the server's status changes, whichever is longer.
Rested Experience
Rested EXP is obtained by resting or logging out in a sanctuary--the area around any Aetheryte to which you can attune yourself to return to later. Such sanctuaries include city-States like (Gridania, Limsa Lominsa, Ul'dah, as well as any Aetheryte in the field that you can teleport to. Sanctuary status is indicated by a crescent moon symbol to the right of your experience bar.
Here's what we know about Rested EXP:
- It increases EXP gain by 50% for applicable activities.
- It can charge up to 1 full level bar. NewReference OldIncompleteTest
- All activities which benefit from Rested EXP will consume from the same bar
- It takes 7 days to gain the full 1 bonus level.
- The % of the bar consumed remains the same regardless of level.
- If you queue into an instanced dungeon/guildhest while being in a Sanctuary, you will still accrue rested EXP as if you were in that sanctuary. This means that if you have run out of rested EXP but are still in a Sanctuary, you will occasionally still get a rested EXP bonus whenever an amount "tics" into your rested exp bank.
- The highlight on your experience bar represents BaseExp+BonusFromRest, or your "expected experience if no other bonuses or sources are used"
- Example: If you have 30% of your experience bar highlighted, it represents only 10% bonus EXP from rest. The other 20% is the base EXP you're expected to gain while burning off rest.
- If you have no other bonuses affecting your EXP, then a rest-benefiting activity will not shift the endpoint of the highlighted area.
- Rumor: You may grow rested EXP faster if you are in a Sanctuary as a lower-level class than your highest? (Example: Lvl 50 DRG main logs out as a lvl 1 ROG). Testimony needed.
Challenge Logs & Hunting Logs
- See also: Challenge Log and Hunting Log
Challenge Logs are "weekly" and reset every Tuesday. These logs provide huge chunks of EXP for players who complete their objectives. You will receive a warning of when you are about to "complete" an objective, in case you want to switch to a different class and have them receive the reward.
Hunting Logs do not reset. They provide 1-time bonuses for completing their objectives, with a 1-time mega-bonus for completing an entire section of the logbook. Currently Hunting Logs are only for levels 1-50. There are no logs for 51-70.
Neither of the Logs benefit from any additional sources of EXP buffs.
Daily Roulettes
- See also: Duty Roulette
Roulettes are the largest singular sources of EXP in the game. Participating in a Low-Level Daily Roulette will grant anywhere from 50-90% of a level upon completion (killing the final boss of the random dungeon) while under level 50. This is in addition to the experience obtained from killing the bosses in these dungeons, and in addition to completing Challenge Logs (which are easier to do in roulettes). The 50-90% range is based on the difference between your current level and the level of the dungeon. If you have been scaled down to a very low-level, you will receive a higher bonus. If you are the same-level or similar to the dungeon you'll receive less of a bonus. This can be done once per day and resets at 8AM PST/PDT.
Additionally, you may queue for Guildhest Roulettes. These are small "trials" which test basic dungeoneering skills. Upon completion of a Guildhest Roulette, you will receive a large chunk of EXP (not as large as LLDR since it is not as extensive or time consuming). This is about 10-18% of a level. This can be done once per day and resets at 8AM PST/PDT. Further, each time you complete a type of Guildhest for the first time (per class) you will receive additional bonus EXP (one time per class per roulette only).
The following EXP values are granted for successful completion of roulettes for each level. DISCLAIMER: These values may vary based on a number of factors:
- Length of the dungeon
- Difference between your level and the level of the dungeon
- The amount of "new-comers" in the dungeon
- Whether or not you are receiving experience from the mobs or not in the dungeon (such as High-level or MSQ roulettes).
