Sunken Temple of Qarn Guide
Sunken Temple of Qarn dungeon guide
The Sunken Temple of Qarn is the second optional, four-person, dungeon you encounter while leveling up in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. As with Halatali, the main story arc does not send you into the Sunken Temple. Rather, you discover the bread-crumb for Qarn from Nedrick Ironheart in Vesper Bay (just outside the Scion offices).
The Sunken Temple is a four-person instances, targeted at level 35. Players over 37th will level sync. This dungeon benefits from having at least one ranged damage dealer. I haven’t run it with both a Lancer and Pugilist at the same time, but I imagine that would make a few of the fights a bit more complicated.
Qarn is not a forgiving dungeon and it will prove very difficult for pickup groups (Duty Finder teams). It is a short, very linear, dungeon. However the complexity of encounters, including some of the general trash, can prove difficult for inexperienced or unprepared parties. As such, it is quite likely that first runs will either time out or hit a wall on one of the bosses.
General Encounters in the Sunken Temple of Qarn
This is a mechanically rich dungeon. Even the trash mobs feature a number of interesting mechanics, so much so that “trash” seems an inappropriate label. Additionally, there are a number of puzzle like elements in the dungeon. These range from pressure plates to pedestals. Proper handling can increase the treasure haul while improper handling can easily create a wipe or impasse.
Bees – Temple Bees start showing up early in the dungeon, generally alone as patrols but occasionally as single parts of pack fights. These creatures must be your top priority for kills. After about 60 seconds of combat engagement (sleep included), these creatures start to cast “Final Sting.” Final Sting will instantly kill anyone it hits, although it has been rumored that very high hitpoint tanks can survive if they are fully healed before Final Sting lands. The ability can be interrupted, but the Bee will begin chain casting the ability. Bees must die first, and fast.
Temple Relics – As you progress through the dungeon, you will find four temple relics each sitting upon pedestal. These include statue depictions of a helm, a gem, a flame, and a fruit. Pick each of these up as you encounter them, they come in handy later!
Qarn Facer – Early in the dungeon you will encounter the cube-shaped statue of a head. It will come zooming in and engage your party mid-fight. After a few hits, it turns and runs away. This is actually the bonus treasure chest for the zone. Have your DPS engage it and do as much damage as possible on your initial encounter. It will run away, but you can then kill it off on its second appearance later in the dungeon. Killing the head on its second visit dropped a chest for us, this chest contained a pink-quality weapon (quite a nice sword actually).
Avoirdupois – The second type of cubicle head you find in Qarn is part of an encounter puzzle. In the room with the statue is a pressure plate. If you kill the Avoirdupois on the pressure plate, a door opens letting you continue. I’m not sure what happens if you kill it off a pressure plate, I would guess it respawns?
Temple Cros – What a crazy looking creature! The temple croc features both front and back cone attacks. Standing directly behind the croc can be an instant kill for DPS not paying attention!
Stone Pedestal – Towards the end of the dungeon you find four Stone Pedestals. These are encountered with a pair in each room, one pedestal on each side. It’s time to use those temple relics. Right clicking on a pedestal brings up a menu of options for the relics you acquired. Each pedestal has an image on it that corresponds to a relic. You will reuse two of these relics in the puzzle room, don’t worry they stay in your group inventory. Placing the correct relic on the pedestal opens a door. Placing the incorrect relic opens the door AND brings in an encounter of Condemned. Each room has a treasure chest in which we have typically only found white (npc-sell) loot. This may be tied to the puzzle (described after) though, so doing it correctly is probably important.
The Puzzle – When you first entered the dungeon, you encountered a Warder statue. The statue had two of the relics sitting underneath a scale. At the end of the dungeon you find a Scale of Judgment with two empty slots. Placing the correct relics in the puzzle opens the final chamber and a treasure room. Placing incorrectly likely only opens the final chamber. The correct sequence is Flames on the left and Fruit on the Right. Then tip the scales. Each is accomplished with a right click. The treasure room contains three chests, we have pulled pink quality dungeon loot (a nice shield) out of this room. The chests typically contain trash gear to sell to npc’s though.
The Boss Encounters in the Temple of Qarn
Teratotaur
The first boss encounter in the Temple is easily one of the hardest encounters a Final Fantasy XIV party will have faced up to this point. This is a mechanically complex encounter which often has several mechanics happening simultaneously. Improperly countering some of these timed mechanics leads to an instant death. I have heard that this fight breaks up pickup groups as a number of them simply can’t bypass this encounter. While we found the encounter very manageable, I can certainly see how a randomly assembled group without the benefit of a voice client might find this fight impassable.
