FFXIV: Eureka Orthos Floors 1-30 Guide

Eureka Orthos is the brand new Deep Dungeon added in 6.35, joining the likes of Palace of the Dead and Heaven-on-high. Compared to its predecessors, it’s a spike up in difficulty expected from endgame content with equally lucrative possible rewards and more Allagan lore. Who doesn’t love more horrifying Allagan lore by this point in the game’s story? So grab your friends, party up, and prepare to step on some traps and laugh at each other. Here’s an in-depth Eureka Orthos Floors 1-30 Guide.

Eureka Orthos: Start and preparation

To unlock Eureka Orthos, the character you’re playing must clear floor 50 of Palace of the Dead and have finished base Endwalker. The starting quest is ‘Delve into Myth’ from Koh Rabntah in Mor Dhona (21.6, 8.1). It’s a fairly short starting quest with a few cutscenes that takes you to the Eight Sentinels. Note that you can teleport to the Eight Sentinels by speaking to Burnel (21.6, 8.1) where Koh used to be anytime after this.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Eureka Orthos mechanics overview and general advice

Eureka Orthos functions mostly identically to Palace of the Dead, besides a few new mechanics and being harder overall. Players start at level 81 and will level up to 90, but will receive EXP out of the Deep Dungeon upon completing a duty within it as well. This means all general advice and rules which applies to Palace of the Dead apply to Eureka Orthos as well. Up to four players can enter with any party composition. You can go in with a fixed party if you have one already, or matched if you want to be randomly paired with others.

You queue for instances in groups of 10. For Eureka Orthos, it’s floors 1-10, 11-20, and 21-30 to clear all of the base Deep Dungeon as compared to Palace of the Dead’s 50 floors. Beyond floor 30 is mostly just a challenge run. If you enter with a fixed party, you must continue through until floor 30 with the same party.

Traversing the floors

Each floor is a randomly generated map layout with enemies, treasure coffers, and two pylons. Your objective is to fight through enough enemies for the Pylon of Passage (represented by a key on the map) to activate, upon which all party members stand in it to transport the party to the next floor.

Gear item level doesn’t matter in Eureka Orthos. Instead, you have an Orthos Aetherpool Arm, changing your weapon to an Allagan themed one, and Orthos Aetherpool Armor. These act as your weapon and gear item levels across all jobs.

Each floor will randomly spawn gold, silver (blue with silver accents), and bronze (closer to black) treasure coffers. Gold gives you Protomanders, silver increases your Aetherpool strength (if it is not already at max for the floor) or gives a Demiclone, and bronze gives high quality Hyper-potions or Phoenix Downs.

If someone dies and the party doesn’t have a job that can resurrect, the Pylon of Return (represented by a three-leafed plantlike symbol on the map) activates after you kill enough enemies, allowing all fallen party members to resurrect when interacted with.

Traps and Enchantments

There are also traps. Most spawn on the floor, but some trigger when you open a treasure coffer:

• Landmine explodes on players within range, taking down a massive chunk of health.
• Enfeebling inflicts the Enervation debuff, reducing damage dealt and increasing damage taken.
• Owlet turns you into an owlet, unable to execute actions for 30 seconds.
• Luring spawns three enemies at once around the player. This is probably the single-handedly most dangerous trap, as it’s easy to get overwhelmed.
• Impeding afflicts all who step on it with Pacification and Silence at 30 seconds each, rendering you pretty much useless to attack. It can be Esuna’d away.

A trap revealed by a Protomander of Sight, in this case an Enfeebling. Screenshot by PC Invasion

Note the traps also affect enemies in range if stepped on. This can sometimes be an unexpected boon.

