Raids are endgame duties found in Final Fantasy XIV, of which there are 8-player and 24-player varieties, the latter of which are called alliance raids. With the exception of the Crystal Tower raid series, raids are not required for completion of the main scenario, and represent the majority of high-end content in Final Fantasy XIV.
Normal and Savage raids[]
8-player raids are short duties culminating in a single boss encounter. Unlike trials, earlier raids sometimes featured short dungeons to navigate with regular enemies or mini-bosses along the way, however these fights were instead made into solo duties that the player only ever had to complete once as part of the story for Stormblood raids, and have not been present for Shadowbringers and later. Raids are found exclusively at the max level for their expansion. Raids are also released in groups of four instances, unlike trials, and are meant to represent a larger dungeon divided up into separate duties. Normal raids are similar in difficulty to Normal and Hard trials but are easier than Extreme trials.
Raids feature higher difficulty versions called Savage raids, which are the primary focus of most high-end players. Modern Savage raids follow a set difficulty curve, with the first two encounters in a tier being comparable or slightly higher in difficulty to Extreme difficulty trials, and the last two encounters being significantly more difficult. The damage needed to defeat the boss before it enrages also increases with each encounter. Since Stormblood, the fourth floor of each Savage raid tier contains a new phase that is not found in the Normal mode of the fight and usually includes a checkpoint, allowing the party to restart the fight from the new phase if they wipe to it after defeating the first phase. However, resetting the instance will require defeating the first phase again.
Normal raids drop artifacts that can be exchanged for gear at specific vendors. Current Savage raids drop coffers that can be used to obtain the highest item level equipment available at the time (20 item levels higher than the respective normal raid gear), augmentation items that can be used to upgrade tomestone equipment, exclusive mounts, and books that can be traded for specific Savage equipment pieces or augmentation items.
The Normal Raids roulette includes all 8-player raids at normal difficulty, with the exception of the Coils of Bahamut which are generally considered on the level of Savage raids introduced in Heavensward onwards.
List of Normal and Savage raids[]
A Realm Reborn[]
Heavensward[]
Stormblood[]
Shadowbringers[]
Endwalker[]
Dawntrail[]
| Name | Level | Min Item Level | Boss | Unlock | Tomestones | Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 AAC Light-heavyweight M1
|
100 | 685 | Black Cat |  The Claw in the Dark
|
 20  10
|
7.01 |
AAC Light-heavyweight M2
|
100 | 685 | Honey B. Lovely | Sweet Poison
|
20 10
|
7.01 |
AAC Light-heavyweight M3
|
100 | 685 | Brute Bomber | Vile Heat
|
20 10
|
7.01 |
AAC Light-heavyweight M4
|
100 | 685 | Wicked Thunder | The Neoteric Witch
|
20 10
|
7.01 |
AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage)
|
100 | 700 | Black Cat | The Neoteric Witch
|
30
|
7.05 |
AAC Light-heavyweight M2 (Savage)
|
100 | 705 | Honey B. Lovely | The Neoteric Witch
|
30
|
7.05 |
AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage)
|
100 | 710 | Brute Bomber | The Neoteric Witch
|
30
|
7.05 |
AAC Light-heavyweight M4 (Savage)
|
100 | 710 | Wicked Thunder | The Neoteric Witch
|
30
|
7.05 |
Alliance raids[]
Alliance raids feature three groups of 8 players for a total of 24 players, navigating large dungeons with 4 bosses and a number of minibosses or enemy packs. Alliance raids are around the same difficulty as Normal raids and trials but take longer to complete due to comprising multiple encounters in a single instance. Area-of-effect spells and abilities that are specified to only affect party-members, such as Medica, will only affect a player's party of 8 rather than the larger alliance, and players have a more limited interface view of the status of players in other groups. However, players can still target people in other alliances with abilities.
The Crystal Tower raid series at level 50 is required for progression of the main scenario. However, subsequent alliance raid series are optional. As a result, players will unlock the Alliance Raids roulette which includes all unlocked 24-player raids.
Alliance raids are released between Savage raid tiers and drop equipment that are meant to be "catch-up" for players not acquiring Savage raid gear, being 10 item levels lower than gear from the previous Savage tier. Alliance raids are also a source of exclusive minions, orchestrion rolls, and Triple Triad cards.
