I Asked 1000 FFXIV Players About Their Favorite Dungeons

[@veesalazar8605]

You should ask the question again but expansion specific “What was your favourite and least favourite in HW, SB, ShB” and so on to see if the numbers hold up

[@fakechannelname8235]

could also do like a google form survey thing so he doesn't have to deal with counting everything himself since that'd be a looooooooot more to manage

[@leonbraun3778]

I like this idea also =)

[@HyouVizer]

I wish he did this like that. "Fav ARR dungeon?" And continue it with "fav HW dungeon?" etc as a series.

[@aerieleah533]

Was just gonna say that. Like I love keeper of the lake. I can't make it higher reasonably, but I frigging love it. Same with Gubal. On the opposite side, the first Endwalker dungeon doesn't reach the depths, but if I did a top ten worst dungeons, it would include it. I don't know why. I just hated it. I leveled the trusts, so I did all the endwalker dungeons a bit more than normal.

[@daemonbane1]

@@fakechannelname8235 It does feel like he skipped alot of useful information and distinctions in the name of making the survey simpler to get more responses, but at a cost of having to do way more manual work. I assume you'd get more responses when all someone has to do to respond is reply to a tweet, but it also made the data alot less useful, and means alot of the conclusions here require some degree of assumption.

[@suparockr]

Ghimlyt Dark stan here: The reason it became my favorite was entirely within the setup. The whole game you've been gaining inch by inch on Garlemald and now they're done standing around and declare war on you and all the allies you've made. Negotiations have failed and now it's off to the frontlines to face the full might of the main villain (kind of sort of). They really nailed the ground war feeling.

[@alanastevenson]

Ghimlyt is a top 3 for me, and I agree. I also like that we have NPCs in that fight that are fighting with us.

[@Oogrilla]

It's such an amazing story dungeon, I was seriously impressed the first time I played it.

[@futurepastnow]

I love all the dungeons that have lots of friendly NPCs running around fighting and doing stuff. It helps that those are usually the big setpieces. Ghimlyt Dark, Heroes' Gauntlet, Paglth'an. If I had to choose: favorite: Heroes' Gauntlet, least favorite: Stone Vigil Hard

[@N3XYF]

The music is a banger too

[@ahumanontheinternet8614]

I've been telling my sprout that stormblood was the expansion that they really nailed making you feel like u were in the middle of a battle, and this one was the one that drove it home for me. That first time I ran it I felt immersed in the fighting and it was so cool. SHB was when the dngn storytelling really stepped up a lot so I felt similarily about Amarot for similar reasons. But experience wise , those two really stand out for me.

[@ataegis5924]

I am among the Pharos Sirius-hating multitudes, I've had so many parties wipe to the first two bosses, while the last two get stomped instantly. It feels like such a whiplash in difficulty that just isn't fun. Plus,the level 50 skill sets just aren't fun yet.

[@richs.500]

Once, I actually lost count of how many times my party wiped on the first boss. I really wonder if they intentionally made the last bosses a cakewalk. The only two jobs I've enjoyed playing in Sirius are SAM and RDM, probably because they were designed to be played, functional and fun, at 50. Also, the only thing that I really like about Sirius is the music. Damn, it's just so perfect for the place.

[@JiovonniEdwards-rz3cn]

i struggled so much with it on my SMN which i main when it dropped x_x

[@shawnscouten5184]

Huh, thats the reason it ended up on my list for the best. It shows up so rarely anyways, that it’s still fun to watch parties get blown up by the Zu. I don’t think I have ended up in there synced for like a year now.

[@masterplusmargarita]

It really doesn't help that it comes up rarely enough that people usually forget what the mechanics even are. I know the first dude stacks some debuffs on you that like... Explode if you get too many stacks or something, and the second boss like... Spawns eggs that you... Either have to hit or not hit depending on what type they are? I'm really not sure, and even if by some miracle I got that right I don't remember, say, how to avoid the debuff, or what eggs to hit. It's got to the point where I just google the boss mechanics and explain them in chat because no one I've run the dungeon with has known what the bosses do either.

[@klausnurion103]

Most Favorite: Paglth'an - Simply because it evokes that nostalgic feeling of beast tribes and it's a subject that has been around since 1.0 (pretty much every beast tribe dungeon has this, Xelphatol was also very good). People would constantly theorize of how this place would be, and imo they absolutely nailed it in our own impression. Also the atmosphere is 10/10, it reminds me wow dungeons with all the dragon mounting and background fighting. Least Favorite: Halatali

[@artemisamberdrive583]

05:58 nope, my favourite vote for aurum vale is not a troll. this dungeon is completeable in 8 mins, since it's not wall-to-wall blocked as most dungeons are. i agree it is harder than most dungeons due to various reasons, but it is utterly satisfying speeding through the dungeon. also a lot of ppl farmed blue mage kupo stones there (though i never did)

[@yabiyabi]

I always am happy when I get dungeon as "Swallows Compass" and "The Burn" because the music is so beautiful and the environment in the Burn is gorgeous. Then I cry when I get level 16-30 dungeons. The rest I do not mind.

[@vincentbeton]

It really shows how different things 'favorite' can mean. For me it would be based on Bosses and next up theming/music but you brought up a whole lot of people judging heavily by wall-to-wall experiences, which I did not care about at all

[@PipPanoma]

ARR having the most votes just speaks to the character of older dungeons. Like them or dislike them, they are memorable. I can't remember the majority of hallway dungeons from later expansions and if I do it's usually because of the bosses or music, not the dungeon itself.

[@TheKillerman3333]

It's more then hat. Most of the dungeons in art see play because everyone plays them at least once

[@HyouVizer]

All ARR dungeons (ignoring the revamp ones simplifying layout) have such a organic design to their layouts. Where their dungeons for later expansions, layout is straightforward boring path from start to finish. Even FF16 dungeons sadly reflect this too

[@StormierNik]

ARR Dungeons actually make me put more thought into what is going on, because if you fail a mechanic, you tend to just fail outright. When I tank I hope that I get 60, 70, 80, or 90, dungeons in the roulette. Because I know th e real challenge are level 50 hard mode dungeons where they actually punish you for doing something wrong. 90 dungeons I can sleep through. And I do enjoy them because of that. I think i'd rather have things be a little frustrating or stressful than a completely boring slog.

