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The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate)

2024-05-26T22:28:42Z

Zims: /* Phase 4: Perfect Alexander */Tixed a typo: missing space

{{Duty infobox
| description = The clockwork fortress that manifested itself in the far reaches of snow-swept Dravania did bear an uncanny resemblance to the great steel giant sung of in the legends of the Hotgo, an Auri tribe hailing from far across the sea. Inspired by this tragic tale of a mechanical god who placed his trust in a single mortal soul, the wandering minstrel spreads the proverbial wings of imagination and takes flight, weaving an impassioned ballad of hope and despair profound.
| image = The_Epic_of_Alexander_(Ultimate).png
| type = Ultimate Raid
| level = 80
| level-sync = 80
| ilvl = 475
| ilvl-max-sync=true
| ilvl-sync = 475
| difficulty = ultimate
| size = full
| unsync = n
| time-limit = 120
| duty-finder = Raid Finder (Ultimate Raids)
| roulette =
| tomestones = 100 poetics
| entrance =
| entrance-coordinates =
| location = Liminal Space
| req-quest =
| patch = 5.11
| release = shadowbringers
}} The raid is also known as '''TEA''' and is based on the [[Alexander]] raid series from ''[[Heavensward]]''.
__TOC__
==Unlock and Requirements==
*After completing {{questlink|raid|Eden's Gate: Sepulture (Savage)}}, speak with the [[Wandering Minstrel]] in [[Kugane]] (X:11.6 Y:12.6) as a level 80 Disciple of War or Magic.
*The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate) can only be accessed via the [[Raid Finder]] after forming a pre-made party of eight players who have all completed {{questlink|raid|Eden's Gate: Sepulture (Savage)}}.
*[[Limited Jobs|Limited jobs]] not allowed
*[[Unrestricted Party|Unrestricted Parties]] not allowed
*If a player logs out or disconnects when combat is initiated, they will be KO'd upon returning to the game.

==Guide==
{{#ev:youtube|uVtZ8-XoOZ0|350|right|Visual guide by Tessan Twintails - Light PF Does Ultimate Strategies}}
===Phase 1: [[Living Liquid]]===

'''Mechanics''':

*'''Fluid Strike/Swing''': Hard-hitting tankbuster cleave that comes from the '''Living Liquid''' or '''Liquid Hand''' and debuffs with {{status effect|water resistance down}} '''[[Water Resistance Down]]''', meaning tanks cannot take '''Protean Wave''' without an invulnerability cooldown.
*'''Cascade''': Hard-hitting raid-wide damage that will spawn three '''Liquid Rages''' around the arena at random cardinals/intercardinal with one empty cardinal/intercardinal. (They will all spawn on cardinals or all on intercardinals.) The '''Liquid Rage''' tornados will each spawn on a large puddle that will inflict {{status effect|dropsy}} '''[[Dropsy]]''' to any player who steps in it, which will kill them. This damage-over-time effect can be neutralized with tank invulnerabilities and will dissipate when the player leaves the puddle.
*'''Liquid Hand''': The boss will split its current HP and summon this add. While it does not need to be defeated, players must pay attention to its HP in order to handle a mechanic later.
*'''Hand of Prayer/Parting''': Based on where the hand and the boss are, the hand will glow and either form a fist or be an open palm. If the boss is far from the hand, it will be an open palm. If the hand forms a fist, the boss and the hand need to be separated. If the hand is an open palm, the boss and the hand must be brought together. Failing this mechanic will wipe the raid.
*'''Hand of Pain''': This acts as a check that happens periodically. If the boss and the hand's HP are more than 4% different by the end of the cast, the party wipes instantly. Players must keep both the boss and the Hand in check during the entire phase.
*'''Protean Wave''': Conal AoEs that fire from the boss and the '''Liquid Rages'''. The '''Liquid Rages''' will each use a telegraphed AoE aimed at the nearest player that must be avoided, followed by an untelegraphed AoE that will hit the nearest player. The boss will use telegraphed AoEs aimed at all players that must be avoided, followed by two sets of untelegraphed AoEs that will each hit the four nearest players. When the boss fires waves, it will also fire one directly out in front of where it's facing that isn't telegraphed, so players need to avoid standing directly in front of the boss. Telegraphed Protean Waves will knock any player back and kill them if they are hit. Untelegraphed Protean Waves aimed to the nearest players will inflict {{status effect|water resistance down}} '''Water Resistance Down''', which will make another Protean Wave hit lethal until the debuff expires.
*'''Jagd Dolls''': Four '''Jagd Doll''' adds will spawn in the middle of the arena slightly off the cardinals. These will tether to the first person who damages them and will pulse a medium-sized circular AoE ('''Exhaust''') occasionally, debuffing with a stacking '''Luminous Aetheroplasm'''. Once their HP have been reduced to 25% or less, they must be brought within either the boss's or the Hand's hitbox, causing whoever the add is fed to to cast '''Reducible Complexity''', dealing moderate raid-wide damage. If the adds are killed or fed with too much health, '''Reducible Complexity''' will wipe the raid. If players get 2 or more stacks of [[File:Luminous aetheroplasm icon1.png|link=]] '''Luminous Aetheroplasm''', they will die.
*'''Pressurize/Embolus''': Orbs will spawn at two of the Rages and move towards both the boss and Hand were at the time they spawned. If they touch a boss or a player they will explode ('''Outburst''') and wipe the raid.
*'''Sluice''': The boss will spawn these telegraphed circular AoEs under the four players that are the furthest away from it.
*'''Splash''': A non-telegraphed attack that blasts the raid with moderate unavoidable damage six times in a row. Mitigate and heal through.
*'''Drainage''': Two random Rages will send out tethers. Tanks need to pick these up and use cooldowns to mitigate the damage that comes out from them.
*'''Throttle''': 6 random players will be debuffed with [[File:Throttle icon1.png|link=]] '''Throttle''', which needs to be dispelled with {{action icon|Esuna}} or {{action icon|The Warden's Paean}}, otherwise the players will die at the resolution of the debuff.

'''Strategy:'''

To start, pull the boss to the middle and face to the north. The boss will use '''Fluid Swing''' and follow with '''Cascade''', spawning the three '''Liquid Rages''' Note where these spawn and mitigate the attacks with cooldowns. It is recommended that players top up HP here. The boss will then split its HP and summon the '''Liquid Hand''' here. Keeping the boss close to the Hand is a good idea so they can both be AoE'd and damage can be managed easier on both. Keeping them close together will bait '''Hand of Parting''' later.

Have the off tank pick up the Hand and separate them once the '''Hand of''' attack comes out. Players will need to then position for the '''Protean Waves'''. The ranged and healers should bait these so they fire out of the arena. Following this, the '''Jagd Dolls''' will spawn. They will spawn in relation to where the '''Liquid Rages''' are, so the DPS players who are picking up the Dolls should be sure which one they are picking up. The boss will use '''Hand of Pain''' here, so be sure to have the boss and the Hand at roughly the same HP, with no more than a 4% variance. At this time, the Rages will spawn Embolus, which will start to move towards where the Hand and the boss were at the time of spawning. The tanks need to move the boss and the Hand away to make sure they don't touch the orbs. Just before that, the boss and the Hand will use '''Fluid Strike/Swing''', which need to be mitigated. After this the tanks can move the boss and the Hand.

Players can then feed their '''Jagd Dolls''' to either the boss or the Hand once their HP is at 25% or lower. Generally, players should figure out an order to feed their Dolls so they don't feed too many at one time and wipe the raid with the resulting '''Reducible Complexity'''. It is recommended that the melee players feed their Dolls first so the healers can come in and top players off before the next group of Dolls are fed to the bosses.
Players should face the boss north. This sets players up for the next set of '''Protean Waves''', as well as the following '''Drainage'''. The first set of Waves will be visible and telegraphed, but the following sets will not be telegraphed. To begin, everyone can bait the first four Waves together, then the ranged players move out to the edge of the inner circle to bait '''Sluice''' while the melee players move in close to bait the next set of Waves. The ranged players will then move in to the boss's hitbox to be the closest players to the boss to bait the second set of Waves, while melee players will move to max range to maximize uptime on the boss.
While taking these waves, do not stand in front of the boss as it fires a '''Protean Wave''' in front of it that can't be baited. The boss will then use '''Splash''' and '''Drainage''', so tanks should be ready to grab tethers while the rest of the party moves away from them to avoid the AoE from the attack. Tanks should be sure to mitigate this attack and healers should be ready to top everyone's HP off. The boss will follow up with another '''Cascade''', dealing more heavy damage to the raid, so mitigate this as well.

Keeping the boss faced to the north, The Liquid Rages will use [[File:Throttle icon1.png|link=]] '''Throttle''', so healers need to be ready to '''{{action icon|Esuna}}''' these away before the debuff finishes its duration. Then, another set of '''Protean Waves''' to bait. This time coming from all Rages, the Hand, and the boss itself.

To handle this mechanic, Players will first stack behind the boss while the main tank stays in front of the boss to bait the first waves. DPS players should then move to the edges of the Rages to bait '''Sluice''' , while the ranged players should bait the '''Protean Waves''' from the '''Liquid Rages''' to fire off the edge of the arena, while the remaining players bait the Waves from the boss and the Hand to fire between the intercardinals. The DPS will then move in to the rear of the boss's hitbox to bait a third set of Waves while the tanks and a healer will bait the Rages '''Protean Waves'''.

The boss will then use '''Hand of Prayer/Parting'''. Following this strategy, the tanks will be separate from each other, so this will result in the Hand forming an open palm. The tanks will have to drag the boss and the Hand back together to resolve the mechanic. The Rages will also use '''Embolus''', so this should help avoid this mechanic as well. Another '''Hand of Pain''' here, so make sure the boss and the Hand are within 4% of HP to one another. Finally, the boss will use '''Splash''' again and prepare to use a final '''Cascade''' as its enrage, which will wipe the party if the boss is not defeated in time.

''Note:'' In practice, most parties will skip the final set of Splashes. Everyone should focus on the boss during the last set of '''Protean Waves''' and kill it before it uses the final '''Hand of Pain''', which serves as the "de facto" enrage.

===Intermission: Limit Cut===
After defeating the '''Living Liquid''', players will enter the '''Limit Cut''' mini-phase. Players will handle the mechanic of the same name from A11S while also avoiding rotating explosions around the edge and center of the arena.

Players should group in the middle of the arena. Every player will be marked with dots above their head from 1-8. This indicates what order players are attacked in. Blue dots indicate odd numbered players, while red dots indicate even numbered players. '''Cruise Chaser''' will spawn behind a blue numbered player and fire a conal cleave ('''Alpha Sword'''), knocking the player in that direction. It will then dash ('''Super Blassty Charge''') in the direction of the even numbered player that is next in sequence. If the player who gets dashed is facing away from the boss, they will receive a huge knockback. This will repeat with each set of numbers (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8). These hits also debuff with both {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]''' and {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]''', meaning players can't take more than one hit.

While this is happening, '''Hawk Blasters''' will drop large, untelegraphed circular AoEs on the arena. These will drop four sets of two opposite explosions that rotate clockwise around the arena, followed by one in the center. They will then resume rotating around the edge of the arena, followed by a final explosion in the center, for a total of ten explosion sets. Any player hit by these will die.

The most common method to handle this is to have two groups, 1/2, 5/6 and 3/4, 7/8 on opposite sides of the arena running around the arena following the explosions. Players who will handle the mechanics first will stand on the inner ring with lights, while the other set of numbers in that group will stand on the outside ring. The odd numbered players will be in the lead facing forward with the even numbered players standing behind them, facing towards the odd numbered player. Once they have handled their set of mechanics, the groups will switch, moving to the outer ring next to the edge of the arena while the next players move to the inner circle and repeat. Players can use their knockback skills if they want to help minimize risk if they miss an attack.

===Phase 2: [[Brute Justice]] & [[Cruise Chaser]]===
This phase requires players to handle both bosses mechanics at the same time, moving correctly and handing debuffs off to the correct players to ensure no one is accidentally killed.

'''Mechanics''':

*'''J Kick''': Massive raid-wide damage immediately following '''Limit Cut'''.
*'''Whirlwind''': Moderate raid-wide damage cast by '''Cruise Chaser'''.
*'''Judgment Nisi''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. This inflicts four '''Final Decree Nisi''' debuffs, ([[File:Final decree nisi α icon1.png|link=]] '''α''', [[File:Final decree nisi β icon1.png|link=]] '''β''', [[File:Final decree nisi γ icon1.png|link=]] '''γ''', and [[File:Final decree nisi δ icon1.png|link=]] '''δ''') on either the tanks and healers or the four DPS. These debuffs will inflict minor damage-over-time and will fall off when the timer expires. Contacting another player will cause them to acquire the same color debuff. Players need to pass these debuffs back and forth and satisfy the '''Verdict''' condition once the boss finishes its cast of '''Gavel'''. If two players with different '''Nisi''' colors touch, both players will instantly die ('''Final Sentence''').
*'''Link-Up''': A healer is debuffed with [[File:Compressed water icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Water''', and a DPS is debuffed with [[File:Compressed lightning icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Lightning'''. These debuffs last 30 seconds and explode at their resolution.
**The mechanics of these debuffs are similar to how they worked in the original Alexander fight. [[File:Compressed water icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Water''' should be split among at least three players when it resolves and explodes in a large AoE ('''Crashing Wave''') that deals split damage. This debuff will then pass to a random player. The originally debuffed player will receive a {{status effect|water resistance down}} '''[[Water Resistance Down]] II''' debuff, meaning they cannot be in the next stack, or they will die. Additionally, when the debuff passes, it will drop a '''Liquid Rage''' tornado that will knock back any player too close to it and hit them with '''Drainage''', dealing massive damage. The tornado can be frozen to hide behind to avoid '''Propeller Wind''' and destroyed by '''Flarethrower'''. If a tornado is up for too long, it will explode ('''Severe Contamination''') and wipe the raid.
**[[File:Compressed lightning icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Lightning''' is a stack mechanic between two players. If more than two players are stacked, the debuff will inflict full damage to everyone in the stack, likely resulting in deaths. The damage is split in an AoE ('''Crashing Thunder''') when the debuff resolves. Like before, the debuff will pass to the other player and the originally debuffed player will not be able to take the debuff again as they will have {{status effect|lightning resistance down}} '''[[Lightning Resistance Down]] II'''.
**If a player with one of the debuffs dies or holds both '''Compressed''' debuffs at the same time, they will explode and wipe the raid ('''Punishing Thunder'''/'''Punishing Wave''').
**'''Steam Chakrams''' will also spawn randomly around the arena on opposite sides. The Chakrams will target a random player and fire across the arena at them in an untelegraphed line AoE ('''Eye of the Chakram'''), knocking back and killing anyone hit.
*'''Optical Sight''': Cast by '''Cruise Chaser''': An invisible circular AoE ('''Hawk Blaster''') will spawn at each player's location, then resolve shortly after, killing anyone hit. Players need to bait these and wait until just after the cast resolves to move.
*'''Photon''': Reduces the HP of all players to 1. Any cast of this afterwards will only affect tanks.
*'''Spin Crusher''': Frontal conal cleave cast by '''Cruise Chaser''' that will knock back and kill anyone hit. Has no AoE indicator.
*'''Missile Command''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. '''Earth Missile''' (telegraphed AoE) is dropped on the two furthest players, dropping a puddle under the targets. The boss will then cast '''Hidden Minefield''' on the furthest two players as well, which are telegraphed dark green circular AoEs that must be avoided and will leave behind two invisible '''Hidden Mines'''. These will need to be disarmed (run over) by a tank with cooldowns, or they will explode ('''Hidden Mine Shrapnel''') and wipe the party. Mines that are being disarmed will explode in a large AoE, so other players should not get too close. The boss will fire an ice '''Earth Missile''' on one of the tanks, and cast '''Enumeration''' on two random DPS.
**'''Enumeration''' will always require three players to stand in the circle to resolve. If three players aren't in the circle when it resolves, it kills the players that are inside it. Players cannot be inside both circles, or they will die.
**The second '''Earth Missile''' that fires will drop an expanding ice puddle. This needs to be used to freeze the tornado to survive '''Propeller Wind'''. Anyone who steps in the puddle will be inflicted with {{status effect|Frostbite}} '''Frostbite''' and die.
*'''Verdict''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. Will inflict all players with [[File:Final judgment penalty iii icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Judgment: Penalty III''' and one of [[File:Final judgment decree nisi α icon1.png|link=]][[File:Final judgment decree nisi β icon1.png|link=]][[File:Final judgment decree nisi γ icon1.png|link=]][[File:Final judgment decree nisi δ icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Judgment: Decree Nisi α / β / γ / δ'''. Each type of '''Final Judgment: Decree Nisi''' will be assigned to one random DPS and one random support. This debuff will indicate which '''Final Decree Nisi''' debuff they have to be inflicted with by the time '''Gavel''' finishes casting or the party will wipe.
*'''Limit Cut''': '''Cruise Chaser''' becomes invincible and summons a '''Plasma Shield'''. The shield can only be damaged from the front. Players need to destroy this before it disappears or the boss will receive a {{buff|damage up}} '''[[Damage Up]]''' buff and wipe the raid with its next attack.
*'''Flarethrower''': '''Brute Justice''' casts an untelegraphed wide conal AoE towards the player closest to it. This can destroy the water tornados.
*'''Propeller Wind''': '''Cruise Chaser''' damages and inflicts {{status effect|confused}} '''[[Confused (Status Effect)|Confused]]''' on players unless they break the Line-of-Sight with a frozen water tornado.
*'''Gavel''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. Checks if all players have the correct '''Nisi''' debuffs. All '''Nisi''' and '''Compressed Water/Lightning''' debuffs will be removed if the check succeeds. Otherwise, the party will instantly wipe.
*'''Double Rocket Punch''': '''Brute Justice''' uses a heavy-hitting tankbuster that needs to be split between both tanks.
*'''Super Jump''': '''Brute Justice''' jumps on the player that is the furthest away, knocking back and inflicting {{status effect|Stun}} '''[[Stun]]''' on anyone else hit, then face the new furthest player and use '''Apocalyptic Ray''', a massive conal AoE. This will kill any player it hits.
*'''Final Sentence''': '''Brute Justice''' hard enrage. The party will wipe if this cast finishes.
*'''Eternal Darkness''': '''Cruise Chaser''' hard enrage. The party will wipe if this cast finishes.

'''Strategy''':

Immediately after '''Limit Cut''', the bosses will spawn and use '''J Kick'''. This needs to be heavily mitigated and healed through, as the attack deals heavy damage. Once the bosses spawn, pull them together in the center of the arena and stack up to bait the Chakrams that spawn on the edges of the arena. Spread out to avoid the attack, wait to bait '''Optical Sight''', then back in once the AoEs appear. Players can not be overlapped with other players as the boss will then cast '''Judgment Nisi''', and this will cause debuffs to pass incorrectly, wiping the raid. The boss will cast '''Link-Up''' soon after this.

At this point, the tanks should split the bosses, one pulling '''Cruise Chaser''' and the other taking '''Brute Justice'''. It is recommended the bosses are kept closer to each other in order to manage their HP and damage, since they need to be defeated at roughly the same time. If one is defeated too quickly and the other can't be downed in time, the surviving boss will enrage and wipe the raid.

There should be four passes of '''Nisi''' during this phase before '''Gavel'''. Tanks and healers should have designated partners to pass their debuff to until '''Verdict''' is cast and players need specific debuffs. To minimize errors in passing debuffs, non-marked players should move to their partners and pass through their hitbox to take the debuff. This keeps players from accidentally passing the debuff to the wrong player.

The boss will cast '''Photon''' at this time. Due to the DoT from '''Nisi''', healers need to cast their shields to prevent deaths. Players will pass their debuffs at this point, then the boss will fire a '''Spin Crusher''' at the same time as the debuffs from '''Link-Up''' resolve. Players with these debuffs should move to the designated areas to pass their debuffs. A recommended strategy is to pass the Lightning debuff to the tank holding '''Brute Justice''', while the rest of the players move to stand near the Water-debuffed player without touching.

Healers should bait the '''Earth Missile''' and mines near the edge of the arena away from the boss, then have the tank targeted by the ice-aspected '''Earth Missile''' drop it near the water tornado while the other tank handles the mines with cooldowns. The healers should then move to the DPS marked with '''Enumeration''', then either the tanks or the two remaining DPS should move into the circles. Once all this resolves, players should pass their '''Nisi''' debuffs with their partner. The next pass of the '''Compressed''' debuffs should happen, generally the first player to receive the Water stack should take the next Lightning stack, as they can't split the Water AoE. The tank holding '''Cruise Chaser''' should pull the boss to an edge and face the boss towards the center of the stage for its next attack. '''Brute Justice''' will then cast '''Verdict''', assigning debuffs to players.

As this is happening, '''Cruise Chaser''' will cast '''Limit Cut''', becoming invincible and summoning a '''Plasma Shield''', which can only be hit from the front. Burn the shield down quickly. While doing this, '''Brute Justice''' will cast '''Flarethrower''', which the tank holding this boss will need to direct towards the second spawned water tornado to destroy it. The tank should position themselves into the boss's hitbox to be the 'closest' player to the boss. Immediately after '''Flarethrower''', players should pass their debuffs. The players without '''Nisi''' will pickup the debuffs that match their '''Verdict''' requirement. The boss will follow this up with '''Whirlwind''', requiring players to mitigate and heal through. Healers should be sure to top off everyone's HP, as the next passing of '''Compressed''' debuffs will happen right after this.

After passing the '''Compressed''' debuffs, players should move to where the ice block is, while the '''Cruise Chaser''' tank moves the boss to the intercardinal of the block. The boss will cast '''Propeller Wind''', and the players need to break the Line of Sight of this attack. Players will also need to swap their debuffs to the correct players one final time before '''Gavel'''. A common way to handle this mechanic is to line up behind the ice block based on their color. Generally, people line up in order of '''Blue, Purple, Orange, Green'''. Following '''Gavel''', all debuffs will disappear.

The boss will follow up with another '''Photon''' that hits only the tanks and needs to be mitigated and healed through, as following that, '''Brute Justice''' will use '''Double Rocket Punch''', which both tanks will need to mitigate. After this, the boss will use '''Super Jump''', leaping to the farthest player from it. This player should be a ranged DPS who should begin moving as '''Double Rocket Punch''' comes out. After leaping, the boss will cast '''Apocalyptic Ray''', which needs to be dodged, as it will kill whatever it touches.

'''Cruise Chaser''' will cast '''Whirlwind''' twice, dealing heavy raid-wide damage, so mitigation is key. At this point the bosses both long-cast their enrages. The bosses both need to be defeated before the cast goes off, and roughly at the same time as each other.

