Cosmic Exploration: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:08, 6 May 2025

Cosmic Exploration is a "lifestyle content" released in patch 7.21 during the Dawntrail expansion. Unlike Island Sanctuary, there is a greater emphasis on multiplayer activities in a similar vein as Ishgardian Restoration.

Players can able to explore and develop different planets by working with the Loporrits. New planets will be implemented with later patches. The first planet is the surface of the moon, where the goal is to build a spaceship and an associated launch station to explore other planets.

The content is designed for crafters and gatherers. The level 100 series of Relic Tools: Cosmic Tools, is tied to Cosmic Exploration.

Unlock

Quest: A Cosmic Homecoming
Class / Level: Disciple of the Hand or Land level 10+
Location: Old Sharlayan (X:12.6, Y:13.6)
Quest-starter: Namingway
Prerequisite: Players must first complete the main scenario quest Endwalker.

Quests

Quest	Level	Quest Giver	Unlocks	Rewards
A Cosmic Homecoming	10	Namingway (NPC)	Cosmic Exploration Sinus Ardorum	1 Cosmic Prototype Coffer
Passion, Thy Name Is Ardorum	10	Searchingway
A Manager's Patience	10	Mumukko
A Manager's Persistence	10	Mumukko

Zones

Sinus Ardorum
??? (patch 7.3x)
??? (patch 7.4x)
??? (patch 7.5x)

Zones consist of a base camp and an exterior area for missions. Players may only enter Cosmic Exploration zones in their home world, and development of each planet is world-specific. Depending on world population, zones may be split into multiple instances, but there is no duty time limit.

Once unlocked, players can travel to Sinus Ardorum at any time by speaking with Drivingway in Mare Lamentorum (X:21.9 Y:13.2). Players may change their instance or return to Mare Lamentorum by speaking with Drivingway again in Sinus Ardorum (X:20.3 Y:20.0).

Travel

The Cosmoliner in Sinus Ardorum. Step in the glowing portal with green arrows to quickly move to the next station.

While mounts are disabled within Cosmic Exploration zones, players have other means of quickly moving around the area.

Upon reaching stage 3 with server-wide zone development, a "cosmoliner" fast travel system with stations at various locations will be added. As of April 22, 2025, all servers have this system active.
Additional cosmoliner stations will be implemented as zone development progresses.
Using the duty action Stellar Return will teleport the player to the rainbow crystal in the middle of the base camp (X:21.4, Y:21.4).
While as a crafter or gatherer class, the action Stellar Sprint will replace Sprint on the hotbar. Using this action will toggle a 50% movement speed increase with no cooldown.
When a mech ops mission is active, players wishing to participate as ground support can talk to Alerot to instantly move to the mission area.

Interface

Exotablet

The exotablet interface provides a list of options and tracks how much Cosmic Exploration currency the player has in the lower section. This is similar to the Islekeep's Index in Island Sanctuary.

Option	Description
Stellar Missions	View and select stellar missions, which are the primary form of content within Cosmic Exploration. These are similar to levequests.
Mech Ops	When a mech ops mission is active, allows the player to apply to become a mech pilot by spending one pilot application purchasable with 1,000.
Stellar Successes	View available and completed Stellar Successes, which are Challenge Log-like objectives for Cosmic Exploration.
Infrastructure Index	View the current status of zone development for the server. Also allows players to view cutscenes of previous development milestones (Video Log).
Cosmic Research	View current Cosmic Tool upgrade progress and the research bonus after completing at least one tool.
Cosmic Class Tracker	View the accumulated cosmic class score for each crafter and gatherer class.
Exploration Guide	View tutorials for various Cosmic Exploration functions.

Infrastructure Index

Shows the current status of zone development in the player's current zone. Development of each zone is world-specific, and progress for all worlds can be tracked in the official Cosmic Exploration Report site.

By completing stellar missions, progress will increase. Once the progress gauge has been filled and the respective project completed, zone development will proceed to the next stage.

