The Praetorium

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The Praetorium

Level
50 (Sync: 50)
Item Level
42 (Sync: 60)
Difficulty
Normal
Party size
Light Party
4 man • 1 1 2
Unsyncing
Allowed
Time limit
120 minutes
Phoenix Down
Available
Duty Finder
Dungeons (A Realm Reborn)
Roulette
Main Scenario
Tomestones
Allagan Tomestone of Poetics 150 
Req. quest
Main Scenario Quest The Ultimate Weapon
Entrance
Northern Thanalan (X:15, Y:16)
Modes
Duty Support
Explorer
Patch
2.0
“

With the magitek field now out of commission, the path to the Ultima Weapon lies open. While the Immortal Flames sweep Castrum Meridianum and suppress the remnants of the enemy garrison, you and your comrades must fight your way to the innermost sector of the Praetorium, there to locate and destroy the Ultima Weapon. Cid's airship, the Enterprise, will bear you to the stage of the final confrontation.

— In-game description

The Praetorium is a level 50 dungeon introduced in patch 2.0.

General Information

  • As of patch 6.1, extensive changes to general progression have been made as part of the implementation of Duty Support, and certain cutscenes have returned to being skippable. As such, the rewards have been reduced. For the prior version, see The Praetorium/Old.

Duty Support

Storm Marauder Serpent Conjurer Flame Thaumaturge Serpent Lancer
Class Marauder Conjurer Thaumaturge Lancer
Role Tank Healer DPS DPS

Objectives

  1. Secure the command chamber: 0/1
  2. Make for the Laboratorium Primum: 0/1
  3. Power and board magitek armor: 0/1
  4. Defeat Nero tol Scaeva: 0/1
  5. Defeat Gaius van Baelsar: 0/1

Enemies

Bosses

Mark II Magitek Colossus

  • Ceruleum Vent: Unavoidable raidwide damage that must be healed through.
  • Prototype Laser Alpha: Four circle AoEs will appear from the center and move toward the outside of the arena.
  • Prototype Laser Beta: Circle AoEs will be placed on every player, requiring them to spread out.
  • Grand Sword: A cone AoE targeting a random player.

Nero tol Scaeva

There is an electrical field on the outside of the arena, giving people the debuff Electrocution that deals damage over time until they leave.

  • Spine Shatter: Tankbuster.
  • Iron Uprising: A frontal cone AoE that knocks players back.
  • Activate: Summons a Magitek Death Claw that tethers to one player and slowly moves towards them, knocking player back when it gets to them. The players not tethered should kill it.
  • Augmented Shatter: A stack on a random player, followed by Wheel of Suffering centered on the targeted player.
    • Wheel of Suffering: A circle AoE that deals damage to all players near the boss. Players should stack together then move out of the following AoE.
  • Augmented Uprising: Nero will hop to one side of the arena and attack a large potion of the arena with a cone AoE that should be avoided.
  • Augmented Suffering: Nero will jump to the center and cast a knockback attack. Players should get into the center to avoid being flung into the electrical field.

Gaius van Baelsar

  • Innocence: Tankbuster.
  • Horrida Bella: Unavoidable raidwide damage that must be healed through.
  • Terminus Est: Gaius will fire several blue, flaming Xs. After a few seconds, a line AoE blast comes from the X dealing heavy damage to any players in its path.
  • Phantasmata: Copies of Gaius will appear on the long side of the arena and each cast Terminus Est, marked by flaming Xs. Players should move out of the way of their path by moving in between two of them.
  • Festina Lente: A stack marker on a random player.
  • Ductus: Three circular AoEs appear on the short side of the arena and move along the length of the platform.
  • Hand of the Empire: Each player will be marked by an unavoidable circle AoE. Players should spread out to avoid excess damage.

At 5% HP, Gaius will summon 4 Phantom Gaius adds that must be taken out while he charges up Blade Energy for his ultimate attack, Veni Vidi Vici, which will instantly kill the party if energy reaches 100%.

  • Heirsbane: Each Phantom Gaius will target a random player, dealing moderate damage to them.
  • Ductus: The party will continue to be bombarded with this and Phantasmata as they battle each Phantom Gaius.
  • Horrida Bella: After Veni Vidi Vici is withstood, Gaius will spam a higher damage version of this until he is defeated.

