Raids
- See also: Dungeons, Trials, Deep Dungeon, Field Operations, Variant Dungeons, Criterion Dungeons
Raids are the core of the endgame, posing the greatest challenges and offering the strongest loot. Unlike dungeons or trials, current-tier raids have limitations on how much loot players can receive per week. These limitations are removed once the raid is old, to make it easier to catch up. Raids are almost always optional content for Main Scenario Quest progression (the only exception being the level 50 Alliance Raid series), although some raids are prerequisites for other optional questlines.
Raid Categories
Normal Raids
Normal raids are fought by 8 players against a single boss, similar to a trial. Older raids may have other enemies or mini-bosses before the final boss, but the single-boss format has been consistent since Omega: Deltascape. Normal raids are similar in difficulty to story-difficulty trials and can be completed using Duty Finder matchmaking. The exception is the Lv. 50 Bahamut raid series, which is closer to Savage difficulty by default.
Participation
Normal raids are released in sets of four duties in the x.01, x.2, and x.4 patches of an expansion, for a total of 12 duties over three raid tiers in an expansion. They can be unlocked by completing certain blue unlock quests, which become accessible after completing the Main Scenario Quests in the base (x.0) expansion. These duties must be completed in sequence, e.g, completion of the first tier is required to unlock the second tier. Players who meet the minimum item level requirement for a normal raid can queue for it through Duty Finder.
Item Level Sync
Unlike Dungeons, most Raids 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 Raids rather trivial, especially if they have a low minimum item level compared to the max obtainable for the expansion. For example, Alexander: The Fist of the Father has a minimum item level of 170, but high level players joining from Roulettes will often be synced to only 270/275, making the fight much shorter and less healing intensive than the original experience. Savage Raids 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 Raids in a preformed group via Party Finder with the Minimum Item Level option enabled. This will adjust the gear for all involved 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 Raids - with the exception of Coils of Bahamut - will still be easily clearable, while Savage Raids can be expected to generally be extremely brutal on this setting.
Rewards
Normal raids drop a variety of equipment "tokens" which can be exchanged at certain vendors for high item level gear. In addition, the final duty of a current-expansion Normal raid will grant a Completion Reward, of which seven can be exchanged along with 500 of the current capped tomestones for a weapon that is 10 item levels higher than current crafted gear. In a later patch, this requirement is lowered to four of the rewarded item. When a Normal raid series is current, players may obtain one token per duty and one reward item from the final floor per week.
Savage Raids
Each normal raid also has a higher-difficulty equivalent, called a savage raid, which uses the same boss but with more difficult mechanics, more health, and higher outgoing damage. In addition, all Savage bosses have a time limit in which they must be defeated or they will wipe the party with an enrage ability. Savage encounters usually follow a gradually increasing difficulty curve, with the first two encounters usually comparable or slighty higher in difficulty to an Extreme trial, and the last two encounters being significantly more challenging, although there are exceptions to this trend. Beginning with Omega: Deltascape (Savage), the final duty of each Savage raid tier is usually split into two boss encounters, with a checkpoint in between, meaning that wiping to the second phase will reset the party to the start of that phase. However, leaving the instance and resetting will require defeating the first phase again to re-acquire the checkpoint. The exceptions are Eden's Gate: Sepulture (Savage) and Eden's Verse: Refulgence (Savage), which are long singular encounters containing boss phases exclusive to the Savage version, but no checkpoint. The first phase is usually referred to as a door boss by the community.
Since Deltascape (Savage), the first Savage tier in an expansion is usually deliberately tuned to be easier to allow players to become accustomed to the expansion's job changes and additions. The second and third tiers are then designed to be more challenging than the first.
When a savage raid is no longer new, 
The Echo will applied to all players upon entering the duty, and the strength of this buff will not increase upon wiping. Savage raids from prior expansions are typically done with an Unrestricted Party (i.e., with level sync disabled) to complete them more easily, which does not impact rewards. However, some achievements require completing the final encounter of a previous savage raid tier with a full party of 
blue mages with silence echo and level sync enabled.
