Crucible of the Unbroken

The Crucible of the Unbroken is a series of solo roguelite combat challenges available for beastmasters, themed after a tabletop game. Initially unlocked at level 30, the Crucible is the primary gameplay focus for beastmasters aside from capturing beasts.

In addition to being required for the beastmaster job quests past level 30, rewards include various cosmetic items, gear upgrades, beast glamours, and Kornago Gourds. This content can also be used for leveling both beastmaster and their pets.

There are both story-mode and optional high-end boards available to challenge. In addition, players will gain access to three difficulty multipliers and region-wide leaderboards once they have completed the final board.

To enter the Crucible once it has been unlocked in Into the Crucible, players must speak to Lauda in Central Shroud (X:21.9, Y:22.8), nearby the Bentbranch Meadows aetheryte.

General Mechanics

Players may prepare a roster of 10-15 familiars prior to entering the duty, but only three can be taken into a given battle, and only one can be summoned at once. The maximum roster size varies depending on the board. The in-game UI provides an overview of all enemies encountered, their weaknesses, stats, and some attacks, helping players compose their team. However, players can also choose an automatically selected team recommended by the game (which may not be optimal).

Combat

Each combat encounter within the Crucible is a short battle against one or more enemies in an enclosed arena separate from the main map. Players will need to utilize the specific actions granted by their familiars to handle certain enemy attacks, along with dealing with standard encounter mechanics found elsewhere, such as avoiding AoEs based on an enemy's cast or animation.

Elemental weaknesses, physical damage types, and status effect resistances are relevant in the Crucible. Each familiar differs in these characteristics.

Before commencing a battle, players will be given a prompt to select three familiars to assign to battlehorns. These settings are not saved, so players must manually assign their familiars every battle.

Familiar attributes

Each familiar has its own level (rank) and attributes in the Crucible. Unlike in the overworld or other duties, familiars also have HP and can take damage. Leveling up familiars will increase their attributes (e.g. maximum HP, physical attack/defense, magical attack/defense). The maximum rank of each familiar is 25.

HP and regeneration

Automatic HP regeneration is disabled within the Crucible for both the player and their familiars. HP can be restored from using certain ephemeral items (obtained within the duty), from recovering at a campsite space, or using certain familiar actions.

In addition, players are disallowed from using any consumable item within the Crucible except for ephemeral items and meals. Using meals, especially on higher difficulties, is recommended to boost the player's HP and offense. (Meals should be used outside of the Crucible, as the player's HP won't be restored to their new max HP if they eat food inside.)

Familiars who are KO'd cannot be summoned again unless if they are revived with a Blessed Horn. If the player is KO'd, they will fail the duty and need to restart from the beginning of the board, unless if the effects of a G1 Beastmaster Reraiser, G2 Beastmaster Reraiser, Ring of Sacrifice, or Temporal Sand are triggered.

Duty actions

The player has access to two duty actions that determine whether they or their current familiar has enmity on enemies, which can be used to divert enemy attacks:

Action	Acquired	Level	Type	Casting	Recast	Range Radius	Description
Challenge	BST	30	Ability	Instant	15s	25y 0y	Gesture threateningly, placing yourself at the top of a target's enmity list and increasing enmity generation. Duration: 30s Additional Effect: Nullifies familiar's Cover
Snarl	BST	30	Ability	Instant	15s	25y 0y	Orders your familiar to use Threaten, placing it at the top of a target's enmity list and increasing its enmity generation. Duration: 15s Additional Effect: Takes all damage intended for the beastmaster Duration: 45s Additional Effect: Removes Enmity Up

Avoidable and unavoidable AoEs

There are two types of AoE attacks from Crucible enemies: avoidable and unavoidable.

Avoidable AoEs are defined as enemy AoE attacks where the player is supposed to avoid them. These may be indicated with standard orange ground telegraphs, late-telegraphed, or untelegraphed.

