Introduction to Deep Dungeons (2024)

Last updated on Apr 22, 2024 at 12:00by Stella4 comments

Welcome to our guide to Deep Dungeons, a unique instance which changes everytime you enter while also utilizing a unique leveling system.This guide aims to explain the mechanics of Deep Dungeon instancesas well as provide general tips for attempting to clear the content.

Palace of the Dead, Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos are ever-changing dungeons whose layoutsare different each time the player enters them. All players will begin at a lowest level possible fortheir chosen dungeon, and only by fighting the enemies within will they be able togain the strength and experience needed to explore.

The basis for the three dungeons is very similar: a set of 10 randomised floors that must be completedwithin the given time limit of an hour, with the final floor containing a boss fight.However, there are some key differences between them.

Below are the key differences between the three:

• Palace of the Dead has 200 floors, while Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos only have 100.
• Runs can begin from two different floorsets, which are different depending on the dungeon:
  • Palace of the Dead starts at either floor 1 or floor 51.
  • Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos start at either floor 1 or floor 21.
• The level ranges are different depending on the dungeon:
  • Palace of the Dead starts at level 1 and caps at level 60.
  • Heaven on High starts at level 61 and caps at level 70.
  • Eureka Orthos starts at level 81 and caps at level 90
• If starting on the later floors, as mentioned above, your character will start out at the level cap of the chosen dungeon instead.

Alongside the Endwalker patch came a stat squish across the entire game. This affected earlier Deep Dungeons in two major ways:

• Floors 1-50 in Heaven on High are much easier now, while 51-100 remain the same difficulty as before.
• Floors 91-140 in Palace of the Dead are slightly harder now, while 1-90 and 141-200 remain the same as before.

Palace of the Dead can be unlocked by completing the quest The House That Death Built.After completing the first 50 floors, Heaven on High can be unlock by completing Knocking on Heaven's Door,and Eureka Orthos can be unlocked by completing Delve into Myth,assuming sufficient Main Scenario progress has been made.

Completing with the first 50 floors of Palace of the Dead is required in order to access Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos.Beyond this, you can start with any Deep Dungeon, as all three have entirely separate storylines and progression.We would recommend starting with Heaven on High or Eureka Orthos as they both have fewer floors, meaning that progression takes less time.It will also be a faster climb to the more challening floors, where you will learn how to manage Pomanders efficiently and how to pick your fights.Much of the knowledge gained in the two later Deep Dungeons can be transferred back to Palace of the Dead without issue.

Players will be restricted to the use of anAetherpool Armand Aetherpool Armourwhile inside Deep Dungeons. In addition to gaining levels, players must enhance these items asthey progress through the dungeon by opening Silver Coffers, up to the cap of +99 for each item.

• Normal gear has no effect on your character's attributes inside of Deep Dungeons.
• Consumables such as food, health potions and tinctures still work as normal.
• Each Deep Dungeon has its own Aetherpool Gear to enhance, and the values are not shared between them.
• Upon clearing a set of 10 floors, the value of your Aetherpool gear will be saved.

A special navigation map will be displayed, which can be usedto progress through the rooms on a given floor. When any partymember enters a room on the floor, the map will automatically update.The icons for the Cairn of Return and the Cairn of Passage will appear in their location on the map.

• Players can display or hide the map by pressing the M key. This is the same key for the Hold button to lock the map in position.
• The default navigational map will not be displayed in any Deep Dungeon.

Upon entering a new floor, there is a chance for up to three enchantments to activate. These can be eitherpositive or negative and will last for the entire duration of the floor unless dispelled with a Pomander of Serenity.Stronger negative effects can be particularly dangerous on later floorsets.

Negative Effects	Icons	Description
Auto Heal Disabled		Disables passive HP regeneration for all players, both in and out of combat. As of Patch 6.3, this now affects enemies as well.
Blind		Reduces the accuracy of all players.
Damage Down		Reduces the damage dealt by all players.
Gloom		Fills the floor with Gloom, increasing the damage output and movement speed of all enemies while reducing their damage taken.
HP Penalty		Reduces the maximum HP of all players.
No Abilities		Prevents the use of any abilities by players.
No Item Penalty		Prevents the use of all items from player inventories, including all Pomanders aside from the Pomander of Serenity.
No Sprint		Disables Sprint for all players.
Knockback Penalty (PoTD/EO Only)		Prevents all knockback and draw-in effects for both allies and enemies. This prevents the Pomander of Rageand Pomander of Dread from one-shotting enemies.
No Magicite (HoH Only)		Disables the use of Magicites.
No Demiclones (EO Only)		Disables the use of Demiclones

There are also a few positive effects that can be activated alongside negative ones, and also count towards the cap of three.

