The Occult Crescent: South Horn
The Occult Crescent: South Horn
- Level
- 100 (Sync: 100)
- Item Level
- 690 (Sync: 700)
- Know. Level
- 1
- Difficulty
- Normal
- Party size
- Flexible
1-72 man • 1-72
- Unsyncing
- Not Allowed
- Time limit
- 180 minutes
- Phoenix Down
- Available
- Req. quest
Unfamiliar Territory- Entrance
- Phantom Village (X:4.5, Y:6.6)
- Location
- South Horn
- Patch
- 7.25
The Occult Crescent: South Horn is a level 100 field operation introduced in patch 7.25 with Dawntrail.
It is the first of two field zones in the 
Occult Crescent series. The 48-player high-difficulty raid The Forked Tower: Blood is located within the zone.
Requirements
- Level Requirement: Disciple of War or Magic level 100
- Item Level Sync: 700
- Party Size: One to eight players
- While up to 72 players can simultaneously be in the instance, only party sizes of up to eight players are allowed. Players can freely join or leave parties inside the instance, but Party Finder is disabled.
- Role Restrictions: None
- Time Limit: 180 minutes
- The instance timer is specific to each player and commences upon entering the duty.
- Unrestricted Parties not allowed
- Limited Jobs not allowed
A preformed alliance of at least 24 players who enters the South Horn will be guaranteed an exclusive instance to them that is closed for public entry until either of the following conditions have been met:
- Ten minutes pass
- The alliance enters The Forked Tower: Blood
Unlock
- Quest: Unfamiliar Territory
- Level: Disciple of War or Magic level 100
- Starting NPC: Archive
- Starting NPC Location: Phantom Village (X:6.1 Y:6.4)
- Prerequisite: The Phantom Village
Locations
Unlike Eureka and Bozja, all aetherytes are immediately available for attunement with no Knowledge Level prerequisite, provided that players can navigate around high-level enemies.
Like other field operations zones, players may use mounts, but cannot fly in this zone. It is highly recommended to purchase a 
South Horn Riding Map for 
3,000 from the Expedition Antiquarian at the base camp as soon as possible.
The action 
Occult Return automatically replaces 
Return and can be used on demand to return to the base camp.
| Area | Points of Interest |
|---|---|
| Southdown Heath | |
| Heathcliff | |
| Vanishing Slope | |
| The Wanderer's Haven | |
| Crystallized Caverns | |
| Abandoned Ascent | |
| Stonemarsh | |
| Eldergrowth | |
| Shadowed City | |
| Lost Citadel |
Quests
Shops & Services
| Merchant Name | Merchant Location |
|---|---|
 |
(X:38.1, Y:7) |
|
(X:37.6, Y:7.1) |
|
(X:37.9, Y:8) |
|
(X:37.9, Y:6.9) |
Enemies
Regular
The following enemies reside in certain areas of the map and are eligible for EXP chains provided that the player's or party's synced knowledge level is within a certain range of the enemy's level. These are the only sources of 
Enlightenment Gold Pieces. None of these enemies provide unique drops, although weather-restricted enemies drop more gold. Defeating a variable number of certain enemies is a prerequisite for spawning certain Critical Encounters.
