Introduction to Deep Dungeons in FFXIV
Welcome to our guide to Deep Dungeons, a unique instance which changes every time you enter while also utilizing a unique leveling system. This guide aims to explain the mechanics of Deep Dungeon instances as well as provide general tips for attempting to clear the content.
What is a Deep Dungeon?
Palace of the Dead, Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos are ever-changing dungeons whose layouts are different each time the player enters them. All players will begin at a lowest level possible for their chosen dungeon, and only by fighting the enemies within will they be able to gain the strength and experience needed to explore.
What are the differences between Deep Dungeons?
The basis for the three dungeons is very similar: a set of 10 randomised floors that must be completed within the given time limit of an hour, with the final floor containing a boss fight. However, there are some key differences between them.
Below are the key differences between the three:
- Palace of the Dead has 200 floors, while Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos only have 100.
- Runs can begin from two different floorsets, which are different depending on the dungeon:
- Palace of the Dead starts at either floor 1 or floor 51.
- Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos start at either floor 1 or floor 21.
- The level ranges are different depending on the dungeon:
- Palace of the Dead starts at level 1 and caps at level 60.
- Heaven on High starts at level 61 and caps at level 70.
- Eureka Orthos starts at level 81 and caps at level 90
- If starting on the later floors, as mentioned above, your character will start out at the level cap of the chosen dungeon instead.
Alongside the Endwalker patch came a stat squish across the entire game. This affected earlier Deep Dungeons in two major ways:
- Floors 1-50 in Heaven on High are much easier now, while 51-100 remain the same difficulty as before.
- Floors 91-140 in Palace of the Dead are slightly harder now, while 1-90 and 141-200 remain the same as before.
How do I unlock Deep Dungeons?
Palace of the Dead can be unlocked by completing the quest The House That Death Built. After completing the first 50 floors, Heaven on High can be unlock by completing Knocking on Heaven's Door, and Eureka Orthos can be unlocked by completing Delve into Myth, assuming sufficient Main Scenario progress has been made.
Which Deep Dungeon should I start with?
Completing with the first 50 floors of Palace of the Dead is required in order to access Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos. Beyond this, you can start with any Deep Dungeon, as all three have entirely separate storylines and progression. We would recommend starting with Heaven on High or Eureka Orthos as they both have fewer floors, meaning that progression takes less time. It will also be a faster climb to the more challening floors, where you will learn how to manage Pomanders efficiently and how to pick your fights. Much of the knowledge gained in the two later Deep Dungeons can be transferred back to Palace of the Dead without issue.
Aetherpool
Players will be restricted to the use of an Aetherpool Arm and Aetherpool Armour while inside Deep Dungeons. In addition to gaining levels, players must enhance these items as they progress through the dungeon by opening Silver Coffers, up to the cap of +99 for each item.
- Normal gear has no effect on your character's attributes inside of Deep Dungeons.
- Consumables such as food, health potions and tinctures still work as normal.
- Each Deep Dungeon has its own Aetherpool Gear to enhance, and the values are not shared between them.
- Upon clearing a set of 10 floors, the value of your Aetherpool gear will be saved.
Navigating the Floors
A special navigation map will be displayed, which can be used to progress through the rooms on a given floor. When any party member enters a room on the floor, the map will automatically update. The icons for the Cairn of Return and the Cairn of Passage will appear in their location on the map.
- Players can display or hide the map by pressing the M key. This is the same key for the Hold button to lock the map in position.
- The default navigational map will not be displayed in any Deep Dungeon.
Floor Effects
Upon entering a new floor, there is a chance for up to three enchantments to activate. These can be either positive or negative and will last for the entire duration of the floor unless dispelled with a Pomander of Serenity. Stronger negative effects can be particularly dangerous on later floorsets.
