AA Points Farming Guide — EverQuest Legends

AA Points Farming — Maximizing Your Alternate Advancement Experience

After reaching the level cap in EverQuest Legends, your primary progression shifts from gaining experience levels to earning Alternate Advancement (AA) points. The rate at which you accumulate AA points directly determines how quickly your character grows in power, making AA farming one of the most important skills to master. This guide covers every method of maximizing your AA point income, from choosing the right zones to leveraging the shared AA pool for cross-class efficiency.

AA farming is fundamentally different from leveling. During leveling, you need experience that pushes you toward the next level. During AA farming, you need maximum AA XP per hour with no other constraint. This freedom means you can choose the most efficient content for AA earning rather than the content that provides the best leveling path.

Understanding AA XP Rates

AA XP is earned the same way as regular experience — by killing mobs and completing quests. However, the rate at which AA XP accumulates depends on several factors that you can optimize:

Mob Level Relative to Yours: Mobs that are close to your level provide the best AA XP per kill. Mobs that are significantly lower than you give dramatically reduced returns. Mobs that are significantly higher are inefficient because the kill time is too long. The sweet spot is mobs within 3-5 levels of your character.

Kill Speed: The faster you kill, the more AA XP you earn per hour. A mob that gives 2% AA XP but takes 30 seconds to kill is better than a mob that gives 5% AA XP but takes 2 minutes to kill. Optimize for kills per hour rather than XP per kill.

Group vs Solo: Groups kill faster and can tackle higher-level mobs, but the XP is divided among group members. The net effect is that group play usually provides more AA XP per hour than solo play because the faster kill rate compensates for the XP split.

Hot Zones: The developers periodically designate certain zones as hot zones, providing bonus XP for all kills within them. When available, hot zones are the absolute best places to earn AA points. Always check for active hot zones before choosing where to farm.

For the basics of the AA system, see our AA system guide.

The AA XP Snowball Effect

One of the most important concepts in AA farming is the snowball effect created by the Experience AA ability. Each rank of Experience AA provides a small percentage bonus to all XP earned, including AA XP. While each individual rank seems modest, the cumulative effect is enormous over hundreds of hours of gameplay.

The Mathematics:

• Rank 1 Experience AA: +2% XP (costs 1 AA point)
• Rank 2 Experience AA: +2% XP (costs 1 AA point)
• Rank 3 Experience AA: +2% XP (costs 1 AA point)
• Total at Rank 3: +6% to all XP earned

If you earn 100 AA points per month without the bonus, the +6% bonus earns you an extra 6 AA points per month — which compounds further as those extra points also earn the bonus. Over a year, the difference between having the Experience AA and not having it can be 50-100+ AA points.

Recommendation: Invest in at least 3 ranks of Experience AA as early as possible. The 3-point investment pays for itself within weeks and continues compounding indefinitely.

Solo AA Farming Strategies

For solo players, AA farming efficiency depends on class and zone selection:

Pet Classes (Necromancer, Magician, Beastlord)

Pet classes are the most efficient solo AA farmers. They can continuously kill mobs without downtime by sending their pet to tank while they support from range. Necromancers are particularly efficient because fear-kiting allows them to kill mobs with minimal mana investment.

Best solo zones for pet classes:

• The Wakening Land: Wide open spaces for fear-kiting, good mob density
• Dreadlands: Consistent mob spawns, moderate difficulty
• Eastern Wastes: Open terrain, varied mob types

Druid

Druids solo effectively through root-rot (rooting a mob and applying damage-over-time spells). While not as fast as pet classes, Druids have virtually zero downtime with their self-healing and mana regeneration.

Best solo zones for Druids:

• The Wakening Land: Excellent for root-rot, distant mobs for safe pulls
• Burning Woods: Good mob density, some named spawns for bonus loot

Melee Classes

Melee classes are the least efficient solo AA farmers due to downtime between fights for bandaging and regeneration. Troll and Ogre melee characters have an advantage — Troll regeneration reduces downtime, and Ogre stun immunity prevents interruption.

