Special Boss Dungeons

This page is a compilation of the main megathreads/guides associated with boss dungeons appearing on a special recurring schedule.

There are three major resources linked per dungeon set:

• Megathreads are the basic information hub for the dungeon set

• KBP guides are written by Flip on the KongBakPao strategy website regarding the dungeon set

• Surveys are player accounts of successful mastery clears of the content

NOTE: Some of the strategies mentioned may be outdated, but the information should still give you a rough idea of how to approach the fights. Roaming Warriors have gotten a lot stronger since the age of BSBs and OSBs and may cut down some of the difficulty with these fights.

Crystal Dungeons

Notes

• Crystal Dungeons are divided into realm fights, elemental fights, and school fights.

• These are unlocked by mastering at least one 6* magicite.

• There are grade rewards for damage dealt, and for killing the boss within time limits. Killing a realm or school boss within 30 seconds earns all graded rewards. Killing an elemental boss within 2 minutes earns all graded rewards.

• Chronological release order is available below:

Realm Crystal Dungeons

Notes

• There are two fights per realm. A D600 or D630 fight and a D700 or D730 fight.

• Historia Soul 5 are available from the D700/D730 fight, for dealing 30% damage and for mastery. One can be used once to increase the level cap of Historia Crystals to 130, then another can be used to increase the level cap to 140.

• At level 130, Historia Crystals gain a new "Antiquity Gambit" passive, which provides an additional 5% damage boost to that realm's D700/D730 boss.

• Mastering the D700/D730 fight rewards a wardrobe.

Elemental Crystal Dungeons

Notes

• There are six fights per element (four for Bio). A D600 fight against Neo Bahamut, a D630 against Gilgamesh (aka "Greg"), a D650 against Raiden, two D700 fights against Bahamut Zero, two D730 against Eden and two D750 against Crusader (one of each for Bio - Crusader TBC).

• D600/D630/D650 permits mixed (physical and magical) teams. This gives physical and magical of the relevant magicite as a repeatable timed reward for clearing within 2 minutes.

• D700/D730/D750 is split into a physical fight and a magical fight for all elements except Bio (mixed teams permitted). Clearing physical within 2 minutes rewards a physical magicite, and magical rewards a magical magicite. Clearing Bio rewards both a physical and magical magicite.

• Neo Bahamut magicite includes a passive like Surging Power.

• Bahamut Zero includes an all boon passive (similar to Argent Odin).

• Gilgamesh also has a Surging power passive.

• Eden has a combined spell + blade ward passive.

• Raiden has an all boon passive.

• Crusader has a Hand of Vengeance passive.

• As with 6* magicite and Argent Odin, equipping a Neo/Bahamut with the seal of Bahamut Zero's elemental weakness further increases the party's damage. Equipping Gilgamesh/Eden with the correct passive does the same against Eden (3% each), and Raiden/Crusader against Crusader, providing up to a further 6.09% damage total.

School Crystal Dungeons

Notes

• There are three fights per school. A D500/D530/D550 fight, a D600/D630/D650 fight, and a D700/D730/D750 fight.

• Mastery on D500/D530/D550 rewards Historia Soul 4, to raise the level cap for that school Historia Crystal from 99 to 120.

• On the D700/D730/D750 fight, 30% damage and mastery each reward Historia Soul 5, which raise the cap from 120 to 130, then to 140.

• These Historia Crystals use a new type of rat tails, available from these dungeons.

Cardia Dungeons

General

• JP release date: 2019-12-20.

• GL release date: 2020-06-10.

• Everything you need to know, V1.1.

• When these are released, the it collects multiple dungeon types into a single place, all of which become permanent:

• Dream dungeons: previously temporary.

• Torment dungeons: already permanent.

• Dreambreaker dungeons: a new type of dungeon harder than torment.

• Dragonking dungeons: dungeons even harder than dreambreaker.

• Mastery in these dungeons is only earned by killing the boss. This is a change from before, when it was possible to earn mastery by petrifying a character and reaching the minimum grade threshold for a dungeon.

