Heavensward content

Alexander - The Arm of the Father (Savage)

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Disambig icon.png This article is about the (Savage) version. For the level 60 story-mode raid, see Alexander - The Arm of the Father. For the first tier of Alexander in general, see Alexander: Gordias.

Raid.png

Alexander - The Arm of the Father (Savage)

Alexander - The Arm of the Father (Savage).png
Level
60 (Sync: 60)
Item Level
200
Difficulty
Normal
Party size
Full Party
8 man 2 Tank role.png 2 Healer role.png 4 DPS role.png
Unsyncing
Allowed
Time limit
90 minutes
Duty Finder
Savage Raids (Heavensward)
Tomestones
Allagan Tomestone of Poetics 15 
Req. quest
Feature quest A Song of Steam and Steel
Location
Condensate Demineralizer #9, The Arm of the Father
Region
Dravania
Stone, Sky, Sea
Available
Patch
3.05
The echo icon1.png The Echo
Permanent +20%

What fun is there in merely restating the facts? Never one to be content with the truth, the wandering minstrel has taken the liberty of retelling the tale of your journey into Alexander with his trademark embellishments. Some may question the value of such entertainment, but none can deny the skill with which he weaves his tapestry of song and verse, immersing you in memory...

— In-game description

Alexander - The Arm of the Father (Savage) is a level 60 raid introduced in patch 3.05 with Heavensward. Also known as A3S, it is the third sector of Alexander: Gordias (Savage).

Strategy

Aggressive difficulty r6.png Living Liquid

Players should assign specific positions around the arena for each player to avoid a mechanic that repeats throughout the fight. Players can use the segments on the floor to assign positions.

Phase 1

The main tank should pull the boss to the center of the room. This will make it easier to deal with mechanics.

  • Fluid Swing: A wide frontal cleave. Players should avoid getting hit by this attack, as it deals massive damage and is hard to heal through in conjunction with other mechanics. Players should avoid standing in front of the boss for this altogether.
  • Protean Wave: This attack hits twice. First, three telegraphs come out on the ground, then 6 random players will be marked. Players should move to their assigned positions to avoid overlapping with other players.
  • Splash: High raid-wide AoE damage. Mitigate and heal through.
  • Sluice: Random players will be marked, so spread out to assigned positions. When the attack fires, marked players are hit by splash damage, as well as AoEs are marked on the floor. Players will have to avoid these AoEs as well as marked players to avoid excessive damage. The boss will then transform into its hand form.

Phase 2

  • Fluid Strike: A frontal tankbuster that needs to be split to survive.
  • Wash Away: All players will be pushed back a set distance. Players should stack in the center of the room to avoid being knocked off the edge.
  • Digititis: A random tank, healer and DPS will be targeted. After the cast goes off, debuffs will be applied to these targeted players:
    • Red: Damage Down will be applied to the DPS.
    • Green: Healing Down will be applied to the healer.
    • Blue: Vulnerability Up will be applied to the tank.

Players must swap debuffs to avoid detrimental effects from applying to each role. Debuffs must be swapped EXTREMELY quickly (the first debuffs have a timer of around 5 seconds - once this is over they change to unpassable ones), and can only be swapped once, so players must communicate with each other. Players should swap debuffs in the following way:

    • Blue debuffs should be given to DPS.
    • Red debuffs should be given to the healer.
    • Green debuffs should be given to the tank.

This will help minimize the detriment to each player according to the strengths and weaknesses of their role.

  • Fluid Strike x2: Players with the Vulnerability Up debuff should avoid stacking for this attack. The boss will follow this up with another Wash Away, so players will need to stack again. The boss will then split into two hands. Each tank should grab one hand.
  • Fluid Swing: Players should still move out of this. Each hit will now also apply a debuff to tanks. Be sure to face this away from the raid.
  • Hand of Prayer/Hand of Parting: One of the hands will begin to glow and will either turn into an open hand or a fist. The hands need to be separated or brought together accordingly (If the hand is open, bring them together. If it is a fist, separate them). The hands will then slam into the ground and deal raid-wide damage. If the hands have been moved properly, they will do a small amount of damage. If moved incorrectly however, they will deal massive damage and debuff the party.

The boss will perform another Digititis, so players will have to swap debuffs again.

  • Equilibrium Concentration: One of the hands will take HP from another. Players should identify which hand has more HP and focus their attacks on it. Players will have 25 seconds to balance the hands' HP.
  • Hand of Pain: If the hands are brought within 4% HP of each other, this attack will deal normal damage. If players fail to balance the hand's HP, they will wipe. This is a DPS check. The boss will follow up with another Hand of Prayer/Parting and another Fluid Swing. The hands will then move to the center.