[@StormierNik]

​@@HyouVizer This just in, Dawntrail's dungeons just leaked. Here's how they look: *Giant tunnel corridor* *Trash pack 1* *Trash pack 2* *mini boss* *Trash pack 3* *Trash pack 4* *Mini Boss 2* *Trash pack 5* *Trash pack 6* *Final Boss (complete with your eyes closed)* Welcome for the spoilers

[@TheKillerman3333]

@@StormierNik You also have to remember that ARR dungeons dont give you full access to your kit either. This is why the most hated one is also the one with multiple classes that don't have aoe attacks, aoe heals and has multiple enviromental hazards.

[@taldir5228]

Ghimlyt was awesome. The set pieces, the atmosphere and our npc friends fighting alongside us was sooo cool

[@TopMashu]

Mt. Gulg is definitely the peak of regular dungeons. The first and third wall-to-wall pack pulls are some of the most exciting moments in casual content and the spectacle is almost unmatched as well with the combination of music, voice acting, visuals, and its role in the story.

[@jacobtridef48]

Id love to see more content like this tbh. Polling community and finding out random fun information

[@joelramos1366]

Favorite - The Heroes' Gauntlet. Doesn't get old for me, love the world-tour-style layout of the dungeon, the music being a medley of the various locale themes, the bosses aren't boring, optional dungeon mechanics that don't ruin the experience if the party should fail to take advantage of them, and the NPC allies helping out all makes for a fantastic experience. Least Favorite - Aurum Vale. Everyone knows why.

[@alf3457]

I think it would be cool to see a unreal effect done to dungeons. Them picking older dungeons to bring up, maybe nothing crazy to use dev time on but would be nice to see how ppl will react to to these older dungeons with a full kit.

[@HeroOfCookies94]

They dont even have to up the difficulty. just give us all unlocked skills in all of the content. i get that some skills just aren´t made for a level 20 boss. just give us a hard damage nerf if we are 50 levels above the minimum level req. and let people play their whole rotation. i think that would make old dungeons and primal much more fun already. also newer players might get interested in certain jobs just because of a skill they see from a higher level player.

[@shawnscouten5184]

I don’t really see the point tbh. There isn’t really that much of a difference between stone vigil and like a level 90 dungeon in difficulty even now, they are both pretty effortless. I mean stone vigil wall to wall is arguably the single hardest msq conent in the game to wall to wall heal, so thats something I guess. The experience hasn’t really changed much between now and then. If anything it would be easier because we have more buttons to deal with things, like just having invulnerabilities on all tanks would make w2w a lot easier than it already is. Given how much time it seems to take them to add these things, I’d much rather they used it on something more than a novelty, like a savage turn or something, one of the main reasons they do unreal is to allow people to do content they wouldn’t normally be able to find a group for easily after all, and dungeons don’t exactly have a lack of people willing to run them currently.

[@CadeMan101]

I like Aurum Vale. I always have. I liked when the cyclops didn't have the AoE markers. I like the piss floor and the steam valves that push you. I like the aggravating stuff because it feels good to not get got by it. It's also unique and from a time before every dungeon was the same and they started to get rid of unique mechanics in dungeons.

[@moreapurva]

It is also a great dungeon to spam unsync for light farming in ARR relics. No loading screens, no interactive switches or keys or stuff to slow you down. Its just 1 single uninterrupted run from start to finish

[@MrsAikahime]

It sounds more like a fondness for that era of dungeon design rather than the dungeon itself

[@CadeMan101]

@@MrsAikahime You are right. I'm one of the few people that liked cross-class skills in the job system because it makes the game unique and it has roots in the FF series. As a bard main, I miss being relied upon for support skills like MP regen and single-target defense buffs for things like tankbusters. I just feel like there's been a homogenization in the game and it's been affecting my enjoyment of the game.

[@cj_skywalker]

@@moreapurva Sorry, I go for Toto-Rak for light farming. It's got all the stuff you said only there is no piss floor to mess you up. The rework of old dungeons really helped Toto-Rak by a country mile, the old one had shit floor to slow you down making the trek to the end take twenty minutes. They removed that and just made the entire dungeon a linear run from start to end, only requiring you to kill every enemy to open doors, which is easier to do unsynced. :) And the bosses don't have stack debuffs. Anyone remember the old Ichorous Ire? How you had to summon a bomb to blow it up to split it into tiny flans so you could hurt it? Yeah, they replaced that with a piss easy boss. XD

[@0Fyrebrand0]

Both Aurum Vale and Dzemael Darkhold are not nearly as bad as people make them out to be. They're pretty good dungeons, really. They just aren't simple "turn your brain off, wall to wall pull down a straight hallway" affairs, which seems to be all anyone wants these days. Every run of those dungeons goes a little bit differently. Tanks have their own styles for how they pull, or how they group up mobs. A lot can go wrong if people aren't careful. The dungeon environment itself presents a lot of danger. It has character. It's memorable. If I were a dungeon, I think I'd rather be the infamous one that everyone dreads rather than some generic place no one remembers.

[@soulechelon2643]

While I understand the negativity towards Aurum, I personally like that dungeon. It's one of the shorter ones in the game, is pretty unique with its environmental hazards, and I get a kick out of people still wiping to it every once in awhile. My personal worst dungeon is definitely pre-patch Brayflox Longstop. That dungeon was...so...insanely long. I always dozed off during it. Favorite dungeon...I'm not really sure. Had to edit this because after watching, I was reminded of my favorite dungeon theme-wise. The Qitana Ravel. Love the theme so much, and I played through it as much as possible to get all of the glamour. The bosses were very interesting to fight as well, and the music was chef's kiss.

[@KatelynDombach]

I like aspects of Aurum. The environmental stuff and the fruit are good things you need to think about and skirting around things instead of always just going whole hog killing everything is a fun change of pace. Its one of the first dungeons that you need to do something with and not just attack/heal and avoid the orange. BUT it is going to stay at the top of my least favorite list because something with that dungeon always makes my game crash!