AOE Attacks – Teratotaur has both a cone and a radius area of effect attack. These are the least critical mechanics in the fight, but they should be interrupted or avoided as possible. They do high, but non-lethal, damage and the recipients also become debuffed. The healer needs to stay on top of the cleanses in this fight and keep effects cleared or things can get out of hand quickly
The bees – This is the first lethal mechanic in the encounter and it repeats several times throughout the encounter. These bees have far fewer hitpoints than the Temple Bees do, but they still carry the same Final Sting. It is imperative that DPS immediately switch over and kill off both bees each spawn cycle.
Doom – The real kicker in the Teratotaur fight is the Doom effect. The boss places the effect simultaneously on all party members. At the same time he does this, one of the three square platforms in the room lights up. You must stand on the lit platform to clear the Doom effect. Failure to clear the Doom effect results in a death.
After the first experience of Doom, subsequent experiences can actually become more challenging. First, Teratotaur keeps up his other effects, meaning you could be dealing with a Doom and a pair of Bees at the same time.
More importantly, though, the lit platform changes every few seconds. We find that, on the second and subsequent Doom, it is best to have the non-tanks stand between the two “non lit” platforms when Doom lands. As soon as the platform changes, simply hop onto the new one and clear your Doom effect.
This is far less risky than running to the “lit” platform the moment Doom hits and discovering the platform has turned off by the time you get to it (and worse, the new one is on the far side of the room). The platforms and bees really benefit from a voice client, keep calling out the clear platform and the fight is over fairly easily.
The Temple Guardian
Players who have defeated Titan will notice similarities between the Titan fight and the Temple Guardian. While you don’t have to worry about being bounced off into a pool of Lava, this fight features mirror mechanics to the Titan encounter.
Golem Soulstone – The primary mechanic to this fight involves the Golem Soulstone. While it is active and targetable, the Guardian takes no damage. You need to defeat the Soulstone to temporarily render the Guardian vulnerable (and inactive). Once the soulstone is beaten, pile on the Guardian and do as much damage as you can (healer recover mana points at this time). After a few seconds, the soulstone regenerates and you go back to the fight against the stone. Rinse and repeat a few times and you have your treasure!
AOE Damage – The Temple Guardian uses a cone, column, and pbaoe damage attacks much like Titan. Additionally, like Titan, the entire party will take damage at times in this fight. DPS need to stay in the vicinity of the healer to make it easy to heal up.
What Happened to Enmity? – After the first cycle of the soulstone and guardian, the guardian goes into a form of frenzy. Despite the enmity meter clearly showing the tank has enmity, the Guardian will run about the room attacking various people. Stay on your toes and stay out of his effects and you will be fine. For reference, attacking the Guardian during a soulstone phase does not stop this, I have seen full enmity bars on both creatures be completely ignored during stages of this fight.
The Adjudicator
The final boss of the Sunken Temple of Qarn is a real treat. This fight features multiple phases, each of which has simultaneous responsibility checks. The fight requires a coordinated team and will easily defeat an inexperienced or unprepared party.
AOE effects – The Adjudicator hits hard and dishes out a few cone and pbaoe attacks. Avoid or interrupt these.
Paralyze – Periodically the Adjudicator casts paralyze. It is important for this to be interrupted or cleansed if it goes off.
Sun Juror – In the initial phase of the fight, you face the Adjudicator and a few Sun Juror cube statues. The Sun Juror heads need to be killed on the square platforms (just like earlier statues) to defeat them. Otherwise, they regenerate and return to the fight. We had to defeat quite a few of these, each on a platform to end their summoning (although I have heard reports of only needing to kill three of them). They eventually stop spawning during the next phase of the encounter.
Mythril Verge – These statues spawn at one of the four corners of the room. Once spawned, they reveal a pale blue beam. After a few seconds, that pale beam becomes a lethal laser beam. DPS need to switch off and kill the verge quickly. All players should stay out of the pale blue beams!
Verge in a Box – In the next phase of the fight, verge begin spawning with a glowing square around them. After a few seconds, this square becomes an impenetrable field. DPS need to quickly get inside the box so that they can kill off the Verge.
Multiple Verge – As the fight progresses you will find pairs of Verge spawning (each in a box), requiring you DPS to split up and each take a target. It is best to coordinate which DPS has which pair of pedestals up front so that they are correctly placed before this stage starts.
Four Verge – Towards the end of the fight all four verge spawn at once. The party needs to split up and take out the verge while paying attention to the cross-fire potential from the laser beams.
Stick to the mechanics of the fight and counter the statues and verge. Do damage to the Adjudicator between dealing with mechanics. You will win this fight easily as long as you realize the boss is the least of your concerns. The mechanics are the most important fight, the boss will eventually die.
