The hunt returns once more in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, giving players an extra source of easy experience while questing through the new zones. However, if you’re a new player that has been speeding their way through to the latest expansion, you may have missed a few of the requirements needed to unlock this activity. In this guide, we’ll get you up to speed on previous versions of the hunt, and why you should go out of your way to unlock its current iteration.
Pre-Endwalker Hunts Unlock Requirements
To even begin your hunting journey in Endwalker, you must have first completed the related questlines in both A Realm Reborn and Heavensward. These quests start with “Let the Hunt Begin”, which can be picked up at your Grand Company (Maelstrom in Limsa Lominsa, Twin Adder in Gridania, or Immortal Flames in Ul’dah).
Unlock A Realm Reborn Hunts
This quest also has its own requirements, needing you to be level 50 and the Second Lieutenant rank in your Grand Company. This can be done by trading in Company Seals (gained mainly via Fates and trading in unwanted gear), along with completing rank 2 of the Company Hunting Log and the sidequests “Shadows Uncast” and “Gilding the Bilious”. Both of these quests take you to dungeons below level 50, so they’re easy to solo at level 80+. Once you’re done, you only have to talk to the “Let the Hunt Begin” quest NPC and hunts will be unlocked for A Realm Reborn.
Unlock Heavensward Hunts
With that out of the way, you can then move onto Heavensward hunts. All four of the quests needed for this part are incredibly easy to do, starting with “Let the Clan Hunt Begin”. This quest is found in Foundation via the NPC Aytienne at X:12, Y:11. If you’ve completed “Let the Hunt Begin”, the only other requirement is being level 53. There are another three quests after this one, all within the same area. The last is “Elite and Dangerous” at level 60, which is the final unlock requirement for hunts in Endwalker.
Endwalker Hunts Unlock Requirements
As with Heavensward, the unlock quest for hunts in Endwalker is incredibly simple. After completing the second quest of the expansion, “Old Sharlayan, New to You”, a number of sidequests are added in Old Sharlayan. One of these is “The Hunt for Specimens” via the Diminutive Gleaner NPC at X:11, Y:12. By talking to him, and then the NPC Northota, you’ll unlock junior hunt marks.
You can acquire daily junior marks from the hunt board in Old Sharlayan, with each one requiring you to kill certain monsters. The rewards from these include experience, gil, and the hunt-exclusive currency sacks of nuts. Sacks of nuts can be traded in for grade IX and X materia (used to increase stats on equipment) and other items.
Sacks of nuts are actually not new to Endwalker specifically, having first been introduced for hunts in Shadowbringers. This means that nuts earned during the previous expansion can be used to gain rewards in Endwalker, and vice versa. Since you can pick up hunt marks from both expansions daily, gaining nuts will be much faster than before.
Climbing the Ranks - Endwalker Hunts
By progressing through the story and leveling up, you’ll unlock quests for more hunt marks via Northota. This includes “That Specimen Came from the Moon” at level 83, “A Hunt for the Ages” at level 89, and “Perfect Specimens” at level 90. The first two unlock more daily hunts, while the latter is for tougher weekly elite marks. Elite marks are level 90 and reward you with tomestones (the endgame currency) rather than experience — though you’ll still get gil and nuts as well.