Phase 3

Ads will begin to spawn in the center of the arena and start moving towards the edge. If an ad gets to the edge, they will debuff the party with Paralyze and deal massive damage. The ads spawn in 6 waves:

  • 2 Piston Lubricant
  • 3 Gear Lubricant
  • 1 Piston, 2 Gears
  • 4 Gears
  • 3 Gears
  • 4 Pistons

The Piston Lubricant will cast Mucilage, which will cause them to sprint to the edge of the arena. This attack needs to be interrupted and the ads need to be focused down. The Gear Lubricant move slowly and have lower HP but should still be taken out quickly. On top of this, in waves 2 and 4, the boss will cast Drainage, targeting 2 random players with tethers that will eventually explode. Tanks should take these tethers and move away from the party to avoid overlapping damage with other players. On waves 3 and 5, the boss will cast Ferrofluid, marking two sets of players with Positive and Negative markers and tethering them together. if tethered players have the same markers, they need to stand close together. If they have opposite markers, they need to move far apart. When the debuffs resolve, players will either be pushed away or pulled together. If players handle this mechanic incorrectly, they will be heavily debuffed and not survive the next attack. The boss will then transform back into his humanoid form.

Phase 4

This final phase is a loop of several mechanics, or a pairing of mechanics requiring players to move quickly and carefully in order to resolve them properly.

  • Cascade: High raid-wide damage. This attack also spawns puddles randomly around the arena. Though the placement of these puddles is random, players can figure out their effects based on their placement:
    • The 'lone' puddle will cast Protean Wave.
    • The two puddles that are close together will use Embolus' and Throttle (left puddle) and Drainage (right puddle).
  • Ferrofluid: Players should move to their assigned positions for this, as this attack will target all players, so being able to identify who players are tethered to and moving accordingly is key.
  • Fluid Swing: Adds debuffs to the main tank. Tanks need to swap around 4 stacks, which will line up with the next cast of Cascade.
  • Splash: Mitigate and heal through.
  • Sluice/Protean Wave: Players will need to spread out for Sluice, dodge the first hit of Protean Wave, then separate for the second attack.
  • Sluice/Digititis: This time, two Red markers will come out, so both healers will need to take these, while a free DPS needs to take the Blue debuff.
  • Cascade: Mitigate and heal through again. Three new puddles will spawn.
  • Liquid Gaol: A healer will be targeted. The marked healer needs to move away from the rest of the party, as after the cast resolves, the healer and all players around them will be stunned. a Liquid Limb will spawn and pick up the stunned healer and begin to move them towards the edge. The limb must be defeated before this happens. If successful, the healer will be released.
  • Splash: Mitigate and heal through.
  • Digititis: This attack will be the exact same as last time.
  • Splash x6: This will cause massive damage, so healers should be ready for this.

One of the puddles will cast a single line Protean Wave, so avoid accordingly, followed by another Cascade.

  • Throttle: A random player will be debuffed with Throttle, when it resolves the player will be killed. This needs to be dispelled immediately. The boss will cast another party-wide Ferrofluid, so stack or spread accordingly, followed by another Throttle which needs to be dispelled.
  • Embolus: Summons a ball that moves towards the boss. If it touches the boss or another player, it is most likely a wipe. The main tank should move the boss as soon as they see the ball appear, and all players should stay clear of its path.
  • Drainage/Protean Wave: Tanks will take the tethers again, and players will dodge the hits of Protean Wave. This will be followed by another Sluice.

A puddle will cast Embolus again, this time players should move the boss back to the center. The boss will follow up with another Fluid Swing, and the mechanics will repeat from the beginning of phase 4.

Players will have to defeat the boss in this time, or the boss will enrage and wipe the party.

Loot

Gold Coffer (small).png Treasure Coffer 1

Name Type Item Level Rarity Quantity
Gordian leg gear coffer (il 210) icon1.png  Gordian Leg Gear Coffer (IL 210) Other N/A ABasic 1

Gold Coffer (small).png Treasure Coffer 2

Name Type Item Level Rarity Quantity
Gordian head gear coffer (il 210) icon1.png  Gordian Head Gear Coffer (IL 210) Other N/A ABasic 1
Gordian hand gear coffer (il 210) icon1.png  Gordian Hand Gear Coffer (IL 210) Other N/A ABasic 1
Gordian foot gear coffer (il 210) icon1.png  Gordian Foot Gear Coffer (IL 210) Other N/A ABasic 1