With each new floor comes the chance of a floor-wide enchantment occurring, lasting until the next floor:

• Abilities Unavailable: Cannot use any job action classified as an ability.
• Blinded: Accuracy is lowered, giving attacks more of a chance to miss.
• Items Unavailable: No Protomanders or inventory items can be used except Serenity.
• Gloom: The floor gains a sickly red mist. Enemy movement speed and damage are increased, while damage taken is decreased.
• HP Decrease: Maximum HP is decreased by 20%.
• Haste Granted: Gives all players the Haste buff, reducing the time it takes to use attacks. Especially valuable for casters.
• No healing: HP doesn’t regenerate out of combat. Works great with the Storms Protomander.
• HP/MP Maximum Increase: Maximum HP and MP are increased.
• Knockback Disabled: Attacks that cause knockback no longer do. This means X and X are no longer as effective.
• Damage Decreased: Damage dealt by all party members is decreased.
• Sprint Penalty: You can’t use sprint.

Protomanders

Mostly identical to Palace of the Dead with a few changes, Protomanders can be used in the dungeon by any party member with a variety of useful effects. The party can carry three of each. The full list of Protomanders is as follows:

• Affluence: Increases the number of treasure coffers on the next floor.
• Fortune: Increases the chance enemies on the current floor drop treasure coffers.
• Flight: Decreases the number of enemies on the next floor.
• Safety: Removes all traps from the current floor.
• Strength: Increases damage dealt and HP recovery via healing magic by 30% for eight minutes. Only applies to who uses it.
• Intuition: Appraises the current floor for the Accursed Hoard. Carries over to the next floor if it doesn’t detect it.
• Steel: Decreases damage received by 40% for eight minutes. Only applies to who uses it.
• Sight: Reveals the current floor’s map and the location of all hidden traps. Revealed traps show up as glowing red-orange marks on the floor depending on trap type.
• Witching: Transforms all targets within range (approximately within a room’s radius) into a frog, imp, or chicken for 30 seconds. This removes all of their actions and makes them easier to kill.
  
• Serenity: Removes all enchantments from the current floor.
• Purity: Removes the Pox status effect from the user.
• Storms: Reduces the HP of all enemies on the current floor to a single digit. Those not in combat will regenerate HP.
• Dread: Transforms user into a Dreadnaught, allowing the player to one shot enemies or apply Vulnerability stacks.
• Raising: Raises the first party member to be KOed.
• Alteration: Changes an enemy occupying a random room on the next floor into a mimic or mandragora.
• Lethargy: Slows all enemies on the current floor. This does not apply to ones spawning after use.
  

Demiclones

Eureka Orthos adds Demiclone Protomanders as a new mechanic. Demiclones spawn an NPC who will help you fight for an entire floor. The Demiclones possible for retrieval are:

• Unei, who fights as an earlier version of White Mage with access to Stoneskin, acts as a shield and absorbs damage. She casts Stoneskin on other players and heals. She also casts Windburn on enemies for damage over time.
• Doga, who fights as a Black Mage with very strong attacks. He casts 15 second Electrocution DoTs and petrifies enemies.
• Onion Knight, who fights as a Paladin. Has the strongest attacks of the three and also casts Onion Cure when party members are low on HP.

The Demiclone is tied to the player who summons it. They follow that player, and if that player dies, the Demiclone disappears.

The Accursed Hoard

Each floor has a chance for a piece of the Accursed Hoard to appear. This manifests as a Banded Treasure Coffer, appearing to the player if they step in its radius. Upon leaving an instance of Eureka Orthos, Accursed Hoard pieces turn into trimmed sacks, containing a large variety of items such as Confetti, Minions, Barding, and Glamour items, some of which are rare and expensive.

To make gathering Accursed Hoard pieces easier, Protomanders of Intuition are your friend. Using one will tell you if there are any pieces of the hoard on your floor. You’ll see a glowing little ray of light to indicate where one is. Stand in it to reveal a coffer.

