Final Fantasy XIV The Volcanic Heart – Crystalline Conflict

A guide on how to play in the Volcanic Heart Map of the Crystalline Conflict game mode in Final Fantasy XIV.

By Dave Acuñaon
Final Fantasy XIV Crystalline Conflict The Volcanic Heart cover

The FFXIV Volcanic Heart is the newest of the playable maps in Final Fantasy XIV’s Crystalline Conflict mode. The Volcanic Heart map brings a different kind of challenge thanks to both of its dynamic and static obstacles. Anyone who would like to dominate and thrive in this map should definitely learn how to use the lay of the land and its obstacles to their advantage.

In this guide, we will talk more about the Volcanic Heart map, its layout, its obstacles, and what are the things to pay attention to in order to win matches in this map.

How to Play Crystalline Conflict in the Volcanic Heart Map in FFXIV

In your Duty Finder, you can check if the current Crystalline Conflict matches are being hosted on a specific map, in this case, the Volcanic Heart map. Under Regular Duty > Crystalline Conflict, you can choose to play a casual or a ranked match. Selecting any of these will show you the details of the match, as well as the current and next arena of where the matches will be played.

Currently, there are only three maps and they rotate every 90 minutes, so if you want to play specifically on the Volcanic Map, simply check your Duty Finder and see if it is set as the current map. Otherwise, you will have to wait until the maps get rotated.

FFXIV: The Volcanic Heart Map Layout

The Volcanic Heart map can be summarized as a long angled loop map with player goals at the the farthest ends, and running across this loop is the lane that the tactical crystal moves on. It is essentially a 3-lane map, except that the crystal’s lane is intertwined with the other two.

The crystal lane has three checkpoints, with the middle one as the crystal’s starting point, and at its ends are the teams’ goals. The crystal lane is also slightly elevated than the other lanes of the map. In the middle part of the map is the T-shaped sprint zone which allows quick access to any of the middle checkpoints.

Players will also find Medicine Kits in certain parts of the map that will heal 30,000 HP upon pickup.

FFXIV The Volcanic Heart Map

FFXIV: The Volcanic Heart Map Obstacles

The FFXIV Volcanic Heart Map has two obstacles worth noting that will shake up the Crystalline Conflict gameplay. These are the square pillars that line up the crystal’s lane and the map’s arena event called Eruption.

Square Pillars

The square pillars are the static obstacles of the Volcanic Heart map. Though they are present in every lane, including the map’s playable edges, the ones that pose as the game-affecting obstacles are the ones that are in the middle of the map lining up both sides of the crystal’s lane.

These pillars can be used defensively against opponents who have attacks that rely on line of sight just by hiding behind one. On the other hand, because of the same reason, players who rely on line of sight attacks such as casters will have a hard time hitting an opponent around these pillars.

Simply put, these pillars can serve as cover or hindrance depending on your situation, so you should know how to work your way around these obstacles.

Eruption

During a match, the volcano will erupt, sending out Bombs on different parts of the map. Players will see these Bombs slowly touch the ground and their explosion range can also be seen to span as far as 4 blocks of map space in a cross pattern, similar to the explosion pattern seen in Bomberman games.

Once it self-destructs, players who get caught in its explosion will take a huge amount of damage, so make sure that you stay away from its explosion range, or pop your Guard skill. These Bombs can also be used offensively by stunning or binding opponents if they are in the explosion range.

After the Bomb explodes, it will leave its core on the ground which can be picked up to gain the Hardcore buff. This is a stackable buff (up to 10 times) that will give the bearer increased attack damage which can be useful to perform a counterattack when being chased. Another benefit of picking up a buff is it also increases the Limit Break gauge, so be sure to pick one up for your own use, or just even to deny your opponent from the buff.

FFXIV The Volcanic Heart Map

FFXIV The Volcanic Heart Map Tips

  • Casters and other ranged players will definitely have a hard time playing around the pillars, so either use this to your advantage defensively, or have someone initiate the attack for you to expose them and flush them out from behind a pillar. Do not attempt to initiate the attack if you feel like your opponent is better at playing the pillars than you as you will have a hard time retaliating and hitting your attacks.
  • Remember that the core buffs stack so try to get these as much as possible in order to deny your opponents and buff yourself in the process.
  • Try to stay away from the edges of the map to avoid getting stuck if ever a Bomb will hit your spot.
  • Always remember to activate your sprint after every time you have to perform an attack. The Sprint skill has no duration or cooldown in this game mode and it only stops when deactivated or when you perform other actions.

If you like this Guide, be sure to check out our other Final Fantasy XIV articles here:

Check out this video by Mrhappy1227 talking about some tips and tricks on how to play Crystalline Conflict:

Image credits to Square Enix