YOUR Top Ten Favorite XIV Dungeons

[Steel Wolf]

I love lists. Don't you? They cause discussion, arguments, eyerolls and headnods of agreement. So, I'd like to know what the RPC's top ten list of XIV dungeons are, and why.

 

Here's mine...

 

10. Cutter's Cry

Dull. Dull dull dull dull sandy dull dullness. I didn't really find this dungeon all that exciting, and I'm not sure why I thought it would be more. I mean, you're about to fight antlions and stuff. Those things usually should be a bit more terrifying. This was just...an exercise in taupe.

 

9. Haukke Manor

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was for this dungeon when I first ran it. I even got a tiny bit jump-scared by the Ahriman during the opening cutscene. But when I actually ran it, I found it...well, a bit disappointing. I love the thematics but I was hoping for a little more spookiness, and overall this didn't quite live up to my personal billing.

 

8. Copperbell Mines

This was a pretty neat little romp. I kinda dug on the story (pun not quite intended) and the giants crashing out of the walls kept me on my toes as a tanker in a good way. Shame the final boss mechanics ended up being less important than they were when I first ran the thing...but still a solid dungeon.

 

7. The Wanderer's Palace

This would probably have rated higher on my list if it weren't for the fact that I had farmed this mother mercilessly when I got to 50 and it was one of perhaps two or three choices for Tomes at the time. Everything about the dungeon is otherwise neat--cool setting, good fights, and a final boss that required a fair bit of coordination at the time...but repetition is the mother of learning...and tedium.

 

6. The Sunken Temple of Qarn HM

Another one that had cool thematics let down by a bit of a lackluster final boss, though I will say that the whole mummies thing was hilarious. Honestly, this dungeon ranks higher for me because it was the start of the time when I lost my personal fear of DF'ing solo after my return from hiatus.

 

5. Dzemael Darkhold

Now THIS was a cool little dungeon. Lots of neat mechanics, the second boss was just manic fun, and the final boss was a great mixture of coordination and mechanics that kept you awake....nevermind that Batraal looked just menacing when I first saw him. Probably one of the first clears that I felt pretty heroic about.

 

4. Brayflox's Longstop

This one makes it high on my list for being the turning point as a tanker....the dungeon where I had to suddenly wake up and do things that didn't just involve herding the monsters and keeping them huddled in one spot. The final boss was a pain in the ass at the time (the lag when I ran it did NOT help), but when my group and I managed to clear it, I knew that I had to step it up from here on out.

 

3. Stone Vigil

Another one that rides high due to its difficulty. This one actually made me angry because I felt like I was undergeared and I just was awful at pulling hate together...and then the final boss was just worse because, again, lag...but it still is memorable because of that difficulty. That kick in the ass and the feeling of beating that kick down just made me a better player overall, I feel. Not BEST TANKER EVER but it sure upped my game.

 

2. Wanderer's Palace Hard

Holy crap this dungeon....this dungeon is just...so good. The music is awesome. The fights are good. The scene and setting are spectacular, and the final reward of that cutscene? It was probably the single tightest dungeoning package I have experienced in this game. I found myself crossing my fingers for it whenever I queued up for the Expert Roulette. I love it that much.

 

1. The Crystal Tower

...but not as much as this. Yes, technically it's three raids and not a dungeon in the classic sense, but it's my list so nya nya. And whatever great music was there in WP HM, it doesn't even compare to the retooled classic tunes that run through all of the Crystal Tower. And not only the music, but the fights just...it brought me up to a whole new realm of experience. I was terrified, thrilled, stunned, delighted, angered and just overwhelmed. But more than all that, this was my first-ever time raiding in any MMO ever.

 

Sure, I'm not a Turn-clearing Dreadwyrm-wearing mega-awesome-leet XIV badass...but I still feel 20 feet tall for what I've achieved. And I can't wait for more.

[Flickering Ember]

Is this top ten favorite or top ten worst? I assumed favorites but a lot of your entries make it sound like you dislike them. o_o;

[Brynhilde]

I. Bryn's Bedroom

II. Bryn's Bedroom

III. Bryn's Bedroom

IV. Bryn's Bedroom

V. Bryn's Bedroom

VI. Bryn's Bedroom

VII. Bryn's Bedroom

VIII. Bryn's Bedroom

IX. Bryn's Bedroom

X. Bryn's Bedroom

 

More painful than Aurum Vale with a PUG, but those pants just might drop.