Loot

Achievements

This duty is associated with the following achievements:

Name Points Task Reward Patch
  Mapping the Realm: Praetorium 10 Discover every location within the Praetorium. - 2.0

Music

Condition Theme
Main   Penitus
Boss 1 A Fine Death
Boss 2   Steel Reason
Final Boss Bite of the Black Wolf

Images

Dialogue

Cutscene

Cid: So here we are... 
Cid: The Ultima Weapon will almost certainly be housed in the depths of the complex. 

Cid: This is it, my friend!

Duty Dialogue

Cid: We need to make our way down. There ought to be a terminal for the lift up ahead.

Cid: Here it is. If you'd care to take the van, I'll follow after I've had a look around.

Cutscene

Cid: Gaius! 

Gaius van Baelsar: Ah, Cid, my boy... You are late. 
Gaius van Baelsar: There is something I always meant to tell you, yet the time never seemed right. It concerns your father. 

Cid: ...What of him? 

Gaius van Baelsar: In the winter of his years, Midas came to abhor his part in Meteor. He told me that he wanted nothing more than to wash his hands of the whole sordid business. 

Cid: But he did not wash his hands of it. He helmed the project until the day it killed him! 

Gaius van Baelsar: Come now, Cid...you must know that he did not have the luxury of choice. By the time he realized his error, it was too late. Meteor had him completely in its thrall. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Shortly before his...transformation, mayhap sensing that something was amiss, your father confided to me all the regrets of his life. Most of them concerned you. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Early on in your career, he realized that while you had a talent for devising armaments, it would never fulfill you. Long before you knew your own mind, he saw that you would be far happier using your knowledge for peaceful purposes, and the thought touched him. He was a changed man for it, though he could not let it show. 

Cid: You ripped open walls in this place just so you could say this to me!? What is it you want, Gaius!? 

Gaius van Baelsar: I want you at my side, Cid. Take up your father's mantle, and become the Empire's lead engineer. It is your destiny. 

Cid: My father had a change of heart─you said so yourself! Besides, I have long known my destiny, and I assure you, it lies not with the Empire! 

Gaius van Baelsar: A pity.
And what of you, adventurer? Will you not consider making common cause with me?    
Gaius van Baelsar: With your powers joined to mine, we might do much for this realm. Together, we could bring order to Eorzea, and usher in a lasting peace. 
Gaius van Baelsar: No? And I can expect no better answer than this? So be it. It was your strength that made me proffer my hand in friendship, and it is your strength that makes me proffer now my blade. Save as an ally, you are too dangerous to be let to remain. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Run, Cid. Or stay. It makes no matter. You cannot escape the past. 

Cid: Gaius, wait! ...Damn it!

Duty Dialogue

Cid: Right, I'll examine the equipment for intelligence. Press on─I'll let you know if I learn anything.

Cid: Well, well, would you look at this! It's the armor we borrowed for our mission at Castrum Centri!
Cid: If this isn't fate, I don't know what is! Go on, strap yourself in and raise hells!

Cutscene

Cid: That bulkhead is composed of a special alloy. Extremely tough. Ordinary fire won't leave a mark, I'm afraid. 
Cid: You'll need to divert all power to the magitek cannon, as I did at Castrum Meridianum. 
Cid: The armor's core is like to expire from the strain, but there's no help for it if we want to press on. 
Cid: Now, listen well. Press...<buzzzzzz>...the control...<fizzzzzz>...engage ancillary...then fire away. Don't mind the warning lights. 

Cid: You're a natural at this! All right, the way's clear, but it's just you and your own two feet now, so be careful.

Cutscene

Nero tol Scaeva: You have been leaving a fine mess in your wake, adventurer. 

Cid: Is someone there!? 

Nero tol Scaeva: Garlond, old friend. How it warms the heart to hear your voice again after all these years. 

Cid: ...Nero? Is that you!? 

Nero tol Scaeva: You sound well. It would seem this savage land agrees with you. 

Cid: The highest ranking tribunus of the XIVth... It was you all this time? 