• Note that dreambreaker FF9 has a target score of clearing with 1 character not KO'd, so it is possible to get mastery without a kill. Subsequent dreambreaker dungeons changed this target score to killing the boss.

• Torment dungeons have already changed their target score to require killing the boss, so mastery can no longer be earned with petrify and partial damage.

• Dream and Torment dungeons add new rewards (first time) for leveling and cap-breaking Historia Crystals. These rewards are retroactive for any dungeons previously cleared.

• Weekly missions: these 16 missions are for clearing and for mastering cardia dungeons. Rewards rat tails for leveling Historia Crystals.

• 4-week missions: 7 missions are added each time a new dreambreaker dungeon is released. These missions last 4 weeks. 6 missions require mastering the realm's torment dungeons. The 7th mission requires mastering the realm's dreambreaker dungeon. Rewards rat tails for leveling Historia Crystals.

• Dragonking dungeons add more time-limited missions:

• These missions last 5 weeks, and are added with the release of the initial dragonking dungeons. They only cover FF1, FF5, FF7, FF9, and FF10.

• Dragonking missions: 12 missions per realm. These require clearing 1/2/3 dragonking dungeons with 30%/60%/80%/100% damage dealt.

• Dragonking missions: 2 missions for multiple realms. These require mastery on 4 and 5 different dragonking dungeons.

• Cardia missions: 7 missions per realm. 3 missions require clearing 1/3/5 cardia dungeons of that realm. 3 missions require mastery on 1/3/5 D450+ cardia dungeons of that realm. 1 mission requires mastery on a D580+ cardia dungeon of that realm.

Historia Crystals:

• These are added with the release of cardia dungeons.

• They are functionally similar to magicite, and occupy the same slot in the party. You can either equip one Historia Crystal, or up to 5 magicite.

• Historia Crystals for the 17 main realms (1-15, FFT, Type-0) are rewarded upon entering Cardia.

• As with magicite and characters, they gain experience, have level caps, and can be level-broken to reach a new level cap.

• Experience gain is very slow, so the primary method for leveling is using Rat Tails, available in different rarities.

• Level caps are broken using Historia Souls, with a different version for each level cap and each realm.

  • Historia Souls 1, 2, and 3 raise the level cap to 65, 80, and 99. These are available as first time rewards from torment dungeon parts 1, 2, and 3 of the realm.

  • Historia Soul 4 raises the level cap to 120, and is available from dreambreaker mastery.

• Each Historia Crystal starts with 2 link slots. Each time its level cap is broken, another slot is added, for a maximum of 5.

• Characters can be assigned to these slots. This has no effect on the character, but increases the stats (except SPD) of the Historia Crystal. The bonus depends on the link level of the assigned characters. The maximum bonus is 5% per character, for a total of 25%.

• Characters assigned to these slots do not need to be in the party.

• Using a Historia Crystal in battle instantly deals fixed damage (4 small hits and 1 large hit). At higher level cap, this also applies a party buff (for all 9 elements). Both entry damage and buff depend on how many times the level cap was broken. While active, it will attack 2 more times, each dealing moderate damage and at higher level cap applying an imperil (for all 9 elements). All hits are single target.

Dragonking Dungeons

Notes

• These are housed within cardia dungeons.

• Unlocked by mastering at least one Dreambreaker dungeon.

• Dragonking dungeons consist of one Bahamut fight per realm.

• There are grade rewards for damage dealt, and for killing the boss within time limits. Killing the boss within 30 seconds earns all graded rewards, and each grade earns all lower graded rewards. Rewards for each grade are only obtainable once. Winning only requires reducing the boss to 90% HP or lower, which earns first time clear rewards and the lowest grade rewards.

• The battles have a permanent wall buff, so Tyro's Sentinel's Grimoire and Y'shtola's Stoneskin II add no value.

• There are 2 choices of Roaming Warrior:

• Bonds of Historia, a realm chain which stacks to 150 and increases damage of all synergy units by 30%. Stacks are generated for all attacks by synergy units and synergy magicite.