Negative Floor Effects
Negative Effects | Icons | Description |
---|---|---|
Auto Heal Disabled | Disables passive HP regeneration for all players, both in and out of combat. As of Patch 6.3, this now affects enemies as well. | |
Blind | Reduces the accuracy of all players. | |
Damage Down | Reduces the damage dealt by all players. | |
Gloom | Fills the floor with Gloom, increasing the damage output and movement speed of all enemies while reducing their damage taken. | |
HP Penalty | Reduces the maximum HP of all players. | |
No Abilities | Prevents the use of any abilities by players. | |
No Item Penalty | Prevents the use of all items from player inventories, including all Pomanders aside from the Pomander of Serenity. | |
No Sprint | Disables Sprint for all players. | |
Knockback Penalty (PoTD/EO Only) | Prevents all knockback and draw-in effects for both allies and enemies. This prevents the Pomander of Rage and Pomander of Dread from one-shotting enemies. | |
No Magicite (HoH Only) | Disables the use of Magicites. | |
No Demiclones (EO Only) | Disables the use of Demiclones |
Positive Floor Effects
There are also a few positive effects that can be activated alongside negative ones, and also count towards the cap of three.
Positive Effects | Icons | Description |
---|---|---|
Haste | Decreases weaponskill recast time, spell recast time, and auto-attack delay for all players. | |
HP/MP Boost | Increases the maximum HP and MP of all players. | |
Sprint (HoH/EO only) | Enables Sprint for all players. |
Traps
As players progress, they will come across traps that will be set off when a player walks within range. These traps are invisible unless a player uses a Pomander of Sight to reveal their locations. If a Pomander of Safety is used, traps are removed from the current floor entirely.
Traps will never appear in the room players spawn in at the start of a floor, and enemies are commonly drawn into corridors between rooms in order to avoid running into a trap while attempting to dodge certain attacks while fighting them. Finally, it is usually safest to move close to walls when travelling through rooms in order to reduce the chance of encoutering a trap.
Aggro types in Deep Dungeons
- Proximity
- When you move close enough to an enemy of this type, it will automatically target you no matter where it’s facing. Note that Mimics have a much larger aggro range than most other proximity mobs, and should be treated with care.
- Sight
- This means that the mob has to see you in order to target you. Sight-based mobs see in a cone in front of them. If in doubt, you can target a mob to reveal their hitbox and show which way they are facing.
- Sound
- This means that the mob will target you if you make too much noise by running near it. You can avoid detection by toggling walk, but these mobs will target you regardless if you come into direct contact with their hitbox.
Treasure Coffers
As the player progresses, they will encounter Coffers in the various rooms of each floor. There are three different types of coffer, those being Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The possible rewards found inside each one are listed below.
Coffer Type | Icons | Rewards |
---|---|---|
Bronze Coffer | These contain items such as Potions or Phoenix Downs. They can also rarely contain Potshers or Fragments, which can be exchanged for rewards such as mounts or special items such as Sustaining Potions. Opening these in a party of 2 or more players will only award the item to one random player . On floors 1-30 of all Deep Dungeons, these can also be Mimics. | |
Silver Coffer | Opening these will often increase the strength of your Aetherpool Arm or Aetherpool Armour, but on later floors this can sometimes fail if your current vlaue is too high. In Heaven on High, they can rarely contain a Magicite, while in Eureka Orthos, they can rarely contain a Demiclone Generator. On floors 31-40 of Palace of the Dead, or 31-60 of Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos, these can also be Mimics. Finally, Silver Coffers have a rare chance to explode upon being opened, dealing 70% maximum HP to all players and mobs around them similar to a Landmine Trap. Unlike a Landmine Trap, this can kill players and mobs. | |
Gold Coffer | These contain Pomanders. Only three of each type of pomander can be carried at a time, so if no more can be carried then the Coffer will not open and a message will be displayed. On floors 41+ of Palace of the Dead, or 61+ of Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos, these can also be Mimics. |
Mimics
Mimics will be identical to Treasure Coffers until a player attempts to open them, at which point they will attack. The main threat from a mimic is an interruptable cast that inflicts the Accursed Pox debuff, preventing natural health regeneration similar to the floor enchantment with the same effect, while also dealing damage over time. The debuff lasts for 10 minutes, persists between deaths, and is uncleansable except by using a Pomander of Purity..
