After more than a decade of celebrating Eorzea, Final Fantasy XIV has accumulated a lengthy calendar of recurring, limited-time events and a few that may be worth timing your sub renewals around. While they aren’t all bangers, with some FFXIV events more akin to an in-universe Fyre Festival, there’s far more good than bad on the yearly schedule.
If you’re trying to prioritize which celebrations to hit, I’ve got a few favorites as personal picks for a top 10 list of best Final Fantasy XIV seasonal events. Some are for lore reasons, others are for glam or exclusivity. Regardless, it’s a place for Warriors of Light to begin planning out their own FFXIV event calendar.
10. The Maiden’s Rhapsody
While FFXIV’s Version 1.0 disaster launch remains talked about to this day, there’s a better, happier origin story for Final Fantasy’s roots in the MMO space thanks to Final Fantasy XI. In honor of that legacy, the FFXIV event for its older online sibling, The Maiden’s Rhapsody, revisits the Final Fantasy XI: Rhapsodies of Vana’diel scenario.
The FFXI questline bookends Vana’diel’s story with chief priestess Iroha, and in the FFXIV collaboration event, we learn more about her adventures and how she stumbled into Eorzea. You aren’t going to stuff over a decade’s worth of history from the eleventh game into a brief crossover, but it’s packed with nods to the classic MMO that make it a poignant, even nostalgic, event for those both familiar and unfamiliar.
It’s not often this one rolls around, so check it out when you see The Maiden’s Rhapsody pop up on the FFXIV schedule. If not for the beautiful ode to online Final Fantasy of yore, then at least do it for the Amatsu gear set.
9. A Nocturne for Heroes
Alright, for the sake of honesty — I don’t like this event or the tasks involved. Noctis desperately needs that Dawntrail facelift, he looks a little too much like just some Hyur wearing the ‘fit. That said, I love the horrendous car mount, the Regalia Type-G, that FFXIV’s A Nocturne for Heroes crossover event rewards.
Regardless of how you or I feel about Final Fantasy XV and its bizarre we-have-Noctis-at-home NPC, the mount is a neat, limited-time ride that seats you and three friends. It could really use an obnoxious horn for full effect, but the Regalia and the other FFXV-inspired goodies (Noctis glamour and Orchestrion rolls) make for a fairly generous affair as far as FFXIV’s events go.
8. Make it Rain Campaign
There has never been a better time to monotonously slap the Cuff-a-Cur machine than during the Make it Rain campaign.
There’s one other event on this list that’s probably more efficient for grinding MGP, but I won’t say no to another opportunity. With every year’s celebration of the FFXIV Gold Saucer, the mini-game hub gets a +50% increase to MGP rewards earned through the usual activities. The event also discounts some items that typically cost way more in MGP, so you can make the most of your gains.
Even if not for the MGP grinding, it’s a favorite of mine just for the exclusive rewards. I’ve regularly used the Show Left and Show Right emotes to celebrate friends’ in-game achievements for the last couple of years now, and the event also introduced another beloved hairstyle, the Rainmaker. Ask your post-Stormblood era friends about how annoying it was they missed out on that one, until Square Enix mercifully added the up-do again years later.
7. The Path Infernal
It’s another event I’m not super keen on the activity or in-universe explainers (like FFXV), but I can’t deny I was among those sprinting to complete the questline on day one for the rewards. The Path Infernal is FFXIV’s crossover with Final Fantasy XVI, and not only does it give you Torgal as a big ole boy to use a mount, but it also rewards a tiny, sweet baby Torgal as a minion. That’s two good boys for maybe a half-hour of work.
There’s also the Clive glamour set, and it’s cool and all, but it doesn’t get much better than giving my catgirl two dog best friends. Honestly, I’m not even sure I could tell you the plot of the whole thing. I remember more from the FFXI crossover, but that little guy follows me everywhere.
6. Yo-Kai Watch: Gather One, Gather All!
Depending on when you ask me, the FFXIV and Yo-Kai Watch collaboration event is either the bane of my existence, or it’s the coolest crossover the game has ever had. Since I’m done with it, and only had to grab the new Framer’s Kit this time around in Endwalker, I’ve got a more tame response. It’s good; it’s not my favorite event, but it’s good.
Before the days of an abundance of rampaging Blue Mages, I ground out its original offerings and hated it. In hindsight, I didn’t have to go that damn hard, and offering so many glamour weapons, minions, and mounts from one seasonal event is not FFXIV’s usual affair. It’s definitely one of the things that make the FFXV and Yo-Kai Watch events better than they would be otherwise.
Ultimately, if you’re like me and all done or you just don’t care, it’s still a benefit. The hordes of folks always FATE-grinding in the event zones is nice if you’re working on older Relic weapons or even just achievement hunting. I managed to clean up the last of my Heavensward relic checklist thanks to this round of participants, and I’m hoping it’ll return again in Dawntrail with weapons for Sage and Reaper.
