Final Fantasy 14is a couple of weeks into the launch ofEndwalker, its fourth expansion pack. Square Enix recently rolled out its first small update, which added some new content, buffed the polygon count of theinfamousEndwalkercrystal grapes, and increased the experience points earned from new dungeons and hunt marks.
When players first beganFinal Fantasy 14: Endwalker, many noticed the experience gains from the new dungeons seemed a bit low. Additionally, hunt marks–daily bounties for slaying specific creatures that award experience and currency–seemed to give twice as much EXP as those fromShadowbringers, versus the much larger growth between previous expansions’ hunts.
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In the first two weeks ofEndwalker’srun, a single run of alevel-appropriateEndwalkerdungeongave about 1/3rd of a level. Now, it gives over half a level. Likewise, hunt experience has been increased from between 120k-140k experience to over 200k for each mark, meaning players can get about 3 million experience from defeating the 15 creatures a day, up from around 2 million.
The increase in experience gains are almost certainly a byproduct ofFinal Fantasy 14adjusting numbers after thevalue downscaling inEndwalker. The “Stat Squish” saw numbers from across the game, from damage to health to experience and stats, reduced. The metrics of such a change can have ramifications in unexpected places across the game, and the lower-than-usual experience gains was likely one of those places.
Needless to say,Final Fantasy 14players are happy to see the EXP boost. While leveling via dungeons is one of many ways to gain experience points in the game, increasing those gains makes it a more attractive option. Before, spamming world events in Bozja–aShadowbringerszone used to leveland craft relic weapons–was the most efficient way to level, though not the most fun or inspired. Now, players seeking variety in their leveling experiences can run a few dungeons and not feel they are leveling inefficiently.
Some players are concerned the experience boost might make leveling a bit too easy, however. The experience gains are closer to those from theShadowbringersexpansion, but some feel they actually exceed those amounts. Additionally, the new increase in dungeon experience means a player’s job will rapidly outlevel their Trust avatars–NPCs who can run dungeons for solo content–meaning it will take multiple jobs to increase all 7 avatars tomaximum level inFinal Fantasy 14. Nevertheless, few players plan on looking the gift horse in the mouth, as more efficient leveling options means less incentive to burn out doing the same content over and over again simply because it is the fastest option.
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalkeris available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