As zone development proceeds, new types of stellar missions will be added alongside different facilities, such as the Cosmoliner, a means of speedy transportation. At certain stages of development, new areas of the map will also be made available.

Missions

For a list of missions, please see the individual Cosmic Exploration zone pages.

Stellar Missions

Stellar missions are requests issued to procure necessary materials for cosmic exploration and are the primary form of content.

Players may accept stellar missions via the exotablet. Completion of stellar missions increases overall progress and unlocks more advanced stellar missions. Missions are scored by three ranks: gold, silver, and bronze. Obtaining a higher score will result in greater returns, with silver yielding 4 times the base rewards and gold yielding 5 times the base rewards..

Furthermore, stellar missions are quest synced, ensuring that rewards and difficulty level are distributed appropriately given a player's current level.

Quest syncing allows stellar missions to be a viable source of leveling from 10 to 100.
Upon reaching certain level thresholds, the item level recommendation for the quests will increase, and players may need to obtain stronger gear to compensate. The NPC Godgyth sells normal quality gear suitable for leveling.
Missions available at level 100 (rank A missions) are substantially more difficult than lower ranked missions and are intended as endgame content. To obtain maximal rewards, players will need to equip the latest  endgame gear melded with materia. Some A-rank crafting-related missions require Expert Crafting.

After initiating a stellar mission, the following features can be accessed from the Mission in Progress widget:

Cosmopouch: The cosmopouch is an exclusive inventory reserved for supplies, crafted items, and gathered materials used in cosmic exploration. These items are mission-specific and are lost upon the end of the mission. They also do not have flavor text.
Cosmic Crafting Log: The cosmic crafting log enables Disciples of the Hand to craft items for stellar missions. Only recipe(s) relevant to the current mission are viewable.
Stellar Reduction: Stellar Reduction enables Disciples of the Land to aetherially reduce items for stellar missions.

Alongside basic missions exist provisional missions and critical missions. Completing the latter two will yield greater rewards than basic missions.

Provisional Missions

Provisional Missions have restrictions on their availability compared to basic missions.

Sequential Missions: These missions will become available for five minutes after completing certain stellar missions with a gold star rank. Sequential missions are created from a variety of missions, and completing them with the highest score possible will cause more to appear.
Weather-restricted Missions/Time-restricted Missions: These missions are available during certain times or weather conditions. Time and weather are shared between all servers (excluding special weathers in Red Alert windows; see next section).

Critical Missions

Red Alert UI

Critical missions become available during red alerts, which are indicated by special weather conditions. These 20-minute weather windows are not part of the normal weather, cannot easily be predicted, and are specific per world.

When a red alert is issued, two gauges will appear at the top of the screen to symbolize progress made for the classes in current demand. Two regions will be marked on the map, each of which contain mission locations for separate classes.

Players may complete critical missions for the designated classes as many times as they choose, earning greater rewards than normal. Each time a critical mission is completed, the respective alert gauge will increase. By cooperating with other players, both gauges may be filled within the time limit, resolving the red alert and granting bonus rewards for all who contributed.

If both gauges are not filled within the allotted time, fewer bonus rewards will be distributed to contributors.

Mech Ops

Mech Ops are FATE-like, large-scale directives issued in Cosmic Exploration zones that make use of special mechs to complete objectives at designated intervals. A mech op will spawn every 20 real-life minutes, and the available mech op in a zone will alternate. If a Red Alert spawns during the cooldown period, the mech op spawn schedule will be put on hold until the Red Alert concludes.

Players may participate as either pilots or ground support. These FATE-like events do not involve crafting, gathering, or combat. Rather, players are tasked to destroy various objects using special actions that are made available for each mech op. Each mech op has a 5 minute time limit.