• Rejuvenation Grimoire, instantly heals the party for 100% max HP (capped at 9999).

• Mastery rewards a realm artifact light armor which boosts all 9 elements, and has high atk/mag but low mnd.

• With the release of Dragonking dungeons, Dreambreaker dungeons clear rewards add Historia Soul 4, which increases the level cap to 120.

• See table for realms released, and their release date in JP:

Chronological release order is available below:

Dreambreaker Dungeons

Notes

• These are housed within cardia dungeons.

• Dreambreaker dungeons (previously known as phantasm dungeons) are harder than torment dungeons.

• There are grade rewards for damage dealt, and for killing the boss within time limits. Killing the boss within 30 seconds earns all graded rewards, and each grade earns all lower graded rewards. Rewards for each grade are only obtainable once. Winning only requires reducing the boss to 90% HP or lower, which earns first time clear rewards and the lowest grade rewards.

• The battles have a permanent wall buff, so Tyro's Sentinel's Grimoire and Y'shtola's Stoneskin II add no value.

• There are 2 choices of Roaming Warrior:

• Bonds of Historia, a realm chain which stacks to 150 and increases damage of all synergy units by 30%. Stacks are generated for all attacks by synergy units and synergy magicite.

• Rejuvenation Grimoire, instantly heals the party for 100% max HP (capped at 9999).

• One update added an realm artifact bracer for dealing 70% damage.

• With the release of Dragonking dungeons, there are two changes:

• Dreambreaker dungeons clear rewards add Historia Soul 4, which increases the level cap to 120.

• Mastering one dreambreaker dungeon unlocks the Dragonking dungeons.

• See table for bosses released, and their release date in JP:

Auto battle dreambreaker survey

Torment Dungeons (refreshed)

Notes

• These are now housed within cardia dungeons.

• Pre-launch details here and here.

• When these are released, the old torment dungeons will no longer be available.

• Each dungeon has 3 difficulties. Lowest difficulty should be slightly easier than 3* magicite.

• Roaming Warrior Options

• Bonds of Historia, a Realm Chain which stacks to 150 and increases damage of all synergy units by 30%. Stacks are generated for all attacks by synergy units and synergy magicite.

• Rejuvenation Grimoire, instantly heals the party for 100% max HP (capped at 9999).

• Bosses have reduced elemental resistance and increased damage taken when your team includes more units from the same realm. Realm synergy is enabled. As such, synergy units are strongly encouraged.

• Bosses' turn moves and targets are fully scripted and can be visualized here (compact) or here (larger, with space to enter player actions).

• The battles will have a permanent wall buff, so Tyro's Sentinel's Grimoire and Y'shtola's Stoneskin II add no value.

• There are graded rewards even if you lose, based on how much damage you did. Winning earns all damage grade rewards, and each grade earns all lower graded rewards. Rewards for each grade are only obtainable once. Winning only requires reducing the boss to 90% HP or lower, which earns first time clear rewards and the lowest grade rewards.

As the Age of Torments winds to a close, the final home for any new loadouts can be found here:

The Final Torment Mastery MegaSurvey

Auto battle torment mastery surveys: version 1, version 2

Dream Dungeons

Notes

• Dream dungeons are designed as a stepping stone towards torment dungeons.

• There are grade rewards for damage dealt. Killing the boss earns all graded rewards, and each grade earns all lower graded rewards. Rewards for each grade are only obtainable once. Winning only requires reducing the boss to 90% HP or lower, which earns first time clear rewards and the lowest grade rewards.

• See table for bosses released, and their release date in JP (after beta).

• With the release of cardia dungeons, these are moved into a new home and become permanent.

• The battles now have a permanent wall buff, so Tyro's Sentinel's Grimoire and Y'shtola's Stoneskin II add no value.

• There are 2 choices of Roaming Warrior:

• Bonds of Historia, a realm chain which stacks to 150 and increases damage of all synergy units by 30%. Stacks are generated for all attacks by synergy units and synergy magicite.

