Duty Finder

Duty Finder Menu

See also: Duties, Parties and Party Finder

Duty Finder, abbreviated as DF, is a tool players can use to register for, form parties, and enter most instanced group content (duties) in the game, including dungeons, guildhests, trials, raids, PvP, and some Gold Saucer minigames. Players need to unlock the duty first before they are allowed to register for it.

Players who register for a duty by themselves, or with a party that smaller than the duty requirements, will be matched with other random players from different servers in the same data center until the party is filled. The queue time, which is the time spent matching with a party, varies depending on the popularity of the duty, the roles required, and current player traffic. Once the party is filled, the players will be given a prompt to enter the duty. Players who register for duties with a premade party that matches the party size requirements will automatically be prompted to enter the duty upon registration.

The term duty finder, when used by players, is often synonymous with matched parties, even though a fully premade party would still use duty finder to register for a duty, if applicable.

In patch 2.1, Duty Roulette was introduced to allow randomization of duty selection with daily bonuses for certain activities.

Duty Finder Unlock

Duty Finder unlocks at the same time as your first matched duty. This could be either a Guildhest or the MSQ It's Probably Pirates.

Duty Finder Content

Duties are organized by category, which can be navigated on the icons near the top of the interface. These include:

• Duty Roulette
• Dungeons (ARR, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers)
• Dungeons (Endwalker)
• Guildhests
• Trials (ARR, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers)
• Trials (Endwalker)
• Raids (ARR, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers)
• Raids (Endwalker)
• PvP
• Gold Saucer

Duty Finder Settings

Duty Finder settings were introduced in patch 3.0. Players can access settings from the gear wheel icon on the top left corner of the Duty Finder menu (above the "Duty Finder" menu name). These settings allow for players and party leaders to set special participation requirements for duties.

Join Party in Progress

The player has an option to join duties that are in progress but with one or more party members having left the duty. Does not disable matching with newly formed parties at the start of a duty. When the duty entrance prompt appears, players will be told how long the duty is in progress if they are refilling a party. Players who join a duty in progress are free to leave the duty without incurring a 30 minute penalty.

Unrestricted Party

Unrestricted Party (formerly undersized party, referred to as unsynced by the community) allows players to participate in Duties with below minimum party member requirements. For example, running Sastasha with 2 players. In this setting, level sync, item level sync and role requirements are ignored. This setting allows players to more easily complete older content. Most duties allow unrestricted parties, except for duties released in the current expansion, guildhests, deep dungeons, Adventuring Forays, and Ultimate Raids. Alliance raids require at least one person per full party alliance (three players total) to enter using an unrestricted party. Matching with other players is disabled if this setting is enabled.

• Defeating enemies will grant no EXP or item drops. Spiritbond also will not be gained. However, any items in chests still appear, and their drop rates are not affected. Because almost all loot in duties comes from chests, this setting will not affect loot farming outside of very specific drops.

• Players will still receive first time completion bonuses (such as tomestones), EXP from completion of quests, and satisfy any quest, Wondrous Tails, A Realm Reborn or Heavensward Relic Weapon objectives, or unlocking Duty Roulette: Mentor that require completing the duty.
  • Some objectives do not allow for Unrestricted Parties with Level Sync disabled to receive credit. These include Shadowbringers Resistance Weapon and Moogle Treasure Trove objectives. Credit for the latter can be obtained using an Unrestricted Party with Level Sync enabled.

• After the stat squish with the launch of Endwalker, Unrestricted Party also grants players an Epic Echo buff: "Maximum HP, damage dealt, and potency of HP restoration actions are increased beyond what even you thought possible." which is around +300%. This allows players to desync duties much the same as before the stat squish.

Level Sync

Enables level sync to the level the duty was designed for in unrestricted parties, allowing for EXP and spiritbond gain. This setting is only available when "Unrestricted Party" is selected. Otherwise, level sync is enabled by default if "Unrestricted Party" is not enabled.