===Phase 3: [[Alexander Prime]]===
During this phase, the boss will be untargetable for sections of the fight while players handle mechanics made up of '''Formations''' from the bosses from the other phases. The boss will be attacking during these phases, so players will handle these mechanics while also dodging '''Alexanders'''' attacks.

'''Mechanics''':

*'''Chastening Heat''': Heavy-hitting tankbuster that debuffs with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]'''.
*'''Divine Spear''': Three magic-damage cleaves on the main tank. This always comes immediately after '''Chastening Heat''', so a tankswap or an invulnerability skill is required.
*'''Mega Holy''': Massive magic-based raid-wide damage that needs to be heavily mitigated and shielded to survive.

'''Formation One: Temporal Stasis''':

*Players will receive debuffs based on their role:
**One DPS and one tank or healer are tethered and debuffed with [[File:House arrest icon1.png|link=]] '''House Arrest'''. These players must be in close proximity to each other when the debuff resolves or they will both die. When the debuff resolves, it will inflict 1 damage or lethal damage if the tether is too long ('''Plaint of Surety''').
**One DPS and one tank or healer are tethered and debuffed with [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order'''. These players must be far apart from each other when the debuff resolves or they will die. When the debuff resolves, it will inflict 1 damage or lethal damage if the tether is not long enough ('''Plaint of Surety''').
**One DPS and one tank or healer are debuffed with [[File:Aggravated assault icon1.png|link=]] '''Aggravated Assault'''. These players cannot take any additional damage or they will both die. When the debuff resolves, it will inflict moderate damage ('''Plaint of Severity'''), {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up''', making additional damage lethal until the debuffs expire.
**One DPS and one tank or healer will not have a debuff.
*'''Alpha Sword''': '''Cruise Chaser''' will fire a conal AoE at the three closest players to it. These players are debuffed with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up'''.
*'''Flarethrower''': A large conal AoE directed at the two closest players to '''Brute Justice'''. Players hit are debuffed with a {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''[[Fire Resistance Down]]'''.
Based on the debuffs players have, players can stand in set positions and handle mechanics without much movement. Each player will be frozen for several seconds with [[File:Temporal displacement icon1.png|link=]] '''Temporal Displacement''' when the mechanic resolves. Players can stand near the bosses within their hitbox to bait the attacks, then move out of them so the next group can step in.

'''Formation Two: Inception''':

*'''Aetheroplasm''': Four players will be tethered to '''Plasmaspheres''', large orbs. These orbs will slowly move towards their player, until they reach the tethered player and explode in an AoE, dealing damage ('''Burst''') and dropping a puddle that inflicts '''Heavy''' if a player stands in it. If the orbs collide with a different player, they will deal less damage. If two puddles are dropped and overlap, they will explode ('''Electromagnetic Burst''') and wipe the raid.
*'''Judgment Crystal''': Random players will be marked and will drop '''Judgment Crystals''' where they are standing. These crystals will explode if they overlap with each other, are near '''Alexander''' or are touched by the '''True Heart''' summoned by an ad. When they explode, they deal proximity damage ('''Tetrashatter''') based on how close players are to them.
*'''True Heart''': '''Shanoa''', the cat add, will spawn across from '''Alexander''' and summons '''True Heart''', an ad that will move towards '''Alexander'''. After touching all four '''Judgment Crystals''', the Heart will turn a golden color and move to '''Alexander's''' hitbox and buff players with [[File:Enigma codex icon1.png|link=]] '''Enigma Codex''', a buff required for the final phase.
*'''Inception''': '''Alexander''' will teleport around the arena and fire wide AoE '''Sacraments''' from its cardinals. Players can watch the '''True Heart''' to see where it moves to know where the boss will spawn and move out of the way of its attacks. Players will also receive various debuffs:
** A DPS will be debuffed with [[File:Shared sentence icon1.png|link=]] '''Shared Sentence''', which will need to be shared with another player, most likely a tank. The debuff will resolve as a small AoE ('''Plaint of Solidarity''') that will inflict split damage, {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up'''.
** One DPS and one tank will be debuffed by [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order'''.
** Two DPS will be debuffed with [[File:Aggravated assault icon1.png|link=]] '''Aggravated Assault'''.
*Mechanics will appear from the previous bosses from the fight that will also need to be avoided: '''Flarethrower''', '''Alpha Sword''', and '''Super Jump'''.

The main tank should grab the boss and face it north, using an invulnerability skill to handle '''Chastening Heat''', then the rest of the party should stack in the center and prepare shields for when the boss casts '''Inception'''.

'''Alexander''' will spawn in either the north or the south of the arena, and '''Brute Justice''' will spawn to the west, then both will start running through mechanics. There is time to adjust to where '''Alexander''' spawns for these attacks.

Players should stand in the center of the arena. The '''Plasmaspheres''' will spawn around the arena and begin tethering to players. The orbs will spawn in random groups, either two in the northwest and southeast, or two in the northeast and southwest. Players that get a tether should move to the north edge of the arena. The untethered players should move to the opposite side of the arena. Players will then be marked for the '''Judgment Crystals'''. Once the puddles and crystals are dropped, all the players should move north except the tanks. Healers should make sure everyone is topped off, then '''Brute Justice''' will use '''Flarethrower'''. After '''Flarethrowers''' resolve, players should use the '''True Heart''' to build DPS resources for the coming phases.

'''Alexander''' will then cast the various debuffs on players. Watch the '''True Heart''' to see where '''Alexander''' will spawn and move out of the way of the '''Sacrament''' that is fired. Based on debuffs, players will need to split up across the arena, with the tanks and the player with '''Shared Sentence''' on the west side and the rest of the party to the east. Players with the '''Restraining Order''' debuff should run to the edges of the arena to guarantee the debuffs requirement is met.

'''Cruise Chaser''' will then spawn in the center of the arena and begin casting '''Alpha Sword''', hitting the players closest to it. This attack, as well as the debuffs, will inflict players with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]'''. Since tanks are in the '''Shared Sentence''' debuff as well, they can not be the ones to handle '''Alpha Sword'''. Both healers and one of the '''Restraining Order''' DPS will have to bait these. Since they are baiting the '''Alpha Swords''', tanks can handle '''Super Jump'''. Tanks can move away from '''Brute Force''' while the other players move in to '''Cruise Chaser''' and bait the attack.

'''Formation Three: Wormhole''':

This phase re-introduces even more mechanics from previous phases that must be handled several at a time, such as '''Limit Cut''', Super Jump''' and '''Apocalyptic Ray'''. Accurate player movement and baiting the correct attacks is essential here, and a mistake will most likely cause a wipe.
*'''Link-Up''': Two Chakrams will spawn at opposite sides of the arena.
*'''Missile Command''': Two random DPS will be marked for '''Enumeration'''.
*'''Incinerating Heat''': A random player will be marked for a stack mechanic. This attack needs to be shielded and mitigated to handle.
*'''Void of Repentance''': Two large puddles spawn and need to be soaked by one player each, dealing light damage ('''Repentance''') and debuffing with {{status effect|vulnerability up 2}} '''[[Vulnerability Up]]''' and {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up'''. These puddles must be soaked three times, shrinking in size with each soak, and will explode ('''Confession''') and wipe the raid if not soaked in time.

'''Alexander''' will open this mini-phase with another '''Chastening Heat''' and '''Divine Spear'''. This time however, the boss will delay the Spears, requiring a tank swap after the first ability. From here, several abilities will fire in rapid succession. Players should start in the center of the arena to bait Chakrams and set up shields and Regens. Once players are assigned their numbers, they should split to either side of the arena, evens to one side and odds to the opposite. Standing at the intercardinals to the north and south, and at the cardinal south will ensure players don't end up in Void puddles when they spawn. Once the Chakrams fire, players can adjust their position for '''Limit Cut'''. Odds should face outwards from the arena, and evens should face their odd partner. Pop knockback skills to guarantee nobody gets knocked out of position. After the first hit of '''Limit Cut''', players marked with 7 and 8 can move to the east and west, and 5 and 6 can soak the first stack of the Void puddles. This way when '''Apocalyptic Ray''' fires, no one will get hit by it. This move cuts across the stage, so players need to be careful to avoid it. '''Brute Justice''' will then use '''Super Jump''' on either 3 or 4, depending on what player is furthest away. After the jump, the boss will turn around and fire '''Apocalyptic Ray''' and the puddles will resolve their first soak. '''Cruise Chaser''' will then attack 5 and 6. These players should move slightly up along the edge of the arena to bait their '''Limit Cut'''. 7 and 8 can move to where 5 and 6 previously were, and 1 and 2 can move into the puddles to soak the next hit, finally 5 and 6 should move out of range of the effects of the final '''Limit Cut'''. Once all these resolve, players should group in the center and get ready to mitigate and heal through '''Incinerating Heat'''.

After this, the DPS will be marked for '''Enumeration''', they should separate slightly and players should stand in the circles in the correct amounts. Following this, '''Alexander''' will fire '''Mega Holy''' twice, dealing more hard-hitting damage. A lot of healing and mitigation is happening here, so tanks and healers need to be ready.

'''Formation Four: Summon Alexander''':

This formation requires heavy mitigation and healing, as well as a DPS check to beat the enrage. '''Alexander Prime''' will summon a massive '''Alexander''' and will begin to cast '''Divine Judgment'''. If this cast finishes, the party will wipe. The bosses will begin using repeating attacks to wipe the party as well.
*'''J Storm''': '''Brute Justice''' slams the arena, dealing heavy raid-wide damage.
*'''J Wave''': '''Brute Justice''' fires this every few seconds dealing increasingly heavy raid-wide damage and buffing itself with a stack of [[File:Damage up icon2.png|link=]] '''[[Damage Up]]''' each time it is cast.
*'''Eternal Darkness''': '''Cruise Chaser's''' enrage skill. Players need to defeat it before this cast goes off, or the party will wipe. Healers need to focus on mitigation and healing for this phase, as the damage will begin increasing rapidly in both output and amount. Tanks should be using abilities that increase healing output and shields while mitigating boss damage output with moves like '''Reprisal'''.

The party should defeat '''Cruise Chaser''' as its enrage will cast first, then '''Brute Justice''' to stop the increasing damage from '''J Waves'''. Once both are defeated, '''Alexander Prime''' will no longer be invulnerable, so the party should finish it off before the enrage cast finishes.

After the bosses are defeated, players will need to group up and use the '''level 3 tank Limit Break''' once the massive '''Alexander's''' countdown reaches 3 seconds. Players should use their shields and mitigations as well, as the Limit Break alone is not enough to survive the damage for casters. After that, a cutscene ensues in which all three bosses combine and upgrade themselves into the final boss: '''Perfect Alexander'''

===Phase 4: [[Perfect Alexander]]===
'''Mechanics''':

When the phase opens, the boss will cast '''The Final Word''', causing players will receive debuffs from the boss that will move players when they resolve:
*Three players will receive [[File:Final word contact prohibition icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Contact Prohibition''', which is denoted by a yellow icon with an arrow. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Contact prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Contact Prohibition Ordained'''. Players with this debuff will move towards players with '''Contact Regulation Ordained'''. If these players end up colliding, they will die ('''Divine Retribution''').
*One player will receive [[File:Final word contact regulation icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Contact Regulation''', denoted with an orange starburst icon. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Contact regulation ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Contact Regulation Ordained'''.
*Three players will receive [[File:Final word escape prohibition icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Escape Prohibition''' and is denoted with a blue and white icon with an arrow. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Escape prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Escape Prohibition Ordained'''. These players will move away from the player with '''Escape Detection Ordained'''. If they touch that player or move too far away from them, they will die ('''Divine Retribution''').
*One player will receive [[File:Final word escape detection icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Escape Detection''', denoted by a purple icon. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Escape detection ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Escape Detection Ordained'''.
*Note that if anyone with '''Contact Regulation''' or '''Escape Detection''' dies, all of their "followers" (i.e. players with '''Contact Prohibition''' or '''Escape Prohibition''', respectively) will also die ('''Divine Retribution''').
*'''Ordained Motion''': Players must be constantly moving at the time of the cast, or they will die. This is denoted by a white sword marker.
*'''Ordained Stillness''': Players must be perfectly still at the time of the cast, including not auto-attacking. This is denoted by a black sword.
*'''Optical Sight''': Players will either all be marked with '''Individual Reprobation''' and need to spread out to avoid AoEs, or '''Collective Reprobation''' and two random players will be marked with stack markers and should separate slightly to avoid overlapping. Note that taking the stack solo will cause the marked player to explode ('''Faithlessness''') and wipe the raid.
*'''Ordained Capital Punishment''': A heavy-hitting triple hit magic-based tankbuster that needs to be split with the off tank.
*'''Ordained Punishment''': A heavy magic-based tankbuster that debuffs with {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]'''. Since the boss's auto-attacks are physical, a tankswap is required. This attack always follows Capital Punishment.
*'''Almighty Judgment''': The boss shows the locations of AoEs briefly, which players need to remember and dodge. These AoEs will fire at the start of '''Irresistible Grace's''' cast bar.
*'''Irresistible Grace''': A random player is marked for stacking. This should be mitigated, as it deals heavy magic-based damage.
*'''Fate Projection''': Creates clones of all party members and shows what mechanics they will do when '''Fate Calibration''' finishes casting. Players will be able to identify their clone by the arrow that points to them. Players will only be able to see their clone if they have the [[File:Enigma codex icon1.png|link=]] '''Enigma Codex''' buff from Phase 3 and are alive at the start of this mechanic.
*'''Fate Calibration α''': A series of mechanics will be shown while the cast bar fills. '''Ordained Motion/Stillness''' will be first, based on the sword that appears over the clone, followed by a mechanic based on role type:
** A gear will appear around three clones, denoting '''Aggravated Assault'''.
** One clone will have stacking gears appear on it, denoting '''Shared Sentence'''.
** One clone will have a circle pulsing from it, denoting '''Defamation'''. This player will need to move to the opposite side of the arena from the rest of the party.
**Three clones will receive no debuffs.
*'''Ordained Motion/Stillness''' will appear for the third mechanic, denoted again by the color of the sword over the clone’s head.
*The fourth mechanic will spawn three '''Alexander''' clones and each will fire a '''Sacrament''' with one not firing. This clone indicates a safe zone directly in front of it.
*'''Fate Calibration β''': Similar to the previous '''Fate Calibration''', this phase will show what mechanics will be coming after the cast bar fills:
*The debuffs '''[[File:Contact regulation ordained icon1.png|link=]] Contact Regulation Ordained / [[File:Contact prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] Contact Prohibition Ordained''' used in '''The Final Word''' will be applied to players. Their clones will receive a bright light over their heads. The clone receiving '''Contact Regulation Ordained''' will not move after the light appears, while those receiving '''Contact Prohibition Ordained''' will move. Players marked with '''Contact Prohibition''' will also receive additional debuffs that will be visually indicated on the clone:
** One player receives [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order''' (blue tether).
** One player receives [[File:House arrest icon1.png|link=]] '''House Arrest''' (red and green tether).
** One player receives '''Shared Sentence''' (stack gear).
* Players with dark markers over their heads will receive '''[[File:Escape detection ordained icon1.png|link=]] Escape Detection Ordained / [[File:Escape prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] Escape Prohibition Ordained'''. The clone receiving '''Escape Detection Ordained''' will not move after the light appears, while those receiving '''Escape Prohibition Ordained''' will move. The players with '''Escape Prohibition''' will also receive additional debuffs that will be visually indicated on the clone:
** One player will be marked with [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order'''.
** One player will be marked with [[File:House arrest icon1.png|link=]] '''House Arrest'''.
** One player will not receive any additional debuffs.
*The second mechanic is three '''J Jumps''', which are large AoEs from three clones that inflict {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up'''. These will be baited by the Purple marked player, the Blue debuffed player with '''Restraining Order''', and the Blue debuffed player with no additional debuffs.
*The third mechanic is '''Optical Sight: Individual/Collective Reprobation'''. The north clone will fire either two large orbs (light party stacks, one targeting a dark player and the other targeting a light player) or eight small orbs (full party spread) to indicate which attack is coming out.
* The fourth mechanic is '''Radiant Sacrament''', a donut AoE. Players will need to move directly in front of the clone to avoid this attack.

'''Strategy''':

The main tank should grab enmity on the boss again. The boss will auto-attack a few times, then cast '''Final Word'''. To handle this mechanic, the player with '''Contact Regulation''' should move to the opposite side of the arena away from the group, the players with '''Contact Prohibition''' should stand in a row in front of players with '''Escape Prohibition''', while the player with '''Escape Detection''' should stand behind them. '''Ordained Motion/Stillness''' will fire, and players will have to handle accordingly. The debuffs will take effect, and players should be move correctly without any deaths. Immediately after this, the opposite '''Ordained''' attack will come out.

'''Optical Sight''' is next, and players should be ready to mitigate this damage and move according to whichever markers come out.

'''Fate Calibration α''' will begin casting, and players will need to watch their clones to know what mechanics are coming and how to handle them once the cast resolves and move to safe spots in front of and across from the '''Alexander Clone''' that didn't fire a '''Sacrament'''. The player marked with '''Defamation''' will stand in the safe zone in front of the clone. In the other safe zone, the '''Aggravated Assault''' player will stand on one side of the safe zone, the '''Shared Sentence''' and non-debuffed player will stack on the other side of the safe zone.

The boss will become untargetable, and players can begin following the mechanics presented previously. Be sure not to accidentally clip players with mechanics in your safe zone. Be sure not to move until the clones all fire their '''Sacrament'''.

Following this sequence, the boss will begin using '''Ordained Capital Punishment''' and '''Ordained Punishment'''. Handle the first attack with an invincibility, then tankswap after all three hits of '''Ordained Capital Punishment''' have fired. Use cooldowns to mitigate the second attack.

The boss will then begin the cast bar for '''Fate Calibration β'''. Players will need to watch to see which debuffs they will be assigned. Players should also be on the lookout for the safe zone for the '''Radiant Sacrament''' and where to move for '''Optical Sight'''. At around 30% the debuffs for '''Final Word''' will show on the clones. Players will stand on the west edge or the north edge at the cardinals based on their debuffs and the tethers for the additional debuffs:
*The player with the purple debuff will stand behind every other player.
*The player with the orange debuff will stand at the north cardinal of the arena.
*Players with the yellow debuff will stand in front of the purple debuffed players, closer to the north to move in that direction at the debuffs resolution.
*The blue debuff players with '''House Arrest'''; will stack with the yellow players.
*The blue debuff players with '''Restraining Order''' will stand in front of the purple debuffed player, closer to the south to get moved to the north.
*The blue debuff player with no extra debuffs will stand directly in front of the purple player to end up moving straight to the east. Players will move into the safe zones and stay there until '''Shared Sentence''' and '''Super Jump''' both resolve.

Players will then handle '''Optical Sight''' stacking or spreading accordingly. After this, players will move to the safe zone for '''Radiant Sacrament'''. The boss will follow up with another series of tankbusters, then move into '''Almighty Judgment''' and '''Irresistible Grace'''.

Pull the boss to the center of the arena. The boss cast '''Almighty Judgment''' and will show three sets of AoEs here that players need to memorize. Players will need to dodge each set of AoEs correctly, as getting hit by one will almost certainly cause a wipe. Following these AoEs, the boss will cast '''Irresistible Grace'''. The party will have to stack and heavily mitigate the attack.
After this, the tank can turn the boss to the north and the party should move behind the boss. The boss will use another '''Capital Punishment''' set which need to be mitigated and tankswapped. Healers should fill the tanks health after this. Another set of '''Almighty Judgment''' and '''Irresistible Grace''' to be handled the exact same way as before, then the boss will move to the center of the arena and begin to cast its enrage, '''Temporal Prison'''.

A space will light up and cages will begin dropping onto the platform to the northeast of the boss and continue doing so at the cardinals and intercardinals moving clockwise. Players should move to these positions with the healers taking the first two cages, the tanks taking the next two, and finally the DPS. Anyone with damage-over-time (DoT) abilities should refresh their DoTs on the boss before they are caged, as they will be incapacitated with '''Temporal Displacement''' and unable to attack. A few seconds after all players are caged, the fight will reset to the beginning, so the party must defeat the boss before this happens. Missing a cage will cause the fight to instantly reset.

==Reward==
*1 {{Item icon|Colossus Totem}}
* [[Epic of Alexander Adventurer Plate]]

When originally released, you could receive only one reward item per week for completing duties in The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate). This restriction was removed in [[Patch 5.2]]

The reward can be exchanged with [[Bertana]] in [[Idyllshire]] (X:5.8 Y:5.2) for [[Ultimate Alexander Weapons]].

Completion of this duty will unlock a new [[Adventurer Plate]] design.

==Achievements==
The following [[achievements]] are associated with this duty:

{| {{STDT|mech1}}
{{achievement table header}}
{{achievement table row|When I Ruled the World}}
|}

==World First==
The world first clear was from Thoughts per Second on November 19, 2019. However, it was revealed that they were using a third party tool to automatically replace [[waymarks]] during combat, in violation of the Terms of Service. This was addressed by producer/director YoshiP in the Producer Letter Live (PLL) following the release of TEA.<ref>[https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/414393-Letter-from-the-Producer-LIVE-Part-LVII-Digest-%2802-14-2020%29 Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LVII Digest (02/14/2020)]</ref> Subsequently, the ability to replace waymarks in PvE combat was removed in [[patch 5.2]].

==Images==
<gallery heights=200px mode=packed>
File:The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate)1.jpg
File:All Ultimates Weapons.jpg
</gallery>

==Trivia==
*On June 30, 2022, the encounter was cleared without the Enigma Codex buff.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG2M2bozu2M</ref> This clear relied on a forced movement bug that was resolved in [[patch 6.1]], so the methods used to clear without the buff are no longer functional.

==External Links==
'''Aether/NA Party Finder Strategies''' (commonly referred to as "oldbin")
*Phase 1: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=830419115443951&preview=1 Living Liquid]
*[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=240411819443951&preview=1 Limit Cut]
*Phase 2: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=340414049443951&preview=1 Brute Justice and Cruise Chaser]
*Phase 3: Alexander Prime
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=463281492325761&preview=1#5 Temporal Stasis and Inception Formation]
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=236244852760461&preview=1 Wormhole Formation]
*Phase 4: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=646241037470461&preview=1 Perfect Alexander]
*[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z7CHed25CNQYA03UHz9Ao6b0ooQGAYyTQPbzYqHwsaA/edit#gid=1311355980 Mitigation spreadsheet]
*[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=814290069371961&preview=1 Role positions]

==References==
<references/>

{{Duties nav|raid}}

The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate)

2024-05-26T22:17:58Z

Zims: /* Phase 4: Perfect Alexander */Fixed an error. There are three nothings, not one. The total number of players' assignments is now correctly 8.

