Final Fantasy 14 players spend hundreds of hours completing the main story alone, but the game has much more to offer. While some side content is more widely popular, such as raids, other activities available in game might be more difficult to find or to understand if players don’t know where to look.
This can be the case with the deep dungeons available or field operations such as The Forbidden Land, Eureka. Similarly, players might be unaware of the possibility of participating in treasure hunts, even though this can be a fun activity that wields many interesting rewards, including minions, orchestrion rolls, and unique housing items. Interested? Then here is everything you need to know to put your treasure maps to good use in Final Fantasy 14!
Related
Final Fantasy 14: Ishgardian Restoration Guide
Earn exclusive rewards while leveling your crafters and gatherers with the Ishgard Restoration!
How To Unlock Treasure Hunt In FF14
In FF14, Treasure Hunt is an activity that works much as its name indicates: players who acquire treasure maps can decipher them to discover a treasure’s location, where they’ll have to battle one or more monsters to receive their reward.
To unlock this content, pick up the level 36 quest “Treasures and Tribulations” with H’loonh (X: 21.1 Y: 21.1) in Eastern La Noscea. Go to Raincatcher Gully to speak to the Diligent Digger (X: 20.1 Y: 25.0), then head to Camp Bronze Lake in Upper La Noscea to interact with Ealdwine (X: 33.9 Y: 24.7). He will ask you to open a casket and deal with the monsters that will spawn, then investigate the casket to find the treasure. Interact with Ealdwine again to hand over what you found and finish the quest, unlocking the actions Decipher and Dig, which are necessary to Treasure Hunt on your own.
How Treasure Hunts Work In FF14
Once the Decipher and Dig actions are unlocked as explained above, it’ll be necessary to obtain treasure maps. They can be found by gatherer jobs, the Disciples of the Land (Miner, Botanist, or Fisher), at gathering points level 40 and above, or bought at the Market Board, as seen in the image above. There are several types of Timeworn Maps from level 40 to 90, and the highest level maps can also be acquired as a reward for collecting 9 seals in Wondrous Tails if the player has at least one max level job. Some maps can be completed solo, but most require a party of eight players, and all Special Event Zones that can spawn from them will sync the player’s level to the instance. Because of that, it’s advised that players use the Party Finder to complete Treasure Hunts.
The higher the gathering node’s level, the better the rewards will be – but the encounters will also be more difficult. Note that you won’t
find maps in guildleve
and unspoiled gathering points, and that you can only find one map per day.
There is no restriction to how many maps you can
buy
per day, but remember that players can only carry up to three maps at a time: one unopened map in their inventory,
one in their chocobo saddlebag
, and one opened map as a Key Item.
After acquiring a map, it’s necessary to use the Decipher action to examine it. This will turn the map into a Key Item, and using it will show the player the general area where the treasure is located. In the example below, using the map revealed the map on the small square to the left, which indicated an area of Ultima Thule. Opening the area’s map, it was possible to identify the area by comparing the images.
After figuring out the precise location where the treasure will be, then use the Dig action for the chest to spawn. Interacting with the chest will lure one or more enemies to the location (marked with chest icons), and those must be defeated before time runs out, otherwise the treasure will disappear. Once the player interacts with the chest, the map will be lost. Leaving the area will also make the treasure disappear and cause all progress to be lost.
Related
How to Get All Veteran Rewards in Final Fantasy 14
Legacy items may have been retired from the Veteran Rewards system, but that doesn’t mean they’re gone from the game.
After the enemies are defeated, all players have to do is interact with the treasure to receive their reward. Other than receiving gil and potentially a number of Allagan Tomestones and EXP, players can also get aetherical gear, crafting ingredients, medicine, housing items, minions, and even Unhidden Maps, a different type of treasure map with rarer rewards. Various achievements can be completed through treasure hunts, some of which will unlock player titles.
Treasure Map Special Event Zones
Some Timeworn Maps can spawn portals after the treasure’s reward is collected. These portals will take the players to instances similar to dungeons, in which it’ll be necessary to face more enemies for greater rewards. As noted before, these instances are level synced, so it is recommended to complete them in groups of eight players (though some can be successful in completing them with smaller parties with only three players). The maps that can be completed solo can’t spawn portals.
- Timeworn Dragonskin Map (level 60) can spawn The Aquapolis (item level 180)
- Timeworn Gazelleskin Map (level 70) can spawn The Lost Canals of Uznair (item level 370) or The Shifting Altars of Uznair (item level 370) Treasure chests in the Lost Canals or the Shifting Altars can yield a Timeworn Thief’s Map, which reveals a new location on the map, leading players to The Hidden Canals of Uznair (item level 370)
- Timeworn Zonureskin Map (level 80) can spawn The Dungeons of Lyhe Ghiah (item level 505) or The Shifting Oubliettes of Lyhe Ghiah (item level 505)
- Timeworn Kumbhiraskin Map (level 90) can spawn The Excitatron 6000
- Timeworn Ophiotauroskin Map (level 90) can spawn The Shifting Gymnasion Agonon
In most of those, players will have to choose a door after clearing the first room and getting the treasure chest there. Choosing the right door will allow them to move forward, facing other enemies and collecting more rewards. The more the players advance, the better the treasure will be. Choosing the wrong door or the party being defeated will result in the players being kicked out of the dungeon.
Related
All Playable Races in Final Fantasy 14
Which race to play is a crucial choice in Final Fantasy 14, so players can use this guide to discover the race that is best for them.
The Shifting Altars of Uznair and The Shifting Gymnasion Agonon work differently. Instead of choosing the doors, players can use a roulette wheel to determine the encounter they’ll have to face:
- Blue summons an easy group of enemies
- Green summons a harder group of enemies
- Red summons a mini-boss
- Purple summons an Atomos (Uznair)/Kalypso (Agonon) and kicks players out of the instance
- Gold summons a mini-boss and shifts the circles’ positions
- Silver summons a Matanga Prince (Uznair)/Ephemeral Observer (Agonon) that rewards players with rare minions and gil
While facing enemies in any of these special dungeons, there is a chance one or more additional monsters will spawn. They will also drop rewards, and when they appear marked with numbers, defeating them in order will give players even greater rewards. Additionally, Lyhe Ghiah has a special system called The Gambler’s Lure, which allows the map owner to play a minigame after opening a chest. The player will be presented with two cards, one with a visible number and one concealed, and they have to guess whether the hidden number is lower or higher than the visible one. If they guess right, the reward is doubled, but if they choose wrong, they lose all rewards.
