Unlocking Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) in Final Fantasy XIV is a true rite of passage for high-end raiders. Commonly abbreviated as DSR, this epic encounter is one of FFXIV’s Ultimate Raids – the pinnacle of endgame content designed to test even the most seasoned players. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to unlock DSR Ultimate, step by step. We’ll cover the requirements, the unlocking process, and preparation tips including gear, roles, and community-driven advice to help you tackle this challenge with confidence. Let’s dive in and get you ready for one of FFXIV’s toughest battles!

Introduction – What is Dragonsong’s Reprise?

Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) is a level 90 raid introduced in patch 6.11 of the Endwalker expansion​. It’s an Ultimate-difficulty raid, meaning it’s part of the hardest tier of raids in FFXIV’s endgame content. Ultimates are notorious for their complexity and difficulty, as they remix and ramp up battles from the game’s story into brutally challenging encounters for 8 players​. In DSR, players revisit the Dragonsong War storyline from the Heavensward expansion with a special “what if” twist on events​. This makes the raid not only a gameplay challenge but also a thrilling lore experience, as you’ll witness an alternate conclusion to the Dragonsong War.

Why tackle DSR?

For many, it’s about the prestige and the thrill of high-end raiding. Dragonsong’s Reprise is widely regarded as one of the most difficult fights in FFXIV to date – even the developers noted it was the hardest duty they had created at the time of release​. Players who conquer it earn bragging rights, a unique title (“The Heavens’ Legend” for clearing DSR​), and the coveted Ultimate Weapons of the Heavens – some of the flashiest weapon skins in the game. It’s the ultimate test of teamwork, skill, and perseverance.

If you’re ready to take on this challenge, you first need to unlock the duty. Below, we’ll outline the requirements you must meet and provide a step-by-step guide to unlocking Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate).

Requirements to Unlock DSR Ultimate

Before you can access Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate), you’ll need to meet some strict requirements. These ensure that only players who have proven themselves in prior endgame content can enter this ultimate raid. Here’s what you need to have accomplished:

• Complete Asphodelos: The Fourth Circle (Savage) – You must have cleared the final encounter of Pandaemonium Asphodelos (Savage) tier, commonly called P4S​. This is a prerequisite for every party member. Dragonsong’s Reprise was released after the Asphodelos raid tier, so the game expects you to have beaten that high-end raid first. (If you haven’t done this yet, you’ll need to form a group and clear P4S (Savage) before proceeding – there’s no way around it.)

• Level 90 Disciple of War or Magic – Your character must be level 90 on a combat job (which is the level cap for Endwalker). This is a given if you’ve done Savage raids, but it’s worth noting.

• Access to Old Sharlayan – You’ll need to speak to an NPC in Old Sharlayan to unlock DSR. Old Sharlayan is a city hub introduced in Endwalker, so you should have access to it via the Main Scenario Quest progression.

• Eight-Player Pre-made Party – Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) can only be accessed via the Raid Finder with a full party of 8 players who meet the above requirements​. You cannot use the Duty Finder matchmaking for this; you must assemble a group beforehand. All party members must have cleared P4S as well, or the Raid Finder won’t let you queue for DSR​.

• Stable Internet and Time – While not a game flag requirement, it’s highly recommended that you attempt DSR with a stable connection and plenty of time. The duty has a 120-minute time limit each attempt​ and progression can span many hours across days or weeks of practice. Make sure you’re prepared for a marathon.

For quick reference, the table below summarizes the key unlock requirements and conditions for DSR:

Note: The party composition rule above means you ideally want unique jobs in each role. Having more than one of the same job will disable passive Limit Break energy generation for your group​, which can be a significant disadvantage. (You can still play with duplicate jobs, but you’ll only get Limit Break from active generation like boss mechanics, making it harder to build LB3 in time for mechanics that might require it.)

Now that you know the requirements, let’s move on to actually unlocking the raid.

Step-by-Step Unlock Guide

Unlocking Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) is straightforward once prerequisites are met. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:

Step 1:

Clear P4S (Asphodelos: The Fourth Circle Savage) – This is the hardest prerequisite. You and your group must defeat Hesperos in P4S. If you haven’t, focus on this first. Clearing P4S not only flags the game to allow DSR unlock, but it also prepares you skill-wise – one Reddit user emphasized that “DSR is much more difficult than all content you’ve done so far. Maybe clear [the Weapon’s Refrain Ultimate] first to get a feeling on how Ultimates work.”In short, be ready for a step up in difficulty even from Savage raids.

Step 2:

Travel to Old Sharlayan – Head to Old Sharlayan, one of the main cities in Endwalker. If you’ve finished the Endwalker story or been raiding, you likely have this area unlocked and an Aetheryte attuned. The NPC we need is there.

