Which Dungeons and Trials Are Mandatory As Of 2020?

Hi, I'm a returning player and there have been a lot of changes since I played last. I made a post about this a few years ago and I need help creating an up to date list of all Dungeons and Trials you HAVE to complete at a minimum to finish the story line.

Why am I asking for help with this? I'm not a fan of dungeons, in fact, I find them very unfun so I'd like to do as few of them as I absolutely have to.
(If you find them super fun and easy, more power to you, but I really don't. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ilies/wink.png)

Is this list still current? And how many Trials are required and where do they fit in? If you can, start at the beginning because I've had to start over to relearn how to play with all the changes. There are other players out there who also dislike doing the Dungeons and Trials so this might be of interest to them too.

Please be kind, I'm only asking because this is the only thing about FFXIV that I do not love. (I didn't enjoy dungeons in any other MMO I've played over the years either).

Here's the old list kindly provided by helpful players:
(I have up to Heavensward xp so far).

FFXIV Required Dungeons and Trials

Lvl15 Sastasha (story dungeon for quest "It's Probably Pirates.")
Lvl16 Tam-Tara Deepcroft (story quest "Fire in the Gloom.")
Lvl17 Copperbell Mines (story quest "Into a Copper Hell" )
Lvl17 Bowl of Embers (:Lord of the Inferno") Ifrit Trial
Lvl20 Halatali (OPTIONAL)
Lvl24 The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak(Story "Into the Beast's Maw")
Lvl28 Haukke Manor (Story "Skeletons in Her Closet,")
Lvl32 Braflox Longstop (Story "The Things We Do for Cheese.")
lv.34 The Navel (Lord of the Crags) Trial
Lvl35 Sunken Temple of Qarn(OPTIONAL)
Lvl38 Cutter's Cry(OPTIONAL)
Lvl41 Stone Virgil (Story "In Pursuit of the Past")


***I completed up to here on my old Main



Lv.44 The Howling Eye (Lady of the Vortex) Trial
Lvl44 Dzemael Darkhold (Optional but needed for some Grand Companies)
Lvl47 Aurum Vale (Optional but needed for some Grand Companies)
Lv.49 Camp Westwind (Operation Archon) Trial
Lvl50 Castrum Meridianum (story)
Lvl50 Praetorium (story)
Lvl50 Wanderer's Palace (optional)
Lvl50 Amdapor Keep (optional, but required for your relic weapon)
Lv.50 Snowcloak (The Path of the Righteous)
Lv.50 Keeper of the Lake (The Rising Chorus)


lv.50 Thornmarch (You have selected regicide) Trial
lv.50 The Whorleater (Lord of the Whorl) Trial
lv.50 The Striking Tree (Levin an Impression) Trial
Lv.50 Akh Afah Amphitheatre (the instruments of our deliverance) Trial
Lv.50 The Chrysallis (**SPOILER**) Trial
Lv.50 The Steps of Faith (The Steps of Faith) Trial

Heavensward expansion, these are the level 50-60 dungeons and Trials:

Sohm Al (Mourn in Passing)
Thok Ast Thok (Lord of the Hive) Trial
The Aery (Into the Aery)
The Vault (A Knight's Calling)
Limitless Blue (Bolt, Chain, and Island) Trial
Great Gubal Library (Forbidden Knowledge)
Aetherochemical Research facility (Heavensward)
Singularity Reactor (Heavensward) Trial


these are all the Trial battles required:

Bowl of Embers NM (Ifrit) (Lord of the Inferno)
The Navel NM (Titan) (Lord of Crags)
The Howling Eye NM (Garuda) (In Search of the Past)
Cape Westwind (Rhitayan sas Arvina) (Operation Archon)
Thornmarch (hard) (Good King Moggle Mog the XIIth) (You Have Selected Regicide)
The Whorleater (hard) (Leviathan HM) (Lord of the Whorl)
The Striking Tree (hard) (Ramuh HM) (Levin an Impression)
Akh Afah Amphitheater (hard) (Shiva HM) (The Instruments of Our Deliverance)
The Bowl of Embers (hard) (Ifrit HM), The Navel (hard) (Titan HM), The Howling Eye (hard) (Garuda HM) (Let Us Cling Together)
The Chrysalis (Nabriales) (An Uninvited Ascian)
The Steps of Faith (Vishap) (The Steps of Faith)
Thok ast Thok (hard) (Ravana HM) (Lord of the Hive)
The Limitless Blue (hard) (Bismarck HM) (Bolt Chain and Island)

Welcome back! That's pretty much correct, although a low level optional dungeon was made later mandatory as part of the ARR patch storyline (Halatali). You can still unlock it and run it before that point, you'll just have to run it again when the storyline requires it (odd I know).

As for everything else, raid-wise SE have made it a requirement in the current expansion story that you must have completed the Crystal Tower raids (Labyrinth of the Ancients, Sycrus Tower and The World of Darkness) in order to proceed in the most recent patch story (5.3), so it would definetely be reccomended to undertake those as well.

