The Fractal Continuum is a level 60 dungeon that players can unlock in Final Fantasy XIV’s Heavensward expansion. It doesn’t unlock during the course of the main scenario, so you’ll need to seek it out as a sidequest.
More specifically, here’s what you’ll need to unlock it:
At least level 60 on a combat job
Completed the Heavensward MSQ
Start the quest “Do It For Gilly”
Note that the dungeon only becomes available after the completion of the main Heavensward storyline, as it was added to the game in patch 3.0. As such, it might have fallen into the “endgame” category of content at the time, although it won’t pose too much of a challenge now.
Note: minor spoilers for Heavensward follow!
The Fractal Continuum sees players venturing once more into the Aetherochemical Research Facility in Azys Lla.
The fantastical city in the sky is one of Heavensward’s most memorable zones, and players may well remember Gilly, a helpful guidance node who showed you around in your first time here.
Our old friend Wedge wants to bring Gilly back to life, and you’ll have to venture into the Fractal Continuum dungeon to do that.
How Do I Unlock The Fractal Continuum?
Like most dungeon-unlocking side quests, it’s a relatively simple affair.
Obviously you must be level 60 on a combat job, and you must have completed the Heavensward main scenario.
Once you’ve met those requirements, you’ll be able to pick up the quest “Do It For Gilly” from an NPC called Notrelchamps in Ishgard’s The Pillars (x:14.6, y:12.2).
It houses a bunch of old technologies – most of which will want to kill you.
Bear in mind that at this point, the dungeon is quite a few years old, and if you’re rocking a character in the 80s you can probably clear it by yourself. Useful to know if you’re just collecting minions!
Once you’ve cleared The Fractal Continuum, you can hand the quest in to Wedge, who will reconstruct Gilly’s body and hand it over to you as a minion.
How Do I Unlock The Fractal Continuum (Hard)?
Now, The Fractal Continuum’s harder difficulty is a bit of a different story.
This won’t actually become available until you’ve reached level 70 and cleared the Stormblood main scenario quests.
Bear in mind that XIV’s harder dungeons don’t simply crank up the difficulty of the enemies within.
They’re often complete reimaginings of the instance.
As such, The Fractal Continuum (Hard) offers you a whole new host of bosses to overcome, at a level appropriate for players who’ve conquered Stormblood.
Once you’ve completed the Stormblood main scenario at level 70, you’ll be able to acquire the quest “An Unwanted Truth” from Philiot in Rhalgr’s Reach (x:13.2, y:12.2).
From there, just follow the quest until you unlock the dungeon!
Unfortunately, we don’t get another minion just for showing up this time. But there may be some half decent loot on the table if you’re completing it right after Stormblood.
