The Forked Tower: Blood

The Forked Tower: Blood

Level

100 (Sync: 100)

Item Level

690 (Sync: 700)

Know. Level

20

Difficulty

Savage

Party size

Flexible
16-48 man • 16-48

Unsyncing

Not Allowed

Time limit

30 minutes + extensions

Tomestones

 80  40 

Req. quest

Past and Crescent

Entrance

The Occult Crescent: South Horn (X:22.7, Y:21.5)

Location

Tower of Blood

Patch

7.25

“

An ominous tower looms on the horizon of the isle's south horn, twisted spires shimmering in the haze. What revelations await within its uppermost chambers?

— In-game description

The Forked Tower: Blood is a level 100 field operation introduced in patch 7.25 with Dawntrail. Instead of being a separate instance, it exists within  The Occult Crescent: South Horn. Similar to  The Baldesion Arsenal and  Delubrum Reginae (Savage), Forked Tower is designed to be a high-end duty that requires group coordination and the use of specific phantom job actions to complete.

This duty is considered a Critical Encounter and will count towards achievements involving those.

Requirements & Entrance

Cipher reliquaries.

Players must purchase Sanguine Ciphers from the Expedition Antiquarian (X:38.1, Y:7.0) for  600 or  960. When at least 16 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 them to within the tower after a brief period. Players must have a Knowledge Level of 20 to enter.

Spawn conditions for the auroral mirages weather are as follows:

• There are at least 16 players in the South Horn instance with knowledge level 20 and have completed 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.

When both the player count/progression requirement is met and the timer expires, 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 a cipher will have a higher chance of being selected, which further increases for contributing a greater number of ciphers at once.

If the player is not selected to enter or if the tower does not activate because fewer than 16 players used ciphers, all players will be refunded their cipher(s).

Unlike standard content, players cannot be resurrected by normal means will have 3 non-replenishable stacks of the debuff Resurrection Restricted. Defeated players may only be resurrected by   Revive from Phantom Chemist or level 3 healer limit breaks. Each time they are revived, they will lose one stack. When a player has no more stacks remaining, they will receive the Resurrection Denied status, preventing resurrection by any means and must therefore leave the raid if they die again.

• There is a bug where players who are revived by a healer limit break when they have a pending resurrection from a chemist will lose 2 stacks.

Players may only swap their phantom job in the starting room of the raid. Once they leave the room, they will be given the Duties as Assigned status and be unable to swap their job or phantom job.

Objectives

• Clear the Paleography Room.
• Clear the central passages.
• Clear the Astronomy Room.
• Clear the pronged passages.
• Clear the Glaciology Forum.
• Clear the binding lock.
• Clear the Haematology Room.

Enemies and Bosses

A minimum of 24 players is needed to resolve certain mechanics in the raid even though 16 players is the minimum entry requirement. Boss HP will scale based on the number of players in the raid, starting from 24.

Being hit with any avoidable AoEs during boss encounters will inflict a stack of Thrice-come Ruin that lasts indefinitely until the end of the boss or until the player dies. If a player receives three stacks, they will be inflicted with Doom and die.

After defeating a boss, 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.

Infamy of Blood: Magitaur

Note: Resurrection debuffs will not be removed after defeating Magitaur, so any player who dies with Resurrection Denied will not be able to open the personal spoils coffer(s) from this boss or activate the Survey Point in the final room. However, they will still be rewarded with achievement progress.

Phantom Chemist Resurrection Strategy

In the event of a full raid wipe, all players must normally leave the raid regardless of how many stacks of Resurrection Restricted they still have, because the return prompt will take them back to the South Horn base camp. To allow for more boss attempts, players have devised a chemist "cheese" strategy:

1. If a boss pull is deemed unsalvageable (e.g. there are too many deaths or if a DPS check will not be met), a designated chemist will sacrifice themselves by running into the death wall or incapacitating themselves via mechanics. It is also common to do this preemptively as "insurance" before common failure points such as the snowballs/fire tower mechanics in boss 2 or the Rune Axe/Holy Lance mechanics in boss 4.
2. Another chemist will revive the sacrifice chemist, but that player will not accept the resurrection prompt. The Raise buff will need to be refreshed periodically to prevent it from expiring. Ideally, the reviving chemist should revive the sacrifice chemist outside of aggro range of the boss.
3. Once the call to wipe has been made by the raid leader, all players will attempt to die at the south of the arena or outside of aggro range of the boss.
4. After the party wipes and the boss resets, the sacrifice chemist will accept the raise.
5. The sacrifice chemist will then revive the other players, ideally starting with chemists first so they can also help revive. All chemists will commonly be marked for visual identification.
6. Once everyone's Weakness debuff has fallen off, the party can pull the boss again.

This strategy is not possible outside of boss encounters: e.g., a full raid wipe during the bridges encounter will end the run.

Loot

• 800 Enlightenment Silver Pieces
•  80 Allagan Tomestones of Heliometry
•  40 Allagan Tomestones of Mathematics

This duty uses personal loot, so players will need to interact with and loot treasure coffers themselves. A full clear with all chests yields 30   Sanguinite.

