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With over20 million registered accountsand a decade of server uptime,Final Fantasy 14is a long-running genre powerhouse that relies on its many adorable side quests to keep players engaged between updates. Such sidestories are the bread and butter of RPGs, and The Greatest Story Never Told is unique among them.
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The series of five puzzles that must be solved in this sidequest are rather obscure, and many fans have struggled with the lack of guidance provided. This guide will help with that, demonstrating how the quest is unlocked and how to tackle the quintet of riddles that make it up. There’s a lot of traveling involved, too (though nodifficult fights like Final Fantasy 16’s Atlas, The Breaker of Worlds), but now there’ll be no guesswork in it for you.
How To Unlock The Quest
The Greatest Story Never Told is unlocked after completing the main scenario quest The Ultimate Weapon.To pick up the quest, speak with Valiant Hart (x18.3, y17.5) in Western Thanalan. After doing so, you’ll embark on the first of five riddles. Here are the details of each one in turn.
Winebaud’s riddles in The Story Never Told are randomly generated using a preset series of rules. This means that while your in-game text may look slightly different, the formula for solving it is the same.Additionally, quest clues will not appear in your journal, although you’re able to examine POIs as often as you want.It may be helpful to write down all pertinent information.
This is the first puzzle of the quest. Valiant Hart will tell you he’s found a message written on the statue next to him by Winebaud, a legendary explorer. This message supposedly leads to the treasure of Lalafuto III.After speaking to Valiant Hart, a POI will appear on the statue labeled Winebaud’s Message. Here are the steps to take to solve this riddle:
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The statue will now have one of three new riddles on it.
Memenugu Knows The Steps
This riddle is accompanied by more scrambled letters. To learn the correct order, speak to Memenugu (x21, y25) in Central Thanalan.
He will tell you about his experience with Winebaud, which should include the phrase,“two steps forward, one step back. Over and over again, until the end.”
The actual numbers may change, owing to the random nature of the quest generation, so make sure to read the dialogue carefully.
The unscrambled text will lead the player to one of three locations:
Jahelle Knows Her Sums
This riddle is a string of numbers. To learn the method of unscrambling, speak with Jahelle (x21, y26) in The North Shroud.
She will tell you about her experience with Winebaud, which should include the phrase"I learned the letters of mathematics, but alas, not the grammar.“This hints that the player will need to substitute the numbers for a corresponding letter (1 = A, 2 = B, etc.).
One of these three locations is the correct destination:
Isouda Knows The Truth
This option will include a sentence of scrambled words. To solve it, talk to Isouda (x20, y38) in Lower La Noscea.
She will recall often arguing with Winebaud, claiming that he told her"The opposite of nonsense is sense.” The hint here is that you’ll need to reverse the order of the sentence before attempting to unscramble each word.
Again, the solution will take you to one of these places:
The third riddle will once again appear on the statue (it’s all very reminiscent ofFinal Fantasy 16’s Carved In Stone sidequest), which will have mixed-up text bearing this message: “the members of the Marauders' Guild understand the importance of etiquette.”
HylLfyr’s cUtthroAts and briGands
The Astalicia (Limsa Lominsa)
All foR fen-YLL
The Leatherworker’s Guild (Gridania)
rope ANd wooD aCross thE gully
Wineport (Eastern La Noscea)
cOncealed belah’dian maJestY
The Invisible City (Eastern Thanalan)
Under tRanqUilIty’s FoOtpathS
Camp Tranquil (South Shroud)
PulPy, NuTritiOus, And decIDedly DElicious cItruS
Summerford Farms (Middle La Noscea)
red ligHt amidst the blUe Haze
On the Castle Wall (Northern Thanalan)
CherIsh the sPinniNg wAter lullaby
Watermill (North Shroud)
sappHires and peaRls, fortUnes Great and Small
Pearl Lane and Saphire Exchange (Ul’dah)
The next clue reads,“if SWORD+SWORD=DAGGER, then return to me with X of X.The master of the markets has my list.“The Xs here represent two letters that are chosen randomly: make note of these.
To begin the final riddle, Valiant Hart will read you all the lines of poetry from the previous riddles together. The completed poem is as follows:
Clandestine rendezvous leave me breathless and wanting.
Obsession consumes me, a thirst for the taboo.
Perchance we meet in public, be not a beguiler.
Ply me not with honeyed words, and spare me glances alluring.
Ere long this torment must end; together we must be.
Renounce it all I would, but we must be more discreet.
The first letter of each sentence spells Copper while the last letter of each sentence spells Gorget.What you’ll have to do, then, isequip the Copper Gorget, then examine the ??? POI next to Valiant Hart.Finally, the quest is complete.
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Quest Rewards
Unlike manyother popular MMOs, you aren’t showered in money or rare loot for difficult side quests in Final Fantasy 14.The reward for this quest is ostensibly a book of poetry that Lalafuto III wrote for a lover.However, the player doesn’t get to keep this. Instead, you will receive 10 gil, the achievement The Rest of the Story, and the joy of a job well done.
There are some tricky quests in the series (some are even missable), so it’s a relief to complete them nonetheless.
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