The Masked Carnivale is one of the most challenging quest series in the game. How can Blue Mages clear its various stages?
Final Fantasy XIV prides itself on its quality and lore-rich quests that players can experience as they travel through the realms of Eorzea. Many of these tasks are class-specific or exclusive, making them even more unique. One such series of quests is the Masked Carnivale series, which is only available to players with Blue Mages in their FFXIV accounts.
What is The Masked Carnivale?
The Blue Mage-exclusive questline is a series of missions that tests players’ skills in this specific class, which will reward them with plenty of loot and FFIXV Gil. Each stage of this challenge will showcase varying types of mobs that will require different strategies to complete. The main idea of the quest series is to have Blue Mages figure out which skills should be used, and which will be most effective in certain areas.
Aside from requiring good problem and puzzle-solving skills, players should make sure not to fail any challenge or they risk being forced to restartthe entirequestline. Due to the nature of the missions, it is ideal to consult a guide to the Masked Carnivale. However, the first thing adventurers should learn about is how to unlock these series of missions.
How to Unlock The Masked Carnivale?
The first step in unlocking these challenges is to become a Blue Mage since it is a job-exclusive questline. To be inducted into this hybrid class, players must first reach level 50 in either Disciple of War or Disciple of Magic and have completed “The Ultimate Weapon” quest. They can then become Blue Mage by completing the “Out of the Blue” mission from the Zealous Yellowjacket.
Players must first reach level 50 as a Blue Mage to unlock Carnivale. After satisfying this condition, gamers must then talk to Maudin in Ul’dah and accept the quest “The Real Folk Blues.” After completing this task, Blue Mages can finally unlock The Masked Carnivale by talking to the Celestium Attendant in Ul’dah.
The Masked Carnivale
Upon entering this instance, players will be met with 31 challenges that must be cleared. Failure to do so will reset everything from the start. It is recommended that gamers only accept the quest series if they have item level 120 or above. Having Ultravibration is also recommended to cheese some of the phases. Here are all the challenges in order and rewards for each stage:
- All’s Well That Starts Well (0:30)
- Act 1: Arena Slime and Dullahan
- Rewards: 3000 Gil, 50 Seals, and 40 poetics
- How to Clear: This stage does not provide a real challenge. However, if players want to clear this part in record time, they are advised to use Death-type spells since these mobs are vulnerable to those attacks.
- Much Ado About Pudding (3:30)
- Act 1: Arena Pudding, Arena Marshmallow, and Arena Bavarois
- Act 2: Arena Gelato, Arena Flan, and Arena Licorice
- Rewards: 3000 Gil, 50 Seals, and 40 poetics
- How to Clear: The key to clearing this phase is to take advantage of the elements that the mobs are vulnerable to. For Act 1, spells such as Plaincracker, Feather Rain, and The Ram’s Voice will be helpful, while Flame Thrower, Water Cannon, and Glower are recommended for Act 2. These enemies are invulnerable to physical attacks.
- Waiting for Golem (3:45)
- Act 1: Zipacna
- Rewards: 3000 Gil, 50 Seals, and 40 poetics
- How to Clear: Water Cannon, Protean Wave, and Aqua Breath will be the primary spells in this phase. Flying Sardin is also recommended to silence the Golem’s cast time of Obliterate.
- Gentlemen Prefer Swords (3:30)
- Act 1: Arena Bat and Arena Wolf
- Act 2: Kreios
- Rewards: 3000 Gil, 50 Seals, and 40 poetics
- How to Clear: Act 1 is easy to clear and requires no mechanics. For Act 2, players should have a spell ready to silence their Magitek Field cast. The boss will eventually summon six adds, which should not be ignored for too long. Plaincracker is the best spell against the summoned mobs. Keep attacking the boss until Plaincracked cools down and recast it on the groups. The Magitek is prone to Freeze and Ultravibration.
- The Threepenny Turtles (1:20)
- Act 1: Brotherly Gil Turtle
- Rewards: 3000 Gil, 50 Seals, and 40 poetics
- How to Clear: These turtles have insane damage mitigation. However, freezing them and using Ultravibration can do the trick if they are frozen simultaneously. Alternatively, 1000 Needles can be used to wear them down. Having Doom and Tail Screw is also recommended.