Piloting a mech

When a mech op directive is issued, players may use their exotablets to submit a pilot application, which must first be purchased with 1,000 lunar credits from Alerot. Once the entry period has expired, five players will be selected at random from the applicants and assigned to a mech. Players who are not chosen will regain their pilot application. Furthermore, each time a player is not chosen, their chances of being chosen next time will improve.^[1]

Note that players who are selected as pilots but withdraw from the mission or fail to board the mech in time will lose their pilot application.

As of the two available mech ops in patch 7.21, ground support players are tasked with destroying various large objects within the mech op location using mech AoE actions specific for each operation. Each destroyed object raises the player's contribution score by 50. Unlike with ground support, pilots have an unlimited cap for the resources they collect and thus do not need to turn in their items at a field scanner.

The large objects on the map are shared for all players, so mech ops pilots will need to compete for them. However, there is an ample supply of objects to achieve maximum rank for the operation.

Ground Support

By traveling to the directive's location and selecting "Join Event" from the duty list, players may participate in a mech op as ground support, assisting the pilots. Ground support players can quickly travel to the mech op location by talking to Alerot, so they do not need to walk over.

As of the two available mech ops in patch 7.21, ground support players are tasked with destroying various small objects within the mech op location using AoE actions specific for each operation. Destroying an object will return a resource item whose quantity can be tracked in the duty HUD. Each destroyed object raises the player's contribution score by 5-10, depending on the mech op. Players can load their collected resources into a field scanner (by walking over a glowing green circle on the map) to empty their stock and increase their contribution by another 5-10 points per item submitted. Depositing items into a field scanner will charge it; when it becomes fully charged, it will spawn new targets for the mech pilots.

The small objects on the map are specific per player, so it is not possible to compete for the same objects.

Mech Ops Rewards

By completing mech ops, players will obtain contribution points (during a ranking period), cosmic exploration-specific currency and experience points. Ground support players will typically obtain 300-400 contribution, although this may be higher depending on how fast the mech op is completed and their ability to destroy multiple objects at once. Pilots receive substantially higher contribution, around 5000 points.^[2]

Ground supporters, but not pilots, will receive a bonus effect that increases all credits earned by a flat +10 for the next 20 stellar missions. This is viewable when accepting a mission in the exotablet interface.

Pilots will instead receive a File:Big Bang Ticket.png Big Bang Tickets to participate in a special type of Cosmic Fortune with an increased chance for rare rewards. Rarely, in place of the ticket, they will obtain a Vacuum Suit Identification Key directly, which is otherwise normally obtained from Cosmic Fortune rolls.^[3]

A higher contribution in the mission will result in increased rewards, but players generally have ample time to obtain the maximum (gold) rank.

Contribution Tiers

At the end of the mission, the player's contribution will be evaluated. Different contribution tiers are available depending on whether the player participated as a ground supporter or pilot.^[2]

Ground Tier	Ground Contribution Points
Modest	5-240
Generous	245 or higher
Pilot Tier	Pilot Contribution Points
Respectable	50-300
Generous	350-600
Sizeable	650 or higher

Tips

Pilots receive significantly more contribution and rewards than ground supporters, so it is worthwhile to always apply as a pilot when doing mech ops.
Players who would like their maximize their chances of being selected as a pilot can speak with Drivingway and travel to an instance with a lower number of players. Additionally, their chances will increase simply by continuing to apply for applications.
For pilots, it is generally more efficient to stay within a certain area and wait for large objects to spawn instead of wander around.^[4]
For both pilots and ground supports, attempt to hit multiple objects at once with AoE actions for higher efficiency.
For ground supporters, if the operation ends before the player turns in all of their items at a field scanner, they will miss some contribution, so they should do their final turn-in when the 90% completion message appears on the screen.
For ground supporters, each mech op has a fixed number of objects destroyed needed for Gold Star ranking. They can leave the area early if they finish these goals early and still receive full rewards.
If there are too few players, the mech op may not be completed within the time limit, resulting in failure.
Mech ops do not reward research data for Cosmic Tools.