Positive Effects	Icons	Description
Haste		Decreases weaponskill recast time, spell recast time, and auto-attack delay for all players.
HP/MP Boost		Increases the maximum HP and MP of all players.
Sprint (HoH/EO only)		Enables Sprint for all players.

As players progress, they will come across traps that will be set off when a player walks within range. These trapsare invisible unless a player uses a Pomander of Sight to reveal their locations.If a Pomander of Safety is used, traps are removed from the current floor entirely.

Traps will never appear in the room players spawn in at the start of a floor, and enemiesare commonly drawn into corridors between rooms in order to avoid running into a trap whileattempting to dodge certain attacks while fighting them. Finally, it is usually safest to moveclose to walls when travelling through rooms in order to reduce the chance of encoutering a trap.

Traps	Icons	Description
Impeding Trap		Applies silence and pacification to all players and mobs in a small area. Silence prevents spells, andpacification prevents weapon skills. Silence can be cleansed with Echo Drops, and both can be cleansedby Esuna from Healers or The Warden's Paean from a Bard.
Landmine Trap		Inflicts 80% current health damage to all players and mobs in a small area. These cannot directly killplayers or mobs.
Luring Trap		Summons three random monsters that can spawn on the floor. All three monsters will aggro onto the player whotriggered the trap and attack them after a short delay unless attacked first.
Enfeebling Trap		Inflicts a debuff to the player for one minute, increasing damage taken and decreasing damage dealt by 20%.
Toad Trap (PoTD Only)		Turns the player into a Toad for 20 seconds. Toads have reduced maximum HP and cannot use skills or items.
Otter Trap (HoH Only)		Turns the player into an Otter for 30 seconds. Otters have reduced maximum HP and cannot use skills or items.
Owlet Trap (EO Only)		Turns the player into an Owlet for 30 seconds. Owlets have reduced maximum HP and cannot use skills or items.

• Proximity
  • When you move close enough to an enemy of this type, it will automatically target you no matter whereit’s facing. Note that Mimics have a much larger aggro range than most other proximity mobs,and should be treated with care.
• Sight
  • This means that the mob has to see you in order to target you. Sight-based mobs see in a cone in frontof them. If in doubt, you can target a mob to reveal their hitbox and show which way they are facing.
• Sound
  • This means that the mob will target you if you make too much noise by running near it. You can avoid detection bytoggling walk, but these mobs will target you regardless if you come into direct contact with their hitbox.

As the player progresses, they will encounter Coffers in the various rooms of each floor. There are three different types ofcoffer, those being Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The possible rewards found inside each one are listed below.

Coffer Type	Icons	Rewards
Bronze Coffer		These contain items such as Potions or Phoenix Downs. They can also rarely contain Potshers or Fragments, which can be exchanged forrewards such as mounts or special items such as Sustaining Potions. Opening these in a party of 2 or more players will only award the itemto one random player . On floors 1-30 of all Deep Dungeons, these can also be Mimics.
Silver Coffer		Opening these will often increase the strength of your Aetherpool Arm or Aetherpool Armour, buton later floors this can sometimes fail if your current vlaue is too high. In Heaven on High, they can rarelycontain a Magicite, while in Eureka Orthos, they can rarely contain a Demiclone Generator. On floors 31-40of Palace of the Dead, or 31-60 of Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos, these can also be Mimics. Finally,Silver Coffers have a rare chance to explode upon being opened, dealing 70% maximum HP to all players and mobsaround them similar to a Landmine Trap. Unlike a Landmine Trap, this can kill players and mobs.
Gold Coffer		These contain Pomanders. Only three of each type of pomander can be carried at a time, so if no more can be carried then theCoffer will not open and a message will be displayed. On floors 41+ of Palace of the Dead, or 61+ of Heaven on High andEureka Orthos, these can also be Mimics.