[Telluride]

I. Bryn's Bedroom

II. Bryn's Bedroom

III. Bryn's Bedroom

IV. Bryn's Bedroom

V. Bryn's Bedroom

VI. Bryn's Bedroom

VII. Bryn's Bedroom

VIII. Bryn's Bedroom

IX. Bryn's Bedroom

X. Bryn's Bedroom

 

More painful than Aurum Vale with a PUG, but those pants just might drop.

 

High Ilvl requirements, no use for AOE, drop rates unreliable, first boss drops aggro frequently, begins with a Tank-check, has a DPS-check in the middle and involves a heal check in the final encounter.

[Brynhilde]

I. Bryn's Bedroom

II. Bryn's Bedroom

III. Bryn's Bedroom

IV. Bryn's Bedroom

V. Bryn's Bedroom

VI. Bryn's Bedroom

VII. Bryn's Bedroom

VIII. Bryn's Bedroom

IX. Bryn's Bedroom

X. Bryn's Bedroom

 

More painful than Aurum Vale with a PUG, but those pants just might drop.

 

High Ilvl requirements, no use for AOE, drop rates unreliable, first boss drops aggro frequently, begins with a Tank-check, has a DPS-check in the middle and involves a heal check in the final encounter.

 

What can I say? This dungeon takes skill.

 

Therefore, no bards.

[Melodia]

I. Bryn's Bedroom

II. Bryn's Bedroom

III. Bryn's Bedroom

IV. Bryn's Bedroom

V. Bryn's Bedroom

VI. Bryn's Bedroom

VII. Bryn's Bedroom

VIII. Bryn's Bedroom

IX. Bryn's Bedroom

X. Bryn's Bedroom

 

More painful than Aurum Vale with a PUG, but those pants just might drop.

 

High Ilvl requirements, no use for AOE, drop rates unreliable, first boss drops aggro frequently, begins with a Tank-check, has a DPS-check in the middle and involves a heal check in the final encounter.

 

What can I say? This dungeon takes skill.

 

Therefore, no bards.

 

OH SNAP! Shots fired!!

[Steel Wolf]

Is this top ten favorite or top ten worst? I assumed favorites but a lot of your entries make it sound like you dislike them. o_o;

 

....both?

 

Yea, some of them I didn't like, but these were my favorites. Just the first few were less-favorite than others. Assume those not listed were my worst.

 

Title adjusted to reflect accuracy. Thanks.

[Telluride]

I. Bryn's Bedroom

II. Bryn's Bedroom

III. Bryn's Bedroom

IV. Bryn's Bedroom

V. Bryn's Bedroom

VI. Bryn's Bedroom

VII. Bryn's Bedroom

VIII. Bryn's Bedroom

IX. Bryn's Bedroom

X. Bryn's Bedroom

 

More painful than Aurum Vale with a PUG, but those pants just might drop.

 

High Ilvl requirements, no use for AOE, drop rates unreliable, first boss drops aggro frequently, begins with a Tank-check, has a DPS-check in the middle and involves a heal check in the final encounter.

 

What can I say? This dungeon takes skill.

 

Therefore, no bards.

 

OH SNAP! Shots fired!!

 

That's quite alright - there really isn't much payoff to be had, since Bryn's Bedroom is more accurately called a Trial rather than a Dungeon. Shiva makes for a much hotter experience :lol:

[Dogberry]

I. Bryn's Bedroom

II. Bryn's Bedroom

III. Bryn's Bedroom

IV. Bryn's Bedroom

V. Bryn's Bedroom

VI. Bryn's Bedroom

VII. Bryn's Bedroom

VIII. Bryn's Bedroom

IX. Bryn's Bedroom

X. Bryn's Bedroom

 

More painful than Aurum Vale with a PUG, but those pants just might drop.

 

My favorite part of that dungeon is the Tank and Spank encounter.

[BumblingSeaBiscuit]

10. B****f*** Longashell

No. No. No. No. No. IF I SEE ONE MORE PIECE OF TANK GEAR I FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

 

9. Copperhell Mines 

Why is this so long? Why are people so bad at the bomb boss? Why? Why?

 

8. Stone Vigil

You're going to notice a theme here and it's: fml long dungeons with terrible pug luck. Though not as bad as the previous it's certainly up there.

 

7. Aurum Vale

Enough said.

 

6. The Sunken Temple of Indiana Jones

Usually I like these places more. WoW did an amazing job (I know, everyone's favorite MMO). However, I was sort of let down with Qarn. The last boss makes up for the disappointment but the pugs do not. 

 

5. Tam-Tara Deepcroft 

Is okay. It's not Copperhell so I refuse to complain.

