The Minstrel's Ballad: Endsinger's Aria
This article is about the level 90 challenge-mode trial. For the story-mode Main Scenario trial, see The Final Day.
The Minstrel's Ballad: Endsinger's Aria
- Level
- 90
- Item Level
- 580
- Difficulty
- Extreme
- Party size
- Full Party
8 man • 2
2 
4 
- Unsyncing
- Not Allowed
- Time limit
- 60 minutes
- Duty Finder
- High-end Trials (Endwalker)
- Tomestones
20 
10 - Req. quest
I Wandered Sharlayan as a Minstrel- Location
- The Final Day
- Region
- The Sea of Stars
- Stone, Sky, Sea
- Available
- Patch
- 6.1
The Echo- On wipe: +5% (max +25%)
“Had the Endsinger succeeded in gathering but a few more stars' worth of despair─or even that of a few more souls─might the darkness you faced have been so deep, not even the light of hope kindled by your comrades could pierce it? So muses the wandering minstrel, and by his consummately evocative words, you find your mind set adrift amidst that unsettling possibility, where you can rely upon naught save your own conviction to overcome the ultimate incarnation of despair...
— In-game description
The Minstrel's Ballad: Endsinger's Aria is a level 90 trial introduced in patch 6.1 with Endwalker.
Guide
The Endsinger
Setup
Assign a light party with each healer. This is useful for a mechanic which targets each healer with a stack marker. Each healer should also have a mark such as <1> or <2> overhead.
Assign tanks and healers to one side of the arena (either left or right) in a column and DPS to the other side of the arena also in a column, for a mechanic similar to E3S Leviathan puddle soaks. It is recommended to let melee have the 2-3 front spaces for uptime.
Optional - Assign corner clock spots. One tank/healer and one DPS per corner, with the understanding that either the tank/healer or the DPS will rotate if necessary. However, this part of initial prep can be skipped since the corresponding mechanic can be done on the fly.
Arena Marker Setup
Place four markers on the intercardinal corners. It is very important to place these markers as close to the meteor impact points as possible, since players have a tendency to use the markers as the knockback meteor's point of origin.
Place one marker in the exact center of the arena. A blue marker is reccommended, since this color contrasts most strongly with the boss' hitbox. (Note that the boss' hitbox extends somewhat beyond the center of the arena towards the rear, which can be dangerous during Despair Unforgotten.)
Mechanics
Elegeia Unforgotten - Unavoidable moderate raidwide AoE damage, followed by two planets spawning on two opposite intercardinal points, similar to normal trial difficulty. They will impact on one of the non-spawn intercardinal points. Red planets explode in an AoE for lethal damage. Blue ringed planets inflict a knockback for 3/4th's of the arena's diameter.
- Red planet AoE damage pierces invulnerability.
- Blue ringed planet knockback cannot be negated by knockback immunity from Arm's Length, Surecast, or Inner Release.
Simultaneously, an Endsinger head spawns in the center of the arena facing one of the intercardinal corners. This head hits the half of the arena that it faces with an AoE which inflicts Vuln Up, but is nonlethal at full health. This AoE resolves a second or two after the proximity AoE or the knockback from the planets.
- If you have to choose, getting Vuln Up from the head is much preferable to being killed by the red planets or knocked off by the blue ringed planets.
Grip of Despair - Each tank or healer is tethered to a DPS. Tethers appear once the cast finishes and need to be broken, otherwise they will start to deal damage and stack Vuln Ups. Incapacitated players do not tether.
Katasterismoi - Eight soak towers appear in two parallel columns. Each tower which is unsoaked deals raidwide AoE damage and inflicts a Vuln Up.
- At full health, the raid can survive up to two unsoaked towers. Three can be survived with mitigation and high gear levels.
Elenchos - The Endsinger hovers closer to the platform and uses one of two random attacks: a column AoE which hits the central third of the platform, or two column AoEs covering the outer thirds of the platform. The central AoE is telegraphed by an open glowing mouth. The side AoEs are telegraphed by tears running down her cheeks. Deals moderate damage and inflicts Vuln Up.
- This mechanic is more dangerous than it sounds, since she combos it right as other mechanics resolve.
Telos - Unavoidable raidwide AoE damage.
Telomania - A salvo of 4 back-to-back raidwide AoE damage hits, followed by a final AoE raidwide which inflicts a light to moderate bleed. Can be single-healed through with proper mitigation and cooldown usage.
Hubris - AoE tankbusters on the top two enmity players. Deals heavy damage even at maximum current ilvl.
Eironeia - Two stack AoEs appear, one on each healer. Have light parties soak. Taking both hits is death.
- Similar to Elenchos, this mechanic is more lethal than it sounds since it often happens right as other mechanics are resolving.
Fatalism - The Endsinger rewinds two pairs of exploding planets on opposite intercardinal corners. Both pairs will always be of the same type. The pair which rewinds faster will resolve first. To resolve this mechanic, start at the center of the arena, then move away from red planets and move towards blue ringed planets. The Endsinger head does not spawn during this mechanic.
