Guide and Overview to The Bozjan Southern Front in FFXIV

The Bozjan Southern Front ('BSF') is the first area of Bozja released in patch 5.35. It is the first of three areas for the Shadowbringers Resistance Relic Weapons, and goes from Resistance Rank 1 to Rank 15, though the story in the area concludes at Rank 10.

The Bozjan Southern Front is a war-torn battlefield to the north of the site of the former Bozjan Citadel, now nothing more than a vast crater. Many of the enemies found here are either Warmachina brought in by the 4th Legion, or native fauna that have been warped and twisted by the violent aether left over after the Bozja Incident over 15 years ago. Alermuc Fortress, now taken by the 4th Legion and renamed to Castrum Lacus Litore, stands high overlooking the battlefield from the north.

Upon starting the quest Where Eagles Nest and arriving for the first time, the player will find themselves in Utya's Aegis at the southwestern corner of the map. After talking to Bajsaljen, players will be directed to talk to multiple NPCs around the camp before being sent out into the field for the first time to defeat two 4th Legion Slashers and two 4th Legion Nimrods. As these enemies are Tier I and Tier II respectively, they should pose little danger to players. The closest ones are located to the east and slightly north of the exit of the base camp. Follow the trench east until you reach a wooden bridge, and head north from there.

After completing this quest, players must next obtain a Forgotten Fragment from an enemy. The safest way to do this is to defeat the Bozjan Nepenthes enemies that can be found immediately outside the base camp, as they have a 20% chance to drop a Forgotten Fragment of Skill.

As mentioned in the main Bozja page, the best way to level up is to participate in Skirmishes and Critical Engagements as they spawn. Once you have accrued enough Mettle to rank up, do so immediately in order to increase further Mettle gains from all sources. If a Duel appears, make sure you are nearby when it is completed in order to obtain a buff that doubles your Mettle gain for one hour.

Additionally, there are three aetherytes available in this area: Olana's Stand, Lunya's Stand, and Camp Steva. All of these require the player to reach a certain Resistance Rank and progress the story in order to access them.

In the Bozjan Southern Front, there are two relic steps available to progress, the Augmented Resistance step, and the Recollection step. Both of these can be progressed simultaneously, assuming players have a relic weapon currently on the appropriate step with the relevant upgrade quest accepted.

Both of these steps can be progressed by participating in Skirmishes and Critical Engagements across the map, but can also be progressed by farming 4th Legion mobs. Events and mobs in the first zone of BSF, the Southern Entrenchment, can drop a Tortured Memory of the Dying, while those in the second zone Old Bozja can drop a Sorrowful Memory of the Dying. Those in the third zone, The Alermuc Climb, can drop a Harrowing Memory of the Dying. 20 of each of these items are needed in order to complete the Augmented Resistance step. For the Recollection step, all events and 4th Legion mobs in all areas can drop a Bitter Memory of the Dying, of which just 6 are needed to complete this step.

Both of these steps can also be completed outside of the instance, with the Augmented Resistance step materials being available at a 100% drop rate from Heavensward area FATEs, and the Recollection step material being available at a 100% drop rate from Level 60 dungeons.

The story in BSF will continue as your Resistance Rank increases, up to Rank 10. Unlike in Eureka, these quests appear in the Journal and any objectives are clearly marked on the map.

Once you have progressed the story far enough, you will unlock Castrum Lacus Litore. This is a special dungeon for up to 48 players that has the same 60 minute cooldown as Critical Engagements, but unlike them, this cooldown can be shortened by completing Skirmishes and CEs in the area between pops. This duty must be completed in order to progress the story, and as such is not overly challenging. While it was made with 48 player groups in mind, the HP of enemies decreases with fewer players in the duty down to a minimum at 24 players. If there are less than 24 players, all participants will recieve the Echo buff in order to keep the scales balanced.

There are a total of 12 Critical Engagements in BSF, four in each of the three areas, plus one duel in each area for a total of 15. One CE in each area also leads to a duel. All CEs have a 60 minute cooldown before they can be spawned again. All CEs are spawned by killing multiple of a specific 4th Legion mobs in their respective area. Some CEs require Skirmishes to be killed before spawning, and Duels are spawned by completing a previously spawned CE.

