However, you’ll need to complete prerequisite quests before Midnight Dew can give you the quest. This dungeon is from patch 3.0 of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, so you need to have the Heavensward expansion before you can unlock this dungeon.
Quick Step-by-Step Unlocking Guide
Detailed Unlocking Guide
You can start The Great Gubal Library Questline by talking to Matoya in Matoya’s Cave (Zone) (X:6.5, Y:6.3) and accepting the quest “Forbidden Knowledge.” You will need to unlock and complete the dungeon’s normal mode first before you can take on the harder one. “Forbidden Knowledge” is quite deep into the Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward MSQ. You’ll need to do every quest leading up to “Forbidden Knowledge” before you can unlock The Great Gubal Library’s normal mode. Clear the dungeon and retrieve Matoya’s tome to complete the quest. After finishing the quest “Forbidden Knowledge,” continue with the MSQs until you finish the quest “Heavensward.” Completing “Heavensward” allows you to accept the quests needed to unlock level 60 expert-level dungeons for the Heavensward expansion, including The Great Gubal Library (Hard). Head to Midnight Dew in Idyllshire (X:5.6, Y:6.6) once you’re done with the quest “Heavensward” and accept the quest “Let Me Gubal That for You.” She’ll talk to you about a job given to her by a client about retrieving a tome from The Great Gubal Library. Unfortunately, voidsents have since occupied the library after your last visit. Given the reputation you earned during your encounter with the Temple Knights of Ishgard, Midnight Dew will ask for your help in retrieving the tome. After talking to her in Idyllshire, meet Midnight Dew at the entrance of The Great Gubal Library in the Dravanian Hinterlands (X:28.5, Y:37.8). Doing this will unlock The Great Gubal Library (Hard). To enter the dungeon, you’ll need at least a level 60 Disciple of War or Magic job and an average item level of 210. Since The Great Gubal Library (Hard) was released way back in patch 3.4, it’s very easy to solo when you enter unsynced with a level 90+ character. Though if you encounter this dungeon in a duty roulette, you will need to do it synced. To help you clear the dungeon quickly, here’s a breakdown of each boss:
Boss #1: Demon Of The Tome
Mechanics: Before pulling, you will notice that the boss is still in the book. Immediately after attacking the boss, it will come out of the book and move around normally in its demon form. Unlike in the normal version of the Gubal Library, you will need to move the boss around to handle incoming mechanics.
Triclip: A three-hit tankbuster attack on the primary target. Mitigate and heal through the damage. Frightful Roar: A circular, point-blank AoE that should be avoided. Folio: The boss will call down books from the ceiling to inflict AoE damage in various patterns. These patterns can happen one after the other. Avoid these AoEs, or you will be inflicted with a stacking vulnerability debuff. Folio (middle): A large square-shaped AoE indicated by a black AoE marker. Folio (north and south): A pair of books will drop on the northern and southern edges of the arena that will both push towards the middle. Stay near the middle of the arena to get to the safe zone quickly. Folio (east and west): Four pairs of books will drop on the eastern and western edges of the arena one at a time and attack anyone caught in the middle. Figure out the order in which the books drop and avoid the incoming AoEs.
Boss #2: Liquid Flame
Mechanics: This boss is a reference to the “Living Liquid” boss from Alexander: Arm of the Father (Normal and Savage) boss that gave many players a hard time during its release. If you’re a veteran that has encountered “Living Liquid” before, you’ll notice some similarities between their skills.