- If she uses this back-to-back, the second pair of planets will be different from the first pair, i.e. if red planets were the first pair, then blue ringed planets will be the second pair.
Theological Fatalism - Used only after multiple mechanics involving either the Endsinger heads or the players. The Endsinger places 1 to 3 rings on Endsinger heads or the players. Each ring "rewinds" one mechanic back (e.g., if you have three rings, you will repeat the first mechanic that was inflicted upon you). More explicitly:
- OOO - Three rings. The first mechanic will be repeated.
- OO - Two rings. The second mechanic will be repeated.
- O - One ring. The immediately preceding mechanic will be repeated.
This mechanic is comboed with Aporrhoia Unforgotten and Despair Unforgotten.
Twinsong's Aporrhoia (a.k.a. 5head) - The Endsinger spawns five Endsinger heads, four on each intercardinal quadrant and one in the middle. The middle head uses a half-arena AoE cleave in the direction that it faces. The quadrant heads will use either donut or circle AoEs. Quadrant heads on opposite quadrants use the same attack, i.e., if a donut is on NE it will also be on SW. This means that only a single quadrant is safe at any time.
The heads attack thrice, once for each cast of Aporrhoia Unforgotten. Quadrant heads will alternate between circular and donut with each salvo. The middle head rotates 90 degrees clockwise with each attack. Therefore, the safe quadrant moves clockwise as well. Theological Fatalism is cast on the heads after the mechanic resolves.
Endsong's Aporrhoia (a.k.a. 6head) - Six Endsinger heads spawn in a hexagonal arrangement. The Endsinger will then cast Endsong, launching four slow-moving rings at four random heads. When the ring reaches a head, the corresponding Endsinger head emits a circular AoE which inflicts heavy damage and Vuln Up. AoE telegraphs appear 3 seconds prior to resolution but generally requires players to anticipate where the rings will go. The space behind a head not targeted by a ring is safe. This mechanic repeats twice, with rings moving from one head to another after the initial wave.
Despair Unforgotten - The Endsinger attacks the entire raid with one of three random sets of mechanics:
All tanks/healers get a proximity Flare marker, three DPS get a donut marker, and one DPS gets a stack marker. Move tanks/healers to the edge of the arena while DPS stack in the center.
The converse of the above: all DPS get a proximity Flare marker, three of the tanks/healers get a donut marker, and one tank or healer gets a stack marker.
All players get a circular AoE. Spread out.
The Endsinger will use all three of these mechanics, with some time in between for healing. After all three mechanics are used, Theological Fatalism is cast on the players.
- Markers will still appear on incapacitated players, but will not resolve if the player is dead.
General Timeline
Elegeia Unforgotten x2
Katasterismoi
Grip of Despair
Elenchos (resolves simultaneously with tower soaks)
Telos
Hubris
Elegeia Unforgotten
Eironeia
Fatalism (2 minute reopener during Fatalism - will also have the same type of planet as the immediately preceding Elegeia Unforgotten)
Twinsong's Aporrhoia
Aporrhoia Unforgotten x3
Theological Fatalism
Elenchos + Eironeia directly after Theological Fatalism resolves
Hubris
Despair Unforgotten x2
Elenchos (4-minute reopener during Elenchos/Despair Unforgotten #2)
Despair Unforgotten
Theological Fatalism
Telomania
Endsong's Aporrheia + Endsong
Elenchos (as final rings resolve)
Telos (6-minute reopener around this time)
Hubris
Elegeia Unforgotten + Eironeia
Fatalism x2
Katasterismoi
Elenchos (as towers resolve)
Telomania
Twinsong's Aporrhoia
Aporrhoia Unforgotten x3 (8-minute reopener during Aporrhoia Unforgotten)
Theological Fatalism
Elenchos + Eironeia (immediately after Theological Fatalism resolves)
Hubris
Endsong's Aporrhoia + Endsong
Elenchos
Telos
Fatalism x2 (10 minute reopener during Fatalism #2)
Despair Unforgotten x2
Elenchos
Despair Unforgotten
Hard Enrage at roughly 11:50. It will consist of a Fatalism cast that will summon a massive purple planet. After a lengthy animation sequence, the boss will become untargetable and the planet will explode and wipe the party (Ultimate Fate).
How to resolve specific mechanics
Elegeia Unforgotten - Run away from red planets' impact point, move to blue ringed planets' impact point and get knocked back into the safe half of the arena.
Katasterismoi + Grip of Despair + Elenchos - This is why you assigned tanks/healers to one half of the arena at the beginning and the DPS to the other half, along with columns. The tether appears immediately once Grip of Despair finishes casting, at which tanks/healers should run one direction and DPS should run the opposite direction to separate the tethers, then go to the assigned tower. Elenchos is cast as the tower soaks resolve, so you will need to soak the outer half of the tower if it's Elenchos (Mouth) and the inner half of the tower if it's Elenchos (Tears).
