The North American, European, and Oceanian data centers primarily use Party Finder to challenge (Extreme) content. Using Duty Finder to match with random players is not recommended and will be more difficult than pre-forming a party. For an easy completion (that will satisfy any quest requirements) or loot farming, it is recommended that players use Party Finder and form an Unrestricted Party (i.e., with level sync disabled). Players who wish to complete this duty with level sync enabled should also form a pre-made party, which also enables the use of Minimum Item Level and Silence Echo settings for a more authentic challenge compared to a Duty Finder party.
A new tomestone discovered by Unukalhai contains records of ancient battles with Sophia─specialized data which will enable Azys Lla's miraculous reality augmentation technologies to generate a simulacrum of the Goddess at the height of her power. Have you the strength to overcome this challenge, as the champions of Allag once did? Enter the combat simulation, and test the limits of your might!
Please note that players can fall off the arena to their death but can be resurrected after a moderate delay. The party should assign pairs of players, each comprising one tank/healer and one DPS, for a future mechanic.
Sophia utilizes the following moves and mechanics throughout a total of three phases. Bear in mind that certain abilities, if not dodged successfully, can inflict a stack of Vulnerability Up, increasing the damage an afflicted player will take for up to two minutes.
Sophia's Attacks (Phase 1 and 3)
Name
Description
Thunder II
Frontal cone attack. Can be side-stepped. Deals moderate magic damage and inflicts Vulnerability Up.
Thunder III
Donut AoE. Safespot is directly under Sophia. Deals moderate magic damage and inflicts Vulnerability Up.
Aero III
AoE centered on Sophia. Deals moderate magic damage and inflicts Vulnerability Up.
Gnosis
Sophia sends her Barbelo to a random spot on the arena to cast Gnosis, dealing magic damage and massive knockback to all players.
Four invincible duplicates of Sophia. When Sophia casts an attack, one to three will tether to Sophia and memorize that attack.
There are two potential patterns:
Two clones copy Thunder III and two copy Aero III. Stand under one of the Thunder III clones for safety.
One clone copies Thunder II and three copy Aero III. Either stand behind the Thunder II clone or in an empty corner.
Execute
Sophia commands all Aion Teleos to use their memorized attacks simultaneously. These duplicates vanish afterwards.
Phase 1 - 100% to 84% or Rotation End.
Phase 1 Rotation
Attack
Strategy
Thunder II
Face Sophia away from the party initially. Side-step to avoid this attack completely before returning to your position.
Gnosis
All players should run towards Barbelo and position themselves to not be knocked off the arena. Arm's Length or Surecast is recommended.
Arms of Wisdom
Use Provoke once you see green aether gathering. Skipped if Sophia hits 91% health.
Aion Teleos
If it's a Thunder III pattern, move to one of the clones that copied it. If it's the Thunder II pattern, move behind that clone or to an empty corner.
Arms of Wisdom
Use Provoke once you see green aether gathering. Skipped if Sophia hits 84% health.
Cloudy Heavens
Deals unavoidable magic damage to the entire party. Starts Phase 2.
Phase 2 - The Three Demiurges
All players are inflicted with an 80-second Eternal Doom, which can only be cured by defeating all three Demiurges. Sophia will teleport to the north edge of the arena and becomes untargetable and invulnerable.
If Eternal Doom expires or players are fatally injured, they will not die but rather be inflicted with Zombification for 20 seconds. Zombies attack other party members with no control over their movement or actions.
The three Demiurges will spawn in the center: a paladin (The First), a healer (The Second), and a lancer (The Third).
The Three Demiurges
Name
Abilities
Notes
The First Demiurge
Vertical Kenoma: Gain's a Directional Parry to its front and back for 6 seconds. Players who attack in this direction are knocked back and given Vulnerability Up.
Must be tanked.
Low Priority. Save for last.
Horizontal Kenoma: The same as Vertical Kenoma but instead protects the sides. Attack from the front or back.
