Buried Treasure & Excavation
Two separate map systems that get confused. Both reward materials, but they're triggered differently.
Buried Treasure (rabbits)
- While riding your Chocobo, look for a small group of rabbits on the world map.
- The blue question mark icon appears over the Chocobo's head when you're near.
- Sniff with the Chocobo (face button prompt) — leads you to the dig spot.
- Dig — usually low/medium-tier crafting materials, occasional accessories.
Fast, repeatable, free.
Excavation sites (Lifesprings)
Long chain. Worth it for crafting recipes and classified Intel boss fights.
- Scan multiple Lifesprings in a region (Chadley World Intel).
- Lifesprings reveal excavation site locations on the map.
- Excavate at the site:
- Transmuter recipes for crafting new gear/items.
- Powerful fiend spawns — region world bosses you can then hunt.
- Crafting at the Transmuter uses region-specific materials, so collect everything in each biome before moving on.
Compass vs minimap
- Default UI uses a compass at the top of the screen.
- Turn on the minimap in gameplay settings — much better for treasure hunting and tracking the rabbit groups.
If stuck: if no excavation sites are appearing, you only scanned one Lifespring. The system needs multiple scans in the same region to triangulate the excavation locations.