Participation
Savage raids are released 2 weeks after normal raids in the x.05 patch of an expansion, and 1 week after the normal raid tier in the x.2 and x.4 patches. They can be unlocked by completing the respective Normal raid tier. Completion of the previous tier's Savage encounters is not required to unlock the current Savage tier. Savage raids are typically too difficult to be completed using Duty Finder matchmaking, so players in most data centers opt to use Party Finder for both practice and duty completion, or form "static" raid groups with other players.
Savage raids have a higher average item level requirement than the corresponding Normal raids, with the requirement for the first floor being the same item level as the maximum item level armor in the previous patch, the second floor being 5 item levels higher, and the third and fourth floors being 10 item levels higher. Savage raids are always released with new crafted and normal raid gear that meet the minimum item level for the last floors, along with weekly-capped tomestone gear that is 10 item levels higher. Players who wish to aim for an early clear of the tier are strongly advised to acquire a full set of 
High Quality crafted gear and fully meld it with materia ("pentamelding"), although this is a costly process. For the second and third Savage tier of an expansion, the extreme trial that was released with the patch will drop weapons that are 5 item levels higher than the crafted weapon, providing a good starting point for players who wish to participate in the tier.
With the advent of Data Center Travel, players looking to participate in high-end duties, especially savage and ultimate raids, have started congregating in one data center per geographic region. These are
- North America: Aether
- Europe: Light
- Japan: Mana
Players on other data centers who wish to participate in current high-end content through Party Finder may find it necessary to travel to their region's primary "raiding" data center in order to form a party in a reasonable timeframe.
Rewards
Savage raids drop coffers that can be used to obtain equipment 20 item levels higher than the respective normal raid tier's loot. In addition, Savage raids reward items that can be used to augment the current weekly-capped tomestone equipment to the same item level as Savage gear. The final duty of each Savage raid tier rewards weapons that are at the maximum item level and exclusive mounts. For each job, the "best-in-slot" gear for a patch usually comprises a mixture of Savage gear and augmented tomestone gear based on which pieces provide the most desirable sub-stats.
Each duty in a Savage raid tier will also reward each party member with a book, of which a certain number can be exchanged for equipment coffers and upgrade materials. When a Savage raid series is current, players may obtain one book per duty per week. In addition, the number of rewards that appear upon completion and can be rolled for will depend on how many players have completed the duty for the week. If one to four party members have completed the duty for the week, fewer items will appear in the treasure coffer. If more than five party members have completed the duty for the week, the treasure coffer will not appear. Unlike Normal raids, there is no restriction on how many rewards a single player can win from loot rolls as long as a chest appears. However, once a player has completed a duty for the week and leaves the instance, they will not be able to roll for loot upon defeating the boss again, regardless of whether they rolled or won any items the first time, until the weekly reset time.
Upon registering for and completing a current Savage raid, the player's weekly progress will be updated to that point, preventing them from obtaining rewards from previous raids regardless of whether they have completed them for the week. As of patch 6.57, the loot restrictions for the current raid tier, Pandæmonium: Anabaseios (Savage), were removed. Older tiers also do not have loot restrictions.
Ultimate Raids
Beginning with Stormblood, some raid tiers are also followed by a single ultimate raid released two weeks into the following odd-numbered major patch (i.e., x.11 or x.31). With the exception of Shadowbringers, each expansion contains two ultimate raids. Ultimate raids are boss gauntlet style encounters where players encounter a series of significantly more powerful bosses from previous raids, trials, and dungeons. The final boss of an Ultimate raid is an original enemy design that was not present in earlier duties. Wiping at any point in the gauntlet will reset the encounter to the beginning. The sole exception is 
Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate), which has one checkpoint after the first phase of the encounter.
