Trials
- See also: Dungeons, Raids, Deep Dungeon, Field Operations, Variant Dungeons, Criterion Dungeons
Trials are instanced duties where players fight together against primarily a single boss enemy. These multi-phase boss encounters are usually more involved than those encountered in a dungeon and feature powerful creatures such as primals or major story antagonists. Many trials have supporting enemies (adds) that the boss summons at a certain point, and a few trials are split into two encounters with a checkpoint in between. When the boss is defeated, players are rewarded with story progression, tokens or rare items. A few early trials require a light party of 4 players while most others need a full party of 8.
The lists are broken into 2 sections for each expansion: story-mode Normal and Hard Trials, and High-end (Extreme and Unreal) Trials. Players are expected by the developers to be able to clear all story-mode trials, with the High-end section being significantly more difficult content that is optional.
Normal and Hard Trials
Normal difficulty are fought by four players. Hard difficulty trials are fought by eight players, but are not significantly more difficult than "Normal" trials. After Lv. 50, the distinction between Normal and Hard difficulty trials is removed, and all base difficulty trials past that point are fought by a full party of eight players.
Participation
All Normal difficulty trials are unlocked as part of the A Realm Reborn Main Scenario quests. Hard difficulty trials can be unlocked as part of Main Scenario quests in each expansion, or through optional quests at the level cap of each expansion. Both Normal and Hard difficulty trials can be completed using Duty Finder matchmaking.
All four-player main scenario trials (four trials total in A Realm Reborn) can be completed using a party of NPCs via Duty Support. The level 89 trial in Endwalker is the only 8-player trial with Duty Support available.
Note that all non-level cap trials (current or former level caps) do not have minimum item level requirements. Players should ensure they have adequate equipment prior to queuing.
Item Level Sync
Unlike Dungeons, most Trials do not have item level syncs, which means your item level will be synced to the maximum obtainable gear at the job level you are synced to. This over time can make Trials added at levels 50/60/70/80/90 rather trivial, especially if they have a low minimum item level compared to the max obtainable for the expansion. For example, The Royal Menagerie has a minimum item level of 280, but high level players joining from Roulettes will often be synced to 400/405, making the fight much shorter and less healing intensive than the original experience. High End Trials are especially susceptible to this, as even a small increase in gear can drastically reduce the difficulty of such otherwise tightly tuned fights. Players that are looking for a more engaging and balanced experience may want to consider doing certain Trials in a preformed group via Party Finder with the Minimum Item Level and Silence Echo options enabled. This will adjust the gear for all involved and remove the Echo to provide an experience somewhat closer to the original release.
Note that Minimum Item Level will only make the content as hard as the developers designed it to be at that item level. Normal Trials will - with a few exceptions - still be easily clearable, while Extremes can be expected to generally be very challenging on this setting.
Rewards
Normal and hard trials typically do not provide item rewards, with a few exceptions such as certain Triple Triad Cards. Completion of the daily Trials Roulette will reward experience, Gil, and tomestones, depending on the player's level.
Extreme Trials
Extreme difficulty trials are usually fought by eight players against a significantly more powerful version of the boss from the base difficulty trial (the exception is The Great Hunt (Extreme), which is fought by four players). Some extreme trials are denoted as Minstrel's Ballad, which are reserved for bosses that had particular importance to the main story. All Extreme bosses have a time limit in which they must be defeated or they will wipe the party with an enrage ability. Completion of extreme trials is not required for Main Scenario Quest progression.
Participation
Extreme trials can be unlocked from various quests after completing the base difficulty trial. In North American and European data centers, most players use Party Finder to practice and complete extreme trials instead of Duty Finder matchmaking. Using matchmaking is strongly not recommended due to data center culture.
- Only Japanese Data Centers use Raid Finder (the Duty Finder category for current high-end content) to "farm" the newest extreme trials, with the expectation that all players have previously cleared the fight. Practice parties and older trials are expected to be hosted in Party Finder.
For trials not released in the current expansion, the most common way of completing them is to use an Unrestricted Party (i.e., with level sync disabled) for an easy completion or loot farming, as there is no tangible benefit to completing with Level Sync enabled. However, some achievements require completing extreme trials with a full party of blue mages with silence echo and level sync enabled.