{{Duty infobox
| description = The clockwork fortress that manifested itself in the far reaches of snow-swept Dravania did bear an uncanny resemblance to the great steel giant sung of in the legends of the Hotgo, an Auri tribe hailing from far across the sea. Inspired by this tragic tale of a mechanical god who placed his trust in a single mortal soul, the wandering minstrel spreads the proverbial wings of imagination and takes flight, weaving an impassioned ballad of hope and despair profound.
| image = The_Epic_of_Alexander_(Ultimate).png
| type = Ultimate Raid
| level = 80
| level-sync = 80
| ilvl = 475
| ilvl-max-sync=true
| ilvl-sync = 475
| difficulty = ultimate
| size = full
| unsync = n
| time-limit = 120
| duty-finder = Raid Finder (Ultimate Raids)
| roulette =
| tomestones = 100 poetics
| entrance =
| entrance-coordinates =
| location = Liminal Space
| req-quest =
| patch = 5.11
| release = shadowbringers
}} The raid is also known as '''TEA''' and is based on the [[Alexander]] raid series from ''[[Heavensward]]''.
__TOC__
==Unlock and Requirements==
*After completing {{questlink|raid|Eden's Gate: Sepulture (Savage)}}, speak with the [[Wandering Minstrel]] in [[Kugane]] (X:11.6 Y:12.6) as a level 80 Disciple of War or Magic.
*The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate) can only be accessed via the [[Raid Finder]] after forming a pre-made party of eight players who have all completed {{questlink|raid|Eden's Gate: Sepulture (Savage)}}.
*[[Limited Jobs|Limited jobs]] not allowed
*[[Unrestricted Party|Unrestricted Parties]] not allowed
*If a player logs out or disconnects when combat is initiated, they will be KO'd upon returning to the game.

==Guide==
{{#ev:youtube|uVtZ8-XoOZ0|350|right|Visual guide by Tessan Twintails - Light PF Does Ultimate Strategies}}
===Phase 1: [[Living Liquid]]===

'''Mechanics''':

*'''Fluid Strike/Swing''': Hard-hitting tankbuster cleave that comes from the '''Living Liquid''' or '''Liquid Hand''' and debuffs with {{status effect|water resistance down}} '''[[Water Resistance Down]]''', meaning tanks cannot take '''Protean Wave''' without an invulnerability cooldown.
*'''Cascade''': Hard-hitting raid-wide damage that will spawn three '''Liquid Rages''' around the arena at random cardinals/intercardinal with one empty cardinal/intercardinal. (They will all spawn on cardinals or all on intercardinals.) The '''Liquid Rage''' tornados will each spawn on a large puddle that will inflict {{status effect|dropsy}} '''[[Dropsy]]''' to any player who steps in it, which will kill them. This damage-over-time effect can be neutralized with tank invulnerabilities and will dissipate when the player leaves the puddle.
*'''Liquid Hand''': The boss will split its current HP and summon this add. While it does not need to be defeated, players must pay attention to its HP in order to handle a mechanic later.
*'''Hand of Prayer/Parting''': Based on where the hand and the boss are, the hand will glow and either form a fist or be an open palm. If the boss is far from the hand, it will be an open palm. If the hand forms a fist, the boss and the hand need to be separated. If the hand is an open palm, the boss and the hand must be brought together. Failing this mechanic will wipe the raid.
*'''Hand of Pain''': This acts as a check that happens periodically. If the boss and the hand's HP are more than 4% different by the end of the cast, the party wipes instantly. Players must keep both the boss and the Hand in check during the entire phase.
*'''Protean Wave''': Conal AoEs that fire from the boss and the '''Liquid Rages'''. The '''Liquid Rages''' will each use a telegraphed AoE aimed at the nearest player that must be avoided, followed by an untelegraphed AoE that will hit the nearest player. The boss will use telegraphed AoEs aimed at all players that must be avoided, followed by two sets of untelegraphed AoEs that will each hit the four nearest players. When the boss fires waves, it will also fire one directly out in front of where it's facing that isn't telegraphed, so players need to avoid standing directly in front of the boss. Telegraphed Protean Waves will knock any player back and kill them if they are hit. Untelegraphed Protean Waves aimed to the nearest players will inflict {{status effect|water resistance down}} '''Water Resistance Down''', which will make another Protean Wave hit lethal until the debuff expires.
*'''Jagd Dolls''': Four '''Jagd Doll''' adds will spawn in the middle of the arena slightly off the cardinals. These will tether to the first person who damages them and will pulse a medium-sized circular AoE ('''Exhaust''') occasionally, debuffing with a stacking '''Luminous Aetheroplasm'''. Once their HP have been reduced to 25% or less, they must be brought within either the boss's or the Hand's hitbox, causing whoever the add is fed to to cast '''Reducible Complexity''', dealing moderate raid-wide damage. If the adds are killed or fed with too much health, '''Reducible Complexity''' will wipe the raid. If players get 2 or more stacks of [[File:Luminous aetheroplasm icon1.png|link=]] '''Luminous Aetheroplasm''', they will die.
*'''Pressurize/Embolus''': Orbs will spawn at two of the Rages and move towards both the boss and Hand were at the time they spawned. If they touch a boss or a player they will explode ('''Outburst''') and wipe the raid.
*'''Sluice''': The boss will spawn these telegraphed circular AoEs under the four players that are the furthest away from it.
*'''Splash''': A non-telegraphed attack that blasts the raid with moderate unavoidable damage six times in a row. Mitigate and heal through.
*'''Drainage''': Two random Rages will send out tethers. Tanks need to pick these up and use cooldowns to mitigate the damage that comes out from them.
*'''Throttle''': 6 random players will be debuffed with [[File:Throttle icon1.png|link=]] '''Throttle''', which needs to be dispelled with {{action icon|Esuna}} or {{action icon|The Warden's Paean}}, otherwise the players will die at the resolution of the debuff.

'''Strategy:'''

To start, pull the boss to the middle and face to the north. The boss will use '''Fluid Swing''' and follow with '''Cascade''', spawning the three '''Liquid Rages''' Note where these spawn and mitigate the attacks with cooldowns. It is recommended that players top up HP here. The boss will then split its HP and summon the '''Liquid Hand''' here. Keeping the boss close to the Hand is a good idea so they can both be AoE'd and damage can be managed easier on both. Keeping them close together will bait '''Hand of Parting''' later.

Have the off tank pick up the Hand and separate them once the '''Hand of''' attack comes out. Players will need to then position for the '''Protean Waves'''. The ranged and healers should bait these so they fire out of the arena. Following this, the '''Jagd Dolls''' will spawn. They will spawn in relation to where the '''Liquid Rages''' are, so the DPS players who are picking up the Dolls should be sure which one they are picking up. The boss will use '''Hand of Pain''' here, so be sure to have the boss and the Hand at roughly the same HP, with no more than a 4% variance. At this time, the Rages will spawn Embolus, which will start to move towards where the Hand and the boss were at the time of spawning. The tanks need to move the boss and the Hand away to make sure they don't touch the orbs. Just before that, the boss and the Hand will use '''Fluid Strike/Swing''', which need to be mitigated. After this the tanks can move the boss and the Hand.

Players can then feed their '''Jagd Dolls''' to either the boss or the Hand once their HP is at 25% or lower. Generally, players should figure out an order to feed their Dolls so they don't feed too many at one time and wipe the raid with the resulting '''Reducible Complexity'''. It is recommended that the melee players feed their Dolls first so the healers can come in and top players off before the next group of Dolls are fed to the bosses.
Players should face the boss north. This sets players up for the next set of '''Protean Waves''', as well as the following '''Drainage'''. The first set of Waves will be visible and telegraphed, but the following sets will not be telegraphed. To begin, everyone can bait the first four Waves together, then the ranged players move out to the edge of the inner circle to bait '''Sluice''' while the melee players move in close to bait the next set of Waves. The ranged players will then move in to the boss's hitbox to be the closest players to the boss to bait the second set of Waves, while melee players will move to max range to maximize uptime on the boss.
While taking these waves, do not stand in front of the boss as it fires a '''Protean Wave''' in front of it that can't be baited. The boss will then use '''Splash''' and '''Drainage''', so tanks should be ready to grab tethers while the rest of the party moves away from them to avoid the AoE from the attack. Tanks should be sure to mitigate this attack and healers should be ready to top everyone's HP off. The boss will follow up with another '''Cascade''', dealing more heavy damage to the raid, so mitigate this as well.

Keeping the boss faced to the north, The Liquid Rages will use [[File:Throttle icon1.png|link=]] '''Throttle''', so healers need to be ready to '''{{action icon|Esuna}}''' these away before the debuff finishes its duration. Then, another set of '''Protean Waves''' to bait. This time coming from all Rages, the Hand, and the boss itself.

To handle this mechanic, Players will first stack behind the boss while the main tank stays in front of the boss to bait the first waves. DPS players should then move to the edges of the Rages to bait '''Sluice''' , while the ranged players should bait the '''Protean Waves''' from the '''Liquid Rages''' to fire off the edge of the arena, while the remaining players bait the Waves from the boss and the Hand to fire between the intercardinals. The DPS will then move in to the rear of the boss's hitbox to bait a third set of Waves while the tanks and a healer will bait the Rages '''Protean Waves'''.

The boss will then use '''Hand of Prayer/Parting'''. Following this strategy, the tanks will be separate from each other, so this will result in the Hand forming an open palm. The tanks will have to drag the boss and the Hand back together to resolve the mechanic. The Rages will also use '''Embolus''', so this should help avoid this mechanic as well. Another '''Hand of Pain''' here, so make sure the boss and the Hand are within 4% of HP to one another. Finally, the boss will use '''Splash''' again and prepare to use a final '''Cascade''' as its enrage, which will wipe the party if the boss is not defeated in time.

''Note:'' In practice, most parties will skip the final set of Splashes. Everyone should focus on the boss during the last set of '''Protean Waves''' and kill it before it uses the final '''Hand of Pain''', which serves as the "de facto" enrage.

===Intermission: Limit Cut===
After defeating the '''Living Liquid''', players will enter the '''Limit Cut''' mini-phase. Players will handle the mechanic of the same name from A11S while also avoiding rotating explosions around the edge and center of the arena.

Players should group in the middle of the arena. Every player will be marked with dots above their head from 1-8. This indicates what order players are attacked in. Blue dots indicate odd numbered players, while red dots indicate even numbered players. '''Cruise Chaser''' will spawn behind a blue numbered player and fire a conal cleave ('''Alpha Sword'''), knocking the player in that direction. It will then dash ('''Super Blassty Charge''') in the direction of the even numbered player that is next in sequence. If the player who gets dashed is facing away from the boss, they will receive a huge knockback. This will repeat with each set of numbers (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8). These hits also debuff with both {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]''' and {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]''', meaning players can't take more than one hit.

While this is happening, '''Hawk Blasters''' will drop large, untelegraphed circular AoEs on the arena. These will drop four sets of two opposite explosions that rotate clockwise around the arena, followed by one in the center. They will then resume rotating around the edge of the arena, followed by a final explosion in the center, for a total of ten explosion sets. Any player hit by these will die.

The most common method to handle this is to have two groups, 1/2, 5/6 and 3/4, 7/8 on opposite sides of the arena running around the arena following the explosions. Players who will handle the mechanics first will stand on the inner ring with lights, while the other set of numbers in that group will stand on the outside ring. The odd numbered players will be in the lead facing forward with the even numbered players standing behind them, facing towards the odd numbered player. Once they have handled their set of mechanics, the groups will switch, moving to the outer ring next to the edge of the arena while the next players move to the inner circle and repeat. Players can use their knockback skills if they want to help minimize risk if they miss an attack.

===Phase 2: [[Brute Justice]] & [[Cruise Chaser]]===
This phase requires players to handle both bosses mechanics at the same time, moving correctly and handing debuffs off to the correct players to ensure no one is accidentally killed.

'''Mechanics''':

*'''J Kick''': Massive raid-wide damage immediately following '''Limit Cut'''.
*'''Whirlwind''': Moderate raid-wide damage cast by '''Cruise Chaser'''.
*'''Judgment Nisi''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. This inflicts four '''Final Decree Nisi''' debuffs, ([[File:Final decree nisi α icon1.png|link=]] '''α''', [[File:Final decree nisi β icon1.png|link=]] '''β''', [[File:Final decree nisi γ icon1.png|link=]] '''γ''', and [[File:Final decree nisi δ icon1.png|link=]] '''δ''') on either the tanks and healers or the four DPS. These debuffs will inflict minor damage-over-time and will fall off when the timer expires. Contacting another player will cause them to acquire the same color debuff. Players need to pass these debuffs back and forth and satisfy the '''Verdict''' condition once the boss finishes its cast of '''Gavel'''. If two players with different '''Nisi''' colors touch, both players will instantly die ('''Final Sentence''').
*'''Link-Up''': A healer is debuffed with [[File:Compressed water icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Water''', and a DPS is debuffed with [[File:Compressed lightning icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Lightning'''. These debuffs last 30 seconds and explode at their resolution.
**The mechanics of these debuffs are similar to how they worked in the original Alexander fight. [[File:Compressed water icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Water''' should be split among at least three players when it resolves and explodes in a large AoE ('''Crashing Wave''') that deals split damage. This debuff will then pass to a random player. The originally debuffed player will receive a {{status effect|water resistance down}} '''[[Water Resistance Down]] II''' debuff, meaning they cannot be in the next stack, or they will die. Additionally, when the debuff passes, it will drop a '''Liquid Rage''' tornado that will knock back any player too close to it and hit them with '''Drainage''', dealing massive damage. The tornado can be frozen to hide behind to avoid '''Propeller Wind''' and destroyed by '''Flarethrower'''. If a tornado is up for too long, it will explode ('''Severe Contamination''') and wipe the raid.
**[[File:Compressed lightning icon1.png|link=]] '''Compressed Lightning''' is a stack mechanic between two players. If more than two players are stacked, the debuff will inflict full damage to everyone in the stack, likely resulting in deaths. The damage is split in an AoE ('''Crashing Thunder''') when the debuff resolves. Like before, the debuff will pass to the other player and the originally debuffed player will not be able to take the debuff again as they will have {{status effect|lightning resistance down}} '''[[Lightning Resistance Down]] II'''.
**If a player with one of the debuffs dies or holds both '''Compressed''' debuffs at the same time, they will explode and wipe the raid ('''Punishing Thunder'''/'''Punishing Wave''').
**'''Steam Chakrams''' will also spawn randomly around the arena on opposite sides. The Chakrams will target a random player and fire across the arena at them in an untelegraphed line AoE ('''Eye of the Chakram'''), knocking back and killing anyone hit.
*'''Optical Sight''': Cast by '''Cruise Chaser''': An invisible circular AoE ('''Hawk Blaster''') will spawn at each player's location, then resolve shortly after, killing anyone hit. Players need to bait these and wait until just after the cast resolves to move.
*'''Photon''': Reduces the HP of all players to 1. Any cast of this afterwards will only affect tanks.
*'''Spin Crusher''': Frontal conal cleave cast by '''Cruise Chaser''' that will knock back and kill anyone hit. Has no AoE indicator.
*'''Missile Command''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. '''Earth Missile''' (telegraphed AoE) is dropped on the two furthest players, dropping a puddle under the targets. The boss will then cast '''Hidden Minefield''' on the furthest two players as well, which are telegraphed dark green circular AoEs that must be avoided and will leave behind two invisible '''Hidden Mines'''. These will need to be disarmed (run over) by a tank with cooldowns, or they will explode ('''Hidden Mine Shrapnel''') and wipe the party. Mines that are being disarmed will explode in a large AoE, so other players should not get too close. The boss will fire an ice '''Earth Missile''' on one of the tanks, and cast '''Enumeration''' on two random DPS.
**'''Enumeration''' will always require three players to stand in the circle to resolve. If three players aren't in the circle when it resolves, it kills the players that are inside it. Players cannot be inside both circles, or they will die.
**The second '''Earth Missile''' that fires will drop an expanding ice puddle. This needs to be used to freeze the tornado to survive '''Propeller Wind'''. Anyone who steps in the puddle will be inflicted with {{status effect|Frostbite}} '''Frostbite''' and die.
*'''Verdict''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. Will inflict all players with [[File:Final judgment penalty iii icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Judgment: Penalty III''' and one of [[File:Final judgment decree nisi α icon1.png|link=]][[File:Final judgment decree nisi β icon1.png|link=]][[File:Final judgment decree nisi γ icon1.png|link=]][[File:Final judgment decree nisi δ icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Judgment: Decree Nisi α / β / γ / δ'''. Each type of '''Final Judgment: Decree Nisi''' will be assigned to one random DPS and one random support. This debuff will indicate which '''Final Decree Nisi''' debuff they have to be inflicted with by the time '''Gavel''' finishes casting or the party will wipe.
*'''Limit Cut''': '''Cruise Chaser''' becomes invincible and summons a '''Plasma Shield'''. The shield can only be damaged from the front. Players need to destroy this before it disappears or the boss will receive a {{buff|damage up}} '''[[Damage Up]]''' buff and wipe the raid with its next attack.
*'''Flarethrower''': '''Brute Justice''' casts an untelegraphed wide conal AoE towards the player closest to it. This can destroy the water tornados.
*'''Propeller Wind''': '''Cruise Chaser''' damages and inflicts {{status effect|confused}} '''[[Confused (Status Effect)|Confused]]''' on players unless they break the Line-of-Sight with a frozen water tornado.
*'''Gavel''': Cast by '''Brute Justice'''. Checks if all players have the correct '''Nisi''' debuffs. All '''Nisi''' and '''Compressed Water/Lightning''' debuffs will be removed if the check succeeds. Otherwise, the party will instantly wipe.
*'''Double Rocket Punch''': '''Brute Justice''' uses a heavy-hitting tankbuster that needs to be split between both tanks.
*'''Super Jump''': '''Brute Justice''' jumps on the player that is the furthest away, knocking back and inflicting {{status effect|Stun}} '''[[Stun]]''' on anyone else hit, then face the new furthest player and use '''Apocalyptic Ray''', a massive conal AoE. This will kill any player it hits.
*'''Final Sentence''': '''Brute Justice''' hard enrage. The party will wipe if this cast finishes.
*'''Eternal Darkness''': '''Cruise Chaser''' hard enrage. The party will wipe if this cast finishes.

'''Strategy''':

Immediately after '''Limit Cut''', the bosses will spawn and use '''J Kick'''. This needs to be heavily mitigated and healed through, as the attack deals heavy damage. Once the bosses spawn, pull them together in the center of the arena and stack up to bait the Chakrams that spawn on the edges of the arena. Spread out to avoid the attack, wait to bait '''Optical Sight''', then back in once the AoEs appear. Players can not be overlapped with other players as the boss will then cast '''Judgment Nisi''', and this will cause debuffs to pass incorrectly, wiping the raid. The boss will cast '''Link-Up''' soon after this.

At this point, the tanks should split the bosses, one pulling '''Cruise Chaser''' and the other taking '''Brute Justice'''. It is recommended the bosses are kept closer to each other in order to manage their HP and damage, since they need to be defeated at roughly the same time. If one is defeated too quickly and the other can't be downed in time, the surviving boss will enrage and wipe the raid.

There should be four passes of '''Nisi''' during this phase before '''Gavel'''. Tanks and healers should have designated partners to pass their debuff to until '''Verdict''' is cast and players need specific debuffs. To minimize errors in passing debuffs, non-marked players should move to their partners and pass through their hitbox to take the debuff. This keeps players from accidentally passing the debuff to the wrong player.

The boss will cast '''Photon''' at this time. Due to the DoT from '''Nisi''', healers need to cast their shields to prevent deaths. Players will pass their debuffs at this point, then the boss will fire a '''Spin Crusher''' at the same time as the debuffs from '''Link-Up''' resolve. Players with these debuffs should move to the designated areas to pass their debuffs. A recommended strategy is to pass the Lightning debuff to the tank holding '''Brute Justice''', while the rest of the players move to stand near the Water-debuffed player without touching.

Healers should bait the '''Earth Missile''' and mines near the edge of the arena away from the boss, then have the tank targeted by the ice-aspected '''Earth Missile''' drop it near the water tornado while the other tank handles the mines with cooldowns. The healers should then move to the DPS marked with '''Enumeration''', then either the tanks or the two remaining DPS should move into the circles. Once all this resolves, players should pass their '''Nisi''' debuffs with their partner. The next pass of the '''Compressed''' debuffs should happen, generally the first player to receive the Water stack should take the next Lightning stack, as they can't split the Water AoE. The tank holding '''Cruise Chaser''' should pull the boss to an edge and face the boss towards the center of the stage for its next attack. '''Brute Justice''' will then cast '''Verdict''', assigning debuffs to players.

As this is happening, '''Cruise Chaser''' will cast '''Limit Cut''', becoming invincible and summoning a '''Plasma Shield''', which can only be hit from the front. Burn the shield down quickly. While doing this, '''Brute Justice''' will cast '''Flarethrower''', which the tank holding this boss will need to direct towards the second spawned water tornado to destroy it. The tank should position themselves into the boss's hitbox to be the 'closest' player to the boss. Immediately after '''Flarethrower''', players should pass their debuffs. The players without '''Nisi''' will pickup the debuffs that match their '''Verdict''' requirement. The boss will follow this up with '''Whirlwind''', requiring players to mitigate and heal through. Healers should be sure to top off everyone's HP, as the next passing of '''Compressed''' debuffs will happen right after this.

After passing the '''Compressed''' debuffs, players should move to where the ice block is, while the '''Cruise Chaser''' tank moves the boss to the intercardinal of the block. The boss will cast '''Propeller Wind''', and the players need to break the Line of Sight of this attack. Players will also need to swap their debuffs to the correct players one final time before '''Gavel'''. A common way to handle this mechanic is to line up behind the ice block based on their color. Generally, people line up in order of '''Blue, Purple, Orange, Green'''. Following '''Gavel''', all debuffs will disappear.

The boss will follow up with another '''Photon''' that hits only the tanks and needs to be mitigated and healed through, as following that, '''Brute Justice''' will use '''Double Rocket Punch''', which both tanks will need to mitigate. After this, the boss will use '''Super Jump''', leaping to the farthest player from it. This player should be a ranged DPS who should begin moving as '''Double Rocket Punch''' comes out. After leaping, the boss will cast '''Apocalyptic Ray''', which needs to be dodged, as it will kill whatever it touches.

'''Cruise Chaser''' will cast '''Whirlwind''' twice, dealing heavy raid-wide damage, so mitigation is key. At this point the bosses both long-cast their enrages. The bosses both need to be defeated before the cast goes off, and roughly at the same time as each other.