 

4. World of Darkness

SteelhadCTI'mjustdoingWoDnyah! Might not be expected on people's 'fun' list. However, I really enjoy the theme (you're going to see it running). PUGs can make it not fun, and I do not suggest running it for fifteen hours straight (like I did), but I don't know, I loves it (now if I could play it solo. . .).

 

3. Dzzzeemaul Darkhold (spelling)?

Quick, easy, fun, efficient, AND VOID SHENANIGANS. Yes please. <3

 

2. Sastasha (Regular)

Fun Moonlit fact: I'm a professional mermaid. This place appealed to my core. Also? Heck yeah pirates. All of my approve.

 

1. Sastasha (Hard)

IT'S LIKE THE FIRST ONE BUT OMG NEW AND IMPROVED AND AMAZING AND AHHH YES I COULD LIVE THERE.

 

-coughs- yup. I don't have ten favorites so I listed ones I love to hate? Yeaah.

[Winters Knight]

I. Bryn's Bedroom

II. Bryn's Bedroom

III. Bryn's Bedroom

IV. Bryn's Bedroom

V. Bryn's Bedroom

VI. Bryn's Bedroom

VII. Bryn's Bedroom

VIII. Bryn's Bedroom

IX. Bryn's Bedroom

X. Bryn's Bedroom

 

More painful than Aurum Vale with a PUG, but those pants just might drop.

 

High Ilvl requirements, no use for AOE, drop rates unreliable, first boss drops aggro frequently, begins with a Tank-check, has a DPS-check in the middle and involves a heal check in the final encounter.

 

What can I say? This dungeon takes skill.

 

Therefore, no bards.

 

OH SNAP! Shots fired!!

Wouldn't it be more like "not fired" since there won't be any Bards? ... I'll see myself out.

[Dogberry]

10. Brayflox - I feel like I could do Brayflox in my sleep by now. In fact, I already have.

9. Sastasha HM - Pirate themed so I love it, but man it's a doozy!

8. Halatali HM - Cool gladiator gauntlet thingy, fun mechanics!

7. Cutter's Cry - I mostly like this one for the Dune jokes I make during the worm boss.

6. Keeper of the Lake - Cool atmosphere but some PITA bosses!

5. Brayflox HM - At this point, I just run Brayflox HM as a time trial to see how fast I can complete it.

4. Tam Tara - Spooky, spooky.

3. Sastasha - I love running newbies through Sastasha to get their first taste of what dungeons in FFXIV are like.

2. Amdapor Keep HM - THAT DPS CHECK YO

1. Tam Tara HM - SPOOKY SPOOKY! Seriously, this one is just all out fun, from the spooky theme to frantic feeling of the boss fights.

[Aya]

Hmmmm... I'm not going to name ten I don't think!

 

I really quite liked Hard Mode Longstop.  Something about the big pulls, and then being able to use a well-timed LB to skip the final phase of the last boss just made it feel like a rewarding place to run for the daily

 

I actually really like the aesthetics of ST (much more so than Labrynth, or bleh, WoD).  I enjoy just looking around while I'm there!

 

 

Keeper of the Lake, although I don't like running the dungeon itself, has a terrific vibe from being inside of the airship wreckage (at least until after the second boss).

 

I really like the original Qarn, it gave a really nice "Indiana Jones" feel

 

My least favorite would have to be Ampadoor City - the look of the place and the monsters made me feel physically ill the first time I ran it, like I was having to fight my away across a moldy sandwich.  I'm still impressed at the artists ability to convey something so disgusting so effectively, but I can't really fathom why they would spend such talent and energy on that.

[Gegenji]

I started at one and worked backwards... and sort of lost steam around number 5. So, apologies if 6-10's reasons and such are a bit lackluster.

 

10. Haukke Manor NM - Most of the dungeons below this are either straight meh, meh with some annoying aspects (Cutter's Cry's sand traps, I'm looking at you), or dungeons I do not like (Satasha HM). NM Haukke, at least, is simple, straightforward, and atmospheric. The need for keys lends a sort of Zelda-ness to it, and there's a little bit of pride from knowing where each key is and all the doors they can go to. Also you get to interrupt succubi with shield bashes, throat punches, or whatever other interrupt of choice.

 

9. The Sunken Temple of Qarn HM - Having interesting boss fights helps get it up on this list. Having interesting boss fights with mechanics that will either outright kill you or make things a lot more obnoxious if you ignore them puts it near the bottom. The mummy idea is amusing and interesting to hear about, but not so fun when you get nicked by a mummy or two and spend the next half minute or so hoping the rest of your party doesn't die without your healing/tanking.

