After "almost 2 years" and "over 800 hours," this Final Fantasy 14 legend has finally completed one of the hardest solo MMO challenges out there

Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail launch trailer screenshot showing the Warrior of Light, a man with tied-back brown hair and a sword, standing against a blue backdrop with clouds
(Image credit: Square Enix)

One mastermind Final Fantasy 14 player has just accomplished the seemingly impossible, and has managed to overcome The Palace of the Dead as a measly Conjurer - entirely solo.

Although the recent release of Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail is still fresh on fans' minds, many players are still engaging with some of the MMO's older content. Aurora, a content creator and solo deep dungeon clearer extraordinaire, is doing so himself - and his impressive Palace of the Dead climb proves as much. Not only did he finally emerge victorious from the 200th floor of the notoriously difficult, ever-changing dungeon, but Aurora did it in one of the most mind-boggling ways - alone, as a Conjurer.

"I spent almost two years of my life daily climbing Conjurer solo in PotD," he writes in a post celebrating his clear. "I've lost over 800 hours to this. I've canceled so much to make these streams happen. July 14, 2024. 62nd attempt." Aurora's 800-hour feat is all the more wild considering how he doesn't have the White Mage job crystal for any area-of-effect, healing, or regen abilities - it's like playing a healer class with all of the weaknesses and none of its strengths. Square Enix, please get this guy a title - "The Necromancer" isn't sufficient.

This isn't Aurora's first successful solo challenge run, either - although it is the hardest one he's completed. As he explains in his recent monumental Palace of the Dead stream, it took him just one attempt to clear Heaven-on-High, Stormblood's own Palace of the Dead-esque instance. The same can be said for Eureka Orthos, a deep dungeon introduced following the Endwalker expansion. In contrast, Aurora describes how "it took me 62 attempts to clear this" upon finishing floor 200 of Palace of the Dead.

Fellow Final Fantasy 14 solo challenge runners are taking note of his accomplishment, too. Angelus Demonus, a player also known for deep dungeon clears, says Aurora's "dedication to his craft is unrivaled" while congratulating him for succeeding in "one of the hardest MMO solo challenges out there." Meanwhile, I haven't even attempted to snag "The Necromancer" title once in my almost seven years of playing - let alone as Conjurer. I'll just leave the pros like Aurora to it.

Check out our Dawntrail review for more Final Fantasy 14 content.

Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.