Potsherds/Fragments and Sustaining Potions
A necessity for solo runs and helpful regardless, Sustaining Potions will regenerate your HP for 30 seconds after use. As they have a 15s recast timer, you can keep one running permenantly in cases where one is necessary. They are bought with Gelmorran Potsherds for Palace of the Dead, Empyrean Potsherds for Heaven on High (here named Empyrean Potions), and Orthos Aetherpool Fragments in Eureka Orthos (here named Orthos Potions), where one item can be exchanged for 20 potions at a time.
Potsherds and Fragments can be obtained from Bronze Coffers in their respective Deep Dungeons. Additionally, they have a much greater chance of appearing at floors 101+ in Palace of the Dead, and floors 31+ in Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos. Finally, clearing certain bosses will reward the player with a guarenteed Potsherd or Fragment, these bosses being the floor 50 and 100 bosses in Palace of the Dead, and the floor 30 bosses in Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos.
Pomanders
Pomanders | Icons | Effects |
---|---|---|
Pomander of Safety | Removes all traps on the current floor. | |
Pomander of Sight | Fully reveals the map of the current floor, as well as the location of all traps. | |
Pomander of Strength | Increases the damage and healing of the user by 30% for eight minutes. | |
Pomander of Steel | Decreases the damage taken by the user by 40% for eight minutes. | |
Pomander of Affluence | Increase the amount of Treasure Coffers on the next floor. | |
Pomander of Flight | Halves the number of enemies spawned (and required to open the Cairn of Passage) on the next floor. | |
Pomander of Alteration | Changes all enemies in a random room to either Mimics or Mandragoras on the next floor. Mandragoras die in one hit, and both have high drop rates for Treasure Coffers. | |
Pomander of Purity | Removes the Pox debuff inflicted by Mimics. | |
Pomander of Fortune | Increases the chance that enemies on the current floor drop Treasure Coffers when killed. | |
Pomander of Witching | Turns all enemies within a medium radius into imps, chickens, or toads. They are unable to use actions and deal 60% damage for imps, 30% for chickens, and around 1% for toads. This lasts for 30 seconds and does not trigger aggro. Witched enemies keep the aggro type they had before being transformed. | |
Pomander of Serenity | Removes all floor effects from the current floor (including beneficial ones.) | |
Pomander of Intuition | Reveals the location of the Accursed Hoard on the next floor where one is present (including the current floor). | |
Pomander of Raising | Resurrects a party member that has been KO'd. After a player is raised, the effect will then disappear. When solo, this does not count as a KO against the file during a solo run and does not prevent acquisition of titles for solo clears. Will only drop from floor 51+ in PotD, and can no longer drop from floor 181+ in PotD, or 81+ in HoH and EO. |
There are a few pomanders that are exclusive to certain Deep Dungeons, listed below.
Pomanders | Icons | Palace of the Dead Only |
---|---|---|
Pomander of Rage | Transforms the user into a Manticore for 60 seconds and replaces their action bar with Ripper Claw. Using Ripper Claw kills the target enemy in one hit. This does negligible damage to boss monsters, or if Knockback Penalty is in effect on the current floor. | |
Pomander of Lust | Transforms the user into a Succubus for 60 seconds, replacing their action bar with Void Fire II. This will deal damage to the targeted enemy and all enemies around them after a short cast, as well as inflict a vulnerability stack that increases damage taken by 10% per stack up to a maximum of five stacks. | |
Pomander of Resolution | Transforms the user into Kuribu for 60 seconds, replacing their action bar with Heavenly Judge, a skill that deals damage in an targeted AoE and stuns enemies after a short cast. Deals immense bonus damage to ashkin (undead enemies). Only found past floor 60. |
Pomanders | Icons | Heaven on High Only |
---|---|---|
Pomander of Frailty | Inflicts a weakening debuff on all mobs on the floor for three minutes, increasing the damage they take and decreasing the damage they deal by 30% each. | |
Pomander of Concealment | Shrouds the party, turning them invisible for 60 seconds. This effect is canceled upon taking any direct damage, using any ability except sprint, or using any item. | |
Pomander of Petrification | Petrifies all enemies on the current floor for 30 seconds. Petrified enemies die instantly to any ability that deals damage on impact. Some abilities, such as Combust, do not do instant damage and therefore will not work. | |