General Advice

• While you can go in with any combination, the standard party composition or three DPS and a healer is optimal. You need Esuna a lot, and stun also comes in handy. Many AoE attacks can only be survived by a tank if at all.
• Be careful opening bronze chests. They’re the only kind that spawns a Mimic on these floors. If you encounter one, pop a Protomander of Witching immediately. If you don’t have Witching, Lethargy or Storms may save you from Pox. Failing that, a move that inflicts stun may help save you. Pox lasts nine minutes and prevents you from regenerating HP naturally while slowly dealing damage.
• Never crowd a treasure coffer, it could be trapped.
• Always be wary of traps as you navigate. Stick to the edge of rooms; floor traps are less likely to be on the edge.
• Be cautious about using AoE attacks, especially those like White Mage’s Assize or Astrologian’s Stellar Explosion or Lord of Crowns. It’s very easy to accidentally pull in more enemies than you want to deal with at a time.
• On boss floors, utilize Steel, Strength, Dread, and Raising Protomanders, as well as Demiclones, especially Unei. Her Stoneskin is incredibly valuable to surviving the boss fight. Witching, Storms, and Lethargy do not work on bosses.

Dread Beasts

Dread Beasts spawn on any floor throughout the entirety of Eureka Orthos, indicated by their red aura and a warning at the start of the floor. These are incredibly dangerous enemies which can and will wipe the party. The best way to deal with them is to use a Protomander of Storms and kill them instantly. Lethargy or Witching won’t likely be enough to take them down. Killing them provides a 30 minute buff, so they’re worth the effort to kill.

There are three possible spawns, each giving a different buff upon defeat:

• Lamia Queen: Grants Regen upon death.
• Meracydia Clone: 10% damage up upon killing.
• Demi Cochma: 10% damage reduction.

Eureka Orthos Floors 1-10

It warns you if an enemy attacks you while in Gpose, as I learned taking this shot. Screenshot by PC Invasion

The first ten floors are themed like the first area of Labyrinth of the Ancients and full of voidsent. But just because it’s the first ten doesn’t leave room to let down your guard. There are some nasty, party-wiping enemies about.

The enemies encountered on Floors 1-10 are:

• Orthos Imp: Not a very threatening enemy. Its only attack is Void Blizzard with no other moves to speak of.
• Orthos Succubus: Hits you with Blood Sword, which absorbs your HP and heals it. Otherwise it simply auto attacks. Not a big threat, but it does patrol the area, making it likely to attack you in the middle of another pull. Kill it quickly to mitigate its healing.
• Orthos Dahak: This enemy has more to it than meets the eye. While it mostly auto attacks, its triangular AoE attack, The Look, deals a heavy amount of damage that can instakill non-tank classes. Do not get caught in its AoE.
• Orthoiron Claw: Uses a triangular AoE called The Hand, which knocks the player back and deals a heavy amount of damage that risks death if already injured. Proceed with caution.

Beyond Floor Three

• Orthos Grenade: The single most dangerous enemy. It casts the circular AoE ‘Big Burst’, which has no warning until it’s about to go off. If you’re caught in it, you will instantly die. Run away the moment it starts casting or use Witching, Lethargy, or Storms.
• Orthos Demon: Uses Dark Orb for standard damage, then a narrow triangle AoE called Condemnation. It deals a heavy amount of damage that risks killing non-tanks.
• Orthos Vassagal: Uses Grim Fate for standard damage, then Grim Halo, a circular AoE around it dealing heavy damage. Be prepared to run away and come back in when this happens. It’s also a patroller, so be wary.
• Orthos Behemoth: Uses Wild Horn, which isn’t a very heavy damage attack, but has knockback, but then it stands up and slowly begins to cast Ecliptic Meteor down below half health. Kill it before that goes off or you’re all very dead.
• Orthos Bhoot: Casts Terror Touch, afflicting its target with Disease for twenty seconds, decreasing movement speed and HP gained from healing magic. This effect can be Esuna’d away and the enemy has no other tricks, but it will repeat cast.
• Orthos Water Sprite: Casts Water for standard damage.
• Orthos Fachan: Casts Stone for standard damage, then Dread Gaze. You must look away during Dread Gaze or be inflicted with 22 seconds of Paralysis that can thankfully be Esuna’d away. It also patrols.
• Undead Orthos Dragon: Unlike its Palace of the Dead counterparts, these aren’t as life-threatening. They cast one of two possible AoEs: a circular Toxic Vomit or linear Dragon Breath, each inflicting a massive chunk of damage and a stack of Poison afterward.
• Orthos Thanatos: Has a triangular AoE called Iron Justice dealing a hefty chunk of damage.

