Introduction to Deep Dungeons (2024)

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 and Heaven on High are ever-changing dungeons whose architectureis never quite the same each time players enter to explore its depths. All players will beginat level 1 and level 61 respectively, and only by fighting the enemies within will they be ableto gain the strength and experience needed to explore.

While the basis for Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High is very similar, a set number of randomizedfloors you take on in sets of 10 with an hour to complete, there are some key differencesbetween the two deep dungeons.

Below are the key differences between the two:

• Palace of the Dead has 200 floors, while Heaven on High has only 100.
• Heaven on High and Palace of the Dead runs can begin from two different floorsets:
  • Palace of the Dead starts at either floor 1 or floor 51.
  • Heaven on High starts at either floor 1 or floor 21.
• The level caps are different, with Palace of the Dead being 60 and Heaven on High being 70.
  • If starting on the later floors, as mentioned above, your character will start out at the level cap of the content you're doing.

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

• HoH 1-50 is much easier now, after that it normalizes back to the same difficulty as in Shadowbringers
• It’s much more difficult to speed run 91+ in POTD, and generally mobs hit harder and are slightly more difficult 91-140. After that it’s the same as before.

Starting with either is completely valid, however we often recommend starting with Heaven on High as there arefewer floors, meaning progging takes less time. It also takes less time to get to the harder floors which willteach you about how to manage your Pomanders to save time, and about what enemies to fight and when.Much of the knowledge gained from Heaven on High can easily transfer to Palace of the Dead.

While our information is limited at the moment, we have prepared a page for the new Deep Dungeon,Eureka Orthos. This page will continue to be updated as the content is released and we createguides.

When you move close enough to an enemy, it will automatically aggro you no matterwhere it’s facing. Mimics in Palace of the Dead have a much larger aggro range than most proximity mobs,and should be treated with care.

Mob has to be facing you in order to aggro. This usually is a cone originatingfrom the front of the monster. Check the arrow on the monster’s hitbox to tell where it’s facing.

Will aggro you if you run close to it, to avoid detection, toggle walk. Sound mobs alsoaggro even when walking if you come into direct contact with the mob's hitbox.

The videos below outline how best to farm Potsherds in both Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High.

Palace of the Dead farming:

Heaven on High farming:

Players will be restricted to the use of an Aetherpool Arm and Aetherpool Armorwhen inside the Deep Dungeon. In addition to gaining levels, players must enhance these items asthey progress through the dungeon. Note that Aetherpool Armor will take the appearance ofyour current gear upon entering the instance.

• Normal gear has no effect on your character's attributes inside Palace of the Dead.
• Aetherpool gear growth will not carry over from Palace of the Dead to Heaven-on-High.

The fastest way to farm Aetherpool is to queue with a party into floor 51+ in Palace of the Dead or floor 21+ in Heaven on High.

Pomanders	Icons	Palace of the Dead & Heaven on High
Pomander of Sight		Fully reveals the map of the current floor and the location of all traps on the floor.
Pomander of Strength		Increases the damage and healing of the user by 30% for eight minutes.
Pomander of Steel		Decreases the damage taken of 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.
Pomander of Purity		Removes the Pox debuff inflicted by Mimics. Pox cannot be cleansed by any other means and persists even through death.
Pomander of Fortune		Increases the chance that enemies drop coffers on the current floor.
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 next Accursed Hoard, it will stay in effect until one is revealed or the floorset ends.
Pomander of Raising		Resurrects any party member that is KO'd. After a player is raised, the effect willthen disappear. 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.Can no longer drop from floor 181+ POTD or 81+ HoH.

There are a few pomanders that are exclusive to Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High respectively and are not seen in the other Deep Dungeon.

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. 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, 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 AoE and stuns enemies. Deals immense bonus damage to ashkin (undead) enemies.Only found past floor 60.

Pomanders	Icons	Heaven on High Only
Pomander of Frailty		Inflicts a 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. This effect is canceled upon taking any direct damage, using any ability, 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 Biolysis,do not instantly do damage and therefore will not kill petrified enemies.
Magicite		Silver Coffers will sometimes drop Magicite, of which three at a time can be held.Magicites come in four varieties: Vortex, Crag, Inferno, and Elder. When used, they grant the entireparty invulnerability for ten seconds (Vortex, Crag, Inferno) or fifteen seconds (Elder) and killall mobs on the floor. The Elder Magicite has the unique trait that it can also one shot anyboss monster it’s used on.