Infusion: A line stack aimed at a random player. Damage is divided across those standing in the center of the line with more dealt to the first hit. Those to the side are knocked back instead.
As players are zombified instead of killed during this phase, letting the target take this attack alone is an efficient alternative.
The Second Demiurge
Divine Spark: A gaze attack that inflicts Confuse. Look away to avoid.
High priority. Should be killed first.
Cure II: Will cast this to heal The First Demiurge or The Third Demiurge if they are injured.
The Third Demiurge
Ring of Pain: A small AoE cast where its standing. Creates a long-lasting ice patch on the ground that inflicts Frostbite.
Try to bring this enemy over towards the edges to prevent ice patches from being in the way.
Must be Tanked.
Medium priority and should be killed second.
Gnostic Spear: A small line AoE that deals high damage and inflicts Vulnerability Up.
Gnostic Rant: A cast that deals damage and inflicts Vulnerability Up in a massive 270 degree cone in front of it. Ideally, move and face this enemy to the edge.
Often cast soon after a Ring of Pain, making dodging this attack difficult. Plan carefully and be ready to adjust.
Once all three Demiurges are slain, or 80 seconds have passed, Sophia will summon her Scales of Revelation. All players should run to the far east edge of the platform.
She will first tip the platform to the west, knocking all players across 75% of the platform in that direction. She will then quickly do the same in the opposite direction.
Finally, she will cast The Scales of Wisdom, dealing high magic damage to the entire party. If any Demiurges are still alive, this will wipe the party.
Creates a number of tethers to the balancing scales on the east and west side of the area. Each tether represents a meteor falling into that scale.
Once the meteors hit the scales, all players will be massively knocked back towards whichever side is heavier (can not be resisted).
Meteor colors can be seen as they are falling into the scales on the east and west side. Orange have a value of 1 while Blue have a value of 3.
Scales will tip 10 seconds after the tethers appear.
Sometimes will instead drop proximity flares on every player — forcing them to relocate far away from where they were standing to avoid damage.
Stacking prior to Quasars can make these proximity flares easier to manage.
Cintamani
Unavoidable magic damage to the entire party. Always cast three times in quick succession.
Light Dew
Barbelo is summoned to the north or south side of the arena, dealing high damage and Vulnerability Up to any player in front of it. Used in combination with Quasar and Execute.
Onrush
Sophia moves to the east or west side of the platform and charges straight across, dealing high damage and Vulnerability Up to any player in front of it. Covers half the arena.
Dischordant Cleansing
Half the living players are marked with a black circle, the other half a white circle. Black circles inflict Infirmity, while white circles inflict Bleeding.
Stacking with one player of the opposite color will prevent these debuffs from applying.
If two players of the same color stack on each other, they will explode, dealing magic damage to the party and inflicting their circle's debuff to everyone.
If there are an odd number of players alive, one will be left without a partner and have to accept the debuff.
Quasar knockback mechanics:
Quasar will knockback players to the east or west based on the weight difference in the scales. There are two knockback strengths: weak, and strong.
Red Markers for Strong Knockback. Yellow markers for Weak Knockback.
If Quasar were to call down two orange meteors on one side (2) and one blue on the other (3), the heavier side will be tilted lightly — causing players to slide 75% of the platform's length to the heavier side.
A larger difference, such as two orange (2) against a blue and an orange (4), would cause a strong knockback that pushes player across almost the entirety (95% of the length) of the platform.
An easy way to determine the the position and strength of the tilt is to use the following rules.
Always go opposite the blue meteor.
If there is an odd total number of tethers, the knockback will be weak (~75% the length the arena).
If there is an even total number of tethers, the knockback will be strong (~95% the length of the arena).
In phase 3, Sophia has three groups of attacks before reaching her looping attack rotation.
This first attack group will be skipped or end early if Sophia goes below 76% health. The second attack group will be skipped or end early below 67% health.
