Before you can enter any dungeon in FFXIV, you must first complete a certain portion of the Main Story Quest (MSQ). This usually involves reaching anywhere between levels 15 and 20 and completing the quest “The Gridanian Envoy,” “The Ul’dahn Envoy,” or “The Lominsan Envoy” depending upon which city you started off in which will vary depending upon which class you chose during character creation. After you have completed that quest, you will be given the quest “Call of the Sea,” which orders you to report to Baderon in Limsa Lominsa. This quest chain will set you on the path to the very first dungeon in the game — Sastasha.
However, before you can even set foot in that dungeon, you must prove yourself to The Smith. The Smith is the “master” of all novices. Perhaps, by this time, you will have noticed that next to your name in the game is a little icon that looks like a sprouting plant. Something rather like this:
[insert screenshot here]
All this indicates is that you are a new player or a “sprout” as others might refer to you. It also means that, before you can enter a dungeon, you will need to undergo a series of tests offered by The Smith in order to prove that you can follow basic instructions and understand simple mechanics.
The Smith can be found near or just outside almost every low-level dungeon as well as within every Adventurers’ Guild in the three major cities. In order to begin your trials, simply go up and talk to him. Depending on whether you are a tank, healer, or damage dealer, he will send you on a variety of trials that involve things such as avoiding danger that is telegraphed by an enemy (basically don’t stand where the floor is glowing), healing the tank, keeping the enemy focused on you, focusing on the enemy the tank is attacking, moving while attacking, dealing with multiple attackers, blocking new attackers from reaching your group, and then doing a trial run in a pretend dungeon. For successfully completing each test, you will be given a new piece of armor, differing by role, that you can use. Once you have completed all of the trials, you will be free to take your first steps into the first dungeon unlocked in the MSQ: Sastasha.