The Bozjan Southern Front in Final Fantasy XIV has its own leveling system – a Resistance Rank increased by farming Mettle – similar to Stormblood’s Eureka. Thankfully there’s no weird elemental mastery to deal with here: you earn Mettle to level-up your Resistance Rank to take on harder FATEs within The Bozjan Southern Front. It’s a simpler system, but that means there’s only really a handful of ways to earn the Mettle required to increase your Resistance Rank in the Bozjan Southern Front.
Increase your Resistance Rank by farming Mettle from Skirmishes, Critical Engagements, and by completing story quests in the Bozjan Southern Front.
Your Resistance Rank in the Southern Bozjan Front will only increase once you’ve hit certain Mettle thresholds and have spoken the the Bozjan Commander back at the base camp. Unlike traditional experience in Final Fantasy XIV, Mettle cannot be earned from killing monsters. Instead, you have to clear “Skirmishes” (FATES by another name), “Critical Engagements” (tricky boss battles you have to register for), and complete story quests that are unlocked whenever you rank-up.
Skirmishes are the easiest to farm, considering they make up the bulk of the content in the Bozjan Southern Front. These pop up often, and their rewards scale based on the type of FATE, region, and current Resistance Rank (there are three regions in the Bozjan Southern Front – region two is unlocked at Resistance Rank 5, and region three by reaching Rank 9). Critical Engagements pop up when certain criteria are met (usually number of people in a zone and number of Skirmishes cleared), and you have to register to participate. There is a cap to how many players can participate, and you increase your chances of being picked by clearing Skirmishes in Bozja. If selected you need to select the invitation to teleport into the encounter.
There are special Critical Engagements called “Duals” that boost the amount of Mettle earned by everyone within Bozja when completed, but these are tricky encounters to both unlock and clear. First, you have to beat a Critical Encounter without dying or getting hit by any of the avoidable attacks. Then you have to register for it alongside everyone one else who qualified, and only one person is selected. Finally, you have to face off against a boss that is more than capable of kicking your ass. These offer solid rewards to the person who clears them, but Duels tend to end in failure more often than not.
Story quests offer a decent chunk of Mettle, but they are limited. There’s typically one for each Resistance Rank, and clearing them not only opens up more regions of the map, but a handful of features. If you are farming for your Relic Weapons you will want to keep up with these, since they are tied to the Bozjan “Save the Queen” story in Final Fantasy XIV. Even if you don’t care for the Relic Weapons, these quests also unlock additional Bozjan Southern Front content, so they’re worth completing as you unlock them.
A few notes on Mettle and Resistance Ranks right quick: Mettle can be lost upon death after reaching Rank 5, but you won’t lose Resistance Ranks. In other words, always visit the main camp and speak with the commander when you are able to increase your Resistance Rank. Additionally, increasing your Resistance Rank increases your Lost Actions storage, and you’ll be able to loot better Lost Actions. Finally, enemy levels are based around Resistance Ranks, so you’ll want to pick fights with enemies close to your rank if you don’t want to lose your hard earned Mettle.