Participation
Ultimate raids can be unlocked by completing the fourth encounter of the Savage raid tier released in the previous patch from when the ultimate raid was released. Players must form a full party of 8 people to enter an instance; matchmaking through Duty Finder or Raid Finder is unavailable. Moreover, to mostly preserve the difficulty of ultimate raids even as newer content is released, each ultimate raid has a strict item level sync and no option to complete using an Unrestricted Party (i.e., with level sync disabled). However, due to job overhauls and other battle system changes, older ultimate raids are currently more forgiving than when they were first released in terms of DPS, healing, and mitigation requirements, allowing much more room for error. More recent ultimate raids are also designed to be more mechanically punishing than older raids, allowing essentially no deaths outside of very specific areas.
Newly-released ultimate raids are designed for players who have maximum item level, best-in-slot gear. Note that the item level of best-in-slot armor and accessories is 5 item levels lower than the item level sync for a newly-released ultimate raid. Two major patches after an ultimate raid is released, players may acquire gear from the newly released dungeon, which will be at the same item level as the item level sync for the Ultimate raid. Unless if an ultimate raid is from a previous expansion, it is not desirable to sync down current item level gear, because sub-stats from materia melds will not carried over. For older ultimate raids, players are free to equip any Lv. 90 gear, as the item level sync calculations will maximize the possible sub-stats. (To be precise, The Unending Coil of Bahamut requires item level 470 gear, The Weapon's Refrain item level 500, and The Epic of Alexander item level 595 for maximized sub-stats.[1])
Many players choose to form or join "static" raid groups with other players to progress and complete ultimate raids. However, it is also possible to use Party Finder to clear them, especially for older ultimate raids, due to the presence of standardized strategies. In addition, on some data centers there are Discord servers that coordinate guided clears or party finding. While all Ultimate raids are very difficult, The Weapon's Refrain ("UWU") is considered the most accessible ultimate raid, followed by The Unending Coil of Bahamut and The Epic of Alexander. The most difficult raids are generally considered to be Dragonsong's Reprise and The Omega Protocol.
Limited jobs and free trial players cannot participate in ultimate raids.
Rewards
Due to their very high difficulty, ultimate raids are meant to be prestige content that is not part of normal gear progression. Ultimate raids reward totems that can be traded at certain vendors for weapons with special particle effects. These weapons are of the same item level as the previous Savage raid tier's but contain an extra materia melding slot. Completion of ultimate raids also unlock achievements, exclusive titles, and Adventurer Plate designs. When an ultimate raid is newly-released, each party member may obtain one totem per week for completion; this restriction is lifted in the next major patch.
Alliance Raids
Alliance raids are fought by 24 players against a sequence of bosses and mobs, similar to a large-scale dungeon. These are all considered normal-difficulty content.
Participation
Alliance raids are released in odd-numbered patches (x.1, x.3, x.5), for a total of three alliance raids per expansion. They can be unlocked by completing certain blue unlock quests, which become accessible after completing the Main Scenario Quests in the base (x.0) expansion. For each raid series, these duties must be completed in sequence, e.g, completion of the first alliance raid of an expansion is required to unlock the second raid. To participate, players who meet the average minimum item level requirement can register using Duty Finder matchmaking.
Rewards
Each boss encounter in an alliance raid drops treasure chests containing equipment that can be rolled on, with the final boss also rewarding exclusive minions, Triple Triad Cards, and orchestrion rolls. The equipment is meant to be "catch-up" and is the same item item level as current, non-augmented tomestone gear. The final boss also drops a guaranteed coin, which can be exchanged at certain vendors for tomestone gear upgrade materials that were previously exclusive to the current Savage raids. When an Alliance raid is current, each player can obtain one piece of equipment and one coin per week.
Additional Information
Owing its lack of an item level sync and substantial player power creep over time, the Crystal Tower alliance raids (with the third at a lesser extent) have become tediously easy duties that are often completed with little difficulty, to the point where mechanics on several bosses are ignored or outright skipped. As a result, many guides include mechanics that players will normally not experience unless on minimum item level mode. Owing to this, players have developed a technique to deliberately lower their item level in the Alliance Roulette, so that it would select a Crystal Tower raid by default. As a result the developers decided to implement item level restrictions for the 
Duty Roulette: Alliance Raids in Patch 6.5, as to increase its diversity.