[@soulechelon2643]

@@KatelynDombach oh geez yeah that's worth being your least favorite lol. That sucks though, I wonder what's going on there.

[@redjoker365]

I love Aurum specifically because it's the first dungeon where you really have to be strategic

[@zillahstar]

Just curious what job do you main?

[@soulechelon2643]

@@zillahstar I guess it'd be Dragoon, but really I play all classes at this point. Dragoon, Samurai, and Reaper are my three favorites. Love melee dpsing.

[@Xylus.]

My favorite might actually be the Aetherfont just for the music. The opening really brings to life the cold, crisp air of the northern empty. Always makes for a chill dungeon run. I was so excited when I got the music roll to play in my house.

[@firefangz]

Favourite is Twinning Least favourite Hullbreaker Island You gotta do this for Trials, normal raids, alliance raid as well. This was super interesting!

[@coreybuffum3195]

Would love trials and raids. But why stop at normal raids? Do savage too!

[@balthefemroe]

Agree with this!

[@guardingcross4792]

You animal, I love Hullbreaker! 😩

[@philmaj2078]

Aurum Vale is a nightmare for healers if the tank just runs around in the party pool.

[@HyouVizer]

keep getting newbie dps attacking all mobs first room thinking needing to kill all of them to advance and shocker it causes wipes lol

[@DP9k]

Aurum vale is a dungeon that is entirely dependant on how how much your tank knows, if they’ve been around for a while you’ll just blaze through have an easy time. Darkhold is always awful no matter what, but aurum vale beats it because its the meme pick

[@paixeon8816]

I kind of like darkhold because it's the first content as a healer where you get aoe after so long just spamming 1 attack

[@ShitOwl]

you say that but go and pick up every mob in the first room and see how long you last lmao

[@Princess_Ruto]

@@ShitOwl That's... what he's talking about. An experienced tank *doesn't* dick around with all the mobs in the first room. As a party, you can skip most of them by hugging the wall and kiting into the first boss arena.

[@ShitOwl]

@@Princess_Ruto ... thats not the point which is this if you pull everything and i do mean everything sage's and scholars healing won't be able to keep up at that level then less u have a war since they already have holmgang there

[@clintonwilcox4690]

Aurum Vale also dependent on not getting jerks in your party. I ran Aurum Vale once as a tank, and a DPS would constantly run ahead of the party and get himself killed, and whenever I would try to make a beeline for the boss room and avoid enemies, this DPS would run around to all the enemies, trigger then, and then pull them to the rest of the group.

[@irlenanan]

I fucking love Pharos Sirius, the atmosphere is chilling and I actually like the fact that it's mechanically difficult for ARR standards. A Light in the Storm is also by far one of my favorite tracks in the game.

[@NeoChipzter]

The music is SO good

[@HyouVizer]

Agreed, but whats with the dragon boss thrown right before final boss randomly? Felt so out of place lol. Also makes it the only dungeon i think to have 4 bosses instead of usual 3 🤔

[@InfinitusMG]

@@HyouVizer Sastasha has 4. Coeurl, the Captain, the Captain + dogs, and the Sahagin.

[@stonium69]

@@InfinitusMG brayflox also has 4. The Bird, the drake + gobby chasing fight, the eft, and the dragon.

[@Shizukanexen]

Great video Happs! My personal fav is The Burn and my least favorite is The Sunken Temple of Qarn. By expansion my favs are -> Lost City of Amdapor, Great Gubal Library (HARD), The Burn, Amaurot, and Ktisis Hyperboreia. Least favs are -> Sunken Temple of Qarn, Nearreap, Shisui of the Violet Tides, Matoya's Relict and The Tower of Zot.

[@AeriFyrein]

Aurum Vale is an easy pick simply because it has SO MUCH going against it: 1. Level Sync'd to 49, so none of the juicy level 50 abilities. 2. Highly dangerous ground effects. Not only is this the first time they are encountered in the game (outside of the Heavy effect in Toto-Rak), but the puddles deal TONS of damage. Anyone for whom FF14 is their first MMO is not going to know how to deal with this stuff, and it's never taught anywhere in the game prior to this. 3. Lots of mobs with almost no restrictions on wall-to-wall pulls. Unlike more modern dungeons, where you typically only have 2, maybe 3 packs of trash mobs per pull, AV consistently has a larger number. This means *anyone* being inexperienced can be bad for the whole group if too much is pulled: tanks run out of cooldowns, healers don't have all the tools to keep up large amounts of heals, DPS can't kill enough mobs fast enough to slow the pressue. 4. All of the above combined with it being a relatively low-level dungeon (for the game as it currently is) means newer players rarely have had the time to learn all of the ins and outs of the game yet - especially when, as noted above, things are explicitly NOT taught to them at any earlier point, such as the gold pools. Anyone going into the dungeon - particularly tanks and healers - with lower-level gear makes this one of the first really big pain points of the game. It's one of the earliest things to point to in FF14 and say, "THIS is why we need a Hall of the Intermediate or somesuch."

[@reissyboi7527]

You should definitely do one for raids/trials. Though you should probably split them between normal and savage/extreme, and maybe alliance raids being a separate category

[@xinlight]

You can tell how the AV will go by seeing if the tank zooms off into the middle of the first room and then dies in 10 seconds. I think that was a key memory for a lot of healers in ARR era.

[@lyssalittlebear]

Thanks for an awesome video, Haps! I loved the look at what dungeons the community as a whole loved. I am very glad that Ghymlit got such a high ranking; I was really happy to see that, when FFXIV went for a 'this is gritty war' theme for the end of Stormblood patch content, they really went for it.