 

8. Haukke Manor HM - You can go through it quick, and then suddenly you have a last boss where if you go too fast... you wipe. At least the other fights are more or less no-brainers, and being able to move quickly through it is always nice for someone who's been through the Duty Finder as often as I have. At least you can use "I'm too stronk" as an excuse for the last boss.

 

7. Amdapor Keep HM - Most of my love for this instance comes from being able to AoE so much to help out, and the fact that last boss is Voidsent Not-Kefka. The second boss was a bit annoying until I learned about the whole "looking away" bit, and nothing sucks more than when you (or worse, the tank) not noticing the marker over your head and you're making a mad dash to the statues. And those poison field-flinging flowers suck.

 

6. Pharos Sirius - I think the reason this one is so high up is that it's relatively short, all things considered. And that one boss before the last - Nemesis or something? There's something funny about having to turn to an FC mate and ask if the guy actually does anything considering how quickly the guy melts under fire. Also, the mobs at the start quickly let you know what sort of run you're in for in regards to your party.

 

5. The Lost City of Amdapor - As has been mentioned, interesting fights push dungeons up on my list. A first boss where I get to throw out "TASTE ME, GAZ, I'M DELICIOUS" is always a plus. Second boss is interesting, if a bit annoying if the stacks get dropped, and the last is my favorite summon from FF9. It's a shame his fight can be quite obnoxious to learn and execute at times. If it wasn't, it'd probably be higher on the list.

 

4. Dzemael Darkhold - This dungeon has a lot of interesting mechanics - and the fact that you can literally pull the entire first second and tank it in the light of the crystal in the last room is such an empowering thing. The bosses are interesting - even if the second is annoying - and I will never not enjoy emoting at Batraal when he tries to laser at me. /welcome, /joy, /huh.

 

3. Snowcloak - First and foremost, I love the music for this place. So relaxing and chill, a serene piece for an snowy area. Secondly, I really like the Yeti fight - you make snowballs and throw them at him! It's a unique and rather amusing way to beat a boss. The first one is a bit meh, since you get the frost stack sometimes when you think you've moved, but then you get Yeti and then Fenrir to wrap things up.

 

2. Wanderer's Palace NM - Tonberries! That more or less sums up my feelings about this, if I'm being perfectly honest with myself. The giant tonberry gives a sense of urgency to keep moving, but doesn't actually straight up kill you if you're lagging, with is nice. And then, in the end, you beat up the King and cleanse the Grudge of the knife-bearing little lantern peoples.

 

1. Wanderer's Palace HM - With the original at number two, it should come as no surprise that this one's up top. You get to help tonberries! And you can "speedrun" it relatively easily, with one delightfully dangerous but also quite cool one if you can manage to pull everything in that last hallway up to the second boss. And then you get to see the tonberries get their revenge in the end. Good times.

[Spethah]

10. The Wanderer's Palace

 

It's a lovely place, you feel that something doesn't feel quite right when you go in the first time and the hard mode version nicely continues that feeling as well. The music is lovely, it has fricking TONBERRIES in it but sadly it's not spam tier. Trust me, as much as I love that place I will never spam it for my zodiac drop ever again. It's soooo lonngggg.

 

9. Boobflox Brayflox

 

Brayflox Alltalks is one of my favourites. "Look at me, I'm totally helping." but arrives late and doesn't really help at all. I'm looking at you second boss on normal. Goblin talk makes me giggle as well. As for the dungeon itself, it's bright and adventure likes. You would never expect to fight a dragon at the end if you didn't read dialogue and content. The scenery is great, music is nice. Again it's something I would not spam. It's long and the drops don't dropppp. AARGGH.

 

8. Hell Halatali and Halatali Hard

 

These are tied despite the fact it's the same dungeon, essentially. Both the clean up crew of Halatali and the end result battle royale of Hard mode are great. The music fits the dungeon, the dungeon is simple and short. The boss fights are simple as well and fit to the mood of the place. I honestly love the appearance of the dungeon, it's hits you that you're in a combat training area and it stays all the way to the end.

 

7. Praetorium

 

If it's on the dungeon list, it's a dungeon. Praetorium is the second of the two 8 man dungeons and is my favourite of the two. The music in there is among my favourites and you get to ride a god damn reaper and be all "pew pew pewpewpewpew BOOM!". It's not spammable even if it has amazing music. It's sad that it isn't and it just feels like a one time treat. Oh well.

 

6. Sunken Temple of Qarn (Normal and Hard)

 

DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURE?

 

SO DO I.

 

That's all I can say really other than this dungeon has the shittiest XP ever.

 

5. Hullbreaker

 

DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURE?

 

SO DO I.