===Phase 3: [[Alexander Prime]]===
During this phase, the boss will be untargetable for sections of the fight while players handle mechanics made up of '''Formations''' from the bosses from the other phases. The boss will be attacking during these phases, so players will handle these mechanics while also dodging '''Alexanders'''' attacks.

'''Mechanics''':

*'''Chastening Heat''': Heavy-hitting tankbuster that debuffs with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]'''.
*'''Divine Spear''': Three magic-damage cleaves on the main tank. This always comes immediately after '''Chastening Heat''', so a tankswap or an invulnerability skill is required.
*'''Mega Holy''': Massive magic-based raid-wide damage that needs to be heavily mitigated and shielded to survive.

'''Formation One: Temporal Stasis''':

*Players will receive debuffs based on their role:
**One DPS and one tank or healer are tethered and debuffed with [[File:House arrest icon1.png|link=]] '''House Arrest'''. These players must be in close proximity to each other when the debuff resolves or they will both die. When the debuff resolves, it will inflict 1 damage or lethal damage if the tether is too long ('''Plaint of Surety''').
**One DPS and one tank or healer are tethered and debuffed with [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order'''. These players must be far apart from each other when the debuff resolves or they will die. When the debuff resolves, it will inflict 1 damage or lethal damage if the tether is not long enough ('''Plaint of Surety''').
**One DPS and one tank or healer are debuffed with [[File:Aggravated assault icon1.png|link=]] '''Aggravated Assault'''. These players cannot take any additional damage or they will both die. When the debuff resolves, it will inflict moderate damage ('''Plaint of Severity'''), {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up''', making additional damage lethal until the debuffs expire.
**One DPS and one tank or healer will not have a debuff.
*'''Alpha Sword''': '''Cruise Chaser''' will fire a conal AoE at the three closest players to it. These players are debuffed with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up'''.
*'''Flarethrower''': A large conal AoE directed at the two closest players to '''Brute Justice'''. Players hit are debuffed with a {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''[[Fire Resistance Down]]'''.
Based on the debuffs players have, players can stand in set positions and handle mechanics without much movement. Each player will be frozen for several seconds with [[File:Temporal displacement icon1.png|link=]] '''Temporal Displacement''' when the mechanic resolves. Players can stand near the bosses within their hitbox to bait the attacks, then move out of them so the next group can step in.

'''Formation Two: Inception''':

*'''Aetheroplasm''': Four players will be tethered to '''Plasmaspheres''', large orbs. These orbs will slowly move towards their player, until they reach the tethered player and explode in an AoE, dealing damage ('''Burst''') and dropping a puddle that inflicts '''Heavy''' if a player stands in it. If the orbs collide with a different player, they will deal less damage. If two puddles are dropped and overlap, they will explode ('''Electromagnetic Burst''') and wipe the raid.
*'''Judgment Crystal''': Random players will be marked and will drop '''Judgment Crystals''' where they are standing. These crystals will explode if they overlap with each other, are near '''Alexander''' or are touched by the '''True Heart''' summoned by an ad. When they explode, they deal proximity damage ('''Tetrashatter''') based on how close players are to them.
*'''True Heart''': '''Shanoa''', the cat add, will spawn across from '''Alexander''' and summons '''True Heart''', an ad that will move towards '''Alexander'''. After touching all four '''Judgment Crystals''', the Heart will turn a golden color and move to '''Alexander's''' hitbox and buff players with [[File:Enigma codex icon1.png|link=]] '''Enigma Codex''', a buff required for the final phase.
*'''Inception''': '''Alexander''' will teleport around the arena and fire wide AoE '''Sacraments''' from its cardinals. Players can watch the '''True Heart''' to see where it moves to know where the boss will spawn and move out of the way of its attacks. Players will also receive various debuffs:
** A DPS will be debuffed with [[File:Shared sentence icon1.png|link=]] '''Shared Sentence''', which will need to be shared with another player, most likely a tank. The debuff will resolve as a small AoE ('''Plaint of Solidarity''') that will inflict split damage, {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up'''.
** One DPS and one tank will be debuffed by [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order'''.
** Two DPS will be debuffed with [[File:Aggravated assault icon1.png|link=]] '''Aggravated Assault'''.
*Mechanics will appear from the previous bosses from the fight that will also need to be avoided: '''Flarethrower''', '''Alpha Sword''', and '''Super Jump'''.

The main tank should grab the boss and face it north, using an invulnerability skill to handle '''Chastening Heat''', then the rest of the party should stack in the center and prepare shields for when the boss casts '''Inception'''.

'''Alexander''' will spawn in either the north or the south of the arena, and '''Brute Justice''' will spawn to the west, then both will start running through mechanics. There is time to adjust to where '''Alexander''' spawns for these attacks.

Players should stand in the center of the arena. The '''Plasmaspheres''' will spawn around the arena and begin tethering to players. The orbs will spawn in random groups, either two in the northwest and southeast, or two in the northeast and southwest. Players that get a tether should move to the north edge of the arena. The untethered players should move to the opposite side of the arena. Players will then be marked for the '''Judgment Crystals'''. Once the puddles and crystals are dropped, all the players should move north except the tanks. Healers should make sure everyone is topped off, then '''Brute Justice''' will use '''Flarethrower'''. After '''Flarethrowers''' resolve, players should use the '''True Heart''' to build DPS resources for the coming phases.

'''Alexander''' will then cast the various debuffs on players. Watch the '''True Heart''' to see where '''Alexander''' will spawn and move out of the way of the '''Sacrament''' that is fired. Based on debuffs, players will need to split up across the arena, with the tanks and the player with '''Shared Sentence''' on the west side and the rest of the party to the east. Players with the '''Restraining Order''' debuff should run to the edges of the arena to guarantee the debuffs requirement is met.

'''Cruise Chaser''' will then spawn in the center of the arena and begin casting '''Alpha Sword''', hitting the players closest to it. This attack, as well as the debuffs, will inflict players with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]'''. Since tanks are in the '''Shared Sentence''' debuff as well, they can not be the ones to handle '''Alpha Sword'''. Both healers and one of the '''Restraining Order''' DPS will have to bait these. Since they are baiting the '''Alpha Swords''', tanks can handle '''Super Jump'''. Tanks can move away from '''Brute Force''' while the other players move in to '''Cruise Chaser''' and bait the attack.

'''Formation Three: Wormhole''':

This phase re-introduces even more mechanics from previous phases that must be handled several at a time, such as '''Limit Cut''', Super Jump''' and '''Apocalyptic Ray'''. Accurate player movement and baiting the correct attacks is essential here, and a mistake will most likely cause a wipe.
*'''Link-Up''': Two Chakrams will spawn at opposite sides of the arena.
*'''Missile Command''': Two random DPS will be marked for '''Enumeration'''.
*'''Incinerating Heat''': A random player will be marked for a stack mechanic. This attack needs to be shielded and mitigated to handle.
*'''Void of Repentance''': Two large puddles spawn and need to be soaked by one player each, dealing light damage ('''Repentance''') and debuffing with {{status effect|vulnerability up 2}} '''[[Vulnerability Up]]''' and {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''Magic Vulnerability Up'''. These puddles must be soaked three times, shrinking in size with each soak, and will explode ('''Confession''') and wipe the raid if not soaked in time.

'''Alexander''' will open this mini-phase with another '''Chastening Heat''' and '''Divine Spear'''. This time however, the boss will delay the Spears, requiring a tank swap after the first ability. From here, several abilities will fire in rapid succession. Players should start in the center of the arena to bait Chakrams and set up shields and Regens. Once players are assigned their numbers, they should split to either side of the arena, evens to one side and odds to the opposite. Standing at the intercardinals to the north and south, and at the cardinal south will ensure players don't end up in Void puddles when they spawn. Once the Chakrams fire, players can adjust their position for '''Limit Cut'''. Odds should face outwards from the arena, and evens should face their odd partner. Pop knockback skills to guarantee nobody gets knocked out of position. After the first hit of '''Limit Cut''', players marked with 7 and 8 can move to the east and west, and 5 and 6 can soak the first stack of the Void puddles. This way when '''Apocalyptic Ray''' fires, no one will get hit by it. This move cuts across the stage, so players need to be careful to avoid it. '''Brute Justice''' will then use '''Super Jump''' on either 3 or 4, depending on what player is furthest away. After the jump, the boss will turn around and fire '''Apocalyptic Ray''' and the puddles will resolve their first soak. '''Cruise Chaser''' will then attack 5 and 6. These players should move slightly up along the edge of the arena to bait their '''Limit Cut'''. 7 and 8 can move to where 5 and 6 previously were, and 1 and 2 can move into the puddles to soak the next hit, finally 5 and 6 should move out of range of the effects of the final '''Limit Cut'''. Once all these resolve, players should group in the center and get ready to mitigate and heal through '''Incinerating Heat'''.

After this, the DPS will be marked for '''Enumeration''', they should separate slightly and players should stand in the circles in the correct amounts. Following this, '''Alexander''' will fire '''Mega Holy''' twice, dealing more hard-hitting damage. A lot of healing and mitigation is happening here, so tanks and healers need to be ready.

'''Formation Four: Summon Alexander''':

This formation requires heavy mitigation and healing, as well as a DPS check to beat the enrage. '''Alexander Prime''' will summon a massive '''Alexander''' and will begin to cast '''Divine Judgment'''. If this cast finishes, the party will wipe. The bosses will begin using repeating attacks to wipe the party as well.
*'''J Storm''': '''Brute Justice''' slams the arena, dealing heavy raid-wide damage.
*'''J Wave''': '''Brute Justice''' fires this every few seconds dealing increasingly heavy raid-wide damage and buffing itself with a stack of [[File:Damage up icon2.png|link=]] '''[[Damage Up]]''' each time it is cast.
*'''Eternal Darkness''': '''Cruise Chaser's''' enrage skill. Players need to defeat it before this cast goes off, or the party will wipe. Healers need to focus on mitigation and healing for this phase, as the damage will begin increasing rapidly in both output and amount. Tanks should be using abilities that increase healing output and shields while mitigating boss damage output with moves like '''Reprisal'''.

The party should defeat '''Cruise Chaser''' as its enrage will cast first, then '''Brute Justice''' to stop the increasing damage from '''J Waves'''. Once both are defeated, '''Alexander Prime''' will no longer be invulnerable, so the party should finish it off before the enrage cast finishes.

After the bosses are defeated, players will need to group up and use the '''level 3 tank Limit Break''' once the massive '''Alexander's''' countdown reaches 3 seconds. Players should use their shields and mitigations as well, as the Limit Break alone is not enough to survive the damage for casters. After that, a cutscene ensues in which all three bosses combine and upgrade themselves into the final boss: '''Perfect Alexander'''

===Phase 4: [[Perfect Alexander]]===
'''Mechanics''':

When the phase opens, the boss will cast '''The Final Word''', causing players will receive debuffs from the boss that will move players when they resolve:
*Three players will receive [[File:Final word contact prohibition icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Contact Prohibition''', which is denoted by a yellow icon with an arrow. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Contact prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Contact Prohibition Ordained'''. Players with this debuff will move towards players with '''Contact Regulation Ordained'''. If these players end up colliding, they will die ('''Divine Retribution''').
*One player will receive [[File:Final word contact regulation icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Contact Regulation''', denoted with an orange starburst icon. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Contact regulation ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Contact Regulation Ordained'''.
*Three players will receive [[File:Final word escape prohibition icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Escape Prohibition''' and is denoted with a blue and white icon with an arrow. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Escape prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Escape Prohibition Ordained'''. These players will move away from the player with '''Escape Detection Ordained'''. If they touch that player or move too far away from them, they will die ('''Divine Retribution''').
*One player will receive [[File:Final word escape detection icon1.png|link=]] '''Final Word: Escape Detection''', denoted by a purple icon. Upon the timer expiring, this debuff will become [[File:Escape detection ordained icon1.png|link=]] '''Escape Detection Ordained'''.
*Note that if anyone with '''Contact Regulation''' or '''Escape Detection''' dies, all of their "followers" (i.e. players with '''Contact Prohibition''' or '''Escape Prohibition''', respectively) will also die ('''Divine Retribution''').
*'''Ordained Motion''': Players must be constantly moving at the time of the cast, or they will die. This is denoted by a white sword marker.
*'''Ordained Stillness''': Players must be perfectly still at the time of the cast, including not auto-attacking. This is denoted by a black sword.
*'''Optical Sight''': Players will either all be marked with '''Individual Reprobation''' and need to spread out to avoid AoEs, or '''Collective Reprobation''' and two random players will be marked with stack markers and should separate slightly to avoid overlapping. Note that taking the stack solo will cause the marked player to explode ('''Faithlessness''') and wipe the raid.
*'''Ordained Capital Punishment''': A heavy-hitting triple hit magic-based tankbuster that needs to be split with the off tank.
*'''Ordained Punishment''': A heavy magic-based tankbuster that debuffs with {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]'''. Since the boss's auto-attacks are physical, a tankswap is required. This attack always follows Capital Punishment.
*'''Almighty Judgment''': The boss shows the locations of AoEs briefly, which players need to remember and dodge. These AoEs will fire at the start of '''Irresistible Grace's''' cast bar.
*'''Irresistible Grace''': A random player is marked for stacking. This should be mitigated, as it deals heavy magic-based damage.
*'''Fate Projection''': Creates clones of all party members and shows what mechanics they will do when '''Fate Calibration''' finishes casting. Players will be able to identify their clone by the arrow that points to them. Players will only be able to see their clone if they have the [[File:Enigma codex icon1.png|link=]] '''Enigma Codex''' buff from Phase 3 and are alive at the start of this mechanic.
*'''Fate Calibration α''': A series of mechanics will be shown while the cast bar fills. '''Ordained Motion/Stillness''' will be first, based on the sword that appears over the clone, followed by a mechanic based on role type:
** A gear will appear around three clones, denoting '''Aggravated Assault'''.
** One clone will have stacking gears appear on it, denoting '''Shared Sentence'''.
** One clone will have a circle pulsing from it, denoting '''Defamation'''. This player will need to move to the opposite side of the arena from the rest of the party.
**Three clones will receive no debuffs.
*'''Ordained Motion/Stillness''' will appear for the third mechanic, denoted again by the color of the sword over the clone’s head.
*The fourth mechanic will spawn three '''Alexander''' clones and each will fire a '''Sacrament''' with one not firing. This clone indicates a safe zone directly in front of it.
*'''Fate Calibration β''': Similar to the previous '''Fate Calibration''', this phase will show what mechanics will be coming after the cast bar fills:
*The debuffs '''[[File:Contact regulation ordained icon1.png|link=]] Contact Regulation Ordained / [[File:Contact prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] Contact Prohibition Ordained''' used in '''The Final Word''' will be applied to players. Their clones will receive a bright light over their heads. The clone receiving '''Contact Regulation Ordained''' will not move after the light appears, while those receiving '''Contact Prohibition Ordained''' will move. Players marked with '''Contact Prohibition''' will also receive additional debuffs that will be visually indicated on the clone:
** One player receives [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order''' (blue tether).
** One player receives [[File:House arrest icon1.png|link=]] '''House Arrest''' (red and green tether).
** One player receives '''Shared Sentence''' (stack gear).
* Players with dark markers over their heads will receive '''[[File:Escape detection ordained icon1.png|link=]] Escape Detection Ordained / [[File:Escape prohibition ordained icon1.png|link=]] Escape Prohibition Ordained'''. The clone receiving '''Escape Detection Ordained''' will not move after the light appears, while those receiving '''Escape Prohibition Ordained''' will move. The players with '''Escape Prohibition''' will also receive additional debuffs that will be visually indicated on the clone:
** One player will be marked with [[File:Restraining order icon1.png|link=]] '''Restraining Order'''.
** One player will be marked with [[File:House arrest icon1.png|link=]] '''House Arrest'''.
** One player will not receive any additional debuffs.
*The second mechanic is three '''J Jumps''', which are large AoEs from three clones that inflict {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up'''. These will be baited by the Purple marked player, the Blue debuffed player with '''Restraining Order''', and the Blue debuffed player with no additional debuffs.
*The third mechanic is '''Optical Sight: Individual/Collective Reprobation'''. The north clone will fire either two large orbs (light party stacks, one targeting a dark player and the other targeting a light player) or eight small orbs (full party spread) to indicate which attack is coming out.
* The fourth mechanic is '''Radiant Sacrament''', a donut AoE. Players will need to move directly in front of the clone to avoid this attack.

'''Strategy''':

The main tank should grab enmity on the boss again. The boss will auto-attack a few times, then cast '''Final Word'''. To handle this mechanic, the player with '''Contact Regulation''' should move to the opposite side of the arena away from the group, the players with '''Contact Prohibition''' should stand in a row in front of players with '''Escape Prohibition''', while the player with '''Escape Detection''' should stand behind them. '''Ordained Motion/Stillness''' will fire, and players will have to handle accordingly. The debuffs will take effect, and players should be move correctly without any deaths. Immediately after this, the opposite '''Ordained''' attack will come out.

'''Optical Sight''' is next, and players should be ready to mitigate this damage and move according to whichever markers come out.

'''Fate Calibration α'''will begin casting, and players will need to watch their clones to know what mechanics are coming and how to handle them once the cast resolves and move to safe spots in front of and across from the '''Alexander Clone''' that didn't fire a '''Sacrament'''. The player marked with '''Defamation''' will stand in the safe zone in front of the clone. In the other safe zone, the '''Aggravated Assault''' player will stand on one side of the safe zone, the '''Shared Sentence''' and non-debuffed player will stack on the other side of the safe zone.

The boss will become untargetable, and players can begin following the mechanics presented previously. Be sure not to accidentally clip players with mechanics in your safe zone. Be sure not to move until the clones all fire their '''Sacrament'''.

Following this sequence, the boss will begin using '''Ordained Capital Punishment''' and '''Ordained Punishment'''. Handle the first attack with an invincibility, then tankswap after all three hits of '''Ordained Capital Punishment''' have fired. Use cooldowns to mitigate the second attack.

The boss will then begin the cast bar for '''Fate Calibration β'''. Players will need to watch to see which debuffs they will be assigned. Players should also be on the lookout for the safe zone for the '''Radiant Sacrament''' and where to move for '''Optical Sight'''. At around 30% the debuffs for '''Final Word''' will show on the clones. Players will stand on the west edge or the north edge at the cardinals based on their debuffs and the tethers for the additional debuffs:
*The player with the purple debuff will stand behind every other player.
*The player with the orange debuff will stand at the north cardinal of the arena.
*Players with the yellow debuff will stand in front of the purple debuffed players, closer to the north to move in that direction at the debuffs resolution.
*The blue debuff players with '''House Arrest'''; will stack with the yellow players.
*The blue debuff players with '''Restraining Order''' will stand in front of the purple debuffed player, closer to the south to get moved to the north.
*The blue debuff player with no extra debuffs will stand directly in front of the purple player to end up moving straight to the east. Players will move into the safe zones and stay there until '''Shared Sentence''' and '''Super Jump''' both resolve.

Players will then handle '''Optical Sight''' stacking or spreading accordingly. After this, players will move to the safe zone for '''Radiant Sacrament'''. The boss will follow up with another series of tankbusters, then move into '''Almighty Judgment''' and '''Irresistible Grace'''.

Pull the boss to the center of the arena. The boss cast '''Almighty Judgment''' and will show three sets of AoEs here that players need to memorize. Players will need to dodge each set of AoEs correctly, as getting hit by one will almost certainly cause a wipe. Following these AoEs, the boss will cast '''Irresistible Grace'''. The party will have to stack and heavily mitigate the attack.
After this, the tank can turn the boss to the north and the party should move behind the boss. The boss will use another '''Capital Punishment''' set which need to be mitigated and tankswapped. Healers should fill the tanks health after this. Another set of '''Almighty Judgment''' and '''Irresistible Grace''' to be handled the exact same way as before, then the boss will move to the center of the arena and begin to cast its enrage, '''Temporal Prison'''.

A space will light up and cages will begin dropping onto the platform to the northeast of the boss and continue doing so at the cardinals and intercardinals moving clockwise. Players should move to these positions with the healers taking the first two cages, the tanks taking the next two, and finally the DPS. Anyone with damage-over-time (DoT) abilities should refresh their DoTs on the boss before they are caged, as they will be incapacitated with '''Temporal Displacement''' and unable to attack. A few seconds after all players are caged, the fight will reset to the beginning, so the party must defeat the boss before this happens. Missing a cage will cause the fight to instantly reset.

==Reward==
*1 {{Item icon|Colossus Totem}}
* [[Epic of Alexander Adventurer Plate]]

When originally released, you could receive only one reward item per week for completing duties in The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate). This restriction was removed in [[Patch 5.2]]

The reward can be exchanged with [[Bertana]] in [[Idyllshire]] (X:5.8 Y:5.2) for [[Ultimate Alexander Weapons]].

Completion of this duty will unlock a new [[Adventurer Plate]] design.

==Achievements==
The following [[achievements]] are associated with this duty:

{| {{STDT|mech1}}
{{achievement table header}}
{{achievement table row|When I Ruled the World}}
|}

==World First==
The world first clear was from Thoughts per Second on November 19, 2019. However, it was revealed that they were using a third party tool to automatically replace [[waymarks]] during combat, in violation of the Terms of Service. This was addressed by producer/director YoshiP in the Producer Letter Live (PLL) following the release of TEA.<ref>[https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/414393-Letter-from-the-Producer-LIVE-Part-LVII-Digest-%2802-14-2020%29 Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LVII Digest (02/14/2020)]</ref> Subsequently, the ability to replace waymarks in PvE combat was removed in [[patch 5.2]].

==Images==
<gallery heights=200px mode=packed>
File:The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate)1.jpg
File:All Ultimates Weapons.jpg
</gallery>

==Trivia==
*On June 30, 2022, the encounter was cleared without the Enigma Codex buff.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG2M2bozu2M</ref> This clear relied on a forced movement bug that was resolved in [[patch 6.1]], so the methods used to clear without the buff are no longer functional.

