View source for Variant and Criterion Dungeons

:''See also: [[Dungeons]], [[Trials]], [[Raids]], [[Deep Dungeon]], [[Variant Dungeons]], [[Criterion Dungeons]]''
[[File:Variant Dungeon.png|25px|link=]] '''Variant and Criterion dungeons''' are a dungeon style first released on [[patch 6.25]]. After unlocking them, players can register using the ''V&C Dungeon Finder'' under "Duty" in the main menu.

==Variant Dungeons==
[[File:Variant and Criterion Dungeons Map.png|thumb|Entrance Map Marker]]
Variant dungeons are level 90 variable-difficulty dungeons intended for 1-4 players. They are normal (story mode) [[difficulty]] content. Enemy strength will be adjusted depending on the number of players, there are no role restrictions, and players can change jobs to any other Lv. 90 Disciple of War or Magic while the dungeon is in progress when out of combat. Note that changing jobs will result in a 30 second cooldown until the player can use actions. Players can register for Variant Dungeons solo, with a premade party, or use matchmaking. Matching is disabled by default. If the option is enabled, players will be matched to a party of four with no role restrictions.

The map has branching paths, and the progression route will change based on player actions or random events. Some boss mechanics will also vary depending on earlier player actions. The player(s) will be accompanied by an NPC who will provide dialogue and interact with the environment  but not participate in combat.

Completing the dungeon in certain ways will add a lore entry to the V&C Dungeon Finder. These entries provide lore regarding the dungeon or hints to puzzles that can be completed to unlock additional entries or a secret boss. Completing all 12 entries in the dungeon will award the player with a mount.

===Variant Actions and Attribute Adjustments===
To allow for greater freedom of role choices, variant dungeons grant players the use of special variant actions. These actions mimic existing abilities such as {{action icon|Cure}} or {{action icon|Rampart}}. Moreover, certain attributes will also be adjusted to compensate for the disparity of strength between certain roles, alleviating the need for dedicated tanks, DPS, or healers.

Variant actions can be selected from the V&C Dungeon Finder window. Players may have up to two variant actions at any given time, and are free to change them at any time, even after entering the dungeon.
* Available variant actions will differ according to the player's role.

{| class="pve table"
{{role action table header}}
{{role action table row|Variant Cure}}
{{role action table row|Variant Ultimatum}}
{{role action table row|Variant Raise}}
{{role action table row|Variant Spirit Dart}}
{{role action table row|Variant Rampart}}
|}

===Unlock===
{{main|Variant Dungeons Quests}}
To unlock variant dungeons, complete {{questlink|main|Endwalker (Quest)}} followed by the quasi-quest {{questlink|feature|An Odd Job}} from [[Osmon]] in [[Old Sharlayan]] (X:11.9, Y:13.3). This will unlock additional quests (see table below) for each of the three variant dungeons. Each individual variant dungeon questline is independent and the dungeons may be completed in any order.

===Available Variant Dungeons===
{| {{STDT|sortable pve align-left}}
!Dungeon
!Level
!IL Req
!IL Sync
!Escort NPC
![[Tomestones]]
!Unlock
|-
| [[The Sil'dihn Subterrane]]
| 90
| 575
| 635
| [[Nanamo Ul Namo]]
| {{tomestone|Causality|40}} {{tomestone|Comedy|15}}
| {{questlink|feature|A Key to the Past}}
|-
| [[Mount Rokkon]]
| 90
| 605
| 665
| [[Hancock]]
| {{tomestone|Causality|40}} {{tomestone|Comedy|15}}
| {{questlink|feature|Mononoke Aware}}
|-
| [[Aloalo Island]]
| 90
| 605
| 665
| [[Matsya]]
| {{tomestone|Causality|40}} {{tomestone|Comedy|25}}
| {{questlink|feature|Stranger from Paradise}}
|}

==Criterion Dungeons==
Criterion dungeons are visually similar to variant dungeons, but are of a [[difficulty]] comparable to [[extreme trial]]s or [[savage raids]]. They require a 4-player party composed of a tank, a healer, and 2 DPS. The map layout is fixed, and no NPCs accompany the players. Normal resurrection actions are disabled, but players are allowed to revive other party members with {{action icon|Variant Raise II}}, which is the only Variant Action available for this difficulty. Each party member may only use this action once, but it will be replenished upon completing an objective for the dungeon or if the party wipes.

Players can register for criterion dungeons with a fully premade party or use matchmaking. Players who enable this option will be matched into a party consisting of 1 tank, 1 healer, 1 melee DPS, and 1 physical ranged or magical ranged DPS. Additional matchmaking options (e.g., Practice vs. Duty Completion) exist and function similarly to [[Raid Finder]] matching settings. ''Note that in North American and European data centers, most players will use [[Party Finder]] to form groups for Criterion dungeons, similar to other high-end content. Matchmaking is only likely to be used when a dungeon is brand new.''

Regular enemies in criterion dungeons deal significantly more damage and require more strategic ways of engaging them than those in other dungeons. Bosses are similar in mechanical difficulty to extreme trials or savage raids but are shorter (5-6 minutes vs. 10-14 minutes). Similar to other high-difficulty content, each boss must be defeated in a certain time limit, or it will wipe the party with an enrage ability.

Completing a criterion dungeon rewards four dungeon-specific coins to each player when the treasure coffer at the end is opened. These can be exchanged for various combat materia, the [[orchestrion rolls|orchestrion roll]] of the dungeon's background music, and an exclusive [[mount]] (requires 100 coins). The mount also has a low chance to drop directly from the treasure coffer. Note that the mount can be sold on the [[Market Board]].

