Crucible of the Unbroken

Before going in

• The Crucible is Beastmaster’s solo content, unlocked by the level 30 job quest Into the Crucible. It’s also how you level captured beasts — the max beast rank is 25, which is the rank sync of the last board.
• There are five boards: three Unbroken boards, unlocked at job level 30 / 40 / 50 (each gated behind the job quest that needs the previous board cleared), and two Master’s boards that open after you’ve beaten the Unbroken three.
• Each board has its own squad cap — from 10 on the first board up to 15 on the last — and you can bring anywhere from zero up to that.
• You can preview every tile before committing: enemy weaknesses, the mechanics you’ll face, where the shops and campsites are. Build your team against the board, not in the abstract.

On the board

Encounters are static. Once you step onto a tile you can’t backtrack until the run is complete.

Score, rank and Legendary

Clearing a board grants a rank based on your score — Adept, Exemplary, Apex, Legendary and so on. Legendary is the one that matters: it’s what feeds the BiS weapon grind. The breakpoints depend on the board and on Crucible Mode; the mode bonuses unlock once you’ve cleared the second Master’s board, with First Degree worth +4,000 and Third Degree +9,000.

Leveling beasts

• Don’t bring beasts that would rank-sync on the board you’re doing (with one exception: a rank-1 carry beast on the Legendary trios below).
• Quantity over quality. Legendary runs give more XP per run, but if they take much longer than an Apex run, Apex is the better rate.
• Recent testing suggests a slightly smaller team gets more rank XP per run than a full squad.
• If you’re leveling everyone on the team, bring cap − 3. If you’re bringing a three-beast team to carry the run and leveling the rest, bring cap − 2.

Sources

• Icy Veins — Beastmaster job guide
• Mrhappy1227 — How to get easy Legendary ranks in Crucible of the Unbroken
• The Balance Discord, Blue Mage Discord