Final Fantasy XIV's newest expansion, Dawntrail, is just a few months away, and while the game will likely undergo months of content draught leading up to its release, there is still a wide variety of content to complete. Whether you're a completionist or you love to explore the crevices of the game to discover the most obscure lore, the writers of Fanbyte have come together with some suggestions of content you should do before Dawntrail.
Anyone who has played FFXIV for a while knows just how big the game is. There is a plethora of side content that caters to both the casual player and the hardcore raider. Whatever your preference, there are likely some suggestions on this list that you'll find to your taste. The Fanbyte team is full of varied players, from roleplayers, to casual content enjoyers, to World First racers. Our diverse team has identified one part of the game you should complete before Dawntrail, and their reasons why.
In addition, FFXIV director and producer Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida has already answered this very question at Las Vegas' Fan Fest, so we've included the two suggestions from the man himself as well.
Yoshi-P - Warring Triad Questline
- Starting Quest: "Gods of Eld" given by Torsefers
- Location: The Pillars (X: 11.7, Y: 11.6)
- Requirements: Must have completed Heavensward
The Warring Triad quests pits the Warrior of Light up against three summoned legendary eikons, Sephirot, Sophia, and Zurvan. Each one was summoned by a different group of people on Meracydia. Not only did these powerful beings fight against invading imperial forces, but they also fought each other, hence the name "Warring Triad". Eventually, each of the three were imprisoned in Azys Lla, but the terrifying power threatened to come alive again, and Warriors of Light were tasked with subduing them before catastrophe ensued.
Why we suggest this
The man himself suggested this questline because of the lore. “This is quite intricately linked with the thirteenth reflection, and you get a bit more of a deep dive into the lore,” Yoshi-P said during Las Vegas' Fan Fest. “And you also get more insight into the relationship of the characters. So, if you have time, I would definitely recommend playing that.”
While that's not the only reason to do this series of Trials, knowing the lore behind the things you'll encounter in Dawntrail will enrich your experience when you go through its MSQ. In addition, you can unlock the Extreme versions of these Trials and score yourself some mounts.
Yoshi-P - Eden Normal Raid Series
- Starting Quest: "In the Middle of Nowhere" given by Anxious Crystarium Guard
- Location: The Crystarium (X: 10, Y:12)
- Requirements: Must have completed Shadowbringers
The second part of the game Yoshi-P said players should complete is the Eden raids. Eden was a series of quests and Normal Raids that took players to the "Empty", which is exactly what it sounded like. A very empty looking area in the First. Ryne has sensed a concentration of Light there, and she recruits the Warrior of Light, Urianger, and Thancred to go with her to check it out.
Why we suggest this
Not only is it a really great story on its own, but Yoshi-P suggested it, so maybe it has some importance to the story of Dawntrail? Warriors of Light did return to the First in the later parts of Endwalker's patches to funnel Light from there in order to confront Golbez, but we never returned to The Empty. Whatever the reason, if Yoshi-P is suggesting it, it's probably worth a visit, or even a return visit if it's been a while since you've done this Raid series.
Jessica Scharnagle - Island Sanctuary
- Starting Quest: “Seeking Sanctuary” given by the Clueless Crier
- Location: Old Sharlayan (X: 11.9, Y: 11.0)
- Requirements: Must have completed Endwalker
Tataru wants you to relax. Or does she? The Warrior of Light has just saved the star, and now they have a blissful retreat – except it isn’t really that blissful. Get your gardening gloves on, a towel to wipe your brow, and some Band-Aids to patch up the scrapes from unruly animals and mammets, because you’ll need to put in a mountain of work to polish this raggedy island into a true sanctuary.
The Island Sanctuary isn’t just a place to take relaxing looking gposes, it’s also a set-it-and-forget-it way to make passive gil. By leveling up your Island Sanctuary, you could find yourself a gillionaire by the time Dawntrail comes around if you keep up with it. By building workshops, granaries, upgrading your hideaway, and unlocking new areas, you’ll have a solid way to make gil and a place to relax.
Why we suggest this
Do you love cozy games like Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon? Then you’ll love this piece of side content. Not only is it good for gil making, but it’s fun and relaxing. To level up your island, you can put on a tv show and mindlessly run around collecting different resources for that sweet 10XP per hit. Visiting it once a day and using tools like Overseas Casuals to set up your workshops will net you plenty of Cowries to spend on things you can sell and make lots of gil on.
We recommend finishing it because it looks like there will be a new type of this content sometime after Dawntrail launches. While there will likely be some time between Dawntrail’s launch and this new side content (Island Sanctuary came out in 6.2, two patch cycles after Endwalker), it would be best to have Island Sanctuary complete so you can fully focus on the new one when it drops.
