Final Fantasy: Heavensward is a mammoth expansion pack that's packed full of exciting new content, but players must battle their way through all of the base game's main quests to access it.

That is no easy feat, but we're on hand with some top tips to help players level up faster and prepare them for the new challenges that Heavensward has to offer.

1. Attune to aetheryte at the earliest opportunity
Final Fantasy XIV is a vast game, and it just got a lot bigger following the launch of Heavensward.

Getting around on foot simply isn't viable, so we recommend attuning yourself to the aetheryte in each city at the earliest possibility to add them to your Teleport spell.

This will cost you gil, but it's money well spent. Chocobo porters are a cheaper alternative, but can take a lot longer.

2. Don't throw anything away
With so many items, weapons and power-ups to harvest in Final Fantasy XIV, players accumulate an inventory the size of China in no time.

Although it's natural to feel overwhelmed at the volume of stuff you have to carry around, resist the urge to start jettisoning items left and right.

Everything in the game has a monetary value, and even if the prices on the market board are low, you can always flog things to non-playable characters.

3. Focus on the main story and class quests between levels 1 and 15
You don't have to do anything special to get through the early levels of A Realm Reborn, as pursuing the story missions and class quests will keep you ticking over until around level 15.

Story quests - marked with flame-like icons on the map - grant you access to an airship pass, inns, Guildleves and retainers, while class missions eventually unlock new character classes.

Once the story quests start demanding level 5 gear, that would be a good time to invest some gil in items from the town stores, but you should have accumulated plenty of cash by this point.

4. Dungeons and F.A.T.E battles help you progress beyond level 15
After you reach level 15, the game will encourage you to take part in your first dungeon run, and this is where the bulk of your experience points will come from after this point.

Grinding dungeons over and over is the best way to harvest points, but it's also the most boring method, so why not work your way through the class quest line in between runs?

F.A.T.E. battles - large-scale skirmishes the randomly appear in each zone - and Guildleves are also good sources for experience points at this stage of the game.

5. Daily Roulettes and Hunts will help you reach the higher levels
Reaching the higher levels is a good idea before you dive into the Heavensward content, and hitting them is a case of repeating all of the above, but there are things you can do to speed up the process.

Daily Roulettes are well worth taking part in as they will give you a huge experience points boost whenever you beat a dungeon.

There are also Daily Hunts on offer in the old areas, yielding generous amounts of experience points and seals each day. These are particularly well suited for players beyond level 50.

6. Unlocking flying is a top priority in Heavensward
The ability to fly over the new zones in Heavensward on your aerial mount is one of the highlights of the expansion, and you should aim to unlock it as soon as possible.

Not only are players treated to some stunning vistas, but air travel is a good way to avoid annoying battles, quests and terrain.

It's a real grind attuning to all 15 aether currents in each zone, but you should make it a top priority.