 

In fact when I first heard the music and saw the first cutscene I was squealing in delight. It truly felt like an adventure from a point and click puzzle game. The bosses are quirky, the music is awesome and overall it's a bundle of fun for the family! Okay, maybe not. This is a spammable dungeon for me due to the fun factor but the only thing I don't like is the last boss. Why show a Kraken when you can't kill it? Boooo. SE you butt.

 

4. Tam-Tara Deepcroft Hard.

 

You're going to see a common theme with the last 4 dungeons. Tam-tara hard is creepy as fuck and I love it. The theme is oooh spooky, the dungeon had me shivering near the end. The real kicker for this place is that it has dialogue in the form of those tiny diary pieces. It really adds a lot to the feel of the place and makes it much different to the normal mode which is just "shtap the culteeessts". It's not a spammable dungeon, but it's one I would gladly run again and again. 

 

3. Hockey Haukke Manor and Haukke Manor Hard

 

Are you seeing it now Mister Krabs? Haukke manor and the hard version are lumped together as one simply because it's the same thing. Tragic story of a woman that lost what she prized the most and she goes to great length to have it return. Queue mysterious girl whooaaaa mysterious gurl man and suddenly voidsent. I -love- the voidsent and going through manors. In TERA I had an undying love for Sinestral Manor for the same reason, eery and it's a fucking manor. Hard mode music = unf, and the overall feel and objective is cool. I'd love to have a scooby doo episode in there is it ever clears out.

 

2. Very Serious Pharos Sirius

 

THE MUSIC. SIREN IS MY THIRD FAVOURITE SUMMON. IT'S EERY AS FUCK. Need I say more? It's a lovely dungeon, it was a challenge if you didn't have good gear and ohhhh man did I mention the music? Sexy. Once again it as the "voidsent doing shit again" theme, though with a nice twist of it being more towards mythos of a siren luring men to the sea and then slam jam heyayayaying them. I love the umbra isles for the very dark theme and Pharos keeps it running even during the shitty third boss that's actually just a minion. Love that place.

 

1. The Lost City of Amdapor

 

See above for the majority, but I'll add that the whole "walking around a dead city" is absolutely awesome. Bad things? Diabolos is a last boss and not a primal, which sucks because he's my absolute favourite summon ever. The place feels long, but isn't really. Also it's a horrible place with bad gear, very punishing. Overall though it makes me feel so happy going in there with it's bittersweet music and the theme of a literal lost city that was taken away by the Black Mages.

 

B-B-B-BONUS: The Crystal Tower

 

I was going to put a fangirling gif with an explanation but then I realised I'll get told off for doing that so here's a tl;dr link. I'm a massive FFIII fan and seeing this with the re orchestrated music and all made me fangirl so loudly I was banned off TS until we got out.

 

It's just beautiful.

[Blythe]

Here I go. And you get a bonus of my least favorite dungeon too! \ o /

 

Least Favorite (Worst): Stone Vigil NM - Don't get me wrong. As much I love the feel of Stone Vigil. I loved doing the first time I ran it. But my second run while I was still a low level 43 dragoon (my main then and now) made this dungeon unbearable and even now I only run it if it is on my Low Level Roulette as I level my White Mage. When you have a paladin that repeated does not use their shield oath, a healer that goes AFK every other pull, and summoner being the primary healer, this place became hell very quickly. On top of wiping on normal mobs in the place. *SIGH* I'm starting to like it again little by little after that horrid run, but meh, it still has a while.

 

Now onto my favorites!

 

10. Hullbreaker Isle - All I am going to say is that...there are monkeys (or whatever they are called in the game). This made me giggle. Besides monkeys, the scenery in this dungeon in beautiful. Bosses are slightly interesting. All those geysers and jumping back and forth on the final one make it annoying and enjoyable at the same time. : P

 

9. Pharos Siris - The first time I got in here, I literally was just like 'coral looking stuff everywhere'. But once I actually figured out what was going on and didn't worry about the mobs so much, this place actually has really good architecture. Not going to like there. (Minus the stuff wanting to fall on you. No biggie, right?) Also, the final boss made me feel like I handed out some justice (considering the one quest you have where she shows up).

 

8. Brayflox HM - The illuminati, what more is there not to love about this dungeon. It was random, funny, and and overall pace that I found different from the other dungeons I was in. While it is not on the top of my list, I enjoy its 'story', in which a lot of the others don't. The dungeon itself was mediocre, which is probably why it doesn't rank higher.

 

7. Copperbell Mines HM - Considering you can run past half the mobs in this one makes this one rate high. And its super nice when doing my high level roulette. The one boss with the bombs is interesting to say the least. And as long as someone knows what to do on the bridge, there should be no big issue with this one. This definitely improved from it's NM.

