FFXIV Patch 7.25 brings us the newest exploration zone — Occult Crescent. Cole Evyx walked us through everything we need to know to hit the ground running on his YouTube channel. Whether you're hunting relics, exploring the Phantom Village, or mastering Phantom Jobs, this guide will help you avoid frustration and wasted time.
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Unlocking Occult Crescent
Requirements:
Reach Level 100
Complete the Dawntrail main scenario quest
How to Unlock:
Head to Tuliyollal and speak to the Expedition Messenger at X:17, Y:12. Once unlocked, you'll return to this same spot to access Occult Crescent in the future.
Welcome to Phantom Village
After progressing through a short series of quests, you'll arrive at Phantom Village, the main hub of Occult Crescent. While there are plenty of things to explore here, most of your activity will center around the Southern Crescent, with one key exception: Relic Weapons.
Phantom Weapons: The New Relics
Relic Weapons are back — this time as Phantom Weapons! However, they're not immediately available.
Where to Start:
After spending some time in Occult Crescent, you can find Gerolt at X:5 and Y:7.5 in Phantom Village. He offers a quest called Arcane Artistry, which kicks off your Phantom Weapon journey.
Demiatma Collecting:
The first step is collecting Demiatma. You'll actually begin accumulating Demiatma even before unlocking Gerolt.
Relic Armor and Upgrades
Yes, Relic Armor is also back in Dawntrail!
How It Works:
- Purchase base versions using Silver Currency from the Expedition Antiquarian
- Upgrade them with materials found in high-level areas or treasure chests
- Upgrade further through the Expedition Armorer
These armor sets offer huge stat boosts and are absolutely worth investing in — even if the glamour isn't your style.
Currencies: Silver and Gold
Occult Crescent introduces two main currencies:
- Silver Currency: Earned via general content like Critical Engagements
- Gold Currency: Likely obtained through high-end content (possibly tied to Forked Tower) after finishing the main questlines
You can use both to buy glamours, mounts, minions, Orchestrion Rolls, housing items, and much more!
Occult Crescent's Main Questline and Survey Records
Occult Crescent has its own evolving Main Questline, heavily tied to exploration.
Surveying the Land:
As you explore and complete critical engagements, you'll notice glowing white spots on the ground — these are Survey Points. Interacting with them fills out your Occult Record Book (found under Collections — you can even put it on your hot bar). Don't worry about order: progress is saved even if you interact with a point before picking up the related quest.
Treasure Chests & Rare Finds
You'll come across random chests on the ground:
Normal Chests: Often contain junk, but it's still worth clicking — Cole Evyx once got a tradable Jet Black Dye worth a ton on the marketboard!
Blue Chests: Always open these — they contain valuable items like Aetherspun Gold Yarn used for Relic Armor upgrades.
Leveling Systems: Knowledge & Phantom Jobs
Occult Crescent uses two parallel leveling systems:
1. Knowledge Level
Acts as a power curve inside the zone:
- You deal more damage to lower-level enemies
- You take more damage from higher-level enemies (and deal less to them)
Tip: Even at Knowledge Level 1, you can easily dodge enemies by walking behind them — especially on a mount. Riding maps make traversal even easier.
2. Phantom Jobs
These are unique combat styles you can equip and level independently. The starting jobs include Freelancer, Monk, Knight, and Bard. You don't need to use their abilities to gain EXP — just having one equipped during activities is enough. You can also drag skills from the Duties tab under Actions & Traits onto your hot bar.
You'll also earn Phantom Mastery bonuses, which increase your overall damage. One thing worth noticing is that Freelancer starts out weak but levels up by mastering other Phantom Jobs. Unlocking other Phantom Jobs is relatively straightforward — you simply need to engage with the core content of the game, which includes opening treasure chests, participating in Critical Engagements, and completing various events.
How to Level Fast in Occult Crescent
Maximizing your experience (XP) gains is key to progressing quickly and making the most out of your grind in Occult Crescent. Here are some essential tips to help you level efficiently:
1. Always Be in a Group
Soloing is possible, but grouping is far more efficient, as grouping provides faster mob kills, shared objectives, and XP bonuses. Also, keep your group balanced. Make sure your group's levels are relatively close together. This prevents "power leveling" situations that can negatively affect XP distribution. Use the Party Sync Mode feature to automatically balance all group members' levels. This ensures fair contribution and an extra 10% XP boost, which significantly speeds up leveling.
2. The Three Essential Buff Jobs
One of the first things you must do is unlock and level up the three base jobs: Knight, Bard, and Monk. Each comes with a party-wide buff that can make your group much stronger and your gameplay smoother.
- Knight: Grants a 10% damage reduction to the entire party. This is incredibly helpful not just for beginners learning mechanics but even for veterans who tend to eat hits.
- Bard: Increases experience gained by 10%—a huge boost while leveling or grinding.
- Monk: Adds a small movement speed increase. While minor, this buff makes dodging mechanics significantly easier.
These buffs are activated simply by switching to the job, using the skill near a Knowledge Crystal, and then changing back to your main job. The buffs persist across jobs.
Pro Tip: Level these three jobs first just enough to unlock their buff skills. That way, you're never dependent on others to bring them.
3. Consumables & Food Buffs
Consumables do work in Occult Crescent, and while it's not fully confirmed whether food provides the 3% EXP bonus, it does enhance your stats—HP, critical hit rate, determination, etc. These stat boosts are worth it alone, especially for tough encounters.
Critical Engagements: Your Bread and Butter
Your main content loop for now should revolve around Critical Engagements. These are highly rewarding and pop up frequently.
- They're announced with a distinct sound cue (similar to Bozja).
- You can find their locations on the blue crescent menu at the bottom.
- Be inside the blue circle before they start—unlike Bozja, there's no teleport.
- Chain them back-to-back for fast EXP and fun content.
While waiting, you can use the downtime between Critical Engagements to grind FATEs, do Crescent Surveys, or progress through the main story questline.
Pot Missions (Bunny Missions)
Pot Missions are similar to Eureka's bunny missions:
- You follow a "pot" by using a dedicated action.
- It gives directional hints like "North," "Southeast," etc.
- Reach the destination and grab the treasure chest.
- These might become a decent gil FF14 farming option, just like bunny trains in Eureka.
Movement & Travel Tips
Navigating Occult Crescent can be a chore without some key tricks:
- Return is FREE and has no cooldown. Use it constantly!
- Unlock all Aether Rides as soon as possible. They'll let you teleport quickly around the map.
- Falling while out of combat won't kill you—use cliffs and ledges to your advantage.
- Travel behind mobs to avoid aggro.
- Get the Riding Map ASAP from the Antiquarian for 3,000 Silver Pieces. It drastically increases your movement speed and makes a huge difference.
Recommended Jobs for Occult Crescent
You can play whatever job you enjoy, but if you're looking to optimize:
- Ninja & Scholar: Provide direct damage amplifiers, boosting party DPS in critical engagements.
- Red Mage: Reviving is vital here, just like in Eureka and Bozja. Prevent EXP loss.
- Barrier Healers (like Scholar, Sage): Excellent for learning fights. You can take hits and laugh it off behind a shield.
- Any Job With Buff Utility: Especially those that synergize well in group content.
Final Thoughts
Occult Crescent is shaping up to be an exciting mix of exploration, group content, and layered systems—buffs, engagements, missions, and more. Taking a little time to prep with these tips can go a long way in improving your efficiency and enjoyment. Now, get out there and conquer the Crescent!