The Sunken Temple of Qarn is the second optional, four-person, dungeon you encounter while leveling up in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. As with Halatali, the main story arc does not send you into the Sunken Temple. Rather, you discover the bread-crumb for Qarn from Nedrick Ironheart in Vesper Bay (just outside the Scion offices).
The Sunken Temple is a four-person instances, targeted at level 35. Players over 37th will level sync. This dungeon benefits from having at least one ranged damage dealer. I haven’t run it with both a Lancer and Pugilist at the same time, but I imagine that would make a few of the fights a bit more complicated.
Qarn is not a forgiving dungeon and it will prove very difficult for pickup groups (Duty Finder teams). It is a short, very linear, dungeon. However the complexity of encounters, including some of the general trash, can prove difficult for inexperienced or unprepared parties. As such, it is quite likely that first runs will either time out or hit a wall on one of the bosses.
General Encounters in the Sunken Temple of Qarn
This is a mechanically rich dungeon. Even the trash mobs feature a number of interesting mechanics, so much so that “trash” seems an inappropriate label. Additionally, there are a number of puzzle like elements in the dungeon. These range from pressure plates to pedestals. Proper handling can increase the treasure haul while improper handling can easily create a wipe or impasse.
Bees – Temple Bees start showing up early in the dungeon, generally alone as patrols but occasionally as single parts of pack fights. These creatures must be your top priority for kills. After about 60 seconds of combat engagement (sleep included), these creatures start to cast “Final Sting.” Final Sting will instantly kill anyone it hits, although it has been rumored that very high hitpoint tanks can survive if they are fully healed before Final Sting lands. The ability can be interrupted, but the Bee will begin chain casting the ability. Bees must die first, and fast.
Temple Relics – As you progress through the dungeon, you will find four temple relics each sitting upon pedestal. These include statue depictions of a helm, a gem, a flame, and a fruit. Pick each of these up as you encounter them, they come in handy later!
Qarn Facer – Early in the dungeon you will encounter the cube-shaped statue of a head. It will come zooming in and engage your party mid-fight. After a few hits, it turns and runs away. This is actually the bonus treasure chest for the zone. Have your DPS engage it and do as much damage as possible on your initial encounter. It will run away, but you can then kill it off on its second appearance later in the dungeon. Killing the head on its second visit dropped a chest for us, this chest contained a pink-quality weapon (quite a nice sword actually).
Avoirdupois – The second type of cubicle head you find in Qarn is part of an encounter puzzle. In the room with the statue is a pressure plate. If you kill the Avoirdupois on the pressure plate, a door opens letting you continue. I’m not sure what happens if you kill it off a pressure plate, I would guess it respawns?
Temple Cros – What a crazy looking creature! The temple croc features both front and back cone attacks. Standing directly behind the croc can be an instant kill for DPS not paying attention!
Stone Pedestal – Towards the end of the dungeon you find four Stone Pedestals. These are encountered with a pair in each room, one pedestal on each side. It’s time to use those temple relics. Right clicking on a pedestal brings up a menu of options for the relics you acquired. Each pedestal has an image on it that corresponds to a relic. You will reuse two of these relics in the puzzle room, don’t worry they stay in your group inventory. Placing the correct relic on the pedestal opens a door. Placing the incorrect relic opens the door AND brings in an encounter of Condemned. Each room has a treasure chest in which we have typically only found white (npc-sell) loot. This may be tied to the puzzle (described after) though, so doing it correctly is probably important.
The Puzzle – When you first entered the dungeon, you encountered a Warder statue. The statue had two of the relics sitting underneath a scale. At the end of the dungeon you find a Scale of Judgment with two empty slots. Placing the correct relics in the puzzle opens the final chamber and a treasure room. Placing incorrectly likely only opens the final chamber. The correct sequence is Flames on the left and Fruit on the Right. Then tip the scales. Each is accomplished with a right click. The treasure room contains three chests, we have pulled pink quality dungeon loot (a nice shield) out of this room. The chests typically contain trash gear to sell to npc’s though.
The Boss Encounters in the Temple of Qarn
Teratotaur
The first boss encounter in the Temple is easily one of the hardest encounters a Final Fantasy XIV party will have faced up to this point. This is a mechanically complex encounter which often has several mechanics happening simultaneously. Improperly countering some of these timed mechanics leads to an instant death. I have heard that this fight breaks up pickup groups as a number of them simply can’t bypass this encounter. While we found the encounter very manageable, I can certainly see how a randomly assembled group without the benefit of a voice client might find this fight impassable.