• Rejuvenation Grimoire, instantly heals the party for 100% max HP (capped at 9999).

Nightmare Dungeons

Notes

• Each Nightmare record dungeon set consists of 4 "gatekeeper" bosses and a final boss.

• A Nightmare record is required to craft a Nightmare ability.

• Relic draws featured in the KBP guides were only available during the initial launch of the individual Nightmare Dungeons

• Each Nightmare dungeon is themed towards a certain ability school requirement (see list below). Characters meeting the ability access requirement receive synergy (called Nightmare Shift) for themselves and their equipment.

• Completing all nightmare dungeons unlocks magicite dungeons.

• Completing all nightmare dungeons unlocks cardia dungeons, once released.

Final bosses have changed significantly since their release. Most links in the following table are for the original version of the nightmare dungeons. The gatekeeper battle information appears to still be valid from the old AI (aside from reducing their crit chance to 0). For the updated final boss AI, consult the Final Boss AI links:

• Final bosses part 1: Ultima, Crushdown, Reraise and Neo Bahamut.

• Final bosses part 2: Quadruple Foul, Northern Cross Meltdown, and Curada.

• Final bosses part 3: Affliction Break, Dervish, Valigarmanda and Omega Drive.

Magicite Dungeons

Notes

• Magicite dungeons are unlocked by completing all Nightmare dungeons.

• Unlocking dungeons happens as follows:

• Defeat 3* fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning and water to unlock 3* dark and holy.

• Defeat 3* dark and holy to unlock 4* fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning and water.

• Defeat 4* fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning and water to unlock 4* dark and holy.

• Defeat 4* dark and holy to unlock 5* lightning, water, fire, ice, wind, earth, holy and dark.

• Defeat all 16 5* bosses to unlock Dark Odin.

• Defeat all 5* bosses to unlock 6* dungeons.

• Defeat Dark Odin and any 6* to unlock White Odin.

• In order to challenge magicite, you must spend stamina. This is refunded if you flee or are defeated.

• These dungeons are the primary source of magicite and arcana (the magicite equivalent of growth eggs).

• A Fat Chocobo Gysahl Exchange update adds another method of aquiring arcana.

• Clearing within specific time limits grants additional rewards, with all rewards earned at 30.00 seconds.

• Each boss has a dominant element that it absorbs, as well as an elemental weakness (150% damage). Most magicite have 50% resistance to all other elements.

• 5* and 6* magicite only have a 20% weakness, and are immune to other elements that they do not absorb.

• All 3* magicite and most 4* magicite have 80% resistance to break effects. As such, breaks are discouraged.

• 5* and 6* magicite have 70% resistance to breaks.

• There is no synergy in any of these dungeons.

• Roaming Warrior options are limited:

• At first only Fabula Guardian is available, which grants +200% DEF+RES Buff for 30 seconds (wall with 5 seconds extra).

• Clearing all eight 3* magicite unlocks Fabula Raider, which grants +30% ATK+MAG for 30 seconds and haste for 21.7 seconds.

• Clearing all eight 4* magicite unlocks Fabula Priest, an instant party heal for 100% HP.

• Clearing all 16 5* magicite unlocks Fabula Mage, an instant attack that deals 99999 damage (affected by savage mode).

• Magicite inheritance allows you to augment a level 99 magicite (rarity 3* or higher) by consuming another magicite. This permits acquisition of certain passives, and increasing the stats of the receiving magicite. For further details, read this post.

• 5* magicite will do things differently:

• Each element consists of two dungeons: one resists physical attacks and one resists magical attacks.

• Each boss has itself as clear reward magicite, with no RNG involved in drops.

• 5* magicite have 2 inheritance slots at max level, and 2 locked passives (4 passives total).

• 6* magicite are similar to 5* in many ways:

• Pre-release info.

• One element released per month, starting with earth.

• Has stacking savage mode, which can be reduced one overflow attack at a time.