[@MythrilZenith]

Yooo Ghimlyt gang rise up! Honestly I don't feel incredibly strongly about dungeons. I used to not remember Ghimlyt AT ALL but after using it to grind for I think one of the moogle tome events or one of the relic steps I grew to love how it tried to implement a more epic feel with bringing in all the NPCs and making them actually do things, especially with the randomness involved in, say, who performs the LB3 on the final armor. I don't know if it's 100% my favorite but it's definitely more on the positive side now and grows on me more over time. As for most hated, I would have said old Copperbell for being a giant slog of pointless time-wasting encounters or old Toto'Rak purely for how many runs of it I did with the GC squad when leveling all my jobs to 50, but those have both been changed to less interesting but less annoying versions. Honestly ARR dungeon design was so experimental that part of me can't bring myself to actually hate those dungeons because at least they were trying something different and I find that I value texture more and more over time. So maybe without digging through I can't pick a least favorite dungeon. If I do Ill come back and edit this post with one.

[@residentotaku1635]

can we do this for trials next? this was a fun watch. Also favorite dungeon is the one where you're training with the limsa and the final boss is mistbeard (don't remember the name) and least favorite is dzemael.

[@Princess_Ruto]

You're thinking of Hullbreaker Isle (Hard).

[@powerofk]

A lot of the ARR postgame dungeons aren’t even run very often. A lot of newer players haven’t even played them at all because they’re completely optional and only important if you’re a super completionist/lore junkie/want to get a Zodiac (ARR) weapon.

[@Level_1_Frog]

Love the Gubal Library. Theres nothing like blasting acid jazz pulling wall to wall, and the bosses really stood out to me when I first fought them.

[@Road_to_Dawn]

I hadn’t really thought about it before, but Ghimlyt Dark may actually be my favorite dungeon too. It’s an epic culmination of our journey so far where all our allies join to help us, and it’s an exciting look towards the start of Shadowbringers and even Endwalker, where we really start bringing the war to Garlemald. Least favorite is easily Aurum Vale. I just have so many bad memories of trying to heal in there while I was still trying to figure out what I was doing as a newbie white mage 10 years ago.

[@bendonatier]

I don't use Twitter, so I couldn't vote, but for me Mt Gulg is the dungeon Amurot isn't. It's a cap to shadowbringers, and it's fun.

[@FragmentedTV]

holy shit the quality of these videos. its like watching a video from 20+ years ago

[@starlarlover]

it still looks better than your crash content

[@FragmentedTV]

@@starlarlover Huh? Its not content, its videos for my friends. Memories. Why are you so defensive when you know I'm right?

[@simon0162]

Aurum Vale is fun! I loved it cause it was the first time that newbies had to keep an eye out for patrols or a wipe was a sure thing. When someone was leveling and people would ask if they can let the eggs spawn. DPS complaining they died from nothing then explain the floor is posionous. If it was a first time for the whole group it was a shit show but after your first painful one it just becomes a fun place to visit cause you know what not to do now. Also back in the day when you had to tell melee newbies "If the cyclops is praying run or we'll be praying for you to rest in peace"

[@savedferris]

I've got one kind of hot take for ya: My favorite dungeon in all of FFXIV is Akadaemia Anyder. That's not one you hear every day, right? lol. So why do I love it so much? Well, for starters, the music is amazing. Yes, I know, it's just some fun jazzy piano thing, but it SLAPS. I actually still have the track on my playlist in my personal house, no joke. Second, the pulls you could do in that dungeon could go from zzzzz, to 'I'm awake', to 'HELL YEAH NOW WE'RE COOKIN' depending on the boldness and bravery of the tank you have, and I feel like that's something that's sort of being erased with more recent dungeons. Third, the bosses are relatively unique and entertaining, (at least, even though they're not incredibly difficult), and the Amaurotian theming of the dungeon is scenic and pretty to wander through. There, that's my hot take. The other is predictable: A lot of ARR dungeons are un-fun to say the least, but nothing makes me hover over the 'leave duty' button quite like Aurum Vale in roulette.

[@ataegis5924]

Here's by expansion: ARR: Favorite is probably Snowcloak, least favorite is Pharos Sirius. Heavensward: Favorite is Sohr Khai, least favorite (I haven't done hardly any of the optional ones) is the Dusk Vigil. Stormblood: Favorite is The Ghimlyt Dark, least favorite is the Sirensong Sea (really sucks that there's no lvl 63 MSQ dungeon, and I still haven't unlocked Shisui). Shadowbringers: Favorite is Mt. Gulg. So much fun to heal and tank in wall to wall pulls, and most DPS jobs have a satisfactory rotation at that point. Least favorite is Dohn Mheg. Endwalker: Favorite is Ktisis Hyperboreia. One of the few dungeons that feels fresh even when doing dungeon spam for leveling, and the music and aesthetic are incredible. Least favorite is the Tower of Babil. It always feels like leveling takes forever from 81-87, and this is the worst of itself, the Tower of Zot, and Vanaspati, in my opinion.

[@kaleiohulee6693]

I think Aurum Vale gets it rough primarily because people are so familiar with it as an early dungeon that appears very often in roulettes for leveling and MSQ. It's not particularly taxing or long. Stone Vigil(hard) absolutely deserves its place though for the turtle boss and it's an optional dungeon which means many players may have skipped it entirely. As for favorite I'd probably go with Aloalo Island with Mount Rokkon as a close 2nd. Both absolutely beautiful but Matsya gets Aloalo the nod.

[@Rill_1]

Love baelsars wall myself. Its a fast dungeon with massive pulls, and the final boss is fun to fight.

[@Calyxsys_]

I actually REALLY love aurum vale, it's easily in my top 5 favorites. I think it gets way too much hate. It had a very interesting aesthetic, it had the famous marlboro which for long time final fantasy fans have grown to be afraid of these in random encounters. The mechanics were fairly interesting and had a good level of accountability. Often times i remember explaining how bosses worked if we did wipe, but i really really enjoyed this place.

[@clintonwilcox4690]

Mt. Gulg is not my favorite dungeon, but it does have one of my favorite bosses in it: the cube with the nine faces on it. I love bosses with puzzle mechanics because it makes it much more interesting to do the mechanics than simply "don't step in the red puddle". I also like the final boss in it. As for my picks, I'd say my favorite would be Smileton (it's also the only level 90 dungeon I can consistently do well in -- for some reason I'm just having trouble with the bosses in the other dungeons). Plus, the music is fun and more exposure to Loporrits is always a blast. My least favorite would probably be Amaurot. I know people love it for emotional reasons, and it was fine for that when you're running it the first time. But I never look forward to having to run it again and I always dread possibly getting it in the 50/60/70/80 roulette. It's just so difficult that while I understand the difficulty for the first run, the difficulty for repeated runs makes it just no fun to go through again.

