Heavensward Leveling... aka Northern Thanalan Leveling

After reading about this, I've started using N Thanalan to level my Jobs up for one reason...I only need them at 51 to start doing the HW dungeons, which I plan on using as my primary source of exp for leveling. Some of us DO love dungeons you know.

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Originally Posted by AskaRay

You can always not FATE grind.. I personally hate leveling like that.

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Options are limited. Story quests are limited and only work for building xp to 60 on one job. Levequests are limited supply and don't offer exceptional xp. Dungeons that reward a viable amount of xp are limited. Level 50 dungeons don't reward xp (unless you get a Roulette bonus), so your options are low-level or grinding the new >50 dungeons. You are also bound by queue times. Hunt marks are limited and offer only moderate xp.

FATES are consistent and readily available. I don't love FATE grinding either, but it's efficient.

The point of the OP is that Heavensward FATES are inadequate in comparison to pre-existing, lower level FATES in N Thanalan. Whether or not someone enjoys them isn't really relevant.

I think what most people are not realizing here is that N. Thanalan is more efficient until 55 dungeons (provided the area is busy). It's not a matter of being lazy, avoiding challenge, rushing, etc. It's just that in the current state there is no reason to be in the new areas unless you're hunting.

I don't particularly like Fates, but I used them to level my second class while doing dungeons and N. Thanalan is stupidly efficient right now. I'd love to do Fates in the new zones while queuing, but it's not worth it right now (I tried doing them in all zones except the last one). At the end of the day, N. Thanalan was quicker, which is a shame.

I love new dungeons and they're great for xp, but I'd love to do Fates as an alternative in new areas too.

=___(\


... Guys... you do realize you dont have to do the FATE from start to finish if its not a boss, right?

HW zones have tons of non-boss FATEs active at almost every moment... you could... dunno, participate in 5 within 3 minutes and earn 50k exp from the lvl 50 FATEs (if they time out fail with gold) by simply HITTING, not even killing (but better kill them), 4 monsters and do side quests to kill time... or join a boss FATE... N Thana rarely has more than 3 active FATEs...

Which side quests? We're talking about a second class here. N. Thanalan always has running Fates and it also has DD + Chimera. Cleared gold Fates in new areas only give 2-3k more xp. You just cannot compete with the zerg party going on in N. Thanalan right now.

Personally, I've taken to doing Daily Hunts for exp. Each Tier 1 hunt set (1-3 mobs) gives equal exp to an NThan FATE with armoury bonus (around 21k exp), Tier 3s give 24-48k depending on the hunt. You can do these as many times a day as you want. Complete a set, go back and restock. The best part is, they all give those precious centurio seals that everyone fights over on A-Rank hunts. Before you know it, you will be full and spending them. They give 4-15 seals depending on tier, per hunt. It's very effective. Other than that, just do daily roulettes as well. You don't have to fate grind anywhere to level past 50.

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

So basically people are ignoring the greater challenge for easier content, not because there is a great disparity in XP gained? Lazy players are lazy players...

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When you can knock off a HW A rank faster than a HW fate boss with the same group it needs to be adjusted. Not only for HP pool but experience.
Lazy has nothing to do with it it's time vs reward

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Originally Posted by Sei-Ryu

Personally, I've taken to doing Daily Hunts for exp. Each Tier 1 hunt set (1-3 mobs) gives equal exp to an NThan FATE with armoury bonus (around 21k exp), Tier 3s give 24-48k depending on the hunt. You can do these as many times a day as you want. Complete a set, go back and restock.

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Daily Duty roulette main scenario gives 18% ~ 23% level exp
Daily Hunts gives 20k+ exp and you get about 10+ to hunt on a daily basis.
HW Dungeon gives 18% ~ 23%

It is sad to see people going back to North T. and not embracing any new content for EXP.
At this point.. it is probably easier to scale down the EXP received from N.T. Fate drastically after lvl 51 rather than bumping everything else up.

Sorry, edit on the daily hunts. Apparently you can pick up one set a day, but if you don't complete the previous day's set, you can complete that one and pick up another one.

Otherwise, it appears they're once a day, still really good exp though.

Just imagine if that zerg moved to a new zone that gives more xp per fate. Dungeons have been much faster leveling for me after 51 though. I'm also rolling a tank as a second class so I don't have any queue times.

The issue isn't just the amount of EXP given. Northern Thanalan is a really small zone so all the FATE parties can move as a single, loosely coordinated group, and get completion credit for every single FATE that spawns.

The new zones are way too large for that though... You won't get a chance to get credit for every FATE because people will all be split up and completing them separately.

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Originally Posted by Chihaya

Again this pulling of real life card on a game forums, it is a disgrace
Just because they are able to grind and willing to put more time into the game doesn't mean they don't have life outside of the game

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Seriously. Not to mention you can have a 9-5 job, get a full night's sleep everyday, AND have gone out of town on vacation since launch and still have a level 60, upgraded gear, read the entire story, and have an alt in the mid 50s. Leveling your first class isn't exactly rocket surgery. Especially for anyone who is MMO vetted.


This is also probably the only MMO I've played where people sit around debating and passing judgment on which parts of it are deemed acceptably enjoyable. Some people like leveling, some hate it, and some just like having more than one class to play at cap. Regardless, something is very wrong when the most efficient way to level is by doing the EXACT same thing we did at 2.0 launch.

NT is a really small area so getting around is much quicker than the new zones. Plus the population is always high there because people are leveling new jobs as well as new players there. So its pretty much a win win area. They added new fates in 3.1, but didnt increase the xp. Occasionally I will see 3 or 4 people doing particular fates in the new zones, but other than that is a ghost town.

