There are many new Notorious Monsters (NMs) in this vast new area that are spawned using a variety of methods. Some are timed spawns with no place holders, while others require a trigger item dropped off common monsters in the area. There are also zone specific bosses that are spawned using key items dropped off other NMs in the area. In addition to this there is a new line of Voidwalker NMs here involving the "Empty" family type monsters. All monsters in these zones also have certain weaknesses which are noted by pair of giant exclamation marks over their bodies.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of Abyssea is how experience parties work within. Not only is it beneficial to enter as an alliance, but they've also brought back the necessity of having a well balanced group of melee and mages. To get a truly successful run going, players must kill monsters with auto attacks to build up, or level, Pearl Light first for the first 45 minutes. Once chests begin dropping from monsters with greater than approximately 80% chance, players will need to switch to magic kills which give an Azure Light, and when fully leveled will drop ten minute time extensions. There are seven lights in total and once they have been maxed out, the Gold Light (acquired from opening red chests) will cap at 610 experience points per monster killed.
