Question on XP bonuses.

[NorthernLadMSP]

I'm not a new player, but I was curious on XP bonuses and if there's a cap. What I mean is we have things like rested XP, Azeyma's Earrings XP bonus, food XP bonus, FC XP bonus, squadron manual XP bonus, etc. Do all of these stack? Is there a limit to the number of bonuses you can have at once?

[EorzeaWanderer]

I'm not a new player, but I was curious on XP bonuses and if there's a cap. What I mean is we have things like rested XP, Azeyma's Earrings XP bonus, food XP bonus, FC XP bonus, squadron manual XP bonus, etc. Do all of these stack? Is there a limit to the number of bonuses you can have at once?

For the most part, they all stack. The squadron manual and the FC buff are considered to be the same thing, so they will overwrite/replace each other with the highest bonus available between them (15% is the max for FC rank 3 I believe).

The most important thing to keep in mind, I feel, is that all of the bonuses you described apply to *monster kills only* (on a battle job) or to *crafted/gathered item success only* for DoH/DoL, if applicable. In addition they are not multiplicative against each other, so with these two restrictions combined the benefit is smaller than might first be apparent.

For example, take the earrings, you are not getting ((all earned XP) * 1.3), not even close, because the bonus will not apply to roulette bonuses, quest turn-ins, etc., only to individual monster kills. So, due to scaling on the XP required, these earrings (and the other bonuses) are at their best when you are doing content on-level that involves monster kills, like FATEs at your level (although the bonuses are not applied to the FATE-clearing XP, only the monster kills) or running your latest dungeon (because bosses are monster kills and get the bonus applied).

The exception to all of the above is the "New" or "Preferred" world bonus, which simply doubles everything, no matter what it is. This includes quests, roulettes, and everything else. It's a huge boost.

In short, every little bit helps, and the bonuses you described can add up, but only matter with on-level content essentially.

[Jeeqbit]

They all tend to stack far beyond 100%, but they only apply to enemy kills (except Road to 80 which doubles quest experience too).

So they are great for farming, say, leveling dungeons, but not really for MSQ quests or beast tribe quests. In summary, they are great for leveling alt jobs via dungeons but not really for your main job that you do the MSQ with.

[NorthernLadMSP]

The main reason I'm asking is because, like everyone, I'm looking to maximize XP and minimize the time it takes to get Pictomancer from 80 to 90.

I'm assuming the best place to farm XP is still Zadnor?