Nero tol Scaeva: Tell me, Garlond. How long do you intend to keep all the glory for yourself? 

Cid: Uh...what? You've lost me. 

Nero tol Scaeva: Don't play the fool with me. Ever since the Academy, I have been condemned to live in your shadow. 
Nero tol Scaeva: By all objective measure, I was the more talented of the two of us, yet that fact counted for naught beside your privileged birth. You were admired as the young prodigy simply because your father was the great Midas nan Garlond! 
Nero tol Scaeva: When you defected, I felt sure my star would finally rise... 
Nero tol Scaeva: But by disappearing, you acquired the status of a legend─your reputed genius gaining credence merely by dint of your absence! Instead of cursing you for a traitor, the people actually came to think of you more fondly! To this day, you are still the young prodigy of magitek! 
Nero tol Scaeva: I, meanwhile, have ever been made to feel second-rate─I who have continued to serve our nation faithfully. Whenever I fail to excel─why, it is only to be expected! Yet when I exceed all reasonable expectations, people proclaim that I walk in the footsteps of the great Cid nan bloody Garlond! 

Cid: Nero, I...I don't know what to say. 

Nero tol Scaeva: It matters not a whit what I achieve. Your existence has rendered mine worthless. Even Lord van Baelsar saw fit to offer you a place at his side─and this in spite of your betrayal! Did he extend any such offer to me─the man who has remained loyal to him for all these years? Why, no. He did not. 
Nero tol Scaeva: Long have I endured this injustice...but no more. 
Nero tol Scaeva: Lord van Baelsar is in the midst of activating the fully powered Ultima Weapon. 
Nero tol Scaeva: It is my magnum opus─the creation that will win me the recognition I am due. I will not let anyone interfere. 

Cid: Nero! What are you─!? 

Nero tol Scaeva: Ever since I first set foot in this benighted land, I have watched you─every move you have made, every step you have taken. 
Nero tol Scaeva: You have felled eikons, a feat made possible by the Echo, a peculiar power which shields you from their corrupting influence. 
Nero tol Scaeva: It is of little wonder that my lord has taken an interest in you. 
Nero tol Scaeva: As have I, if truth be told. It is my desire to harness your power for use in the Ultima Weapon. 
Nero tol Scaeva: >> Should I succeed, Lord van Baelsar will surely take notice! Beside this, Garlond's achievements will be as child's play! <<
Nero tol Scaeva: >> Come, adventurer, and yield to me the secrets of your power! <<

Duty Dialogue

Nero tol Scaeva: I have taken the liberty of preparing an electrifying stage for you. 
Nero tol Scaeva: I will lay Garlond low, but first I must break you! 

Nero tol Scaeva: Meet one of my creations. You might find it a handful. 

Nero tol Scaeva: <pant> I will not suffer...to be in another's shadow!

Cutscene

Nero tol Scaeva: This changes...nothing... 

Nero tol Scaeva: Ahahahaha! The Ultima Weapon is activated, and it brims with the power of eikons! Nothing can withstand its might!

Cid: Are you all right!? 
Cid: What of Nero!? ...Fled!? Damn it! 
Cid: In the instant prior to the blackout, the instruments detected a massive power surge from the deepest chamber. 
Cid: Gaius is certain to be there! We have no time to waste! 
Cid: Word arrived from the Alliance a short while ago. It seems the Order of the Twin Adder has completed its blockade of Castrum Centri. 
Cid: What hands they can spare are hastening this way even as we speak, and likewise for the Maelstrom. All that's left is to destroy the Ultima Weapon! 
Cid: ...I should warn you: the chamber which houses the target appears to be saturated with aetheric energies. There's bound to be heavy interference. 
Cid: But even if we lose contact, you must go on. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do, all right?

Cutscene

Cid: Look for the lift's control panel─it'll be somewhere nearby. 
Cid: Take the lift down, and you should find yourself in the chamber of the Ultima Weapon. 