Searing Wind: The boss’ non-telegraphed normal attack can cleave. Tanks need to face the boss away from the party. Bibliocide: A raid-wide AoE attack. Mitigate and heal through the damage. Sea of Flames: The boss will target random players with AoEs that will follow them around for a few seconds. If you’re targeted, bait these AoEs to the outer edges of the arena to reduce overlapping damage with the party. Slosh: The boss will tether to a player and charge toward them after a few seconds, dealing proximity-based damage. Tethered players should move as far away from the boss as possible to reduce incoming damage. Ferroliquid: The boss will turn into a liquid whirlwind and create a burning field at the center and the outer edges of the arena. Players will also be tethered with a positive or negative charge. After a few seconds, players tethered to a positive charge will be pushed forward, while players tethered to a negative charge will be pulled back. If you have a positive charge, move towards the boss. If you have a negative charge, move away from the boss. Seal of Night and Day: The boss will turn into a hand of fire and assign one of two types of seals to every player: a red “Sun Seal” and a blue “Moon Seal.” Two sun sigils and two moon sigils will also light up on the floor. Players should stand on the sigils of the same element as their status effect, or they will get hit and be inflicted with a vulnerability debuff.
Boss #3: Strix
Mechanics: Due to the different status effects you’ll encounter in this fight, such as knock-ups and transformations, your skill rotations may be interrupted. Keep your burst phases in mind while handling incoming mechanics.
Phase 1
Check Out: Four circular AoE markers will appear on the ground. After a few seconds, these AoEs will turn into one of three elements that can be used for the incoming mechanics. In this phase, there will be markers with overlapping elements. But it’s a good rule of thumb to not wander from the center of the arena, so you can get to the necessary markers. Of The Properties Of Quakes: A strong group-wide AoE attack that can be mitigated by standing in the whirling AoE markers. These AoE markers will give you a levitation buff that reduces the quake’s incoming damage to 0. Anyone hit by the quake will also be inflicted with a stacking vulnerability debuff. On The Properties of Darkness II: A group-wide AoE attack. Mitigate and heal through the damage. On The Properties Of Tornados: All players will be knocked in the air by tornados and take three consecutive hits. Players should stand on the purple puddle before the cast goes off to avoid knock-up. Anyone standing in this puddle will be inflicted by a “Leaden” debuff, slowing the player but also making them immune to the tornados. On The Properties Of Imps: All players will be turned into imps and inflicted by “Lightning Resistance Down II” debuffs. Stand on the light-blue puddle to dispel the transformation and lightning resistance debuffs. Wandering into this puddle normally will turn you into an imp and give you the lightning resistance debuff. On The Properties Of Thunder III: After turning players into imps, the boss will cast this attack to take advantage of the lightning resistance debuff. Players that don’t revert to normal will be stunned and inflicted by a stacking vulnerability debuff. This attack can be fatal if you already have existing vulnerability stacks, so make sure you’re back to normal before the cast goes off. Behemoth Ward: At around 50% HP, the boss will summon a Behemoth that will cast “Ecliptic Meteor.” The boss will also drop two “Comet” AoE attacks around the arena that will form huge rocks afterward. Hide behind these rocks before the “Ecliptic Meteor” drops, or you will die. After the Behemoth disappears, phase 2 will start.
Phase 2
Most of the mechanics from Phase 1 will repeat, except for “Behemoth Ward.” Remember to stay away from the puddles unless it’s necessary.
Check Out: Only three AoE markers will appear during phase 2, and no AoE markers will have the same element. Stay in the middle of the arena and keep an eye out for the specific markers you need to handle incoming mechanics.
Extra Treasure Coffers
Apart from the boss rewards, there are four treasure coffers located throughout the dungeon that you can open for more gear rewards:
(X: 14.5 Y: 12.5) (X: 16.1 Y: 13.1) (X: 9.5 Y: 10.1) (X: 10.5 Y: 10.8)
Lore Readings
The Great Gubal Library (Hard) is one of the few dungeons where you can read FFXIV lore info throughout the dungeon. Here’s a list of all the reading materials found in the Gubal Library if you’re interested:
“The Boy and the Dragon Gay” (X:10.1, Y:10.4) “Of Loves Unrequited” (X:12.3, Y:11.3) “Over the Horizon Redux” (X:14.7, Y:12.8) “On the Culinary Applications of Coblyns” (X:16.5, Y:11.7) “Proceedings of the Council of Magi” (X:8.6, Y:11.8) “The Boy and the Dragon Gay: A Literary Analysis” (X:12.0, Y:10.0)
