Final Fantasy 15: How to Get EXP and Level Up Fast

Final Fantasy 15 features a vast open world, and that also means a varied amount of zones that are progressively more difficult, making leveling up essential if you want to get the most out of your road trip through Eos. This Final Fantasy 15 EXP and Leveling Up guide will give you some tips for getting lots of experience and leveling up fast.

How to Level up Fast in Final Fantasy 15

Leveling in Final Fantasy 15 works a little differently than in previous games. You still get experience for killing enemies, but the main source of experience is from quests. You also don't actually have the experience applied to your character until you go to sleep. Due to the nonlinear nature of the world's quest structure, bolstering your levels is more important than ever, as it's not uncommon for you to, for instance, stumble onto a dungeon recommended for parties Level 50 and over in the opening hours of the game. So you're going to want to use these tips for leveling fast to be ready for these more difficult areas.

Find and Complete Quests to Earn EXP

The fastest way to get a lot of experience is simply by completing side quests. The trick is in finding them. The most obvious thing to look for is the orange question mark icons on your map, which mark where you can initiate a new side quest. Keep checking the map periodically for more of those marks as you progress and complete quests, as many quest givers will move locations when they're ready to hand you another one. Most quests will come from the same handful of people, so keep an eye out for Takka, Sania, Dave, Vyv, Dino, Navyth, Wiz, Cindy, and Holly.

Dungeons are also considered quests since entering one adds one to your list, usually requiring you to get to the end and defeat the boss or claim the item at the end. Dungeons are marked on the map by a red doorway icon, but only once you've come into close proximity with the entrance.

To get you started, read up on the side quests of the Leide region with Final Fantasy 15: Side Quests of the Leide Region.

Eat Food to Earn EXP Bonuses

The best way to survive in Final Fantasy XV is by eating food before difficult missions to give yourself a big stats buff, but certain foods also increase the experience you get while the food is still active. Here's a list of all the foods we know of that grant experience bonuses:

• Galdin Gratin: +10% EXP; Galdin Quay
• Mother & Child Rice Bowl: +30% EXP; Ignis; watch someone eat at a table at Lestallum's lookout, Chickatrice Egg, Birdbeast Egg, and Saxham Rice
• Fat Chocobo Triple Decker: +50% EXP; Wiz Chocobo Post; A Feathery Feast completed
• Stacked Ham Sandwich: +50% EXP; Ignis; Fat Chocobo Triple Decker eaten, Garula Sirloin, Fire Gighee Ham, and Aegir Root
• Fine Caviar Canape: +50% EXP; Altissa
• Royal Banquet Canape: +50% EXP; Ignis ; Fine Caviar Canape eaten, Arapaima Roe, Kettier Ginger, and Allural Shallot
• Lasagne al Forno: +100% EXP; Ignis; Level 9 Cooking, Jabberwock Sirloin, Cleigne Darkshell, and Fine Cleigne Wheat
• Maagho Lasagna: +100% EXP; Altissa

Sleep Well to Earn EXP

You get the experience you've earned when you go to sleep, but you also get an experience bonus depending on where you sleep. Camping never gets you any bonuses outside of what you get from eating, but everywhere else gets you a multiplier to your earned experience. The biggest bang for your buck is going to be at the various motels across Eos like the one you first stay at in Longwythe, which gets you X1.5 experience at 300 gil per night. Once you start getting a steady stream of gil going later in the game, you may want to transition to staying at Galdin Quay whenever you can – it gets you a X2 bonus to experience, but for 10000 gil a night. Plan on staying there only when it will get you a significant increase. The only other hotel to grant a bigger bonus of X3 is the Royal Suite in Altissa, but it costs 30000 gil, which may or may not end up being worth it. 30000 gil is a large chunk of change, so budget accordingly.

Activate Exploration Experience Nodes

Most of the nodes in the Exploration grid in Ascension have to do with increasing your AP, but a few increase your experience for doing certain things. Choco-bonus gets you experience for riding chocobos a certain distance, Choco-racer gives you experience for winning chocobo races, Reel Experience gets you experience for catching fish, and Roadlife gets you experience for long car rides. The AP cost for these abilities tend to be on the higher side and their nodes are found deeper along certain branches, so you're going to have to work for them. But they're worth investing in if you see yourself doing the associated actions a lot. For more tips on developing your Ascension, check out our Final Fantasy 15: Ascension Guide. For hints on how to gain a lot of AP fast, check out Final Fantasy 15: Tips for Earning AP Fast.

Make Expericast Spells

Some spells you can create using elemancy can be infused with an additional effect of giving you experience for every cast. The catalysts that let get you this added effect are usually items like Debased Coins, Rare Coins, or basically any kind of stray currency you come across. The more catalysts you use, the more experience you'll get. It's not unusual to get over 1000 experience per cast right the right type and number of catalysts, so consider tacking Expericast onto your sweeper spells for efficiency.

Wear Moogle Charms to Boost EXP

Scattered across the world are several accessories called Moogle Charms, which increase the experience of whoever wears it by 20%. You can't find them in stores, but rather in different dungeons. Two of them can be found in Daurell Caverns in the southern part of Duscae: One in the dungeon proper, and one in the part accessible in the post-game. One of them is in Costlemark Tower, which is found in southeast Duscae and is only accessible at night. Another is in Pitioss Ruins, which is accessible with the Regalia Type-F in the post-game. One more can be found by playing the 10000 gil Justice Monsters Five machine in Altissia near Alessio and getting 40 chests before you quit or lose.

For more guides, tips, and opinions on Final Fantasy XV, check out our Final Fantasy 15 Guide - Tips and Cheats page.