Level

Generally

A numerical value signifying your approximate power. The higher your level, the more powerful your character is. Levels are gained by killing mobs for Experience Points. Each level requires you to gain more and more Experience Points until you can "Level Up".

For example: At level 1 you start with zero Experience Points (XP). To level up to level 2, you must gain 500xp. Once you gain level 2, you must gain 750xp to get to level 3. (Experience required for next level is not a linear increase)

As you gain levels, your stats will increase, giving you more HP, and more MP (if you’re a caster). Also, jobs get abilities at certain levels (i.e. Warriors get the ability Provoke at level 5) and casters gain access to certain spells as they level up.

Effect of Dying

If you are KO'd, you lose 8% of the XP required to get next level (e.g. If you need 5000xp to get to next level, you lose 400xp if you are KO'd). The maximum amount of experience that can be lost is 2400. If this loss brings your current XP total below zero, you level down (losing access to all abilities and spells of the higher level, if any). For example: A level 5 Warrior who levels down to level 4 may no longer use Provoke.

Certain pieces of furniture can lessen the amount of XP lost upon death (and then home-pointing), and certain spells can give you back some XP lost from death (see Raise).

Level Caps

Upon reaching 1 xp below maximum at level 50, you must complete a quest to be able to increase your level cap. Until the quests are completed, you may not advance beyond the current cap. These quests are called Limit Breaks or Genkai. LB1 or Genkai 1 brings your level cap to 55, LB2 or Genkai 2 brings your level cap to 60, LB3 or Genkai 3 brings it to 65, LB4 or Genkai 4 brings it to 70.

The last, and arguably the hardest, LB5 or Genkai 5 raises the level cap to 75, the current maximum level.

Note: Once the Limit Break quests are completed, you do not need to repeat them if you wish to level another job past 50. However, if attempting to obtain Maat's Cap, you will need to complete LB5 or Genkai 5 for each job.

Monster Level

Most monsters in the game have a level just as players do. Just as with players, the level of a monster is a measure of how strong it is. At low levels the strength of a monster will be approximately the same as that of a player with the same level. At higher levels the balance seems to shift more and more in favor of the monster. Also, the characteristics of the player's job and monster must be taken into account, for example it would be very difficult for a player without magical abilities to defeat a monster of comparable level with high physical defense.

In most cases, a monster’s level can be defined as the level of player to whom the monster checks as 'Even Match'. If the monster's level is below yours then the monster will check as either 'Decent Challenge', 'Easy Prey' or 'Too Weak’. Similarly, if the monster’s level is higher than yours then it will check as either 'Tough', 'Very Tough', or 'Incredibly Tough'. For example a level 2 monster will check as Decent Challenge to a level 3 player, Even Match to a level 2 player, and Tough to a level 1 player. Different levels of the same monster usually exist in a given area so it can be a good idea to check each monster before fighting it.

The game never states what level a monster is explicitly, although it can usually be deduced from the number of experience points obtained when you defeat it.