New Hunting Grounds: The Timeworn Elpis Map

Final Fantasy XIV’s Patch 7.4, Into the Mist, introduces the latest addition to the community’s favorite casual money-making activity: the Timeworn Elpis Treasure Map. These new maps, found through gathering or purchased on the market board, lead to caches located throughout the beautiful, ancient zone of Elpis.

The new maps drop materials necessary for crafting the highest Item Level gear in the current expansion cycle. Successfully digging up the treasure box initiates a mandatory monster encounter. Defeating these monsters provides lucrative Gil, Tomestones, and, crucially, a chance for a portal to open, leading to the new Treasure Dungeon.

This new Treasure Dungeon, currently unnamed but referred to by the community as the “Elpis Hoard,” features multiple randomized floors with high-risk, high-reward mechanics. Players move through chambers, rolling dice for chances at bonus rewards, including exclusive minions, glamour items, and the most valuable component: rare crafting materials needed for the latest raid gear.

Community Focus: The Crafter Economy and Glamour Chase

The community’s response to the new Treasure Maps is intensely focused on the economic implications and the specific cosmetic rewards.

  • Crafters Rejoice: The introduction of the new maps immediately invigorated the market for high-level crafting. The Elpis Hoard drops exclusive, tradeable materials that are essential for producing the new high Item Level raid gear (iLvl 690+). Crafters are willing to pay top Gil for these rare drops, creating a symbiotic relationship between combat players running the maps and crafters needing the components. Players celebrated the addition of a new, reliable source of Gil outside of the routine daily quests.
  • The Minion and Mount Grind: The other significant driver is the inclusion of new, exclusive cosmetic rewards. The Elpis Hoard is known to contain a highly sought-after new flying mount and several unique minions. This motivates both casual and hardcore players to run the maps, ensuring the queue for the instance remains active and stable throughout the patch cycle.

Implications for Casual and Endgame Players

The Timeworn Elpis Maps are strategically important as a casual endgame bridge.

For players not interested in the high stress of Savage raiding, running these maps offers a highly profitable activity that indirectly supports the raiders by providing the necessary crafting components. It ensures that every player type has a meaningful way to contribute to the patch economy.

For raiders, the maps offer a low-stakes activity to generate Gil for consumables (potions, food) needed for the Savage progression, making them a necessary break from the intense damage checks of the Arcadion raid. The new Treasure Dungeon solidifies the fact that Treasure Hunts remain a crucial, lucrative, and highly popular piece of FFXIV’s recurring content cycle.