This year’s Halloween event for Final Fantasy XIV is an amazing addition to the many holiday events that come each year. This year, instead of our normal FATE events and mini-games through Old Gridania, adventurers will get to roam the inside of a haunted house – The Haunted Manor (Haukke Manor).
You have to challenge The Haunted Manor with a party of four adventurers (if you are solo, or have up to three people, you will be matched with duty finder). The only requirements to start the quest “In a Manor of Spooking” are that you have to be at least level 15 and have completed the quest “It’s Probably Pirates”.
There are a total of seven possible mini-games that can show up while playing through The Haunted Manor: Pumpkin Hunt (find pumpkins throughout the house), Coffercracker (locate notes that contain digits to unlock a coffer), Arcane Circles (players must all stand in hidden light circles), Light the Lanterns (find embers and light scattered lanterns), Cookie Hunt (find cookies scattered through the house), Jack-in-the-Box (use hidden hints to find the untrapped pumpkin chest), and Skinchanger (find a hidden imp in one of many pumpkins). If you want a brief description of a game, you can speak with either instance entrance NPCs and ask about the Haunted Manor for detailed descriptions of everything.
There are two of these NPCs (possibly to help with overcrowding) named Harlequin Guide — one in New Gridania (X:9, Y:12) and one in Old Gridania (X:10, Y:9). They will initially provide a lore-based explanation, but if you have a hard time following there is a technical explanation given to players after the NPC is done speaking. If you’re into the lore behind the Continental Circus, listen! There’s always lots of humor mixed in to these events, but if you just want to get the bare bones, click through the regular dialogue boxes until you reach the black shaded ones.
Adventurers must complete three events chosen at random without being seen too often by the patrolling Ahrimans and Wisps. The Wisps will detect adventurers through sound as they have limited sight detection, but the Ahrimans make up for that in their superior sight detection.
A good strategy is to hug the walls and not to turn corners too sharply, as there are many patrols (usually in pairs of two). Adventurers can walk and get pretty close to the Wisps, but if you are in the line of sight for the Ahrimans you’ll likely get turned into a pumpkin. Once turned into a pumpkin you’ll be immobile for a few seconds, and upon regaining mobility, you’ll be given three seconds of invisibility to find a good hiding spot. There are obfuscation charms scattered through the three floors of the manor which allow adventurers ten seconds of invisibility to both monsters, so use the time wisely.
With each blunder (whether it be guessing the wrong combination to a coffer, getting seen by the monsters or opening the Jack-in-the-Box) adventurers will suffer a blow to their sanity. There is a total of one hundred sanity points (along with a 30 minute time limit), and being seen costs three points on that bar. Some penalties that have to do with the mini-game are much higher, though. For example, in the Jack-in-the-Box mini-game, if an adventurer opens the wrong box the penalty is ten sanity. If the adventurers run out of sanity or time, they will be ejected from the instance.
Communication is by far the most important tool to use here since everyone is capped at level one and there are no distinct advantages for one class over another. This is a great experience for new players who want to make friends in a low-stress environment, or for groups of friends to tackle a challenge (try to make it through with zero sanity loss!).
Successful parties will be rewarded with four Pumpkin Cookies. They may be exchanged to the Alluring Peddler in Old Gridania (X: 10, Y: 9). The Continental Eye minion requires at least two successful runs for purchase (as it costs six cookies). Everything else (Pumpkin Stew, All Saint’s Wake Orchestration Roll, Up at Dawn Orchestration Roll, Magicked Prism (Pumpkin)) costs one to three cookies. The Vampire’s Vest is rewarded after adventurers turn in their quest to the Adventurers’ Guild Investigator. As stated at this year’s FanFest, it is a standalone piece and players are encouraged to mix and match clothing to their style.
Outside of the event, all three major cities have been decorated for the event. It’s definitely worth it to have a stroll through Ul’dah, Gridania and Limsa Lominsa to admire the decorations! Items from last year’s event have been added to the Mog Station as well so that adventurers can dress up and get in the mood for a fun fall event!
So hurry up and get spooped! All Saint’s Wake is running from October 19th, 2016 (1:00 am PDT) to November 1st, 2016 (7:59 am PDT)