Floor 10 Boss: Gancanagh

Screenshot by PC Invasion

The general advice for this boss boils down to being ready to move. A lot. And pay attention to your surroundings.

You’ll notice there are several Mandragoras embedded into the floor. These are Pachypodium Mines. The boss frequently uses Authoritative Shriek, making several of them spark with purple lightning energy. Avoid standing near any of them when they’re sparked. They explode and deal a Vulnerability stack if you’re caught in the blast.

The boss will also use Mandrashock, a room-wide effect that lessens the further you are from its radius. As usual with these attacks, move to the furthest possible corner away.

Another variant of Authoritative Shriek will activate all of the mines with a number 1-3 over each row of mines. This indicates the order in which they detonate. Move to the two or three row, wait for the one row to explode, then move there.

Move in accordance with these mechanics and whittle its HP down to zero, then continue on to the next set of floors.

Eureka Orthos Floors 11-20

Screenshot by PC Invasion

The next set of floors have an overgrown and floral theme to the layout and enemies.

• Orthos Keter: Uses the triangular Glass Punch AoE, which takes out a massive chunk of health. It also patrols.
• Great Orthos Morbol: Hits target with Vine Probe for a small chunk of damage, then uses its infamous triangular Bad Breath AoE. Bad Breath inflicts all caught in the blast with Paralysis, Silence, Heavy, Slow, Blind, and Nausea at once. It doesn’t have any dangerous attacks but Bad Breath is always horrible to deal with.
• Orthos Spirulina: This enemy attacks and does nothing else.
• Orthos Netzach: Standard attacks followed by a triangular AoE called Creeping Hush. It does a massive chunk of damage and inflicts a stack of Poison.

Floor 13 and beyond

• Orthos Belladonna: The main threat on this enemy is its circular AoE Shadow Burst, which specifically targets the player and will kill if caught in it.
• Orthosoldier: Uses a Headspin circular AoE, which deals heavy damage risking death.
• Orthos Wood Golem: Uses a Line AoE called Ovation, which will probably instakill. Also patrols.
• Orthos Rafflesia: This enemy uses a circle AoE called Gold Dust, which targets a party member regardless of aggro. If it doesn’t outright kill you, it’ll definitely poison.
• Orthosystem β: Casts a circular AoE called Gravity Field towards a player. It will probably kill you and inflict Heavy if it doesn’t.
• Orthos Sawtooth: This enemy has two AoEs; Disserver, a triangle AoE that will probably KO, and Mean Thrash, a triangle AoE from its tail. Mean Thrash won’t kill you outright from full, but it does heavy damage.
• Orthohunter: Attacks you. Does nothing else.
• Orthos Groundskeeper: Uses a circle AoE called Neck Splinter which does about half of your HP. Also a patroller.

Floor Boss: Cloning Node

Screenshot by PC Invasion

This boss requires a lot of paying attention to the arena to properly avoid its attacks. You’ll quickly notice there are Cloned Shield Dragons in the background who will quickly jump into the arena to assist the node. When the node casts Offensive Command, lines will go from the node to the dragons. Don’t stand in the path of any of them, as what follows is a quick triangle AoE directly out from each dragon which gives a Vulnerability stack if hit by. Order Relay will do the same as Offensive Command, except there will be a second round of AoEs after the initial. You have to pay attention to which dragons don’t get a line, as they’ll be safe to run to after the first round of AoEs.

That’s really all there is to this boss. If you manage to learn where to stand it doesn’t have any other tricks to speak of.

