Final Fantasy XIV departs from the series' traditionally single-player entries, featuring a massively multiplayer world that often requires players to group up and take on challenges together. While teamwork and cooperation are a staple of the MMO genre, players may find themselves wanting to play solo for many different reasons. For them, FFXIV has introduced the Trust system.
The Trust system is a natural extension of the Duty Support system, allowing players to enter certain dungeons with a party of major story character avatars that gain experience and level up alongside you. While being able to play alone is enough incentive for some players, the Trust system also provides some advantages over queuing in the Duty Finder that may entice even multiplayer-inclined veterans.
How to use the Trust system in FFXIV
The Trust system is unlocked after completing the quest "Shadowbringers" and is compatible with all dungeons associated with Main Scenario Quests (MSQ) from Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Once unlocked, the Trust interface can be accessed via the Trust option in the Duty section of the Main Menu, allowing you to select a dungeon to run and build your party from a list of Trust avatar NPCs. The party created must be a standard light party composition, consisting of one tank, one healer, and two DPS.
Unlike the Duty Support system, the Trust system's avatars each have their own experience bars and levels, restricting them from entering dungeons above their current level. A Trust avatar only gains experience when completing a dungeon with them, so if you're attempting to get every Trust to the level cap, you'll need to complete multiple Trust grinds from level 71 to 90.
The pros of using Trusts
The Trust system provides many of the same benefits as the Duty Support system, such as allowing players to approach unfamiliar dungeons without judgment and providing some guidance on how to handle boss mechanics. Collectors that have lost the roll on a rare minion one too many times will welcome the relief from pesky competitors, guaranteeing you win any loot that drops from treasure coffers.
Trusts also provide an opportunity to bring NPCs into dungeons they wouldn't normally be able to enter via the Duty Support system, allowing players to see how their favorite Scion might have reacted to a major story event and how they interact with one another in different scenarios. As a bonus, Trusts gain an alternate outfit upon reaching levels 80 and 90, and leveling all Trusts to levels 80 and 90 rewards players with exclusive achievements and the titles "Trusted Friend" and "The Seventh Dawn" respectively.
The cons of using Trusts
While using Trusts can be convenient, there are some negatives implemented to ensure they don't completely overshadow teaming up with other players. Trusts are tuned to complete dungeons a bit slower than the average group of players since avatars don't use multi-target attacks against large groups of enemies, and while you won't have to compete with anyone else when rolling for loot, the amount of items received while playing with Trusts is reduced. Additionally, while Trust avatars can be revived, the party automatically wipes if the player character is defeated, making mistakes a bit more punishing. Despite these drawbacks, running dungeons with Trusts can be an attractive option for those wanting a more relaxed alternative to completing the MSQ or leveling your umpteenth alt.
