To see the new glowy 5.3 Relics, check out this post.

So the content that has captured the attention of my Free Company this weekend is the new Bozjan Southern Front. This area is one way to work on the new Relic Weapon upgrades (you can also do FATEs and dungeons), and has a number of throwbacks to Eureka.

Except, it’s not Eureka.

I never got very far into Eureka, to be honest. Though I started my MMO gaming days back when chain-pulling mobs for leveling was a thing, it was something that I couldn’t easily go back to. Not to mention, a number of friends and FC folk just didn’t have an interest in doing it after the first try. I can’t really blame them.

Thankfully, Bozja is a much more palatable version of the Eureka concept. Namely, you can do it solo if you really want. This is the important point for me.

In fact, it’s set up to be an area you can use to level any 71+ level jobs you have, as well. Instead of getting a Deep Dungeon this patch, they folded the leveling into this instance. I think it works well enough.

Despite all this, even when I was out soloing the area, I often hopped in random groups for Critical Engagements and just to run around farming Skirmishes. So if the idea was to encourage grouping, it worked for even a hermit like me. Well done!

What is Bozja?

So, the main draw is progress on the Relic weapon, yes. But I find that to be secondary to the progress I’m making within the resistance ranking system. It’s really a game within a game, which I like quite a bit!

So first of all, you have resistance quests. These lead you through the Bozjan zone bit by bit, unlocking new areas and more challenges. You obtain new quests as you level your resistance rank through earning mettle.

You earn mettle by doing Skirmishes. This is just a fancy name for FATEs.

Defeating specific skirmishes leads to the spawning of a Critical Engagement. These are large boss fights of sorts that can have up to 48 players in each. No matter where you are on the field, you can sign up for the engagement, and if you’re chosen to participate, you’re warped to the battle automatically.

It’s a nice system.

If nothing else, it has has further increased awareness of the dangers of red chocobos. And provided several amusing memes, as well.

Certain Critical Engagements offer the opportunity to a one-on-one Duel. To get a chance for that, you have to perform really well in the CE (I know Choctober is one of them)… such as not getting hit by any AOEs during the entire fight. Way easier said than done.

I’ve been chosen for a duel twice in the lowest zone (not Choctober!), and declined both times. I’ve seen too many folks fail these to put myself on the spot. But it’s lots of fun to watch the fights and cheer from the sidelines! 🙂

You can earn lockbox drops from the Skirmishes and CEs, which can net you lots of Indigo Stars fluff items such as barding, minions, glamour, music and even a rare mount (that two lucky people in my FC have somehow managed to get).

Aside from that, you can also earn Clusters from any random enemy that’s not part of a Skirmish. You can purchase hair, emote, mount, music and other such with clusters. You often see people forming Cluster farms.

Once you get to Rank 10, you get a quest to do a larger engagement people just refer to as Castrum. I’m not quite Rank 10 yet, but am looking forward to trying it out when I get there.

Aside from earning Memories for your Relic Weapon, I know there’s a set of gear out there as well. I just haven’t reached that point yet to have the information about it.

Bozja has certainly been more fun as we’ve brought our own groups out there. While I’ve leveled 3 characters to at least Rank 5, having FC folks out romping around makes things smoother and overall more fun.

In fact, I think this is the most fun I’ve had in FFXIV in a good long while. I’m much more geared towards these open instances and hopping into random battles to help people. There’s something about the environment where you can lose mettle when you die that encourages people to support each other more.

So yes, I’m having fun in Bozja. Will post more as we get further and experience more things. Story is also pretty good too!