 

6. Halatali HM - Sure, it's really linear. But it's 10x better than that NM version of it. (Both are still relatively easy.) But bears. Giant bears. If anything the only reason why I really, really like this dungeon is because of the dumb bears. : P

 

5. Sastasha HM - Like others have said before, pirates. (Also, some tentacles included.) Unlike the normal mode where you have those stupid, annoying calms at the beginning and Morgan running away all the time, this one felt much more cohesive and overall, felt very satisfying.

 

4. Ampador Keep HM - Granted I get this way too much on my Expert Roulette, the dungeon is great and fast, even if everyone is probably too overgeared for it when I run it. The part right after the boogeyman puts me on the edge of my seat with the DPS check. Sometimes, my group has screwed up and we don't make the DPS check. But anything with timers can put thrill into something you do a lot anyway. 

 

3. Haukke Manor HM - The darker feel is what I enjoy in this dungeon. (Just like Ampador Keep, who knew!) When my FC mate told me to check out the actual final boss room of this place, it leads me to believe that lady is very into her pain (and maybe pleasure) devices. While I do like the NM of this dungeon, I definitely prefer HM over it.

 

2. Snowcloak - Snow, snow, and more snow. And snowballs. Snowballs being essential to killing one of the bosses. I have a very large love for snow as you can already tell. I think because of how pristine the dungeon looks, like nothing's really touched it. While the last boss can be a pain in the arse, this dungeon just makes me wanna get a pair of skates and find all the places of ice. (Okay, Shiva Thin Ice portion of her fight is the closest I can get most of the time.) This dungeon holds a special place in my heart. <3

 

1. Stone Vigil HM - Wait, how is this my favorite dungeon and Stone Vigil NM is my least?! Good point. Like I mentioned before, I love the feel of Stone Vigil, both of them. However, with HM, Stone Vigil feels more alive to me for some reason. Sure you had dragons you had to worry about. But in Hard Mode, people turning into dragons?! Yes please. Furthermore, the final boss having no real aggro table made it extremely fun because you never knew who was going to be targeted. And then add the second one, ohhhh yesss. And cannons. Don't forget the cannon fight! I thought these were more well done than the one fight in NM and it gave a different pace to dungeons that I hadn't seen. (Also, this helped a little bit with Steps of Faith before the nerf and somewhat after.) All this needed was a little bit more snow. *sigh*

[FreelanceWizard]

I'll bite.

 

10. Wanderer's Palace, Hard Mode: Despite the fact that some of the fights get overly long, this dungeon has great music, and you get to save tonberries. Those alone put it on this list.

 

9. Steps of Faith: I realize people are going to think I'm insane for this, but I like Steps of Faith. I liked it before the nerfs. It's an instance that's deceptive in its simplicity; people tend to overcomplicate it or lose their heads when they see that giant dragon and all those adds. If you can get the group to think through the fight, though, it's a fun, dramatic battle -- especially with the music changes. Also, I'm Annie Oakley with a cannon.

 

8. Syrcus Tower: ST has a nasty reputation for trolls these days, but the fights are relatively interesting from a mechanics standpoint, and the cliffhanger cutscene at the end left me wanting more. Plus, retelling the story of III in the XIV universe was something I personally found rather interesting.

 

7. The Navel, Hard Mode: Like Steps of Faith, many people probably think I'm crazy for liking Titan HM, but a multi-phase boss fight with different music for each phase, lots of moving, and a pitched DPS check in the middle (well, less so nowadays, but still )? What's not to like, other than trying to clear it with a PUG?

 

6. Sunken Temple of Qarn, Normal Mode: This dungeon's got some fun mechanics, a reasonably challenging set of fights if you're at level for them, and you're exploring an ancient ruin with traps and death bees. It's just an all-around good time.

 

5. Binding Coil of Bahamut, Turn 5: Twintania is hard. She remains hard even now, just before the expansion, between divebombs and twisters. Sure, T5 doesn't have a lot of story, but you feel like you've accomplished something when you take her down.

 

4. Praetorium: What more can you say about raiding a Garlean castrum, riding a magitek reaper, and then surviving Ultima? Sure, the last boss is rather anti-climactic, but the dungeon is a fitting, dramatic end to the release storyline. I do wish the fights were harder or some item level sync were employed, though.

 

3. Snowcloak: Snowcloak's music reminds me a lot of Secret of Mana, so that's an automatic big plus in my book. It ties nicely into the overall story and the boss fights have fun mechanics ("you done brought a voidsent to a snowball fight"). Also, I enjoy healing the Fenrir fight as a Black Mage.

