Frontline

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The Three Grand Companies: The Maelstrom (left), the Twin Adder (center) and the Immortal Flames (right)

Frontline challenges are daily challenges found in the Duty Roulette which pit teams of players fighting under the banner of each Grand Company in training exercises that test the strategic planning and combat prowess of each participant.

The Basics

Frontline is a PvP challenge, first added in patch 2.3, in which players battle for territorial dominance. The teams are randomly assigned to a Grand Company[1] and consist of 24 players in an Alliance, allowing for 72 total combatants on a single map. Players must not only work hard as individuals, but must also work together as a team in order to prevail. Although players participate in the match with a random Grand Company, achievements tracking PvP progress will count towards the Grand Company the player is currently pledged to.

Requirements

Prerequisites

  • Players must have completed the Main Scenario Quest Main Scenario QuestSylph-management, which unlocks the ability to receive Soul Crystals.
  • Players are required to have completed the first Level 30 Job Quest for their respective base class, or have already unlocked a Job, in order to obtain a Soul Crystal.
  • While not required for Frontline campaigns, it is very strongly recommended for new players to also unlock mounts via the Feature QuestMy Little Chocobo questline, as all Frontline maps make heavy use of mounts to traverse the vast terrain.

Unlock

  • Frontline campaigns (and the Frontline Daily Challenge) are unlocked via Feature QuestLike Civilized Men and Women from your respective Grand Company. Players must be at least level 30, as a Soul Crystal must be equipped in order to queue for Frontline campaigns.

Zones and campaigns

Only one particular campaign is available on a given day, but the currently active campaign rotates on daily reset. The naming scheme for Frontline is technically Zone Name (Campaign Name), though with retirement of the (Slaughter) mode on The Borderland Ruins there is functionally no distinction anymore. Zone/Campaign combos are commonly referred to by either separate part by the player base.

Current zones

Inactive/retired zones

Rules

Each alliance is divided into three full parties of eight players, and each Frontline match lasts for a maximum of 20 minutes.

The primary goal is to destroy objectives (Shatter), retrieve data (Seize), or conquer designated points (Danshig Naadam). A secondary goal is to KO members of opposing teams, as this awards Battle High (explained below). Earning Battle High makes it easier to gain even more, creating a snowball effect and allowing for greater chances at victory. The successful team will coordinate strategy in the pursuit of both goals.

Landing Platform

  • The landing platforms are three Grand Company-specific safe zones where jobs may be changed freely and where players are revived after being KO'ed. These platforms may be revisited at any time by casting Return.png  Return.
  • At the beginning of the campaign, each Grand Company will be confined to their landing platform and given 45 seconds to prepare.
  • Players who leave the landing platform receive a ten-second Invincibility buff that serves to discourage spawn camping by opposing teams.

Communication

  • Chat is unrestricted and should be used to coordinate strategy. Emotes are also unrestricted, but excessively emoting at downed opponents is considered a Prohibited Activity that may result in account sanctions. [1]

Mounts

  • Players may freely ride mounts during Frontline campaigns. However, being attacked in any form will result in being forcibly dismounted and gaining the Hoofing It debuff. This debuff must be waited out, it cannot be cleansed with Purify (PvP).png  Purify (PvP).
  • Flying and pillion riding are disabled.

Map

  • The current state of all objectives is marked on the standard map.
  • In addition to showing the positions of all friendly players, the map also shows all enemy players (indicated by colored triangles) that are within sight range of any friendly players.

KDA

KDA (Knockout, Defeat, Assist) is the scoring system used in Frontline matches. If a player deals the finishing blow, they receive a Knockout, and 10 points to their Battle High gauge. If they themselves are defeated, they receive a Defeat, and lose half their Battle High Gauge. If they help knock down an opponent, they receive an Assist, and gain 2 points to their Battle High Gauge. Additionally, players who are knocked out lose points for their team, while points are awarded to the victorious team.

Battle High

Battle High is a status that increases damage dealt and HP restored by healing actions according to a player's knockouts and assists. The healing potency buff also applies to abilities that generate barriers such as Burst (PvP).png  Burst. The maximum rating is 100, and for every increment of 20, the status increases in strength. Being incapacitated will reduce the rating by half.

Status Rating Effect
Battle High I 20 to 39 Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 10%.
Battle High II 40 to 59 Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 20%.
Battle High III 60 to 79 Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 30%.
Battle High IV 80 to 99 Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 40%.
Battle High V 100 Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 50%.

Each player's Battle High gauge indicates their current rating.

Battlehigh.jpg

A player's Battle High status is indicated with an icon on their nameplate, which changes according to the rank of their Battle High.

Battlehigh2.jpg

Modifiers

Role Damage Dealt Damage Taken LB Gauge Fill Time
Paladin frame icon.png Paladin
- -50% -
Warrior frame icon.png Warrior
-10% -50% -
Dark Knight frame icon.png Dark Knight
-15% -50% +15s
Gunbreaker frame icon1.png Gunbreaker
-5% -50% -
White Mage frame icon.png White Mage
-10% -25% +15s
Scholar frame icon.png Scholar
- -25% -
Astrologian frame icon.png Astrologian
-5% -25% -
Sage frame icon.png Sage
- -25% -
Monk frame icon.png Monk
- -50% -
Dragoon frame icon.png Dragoon
-10% -50% +15s
Ninja frame icon.png Ninja
- -50% -
Samurai frame icon.png Samurai
-10% -50% +15s
Reaper frame icon.png Reaper
- -50% -
Bard frame icon.png Bard
- -25% -15s
Machinist frame icon.png Machinist
- -25% -
Dancer frame icon1.png Dancer
- -35% +15s
Black Mage frame icon.png Black Mage
- -25% -
Summoner frame icon.png Summoner
-15% -25% +15s
Red Mage frame icon.png Red Mage
- -35% -

Rewards

See also: Series Malmstones

When a Frontline match has ended, players will receive the following rewards:

Reward 1st Place[2] 2nd Place 3rd Place Condition
PvP PvP EXP 1000 750 500
Series Malmstones Series EXP 1500 1250 1000
Wolf Mark Wolf Marks 1000 750 500
Experience PvE EXP[3] 12% of a level 11% of a level 10% of a level Below the level-cap
Allagan Tomestone of Poetics Allagan Tomestones of Poetics 50 50 50 Above level 50
Allagan Tomestones (uncapped type) 50 50 50 Level-capped
Allagan Tomestones (weekly capped type) 20 20 20 Level-capped

Achievements

Main article: Frontline Achievements.

Frontline is associated with several achievements.

References

  1. This change was made in Patch 5.18 to eliminate any PvP advantages for being in a specific Grand Company. Patch 5.18 Notes
  2. Also applies in the case of a draw.
  3. PvE experience will only be awarded to the job used to queue into Frontline.