5. Moonfire Faire
For someone who claims to hate jump puzzles so much, I sure spend a lot of time skulking about the Moonfire Faire. I’ve played FFXIV 2.0 since beta, but this one is among the few seasonal events that I’ve never missed thanks to a brief break or just forgetting.
And while I do love suiting up in a swimsuit before loading into the cutscene where it’s the Scions versus God, I’m really all about the Moonfire Faire because of the Eorzean Nimble Warrior obstacle course. It first debuted in 2018, but ever since then, I’ve jumped at every opportunity to race friends and strangers to the top. Perhaps it’s the limited nature, but it’s the only puzzle like it in the game that doesn’t make me see red.
Also, the 2023 Moonfire Faire, referenced in the image above, gave us Sicard and Emmanellain bickering on the side of the obstacle course. I don’t know how long I spent watching Emmanellain just hang there, wondering if Sicard would ever help him up (he doesn’t).
4. Starlight Celebration
Final Fantasy XIV’s first expansion introducing the city-state of Ishgard ushered in an era of ‘peace’ with the conclusion of the Dragonsong War, and the nation’s citizens learning to live alongside dragonkind. But the war was just one front of the country’s real cruelty, and the Starlight Festival — Final Fantasy’s equivalent of the winter holidays — is borne from a handful of Temple Knights’ decision to ignore authority and do what they see as right.
In an era of Eorzea long before our own and in the midst of war, all of the violence left a staggering amount of Ishgard’s children orphaned. While the Holy See forbade its knights from caring for them, some soldiers began hiding orphans in their oversized uniforms and sneaking them into their barracks. It kept the children safe during harsh months of deadly cold. Those who survived thanks to a brave few, celebrated the knights from then on with the Starlight Celebration.
The seasonal event spends most of its time handing out Santa-inspired outfits or cutesy mounts, but the backstory still comes up in its yearly celebration. You can also find references to those involved in the Firmament questline and lore book series. It’s one of my favorite little lore tidbits that seems to pay off a little more every year.
3. All Saints’ Wake
Halloween is my favorite real-life celebration, and that easily translates into FFXIV with the yearly All Saints’ Wake festivities. I’ve always enjoyed just about every mount, minion, glamour, and spooky-themed furnishing Square Enix releases for the occasion, but I’m mostly here for the opportunity to take a lot of screenshots of Estinien, Aymeric, and Y’shtola doing Hydaelyn-knows-what.
If you’ve got no idea what I’m talking about, then, man, you’ve been missing out on what is arguably the best feature in this whole shindig. I’m only half-kidding, but the All Saints’ Wake celebration typically includes access to an instanced area, The Haunted Manor, where players can transform into their favorite FFXIV characters and control them just as they would their own avatar.
Look, I’m not gonna make generalizations about everyone with the Gpose icon above their heads inside the Haunted Manor, but also, the NPC that transforms you is called “The Unsavory Imp.” There’s no good that comes from that.
2. The Moogle Treasure Trove
The Moogle Treasure Trove is FFXIV’s usual filler activity between big patches, and every iteration brings a new, lengthy list of rewards that are (typically) a little harder to score. It’s a good time to avoid old Extreme Trial mount grinds and just earn the respective mount through here. Plus, there’s often an exclusive glam reward, like the Mameshiba Neckerchief or Inferno Jacket.
All of that’s cool and all, but I’m just here for the MGP. “You should wait for the Moogle Treasure Trove event,” remains my guiding principle for Gold Saucer currency grinding. I know I wrote a whole guide on farming MGP without it, and it’s all solid advice, but I typically just wait for The Moogle Treasure Trove’s unlimited MGP Platinum Card rewards. It’s 50,000 MGP per card, and if you’re diligent, one cycle of this event can net millions.
1. The Rising
The Rising is FFXIV’s annual tribute to those lost in the Seventh Umbral Calamity; you know the one. It’s the big cutscene featuring the Battle of Cartenau, where Louisoix Leveilleur and countless others gave their lives to protect Eorzea from Dalamud’s cataclysmic collision with the continent. I’ve teared up every time I’ve watched that scene.
And if there’s one thing to always know about me, it’s that I’m gonna cry. Just like the Starlight Festival and the Final Fantasy XI tribute, The Rising gets me sniffling and snotting. The 2022 and 2023 events, in particular, had me blubbering, as the Warrior of Light welcomed a brand new adventurer to Ul’dah, offering a more meta look at the beginning of someone else’s journey in the MMO. I laughed, I cried, and, more importantly, made that screenshot button work hard.
The Wandering Minstrel in The Rising, 2022
For me, The Rising gets personal as a chance to reflect on some of the special connections and friendships I’ve made thanks to more than a decade in FFXIV. It’s also a moment to think on how much I’ve changed since I started playing, how much my life has changed. The wink-wink nature of the Wandering Minstrel, Yoshida’s in-universe avatar, is often packing a thoughtful and poetic gut punch. As a Bard, he’s always got a new tale to share through song, plus a few words of wisdom for your next adventure.
