Unlocking the FFXIV Beastmaster job means registering Dawntrail, having a Disciple of War or Magic at level 50, and completing The Ultimate Weapon, then accepting Strangers in the Wood from the Excited Adventurer in New Gridania (X:11.8 Y:13.6). Beastmaster is a limited melee DPS job that starts at level 1 with a maximum level of 50 and shares gear with monk and samurai. It forges pacts with familiars through the level 1 actions Gauge and Capture and calls them into battle from battlehorns.
How to Unlock Beastmaster
Beastmaster was added with Patch 7.56, and the job requires the purchase and registration of FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail. It is a melee DPS job with no corresponding class, begins at level 1, caps at level 50, and shares the gear used by monk and samurai.
The FFXIV Beastmaster unlock quest is Strangers in the Wood, offered by the Excited Adventurer in New Gridania at X:11.8 Y:13.6. You need a Disciple of War or Magic at level 50 and must have completed the main scenario quest The Ultimate Weapon.
Like blue mage, Beastmaster is a limited job, which changes the quests and duties it can take on.
What Beastmaster Can and Can't Do as a Limited Job
Beastmasters cannot execute role actions. They gain greater experience from completing FATEs than other jobs do, but unlike blue mage they receive no bonus experience from battling enemies in the open world.
You can join duties with other players in preformed or unrestricted parties, but these remain inaccessible:
- Duty Roulettes
- The Forbidden Land, Eureka, The Bozjan Southern Front and The Occult Crescent
- Variant Dungeons and Criterion Dungeons
- Ultimate Raids
- Stone, Sky, Sea
- Squadron Missions
- Deep Dungeons
- PvP, including duels
- Hall of the Novice
You cannot change to Beastmaster after entering an instance.
Only Beastmaster job quests and quests available to all classes and jobs can be undertaken as a Beastmaster, and retainers cannot be assigned the job.
How to Capture Beasts
Beastmasters forge pacts using the actions Gauge and Capture, both learned at level 1. Gauge assesses whether a pact can be forged with the targeted beast and how difficult it may be. Capture applies a status effect to the target, and you forge the pact by defeating the beast while that status is in effect. Weakening the target before using Capture increases the chance of success, but some attempts still fail.
A successful pact adds the familiar to the Master's Bestiary, opened via Character in the main menu, where you can review its unique abilities and natural habitat. Kornago gourds let you forge pacts without fighting the beast; you exchange remnants of resilience for them, and the variety of gourds available increases as you complete job quests.
Battlehorns and Combat
Assign familiars to battlehorns through the subcommand in the Master's Bestiary, then use Battlehorn actions to summon your assigned familiar; only one familiar may be summoned at a time. You can adjust familiar size with the Edit Appearance subcommand, which is only reflected on your own screen, or with the text commands /beastsize and /beastpetsize.
Instinctual Combos
Beastmasters and familiars accrue TP by performing certain actions, and instinctual skills can be executed once you have at least 100 TP. Executing instinctual skills sequentially completes combos that inflict additional damage. Four instinctual affinities exist for both Beastmaster and familiar weaponskills: Volant, Rampant, Durant and Eldritch. If either the Beastmaster or the familiar executes another instinctual skill within seven seconds of the previous one, an instinctual combo is completed for extra damage.
If that second skill runs clockwise on the Inner Compass, it becomes an intentional combo: Volant to Rampant, Rampant to Durant, Durant to Eldritch, or Eldritch to Volant. Intentional combos are split into Sunstrider and Moonstalker, and completing them lights the matching side of the compass; illuminating the entire compass may trigger a powerful attack. The number of chained instinctual skills is recorded beneath the compass, and a higher number increases the extra combo damage.
Other abilities in the arsenal include Tempered Release, which orders a familiar to unleash a unique attack, and Borrow, which draws power from a familiar to execute a separate Beastmaster action.
Crucible of the Unbroken
Crucible of the Unbroken is a solo duty exclusive to Beastmaster, described as a magicked training tool. It unlocks at Beastmaster level 30 through the quest Into the Crucible in the Central Shroud (X:22.9 Y:19.1), after completing the prerequisite job quest. You challenge it by speaking with the NPC in the Central Shroud at X:21.9 Y:22.8.
Boards are traversed space by space, each hosting a different happening, and a board is completed by defeating the final boss on its innermost space. When you select a board you see its layout and a team composition menu; the maximum team size varies by board, and you either pick familiars through the Master's Bestiary or choose Recommended Team to have one composed for you. The Board Layout shows the foes you may face and their weaknesses so you can build your team around them.
Within the Crucible, you and your familiars have individual HP that does not naturally regenerate, so special items or spaces must be used to recover it. A familiar at 0 HP can no longer participate, and if your own HP reaches 0 you fail the duty. The duty action Snarl orders your familiar to draw enmity on your behalf through Cover, while Challenge draws enmity to you and removes Cover from the familiar.
