Are all the alliance raids a continuous storyline itself?

[LitheSuxman]

Just finished catching up the msq to death unto dawn. While we wait for EW launch, I decided to unlock Bozja for leveling purposes. However, I didn't do any alliance raid quests since the crystal tower.

When I look up the requirement to unlock the Bozja quest 'Where Eagle Nests' I found out I need to first unlock 'The Bozja Incident' which it also has a prerequisite questline to finish, from Hail to the queen all the way leading me back to Kugane for the quest 'Dramatis Personae'.

There comes my question, I was expecting it would lead me back to heavensward since my last stop was crystal tower in ARR, are the heavensward's alliance raids stand alone content?

Anyway it seems unlocking bozja is a long way for me. I hope the story is fun!

[LaylaTsarra]

You need to do the Invalice raids: Rabanastre, Ridorana Lighthouse and Orbonne Monastery and have completed the SHB main story.

[Iscah]

All the alliance raids are unrelated to the other alliance raids, but some of them have further content linked to that questline: CT into MSQ and Ivalice into Bozja.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

If I remember correctly, no.

The relation between StB raid series & BSF content is sort of analogous to Crystal Tower raid series & the events of Shadowbringer.

The ‘important NPC’ you’re meeting up exists in the latter, so based on the timeline you won’t even know said NPC in ShB if you never cleared the crystal tower series. It used to be completely optional (‘till 5.3 and beyond) until the story strikes oddly to people who never cleared CT raid but progressing through base ShB.

[LitheSuxman]

It used to be completely optional (‘till 5.3 and beyond) until the story strikes oddly to people who never cleared CT raid but progressing through base ShB.

That makes a lot of sense!

[Listrella]

not exactly, the alliance raids series in each expansion each have their own storyline but there is little connecting the alliance raids in different expansions.

[Iscah]

It used to be completely optional (‘till 5.3 and beyond) until the story strikes oddly to people who never cleared CT raid but progressing through base ShB.

That's not actually the reason it became mandatory, though it certainly is a good thing to avoid that issue.

The earlier parts of Shadowbringers (up to 5.2) are written to make sense whether you have played the Crystal Tower raids or not, but 5.3 is specifically happening after those events so the raids were made mandatory at that point. And since they're really supposed to happen alongside the level 50 MSQ, they're now required to be completed at that point instead of being left to the last possible moment.

[LitheSuxman]

Can I also ask if the relic weapon questlines of each expansion is completely independent. Because I haven't even started it in ARR if there is one, I have no clue. Trying to get a party to run the SB alliance raids and catch up to Bozja, seems I'm years late.

[Listrella]

yes the relic storylines are mostly unrelated, Gerolt shows up in all of them but beyond that there's not much relation between them.

[Jeeqbit]

Each expansion's relics, trials, raids and everything else have a separate story, but there may be slight relations between them such as recurring characters or lore, but it doesn't require doing the previous ones.