List of alliance raids[]
Chaotic Alliance raids[]
Chaotic Alliance raids were introduced in patch 7.15. Like normal alliance raids, they are 24-player raids, but unlike alliance raids, they only have one exclusive boss, making them somewhat parallel to Extreme Trials and Savage raids. So far they are based on the final bosses of normal Alliance Raid series, the first one based on the Cloud of Darkness from the Crystal Tower Alliance Raid series from A Realm Reborn.
List of Chaotic Alliance raids[]
| Name | Level | Max Item Level | Boss | Tomestones | Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Cloud of Darkness (Chaotic)The Cloud of Darkness (Chaotic). |
100 | 735 | Cloud of Darkness | 7.15 |
Ultimate raids[]
Ultimate raids are a type of 8-player raid introduced in Stormblood. They are high-end raids that host a gauntlet of bosses from previous duties that must be defeated in a single attempt. Failing will usually reset the entire gauntlet. They are intended to be of even higher difficulty levels than the Savage raids that previously represented the game's hardest content. These raids require players to have completed the Savage difficulty-level of the previous raid section to even unlock. Due to their high difficulty, Ultimate raids are not intended to be "progression" content for the majority of the player base, and are designed solely for those seeking a challenge. Blue Mages and free trial players are barred from Ultimate raids, even if they otherwise meet all the other requirements.
Ultimate raids have thus far been recreations of older content, following the pattern of an expansion's raid series then an expansion's main scenario final bosses. The Unending Coil of Bahamut is based on the Coils of Bahamut, The Weapon's Refrain is based on the main scenario bosses of A Realm Reborn, The Epic of Alexander is based on the Alexander raids, Dragonsong's Reprise is based on the main scenario bosses of Heavensward, and The Omega Protocol is based on the Omega raids. However, this pattern is partially broken with Futures Rewritten, as it is based on Eden raids from Shadowbringers, with no ultimate raid based on Stormblood main scenario bosses appearing.
Ultimate raids reward exclusive achievements, titles, and totems that can be traded at specific vendors for weapons with unique particle effects. These weapons are of the same item level as the weapons from the previous Savage raid tier but contain an additional materia slot, making them marginally stronger.
List of Ultimate raids[]
| Name | Level | Max Item Level | Final Boss | Prerequisite | Tomestones | Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate)
|
70 | 345 | Bahamut Prime | Deltascape V4.0 (Savage)
|
 100
|
4.11 |
The Weapon's Refrain (Ultimate)
|
70 | 375 | The Ultima Weapon | Sigmascape V4.0 (Savage)
|
100
|
4.31 |
The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate)
|
80 | 475 | Perfect Alexander | Eden's Gate: Sepulture (Savage)
|
100
|
5.11 |
Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate)
|
90 | 605 | Dragon-king Thordan | Asphodelos: The Fourth Circle (Savage)
|
100
|
6.11 |
The Omega Protocol (Ultimate)
|
90 | 635 | Alpha Omega | Abyssos: The Eighth Circle (Savage)
|
100
|
6.31 |
Futures Rewritten (Ultimate)
|
100 | 735 | Pandora | AAC Light-heavyweight M4 (Savage)
|
30
|
7.11 |
Behind the scenes[]
8-player raids had not yet settled on a difficulty structure in A Realm Reborn, with the Binding Coil of Bahamut being exclusively high-difficulty when released. The Second Coil of Bahamut was the first series to feature a Savage mode of even higher difficulty. Beginning in Heavensward, the difficulty of new normal raids was toned down to make them more accessible, while the Savage difficulty was retooled to represent more of the original difficulty, though the Coils of Bahamut remained at their original level.
Unlike other content, the development team currently has no plans to increase the Level or Item Level syncs on Ultimate raids, or allow them to be run unsynced. This is to preserve the difficulty level as it was when initially released, even as players become more powerful as the game progresses, and ensures that all Ultimate content, both existing and forthcoming, will remain the hardest content for the remainder of the game's lifespan. While job changes, stronger consumables, and higher gear substats from syncing down higher item level gear have decreased the difficulty of Ultimate raids over time, they remain some of the most difficult battle content in the game.
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