Step 3:

Speak to the Wandering Minstrel (X:12.7, Y:14.2) – Locate the Wandering Minstrel in Old Sharlayan at coordinates X:12.7, Y:14.2 (near the Scholar’s Harbor area). This storytelling bard is the character who unlocks many extreme trials and ultimate fights in the game. Talk to him after clearing P4S, and he will recognize your achievement and muse about the Dragonsong War. This conversation unlocks the quest or event “Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate)” in your duty list​. (The unlock quest is sometimes referred to as “Talk about the Dragonsong War,” but essentially it’s just a brief dialogue.)

Step 4:

Form a Full Party of 8 – Ensure you have a full party of eight players ready. All of them must also have cleared P4S and spoken to the Wandering Minstrel to unlock DSR on their own client. DSR cannot be entered with fewer than 8 players, and you cannot use Duty Finder matchmaking – you must use Party Finder or your static group to assemble the team beforehand.

Step 5:

Queue via Raid Finder (Ultimate) – Open the Duty Finder and switch to the Raid Finder tab. Under the High-end Duty or Ultimate Raids category, you should now see “Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate)” available for selection. Have the party leader register for the duty. The game will verify that all party members meet the entry requirements. If anyone has not unlocked it or hasn’t cleared P4S, you’ll get an error and won’t be able to queue.

Step 6:

Enter the Raid – Once the party is registered, you can enter Dragonsong’s Reprise. There is no minimum item level restriction displayed (because the clear requirement acts as the gate), but remember the encounter will sync everyone’s gear to item level 605 max​. Inside, you’ll be given 120 minutes on the clock to attempt the multi-phase battle.

After these steps, congratulations – you have unlocked Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate)! It is now up to you and your teammates to take on the challenge. Next, we’ll cover how to prepare for success in this fight.

Preparing for Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate)

Unlocking the duty is just the beginning. Preparation is important before you charge into DSR. Ultimate raids are unforgiving, so you’ll want every advantage you can get. Below are preparation tips covering gear, roles, party setup, and consumables, as well as some best practices from the community.

Gear and Item Level Recommendations

Even though DSR will sync your item level to 605, you should still gear up as much as possible. Having the best gear ensures your stats are maximized under sync (since higher item level gear has better stat allocation even when scaled down)​. Here’s how to prepare gear-wise:

• Best-in-Slot (BiS) Gear: Ideally, equip your character with the BiS gear from the Asphodelos (Savage) tier or equivalent. When DSR was released, that meant mostly item level 600 armor and an item level 605 weapon (the rewards from P4S Savage or upgraded tomestone gear)​. If new raid tiers are out, those higher item level pieces will sync down but give you slightly optimized substats. For example, as of later patches, item level 725+ gear will still sync to 605 but carry max substats under the sync formula​. In short, stronger gear never hurts.

• Meld Materia for Stats: Fully meld your gear with appropriate materia. While the sync will cap your stats, melding ensures you hit that cap. Every point of DPS or healing matters in tight encounters.

• Consider Alternate Jobs: If you plan to flex roles (say you can play tank or DPS), make sure those jobs are equally geared. You never know if your group might need to adjust composition during progression.

• Echo (if available): Much later, if this content becomes old, the developers might add an echo buff or raise the sync. As of its introduction and current state, assume no echo – you need to rely purely on gear and skill.

Remember, gear is the foundation but player skill and strategy complete the picture. So let’s look at the team setup and roles next.

Best Job Roles & Party Composition

Party composition in an Ultimate raid can influence your success. In DSR, you must go in with 2 tanks, 2 healers, and 4 DPS (the game’s fixed full-party structure). Here are some tips on choosing jobs and roles:

• Unique Jobs for LB Gain: As noted earlier, try to bring 8 distinct jobs to avoid the limit break penalty​. This also naturally gives you the “Alliance bonus” of having multiple roles (which grants a small stat boost for each unique role in the party). For example, a balanced setup might be: 2 tanks (one main tank, one off-tank), 2 healers (one pure healer like White Mage and one barrier healer like Scholar or Sage), 2 melee DPS, 1 physical ranged DPS, and 1 magical ranged DPS.

• Include a “Rez Caster”: It’s highly recommended to include at least one Red Mage or Summoner in your DPS lineup. These two caster jobs have the ability to resurrect fallen party members in combat (with Red Mage being especially swift at raising). In an Ultimate, mistakes will happen while learning, and having a “rez caster” can save a pull from an early wipe​. Many groups consider the ideal comp to have one of these casters on board for safety.

