I Asked 1000 FFXIV Players About Their Favorite Dungeons 

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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)

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Hello Mr.Happy Thank you for the video. When I sat down to decide which is my favorite and least like dungeon, I actually struggled more than I thought I would. But in the end, I managed to make my choices. Also, I noticed that as you noted, "good" mechanics, bosses and fight designs, didn't matter too much to me. When I think about it, imo that is not really what dungeons are for. They are of course for story, but also, I see them as almost like, for lack of a better term, picknics or city trips. Something casual you can just enjoy, and often with friends. If I want to "play a game" or do mechanics, I go to other types of content. Favorite: I should preamble and say "most" favorite, as there are quite a few very close contenders here, and it was very hard to pick when I started to think about it. But in the end, it ended up being neck and neck between Ktisis Kyperboreia and The Twinning, with quite a few just behind, many obvious contenders. And finally, I picked Ktisis Kyperboreian as my favorite, the one detail that edges it a fraction ahead of The Twinning is the Duty Support team you run the dungeon with. Getting to do a dungeon with Emet, Hythlo and Venate struck a deep cord with me when I played it on launch. That said, I was sleep deprived as hell during that time, so yeah, may have affected my experience of it. But in the end, this little detail put it just slighty ahead for me. Least liked: Again, it was a rather tough choice when I started to think about it, but in the end, I noted that the thing that mattered most to me here, was mechanics or tasks that I find an absolute chore and or pain doing again and again and again. So unlike for what is best, design mattered to me for what is worst. I had a few obvious contenders here, Fell Court of course, but imo at least you still do stuff with your character on that first boss, so it is not too bad for me. It ended up being Bardam's Mettle for me. I did also heavily consider Stone Vigil (Hard), as I abhor that damn Turtle and those damn cannons

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.

Great video, I think you could refine the method for a more precise result (since you're basically doing science). For example, the bias here is "most/least", but maybe a lot of people had Bardam or Aurum Vale as a top 5 or top 10, which skews the result about overall appreciation of dungeons since these preferences weren't voiced in this analysis. Nonetheless, cool idea, hope you'll get even more interesting results ! As for me : Most liked : The Burn, the music, the aesthetic, the final boss, I love it. Least liked : Stone Vigil HM. In itself it's not that bad, but the clunkyness of Cuca Fera brings it down several notches for me

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.

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.

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.

I loved the depth and the analysis of it. It is quite a pride and joy to see the result of data gathering to the point where you can use it as a way to show how far we've come as players after playing this game, some longer than others. (But to point something out...)I think in a way Ghimlyt was presented to us at the time versus now is when you see the parallels of war. I remember Zepla talking about it in a video about how Ghimlyt resonates with her in a way now she saw herself fleeing from Ukraine to get to the U.S. It was really frightening and sad at the same time. Don't get me wrong, but we know FF does not shy away from the real world stuff and its atrocities and the fact that Ghimlyt in a way presented us a trench like battlefield between Garlemald and the five nations that stood united made it feel more realistic...but I must digress from here. There were so many good and bad dungeons throughout the expansion that for me to pick them is hard. Though I suppose my least was none other than Pharos Normal and my most favorite was Anyder. Something about the last part of that dungeon especially in the story that we get to not only understand a little more a certain Ascian, but do we get a small introduction of the "great convocation of Venat" (if you know, you know).

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.

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"

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

Awesome video. Very entertaining

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!

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.

This is the content I subscribe for!

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.

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.

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.

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")

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.

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.

Swallows compass had the best theme and music for me, and that last section where u pull all the mobs to the door was super fun and challenging.

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.

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.

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.

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

Think Haukke and Ghymlyt did well on atmosphere/theme. Haukke is timeless, a big surprise back in ARR to walk into the haunted mansion themed dungeon. Ghymlyt basically delivers what SB should've been an grey all-out war between the Alliance and Empire. Plus at 70, everyone has most of their key abilities. Also the music and opening cinematic are hype. I'm suprised Paghltan didn't do well for the same reason. I love how open the dungeon looks, the whole ongoing battle atmosphere, the cameos from npcs and its bgm is a remix of my all time favorite track from ARR. I think the HW dungeons lost some of their flair after the skill pruning and everything is mostly piss poor easy.

