Treasure Hunt Guide for FFXIV
The Treasure Hunt is an in-game activity where players can acquire treasure maps, decipher them, and find hidden treasure coffers in the overworld! Here, you will learn about the mechanics of treasure maps, hidden portals, and the rewards from treasure hunting.
Treasure Maps
X marks the spot! Treasure Hunts are a great way to receive currency and rare materials for unique glamours. This process involves acquiring Treasure Maps, deciphering them, and heading to the indicated location to find treasure! Treasure Hunts are a great social activity to participate in, and the rewards often fetch a high price on the Marketboard. They are colloquially referred to as treasure maps in the community.
Overview
How to Unlock Treasure Hunts
To unlock Treasure Hunts, players must complete the quest "Treasures and Tribulations" by talking to H'loonh in Eastern La Noscea (x21, y21). This quest requires the player to be at least level 36 in a Disciple of War or Magic. After completing this quest, players will unlock the Decipher and Dig actions, both of which are available in the General tab of your Actions and Traits menu.
How to Acquire Treasure Maps
Treasure maps are required to participate in Treasure Hunts. Maps can be purchased on the Marketboard or gathered by Disciple of Land classes. There is an 18-hour cooldown after gathering a treasure map with any DoL class, and you can view this timer from the Timers tab. As treasure maps are unique, players can only hold one of each type in their inventory, but they can also be held on retainers, in the Saddlebag, or as a deciphered map in the Key Items & Crystals tab.
Types of Treasure Maps
There are fourteen tiers of treasure maps, each with increasing level and different rewards.
- Timeworn Leather Map is gathered from level 40 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Goatskin Map is gathered from level 45 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Toadskin Map is gathered from level 50 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Boarskin Map is gathered from level 50 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Peisteskin Map is gathered from level 50 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Archaeoskin Map is gathered from level 55 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Wyvernskin Map is gathered from level 60 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Dragonskin Map is gathered from level 60 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Gaganaskin Map is gathered from level 70 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Gazelleskin Map is gathered from level 70 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Gliderskin Map is gathered from level 80 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Zonureskin Map is gathered from level 80 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Almastyskin Map is gathered from level 85 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Saigaskin Map is gathered from level 90 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Kumbhiraskin Map is gathered from level 90 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Ophiotauroskin Map is gathered from level 90 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Loboskin Map is gathered from level 95 nodes or fishing holes.
- Timeworn Br'aaxskin Map is gathered from level 100 nodes or fishing holes.
Additionally, there are a few special maps that are received as rewards from other treasure maps or places.
- Unhidden Leather Map can drop from Goatskin, Boarskin, Peisteskin, Archaeoskin, Wyvernskin, or Dragonskin maps.
- Timeworn Thief's Map can drop from the Lost Canals of Uznair or the Shifting Altars of Uznair. These are both special portals.
- Ostensibly Special Timeworn Map is a reward from the Moogle Treasure Trove event.
Completing a Treasure Hunt
You can do Treasure Hunts solo or with a party. All party members must be on the same overworld zone. There are five steps for completing a Treasure Hunt.
- Acquire the treasure map. Each map has a different difficulty and rewards.
- Decipher the treasure map. This will give you a small map that marks the location of the map. You can use third-party websites to find locations such as Heavenswhere or find them yourself.
- Head to where the treasure map is located and use the Dig action. This is found in the General tab of your Actions & Traits menu. You can also type '/ac Dig' into the chat.
- Using Dig will reveal a hidden treasure chest. You have five minutes to open the chest. Once you interact with the chest, you must defeat the monsters that appear. These mobs can be easy or difficult based on the map, and there is a time limit to defeat them.
- Once you defeat all the monsters, the player that the treasure map originally belonged to can open the treasure chest for rewards!
Additionally, certain chests will have the chance for a portal to appear, bringing you and your party into a special instance that offers further rewards!
Special Portals
Upon completing certain treasure maps, there is a chance for a portal to appear. Upon interacting with the portal, the party will be taken into an instance based on the type of map. It is highly recommended to have at least a light party to challenge these instances to ensure you do not time out.
- Timeworn Zonureskin Map portals will take the player and their party into The Aquapolis. The item level sync is 180.