Being hit by avoidable AoEs will usually inflict a stack of vulnerability up or damage down. If the player's familiar has enmity, avoidable AoEs will instead damage and debuff the familiar if the player is hit.

Regardless of who has enmity, the familiar will not take damage from being in avoidable AoEs, so players do not need to be concerned about moving their familiars away from AoE telegraphs.

Unavoidable AoEs are cleaving attacks such as spread markers, stack markers, AoE auto-attacks, or AoE tankbusters. In this case, both the player and their familiar can take damage from these. For example, if the player uses Snarl, causing their familiar to be targeted for a cleave, and the player is also hit by the cleave, the familiar will take double damage.

Board layout

The goal of each crucible board is to traverse the map from the starting space until reaching the boss at the other end. A board consists of a series of spaces (also known as moves) with branching paths. Each space may have a battle, a rest area to restore HP, a shop to purchase ephemeral items, a treasure chest containing ephemeral items, or a random event. There are 45 unique battle encounters across the five boards.

Once the player chooses a branch in a path, all spaces in the other branch become inaccessible. Players may also not revisit previous spaces.

Each board has a fixed layout, so the locations of all space types and the battles in specific spaces are same each run. Some boards have random event spaces, but even then, the pool of possible encounters is limited.

Space	Icon	Description
Enemy		A battle against one or more enemies. Completing a combat encounter will reward ephemeral items and territory tokens. Players may use a Beastly Smokebomb to flee a normal enemy space, skipping the battle entirely, but not rewarding loot. Carrying a Coward's Knife will provide a 35% chance to flee.
Elite Enemy		A battle against stronger enemies that provide better rewards. Players cannot flee from these encounters.
Boss		The final space of the map containing the boss. Defeating it will complete the duty. Players cannot flee from these encounters.
Campsite		A space that allows players and their familiars to restore their HP. Incapacitated familiars cannot be restored. Although the player's HP will always be restored, each campsite only allows a certain number of familiars of the player's choosing to rest. Resting fewer familiars will restore more HP. The amount of HP restored (as a proportion of max HP) is evenly divided between the player and each selected familiar, but a familiar that has consumed a Lassi Simular will restore all HP at a campsite. Familiars that rest will lose all effects of Beast Feed unless if they have consumed a Lily Simular. Carrying a Chemist's Satchel will reward a random beast potion when resting at a campsite.
Shop		A space where the player can buy and sell ephemeral items for territory tokens. Each shop has its own semi-random inventory, and some items may randomly be discounted by 50%. All shops sell 8 feed, 4 crucible items, and 4 beast gear. No duplicate items are sold, and players may not purchase the same item twice from a single shop.
Treasure		A space where the player can select one ephemeral item from a semi-random pool of items, depending on the space. If the player possesses a Thief's Knife, they can select two. No duplicate items are offered.
Random		A space that randomly contains any of the other space types except for a boss. The specific spaces that can appear for a given random space are detailed in the in-game board layout.

Boards

There are five boards currently available. The first three boards are required for the beastmaster job quests. The last two boards are optional.

Board	Level	Min IL (Sync)	Rec. Beast Rank (Sync)	Max Roster	Unlock
First Board of the Unbroken	30	25	1 (5)	10	Into the Crucible
Second Board of the Unbroken	40	35	6 (10)	12	Gobsmacked
Third Board of the Unbroken	50	82 (100)	11 (15)	14	A Beastmaster's Path
First Master's Board	50	82 (120)	16 (20)	12	Free for All
Second Master's Board	50	82 (135)	21 (25)	15	Mastery Rematch

Difficulties

Once the player clears the Second Master's Board and completes Blazing Trails, they will unlock additional difficulty options per board: First Degree, Second Degree, and Third Degree, in increasing difficulty. Playing on a higher difficulty will increase the HP and damage done by enemies, but will provide large score bonuses and are needed for certain achievements. The Third Degree is needed to qualify for seasonal leaderboards.