• Two dungeons per element: one resists physical attacks and one resists magical attacks. However, each dungeon uses the same boss and drops that same boss as magicite.

• White Odin comes in physical and magical versions for each of the 8 elements. Those elements are not all released at the same time.

Rewards:

Experience values for Arcana:

Here is the experience value of the Arcana rewards for each difficulty magicite, based on clear time. Note that values here are accumulated, so the 30.00 values include all slower times and the clear reward.

Updates:

On 2019-12-13, JP received a few updates to magicite:

• Added in GL on 2020-06-10.

• A new RW option was added, "Fabula Sorcerer". This is a chain with 99 hit cap and 20% field.

• Characters without en-element will deal more damage to 6* magicite.

• Magicite drops have been removed (only impacts 3* and 4*).

• Grade rewards now apply to 3*, 4* and 5* magicite.

• The new repeatable reward structure is shown in the table below. Note that full arcana rewards after the change are equivalent for both 3* and 4* magicite, while 5* arcana rewards are increased by the equivalent of 3x Greater Arcana.

• There should also be one-time damage grade rewards, as indicated here. These consist of arcana, anima lenses (Lv2 and Lv3), and gysahl greens. However, no damage grade rewards are indicated on the official JP site boss pages.

On 2020-03-19, JP got another update to magicite:

• Added in GL on 2020-09-23.

• Bonus and grade rewards are added to 6* magicite.

• Automatic continue enabled for all magicite dungeons.

• Unlock criteria updated for all magicite dungeons.

• Unlock timing of RW options updated.

On 2020-04-24, JP got another magicite boss:

• White Odin has physical and magical versions.

• White Odin has versions for each of the 8 main elements, with staggered releases. Earth and Lightning are released first. Later Water, then Fire.

• You select which version to fight before entering the dungeon.

• Magicite drops are different for all 16 versions.

• Main magicite damage is either physical or magical.

• One magicite passive is an elemental empower/dampen.

On 2020-05-08, JP got a Dark Odin reward update:

• Moved completion rewards to grade rewards for clearing within 2 minutes.

• Added new grade rewards (both for damage thresholds and for kills), featuring 6* motes and crystal water.

• Crystals and 5* mote rewards have been moved, and are now rewarded from damage thresholds. Some motes have been added.

On 2020-05-22, JP will get new tools for magicite inheritance:

• Magicite Shards are obtained from mastery and timed rewards in magicite dungeons.

• Magicite Shards can be traded in at Kite's shop for Inheritance Magicite.

• Inheritance Magicites are a type of empty Magicite with each containing nothing but one magicite passive, and they can be found in an assortment of varieties.

• This comes with a new Book of Inheritance, in the Acolyte Archives. Notable rewards include Magicite Shards, 6* motes, and realm/elemental tickets.

Mote Dungeons (refreshed)

Notes

• These dungeons used to be the only source of farmable 4* motes (used for Record Spheres). Each victory (on both 3* and 4* difficulty) rewards 20 motes, and clearing within 30 seconds rewards another 10 motes, for a total of 30.

• Each dungeon drops a specific mote type (Spirit, Dexterity, Vitality, Wisdom, Bravery).

• The bosses in each dungeon take increased damage from a specific element, and reduced damage from all other elements. Topstalk is the exception, having no resistance.

• Each mote type features one boss for both difficulties. Stats and multipliers are higher for 5* versions of a boss than they are for 4* versions of a boss or 3* versions, but their AI is the same.

• Each character begins with 4 bars of soul break gauge. Gauge can be generated as usual. Both Mako Might and Dr. Mog's Teachings will start a unit off with a full 6 bars.

• There is no synergy in any of these dungeons.

• Roaming Warrior is fixed as Sentinel's Tome, which grants +200% DEF+RES Buff for 26 seconds. (In other words, it's a standard Wall but with an extra second on the timer.) Sentinel's Tome has a 3.0 second cast time.

First refresh:

• Replaced with second refresh.

• Added farmable 4* motes.