Rewards
Most extreme trials drop weapon coffers that can be used to obtain high item level weapons depending on the current job. In addition, most extreme trials rarely to uncommonly drop special crafting materials, which can be used to craft chocobo bardings, housing decorations, and weapons with special particle effects. Note that the glamour weapons are released several major patches (which is often the next expansion) after the trial, and not all trials have associated weapons. The crafting materials and most glamour weapons can also be sold on the Market Board.
Most extreme trials can also rarely drop a mount. The drop rate of the mount increases once the extreme trial is no longer new. Collecting each extreme trial mount in an expansion will unlock a quest that rewards an exclusive mount.
To mitigate poor luck on loot rolls, all extreme trials since Heavensward (patch 3.0) will reward each party member with 1-2 totems, depending on the trial, per completion, which can be exchanged for weapons (requiring 10 totems) and in a later patch, the mount (requiring 99 totems).
The equipment rewards structure for extreme trials varies depending on the patch it is released:
- Expansion launch (x.0) - Two extreme trials. One trial rewards weapons and the other trial rewards accessories, both of which are 10 item levels higher than equipment obtained from the newest uncapped tomestones.
- x.1 - One extreme trial, rewarding weapons that are 15 item levels higher than the previous (x.0) trial weapons but 10 item levels below the weapons obtainable from the current Savage raids released in x.05.
- x.2 - One extreme trial, rewarding weapons that are 20 item levels higher than the previous (x.1) trial weapons, 5 item levels higher than the newly added crafted weapons in x.2, but 20 item levels below the weapons obtainable from the current Savage raids released in x.2.
- x.3 - One extreme trial, rewarding weapons that are 10 item levels higher than the previous (x.2) trial weapons but 10 item levels below the weapons obtainable from the current Savage raids.
- x.4 - One extreme trial, rewarding weapons that are 20 item levels higher than the previous (x.3) trial weapons, 5 item levels higher than the newly added crafted weapons in x.4, but 20 item levels below the weapons obtainable from the current Savage raids released in x.4.
- x.5 - One extreme trial, rewarding weapons that are 10 item levels higher than the previous (x.4) trial weapons but 10 item levels below the weapons obtainable from the current Savage raids.
Additional extreme trials (e.g., The Great Hunt (Extreme), Memoria Misera (Extreme)) may be released in some patches, but these provide different rewards compared to the usual structure.
Unreal Trials
Unreal difficulty trials are part of the Faux Hollows feature and are mechanically identical to older extreme trials but have been manually re-scaled to the current level cap to provide an authentic challenge. Unreal trials have a strict item level sync, preventing players from out-gearing the encounters as in extreme trials. Because of this, players may find the DPS and healing/mitigation requirements to be somewhat more stringent than the current extreme trials, although these are more lenient than current savage raids. Usually, one unreal trial is available per major patch since they were introduced in Patch 5.3. Once the next patch is released, a new unreal trial will become available and older unreal trials become inaccessible.
Participation
The current unreal trial can be unlocked by completing the quest Fantastic Mr. Faux and the story-mode version of the trial. This quest does not need to be repeated when a new unreal trial is released.
Rewards
Unreal trials do not directly provide item rewards. Players may complete the current unreal trial to unlock one attempt ("telling") at the Faux Hollows minigame, which reward a currency that can be exchanged for exclusive mounts, minions, and glamour items. Players may also earn a "retelling" from the first Faux Hollows game, which will allow them to repeat the trial for a second attempt at Faux Hollows. Players may earn one telling and one retelling per week.
A Realm Reborn
A Realm Reborn Removed Trials
The following Main Scenario trials were originally implemented during A Realm Reborn but later removed and replaced with solo instances.