 

2. Tam-Tara Deepcroft, Hard Mode: This is one creepy dungeon. The ambiance is excellent, from the eerie music to the trapped coffins, from the disturbing notes to the final cutscenes. I'd rank it higher but, honestly, I feel the boss fights are lackluster.

 

1. Sunken Temple of Qarn, Hard Mode: This is my favorite dungeon in XIV -- for now. It sounds like it was scored by Danny Elfman, its boss fights are somewhat tricky tests of DPS awareness, and you're raiding an ancient tomb. It's like Indiana Jones and the Eorzean Crusade, and I just adore that.

[Raelas]

1. Aurum Vale (Hard mode when?!)

 

2. Lost City of Amdapor (Hard mode wheeeennnn?!)

 

3. Snowcloak

 

4. Pharos Sirius (Hard mode wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen?!)

 

5. The Sunken Temple of Qarn HM

 

6. The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak

 

7. Cutter's Cry (Hard mode plz ;w; )

 

8. The Tam-Tara Deepcroft HM

 

 

Not Dungeons but worth mentioning!

 

The Crysallis

 

The Steps of Faith

 

Syrcus Tower

 

The Whorleater

[ProvaDiServo]

Not much of a dungeon person, I prefer the trials to anything.

 

If I had to pick something, it'd be:

 

WoD

 

and the various Coils of bahamut as my favorites.

 

I find their looks and design to really strike out to me. I'm a huge fan of allagan architecture.

[Zyrusticae]

I'm going to be a butt and say I don't like any of the XIV dungeons. Why?

 

Well, because I've played each and every single one of them many dozens of times and am now utterly sick of them. Sick of them. Once the novelty has worn off the only thing I care about is getting my daily tomestones and GTFO of there. I couldn't even bring myself to login for the longest time just because I didn't have any motivation to run them one more gods-damned time.

 

B&S has spoiled me in this regard, mostly because the core gameplay loop is strong enough to compensate for running the same thing for the thirty-fourth time. Not so much for FFXIV.

 

Maybe the level 60 skills will change my attitude in this regard. Probably not, because you'll only get to use those skills... in Heavensward dungeons! Yaaaay. (Groan.)

 

Anyway. In all seriousness, I do still KINDA like Wanderer's Palace HM, mostly because SAVE THE TONBERRIES and the stellar music. Also love WoD mostly for its music as well, and the boss fights are actually kind of entertaining. Getting eaten by Cerberus remains a... treat, heh.

[cuideag]

I.... honestly can't think of ten dungeons I like so I'm totally going to include trials. Sorry if it's cheating!!!

 

10. PHAROS SIRIUS.

Really wish I had gotten a chance to pop in this one before it got nerfed. SUPER glad they made the change with the music, though.

 

9. SUNKEN TEMPLE OF QARN.

I love the aesthetic and I love the stupid puzzle gimmick.

 

8. SUNKEN TEMPLE OF QARN HM.

I actually like the bosses. ALSO MUMMIES.

 

7. AURUM VALE.

Honestly like tanking this one because those runs where I end up soloing Coin Counter as a WAR make me feel pretty dang good.

 

6. BRAYFLOX'S LONGSTOP.

Cute glamour drops and the first time a boss was kind of hard I guess? Or at least a little more challenging than what we had seen before.

 

5. SNOWCLOAK.

YETI BOSS. Also Fenrir is kind of cool I guess BUT NOTHING BEATS YETI BOSS.

 

4. THE PRAETORIUM.

I wish the bosses weren't all complete jokes but the music is neat and that bit with the magitech stuff was really rad! Extra points for Gaius-kun and ULTIMAAAAAAAAA.

 

3. BINDING COIL, TURN 5.

Hey look an old fight that still kind of takes some skill and coordination to do. I LOVE IT. Any content that isn't just tank and AOE to death is A-OK with me.

 

2. ULTIMA HM.

ULTIMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

1. TITAN EX.

I DON'T CARE, I LOVE ANGRY SUMO DAD.

[Sounsyy]

Have a list! Lists are hard. I probably cheated a bit.

 

 

10. Aurum Vale (1.0's 8-man)

This makes it on the list because (in 1.0) this was actually a pretty fun and difficult dungeon. The air in the yellow rooms was poison, so there was constant tick of damage that healers had to keep up with, on top of a second damage if someone stepped in a puddle. Players had to navigate their way quickly through each room. Bosses were more difficult. I liked it more than the 2.0 version. Merp.

