Final Fantasy 14, Square Enix’s wildly successful MMORPG, first launched 13 years ago. However, it took another three years for A Realm Reborn to transform it into a game that anyone actually wanted to play, so we celebrate that anniversary instead.
That patch, which reinvented the game from the ground up, hit servers on August 27, 2013. To mark the occasion, The Rising and Moogle Treasure Trove offer new quests and rewards from now until the launch of Patch 6.5, which is expected in early October.
How to get the Rising Phoenix mount
Of the two, The Rising is the most straightforward — and the one you'll absolutely want to make sure you don't miss. It comprises a short but touching quest line and a special seasonal reward that's a first for FFXIV.
This year's prize is the Rising Phoenix "mount," but that word doesn't quite do justice to how cool it is. Rather than riding atop the Rising Phoenix like with most mounts, your character will actually transform into the majestic flying beast. As Square Enix fans may have guessed, the Phoenix is both a reference to Final Fantasy 16 and a tribute to FFXIV symbolically rising from the ashes with A Realm Reborn.
Like other FFXIV seasonal events, the questline for The Rising is simple, just requiring you to speak to a few NPCs and listen to their stories. To start the questline, called “Siblings Rising,” just head to Ul’dah and speak to Kipih Jakkya, located at (X10.1, Y8.7).
She’s easy to miss, as her quest icon looks just like that of any other sidequest, but you’ll notice the background music changes to a much more somber tune when you get close. She’ll send you to find her brother, who was supposed to meet her in Ul’dah, and you’ll need to speak to three nearby NPCs who only have their general locations marked on the map:
- Midlander Rising Attendant - (X10.5, Y8.3)
- Highlander Adventurer - (X10.8, Y9.5), up the steps from Midlander, by the Miqo’te dance troupe.
- Bran - (X10.8, Y10.3), up the path from Highlander, inside the building.
After this point, the quest is as simple as following the markers on your map and speaking to NPCs. The final step will have you meet up with the Wandering Minstrel.
If you’ve taken part in The Rising before, you know what awaits you in the cutscene at the end. Suffice to say you should pay attention even if you normally skip cutscenes, because it’s quite an interesting surprise.
After finishing the quest, you’ll receive your Rising Phoenix Whistle, which you can use to gain the new mount. You’ll get access to the Letter Tree inside the Gold Court. There, you’ll be able to read letters from various citizens of Eorzea — which are in reality short messages from members of the development team, ranging from composers to environment artists. You can also visit Nonora (X10.5, Y8.3) in the Rudy Road Exchange near the Aetheryte Plaza to play Kupo Kupo Adventure, a new mini-game.
Just behind Nonora, up the steps, you’ll find the Rising Vendor, who sells orchestrion rolls and other seasonal rewards during the events. You may also notice she uses the model of someone very familiar from early in the game.
If you’ve hit level 50, you can also speak to Nananji (X8.9, Y9.2), just outside of the Aetheryte Plaza. Completing his short questline (“Remembering the Past” and “Preserving the Future”) will net you the End of an Era Framer’s Kit to spruce up your adventurer plate.
Moogle Treasure Trove rewards
The much more complicated and time-consuming part of the event is the Moogle Treasure Trove. This returning event lets you replay old dungeons to earn special currency called irregular tomestones, which can be traded in for all sorts of fabulous rewards. To celebrate A Realm Reborn’s 10-year anniversary, the rewards inventory is greatly expanded this time around, featuring brand-new items and some fan favorites making their return.
Choosing your rewards is of course a subjective decision, but there are some we’d recommend going for. In general, we also recommend saving your tomestones until the end of the event before purchasing rewards, so that you know how to prioritize them if you don’t have enough to pick up everything. When you’re ready, you can trade tomestones with the Itinerant Moogle who will appear in each capital city.
Event exclusives
You can only get these items from this iteration of the tombstone exchange, so make sure you grab them now if they sound appealing.
- Fat Cat Parasol: 100 tomes
- Ten Year Anniversary Framer’s Kit: 10 tomes
Eureka/Bozja rewards
These items normally require you to explore Eureka and Bozja, two of the most difficult activities in FFXIV. Getting them from this event will save you a lot of pain.
- Modern Aesthetics - Both Ways: 100 tomes
- Samurai Barding: 100 tomes
- Ballroom Etiquette - Insufficient Petticoats: 80 tomes
- Ballroom Etiquette - Pointed Misgivings: 50 tomes
- Tyrannosaur Horn: 50 tomes
The number of activities that reward tomestones has also increased this year. Every alliance raid in FFXIV offers tomestones, along with several 8-player raids and dungeons. That makes raid roulettes a great way to farm tomestones this time around. It also means you can play the newest raid series for its unique gear while racking up tomestones.
Despite only rewarding three tomestones, Asphodelos: The First Circle seems to be a great way to farm, as a well-geared team can clear it in a matter of minutes. Of course, you can also just farm Praetorium if you want to collect tomestones while slowly losing your mind.
