Overview | Objectives | Bosses & Loot | Other Loot
The Praetorium
With the magitek field now out of commission, the path to the Ultima Weapon lies open. While the Immortal Flames sweep Castrum Meridianum and suppress the remnants of the enemy garrison, you and your comrades must fight your way to the innermost sector of the Praetorium, there to locate and destroy the Ultima Weapon. Cid's airship, the Enterprise, will bear you to the stage of the final countdown.Thanalan
Northern Thanalan (x15, y16)Requirements
Party Size: 8
Class: Disciples of War and Magic
Time Limit: 120 minutes
Level: 50 (Sync from 49)Rewards
200 Allagan Tomestones of PhilosophyHow To Unlock
Overview Anchor
Overview
The Praetorium is a level 50 dungeon made availble on patch 2.0 in Final Fantasy XIV. This dungeon is part of the main story questline (MSQ) and is required to progress further in the game, in fact it is the very last quest called, "The Ultimate Weapon". Your reward for completing this quest is a Magitek mount! There is no loot in this dungeon, however, a card does drop from Nero.The Praetorium is the last story based dungeon and it certainly delivers in action and drama. It is jam packed with wonderful great scenes and epic battles. It is relatively challenging but nothing unmanageable. If you can't group up with some friends or members in your FC, cross your fingers that you get some well geared party members from the Duty Finder. You will have a Full Party of 8 people again, so there will be 2 tanks, 2 healers, and 4 dps. The waiting time can be a while, but nearly as long as the previous instances, since a lot of level 50 players run this dungeon to get Tomestones of Philosophy. Most of the boss fights are focused around dodging things, so if you made it this far, you should be pretty good at avoiding fire
Once you begin the quest you will be at the entrance of the innermost sector of the Praetorium. All of the trash mobs are relatively easy; mostly Imperial Elites and Magitek Reaper type monsters. There is quite a bit of trash before the 1st boss, so get comfortable. You will have to fight trash as they will drop 'Imperial Identification Cards' that are needed to advance into each sector.
Objectives Anchor
ObjectivesSee AlsoSome of the Best Final Fantasy XIV Mounts Can Be Easy to EarnFinal Fantasy XIV Mount Roadmap – Part 1: A Realm Reborn
- Imperial Identification Key: 0
- Secure the command chamber: 0/1
- Make for the Laboratorium Primum: 0/1
- Power and board magitek armor: 0/1
- Defeat Nero tol Scaeva: 0/1
- Defeat Gaius van Baelsar: 0/1
- Defeat the Ultima Weapon: 0/1
- Defeat Lahabrea: 0/1
Bosses Anchor
Boss Fights & LootMark II Magitek Colossus
Taxonomy: Bloodless/Forgekin/Magitek ColossusThe first boss is just a huge magitek called, Mark II Magitek Colossus. This is a very easy fight and basically just tank and spank. The main tank should pull the boss to a corner and keep him faced away from the party at all times. The 2nd tank can even go DPS to help make the fight go faster as there really isn't any need for two tanks. The Colossus has a few abilities but nothing that will one shot you. He will do a large cleave called 'Grand Sword' and will do a knock back on the tank. Ranged Players should be on the lookout for 'Magitek Ray' and get out of its path.
Abilities:
- Grand Sword - Instant frontal cone attack
- Magitek Ray - Shot of fire on random ranged player.
Nero Tol Scaeva
Taxonommy: Hume/Male/Garlemald (Marauder)
HP: 125,000After you get off your rental Magitek; it is time to face the second encounter, Nero Tol Scaeva. Nero is fairly easy to handle if everyone just pays attention. Everyone needs to stay out of the large electric ring the battle is taken place in. You will get a debuff called 'Electrocution' that will snare and cause a small amount of damage. The real trick of the fight is to have DPS quickly take down the adds (Magitek Death Claws) that come out. These Claws will draw a long purple line to a random player they are going after. The targeted player should move away from the claw (without going in the electric circle obviously) and all other DPS (and off-tank) should quickly burn the claw. The Magitek Death Claws can be slowed and should be if they target a player that is already close to them, otherwise they have a very small health pool, so they should go down quick.
Only the tanks should ever be in front of the boss as Nero has 2-3 abilities that he will cast in front of him; 'Sideswing', 'Spine Shatter', 'Augmented Uprising'. He will cast 'Iron Uprising' which will knock back the tank a lot, so the party needs to reposition frequently to stay behind him. Ranged need to stay a fair distance away to not get hit by 'Wheel of Suffering'. Other avoidable abilities that the Tank can also interrupt are 'Augmented Uprising' and 'Augmented Suffering', more on these abilities below.
Abilities:
- Sideswing - Instant frontal cleave
- Spine Shatter - General melee attack
- Wheel of Suffering - Instant whirlwind type ability that will knock all players back if hit
- Iron Uprising - Instant frontal strike and knocks target back
- Augmented Uprising - 2.5 second frontal cone that also inflicts Heavy and a knock back.