- It may be tempting to run directly to your tower when tethers spawn. Don't. Run directly east/west first, then go to the tower. You have time.
Fatalism x2 - You will get either red planets first or blue ringed planets first, followed by the other pair. For the pair of red planets, run away from the first pair of planets to rewind, then away from the second pair of planets to rewind. For the pair of blue planets, run towards the impact point of the first pair of planets and be knocked back towards the impact point of the second pair of planets.
- Red to blue is considerably easier than blue to red, since the second knockback from blue planets will require you to be knocked towards the safe area from the imminently-exploding first pair of red planets.
- You can determine which pair of planets spawned first during Fatalism by watching the rewind rings. The faster-spinning rewind ring will spawn and resolve first.
- Warning: Katasterismoi towers spawn as the final planet strike is resolving during the first Fatalism x2. Resolve the planet strike first before you begin moving to your assigned tower.
Twinsong's Aporrhoia/5-head + Theological Fatalism + Elenchos + Eironeia - Determine the safe quadrant. Move clockwise as a group and end up in the quadrant opposite the one you started after three casts of Aporrhoia Unforgotten.
When Theological Fatalism is cast after three casts of Aporrhoia Unforgotten, first look at how many rewinds are on the middle head. If the middle head has one ring, your current half of the arena is safe. If the middle head has two rings, rotate this safe half counter-clockwise by 90 degrees. If the middle head has three rings, the opposite half of the arena is safe.
Next, determine which quadrant of the safe half is safe. If the quadrant heads have an odd number of rings, they will repeat the attack they used at the end (i.e., if you stood next to a donut head and it has 1 or 3 rings, it will use donut again). If the quadrant heads have an even number of rings, they will use the attack opposite of their final attack (i.e., if you stood next to a donut head and it has 2 rings, it will rewind back to circular AoE). Determine which head is rewinding back to the donut in the safe half and move to it.
Light party stacks and column AoEs happen 4-5 seconds after Theological Fatalism safe spot resolves. Once you know that you are safe, healers should watch the Endsinger to determine which column is safe. Elenchos (Mouth) means stay outside where you finished Theological Fatalism, Elenchos (Tears) means everyone will have to move into the center column.
Despair Unforgotten x3 + Elenchos + Theological Fatalism - The big personal responsibility mechanic of the fight. The Endsinger gives you some breathing room between each Despair Unforgotten to heal up. Determine which set of mechanics she is casting: Flares should move to the edges of the arena, donuts + stack should be centered, AoEs means everyone should spread out loosely. Remember that these attacks are role-coded, so once you've seen the first two attacks, you know which one you're getting last.
Elenchos is cast after the second Despair Unforgotten, be ready to move in or out.
Once Theological Fatalism is cast, determine which mechanic is being repeated on you. Three people will have Flares, three people will have donuts, one person will have the stack marker, and one person will have a circular AoE. Thus, four people should end up spread outside and four people should be stacked in the center.
Heal up after Theological Fatalism resolves.
- Tip: rather than remembering which mechanics came in which order, have the game's text box do it for you. You can have one person use the following macros as the mechanics come out:
- Macro 1: /p T/H flares, DPS stack
- Macro 2: /p DPS flares, T/H stack
- Macro 3: /p AoEs on entire party
Then, once your ring appears around you, rewind up as many lines as you need: 1 ring = rewind to the last line, 2 rings = rewind to the middle line, and 3 rings = rewind to the first line.
Endsong's Aporrhoia - You can determine which side is safe when the Endsinger casts Endsong. At the start, she will always launch three rings towards one side and only one ring to the other, meaning either left or right side will be mostly safe. For the remaining two salvos, mobile jobs have it easiest to move to the center, then look for a single head that doesn't have a ring moving towards it. Move behind that head.
- Sprint is very useful here. If you misjudge, you can survive one AoE if above minimum ilvl, but taking two AoEs is fatal.
Loot
- See also: Bluefeather Weapons
- Each player will receive 2
Ultimatum Totem per kill. Collect 10 tokens to exchange for a weapon or 99 for a 
Bluefeather Lynx Flute at Nesvaaz in Radz-at-Han (X:10.6 Y:10.0). - 20 Allagan Tomestone of Causality
- 10 Allagan Tomestone of Comedy
Meteion Card (Drops at a fixed rate.)
Treasure Coffer
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Achievements
This duty is associated with the following achievements:
| Name | Points | Task | Reward | Patch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Silence Is Golden
|
10 | Defeat the Endsinger in the Minstrel's Ballad: Endsinger's Aria. | - | 6.1 |
Images
Trivia
In contrast to previous expansion "final boss" extreme trials (
The Minstrel's Ballad: Thordan's Reign, The Minstrel's Ballad: Shinryu's Domain, The Minstrel's Ballad: Hades's Elegy, which were complex, multi-phase encounters, this trial has a much more simpler design with no phase transitions, adds phases, or mid-fight cutscenes.