Enemy HP is increased by an additive percentage per degree, which varies depending on the enemy. For example, the first encounter in First Board of the Unbroken receives a 42% HP boost on First Degree, 84% on Second Degree, and 126% on Third Degree. The final boss of Second Master's Board instead receives 70% per degree (70, 140, 210%). It is unknown how enemy damage scales.

Ephemeral Items

Players may obtain several types of items in the Crucible as drops from encounters, treasure spaces, or purchased with territory tokens at a shop space. These items do not stack and will be lost after a run. Players can sell unwanted items (except for feed) at a shop space for territory tokens.

Beast Gear

These items give permanent passive bonuses during the run, when they are in the inventory. Players may hold up to 10 beast gear total, but duplicate gear items are not allowed.

A Ring of Sacrifice is provided at the start of a board.

Beast gear can be sold at shop spaces for 20% the territory tokens it costs to buy them.

Some beast gear have specific synergies with certain crucible items.

Crucible Items

Referred to as "Crucible Items" in the game, these items are consumable and have various effects. Most of the items can be used either on the player or their current summoned familiar and give supportive effects such as restoring HP/TP or buffs. Other items are offensive items that can be used on enemies during combat.

Unlike beast gear, duplicate crucible items can be held, but each item will take up one space in the inventory. Players may hold up to 10 consumables total. These can be used from the inventory popup or assigned to hotbars.

Depending on the item, some may only be used on the Crucible board map or within a battleground.

A G3 Beast Potion is provided at the start of a board.

Crucible items can be sold at shop spaces for 45% the territory tokens it costs to buy them.

Some crucible items have specific synergies with certain beast gear.

Feed

Players may use these items to give their familiars passive bonuses. Each familiar has a different capacity (satiety) for how much feed can be used on them. In addition, duplicate feed items cannot be used on the same familiar. Some feed items can also only be used on certain familiar classes. Satiety is reset and feed bonuses are lost if the familiar is restored at a campsite space, unless if they have been fed a Lily Simular.

Feed can only be obtained by purchasing from shops and must be fed to a familiar to complete the purchase. Feed cannot be resold for territory tokens and cannot be fed to KO'd familiars.

Gear Bonuses

Equipping level 50 beastmaster job gear gives strength and vitality bonuses within the Crucible. Stronger gear provides greater bonuses.

These bonuses have their full effect regardless of level or item level sync, making them particularly potent in lower level boards.

Suspending and resuming progress

Players may leave the Crucible before completing a board via either "Forfeit" or "Suspend Progress" in the duty popup window. Forfeiting will erase the run, and players will need to restart from the beginning of they re-enter the board. "Suspend Progress" is only available on a cleared space on the board. If players select this option, their current progress will be saved.

Players may resume their current progress by speaking to Lauda and selecting "Resume progress". Upon doing so, they will continue at the same point. If players challenge the same or a different map from the beginning, their save file will be deleted. Players may only have one save file.

Bonuses and Rank

Conclusion of a board (either through success or failure) will be accompanied by a "rank," which is influenced by how many moves (spaces) were complete, how many enemies, elite enemies, and bosses were killed, how much HP is remaining, and a variety of bonuses (similar to bonuses awarded in the Masked Carnivale for Blue Mage). Each enemy space completed gives 250 points; each elite enemy space completed gives 625 points; defeating the boss gives 1000 points. A maximum of 5000 points will be awarded based based on how many spaces the player completed (this will be 100% unless if they fail the duty).