Eureka Orthos Floors 21-30

Screenshot by PC Invasion

These floors are themed around deep Allagan ruins and contain a lot of dragons and Allagan machinery. And the enemies are a whole new beast to deal with:

• Orthogiant: These things are nasty. Their Grand Sword move hits for a chunk of EXP, but the AoE, Exhaust, will pretty much KO most classes.
• Orthodemolisher: This enemy doesn’t look like much, but it is. Its AoE, Assault Cannon, can instakill a lot of non-tank classes, but if that wasn’t bad enough, it at low hop casting a room-wide Self Destruct. If you don’t kill it in time, say goodbye to the entire party or run into the next room.
• Orthos Wyvern: This enemy uses Spiked Tail, which inflicts a stack of poison. It has no other mechanics, making it one of the less dangerous enemies, but the poison will keep stacking from Spiked Tail if not killed quickly.
• Orthos Brobinyak: This enemy has another look-away mechanic in Cold Gaze, which paralyzes if not avoided. Its other AoE, Body Slam, kills if caught in it. Be prepared to run away.

Beyond floor 23

• Orthoknight: This enemy is the sequel to the grenade. When it starts casting Electromagnetism, run away, and fast. This is a circular AoE that pulls you in towards it followed by a swing of its arms that will most likely kill you.
• Orthodroid: This enemy is what is often referred to as a sniper in Deep Dungeons. If you’re anywhere within its sight lines, even if you’ve not aggroed it, it will target you with its AoE Passive Infrared Guidance System, a deadly attack. Kill these things on sight or else you’ll keep dealing with its AoE.
• Orthos Lesser Dragon: Uses Swinge, a triangular AoE with no warning that will kill you. On top of that, it patrols.
• Orthoblue Dragon: Uses a line AoE called Chilling Aspiration that if it doesn’t kill you will inflict 15 seconds of Frostbite.
• Orthos Vouivre: This thing mostly attacks with Whipcrack for a mild chunk of damage. Its bigger problem is its occasion room-wide AoE Bombination that deals a Vunerability stack, and it doesn’t have to be aggroed to use it. Be careful being in the same room as it.
• Orthos Biast: Casts Electrify, a circular AoE targeting a player. It does a lot of damage, but usually not enough to kill from full health.
• Orthos Vanara: Uses Scythe Tail, a triangular AoE that has no warning. If it doesn’t outright kill you the attack will stun. Also patrols.
• Orthokaliya: Uses a triangular AoE called Nerve Gas, which will probably kill you.
• Orthoshelled Dragon: First it uses Diamondback on itself, decreasing damage taken, then a circular AoE called Tortoisestomp which will probably kill you. Definitely try to fight these things alone.

Floor 30 Boss: Cloned Tiamat

Screenshot by PC Invasiom

This boss is, to put it simply, a bit of a nightmare if you don’t know her mechanics. There’s once more a lot of movement but also untelegraphed AoEs to look out for.

• Creature of Darkness: Tiamat creates several Dark Wanderers in front of her which slowly move across the platform. Look for the gap and stand there as they pass. Another variant has them come from the sides. Stand between them again, and then be ready to move to stand between the gaps on the other side, as they don’t match.
• Dark Wyrmwing: Stand in the middle. This is an AoE coming from both her wings that will leave a Vulnerability if hit.
• Dark Megaflare: A bunch of circular AoEs will fill the platform multiple times. Be ready to move out of these and quickly. The Dark Wanderers will also be moving around, so you need to avoid both.
• Whei Morn: One player will be targeted with a circle with several arrows beneath them as they move. This attack will follow in succession on their trail, creating Dark Wanderers with each blast, so avoid the area the player was just in.
• Dark Wyrmtail: Stand on the sides, this AoE hits in the center.

This is all she can do, so once you manage to whittle down her HP, you’ve done it! Floor 30 is cleared! When you’re outside, you have a new quest to pick up to unlock some story and the challenge level floors of Eureka Orthos. May the Twelve be with you if you decide to attempt beyond floor 30.