{| class="pve table"
{{role action table header}}
{{role action table row|Variant Raise II}}
|}

===Party Composition Bonus===
Upon entering a criterion dungeon, party members will gain a bonus to damage dealt according to the composition of their party. The bonus increases with the number of jobs in your party that rely on actions that affect the entire party.

This bonus system is intended to compensate for the proportional decrease in utility of such actions as party size decreases.
* The effectiveness of the damage bonus will differ between roles.
* This bonus will only be applied to jobs and has no effect on classes.

For example, jobs such as {{BRD}} [[bard]] rely on increasing the damage dealt by their allies. In a light party of four players, their party buffs will only be half as effective in terms of overall party damage increase compared to a full 8-player party. To compensate, a damage increase will be applied to all other party members if a bard (or other jobs with party buffs) is in the party.

See [[Variant and Criterion Dungeons#External Links|External Links]] below for a spreadsheet with a full explanation.

===Unlock===
To unlock criterion dungeons, complete the corresponding variant dungeon and its associated quest, then speak with [[Osmon]] in [[Old Sharlayan]] (X:11.9 Y:13.3) as a level 90 Disciple of War or Magic.

===Available Criterion Dungeons===
*{{questlink|cdungeon|Another Sil'dihn Subterrane}}
*{{questlink|vdungeon|Another Mount Rokkon}}
*{{questlink|vdungeon|Another Aloalo Island}}

==Criterion Dungeons (Savage)==
Savage criterion dungeons are of a [[difficulty]] comparable to 8-player [[savage raids]] or higher. They have additional rules to make them harder: Revive abilities are disabled completely and no variant actions may be used. If the party wipes, all enemies will respawn and players must restart from the beginning. Players who disconnect from the game will be incapacitated upon reconnecting to the dungeon. Matchmaking is unavailable for Savage Criterion dungeons. Players must have a premade party of four people to enter them.

Boss mechanics are identical to those in criterion dungeons, but all enemies have higher health and deal more damage (especially non-bosses). Many AoE indicators from non-boss enemies that were present in easier difficulties are removed or significantly shortened, and being hit by these avoidable attacks will usually deal lethal damage.

Upon engaging the first enemy, a timer will begin, which can be seen next to the duty objectives. If the party does not complete the dungeon before the timer finishes, all enemies will receive the [[File:Sewer-dwelller icon1.png|link=]] '''Sewer-dweller''' or '''Powerful''' buff, greatly increasing their damage dealt while reducing their damage taken, which is essentially a dungeon-wide enrage. This timer will reset if the party wipes.

The party composition bonus from criterion dungeons is applicable to the savage difficulty and functions identically.

Completing a savage criterion player rewards one manuscript item, which can be traded for various combat materia and unique glamour or furniture items, in addition to rewarding exclusive titles. In response to the poor material rewards of the first two dungeons, the {{item icon|Aloalo Manuscript}}s obtained from the third dungeon can be traded for {{item icon|Elevated Ester}}s that themselves are exchanged with a corresponding [[Augmented Credendum Weapons|Augmented Credendum Weapon]] or {{item icon|Gentlemage's Umbrella}} to give an [[Exquisite Weapons|Exquisite Weapon]] with the same item stats as the [[Ascension Weapons|current savage raid weapons]] and unique graphical effects when unsheathed. These serve a similar purpose as weapons rewarded from ultimate raids (without the third materia slot and a more subdued visual design).

'''Note''': The savage-difficulty dungeon does ''not'' reward coins or the mount that can be obtained from the "normal" criterion version.

===Unlock===
To unlock savage criterion dungeons, complete the corresponding criterion dungeon, then speak with [[Osmon]] in [[Old Sharlayan]] (X:11.9 Y:13.3) as a level 90 Disciple of War or Magic.

===Available Criterion Dungeons (Savage)===
*{{questlink|cdungeon|Another Sil'dihn Subterrane (Savage)}}
*{{questlink|vdungeon|Another Mount Rokkon (Savage)}}
*{{questlink|vdungeon|Another Aloalo Island (Savage)}}

===Tips===
Because essentially no player deaths are allowed, savage criterion dungeons are an enormous check for consistency, comparable or surpassing some [[ultimate raids]]. However, unlike ultimate raids, players have the opportunity to practice any mechanics in the "normal" criterion difficulty, as they are virtually identical to the savage difficulty encounter mechanics. For example, players can hold their DPS to practice a boss mechanic in "normal" difficulty that may otherwise be skipped, but cannot be skipped in savage difficulty due to higher boss HP. After practicing the mechanic once, the party may opt to wipe and restart the boss for another repetition of the mechanic to achieve consistency.

==Images==
<gallery mode=packed>
The Sil'dihn Subterrane1.jpg|[[The Sil'dihn Subterrane]]
The Sil'dihn Subterrane2.jpg|[[The Sil'dihn Subterrane]]
The Sil'dihn Subterrane3.jpg|V&C Dungeon Finder
File:Another Sil'dihn Subterrane1.jpg|[[Another Sil'dihn Subterrane]]
File:Another Sil'dihn Subterrane2.jpg|[[Sil'dihn Throne (Mount)|Sil'dihn Throne]]
</gallery>

==Trivia==
*Criterion dungeons are the first high-end 4-player content introduced in the game (excluding {{questlink|trial|The Great Hunt (Extreme)}}). Their development may have, in part, been a response to longstanding player requests for challenging 4-player content. Similarly, variant dungeons may have been developed in response to requests for less linear dungeons.

==External Links==
*[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oCnkoKP4ADpv6GrtuFiznCkC5BqJBRaoPsCTYD0vTo0/edit#gid=313797369 Estimated damage bonuses provided by jobs with party buffs]

{{Duties nav|dungeon}}

[[Category:Patch 6.2 Features]] [[Category:Endwalker]]