Demon Tablet

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Notes on the Demon Tablet	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	1

Personal Spoils (Secret Nooks)

There are four chests (two per side) in the hallways after the first boss. Each side has one room behind a locked door that can be opened from the other side by a Phantom Thief after maneuvering through a trick room, and two secret rooms in the north. The post-trick room chest yields 2 Sanguinite. A chest will appear in one of the two secret rooms in the north per side, yielding 3 Sanguinite.

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	2

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	3

It is not possible to obtain all four chests in a single run: players may only obtain the two chests on their side.

Dead Stars

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Notes on the Dead Stars	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	2

Marble Dragon

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Notes on the Marble Dragon	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	2

Personal Spoils (Top Secret Nook 1)

There are two chests in a secret room after the lockwards in the Towertop Passage, to the right.

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	2

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	2

Personal Spoils (Top Secret Nook 2)

A secret room in the Towertop Passage, to the left. The coffer is directly in the path.

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	1

Personal Spoils (Top Secret Nook 3)

A secret room connected to Top Secret Nook 2. The coffer is just outside the entrance to the observatory room that marks the location of the Sanguine Recluse once the lockward puzzle is solved. This coffer will only spawn if the puzzle is solved.

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	5

Magitaur

At least one personal spoils coffers will appear after defeating the final boss.

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Notes on Magitaur	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Magitaur Card	Triple Triad Card	N/A		1
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	5

A second coffer will appear if the Sanguine Recluse was defeated by players outside, after the raid lights up the observatory.

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Sanguinite	Other	N/A	ABasic	5

Achievements

This duty is associated with the following achievements:

Name	Points	Task	Reward	Patch
A Fork to Be Reckoned With I	10	Complete the Forked Tower: Blood for the first time.	Demon Haul Horn	7.25
A Fork to Be Reckoned With II	10	Complete the Forked Tower: Blood 10 times.	-	7.25
A Fork to Be Reckoned With III	10	Complete the Forked Tower: Blood 50 times.	-	7.25
A Fork to Be Reckoned With IV	20	Complete the Forked Tower: Blood 100 times.	Infamy of Blood	7.25

Lore

“

Indecipherable tomes are strewn across the floor and piled haphazardly among the fallen shelves. Closer inspection reveals countless magical glyphs, likely representing a wealth of arcane knowledge.

— Collapsed Bookshelves

“

The polished surface glimmers with myriad symbols, none of which obviously resemble Eorzean script. Although unfamiliar, the patterns you discern imply the glyphs form a written system of some kind. Was this encoding designed to conceal knowledge considered a threat to civilization?

— Occult Epitaph

“

As you peruse the tablet's inscription, a wave of nausea compels you to avert your gaze. No doubt the document is imbued with some magical contrivance, shielding it from eyes deemed unworthy of the knowledge within.

— Ancient Tablet

“

At the pinnacle of the Tower of Blood sits an ancient study filled with tomes, tablets, and manuscripts from the Fifth Astral Era. Unfortunately, the entire collection is written in a script bearing no obvious resemblance to any extant language, rendering the documents indecipherable. Perhaps the owner concocted the script as a means of concealing the knowledge contained therein─but what could necessitate such elaborate encoding?

— Occult Record: The Secluded Stacks

Dialogue

Dead Stars: Oink, oink! Prepare to die at the hands of we tricksy three!
Dead Stars: Oink, oink! Everyone gets a piece of the action!
Dead Stars: Oink, oink, oink! Tricksy trio unite!
Phobos: Just kidding, it's Phobos's time to shine! Oink!
Liquified Triton: Glub...glub...
Liquified Nereid: Blub...glub...
Phobos: Oink, oink, oink! You're in for some toxic trouble now!
System: Phobos's toxins seep into your body!
Phobos: Brace yourselves for a putrid poison blast!
Liquified Triton: Glub...blub...
Liquified Nereid: Glub!?
Phobos: You poisoned princes suited your slimy transformation!
Triton: Oink, oink...
Nereid: O-Oink...
Triton: Now I'm livid!
Nereid: Unforgivable...
Phobos: Gyaaagh!
Phobos: F-Forgive me friends! I promise I'll behave myself now...
Dead Stars: The tricksy trio units anew, and this time we're serious! Oink!
Nereid: Oinking fools! It's Nereid's turn to take center stage!
Frozen Triton: F-Freezing!
Frozen Phobos: I can't feel my toes!
Nereid: You're nothing more than a pair of frosty unfortunates!
Nereid: Sssnooowed uuunder!
Frozen Triton: S-So cold...
Frozen Phobos: F-Frozen solid...
Triton: Oink, oink...
Phobos: Oooink...
Nereid: With friends like you, there's snow end to the fun!
Triton: Now I'm livid!
Phobos: Payback time...
Nereid: Gyaaagh!
Nereid: I-I'm sorry! I'll play nice... I swear!
Dead Stars: Oink, oink! Behold the true power of our tenacious triumvirate!
Triton: Or rather, behold the true power of Triton—star of the show!
Gaseous Phobos: This is an outrage!
Gaseous Nereid: Hot, hot, hot!
Triton: Oink, oink! I'm a flaming menace, through and through!
Phobos: Oooink...
Nereid: O-oink...
Triton: Get ready for Triton's flammable extravaganza!
Gaseous Phobos: I can't take much more!
Gaseous Nereid: Overcooked...
Triton: A scorching festival of flame! You two made for excellent kindling!
Nereid: Unforgivable...
Phobos: Payback time...
Triton: Gyaaagh!
Triton: My flame grows dim! I give in!
Phobos: My poisons have all dried up!
Nereid: Oinksome wretches! I can't stand the sight of you!
Dead Stars: Oink, oink, oink!
Dead Stars: Oooiiink!
Dead Stars: It's oink-oink-over! We're outta here!