| Name | Knowledge Level | Coordinates | Spawn Condition | Aggro Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animated Doll | 5 | (X:36, Y:21) | ||
| Arcapetrified Netzach | 26 | (X:7, Y:29) | ||
| Crescent Aetherscab | 12 | (X:13, Y:22) | ||
| Crescent Apa | 23 | (X:5, Y:8) | ||
| Crescent Armor | 1-15 | (X:36, Y:7) |  Night
|
|
| Crescent Bachelor | 17 | (X:34, Y:34) | ||
| Crescent Bandersnatch | 1 | (X:36, Y:7) | Sight | |
| Crescent Blackguard | 16 | (X:32, Y:32) | ||
| Crescent Blood Demon | 15 | (X:28, Y:35) | ||
| Crescent Bomb | 5-28 | (X:30.8, Y:6.7) |  Clear Skies
|
|
| Crescent Brachiosaur | 10 | (X:15, Y:27) | ||
| Crescent Byblos | 13 | (X:7, Y:25) | ||
| Crescent Caoineag | 6-22 | (X:19, Y:10) | Night
|
Sight |
| Crescent Catoblepas | 9 | (X:23, Y:20) | ||
| Crescent Cetus | 7 | (X:22, Y:7) | ||
| Crescent Chaochu | 2 | (X:32, Y:12) | Sight | |
| Crescent Chimera | 26 | (X:11, Y:34) | Sight | |
| Crescent Claw | 19 | (X:13, Y:31) | ||
| Crescent Collagen | 19 | (X:8, Y:28) | ||
| Crescent Demon Pawn | 17 | (X:30, Y:36) | ||
| Crescent Dhruva | 5-28 | (X:38.6, Y:12.6) |  Clouds
|
Magic |
| Crescent Diplocaulus | 18 | (X:18, Y:34) | ||
| Crescent Dirty Eye | 21 | (X:32, Y:26) | ||
| Crescent Dullahan | 26-28 | (X:12, Y:35) | Night
|
Sound, Blood |
| Crescent Echos | 14 | (X:22, Y:33) | Sight | |
| Crescent Fan | 5 | (X:36, Y:20) | ||
| Crescent Flame | 22 | (X:8, Y:9) | Spell | |
| Crescent Flying Lizard | 1 | (X:37, Y:10) | Sight | |
| Crescent Foobar | 25 | (X:7, Y:17) | Sight | |
| Crescent Fool | 20-28 |  Illusory Disturbances
|
Proximity | |
| Crescent Foper | 11 | (X:16, Y:28.5) | ||
| Crescent Gaelicat | 2 | (X:37, Y:12) | Sight | |
| Crescent Garula | 1 | (X:33, Y:7) | Sight | |
| Crescent Geshunpest | 12 | (X:13, Y:21) | Night
|
|
| Crescent Ghost | 4-20 | (X:30, Y:24) | Night
|
Proximity |
| Crescent Golem | 8 | (X:12, Y:8) | ||
| Crescent Goobbue | 6 | (X:20, Y:10) | ||
| Crescent Gourmand | 18-20 | (X:17, Y:33) | Night
|
|
| Crescent Haagenti | 24 | (X:4, Y:19) | Sound | |
| Crescent Harpuia | 11 | (X:11, Y:17) | ||
| Crescent Headstone | 16 | (X:31, Y:30) | ||
| Crescent Inkstain | 20 | (X:13, Y:35) | Sight | |
| Crescent Karlabos | 6 | (X:23, Y:10) | ||
| Crescent Leshy | 3 | (X:28, Y:12) | ||
| Crescent Lion Statant | 20 | (X:37, Y:23) | Sight | |
| Crescent Marolith | 4 | (X:32, Y:18) | ||
| Crescent Meraevis | 9 | (X:25, Y:22) | ||
| Crescent Mimic | 5-28 | (X:27.6, Y:12) |  Atmospheric Phantasms
|
Proximity |
| Crescent Monk | 15 | (X:27, Y:34) | ||
| Crescent Mousse | 5-28 | (X:33.4, Y:12.5) |  Rain
|
Sight |
| Crescent Panther | 14 | (X:29, Y:29) | ||
| Crescent Petalodite | 7 | (X:17, Y:9) | ||
| Crescent Rosebear | 11 | (X:16, Y:19) | ||
| Crescent Satana | 27 | (X:11, Y:36) | Sight | |
| Crescent Snapweed | 3 | (X:32, Y:15) | ||
| Crescent Taurus | 12 | (X:13, Y:24) | ||
| Crescent Tormentor | 4 | (X:37, Y:16) | ||
| Crescent Triceratops | 10 | (X:27, Y:26) | ||
| Crescent Troubadour | 17 | (X:30, Y:30) | Night
|
Sound |
| Crescent Uragnite | 8 | (X:15, Y:10) | ||
| Crescent Void Viper | 18 | (X:14, Y:33) | ||
| Crescent Zaghnal | 22 | (X:8, Y:9) | ||
| Crescent Zangbeto | 25 | (X:6, Y:16) | Sight | |
| Crescent Zaratan | 23 | (X:7, Y:11) | Sound | |
| Crescent Zirnitra | 28 | (X:9, Y:37) | Sight | |
| Lesser Cry of Havoc | 24 | (X:7, Y:21) | Sight | |
| Menacing Dahak | 13 | (X:10, Y:23) | ||
| Occult Golem | 27 | (X:11, Y:36) | ||
| Occult Isleblazer | 28 | (X:9, Y:35) | Spell | |
| Occult Sculpture | 21 | (X:36, Y:25) |
Note: "Night" has a more restricted time window (10:30PM to 3:59AM Eorzean Time) in Occult Crescent compared to the normal 6PM to 5:59AM window in other zones.