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Added | Removed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cape Westwind | 49 | - | 8 | Rhitahtyn sas Arvina | 2.0 | 6.1 |
The Steps of Faith | 50 | 90 | 8 | Vishap | 2.55 | 6.2 |
A Realm Reborn High-end Trials
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Roulette | Loot Item Level | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Minstrel's Ballad: Ultima's Bane | 50 | 61 | 8 | The Ultima Weapon | Mentor | 80 | 15 | The Ultimate Ballad |
The Howling Eye (Extreme) | 50 | 65 | 8 | Garuda | Mentor | 90 | 20 | Gale-force Warning |
The Navel (Extreme) | 50 | 67 | 8 | Titan | Mentor | 90 | 20 | Quake Me Up Before You O'Ghomoro |
The Bowl of Embers (Extreme) | 50 | 70 | 8 | Ifrit | Mentor | 90 | 20 | Ifrit Ain't Broke |
Thornmarch (Extreme) | 50 | 80 | 8 | Good King Moggle Mog XII | Mentor | 100 | 20 | The King Lives |
The Whorleater (Extreme) | 50 | 80 | 8 | Leviathan | Mentor | 95 | 20 | Whorl of a Time |
The Striking Tree (Extreme) | 50 | 85 | 8 | Ramuh | Mentor | 100 | 20 | Judgment Bolts and Lightning |
The Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Extreme) | 50 | 95 | 8 | Shiva | Mentor | 110 | 22 | Drop Dead Shiva |
Heavensward
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Roulette | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thok ast Thok (Hard) | 53 | - | 8 | Ravana | Trials | - | Lord of the Hive |
The Limitless Blue (Hard) | 57 | - | 8 | Bismarck | Trials | - | Bolt, Chain, and Island |
The Singularity Reactor | 60 | 142 | 8 | King Thordan | Trials | 10 | Heavensward |
Containment Bay S1T7 | 60 | 190 | 8 | Sephirot | Trials | 10 | When the Bough Wakes |
The Final Steps of Faith | 60 | 205 | 8 | Nidhogg | Trials | 10 | An End to the Song |
Containment Bay P1T6 | 60 | 220 | 8 | Sophia | Trials | 15 | Balance unto All |
Containment Bay Z1T9 | 60 | 235 | 8 | Zurvan | Trials | 15 | The Last Pillar to Fall |
Heavensward High-end Trials
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Roulette | Loot Item Level | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Limitless Blue (Extreme) | 60 | 165 | 8 | Bismarck | Mentor | 175 | 15 | The Diabolical Bismarck |
Thok ast Thok (Extreme) | 60 | 175 | 8 | Ravana | Mentor | 190 | 15 | Thok Around the Clock |
The Minstrel's Ballad: Thordan's Reign | 60 | 190 | 8 | King Thordan | Mentor | 205 | 20 | Thordan's Reign |
Containment Bay S1T7 (Extreme) | 60 | 205 | 8 | Sephirot | Mentor | 220 | 20 | A Fiendish Likeness |
The Minstrel's Ballad: Nidhogg's Rage | 60 | 220 | 8 | Nidhogg | Mentor | 235 | 20 | Nidhogg's Rage |
Containment Bay P1T6 (Extreme) | 60 | 235 | 8 | Sophia | Mentor | 255 | 25 | A Deific Simulacrum |
Containment Bay Z1T9 (Extreme) | 60 | 250 | 8 | Zurvan | Mentor | 265 | 25 | A Demonic Duplicate |
Stormblood
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Roulette | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Pool of Tribute | 63 | - | 8 | Susano | Trials | - | The Lord of the Revel |
Emanation | 67 | - | 8 | Lakshmi | Trials | - | The Lady of Bliss |
The Royal Menagerie | 70 | 280 | 8 | Shinryu | Trials | 12 | Stormblood |
The Jade Stoa | 70 | 325 | 8 | Byakko | Trials | 12 | An Auspicious Encounter |
Castrum Fluminis | 70 | 335 | 8 | Tsukuyomi | Trials | 12 | The Primary Agreement |
The Great Hunt | 70 | 320 | 8 | Rathalos | Trials | 10 | The New King on the Block |
Hells' Kier | 70 | 355 | 8 | Suzaku | Trials | 15 | The Fire-bird Down Below |
The Wreath of Snakes | 70 | 365 | 8 | Seiryu | Trials | 15 | Surpassing the Samurai |
Kugane Ohashi | 70 | 365 | 8 | Yojimbo | Trials | 10 | The Past Is Never Past |