[@lyconxero457]

This was a really cool idea for a video. It was reminiscent of the sort of video that I loved seeing from another creator who has currently burned out on the game and is making other content that I'm not personally interested in but I wish them well all the same. It's just always really fun to see the community directly contribute to fun and engaging content that sparks healthy conversations about a game. If you're possibly looking to do something similar in the future, I'd personally love to see an up to date feeler on what jobs people enjoy playing right now and/or what jobs they are looking forward to playing in Dawntrail. The first idea could easily be done now but the latter idea might be more interesting once we've seen more information about the jobs in Dawntrail but before the actual expansion drops so that the results could be compared to see if simply seeing the jobs in action in the new expansion greatly changes how people feel about them or if they are more the ride or die types that stick to what they like.

[@Alizardwithdaftideas]

Seeing that TP bar tugs at my nostalgia lol.

[@thehurricane6767]

Good riddance lol

[@newdarkcloud]

If you ever attempt a poll/experiment like this again, I would recommend just setting up a Google form or a Strawpoll. You have a lot of upfront work in setting up the form, but in exchange you save a ton more time since you don't have to manually aggregate poll results.

[@WizelBalan]

The only issue with AV is you cap/sync your level at 49, which locks you out of a lot of good lvl 50 abilities.

[@N.G.H.]

Great Gubal Library (hard) is pretty fun. The music slaps and the final boss is fun.

[@N.G.H.]

Wait nvm. The Twinning is my favorite.

[@orly4672]

My favourite Dungeon is probably Holminster Switch. It's a great tonesetter for ShB and tells you what is at stake, seeing people instantly turn into Sin Eaters and killing Tesleen as a boss. I love the music because not only does it remind me of music from old MMOs I've played, it gives the feeling of dread and urgency with the piano drop at the end representing a small glimmer of hope for this world. The only bad part about this dungeon is the third set of trash pulls with the Sin Eater Coccoons spawning a small set one by one instead of one big wall2wall. It makes the dungeon a bit longer.

[@iveyyewitt1621]

Akadaemia Anyder for three reasons: The layout, the music, and the final boss. It was good to see my very first FF8 GF again.

[@chiekokurokumo]

I generally judge by bosses, story, and music. Wall to wall or nonlinearity/linearity doesn't factor for me, so my fav overall is probably something like The Twinning or Dead Ends. By expansion: ARR - Wanderer's Palace/Lost City of Amdapor; HW - Dusk Vigil/Antitower; SB - The Burn (Sirensong Sea also because of the music); ShB - Twinning/Holminster Switch (shoutout to Matoya's Relict and Pagl'than); EW - Dead Ends (shoutout to Fell Court and Alzadaal).

[@RoseArtemis24]

Favourite: Dead Ends. Story-wise, music-wise, the narration, and honestly the fights as well. Every time I roll it in roulettes I turn off anything I'm watching in the background, make sure I have BGM on and just relive the experience. I'm genuinely surprised so many people liked Smileton though, sure the music is great but that and the tiny melee uptime spot you can get in the last fight are the only two things I like about it. I wonder if it has something to do with getting it about 50% of the time I do a 90 roulette and just being over it at this point? Least Favourite: Stone Vigil Hard suffers a lot for that middle turtle boss tbh, I don't think I could pick anything other than that because if you get in there with a group that doesn't know how to do it, and isn't receptive to feedback... it gets rough

[@cceider]

Paglth'an is my favorite dungeon for multiple reasons. Firstly it's the last dungeon before Endwalker, meaning there was the whole set up towards Endwalker with it. I remember doing it almost daily (along with Matoya's Relict) through expert roulette while waiting for Endwalker to release and I have very fond memories of doing so. Another reason is the bosses. They're not hard but they give a good enough challenge. The last boss being Lunar Bahamut and having Tiamat help us right before we fight it is the cherry on top. I also really like it's music, it's catchy. Also riding wyverns towards the last area of the dungeon while looking out on the large plains is really cool. My least favorite dungeon is Great Gubal Library (Normal). I don't think it's a bad dungeon by any means. Honestly it's a good dungeon. I like the final boss. But I get this dungeon ALL THE TIME in leveling roulette and I'm so tired of doing it. I'd rather do any other dungeon.

[@christianpeavey8262]

Really surprised about ARF. The final boss for that is pretty fun.

[@solidtbone939]

I think the design and not the fodder matter when it comes to favorite. Mr. Gulg’s design is one of favorite leveling dungeons. Going from the mountain arm to the top of the pure white areas. Amaurot is my favorite. The story of Shadowbringers is great.

[@N3XYF]

I feel like a lot of people picked Aurum Vale for the memes. Both Dzemael and Brayflox's Longstop suck way more than AV.

[@adognamedsally]

EW: + Dead Ends - Aetherfont ShB: + Amaurot - Holminster StB: + Bardam or Burn - Sirensong HW: + Vault - Antitower ARR: + The Stone Vigil Normal or Pharos Sirius - Cutter's Cry

[@AsheramK]

Ah, Aurum Vale, the valley of piss. I think it's a big part of farming, which is why it's detested.

[@fakechannelname8235]

i'm guessing proooooobably moreso because of stuff like bad tanks or dps positioning themselves poorly causes the first room to be fully pulled, which is like 95% of the time a wipe

[@guffels]

I just finished a run of ARR and it's weird to say but the nostalgia for old Praetorium makes it easily my favorite ARR dungeon. I had so many good times in party chat back during the 8 man no skip cutscenes.

[@TheAuron32]

one of the funny things about Holminster is people getting mad about how fast the AoE Markers disappear, even after they get told the point is to SHOW you to watch the cast bar and boss animations to learn the attacks, people still hate it LMFAO.