Special
The Sanguine Recluse is a special enemy that spawns in certain areas of the map while The Forked Tower: Blood raid is occurring in the instance and if players inside solve the lockward puzzle near the end of the raid. Its location is marked on a ground render of the South Horn map in a room within the tower, and the coordinates can be communicated to outside players via /shout chat. Defeating this enemy will reward 2 
Sanguinite, making it the only source of this item outside of the tower. In addition, its defeat will cause a bonus treasure coffer to appear at the end of the raid that rewards an extra 5 Sanguinite.
FATEs
FATEs are short open battles either against either a single boss (purple symbols) or multiple waves of enemies (blue symbols), the latter of which are tied to the Persistent Pot minigame. Up to one boss FATE may spawn at a time per instance. The pot FATEs spawn on a 30 minute timer and alternate between the two possible FATEs.
All FATE spawns are automatic with no prerequisite mobs.
Critical Encounters
Being hit with any avoidable AoEs will inflict a stack of 
Vulnerability Up that lasts indefinitely for the rest of the encounter or until the player dies. Unlike with Bozja, there appears to be no tangible reward for completing Critical Encounters with no vulnerability stacks.
Upon completing a Critical Encounter, players have a random chance of receiving the 
Battle High status for 15 minutes, increasing their Critical Hit and Direct Hit Rate and providing healing-over-time.
Treasure Coffers
Personal treasure coffers will spawn in this zone, which can be claimed individually without needing to dismount. For possible spawn locations and drop tables, please see the above link.
Bronze coffers may rarely drop a 
Fortune Carrot, which can be used on chewed carrots randomly found on the ground in certain locations to spawn a Happy Bunny, which will offer a golden treasure coffers with a different reward pool.
Persistent Pots
Rescue Persistent Pots by completing the 
Persistent Pots or Pleading Pots FATEs to start a minigame that will lead the player to a hidden treasure coffer in certain locations.
The Forked Tower: Blood
The Forked Tower: Blood is an optional high-end raid within the South Horn instance that serves as a capstone for Occult Crescent. There is no story progression associated with this duty. However, players may earn exclusive rewards such as entries 26-30 in the Occult Record, Sanguinite that is used to upgrade Arcanaut's Armor +1 to +2 and purchase other rewards, the 
Magitaur Card, 
Demon Haul mount, achievements, and titles. It is much more comparable to 
The Baldesion Arsenal than normal-difficulty content such as 
The Battle of Castrum Lacus Litore. Thus, in North American and European data centers, the most popular way of completing this content is through premade groups organized through various Discord servers.
To enter, players must purchase 
Sanguine Ciphers from the Expedition Antiquarian (X:38.1, Y:7.0) for 600 or 960. When at least 24 different players use the ciphers at a cipher reliquary (X:22.5, Y:21.4) by the Solitary Pavilion landmark during 
Auroral Mirages weather, an aetherial node will activate, teleporting players on the glowing platform to within the tower after a brief period.
All players must contribute at least one cipher to be eligible to enter the duty. Players must have also have a Knowledge Level of 20 to enter.
Spawn conditions for the auroral mirages weather are as follows:
- There are at least 24 players in the South Horn instance with knowledge level 20 and have unlocked the tower by making sufficient progress in Past and Crescent.