Cosmic Exploration Projects (FATEs)

Similar to the Ishgardian Restoration FATEs, large-scale projects will be triggered as world-specific milestones (which can be tracked by the progress bar in the Infrastructure Index) are reached in cosmic exploration. These FATEs do not involve crafting or gathering: they simply consist of interacting with various objects in the FATE area in a looping sequence. Not all zone development stages will have a FATE upon filling the gauge, while others will have two FATEs before the gauge resets for the next stage of zone development.

When a project has been scheduled, a notification will be issued at the top of the screen, and after an allotted time has passed, the project will automatically commence. In order to participate, press the "Join FATE" button while in the designated location. The FATE will be active for all instances in the world at once.

When a project has been completed, progress will be advanced to the next stage and changes to the field will be reflected. Participants will receive rewards ( experience, gil, and cosmocredits) dependent on contribution. While there are no unique rewards for participating, the FATE itself can never be triggered again for that world, so it is possible to permanently miss out.

Failing to complete the FATE within the 40 minute time limit will result in an 8-hour cooldown period before it will become active again. FATE completion is guaranteed to be successful by the third attempt.^{[needs verification]}

Currencies

Stellar missions, mech ops, and projects will all yield currencies exclusive to cosmic exploration.

Cosmocredits

Players may exchange cosmocredits for gear, furnishings, and other items by speaking with Mesouaidonque in Sinus Ardorum (X:21.8 Y:21.8).

Lunar Credits

Players may exchange lunar credits for mech op pilot applications by speaking with Alerot in Sinus Ardorum (X:22.4 Y:20.3), or use them to draw cosmic fortunes, explained below.

Stellar Successes

Stellar successes are objectives in Cosmic Exploration that function similarly to the Challenge Log.

Daily Successes are reset daily, whereas Standard Successes are one-time objectives that incorporate all contributions made to cosmic exploration. By completing these successes, players can earn rewards like cosmocredits, lunar credits, and research data for Cosmic Tool upgrades. There will be a different set of Standard Successes per zone.

You can confirm your current successes via the exotablet.

Cosmic Fortunes

Similar to the Kupo of Fortune in the Ishgardian Restoration, cosmic fortunes are games of chance that grant a variety of items as prizes.

Players may exchange lunar credits to draw cosmic fortunes by speaking with Orbitingway in Sinus Ardorum (X:21.8 Y:21.1). Players may pick between two roulettes with differing prizes.

Additionally, a special roulette exists for those in possession of File:Big Bang Ticket.png Big Bang Tickets earned from piloting during a mech op.

Star Contributor Awards

Players with the highest contribution scores in their world at the end of any given ranking period are celebrated as "Star Contributors."

Calculating Player Contributions

Ranking periods become active or inactive every twenty-four hours, and reset daily at 18:00 JST / 2:00 PDT / 9:00 GMT / 20:00 AEDT.

During active ranking periods, players' contributions from stellar missions, mech ops, and projects are calculated. Players can check their current standing by speaking with Scanningway in Sinus Ardorum (X:21.2 Y:21.0).

Commendation

Star Contributors will be honored for fourteen real-life days in the following ways:

A hologram of the player will be displayed in Sinus Ardorum (X:21.1 Y:21.1). (The hologram will be established after a certain stage of progress is completed.)
The player's name will be displayed on the starward standings stela in Sinus Ardorum (X:21.1 Y:21.1).
A visual effect will be applied to them when they are in a Cosmic Exploration zone. They can click off this buff if they do not want it displayed.

Players who receive Star Contributor will be ineligible to receive it again for 14 days.

In contrast to the limited-time ranking titles in Ishgardian Restoration, Star Contributor is a permanent competitive feature to prevent "fear of missing out". There are no achievements, titles, or item rewards tied to Star Contributor.

