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Achieving Your First 99

Every character starts fully set up (Step 1 below), so the only thing between you and the whole server is one job at level 99 — and reaching it is fast here. That first 99 is also the line where Legendary stops looking like a stock FFXI private server and becomes its own game. This page is the roadmap from level 1 to that first 99, then one efficient Fresh 99 path through gear, Hunting League, Affinities, and Ambuscade. It is not the only order — just a proven one.

Useful commands while leveling your first 99

Type this It does this
!expcamp Warp to a level-appropriate leveling camp — run it alone to list them, then e.g. !expcamp 4.
!hub Warp to Purgonorgo Isle — every shop and service NPC lives here (!leaf / !lib also work).
!ah Open the Auction House from anywhere — no trip to Jeuno.
!autojp Auto-spend all of your unspent Job Points.
!automerits Auto-spend all of your unspent Merit Points.
!buff Grant the zone's regional buff (Signet / Sanction / Sigil) — EXP bonus + Refresh while you fight.
!fellow Summon your Adventuring Fellow — a full extra party member, great for soloing.
!home Warp to your home point.
!shop Open the server shop — EXP / Capacity rings, free reforged AF/Relic/Empyrean gear, and more.
!warpty Pull every online party member to the leader.

Step 1 — You're already set up ✅

There's no setup NPC to hunt down. Every new character is fully provisioned the moment it's created: all jobs and subjobs, every weapon skill and job spell, skills capped to your level, four starter Trusts (Shantotto, Kupipi, Trion, and Tenzen), ~4,000 key items, all missions complete, all maps and warps, full wardrobes, and a starter gear kit. Extra Trusts are earned by killing the right NMs. You also get 25 Hunt Marks to start. You also keep a Legendary Ring for good — a Rare/Ex heirloom accessory: a powerful all-jobs ring that speeds up EXP and Capacity gain, grants Auto-Reraise and extra movement speed, and keeps your EXP safe when you fall in battle.

Two resources are your best friends from here on out: this website — every system on the server is documented here — and the Discord, where the community answers questions and forms groups. When in doubt, use them; they'll save you hours.

Step 2 — Level to 99

You start at level 1, but mob EXP is 3×, so 99 comes quickly. Type !expcamp and pick a camp for your level — there are 22 level-banded camps, from La Theine Plateau (10–25) up to Kamihr Drifts (95–99). A few things to do on the way up:

  • Set your subjob. It levels at 25% of your main's EXP, so it climbs on its own while you play — details on Subjob EXP.
  • Activate Records of Eminence (RoE) so you collect objective rewards passively as you kill.
  • Grab a Fields / Grounds of Valor page (from a Field Manual or Grounds Tome). Killing the listed targets pays bonus EXP on top of the base rate.
  • Buy EXP & Capacity rings in !shop — flat bonuses to both while worn.
  • !buff in each zone for the regional EXP bonus + Refresh.
  • Short on gil? The Eminence Broker in !hub buys your Sparks of Eminence, Unity Accolades, Job Points, and Hunt Marks for gil.
  • Need cheap leveling gear? The Auction House (!ah) is kept permanently stocked at fixed, level-bracket prices — the full price list is on the Auction House page.
  • At level 50, the Welcome Moogle in !hub opens a 1,000-gil starter shop — every piece has two fixed augments. Full list: Welcome Moogle.

Step 3 — Fresh 99 guide

This is one efficient order after your first 99 — not the only one. Groups, a different main job, or extra help can skip or swap steps. The numbers below come from the live catalogs, so they stay current.

Before you start: !shop for free iLvl 109 AF / Relic / Empyrean, then talk to the Commemoration Moogle in !hub for a one-time pick of 48 augment catalysts. Those two gifts are worth grabbing immediately.

1. Buy your first weapon

Type !hunt and convert Hunt Marks at the Seals NPC into Beastmens Medals (5 marks each). A typical Bronze weapon is 12 medals — 60 marks all-in. See the Gear Guide for the stock.

You start with 25 marks. The daily login adds 50, so 75 is usually enough for that first Bronze weapon. If you are short, Rank I hunts with Trusts are easy enough to top up.