- In a newly spawned (fresh) instance, the weather will appear after 5 minutes if the above condition is met.
- The timer can be reduced as explained below.
- Afterwards, the weather will respawn on a hidden 60 minute timer.
- The timer starts when there is no Forked Tower in the instance currently ongoing (indicated by the lack of the
tower icon in the minimap). - The timer is reduced by 5 minutes for each successful completion of a Critical Encounter.
- The timer is reduced by 1 minute for each successful completion of a FATE.
- The timer starts when there is no Forked Tower in the instance currently ongoing (indicated by the lack of the
When both the player count/progression requirement is met, the timer expires, and any ongoing Critical Encounters conclude, the auroral mirages weather will appear.
The weather will last for approximately 5 minutes.
Up to 48 players may join the instance. If there are more than 48 players standing in the aetherial node, players will be randomly selected for teleportation, which will be indicated by the 
Right of Entry: The Forked Tower status. Players who used more ciphers will have a higher chance of being selected.
- Note: This "overbooking" is generally not an issue because nearly all runs of this raid are from pre-made alliances, who have exclusive access to the South Horn instance until the tower activates.
If the player is not selected to enter or if the tower does not activate because fewer than 24 players used ciphers, all players will be refunded their cipher(s).
Achievements
This duty is associated with the following achievements:
| Name | Points | Task | Reward | Patch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Highly Crescentialed
|
10 | Complete the quest “Mysteries Abide.” | - | 7.25 |
 Mapping the Realm: The Occult Crescent: South Horn
|
10 | Discover every location on the Occult Crescent: South Horn. | - | 7.25 |
 Observing the Occult
|
10 | Unlock all entries in the Occult Record pertaining to the South Horn. | - | 7.25 |
 Critical Thinking I
|
10 | Complete 10 critical encounters on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Critical Thinking II
|
10 | Complete 50 critical encounters on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Critical Thinking III
|
10 | Complete 100 critical encounters on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Critical Thinking IV
|
20 | Complete 500 critical encounters on the Occult Crescent. |  Random Encounter
|
7.25 |
 Horns of Plenty I
|
5 | Open 10 treasure coffers found during your excursions on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Horns of Plenty II
|
5 | Open 100 treasure coffers found during your excursions on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Horns of Plenty III
|
5 | Open 1,000 treasure coffers found during your excursions on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Horns of Plenty IV
|
5 | Open 5,000 treasure coffers found during your excursions on the Occult Crescent. | King Among Castaways (Male) / Queen Among Castaways (Female)
|
7.25 |
 In Pot Pursuit I
|
5 | Open 10 treasure coffers revealed to you by persistent pots on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 In Pot Pursuit II
|
5 | Open 50 treasure coffers revealed to you by persistent pots on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 In Pot Pursuit III
|
5 | Open 200 treasure coffers revealed to you by persistent pots on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 In Pot Pursuit IV
|
5 | Open 1,000 treasure coffers revealed to you by persistent pots on the Occult Crescent. | Persistent Pal
|
7.25 |
 Magic Is the Best Medicine I
|
5 | Resurrect another player on the Occult Crescent 10 times. | - | 7.25 |
 Magic Is the Best Medicine II
|
5 | Resurrect another player on the Occult Crescent 100 times. | - | 7.25 |
 Magic Is the Best Medicine III
|
10 | Resurrect another player on the Occult Crescent 500 times. | Dead Man's Tale
|
7.25 |
 Occult Erudition I
|
5 | Complete 10 FATEs on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Occult Erudition II
|
5 | Complete 50 FATEs on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Occult Erudition III
|
5 | Complete 100 FATEs on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Occult Erudition IV
|
10 | Complete 500 FATEs on the Occult Crescent. | Knower of Fates
|
7.25 |
 Phantomastery I
|