• Gold Coffers
  • Gold Coffers yield Pomanders or reveal a Mimic. If the player has three of a given Pomander type, the chest will remain closed until the requisite Pomander is used.
  • Mimics will only appear within Gold Coffers after a specific floor has been reached. For Palace of the Dead it is floor 41, while in Heaven on High it is floor 61.
• Silver Coffers
  • Silver Coffers will strengthen Aetherpool Arms and Armor. However, there is a possibilitythat the strengthening effects will not take hold even if players' weapons and gear are not at maximum level.Opening these coffers will have no effect if the players' weapons and gear are at their maximum level of strength.
  • In Heaven on High, Silver Coffers also have a chance to yield Magicite.
  • Mimics will only appear within Bronze Coffers during specific floors. For Palace of the Dead it is floors 31 - 40, while in Heaven on High is is floors 31 - 60.
• Bronze Coffers
  • Bronze Coffers may yield normal items such as Potions or Phoenix Downs. They can also yield Potsherds, which can be exchanged for special items such as Sustaining Potions.
  • Mimics will only appear within Bronze Coffers during floors 1 - 30 in both Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High.

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 the Palace of the Dead.

As players progress, they will arrive at floors with traps thatwill be set off when walked across. These traps are invisible unlessa player uses a Pomander of Sight, which can 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.

Traps	Icons	Description
Impeding Trap		Applies silence and pacification to all players and mobs in a small area. Silence prevents abilities, and pacification prevents weaponskills.
Landmine Trap		Inflict 80% current health damage to all players and mobs in a small area. They cannot directly kill a player regardless of current player health.
Luring Trap		Summons three random monsters that can spawn on the floor. All three monsters will aggro onto the player who triggered the trap and attack them after a short delay (3 seconds upon spawning).
Enfeebling Trap		Inflicts a debuff to the player for one minute, increasing damage taken and decreasing damage dealt by 20%.
Toad Trap (PoTD Only)		Inflicts "Toad" on the player for 20 seconds. Toads have 30% reduced maximum HP and cannot use skills or items.
Otter Trap (HoH Only)		Inflicts "Otter" on the player for 30 seconds. Otters have 50% reduced maximum HP and cannot use skills or items.

Every time players load onto a new floor, there is a chance for the floorto gain up to three floor effects. These can be positive or negative andlast for the entire duration of the floor. Negative effects can be particularlydangerous on lower floors.

Negative Enchantments	Icons	Description
Auto Heal Disabled		Disables passive HP regeneration for all party members, both in and out of combat. Note: Since the 6.3 patch, Auto Heal Disabled now affects enemies as well.
Blind		Reduces the accuracy of all party members.
Damage Down		Reduces the damage dealt by all party members.
Gloom		Fills the floor with Gloom, increasing the damage dealt and movement speed of all enemies while reducing their damage taken.
HP Penalty		Reduces the maximum HP of all party members.
No Abilities		Prevents the use of any abilities.
No Item Penalty		Prevents the use of all items, including Pomanders.
Knockback Penalty (PoTD/EO Only)		Prevents all knockback and draw-in effects for both allies and enemies. Notably, this prevents the Pomander of Rage from one-shotting enemies.
No Sprint (PoTD Only)		Disables Sprint for all party members.
No Magicite (HoH Only)		Disables the use of Magicites

There are a few positive effects, and having one is sure to speed up the run.

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

Boss enemies will appear every 10 floors. Upon defeating them, players will beable to record their progress, at which time they may choose to leave the Deep Dungeon. Pleasenote that progress made in strengthening Aetherpool Arms and Armor is saved independently and shared across all save data. See below for more details.

• Save data will not be updated in the event you log out or lose connection before defeating the boss and recording your progress.

If all party members are KO'd inside the Deep Dungeon, they will be removed from the instance. Unlike other dungeons,players cannot choose to return to the floor entrance if they are KO'd.

Players can reset their level and progression to floor 1. However, Aetherpool Arm and Armor strength will carryover to the new file. This means players can reset and return to floor 1 to continue strengthening theirweapons and gear if they have found that previous progression became too difficult. Reset save data cannot be recovered.

With the exception of a Pomander of Raising being active, death ofall members of a party in a Deep Dungeon will trigger a duty fail. This will add 1 to the Party KOcount 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 and cannot be used to obtain achievements for completion of the Deep Dungeon.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.

Whether by accident or through using a Pomander of Intuition, players maycome across pieces of the Accursed Hoard within both deep dungeons. Accursed Hoard spawnsrandomly within a given set of floors, with a limit of one per floor, and a forced spawnsuch that no more than three floors in a row can not spawn a hidden piece of the Hoard. Upon exiting a setof floors successfully, any pieces of the Accursed Hoard found will be converted into sacks thatcan be exchanged for a chance at rare loot. The sacks and their drop tables vary based on the floor set andwhich deep dungeon they were acquired within.

Some achievements are rewarded for acquiring the Accursed Hoard with rewards in the forms of thetitles “of the Sixth Sense” for acquiring 100 without the use of a Pomander of Intuition and themuch rarer “Hoarder” for acquiring 10,000 pieces of the Accursed Hoard from either Deep Dungeon.