Cosmic Tools

By participating in Cosmic Exploration activities, players will be able to accrue research data and upgrade Cosmic Tools, the level 100 Relic Tool series that start at level 10.

Notable Rewards

Adventurer Plates

Cosmic Exploration Framer's Kit

Dyes

Emotes

Facewear

Fashion Accessories

Loparasol

Furniture

Glamour

Minions

Micro Rover

Mounts

Orchestrion Rolls

Others

Magicked Prism (Cosmic Exploration)

Achievements

Cosmic Exploration is associated with several achievements. Note that Cosmic Tools Achievements are listed separately.

Name	Points	Task	Reward	Patch
Crafting in Spaaace	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points with any Disciple of the Hand.	-	7.21
Star Crafter	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as every Disciple of the Hand.	Starlighter	7.21
Gathering in Spaaace	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points with any Disciple of the Land.	-	7.21
Star Gatherer	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as every Disciple of the Land.	Starfinder	7.21
Out of This World	20	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as every Disciple of the Hand and Land.	High Mobility Vacuum Suit Identification Key	7.21
Just One More Spin I	5	Draw 10 cosmic fortunes.	-	7.21
Just One More Spin II	5	Draw 100 cosmic fortunes.	-	7.21
Just One More Spin III	10	Draw 1,000 cosmic fortunes.	Wisher upon Stars	7.21
One Giant Hop	20	Successfully complete all stellar missions in Sinus Ardorum with the highest rating possible.	Ready for Liftoff	7.21
Rocket Carpentry I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a carpenter.	-	7.21
Rocket Carpentry II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a carpenter.	-	7.21
Hammering with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a carpenter.	Framer of Stars	7.21
Rocket Smithing I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a blacksmith.	-	7.21
Rocket Smithing II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a blacksmith.	-	7.21
Smithing with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a blacksmith.	Temperer of Stars	7.21
Rocket Forgery I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as an armorer.	-	7.21
Rocket Forgery II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as an armorer.	-	7.21
Forging with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as an armorer.	Forger of Stars	7.21
Rocket Metallurgy I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a goldsmith.	-	7.21
Rocket Metallurgy II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a goldsmith.	-	7.21
Goldsmithing with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a goldsmith.	Caster of Stars	7.21
Rocket Tanning I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a leatherworker.	-	7.21
Rocket Tanning II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a leatherworker.	-	7.21
Tanning with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a leatherworker.	Stitcher of Stars	7.21
Rocket Stitchery I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a weaver.	-	7.21
Rocket Stitchery II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a weaver.	-	7.21
Stitching with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a weaver.	Weaver of Stars	7.21
Rocket Science I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as an alchemist.	-	7.21
Rocket Science II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as an alchemist.	-	7.21
Distilling with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as an alchemist.	Sublimator of Stars	7.21
Rocket Seasoning I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a culinarian.	-	7.21
Rocket Seasoning II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a culinarian.	-	7.21
Cooking with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a culinarian.	Taster of Stars	7.21
Rocket Geology I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a miner.	-	7.21
Rocket Geology II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a miner.	-	7.21
Mining with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a miner.	Excavator of Stars	7.21
Rocket Botany I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a botanist.	-	7.21
Rocket Botany II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a botanist.	-	7.21
Gardening with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a botanist.	Plucker of Stars	7.21
Rocket Ichthyology I	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 50,000 points as a fisher.	-	7.21
Rocket Ichthyology II	5	Earn a cosmic class score of 150,000 points as a fisher.	-	7.21
Fishing with the Stars	10	Earn a cosmic class score of 500,000 points as a fisher.	Angler of Stars	7.21

Gallery

Screenshots

Concept Art

Lore

“

Searchingway wants you to join the Cosmic Exploration Initiative! Research and develop cutting-edge artisan's tools, all the while furthering the team's preparations for a maiden voyage to stars yet uncharted!