- Timeworn Gazelleskin Map portals will take the player and their party into either The Shifting Altars of Uznair or The Lost Canals of Uznair. The item level sync is 370.
- Timeworn Thief's Map portals always appear and will take players into The Hidden Canals of Uznair. The item level sync is 370.
- Timeworn Zonureskin Map portals will take the player and their party into either The Dungeons of Lyhe Ghiah or The Shifting Oubliettes of Lyhe Ghiah. The item level sync is 505.
- Timeworn Kumbhiraskin Map portals will take the player and their party into The Excitatron 6000.
- Timeworn Ophiotauroskin Map portals will take the player and their party into The Shifting Gymnasion Agonon.
There are two different types of portals, each with its unique system: Dungeons and Shifting Dungeons. It is random which type of dungeon is selected.
Dungeons
Dungeons are a series of rooms with a treasure chest. This treasure chest operates the same way as the ones from regular treasure maps - they will spawn monsters when interacted with, and once all the monsters are defeated, the player that the portal belongs to can open it for a reward.
Afterwards is the fun part - the map owner will have to choose one of two doors (or in the case of the Hidden Canals of Uznair, three doors) to progress through the dungeon. If the player picks the correct door, they can continue, but if they pick the wrong door, they will be kicked out of the dungeon! Treasure hunters will need all their luck to delve deeper. Rewards are given on a floor-by-floor basis, so you will never lose loot you have already acquired. There are seven total floors, and completing the final floor will grant the greatest rewards.
The Aquapolis, The Lost Canals of Uznair, The Hidden Canals of Uznair, and The Dungeons of Lyhe Ghiah, and The Excitatron 6000 are portal dungeons.
Shifting Dungeons
The Shifting Dungeon works on a similar premise to normal portal dungeons. The map owner must perform an invocation which spins the roulette, of which the outcome determines the floor. If you land on a normal circle, a boss monster is summoned based on the circle! If you land on the Atomos circle, however, you will be sucked out of the dungeon (although this is not always the case)! There are five total invocations, and completing the final invocation will grant the greatest rewards.
Once the boss monster and its adds (if any) are successfully defeated, the map owner can open treasure chests to receive their rewards!
Random Mob Appearances
While monsters are engaged, there is a chance for special monsters to spawn! These are relatively easy monsters and can be a singular boss monster or a group of adds. Defeating these monsters will drop a treasure chest! Certain mobs are marked in order - if they are killed in order, they will drop a promising treasure chest with greater rewards!
The Gambler's Lure
The Gambler's Lure is a system that only appears in Lyhe Ghiah. Upon opening the floor's treasure chest, there is a chance that the map owner will be able to play a mini-game with the rewards from that floor on the line. The player will be shown two cards: one with a number and one with the number hidden. The player must then guess whether the hidden card has a higher or lower number than the card shown! If they are successful, the reward is increased by 100%. This can be done up to five times, but if the player is unsuccessful, they lose all rewards!
Rewards from Treasure Hunting
Completing any treasure map will deposit random mob drops, crafting materials, crystals, gil, and tomestones in the player's inventory. If the player is in a party, certain rare items will be put up to a Need or Greed roll, and all players will have a chance to have the random items deposited in their inventory. Gil and tomestone rewards are not shared.
Inside a portal dungeon, rewards work the same - drops will be randomly placed in players' inventories, all players will receive gil and tomestones, and rarer items will be put up to a Need or Greed roll.
The reward table from treasure maps often changes from patch to patch to encourage participation. However, treasure maps are usually always the best way to acquire crafting materials for the newest glamour. These materials are highly in demand, making treasure maps a great way to make gil!
Changelog
- 25 Jun. 2023: Updated for Dawntrail.
- 02 Mar. 2023: Updated to add tags.
- 10 Jan. 2022: Updated to reflect Patch 6.3 adjustments.
- 03 Dec. 2021: Edited to reflect Patch 6.0 adjustments.
- 30 Nov. 2021: Guide added.
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This guide has been written by Lyra an accomplished raider in FFXIV and has written raid guides for the game for the past five years. You can follow him on Twitter and he streams raids on Twitch.
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