Mothsworn - Tribal Quests
- Starting Quest: Varies per Tribe - Find all unlock quests here
- Location: Varies per Tribe
- Requirements: Varies per Tribe
Tribal quests are a set of daily quests that provide reputation-bound side story content to the player. They're useful as an extra chunk of experience points when seeking to level up relevant jobs. As players rise through the reputation ranks and bond with the Tribes they can even gain specific items like minions, mounts, glamour, and more.
Why we suggest this
Without going into too much detail to spoil the story I recommend players to pick up and finish the Vath Tribal Quest line before Dawntrail. The quests center around a particular character, Vath Deftarm, that has broken away from the Onemind and has requested us to mentor them. The storytelling strongly mirrors the Main Scenario Quests from Heavensward to Endwalker of personal growth, mentorship, and freedom.
This questline is quick for beginners as the Tribe starts you out with the friendly reputation rank, meaning it will take less time to finish compared to its fellow expansion Tribes like the Moogles or Vanu Vanu. It only requires a level 50 combat job or higher to participate. When the player reaches the Sworn rank they will receive, in my opinion, one of the most unique mount designs in FFXIV: the Kongamato.
Anna Koselke - Treasure Maps
- Starting Quest: Treasures and Tribulations given by H'loonh
- Location: Eastern La Noscea (X: 21.1, Y: 21.1).
- Requirements: Any Disciple of War at level 36
As you explore the whimsical ins and outs of Eorzea, you may hear company pals discussing treasure maps or come across parties looking to recruit players for Treasure Hunt expeditions. If you aren’t familiar with the concept of a Timeworn Map or Treasure Hunt yet, it’s a quick way to score some cute cosmetics and rare loot.
When you search for materials as a gatherer at level 40 nodes, you may pick up one of these maps. Use Decipher on your new map to discover a location harboring hidden treasure. If you're exceptionally lucky, your map may spawn a portal alongside the treasure, leading to a special instance with multiple floors packed full of chaotic choice-making, enemies, and loot.
Why we suggest this
When you’ve run out of things to do or need fun party-based content to run that isn’t as stressful as raiding, there’s nothing better than hunting down treasure maps and hopping about their accompanying portals. It’s an exciting way to get cosmetic loot and minions all the way from Heavensward to Endwalker, too, from the treasure found within The Aquapolis to that of The Shifting Gymnasion Agonon. If you’re a collector like I am and you don’t want to break the bank via the market board, Treasure Hunts and their respective special instances are the only way to get some of Final Fantasy XIV’s best items. I’m looking at you, oh shiny Pixie Wings.
The arrival of Dawntrail is sure to bring more Treasure Hunt fun with it as well, which means that there’s no better time than now to experience all of the game’s older map content. Even now, the loot remains relevant. I find myself jumping into Aquapolis portals with friends from time to time for the adorable Dwarf Rabbit minion, stunning Thavnarian outfit, and various banger Orchestrion Rolls. The frantic decision-making process in each portal that determines whether or not your party progresses further never gets old either. Test your luck, score some stellar loot, and observe one of the MMORPG genre’s most unique features to date ahead of Dawntrail with treasure maps.
Melanie Maguire - Blue Mage
- Starting Quest: “Out of the Blue” given by the Zealous Yellowjacket
- Location: Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (x:9.9, y:11.0)
- Requirements: Must have completed the level 50 Main Scenario Quest “The Ultimate Weapon”
Blue Mage is a limited job in FFXIV. It has you collect skills from enemies, giving you a vast assortment of abilities to use. It also has its own separate game mode, the Masked Carnivale, a single player arena where you'll face various challenging encounters. A Blue Mage can take on any role, and be seriously powerful in doing so. Since this is a limited job, the Blue Mage has a bunch of restrictions. It truly is side content, rather than a main job, but don’t let that stop you from leveling this class.
Why we suggest this
If you like collecting, engaging in challenging content, or just adore the lore of this game, this is side content you should definitely touch on. The limited job is multi-faceted, and you can engage in bits and pieces of its content as you desire. You don't need to collect all the skills if that isn't your cup of tea, and if you'd rather not go into Savage level content as a limited job, there is nothing forcing you - but the options are there and they are plentiful. The real reason to do this before the new expansion, though? Lore.
During your Blue Mage journey, you'll learn more about where this magic originated and even interact with some people from that area. The New World, as they describe these faraway lands, is facing a challenge that’s befitting of a Blue Mage. Since we'll be venturing into the New World in Dawntrail, it's very much worth your time to explore lore about the lands we've yet to visit. You might gain new interest in the upcoming areas, or find yourself looking for clues later that might link back to what we've come to learn during this entertaining side content.
