In your opinion what was the best designed dungeon in the game?

[Miminming]

bardam's mettle

[Bright-Flower]

I don't know about 'best designed.' I don't really analyze jobs closely. But some highlights for me:

Sohm Al Hard and Arboretum hard I liked because some parts of it had some tanking positioning stuff to do on trash. Keeping enemies in the steam vents/washing off some of the latter enemies rsepectively. I'd like to see more of that kind of thing in general.

Keeper of the Lake just because of Midgarsormr I love him.

The Twinning for the music/visuals.

Aumorat was great. Also love Hero's Gauntlet as a sendoff to Norvrandt.

[Dragonexx]

Gameplay wise: Aurum Vale. It's a dungeon that actually requires some thought and planning, especially the first room. You can't just charge in and pull everything, and you have to actually be cautious about the environment. There's pools of acid and gas vents that will push you into them. Also the bosses throw around status ailments, that you have to interact with the environment to cleanse yourself of. The second boss used to not have telegraph markers forcing you to pay attention to his cast bar, a good way to teach players about that sort of thing.
Also, Qitana Ravel deserves a mention, what with it's laser statue boss mobs. Though I wish dungeons would have more or less than always 3 bosses, this comes close. They have a singular mechanic that could be interesting to make a guildhest out of, if they still did those...

Atmosphere wise, I'd have to pick first the Great Gubal Library (both versions). There's just something really charming and mysterious about gigantic libraries. Next, I'd go with Antitower for how beautiful it is and how amazing the theme. Finally, Ghymlit Dark for finally putting us in a warzone.

[Lihtleita]

sastasha /10char

[Jirah]

Its also the closest thing we have to Sycrus Tower (Hard) if it helps, especially considering that Raids never got that kind of remixing and that the trend ended with Stormblood.

Ehh Understandable as Hard modes are no longer a thing since the devs lean towards "glorified instanceses" rather than Unique dungoen desighn nowadays

[Vyrerus]

Let's see as far as design goes for each section of the game? Hmm...

ARR Leveling - Dzemael Darkhold. Each section of the dungeon has the same type of magitek gate, relating to the story that the Garleans abandoned it and sealed the Voidsent inside. There are unique crystal mechanics for the first trash and boss, letting you learn the mechanic for the boss before fighting it. The second half inverts the crystals making them hazardous instead of a boon. Monsters have debuffs, the orobons inflicting vulnerability on whoever they're targetting. Toads have knockback and there is a cliff to be knocked off of. Caster mobs to take into account positioning as well. Second boss entails a lot of movement, rather than sheltering in place like with the first boss. Last bit is a room where you have to undo the magitek seals again, but the room is full of monsters including two patrols. Dangerous when it was current before we outgear and out potency'd it by so much. Last boss has unique mechanics used in some form by later dungeons throughout the game. Runner up - Aurum Vale for similar yet inverted reasons.

ARR 50 Plateau - Pharos Sirius - The trash packs all throughout the dungeon present monsters that inflict vulnerability, heal mobs in the group, deal high group wide damage, or mete on paralysis. This makes the trash somewhat threatening, especially at dungeon's release. The bosses all have a consistent theme, and that theme is advanced add management. The first boss has tons of adds that inflict an explosive debuff and this is supposed to try to make your party split up with each member taking an add, while also being forced to certain parts of the room by the boss laying down territory control with his corrupted crystal fields. Quite a spicy boss, on release. Second boss is the infamous 16 rage stack Zu. Again, it's advanced add management where you may kill the adds in a single hit before they spawn, but doing so too readily enrages the boss, so you have to find a nice balance. The spotted eggs hatch more dangerous adds. A unique mech not seen again in the game. Third boss is a DPS race, again, advanced add management. This time instead of manage the adds, it's kill the boss before there are too many adds. And finally, the fourth boss is the Siren. You must manage adds that will fully disable your healer and tank should they reach them. The Siren must be silenced or stunned for Lunatic Voice. There's the healer check charm mechanic. It has a DOT based tank buster. Very very good boss.

HW Leveling - Sohm Al - Terrain hazards are a theme, enacted by the flora and fauna of the dungeon itself. First poison plants leading up to a poison boss, where poison buds sprout at random until their source plants are killed. The first boss is supposed to be a mix between add management and DPSing it down, but it's undertuned so you may ignore its adds completely. Oof. Still, the mechanics are there, though they be a rehash of Turn 6 raid mechanics from ARR. Second portion is the Pyro and Cryo dragons trying to bar your path. They shoot down terrain patches that try to push you back/control your positioning. Somewhat of a tank check on trash, and were it not intended to be easy, could be made to be very hard. Second boss is unique, and has fake out add mechanics, if it lives long enough to see them through. Final trash and boss are very thematically appropriate, again dragons barring your path and trying to control your positioning. Final boss Tioman does this with Comets, extensive AOE spam, and the first rendition of that star spread AOE telegraph, later given its own unique telegraph in the Mist Dragon fight.