— Patch 7.2 Special Site

Cosmic Exploration Report

The following table tracks the times at which each server has completed any given phase in the Cosmic Exploration Initiative. While any given phase of the initiative is still ongoing, each world’s progress on them can be monitored on the Lodestone.

Note: All times are in GMT/UTC+0.

Region	Data Center	Server
JP	Elemental	Aegis
		Atomos
		Carbuncle
		Garuda
		Gungnir
		Kujata
		Tonberry
		Typhon
	Gaia	Alexander
		Bahamut
		Durandal
		Fenrir
		Ifrit
		Ridill
		Tiamat
		Ultima
	Mana	Anima
		Asura
		Chocobo
		Hades
		Ixion
		Masamune
		Pandaemonium
		Titan
	Meteor	Belias
		Mandragora
		Ramuh
		Shinryu
		Unicorn
		Valefor
		Yojimbo
		Zeromus
NA	Aether	Adamantoise
		Cactuar
		Faerie
		Gilgamesh
		Jenova
		Midgardsormr
		Sargatanas
		Siren
	Crystal	Balmung
		Brynhildr
		Coeurl
		Diabolos
		Goblin
		Malboro
		Mateus
		Zalera
	Dynamis	Cuchulainn
		Golem
		Halicarnassus
		Kraken
		Maduin
		Marilith
		Rafflesia
		Seraph
	Primal	Behemoth
		Excalibur
		Exodus
		Famfrit
		Hyperion
		Lamia
		Leviathan
		Ultros
EU	Chaos	Cerberus
		Louisoix
		Moogle
		Omega
		Phantom
		Ragnarok
		Sagittarius
		Spriggan
	Light	Alpha
		Lich
		Odin
		Phoenix
		Raiden
		Shiva
		Twintania
		Zodiark
OZ	Materia	Bismarck
		Ravana
		Sephirot
		Sophia
		Zurvan

Resources

Cosmic Exploration official site
Icy Veins - Cosmic Exploration guide
Raphael XIV Crafting Macro generator - As there are many Cosmic Exploration crafting recipes with different requirements and the difficulty scales by level, this is a useful tool to automatically generate crafting macros by inputting the recipe and one's own stats. Allows for input of custom recipes, such as when below the level cap.
Icy Veins - Expert Crafting Guide
Cosmic Exploration Macros and Guide by Fae Fiyaa
Cosmic Exploration Miner/Botanist Breakpoints
Cosmic Exploration Data - Fishing
Cosmic Exploration Fish Guide
Cosmic Tool Research Helper
Cosmic Exploration Notes by Pickle Tickle
Lalachievements - Mission Tracker

References

[1] ttps://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/6f824223a7e10da7b9b7dfc84f626d10d4df88b3

[iv-mech-ops-2] 2.0 ^2.1 https://www.icy-veins.com/ffxiv/mech-ops

[3] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/1k6y2fq/cosmic_exploration_mech_ops_mount_dropped/

[4] ttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1H0w_VMfsyKM50P3X6QxamJp1eIKCTjEAZE-4lejH8ZA/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.6p4ev4m5bt06

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 83: / Line 83: @@
 ===Stellar Missions===
-Stellar missions are requests issued to procure necessary materials for cosmic exploration.
+Stellar missions are requests issued to procure necessary materials for cosmic exploration and are the primary form of content.
-Players may accept stellar missions via the exotablet. Completion of stellar missions increases overall progress and unlocks more advanced stellar missions. Missions are scored by three ranks: gold, silver, and bronze. Obtaining a higher score will result in greater returns.
+Players may accept stellar missions via the exotablet. Completion of stellar missions increases overall progress and unlocks more advanced stellar missions. Missions are scored by three ranks: gold, silver, and bronze. Obtaining a higher score will result in greater returns, with silver yielding 4 times the base rewards and gold yielding 5 times the base rewards..
 Furthermore, stellar missions are quest synced, ensuring that rewards and difficulty level are distributed appropriately given a player's current level.