Adora Kraynik - The Coils of Bahamut
- Starting Quest: “Primal Awakening” given by Urianger
- Location: The Waking Sands
- Requirements: Must have completed The Navel (Hard) Trial.
The Coils of Bahamut are Final Fantasy XIV’s first ever raid series. Debuted in patch 2.0 with A Realm Reborn, it serves as a way to inform players of what happened in the events before the relaunch. These raids are on par with current Savage tier raids in terms of difficulty when done synced and echo turned off.
Why we suggest this
In A Realm Reborn, you may have been woefully disappointed with the lack of Alisaie or content around her. Well, these raids fulfill exactly that! Not only is Alisaie a central character in these raids, they do a huge part in establishing her character for the rest of Final Fantasy XIV.
I think part of the reason that these raids are so important (especially for anyone who didn’t start in version 1.0) is that they act as world building for Eorzea. You hear a lot about The Great Calamity throughout A Realm Reborn without much explicit history about what happened. Louisoix is largely intangible despite being touted as a key figure in the events leading up to 2.0. This raid series serves to rectify that through its various cutscenes played out over the course of three coils plus side quests. Before Dawntrail releases, experience this piece of FFXIV history and recontextualize your understanding of the story!
Michael Hassall - Tales of the Dragonsong War Quest Line
- Starting Quest: “The Paths We Walk” given by the House Fortemps Manservant
- Location: House Fortemps Manor, Ishgard
- Requirements: Must have completed Heavensward and Post-Heavensward MSQ up to and including “Litany of Peace” (Patch 3.3)
The Dragonsong War is over, Nidhogg is vanquished, and everything is back to… normal? But what is normal after all this strife? So many lives lost and so many questions left unanswered. What of the knights of the Heavensward? The scions have lost so much, from Thancred’s aether usage to Y’shtola’s vision; how have they handled it? And what of the family you joined, House Fortemps, and its future now its favored son has passed?
The Tales of the Dragonsong War quests take you on a pilgrimage across Eorzea to reckon with the lives affected by the events of Heavensward. It’s a reflective journey with some great writing, and it lets you meet up with NPCs you might have forgotten or just slipped your mind during the events of Heavensward. As a bonus, there’s also an achievement and an emote locked behind this quest.
Why we suggest it
Once you’ve gotten deep enough into the story, one of the great things about FFXIV is the catharsis of feeling exceptionally emotional over the characters you’ve met. This questline really is perfect for feeling that at the end of Heavensward, because there are a lot of things left unsaid and unknown. You find out the fates of some of the minor characters of the expansion, and reckon with the loss of some of your companions like Ysayle and Haurchefant.
But it’s also a great time to meet some characters that you really don't get much time with (and probably deserve more screen time). People like Hilda, Y’shtola’s sister Y’mhitra, Raubahn, and others. Since Dawntrail will see us move away from Eorzea, it’s likely many of these NPCs will increasingly be absent from the story for good. So this questline is a great way to enjoy them while you can.
Mills Webster - Palace of the Dead
- Starting Quest: "The House That Death Built" given by Nojiro Marujiro
- Location: New Gridania (X: 12.0, Y: 13.1)
- Requirements: Must have completed the level 17 Main Scenario Quest "Into a Copper Hell"
The Warrior of Light is all too familiar with charging headfirst into Dungeons, but their confidence could easily backfire while exploring the winding labyrinth that is the Palace of the Dead, the first Deep Dungeon introduced to FFXIV. Palace of the Dead uses its own leveling system and starts players off at level one of their job, having them fight monsters and search for portals to venture further into it while gaining levels.
The Palace can sometimes be unforgiving, as each of the 200 floors the party explores gets progressively harder the further they go. Warriors of Light who've reached the end have likely seen terrible, awful things on their way, but, hey, at least the prizes are nice.
Why we suggest this
Palace of the Dead was introduced back in Heavensward's Patch 3.35, but there are reasons why it's still the most active Deep Dungeon in the game. While it makes a great source of experience for sub-level 60 jobs, Palace of the Dead holds some of the rarest rewards in FFXIV. The Black Pegasus mount obtained from lootbox-esque sacks found in the Palace is typically priced in the tens of millions on the market board. There's also a sought-after achievement-based "Necromancer" title that requires players to venture through the Deep Dungeon solo and complete all 200 floors without dying.
Through determination or masochism, you can earn plenty of rewards by venturing into the Palace of the Dead. Other Deep Dungeons like Heaven-on-High and Eureka Orthos both require you to reach a certain point within the Palace, so even if its rewards don't pique your interest, it's beneficial to get a taste so you are prepared for any future Deep Dungeons lurking on the horizon.
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