Hmmm Favorite Dungones: ARR: Haukke Manor Normal Heavensward: Gubal Library Normal Stormblood: Shisui of the Violet Tides Shadowbringers: Dohn Mheg Endwalker: Vanaspati Least Favorite Dungeons: ARR: Sastasha Heavensward: Xelphatol Stormblood: Drowned City of Skalla Shadowbringers: Mt. Gulg Endwalker: Tower of Zot

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

Favourite - Brayflox HM. I adored it when it released and it was where I learned to wall-to-wall pull. It was a rewarding jump in difficulty that I have fond memories of but sadly 10 years on, wall-to-wall pulling in most dungeons feels bland and easy since the dungeons are designed/gated around it. I loved Brayflox because you could customise your pulls a little. Plus the gobbies are so cute. Last boss was also great. Timing dps against him so you could skip a phase while farming for your relic. Good memories. Least favourite - By far - Old Toto Rak. THE SLOW SLUDGE. I normally get really sad when they change old content because it feels like it loses a part of its design or its challenge, but I'm so glad the sludge is gone. I'll never have to suffer it again in levelling roulette. I realise both of my votes are for ARR so for clarifying context, I'm not a newbie or someone who quit. I'm a long time player who has completed Endwalker and one Ultimate. Amaurot and Dead Ends are close choices for fave dungeons as I love the story aspects and I was really wowed when I first completed them, but I have too many fond memories of Brayflox. Tbh a lot of my fondest memories come from overcoming challenges. Brayflox for dungeons, Titan Extreme during ARR for Trials and E5S for Savages (not a hard one but my first savage clear with a static. I did clear a few Coils back in the day but I don't have fond memories there). The Main Story is of course fantastic but overcoming challenges creates my own personal story/journey with the game. It makes me sad that a lot of players miss out on this aspect due to fear of failure. But I also understand. It took my friend encouraging me to try Savage fights in Shadowbringers for me to see that I was a better player than i creditted myself for. Which started me on my journey to my TEA clear. One of my proudest and fondest memories in my gaming life. Anyway that was a surprise walk down memory lane with some food for thought. Nice video Haps!

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).

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.

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 😅

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.

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...

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.

My most favorite: Haukke Manor - this dungeon gives the team so much agency. Want to go fast, can do! Want to take it slow, can do! Nooks and crannies to find or skip. Stunnable bosses and the last boss is very intuitive with some cool strats. My least favorite: Haukke Manor Hard - How do you take one of the most open dungeons and make it a boring hallway? The bosses have some cool mechanics but the last boss has a huge difficulty spike if you don't take care (and separate) the mobs. Most PUGs are not going to know how to manage this (either veterans or sprouts) and it leads to some cringe inducing plays.

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.

Autumn vale is pain. I hated it when I first ran, I hated it when my wife was leveling, I hated it when it came up in roulette. Part of it is it's awkward for dragoon at that level with how some of the skills have moved since when I started in heavensward, but I just don't find it fun. Favorite...honestly my mind first clicks to ghimlyt dark. I really enjoyed it when it came out, the progression of these are the war machines that used to be bosses and now are trash, I love the animatronics on display with all your allies there in the battle with you. It's a fun ride, and I just enjoy it when it comes up for me.

dzemael darkhold has the best pull of ARR, and then the dungeon goes bad. you can pull from spawn all the way to the last crystal before the first boss and murder everything while getting extra mit from the crystal and its awesome

Seeing that TP bar tugs at my nostalgia lol.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Least Favorites (by expansion) Dzamael Darkhold, The Dusk Vigil, Bardam's Mettle, Dohn Mheg, Vanaspati Favorite (by expnasion): Haukke Manor, The Vault, Doma Castle, Paglth'an, Ktisis Hyperboreia

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

Favorite: Ghimlyt Dark Least liked: Halatali My least liked used to be Thousand Maws; however since the rework its actually tolerable now. Halatali to my knowledge being an optional dungeon was not reworked. I'm glad with Ghimlyt Dark's rework they kept the alliance leaders fighting alongside us.

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)

My least favorite dungeon is unsurprisingly, as shown in the statistics of this video, Aurum Vale. The general poison in the first room and managing pulls throughout it all can get rather difficult with any misstep and back in my day, the second boss not having any indicators for his insta kill. My favorite dungeon would be Ghimlyt Dark. Not because of the actual fights or mechanics but the overall theme of the story and layout of the dungeon. I love the war aspect of it and having to fight through trenches. The whole theme of the dungeon just really resonates with me as someone who loves looking into our own past wars.

