The Penguin Prince Minion in FFXIV is rewarded for the Achievement “The Road of Verminion I”. This particular Achievement requires you to complete four different Lord of Verminion Tournaments with double-digit victories in each.
Lord of Verminion was added to the Manderville Gold Saucer in Patch 3.1 of Heavensward.
It’s a competitive strategy game where you’ll use your pantheon of Minions to battle another Player.
There’s no unlock Quest required, other than needing access to the Gold Saucer.
To start your journey to becoming the Elden Lord of Verminion, you just interact with the Verminion Tables (Gold Saucer – Minion Square, X:7 Y7). It’ll bring up the menu where you can participate in things like AI Matches, Individual Challenges, or the Tournaments you’ll need to compete in.
The entire objective is to destroy your opponent’s “Arcana Stones” on the field. Minions all have different strengths and weaknesses, even special abilities you can utilize!
The Basics of Beasts
The Fenrir Pup’s statistics and abilities when summoned in Lord of Verminion
At first, Lord of Verminion can be daunting – because it’s based on a completely different game you’ve probably never heard of.
Lord of Vermilion is a popular arcade-style MOBA card game developed by Square Enix. It was hugely popular in Japan, so much so that the XIV producers parodied it for an April Fool’s joke.
Turns out the joke was on them, and demand skyrocketed.
They ended up fully developing the system and added it way back in 2015.
Unfortunately, it didn’t catch on regardless of the rewards you can get. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of MGP just for competing!
No worries, though. We’re here to help you get a handle on your Minion menagerie. Having a grasp of the game will make the path to your Penguin Prince much simpler.
How Lord of Vermilion Works
You’ll need three Minions at least to start any game mode.
They’ll also need to be added to your Minion Hotbar, accessed through the Gold Saucer Verminion tab in the Main Menu. This is also where you’ll see when your next Tournament is, by the way.
You’ll note in the picture above, Fenrir Pup is a Monster Type.
There are four different types of Minion:
Monster – Strong against Critters
Critters – Strong against Poppets
Poppets – Strong against Monsters
Gadgets – Have no innate strength or weakness
This functional rock-paper-scissors system is something you should always keep in mind when deploying Minions. Being able to take advantage of mismatches will speed up your battle exponentially!
While most of the stats on your Minion are pretty self-explanatory, “Cost” is a little deceiving. It represents not only how many of that particular Unit you can deploy, but also the time it takes to summon a Minion afterwards.
High cost Minions actually delay your deployment, making them riskier.
Special Actions are also a bit unintuitive. In order to execute them, you actually need four Minions of the same Type next to each other. Below those Minions you’ll see a circle which when filled, allows you to execute their Special Attack.
Special Attacks vary in what they can do from causing damage, to healing, to setting traps. Using these effectively can turn the tides of any battle, especially since most Players have no idea how to use them.
The final thing you’ll want to keep track of is your Minion’s “Strengths”.
These refer to one of four things:
Triangle – Shows the Minion is more effective at destroying Gates, which your opponent uses to summon their Minions.
Circle – Effective against Search Eyes, which allows the Player to see your Opponent’s Minions on the Field.
Cross – Effective against Shields, which protect major structures like Gates, Crystals, and Search Eyes.
Crystal – Effective against Arcana Stones, your main objective is to destroy these.
Keeping in mind all these little basics change the way Matches play out.
Being able to fully utilize them will allow for some easy wins. Paramount if you want to get that Penguin Prince Minion.
Having a Mind for Minions
Utilizing the very strong Wind-up Odin Minion to crush Arcana Stones.
So you’re probably looking at your hundreds of Minions and wondering where to start.
You’ve got a ton of options in creating your tenacious menagerie of monsters.
Here are some tips on where to acquire some extremely useful Minions to add to your hotbar. And of course, why they’re good!
Wind-up Odin
Acquired from Jonathas (Old Gridania – Apkallu Falls, X:11 Y:6) for two Achievement Certificates.
High Attack Rating
Maximum Speed
Large HP Pool for a Monster Type
Effective against Gate Structures
Higher Cost but can both defend and attack
Wind-up Gentleman
Reward for completing the Level 50 Quest “Her Last Vow” in the Hildibrandt Questline. Worth it even if you don’t want the Minion, by the way.
High Attack and Defense Rating, making them optimal Defenders
Strong against two Types of Structures
Can be quickly sacrificed while Attacking or Defending to provide a huge Buff to Allies in a wide area
Maximum Speed
Kidragora
Level 50 Botanist Node (East Shroud – The Bramble Patch, X:13 Y:23) at 9PM Eorzea Time.
Low Cost
Low Defense but relatively high Attack Rating
Effective against three Types of Structures, making them excellent in Groups
Low-cost AOE Special Attack to quickly deal with Defenders
Slowest Movement Rating but can be summoned en masse
High HP
The Wind-up Louisoix, complete with miniature Tupismati.
Wind-up Louisoix
Obtained from the Achievement “Out of a Bind I” for completing the Final Coil of Bahamut.
Maximum Speed
Low Cost
Effective against two Types of Structures
Special Attack is a strong wide-area Heal, which is even more effective when used on other Poppets
Maximum Speed
Massively increases the survivability of Groups
Wolf Pup
Reward for the Level 15 Quest “Man’s Best Friend” from Skribyld (Western La Noscea – Aleport, X:26 Y:26).
Low Cost
High Attack Rating
Maximum Speed
Low Cost Buff which increases the Attack Rating of all Minions in a wide area, doubly so if it’s a Critter
High HP
Naughty Nanka
Rare drop from the Level 50 Dungeon Hullbreaker Isle, also purchasable on the Market Board.
Low Cost
High HP
Low Cost Special Attack which Buffs all Minions in a wide area
Strong against two Types of Structures
Relatively average Attack, Defense, and Speed Rating
These are just a few key Minions which are easy to acquire. They’ll set the foundation for a strong team, and can be used to easily clear every Verminion Challenge.
Keep your eye out for Minions with similar stats to these. With that in mind, you’ll be winning your way towards the Penguin Prince in no time.
Judah has been going hard at RPGs for nearing 25 years. From the honest days of the Sega Genesis to the current generation, their lust for experience points is all-consuming. They've been battling the forces of evil in both Vana'diel and Eorzea ceaselessly since those worlds were created, making them an expert on all things Final Fantasy XI & XIV. When not taking long walks on the beaches of Costa del Sol, a real one works just fine. Also loves dogs.