Stormblood High-end Trials
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Roulette | Loot Item Level | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Pool of Tribute (Extreme) | 70 | 300 | 8 | Susano | Mentor | 320 | 15 | Songs in the Key of Kugane |
Emanation (Extreme) | 70 | 300 | 8 | Lakshmi | Mentor | 320 | 15 | Songs in the Key of Kugane |
The Minstrel's Ballad: Shinryu's Domain | 70 | 320 | 8 | Shinryu | Mentor | 335 | 20 | Songs in the Key of Kugane |
The Jade Stoa (Extreme) | 70 | 340 | 8 | Byakko | Mentor | 355 | 20 | Songs in the Key of Kugane |
The Minstrel's Ballad: Tsukuyomi's Pain | 70 | 350 | 8 | Tsukuyomi | Mentor | 365 | 20 | Songs in the Key of Kugane |
The Great Hunt (Extreme) | 70 | 350 | 4 | Rathalos | Mentor | - | 15 | The Newer King on the Block |
Hells' Kier (Extreme) | 70 | 370 | 8 | Suzaku | Mentor | 385 | 25 | Songs in the Key of Kugane |
The Wreath of Snakes (Extreme) | 70 | 380 | 8 | Seiryu | Mentor | 395 | 25 | Songs in the Key of Kugane |
Shadowbringers
Name | Level | iLevel | iLevel Sync | Party | Boss | Roulette | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Dancing Plague | 73 | - | - | 8 | Titania | Trials | - | Acht-la Ormh Inn |
The Crown of the Immaculate | 79 | - | 420 | 8 | Innocence | Trials | - | Extinguishing the Last Light |
The Dying Gasp | 80 | 410 | - | 8 | Hades | Trials | 10 | Shadowbringers |
Cinder Drift | 80 | 455 | - | 8 | The Ruby Weapon | Trials | 12 | Ruby Doomsday |
The Seat of Sacrifice | 80 | 465 | - | 8 | Warrior of Light | Trials | 12 | Hope's Confluence |
Castrum Marinum | 80 | 485 | - | 8 | The Emerald Weapon | Trials | 12 | Blood of Emerald |
The Cloud Deck | 80 | 495 | - | 8 | The Diamond Weapon | Trials | 12 | Duty in the Sky with Diamond |
Shadowbringers High-end Trials
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Roulette | Loot Item Level | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Dancing Plague (Extreme) | 80 | 430 | 8 | Titania | Mentor | 450 | 15 | Minstrel from Another Mother |
The Crown of the Immaculate (Extreme) | 80 | 430 | 8 | Innocence | Mentor | 450 | 15 | Minstrel from Another Mother |
The Minstrel's Ballad: Hades's Elegy | 80 | 450 | 8 | Hades | Mentor | 465 | 20 | Minstrel from Another Mother |
Cinder Drift (Extreme) | 80 | 470 | 8 | The Ruby Weapon | Mentor | 485 | 25 | Weapon of Choice |
Memoria Misera (Extreme) | 80 | 470 | 8 | Varis yae Galvus | Mentor | 480 | 20 | The Bozja Incident |
The Seat of Sacrifice (Extreme) | 80 | 480 | 8 | Warrior of Light | Mentor | 495 | 25 | Minstrel from Another Mother |
Castrum Marinum (Extreme) | 80 | 500 | 8 | The Emerald Weapon | Mentor | 515 | 25 | Weapon of Choice |
The Cloud Deck (Extreme) | 80 | 510 | 8 | The Diamond Weapon | Mentor | 525 | 25 | Weapon of Choice |
Former Faux Hollows
Name | Level | iLevel | iLevel Sync | Party | Boss | Patch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Unreal) | 80 | 430 | 435 | 8 | Shiva | 5.3 |
The Navel (Unreal) | 80 | 430 | 435 | 8 | Titan | 5.4 |
The Whorleater (Unreal) | 80 | 430 | 435 | 8 | Leviathan | 5.5 |
Endwalker
Name | Level | iLevel | iLevel Sync | Party | Boss | Roulette | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Dark Inside | 83 | - | - | 8 | Zodiark | Trials | - | The Martyr |
The Mothercrystal | 89 | - | 550 | 8 | Hydaelyn | Trials | - | Her Children, One and All |
The Final Day | 90 | 540 | 570 | 8 | The Endsinger | Trials | 10 5 | Endwalker |
Storm's Crown | 90 | 585 | - | 8 | Barbariccia | Trials | 12 6 | The Wind Rises |
Mount Ordeals | 90 | 595 | - | 8 | Rubicante | Trials | 12 7 | Desires Untold |
The Voidcast Dais | 90 | 615 | - | 8 | Golbez | Trials | 12 8 | Abyssal Dark |