The list of bonuses are as follows:

Name	Description	Points	Notes
Willing Sacrifice I	Clear the board with 3 incapacitated familiars.	250
Willing Sacrifice II	Clear the board with 2 incapacitated familiars.	500
Willing Sacrifice III	Clear the board with 1 incapacitated familiar.	750
No Beast Left Behind	Clear the board with no incapacitated familiars.	1000
Beast Squad I	Clear the board with a team of 6 or 7 familiars.	1250
Beast Squad II	Clear the board with a team of 4 or 5 familiars.	2500
Beast Squad III	Clear the board with a team of 1 to 3 familiars.	4250
Self-preservation	Clear the board with beastmaster HP at 100%.	250
Selfless	Clear the board with all familiar HP at 100%.	1000
Infinity and Beyond I	Perform Universality at least 5 times.	250	Only available in Second Master's Board
Infinity and Beyond II	Perform Universality at least 10 times.	500	Only available in Second Master's Board
Infinity and Beyond III	Perform Universality at least 15 times.	750	Only available in Second Master's Board
Unbeastable	Clear the board without being afflicted by Damage Down or Vulnerability Up	1250
Nameday Attire	Clear the board without acquiring any beast gear.	750
Walking Armory	Clear the board in possession of 10 pieces of beast gear.	500	Not available in First Board of the Unbroken
Economic Ethos	Clear the board without using crucible items.	750
Habitual Horder	Clear the board in possession of 10 crucible items.	1000	Not available in First Board of the Unbroken
Starve the Fever	Clear the board without feeding any familiars.	750
Feed the Bold	Clear the board having fed your familiars at least 20 times.	1500	Only available in Third Board of the Unbroken and Second Master's Board
Coin Clutcher	Clear the board without spending territory tokens.	500
Rolling in Riches	Clear the board in possession of at least 2,000 territory tokens.	500	Not available in First Board of the Unbroken
Sleepless Survival	Clear the board without resting at a campsite.	375
Beastkin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only beastkin.	750
Vilekin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only vilekin.	750
Cloudkin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only cloudkin.	750
Seedkin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only seedkin.	750
Wavekin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only wavekin.	750
Scalekin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only scalekin.	750
Soulkin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only soulkin.	750
Ashkin Gambit	Clear the board with a team of only ashkin.	750
First Degree	Clear the board under the first degree.	4000
Second Degree	Clear the board under the second degree.	6250
Third Degree	Clear the board under the third degree.	9000

Clearing the board with sufficiently high score will grant one of nine ranks; in order from lowest-to-highest required scores, these are:

Apprentice
Novice
Journeyman
Adept
Exemplary
Renowned
Elite
Apex
Legendary

Score thresholds for each rank vary by board, so it is difficult to summarize exactly what's required for each. However, for the three Unbroken boards, a score of 17875 or higher will certainly result in a Legendary rank. For the Master's boards, a score of 18766 or higher will certainly result in a Legendary rank. Score thresholds are currently being compiled here.

Competitive Rankings

The highest difficulty (Third Degree) contains a seasonal leaderboard where the top 300 players per region (North America, Japan, etc.) will obtain the exclusive Tourmaline Golem mount. The first ranking period was originally planned to begin two weeks after the release of patch 7.56 and last until the release of patch 7.58. However, it was delayed until further notice due to balancing issues with beastmaster and certain gameplay mechanics. ^[1] The mount is also obtainable from subsequent ranking periods after the first.^[2]

Ranking scores are compiled from the last three attempts of each board within the Crucible.

Competitive ranking achievements include:

Crucible Contender (top 300) - Tourmaline Golem Horn
Running Feral (top 100) - Knight of the Crucible title
Beast of the Best (first place) - King of the Crucible / Queen of the Crucible title

Rewards

Upon the conclusion of a board, players will earn beastmaster EXP, familiar EXP, and various rewards based on their score. More information on how familiar EXP is determined can be found here.

The primary reward type are items that can be exchanged with the Kornago Merchant in Central Shroud (X:21.9, Y:22.6) for other rewards.

Faded Remnant of Resilience is rewarded from level 30 and 40 boards.
Bright Remnant of Resilience is rewarded from level 50 boards.

A higher score will yield more remnants. Faded remnants may also be exchanged at the Kornago Merchant for bright remnants, or vice versa, at a ratio of 2 faded per 1 bright.