Minimum IL

Minimum IL or item level reduces the item levels of the entire party to that of the minimum item level requirement of the duty. It is intended for players who wish to be challenged by the duties to a somewhat similar degree as when the duties were first introduced. Players can select this setting in conjunction with Undersized Party setting. Matching with other players is disabled if this setting is enabled. This setting provides no tangible rewards except for increasing the drop rates of faded Orchestrion Rolls in extreme trials (other loot drops are unchanged).

Silence Echo

Prevents accumulation of The Echo, which is a buff that is given to all players in older trials and raids to make them easier to complete if the party wipes, or automatically given at the start of the duty. Similar to minimum IL, silencing Echo is another challenge option for older content, with no tangible rewards. However, some Achievements require completing extreme trials and certain savage raids with a full party of Blue Mages with level sync and silence echo enabled. Matching with other players is disabled if this setting is enabled.

It is worth noting that this is something of an misconception, as older duties from past expansions especially would have had drastically different abilities for jobs. This leads to an easier experience overall due to potency creep and job overhauls, which have significantly simplified lower level job kits. In many circumstances, item level sync even to minimum item level would not reflect the power level of players in appropriate period gear, which was made worse by the Endwalker patch 6.0 non-linear stat-squish. So while "Minimum ilvl, no Echo" or MINE runs are done by sections of the community, it is not accurate to say that it offers "the original level of challenge." This is also the exact criticism that Faux Hollows was introduced to solve.

Explorer Mode

Explorer Mode was released in patch 5.4 in Shadowbringers. It allows players to freely explore previously completed dungeons with no enemies or obstacles. Matching is disabled if this setting is enabled.

Limited Leveling Roulette

When queuing for Duty Roulette: Leveling with a full premade party of four, enabling this setting will ensure a duty within eight levels of the lowest-leveled party member is selected. Has no effect if the player is queuing without a party of four.

Example: A Level 81 player enables this option and queues for Duty Roulette: Leveling. They can receive any duty from Sastasha (Lv. 15) to The Tower of Zot (Lv. 81) because they are queuing by themselves.

Example 2: The party leader of a party of four players, ranging from Lv. 81 to Lv. 85, enables this option and queues for Duty Roulette: Leveling. The party can receive any duty from Dohn Mheg (Lv. 73) to The Tower of Zot (Lv. 81).

Loot Rules

Normal: Regular loot rules that enables Need, Greed and Pass system for all drops.

Greed Only: All party members must select Greed.

Lootmaster: Party Leader determines loot distribution. For each drop, party leader can manually distribute the loot to an individual party member or make the entire party choose Greed only.

• Loot Rules cannot be changed once entering a duty.
• Loot Rules can only be enabled by fully premade parties. They are always Normal when random players are matched by Duty Finder.

Duty Finder Usage

Players use Duty Finder to enter most instanced group content, regardless of whether they are queuing solo or with a premade party. Duty Finder matching, however, is typically used for story-mode difficulty content, including dungeons, normal and hard trials, normal raids, and alliance raids. In North American and European data centers, matching is not recommended for higher-difficulty content (e.g. extreme trials and savage raids). In addition, higher-end content is typically absent from Duty Roulettes (with only extreme trials appearing in Duty Roulette: Mentor) which leads to very long queue times. Forming premade parties through Party Finder is therefore preferred by most players who wish to do higher-difficulty content.

Duty Finder Penalty

Players who withdraw three times in a day from the duty entrance prompt after matchmaking is complete, or who are the first to leave a matched party (i.e., one that is not fully premade) inside a duty before it is completed will receive a 30 minute penalty that will prevent them from registering with Duty or Raid Finder until the time expires. Players who are not the first to leave, or have joined the party in progress, will not receive the penalty if they abandon the party. Players who have been vote dismissed or were in a party that voted to abandon a duty will also not receive the penalty. This penalty does not apply in fully premade parties, with the exception of queuing through any Duty Roulette, to discourage players in premade parties from "fishing" for more desirable duties.