| Lvl | Low-Lvl Dungeon | High-Lvl Dungeon | Main Scenario | Trial | Guildhest | Total Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 118,771 (13.74%) | 184,755 (21.38%) | 158,362 (18.33%) | 90,720 (10.5%) | 28,130 (3.25%) | 67.2% of level |
| 51 | 254,166 (24.01%) | 136,080 (12.85%) | 136,080 (12.85%) | 181,440 (17.14%) | 30,400 (2.87%) | 69.72% of level |
| 52 | 90,720 (7.16%) | 90,720 (7.16%) | 136,080 (10.74%) | 68,040 (5.37%) | 30,950 (2.44%) | 32.87% of level |
| 53 | 207,360 (13.33%) | 172,800 (11.11%) | 207,360 (13.33%) | 77,760 (5.0%) | 30,950 (1.99%) | 44.76% of level |
| 54 | 192,510 (10.23%) | 172,800 (9.23%) | 207,360 (11.07%) | 30,950 (1.65%) | ||
| 55 | 120,960 (5.45%) | 282,240 (12.73%) | 241,920 (10.9%) | 120,960 (5.45%) | 31,800 (1.43%) | 35.96% of level |
| 56 | 241,920 (9.33%) | 282,240 (10.89%) | 193,536 (7.46%) | |||
| 57 | 234,000 (7.81%) | 276,480 (9.23%) | 276,480 (9.23%) | 138,240 (4.61%) | 30,710 (1.02%) | 31.9% of level |
| 58 | 184,320 (5.38%) | 276,480 (8.07%) | 276,480 (8.07%) | 138,240 (4.03%) | 138,240 (4.03%) | 29.58% of level |
| 59 | 470,166 (12.09%) | 362,880 (9.33%) | 311,040 (8%) | 155,520 (4.00%) | 30,320 (0.78%) | 34.2% of level |
How do I maximize my EXP?
All roles benefit the most by doing the [Leveling], [Trial], and [Main Scenario] roulettes every day. However, due to the discrepancy between queue times for Tanks/Heals vs. DPS - you may find yourself having to skip the [Main Scenario] queue as a DPS. (Correct as of 01DEC16)
NOTE:
- If you are under level 26, do not forget to equip your Friendship Circlet!
- If you are under level 31, do not forget to also equip your Brand-new Ring!
- If you are under level 51, do not forget to also also equip your Ala Mhigan Earrings (Stormblood pre-order purchasers only).
- If you are under level 71, do not forget to also also equip your Aetheryte Earring (Shadowbringers pre-order purchasers only).
- If you are under level 80, do not forget to also also equip your Menphina's Earring (Endwalker pre-order purchasers only).
The best method for leveling up will be to do the following (ordered by priority);
- Leveling Roulette (simultaneously completes weekly Dungeon Challenge Logs)
- Alliance Roulette (if unlocked)
- Trial Roulette
- (If Tank/Heals) - Main Scenario Roulette
- (If under level 30) - Guildhest Roulette (simultaneously completes weekly Guildhest Challenge Logs)
- If you have rested EXP - queue for the highest level dungeon you can. If you're a DPS below 60 and have a Rank 2 Squadron, consider Command Missions for instant queues. Similarly, DPS over 71 may wish to consider using the Trust System.
- Otherwise do Deep Dungeons
- Palace of the Dead - specifically floors 1-10 or 51-60 to maximize EXP per hour.
- Heaven on High (level 61+) - specifically floors 21-30 to maximize EXP per hour.
- Complete daily Beast Tribe Quests (Stormblood), Grind FATEs, complete Hunting Logs, or advance the Main Scenario Quest (if available) while waiting in a dungeon queue or if you do not have any rested EXP.
Experience Points Required for each level
This applies to both combat levels as well as gathering/crafting levels.
