The raids in Final Fantasy XIV are among the popular activities that players engage in at the endgame. The game now has a variety of them. To ensure you don’t miss them, we’ve put together a guide on how the raids work and how to unlock them all.
What is this all about? Raids are instanced content where a group of players fights individual bosses or embarks on a longer adventure with 24 players against various bosses. Raids are part of the endgame content and can be challenging, especially when played close to their release.
In Final Fantasy XIV, there are two types of raids. On one hand, there is the “normal raid,” designed for groups of 8 players. That’s why it’s also called an 8-player raid. In addition, there is the “alliance raid,” which consists of 3 groups of 8 players each, making it a 24-player raid.
If you want to jump directly to the unlock quests of the raids and their locations, you can use the “Content” feature at the top.
8-player raids and how they work
8-player raids come in two difficulty levels: Normal and Savage. The normal difficulty can be completed in the content search with randomly assembled players, while the savage difficulty is aimed at experienced players.
What are normal 8-player raids? The 8-player raid usually consists of a single fight against a strong boss opponent, often protected by a few small groups of additional monsters. This type of raid consists of 4 individual instances.
They also each tell their own exciting story. This means that before and after completing such content, you will pursue a quest line in the open world consisting of several missions.
A total of 12 individual pieces of content will be released in an expansion. An exception is the normal raids in “A Realm Reborn,” of which there are 13.
What rewards do you get in normal 8-player raids? In normal difficulty, you receive items that function like vouchers or collectible tokens. Upon completing a piece of content, you can obtain them and then roll for them with your group. You collect a certain number of these and can exchange them for high-quality items, such as armor or jewelry.
There is one particularity: When a raid like this is published, you get one token per week from each piece of content. You will therefore need to think about which one you want, as they have different prices. For example, a piece of jewelry costs only one token, while a chest plate costs four tokens. Pets or music rolls are not subject to this rule. The rule disappears after some updates.
What are epic 8-player raids? Epic 8-player raids are significantly harder than their normal counterparts and are geared towards experienced players. However, they are completely optional. They usually need to be trained for several hours to achieve a completion. By the way, in English, the epic raid difficulty is called “Savage.” There are 12 of them per expansion – each normal 8-player raid has an epic difficulty.
What rewards do you get in epic raids? The gear obtained in epic raids is stronger than that in the normal version. Additionally, in some epic raids, a special mount is offered as a reward.
The gear drops both as individual gear pieces as well as in the form of crates from which you can receive the desired gear.
24-player raids and how they work
What are alliance raids? Alliance raids are essentially an XXL version of a dungeon. You make your way through the raid with 24 players and fight against a final boss at the end. The 24 players are divided into 3 groups (A, B, C) with each consisting of 1 tank, 2 healers, and 5 damage dealers (DDs). Along the way, you will encounter smaller groups of monsters, mid-bosses, and various tasks.
For example, you might need to activate a pressure plate separately from each other so that the other groups can proceed, or you might team up to beat down a single boss. The tasks vary depending on the alliance raid or even the group.
Currently, there are a total of 12 alliance raids. A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers each feature 3 separate pieces of content. Like normal raids, alliance raids tell a story with their own main characters.
What rewards do you get in alliance raids? In alliance raids, you can obtain gear pieces. It’s important that each of the three groups receives their own loot – so you do not roll against the other groups.
The drops are random, meaning there is no guarantee that you will immediately get the gear you want. After defeating the final boss, there are additional rewards like pets, music rolls, and sometimes hairstyles. All players roll for these.
There is also one particularity: When an alliance raid is released, you will receive just one gear piece from the content per week initially. So you need to think about whether you want to roll for one item or repeat the content and “save up” for something more appropriate. This rule disappears after some updates. Pets, music rolls, or hairstyles are not subject to this rule.
Additionally, you also receive an item once a week that you can exchange with NPCs for upgrade items for gear obtained by Allagan stones.
The upgrade items can improve both armor and jewelry, and later there will also be upgrades for the weapons obtained through Allagan stones.
Here are a few more useful tips:
- Older raids can be started “unsynched.” This means you retain your current level and gear. The old raids thus become much easier.
- The Twisted Shadows of Bahamut and the Savage raids of Heavensward and Stormblood are hardly played anymore, as their gear is no longer relevant. If they are done, it’s for special loot or for gear glamour (transmog).
- The level 50 raid Crystal Tower was made mandatory content only during the course of Shadowbringers patch 5.3.
The next pages will explain how you can unlock normal raids and alliance raids.