• Melee and Ranged Balance: Melee DPS generally have high damage but need to stay close to bosses, while ranged (physical and magical) can handle certain mechanics from afar. A common recommendation from experienced raiders is “2 melee, 1 ranged physical, 1 ranged magical” for DPS​. This gives a good balance of damage and utility. For the ranged physical, Bard or Dancer are great choices because they provide team damage buffs. The magical could be the rez caster as mentioned (RDM/SMN) or even Black Mage if you’re confident. (Some groups will swap one melee out for a Black Mage if the BLM player is exceptionally skilled, since Black Mage can provide enormous damage but has no revive utility​.)

• Tanks: Any tank pair can work as long as they coordinate. Paladin and Dark Knight have strong invulnerabilities that can cheese certain mechanics; Warrior and Gunbreaker bring high damage. What matters most is each tank knowing when to use cooldowns and potentially swap aggro. Tank Limit Break 3 use is critical in DSR at a certain point – one famous mechanic involves using tank LB3 to save a key NPC in the fight. Make sure one tank is ready to LB at the right time (usually the main tank by agreement).

• Healers: A mix of healer types (regen vs. shield) is the norm. One healer handles shielding for big hits (e.g. Scholar or Sage for barriers) while the other does raw healing and regen (White Mage or Astrologian). This isn’t strictly required, but it makes healing smoother. Communication between healers is vital – decide who covers which raid-wide heals, and coordinate cooldowns like immunities or party shields. Some very skilled groups have even attempted single-healer runs of DSR for a challenge, but for your first clear, two healers is strongly advised!

Ultimately, play jobs you are most comfortable with. In an Ultimate raid, execution and knowing your job’s skills by muscle memory will carry you farther than trying to force a meta job you aren’t adept at. All jobs are viable for a clear as long as the team works together.

Food, Potions, and Other Consumables

In high-end raiding, every bit of stat boost helps, and DSR is tuned for players who use their consumables. Here’s how to prep your character’s buffs:

• Food Buff: Always have food buff on during pulls. Food provides a 3% stat bonus along with specific stat increases. For level 90 content, use the highest tier food available (HQ Grade 6 foods, for example). Choose a food that complements your job’s main stats (e.g. Strength food for tanks, Mind for healers, etc., and with crit/determinatio­n or other secondary stats your job uses). Popular raiding foods in Endwalker include Carrot Pudding, Pumpkin Potage, Thavnairian Chai, etc. – but check what fits your build. The 3% buff to all stats and extra HP can be the difference in survival or meeting damage requirements.

• Stat Potions (Tinctures): Battle potions (called tinctures in Endwalker) give a short burst to your main stat. For level 90, Grade 6 Tinctures (of Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Mind depending on role) are the go-to. These last 30 seconds and have a 4m30s cooldown. In Ultimate fights, you will use multiple potions due to the fight length. Coordinating potion use during opener and possibly right before the final phase can significantly increase your damage output. Make sure to stock up a good supply of these potions (and use them!). As of patch 7.0, the latest equivalent would be Grade 7, but when DSR was current, Grade 6 was the max​.

• Repair Materials and Kits: You’ll be dying and retrying a lot. Ensure your gear is repaired to 100% durability before starting a raid night. It’s wise to carry some Dark Matter or even a couple of gear repair kits from your Crafter friends to use between pulls, so you don’t have to leave the instance to mend your gear.

• Medkits (optional): Normal healing potions (like Hi-Elixirs or X-Potions of Vitality) typically aren’t used in raids because they’re on the same cooldown as stat potions (and much weaker than a healer’s spells). However, it can’t hurt to keep a few handy in case a healer goes down and you desperately need a small heal while Raise is being cast. This is a minor point, since good communication and healer LB3 (AoE resurrect) usually cover recovery situations.

With gear optimized and your character buffed up, the last preparation step is mental: be ready for a challenging journey. Next, we’ll talk about strategies and community-sourced tips for actually tackling DSR, since unlocking it is only the first hurdle!

Strategies and Community Tips

Clearing an Ultimate is as much about player mindset and strategy as it is about raw gear and party setup. Dragonsong’s Reprise has multiple phases (seven in total after the initial “door boss” phase)​, each with complex mechanics. Here are some strategies and tips gathered from the FFXIV community to help you during progression:

• Break the Fight into Phases: Don’t try to learn everything at once. Progression in DSR is typically done phase by phase. You will wipe hundreds of times, but each wipe teaches your group something. Focus on consistently executing Phase 1; once you clear it and reach the checkpoint, you won’t have to repeat that part on every pull. Then work on Phase 2, and so forth. Take it one phase at a time – this makes the mountain ahead feel more manageable.

