The Arcadion raid series has arrived in Final Fantasy 14, as of patch 7.01. This is Dawntrail’s normal raid series and it’s themed around taking on rivals in an arena to entertain the masses in Solution Nine.
As usual with these raids, this will be the best gear you can get in the game at the time of launch, so if you like keeping up-to-date, you’re gonna want to do these raids.
Below, we explain where to unlock the Arcadion raid series in FFXIV as well as how the loot for the raids works.
Where to unlock the Arcadion raids in FFXIV
To unlock the Arcadion raids, you’ll need to have completed the main scenario quest “Dawntrail.”
Once you’ve done that, you can talk to the Stylish Stranger NPC in Solution Nine at the following location to start the quest “A New Challenger Appears.”
Once you’ve talked to him and done a few quests, the first of the four raids will unlock. Complete the raid and continue on with the quest chain to unlock the full set of raids.
You’ll need to be at least item level 685 to take on the raids.
Arcadion loot and gear exchange, explained
As per usual with these types of raids, you will only be able to get one drop per raid per week, with the week resetting on Tuesdays at 4 a.m. EDT.
This means if you ran “AAC Light-heavyweight M1” and got a hologear drop from it, you won’t be able to get another drop from it until next week.
Each raid only drops specific loot types, and you’ll need a certain number of each loot to trade in for the actual gear, which you can see we tabled out below.
FFXIV Arcadion raid loot
|
Drop |
Where to obtain |
# required to exchange |
|---|---|---|
|
Light-heavy Holohelm |
M1, M2, M3 |
2 |
|
Light-heavy Holoarmor |
M1, M2, M3, M4 |
4 |
|
Light-heavy Hologauntlets |
M1, M2, M3, M4 |
2 |
|
Light-heavy Holochausses |
M1, M2, M3, M4 |
4 |
|
Light-heavy Hologreaves |
M1, M2, M4 |
2 |
|
Light-heavy Holoearring |
M1, M2, M3, M4 |
1 |
You can trade in the loot to Hhihwi in Solution Nine. This NPC will only show up once you’ve unlocked the first raid.
While doing all this will get you the armor and accessories, the process to get a weapon is a little bit different. Once a week, when you clear “AAC Light-heavyweight M4,” you’ll get a Light-heavy Holoblade guaranteed, without having to roll for it. You can trade in seven holoblades for one Universal Tomestone to Hhihwi. You’ll need to trade a Universal Tomestone and 500 Tomestones of Heliometry for the weapon.
Yes, that all means that it will take many weeks to fully suit yourself up in item level 710 gear. Based on previous expansions, the drop restrictions should get removed in patch 7.1. At that point, you can roll for whatever you want.