"Just grind it" is easy advice to give and a lot harder to follow in Xenoverse 2, because the grind is not one thing. It is a stack of separate systems, each with its own currency, drop table or ladder, and full completion means working through all of them, several of them once per character. Before deciding whether a modded save is worth it for you, it helps to see that stack laid out honestly, along with what grinding gives you that a save never will.
What full completion actually involves
Start with the structure. Player reports from launch onwards describe a new character beginning with story, Parallel Quest and training progress reset, while skills, costumes and items are shared across the account. So the collection side is done once, but the progress side is done for every character you care about. With eight slots, that is eight story runs before a single DLC chapter.
On top of the story sit the systems that really eat time:
- Levels. The cap is now 199. Tosok sells levels for Zeni only up to 80; every level after that costs TP Medals, the currency you also need for the TP Medal Shop.
- TP Medals. Earned from quests, Expert Missions and other activities, then spent faster than they come in once you start buying levels.
- Parallel Quest drops. Many skills and outfits are rare rewards from specific quests, often tied to finishing a fight a particular way, so the same quest can need dozens of attempts.
- QQ Bangs. Strong stat spreads come from repeated mixing, which costs ingredients and Zeni every time.
- Expert Missions. Each mission unlocks only after you earn a ranking on the previous one, and the ranking counts when you host.
- Hero Colosseum. Figures come from capsule machines in rarities such as R, SR and UR, then need leveling through use.
| Task | What makes it slow | What the save lists |
|---|---|---|
| Story on every character | Progress resets for each new character | History Mode unlocked on all 8 CaCs, DLC included |
| Levels 81 to 199 | Paid in TP Medals or long EXP routes, per character | All 8 CaCs at Level 199 |
| Skills and Super Souls | Rare Parallel Quest drops and shop purchases | All skills and all Super Souls |
| Parallel Quest scores | Replays for top ranks and finish conditions | Almost all cleared at the highest score |
| QQ Bangs | Repeated mixing for a good spread | QQ Bangs at Level 6, +5 |
| Expert Missions | Ranked ladder that counts only when you host | Expert Missions complete |
| Hero Colosseum | Capsule machine luck, figure leveling | Complete with upgraded miniatures |
| Trophies | Earned through play | Not part of the save; sold as a separate service |
How long is that, really?
Nobody can give a single number, because luck with drops and the number of characters you finish change everything. Even the platinum, which asks for far less than an eight-character completion, gets very different estimates: our own platinum trophy guide puts it at 80 to 120 hours, and other trophy sites quote lower or higher figures depending on how they count. Add seven more characters' story runs and levels to 199, and full completion is well beyond what most people with a job can fit into a season.
What grinding gives you that a save cannot
Grinding is not wasted time if you enjoy it, and it comes with real advantages. You learn the combat system properly, which matters in Expert Missions and anything competitive. Your characters are clean, so online play carries no modded-save risk. You never hand your account to anyone. And trophies arrive naturally as you go, whereas a save on its own is not a trophy product. If those things matter most to you, our TP Medals farming guide and Zeni and QQ Bang guide will make the grind as short as it can be.
What the save does that grinding cannot easily match
The save's strength is breadth at once. Eight characters at Level 199, every skill, every Super Soul, finished missions and a full inventory turn the game into a sandbox on day one. That is the part grinding struggles to replicate: even a dedicated player usually has one polished main and a few half-built alternates. The save also includes extras a legitimate account cannot have, such as added stats on the first two characters and some modded skills, which are fun offline but are also the parts to keep out of public lobbies.
A middle path
Some players do both. Play the story yourself on one character until you understand the systems, back that save up, then decide whether the remaining grind is worth your evenings. Because a delivered save replaces the progress on the account, keeping that backup means your own character is stored rather than lost. If the deciding factor is cost rather than time, our worth-it guide looks at the value side in more detail.
If the grind is not for you, the modded save is $50 for PS4 and PS5, with every line of its contents on the Xenoverse 2 modded save page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to replay the story for every character in Xenoverse 2?
Player reports describe new characters starting with story, Parallel Quest and training progress reset, while skills, costumes and items are shared. Finishing the story on several characters therefore means several runs.
Why is leveling past 80 so much slower?
Tosok charges Zeni for levels up to 80 and TP Medals after that, and the cap now reaches 199. TP Medals are also what the TP Medal Shop takes, so leveling competes with everything else you want to buy.
Does the save give me the platinum trophy?
The save is about progress and items, not trophies. If you want the platinum, the store sells a separate platinum trophy service for Xenoverse 2.
Is grinding safer than buying a save?
For online play, yes. Characters you build yourself carry no modded-save risk, and you never hand over account access. A save is best treated as offline-first.
Can I grind one character and keep it after buying the save?
Not on the same account at the same time, because the delivered save replaces the progress there. Back up your own save first so you can keep a copy.