- Eye Society (3:20)
- Act 1: Arena Catoblepas and Arena Mandragora
- Act 2: Arena Catoblepas, Arena Mandragora, and Arena Eye
- Rewards: 3000 Gil, 50 Seals, and 40 poetics
- How to Clear: The trick here is to get intentionally blinded by the Mandragoras to avoid gaze attacks. Once debuffed, players can immediately start burning through their enemies. The Mandragora will be the first mob to fall, so gamers should make sure they get a reset on the blind debuff. Otherwise, players will have to look away whenever a gaze attack is cast.
- A Chorus Slime (3:30)
- Act 1: Ice Sprite and Lava Slime
- Act 2: Ice Sprite and Lava Slime
- Act 3: Lava Slime and Gladiatorial Node
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: For Act 1, players should just focus on the Lava Slime from a safe distance. The explosion will kill the Sprites near it. The same strategy is applied to Act 2. However, adventurers should first use Sticky Tongue or Snort to knock back the Slimes closer to the Sprite.
For Act 3, the same gimmick will still apply, but players should avoid using Hydro Pull or Protean Wave to avoid prematurely detonating the Slimes. The key is to lure the Slimes closer to the Nodes before attacking them. The explosions will finish off the towers quickly. However, gamers should be wary of the line-of-sight attacks from the Nodes since they deal insane damage.
- The Bomb-edy of Errors (3:45)
- Act 1: Arena Snoll and Arena Bomb
- Act 2: Arena Snoll, Arena Progenitrix, and Arena Cherry Bomb
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: For Act 1, push the Arena Bomb to the Snolls, ideally with Snort. Kill the Bomb to detonate it to take down the nearby mobs. It is recommended to use Feather Rain is recommended here.
For Act 2, the same tactic will apply. Detonate the Bomb near the Progenitrix to deal damage to it and eliminate the Snolls. After taking care of the remaining mobs, focus on burning the boss. Flying Sardine can be used to silence the enemies. Gamers can also use Ultravibration on the Progenetrix once the Bomb freezes it.
- To Kill a Mockingslime (4:45)
- Act 1: Guimauve
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Constantly use Flying Sardine whenever the boss casts Golden Tongue. Focus on the adds that Guimauve summons and take advantage of their elemental weakness. Burn down the boss only when there are no other mobs present.
- A Little Knight Music (4:30)
- Act 1: CromDubh
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Burn or DPS down the boss. Players can use Flying Sardine or Bad breath to interrupt King’s Will to prevent him from getting buffed.
- Some Like It Excruciatingly Hot (3:30)
- Act 1: Arena Gas Bomb
- Act 2: Arena Gas Bomb
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Do not stop attacking every Bomb since they can one-shot players once they detonate. Group them up together and keep using AoE attacks until they are defeated. Their detonation timer resets every time a damaging spell hits them. Do this for both Acts.
- The Plant-om of the Opera (4:30)
- Act 1: Arena Roselet
- Act 2: Hydnora
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Act 1 can be quickly cleared with Ice Spikes. In Act 2, use Ice Spikes on the Spore Sacs that the boss summons to prevent them from spawning more adds. Burn the boss while silencing Inflammable Fumes, which is a room AoE.
- Beauty and a Beast (4:30)
- Act 1: Arena Haagenti and Arena Vodoriga
- Act 2: Carmilla
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: For the 1st Act, players will have to focus down on the center mob without awakening the petrified enemies at the back. Once the first enemy has been defeated, they can then proceed to eliminate the remaining opponents. Carmilla is a straightforward boss. Eliminate her adds and just DPS her until she is defeated.
- Blobs in the Woods (3:00)
- Act 1: Arena Jam
- Act 2: Arena Jam
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- For both Act 1 and Act 2, killing Slimes will cause them to detonate, which can instantly KO players. The main tactic here is to kill and hide.
- The Me Nobody Nodes (4:45)
- Act 1: Bestial Node
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: This phase is simple but challenging. The Node will constantly spam attacks that players will need to kite. When a big ball spawns along with the other adds, adventurers should focus on it to avoid getting one shot by Death’s Door. Keep burning the Tower while also killing the other adds.
