How to complete Smileton dungeon in FFXIV Endwalker: All encounters, bosses, & how to start

Master FFXIV Endwalker’s Smileton dungeon with comprehensive strategies, boss breakdowns, and actionable survival tactics.

FFXIV Endwalker: How To Unlock Smileton Dungeon

This definitive guide provides a complete tactical breakdown of every boss and encounter within FFXIV Endwalker’s unsettling Smileton dungeon, arming you with the knowledge to conquer its challenges.

If the mechanized horrors of FFXIV Endwalker’s Smileton dungeon have you struggling, this detailed walkthrough will guide you from unlocking its gates to defeating its final boss, covering every critical mechanic along the way.

Final Fantasy XIV’s Endwalker expansion culminates the Warrior of Light’s saga, journeying through temporal anomalies, averting global catastrophe, and clashing with god-like adversaries. Following the resolution of the Final Days, a new duty arises from an unexpected source.

A distressed Loporrit named Buildingway requires assistance with a perilous assignment at the heart of the moon, leading you to “Smileton.” This facility houses a deceptively cheerful yet deadly creation, awaiting a team capable of passing its ruthless tests.

Unlocking Smileton: Prerequisites and Quest Details

Gaining access to Smileton is gated behind a specific Main Scenario Quest that becomes available after completing the Endwalker 6.0 storyline.

  • Quest Giver: Panic-stricken Loporrit (Buildingway)
  • Quest Name: A Frightful Endeavor
  • Location: Old Sharlayan (11.8, 11.4)
  • Pro Tip: Ensure your average item level (iLvl) is at least 560 before queuing. While the dungeon’s minimum requirement is lower, a higher iLvl significantly smooths out the damage intake and healing checks, especially for learning groups.

    Smileton Dungeon: Layout and Core Objectives

    When you first zone into the ominous Smileport, your party will be tasked with three primary objectives that structure your progression:

  • Arrive at the Welcome Wheel
  • Clear the Welcome Wheel
  • Defeat the Big Cheese
  • The dungeon is segmented into three linear areas: the initial “Smileport,” the central “Welcome Wheel,” and the final production zone, “The Frame.” Each section is populated with packs of standard enemies that must be cleared, culminating in a unique boss fight at the end of each zone.

    Critical Mechanic Warning: A key rule governs all of Smileton: failing any avoidable mechanic will inflict the failing player with a two-minute stacking Vulnerability Up debuff. Each stack dramatically increases damage taken. Multiple stacks can lead to being one-shot by subsequent mechanics, so precision is paramount.

    Smileton Boss #1: Face – Strategy and Ability Guide

    Upon clearing the Smileport, you will confront Face. This boss tests your coordination and positional awareness with the following abilities:

  • Lines of Fire: Face tethers to colored statues outside the arena, creating deadly line AoEs. Players must align with a statue to avoid instant death. Successfully dodging grants a colored debuff (Blue or Red). The key is to alternate colors for each subsequent Lines of Fire. Receiving two stacks of the same color deals heavy damage, and three stacks is fatal. Call out your color to help the party organize.
  • Off My Lawn: A knockback combined with player-targeted AoE circles. Spread out before the knockback to avoid overlapping damage and potentially knocking each other into hazards.
  • Temper’s Flare: A standard raid-wide AoE. Requires mitigation and healing.
  • Upside Down: Causes all external statues to flip, swapping their colors. This usually precedes another Lines of Fire, so be prepared to adjust your position based on the new color configuration.
  • Heart On Fire IV: A tankbuster targeting the main tank. Must be taken alone with appropriate defensive cooldowns (e.g., Rampart, Nebula, Heart of Stone). Other players must steer clear to avoid lethal splash damage.
  • Common Mistake: Players often panic and run through the center during Lines of Fire, which is certain death. Always move directly to the safe lane indicated by your chosen statue. Healers should prioritize topping up players who might have taken a debuff stack.

    Smileton Boss #2: Frameworker – Tactical Breakdown

    After navigating the Welcome Wheel, you’ll face the Frameworker, a fight emphasizing movement and arena awareness.

  • Circular Saw: A raid-wide AoE requiring group mitigation and healing.
  • Leap Forward: The boss jumps forward, creating a large rectangular AoE in its path. Quickly move to the side or rear of the boss before it leaps to avoid the damage.
  • Print Workers: The boss summons two adds that will each perform a Leap Forward. Watch their facing direction and move perpendicular to their jump path.
  • Omnidimensional Onslaught: The boss fires conal AoEs in a sequence: first to the cardinal directions (N, S, E, W), then to the intercardinals (NE, SE, SW, NW). The safe spot is in the center after the cardinal AoEs resolve, before moving again to dodge the intercardinal waves.
  • Steel Beam: A hard-hitting tankbuster aimed at the main tank. Requires solo tank mitigation with cooldowns.
  • Optimization Tip: For Omnidimensional Onslaught, preposition near the center after the cardinal hits. Melee DPS can use their gap-closer (e.g., Shukuchi, Corps-a-Corps) to return to the boss quickly after moving to the safe spot, maximizing uptime. Tanks should be ready to re-establish aggro after the boss becomes targetable again.

    Final Boss: The Big Cheese (Smilemaker) – Comprehensive Guide

    The climax of Smileton is the battle against The Big Cheese, a complex fight featuring environmental manipulation and coordinated movement.

  • Explosives Distribution: The boss spawns two tanks on conveyor belts outside the arena. Arrows on the belts indicate their travel distance (one arrow = short move, two arrows = long move). Players must identify the safe quadrant not covered by the tanks’ final positions and move there before they explode.
  • Piercing Missile: A tankbuster targeting the main tank. Mitigate and handle alone.
  • Dispense Explosives: The boss places two proximity mines in separate arena quadrants. These have a large activation radius. Give them a wide berth and do not stand near them.
  • Explosive Power: Detonates any bombs currently in the arena from Dispense Explosives. Ensure you are far from all bomb markers when this is cast.
  • Right Disassembler / Left Disassembler: The boss cleaves the entire right or left half of the arena. Swiftly move to the opposite side as soon as the cast name appears.
  • Electric Arc: A stack marker appears on one player. All party members must group tightly on that player to split the damage.
  • Levelling Missile: Targets every party member with a circular AoE. Spread out to avoid overlapping and excessive damage.
  • Violent Discharge: A heavy raid-wide AoE. Requires significant mitigation and pre-healing.
  • Advanced Strategy: For Explosives Distribution, assign party members to watch specific conveyor belts and call out safe spots. Often, the safe zone is diagonally opposite the combined final positions of the two tanks. Practice recognizing the arrow patterns quickly to minimize movement time.

    Conclusion and Further Adventures in Eorzea

    This tactical guide was compiled by a veteran FFXIV raid leader and content creator.

    Armed with this knowledge, you are now prepared to deactivate Smileton and defeat The Big Cheese in FFXIV Endwalker.

    Your journey as the Warrior of Light continues. For more guides to master the challenges of Eorzea, explore our comprehensive resources:

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