Distinguishing between the different types of quest icons is essential to knowing what exactly you’ll achieve by completing it. FFXIV throws a lot of markers and objectives in your direction in a very short time, and many key features are locked behind quests you may initially ignore.
What Are The Different Types Of Quests? (And How To Tell Them Apart)
Main Scenario Quests will be marked with a meteor icon and an exclamation mark. This same icon is used with a “play” symbol in the middle to represent the continuation of an MSQ task. These quests progress the game’s core story, and eventually grant you access to new zones, dungeons, features and expansion content. Side-quest icons look like a speech bubble with an exclamation mark in it. These quests do not lead to any content unlocks, and may simply reward the player with items, gil, or funny stories. Side-quests are basically just for fun – the rewards they offer are rarely that substantial, and it’s often more efficient to pursue other methods for the gil and experience they give. And then we have blue quests. These have the same speech bubble frame as the side-quest icon, but with a distinctive blue background and a plus icon at the bottom. This is the game’s way of telling you to take a closer look. There’s a ton of stuff in XIV you can just miss entirely, things which some would say are essential features by skipping blue quests. That’s not to say you have to do them all. Obviously not everything the game has to offer is worth pursuing right away, and you may not need access to some of the content (like extreme trials and raids) at all, depending on your play style. So basically: Meteor icon progresses the main story. Speech bubble = just for the hell of it. Blue quests = take a closer look!
So Which Blue Quests Are Worth It?
Early on in your adventure, there’s a few “can’t miss” blue quests you should check out. First and foremost you’ll want to speak to Swyrgeim in Vesper Bay, at level 15. She’ll have a couple of things for you to do – “If I Had A Glamour” and “Color Your World”. These short quests involve bringing Swyrgeim a drink on a hot day, and as a reward you’ll unlock the glamour and dye systems. These systems allow you to change your gear appearances and color. By speaking to the Well-Heeled Youth in Ul’dah, you’ll gain access to the Manderville Gold Saucer – a colorful casino full of mini-games and rewards to be earned. Blue quests will also indicate the unlocking of new combat or crafting/gathering jobs. Obviously when it comes to these, you only need to pick up the ones you want to pursue. You’ll be able to distinguish these from other blue quests because the name always starts in the same way. If the quest starts with “So You Want To Be A…” you’ll know it leads onto a job unlock, and you can complete or ignore it at your leisure. The Hildibrand storyline is also unlocked via blue quest. This is a huge, expansion-spanning series of quests which leads to hilarious, over-the-top cutscenes, fun trials, minions, titles, and cosmetic unlocks. If you’re interested in pursuing harder versions of dungeons you’ve already completed, you’ll need to chase down their respective blue quest too. This is very much the same for raids and trials, too. In fact, besides the Crystal Tower series (which became mandatory with the release of Reflections in Crystal) the game doesn’t directly present you with any of this end-game content at any point. In fact, some of XIV’s biggest content is hidden behind these quests. If you want to take on the hardest challenges the game has to offer, you’ll be pursuing blue quests until you’re… well, blue in the face. Having access to things like glamour and dye is also really important if you want to make sure your character looks how you want them – otherwise you’ll be at the mercy of XIV’s often questionable taste.