Magicite | Silver Coffers will sometimes drop Magicite, of which up to three can be held at a time. Magicites come in four different types: Vortex, Crag, Inferno, and Elder(rare). When used, they grant the entire party invulnerability for ten seconds (Vortex, Crag, Inferno) or fifteen seconds (Elder) and kill all mobs on the floor. The Elder Magicite has the unique trait that it can also one shot any boss monster it’s used on, whereas the standard Magicites deal 20% max HP instead. |
Pomanders | Icons | Eureka Orthos Only |
---|---|---|
Pomander of Lethargy | Inflicts a slowing debuff on all mobs on the floor for ten minutes, significantly increasing their weaponskill recast time, spell recast time, and auto-attack delay. | |
Pomander of Storms | Reduces the HP of all enemies on the floor to 1. Any enemy not in combat will naturally regenerate HP, unless the current floor is under the effect of the Auto-Heal enchantment that prevents this. | |
Pomander of Dread | Transforms the user into a Dreadnaught for 60 seconds and replaces their action bar with Rotosmash and Wrecking Ball. Using Rotosmash kills the target enemy in one hit. This does negligible damage to boss monsters, or if Knockback Penalty is in effect on the current floor. Using Wrecking Ball will deal damage to the targeted enemy and all enemies around them after a short cast, as well as inflict a vulnerability stack that increases damage taken by 10% per stack up to a maximum of five stacks. | |
Demiclone Generators | Silver Coffers will sometimes drop Demiclone Generators, of which three at a time can be held.
Generators come in three different types: Doga, Unei, and Onion Knight(rare). When used, they summon a
companion for the party until they leave the current floor. Only one may be summoned at a time.
|
Save Files and Failing the Duty
Upon defeating the boss of the final floor of a set, progress will be automatically saved, at which point players will be given the choice to either leave the Deep Dungeon for the time being or continue to the next floorset immediately.
- Save data will not be updated in the event that all players log out or lose connection before defeating the boss.
In the event that all players in the instance are KO'd, the duty will be considered failed. This will add 1 to the Party KO count when looking at a file from the entrance NPC. Any file with a KO count above 0 will not be able to enter higher floor sets.If the last player in a party dies while the pomander of resurrection is active, enemies will de-aggro and the player will be revived without a duty fail and without increasing the KO count.
- In the event of a disconnect during a solo run, this will count as a full party KO.
The Accursed Hoard
Whether by accident or through using a Pomander of Intuition, players may come across pieces of the Accursed Hoard within Deep Dungeons. Pieces of the Accursed Hoard spawn randomly in the same way as Traps, with a limit of one per floor, and can be unearthed by standing on their location for a few seconds. Upon exiting a set of floors successfully, any pieces of the Accursed Hoard found will be converted into sacks that can be exchanged for a chance at rare loot. The sacks and their drop tables vary based on the floor set and which Deep Dungeon they were found in.
Palace of the Dead | |
---|---|
Bronze-trimmed Sack | Floors 1-50 |
Iron-trimmed Sack | Floors 51-100 |
Silver-trimmed Sack | Floors 101-150 |
Gold-trimmed Sack | Floors 151-200 - Night Pegasus Whistle |
Heaven on High | |
---|---|
Silver-haloed Sack | Floors 1-30 |
Gold-haloed Sack | Floors 31-70 |
Platinum-haloed Sack | Floors 71-100 - Dodo Horn |
Eureka Orthos | |
---|---|
Bronze-tinged Sack | Floors 1-30 |
Silver-tinged Sack | Floors 31-70 |
Gold-tinged Sack | Floors 71-100 - Orthos Craklaw Horn |
Changelog
- 22 Apr. 2024: Page updated.
- 08 Nov. 2022: Guide added.
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Stella is a long-time FFXIV player who started in 2018, and has become a Mentor for The Balance in the years since. She enjoys large-scale content such as Eureka and Save the Queen areas and raids, and can be found on Twitter, Youtube and Twitch, as well as Discord (EshEhdAfah). After several previous tiers of raiding casually, she has cleared Anabaseios Savage week 1, completed four out of five Ultimate raids, and taken to challenging herself by using unorthodox, high-speed builds for certain jobs in older ultimates in Party Finder.
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