[@coldReactive]

Unironically, Stone Vigil Hard to me is a really good dungeon. It introduces a mechanic where a boss ignores all aggro/enmity and is scripted. It's definitely not my favorite, of course. If I have to pick favorites... ARR: Keeper of the Lake / Amdapor Keep (Hard) HW: Gubal (Hard) / Xelphatol SB: Fractal Continuum (Hard) ShB: Amaurot EdW: Lapis Manalis Note that Xelphatol was changed when they added Duty Support. The balloons in the last area don't go back for more trash anymore

[@loranpayne840]

Ghymlit didn’t surprise me at all! As someone who absolutely loves the “culmination of plot dungeons,” Ghymlit is up there with Amaurot and Dead Ends for me. And I think for a lot of people! It’s dark and gloomy but story-wise it’s complemented by some amazing patch content, and I love getting it in roulettes! I find it extremely immersive and I think that’s why it got so many positive votes.

[@loranpayne840]

I will say though, my favorite dungeon. It’s a hard choice but I think Doma Castle. A lot of it has to do with the music (still one of my favorite tracks in the game,) but as I said above it is also has a lot of story elements! I just get hype whenever I spawn into Doma Castle in roulettes. Least favorite… I’m gonna be cliche and say Aurum Vale lol. I have a lot of traumatizing memories from back in ARR, regarding that dungeon. And imo it doesn’t have enough redeeming qualities to combat how awkward and difficult the pulls are for new players! Even the aesthetic is kinda rough, and the music isn’t anything super special. Making it the dungeon I go “oh no not this one!” for the most. At least a lot of the later dungeons I can also enjoy the visuals and music, even if I don’t love the pulls or boss mechanics… 😅

[@SubduedRadical]

Also, it's weird to me that people SAY they don't want 2 pack wall to wall x2 + boss repeat x3 hallway dungeons...but then look at the ones they hated on the most; AV and Dzmael, two dungeons that absolutely break that pattern and actually feel like dungeon delving since they're kind of big and more slow paced. It's like people don't realize the things they complain about are the reason they've gotten the OTHER things they complain about! I want more Blackrock Depth-esque big dungeons. Sure, it'd be nice if maybe it was a different roulette, but I still want some of them...

[@holowisewolf1688]

My favorite dungeon is probably Ghmlyt, but I LOVE Baelsar's Wall for that last pull before the Griffin. One of my favorite tanking spots in the game.

[@randomgenretalk8151]

Mr. Happy, thank you for going the extra mile and do such a video because it was a lot of work. Most Disliked Dungeon - Stone Vigil (Hard) The reason why i hate this the most is because of the second boss, not just because it's a time sink but also doing it with Blue solo was a absolute pain. Also if you do this with random people you always have a hard time to communicate what to do during the second boss fight. I had so many healers that forgot to heal during this fight and i can't blame them for that. Most Liked Dungeon - The Burn Visually i like the last part, the open area with the white sand and the gigantic sand worm corps. The sheer endless dunes and clear blue sky in contrast with the white sand, you really got a feeling of solitude but also peace. I also like it to play that as a healer because still to this day, the last boss in this dungeons had the most wipes of all the dungeons bosses. Because with people who do it the first time, the mechanics ar ekinda tricky and me playing healer is a extra step that i have to manage and it challenges me.

[@midnight3630]

The Burn's soundtrack was also great and one of my favorites, definitely a nice change from all the other Stormblood dungeons.

[@escarossa]

Not even close to related but seeing the old Happy at the bottom and seeing how far he’s come is inspiring me to start going to the gym again!!! Keep up the good work Haps!

[@Kaon-0ne]

Least Favorite: Aurum Vale Most Favorite: The Tower of Babil Aurum Vale is the only dungeon in this game that makes me audibly groan when I get it in rouls. Its just a combination of it being a low level dungeon (severely lacking in skills for most jobs), and that more often than not you're pulling through people who don't know or understands the dangers of the dungeon (poisons, acid puddles etc.). The Tower of Babil, on the other hand, is a joy in rouls. Most jobs have a decent set of skills available, the music is great, the idea of finally storming the imperial palace is awesome, and that final boss is an epic fight.

[@dimitriosgladio059]

Yeah those are my least favorite and most favorite too. Babil was awesome, there was a ton going on there

[@raventus2460]

Absolutely loved Mount Rokkon. Some serious work went into it, and I'm sad I'll never see it in roulettes. Least favourite is probably Halatali; It's exceptionally early and it's even more awkward than the somewhat streamlined Copperbell and Totorak.

[@AlexCole272]

I love the stone vigil hard mode, I did like the little extra stuff for hard mode dungeons and kind of wish they was still around, but that’s coming from a player that started during Shadowbringers 😅

[@threadscore]

Least, Don Mehg. That tightrope bit kills me every time. Most, Anti-Tower. The upside-down aesthetic and the final boss are both 10/10 for me.

[@Kzar5678]

Aww man I love Bardems Mettle. Like sure that first pull can be a nightmare for new tanks and healers but that 2nd boss is just so much fun. I get why theyve never done another boss like it but its so unique and fun and I love it.

[@El_Kaichou]

Im surprised people dont like Dzemael. The buffs really speed up the process and allow you to do a big pull, plus the gear is nice. The fact that people also dont like Cutter's Cry is sort of baffling for me too, the bosses arent too hard, and you can skip adds between the first and second boss enitrely, which is a big plus in my book.

[@SquigglyDestroyerofWorlds]

Who ever says their favorite dungeon is the aurum vale is a psychopath

[@zanagi]

thats me :' cause I like healing more. Tank has more things to do and focus on... DPS, well.. doesn't change that much.

[@veranolth2648]

Aurum Vale isn't even that bad ._.

[@Kayenne54]

I don't think ever made it through entirely. In fact, I gave up after the mentor person, who was leading us for (my) fifth attempt deserted us mid way. Just left. We stood around wondering how to get out. Oh, okay, just go die. Again. Easy.

[@jackcarlson4358]

Aurum Vale is FINE. The first room can get messy if the tank is a doofus, but after that it's a very simple, easy dungeon.