| Lv. | Exp | Rolling Total |
|---|---|---|
| Lv. 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lv. 2 | 300 | 300 |
| Lv. 3 | 600 | 900 |
| Lv. 4 | 1,100 | 2,000 |
| Lv. 5 | 1,700 | 3,700 |
| Lv. 6 | 2,300 | 6,000 |
| Lv. 7 | 4,200 | 10,200 |
| Lv. 8 | 6,000 | 16,200 |
| Lv. 9 | 7,350 | 23,550 |
| Lv. 10 | 9,930 | 33,480 |
| Lv. 11 | 11,800 | 45,280 |
| Lv. 12 | 15,600 | 60,880 |
| Lv. 13 | 19,600 | 80,480 |
| Lv. 14 | 23,700 | 104,180 |
| Lv. 15 | 26,400 | 130,580 |
| Lv. 16 | 30,500 | 161,080 |
| Lv. 17 | 35,400 | 196,480 |
| Lv. 18 | 40,500 | 236,980 |
| Lv. 19 | 45,700 | 282,680 |
| Lv. 20 | 51,000 | 333,680 |
| Lv. 21 | 56,600 | 390,280 |
| Lv. 22 | 63,900 | 454,180 |
| Lv. 23 | 71,400 | 525,580 |
| Lv. 24 | 79,100 | 604,680 |
| Lv. 25 | 87,100 | 691,780 |
| Lv. 26 | 95,200 | 786,980 |
| Lv. 27 | 109,800 | 896,780 |
| Lv. 28 | 124,800 | 1,021,580 |
| Lv. 29 | 140,200 | 1,161,780 |
| Lv. 30 | 155,900 | 1,317,680 |
| Lv. 31 | 162,500 | 1,480,180 |
| Lv. 32 | 175,900 | 1,656,080 |
| Lv. 33 | 189,600 | 1,845,680 |
| Lv. 34 | 203,500 | 2,049,180 |
| Lv. 35 | 217,900 | 2,267,080 |
| Lv. 36 | 232,320 | 2,499,400 |
| Lv. 37 | 249,900 | 2,749,300 |
| Lv. 38 | 267,800 | 3,017,100 |
| Lv. 39 | 286,200 | 3,303,300 |
| Lv. 40 | 304,900 | 3,608,200 |
| Lv. 41 | 324,000 | 3,932,200 |
| Lv. 42 | 340,200 | 4,272,400 |
| Lv. 43 | 356,800 | 4,629,200 |
| Lv. 44 | 373,700 | 5,002,900 |
| Lv. 45 | 390,800 | 5,393,700 |
| Lv. 46 | 408,200 | 5,801,900 |
| Lv. 47 | 437,600 | 6,239,500 |
| Lv. 48 | 467,500 | 6,707,000 |
| Lv. 49 | 498,000 | 7,205,000 |
| Lv. 50 | 529,000 | 7,734,000 |
| Heavensward | Exp | Rolling Total |
| Lv. 51 | 864,000 | 8,598,000 |
| Lv. 52 | 1,058,400 | 9,656,400 |
| Lv. 53 | 1,267,200 | 10,923,600 |
| Lv. 54 | 1,555,200 | 12,478,800 |
| Lv. 55 | 1,872,000 | 14,350,800 |
| Lv. 56 | 2,217,600 | 16,568,400 |
| Lv. 57 | 2,592,000 | 19,160,400 |
| Lv. 58 | 2,995,200 | 22,155,600 |
| Lv. 59 | 3,427,200 | 25,582,800 |
| Lv. 60 | 3,888,000 | 29,470,800 |
| Stormblood | Exp | Rolling Total |
| Lv. 61 | 4,470,000 | 33,940,800 |
| Lv. 62 | 4,873,000 | 38,813,800 |
| Lv. 63 | 5,316,000 | 44,129,800 |
| Lv. 64 | 5,809,000 | 49,938,800 |
| Lv. 65 | 6,364,000 | 56,302,800 |
| Lv. 66 | 6,995,000 | 63,297,800 |
| Lv. 67 | 7,722,000 | 71,019,800 |
| Lv. 68 | 8,575,000 | 79,594,800 |
| Lv. 69 | 9,593,000 | 89,187,800 |
| Lv. 70 | Outdated! | 100,013,800 |
| Shadowbringers | Exp | Rolling Total |
| Lv. 71 | 12,449,000 | 112,462,800 |
| Lv. 72 | 13,881,000 | 126,343,800 |
| Lv. 73 | 15,556,000 | 141,899,800 |
| Lv. 74 | 17,498,600 | 159,398,400 |
| Lv. 75 | 19,750,000 | 179,148,400 |
| Lv. 76 | 22,330,000 | 201,478,400 |
| Lv. 77 | 25,340,000 | 226,818,400 |
| Lv. 78 | 28,650,000 | 255,468,400 |
| Lv. 79 | 4,777,000 | |
| Lv. 80 | 5,256,000 |