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As in some previous Final Fantasy games, leveling up in Final Fantasy XI is based upon Experience Points. Experience points can be gained by several means, including defeating foes, completing Quests, finishing Missions, Campaign Battles, and various other activities. Generally, the most efficient way to gain Experience points with the intention to level up is to Party. A Party is a group of up to six people working together in order to bring down foes for EXP. Partying allows each Job to excel at their roll, and subsequently kill harder monsters faster, thus giving more EXP than solo play.
For instance, a White Mage excels at keeping others alive, but they are, however, physically weak and defenseless. Subsequently, they would find it difficult to kill hard foes. However, if a White Mage Parties with a Paladin, who excels at physical defense and Enmity generation, and a Monk whose specialty lies in damage output, the three can work together using their strengths and bring down powerful foes, netting lots of experience. Killing hard monsters quickly in succession grants a bonus to experience, known as a Chain.
When in a Party, monsters' aggressive actions are determined by an Enmity system. Almost every action taken during a battle generates Enmity, commonly referred to as "Hate"; whoever possess the most Enmity will have the monsters' attention, and subsequently be attacked. A key to succeeding in Party battle is managing Enmity in order to protect vulnerable party members; there are several means at the player's disposal to accomplish this. It is essential to keep powerful monsters diverted away from those in the party who have low defense, such as Black and White Mages. Players must pick and choose actions while thinking about how it will affect their Enmity, and therefore the entire group. Because of this, certain Jobs are tasked with trying to create the most Enmity possible, in order to hold the monster's attention.
For several years the maximum level attainable in Final Fantasy XI was 75. Having achieved this milestone, a player can begin converting experience into Limit Points. These, in turn, grant Merit Points which may be spent to gain additional stats, abilities, and traits. It has been announced that the level cap will eventually increase to 99. The June 2010 version update introduced the first step in this direction and the maximum level was raised to 90 in December 2010. The final level cap increase to 99 occurred with the December 14, 2011 version update.