The Abyssal Fracture | 90 | 625 | - | 8 | Zeromus | Trials | 12 9 | Down in the Dark |
Endwalker High-end Trials
Name | Level | iLevel | Party | Boss | Roulette | Loot Item Level | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Minstrel's Ballad: Zodiark's Fall | 90 | 560 | 8 | Zodiark | - | 580 | 15 8 | I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel |
The Minstrel's Ballad: Hydaelyn's Call | 90 | 560 | 8 | Hydaelyn | - | 580 | 15 8 | I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel |
The Minstrel's Ballad: Endsinger's Aria | 90 | 580 | 8 | The Endsinger | - | 595 | 20 10 | I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel |
Storm's Crown (Extreme) | 90 | 600 | 8 | Barbariccia | - | 615 | 25 13 | I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel |
Mount Ordeals (Extreme) | 90 | 610 | 8 | Rubicante | - | 625 | 25 14 | I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel |
The Voidcast Dais (Extreme) | 90 | 630 | 8 | Golbez | - | 645 | 25 15 | I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel |
The Abyssal Fracture (Extreme) | 90 | 640 | 8 | Zeromus | - | 655 | 25 15 | I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel |
Current Faux Hollows
Name | Level | iLevel | iLevel Sync | Party | Boss | Patch | Tomestones | Unlock |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Singularity Reactor (Unreal) | 90 | 560 | 565 | 8 | King Thordan | 6.5 | 20 10 | Fantastic Mr. Faux |
Former Faux Hollows
Name | Level | iLevel | iLevel Sync | Party | Boss | Patch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ultima's Bane (Unreal) | 90 | 560 | 565 | 8 | The Ultima Weapon | 6.1 |
Containment Bay S1T7 (Unreal) | 90 | 560 | 565 | 8 | Sephirot | 6.2 |
Containment Bay P1T6 (Unreal) | 90 | 560 | 565 | 8 | Sophia | 6.3 |
Containment Bay Z1T9 (Unreal) | 90 | 560 | 565 | 8 | Zurvan | 6.4 |
Achievements
Trial completion is associated generally with the following achievements:
Name | Points | Task | Reward | Patch |
---|---|---|---|---|
To the Dungeons I | 5 | Successfully complete 5 unique instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 2.1 |
To the Dungeons II | 10 | Successfully complete 10 unique instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 2.1 |
To the Dungeons III | 20 | Successfully complete 20 unique instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 2.1 |
To the Dungeons IV | 20 | Successfully complete 30 unique instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 3.0 |
To the Dungeons V | 20 | Successfully complete 40 unique instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 3.0 |
To the Dungeons VI | 20 | Successfully complete 50 unique instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 3.0 |
Dungeon Siege I | 5 | Complete 10 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 2.1 |
Dungeon Siege II | 5 | Complete 30 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 2.1 |
Dungeon Siege III | 5 | Complete 100 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 2.1 |
Dungeon Siege IV | 10 | Complete 300 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | Dungeon Master | 2.1 |
Dungeon Master | 20 | Complete 1,000 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 2.1 |
Lifer I | 20 | Successfully complete 2,000 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 3.0 |
Lifer II | 20 | Successfully complete 5,000 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 3.0 |
Lifer III | 20 | Successfully complete 10,000 instanced dungeon raids or trials. | - | 3.0 |
Specific trials will also reward certain achievements upon completion.