How to Upgrade Hunter Level Fast in NTE

Hey, I'm Sylune from LDShop. Neverness to Everness dropped me right into Hethereau City with one question I couldn't shake: why do my Espers feel so capped? The answer, I quickly found out, was staring at me from the top of the screen — my Hunter Level was too low. Once I figured out how this system actually worked and which activities gave real EXP, my progression exploded. If you want to skip the trial-and-error phase, you're in the right place. Follow LDShop for more NTE guides, tier lists, and everything else you need to thrive in Hethereau.

 

What Is Hunter Level — and Why Does It Matter?

Hunter Level is your account-wide progression stat in Neverness to Everness, and it controls almost everything that matters. It gates your Appraisal Level, which acts as the game's world difficulty and reward tier system. Push your Hunter Level high enough and enemy difficulty scales up, but so do your drops, your Esper level caps, and your access to new parts of Hethereau City. Leave it low and you'll feel like you're playing the game with one hand tied behind your back — Espers stuck at soft caps, activities locked behind progress walls, farming loops that barely trickle.

The first concrete milestone every new hunter should aim for is Hunter Level 30. That's when the cartridge and console farming loop fully opens, giving you a reliable daily material income. Everything before that is simply preparation, so let's get there as fast as possible.

 

Method 1: Main Quests and Side Quests — Your Biggest EXP Source

If there's one thing every experienced NTE player agrees on, it's this: story content is your fastest ticket to Hunter EXP. Episode missions — the main quest chapters — reward anywhere from several hundred to 2,000 EXP per completion, and they do double duty by physically opening new districts of Hethereau and unlocking systems you'll need later. Don't skip cutscenes just to rush quests; the world-building context makes you a better hunter anyway.

After clearing every available Episode mission, sweep up all Spinoffs and Side Quests in the area. They're marked by blue and white exclamation marks on the map and vary in length, but every single one awards Hunter EXP. The small ones add up faster than you'd expect, and they often reward Fons and materials alongside EXP, making them doubly efficient. Players who ignore side content regularly find themselves stuck around Hunter Level 20–24 wondering why progression slowed to a crawl.

 

Method 2: Exploration Guide — The Daily Habit That Compounds

The Exploration Guide is one of the most underused systems in NTE, especially among newer players who treat it as an afterthought. It actually contains two distinct EXP streams that, combined, can award up to 1,500 Hunter EXP on a productive day.

The first stream is Daily Tasks — simple activities that reset every day. Some take under a minute, like sending a gift or upgrading an Arc level once. These are easy to forget if you're deep in combat content, so check the Exploration Guide tab the moment you log in each session and knock them out early. The second stream is a phase-based mini-quest chain: each small objective inside a phase rewards 100 Hunter EXP, and finishing all objectives in a phase unlocks the next one while granting bonus rewards on top. It's a compounding system — the more consistently you do it, the faster the chain advances.

Think of the Exploration Guide as your daily checklist. Open it first, do the fast ones immediately, and then go adventure. The EXP you earn from this habit alone can meaningfully shorten your road to Hunter Level 30.

 

Method 3: Character Pixels — Never Log Out with Full Stamina

Character Pixels is NTE's stamina system, and it works differently from what you might expect. Spending your Pixels doesn't just earn you development materials from Anomaly Zones — it also generates Hunter Level EXP as a byproduct of every activity you run. Players who consistently exhaust their Pixels before logging off can earn around 1,200 additional Hunter EXP per day as a side effect of their normal farming routine.

The Exploration Guide's third tab lists all the Anomaly Zones that consume Character Pixels. Run through those before you quit for the day. If you're particularly focused on leveling faster, Annuliths and De-noise Solutions can restore your Pixel cap, letting you squeeze in an extra farming pass. It's not something you need to do every day, but when you're a few thousand EXP short of a milestone, the option is there.

 

Method 4: City Tycoon — Passive Progression That Keeps Giving

City Tycoon is Hethereau's city management system, and it rewards Hunter EXP every time you level it up — between 300 and 500 EXP per level depending on how far along you are. Beyond the direct EXP reward, City Tycoon unlocks powerful weekly activities like heists, commissions, and races that bring in additional resources and currency passively. Cafe management in particular generates passive income that frees up resources for broader account upgrades.