Critical Engagement	Boss	Zone	Spawn Mob	Notes	Special Rewards
The Shadow of Death's Hand	Akbaba	Z-1	4th Legion Roader (III)	None	Field Notes 03
The Baying of the Hound(s)	Canus Dirus	Z-1	4th Legion Death Claw (III)	None	None
Kill it with Fire	Peerifool	Z-1	4th Legion Nimrod (II)	This CE is spawned by completing the Skirmish 'All Pets Are Off'.	Field Notes 13 and Garlean Synthetic Fabric. The Skirmish 'All Pets Are Off' can reward Field Notes 02.
Vigil for the Lost	Vigilia	Z-1	4th Legion Slasher (I)	This CE is spawned by completing the Skirmish 'More Machine Now than Man'.	The Skirmish 'More Machine Now than Man' can reward Field Notes 01.
Aces High (Duel)	Gabriel	Z-1	4th Legion Slasher (I)	This Duel is spawned by completing the CE 'Vigil for the Lost'.	Field Notes 12 and the Missing an Angel achievement. Double Mettle buff for 60 minutes to all nearby players upon completion.
The Final Furlong	Spartoi	Z-2	4th Legion Avenger (II)	This CE is spawned by completing the Skirmish 'Unicorn Flakes'.	Field Notes 09. The Skirmish 'Unicorn Flakes' can reward Field Notes 13.
The Fires of War	Pyrobolus Mater	Z-2	4th Legion Gunship (III)	This CE has a Hard Enrage.	None
Patriot Games	Patriot	Z-2	4th Legion Gunship (III)	This CE is spawned by completing the CE 'The Fires of War'.	None
The Hunt for Red Choctober	Red Comet	Z-2	4th Legion Vanguard (I)	This CE is spawned by completing the Skirmish 'Red (Chocobo) Alert'.	None
Beast of Man (Duel)	Lyon the Beast King	Z-2	4th Legion Vanguard (I)	This Duel is spawned by completing the CE 'The Hunt for Red Choctober'.	Field Notes 17 and the Lyon's Share achievement. Double Mettle buff for 60 minutes to all nearby players upon completion.
Rise of the Robots	Mark XIII-X Magitek Laborer	Z-3	4th Legion Hexadrone (I)	This CE is spawned by completing the Skirmish 'I'm a Mechanical Man'.	Field Notes 15.
Trampled under Hoof	Eale	Z-3	4th Legion Armoured Weapon (III)	None	None
Where Strode the Behemoth	Chlevnik	Z-3	4th Legion Armoured Weapon (III)	This CE is spawned by completing the CE 'Trampled under Hoof'.	None
Metal Fox Chaos	Dainsleif	Z-3	4th Legion Scorpion (II)	This CE is spawned by completing the Skirmishes 'For Absent Friends' and 'Of Steel and Flame'.	The Skirmish 'For Absent Friends' can reward Field Notes 12, and 'Of Steel and Flame' can reward Field Notes 14.
And The Flames Went Higher (Duel)	Sartauvoir the Inferno	Z-3	4th Legion Scorpion (II)	This Duel is spawned by completing the CE 'Metal Fox Chaos'.	Field Notes 14 and the Burn Baby Burn achievement. Double Mettle buff for 60 minutes to all nearby players upon completion.
The Battle for Castrum Lacus Litore	???	Area-wide (Rank 10 + Story Progression Required)	Spawns Automatically	Has a base CD of 60 minutes after completion, which can be decreased by completing other CEs.	Field Notes 16 and 17, Magitek Helldiver F1 and Garlean Synthetic Fabric.

Content in BSF rewards players with Southern Front Lockboxes upon defeat. These lockboxes can be opened by speaking to the Resistance Lockpick NPC in the base camp or in Gangos. Standout rewards from these lockboxes include the Gabriel α Identification Key, the Helldiver SD, the Dainsleif SD, the Dainsleif F1, the Wind on the Plains Orchestrion Roll, and the Classy Checkered Parasol.

Additionally, Bozjan Clusters have a chance of dropping from 4th Legion mobs. These can be used to purchase various items such as Forgotten Fragments, Riding Maps to increase Mount Speed in the zones, the Blood on the Wind Orchestrion Roll, the Ballroom Etiquette - Pointed Misgivings and Ballroom Etiquette - Dark Entreaty emotes, the Modern Aesthetics - Wind Caller hairstyle, and the Construct 14 Identification Key. Many of these items sell for between 500,000 and 2 million gil depending on world server.

The most efficient way to farm Bozjan Clusters is to have a full party of eight players spread out across the three zones of BSF, with a tank grouping up 4th Legion mobs and taking them back to 1-2 waiting players who will help the tank kill them quickly using various Lost Actions. By doing this, the drop chance of each individual mob will trigger for all eight players despite only 2-3 players being in combat with that specific mob, allowing a coordinated party to farm several hundred clusters in an hour.

This is also the most efficient way to farm Memories of the Dying for the Augmented Resistance and Recollection Relic steps mentioned earlier, as 4th Legion mobs will sometimes drop these items. This allows players farming relics in the zone to progress their weapon alongside earning cluster-bought rewards.