Fastest Way to Level Up Hunter Level in NTE + Identification Level (Drops/Enemy Strength) Mechanics

Quick answer: Hunter Level is your overall account level (capped at around 60). Early on, the fastest way to level it is the main and side story; once the story is done, you build it up gradually with repeatable sources (spending stamina on Anomaly Domains / Hunts / Pilgrimage, City Tycoon level-ups, and daily/weekly tasks). Identification Level (capped at around 7) is a “world level”-style mechanic that rises automatically with your Hunter Level, simultaneously raising open-world enemy strength, drop quality, and the level caps for characters / Arcs — if your character is stuck at level 40, it’s almost always because your Identification Level isn’t high enough.

Hunter Level is the most central account-progression bar in Neverness to Everness (NTE): it’s not just a number, it also ties into how high your characters can level, how good the world’s drops are, and which game modes are unlocked. A lot of new players burn through their stamina haphazardly early on and end up stuck at level 40 in a materials drought. This article lays out EXP sources, leveling priority order, what unlocks at each level, and the easily-confused Identification Level mechanic all in one place.

What Is Hunter Level

Hunter Level = your overall account level, currently capped at around 60 (the actual cap is whatever the game shows in-game). What it does:

• Unlocks game modes and systems (commissions, dungeons, advanced City Tycoon, cartridge investment, etc.)
• Ties into Identification Level — every time Hunter Level hits a threshold, Identification Level goes up by 1
• Indirectly determines character caps — through Identification Level it locks how high your characters / Arcs can level

So pushing Hunter Level isn’t for show — it’s about steadily lifting the ceiling on your character investment.

Hunter Level EXP Sources (Repeatable / One-Time)

Hunter EXP comes from two categories: one-time (gone once you’ve cleared it, non-renewable) and repeatable (farmable daily / weekly). Early on you burst with one-time sources, and in the mid-to-late game you stack steadily with repeatable ones.

EXP Source	Type	Notes
Main Story	One-Time	Gives the most per quest; your main driver early on. Clearing the available main story can often push you past around level 20
Side / Bonus Quests	One-Time	Plentiful and reliable — clear them as you go
Character Bond Stories	One-Time	Pushing character affinity stories comes with bonus EXP
Exploration Guide (Exploration Progress)	One-Time	One-time rewards for unlocking map points, chests, and exploration completion
Daily Activity Rewards	Repeatable	Clearing your daily activity goals — one of the most reliable daily sources
Anomaly Domain	Repeatable	A material dungeon that consumes Nature Pixels (stamina); gives EXP while you farm materials
Anomaly Hunt	Repeatable	Also costs stamina; pick between this and Anomaly Domain depending on the day’s material needs
Anomaly Pilgrimage	Repeatable	About 3 times per week — make sure to clear it
City Tycoon Level-Up	Repeatable	Each level-up comes with a chunk of Hunter EXP (the higher the level, the more it gives)
Exploration Guide Daily / Weekly Tasks	Repeatable	Quick small activities; daily / weekly they add up to a meaningful amount
Small activities like ReroRero phone booths	Repeatable / One-Time	Bits of EXP from city exploration

MDX note: “Repeatable” in this table means that game mode can be done repeatedly for EXP, not that the value is guaranteed to be the same every time. The exact EXP values vary slightly between different write-ups, so the actual values are whatever the game shows in-game; this article does not list hard numbers.

Leveling Priority Order (How to Spend Stamina)

1. First clear all available main / side / bond stories — one-time sources have the best value, and early on they push you straight past level 20.
2. Burn your Nature Pixels (stamina) to zero every day — depending on which investment materials you need that day, choose between Anomaly Domain / Anomaly Hunt and pick up EXP along the way.
3. Clear the full Anomaly Pilgrimage every week (about 3 times).
4. Keep pushing your City Tycoon level — leveling up itself gives EXP and also ties into resource output, so you get two benefits from one action.
5. Cap it off with daily activity + Exploration Guide daily / weekly tasks.

The core mindset in one line: story for the burst, stamina for the steady flow, never leave stamina unused at the end of the day.

