Full Active Time Event Full Active Time Events , more commonly known as FATEs , are a special kind of event that may occur at random while exploring the world in " Final Fantasy XIV " . Overview . FATEs are indicated on the map by a purple circle ; players that get close enough to the FATE area get a message informing that a " FATE has been found nearby " , while entering the actual FATE zone automatically joins the event and places it on the Duty list , overwriting any quests that are listed . A few high level FATEs are not displayed on the map at all . Players become eligible for a reward simply by participating in the battle in any way : Killing enemies , healing , collecting the objective items , using buffs and debuffs , etc . Rewards are divided into three tiers depending on the player ' s participation . However , if one ' s level is too low , his contribution will not be weighted as heavily , and players with a level too high must use the Level Sync feature to participate in the battle . While most FATEs begin automatically , some may need to be initiated by interacting with the environment or talking with an specific non - playable characters . Multiple FATEs may happen at the same time within a zone . Some FATEs " chain " into different FATEs based on the outcome of the battle . For example , if players successfully fend off a beastman attack against an encampment , a new FATE with stronger beastmen may start right after the previous battle as a continuation of the previous attack . But if the first FATE fails , the second battle may change into a rescue mission for the camp non - playable characters , or even break the chain completely and stop new FATEs in the area for a while . The rewards for completing FATEs are generally gil , experience and grand company seals , but some of the FATEs give unique item rewards or achievements , such as those related to Behemoth and Odin . Types of FATEs . Slay Enemies . The most common variety of FATEs simply requires players to kill a certain amount of the specified monsters within the time limit . Boss . Boss FATEs typically feature one strong enemy that needs to be defeated to succeed in the FATE . The boss can vary in strength - some can be soloed by players of the appropriate level , some require parties of varying size . It is not guaranteed that the boss will be alone , however . Often times there are weaker enemies surrounding that may or may not also count towards the completion of the FATE , or there might be multiple bosses to defeat . Of note are certain " epic " boss FATEs . These can be identified by longer timers , the use of " Torn from the Heavens " or other songs as their theme instead of " Hard to Miss " , and the fact that they will almost always grant an achievement for completing them with the highest score . They are significantly more difficult than most FATEs and often require an alliance of players to take down . Besides achievements they can have various rewards for defeating them , such as titles , minions , or even tokens for gear such as from Odin . Defense . Defense FATEs require players to defend objects or NPCs in the FATE area from invading monsters . If the FATE targets are destroyed , the FATE ends in failure . Some Defense FATEs involve defending against a boss instead of simple monsters . Gather Items . Item gathering FATEs require players to collect items throughout the FATE area and return them to a nearby NPC . Monsters that spawn as part of the FATE will drop the required items , and the items can also spawn naturally on the ground to be collected . Escort . Escort FATEs are similar to defense FATEs in that they require the survival of an NPC . However , in this case the NPC will move through the zone , and the FATE area will move with it , which can potentially lead to accidental de - syncing . Escort FATEs never start automatically - players must activate them by talking to the issuing NPC . Quest . Certain rare FATEs will only appear as part of a quest that they are the objective of . These FATEs will be invisible to any players not on the quest in question . Event . These FATEs will only appear during limited time events , such as holidays or promotional events like Lightning Strikes . While holiday events will often appear again the next year , promotional events are mostly one time only , and can be permanently missed . Musical themes . " Hard to Miss " plays during the majority of normal boss FATEs , while " Torn from the Heavens " plays during most epic FATEs .