• Consistency Over Speed: Ultimate fights demand consistency from the entire group. One player’s mistake can wipe the whole raid, so it’s better to have everyone survive with solid (even if slightly lower) DPS than to have someone greed for damage and die. As one player described it, “it needs extreme consistency from the entire group to get back to your prog point”​. Make sure everyone is comfortable with the mechanics and their role in them. Only then worry about squeezing extra damage.

• Use Voice Communication: Coordinating complex mechanics like Heavens’ Stake, Wrath of the Heavens, or adjusting on the fly when something goes wrong is so much easier with voice chat. If you’re in a static group, hop in a Discord call. Call out upcoming mechanics, cooldown uses, and any adjustments (“I’ll cover this tower, you take that tether,” etc.). Clear communication can save a pull from disaster and is especially helpful in later phases where multiple things happen at once​.

• Study Guides and Tools: Many community-made guides exist for DSR. Video guides, written guides, and even strategy “toolboxes” (visual diagrams for mechanics) are incredibly useful. Before tackling a new phase, consider watching a POV video or consulting a guide (the Balance Discord and r/ffxiv discussions are great resources). Knowing what’s coming can save your group hours of blind prog on a mechanic that others have already figured out. Just be sure to agree on a strategy with your group – there are often multiple ways to handle mechanics, especially in ultimates (for example, different ways to position for certain dragon dives or how to handle the tethered eyes in later phases). Pick one strat and have everyone stick to that plan.

• Team Composition Adjustments: If you’re pugging via Party Finder, you might need to adopt the common PF strategies. PF groups often specify if they’re using “JP strat” or “NA strat” for certain mechanics, or if they require specific job actions (like a Paladin using Cover on a certain hit, etc.). Read the party description carefully or ask. In a static, you have more freedom to devise your own strat that suits your group’s strengths.

• Learn from Mistakes (Post-Pull Discussions): In Ultimate raiding, it’s very useful to pause after a wipe and discuss what went wrong. Keep these brief and constructive. For example: “We died to the towers because one was unoccupied. Who was assigned there? Let’s adjust positions or timing.” Encourage a culture where identifying mistakes isn’t about blaming, but about problem-solving. Over time, you’ll refine your execution.

• Be Prepared for a Long Haul: Clearing DSR is not a matter of a few hours. Many static groups spent on the order of 100+ hours of practice before their first clear​. It’s common to take several weeks of regular raid nights to get it done. Don’t be discouraged by slow progress; every pull is teaching your team. Set realistic goals (e.g., “This week we aim to reach Phase 5 consistently”). Celebrate small milestones, like seeing a new phase or surviving a tricky mechanic for the first time.

• Physical and Mental Breaks: Progression can be intense. If frustration is building after many wipes, don’t hesitate to take a short break – stretch, drink water, clear your head. Sometimes a 5-minute breather or stopping for the night can work wonders. You might come back with fresh focus and nail the mechanic that was giving you trouble. Keeping a positive and patient mindset is crucial; ultimate fights can be emotionally draining, so support each other in the group.

• Community Encouragement: Remember that countless players have been in your shoes. Seek advice on forums or Reddit if needed – the FFXIV community is generally supportive and may offer tips if you’re stuck on a particular phase. Some players even suggest trying an earlier Ultimate (like The Unending Coil of Bahamut or The Weapon’s Refrain) first if DSR feels too overwhelming as your first ultimate​. Those older Ultimates are still hard, but a bit more forgiving and can teach you the kind of coordination and endurance these fights require.

By internalizing these tips and strategies, you’ll be well on your way to mastering Dragonsong’s Reprise. Progress may be slow, but every pull is progress. Keep at it, support your teammates, and don’t lose sight of the fun and excitement of overcoming such a monumental challenge.

Conclusion

Unlocking and conquering Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) is one of the most rewarding experiences in FFXIV’s endgame. From the moment you fulfill the requirements and speak to the Wandering Minstrel​, you embark on a journey that will test your skill, teamwork, and determination. Along the way, you’ll relive an epic story with a twist and eventually earn the title of Heavens’ Legend once you triumph​.

Remember, DSR is designed to be hard – possibly the hardest content in the game​. Don’t be discouraged by wipes or the time it takes to progress. Approach it step by step, lean on your friends and community for support, and celebrate the improvements you make day by day. Whether you’re doing it for the challenge, the camaraderie, or the legendary rewards, keep the experience enjoyable. The ultimate victory will be all the sweeter for the effort you put in.

Now that you know how to unlock Dragonsong’s Reprise (Ultimate) and prepare for it, gather your party, sharpen your skills, and dive in. The Dragonsong War awaits its alternate ending – and it’s up to you and your fellow Warriors of Light to create a legend of your own. Good luck, and may your resolve be unyielding as you take on this pinnacle of high-end raiding!