AOE Attacks – Teratotaur has both a cone and a radius area of effect attack. These are the least critical mechanics in the fight, but they should be interrupted or avoided as possible. They do high, but non-lethal, damage and the recipients also become debuffed. The healer needs to stay on top of the cleanses in this fight and keep effects cleared or things can get out of hand quickly
The bees – This is the first lethal mechanic in the encounter and it repeats several times throughout the encounter. These bees have far fewer hitpoints than the Temple Bees do, but they still carry the same Final Sting. It is imperative that DPS immediately switch over and kill off both bees each spawn cycle.
Doom – The real kicker in the Teratotaur fight is the Doom effect. The boss places the effect simultaneously on all party members. At the same time he does this, one of the three square platforms in the room lights up. You must stand on the lit platform to clear the Doom effect. Failure to clear the Doom effect results in a death.
After the first experience of Doom, subsequent experiences can actually become more challenging. First, Teratotaur keeps up his other effects, meaning you could be dealing with a Doom and a pair of Bees at the same time.
More importantly, though, the lit platform changes every few seconds. We find that, on the second and subsequent Doom, it is best to have the non-tanks stand between the two “non lit” platforms when Doom lands. As soon as the platform changes, simply hop onto the new one and clear your Doom effect.
This is far less risky than running to the “lit” platform the moment Doom hits and discovering the platform has turned off by the time you get to it (and worse, the new one is on the far side of the room). The platforms and bees really benefit from a voice client, keep calling out the clear platform and the fight is over fairly easily.
The Temple Guardian
Players who have defeated Titan will notice similarities between the Titan fight and the Temple Guardian. While you don’t have to worry about being bounced off into a pool of Lava, this fight features mirror mechanics to the Titan encounter.
Golem Soulstone – The primary mechanic to this fight involves the Golem Soulstone. While it is active and targetable, the Guardian takes no damage. You need to defeat the Soulstone to temporarily render the Guardian vulnerable (and inactive). Once the soulstone is beaten, pile on the Guardian and do as much damage as you can (healer recover mana points at this time). After a few seconds, the soulstone regenerates and you go back to the fight against the stone. Rinse and repeat a few times and you have your treasure!
AOE Damage – The Temple Guardian uses a cone, column, and pbaoe damage attacks much like Titan. Additionally, like Titan, the entire party will take damage at times in this fight. DPS need to stay in the vicinity of the healer to make it easy to heal up.
What Happened to Enmity? – After the first cycle of the soulstone and guardian, the guardian goes into a form of frenzy. Despite the enmity meter clearly showing the tank has enmity, the Guardian will run about the room attacking various people. Stay on your toes and stay out of his effects and you will be fine. For reference, attacking the Guardian during a soulstone phase does not stop this, I have seen full enmity bars on both creatures be completely ignored during stages of this fight.
The Adjudicator
The final boss of the Sunken Temple of Qarn is a real treat. This fight features multiple phases, each of which has simultaneous responsibility checks. The fight requires a coordinated team and will easily defeat an inexperienced or unprepared party.
AOE effects – The Adjudicator hits hard and dishes out a few cone and pbaoe attacks. Avoid or interrupt these.
Paralyze – Periodically the Adjudicator casts paralyze. It is important for this to be interrupted or cleansed if it goes off.
Sun Juror – In the initial phase of the fight, you face the Adjudicator and a few Sun Juror cube statues. The Sun Juror heads need to be killed on the square platforms (just like earlier statues) to defeat them. Otherwise, they regenerate and return to the fight. We had to defeat quite a few of these, each on a platform to end their summoning (although I have heard reports of only needing to kill three of them). They eventually stop spawning during the next phase of the encounter.
Mythril Verge – These statues spawn at one of the four corners of the room. Once spawned, they reveal a pale blue beam. After a few seconds, that pale beam becomes a lethal laser beam. DPS need to switch off and kill the verge quickly. All players should stay out of the pale blue beams!
Verge in a Box – In the next phase of the fight, verge begin spawning with a glowing square around them. After a few seconds, this square becomes an impenetrable field. DPS need to quickly get inside the box so that they can kill off the Verge.
Multiple Verge – As the fight progresses you will find pairs of Verge spawning (each in a box), requiring you DPS to split up and each take a target. It is best to coordinate which DPS has which pair of pedestals up front so that they are correctly placed before this stage starts.
Four Verge – Towards the end of the fight all four verge spawn at once. The party needs to split up and take out the verge while paying attention to the cross-fire potential from the laser beams.
Stick to the mechanics of the fight and counter the statues and verge. Do damage to the Adjudicator between dealing with mechanics. You will win this fight easily as long as you realize the boss is the least of your concerns. The mechanics are the most important fight, the boss will eventually die.
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