FFXIV: Palace of the Dead Leveling Guide
Update: Please note, PotD leveling is still best for level 1-60, but not efficient for 60-70.
Having played FFXIV on and off since Alpha, there have been a few different “flavor of the month” ways to level in the game. As of Patch 3.45, many folks are using Palace of the Dead as a means of efficient, no-stress leveling that you can honestly just jump into.
Palace of the Dead (PotD) is basically an instanced dungeon in which a solo player or group of players descend through the floors of dungeon, 10 floors at a time. Your character has Aetherpool weapons and armor which, along with experience, is completely separate from your actual character. With two save slots, you can progress through PotD and level up your weapons, armor, and PotD class level.
Completing PotD through its max 200 floors is a challenge, so for this guide we will cover the basics on how to use PotD for leveling any DoM / DoW classes. The goal is to complete the set of 10 floors as quickly as possible, as completing each set yields a massive chunk of experience for your class outside of PotD. Below are some general tips, along with some more fine-tuned tips for speed running PotD. Best of luck – and don’t forget: Help others.
PotD General Tips
- Grind floors 1-10 until Aetherpool +10 / +10.
- After +10 / +10, grind floors 1-50 until +40 / +40 ish.
- After +40 / +40 ish, grind floors 51-60 until leveling is complete.
- Gold chests contain Pomanders. Silver chests contain upgrades. Bronze chests contain items.
- Check current Pomander buffs before using another.
- Kill Hornet and Slimes first, as each have 1-shot mechanics.
- Only open chests when out of combat (Luring) and at full health (Exploding).
- Group should try to follow same path to avoid traps.
- You can also hug walls to reduce risk of triggering traps.
- Use Pomander of Rage w/ Fortune on high density floors or last floors, as available (don’t use when No Knockback).
- Use Pomander of Lust on boss fight.
- Use Pomander of Witching for accidental large pulls.
- Use Cairn of Return to revive dead party members.
- Bring Echo Drops to cure silence (on self or others).
PotD Speed Run Tips
- Utilize Sprint uptime to increase pace.
- Limit mob kills to threshold of unlocking Passage.
- Don’t go out of your way for chests.
- Accursed Hoard > Gold chest > Mob kills for Passage > Silver chest.
* Special thanks to the Reddit /r/ffxiv Discord community for helping tweak some of the info – Cheers! *
What do you mean grind levels 1-10 until +10/+10? Do you mean repeat the levels until you’re at +10/+10? Or that you should be at +10/+10 after the first run through?
You’ll grind floors 1-10 (Reset after each clear) until your aetherpool armor and weapon are both +10ish. You could even do this until +15 if you wanted to, since it’s fast.
What is the thought process behind only using floors 51-60 for leveling? I have only had struggles with groups passing floors 41-50 & 91-100. Is using floors 51-90 also a viable leveling strategy?
Thanks.
I actually did a good bit of research from feedback on folks on that exact question, mostly because I was curious myself. The idea is that 51-60 appears to be the sweet spot for a healthy balance of speed, difficulty, and exp curve. So with the idea that you gain more exp the higher the floor (curve), only when finishing the floors (speed), at a very low difficulty – yields that exp per hour seems to be most efficient when grinding 51-60.
Do you get xp for the clear only ( i.e. Floors 51-60 completed) or does the number of monsters killed figure in to your final tally once you clear?
You only get experience for the clear. The number of monsters killed has no bearing on your experience at the end of the PotD
How do you repeat groups of 10 floors and still get exp from them? Do you defeat the boss and then abandon the duty?
Actually it’s ok I figured it out. I didn’t realise that once you beat floor 50, PotD allows you to start from that point from a fresh save. So it makes sense to me now that people farm those 10 floors and reset repeatedly.
You got it!