High-end Duty

Duty Finder Menu

See also: Duties, Parties and Party Finder

Duty Finder, abbreviated as DF, is a tool players can use to register for, form parties, and enter most instanced group content (duties) in the game, including dungeons, guildhests, trials, raids, PvP, and some Gold Saucer minigames. Players need to unlock the duty first before they are allowed to register for it.

Players who register for a duty by themselves, or with a party that smaller than the duty requirements, will be matched with other random players from different servers in the same data center until the party is filled. The queue time, which is the time spent matching with a party, varies depending on the popularity of the duty, the roles required, and current player traffic. Once the party is filled, the players will be given a prompt to enter the duty. Players who register for duties with a premade party that matches the party size requirements will automatically be prompted to enter the duty upon registration.

The term duty finder, when used by players, is often synonymous with matched parties, even though a fully premade party would still use duty finder to register for a duty, if applicable.

In patch 2.1, Duty Roulette was introduced to allow randomization of duty selection with daily bonuses for certain activities.

Duty Finder Unlock

Duty Finder unlocks at the same time as your first matched duty. This could be either a Guildhest or the MSQ It's Probably Pirates.

Duty Finder Content

Duties are organized by category, which can be navigated on the icons near the top of the interface. These include:

• Duty Roulette
• Dungeons (ARR, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers)
• Dungeons (Endwalker)
• Guildhests
• Trials (ARR, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers)
• Trials (Endwalker)
• Raids (ARR, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers)
• Raids (Endwalker)
• PvP
• Gold Saucer

Duty Finder Settings

Duty Finder settings were introduced in patch 3.0. Players can access settings from the gear wheel icon on the top left corner of the Duty Finder menu (above the "Duty Finder" menu name). These settings allow for players and party leaders to set special participation requirements for duties.

Join Party in Progress

The player has an option to join duties that are in progress but with one or more party members having left the duty. Does not disable matching with newly formed parties at the start of a duty. When the duty entrance prompt appears, players will be told how long the duty is in progress if they are refilling a party. Players who join a duty in progress are free to leave the duty without incurring a 30 minute penalty.

Unrestricted Party

Unrestricted Party (formerly undersized party, referred to as unsynced by the community) allows players to participate in Duties with below minimum party member requirements. For example, running Sastasha with 2 players. In this setting, level sync, item level sync and role requirements are ignored. This setting allows players to more easily complete older content. Most duties allow unrestricted parties, except for duties released in the current expansion, guildhests, deep dungeons, Adventuring Forays, and Ultimate Raids. Alliance raids require at least one person per full party alliance (three players total) to enter using an unrestricted party. Matching with other players is disabled if this setting is enabled.

• Defeating enemies will grant no EXP or item drops. Spiritbond also will not be gained. However, any items in chests still appear, and their drop rates are not affected. Because almost all loot in duties comes from chests, this setting will not affect loot farming outside of very specific drops.

• Players will still receive first time completion bonuses (such as tomestones), EXP from completion of quests, and satisfy any quest, Wondrous Tails, A Realm Reborn or Heavensward Relic Weapon objectives, or unlocking Duty Roulette: Mentor that require completing the duty.
  • Some objectives do not allow for Unrestricted Parties with Level Sync disabled to receive credit. These include Shadowbringers Resistance Weapon and Moogle Treasure Trove objectives. Credit for the latter can be obtained using an Unrestricted Party with Level Sync enabled.

• After the stat squish with the launch of Endwalker, Unrestricted Party also grants players an Epic Echo buff: "Maximum HP, damage dealt, and potency of HP restoration actions are increased beyond what even you thought possible." which is around +300%. This allows players to desync duties much the same as before the stat squish.

Level Sync

Enables level sync to the level the duty was designed for in unrestricted parties, allowing for EXP and spiritbond gain. This setting is only available when "Unrestricted Party" is selected. Otherwise, level sync is enabled by default if "Unrestricted Party" is not enabled.

