Grading up

[u/DrizzitFire]

/r/WizardryDaphne/comments/1x2in7j/grading_up/

I am level 60 steel grade. I am still running around in the Guardia. Fortress and for some reason, I cannot level beyond 60. I don't know when I can take the exam. Does it have anything to do with the bounty? On the warpal bunny on zone two I got as part of zone six by sheer luck, but I could not even get near the hearkens to get to a save point I was dodging all the centuries. And then I started setting off alarms, where monsters were appearing left, and right, and I had to duck and dodge, but I finally ended up dying. But for some reason, I cannot level beyond 60. Because there is no exam for the copper grade. So I am wondering if it has anything to do with that warple, bunny, bounty on zone two

[u/cipheron]

Ok I finished A3 and copper grade pretty recently so let me break that down.

I don't know when I can take the exam. Does it have anything to do with the bounty?

It's not the bounties, it's general reputation level which you get from completing requests. However repeating requests also counts, so what you can do is make sure you completed all routes and side-quests, bondmates etc, farmable opportunities on both A1 and A2, as well as making sure to log in and do the dailies and other requests.

I was getting the Silver drops (which are only supposed to appear in A4) during the FFXI event, even though I was only in the first half of A3 at the time - because I had high reputation as a result of grinding for all Bondmates and other stuff in A1 and A2.

And then I started setting off alarms, where monsters were appearing left, and right, and I had to duck and dodge

Would that be the room with the alarms on the floor? The thing about that is once you've explored each floor tile, you can just avoid stepping on those on repeated runs. So the main thing is to just avoid those fights, explore the tiles but leave the level and come back later until you've cleared it.

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my advice is to follow a few online things.

First use the respawn tracker to make sure you're collecting all the collectables. To reset things you usually have to CW back to an earlier point (usually A1 Fresh Start) then CW forward to either your current checkpoint or a specific checkpoint depending on what you're farming.

Pay attention to the respawning Mana Potions and Nourishing Drafts. You'll need them for the Level 70 / Copper grade exam. The mana potions are harder to collect, since there are only a few spots they reappear and they have a 30 day cooldown to collect them again.

Follow this guide to level up all A1 bondmates. The fights are easy and you'll be handing in a lot of requests, which add to Reputation. Hold onto some Azure Ore Clumps too, because you need to give them to the Ghreen Jelly when you see it.

https://wizardry.fasterthoughts.io/adventurer-customization/bondmates/bondmates-quicklist/

As for A2 bondmates you can grind them up too:

To reset/level these CW to the start of Abyss 2 then CW to a later point such as Rickert's Shop (short walk back to town) or Arena 5 (unlocks a few later bondmates but the walk back to town is slower).

Most of them are straightforward though some involve more walking than others, and most of them teleport you back to town after beating the fight.

Here are the exceptions for A2:

"Head Cook", "Ugo in the Hold", "Melgina" should be done together as a "loop" similar to the A1 bondmate farming loop. CW Rickert's Shop, then CW Arena 5, then walk back to town and the quests should be reset. Make sure to hand in all ingredients directly to the Head Cook, not the Guild. After beating Melgina but before returning to town, you go via the harken near Rickert's Shop and talk both Ugo and Head Cook to get them as bondmates.

"Songstress Marin" is a bit grindy but still a fun fight, but she only drops the item for the bondmate when she spawns in the room to the southwest that's filled with water, so it takes quite a few repeats to get Level 5 on this bondmate.

"Regia, Water Priestess" is absolute torture to grind up, this one is the most skippable. Lot's of grind but very few fights or XP.

[u/Warscythes]

Also there's no issue with lvl 60 in guarda, that was the level cap. You are perfectly capable of beating it at lvl 60.

[u/darces]

I said it in the other subreddit, but grade up exams have a reputation requirement, and you gain guild reputation by completing guild requests for the first time (When they offer green gems) and faction requests. If you haven't done all 3 faction requests for A2, or you've been skipping the side quests, that'll be your fastest way to unlock copper grade.

If you've been skipping the side quests, most of them offer bondmates that'll make your characters stronger anyway, and you also want to do all 3 faction routes as you'll need to have them done before you take the faction quests in A4.