System: Occult cylinders active. Initiate the authentication process.
System: Authentication complete in 30 seconds...
System: Authentication complete in 20 seconds...
System: Authentication complete in 10 seconds...
System: Authentication complete in 5...
System: Authentication complete in 4...
System: Authentication complete in 3...
System: Authentication complete in 2...
System: Authentication complete in 1...
System: Authentication complete. Begin the unlock process.
System: The occult cylinders have been reordered.
System: The lock is unbound... The path ahead is clear.

Magitaur: All who threaten the tower's sanctity will be purged!
Magitaur: I call forth the might of the sanguine!
Magitaur: Unfettered power!
Magitaur: Vile infractors, prepare to meet your end!
Magitaur: Power courses through my veins!
Magitaur: The tower must be protected!
Magitaur: I shall not fall!
Magitaur: I commit my strength, my blood...my life!

Images

Screenshots

• 
• 
• 

  Map Room

• 

  Final Room

Maps

• 

  Central Passages

• 

  Binding Lock

• 

  Central Passages (annotated)

• 

  Bridges (annotated)

• 

  Binding Lock (annotated)

Trivia

• The dungeon is inspired by the Fork Tower dungeon from FFV.
• The world first clear was from "Aether Group 2" on May 30, 2025 at 4:22 PM PST, after a progression time of 3 days and 14 hours (including initial quest progression and leveling to prepare for the raid).

History

• When originally released in patch 7.25, this raid was heavily criticized by the playerbase for being difficult to form groups and enter. Notable issues raised were:
  • The inability of a 48-player alliance to reliably queue into the same South Horn instance. Players instead needed to queue as 6 separate parties, often ending up in different instances. Thus, parties would need to leave the instance and re-queue several times until all parties were in the same instance, a process that could take more than an hour. This became known as "island gacha" within the Japanese playerbase and "instance prog" within the Western playerbase.
  • The long wait time until the auroral mirages weather appeared in a fresh instance.
  • The short time availability of the weather (5 minutes), sometimes causing players in critical encounters to miss the window entirely.
  • The possibility of random players to "snipe", i.e. take the spots of players in premade groups by offering more ciphers. This often resulted in frustration from premade groups especially if a member with a critical phantom job was unable to enter. In addition, the difficulty of the raid made it possible for individual players to wipe the entire run at several points, increasing the risk from random players joining.
  • The lack of a story-difficulty mode compared to Bozja's in-instance raids. The hard mode version is the only difficulty, limiting its accessibility to more casual players or those who did not wish to organize using Discord servers to clear content.
• Square Enix addressed some of the more common criticisms in Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXXVII on June 20, 2025, which revealed that there had only been ~400 clears in the time that the raid was first released 23 days previously.
  • The lack of a story mode, one of the main criticisms, was cited as due to having insufficient development resources in the allotted timeline.
• On July 1, 2025, Naoki Yoshida made a follow-up Lodestone post to clarify some of the changes that would be made, including:

1. The ability to enter the Occult Crescent instance with a preformed alliance of up to 48 players
2. Allowing auroral mirages to generate sooner after the Occult Crescent instance has loaded
3. Improvements to the cipher offering UI by showing a list of players who offered ciphers and how many they offered
4. Delaying auroral mirage generation until an active critical encounter has ended
5. Enabling exclusive access to the Occult Crescent instance for a set time when joining with a preformed alliance

• While these changes were originally scheduled for patch 7.3 in early August, the first two changes were instead implemented in an emergency hotfix on Thursday, July 3.
• The remaining changes, along with other adjustments such as requiring all participating players to submit at least one cipher, would be implemented in patch 7.3.

External Links

• Guides by Fae Fiyaa (Google Docs format)
  • Boss 1: Demon Tablet
  • Hallways
  • Boss 2: Dead Stars
  • Bridges
  • Boss 3: Marble Dragon
  • Lockwards
  • Boss 4: Magitaur
    • "BAP" Daggers Guide
• ABBA+ Strategies
  • Boss 1: Demon Tablet
  • Boss 2: Dead Stars
  • Boss 3: Marble Dragon
  • Boss 4: Magitaur
• Magitaur Simulator

References

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Field Operations

Duties