Cid: Keep your eyes peeled─Gaius could be waiting for you down there. 
Cid: Oh, and don't even think about dying. You're too bloody useful! 
Cid: The interference is getting worse. I don't think the connection will last much─ 

Gaius van Baelsar: Tell me...for whom do you fight? 
Gaius van Baelsar: Hmph! Do you believe in Eorzea? 
Gaius van Baelsar: Eorzea's unity is forged of falsehoods. Its city-states are built on deceit. And its faith is an instrument of deception. 
Gaius van Baelsar: It is naught but a cobweb of lies. To believe in Eorzea is to believe in nothing. 
Gaius van Baelsar: In Eorzea, the beast tribes often summon gods to fight in their stead─though your comrades only rarely respond in kind. Which is strange, is it not? 
Gaius van Baelsar: Are the “Twelve” otherwise engaged? I was given to understand they were your protectors. If you truly believe them your guardians, why do you not repeat the trick that served you so well at Carteneau, and call them down? 
Gaius van Baelsar: They will answer─so long as you lavish them with crystals and gorge them on aether. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Your gods are no different from those of the beasts─eikons every one. Accept but this, and you will see how Eorzea's faith is bleeding the land dry. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Nor is this unknown to your masters. Which prompts the question: why do they cling to these false deities? What drives even men of learning─even the great Louisoix─to grovel at their feet? 
Gaius van Baelsar: >> The answer? Your masters lack the strength to do otherwise! <<
Gaius van Baelsar: For the world of man to mean anything, man must own the world. 
Gaius van Baelsar: To this end, he hath fought ever to raise himself through conflict─to grow rich through conquest. 
Gaius van Baelsar: And when the dust of battle settles, it is ever the strong who dictate the fate of the weak. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Knowing this, but a single path is open to the impotent ruler─that of false worship. A path which leads to enervation and death. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Only a man of power can rightly steer the course of civilization. And in this land of creeping mendacity, that one truth will prove its salvation. 
Gaius van Baelsar: >> Come, champion of Eorzea, face me! Your defeat shall serve as proof of my readiness to rule! <<
Gaius van Baelsar: >> It is only right that I should take your realm. For none among you has the power to stop me! <<

Duty Dialogue

Gaius van Baelsar: Let us dance, champion of Eorzea. 

Gaius van Baelsar: Know your place! 

Gaius van Baelsar: Impressive! Now it is my turn! 

Gaius van Baelsar: Come, we shall see if you can finish what you have started. 

Gaius van Baelsar: If you will not yield, then you will be destroyed! 

Gaius van Baelsar: Eorzea is mine by right! 

Gaius van Baelsar: That you should still stand... Very well, then!

Cutscene

Gaius van Baelsar: I had not thought to be so hard-pressed. 
Gaius van Baelsar: Your strength is...most impressive. Such power befits a ruler! 
Gaius van Baelsar: Yet you lack the resolve to put it to proper use. A waste.

Lore

The Hour Of Reckoning

A fortress within a fortress rising at the heart of Castrum Meridianum, the Praetorium houses the XIVth Imperial Legion’s command center, wherefrom Gaius van Baelsar directed his army’s operations realm wide.

Occupying the underground levels is a magitek research facility headed by Tribunus Nero tol Scaeva, a brilliant engineer responsible for the development of myriad machina of war. Of the many projects to his name, none was more groundbreaking than the revival of the Ultima Weapon. Created to suppress eikons, it was the Black Wolf's key to his conquest of Eorzea—and the Alliance's primary target in Operation Archon.

The Ultima Weapon

A counter-primal weapon of unparalleled might, the Ultima Weapon is a relic of ancient Allag discovered deep beneath Gyr Abania in a nigh-forgotten, ruin-sized site. Through the ingenuity of Nero tol Scaeva, it was restored to working order and made battle-ready, but dark rumors surround its source of power, the Heart of Sabik, which some claim was gifted from the Ascians.

Gaius van Baelsar

A general and governor both, his many accomplishments include the conquest and political assimilation of five enemy cities. Fearsome in battle, he personally rose to challenge those adventurers who stormed Castrum Meridianum, wielding his gunblade Heirsbane with deadly effect.

More

The ancient magick sealed within the Ultima Weapon wreaked untold havoc, tearing open a crater of charred steel. Defeated, Gaius van Baelsar is said to have been consumed by ravenous flames.



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