Frontline

The Three Grand Companies: The Maelstrom (left), the Twin Adder (center) and the Immortal Flames (right)

Frontline challenges are daily challenges found in the Duty Roulette which pit teams of players fighting under the banner of each Grand Company in training exercises that test the strategic planning and combat prowess of each participant.

The Basics

Frontline is a PvP challenge, first added in patch 2.3, in which players battle for territorial dominance. The teams are randomly assigned to a Grand Company and consist of 24 players in an Alliance, allowing for 72 total combatants on a single map. Players must not only work hard as individuals, but must also work together as a team in order to prevail. Although players participate in the match with a random Grand Company, achievements tracking PvP progress will count towards the Grand Company the player is currently pledged to.

Requirements

Prerequisites

• Players must have completed the Main Scenario Quest Sylph-management, which unlocks the ability to receive Soul Crystals.
• Players are required to have completed the first Level 30 Job Quest for their respective base class, or have already unlocked a Job, in order to obtain a Soul Crystal.
• While not required for Frontline campaigns, it is very strongly recommended for new players to also unlock mounts via the My Little Chocobo questline, as all Frontline maps make heavy use of mounts to traverse the vast terrain.

Unlock

• Frontline campaigns (and the Frontline Daily Challenge) are unlocked via Like Civilized Men and Women from your respective Grand Company. Players must be at least level 30, and a Soul Crystal must be equipped in order to queue for Frontline campaigns.

Zones and campaigns

Only one particular campaign is available on a given day, but the currently active campaign rotates on daily reset according to the order listed below. The naming scheme for Frontline is technically Zone Name (Campaign Name), though with retirement of the (Slaughter) mode on The Borderland Ruins there is functionally no distinction anymore. Zone/Campaign combos are commonly referred to by either separate part by the player base.

The currently active campaign is Seal Rock (Seize)(refresh)

Current zones

• The Borderland Ruins (Secure)
• Seal Rock (Seize)
• The Fields of Glory (Shatter)
• Onsal Hakair (Danshig Naadam)

Inactive/retired zones

• The Borderland Ruins (Slaughter) - A deathmatch version added in patch 2.5 and retired in patch 4.0

Upcoming zones

• Worqor Chirteh

Rules

Each alliance is divided into three full parties of eight players, and each Frontline match lasts for a maximum of 20 minutes.

The primary goal is to occupy territory (Secure), destroy objectives (Shatter), retrieve data (Seize), or claim designated points (Danshig Naadam). A secondary goal is to KO members of opposing teams, as this awards Battle High (explained below). Earning Battle High makes it easier to gain even more, creating a snowball effect and allowing for greater chances at victory. The successful team will coordinate strategy in the pursuit of both goals.

Landing Platform

• The landing platforms are three Grand Company-specific safe zones where jobs may be changed freely, PvP Role Actions may be set, and where players are revived after being KO'ed. These platforms may be revisited at any time by casting   Return.
• At the beginning of the campaign, each Grand Company will be confined to their landing platform and given 45 seconds to prepare.
• Players who leave the landing platform receive a ten-second Invincibility buff that serves to discourage spawn camping by opposing teams.

Communication

• Chat is unrestricted and should be used to coordinate strategy. Enemies cannot see chat. Emotes are unrestricted, but excessively emoting at downed opponents is considered a Prohibited Activity that may result in account sanctions.
• Performance Actions are disabled.

Mounts

• Players may freely ride mounts during Frontline campaigns. However, being attacked in any form will result in being forcibly dismounted and gaining the Hoofing It debuff. This debuff must be waited out, it cannot be cleansed with   Purify (PvP).
• Flying and pillion riding are disabled.

Map

• The current state of all objectives is marked on the standard map.
• In addition to showing the positions of all friendly players, the map also shows all enemy players (indicated by colored triangles) that are within sight range of any friendly players.

KDA

KDA (Knockout, Defeat, Assist) is the scoring system used in Frontline matches. If a player deals the finishing blow, they receive a Knockout, and gain 8 points to their Battle High gauge. If they themselves are defeated, they receive a Defeat, and lose half their Battle High Gauge. If they help knock down an opponent, they receive an Assist, and gain 4 points to their Battle High Gauge.

Players who are knocked out lose points for their team, while points are awarded to the victorious team.

Battle High

Battle High is a status that increases damage dealt and HP restored by healing actions according to a player's knockouts, assists, and (in the case of The Borderland Ruins (Secure)) fulfilling objectives. The healing potency buff also applies to abilities that generate barriers such as   Burst. The maximum rating is 100, and for every increment of 20, the status increases in strength. Being incapacitated will reduce the rating by half. Changing jobs will completely reset the Battle High gauge.

Status	Rating	Effect
Battle High I	20 to 39	Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 10%.
Battle High II	40 to 59	Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 20%.
Battle High III	60 to 79	Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 30%.
Battle High IV	80 to 99	Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 40%.
Battle High V	100	Damage dealt and healing potency increased by 50%.

Each player's Battle High gauge indicates their current rating. A player attaining Battle High V will be announced to the entire match, as well as KOing a player with Battle High V.

A player's Battle High status is indicated with an icon on their nameplate, which changes according to the rank of their Battle High.

Job Modifiers

Damage dealt, damage taken, and Limit Break charge time vary according to current job.

Job	Damage Dealt	Damage Taken	LB Charge Time
Paladin	-10%	-50%	-
Warrior	-10%	-55%	-
Dark Knight	-15%	-40%	+45s
Gunbreaker	-	-55%	+15s
Monk	-	-50%	-
Dragoon	-15%	-50%	+15s
Ninja	-	-45%	+15s
Samurai	-10%	-50%	+15s
Reaper	-	-50%	+15s
Viper	-	-60%	-
Bard	-	-30%	-15s
Machinist	-	-30%	-
Dancer	-	-35%	+15s
Black Mage	-5%	-30%	-
Summoner	-10%	-30%	+15s
Red Mage	-	-38%	-
Pictomancer	-10%	-30%	-
White Mage	-10%	-25%	+15s
Scholar	-10%	-30%	-
Astrologian	-15%	-25%	+15s
Sage	-	-35%	-

Limit Break charge times

To encourage more balanced matches, Limit Break charge times vary according to current Grand Company ranking. They are modified as follows:

• First place: 25% slower Limit Break charge time
• Second place: Normal (no penalty or bonus)
• Third place: 25% faster Limit Break charge time

Rewards

See also: Series Malmstones

When a Frontline match has ended, players will receive the following rewards:

	Reward	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	Condition
	PvP EXP	1000	750	500
	Series EXP	1500	1250	1000
	Wolf Marks	1000	750	500
	PvE EXP	12% of a level	11% of a level	10% of a level	Below the level-cap
	Allagan Tomestones of Poetics	50	50	50	Above level 50
	Allagan Tomestones of Heliometry	50	50	50	Level-capped
	Allagan Tomestones of Mathematics	20	20	20	Level-capped

• Allagan tomestones will only be rewarded to players who are level 50 or higher.

• In the event that your affiliated team previously ranked third, PvP EXP, Series EXP, and Wolf Marks earned will be increased by 10% for each subsequent third-place ranking, up to a maximum of 50%. This bonus will carry over to the next match upon ranking second, and be reset entirely upon ranking first.

Achievements

Main article: Frontline Achievements.

Frontline is associated with several achievements.