2. Clear Rank I and unlock Rank III

Rank I NMs (Leaping Lizzy, Valkurm Emperor, and Tom Tit Tat) pay 15 marks each. Your first-ever kill of each unique NM pays double, so knock out all three once before you spam one. The weekly Featured Hunt (!featured) also pays 2× base on your first kill of the week.

A typical Silver weapon is 25 Kindreds Medals (15 marks each) — 375 marks. Unlocking Rank III — Elite also costs 150 (Rank II) + 650 (Rank III). Budget about 1,175 marks if you want both the Silver weapon and Rank III in one push.

Farm whichever Rank I your job clears fastest. Try each once; do not assume one NM is “the piercing one.”

Full ladder: Hunting League. Marks also come from the Hunter's Guild and Game Master waves.

3. Begin Reforge armor

Start collecting useful base and +1 pieces, then work toward +2 in the slots that matter. Empyrean +2 is a strong early hybrid (defensive + offensive) for a lot of jobs — not a requirement on day one.

Build a TP set, a defensive set, and sets for your job’s important weapon skills. Not every job wants a generic “WSD set.”

BG Wiki is useful for retail stat lines. This site is the authority for where pieces come from on Legendary. See Reforge.

4. Build essential augments

Use the Augmenting Guide and the Augment Moogle page, or farm Augment Dungeons when you want no competition (harder early, quieter camps).

Early stats that help almost every job: Accuracy / Magic Accuracy, Haste, Damage Taken, Store TP, Fast Cast, and Refresh. Add weapon-skill damage and multi-attack once you can actually land hits.

5. Affinities and Unity

Affinities. There are 25 always-up Affinity NMs; 11 of them register a Sage affinity. !affinitynm lists the roster; !affinitynm <number|name> warps (numbers run 1–25). Each registration needs Hunting League Rank 3, the trophy, and 250 Hunt Marks — 2,750 marks for all 11. See Affinity NMs.

Unity. Clear every Tier I Unity NM to unlock Tier II. Listed 119 weapons drop at 5%; trade the base at the Unity board for the +1. If your job’s weapon is a Tier I drop, grab it. If it is Tier II, clear Tier I first, then try — ask for help if it is too hard. Tier III is usually group / later-endgame at this gear level, not a hard lockout. Unity Concord has the roster.

6. Unlock your fourth Trust slot

Trust slots unlock in order. You start with two. The third slot needs your Adventuring Fellow at level 100, or one Job Rebirth. The fourth then needs Voidwatch Tier 5+ and a clear in three different strata.

A clean route: climb Crimson to Tier 5, then one Indigo clear and one Jade clear. Rift coordinates live on the Voidwatch page — start with North Gustaberg, Valkurm Dunes, and Jugner Forest if you want easy walks.

7. Master the job and unlock HTBFs

High-Tier Battlefields need, on the job you enter on:

  1. 2,100 Job Points spent (Master).
  2. All 11 Sage affinities registered.

Then buy Phantom Gems at the Phantom Gems NPC in !hub. Bank Capacity Points while you hunt — !capacity is the fast camp.

Tier I allows 2 Trusts. Tier II allows 3. Tier II is not “free” for every job; bring a party if you are thin.

8. Clear Final Proving

Clear any HTBF at Tier I and Tier II. That unlocks Final Proving at the Phantom Gems NPC — a one-time Garuda test. Winning counts as your Tier III clear and opens the real Tier III roster.

9. Enter Ambuscade

Ambuscade then needs:

  • one HNM King kill (Fafnir / Nidhogg still have a retail spawn; several other “king” names are Affinity copies — both count if the Tome accepts the kill)
  • one HTBF clear at each of Tier I, II, and III (Final Proving satisfies Tier III)

From there, farm Hallmarks toward 119 armor and a final Ambuscade weapon. The raised caps apply to that final weapon, not every 119 stage: ordinary weapon skills cap at 99,999, and its linked weapon skill (Savage Blade on Naegling, Blade: Ku on Gokotai, and so on) caps at 149,999.

Step 4 — What else opens

The path above is one spine. When you are ready — or instead, if your group is already there — these sit alongside it:

Stuck, or want a group?

Hop into the Discord server — use !lfg in-game to ping for a party, and ask anything in chat. The community is happy to help new players get going.

Last updated: 2026-09-01 00:40 PDT