Pathfinder rank rewards and exploration unlocks

You raise your Pathfinder level and rank by completing specific quests. Wandering around and fighting will not do it; the quest log is what moves it.

It matters beyond the title. Your World Level rises as you build up Player XP and raise your Pathfinder rank, so a rank that falls behind holds your World Level back with it. If your World Level seems stuck, look for Pathfinder quests you have not finished.

This is the milestone to plan for. When you reach account level 40 and the Junior Wayfarer Pathfinder rank, you can choose one free Aniimo from 14 Prismana options. Some menus call the rank Junior Excursionist. It is the same rank.

The pick is only open between levels 40 and 45. Both conditions have to be met, so a high account level does nothing for you if your Pathfinder rank has fallen behind. Keep up with the quests that raise your rank as you get close to 40, so the window is open when you arrive, and make your choice before you pass 45.

Each region tracks how much of its roster you have caught. At 40% area catch completion you earn that region's bronze collection badge, and the bronze badge unlocks branch and nurture access there. That makes catching across a new region the first job, not something to clean up later. Until you reach the bronze badge, two of the region's systems stay locked.

Weather control is less clear. What unlocks it in an area is not settled yet. It is tied to earning the silver badge in that area, and it is also tied to activating blooms and upgrading the region's bloom branch in the map system. That same branch fills out the nurture menu, and Prismana weather control opens at 60 percent completion of the bloom graph. For now, work on both. More catches move you toward silver, and bloom upgrades pay off in the nurture menu whichever route turns out to control weather.

One badge nobody expects to get: the expedition team's 50th Expedition badge, also called the Polaris badge. Only five copies exist across Astra.

Catches are only part of a region's progress. Collecting Lumin Ambers also counts toward a region's exploration progress, so pick them up when you see them.

Bloom fruit flowers are the other thing to look for. The first time you interact with one, it becomes a fast-travel warp point and reveals sections of the map, and after that you can teleport between vein network locations across the world. The flowers have their own events and bonuses, which our Vein Abundance guide covers. For exploration, the rule is simple: touch every flower you pass, because each one gives you a warp point and more of the map.

05Where to start

Keep up with the Pathfinder quests so you hit Junior Wayfarer by account level 40, and make your free Prismana pick before level 45. In each new region, get to 40% catch completion for the bronze badge, pick up Lumin Ambers as you go, and interact with every bloom fruit flower you find.