In Final Fantasy XIV you can compete against your fellow adventurers in combat. This magic happens in a separate mode known as Players vs Players, better known as PvP. In PvP you’ll have a choice of several game modes which you can read about here.

How to Unlock PvP¶

To get started in PvP, you’ll need to reach level 30, and complete one of the various quests associated with your Grand Company to unlock certain game modes. The required quests are as follows:

Crystalline Conflict¶

This is a 5v5 game mode where the goal is to push the Tactical Crystal towards the opponent’s goal. The team who has pushed it the furthest is declared the winner. This game mode has a time limit of 5 minutes.

Frontline¶

This is a large-scale game mode that consists of up to 72 players. There are four separate campaigns in Frontline, which changes the goal as well as other things which can be read about in further detail here.

Rival Wings¶

Finally, Rival Wings is a mid-scale game mode that consists of up to 48 players. This has two separate campaigns to choose from, Astragalos, and Hidden Gorge. Astragalos’ goal is to destroy the opponent’s core while Hidden Gorge’s goal is to vie for the control of supplies which are delivered by ceruleum engines.

How to get to Wolves’ Den¶

All the PvP activities take place in Wolves’ Den which includes all the PvP specific merchants as well as training dummies to practise your job, and an arena where you can duel other players. To get there, you’ll need to head over to Lower La Noscea and make your way to Moraby Drydocks. Once you reach the Drydocks, head to the pier in the south, and you’ll find the Ferry Skipper who’ll transport you to Wolves’ Den. You only have to make this trip once as there is an Aetheryte Crystal which you can attune to.

What Can You Do in Wolves’ Den¶

As soon as you enter Wolves’ Den, head northwest from the Ferry Skipper, and you’ll see the Aetheryte straight in front of you with a Delivery Moogle floating next to it. To your east you’ll find a set of Striking Dummies for you to practice your new PvP kit. A little further to the east is the Dueling Circle. This is an arena where you can invite players to duel either for practice or for bragging rights.

To the northwest of the Aetheryte is the Disreputable Priest. This NPC allows you to spend some of your hard-earned PvP currency known as Wolf Marks on various gear. She can also grant you new titles depending on if you meet her criteria. Finally, to the west of the Aetheryte is the Seasonal Quartermaster who will grant you Ranking, and Tier Rewards as well as an explanation on what that entails.

If you head down the stairs into the ship known as “The Braveheart”, which is a bit further to the west. You’ll find the rest of the PvP merchants where you can trade in your various PvP currencies you’ve earned for a whole wide-range of gear. These merchants are:

• Collar Quartermaster: The Collar Quartermaster allows you to exchange Wolf Marks for Wolf Collars. Then you can spend 10 Wolf Collars for a weapon of your choice. You can obtain Wolf Marks by participating in any of the PvP game modes.

• Crystal Quartermaster: The Crystal Quartermaster allows you to exchange Trophy Crystals for various weapons, gear, Portrait Framers Kits and much more. You can only obtain Trophy Crystals from the Series Malmstones (Battle Pass). Every time you participate in a PvP game mode, you’ll get rewarded with series EXP. When you level up the Series Malmstones, you’ll earn Trophy Crystals amongst other rewards.

• Wolf Mark Exchange: The Wolf Mark Exchange will allow you to spend your Wolf Marks on previously released Gear Sets, and weapons which you may have missed out on. Wolf Marks are the standard PvP currency, and you’ll get them from any PvP activity.

Finally, you’ll have the Entry Counter which is manned by the Storm Captain Berkoeya Loetahlsyn. Speaking to him will give you various tutorials on the general rules of PvP. To either side of him are “entrances” which will open the Duty Finder where you can find a match. You can just use your Duty Finder to access this menu instead.

PvP Actions and Hotbar¶

You may have noticed that your hotbar has lost all of its skills. Don’t worry as this is your PvP hotbar, and your PvE hotbar will return to normal once you leave Wolves’ Den. Now what you’ll want to do is fill out this hotbar with your PvP skills. To do this, go to the main menu and scroll to the bottom of the Character section where you’ll find your PvP Profile.

PvP Profile¶

This section will have your PvP Title, Rank, and Level in the top left with the Series Level just underneath it. The Series Malmstones (Battle Pass) to the right of that. This is where you’ll claim your Series rewards. Below that on the left, you’ll have information on your results from the various game modes. Further below you’ll have PvP Actions. This is all the actions you’ll have for that particular job, and a lot of these are different from your PvE actions so make sure you read what each of them do. You’ll want to place all of these actions on to your empty hotbar and once they’ve been placed they’ll stay there whenever you switch jobs.

Standard PvP Actions¶

Every job will have access to the same five standard actions amongst their job actions. These are incredibly important as you won’t go far in PvP without mastering them. The standard actions are as follows:

• Standard-issue Elixir: This action has infinite uses and will heal your HP and MP to maximum. These take 4.5 seconds to cast and can be interrupted so you should only use this if you’re not near any enemies and you have run out of MP.

• Recuperate: This is an instant cast heal that will restore your HP for 15,000 potency. The downside of this is it’ll cost you 2500 MP which can limit the amount of actions you can use, but it’s worth it over death. You’ll want to balance this to keep yourself healthy, but not to the point of expending all of your MP.

• Purify: This is probably the most significant action. This is an instant cast action that will remove almost all status afflictions that get cast on you. Not only that, but it’ll also grant you immunity to the same actions for 5 seconds after. Be aware that it does have a 30-second recast so you won’t be able to use it in quick succession.

• Guard: Another essential action. Guard will reduce damage taken by 90% as well as grant you immunity to Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Half-asleep, Sleep, and Deep Freeze for 5 seconds. This will also negate knock back and draw-in effects. The downside to this action is it’ll reduce your movement speed by 50%, and you won’t be able to cast any other action without breaking the effect of Guard. This is best used when you are taking significant damage from multiple enemies, or when you need to buy some time for your team to respawn and help you.

• Sprint: Similar to the PvE action, but it’s permanent, and it doesn’t have a long recast. The downside is that any action you use will cancel it. This is best used when you start a match to get into position quickly, or if you die and need to get back to your team quickly.

Rewards¶

You may ask yourself why you should participate in PvP. Well the reason is that you can obtain a variety of rewards from gear, orchestrion songs, mounts, minions, and portrait frames, and all of these can only be obtained through PvP. The other reason is that it’s fun, and adds a different flavor to your standard PvE. Furthermore, you can level up your jobs through PvP although at a slightly slower pace as it rewards normal EXP for completing matches. You can find the current rewards here.