 

9. Pharos Sirius

I like this dungeon aesthetically. Mechanically, not necessarily my favorite. But I love the theme, the music, and story. I've been waiting for Siren to show up since the 1.0 Mimidoa backstory thingy. But dead people and lighthouses and Limsa! Yay! Actually running it... bleh. Most people end up dropping at the start. People die to bosses. Which is fine. But it's pretty.

 

8. Sastasha (NM)

Pirates! Also, this dungeon is totally ripped off from 1.0's Shposhae, which I loved and missed being in the open world dearly. But the whole Shposhae backstory got adopted by Sastasha and then those docks that were locked in that event from Cassiopeia Hollow. Loved seeing those back during Beta. Much love.

 

7. The Wanderer's Palace (NM)

I liked this dungeon, as it was quick and one of the more fun dungeons during 2.0's Mythology totem spam. More fun, as in, one of the two options. But tonberries are fun! Having to run away from the giant tonberry and find places to hide all the while big pulling large swathes of enemies. It was one of those dungeons that was moderately difficult with lower tier gear at the time. I remember having trouble with the pudding boss for a while. But the tonberry fight at the end definitely made up for it. Being swarmed, stabbed, and surrounded by rancored Nymiens.

 

6. Labyrinth of the Ancients

Not truly a dungeon, but I actually enjoyed having the 24-man content in the game. When it first came out the dungeon was a lot of fun and required no small amount of coordination on behalf of most of the group. It only really started going downhill for me after it became troll city. But I liked that it was content that had a storyline, was accessible to players, but required you to do several steps to unlock it first. I also liked that (and unlike its successors) utilized its class composition. At the time, you needed 6 tanks and 6 healers. Each tank had a role to perform in almost every fight. And that was something I really liked about the dungeon. What irked me so much about LotA's successors was that while you only maxed 3 tanks, there was almost no content in ST or WoD that actually required anything more than 1-2 tanks max ever. While you can run LotA a few tanks short nowadays, it wasn't so at the time.

 

5. Brayflox's Longstop (NM)

Outside dungeon. That's what I remembering really liking about it when I first went in. Then during the end of that second boss, dat dragon dropping out of the sky! Aw yeah! This was a fun, well thought out dungeon. Pretty views, easy pace, and interesting mechanics. It also dropped some good gear and was definitely a turning point where folks entering FFXIV dungeons realized they'd have to step up their game some.

 

4. Halatali (HM)

Having a character that's a Bloodsands Gladiator, and honestly really missing being able to fight in the Hypogeum in Ul'dah for the GLA and MNK class quests made me love the remade version of this dungeon. It was fun! Being able to use the environment to your advantage and smash big pulls in a few seconds. The bosses were mechanic heavy and a lot of fun, and not that hard to figure out either. Being in a dungeon where you got to fight other gladiators! From a lore standpoint, got to see what happened to former High Priest Mumuepo...

 

3. Dzemael Darkhold (1.0's 8-man)

This was FFXIV's first real dungeon, so I'm including it in my list! When it first came out it was hard! Really hard. Mechanics! This 8-man dungeon had you scouting the Dzemael House's fortress for Garleans and Voidsent all in one. The first bit involved a lot of running and kiting - which as a tank was always fun. And Batraaaaaaal! That last boss was terrifying. And the mechanics of having to split up the party to deal with swarming adds, dodging eyes and revenants, and keeping the MT alive with Batraal was such a juggle but it was fun. I remember towards the end solo tanking Batraal as a PLD with no healer, letting both healers go heal the adds party during the fight. Scary, but so much fun. (Of course, this was back in the day when PLD could sustain themselves fairly well. But PLD was also the underdog tank.)

 

2. Tam-Tara Deepcroft (HM)

Probably my favorite dungeon dungeon. It's dark, it's creepy, it's soaked in story... and blood! I loved finding out what happened to Edda. Also, finding out about the whole love affair between Liavinne and Edda and Avaire. It really opened my eyes to the whole amount of detail behind the smallest, throwaway characters you encounter in the storyline. I remember seeing that end cutscene for the first time... /shiver. And those notes were hella creepy! If you haven't taken the time to read the notes, I definitely recommend doing that.

 

1. The Binding Coil of Bahamut - Turn 5

This one gets top pick because I think of it as the first truly challenging boss fight in XIV. Crazy mechanics, crazy DPS and gear check, crazy fun to learn. Not crazy fun to DF, I'll admit, but I swear I've run this dungeon so many times for folks I could do it in my sleep. It's just fun to me. I think it was truly when I first started to enjoy Coil. Don't get me wrong, winning T4 at the time was hella awesome. I loved that fight's insanity. But T5 was just on a whole new level of awesome.