Leveling your way through Final Fantasy XIV can be quite a lengthy progress on your first go. Even taking a new job from 1-80 without the added benefit of Main Scenario Quests can feel like a massive chore. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to boost your experience gains in XIV – and the easiest to come by is definitely Rested EXP. It’s a resource that’s shared across each one of your character’s jobs. Just make sure you’re playing the job you want to level the most when you’re well rested to get the most out of it.
So How Do I Get Rested EXP?
It’s easy: Just log out or go AFK in a sanctuary area. If you’re in a sanctuary, a little crescent moon icon will appear next to your EXP bar. You actually won’t be able to log out right away if you’re not in a sanctuary – the game will start a twenty second countdown. So if you see that message pop up, you won’t be getting Rested EXP while you’re logged out. It takes approximately four days to fully charge your Rested EXP. If you’re playing a max level job, you can still accrue Rested EXP, but it won’t be depleted when you complete actions that would normally reward buffed experience. As a result, you can quite easily bank a lot of Rested EXP to then later use on leveling a new job. It used to be the case that Rested EXP would only be awarded if you specifically logged out in an inn room. This is no longer the rule – most major Aetheryte locations are considered sanctuaries, and logging out basically anywhere in a main city like Limsa or Gridania provides Rested EXP. You can accumulate up to 1.5 bars of Rested EXP at once. And you can see how much Rested EXP you have by looking at your experience bar. Your rested amount will show as a sort of dim extension of your normal experience bar. If the bar is totally filled in, you’ll get the EXP buff for the rest of this level (and beyond!) When you use some of your Rested EXP bar, you’ll be able to see (+50%) appear next to your experience when gained. This means that half of the experience you just gained was from your Rested accumulation. This can stack with other EXP boosting effects, too – so you might see that number get even higher at times.
What Sources of EXP Does Rested Effect?
Rested EXP only applies to combat, or certain crafting/gathering actions. It will not increase the EXP you receive from turning in quests, completing duty roulettes, or daily rewards. Basically it buffs the experience you gain from killing monsters, which doesn’t seem that dramatic if you’re questing in the overworld. Once you head into a dungeon and start clearing groups of mobs one after the other, that buff will very quickly add up. One of the coolest things about Rested EXP is that it works in addition to other EXP boosts. It basically provides you a constant flat 50% increase if you manage it well. Although it’s more economical to use it on higher level jobs, since a lower level one will burn through the bar at a much faster pace.
Are There Other Ways To Boost My EXP Gain?
Yes! Rested EXP stacks alongside other effects. Here’s some other ways you might buff your experience gain. Road to 60 is an event that runs on alternating servers, as a way of distributing the population evenly across all worlds. You might only see the benefit from this if you’re a totally new player, but it doubles your experience gained from the same sources as Rested EXP and runs at the same time – potentially lining you up for a 150% boost. Road to 60 lasts for 90 days from your character’s creation, even if the event moves on to another server – plenty of time to make the most of it. You can equip certain accessories to boost your EXP gain up to certain levels. Some of the items with this effect aren’t obtainable anymore, because they typically get released as pre-order bonuses (which are obviously unavailable as of now). Here’s a list of everything you can get:
Helm of Light, +20% up to level 10 (Bonus for buying Collector’s Edition of ARR) Friendship Circlet, +20% up to level 26 (Refer a friend reward) Brand-new Ring, +30% up to level 31 (Reward for completing all adventurer guild trials) Menphina Earring, +30% up to level 80 (Bonus for pre-ordering Endwalker)
Obviously the Menphina Earring is the big ticket item right now, as it’ll give you a permanent 30% increase all the way to level 80, which is the cap until Endwalker. Getting this as easy as going over to your platform of choice and preordering the game – it’ll help you get all your jobs of choice to max level before the new expansion drops. There are other EXP boosting items (such as the Moogle Cap) but these are pre-order bonuses which are now totally inaccessible for new players, so they’ve been omitted from this list. You can also make use of the Armoury Bonus. This is a system designed to make leveling alternative jobs easier. The Armoury Bonus is applied when you’re playing a job at a lower level than your highest. Jobs under your highest level will gain a solid 100% boost to EXP gained until they overtake the higher level. That 100% buff is knocked down to 50% once the alternative job reaches level 71 – this is likely to be increased with Endwalker, though. You can also boost your experience in smaller increments with the 3% buff from eating consumables. These can be made by culinarians or purchased from vendors, and typically last for 30 minutes. Get in the habit of carrying a pile of food with you, and that 3% will quickly add up! Free Companies can also buff their roster’s experience with the Heat of Battle action. The highest level of Heat of Battle applies a 15% EXP buff to all members. Many social/leveling guilds will have this active constantly, so you actually have a huge number of ways to keep your EXP gains high as you play.