Best solo zones for melee:

• Overthere: Good mob density with moderate-difficulty mobs
• Dreadlands: Multiple camp spots suitable for melee soloers

Group AA Farming Strategies

Group play is generally more efficient for AA farming than solo play, especially for classes that struggle solo:

The Ideal AA Group:

• Tank (Warrior, Paladin, or Shadow Knight)
• Healer (Cleric preferred for maximum healing)
• Enchanter (for crowd control and mana regeneration)
• 3 DPS (any mix of melee and caster)

This composition provides maximum kill speed with minimal downtime. The Enchanter's Clarity line of spells provides mana regeneration that dramatically extends the group's endurance, enabling non-stop pulling.

Best Group AA Farming Zones:

For zone strategies, see our best dungeon farming spots.

Leveraging the Shared AA Pool

The shared AA pool is your greatest advantage for efficient AA farming. Because AA points earned on any of your three classes go into the same pool, you should earn AA XP on whichever class is fastest.

Optimal Strategy:

1. Identify which of your 3 classes kills fastest and has the least downtime
2. Play that class for AA XP earning sessions
3. Spend the accumulated AA points on whichever class needs them most
4. This allows you to optimize earning and spending independently

For example, if your 3-class combo is Warrior, Cleric, and Necromancer, you should earn AA XP on the Necromancer (fastest solo killer) and spend the points on the Warrior and Cleric (who need AAs more but are slower at solo farming). The multi-class system guide covers how the 3-class system works in detail.

Hot Zone Farming

Hot zones are zones that the developers designate for bonus XP, typically rotating every 2-4 weeks. When a hot zone aligns with your level range, it becomes the undisputed best place to earn AA points.

Hot Zone Strategy:

• Check the official website or Discord for current hot zone designations
• Prioritize hot zone farming above all other content while the bonus is active
• If the hot zone is crowded, arrive early or farm during off-peak hours
• The hot zone bonus stacks with Experience AA bonuses, creating exceptional XP rates

Raid AA Farming

Raid content provides excellent AA XP when successful, particularly from raid trash mobs and boss kills. Regular raiding is an efficient way to earn AA points while also pursuing BiS gear.

Raid AA Tips:

• Raid trash mobs provide steady AA XP throughout the raid
• Boss kills provide large one-time AA XP bonuses
• Raid AAs that increase your raid effectiveness also improve your AA earning rate on future raids
• Coordinate with your raid group to maximize kill efficiency

Tips and Strategies

• Optimize for kills per hour, not XP per kill: A fast-killing zone with lower XP per mob often provides more total AA XP per hour than a slow zone with higher XP per mob.

• Invest in Experience AA early: The snowball effect means every day you delay investing in Experience AA costs you future AA points. Get at least 3 ranks as soon as possible.

• Use the shared pool strategically: Always earn AA XP on your fastest-killing class, then spend on your most AA-hungry class.

• Farm during hot zones: Hot zone bonuses provide the single largest boost to AA XP rates. Always take advantage when available.

• Minimize downtime: Every second spent not killing mobs is AA XP you are not earning. Carry supplies, pre-buff, and plan your routes to minimize non-combat time.

• Use stat food and potions: Stat bonuses from food and potions increase your kill speed, which directly translates to more AA XP per hour.

Common Mistakes

• Farming mobs too far below your level: Low-level mobs give dramatically reduced AA XP. Always farm content close to your level.

• Ignoring the Experience AA snowball: Players who skip Experience AA to invest in combat AAs first end up with fewer total AAs over time. The long-term math strongly favors early Experience AA investment.

• Soloing on a class that is bad at soloing: If your primary class is a group-dependent Warrior, do not try to solo AA farm. Switch to a more efficient solo class and use the shared pool.

• Not checking for hot zones: Many players grind AA in their usual spot without checking if a hot zone is available. This misses out on massive bonus XP.

• Taking long breaks between pulls: Efficiency loss from downtime is the most common AA farming mistake. Keep pulls coming consistently.

• Forgetting to spend AA points: Accumulating unspent AA points provides no benefit. Spend them as soon as you have enough for the next planned purchase.

Conclusion

AA farming is the core endgame progression activity in EverQuest Legends. By understanding the mechanics of AA XP rates, leveraging the shared pool to earn on your fastest class, investing in the Experience AA snowball, and taking advantage of hot zones, you can dramatically accelerate your character's power growth. The difference between an efficient AA farmer and an inefficient one is not playtime — it is strategy.

For the complete AA system overview, see our AA system guide. For how to choose the right AAs for your class, visit our best AA for each class guide. For the shared pool mechanics, check our AA shared pool guide.