Raids (8 Players)
A Realm Reborn
- See also: Bahamut Quests
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Turns | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Binding Coil of Bahamut | 50 | 70–82 | 5 | Twintania | - | 90–95 |  10
|
 Primal Awakening
|
| The Second Coil of Bahamut | 50 | 90–105 | 4 | Nael deus Darnus | - | 110–115 | 20
|
Another Turn in the Coil
|
| The Second Coil of Bahamut (Savage) | 50 | 105 | 4 | Nael deus Darnus | - | 110–115 | 20
|
Sing Me Another Song
|
| The Final Coil of Bahamut | 50 | 110–123 | 4 | Bahamut Prime | - | 130–135 | 30
|
Fragments of Truth
|
Heavensward
- See also: Alexander Quests
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander: Gordias | 60 | 170 | The Manipulator | Normal Raids | 190 | 10
|
Disarmed
|
| Alexander: Gordias (Savage) | 60 | 190–205 | The Manipulator | - | 210–215 | 15
|
A Song of Steam and Steel
|
| Alexander: Midas | 60 | 200 | Brute Justice | Normal Raids | 220 | 10
|
Rearmed
|
| Alexander: Midas (Savage) | 60 | 215–225 | Brute Justice | - | 240–245 | 15
|
A Refrain for the Undaunted
|
| Alexander: The Creator | 60 | 230 | Alexander Prime | Normal Raids | 250 | 20
|
The Coeurl and the Colossus
|
| Alexander: The Creator (Savage) | 60 | 245–255 | Alexander Prime | - | 270–275 | 30
|
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Retells Your Story
|
Stormblood
- See also: Omega Quests
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omega: Deltascape | 70 | 295 | Exdeath | Normal Raids | 320 |  10
|
Into the Deltascape
|
| Omega: Deltascape (Savage) | 70 | 310–320 | Neo Exdeath | - | 340–345 | 15
|
Magitek Terminal, Rhalgr's Reach |
| The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate) | 70 | 345 | Bahamut Prime | - | 345 | 100
|
Wandering Minstrel, Kugane |
| Omega: Sigmascape | 70 | 325 | Kefka | Normal Raids | 350 | 10
|
No Slowing Down
|
| Omega: Sigmascape (Savage) | 70 | 340–350 | Kefka | - | 370–375 | 15
|
Magitek Terminal, Rhalgr's Reach |
| The Weapon's Refrain (Ultimate) | 70 | 375 | The Ultima Weapon | - | 375 | 100
|
Wandering Minstrel, Kugane |
| Omega: Alphascape | 70 | 355 | Omega-M and Omega-F | Normal Raids | 380 | 20
|
In the Beginning, There Was Chaos
|
| Omega: Alphascape (Savage) | 70 | 370–380 | Omega | - | 400–405 | 30
|
Magitek Terminal, Rhalgr's Reach |
Shadowbringers
- See also: Eden Quests
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden's Gate | 80 | 425 | Titan | Normal Raids | 450 | 10
|
Deploy the Core
|
| Eden's Gate (Savage) | 80 | 440–450 | Titan and Titan Maximum | - | 470–475 | 15
|
Lewrey, Amh Araeng |
| The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate) | 80 | 475 | Perfect Alexander | - | 475 | 100
|
Wandering Minstrel, Kugane |
| Eden's Verse | 80 | 455 | Shiva | Normal Raids | 480 | 10
|
Blood and Thunder
|
| Eden's Verse (Savage) | 80 | 470–480 | Shiva | - | 500–505 | 15
|
Lewrey, Amh Araeng |
| Eden's Promise | 80 | 485 | Eden's Promise | Normal Raids | 510 | 20
|
Fear of the Dark
|
| Eden's Promise (Savage) | 80 | 500–510 | Oracle of Darkness | - | 530–535 | 30
|
Lewrey, Amh Araeng |
Endwalker
- See also: Pandæmonium Quests
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pandæmonium: Asphodelos | 90 | 565 | Hesperos | Normal Raids | 580 |  10  5
|
The Crystal from Beyond
|