Mimics will be identical to Treasure Coffers until a player attempts to open them, at which point they will attack.The main threat from a mimic is an interruptable cast that inflicts the Accursed Pox debuff, preventingnatural health regeneration similar to the floor enchantment with the same effect, while also dealing damageover time. The debuff lasts for 10 minutes, persists between deaths, and is uncleansable except by using aPomander of Purity..

A necessity for solo runs and helpful regardless, Sustaining Potions will regenerate your HP for 30 seconds after use.As they have a 15s recast timer, you can keep one running permenantly in cases where one is necessary. They are bought withGelmorran Potsherds for Palace of the Dead, Empyrean Potsherds for Heaven on High (here named Empyrean Potions), and Orthos Aetherpool Fragmentsin Eureka Orthos (here named Orthos Potions), where one item can be exchanged for 20 potions at a time.

Potsherds and Fragments can be obtained from Bronze Coffers in their respective Deep Dungeons. Additionally, they have a much greater chanceof appearing at floors 101+ in Palace of the Dead, and floors 31+ in Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos. Finally, clearing certain bosses willreward the player with a guarenteed Potsherd or Fragment, these bosses being the floor 50 and 100 bosses in Palace of the Dead, and the floor30 bosses in Heaven on High and Eureka Orthos.

Pomanders	Icons	Effects
Pomander of Safety		Removes all traps on the current floor.
Pomander of Sight		Fully reveals the map of the current floor, as well as the location of all traps.
Pomander of Strength		Increases the damage and healing of the user by 30% for eight minutes.
Pomander of Steel		Decreases the damage taken by the user by 40% for eight minutes.
Pomander of Affluence		Increase the amount of Treasure Coffers on the next floor.
Pomander of Flight		Halves the number of enemies spawned (and required to open the Cairn of Passage) on the next floor.
Pomander of Alteration		Changes all enemies in a random room to either Mimics or Mandragoras on the next floor.Mandragoras die in one hit, and both have high drop rates for Treasure Coffers.
Pomander of Purity		Removes the Pox debuff inflicted by Mimics.
Pomander of Fortune		Increases the chance that enemies on the current floor drop Treasure Coffers when killed.
Pomander of Witching		Turns all enemies within a medium radius into imps, chickens, or toads. They are unableto use actions and deal 60% damage for imps, 30% for chickens, and around 1% for toads.This lasts for 30 seconds and does not trigger aggro. Witched enemies keep the aggro typethey had before being transformed.
Pomander of Serenity		Removes all floor effects from the current floor (including beneficial ones.)
Pomander of Intuition		Reveals the location of the Accursed Hoard on the next floor where one is present (including the current floor).
Pomander of Raising		Resurrects a party member that has been KO'd. After a player is raised, the effect willthen disappear. When solo, this does not count as a KO against the file during a solo run and doesnot prevent acquisition of titles for solo clears. Will only drop from floor 51+ in PotD, andcan no longer drop from floor 181+ in PotD, or 81+ in HoH and EO.

There are a few pomanders that are exclusive to certain Deep Dungeons, listed below.

Pomanders	Icons	Palace of the Dead Only
Pomander of Rage		Transforms the user into a Manticore for 60 seconds and replaces their action bar with Ripper Claw.Using Ripper Claw kills the target enemy in one hit. This does negligible damage to boss monsters, or ifKnockback Penalty is in effect on the current floor.
Pomander of Lust		Transforms the user into a Succubus for 60 seconds, replacing theiraction bar with Void Fire II. This will deal damage to the targeted enemy and allenemies around them after a short cast, as well as inflict a vulnerability stack that increases damagetaken by 10% per stack up to a maximum of five stacks.
Pomander of Resolution		Transforms the user into Kuribu for 60 seconds, replacing their action bar with Heavenly Judge, askill that deals damage in an targeted AoE and stuns enemies after a short cast. Deals immense bonusdamage to ashkin (undead enemies). Only found past floor 60.

