How to unlock The Spire of Trial in Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail

If you’re looking for a challenge once you’ve completed the Dawntrail MSQ in Final Fantasy XIV, there is a set of duties which can not only test your level of determination, but also allow you to improve your skill level.

Spire of Trial is the level 100 expansion for Stone, Sky, Sea. This solo duty pits you against a Training Dummy at various difficulties, challenging you to defeat it in a very small amount of time. It’s essentially a very fun DPS check, allowing you to perfect your rotations for maximum damage. 

Previous expansions have their own versions of this duty:

• The Circles of Answering (Stormblood)
• The Lawns (Shadowbringers)
• The Burning Field (Endwalker)

How to unlock Spire of Trial in Dawntrail

In order to unlock the Spire of Trial, you’ll need to complete the following things:

• Reach level 100 with at least one Disciple of War or Magic Job
• Complete the final MSQ quest of Dawntrail. 
• Complete the level 60 side quest ‘A Striking Opportunity’

Once you’ve done this, head to Solution Nine and talk to the Eccentric Researcher (X:19.9, Y17.1) to pick up a quest called ‘Trial by Spire’. 

You won’t have to do too much to complete this quest, simply head to the Outskirts in Heritage Found and talk to the Eccentric Researcher again at (X:16.5, Y:8.8). Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to talk to her at any time and enter into the Spire of Trial. 

How does Spire of Trial work in Dawntrail?

After talking to the Eccentric Researcher, you’ll be able to select any of the level 100 duties that you currently have unlocked, as well as the basic Spire of Trial striking dummy challenge. 

For each challenge, you’ll be faced with a Striking Dummy and a three minute window with which to unleash hell and whittle the health of the Dummy down to zero. It sounds easy, but the difficulty level increases depending on which duty you’ve chosen to pit yourself against, so don’t be too disheartened if you fail the challenge a few times. 

I’ve managed to get the Dummy down to 0.1% health with my disastrously under-geared Dark Knight before the timer ran out, and believe me when I say my frustration was immeasurable. However, you can take on this challenge as many times as you like and use it to perfect your rotations. This is particularly useful when heading into Extreme Trials and, when they’re added, the Arcadion raids.

Failing anything else, the chance to go all out against an enemy who doesn’t hit back, with no AoEs to avoid, and no risk to your own health is a strangely therapeutic experience.