What Unlocks at Each Level

Every time Hunter Level crosses a threshold, it unlocks a game mode or pushes Identification Level forward. Here’s the general picture (the exact level of each threshold varies slightly between sources, so the actual values are whatever the game shows in-game):

• Early (from around level 10): Identification Level starts jumping up alongside Hunter Level, gradually loosening the open world and character caps.
• Around level 20: usually corresponds to a “Hunter Level Breakthrough” quest; completing it gives Identification Level +1, with character and Arc caps opening up to around level 50.
• Around level 30: the cartridge / drive block (Gear) farming loop officially opens — this is an important early milestone for new players, and the reason many people “set leveling-up goal number one at 30.”
• After level 40: the threshold for raising Identification Level usually changes from “every 10 levels” to “about every 5 levels” per jump, and the investment ceiling gradually opens toward the cap.
• Near the cap (around level 60): Identification Level is pushed to its cap of around 7, and character / Arc caps are fully open.

Easy way to remember it: opening the cartridge loop at level 30 is the most impactful early unlock; after level 40 it becomes the phase where Identification Level speeds up and investment opens fully.

What Identification Level Is and How It Affects Drops and Enemy Strength

Identification Level (also called Appraisal Level) is NTE’s “world level” mechanic, capped at around 7. You don’t push it manually — it rises automatically as your Hunter Level reaches certain thresholds (and when you hit a threshold, you usually still need to complete a breakthrough quest before it actually takes effect). It manages three things at once:

1. Enemy Strength

The higher the Identification Level, the stronger the stats of enemies in the open world and Anomaly zones (HP / damage both scale up). This is why people who level too fast without keeping their investment up suddenly find the world has become a grind.

2. Open-World Drop Quality

The higher the Identification Level, the better the drop quality and rewards in Anomaly zones (the open world) — higher-tier investment materials and better drops are all tied to a higher Identification Level. This is the positive payoff for the world getting tougher.

3. Character and Arc Level Caps (the Most Important)

This is where the most people hit a wall: how high your characters and Arcs can level is hard-locked by your Identification Level.

Identification Level	Character / Arc Level Cap (approx.)
1	around 40
2	around 50
… opens up level by level …	…
Cap of around 7	fully open to max level

So a character that won’t go past 40 is, nine times out of ten, not short on materials — your Identification Level just hasn’t reached 2. The fix: push your Hunter Level to the corresponding threshold → complete the “Hunter Level Breakthrough” quest → Identification Level +1 → cap unlocked.

What to Do If It’s Too Tough? You Can Lower It

If, after Identification Level jumps up, you find enemies too tough and your investment can’t keep up for the moment, in some versions you can manually drop it by one tier in the settings starting from around Identification Level 3, lowering world difficulty first, finishing your character investment, and then raising it back up (this feature and its starting level are whatever the game shows in-game).

New-Player Leveling and Investment Pacing Tips

Think of leveling and investment together, instead of only staring at the number:

• First push to around level 30: clear all the story + burn your stamina every day, with the goal of unlocking the cartridge loop.
• Catch up on investment every time you cross an Identification Level threshold: once the cap opens, prioritize pushing your main characters / Arcs to the new cap, then keep advancing.
• Don’t skip dailies in your resource planning: repeatable EXP sources are also material sources, so following the Daily & Weekly Checklist wastes the least.
• A complete launch-day timeline: for what to grab on which day and how to schedule your Hunter Level milestones, see the Beginner 30-Day Roadmap.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving stamina unused every day — you lose both repeatable EXP and materials; the biggest hidden waste when leveling.
• Only pushing Hunter Level without catching up on investment — once Identification Level jumps, enemies get tough, and you end up unable to dent them while still capped.
• Assuming a character stuck at 40 is short on materials — usually your Identification Level isn’t there yet; go push the Hunter Level Breakthrough quest first.
• Mindlessly maxing out Identification Level — when your investment can’t keep up, the world gets painfully tough; remember you can lower it when needed.

Related Guides

• Beginner 30-Day Roadmap — what to do each day from launch, plus Hunter Level milestone scheduling
• Daily & Weekly Checklist — the stamina and dailies SOP, so you level up without missing materials

Frequently Asked Questions

The mechanics in this article are compiled from public sources including Bahamut, Yahoo News “EXP Source Compilation,” 4Gamers, BlueStacks, Game8, GameWith, TheGamer, and 3DM. The various Hunter Level thresholds, the cap corresponding to each Identification Level, and the exact EXP values vary slightly between sources, so the actual values are whatever the game shows in-game.