Pomanders	Icons	Heaven on High Only
Pomander of Frailty		Inflicts a weakening debuff on all mobs on the floor for three minutes, increasing the damage they take and decreasing the damage they deal by 30% each.
Pomander of Concealment		Shrouds the party, turning them invisible for 60 seconds. This effect is canceled upon taking any direct damage, using any ability except sprint, or using any item.
Pomander of Petrification		Petrifies all enemies on the current floor for 30 seconds. Petrified enemiesdie instantly to any ability that deals damage on impact. Some abilities, such as Combust,do not do instant damage and therefore will not work.
Magicite		Silver Coffers will sometimes drop Magicite, of which up to three can be held at a time.Magicites come in four different types: Vortex, Crag, Inferno, and Elder(rare). When used, they grantthe entire party invulnerability for ten seconds (Vortex, Crag, Inferno) or fifteen seconds (Elder)and kill all mobs on the floor. The Elder Magicite has the unique trait that it can also one shot anyboss monster it’s used on, whereas the standard Magicites deal 20% max HP instead.

Pomanders	Icons	Eureka Orthos Only
Pomander of Lethargy		Inflicts a slowing debuff on all mobs on the floor for ten minutes, significantly increasing their weaponskill recast time, spell recast time, and auto-attack delay.
Pomander of Storms		Reduces the HP of all enemies on the floor to 1. Any enemy not in combat will naturally regenerate HP, unless the current floor isunder the effect of the Auto-Heal enchantment that prevents this.
Pomander of Dread		Transforms the user into a Dreadnaught for 60 seconds and replaces their action bar with Rotosmashand Wrecking Ball. Using Rotosmash kills the target enemy in one hit. This does negligible damage to bossmonsters, or if Knockback Penalty is in effect on the current floor. Using Wrecking Ball will deal damage tothe targeted enemy and all enemies around them after a short cast, as well as inflict a vulnerability stackthat increases damage taken by 10% per stack up to a maximum of five stacks.
Demiclone Generators		Silver Coffers will sometimes drop Demiclone Generators, of which three at a time can be held.Generators come in three different types: Doga, Unei, and Onion Knight(rare). When used, they summon acompanion for the party until they leave the current floor. Only one may be summoned at a time. Doga (green): Caster DPS that will sometimes cast Break, an AoE that petrifies enemies for 10 seconds. Unei (red): Healer that will often cast Cure to heal players, and sometimes cast Stoneskin to give a 20% max HP shield. Onion Knight (orange): High-damage all-rounder that can also cast Cure to heal players.

Upon defeating the boss of the final floor of a set, progress will be automatically saved, at which point playerswill be given the choice to either leave the Deep Dungeon for the time being or continue to the next floorset immediately.

• Save data will not be updated in the event that all players log out or lose connection before defeating the boss.

In the event that all players in the instance are KO'd, the duty will be considered failed. This will add 1 tothe Party KO count when looking at a file from the entrance NPC. Any file with a KO count above 0 will not be ableto enter higher floor sets.If the last player in a party dies while the pomander of resurrection is active, enemies will de-aggro andthe player will be revived without a duty fail and without increasing the KO count.

• In the event of a disconnect during a solo run, this will count as a full party KO.

Whether by accident or through using a Pomander of Intuition, players maycome across pieces of the Accursed Hoard within Deep Dungeons. Pieces of the Accursed Hoard spawnrandomly in the same way as Traps, with a limit of one per floor, and can be unearthed by standingon their location for a few seconds. Upon exiting a set of floors successfully, any pieces of theAccursed Hoard found will be converted into sacks that can be exchanged for a chance at rare loot.The sacks and their drop tables vary based on the floor set and which Deep Dungeon they were found in.

Palace of the Dead
Bronze-trimmed Sack	Floors 1-50
Iron-trimmed Sack	Floors 51-100
Silver-trimmed Sack	Floors 101-150
Gold-trimmed Sack	Floors 151-200 - Night Pegasus Whistle

Heaven on High
Silver-haloed Sack	Floors 1-30
Gold-haloed Sack	Floors 31-70
Platinum-haloed Sack	Floors 71-100 - Dodo Horn

Eureka Orthos
Bronze-tinged Sack	Floors 1-30
Silver-tinged Sack	Floors 31-70
Gold-tinged Sack	Floors 71-100 - Orthos Craklaw Horn