5 | Master a phantom job. | - | 7.25 |
 Phantomastery II
|
5 | Master 5 phantom jobs. | - | 7.25 |
 Phantomastery III
|
5 | Master 10 phantom jobs. | Overemployed
|
7.25 |
 Where Rabbits Roam I
|
5 | Open 10 treasure coffers revealed to you by happy bunnies on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Where Rabbits Roam II
|
5 | Open 50 treasure coffers revealed to you by happy bunnies on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Where Rabbits Roam III
|
5 | Open 200 treasure coffers revealed to you by happy bunnies on the Occult Crescent. | - | 7.25 |
 Where Rabbits Roam IV
|
5 | Open 1,000 treasure coffers revealed to you by happy bunnies on the Occult Crescent. | Bunny-blessed
|
7.25 |
Music
| Section | Theme |
|---|---|
| Main |  Garden Relics
|
| The Wanderer's Haven |  A Tonberry's Tears (non-looping excerpt)
|
| Crystallized Caverns |  Far From Home (non-looping excerpt)
|
| Shadowed City |  Shadow of the Body (non-looping excerpt)
|
| Lost Citadel |  Aftermath (non-looping excerpt)
|
| Battle |  Garden Ruins
|
| FATEs |  FINAL FANTASY V: Battle 1 (Dawntrail)
|
| Critical Encounters |  A New World (Dawntrail)
|
| Persistent Pot minigame |  By Design
|
Images
Maps
-
Enemy Level Zones -
Normal Enemy Locations -
Weather-restricted Enemy Locations. Green denotes Crescent Fool patrols. -
Survey Points -
Random Overworld Treasure Coffer Locations -
Persistent Pot Coffer Locations -
Chewed Carrot Locations -
Annotated Map -
Demiatma Locations for Arcane Artistry
Screenshots
History
Patch 7.3 (2025-08-05):
- When entering with an alliance of 24 members or more, you will always enter a new instance.
- This newly created instance will be considered "occupied," preventing entry by players that are not part of the alliance.
- If an alliance meets the entry requirements for the Forked Tower, the Auroral Mirage weather effect will begin five minutes after entering the Occult Crescent. Once the alliance completes entry into the tower, or ten minutes have passed, the weather will clear and the instance will no longer be considered occupied.
- If an alliance fails to meet the entry requirements for the Forked Tower, the instance will no longer be considered occupied five minutes after entering the Occult Crescent.
- The minimum number of players that must offer Sanguine Ciphers to enter the Forked Tower: Blood has been increased from 16 to 24 players.
- The window displayed when using Sanguine Ciphers has been updated to show detailed information on the number of players who have secured entry and those yet seeking entry.
- Only players who have used a Sanguine Cipher will now be eligible for selection to enter the Forked Tower: Blood.
- While a critical encounter is in progress, the appearance of the Auroral Mirage weather effect will be put on hold.
- If its occurrence has been deferred, it will begin immediately after the encounter has ended.
- During the critical encounter Calamity Bound, the Seal Asunder mechanic will function differently with a lower number of participants.
- The items obtained from treasure coffers revealed by persistent pots and happy bunnies have been changed.
- When entering with an alliance of 24 members or more, you will always enter a new instance.
- Hotfix (2025-07-03):
- The “Alliance” tab in the Party Finder screen now includes “The Occult Crescent: South Horn.” Using this feature, players can form alliances of up to 48 players and enter “The Occult Crescent: South Horn.”
- In “The Occult Crescent: South Horn,” the time until “Weather: Mirage” occurs when a new instance is generated has been shortened.
- Patch 7.25 (2025-05-27): Added.
Trivia
- Upon entering certain regions, the background music will change to reflect the theme of the respective Fifth Astral Era civilization featured in previous dungeons or raids:
- The Wanderer's Haven (Nym): The Wanderer's Palace
- Crystallized Caverns (Skalla): The Drowned City of Skalla
- Shadowed City (Mhach): Dun Scaith
- Lost Citadel (Amdapor): Amdapor Keep
External Links
| Locations | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activities | |||||||||||
| Phantom Jobs | |||||||||||
| Items |
| ||||||||||
| Currencies | |||||||||||
| Stormblood: The Forbidden Land, Eureka (Lv. 70) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadowbringers: Save the Queen (Lv. 71-80) | |||||
| Dawntrail: Occult Crescent (Lv. 100) | |||||