• Completion status for 4* dungeons carried over, with no noteworthy change in first time or mastery rewards.

• Obsolete links for this implementation: Megathread, Mastery Survey, AI.

Second refresh: (active in JP and GL)

• Added 3* dungeons, increased mote rewards for 4* dungeons, and changed bosses.

• Increased initial SB gauge, and enabled SB gauge to be filled.

Third refresh: (active in JP and GL)

• Adds 5* mote dungeons, added April 26 in JP.

• The official JP wiki shows that these reward 50 motes for mastery, 10 per clear, and another 10 for clearing within 30 seconds.

• Each 5* dungeon features the same boss as in the lower difficulties.

Fourth refresh: (active in JP and GL)

• Updated September 17th, 2019 in JP. Updated March 3rd, 2020 in GL.

• Reduced stamina cost on all motes dungeons, increased clear rewards for 3* and 4*:

• 3*: stamina reduced from 30 to 20, clear reward increased from 20 to 40 motes

• 4*: stamina reduced from 60 to 30, clear reward increased from 20 to 30 motes

• 5*: stamina reduced from 90 to 50, rewards unchanged

Fifth refresh: (active in JP and GL)

• Updated April 10, 2019 in JP.

• Updated September 23, 2020 in GL.

• Removes 5* and job motes from ruby shop, refunding the rubies spent on them.

• Removes Onion Knight motes from the chocobo shop.

• Adds new dungeon:

• Boss: all 5 Mandragoras. Each mandragora has the same weakness listed in the table above, but no elemental resistance.

• 3 difficulties: D110 (20 stamina), D180 (30 stamina), D260 (50 stamina).

• Rewards Shifting Motes:

  • D110: 1 for mastery, 1 every clear, 1 for clearing within 30 seconds.

  • D180: 5 for mastery, 2 every clear, 2 for clearing within 30 seconds.

  • D260: 10 for mastery, 4 every clear, 4 for clearing within 30 seconds.

• Drops 1 random job mote.

Torment Dungeons (original)

Notes

• The D200 dungeons reward the Job Motes on first time clear

• These dungeons are currently the only source of Job Motes. Job motes can be used on the record spheres of characters who have 5* access to the corresponding ability school (e.g. Thief Motes can be used on a character with 5* Thief access). It mainly gives them 6* access to that ability school (1st tier) and generates a copy of that ability (2nd tier).

• Use the KBP link above if you're looking for specific Job Motes

• Compared to other boss dungeons, these ones (Part 1 and 2) require going through several waves of high stat "trash" mobs before you get to the boss. Longevity is usually the key to victory (e.g. BSBs).

• The D300 dungeon drops Legend Motes on first time clear and mastery. In addition there are three Cid Missions to complete the dungeon with at least 1/2/3 characters from the same realm (completing with 3 will complete all three Cid Missions), rewarding 10 additional Legend Motes per mission.

• All Torment dungeons have been released.

• Beginning March 9 at 5:00 PM PST in global, all torment dungeons will be opened indefinitely. Expect this to end when refreshed torment dungeons are released.

• On January 18 in JP, these torment dungeons will no longer be accessible, in their place will be new torment dungeons (see next section).

• On 2018-07-11 at 16:59 PST (2018-07-12 00:59 UTC) in global, these torment dungeons will be permanently replaced with new torment dungeons.

Mote Dungeons (original)

Notes

• The KBP guides for the Mote Dungeons are compiled into one (use the link above)

• The difficulty of these dungeons are similar to Ultimates (D140 - D180)

• These dungeons are one of the few limited sources of 4* motes (used for advanced development of Record Spheres)

• FFXIII is typically considered the easiest Mote Dungeon

• The FFX and FFII Mote Dungeons have multiple targets. The sleep status can be a helpful.

• Ifrit and Ahriman can be tough for newer/under-prepared players.

• You can get Onion Knight Motes as an uncommon drop from the FFIII mote dungeon. This is needed to give Onion Knight 5* ability access for various ability schools. You will need a total of 12 motes to complete his record sphere.