Gaius Van Baelsar
Taxonommy: Hume/Male/Garlemald (Gladiator)
HP: 158,000The third encounter is the Garlean leader himself, Gaius Van Baelsar. At this point, he is pretty pissed at you and your party, so this can be a rather challenging fight. The entire fight takes place on a descending elevator leading to where the Ultimate Weapon is stored.
The main thing to watch out for in this fight is a large blue dome like field. Everyone should avoid standing within the dome and one of the tanks should taunt him out of the dome so melee DPS can get to him freely. It isn't the end of the world if you do get caught within the dome as it only applies a small DoT that can be cleansed. Towards the end of the fight Gaius will remain inside the dome longer and will begin to teleport to different spots on the platform.
Everyone should also be on guard for his main damage dealing attack, 'Terminus Est', which draws a blue X in the air deals damage to whomever is within the path. There is no red warning sign, so be sure to be looking for the blue X. There is quite a bit of unavoidable damage that is dealt in this fight, so be sure to avoid the ones you can to help the healers!
Abilities:
- Heirsbane - Instant damage to random target
- Hand of the Empire - (1.0s cast) Shoots a blue flame at a random target and causes light damage to all players within that area
- Innocence - Instant frontal cleave that causes medium amount of damage
- Terminus Est - Draws a blue X and causes a large amount of avoidable damage
- Sentence - Instant attack on random target dealing small damage and a light knock back
- Judgment - Stuns random player
Ultima Weapon, Phase I
Taxonommy: Bloodless/Forgekin/Biotechnological Weapon
HP: 263,000Remember this guy? Of course you do! Well, this is the last boss fight in the Praetorium and definitely the most challenging. The Ultima Weapon consumed the primals Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda, so he will case similar abilities you have seen before from them. I would like to make a quick note on how awesome the music is for this fight! It is classic final boss fight music from Final Fantasy.
At the beginning of the fight, the Ultima Weapon will actually be invulnerable and won't take any damage, so just have a tank start the fight while the others wait about 15-20 seconds for the crystal Hydalene to remove his buff - then jump in.
There is a lot of movement in this fight, so be ready to move! Be looking for areas on the ground to avoid (yes, there are warnings), and also look out for other warned areas to avoid damage. Each of the consumed Primals will reveal themselves throughout the fight and cause a lot of unavoidable damage, so it is best to have as many party members stack during this phases to help the healers. Specifically, these are done in this order:
Aerial Blast - Garuda appears and deals large amount of damage to all players
Earthen Fury - Titan appears and deals large amount of damage to all players
Hellfire - Ifrit appears and deals large amount of damage to all playersAbilities:
- Ceruleum Vent - Instant light damage to all players near boss
- Vulcan Burst - Deals a small amount of damage and a small knock back
- Eye of the Storm - Vortex fields appear on the edges of platform - run to middle to avoid
- Geocrush - Titan slams down in middle of platform dealing medium amount of damage to all players in middle
- Eruption - Creates small warning on ground on random player then explodes for large amount of damage (if not avoided)
- Weight of the Land - Creates a small warning on ground and deals large amount of damage
Ultima Weapon, Phase II
Taxonommy: Bloodless/Forgekin/Biotechnological Weapon
HP: 263,000After the 1st round of of Ultima Weapon, he will become stronger and of course more challenging. Lahabrea (Mind controlled Thancred) applies more power to the Weapon and takes control of it now. This time Ultima Weapon will not have any of his consumed Primals to assist him, however, there are quite a few new mechanics and abilities he uses.
Have a Tank grab the Weapon and face him away from the party. Ultima Weapon will use his green column attack (players should avoid this) and there will be 'Magitek Bits' that will spawn throughout the platform. The Magitek bits are little machines that stand in place and shoot a straight beam across the room. All DPS should focus on these bits and burn them down quickly, there will be more and more of them at the end and can quickly leave no room to move on the platform, so it's good to just get them down ASAP.
A Spacecraft will crash down on the platform a couple of times, so it is important to look out for the red warning on the ground and move far away from it as possible (including the tanks). It will cause a lot of heavy damage even at far distances. Ranged players should also be on the lookout for a green orb that will spawn and randomly follow a ranged player. The orb will eventually explode so the player should just kite it and not run near any other party members.
During the last 5% of the fight, the Ultima Weapon moves to the center of the platform and begins to cast "Ultima". The party will have only a matter of seconds to get the boss down before he finishes the cast and does an instant wipe. This is a very good time to save a single target DPS limit break to help burn him down!
After the fight, there is a cut scene and you honestly believe you are finished, however, Lahabrea appears AGAIN for the final true battle.
