Quests (NGS)
Quests are instancioned areas of the game where your goal is to complete an Objective of the mission as best as you possibly can, with unique modifiers, settings, conditions, and rewards. Each quest has it's own diffirent mechanics, as well as some global ones, that diffirenciate them.
Quest Mechanics
Most quests take place in closed off areas of the game, regular gameplay does not occur in that area while you're in progress of the quest. Once quest begins, no futher people can join and anyone who leaves, intentionally or otherwise, cannot rejoin the mission.
There are 2 ways a Quest can appear as:
- Quest on the World Map: Those quests use the Section's enviroments as a way to progress through the quest. They'll use red semi-transparent walls to keep you on the quest track. All weather-related effects apply with full force.
- Quests in Virtual Enviroments: Those quests take you away from world map and put you in a special dungeon in a virtual setting. Weather usually does not apply here.
All quests have a waiting area before the quest starts where players can safely load in without consequence.
You will not collect EXP and Drops immiedetaly, indciated by "GREAT!" notifications on every kill. However as quest progresses the kills you score accumulate over time. Once quest is completed,all earned EXP, Meseta and Drops (via Quest Storage) are given at once. This is a measure to prevent quitting the quest before it's conclusion in an attempt to farm EXP/Drops. However, kills will progress respective Tasks and they will be cleared if conditions are met even before quest's conclusion.
Every quest gauges your preformance via Rank system, starting at S as the top rank and going all the way to C as the worst rank. However, how they gauge is diffirent for every quest.
All Quests have a Failure Condition to keep in mind. There are 2 ways the game can interpret fail conditions:
- The quest is failed outright. You will get "Quest Failed" message. All EXP and Drops are lost, you return to the starting point.
- The quest ends prematurely. You will be ranked based on conditions you have met up until that point with respective drops. The quest is considered to be cleared in this scenario.
A lot of gameplay mechanics, such as Trials appear during a quest as well. Clearing them is almost always madatory for progression and, if failing them is possible, it could be grounds for Quest Failure.
Starting Quests
Quests might be started from the World Map or Quest Counter, depending on type. Quests can be started only by Party Lead or Subleader, if their order requirements are met, which will most likely require to be above Recommended Power Level, with potentially futher requirements. Should you be a part of a Party, you will be dragged into a quest that Leader/Subleader chose.
Sometimes, quests are also locked due to Main Task progression, the game will not tell you of it unless it's an issue.
From there, the method to start differs whenever a quest is a Single Party or Multi Party.
Single Party quests
Single Party Quest force everyone to be a part of the same party for you to participate in the same room. All SP Quests are Region-Restricted, which means you have to be in the same region to be eligible to start the quest.
To start a quest a quest without any setup, press Start Quest and you should immidetaly go to the Waiting Area. However, everyone will be able to join your party in that case- use the Recruit Party Members & Start option to access Party Setup menu, which allows you to use a password to lock random people from joining you.
To join a SP Quest hosted by another player, press Join Party button and select the party you wish to join to start the mission.
Most of the time, a Single Party Quest will have a teleporter, able to be activated by anyone. Once it is active, it will start the quest and teleport everyone in the teleporter's range to the first quest area within 10 seconds, unless everyone is in range which will start the quest in half of that time, 5 seconds. Some SP Quests however might use the Multi Party method described below.
Challenge Settings
Some Single Party Quests have Challenge Settings to choose from, which allow you to make the quest easier or harder, in exchange for higher or lowere scores and therefore, better or worse chances for a higher rank. After pressing to start the quest, you can choose and combine up to 10 diffirent settings, each affecting the multiplier. You can note the maximum rank possible on this screen as well, but please note that it indicates maximum possible rank you can earn- if you do worse,your rank CAN be lower!
When searching for parties to join, if there are any challenge settings, you will be aware of them before you join.
Each quest has diffirent Challenge Settings, and they might have to be unlocked as well before you are able to use them.
Multi Party Quests
Mutli Party Quest allows multiple parties to be a part of the same quest. Everyone that is in the quest therefore is commonly known to be a part of the MPA(Multi Party Area).
MP quests use a Matching system, where the game will match you with other players who are looking for the same quest. Once you press the Start Quest button you'll enter Matching for this quest. You can still play the game, but if you change the area, you will be removed from matching. Once the amount of players reach the limit for that quest,matching auto-completes and all matched participants will move to the quest room in about 5 seconds.
If for some reason,gathering a full room is not possible, you can force start a Quest by accessing the quest page and pressing Depart Immediately. Should you (or your party) be the only one matched, the quest will start automatically.
However if more players are matched, this will send proposal to all matched Party Leaders to start the quest. They have 60 seconds to answer, if they do not it is treated as if they said yes. If everyone says yes, the quest will start as is. If someone refuses or leaves matching, force start procedure is cancelled.
If a Party refuses for the 5th consecutive time to start, they will be removed from matching as a result!
You can also create or join private Matching. To do so, press Set Matching Settings & Start. This will allow you to set a password and (if applicable) disallow Assist NPC's to join. Ensure both settings match for you to be visible for the Matching! Once you see each other, proceed with the Ready Check the same way a public matching would.
Once matched in, the quest will start a 40-120 second countdown after which the quest will begin automatically, during which Players are put in the waiting area.
Quest Types
Here are the quest types you will encounter.
Cocoon/Tower Quest
Cocoon Quests and Tower Quests,commonly known as Trainia, are SP quests in Virtual Enviorment which purpose is to teach you in-game mechanics and test your mettle against bosses. Cocoons typically feature easier challenge,while Towers are usually longer and more complicated. Their goal is to grant Skill Points, +1 SP for Cocoon, +4SP for Towers. They do not give any other drops.
Battledia Quest
Battledia Quests are MP quests in Virtual Enviroment which require a specific Battle Trigger to join. There are 2 subtypes:
- Battledia: Yellow, where the purpose of the quest is to gain EXP and weapon fodders and capsules, but do not grant regular drops,
- Battledia: Purple, where the purpose is to face off against a Gigantix boss rush under a harsh time limit.
To join you need to spend a B.Trigger/Common Yellow/Purple ×5. The Triggers are only used when quest is Cleared. Depending on the subtype, rewards will differ.
Emergency Quest
Emergency Quests are MP Quests on the world map that happen at random full hours with 15 minute warning. They often feature battles against Raid-type bosses and feature large N-Meseta payout along with other unique or high-yield drops. Happen in all regions simultainously but you can only choose to do 1 at the time. Might require clearing a Main Task to be able to run Major Emergency Quests.
Trinitas Quest
Trinitas Quest are SP Quests in Virtual Enviroment where your job is to travelse through multiple dungeon areas and climb the floors in order to reach and defeat the final boss, while also completing side missions and getting as high score as possible. Challenge Settings are of very high importance here- without them, completing at S rank is impossible.
Advanced Trainia Quests
Advanced Trainia are MP/SP quests with unique mechanics related to time. There are 2 subtypes:
- Bunker Type 1, where your job is to kill enemies and destroy the targets to maintain high score and reach the final wave without timing out
- Bunker Type 2, where your objective is to kill boss or series of boss enemies as fast as it is possible while avoiding dying.
Rewards are diffirent on the subtype.
Limited Time Quests(Season Quests)
Limited Time Quests are quests that are only accessible for a limited time period. They oftentimes feature unique mechanics not seen in other quests.
Trigger Quests
Trigger Quests are quests started from the quest counter. You can that way start an Emergency Quest at anytime, along with an easy access to Battledia Quests. Futhermore, there are some unique quests only to Trigger Quests, which are a harder version of an Emergency Quest.