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.

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.

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

Favorite: Tower of Babil Least Favorite: Praetorium Also it's interesting how the three most disliked fall within that awkward level 40-50 range

Would be interesting to see statistics by main role as well. I highly suspect MT.Gulg divides the tanks and healers. Personally as a DRK/BLM main, I love dungeons with HUGE pulls, the first and last hyper pull of Qitana being my standout.

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

Not really my fave, but I have a new found appreciation for Bardam's Mettle. After grinding it for at least 10 or so times for glam purposes. I got the hang of the second boss fight and began testing my limits with altering my movement and placement as if I were still doing my rotation and what not and although the mechs are pretty tame, I did notice some residual strengthening of myself as an overall player. For actual faves though, I'd have to say Castrum Abania, as I tank most of the time I do roulettes, I always enjoy getting the dungeon and really do like the Garlean Aesthetic, plus the fact it's at level 69 also helps with that (nice!) As for least favourite, I'd have to say Keeper of the Lake, even post update. The bosses were lack luster and more of a pain to fight and the add pulls are a bit awkward depending on your party.

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.

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.

Fave dungeon is Sohm Al. Honestly, I'm not a fan of most dungeons gameplay-wise, so it's really just the vibes that make or break them for me, and climbing a dragon mountain with imo the most majestic ost in the background really does it for me. The glam from there, especially the pants and chest pieces are pretty cool and unique too, I hope they get reused in DT as dungeon or crafting gear, and if not, then I hope it won't take long for graphics update to cover them. Honorable mention: Wanderer's Palace HM. Really like the vibes here: Tonberry resuce mission with heroic ost, but it loses a bit on the setting looking mid and puke green, og Palace looked nicer. Least fave is Vanaspati. Most lvling dungeons from ShB onwards drag a lot if dps's not on point, and I feel it the most in Vanaspati. Also last boss is a sprout killer, and if said sprout is a healrt, it can lead to a horrid wipefest. This dungeon is what convinced me to go SMN for Astrope farm, and I still had one wipe there, just cause healer couldn't stay up for one sec. More bad than good experiences all around in that place. Dishonorable mention: Castrum Meridianum after rework. It takes too long for how unengaging ARR combat is. At least stuff in Toto-rak, or Aurum, Dzemael etc. dies quickly.

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.

This will be along one and I'll do it by expansion: ARR. Hate: Dzemael. Aurum Vale is hard, but the hardest parts are concentrated in the beginniing of the dungeon wihle Dzemael forces you to wait around even after clearing the rooms. Fave: Haukke Manos, but Snowcloak is close. Being the first dungeon where you have access to jobs make it a "tutorial" to the differences while not being so hard that people that don't have the job stones can't do it and after the visual redesign it's just so pretty. HW. Hate: Sohm Al Hard. Nothing particular ly bad, I just forget this dungeon exists. Fave: Great Gubal Library: First dungeon in level 60, when alot of classes are finally getting their groove, it's a fine paced dungeon and it has some amazing mechanics and the music is perfect. SB. Hate: None, all dungeons hereare fun (but Burn would be here before the rework). Fave: Sirensong Sea. This dungeon REALLY set the sail for a new region entirely different from Eorzea,along with being an amazing reference to the ship graveyard in FFV. SBS. Hate: None. Once again, I have fun in all these dungeons. Fave: Holminster Switch. This dungeon hits like a truck after everything you see in the beginning of Shadowbringer. It is (IMO) carried a lot by the cutscene right after you od it the first time, but that scene with the lightwarden exploding and allowing for night to come for the first time brought me to tears that very few moments in FFXIV ever got me to. EW. Hate: Ktisis Hyperborea. the climax of a region where I actually disliked the writing (Elpis), comes a dungeon that makes me angry,, but mostly due to the final boss, where it is probably one of the most punishing during the final boss (at least when I was leveling my classes and had to do this dungeon so many times). Fave: Aitiascope. Seeing the spirits of those we left behind and how they were still helping us whenever they could was amazing to the theming of this expansion. Seeing also the bosses being phantoms of enemies we previously defeated and, imo, needed a little bit more development, specially when Nero and Gaius got to appear so much later.

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

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

The Ghymlit Dark is the favorite becuase of how it feels like fighting on a battlefield with all of your allies. 2nd place at least would be Ala Mhigo for the same reason.

That first full pull in Bardhams makes it GOAT status on its own.

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.