Lahabrea
Taxonommy: Transcendent/Voidsent/Ascian (Thaumaturge)
HP: 88,000Lahabrea is actually the mind-controlled Thancred and is the final fight in The Praetorium... for REAL!
This fight will be a breeze compared to the Ultima Weapon, so it really is just a matter of avoid his 'Sea of Pitch', which are circular fields that do high damage to players standing in them. The other ability to watch out for is his knock back. The tank should keep Lahabrea faced away from the party so there are less chances of party members getting knocked into a void puddle. The off tank can actually go around the room and stand in the dark puddles formed by 'Sea of Pitch' to help keep the room clear!
Abilities:
- Dark Orb - Instant light damage to random player
- Sea of Pitch - Black puddles placed around the platform that cause medium amount of damage to target that stands in it
- Shadow Flare - Deals medium/large amount of damage to all players
Special Loot Anchor
Special Loot
Icon Name iLevel Type Description 1 Gaius van Baelsar Card 1 Triple Triad Card A legendary (★★★★★) card used in the game Triple Triad.
FAQs
How long is The Praetorium cutscene? ›
Players who wish to be surprised by the events that unfold may wish to wait until after reaching this instance to avoid any spoilers about certain bosses. The Praetorium is a level 50 instance that concludes the main story line's Operation Archon arc. It is unlocked after completing the Castrum Meridianum duty.
Can you skip cutscenes in Praetorium Unsynced? ›They updated the cutscenes to be unskippable, they never reverted that update. When the game first came out, they were skippable, later they updated them so they were unskippable so newbies could actually watch them.
Was praetorium 8 man? ›While this dungeon originally was ran with a group of 8 players, it was reworked in patch 6.1 and included downscaling to 4 players in addition to being made compatible with the Duty Support system.
What is the longest cutscene in a game? ›1. Metal Gear Solid 4 (71 minutes) Holding the Guinness World Record for the longest cutscene in a video game, Metal Gear Solid 4's epilogue clocks in at a whopping 71 minutes. Within 71 minutes, the game director, Hideo Kojima, could easily tie up the entire plot in this game's conclusion.
How much experience does Praetorium give? ›MSQ especially, if you get Praetorium it gives between 18-25 million exp. The others give between 1-8 million as well. Then do dungeons, fates, hunt logs, etc. Either run leveling dungeons close to your level, or farm FATES in ShB zones.
When did Praetorium become 4 man? ›The Praetorium. As part of the Main Scenario roulette, several cinematics would play throughout the duty that could not be skipped, preventing new players experiencing the dungeon for the first time from being left behind. The dungeon was overhauled into a 4-man dungeon in patch 6.1.
How do I unlock Viera? ›For clarification, owning a digital copy of Shadowbringers is required to play as a Viera or Hrothgar in Final Fantasy XIV. The best and recommended way to do this is by purchasing the "FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Complete Edition," which includes A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker.
Where is Herod's Praetorium? ›It was the second most important building in Jerusalem, after the Temple itself, in Herod's day and was situated at the northwestern wall of the Upper City of Jerusalem (the Western Hill abandoned after the Babylonian sacking of Jerusalem).
Why are MSQ cutscenes Unskippable? ›Because the entire point of the roulettes existence is so people will run the content with new players. If you have the option to skip cutscenes if there are no new players in your group then people are going to start vote kicking new players, or leaving instance if the group has new players.
How to skip bayonetta cutscene? ›
Press RT+Back during cutscenes (R2+Select with DualShocks.) Kb+m guys can press LShift+Enter for the same effect with the default binding. (It would be LShift+Tab for consistency but it's not; I'm guessing they have avoided a conflict with Steam overlay which has the same keyboard shortcut by default.)
How long are the cutscenes in The Praetorium? ›So when patch 4.2 was dropped, the 40 minutes of cutscenes in The Praetorium became unskippable, forcing players to wait along with anyone new to the dungeon. While this was great for players with sprouts over their heads, everyone else had to learn how to entertain themselves for 40 minutes.
Can you do The Praetorium with NPCs? ›Castrum Meridianum, Praetorium, and Porta Decumana will now all be playable either with other players or solo with NPCs.
How long does it take to do praetorium in FFXIV? ›The runtime for the dungeon can last around one hour, with that hour being mostly running around and hearing NPCs talk during unskippable cutscenes.
How many hours of cutscenes are in FFX? ›For reference, the average final fantasy is 30-40 hours, and FFX had 8 hours of cutscenes while FFXIII had 9 hours. 11 hours of cutscenes with an average story length of 35 hours.
How long are the cutscenes in Xenoblade Chronicles? ›8 hours of cutscenes in this game!
How long is the elevator in Praetorium? ›The elevator descends on a 27° angle which results in a total length of 14,60 km. So the first elevator ride theoretically needs 18,72 minutes to actually reach the bottom. So, either CM is around 13km wide or we have 2 Castrum(s?) to actually fit in the elevators.