[@Cyril86]

It feels rougher than it actually is.

[@joeobo1]

Lost City of Amdapor is my least favorite thanks to the final boss's mechanic of matching the door symbols to dodge one of their attacks. It'd be fine if the symbols stayed over the doors longer, imo. Favorite is tough, but I'm gonna have to go with Aitiascope. Basically with the emotional weight of the characters who died along the journey are there to help us is what puts it above others for me. Honorable mentions would be Heroes' Gaunlet(a send off to Shadowbringers and all the areas and people we met), Kugane Castle(loved the aesthetic) , and Temple of the Fist(I'm a mnk main) Dishonorable mentions are Aurum Vale(it'd be fine if it wasn't for the puddles and having to stop mid-rotation to get rid of a debuff by eating fruit) and Bardam's Mettle(I hate the mid-boss that's just "do mechanics")

[@Raika63]

I'd almost want to see just a giant survey poll with "How would you feel about getting this dungeon in a roulette?" with 3 or maybe 5 options spanning negative to positive. Maybe copy the same question with Music, visuals, story, and complete package. It would be interesting to see if you could derive how important those other elements are based on how people rated the complete packages vs the individual metrics. FWIW, I don't think this would be too bad to make in google forms, if memory serves - I could probably make something in forms if you wanted at some point.

[@25xxfrostxx]

I don't hate or love Aurum Vale. Pre-rework Thousand Maws with the slow slime and exploding eggs was always my most hated. Generally over all I have positive memories of ARR dungeons because it was the last time we had "adventure" dungeons that we just did because they were there rather than "a thing in the story" dungeons.

[@flyinglizard007]

speed runners love ARR dungeons, you can do wall to boss pulls. I can run Aurum Vale in 10min or less with a good group of experienced players, and I have more fun with that then some of the more current well made dungeons.

[@selectioncrescimento]

Sohm Al (hard) 100% for me, the dungeon itself is pretty alright but the soundtrack is nutty, playing the 1.0 thanalan battle theme as the overall dungeon theme, with Persistance for the mini bosses and ending with Revenge Twofold is just perfect.

[@shawnscouten5184]

Probably the best dungeon for me would be brayfox’s longstop because I can pull all the trash and the boss at the same time, and that’s just super fun. In terms of actual design, most of them are near identical reskins, so its hard to choose, but maybe phaos sirius, that one with the tonberry stalker or the tam tara deepcroft. I don’t think its a coincidence those are all in ARR. shoutout to that dungeon where you fight midgardsormr or that one where you fought Hraesvelgr on the platforms, those were fun and would have made it on the list before they blandified them. I don’t think dungeons are exactly Ff14’s strong suit currently if you couldn’t tell. Edit: oh yeah, Aumarot gets on the list for its decently cool bosses, and how genuinely chilling of an experience it was, dead ends wishes it was half as interesting of a final dungeon as Aumarot is.

[@markmessi9020]

That one dungeon with the WALL OF DEATH when I was a baby white mage long long ago. We completed it with a titan egi tanking once. Great times

[@UnidentifiedRob]

I feel like Castrum and Prae often get neglected because people don't really think of them as "dungeons" even if they are, because of how they are tied to their own unique roulette. So I think they probably just escaped a lot of people's minds. I also think certain dungeons like The Twinning would have gotten a lot more votes if they weren't optional, since they are competing against dungeons that everyone has to do.

[@Daniel-qt5ib]

Overall: Favourite: Swallow's Compass The music, the aesthetic, it's all gorgeous. Least Favourite: Dzemael Darkhold If the tank is new, the whole thing is physically painful to get through. By Expansion: ARR: F: Snowcloak (mostly because of The Warrens) LF: Dzemael (already said above) HW: F: Xelphatol (I just think its neat) LF: ARF (so... long...) SB: F: Swallow's Compass (already said above) LF: Fractal Continuum Hard (tired of Allagan BS already by this point) ShB: F: The Twinning (the music, the story, the memes) LF: Malikah's Well (just a bit underwhelming compared to the rest) EW: F: Tower of Babil (mostly because of Anima) LF: Tower of Zot (only cause I like the other dungeons more, I actually do LIKE Zot)

[@fayntwinter]

Given that I don't really want to rank dungeons for anything else apart of aesthetics since dungeons especially after ARR kinda work like run from A to B. My favorite is probably Akadaemia Anyder. I really like the music, the theme and the bosses and their part of the whole dungeon. My least favorite is The Stone Vigil (hard) which is what I relate with other people. When I was new to the game and I was a newbie healer I'd experience a lot of horror stories about Aurum Vale , but as I progressed it was easier to deal with the only tough thing being the first room. Otherwise it's such a breeze.

[@FinnFann]

I stand by that anyone who hates Aurum over Vigil hard just has never played vigil hard with a full party of new people. Aurum you can handle, but all new people in Vigil hard? Nightmare fuel.

[@Shiirow]

if you ask 1000 players of any mmo, the least favorite dungeon nine times out of ten is the one that requires greater than minimal higher brain function and spacial awareness.

[@shawnscouten5184]

There isn’t really an example of that besides maybe the Zu in the game though.

[@phaton89]

I have no beef with Aurum Vale. I can run it in 38 seconds. All it cost me was my soul and will to live. Thanks, ARR Relics!

[@charonib]

I guess I was lucky that the friend who got me into 14 is a good mentor and warned me about the fruit; Arum Vale was a fairly decent romp.

[@BygoneSerenity]

Aitascope completely shocks me in it's position. Not to say it's my favourite dungeon of that expansion but I assumed THE most rewarding dungeon for people who loved the overarching story would be much higher. Even as trends in SHB and EW show that the heavy-story driven dungeons seemed to perform well. Very informative and fun video though.

[@InfinitusMG]

Wait, people *like* Amaurot? I remember people leaving the instance when they queued into it back in ShB and I don't blame them one bit. It's long as hell, everything is way too tanky, there are those obnoxious adds that target the healer and dps, the first boss spams AOEs and the second is just waves of adds. Sure it's not the worst dungeon in the game and it looks cool, but it's so incredibly un-fun I can't imagine it actually being anyone's favorite. I'm guessing everyone who voted for it just remembers Emet Selch narrating and not much else.