Great, thanks for responding!


It's weird, I remember the quests going dead until you completed the dungeons but that hasn't happened yet this go round (lvl 21 on a new toon) so I thought I'd better ask. The guides you find online now aren't as up to date now either.



Can you actually level and play through to the new xp content without doing any of the dungeons? Say if you just want to do the quests and class progression and crafting type stuff? Does that cut the mandatory dungeons down even more?

Nope, dungeons and trials will be mandatory no matter how you play. Starting with Shadowbringers there is a single player option for dungeons where you fight along side npcs, but you still gotta do the dungeons.

Heavensward and Stormblood do have one leveling dungeon that's 100% optional, but otherwise yeah, all leveling dungeons (in the expansions) and multiple patch dungeons are mandatory

Ok, cool!



Thanks so much, @Enkidoh and @Stepjam.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darthzilla

It's weird, I remember the quests going dead until you completed the dungeons but that hasn't happened yet this go round (lvl 21 on a new toon) so I thought I'd better ask.

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Mind you, your own level has little bearing on this. You can level up as much as you want, but content will remain gated by story. Since story, and dungeons, gate content, you cannot make it to new expansion without doing dungeons. You won't even be able to progress past level 50 job quests without doing dungeons.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hasrat

Mind you, your own level has little bearing on this. You can level up as much as you want, but content will remain gated by story. Since story, and dungeons, gate content, you cannot make it to new expansion without doing dungeons. You won't even be able to progress past level 50 job quests without doing dungeons.

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Good to know, thanks!

And, I goofed. I just realized I made a mistake, it was not Halatali that was made compulsory for the main scenario in ARR, but the Sunken Temple of Qarn (the main story quest that involves it requires you to get a key item from it, that is automatically gained upon completing the dungeon). Halatali therefore remains completely optional. I'm so sorry for that mixup.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

And, I goofed. I just realized I made a mistake, it was not Halatali that was made compulsory for the main scenario in ARR, but the Sunken Temple of Qarn (the main story quest that involves it requires you to get a key item from it, that is automatically gained upon completing the dungeon). Halatali therefore remains completely optional. I'm so sorry for that mixup.

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Regarding Qarn, I heard the quest making it mandatory was removed in the revamp. So I think now it's 100% optional again.

I hope they are both still optional. Is there anywhere I can double check to make sure?



Is there a good online guide source that is up to date with all the changes?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darthzilla

Hi, I'm a returning player and there have been a lot of changes since I played last. I made a post about this a few years ago and I need help creating an up to date list of all Dungeons and Trials you HAVE to complete at a minimum to finish the story line.

Why am I asking for help with this? I'm not a fan of dungeons, in fact, I find them very unfun so I'd like to do as few of them as I absolutely have to.
(If you find them super fun and easy, more power to you, but I really don't. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ilies/wink.png)

Is this list still current? And how many Trials are required and where do they fit in? If you can, start at the beginning because I've had to start over to relearn how to play with all the changes. There are other players out there who also dislike doing the Dungeons and Trials so this might be of interest to them too.

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You don't actually need to know in advance which dungeons are mandatory and which are not. Just go through the MSQ. When the MSQ says you need to do a dungeon or trial - well, then you have to do it. If you at some point find an MSQ quest that says you need to do dungeon X or trial Y before picking up that quest, then you have to do that dungeon or trial.
And then just don't do any of the other dungeons or trials.

In short, if you have absolutely have to do a dungeon or trial the game will tell you so when you get that far.

@MistakeNot It's kind of nice to see it planned out so I can see how many more of them I have left to get through and check off the ones I've completed, you know? Plus I don't want to accidentally do one I don't have to either. ;)

Can always just scan through the lists of quests to see what they unlock for what is mandatory to clear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hasrat

Can always just scan through the lists of quests to see what they unlock for what is mandatory to clear.

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Oh! That helps too! Nice, thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darthzilla

Oh! That helps too! Nice, thank you.

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Alternatively, here is the list of all Mandatory Group Instances for 2.0-2.55 as of patch 5.3:

A Realm Reborn

1. Sastasha
2. The Tam-Tara Deepcroft
3. Copperbell Mines
4. The Bowel of Embers
5. The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak
6. Haukke Manor
7. Brayflox’s Longstop
8. The Navel
9. The Stone Vigil
10. The Howling Eye
11. Cape Westwind
12. Castrum Meridianum
13. The Praetorium
14. The Bowel of Embers (Hard)*
15. The Howling Eye (Hard)*
16. The Navel (Hard)*+
17. Thornmarch (Hard)
18. The Whorleater (Hard)
19. The Striking Tree (Hard)
20. Snowcloak
21. Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Hard)
22. The Keeper of the Lake
23. The Chrysalis
24. The Steps of Faith
25. Labyrinth of the Ancients*
26. Syrcus Tower*
27. The World of Darkness*

Trial
Alliance dungeon
* Introduced optionally but required for story progression at a certain point
+ Story is going to make you do this again some time later

From 2.0 to current:
Required dungeons - 37
Required trials - 25
Required alliance raids - 3


The nine Shadowbringers dungeons can be done with Trusts (NPCs that take the place of other players) but for all the rest you'll need to party up.