==External Links==
'''Aether/NA Party Finder Strategies''' (commonly referred to as "oldbin")
*Phase 1: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=830419115443951&preview=1 Living Liquid]
*[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=240411819443951&preview=1 Limit Cut]
*Phase 2: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=340414049443951&preview=1 Brute Justice and Cruise Chaser]
*Phase 3: Alexander Prime
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=463281492325761&preview=1#5 Temporal Stasis and Inception Formation]
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=236244852760461&preview=1 Wormhole Formation]
*Phase 4: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=646241037470461&preview=1 Perfect Alexander]
*[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z7CHed25CNQYA03UHz9Ao6b0ooQGAYyTQPbzYqHwsaA/edit#gid=1311355980 Mitigation spreadsheet]
*[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=814290069371961&preview=1 Role positions]

==References==
<references/>

{{Duties nav|raid}}

Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate)

2023-12-20T18:41:08Z

Zims: /* Guide */Clarified phase one "Playstation" assignments. (It is not for example true that X is two arbitrary supports. That would imply that both healers can get X, which is not true)

{{Duty infobox
| description = “There are no ifs in history, yet man is wont to cast his mind towards the path not walked.” Thus spoke the wandering minstrel, and at his urging, you reflect upon bygone trials with newfound perspective. Your imagination stirred by the man's masterfully woven verse, you dream of an alternate conclusion to the Dragonsong War─one in which a dear comrade is spared his tragic fate...
| image = Dragonsong's Reprise1.png
| type = Ultimate Raid
| level = 90
| level-sync = 90
| ilvl = 605
| ilvl-max-sync=true
| ilvl-sync = 605
| difficulty = ultimate
| size = full
| unsync = n
| time-limit = 120
| duty-finder = Raid Finder (Ultimate Raids)
| roulette =
| tomestones = 30 Causality
| entrance =
| entrance-coordinates =
| location = Medias Res
| region = Coerthas
| req-quest = I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel
| patch = 6.11
| release = endwalker
}} The raid is also known as '''DSR''' or '''DSU''' and is based on [[Main Scenario Quest]] dungeon and trial bosses from ''[[Heavensward]]''.

{{TOC limit|3}}
==Unlock and Requirements==
*After completing {{questlink|raid|Asphodelos: The Fourth Circle (Savage)}}, speak with the [[Wandering Minstrel]] in [[Old Sharlayan]] (X:12.7 Y:14.2) as a level 90 Disciple of War or Magic.
*Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate) can only be accessed via the [[Raid Finder]] after forming a pre-made party of eight players who have all completed {{questlink|raid|Asphodelos: The Fourth Circle (Savage)}}.
*[[Limited Jobs|Limited jobs]] not allowed
*[[Unrestricted Party|Unrestricted Parties]] not allowed
*If a player logs out or disconnects when combat is initiated, they will be KO'd upon returning to the game.
*Players are expected to have item level 600-605 "best in slot" gear instead of syncing down higher item level gear (with the exception of using a [[Manderville Weapons|Manderville Weapon]]). Best-in-slot sets for each job are provided by [https://www.thebalanceffxiv.com/ The Balance]. These consist primarily of [[Asphodelos Armor]] / [[Asphodelos Accessories|Accessories]], [[Augmented Radiant's Armor]] / [[Augmented Radiant's Accessories|Accessories]], and [[Manalis Armor]] / [[Manalis Accessories|Accessories]].

==Guide==
{{#ev:youtube|A-P1eXE18ko|350|right|Visual guide by Tessan Twintails}}
It is important to note that there are multiple ways to handle each mechanic in this fight. Below is simply a recommended strategy, but it is up to players and their groups to determine what works best for them.

All throughout this battle, the arena will be surrounded by a border that will kill any player who touches it. Players should set their waymarks at the cardinals and intercardinals of the map, as they persist through the several changes of the arena. It is recommended that the waymarks are set with corresponding colors on opposite sides of the arena (for instance, “1” can be located at the north, and “A” can be located at the south). Players will want to divide into two light parties, with at least one player acting as a “pivot”, and again into partners, with one tank or healer for every DPS. For phase three, players should determine where they would like to have “one”, “two” and “three” marked players with “Elusive Jump” and “Spineshatter Dive” stand to mitigate confusion and allow for quick adjustments.

Failing mechanics, if not outright killing the player, will inflict a crippling -50% {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]''' debuff that lasts for 3 minutes, making the damage checks harder to pass. If the player does not need to immediately be alive for an upcoming mechanic, it is generally better to kill themselves by walking into the wall and then be revived, as the {{status effect|weakness}} '''[[Weakness]]''' debuff is around half the damage loss versus the {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]'''.

The total fight length is around 22 minutes (3 minutes for phase 1, 19 minutes for phases 2-7 post-checkpoint).

===Phase 1: Sers [[Ser Adelphel|Adelphel]], [[Ser Grinnaux|Grinnaux]], and [[Ser Charibert|Charibert]]===

====Abilities====
*'''Holiest of Holy''': Cast by '''Adelphel''', deals heavy room wide damage, and must be mitigated.
*'''Empty Dimension''': Cast by '''Grinnaux'''. Casts a donut AoE with the only safe area within the boss's hitbox.
*'''Heavensblaze''': Cast by '''Charibert'''. Hits one player with a small fire AoE dealing high damage that must be shared with additional mitigation.
*'''Holy Shield Bash''': Cast by '''Adelphel'''. Tethers to a random player which can be exchanged to other players on contact. Will then charge at the tethered player and use this ability, dealing moderate damage and debuffing with {{status effect|down for the count}} '''[[Down for the Count]]''' and is followed up immediately by '''Holy Bladedance'''.
*'''Holy Bladedance''': A heavy-damage multi-hit tankbuster with a small AoE that requires heavy mitigation or invulnerability cooldowns.
*'''Hyperdimensional Slash''': '''Grinnaux''' moves to the center of the arena and randomly targets four players with orange overhead markers. Shortly afterwards, he will fire a line cleave at each marked player, dealing high damage, debuffing with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]''', while firing a wide conal shared damage AoE directly behind him that must be shared by the unmarked players, dealing high damage and debuffing with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]''' as well. The boss will turn and target the four players who were previously unmarked and repeat the attack. Each cleave fired at a player will leave a portal at the edge of the arena where the attack collided. This portal will tether to players if they get too close, dealing massive damage and inflicting {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]'''. If the portals are too close together, they will tether and explode, wiping the party. If they are placed too close to the cardinals of the arena, '''Adelphel''' will charge through them later, exploding them and wiping the party.
*'''Faith Unmoving''': '''Grinnaux''' will cast this, knocking all players away a good distance and dealing light damage. The knockback can be prevented with anti-knockback abilities.
*'''Shining Blade / Bright Flare''': '''Adelphel''' will drop on the edge of the arena at a random cardinal, perform '''Holiest of Holy''', then dash to another cardinal, dropping several orbs that explode in a small AoE. From that new cardinal, he will dash across the arena, continuing to drop orbs. Finally, he will dash to another cardinal with more orbs. The movement pattern is a zig-zag. Orbs that are too close to Hyperdimensional Slash portals will tether and cause the portal to explode, wiping the party. The boss will immediately follow up with '''Execution'''.
*'''Execution''': '''Adelphel''' targets the highest player in his '''[[enmity]]''' list, and jumps on them, dealing high damage in a small AoE. Any other players aside from the primary target caught in this will be knocked back and instantly killed.
*'''Holiest Hallowing''': Cast by '''Adelphel'''. A massive heal on '''Grinnaux''' that needs to be interrupted with {{action icon|Interject}} or {{action icon|Head Graze}}. This is cast three times in this phase.
*'''Holy Chain''': Players are assigned a symbol and tethered together in pairs, also represented by the [[File:Burning chains icon1.png|link=]] '''Burning Chains''' debuff, with each member in a pair assigned the same symbol. The chains must be broken by distance. Chains that are not broken in time will inflict massive damage and {{status effect|damage down}} '''Damage Down''' to both tethered players, likely resulting in deaths due to the concurrent '''Heavensflame'''.
**'''Red Circle''': Assigned to two DPS.
**'''Green Triangle''': Assigned to one DPS and one healer.
**'''Purple Square''': Assigned to one DPS and one tank.
**'''Blue X''': Assigned to one tank and one healer.
*'''Heavensflame''': Cast by '''Charibert'''. All players are hit by a large fire AoE, dealing high damage and debuffing with {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''', making overlap lethal.
*'''Full Dimension''': '''Grinnaux''' fires a point-blank circular AoE with the safe region past max melee range.
*'''The Bull's Steel''': '''Grinnaux's''' enrage. Takes roughly three seconds to cast, restoring Grinnaux to full health and giving him damage up and invincibility buffs.
*'''Brightblade's Steel''': '''Adelphel's''' enrage. Takes roughly three seconds to cast, restoring Adelphel to full health and giving him damage up and invincibility buffs.
*'''Planar Prison''': All players are tethered to '''Grinnaux''' and pulled into a small circular prison, dealing light damage. All players are inflicted with [[File:Planar imprisonment icon1.png|link=]] '''Planar Imprisonment''', which causes the player to instantly die if they attempt to exit the prison.
*'''Shockwave''': Unavoidable constant partywide damage that pulses from '''Haurchefant''', but will stop when he dies.
*'''Brightwing''': Cast by '''Charibert''', cleaves the two closest players near him with small conal AoEs, dealing very high damage and debuffing with [[File:Light resistance down icon2.png|link=]] '''Light Resistance Down''' and [[File:Skyblind icon1.png|link=]] '''Skyblind''', which will drop a small invisible AoE at the player's present location when the debuff timer expires after 5 seconds. Shortly after, the AoE will detonate, inflicting lethal damage to anyone hit.
*'''Pure of Heart''': A slow cast spell by '''Charibert'''. A partywide attack dealing damage based on how much HP Charibert has. Will wipe the party if '''Charibert's''' HP is above ~30%. Otherwise will deal high damage that requires mitigation.

====Strategy====

The fight will open with Sers '''Adelphel & Grinnaux''' as the only targetable bosses. Players should pull both bosses into the center of the arena and focus on keeping '''Grinnaux''' and '''Adelphel''' at roughly the same level of HP. '''Adelphel''' will begin by casting '''Holiest of Holy''', dealing heavy party-wide damage, and '''Grinnaux''' will cast '''Empty Dimension''', so players should move into his hitbox. Following this, '''Adelphel''' will tether to a random player and begin casting '''Holy Shield Bash''', which the off tank should pick up and turn away from the party. Once the '''Holy Shield Bash/Blade Dance''' combo goes off, '''Charibert''' will hit all players with '''Heavensblaze''', dealing high damage, which should be mitigated and healed through.

After a certain amount of time, '''Adelphel''' will leave the arena and '''Grinnaux''' will target four random players with '''Hyperdimensional Slash'''. The four marked players should move to the northern end of the arena and space out, making sure not to stand in the cardinals or intercardinals, but somewhere in between to carefully position the portals to where they won't tether or get hit by '''Adelphel''' later. The remaining four players should group behind the boss to split the incoming attack and not get overlapped by the frontal cleaves. Once the attack fires, players in the rear will spread out to their nearest markers in the same way the first marked players did, and the attack will fire again. Players should be careful to avoid getting too close to the portals, as they will tether to them, deal massive damage (most likely killing the player), and deal a {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]''' debuff, severely hindering them.

'''Adelphel''' will soon return to the arena, landing on a random cardinal of the arena and begin to cast '''Holiest of Holy''', dealing proximity-based damage. '''Grinnaux''' will cast '''Faith Unmoving''', knocking players backwards a good distance. Players should use their knockback mitigation skills here and move away from '''Adelphel'''. Next, '''Adelphel''' will dash across a corner of the arena to the next cardinal, dropping exploding orbs of light where he passes. He will then dash across the arena, then across another corner, in a zig-zag. To avoid this, players should move towards the corner of the cardinal where '''Adelphel''' first dashed to in order to avoid the explosions and future dash attacks. Once he stops dashing, the tank that is at the top of his enmity list should move away from the group, as '''Adelphel''' immediately follows up with '''Execute''', a tankbuster that deals high damage in an AoE. After these attacks resolve, the portals will fade.

Players should move the bosses back to the center of the arena, and prepare to interrupt '''Holiest Hallowing''', a massive heal for '''Grinnaux''' cast by '''Adelphel'''. '''Grinnaux''' will use a second '''Faith Unmoving''' at this point, and '''Adelphel''' will try to cast a second '''Holiest Hallowing''', which needs to be interrupted. For this '''Faith Unmoving''', each player will be marked with either a cross, a square, a circle or a triangle based on their role, and tethered to a player with the same symbol. There are several ways to handle this mechanic, and some players can try to pre-position based on their role, but there is plenty of time to adjust positioning as long as they move quickly. Players should move opposite the player with the same marker as them, and get knocked back from each other to break the tether. If the tether doesn't break, take a few steps towards the edge of the arena, then back in towards the center of the arena and spread out around the boss. Failing to break the tether in time will inflict massive damage on both players and {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]'''. '''Charibert''' will cast '''Heavensflame''', hitting all players in a small AoE and inflicting {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II'''. If players overlap for this attack, they will die.

'''Adelphel''' will cast another '''Holiest of Holy''', while '''Grinnaux''' casts either '''Empty Dimension''' or '''Full Dimension'''. If '''Empty''', players need to move into '''Grinnaux's''' hitbox, and if its '''Full''', players need to move to max melee range. These attacks should be mitigated and healed through. Following this, '''Adelphel''' will attempt to cast another '''Holiest Hallowing''', which needs to be interrupted. At this point, players need to focus on burning down both bosses as fast as possible, and defeat them both at as close to the same time as possible. If players aren't able to defeat the bosses before the enrage timer, they will both cast their enrage abilities and wipe the party. If players defeat one boss, the other will immediately begin casting their enrage, and the party has around 3 seconds to defeat the remaining boss. Once both bosses are defeated, they leave the arena and reappear with '''Charibert''' on the west side of the arena. The untargettable '''Grinnaux''' tethers all players to him and pulls them into a '''Planar Prison''', inflicting them with '''Planar Imprisonment''', which will kill players immediately if they leave the prison circle.

At this point, '''Charibert''' will begin casting '''Pure of Heart''', which will deal party-wide damage based on how much HP he has when the attack completes casting. He will also cleave the two closest players to him with '''Brightwing''', dealing very high damage debuffing with [[File:Light resistance down icon2.png|link=]] '''Light Resistance Down''' and [[File:Skyblind icon1.png|link=]] '''Skyblind''', which will detonate after four seconds. To handle these mechanics, players need to take turns baiting the cleaves away from the party in rotation, with the party moving away from the boss, then moving towards him when the players get cleaved and move out to avoid getting hit by the '''Skyblind''' debuff AoE. Players need to burn down '''Charibert's''' HP as much as possible before his attack finishes casting. Players will notice '''Ser Zephirin''' appear on the east side of the arena and throw his '''Spear of the Fury''' at the party, but [[Haurchefant]] run into the arena and block the spear, which quickly drains his HP and kills him. This is a reference to a mechanic that players will have to handle later, but do not need to worry about for now. However, when Haurchefant is alive, he will constantly pulse out party-wide damage with '''Shockwave''' that should be healed through.

Once '''Pure of Heart''' casts and as long as at least one player is alive, the arena will transition. The '''Limit Break''' gauge will reset, players will gain access to a third '''Limit Break''' bar and a checkpoint, the only one in the encounter. Note that players must attack '''Thordan''' for the checkpoint to be registered. Wiping at any point for the remainder of the fight will cause the party to restart from the checkpoint, although resetting the instance will require defeating Phase 1 again to acquire the checkpoint.

===Phase 2: [[King Thordan]] and His [[Knights Twelve]]===
====Abilities====
*'''Ascalon's Mercy Concealed''': '''Thordan''' targets all players with a narrow conal AoE that snapshots players' positions when the cast bar finishes and resolves shortly after.
*'''Ascalon's Might''': Tankbuster. Three cleaves that deal heavy damage and require mitigation or an invulnerability skill.
*'''Strength of the Ward''': '''Thordan''' summons his '''Knights Twelve''' to perform a series of attacks.
**'''Spiral Thrust''': '''Sers Ignasse, Vellguine, Paulecrain''' appear at the edge of the arena at random cardinals or intercardinals and charge across the arena, knocking back and killing anyone hit.
**'''Lightning Storm''': '''Thordan''' targets every player with a medium-sized circle AoE, dealing moderate damage and debuffing with {{status effect|lightning resistance down}} '''Lightning Resistance Down II''', making overlap lethal.
**'''Heavy Impact''': '''Ser Guerrique''' casts a point-blank AoE that slowly pulses outwards in donuts that get larger with each pulse. Being hit will inflict massive damage and {{status effect|stun}} '''[[Stun]]''' in addition to the {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]'''.
**'''Conviction''': Cast by '''Ser Hermenost''', spawns several towers around the arena in various patterns that must be soaked by one player each when the cast bar fills, or will explode and wipe the party.
**'''Skyward Leap''': The '''Ward's''' [[Dragoon]]s leap into the air, targeting three players with a blue marker and dropping shortly after, dealing massive damage in a large circular AoE and inflicting both {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]''' and {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]'''.
**'''Dimensional Slash''': '''Ser Grinnaux''' appears and spawns several black AoEs on the floor that slowly expand and eventually resolve. Being hit will inflict massive damage and {{status effect|heavy}} '''[[Heavy]]''' in addition to the {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]'''.
**'''The Dragon's Rage''': '''Thordan''' targets a random non-tank player without a blue marker with an untelegraphed split damage AoE.
**'''Holy Shield Bash/Holy Bladedance''': '''Sers Adelphel & Janlenoux''' will each tether a random player without a blue marker, and once the cast finishes, dash to the currently tethered players and use '''Holy Shield Bash''', inflicting {{status effect|down for the count}} '''[[Down for the Count]]''' to them and anyone too close to them, then follow up with '''Holy Bladedance''', a multi-hit high damage conal tankbuster that requires heavy mitigation. The tethers can be exchanged with other players by contacting the tether. Damage can be mitigated with increased distance from the knights.
*'''Ancient Quaga''': Unavoidable high damage party-wide attack that must be mitigated.
*'''Heavenly Heel''': Tankbuster that debuffs with {{status effect|slashing resistance down}} '''[[Slashing Resistance Down]]'''. This is followed up by '''Ascalon's Might''', requiring a tank swap or invulnerability cooldown to survive.
*'''Sanctity of the Ward''': Summons the '''Knights Twelve''' once again for several more attacks.
**'''The Dragon's Gaze''': '''Thordan''' moves to the edge of the arena and begins casting a gaze attack that deals heavy damage and inflicts {{status effect|hysteria}} '''[[Hysteria]]''', causing players to lose control and run about randomly.
**'''The Dragon's Glory''': An Eye spawns at the edge of the arena and uses an untelegraphed gaze attack at the same time as '''The Dragon's Gaze''' that deals heavy damage and inflicts {{status effect|hysteria}} '''Hysteria''', causing players to lose control and run about randomly.
**'''Sacred Sever''': '''Ser Zephirin''' targets two random players with either one or two sword markers, indicating who will be attacked first and second. The attack repeats twice. Will inflict very high damage and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''Physical Vulnerability Up'''in a medium-sized AoE that is reduced by distance from Zephirin. The damage should be shared among four players with heavy mitigation.
**'''Shining Blade / Bright Flare''': '''Sers Adelphel and Janlenoux''' appear in the center of the arena, and dash to opposite sides, dropping large orbs that explode in large AoEs. Both players then dash to opposite ends of the arena, dropping orbs once again.
**'''Holy Comet''': '''Ser Noudenet''' will mark two random players based on their role (either two supports, or two DPS) with a red overhead marker and the {{status effect|Prey}} '''[[Prey]]''' debuff, and sequentially drop seven meteors on each player shortly afterward. Each meteor drop will deal light raidwide damage. If the meteors land too close to one another, they will explode ('''Holy Impact''') and wipe the party.
**'''Hiemal Storm''': '''Ser Haumeric''' will target four players of the same role (DPS or supports) with an untelegraphed, large circular AoE that leaves behind a large persistent ice puddle. The damage from the initial attack must be split with two players each and will inflict {{status effect|ice resistance down}} '''[[Ice Resistance Down]] II''' among all players hit, making overlap lethal. The ice puddles will inflict {{status effect|frostbite}} '''[[Frostbite]]''' to anyone who steps or lingers in them around a second after they appear, dealing massive damage over time.
**'''The Heaven's Stake''': '''Ser Charibert''' telegraphs four large fire AoEs around the intercardinals of arena, and a massive fire donut that covers the edge of the arena. The four circle AoEs will leave behind fire puddles that will inflict {{status effect|burns}} '''[[Burns]]''' to anyone who steps or lingers in them around a second after they appear, dealing massive damage over time.
**'''Faith Unmoving''': '''Ser Grinnaux''' appears and performs a knockback from the center of the arena, dealing light raidwide damage. The knockback can be prevented by {{action icon|Surecast}} or {{action icon|Arm's Length}}.
*'''Ultimate End''': An attack that deals massive damage and must be mitigated in order to survive.
*'''Broad Swing''': '''Thordan''' faces a random player then does three sequential cleaves, each hitting a third of the arena. Will always cleave either his top right or top left first. Will inflict massive damage, {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]''', and knock back any players hit.
*'''Aetheric Burst''': Enrage. If players do not defeat '''Thordan''' before this attack fires, the party will be wiped. ''Note that any shields applied to the party will be instantly removed when the cast bar fills, but there is a slight delay until the attack kills players.''

====Strategy====

At the beginning of the phase, players should pull '''Thordan''' into the center of the arena to better handle coming mechanics. He will start with '''Ascalon's Mercy''', so the main tank should stand directly in front of him while the rest of the party stands behind to bait the cleaves, then move out of the way just before the cast bar finishes. Following this, '''Thordan''' will use '''Ascalon's Might''', a massive three-hit cleave tankbuster with no castbar. The main tank should mitigate this or use an invulnerability skill and healers should be ready. After a few moments he will move to the center of the arena (if not there already) and begin casting '''Strength of the Ward''', summoning the other '''Knight's Twelve''' to the arena and becoming intangible after the cast.

For this portion of the phase, players simply need to concern themselves with avoiding mechanics, as no target will be available. After all the knights jump away, the three '''Dragoon''' knights, '''Sers Ignasse, Vellguine, and Paulecrain''' will appear around the edge of the arena at either the cardinals or intercardinals, then shortly after dash across the arena in a straight line. Players should look for the area where there is no knight behind or in front of them at either edge of the arena to avoid this. At the same time, '''Thordan''' will cast '''Lightning Storm''', targeting all players. In order to handle these attacks, players should identify the two safe zones and separate into their light parties. Once in the safe zones, they should spread out in a triangle shape, with three players against the edge of the arena spread apart, and another closer to the center of the arena. Players need to be careful not to get clipped by the '''Spiral Thrust''', as their attacks are quite wide. Players must also space out for the '''Lightning Storm''' attack, as the attack deals high damage and debuffs with {{status effect|lightning resistance down}} '''Lightning Resistance Down II''', meaning overlap will kill. At the same time these attacks are happening, '''Ser Guerrique''' will charge up and use '''Heavy Impact''', creating four large shockwave earth attacks that slowly move outwards. getting hit by this will deal high damage and debuff with {{status effect|stun}} '''[[Stun]]''', most likely leading to a death. to avoid this, once the animation for the shockwave starts playing, players can move into that area and safely avoid damage.