HW 60 Plateau - Neverreap - Three unique bosses, dangerous trash, unique traversal for the first 1/3rd. Fog Phantom phase for first boss is very cool and has only been repeated once with the Mist Dragon. Second boss had that totem mech, which was a full realization of the Imp mechanic on reviving skeleton adds in both Haukke Manors. Last trash pulls with the water spouts effecting positioning and giving that cool effect if you stood in them was very cool. Final boss unique in that it gained evasion stacks and had a non telegraphed knockback while having a spike pit all around the arena. No other boss in the game has an evasion stack mech, nor an invuln phase quite like that.

Stormblood Leveling - Bardam's Mettle - Doesn't hold your hand. Lets you pull more than you can handle realistically, for the first 1/3rd. Then awkward roadblock pacing. Garula introduces the distance tether mechanic with his charge attack. Second boss is fully mechanical, there is no actual combat, an interesting trial in a place that's a puported rite of passage into warriorhood. Giant balls of death make an appearance for the second time since Midas for the last 3rd, and the boss is basically a Tioman Redux, now with gaze charm and adds instead of comets.

Stormblood 70 Plateau - The Burn - Hazard terrain that may be used for weal or for woe to try and speed up killing the first 1/3rd of the dungeon monsters. A unique first boss with hide mechanics and repositioning required, complete with tank buster. Unusual for first bosses. Second trash references both Azys Llla and Turn 4 of Binding Coil, but doesn't really work in a trash pack setting though the constant drawn ins from the clockwork soldiers can throw off pull positioning. Fairly linear by this point, but second boss makes up for it by having staunch damage potential with tank buster, raid wide, a signature danger ability where the tell is to look for the broken mag roader. Last third of the dungeon evokes the movie Dune and is quite the tranquil spectacle. Final boss is the infamous Mist Dragon, which combines several old dungeon mechanics, giving them new deadly twists, being one of the deadliest dungeon bosses in the game's history.

SHB Leveling - Holminster Switch - By SHB dungeons are all spectacle hallways, and the spectacle doesn't get much better than that very real feeling forest at the start, leading through the Sin Eater webs to the first boss, the Kuribu that moments earlier in the story killed a new NPC. The dungeon design philosophy for SHB has the dungeons all really tightly grip the story, as they had before, but the bosses themselves are now incorporated in this too, and that makes the dungeon all the sweeter from a narrative standpoint. It also feels massive and parallels well with the later dungeon, Amaurot. The second boss has a weak attempt at positioning control, just enough to be there, and its real challenge is actually its use of raidwide spam. Dungeon had potential to have those Sineater eggs hatch all at once at the last trash area, but they chose to enforce a slow pace. Could have been even better, because they could have had you trying to save villagers like saving the Wood Wailers in Haukke HM before they are turned. Final boss is a doozy of a dungeon boss for a lot of people, and I love its design.

SHB 80 Plateau - Well it's not finished yet, but as of now... Akademia Anyder, because of its lore implications and also because it has three standout bosses, whereas Amaurot's second boss blows. While I love Amaurot for story reasons, I find the design of Akademia Anyder to be better.

[Yani-Madara]

I'll start off by saying I hate very gated dungeons like heroes gauntlet. It leaves no room for improvement and all subsequent runs being the same. I know some people don't like enormous pulls but that choice should be left for the player to make.

As for my favorites, the Vault isn't too gated and I like the meme worthy dialogue.

Bardam's mettle, the 2nd boss is fun and unique. The enemies hit hard and it isn't too gated so you actually have to think not just pull everything. Violet Tides also has a nice pace and I like the bosses. Turning into a granny to avoid seduction is hilarious.

Mt. Gulg is also very fun because you have to think. As a tank or healer I want to use my cooldowns and this dungeon allows it. The square boss is also nice.

[Corbeau]

I dont understand the hype over twining wasnt aware good music automatically made a stellar dungeon. Mute it and its just like every generic dungeon.

There isn't a single challenging dungeon in the game, so there's nothing to rate them on except the thematic experience. Music is a pretty huge part of that.