So your list was more or less complete up to the end of 3.0. As was already mentioned, the Crystal Tower alliance raid series was added to the list this patch. You cant advance the story into the final patch of 2.x without having completed them, but you can start them as soon as you finish Ultima Weapon(if you were already past this point, it wont let you start the most recent patch without having them finished). So add Labyrinth of the Ancients, Syrcus Tower, and World of Darkness somewhere between Praetorium and Cryssalis. As for the list from 3.1 onward...

The Antitower(D) - patch 3.2
Sohr Khai(D) - patch 3.3
Final Steps of Faith(T) - patch 3.3
Xelphatol(D) - patch 3.4 Special note: There is a required re-fight of Navel(hard) around here as well
Baelsar's Wall(D) - patch 3.5
Sirensong Sea(D) - patch 4.0
Pool of Tribute(T) - patch 4.0
Bardem's Mettle(D) - patch 4.0
Doma Castle(D) - patch 4.0
Emanation(T) - patch 4.0
Castrum Abania(D) - patch 4.0
Ala Mhigo(D) - patch 4.0
Royal Menagerie(T) - patch 4.0
Drowned City of Skalla(D) - patch 4.1
Castrum Fluminis(T) - patch 4.3
The Burn(D) - patch 4.4
Ghimlyt Dark(D) - patch 4.5
Holminster Switch(D) - patch 5.0 Special note: starting from this dungeon the NPC trust system is available and story dungeons no longer require groups(trials still require group though)
Dohn Mheg(D) - patch 5.0
Dancing Plague(T) - patch 5.0
Qitana Ravel(D) - patch 5.0
Malikah's Well(D) - patch 5.0
Mt. Gulg(D) - patch 5.0
Crown of the Immaculate(T) - patch 5.0
Amaurot(D) - patch 5.0
Dying Grasp(T) - patch 5.0
Grand Cosmos(D) - patch 5.1
Anamnesis Anyder(D) - patch 5.2
Heroes' Gauntlet(D) - patch 5.3
Seat of Sacrifice(T) - patch 5.3

Not listed are 18 optional dungeons(or the 13 more optional lvl 50 dungeons you didnt list), 15 optional trials, or any of the optional raids. I went with patch numbers rather then quest names as it seemed less spoilery.

@MrThinker I've added that list to my list at home. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it!

@Brightamethyst I read about the NPC trusts and I think that will be a help, esp as a DPS wit typically long queue times. ;) I'm looking forward to trying them out.

@Frizze Thank you for the list of the current content, I'll add that to my list as well!


Thank you all very much for your help and for taking the time to correct and add to the list.

I ran through Satasha last night on my new Thaum, I'm pretty out of practice but got through it ok (not so bad that the others hated me anyway). The random group I was with was pretty relaxed. I want to say that FFXIV still has the nicest and most helpful player base I've ever run across. Thank you.
P.S. Feeling a little salty about them removing the cross class heal spell ability from Blk Mage. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darthzilla

I ran through Satasha last night on my new Thaum, I'm pretty out of practice but got through it ok (not so bad that the others hated me anyway). The random group I was with was pretty relaxed. I want to say that FFXIV still has the nicest and most helpful player base I've ever run across. Thank you.
P.S. Feeling a little salty about them removing the cross class heal spell ability from Blk Mage. ;)

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Youll get over the missing physick in time. It was occasionally nice to have in solo content, but most of the time you can just kill things quicker to get the same result. You can still abuse sleep somewhat when soloing if things get dicey, and the shield you get at level 30 is actually super powerful and useful. And you wouldnt have reason to know this yet, but physick for BLM(and summoner, which really bothers some of them) was a spell that got weaker over time. Its set to scale as a healer spell, so by like level 50 you dont have the stats to get a meaningful heal out of it as a DPS. Best of luck with your journey!

Thank you! I'm trying to 'git gud' enough to pick up playing with my now mid level main toons again.



I've heard that Physick wasn't very good once you hit lvl 50, I was pretty close to 50. It's amazing how much I actually used Physick on my main Blk Mage, it even kept a party I was in from wiping on the last boss on a req dungeon. I also really miss being able to throw a few heals on other players who may need one as I pass by because it was really welcome when I was a brand new player, low level or at low health because I was getting stomped a little more than expected. lol Fortunately, I also have a White Mage and Summoner at mid level too (I was trying out All The Things). I have to go in and fix all their spell bars as everything is all greyed out now. So many changes.