Minimum IL

Minimum IL or item level reduces the item levels of the entire party to that of the minimum item level requirement of the duty. It is intended for players who wish to be challenged by the duties to a somewhat similar degree as when the duties were first introduced. Players can select this setting in conjunction with Undersized Party setting. Matching with other players is disabled if this setting is enabled. This setting provides no tangible rewards except for increasing the drop rates of faded Orchestrion Rolls in extreme trials (other loot drops are unchanged).

Silence Echo

Prevents accumulation of The Echo, which is a buff that is given to all players in older trials and raids to make them easier to complete if the party wipes, or automatically given at the start of the duty. Similar to minimum IL, silencing Echo is another challenge option for older content, with no tangible rewards. However, some Achievements require completing extreme trials and certain savage raids with a full party of Blue Mages with level sync and silence echo enabled. Matching with other players is disabled if this setting is enabled.

It is worth noting that this is something of an misconception, as older duties from past expansions especially would have had drastically different abilities for jobs. This leads to an easier experience overall due to potency creep and job overhauls, which have significantly simplified lower level job kits. In many circumstances, item level sync even to minimum item level would not reflect the power level of players in appropriate period gear, which was made worse by the Endwalker patch 6.0 non-linear stat-squish. So while "Minimum ilvl, no Echo" or MINE runs are done by sections of the community, it is not accurate to say that it offers "the original level of challenge." This is also the exact criticism that Faux Hollows was introduced to solve.

Explorer Mode

Explorer Mode was released in patch 5.4 in Shadowbringers. It allows players to freely explore previously completed dungeons with no enemies or obstacles. Matching is disabled if this setting is enabled.

Limited Leveling Roulette

When queuing for Duty Roulette: Leveling with a full premade party of four, enabling this setting will ensure a duty within eight levels of the lowest-leveled party member is selected. Has no effect if the player is queuing without a party of four.

Example: A Level 81 player enables this option and queues for Duty Roulette: Leveling. They can receive any duty from Sastasha (Lv. 15) to The Tower of Zot (Lv. 81) because they are queuing by themselves.

Example 2: The party leader of a party of four players, ranging from Lv. 81 to Lv. 85, enables this option and queues for Duty Roulette: Leveling. The party can receive any duty from Dohn Mheg (Lv. 73) to The Tower of Zot (Lv. 81).

Loot Rules

Normal: Regular loot rules that enables Need, Greed and Pass system for all drops.

Greed Only: All party members must select Greed.

Lootmaster: Party Leader determines loot distribution. For each drop, party leader can manually distribute the loot to an individual party member or make the entire party choose Greed only.

• Loot Rules cannot be changed once entering a duty.
• Loot Rules can only be enabled by fully premade parties. They are always Normal when random players are matched by Duty Finder.

Duty Finder Usage

Players use Duty Finder to enter most instanced group content, regardless of whether they are queuing solo or with a premade party. Duty Finder matching, however, is typically used for story-mode difficulty content, including dungeons, normal and hard trials, normal raids, and alliance raids. In North American and European data centers, matching is not recommended for higher-difficulty content (e.g. extreme trials and savage raids). In addition, higher-end content is typically absent from Duty Roulettes (with only extreme trials appearing in Duty Roulette: Mentor) which leads to very long queue times. Forming premade parties through Party Finder is therefore preferred by most players who wish to do higher-difficulty content.

Duty Finder Penalty

Players who withdraw three times in a day from the duty entrance prompt after matchmaking is complete, or who are the first to leave a matched party (i.e., one that is not fully premade) inside a duty before it is completed will receive a 30 minute penalty that will prevent them from registering with Duty or Raid Finder until the time expires. Players who are not the first to leave, or have joined the party in progress, will not receive the penalty if they abandon the party. Players who have been vote dismissed or were in a party that voted to abandon a duty will also not receive the penalty. This penalty does not apply in fully premade parties, with the exception of queuing through any Duty Roulette, to discourage players in premade parties from "fishing" for more desirable duties.