Each board has a rare chance of dropping Modern Aesthetics - Loosened Locks for achieving an apex or legendary rank.

Players may complete weekly Challenge Log objectives by clearing each board, earning large amounts of remnants.

Finally, beastmaster's strongest weapons can only be obtained by completing certain Crucible-related achievements:

Gear	Achievement
Beastliege's Hand Axe and Beastliege's Hoplon	Friend to the Fierce V
Guttler Unleashed and Augmented Kornago Hoplon	Crucible Master

Achievements

This content is associated with the following achievements:

Name	Points	Task	Reward	Patch
Crucible Checkmate I	5	Clear the First Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Crucible Checkmate II	5	Clear the Second Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Crucible Checkmate III	5	Clear the Third Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Crucible Reforged I	5	Clear the First Master's Board.	-	7.56
Crucible Reforged II	5	Clear the Second Master's Board.	-	7.56
Hot in Here I	10	Clear the First Board of the Unbroken under the third degree.	-	7.56
Hot in Here II	10	Clear the Second Board of the Unbroken under the third degree.	-	7.56
Hot in Here III	10	Clear the Third Board of the Unbroken under the third degree.	-	7.56
Calcination I	10	Clear the First Master's Board under the third degree.	-	7.56
Calcination II	10	Clear the Second Master's Board under the third degree.	-	7.56
Eighth Rank I	5	Achieve Apex rank or above on the First Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Unbreakable I	10	Achieve Legendary rank on the First Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Eighth Rank II	5	Achieve Apex rank or above on the Second Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Unbreakable II	10	Achieve Legendary rank on the Second Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Eighth Rank III	5	Achieve Apex rank or above on the Third Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Unbreakable III	10	Achieve Legendary rank on the Third Board of the Unbroken.	-	7.56
Built Different I	5	Achieve Apex rank or above on the First Master's Board.	-	7.56
Legends Never Die I	10	Achieve Legendary rank on the First Master's Board.	-	7.56
Built Different II	5	Achieve Apex rank or above on the Second Master's Board.	-	7.56
Legends Never Die II	10	Achieve Legendary rank on the Second Master's Board.	-	7.56
Freeing the Beast	5	Achieve Apex rank or above on the Crucible's first three boards and two master's boards.	Dangerous Gamer	7.56
Crucible Master	10	Achieve Legendary rank on the Crucible's first three boards and two master's boards.	Master of the Menagerie	7.56
Unbroken Endgame	20	Clear the Crucible's first three boards and two master's boards under the third degree.	The Unbroken	7.56
Beastkin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Beastkin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Beast Kin	7.56
Vilekin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Vilekin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Vile Kin	7.56
Cloudkin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Cloudkin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Cloud Kin	7.56
Seedkin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Seedkin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Seed Kin	7.56
Wavekin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Wavekin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Wave Kin	7.56
Scalekin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Scalekin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Scale Kin	7.56
Soulkin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Soulkin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Soul Kin	7.56
Ashkin Mate	10	Obtain the bonus “Ashkin Gambit” on the Second Master's Board.	Ash Kin	7.56
Beast of the Best	20	Place first in Crucible Rankings.	King of the Crucible (Male) / Queen of the Crucible (Female)	7.56
Running Feral	20	Place highly in Crucible Rankings.	Knight of the Crucible	7.56
Crucible Contender	20	Place in Crucible Rankings.	Tourmaline Golem Horn	7.56

Music

Section	Theme
Map	Swiftest Wing
Battle	Starkest Scale
Boss	Fiercest Fang

Gallery

Trivia

Many of the combat encounters within the Crucible are remixed versions of old dungeon bosses with more difficult mechanics.
Ephemeral items are largely inspired by similar items from Final Fantasy XI.^[2]

References

[1] ttps://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/3bd99d2fb8b65a68f76f8721dc662e55c5c9fd09

[famitsu-2] ttps://www.famitsu.com/article/202609/86452

[1]

[2]

Crucible of the Unbroken

Contents