[@lord2800]

Least favorite: Malikah's Well, but I guess that's just because I had to run it approximately 3127432167878 times to level both trusts and my own jobs. Most favorite: Smileton, the atmosphere and music just bring a smile to my face every time I get it in roulette. Honorable mention: Fell Court. I get why people hate this one, but I ran it so much as SAM that I have the entire dungeon planned out to the GCD. It feels so great to burn through that place in 10 minutes when everyone is hitting their peak.

[@kevinwilson2932]

For me personally it’s the music that put ShadowBringers dungeons to the top. I didn’t get the chance to vote but in all the expansions ShadowBringers dungeons were my favorite. Every time Insatiable would play at the last boss I would crank up my home theater while fighting. Aurumn Vale is definitely my least liked overall and most….I’m torn between Dead Ends and Amaurot and that’s because of the story as well. Just listening/reading the dialogue of the story while going through them was such an amazing experience.

[@daemonbane1]

It doesn't surprise me that Aurum Vale has a few positive votes. Its far more memorable than alot of other dungeons in general, and the first boss fight is the first fight in the game that requires you to think about actual tactics, which i appreciate as a training tool for future dungeons (making people realize they cant just ignore mechanics, like they can in earlier dungeons). Its certainly interesting seeing how personal biases impacted not only your expectation of what would win, but how\what was tested. Theres a few instances of information that was a known about but not tested for because you didn't want it to be too complicated, while knowing this would be a data driven video (and as a result more information would always be better). Unfortunately it seems like you were looking for a minimum viable results, rather than accurate ones. As an example, Choosing not to separate between ARR old and new dungeons was a misstep imo. Alot of the ARR dungeons were complicated prior to Endwalker but are basically straight runs now, and generally dramatically shorter, so they likely have different scores for different people compared to their original layouts. I'd expect people that like mechanics to be happier with ARR old versions, and players that just want quick runs to prefer new versions, but because there's no distinction we don't actually know.

[@Wisdombeer]

Dead Ends is my all time fav. No hesitation. The narrative voice in this dungeon is absolutely PERFECT. The atmosphere is so, so good. Give me nerd chills. Every.Single.Time. Least fav... I would say Dzemael. Frogs PTSD from the old version of it. But also random small rocks breaking LOS, weird first boss, non-interesting second.

[@bunnygals1661]

My Favorite is Doma, mostly for the vibes. That opening with the flood is amazing. Least favorite I’m definitely on the AV bandwagon. As a tank I’ve died more times in that opening area than I care to remember.

[@TheLMBLucas]

Broooo so much work. You should have used a Google Forms with a dropdown list with all the dungeons names. One for the favourite and then a copy for the least favourite, then export the results.

[@Steve-cc8zg]

I never voted on this poll, but when it comes to Endwalker, I think maybe there might be some influence by the experience doing a dungeon within a trust. And Dohn Mheg can be a pain in the ass, simply because I have taken a stream on that second boss, only to have one of my lovely trust members come to where I am, forcing me to go to another one at a point it's too damn late. Usually it doesn't matter, but depending on which job I am on, that can cut it close with being able to get the boss down before it gets just huge and clobbers me. I actually like that dungeon, but in a trust if I just want to get through it, that boss can make it more interesting than it might otherwise be.

[@thebrave9971]

My favorite dungeon in the game has to be Amaurot, not a place I see often, but it's such a memorable dungeon for many reasons. My least Favorite is the Lunar Subterrane in EndWalker. It feels like a bait and switch dungeon from what I was hoping to see from a place directly from FF4 to suddenly end up as not Lunar Subterrane part way through, that, and it's starting to become increasingly annoying how large they are making the trash mobs, because I can't see myself anymore as a tank outside the bosses

[@AJSXenigma]

Favorite: Temple of the Fist I've been a monk main since ARR, so I was incredibly excited for this dungeon from the moment I found out it existed. Not only do I love the theme, but it has two of my favorite bosses ever (the twin coeurls and Ivon). Barely passes The Vault, which was a homerun on basically every metric. Least Favorite: Neverreap It's really not that bad a dungeon, but doing this repeatedly when 3.0 dropped left such a bad taste in my mouth that I can't help but loathe it to this day.

[@balthefemroe]

This was super interesting! Loved the breakdown between negative, positive and aggregate votes. Favourite dungeons for me are Mt Gulg, Smileton and Pharos Sirius. This'll be a bit divisive but the ones I dislike the most were Dead Ends, Malikah's Well and Dzemael Darkhold.

[@deinhien7296]

least is easily sunken temple of qarn for me, i've had a lot of grief over having to explain the first boss over and over again as for favorite i'd probably say tower of zot - i really enjoy the difficulty of the dungeon and at level ~81 your kit still feels relatively complete for most jobs

[@JoTeL30]

The most simple thing that would make everyone enjoy Aurum Vale a bit more is to make the level sync 50 instead of 49. Being just 1 level away from having some of your most useful skills on most jobs just feels bad even with the dungeon revamp they did a while ago.

[@RhapsodicSongbird]

As an Amal'jaa stan, I love the Sil'Dih Subterrane so much. It was so intriguing to not only discover the past of the country of Thanalan, but, also how intertwined all of the races that lived there once were, until Balah'Dia ruined everything. #JusticeForAmal'jaa My least favorite dungeon is definitely Haukke Manor (Hard), if for no reason than Halicarnassus. An unresponsive party can make what is an okay dungeon with neat story stuff into just an utter slog of trying to slow down DPS races.

[@Aegea291]

If you did this for alliance raids I bet weeping(wiping) city would be up there - loved that raid

[@daanroelofs119]

Id still say thousand maws and stone vigil nm are my fav. Not because of the dungeon itself, but because of the level. At 26 youd get your first combo finisher and at 40 most jobs got their full identity. Thats for ARR though

[@sfvistorias6399]

I love it for the sole purpose of being a quick arr relic dungeon farm