- Sunset Bull-evard (4:30)
- Act 1: Arena Cyclops
- Act 2: Tikbalang
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Just kite and burn them from afar for the Cyclops. One-touch from a Cyclops can KO a player instantly. Act 2 is straightforward since there are no gimmicks involved. Just DPS the Tikbalang and eliminate all adds he summons. Eventually, he will use an unavoidable pull and get knocked back into a lightning attack. The trick is to position players so that they won’t be pushed back into the attack zone.
- The Sword of Music (5:30)
- Act 1: Right Claw and Left Claw
- Act 2: Kreios
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Players should remember that the Right Claw counters physical damage while the Left one counter magical attacks. Knowing these mechanics makes it easier to understand which spells should be used per Claw. For Kreios, he will summon both Claws in Act 2. Adventurers can take down the adds first or ignore them and focus on the boss.
- Midsummer Night’s Explosion (6:00)
- Act 1: Arena Manticore and Firesand Keg
- Act 2: Arena Manticore and Firesand Keg
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: This stage can be cheese by using Ram’s Voice on the Manticore and using Ultravibration to smite them. Otherwise, players should use the kegs to damage the Manticores. Make sure to eliminate all Kegs since they count as opponents.
- On a Clear Day, You Can Smell Forever (5:00)
- Act 1: Reflective Rebekkah
- Act 2: Reflective Rebekkah
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: For the first Act, only use physical attacks when her barrier is up to avoid counter damage. Otherwise, use any damaging attacks when the counter-shield is down. Act 2 will feature the same strat as the first one, but Rebekkah will be summoning adds in this phase.
- Miss Typhon (6:00)
- Act 1: Typhon
- Act 2: Ultros
- Act 3: Ultros and Typhon
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: In Act 1, Diamondback is essential to survive the almost unavoidable Snort + Fireball Flurry combo. In Act 2, players should silence the Imp Song as they DPS the boss. In Act 3, both of these bosses will adopt the same mechanics, so gamers should react accordingly. Adds will also be summoned in this stage, and they need to be focused down first. Try to take out Typhon first since his abilities are more dangerous.
- Chimera on a Hot Tin Roof (4:15)
- Act 1: Arena Imp
- Act 2: Apademak
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: The Imps can quickly be taken out by Self-Destruct or Flamethrower. Act 2 is simple. Just burn down the boss and prioritize any adds he summons while dodging his AoEs.
- Here Comes the Boom (5:00)
- Act 1: Arena Grenade
- Act 2: The Forefather
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: The Grenades are weak and can be one-shotted, but they are immune to Freeze. Do not let them wake up. In Act 2, the boss will summon blue bombs, which players can use to stun him. Use Sticky Tongue to pull the adds towards the Forefather before detonating them. He will also summon mobs from the previous Act, which gamers should focus on before waking up.
- Behemoths and Broomsticks (5:00)
- Act 1: Kronprinz Behemoth
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: This Act can be very challenging. There is no way to cheese it, so players will have to fight the boss. This stage will test players’ movement skills and sustain. Charybdis can be deceiving whenever cast since it has a wider AoE than what is shown by the indicator. Diamondback and White Wind will be essential here. At 40%, the Kamikaze combo is a viable option.
- Amazing Technicolor Pit Fiends (6:45)
- Act 1: Arena Viking and Arena Magus
- Act 2: Arena Scribe
- Act 3: Epilogi
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: The Viking are weak to magic attack, while the Magus is vulnerable to physical damage. The Scribe should just be DPS down quickly before he can summon adds. Diamondback might be helpful here. There is no unique gimmick in the third Act, so players can just burn the boss down.
The boss will summon the Magus every once in a while, so players will have to focus on the add since he will detonate, resulting in an insta-kill. Wind adds will also spawn during the fight, which gamers will have to avoid.
- Dirty Rotten Azulmagia (8:45)
- Act 1: Azulmagia
- Act 2: Azulmagia
- Act 3: Azulmagia
- Rewards: 10000 Gil, 200 Seals, 160 poetics
- How to Clear: For Act 1, just avoid his AoE and attacks during Ice Spikes stance. Do not auto-attack him since this will result in the players’ HP being halved. In Act 2, he will repeat the same tactics in Act 1 but with the Repelling Spray stance. Physical attacks are the go-to damage abilities here.
