After delays pushed things back, it’s FFXIV patch 5.4 time. For all this year has thrown at us, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers patches have, luckily, been a surefire way to get some top-notch character-driven RPG lore delivered straight to our eyeballs. The launch of patch 5.4 is what will bring the majority of the loyal player base, many of whom haven’t had a good reason to stay active in recent months, back in time for the holidays.
If there’s one reason to get together virtually, it’s to see the end of the Eden Raid story together, beat up a rock monster (without his go-kart), and finally set sail for Ocean Fishing once again. Before you go catching big fish on an even bigger boat, though, here’s your cheat sheet to all the quests (and their locations) that you’ll need to complete to unlock the best content this patch has to offer.
You can also pick up a copy of the FFXIV free trial if you’re just getting started.
Further reading
- How to level grind in Final Fantasy XIV
- Here’s how to get your powerful Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers relic weapon
- The best RPG games you can play right now
Main Scenario unlock quest location — FFXIV patch 5.4 MSQ
- Quest: “Alisaie’s Quest” — Krile, The Rising Stones (Coords X:6.0 / Y: 5.9)
- Prerequisite: “Reflections in Crystal” (5.3 Main Scenario)
Although the main leg of the Shadowbringers storyline ended in 5.3, the frankly fantastic epilogue proved that the scions of the seventh dawn can never really have a day off. Our trusty companions took off almost as soon as they achieved their final mission, and it’s high time we find out exactly what they’re all up to. After all, given that we should have known the title of the next expansion by now, pandemic non-permitting, the storyline needs to start heading toward a distinct location so we can hazard a guess as to how we’ll be flung into the events of the next expansion sometime next summer.
Matoya’s Relict unlock quest location — FFXIV patch 5.4 dungeon
- Quest: ???
- Prerequisite: ??? (Main Scenario)
Those question marks are there for spoiler reasons, so we won’t know the exact quest titles until the moment we reach them in-game. What that little bracketed part tells us, though, is that the latest 4-player dungeon is unlocked naturally by progressing the 5.4 main scenario. Of course, that means you’ll need to have completed all previous main scenario quests, so if you happened to skip patch 5.3, check out that cheat sheet here to get yourself back on track.
Story-wise, where she is now means Y’shtola has dropped the Master Matoya name she’s carried since the start of Shadowbringers, leaving the original old hag hidden away in the Dravanian Hinterlands as the only Master Matoya around again. This dungeon is presumably all about her, so get ready for a dungeon we can only imagine will be not unlike the weird and wonderful Antitower.
Eden’s Promise unlock quest location — FFXIV 5.4 Eden raid
- Quest: “Empty Promise” — Yalfort, Amh Araeng (Coords: X:26.7 / Y:16.7)
- Prerequisite: “Reflections in Crystal” (Patch 5.3 main scenario chain) AND “Worlds Apart” (Chronicles of a New Era)
This is it. The finale of the Eden quest chain. Personally, I can still easily cast my mind back to the single PowerPoint slide of the Eden reveal art. That single sapling sprouting among a sea of nothing. We made light work of that whole situation, and now it’s finally time to see the culmination of our efforts.
With Ryne and Gaia holding hands straight center of the 5.4 poster, what was once technically a sidequest is suddenly the main act. E8 was a heck of a step forward for FFXIV raiding as a whole, so get set for a touching curtain call. Will we say goodbye to a character designed by legendary Final Fantasy artist Tetsuya Nomura himself? Let’s hope not. For the sake of the coffee biscuit industry, let’s hope this expansion’s most surprising shipping opportunity isn’t about to be ripped away from us.
Castrum Marinum unlock quest location — FFXIV 5.4 Emerald Weapon trial
- Quest: “Blood of Emerald” — Resistance Officer, The Lochs (Coords = X:11.3 Y: 22.5)
- Prerequisite: “Sleep Now in Sapphire” (Chronicles of a New Era chain)
As 5.3 came and went with Sapphire Weapon, the second in the trio, not putting up much of a real fight, Emerald Weapon is here as a proper successor to the Ruby Weapon brawl from 5.2. This quest should spell the end of the Shadow of Werlyt chain, so get ready for both a gripping and heartbreaking finale to a story all about a bunch of imperialist orphans enacting revenge on the adopted father who changed his ways. Once you’ve cleared the Normal mode fight.
NieR raid unlock quest location — FFXIV 5.4 YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse
- Quest: “To Make Amends” — Konogg, Kholusia (Coords = X:33.8 / Y:18.0)
- Prerequisite: “Crime and Punishment” (Chronicles of a New Era chain)
Woah, woah, woah. Slow down there. Don’t go thinking there’s a double-whammy of raids going on in this patch. Though alliance raid quests only used to continue in odd-numbered patches, the YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse storyline (AKA, NieR raids) have had quest progression in every major patch.
That being said, the raids themselves are still locked to odd-numbered patches. This likely very short quest will just tie up a loose end from the last and tease the story of the next. A bit of foreshadowing is all you’ll get this time, with the final NieR raid itself coming in the next major patch in early 2021.
Role Quests unlock location — FFXIV 5.4 Role Quest storyline
- Quest: “Safekeeping” — Cyella, The Crystarium (Coords = X:10.7 / Y:15.3)
- Prerequisite: “Reflections in Crystal” (5.3 Main Scenario) AND “Shadow Walk with Me” (Role Quest chain)
Here’s a surprising addition. After hearing we wouldn’t get a new class quest as we leveled up through Shadowlands (which made sense, given the situation) we thought they were done for good.
Role quests took their place, and while they didn’t reunite us with faces we hadn’t really seen for a while, they did secretly culminate that way in the end. Now, there’s another role quest to potentially cap off the expansion. It’s a neat unexpected development and an extra sliver of story we’ll absolutely take. That’s another loose end neatly tied up.
Titan Unreal unlock quest location — FFXIV 5.4 The Naval Unreal
- Quest: “Fantastic Mr. Faux”* — Painfully Ishgardian Man, Idyllshire (Coords = X:7.0 / Y:5.9)
- Prerequisite: “Shadowbringers” (5.0 Main Scenario) AND “Keeping Up with the Aliapohs” — Unctuous Adventurer, Idyllshire (coords X:7, Y:5.9)
The asterisk here signifies that the “Fantastic Mr. Faux” quest is the same one that unlocked Shiva Unreal in Patch 5.3. If you completed the quest back then and unlocked access to Shiva Unreal, you won’t need to complete it again — Titan Unreal will simply replace Shiva Unreal on the Raid Finder menu, as only one Unreal fight is available per patch.
Just like Shiva Unreal, this fight puts a new and exciting twist on the original fight from the A Realm Reborn days. Titan was the most difficult of the three original primal battles, so don’t expect a cakewalk with this one. These aren’t tuned to be of the Savage difficulty, but they are tweaked to be relevant to the current gear level. If you’re wanting to see how the Lord of Crags punished us back in the day, now’s your chance.
Void Quests
- Quest: The Hero’s Journey — Cyella, The Crystarium (Coords = X 10.7 / Y:15.3.
- Prerequisite: Safekeeping (role quest), “Thok Around the Clock”, “The Diabolical Bismark”, “A Fiendish Likeness”, “A Demonic Duplicate”.
Here’s one with a bit of a callback. For those who completed the Warring Triad trials back in Heavensward, it’s time to meet up with an old friend. They’ve been aware of your work over in The First since the very beginning, and now that you’ve had a grand old journey over there, it’s time to learn how that experience can potentially aid their own world of the Thirteenth. Maybe. It’s all mostly speculation right now, but there’s something afoot.
