Game Progression
Levels 80-90
Skill Sets
Once you hit base level 80 you'll get a popup indicating a new bar has been added to your Auto Skill list. If you open your skills list you'll notice there is now a little cat icon in the bottom right corner. Tapping this swaps to a second set of auto skills. This means you can now have one set for farming and another for when you're doing group content. You probably don't need to alter this now but several classes can make great use of this at higher levels.
First Auto Skill Set
Second Auto Skill Set
Also, in case you haven't bought it already, the Adventure Skills NPC where you bought stay alert sells several "Adventure Skill Socket" skills, each adding another set of skills for your manual slots. This adds a cat icon to the bottom left your skills page as well as an icon on screen that you can tap on the fly while playing.
Note that if you have not setup your other manual skill sets then you will not see the cat icon while roaming about since there are no other skills set to swap to.
Manual Skill Set Toggle (bottom left)
Manual Skill Set Toggle (bottom right)
Rune Box
Chances are you've already unlocked this feature by claiming rewards from your Kafra Adventure Log. If you haven't unlocked it then you'll need to complete the quest "Rune's Power" which you'll receive whether or not you've unlocked this feature.
I've decided to wait to cover this feature until now since Thanatos Tower also unlocks at 80 (more on this below) which rewards you with several runes every week.
Unlike the "runes" in your Aesir Monument, these runes are socketed into your Rune Box. You can access this system by opening your bag and looking for a round purple box near the top of your inventory. Use this item to bring up the Rune Box interface.
The rune box contains 6 large nodes and 7 small nodes. Large runes alter existing skills or sometimes grant completely new skills. Small runes add stat bonuses such as Dmg Increase, Attack, Ignore Defense, and more.
Runes can even be rerolled, upgraded to higher tiers, and you can even select the exact rune you want. For details on this and more read up on the Rune Box page.
Example of a Small Rune that grants MDmg Increase
Example of a Large Rune that alters the skills Fire Pillar and Fire Guardian
Thanatos Tower
At base level 80 a new raid instance is unlocked via the instances menu called Thanatos Tower.
This is a weekly instance where two parties (up to 12 people) clear four floors, each rewarding you with several runes for your rune box, zeny, and other nifty rewards.
You'll want to find people to help carry you through this because it's not something a new player can tackle on their own. The third floor actually requires four people to spawn the boss so you'll need at least three other people to get through this every week.
For details on this instance, strategies, and more, read up on Thanatos Tower.
Niflheim Purgatory
At base level 80 a new group instance is unlocked via the instances menu called Niflheim Purgatory.
This is a weekly instance that puts your group against four (4) Revenant MVP's (RMVP). These are much stronger than ordinary MVP's and have some gimmicks that may quickly wipe your group if you're unprepared. Be warned, if you die then that RMVP is locked out for the rest of the week. Make sure you have someone strong enough to kill whatever spawns so this doesn't happen. You can skill spawn the rest of them, you just loose out on loot from the one(s) that killed your group.
This is an extremely quick instance so there's little to no time commitment here.
For more on this system read up on Niflheim Purgatory.
Time Rift Challenge Upgrade
A new instance is also available at base level 80, the Seal under Sakura time rift challenge.
The novice version rewards you with the same loot as the level 60 rift challenge Morroc Shadow.
Note that the Adventure and Warrior modes can drop advanced Garment and Footwear which did not drop from the higher difficulties of Morroc Shadow. As these have better stats and can roll augments such as % damage you should try to run this on at least Adventure difficulty to get these upgrades.
For a refresher on these dungeons read up on Rift Challenges.
Continue Following the Main Questline
Continue with the main story quest.
Fighting Tougher Mobs seems Impossible
By this point you're probably looking at the bottom of the Targets for Combat Time below thinking you're falling behind. Chances are you still cannot one-shot orcs or any other mobs in the 70 range, possibly even unable to do this for level 60 monsters. This is perfectly fine! These are just suggestions, not the gold standard for players around this level.
Leveling will slow down significantly for new players since your stats are just not high enough to contend with these creatures. It's going to take some good gear upgrades and most importantly lots of adventure handbook stats to boost your atk/matk high enough to start one shotting again. Do not forget about cards in your weapon too! This is a significant portion of your damage and at this point it is mandatory, you will not one shot anytime soon without these things trust me. If you haven't added your second weapon slot I highly recommend making this a priority as this will add another 10-15% damage.
When things are slow don't get impatient! Focus on farming whatever you can kill in one hit that gives you the most zeny. Try to find mobs that drop rough Oridecon or Elunium as you'll need it and can sell it off if you need some extra money in a pinch.
Daily Routine
Weekly Tasks up to this point (reset is on Monday at 7am EST):
Echoing Corridor (HARD, don't stress if you can't get this done)
Buy out the Rune Shop in Prontera if you can afford it
Runes are extremely powerful for several jobs and small runes will payoff in the long run since they can be upgraded
Daily Tasks
Listen to the Jukebox for up to 30 minutes
Visit your Guild and purchase some Contributions and Gold Medals with extra materials
For now try to only use excess materials but don't go nuts. You will get lots of various materials from Endless Tower.
Complete as many dailies as possible
Finish 3 Board Quests
Run up to three of the new level 80 Rift Challenge to upgrade your armors if you haven't already
Work on Adventure Rank in your spare time
Work on upgrading an appropriate weapon, read up on Upgrading Equipment for the finer details
Read up on General Farming Tips to better understand buffs, elemental weaknesses, and more
Targets for Daily Combat Time
Desert Wolf (lv 53)
Metaller (lv 55)
Payon Cave (lv 61-69)
Minorous (lv 64)
Orcs (lv 70+)
Kobolds (lv 72-74)
Petites (lv 76-79)
Glast Heim (81-90)
Churchyard is great for Acolytes or Fire Element as there are mostly undead such as Wraith, Evil Druid, and Dark Priest
Rideword uniquely give more Job Exp (1144) than Base Exp (742) but have no element and are formless, tough to one shot
Culvert is very popular, with Cramp, Injustice, Sting, and Anolian spawning in packs of three all over the map
Note that these monsters do not spawn in the same exact spot like Orcs and Goblins have up until now. Mages do fine using stay alert but melee AoE classes like whitesmith cannot stay alert and farm here because of this.