'''Thordan''' will reappear in the center of the arena again and prepare another '''Ascalon's Might Concealed'''. To handle this, players will have to line up to bait the cleaves and move like before. Following this, '''Ser Grinnaux''' will appear and begin casting '''Dimensional Slash''', causing several dark portals to spawn on the ground that begin to slowly grow. '''Sers Adelphel & Janlenoux''', the two [[Paladin]]s will drop in the center of the arena and turn to face a certain direction. This indicates where '''Thordan''' will land. The tanks should stand next to these knights to pick up their tethers. Three random players will also receive blue impact markers over their heads, indicating that the three '''Dragoon''' knights will soon drop on them using '''Skyward Leap'''. Players can identify three safe areas on the edge of the arena where they can stand to take these attacks by looking where the portals on the floor won't reach the edge of the arena, while the remaining three players move to stand at the edge of the arena in front of '''Thordan'''. Once the '''Paladins''' drop their tethers and the tanks pick them up, they can move to either side of the safe area near '''Thordan'''. Once they reach the safe area, '''Thordan''' will begin casting '''The Dragon's Rage''', which will require the three players to stack to mitigate damage. The '''Paladin''' knights will then rush to the tanks and use the '''Holy Shield Bash/Holy Bladedance''' combo. players who are not the tanks should be sure to move out of the area, as this attack can clip anyone who is too close. To handle this attack, the tanks should either use their invulnerability skill or pop their defensive cooldowns. Healers should be ready to top the tanks off.

'''Thordan''' will return to the center of the arena and immediately begin casting '''Ancient Quaga''', dealing high party-wide damage, so healers should be ready for this. Following this, '''Thordan''' will use '''Heavenly Heel''', a heavy-hitting tankbuster that inflicts the main tank with '''Slashing Resistance Down'''. This is immediately followed up by '''Ascalon's Might''', which will kill the tank unless swapped or an invulnerability skill is used. After this, '''Thordan''' will return to the center and use '''Sanctity of the Ward''', another series of mechanics. Once all the knights have lept from the center of the arena, the two '''Paladin''' knights and '''Ser Zephirin''' the [[Dark Knight]] will spawn, and a large Eye will appear off the edge of the arena. Thordan will land around the arena's edge as well. Two players will be marked with either one sword or two sword markers. The two '''Paladins''' will dash to opposite sides of the arena, then dash on a diagonal to the north and south, dropping '''Brightorbs''' both ways. During this, the '''Dark Knight''' will use '''Sacred Sever''' on the first marked player, then the second, then back to the first, and back to the second. Each hit of '''Sacred Sever''' must be split amongst other players to mitigate.

To handle these mechanics, players must quickly identify which direction the knights are facing in relation to the north of the arena. The knights will appear staggered, with one closer to the north of the arena then the other. If the knight closer to the north if facing north, the knights will dash clockwise. Otherwise, they will move counterclockwise. After this, players should move into their light parties, and make sure only one member of each party has a marker. If two players in a light party have a marker, one of them must swap with the other team, as they will not survive two back-to-back attacks. Try to make sure that both parties are balanced at four players, as surviving the attacks at 3 players is very difficult. It helps to have a person in each party who acts as a pivot to the other team should the need to swap arise. Players will also need to watch where the Eye and '''Thordan''' spawn, as both will be casting a gaze attack that will inflict {{status effect|hysteria}} '''[[Hysteria]]''' if hit by it.

Once parties have been corrected, one party will move to behind the '''Dark Knight''', and the other will move opposite. Once the gaze attacks fire, the knight's will begin dashing and the '''Dark Knight''' will begin attacking. Players will need to move around the edge of the arena in the same direction as the '''Paladin''' knights to avoid the '''Brightorbs''' left behind.

Once the knight's attacks have been resolved, the '''Mage''' knights will appear, and the next set of mechanics begins. Four large persistent fire puddles will spawn, four players will be targeted for ice puddles, and two will receive '''Prey''' markers, indicating they will deal with meteors. Eight towers will also be summoned around the arena, some near the edge and some in the middle of the arena.

To handle these mechanics, players will need to meet up with their partners, with the '''Prey''' marked players to the north and south. The ice marked players should be positioned between the fire puddle AoEs without being too close to the edge of the arena, as meteor players will be moving through there soon. Once the puddles are dropped, the pillars will spawn. The players handling meteors will begin moving around the edge of the arena in opposite directions, making sure not to use '''{{action icon|Sprint}}''' or overlap the meteors, as they will explode if they are too close together. To handle the towers, players should focus on the quadrant of the arena they are in. The players handling the meteors will grab the outer towers, and the other players will grab the outer towers in their quadrant. The other players will check their quadrant, and move to any towers that remain. While moving around players will need to be careful not to touch the puddles, as they deal high damage and debuff with a '''Resistance Down''' of their element, and kill on the second touch. The meteors as they land will deal light party-wide damage, so healers may want to raise barriers or top up on healing for this.

A second set of towers will spawn at the edge of the arena at the cardinals and intercardinals. The meteor marked players will grab the towers on the opposite side of the arena from where they started, at the north and south. The other players in their role should take the other cardinal towers to the east and west, with the other roles taking the intercardinals. '''Ser Grinnaux''' will appear at this time and begin charging '''Faith Unmoving''', which deals a knockback. Players on the outside of the arena will need to use their knockback mitigation to avoid being sent into the walls, while players in the center of the arena can use this to their advantage to get knocked into their towers hitbox.

Once all the attacks resolve, '''Thordan''' will become targetable again and appear to the north of the arena and begin casting '''Ultimate End'''. Players will need to inflict damage mitigation on the boss, as well as set up several defensive mitigations and shields to survive the attack, as it deals a massive amount of damage. Healers should be prepared for this. Following this attack, '''Thordan''' gains the '''Discomposed''' debuff, increasing his damage taken by 30%. He will move into the arena, using two '''Broad Swings'''. To avoid these, simply move behind the boss, then after the first swing, move into where the hitbox for that attack was. After two of these, the boss will begin to cast '''Aetheric Burst''' as an enrage. '''Thordan''' must be defeated before this cast finishes, or the party will be wiped. Upon defeating '''Thordan''', Players should group up and use heavy mitigation, as the phase transition to phase 3 deals high damage. Note that if Thordan is defeated when the animation for his enrage goes off, any shields on the party will be deleted and will need to be immediately re-applied for the transition into the next phase.

===Phase 3: [[Nidhogg]]===
Note that in this phase, the boss cannot be moved, but he will turn to face the highest enmity player if not casting an action, which is important for orienting for some mechanics.

====Abilities====
*'''Final Chorus''': The boss drops down on the party at the beginning of the phase, dealing massive raid damage that must be mitigated.
*'''Dive from Grace''': Each player is marked with a specific number over their heads, ranging from one to three ([[File:First in line icon1.png|link=]] '''First in Line''', [[File:Second in line icon1.png|link=]] '''Second in Line''', [[File:Third in line icon1.png|link=]] '''Third in Line'''). Three random players will be marked with 1, two players will be marked with 2, and the remaining three players will be marked with 3. These debuffs indicate what order the '''Nidhogg Clones''' will dive on them when the debuff timer expires. Once the cast bar fills, players are then marked with a specific '''Jump''' debuff, indicating where a tower will spawn after the '''Clones''' dive. The tower will spawn around 3 seconds after the clone dives. Each clone dive will inflict heavy damage, {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]''' to the targeted players, in a medium-sized AoE. Players who are caught in others' clone dives will be knocked back and instantly die.
**[[File:High jump target icon1.png|link=]] '''Dark High Jump''' (circle): Dives on the player, and places a tower where they are standing.
**[[File:Elusive jump target icon1.png|link=]] '''Dark Elusive Jump''' (downwards arrow): Dives on the player, and places a tower 10 yalms behind their hitbox based on which direction they are facing.
**[[File:Spineshatter dive target icon1.png|link=]] '''Dark Spineshatter Dive''' (upwards arrow): Dives on the player, and places a tower 10 yalms in front of their hitbox based on which direction they are facing.
**These are assigned per number group. At least one, but no more than two number groups will have arrows, while the remaining group(s) will have all circles. A group containing arrows will always contain one of each arrow, with the remaining player (if not group two) given a circle.
*'''Darkdragon Dive''': A '''Nidhogg Clone''' drops on a tower that requires one player to soak, or it will explode and wipe the party around 1.5 seconds after the tower appears. The player who is soaking the tower will take light damage and be inflicted with {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]'''. If a player with these debuffs soaks a tower, they will die.
**A later variant will spawn four towers at the intercardinals in melee range of the boss. These require multiple players to soak to prevent them from exploding ~5 seconds after spawning. Towers may require one to four players, as indicated by the number of pillars within the tower circle. The pattern of these is random, but there will always be a total of 8 pillars. If fewer than the required number of players soak a given tower, it will explode and wipe the party.
*'''Gnash and Lash / Lash and Gnash''': The boss will use three sequential attacks: a stack AoE, followed by an attack either within its hitbox, or outside, depending on the name of the cast. Being hit by the latter two attacks will inflict a small amount of damage, knock the player back slightly, and inflict a crippling {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]''' debuff.
**'''Eye of the Tyrant''': A high-damage stack AoE that randomly targets one person in front of Nidhogg. Should be shared by five players with additional party mitigation to lower damage.
**'''Lashing Wheel''': A donut AoE that hits the entire arena except for inside the boss's hitbox.
**'''Gnashing Wheel''': A point-blank circular AoE that hits inside the boss's hitbox, making the outside safe.
**In other words, '''Gnash and Lash''': stack -> out -> in. '''Lash and Gnash''': stack -> in -> out
*'''Geirskogul''': Line AoEs fired by the '''Nidhogg Clones''' that bait to the closest player to the clone once they spawn from Darkdragon Dive tower soaks. The direction of the attack is locked in once the cast bar appears on the enemy list.
*'''Drachenlance''': '''Nidhogg''' will turn towards a random player and fire a point-blank conal AoE that deals lethal damage. He will always turn south when he uses this ability the second time.
*'''Soul Tether''': '''Nidhogg''' and a random '''Nidhogg Clone''' spawned from the last set of '''Darkdragon Dive''' towers will each tether a random player. This clone will not use '''Geirskogul'''. The tethers can be exchanged to other players on contact. A few seconds after the tethers appear, both will use a heavy-hitting AoE tankbuster on the tethered players. Requires heavy mitigation (70% + and shields) or invulnerability cooldowns to survive.
*'''Revenge of the Horde''': Enrage. The boss must be defeated before this cast completes, or the party will be wiped.

====Strategy====
Players should group in the center of the arena and pop several mitigations to handle the damage output from '''Final Chorus'''. Following this, the main tank should grab the boss and face them away from the party. The boss will perform three auto attacks, which are small cleaves, so other players should stack behind the boss. After this, the boss will begin casting '''Dive from Grace''', and each player will be targeted with a marker ranging from one to three: [[File:First in line icon1.png|link=]][[File:Second in line icon1.png|link=]][[File:Third in line icon1.png|link=]]. These marks indicate which order players will have a '''Nidhogg Clone''' dropped on them. Players will carry this debuff through the entire phase. Players will also receive one of three debuffs: [[File:High jump target icon1.png|link=]] '''High Jump Target''' (indicated by a debuff with a blue circle), [[File:Elusive jump target icon1.png|link=]] '''Elusive Jump Target''' (indicated by a debuff with an arrow that points downwards), and [[File:Spineshatter dive target icon1.png|link=]] '''Spineshatter Dive Target''' (indicated by a debuff with an arrow that points upwards). This indicates where a tower will appear once the attack is completed, and there is no limit to how many of each debuff is given to the party (for instance, each player can receive a '''High Jump Target''' debuff, meaning they can stand and face any direction around the boss). Once both debuffs have been given to players, they will need to move to their predetermined locations around the boss and face the specified direction to drop their towers. Players will have roughly nine seconds to adjust their location. Once the clones drop on them, they will need to move out and have a player marked with the '''Third''' debuff to take their tower, as the '''Clone''' landing on a player inflicts {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''', and they will die if they try to soak their own tower.

During this, the boss will cast '''Lash and Gnash''', requiring players to move into the boss's hitbox, then out to avoid the attack. This is preceded by an untelegraphed stack attack. To handle these mechanics, the players marked with "one" will move to their locations based on their '''Jump''' debuff, while the players marked with "two" and "three" stack in front of the boss to mitigate '''Dark Spineshatter Dive'''. Players will then move in, and back out of the boss's hitbox. Following this, the "three" marked players will move into their predetermined locations, both to soak the tower and place their own towers, while the "two" marked players move to their own predetermined locations to prepare to drop their towers.

For the next set of towers, as mentioned prior, the "two" players will move to their predetermined location to drop their towers, and the "three" players will move to their predetermined locations based on their '''Jump''' marker and face the correct location. The "three" marked players will also need to face outwards away from the boss immediately following the '''Nidhogg Clones''' attack, as they will mimic the player. Once they begin casting '''Geirskogul''', they will lock in place and begin firing their line AoEs. These need to be pointed outwards so players can avoid them, as getting hit will result in a death.

While the '''Geirskogul''' casts are resolving, the boss will begin casting another '''Gnash/Lash''' combo in either order, so players will need to determine the correct movement for the attack. "2" marked players will have their '''Nidhogg Clones''' drop on them, then will have to move in to stack with other players to mitigate another '''Dark Spineshatter Dive''', then two of the "one" marked players will soak the "two" players towers, facing outwards to bait the '''Nidhogg Clones''' once again, and moving into the boss's hitbox as needed. Finally, the "two" players and the "one" player who didn't previously take a tower will handle the "three" marked players towers and bait the '''Nidhogg Clones''' a final time.

After the towers resolve, the boss will turn towards a random player and begin casting '''Drachenlance''', a point-blank conal cleave. Simply move behind the boss once this attack goes off. Another two auto-attacks will come out, and the boss will spawn four groups of tower puddles at the intercardinals of the arena, with varying numbers of towers within. The total number of towers spawned will always equal eight, and at least one will appear in each puddle, however, each puddle can have up to four towers within.

To handle the new towers, players should have the healers and ranged DPS move to each intercardinal, and have the tanks and melee DPS adjust in order to handle this mechanic. Players will need to be communicative with where they are moving, as the towers will drop '''Nidhogg Clones''' fairly quickly. Once the towers are soaked the clones will need to be baited by anyone in the circle other than the tanks, who will need to move out and gather the tethers from both the boss and one of the '''Nidhogg Clones'''. After a short while, both the boss and the clone will use '''Soul Tether''', an untelegraphed tankbuster that hits in a small AoE. This attack deals massive damage, and will kill anyone else hit by it, and will only be survivable if the tank uses their mitigation or an invulnerability skill. Healers should be ready to heal the tanks following this.

Following this, the boss will use a few more auto-attacks and another '''Drachenlance''', and then will begin slow casting '''Revenge of the Horde''', the boss's enrage. Players will need to defeat the boss before this attack fires or they will be wiped. Some parties may initially find it necessary to use a Melee Limit Break to defeat the boss before it enrages. While this is an option when still progressing on this phase and the next one, using a Limit Break at this point in the fight will prevent further progress at a later phase, so players must eventually be able to defeat Nidhogg without relying on a Limit Break in order to complete the encounter.

Following the boss being defeated, players will need to stack once again to receive a buff to help deal with the Eyes in the intermission.

===Phase 4: The [[Eyes of Nidhogg]]===
Both Eyes are stationary enemies that cannot be moved and have omnidirectional hitboxes. The '''Right Eye''' (blue) will always spawn west at 50% maximum HP and the '''Left Eye''' (red) will always spawn east at 100% HP.

====Abilities====
*[[File:Soul of friendship icon1.png|link=]] '''Soul of Friendship''': Haurchefant's spirit will tether a random player and cause a medium-sized AoE to appear from them. All players in the AoE will receive a buff that allows them to damage the '''Right Eye'''. The buff is lost on death.
*[[File:Soul of devotion icon1.png|link=]] '''Soul of Devotion''': Ysayle's spirit will tether Alphinaud and cause a medium-sized AoE to appear from him. All players in the AoE will receive a buff that allows them to damage the '''Left Eye'''. The buff is lost on death.
*'''Resentment''': Party-wide damage that inflicts a {{status effect|bleed}} '''[[Bleed]]''' debuff that lasts six seconds.
*'''Hatebound''': Each eye will tether four random players with one of two different colored chains (red or blue). Players with opposite colored chains can exchange by standing on each other, but will inflict them with a three second debuff ([[File:Bound and determined icon1.png|link=]] '''Bound and Determined''') that prevents further chain exchange until it expires.
**[[File:Clawbound icon1.png|link=]] '''Clawbound''' (red): Damage taken will result in damage to the '''Left Eye'''.
**[[File:Fangbound icon1.png|link=]] '''Fangbound''' (blue): Damage taken will result in healing to the '''Right Eye'''.
*'''Flare Nova''': Two large yellow orbs will spawn, one next to each eye, which will grow in size four times before exploding and wiping the party. Must be soaked by two players at once, inflicting more damage as the orb grows. Will inflict {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II'''.
*'''Flare Star''': Four small blue orbs will spawn, two next to each eye, which will grow in size four times before exploding and wiping the party. Must be soaked by one player each, inflicting more damage after the orb grows. Will inflict {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II'''.
*'''Mirage Dive''': Cast by both eyes. Two random players with '''Clawbound''' will be hit with a medium-sized AoE that inflicts heavy damage and {{status effect|Piercing Resistance Down}} '''Piercing Resistance Down''', making an additional hit from Mirage Dive lethal until the debuff expires. Will repeat three times. Players who are not the primary target of a Mirage Dive will be knocked back and instantly die, if caught in one.
*'''Steep in Rage''': Heavy party-wide damage cast from both eyes and requires mitigation. Will kill players if both eyes cast this at once, requiring the Right Eye to be defeated before this cast finishes.
*'''Revenge of the Horde''': Enrage. If both eyes are not defeated before '''Nidhogg's Influence''' reaches 100, '''[[Nidhogg]]''' will appear in his dragon form and cast this ability, wiping the party.
====Strategy====
When the phase begins, players should group up around [[Alphinaud]], as [[Haurchefant]] and [[Ysayle]] will appear, targeting a random player and '''Alphinaud''' to each drop a buff, '''Soul of Friendship''', and '''Soul of Devotion'''. Each buff will allow a player to inflict damage on a specific eye. Players need to obtain both buffs, and need to be careful not to die, as they will not be able to deal damage for the remainder of the fight, even if they are revived. Once players receive their buffs, they should break into their light parties, with each tank taking an eye. Players will need to spread out around the eyes. [[Estinien]] will pulse out '''Resentment''', dealing party-wide damage that also inflicts a Bleed damage over time for a few seconds. Healers should be ready for this. Both eyes will cast '''Hatebound''', tethering four random players to each eye. These tethers can be exchanged by players passing over one another, with a brief three second cooldown before chains can be exchanged again. Players with the '''blue''' chain will heal the '''Right Eye''' when they receive damage, while players with the '''red''' chain will deal damage to the '''Left Eye''' when they receive damage. In order to meet the damage check for this phase, players with the '''blue''' chain must avoid taking damage when possible, while players with the '''red''' chain must take non-lethal damage when possible.

For the first mechanic, two large yellow orbs will spawn at either side of the arena next to the eyes, and four smaller blue orbs, one to the north and south of each eye. each orb will expand four times, exploding on the fourth growth. The yellow orbs must be soaked by two players before they explode and kill the party. The blue orbs function in the same manner. To handle these orbs, two players with red tethers must soak the yellow orbs on their third growth, before they explode, dealing heavy damage to both themselves and the '''Left Eye'''. One way to handle this is to have the tanks and melee DPS players take the red chains and soak each orb. If one of these players doesn't have the correct tether, they will need to swap tethers. The best way to do this is to have players with the incorrect tether move to the center of the arena (stacking on Estinien) so they are all able to swap. Players who need to swap should stay still once they are on Estinien and not "wiggle" until their debuff swaps, because the swaps are not always immediate. Healers and ranged DPS will take the blue tethers and position themselves at the north and south of their respective eyes, in line with the blue orbs. Once the tanks and melee DPS soak the yellow orbs in pairs, they will move to where they healer and ranged DPS are to pass their tether, then move directly under the eye. The healers and ranged DPS will each take their blue orbs.

Following this, the eyes will both cast '''Mirage Dive''', dropping a mid-sized circle AoE on two random players with a red tether, dealing heavy damage and inflicting a {{status effect|Piercing Resistance Down}} '''Piercing Resistance Down''', meaning that being hit by a second '''Dive''' will kill them. Players hit by the AoE will also die, so proper spacing is required. This mechanic will repeat three times. To handle this, all players should move towards the '''Right Eye''', as the '''Left Eye''' will be taking damage with each '''Mirage Dive'''. The healers and ranged DPS, who have red tethers, will surround the '''Right Eye''', standing max melee range at the intercardinals of it. The tanks and melee DPS, who have blue tethers, should stack directly on the eye. When the first two players are hit with '''Dives''', the two tanks will take the tethers of the players hit, with one tank scanning from northeast going clockwise to find the player they need to swap with, and the other tank scanning from northwest going counterclockwise. To make sure the tethers are passed correctly, the players moving out from the eye will move to the red tethered players' position. When the swaps resolve, the players who swapped to blue will move back to stack with the '''Right Eye'''. When the next set of players are hit, the melee DPS will take those tethers, and finally the two players (the "flex players") who were first hit will take the final set of tethers. The flex players should communicate who will take which tether, or have a priority system set up beforehand, as there is not enough time for one player to correct themselves if both flex players attempt to go to the same player to swap. After the fourth set of dives, the mechanic is finished.

Immediately after, both eyes will begin casting '''Steep in Rage''', a heavy-hitting party-wide AoE. If both casts go off at once, the party will be wiped. Players will need to finish off the '''Right Eye''' (blue) before the cast is finished, mitigate the damage from the remaining eye's cast, then immediately focus on the '''Left Eye''' (red). Healers should be ready to heal the party. Once the other eye casts '''Steep in Rage''', the '''Right Eye''' will resurrect with minimal HP because players with blue chains took damage, so a ranged DPS can focus on taking it out. Both eyes will need to be defeated before the '''Nidhogg's Influence''' reaches 100, or the party will be wiped out. Similar to the previous phase, a Limit Break must not be used to help clear this phase, as it will prevent further progress in the encounter. If both eyes are defeated in time, a short cutscene will play and transition into the next phase.

