FFXIV: Dawntrail’s field operation is the Occult Crescent, a huge piece of content that dropped in patch 7.25 and should keep you busy for a while. This content is somewhat tied to the Dawntrail relic weapon (though you’ll be able to complete the weapon without necessarily partaking in the field op), and serves as a great way to kill time while also running some pretty exciting content.
Below we explain where to unlock the Occult Crescent in FFXIV and cover details about what the Occult Crescent even is.
How to unlock the Occult Crescent in FFXIV
To unlock the Occult Crescent, you’ll need to have at least one combat job at level 100 and have completed the main portion of the Dawntrail expansion. (Y’know, the main story quest that is literally called “Dawntrail.”)
Once that’s situated, you’ll just need to start the quest “One Last Hurrah” from the Expedition Messenger in Tuliyollal:
Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Square Enix
Follow this quest line to unlock access to the Occult Crescent.
What is the Occult Crescent?
The Occult Crescent is the field operation for the Dawntrail expansion. This is separate, instanced content that plunges you onto a huge map with a bunch of mechanics specific to this area.
In the Occult Crescent maps, you’ll level your “knowledge” rather than your actual job level, and the enemies around the map will deal and take damage based on that knowledge level. If you get attacked by a level 20 monster when you’re only at knowledge level one, be prepared to die.
The Occult Crescent shares a lot of quirks with its predecessors, like Eureka or Bozja:
- You lose knowledge EXP (and potentially levels) when you die and then choose to revive back at base (but you don’t lose any when you get raised by another player).
- You cannot fly around the map, but you can ride your mount.
- Special “critical encounters” spawn around the map, locking you into tough and chaotic battles against a big enemy or unique pack of enemies.
- Just like bunnies in Eureka, you can help Magic Pots in specific FATEs to be led to treasure.
Specific to the Occult Crescent, there are Phantom Jobs, which are like… mini-jobs you can take on to give you extra skills to help out. Some are unlocked right away, like Phantom Bard or Phantom Knight, but some require you to buy them from the local shop or get a specific drop from a critical encounter.
After finding some survey points, completing some quests, and hitting knowledge rank 20, you’ll be able to participate in “The Forked Tower,” a 48-person dungeon for unique rewards.
So, yep. Your main goal here is to run around, completing FATEs and critical encounters to gain knowledge EXP and rank up. You’ll also amass currency along the way that you can use for special rewards.
Starting tips for conquering the Occult Crescent
If this is your first time stepping foot into a field operation, it can be a lot. Here are some tips to help you out:
- Unlike in previous field operations, you can freely unlock aethernet teleport points, with no need to worry about progression or level. You’ll want to reveal the map and unlock these ASAP so you can quickly jump into critical encounters.
- To participate in critical encounters, you’ll need to head over to the area labeled with the blue FATE icon and wait in the huge circle or square on the ground. If you don’t make it there by the time the encounter starts, you will not be able to participate.
- You can go it alone, but partying up is much better. A simple “lfg” in shout chat should net you an invite. If no invite comes, you may need to start collecting your own straggler players to make a party of your own.
- If you’re low level, stay out of the vision of those high-leveled baddies to avoid death. When in doubt, walk behind them and hug walls to stay out of their way.
- With those two above points being made, if you do die, sending a request for a revive alongside a “<pos>” in shout chat will tell players your location so that they can help you. Choosing to revive back at base will lose you EXP and possibly levels, so try not to do that too much.
- Don’t forget to use your Phantom Job skills. It can be easy to get too locked in to a critical encounter, but don’t forget that you have some useful exclusive tools at your disposal.
- Don’t get discouraged by your rampant deaths in critical encounters. These fights are chaotic and involve a lot of pattern recognition and memorization. It takes a bit to learn and you’ll get there!
- Open those chests! You may see just chillin’ chests on the floor. While a lot of them will give you weird junk, some of them have valuables like mounts, minions, and glamour inside.
- Consider buying the riding map first and the other stuff after. Getting to zoom around the map at a faster speed will help the grind a lot. You can buy the map from the “Expedition Antiquarian” NPC at the base camp for 3,000 silver pieces.
- Once you level up enough Phantom Jobs, you can use their buffing skills and then swap jobs while retaining the buffs. This makes Phantom Bard a pretty nice job to level early, as it can grant you an Phantom Job EXP buff.
That said, this whole thing is a learning experience — everyone alongside you is also figuring stuff out, us included.
