New Variant Dungeon: Reward structure is a downgrade from previous ones.

[Ankhira]

The past three Variant Dungeons all rewarded a mount for completing all 13 paths, with an additional mount tied to the harder versions. This new Variant, however, gives a face mask instead.

I don’t see any mount available from the normal shard vendor or the Criterion vendor, so right now it looks like both new mounts are locked behind Another Merchant’s Tale. And even if you can get one from Criterion after all, it means the only way to obtain them is through the hardest version of the content. Again.

If one of the mounts would at least drop from Variant chests (which could be the case, who knows) that would at least give players a reason to keep running it. But right now, what is the incentive for players who don’t engage with high‑end content?

Especially in an expansion where non‑raiders already have very few things to do. They'll run it a couple of times, get the new emote, maybe some glams and that's... all they can do until the content ran it's course.. content they've been waiting three months for.

This is similar to what happened with Chaotic Cloud of Darkness. New cosmetics were added, which is great, but most players either can’t or don’t want to do that difficulty level. As a result, a very small portion of the community farms the rewards and sells them for extremely high prices. Pilgrim’s Traverse at least gave casual players five sacks a week if they didn’t want to do Quantum mode, which provided a goal they could work towards without engaging with the Quantum mode.

Casual players have received very little this expansion. And I say this as someone who raids. Rewarding high‑end players is absolutely fine, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of leaving the rest of the player base with almost nothing to work toward.

Cosmic Exploration is essentially leve spam, Occult Crescent is a joke. Forked Tower and Chaotic Cloud of Darkness and Quantum target the same side of the playerbase, and now Variant is shifting in that direction too.

Also, in case this argument get's brought up again: It's not about whether high‑end players enjoyed their content or not. It’s about the overall distribution of goals and rewards across the entire player base. Every type of player pays a subscription, and it would be great to see content and rewards that reflect that.

[Luluna]

I was unsure what you meant until I read your post and that is a shame they have locked the mounts behind the harder version. I go at my own pace and was looking forward to figuring out the paths and maybe work towards something but a face mask is not really what I would want to farm tbh. I love the look of the place and I adore mermaids and anything like that. I am unsure where the mermaid minion is from but I hope to get that and a mount would have been nice.

I also saw the new hairstyle it is nice to see it is not in the shop but why did they not add a lovely long mermaid style

I do not think I will grind all the paths for a mask though.

[Ankhira]

I was unsure what you meant until I read your post and that is a shame they have locked the mounts behind the harder version. I go at my own pace and was looking forward to figuring out the paths and maybe work towards something but a face mask is not really what I would want to farm tbh. I love the look of the place and I adore mermaids and anything like that. I am unsure where the mermaid minion is from but I hope to get that and a mount would have been nice.

I also saw the new hairstyle it is nice to see it is not in the shop but why did they not add a lovely long mermaid style

I do not think I will grind all the paths for a mask though.

The mermaid minion is already on the market board, so I think it can probably just drop from the normal chests So, that's something at least! ^-^

[magitekwitch]

Agree to all the above. A mount was always a nice reward, but a facewear of a sleeping mask? It's extremely lackluster and not worth the effort.

I also have to add that the new Gaius hairstyle is not available to buy with normal potsherds like previous hairstyles on other variants, but it's a currency reward from the new Advance, which is very unfair to casual players who don't want to engage with harder difficulties. Cosmetic rewards like hairstyles are essential for character customization and shouldn't be locked behind high-end content.

[Veritas-Ancora]

No casual mount? That's unfortunate.

Could it maybe be unlocked by the achievement person in Gridania?

[Ankhira]

No casual mount? That's unfortunate.

Could it maybe be unlocked by the achievement person in Gridania?

Sadly not.

[SkellCross]

It's kinda insulting we got mounts for clearing all 12 routes for the last 3 Variant Dungeons, this time we get a piece of Facewear. That would almost be acceptable if it was Merchant's Tale themed. But it's the Chocobo Pyjama's Sleep Mask. It's not a Corvosi Mask, or a Near East themed mask. It's not a mask of any of the dungeon bosses. It's a facewear you could slot into any other content and it would be fine.

[Ankhira]

It's kinda insulting we got mounts for clearing all 12 routes for the last 3 Variant Dungeons, this time we get a piece of Facewear. That would almost be acceptable if it was Merchant's Tale themed. But it's the Chocobo Pyjama's Sleep Mask. It's not a Corvosi Mask, or a Near East themed mask. It's not a mask of any of the dungeon bosses. It's a facewear you could slot into any other content and it would be fine.

Yeah. If it was some thavnairian or desert like face veil I would be way happier as well. This is just not it.

[Absurdity]

I haven't checked it myself yet, but if that is true I have to seriously question if they have completely lost the plot at this point.

What was the thought process behind "Players think the rewards for criterion are bad and they have been asking for actual gear upgrades from sources other than savage. Let's remove one of the cosmetic rewards from normal and just put that in criterion, problem solved."?

Congratulations, you have managed to not only not solve the issue but also piss people off even more in the process.

[hotdamjam]

You're telling me, now anyone can get the elevated ester if they clear the normal mode a handful of times. Its completely regressing rewards structure and making previous Savage Alo Clears irrelevant.

I expect in the future they'll allow M4S clears to get FRU weapons or M12S clears for the upcoming ult eh?

Lodestone listing of elevated ester being exchangable for the new currency from criterion