If you've ever cursed at a mountain you couldn't climb in Final Fantasy XIV, Aether Currents are your golden ticket. These invisible checkpoints are the only thing standing between your gatherer and the open sky, and learning how to grind them efficiently saves dozens of hours of grinding across Eorzea and beyond.

What Exactly Are Aether Currents?

Aether Currents are attunement nodes scattered across each map in FFXIV. Once you attune to one, your character gains the permanent ability to fly in that specific zone — no more waddling up cliffs like a determined but very slow penguin. Every region from the original Heavensward maps to the newest Dawntrail zones requires a set number of currents before your mount's wings will deploy.

Think of them as the game's way of forcing players to actually look at the world before they're allowed to skip it. Square Enix doubled down on this system after Stormblood, when flying was controversial for trivialising zone design. Aether Currents are the compromise: explore the map, prove you've been there, and then earn the reward.

How Many Aether Currents Do You Need?

The required number varies by expansion and zone type:

  • Heavensward zones: 10 currents per map
  • Stormblood zones: 12 currents per map
  • Shadowbringers zones: 13 currents per map
  • Endwalker zones: 15 currents per map
  • Dawntrail zones: 15 currents per map
  • Kos-world (Unreal) and special instances: Varies, usually lower

You don't need every single current — just the required count. The rest are nice-to-haves for completionists who want that shiny "Explore All" percentage.

Where to Find Them: The Three Sources

Every current falls into one of three buckets, and knowing which is which will save you hours of wild goose chases.

1. Main Scenario Quests

The bulk of your currents come from MSQ progression. The game rewards you automatically after completing key story beats, so you cannot miss these if you're following the main storyline. Don't skip dialogue hoping to speed-run to flying — the currents arrive on a timer tied to the questline.

2. Side Quests

Each zone has a set of side quests that hand out currents as rewards. These are typically marked with a blue plus icon once you've progressed far enough in the MSQ. Quests like "Where the Heart Is" or "The Mongrel Relics" sound throwaway but are mandatory for flight.

3. Attuning to Aether Currents on the Map

These are the physical nodes you walk up to and interact with. Most are tucked behind cleverly hidden paths — under waterfalls, on cliff edges, inside cave systems. The game's map highlights them with a small wing icon once you're within a certain proximity, but you'll still need the eyes of a hawk to spot some of the more devious placements.

Pro Tips to Speed Up the Grind

The hard truth: unlocking flight is a marathon, not a sprint. But a few habits can cut the time dramatically.

  • Use the Duty Finder companion app or community maps. Tools like Garland Tools or the FFXIV Collect tracker let you filter quests by current rewards, so you can knock them out in optimal routes.
  • Don't ignore the main story. MSQ currents are free — skipping them to "grind side quests faster" is a trap that burns hours.
  • Stack side quests while levelling. If you're a Botanist or Miner, currents on gathering nodes double up with your normal route. Free attunement while you do your job.
  • Group up for dangerous nodes. Some currents sit in elite monster territory. Bringing a party or a tank friend turns a ten-minute survival mission into a thirty-second walk.
If you're doing it solo and hate every second, you're probably trying to brute-force attunement instead of using a checklist. Optimise the route, not the effort.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

New players fall into the same traps repeatedly. First, don't assume every map needs the same number of currents — the requirement scales per expansion. Second, don't trust the map's wing icons blindly; some currents are gated behind quests that haven't unlocked yet, and the icon will appear but be uninteractable.

Third, don't burn out trying to unlock all zones at once. Pick one expansion, finish it fully, then move on. The satisfaction of finally deploying your mount mid-jump in a new zone is best enjoyed in stages, not as a fever-dream checklist.

Key Takeaways

Aether Currents are FFXIV's gatekeeper mechanic for aerial freedom, and they're mandatory if you want to fly in any post-Heavensward content. You need 10 to 15 per map depending on the expansion, sourced from MSQ rewards, side quest completions, and physical map attunement. The fastest path combines main story progression with targeted side quest runs and a checklist for physical nodes.

Unlock them systematically, enjoy the scenery along the way, and before you know it, you'll be soaring above the peaks of Yak T'el or the dunes of Urqopacha without a second thought. Skies of Eorzea await — go claim them.