Unlock City Tycoon as soon as Chiz's bank account quest becomes available and invest in it steadily. Some players make the mistake of draining early currency into cars or cosmetics before their core upgrades are ready — don't fall into that trap. Let the city grow at a natural pace while you prioritize character investment, and the Tycoon level-up EXP will accumulate without extra effort.

 

Method 5: Exploration Collectibles — Small Gains, Big Totals

Hethereau is full of collectibles that award Hunter EXP in small amounts, but the city is large enough that collectively they represent a meaningful total. Three categories are worth keeping in mind as you explore:

ReroRero Phone Booths and Wertheimer Towers are primarily fast-travel infrastructure, but activating each one for the first time grants Hunter EXP and Footprint Points. Unlock them naturally as you move through each district — some, like the one atop the Midas Tower, take a little effort to reach but reward 50 Hunter EXP on activation plus the convenience of the travel point.

Gifts from 21 are combat-gated treasure chests scattered across the city. They're roughly equivalent to world chests in games like Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves — each one requires you to defeat enemies nearby before claiming the reward, and they grant +10 Hunter EXP per gift. With 79 total available at launch across five districts, a completionist sweep adds up.

Oracle Stones are glowing red ravens scattered across rooftops, alleys, and ledges. Collecting and submitting them to Blackbird at the Witch's House rewards Hunter EXP and Annuliths. After submitting 12 stones you unlock the Oracle Crystal, which can be placed on the ground to reveal nearby Oracle Stone locations — making the later collecting stage significantly faster.

Collectible	EXP per Activation	Notes
Phone Booth / Wertheimer Tower	~50 per location	One-time, unlocks fast travel
Gift from 21	+10 per gift	79 total at launch
Oracle Stones	Varies (submitted to Blackbird)	Crystal reveals nearby ones after 12

 

Daily Routine Summary

Method	Priority	EXP per Session
Main Quests & Side Quests	★★★	100–2,000 per quest
Exploration Guide Daily Tasks	★★★	Up to 1,500/day
Spend Character Pixels Daily	★★★	~1,200/day (passive)
City Tycoon Level-Up	★★	300–500 per level
Gifts from 21 / Oracle Stones	★	Small but cumulative

 

FAQ

Is Hunter Level 30 really that important as a milestone?

Yes. The cartridge and console farming loop — your core daily material income for strengthening Espers — doesn't fully open until Level 30. Most early progression decisions should be made with that milestone in mind.

Can I play normally and still hit Level 30 in a reasonable time?

Absolutely, as long as you prioritize main quests and don't skip daily tasks. Players who ignore story content and only do exploration tend to stagnate around Level 20–24.

What if I've run out of main quests to do?

Grind Side Quests and Spinoffs, complete all Exploration Guide phases, spend every Pixel you have, and work on City Tycoon. Together these will carry you through the gap until new Episode content unlocks.

Is it worth using Annuliths to restore Character Pixels?

Only if you're close to an Ascension threshold and want to push through a level gate quickly. For standard daily play, natural Pixel recovery is sufficient.

Do I need to rush every Appraisal increase the moment it unlocks?

No — only push an Appraisal increase when your main combat team can still clear content comfortably. If fights are already dragging at your current tier, pause and invest in your Espers before confirming the bump.

Are the Gifts from 21 worth going out of my way for?

Not individually — 10 EXP per gift is modest. But they reward Annuliths through achievements at 1, 10, and 50 collected, and those Annuliths restore Pixels, which then generate more EXP. Clear them as you naturally explore rather than making special trips.

Hunter Level is the engine behind everything in NTE — Esper caps, farming loops, unlockable districts, all of it runs through this one system. Build the daily habit around quests and Exploration Guide tasks, spend your Pixels before sleeping, and let City Tycoon grow alongside you. The road to Level 30 is shorter than it looks once you're doing the right things each session.

For more NTE guides covering Esper builds, team comps, and Anomaly Zone strategies, check out LDShop — we keep everything updated as new content drops. And if you ever need to top up and keep your Espers geared for the harder Appraisal tiers, LDShop has you covered there too.