For Act 3, he will switch between stances constantly, so adventurers should know when to use magic abilities and physical attacks. Azumalgia will also use Charybdis, which should be avoided. The main attack that players should 100% avoid is the meteor. Avoid staying in the center, or the boss will root the player in place. After which, he will cast a meteor that will deal significant damage and leave a pool of lava in its wake. Use Loom and Diamondback when necessary.
- Papa Mia (5:00)
- Act 1: Arena Mirrorknight
- Act 2: Papa Humbaba
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Using Eerie Soundwave and Flying Sardine to silence or interrupt the boss’s attacks and burn through him in Act 1. In Act 2, use Eerie Soundwave to cleanse the Raw Instinct buff (indicated by a “!”), which will result in an insta-kill if not removed. Sustainabilities are crucial here since Humbaba packs a lot of punch. The boss mainly uses lightning attacks and will use knockbacks to push players to zones with DoT attacks. Using Earth-based abilities is recommended here.
- Lock up Your Snorters (4:00)
- Act 1: Typhon
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: The key to clearing this Act is to manipulate the bombs in the arena. Typhon will summon bombs and a giant Magitek Explosive three times. If the Magitek blows up, the players will be killed. Gamers should make sure to move the bombs away from the explosive before Typhon can activate them. Explosions from these bombs can trigger the large one’s detonation. Adventurers’ attacks will barely damage the boss, so the aim is to DPS the Magitek Explosive to blow up Typhon and stay far away from the ensuing explosions.
- Dangerous When Dead (6:00)
- Act 1: Durinn
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Durinn will summon four packs of adds with varying mechanics. The first one will charge players and blind them. The second pack will be suitable outside the lightning ring in the arena. The last pack will cast Butterfly Float and lunge at gamers from afar. The fourth one will be Gravekeepers, which can be easily disposed of. Durinn should be burned in between adds. Be at full HP before Doom Impending is cast to avoid dying.
- Red, Fraught, and Blue (8:00)
- Act 1: Shikigami of the Pyre
- Act 2: Shikigami of the Undertow
- Rewards: 5000 Gil, 100 Seals, 80 poetics
- How to Clear: Act 1 of this stage is considered the hardest out of all the challenges in this quest-line. The Shikigami will showcase multiple hard-hitting spells that players should be wary of. In this stage, telegraphs and indicators will be the gamers’ best friends since they will help them avoid attacks. Specific abilities cover the whole platform, but there are safe spots where they can take cover. One of his abilities, Pyretic, will damage adventurers every time they move or attack when it is active. Players should be quick on their feet and make sure they consistently heal themselves.
Act 2 is less challenging, but it is still tricky nonetheless. In this phase, players will have to rely on their movement skills. The main attack they should be wary of is when the Shikigami summons two adds. Players need to kill the smaller hand since it can drain their mana before eliminating the bigger one. After a while, the Shikigami will cast Big Splash, which Diamondback can mitigate. If the adds are not killed when this skill is activated, it will instantly kill the players.
- The Catch of the Siegfried (7:30)
- Act 1: Siegfried
- Act 2: Siegfried
- Act 3: Siegfried
- Rewards: 10000 Gil, 200 Seals, 160 poetics
- How to Clear: In Act 1, Siegfried will bring up an invulnerable barrier to magic attacks every once in a while. Make sure to cast all heavy-hitting spells before this shield is up. In Act 2, there will be a lot of AoE, so adventurers should be wary and quick on their feet.
Act 3 will be the hardest since Siegfried will use his barriers in the first phase and summon clones. It is necessary to take down the clones first. The first doppelganger is weak to ice, the second to wind, and the third to fire.
- Anything Gogo’s (7:40)
- Act 1: Master of Mimicry Gogo
- Act 2: Master of Mimicry Gogo
- Rewards: 10000 Gil, 200 Seals, 160 poetics
- How to Clear: There are a lot of mechanics to cover in both Acts, and it would be better for players just to experience it themselves. However, for Act 1, players should avoid attacking Gogo while his buff is up during his Mimic stance, or they will be instantly killed. In Act 2, Gogo will fire off barrages of spells. The main takeaway here is to be highly mobile and heal as much as possible.
The Masked Carnival is a challenging quest line, so players should be prepared for a beating. Clearing the whole instance can take quite a while. However, the rewards are worth the time since there are a lot of FF14 Gil and prizes waiting to be claimed.