Ephemeral items can only be used on the board where they are granted and are lost when you complete or fail the duty. Crucible items can be used while traversing a board or in combat, one is always provided at the start of every board, and you can carry up to 10 in an independent inventory. Beast gear grants perpetual benefits simply by being carried, one piece is provided at the start of every board, and you can carry up to 10 pieces, but duplicates are not permitted.
Feed enhances your familiars' abilities and attributes, and the amount each familiar can consume varies, and no familiar will consume duplicates of any kind of feed. Familiars that rest on a campsite space lose the effects of feed consumed so far.
Crucible Rewards and Familiar Growth
Your score at the end of the duty is calculated from spaces traversed, remaining player HP and other factors, and fulfilling certain requirements adds bonuses, viewable under View Bonuses in the Board Layout. By challenging boards you receive faded or bright remnants of resilience proportionate to your score, and you trade these with the Kornago merchant in the Central Shroud at X:21.9 Y:22.6 for Kornago gourds or to enhance Beastmaster-specific gear.
All familiars that accompany you inside the Crucible earn experience proportionate to your score, and every 100 EXP raises beast rank, improving Strength for physical damage, Intelligence for magic damage, Physical Resistance, Magic Resistance and Constitution for maximum HP; ranks can reach a maximum of 25. You can suspend progress between spaces and resume later, though challenging the Crucible anew while suspended data exists erases it, or forfeit outside battle to still earn a score and rewards. After completing all boards and progressing through the job quests, you unlock Degrees, a challenge mode with three escalating difficulty levels that raise enemy HP and damage and offer greater score bonuses.
Crucible Rankings
Season One of Crucible Rankings was postponed after release, because feedback on Beastmaster's combat balance and reports of issues with gameplay mechanics made it difficult to determine whether results would reflect the intended balance of the job, impacting the fairness of the ranking process. An announcement will be made when a date for the start of Season 1 rankings has been decided, and Crucible Ranking scores remain unavailable in-game until then.
The published ranking rules are as follows. To record scores eligible for rankings you must set Crucible Mode to the third degree and check the box next to "Participate in rankings". Scores must be recorded on your Home World and are aggregated per physical data center, and ranking scores are compiled from the last three attempts of each board. When a season ends, the top 300 ranking players from each physical data center receive rewards via the moogle delivery service.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Beastmaster release in FFXIV?
Beastmaster was added with Patch 7.56.
How do you unlock Beastmaster?
Register FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail, have a Disciple of War or Magic at level 50, complete the main scenario quest The Ultimate Weapon, then accept Strangers in the Wood from the Excited Adventurer in New Gridania at X:11.8 Y:13.6.
Where does the Beastmaster unlock quest start?
Strangers in the Wood is picked up in New Gridania at X:11.8 Y:13.6 from the Excited Adventurer.
What level does Beastmaster start at, and what is its cap?
Beastmaster starts at level 1 with a maximum level of 50.
What does being a limited job mean for Beastmaster?
Beastmaster follows blue mage as a limited job, cannot use role actions, and gains greater FATE experience but no open-world enemy experience bonus. It can play in preformed or unrestricted parties but is locked out of Duty Roulettes, Eureka, Bozjan, the Occult Crescent, Variant and Criterion Dungeons, Ultimate Raids, Stone, Sky, Sea, Squadron Missions, Deep Dungeons, PvP and the Hall of the Novice. Only job quests and quests open to all jobs can be taken, and retainers cannot be assigned the job. You cannot change to Beastmaster after entering an instance.
How do you capture beasts as Beastmaster?
Use Gauge to check whether a pact can be forged and how hard it will be, then Capture, which applies a status effect; defeat the beast while that status is active to forge the pact. Weakening the target before Capture raises the success chance, though some attempts fail.
What are Kornago gourds?
Items that let you forge pacts without fighting the beast, bought by exchanging remnants of resilience; the variety available grows with job quest completion.
When does Crucible of the Unbroken unlock?
At Beastmaster level 30 through the quest Into the Crucible in the Central Shroud (X:22.9 Y:19.1), after completing the prerequisite job quest.
What rewards does Crucible of the Unbroken give?
Faded or bright remnants of resilience proportionate to your score, tradeable with the Kornago merchant in the Central Shroud for Kornago gourds or Beastmaster gear upgrades. Familiars earn experience toward beast ranks up to 25, and clearing all boards plus the job quests unlocks three Degrees of difficulty with higher score bonuses.
Can Beastmaster compete in Crucible rankings?
Not currently. Season One was postponed, so ranking scores stay unavailable in-game until a new start date is decided. The published rules require the third degree and the "Participate in rankings" checkbox, with the top 300 players per physical data center rewarded at season's end.