===Intermission: [[The Vault|Alternate History Vault]]===

====Abilities====
*'''Planar Prison''': All players are tethered to '''Grinnaux''' and pulled into a small circular prison, dealing light damage. All players are inflicted with [[File:Planar imprisonment icon1.png|link=]] '''Planar Imprisonment''', which causes the player to instantly die if they attempt to exit the prison.
*'''Shockwave''': Unavoidable constant partywide damage that pulses from '''Haurchefant''', and will stop if he dies.
*'''Brightwing''': Cast by '''Charibert''', cleaves the two closest players near him with small conal AoEs, dealing very high damage and debuffing with [[File:Light resistance down icon2.png|link=]] '''Light Resistance Down''' and [[File:Skyblind icon1.png|link=]] '''Skyblind''', which will drop a small invisible AoE at the player's present location when the debuff timer expires after 5 seconds. Shortly after, the AoE will detonate, inflicting lethal damage to anyone hit.
*'''Pure of Heart''': A slow cast spell by '''Charibert'''. A partywide attack dealing damage based on how much HP Charibert has. Will wipe the party if '''Charibert's''' HP is above ~30%. Will otherwise inflict high damage that requires mitigation. Haurchefant, if alive, will also be damaged heavily by this attack.
*'''Pierce''': Enrage. The '''Spear of the Fury''' will kill Haurchefant once this cast resolves, looping the party back to Phase 2.
====Strategy====
This intermission phase plays out almost exactly the same as the final part of phase one; '''Charibert''' will begin casting '''Pure of Heart''' and cleaving the two closest players with '''Brightwing'''. Players will need to handle this attack as before, moving in to bait the attack, then moving to the edge of the circle to handle the AoEs that explode following the resolution of the debuff [[File:Skyblind icon1.png|link=]] '''Skyblind'''. Players will need to reduce '''Charibert's''' HP as much as possible to mitigate how much damage the party takes from '''Pure of Heart''', up to 24%. The difference this time is that players should have access to '''Limit Break Level Three''', assuming it was not used earlier in the battle. When '''Haurchefant''' shows up to block the '''Spear of the Fury''', a tank must use their third level '''Limit break''' to ensure he survives. He will take significantly reduced damage as long as the buff is up. He will also be healable, and must be kept alive. If Haurchefant is kept alive, he will pulse out '''Shockwave''' raid damage for the duration of the Planar Prison sequence, making healing more challenging than the final part of phase one. The party should distribute mitigations appropriately. Haurchefant must be near full health once '''Pure of Heart''' casts because it will also deal significant damage to him. Afterwards, the Planar Prison will dissipate, and players must move to '''Haurchefant''' and quickly destroy the '''Spear of the Fury.''' The '''Spear''' will begin casting '''Pierce''', which will kill '''Haurchefant''' if it completes casting, sending players back to phase 2, where they will wipe. Once the spear has been broken, the battle will continue after another short cutscene, transitioning to another arena.

===Phase 5: Dark King Thordan===
====Abilities====
*'''Incarnation''': Revives the three Dragons around the arena.
*'''The Dragon's Eye''': '''Thordan''' casts this, increasing his damage output with [[File:Light of ascalon icon1.png|link=]] '''Light of Ascalon'''.
*'''Wrath of the Heavens''': '''Thordan''' calls upon his '''Knights''' and the '''Dragons''' to perform a series of mechanics.
**'''Twisting Dive''': '''Vedrfolnir''' will land at a cardinal somewhere around the edge of the arena, then charge across to the other side after a short cast, knocking back and killing anyone in his path. Following this, each player will drop a small '''Twister''' where they were standing. If players come into contact with this, it will explode, instantly killing them and knocking nearby players into the edge of the arena, also killing them.
**'''Spiral Pierce''': Two random players will be tethered to, and the '''Knights''' will dash to them after a short while, dealing high proximity damage in a line AoE and inflicting {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]'''.
**'''Chain Lightning''': Two players will be hit by this attack, debuffing them with [[File:Thunderstruck icon1.png|link=]] '''Thunderstruck'''. When the debuff resolves, it will deal lightning damage in a small AoE around the afflicted player, and any other player hit by this will take massive damage and receive a {{status effect|paralysis}} '''[[Paralysis]] ''' debuff in addition to {{status effect|damage down}} '''Damage Down'''.
**'''Skyward Leap''': A player will receive a blue marker over their head, and shortly after will have a large AoE drop on them, dealing high damage and inflicting both {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]''' and a very short {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]'''.
**'''Cauterize''' (with marker): A player will receive a green divebomb marker over their head, indicating where '''Vidofnir''' and '''Darkscale''' will dive to when the marker disappears. When the cast resolves, '''Vidofnir''' and '''Darkscale''' will divebomb to this position, knocking back and killing any who are hit by them.
**'''Ascalon's Mercy Revealed''': Each player will be hit with a conal AoE from '''Thordan''' in the middle that deals damage and debuffs with {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]''', making overlap lethal.
**'''Liquid Heaven''': A random player that was not targeted for '''Skyward Leap''' or '''Spiral Pierce''' will be targeted by '''Vedrfolnir''', who will spit five fireballs at the player, with each spit dealing moderate damage and dropping a large persistent fire puddle. The fire puddles will inflict {{status effect|burns}} '''[[Burns]]''' to anyone who steps or lingers in them around a second after they appear, killing them shortly after. Any player with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]''' who is hit by the fireball spits will die. If the original target for this attack dies, '''Vedrfolinir''' will randomly target other players with each subsequent fireball.
**'''Altar Flare''': '''Charibert''' will target a player who will begin dropping large fire AoEs under them, totaling up to four. The AoEs will soon erupt, killing any who are within. If the original target for this attack dies, '''Charibert''' will randomly target other players with each subsequent AoE.
**'''Empty Dimension''': '''Grinnaux''' will cast a donut AoE that covers the entire arena, with the only safe zone within his hitbox.
*'''Ancient Quaga''': Unavoidable high damage party-wide AoE. Heal through and heavily mitigate.
*'''Heavenly Heel''': Delivers an attack that deals high damage and a '''Slashing Resistance Down''' debuff, followed by three heavy-hitting tankbuster cleaves known as '''Ascalon's Might'''.
*'''Death of the Heavens''': '''Thordan''' summons his '''Knights''' and the '''Dragons''' once again to perform another series of attacks.
**'''Doom''': Four random players will be inflicted with a twenty five second {{status effect|doom}} '''[[Doom (status effect)|Doom]]''', which will kill them if the debuff expires. These players will have a dark red aura around them when the debuff is active, for easy visual identification. The debuff can be removed by stepping into a small white puddle which is left behind by each '''Wings of Salvation''' medium-sized white AoE.
**'''Spear of the Fury''': '''Zephirin''' will throw a spear in a line AoE through the center of the arena. Anyone hit will take massive damage and be inflicted with [[File:HP recovery down icon1.png]] '''HP Recovery Down'''.
**'''Cauterize''' (without marker): '''Darkscale''' will charge through the center of the arena in a line AoE from his starting position, knocking back and killing anyone hit.
**'''Heavy Impact''': '''Gerrique''' will cast this, with the attack starting as a point-blank earthquake AoE that will expand into donut AoEs that gradually grow wider. Being hit will inflict massive damage and {{status effect|stun}} '''Stun''' in addition to the {{status effect|damage down}} '''Damage Down'''.
**'''Lightning Storm''': '''Thordan''' targets all players with a small AoE for medium damage and inflicts {{status effect|lightning resistance down}} '''Lightning Resistance Down''', making overlapping lethal.
**'''Wings of Salvation''': Cast by '''Vidofnir'''. The four players who are not afflicted with {{status effect|doom}} '''[[Doom (status effect)|Doom]]''' will be targeted with medium-sized white circle AoEs that will soon resolve and kill anyone inside. The large puddles will leave behind smaller puddles that will cleanse {{status effect|doom}} '''[[Doom (status effect)|Doom]]''' for anyone who steps inside, which will consume the puddles. They can still be consumed by players who step in them without {{status effect|doom}} '''[[Doom (status effect)|Doom]]'''.
**'''Holy Chain''': Players are assigned a symbol and tethered together in pairs, also represented by the [[File:Burning chains icon1.png|link=]] '''Burning Chains''' debuff, with each member in a pair assigned the same symbol. The chains must be broken by distance. Chains that are not broken in time will inflict massive damage and {{status effect|damage down}} '''Damage Down''' to both tethered players.
***'''Red Circle''': Assigned to the two farthest players from the center with Doom.
***'''Green Triangle''': Assigned to one player with Doom and one player without Doom.
***'''Purple Square''': Assigned to one player with Doom and one player without Doom.
***'''Blue X''': Assigned to two players without Doom.
**'''Faith Unmoving''': Players are knocked back towards the edge of the arena from the middle.
**'''The Dragon's Gaze''': '''Thordan''' casts a gaze ability, inflicting heavy damage and debuffing with {{status effect|hysteria}} '''Hysteria''' and {{status effect|damage down}} '''Damage Down''' if players are looking at him when the cast resolves.
**'''The Dragon's Glory''': A large Dragon's Eye spawns on the edge of the arena and uses an untelegraphed gaze ability at the same time as '''The Dragon's Gaze''', inflicting heavy damage and debuffing with {{status effect|hysteria}} '''Hysteria''' and {{status effect|damage down}} '''Damage Down''' if players are looking at it when the cast resolves.
**'''Heavensflame''': '''Charibert''' hits all players with a large fire AoE that deals high damage and inflicts a brief {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''', making an overlap lethal. Requires some mitigation.
**'''Holy Meteor''': Eight meteor circles spawn around the arena, one on each cardinal and intercardinal, indicating where a meteor will fall. They must be destroyed or they will wipe the party.
*'''Aetheric Burst''': Enrage. Thordan must be reduced to less than three percent HP before this cast finishes or the party will wipe.

====Strategy====
'''Thordan''' will appear at the center of the arena and immediately cast '''Incarnation''', resurrecting and taking control of the three Dragons in the arena. Following this, '''Thordan''' will cast '''The Dragon's Eye''' and buff himself. He will then use two auto-attacks that should be mitigated as they deal high damage. Following this, he will cast '''Wrath of the Heavens''', summoning his '''Knights Twelve''' and the Dragons. For the following mechanics, players need only worry about correctly dodging the various attacks as the boss will not be targetable.

To start, '''Vedrfolnir''' will spawn at the edge of the arena and begin casting '''Twisting Dives''', two of the knights will tether to two random players, a singular player will receive a blue marker over their head, indicating a '''knight''' will drop an AoE on them, and two random players will be hit by '''Chain Lightning'''. Once '''Twisting Dives''' completes, the Dragon will charge across the arena at the same time as the '''Knights''' move to the player they are tethered to. Shortly after the charge, each player will have a '''Twister''' spawn underneath them, as their location was snapshotted just before '''Vedrfolnir''' charged. Another player will then receive a green marker over their head, indicating they will be attacked by '''Vidofnir''', and '''Thordan''' will use '''Ascalon's Mercy Revealed'''. A player will be targeted by '''Darkscale''' for '''Liquid Heaven''', while another player will be targeted for '''Altar Flare'''. '''Thordan''' will use '''Ascalon's Mercy Revealed''', and '''Grinnaux''' will begin casting '''Empty Dimension'''. '''Darkscale''' will begin firing five fireballs, the player targeted for '''Altar Flare''' will begin dropping puddles, and the two Dragons will begin casting '''Cauterize'''. Finally '''Empty Dimension''' will fire in a large donut AoE. The mechanic will finish with '''Thordan''' casting '''Ancient Quaga''' for a roomwide AoE.

To handle these mechanics, players must first identify where '''Vedrfolnir''' has landed and treat this as "relative north", then clear a space on the other side of the arena for its charge. Tethered players will move to the opposite side of the arena to the '''Kight''' they are tethered to, while the player with the blue marker moves to the "relative west" of the Dragon. The remaining players will move to the "relative east" edge of the arena to avoid the wide lines these attacks have. The '''Chain Lightning''', '''Defamation''', '''Twisting Dive''' and '''Spiral Pierce''' will all fire around the same time. Once the Dive has resolved, players should move immediately from where they are standing to avoid the '''Twister''' that spawns there. The player with the green '''Divebomb''' should move towards '''Charibert''' the mage knight and drop this at the edge of the arena. Every player will then spread out at the edge of the arena to handle '''Ascalon's Mercy Revealed''', then wait for both the AoEs from '''Altar Flare''' and the '''Liquid Heaven''' fireballs to begin appearing. The player who begins dropping '''Altar Flare''' AoEs will move clockwise around the edge of the arena, and the player who is hit by '''Liquid Heaven''' will begin doing so as well. All other players will move towards '''Grinnaux''' and position themselves either near '''Thordan''' if they are not debuffed with '''Thunderstruck''', or towards the edge of the arena and spread out if they are. Players can use the dark runic circles on the floor of the arena to determine how close or how far to stand. Once '''Empty Dimension''' fires, players can group up for healing and mitigation to deal with '''Ancient Quaga'''. At this point, '''Thordan''' will become targetable once again.

The boss will use an auto-attack, then cast '''Heavenly Heel''', dealing heavy damage and debuffing the tank with '''Slashing Resistance Down'''. He will then follow up with '''Ascalon's Might''', forcing a tankswap to avoid taking lethal damage. This will then lead into '''Death of the Heavens'''.

For '''Death of the Heavens''', players need to locate the warrior '''Guerrique''' and treat him once again as "relative north". Four random players will be afflicted with {{status effect|doom}} '''[[Doom (status effect)|Doom]]''', these players will move towards the "relative north" of the arena, while the other players will move to the "relative south. '''Vedrfolnir''' will appear on the edge again and begin casting '''Twisting Dive''' again. Players will need to spread out near the waymarkers (but slightly off of them) to avoid the incoming attacks. '''Thordan''' will cast '''Lightning Storm''', dropping an AoE on each player that will kill if overlapped due to the {{status effect|lightning resistance down}} '''Lightning Resistance Down II''', '''Vidofnir''' will cast '''Wings of Salvation''', dropping white puddles under non-'''Doomed''' players, '''Darkscale''' will charge across the arena with '''Cauterize''', and the first AoE of '''Heavy Impact''' will come out. Once the second AoE fires, players should move from their current position to avoid the '''Twisters''' that spawn, and move towards the center of the arena to avoid the third AoE from '''Heavy Impact'''. At this point, a '''Dragon's Eye''' will spawn somewhere on the edge of the arena and begin casting '''The Dragon's Glory''' while '''Thordan''' casts '''the Dragon's Gaze'''. Players need to identify where both of these attacks are coming from so as to not accidentally face them. When players are tethered together, {{status effect|doom}} '''[[Doom (status effect)|Doom]]''' inflicted players should line themselves up with the white puddles left at the edge of the arena, with the player of the corresponding symbol on the opposite side. When the attack fires, players must be sure to move back if nessesary to cleanse their {{status effect|doom}} '''[[Doom (status effect)|Doom]]''' debuff if the attack does not push them all the way. At the same time, '''Charibert''' will cast '''Heavensflame''', dealing heavy fire damage in an AoE around each player. This debuffs with {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''', so if players overlap they will die. If a player is dead when this attack goes off, a random player will be hit twice, also resulting in a death. At the same time, both gaze attacks will fire, so players must be sure to not be facing either attack before they are knocked back as they lose control for two seconds. Finally, '''Noudenet''' will summon eight '''Meteor Cirlces''' that must be destroyed immediately. The meteors fall quite quickly so this acts as a sort of soft DPS check. Once all the circles have been destroyed, '''Thordan''' will return and use another '''Ancient Quaga''' to signifiy the end of the mechanic. Heal and mitigate to handle this, and prepare for another auto attack and '''Heavenly Heel/Ascalon's Might''' combo. Following this, '''Thordan''' will begin casting '''Aetheric Burst''', his enrage. He must be reduced to two percent HP before this finishes or he will wipe the party. When '''Thordan''' drops '''Ascalon''' and falls to one knee begging for mercy, players must stop attacking, for if he is killed here, the party will not be able to proceed to the final phase of the encounter. Once he moves away, the next phase will begin.

===Phase 6: Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr===
Both bosses have omnidirectional hitboxes and cannot be freely moved by players. For most of this phase, Nidhogg will be at the west arena wall and Hraesvelgr will be at the east wall.

====Abilities====
*'''Wyrmsclaw''': High damage auto-attack used by both Dragons.
*'''Wyrmsbreath''': Each non-tank player will be tethered to either '''[[Nidhogg]]''' or '''[[Hraesvelgr]]''', who will aim a conal AoE at them, while the tanks will be struck with one of two possible kinds of tankbusters based on whether one or both Dragon's mouths are glowing. Tethers must be of a sufficient length, as indicated visually, to prevent lethal damage.
**'''Dread Wyrmsbreath''': '''Nidhogg''' tethers to three random non-tank players and fires a conal AoE ('''Fire Breath''') at them. This deals high fire damage and debuffs with {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''' and [[File:Boiling icon1.png|link=]] '''Boiling''', which resolves into a {{status effect|pyretic}} '''Pyretic''' debuff that deals massive damage upon movement. '''Boiling''' will not be inflicted by being hit with '''Ice Breath''' at the same time and can be removed by being hit by a later '''Cauterize''' from '''Hraesvelgr'''.
**'''Great Wyrmsbreath''': '''Hraesvelgr''' tethers to the other three random non-tank players and fires a conal AoE ('''Ice Breath''') at them. This deals high ice damage and debuffs with {{status effect|ice resistance down}} '''Ice Resistance Down II''' and [[File:Freezing icon1.png|link=]] '''Freezing''', which will resolve into [[File:Deep Freeze icon1.png|link=]] '''Deep Freeze''', immobilizing a player for thirty seconds. '''Freezing''' will not be inflicted by being hit with '''Fire Breath''' at the same time and can be removed by being hit by a later '''Cauterize''' from '''Nidhogg'''.
**'''Staggering Breath''': AoE Tankbuster. Used when '''either''' Dragon's mouths are glowing during their Wyrmsbreath attack. The Dragon with the glowing mouth will use a conal AoE ('''Dark Breath''' for '''Nidhogg''', '''Holy Breath''' for '''Hraesvelgr''') through the middle of the arena, while the Dragon with the non-glowing mouth will hit their target with a large circular tankbuster AoE ('''Staggering Breath'''). Anyone aside from the primary target caught in this will be knocked back and killed.
**'''Dark Orb/Holy Orb''': Split tankbuster. When both Dragons' mouths are glowing, they will each fire an orb that must be split by both tanks, as each orb targets a single tank and explodes in a small AoE, inflicting damage and debuffing with either [[File:Sustained light damage icon1.png|link=]] '''Sustained Light Damage''' or [[File:Sustained dark damage icon1.png|link=]] '''Sustained Dark Damage''', which will both inflict massive damage over time, and can only be nullified by the other orb.
**'''Swirling Blizzard''': A large telegraphed donut AoE from '''Hraesvelgr''' that compresses the safe region for the Wyrmsbreath mechanics to be a circular area. Getting hit by this will deal lethal damage.
*'''Vows''': Two conditions that must be upheld during the entirety of the phase. Failure to do so will cause one of the bosses to enrage and deal significantly more damage while taking significantly less damage, most likely resulting in a wipe.
**[[File:Mortal vow icon2.png|link=]] '''Mortal Vow''': '''Nidhogg''' targets a random DPS with a small AoE and deals light damage while applying this debuff, significantly lowering their healing potency and inflicting moderate damage over time. Any additional players hit are debuffed with [[File:Suppuration icon1.png|link=]] '''Suppuration''', decreasing their maximum HP by 50% and increasing their damage taken. After thirty four seconds the debuff will resolve and deal damage in a small AoE, passing the debuff to one other player within the AoE. Any additional players hit will also be debuffed with '''Suppuration'''. If the debuff is not passed to another player, it will cause '''Nidhogg''' to enrage. Once the debuff is passed on, the original player who carried the debuff will be inflicted with [[File:Mortal atonement icon1.png|link=]] '''Mortal Atonement''', preventing them from receiving the debuff for two minutes (effectively the remainder of the phase unless if they were the first one targeted with '''Mortal Vow''').
**[[File:Solemn vow icon1.png|link=]] '''Solemn Vow''': If a player dies to any of '''Hraesvelgr's''' attacks, he will enrage.
*'''Akh Afah''': Each Dragon targets a healer with a stack AoE that deals high damage and debuffs with {{status effect|magic vulnerability up}} '''[[Magic Vulnerability Up]]''', meaning that overlap will wipe the party. The Dragons will also tether to one another at the beginning of the cast if there is a difference of more than three percent HP, with a purple tether if '''Nidhogg''' has more HP and a white tether if '''Hraesvelgr''' has more HP. If the Dragons are tethered by the end of the cast, the stack AoE from the higher HP boss will inflict lethal damage.
*'''Hallowed Wings''': One of '''Hraesvelgr's''' wings will glow, indicating that the entire half of the arena on that side will be hit by a large AoE that deals lethal damage. This resolves at the same time as '''Hallowed Plume'''.
**'''Hallowed Plume''': Depending on whether '''Hrasevelgr's''' head is raised or lowered, he will target the two farthest or closest players respectively. These players will be hit with large circular AoE tankbusters.
*'''Wroth Flames''': Three sets of three orbs will spawn, the first set in the center, then one set at a corner, followed by the final set in the opposite corner. These orbs will erupt in a cross ('''Flame Burst''') that reaches across the entire arena set by set, and inflict moderate damage and {{status effect|damage down}} '''Damage Down''' to anyone caught in the AoE. Four random players will also be debuffed with '''Spreading Flames''', two others will be debuffed with '''Entangled Flames''', and the remaining two players will not receive a debuff.
**[[File:Spreading flames icon1.png|link=]] '''Spreading Flames''': Four players will be inflicted with this debuff, expiring after twenty four seconds, then detonate in a small AoE that does no damage to the target player and inflicts {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II'''. However, getting caught in another player's AoE will inflict lethal damage and a moderate knockback. If the afflicted player dies with this debuff before it expires, it will detonate immediately and most likely wipe the party.
**[[File:Entangled flames icon1.png|link=]] '''Entangled Flames''': Two players will be inflicted with this debuff, expiring after twenty four seconds ('''Entangled Pyre''') and requires a stack of two total players, dealing moderate magic damage and inflicting {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II'''. If players are not stacked when the debuff expires, the debuffed player will explode, inflicting heavy raid damage (killing anyone with {{status effect|fire resistance down}} '''Fire Resistance Down II''') and {{status effect|damage down}} '''[[Damage Down]]''' on everyone. If the afflicted player dies with this debuff before it expires, it will detonate immediately and most likely wipe the party.
**'''Akh Morn''': '''Nidhogg''' will target a random player for a set of four stack AoEs that deal high damage, requiring heavy mitigation, and drop persistent puddles. If players step in these, they will be debuffed with a lethal {{status effect|bleed}} '''[[Bleed]]''' that will shortly kill them.
*'''Hot Wing/Hot Tail''': '''Nidhogg''' will fire either a line AoE through the center of the arena or the top and bottom thirds of the arena, dealing lethal damage to anyone hit.
*'''Cauterize''': One or both of the Dragons will charge across their side of the arena with a breath attack, dealing high damage and inflicting either {{status effect|burns}} '''[[Burns]]''' for '''Nidhogg''' or {{status effect|frostbite}} '''[[Frostbite]]''' for '''Hraesvelgr''', inflicting high damage over time. If players are inflicted with the opposite elemental debuff ('''Freezing''' or '''Boiling'''), the attack will deal non-lethal damage, the debuff will be removed, and the damage over time debuff will not be applied. The first player hit will take significantly more damage, requiring either a tank invulnerability or heavy mitigation to survive.
*'''Touchdown''': '''Nidhogg''' lands in the center of the arena and '''Hraesvelgr''' lands on the south wall of the arena, dealing moderate proximity damage.
*'''Revenge of the Horde''': Enrage. Both Dragons cast this. If both Dragons are not defeated before the cast finishes, the party will wipe.
*'''Resentment''': Party-wide damage from the untargetable '''Eyes of Nidhogg''' that inflicts a {{status effect|bleed}} '''[[Bleed]]''' debuff.
*'''Shockwave''': Party-wide damage from '''Thordan''' that inflicts a {{status effect|bleed}} '''[[Bleed]]''' debuff.