Phase 3 Rotation
Attack
Strategy
Opening 1
(>76%)
Quasar
Scales are always equal here, but also drops proximity flares on all players. Stack prior and then move away as a group.
Aero III
Move out of the AoE.
Quasar
Will be an uneven scale with a weak knockback.
Cintamani
A burst of party damage for the healers to deal with.
Arms of Wisdom
Large mitigation and tank swap.
Opening 2
(>67%)
Thunder II
Sidestep as normal.
Quasar + Onrush
Will be an uneven scale with a strong knockback. Run all the way to the VERY edge of the platform opposite to the blue meteors.
Sophia will also move to a random edge of the platform and prepare to charge across. Don't be in front of Sophia.
Discordant Cleansing
Players should find their closest partner without stacking with the same color. Do not forget the Main Tank.
Opening 3
Aion Teleos + Cintamani
A burst of party damage for the healers to deal with. Summons clones.
Thunder III
Stand inside Sophia to dodge. Two clones on opposite corners will memorize this attack.
Aero III
Avoid the AoE around Sophia. The remaining two clones will memorize this attack.
Arms of Wisdom
Be ready to tank-swap after.
Execute + Light Dew
Barbelo will face one of the two Thunder III safe-spots. The party will have to move to other remaining safe corner.
Loop
Cintamani
A burst of party damage for the healers to deal with.
Arms of Wisdom
Large mitigation and tank swap.
Quasar + Light Dew
Will be a weak or strong weight difference at random. As the platform tips, Barbelo will appear towards the heavier side.
Light Dew is not a concern if knockback is strong.
If knockback is weak, players will need to stand at the 75% point to avoid Barbelo's Light Dew but not fall off the side.
Thunder III
Stand on top of Sophia to dodge.
Arms of Wisdom
Large mitigation and tank swap.
Quasar + Light Dew + Onrush
Similar to the previous Quasar, but Sophia will also charge across one half of the platform.
Stand in the correct spot so the knockback dodges Light Dew, while additionally moving to the half of the arena not covered by Onrush.
Cintamani
A burst of party damage for the healers to deal with.
Arms of Wisdom
Large mitigation and tank swap.
Thunder II
Sidestep as normal.
Discordant Cleansing + Gnosis
After pairing opposite colored circles, run towards Barbelo or use Arm's Length or Surecast.
Arms of Wisdom
Large mitigation and tank swap.
Discordant Cleansing + Quasar
After pairing opposite colored circles, run towards the lighter side. This scale is always a weak knockback.
Aion Teleos + Cintamani
A burst of party damage for the healers to deal with. Clones are summoned, but copyable abilities aren't used yet.
Arms of Wisdom
Large mitigation and tank swap.
Thunder II + Aero III
Dodge as normal. One clone will copy Thunder II, the rest Aero III. All players should stack together in a corner to prep for the next attack.
Quasar
Drops proximity flares on all players, no scales are tipped. Run away to mitigate damage.
Arms of Wisdom
Large mitigation and tank swap. Make sure you don't get knocked off the platform after dodging the previous Quasar.
Discordant Cleansing + Execute
After pairing opposite colored circles, run behind the Thunder II clone or to an empty corner.
Rotation Loop Point
Enrage: Each party member will receive all white or all black markers with none of the other color, making them impossible to resolve. This will be coupled with a Cintamani that will wipe the party if anyone survives the failed markers.
Sophia: The unenlightened come...
Sophia: Daughter, be the bearer of my wisdom.
Sophia: Where one doth not suffice...
Sophia: Hear the echos of truth!
Sophia: Spread the glory of my Word!
Sophia: To me, my faithful.
Sophia: Even in death there is no release.
Sophia: Come forth, Scales of Revelation!
Sophia: I would know the weight of your souls.
Sophia: Can you bring...equilibrium?
Sophia: Know you the full weight of death.
Sophia: I shall tip back the balance...
Sophia: Sin must be balanced with suffering.
Sophia: My revelations are lost...