| Pandæmonium: Asphodelos (Savage) | 90 | 570–580 | Hesperos | - | 600–605 | 15
|
Nemjiji, Labyrinthos |
| Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate) | 90 | 605 | Dragon-king Thordan | - | 605 | 30
|
Wandering Minstrel, Old Sharlayan |
| Pandæmonium: Abyssos | 90 | 585 | Hephaistos | Normal Raids | 610 | 10 5
|
An Unwelcome Visitor
|
| Pandæmonium: Abyssos (Savage) | 90 | 600–610 | Hephaistos | - | 630–635 | 15
|
Nemjiji, Labyrinthos |
| The Omega Protocol (Ultimate) | 90 | 635 | Alpha Omega | - | 635 | 30
|
Wandering Minstrel, Old Sharlayan |
| Pandæmonium: Anabaseios | 90 | 615 | Athena | Normal Raids | 640 | 20 10
|
Eater of Souls
|
| Pandæmonium: Anabaseios (Savage) | 90 | 630–640 | Pallas Athena | - | 660–665 | 30
|
Nemjiji, Labyrinthos |
Dawntrail
- See also: The Arcadion and The Arcadion Quests
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ??? | 100 | ||||||
| ??? (Savage) | 100 | - | |||||
| Futures Rewritten (Ultimate) | 100 | - |
Alliance Raids (24 Players)
A Realm Reborn
- Main article: Crystal Tower
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Labyrinth of the Ancients | 50 | 50 | Phlegethon | Alliance Raids | 80 | 100
|
Labyrinth of the Ancients
|
| Syrcus Tower | 50 | 70 | Xande | Alliance Raids | 100 | 100
|
Syrcus Tower
|
| The World of Darkness | 50 | 90 | Cloud of Darkness | Alliance Raids | 120 | 100
|
The World of Darkness
|
Heavensward
- Main article: Shadow of Mhach
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Void Ark | 60 | 175 | Echidna | Alliance Raids | 200 | 100 60 8
|
To Rule the Skies
|
| The Weeping City of Mhach | 60 | 205 | Calofisteri | Alliance Raids | 230 | 100 60 8
|
The Weeping City
|
| Dun Scaith | 60 | 235 | Diabolos Hollow | Alliance Raids | 260 | 100 80 10
|
Where Shadows Reign
|
Stormblood
- Main article: Return to Ivalice
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Royal City of Rabanastre | 70 | 305 | Argath Thadalfus | Alliance Raids | 330 | 100 80 10
|
A City Fallen
|
| The Ridorana Lighthouse | 70 | 335 | Yiazmat | Alliance Raids | 360 | 100 80 10
|
Annihilation
|
| The Orbonne Monastery | 70 | 365 | Ultima, The High Seraph | Alliance Raids | 390 | 100 100 12
|
The City of Lost Angels
|
Shadowbringers
- Main article: YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Copied Factory | 80 | 435 | 9S-operated Walking Fortress | Alliance Raids | 460 | 100 100 12
|
On the Threshold
|
| The Puppets' Bunker | 80 | 465 | Compound 2P | Alliance Raids | 490 | 100 100 12
|
Everything You Know Is Wrong
|
| The Tower at Paradigm's Breach | 80 | 495 | Her Inflorescence | Alliance Raids | 520 | 100 120 15
|
Brave New World
|
Endwalker
- Main article: Myths of the Realm
| Duty Name | Level | IL Req | Final Boss | Roulette | Loot IL | Tomestones | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aglaia | 90 | 565 | Nald'thal | Alliance Raids | 590 | 120 15
|
The Realm of the Gods
|
| Euphrosyne | 90 | 595 | Menphina | Alliance Raids | 620 | 120 15
|
Return to the Phantom Realm
|
| Thaleia | 90 | 625 | Eulogia | Alliance Raids | 650 | 150 20
|
The Heart of the Myth
|
Dawntrail
- Main article: Echoes of Vana'diel
Achievements
Raid 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 raids will also reward certain achievements upon completion.
Images
- ↑ The Balance, accessed 23 April 2023