====Strategy====
Nidhogg will appear alongside Hraesvelgr, who will have two status effects: [[File:Neurolink icon2.png|link=]] '''Neurolink''', which is cosmetic and has no gameplay functionality, and [[File:Solemn vow icon1.png|link=]] '''Solemn Vow''', which will cause him to enrage if he kills any player with an attack. When the phase begins, both Dragons will use an auto-attack, then begin casting their respective breath attacks, each tethering to three random non-tank players. Players will need to move away from the Dragon they are tethered to until the tether changes from purple to orange/white. The tanks will both move to the northern half of the arena to hold enmity. They will also be watching to see if one or both of the Dragon’s jaws glow. If one is glowing and the other isn't, the glowing mouth will fire a conal AoE through the center of the arena, while the non-glowing mouth will target their respective tank with '''Staggering Breath''', a tankbuster. If both mouths are glowing, the tanks will need to come together to soak both '''Light Orb''' and '''Dark Orb''' to neutralize both of the [[File:Sustained light damage icon1.png|link=]][[File:Sustained dark damage icon1.png|link=]] '''Sustained''' damage debuffs. At the same time, tethered players will need to stack with a player of the opposite tether to neutralize the elemental debuff received. Two sets of players can move to the south of the arena with one set moving to the north, or all three sets to the south, as long as groups are properly spaced out to avoid overlap.

Following this, a random DPS will be inflicted with [[File:Mortal vow icon2.png|link=]] '''Mortal Vow''' with a small AoE. The debuff must be passed four times during the fight in roughly thirty second intervals, which occur after most major mechanics. Players need to determine who the debuff will be passed to and in what order, such as melee DPS to ranged DPS and back to melee. The debuff should never be passed to a healer because it inhibits healing output. Players need to spread when '''Mortal Vow''' is first applied, as anyone who is too close to to the target for the AoE will be inflicted with [[File:Suppuration icon1.png|link=]] '''Suppuration''', decreasing their maximum HP by 50% and increasing their damage taken, which is essentially a death sentence.

Following this, players will split into their light parties as the Dragons begin casting '''Akh Afah'''. If the Dragons tether to each other, players need to be sure to bring them within three percent HP of each other, or this attack will wipe the party. Based on the color of the tether, players can easily tell which Dragon has the higher HP (white for '''[[Hraesvelgr]]''', purple for '''[[Nidhogg]]'''). These attacks should be mitigated as they deal high damage. Players can stack directly to the north and south of the center of the arena.

Once the '''Akh Afah''' resolves, '''[[Nidhogg]]''' will leave to either the north or south edge of the arena on either the east or west side. Shortly after, he will charge across that half of the arena with '''Cauterize''', killing any who are hit. At the same time one of '''Hraesvelgr's''' wings will begin to glow, indicating a cleave on that entire side of the arena with '''Hallowed Wings'''. This will leave a single quadrant of the arena as a safe zone. '''[[Hraesvelgr]]''' will also either raise or lower his head, indicating who he will target for '''Hallowed Plume''', a tankbuster. If his head is raised, he will target the furthest two players, and if it is lowered, he will target the two closest players. Tanks will need to adjust to bait the tankbusters, and space out to avoid overlap. Once these attacks resolve, players will need to hand off the [[File:Mortal vow icon2.png|link=]] '''Mortal Vow''' debuff. It is recommended that they move to the center of the arena, while the rest of the party is away from the center, to avoid passing to the incorrect player. It is critical that that only the two players passing the debuff are next to each other with no other players nearby, as any additional player that is hit by the debuff expiration AoE will be inflicted with '''Suppuration'''.

The next mechanic players will have to handle is '''Wroth Flames/Akh Morn''' and the following debuffs. Three orbs will spawn in the center of the arena, followed by another set in one of the four corners, and finally in the corner opposite of that, creating a diagonal line. Players will then be debuffed with [[File:Spreading flames icon1.png|link=]] '''Spreading Flames''', [[File:Entangled flames icon1.png|link=]] '''Entangled Flames''', or no debuff at all. When the orbs begin exploding, '''[[Hraesvelgr]]''' will use '''Cauterize''' across a random side of the arena. '''Akh Morns''' will also appear under the players, who need to remain stacked to handle these, then be ready to move out of them as they inflict a heavy '''Bleed''' debuff that will most likely kill the player inflicted. To best handle '''Akh Morn''' at the same time as the fire orbs, players should move across the edge of the safe area and cut towards the center of the arena where the first set of orbs spawned.

Following the resolution of the '''Akh Morns''' and the fire orbs, the Dragons will land back in their respective locations and '''[[Nidhogg]]''' will use either '''Hot Wing''' or '''Hot Tail''' and the debuffs will resolve. Players with '''Entangled Flames''' and their partners should stack near '''[[Nidhogg]]''', while the other players with '''Spreading Flames''' spread out to avoid overlap. Players will need to adjust according to either '''Hot Wing''' or '''Hot Tail''', then pass the [[File:Mortal vow icon2.png|link=]] '''Mortal Vow''' debuff for a second time.

The Dragons will cast another '''Akh Afah''', and can be handled the same way as before. This is the last time players will need to worry about keeping both Dragons' HP balanced for the rest of the phase. Following this, '''[[Hraesvelgr]]''' will use '''Hallowed Wings''' and '''Hallowed Plume''' on one side of the arena while '''[[Nidhogg]]''' uses the opposite '''Hot Tail''' or '''Hot Wing'''. Players will need to adjust to handle where the tanks need to stand in order to bait the plumes while also avoiding the other AoEs.

Players will then be tethered to either Dragon again, however they will need to keep their debuffs for the next mechanic. Players tethered to '''[[Hraesvelgr]]''' should spread out to the north and players tethered to '''[[Nidhogg]]''' should spread to the south, with tanks resolving their mechanics. Once the tethers resolve, both Dragons will move to the north edge of the arena and prepare a '''Cauterize'''. Players will need to line up in the hitbox of the opposite Dragon they were tethered to with a tank at the front of each line, as each tank will not have a debuff to neutralize and will take full damage from the attack. To handle this, the tanks should use their invulnerability skills, with healers keeping them topped off to handle the debuff damage. If a player is debuffed with {{status effect|pyretic}} '''Pyretic''' they need to remain still until the debuff falls off.

Once the debuffs are resolved, players will need to move to a corner to avoid the proximity damage from '''[[Nidhogg]]''' touching down in the center of the arena. Immediately following this, players will need to pass [[File:Mortal vow icon2.png|link=]] '''Mortal Vow''' for the final time. Following '''Touchdown''', both Dragons will begin casting '''Revenge of the Horde''', and must be defeated before the cast finishes. Once both Dragons are defeated, the untargetable '''Eyes of Nidhogg''' will appear and cast '''Resentment''', dealing raid damage and inflicting bleed. If '''Thordan''' was spared, he will reappear and absorb the '''Eyes of Nidhogg''' and Hraesvelgr's, transforming into '''Dragon-king Thordan'''. During this sequence, he will use '''Shockwave''' once, dealing raid damage and also inflicting bleed. At the end of the sequence, he will use '''Alternative End''', dealing massive damage that must be heavily mitigated. To ensure players do not use mitigation too early, they should time their mitigation after the bleed effect from Shockwave wears off. Afterwards, the arena will transition and the final phase will begin. If '''Thordan''' was not spared, the fight will essentially loop back to the '''Eyes of Nidhogg''' phase but the party will not have access to '''Soul of Friendship''' or '''Soul of Devotion''', making the eyes unkillable and ensuring a wipe.

===Phase 7: [[Dragon-king Thordan]]===
Note that in this phase, the boss cannot be moved, but he will turn to face the highest enmity player if not casting an action, which is important for orienting for some mechanics.

====Abilities====
*'''Alternative End''': Occurs during the transition from the previous phase, dealing massive raid damage that must be mitigated.
*'''Trinity''': '''Thordan''' auto-attacks three players between each mechanic as small AoEs, the first and second in the enmity list, and the closest player, inflicting various debuffs based on their order in that list. '''Trinity''' always occurs twice between each '''Edge''' mechanic.
**'''Highest Enmity''': Inflicted with a stacking [[File:Dark resistance down icon1.png|link=]] '''Dark Resistance Down''', increasing the damage from the next '''Trinity''' of this type.
**'''Second Highest''': Inflicted with a stacking [[File:Light resistance down icon1.png|link=]] '''Light Resistance Down''', increasing the damage from the next '''Trinity''' of this type.
**'''Closest''': Inflicted with stacking [[File:Light resistance down icon1.png|link=]] '''Light Resistance Down''', [[File:Dark resistance down icon1.png|link=]] '''Dark Resistance Down''' and {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]''', making another hit from '''Trinity''' lethal until the {{status effect|physical vulnerability up}} '''[[Physical Vulnerability Up]]''' expires.
***This requires the party to cycle through baiting the attacks to avoid deaths. The tanks should swap every two auto-attacks, and the recommended order is for two acting melee DPS to bait the closest attacks, then the acting ranged DPS, and finally the healers, before repeating the cycle. This will give enough time for the debuffs to fall off the first player who baited them.
*'''Edge Attacks''': '''Thordan''' will use various attacks mixed with '''In/Out''' mechanics, determined by what element '''Thordan's''' swords are infused with. If the swords are covered in ice ('''Ice of Ascalon'''), players need to move into the boss's hitbox to dodge a donut AoE, and out if the swords are covered with fire ('''Flames of Ascalon'''), to dodge a point-blank AoE.
**'''Exaflare's Edge''': Three tri-directional circle AoEs spawn around the boss, and fire a series of moving circle AoEs in the direction of the arrows. Any player hit by these will die.
**'''Akh Morn's Edge''': '''Thordan''' spawns three towers that need to be soaked by multiple players: two red towers should have three players each, while the blue tower should have both tanks. Each tower will hit players within multiple times dealing heavy stack damage that requires mitigation, starting at five and increasing by one with each cast (up to seven). If a tower does not have any people, it will explode and the party will wipe.
**'''Gigaflare's Edge''': '''Thordan''' spawns three proximity AoEs in sequence that will explode in order, killing any player who is too close and inflicting a large amount of party-wide damage otherwise, requiring mitigation.
**For each of these attacks, the three AoEs/towers will spawn always relative to where the boss is facing: one behind, one northeast, and one northwest.
*'''Morn Afah's Edge''': Enrage. Three yellow towers will spawn around the boss and must be soaked by one player each or the party will instantly wipe. Any player within the towers will die upon the cast finishing. The towers must continue to be soaked until all players are dead and the party is wiped or the boss is defeated.

====Strategy====
Though this phase is relatively simple in terms of its mechanics, it requires players to handle high damage output and evade reactionary mechanics. To open the phase, players must group together and heavily mitigate the damage from the stage transition, which also inflicts a heavy {{status effect|bleed}} '''[[Bleed]]'''. once the boss is targetable, players will need to handle the first set of '''Trinity''' attacks, then the in/out mechanic for '''Exaflare's Edge'''. Each cast of this ability can be handled the same way, by moving to either side of the southern '''Exaflare''', then move in to where its hitbox previously was once it fires. Following this, players will move further south to where the two diamond patterns on the floor meet to avoid the remaining flares, then move in to prepare for the next set of '''Trinities'''.

Next, players will handle '''Akh Morn's Edge''', moving to have the correct amount/role of players in their respective towers. The in/out mechanic will take place, then the circles will fire five times. Mitigate the '''Akh Morn''' hits, and be careful not to leave the AoEs before the attack finishes, or everyone will take a massive party-wide hit. Once again, players will move to handle the incoming '''Trinity'''.

For '''Gigaflare's Edge''', players must simply identify the order and location that the proximity markers drop in, and move around the arena, never moving more than max melee range to the center of the arena. This mechanic requires mitigation and healing as well. To handle, players must move in or out of the boss's hitbox, and then be prepared to move out as soon as that portion of the attack resolves. Following this attack's resolution, players must handle '''Trinity''' again.

These mechanics will repeat three times, and then the boss will enrage, casting '''Morn Afah's Edge'''. For this attack, each tower must be soaked by one player, killing them when the cast resolves. If a player is not in each tower, the party will wipe when the cast finishes. Players will need to push hard to meet this DPS check if the boss's HP is still high. These circles will continue to spawn until either players are unable to mitigate the circles, or the boss is defeated. After the first two tower sets, the remaining two alive players should not soak the towers, and instead let them explode, as this buys an additional second to damage the boss.

==Reward==
*1 {{item icon|Dragonsong Token}}
* [[Dragonsong's Reprise Adventurer Plate]]

When originally released, you could receive only one reward item per week for completing Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate). This restriction was removed in [[Patch 6.2]].

The reward can be exchanged with [[Nesvaaz]] in [[Radz-at-Han]] (X:10.6 Y:10.0) for [[Ultimate Weapons of the Heavens]].

Completion of this duty will unlock a new [[Adventurer Plate]] design.

==Achievements==
This duty is associated with the following [[achievements]]:

{| {{STDT|mech1}}
{{achievement table header}}
{{achievement table row|As Suits a Hero}}
|}

==World First==
The World's First clear was by the static ''Neverland'' on 5/2/2022.<ref>https://twitter.com/ZeppeMonado/status/1521111280681115648?s=20&t=Pt89PviK8OEk3CjrlbFwjw</ref> After the use of third party tools in violation of the ToS was confirmed by the community, producer/director YoshiP issued a statement.<ref>[https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/36c4d699763603fadd2e61482b0c5d56cb2e4547 Regarding Third-party Tools]</ref>
<references/>

==Dialogue==
'''Phase 1:'''
:'''Ser Grinnaux:''' I'll cut you to pieces! (''upon pull'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Ser Adelphel:''' The power! It fills me! (''casting first Holiest of Holy'')
:'''Ser Adelphel:''' Witness me! (''Empty Dimension'')
:'''Ser Grinnaux:''' How was that? (''Holy Bladedance'')
:'''Ser Grinnaux:''' Down with you! (''first Hyperdimensional Slash lasers'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Ser Grinnaux:''' Ahahahahahahaha! (''second Hyperdimensional Slash lasers'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Ser Grinnaux:''' Hahaha! (''after Hyperdimensional Slash'')
:'''Ser Adelphel:''' Let us see how you handle this! (''Shining Blade'')
:'''Ser Charibert:''' Filthy rats! (''before Burning Chains'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Ser Charibert:''' Begone with you! (''Heavensflame'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Ser Grinnaux:''' This ends here! (''Planar Prison'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Ser Charibert:''' And now the final curtain! (''Planar Prison'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Haurchefant:''' Look out! (''blocking Spear of the Fury'')
:'''Ser Zephirin:''' Fall! (''throwing Spear of the Fury'')

'''Phase 2:'''
:'''Wandering Minstrel:''' In pursuit of the archbishop, the Warrior of Light journeyed to Azys Lla, where s/he confronted a primal born of the power of the Eye: King Thordan and his knights twelve. (''transition'')
:'''King Thordan:''' Your feeble light shall fade before my brilliance! (''upon pull'')

---------
During Phases 2 and 5, Thordan will occasionally say the following when being damaged. These lines are '''voice acted'''.
:'''King Thordan:''' What?
:'''King Thordan:''' Gah!
:'''King Thordan:''' ''grunts''
---------

:'''King Thordan:''' My knights! To arms! (''Strength of the Ward'')
:'''King Thordan:''' The power is mine! (''Strength of the Ward cast finishes'', '''voice acted''')
:'''Ser Vellguine? (yellow double ponytail):''' Scamper all you will. My lance will find you... (''Spiral Dive'')
:'''Ser Ignasse? (red double ponytail):''' Charge! (''Spiral Dive'')
:'''Ser Paulecrain? (white single ponytail):''' Ser Vellguine! On your mark! (''Spiral Dive'')
:'''Ser Guerrique:''' Yah! (''Heavy Impact'')
:'''Ser Janlenoux:''' Ever and always, Brother! (''Holy Bladedance'')
:'''Ser Adelphel:''' With me, Ser Janlenoux! (''Holy Bladedance'')
:'''Ser Grinnaux:''' Gahahaha! (''Dimensional Collapse'')
:'''Ser Hermenost:''' Surging aether, become searing light! (''Conviction'')
:'''King Thordan:''' My knights! To arms! (''Sanctity of the Ward'')
:'''King Thordan:''' The glory is mine! (''Sanctity of the Ward cast finishes'', '''voice acted''')
:'''King Thordan:''' O Ascalon! Drink deep of the power of slumbering gods! (''start of Fire/Ice'')
:'''Ser Charibert:''' I shall turn you into ash! (''Heavens' Stake'')
:'''King Thordan:''' To me, my knights! (''before Ultimate End'', '''voice acted''')
:'''King Thordan:''' I shall bury you and your beliefs! (''Ultimate End'', '''voice acted''')
:'''King Thordan:''' Y-You survived my divine reckoning!? Impossible! (after ''Ultimate End'')
:'''King Thordan:''' This is the power of light? No... if I must fall, then so shall you! (''Aetheric Burst'', first sentence is '''voice acted''')
:'''King Thordan:''' Impossible! (''defeat'', '''voice acted''')

'''Phase 3:'''
:'''Wandering Minstrel:''' Though s/he emerged victorious, his/her comrade's body was claimed to Nidhogg, who brought his unbridled rage to bear against Ishgard. (''transition'')
:'''Nidhogg:''' Thy final verse is sung! (''Final Chorus'')
::'''Dragonspeak transcription:''' Ahm in ??? fhail! ('''voice acted''')
:'''Nidhogg:''' Thou hast survived my song... Curse thee and thine eye, Hraesvelgr! (''after Final Chorus'')
:'''Nidhogg:''' All will perish! (''Dive from Grace'')
::'''Dragonspeak transcription:''' ??? ('''voice acted''')

==Images==
<gallery heights=200px mode=packed>
DSR.png
DSR boss.png
DSR phase 1.png
DSR phase 6.jpg
Dragon-king Thordan render1.jpg
File:All Ultimates Weapons.jpg
</gallery>

==External Links==
'''Aether/NA Party Finder Strategies'''
*Phase 1: The Vault Knights
**Playstation knockback:<br>
[[File:Dsr p1.png|200px]]
**Planar Prison: "HMRT EWEW"
***First, the healers take the protean cleaves south, then go east to drop their puddles.
***Second, melee DPS take their protean cleaves south, then go west to drop their puddles.
***Third, ranged DPS take their protean cleaves south, then go east to drop their puddles.
***Finally, tanks take their protean cleaves south, then go west to drop their puddles.

*Phase 2: King Thordan
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=175561044175561&preview=1 Strength of the Ward]
***Please note that the toolbox is inaccurate for waymarks and group priorities.
***Waymarks: Placed on cardinals and intercardinals, but starting from north going clockwise, the order is ABCD1234, not A1B2C3D4
***Group priorities: G1 NW CCW (Numbers); G2 N CW (Letters)
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=840061660351561&preview=1 Sanctity of the Ward Part 1: Dashes]
***G1 away from dark knight
***G2 towards dark knight
***Role swap for sword markers
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=050062490351561&preview=1 Sanctity of the Ward Part 2: Meteors and Towers]

*Phase 3: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=375562215175561&preview=1#4 Nidhogg]
**Up arrow debuff stands east
**Down arrow debuff stands west
**Arrow priority overrides initial positions

*Phase 4: [https://raidplan.io/plan/8z6l3K14M-v5NOnz Eyes]
**Melees and tanks will walk to ranged players to pass, after popping yellow orb.

*Phase 5: Dark King Thordan
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=055565203865561&preview=1 Wrath of the Heavens]
**[https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=655564591965561&preview=1 Death of the Heavens]
**[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/991078812903165982/1137091025287008326/edit.png Earthquake dodges for DotH]

*Phase 6: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=426762112878561&preview=1 Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr]
**Group 1 initially attacks Nidhogg and stacks north for Akh Afah. Group 2 initially attacks Hraesvelgr and stacks south for Akh Afah.
**Mortal Vow pass order: XTTMR
**NOTE: Party Finder groups in North America and Europe expect the use of an "automarker" (AM, "Allagan Melon") third party tool to simplify the Wroth Flames mechanic. There are Terms of Service-friendly ways of resolving this mechanic (e.g., [[Sign#Useful macros|self-marking macros]]), although such use is extremely rare in Party Finder and more suitable in a static environment.
**Wyrmsbreath 2 in the toolbox is outdated as "[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/968960770551463976/1047711267902738522/CB593476-1DDF-4A21-9A47-5FF6FB316150.png Static WB2]" is now the preferred strategy.

*Phase 7: [https://ff14.toolboxgaming.space/?id=448767858029561&preview=1 Dragon-king Thordan]
**Please note that Party Finder uses the "611" strategy for Akh Morn's Edge, which is not reflected in the toolbox.
**Akh Morn 1: Group 1 northwest red tower, group 2 northeast red tower, tanks south blue tower
**Akh Morn 2/3: Party northwest red tower, invulning tank south blue tower, non-invulning tank northeast red tower

*[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sUEuFDGa_Qg4SYHo4y7b4oEvUGvmhkUMn2rPdXdWEo0/edit#gid=1960553822 Mitigation spreadsheet]

{{Duties nav|raid}}