Alisaie’s absence is explained. She’s still present in the game’s story, but behind the Binding Coil of Bahamut storyline, which is completely optional. As a result, it does seem like Alisaie disappears if you’re just flying through the Main Scenario Quests (which is understandable, there are a lot of them). Alisaie is basically the main character of the Bahamut raid series. She’s the big driving force behind that storyline, but most of XIV’s raid encounters are purely optional. Unlike other games where you just naturally unlock more content as you level, you have to go out of your way in XIV. Raids will have story quests leading up to them, slowly building up the lore, and the reason why eight players need to break in somewhere and kick ass. We will usually get to know some NPCs very well throughout these quests – just take a look at how important a certain cat from the Crystal Tower series turned out to be. Alisaie does appear from time to time before level 50, sure. And she has a few fleeting moments with the Warrior of Light. But she doesn’t take center stage in the Main Scenario alongside her allies until much later on. Obviously the main story can’t allude to The Binding Coil too heavily (as it’s optional) so this can seem a bit odd to new players.
Why Is ‘The Binding Coil Of Bahamut’ Optional If It Explains Where Alisaie Is?
Typically, this is because a significant chunk of the playerbase aren’t ever going to play through a raid. Making 8-player multi-instance content that requires elevated tactics & levels of gear mandatory to story progression would throw up all kinds of obstacles for the casual player. For what it’s worth though, Coil isn’t going to be anything too challenging these days – even if you want to complete it with your level synced. If you go in with 2-3 players at level 70-80, you will absolutely flatten most of the bosses you run into. So you can experience Alisaie’s story (and a satisfying conclusion to one of the game’s bigger loose ends) without too much stress. Or just watch it on YouTube. That’s an option too. But roaming around old raids with tremendously overpowered characters is a different kind of fun to be had! Put plainly, it’s easier just to have Alisaie’s absence hand-waved away than it is to force a big chunk of XIV’s players to tackle content they don’t want to. The one exception to this is the aforementioned Crystal Tower, an Alliance Raid that requires twenty four players to complete. It was previously optional too, but the storyline was deemed so important to the Shadowbringers expansion that it was made mandatory late last year.
Where Is Alisaie Now?
To answer this question we’d run into some pretty significant spoilers for Shadowbringers/Endwalker. Suffice to say though, she’s gone through some typically great character development, and has significantly evolved as an ally. I’ve always found her company in the game preferable to Alphinaud (although he’s come a long way, too). She is determined, strong-willed, and an extremely distinct counterpart to her brother.
Where Do I Unlock The Binding Coil Of Bahamut?
The Binding Coil of Bahamut is actually the first section of a larger raid, referred to as The Coils of Bahamut. To get underway you’ll have to be level 50, and have completed Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan on Hard difficulty. This will more or less naturally happen as you progress through the main story. Once you’ve hit those criteria, pray, return to the Waking Sands (sorry!) and speak to Urianger to get underway with a quest titled “Primal Awakening”. This will allow you to see what Alisaie was up to in her absence. It is possible to queue for it in the Duty Finder, but it doesn’t come up in any of the roulettes, and you could be waiting actual days for a party. If you want to witness the story at an appropriate level, you may want to find a couple other high-level players to carry you through it. Otherwise it may be hard to get a legit run going. Good luck!