The only end I can realistically see to this problem that SE would do is just to nerf the fates in N. Than for people level 51+. It seems... incredibly accidental that fate grinding in N. Than is still better exp from 50-55 than other methods of leveling (though most reasonable people I know end up doing those other methods because fate grinds are so soulcrushingly boring). SE could totally scale the exp in the new zones to fit better with N. Than's exp... but we know from experience that they tend to prefer buffing other, less mindless methods of leveling (read: dungeons), compared to the fate grinds. Additionally I think they really, really, never thought about people leveling waaaaayyyy faster than expected by going back to the original bane of FFXIV ARR's leveling system: FATE grinds. Not to mention I think that fate grinding is worse than it was before because at lvl 50 normally the amount of experience you'd get from the individual fate mobs would be a pretty significant portion of your total exp, but currently you can only hit a couple once before they die so you don't get exp from individual mobs much.

In any case, if you do your high and low dungeon roulettes and your trials roulette, then grind your highest dungeon, and also do the daily/weekly hunts while queued, you can level 50-60 in a couple days and as a bonus have a full stock of seals to start upgrading your armour as a bonus (which helps you to avoid the cesspool that are currently hunt trains, which are even worse than fate trains).

"I don't like the video game I choose to play!"

These forums just make me laugh. Do some of you not understand how silly you sound? I've been tired of lots of games. I don't cry about it. I find another game or hobby.

I humbly suggest they revamp the roulette system.

• Low Level Roulette: Make it what it was pre-HW; so level 1-49 content only.
  • As before, but just ARR dungeons. Basically as it is now (Solid 20-30% level)
  • Include XP bonuses for 2nd jobs.. so that's an additional +100% (so 40-60% level) for under 50s, +50% for over 50s (so 30-45% level)
  • Buff mob XP to make it worth it. (I just roulette'd Thousand Maws and got a very measly 20% my level, immediately did Dusk vigil with friends for about 25%+. Roulette did not feel worth it when I could just grind the same dungeon over and over)
• High Level Roulette: Change it to the new HW level 50+ dungeons.
  • Essentially a secondary roulette for level 50+ characters.
  • Bonus XP somewhere in the realm of 30-50% total level, plus mob XP
• Challenge Roulette:
  • Hard Mode Dungeons
  • Rather than a huge updating list with only current maps, why not an automated weekly rotation of maps?
  • No XP given, other rewards given (more or less as HM is now)

(Other stuff as it is now)

Point being, I am all for the sluggishness of leveling quickly, but for those who REALLY want 60 quick they can grind... but being able to binge 10 hours straight should not net the same XP as a casual 10 hours spaced out over 2 weeks.

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Originally Posted by Balipu

*insert Morpheus pic here*
What if I told you that leveling does not equal FATE grinding. You have dungeons, levequests, guildhests, clan hunts and if you leveled your first class right, even quests.
Just do 10 fates for the challenge log and be done with it.

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Just need to point out that you seriously suggested guildhests as a tool for leveling to 60. As someone who still does a daily guildhest roulette... those things are for good for commendations, and that's about it.

I wish the HW dungeons were in their own roulette, though. I always still get ARR dungeons when I do low level roulette even if I am at a level that can run HW dungeons. It's like why rush to 51, I won't get Dusk Vigil anyway.

Why would you level in thanalan fates, do you hate yourself? Do some dungeons already!

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Originally Posted by XxSliphxX

I'm probably going to start doing this myself :/ I tried to lvl legit by just doing expansion stuff but now i feel like im just being left behind because everyone is already 60 days ago from doing N Than fate grinding and already lvling other classes..... It's no fun doing new world stuff when no one else is doing it because old world yields better exp.

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I've no idea what the big rush is, seriously. I've still got plenty of gobbie quests, Vanu quests etc that i can do to reach 60 as well as HW FATES. And let us not forget the roulettes...

Easy way to fix this would simply be to give diminishing returns from FATEs after you start level syncing. 1 level above? 3/4 the normal experience. 2 or more? Half of the normal experience. There, it encourages people to level elsewhere for anything over level 52.

This is intimidating.

I just got Heavensward about a week ago, and the side quests take so much time I'm getting flustered about running end to end of these giant zones (it doesn't help that unlocking flight is locked behind said side quests!), but now I wanting to jump from Scholar/Summoner to Paladin, but I don't know where to begin.

I'm on PS3, and every single guide says FATE in N.Than, which is impossible if the area is that populous becuase of how the PS3 handles loading.

So what about players like me who don't have a beefy machine? (yet) It wouldn't be half as daunting if endgame ARR dungeos and raids gave exp.

Don't go to NThan anymore. The xp in HW fates is up, go do those.

The Vault/Library gives amazing EXP 3-5k per kills (if you have newer people more exp)

In case people aren't aware, they fixed XP in the Ishgard areas. They now give between 32k and 110k depending on area and type of FATE.

Now you can go Farm Hinterlands/Churning Mists at least the zones are bigger and the sights are more beautiful.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Easy way to fix this would simply be to give diminishing returns from FATEs after you start level syncing. 1 level above? 3/4 the normal experience. 2 or more? Half of the normal experience. There, it encourages people to level elsewhere for anything over level 52.

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That doesn't help with bot users. And when they are all 50-59 and when 40-50 are trying to get to 51. and stuff dies to fast some times and miss a fates!
These bots just stay there till they are done! and healers don't heal, and no one says anything! and still they are all on PC's

Northern Thanalan Fate need to be adjusted. anyone Lv 52+ should get lower exp rewards then after 54/55 they should get 0 fate rewards!
To many bot around now! and most are on pc and they are more likey to be using bots and 3rd party programs and no one in there right mind would say in place getting 20k till lv60 i know i didn't even get 20k exp after times and i was lower then lv 55. and anyone wanting to do fates in new zone that are just about dead with almost not one around!

when can be getting 30k-55k in new zones