Gaia and Shiva (WIP)

Details may be missing, or subject to change until I have better first-hand experience.

The Usurper of Frost will respawn at either North or South, whichever is further from where The Oracle of Darkness was defeated.

Fragment of Fate

The Usurper of Frost casts Materialization, which spawns the Fragment of Fate North.

Over the course of the phase, the Fragment of Fate will take damage. Assuming no player hits it with an AoE, it will survive with barely any HP.

This means that if it takes any extra damage (e.g: from a player’s AoE, or a poorly aimed Spirit Taker), the phase becomes impossible to clear (although you’ll still be able to get practice in.)

1. Gather in the center.

The Usurper of Frost will transform into its dragon form ("Come to me, Hraesvelgr!")

2. When the boss transforms, it baits Akh Rhai AoEs where each player was standing.

Since the party was stacked together, simply move out when the boss transforms.

The Oracle of Darkness then respawns (everyone should swap over to target her) and the two bosses begin their first mechanic.

Darklit Dragonsong

1. Two sets of debuffs come out:

  1. Two tank/healers and two DPS each get Refulgent Chain tethers.
  2. Two random players get Dark Water III.

One player will have both tethers and Water.

Note who this player is.

To resolve the tethers, we have to make a “bowtie” shape- this is the same as how Light Rampant was solved in Eden’s Verse- Refulgence.

2. This is the best case scenario, where the tethers already make a bowtie.

No adjustments are needed.

If the tethers make a box, then two players need to swap positions:

  1. The west-most tank/healer tether.
  2. The west-most DPS tether.

(These two players should be tethered together.)

If the tethers make an hourglass, then two players need to swap positions:

  1. The west-most tank/healer tether.
  2. The east-most DPS tether.

(These two players should be tethered together.)

Alternatively, the entire party can also rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

With the tethers sorted out, the next thing we need to do is separate the two Dark Water III debuffs.

3. If the two Dark Water III debuffs are on different sides (North vs. South), then no further adjustments need to be made.

If the Dark Water III debuffs are either both North, or both South, then everybody who is not tethered swaps their North/South sides.

(In this example, since both Water debuffs are in the North group, all the non-tethered players swaps side. ST and H1 go South, while D3 and D4 go North.)

4. The tethered players take the two towers, while the Usurper of Frost readies The Path of Light, which cleaves the four closest players- these should be the four non-tethered players.

5. The Oracle of Darkness targets a random player for Spirit Taker, so spread out.

Do not spread near the Fragment of Fate!

6. The Usurper of Frost will then use Hallowed Wings, which will cleave either the West or East half of the arena.

The Water III debuffs will also resolve roughly at the same time, so stack up on the safe half of the arena.

8. The Oracle of Darkness targets the furthest player for Somber Dance, which should be the tank with aggro.

The two tanks swap places.

9. This is followed up by Somber Dance's second hit, which targets the nearest player. This should be the other tank.

If the first tank is not a PLD, this can be simplified by invulning and having the same tank take both hits instead.

The two bosses then target whoever has their hate with a 4-hit Akh Morn, followed by another Morn Afah, which is a party stack.

Morn Afah is also a boss HP check, and the two bosses must be within 5% HP of each other, or Morn Afah will be lethal.

Crystallize Time - fast pop

This is probably the hardest part of the encounter, so hang in there.

Six hourglasses will spawn this time, and the Oracle of Darkness will tether:

  • The North and South hourglasses with yellow tethers.
  • Two of the remaining opposite hourglasses with purple tethers.

The party will also get a bunch of debuffs to resolve.

Four players will get the red Wyrmclaw debuff:

  • Two will also have a Dark Blizzard III
  • Two will also have a Dark Aero III

The Blizzard players will stand East and West, between the hourglasses:

  • West: MT > ST > H1 > H2 > D1 > D2 > D3 > D4 :East

The Aero players will stand South-West and South-East, at the intercardinal mark:

  • South-West: MT > ST > H1 > H2 > D1 > D2 > D3 > D4 :South-East

Four players will get the blue Wyrmfang debuff:

  • One will also have Dark Eruption.
  • One will also have Dark Water III.
  • One will also have Dark Blizzard III.
  • One will also have Unholy Darkness.

Identify the purple tether.

Only the blue player with Dark Eruption goes to the North-side intercardinal mark with the purple tether.

Everybody else joins the red Aero player at the South-side intercardinal mark with the purple tether.

Keep the red Aero player as the closest player to the edge.

(In this example, the purple tether stretches NW to SE, so the Dark Eruption player goes NW, and all other blue players move SE.)

Once all players have taken up their initial positions, we can begin to resolve the sea of mechanics.

10. The yellow-tethered hourglasses (North and South) resolve.

The two red Aeros, and all the south-side blue players move into the explosion, and stand at the tip of the "flower petal" decal on the floor.

The south-side blue players and the red Aero need to stack together, with the red Aero closest to the edge of the arena.

11. The dragon heads reach the E/W red Ice players around the same time the debuffs resolve.

  • The red Ice player closest to the blue Eruption moves North to join them.
  • The red Ice player furthest from the blue Eruption moves a little south of the East/West mark.
  • The south-side blue players should get knocked over to the other side of the arena.
  • The two red Aeros step off the flower petal into the south sector.

12. The second set of hourglasses explode together with the blue player with Unholy Darkness.

  • All players in the stack move to the North sector when the stack resolves.

The two red Aeros move SW and SE after the hourglasses explode to prepare to intercept the dragon heads.

The red Ice player that was not in the stack crosses over the E/W flower petal to the North side after the hourglass explodes.

13. The red Aeros intercept the dragon heads. At this point, all the red Wyrmclaw debuffs have been resolved.

  • The red Aero players go back to the South sector after taking their dragon heads.

A travelling line telegraph appears either along the West or East side of the arena, where the lone red Ice player may be.

  • If the telegraph appears on the same side as the red Ice player, don't panic and just prepare to dodge into it when it goes off.

Note which side the telegraph started on (East or West).

14. The third set of hourglasses resolve together with the first line AoE.

Depending on where you are, position yourself to dodge into either the first or second line AoE (there will be telegraphs for both).

The objective is to end up on the side where the line originated from.

16. Second line AoE resolves.

If you haven't already, move into it when it explodes to dodge all reamining lines that go between East and West.

17. A second line telegraph now appears, this time either North or South.

Note which side this telegraph started on (North or South).

18. Position yourselves to dodge the second line AoE.

The objective is to end up in the corner where both line AoEs originated from (North-East in this example).

However, this is also the time where two of the blue Wyrmfang players need to split off from the group to pick up the East and West puddles left behind when the red Ice players intercepted the dragon heads.

  • Dark Eruption player: Take the West puddle.
  • Unholy Darkness player: Take the East puddle.

19. Dodge the second horizontal line AoE.

20. Gather together in the corner where both line AoEs originated from and start forming up.

(Sprint is very useful here!)

21. Make two groups in the corner.

  • MT, H1, D1, D3: Left-side, facing outside.
  • ST, H2, D2, D4: Right-side, facing outside.

The party needs to make two groups such that:

  • The tanks are closest to the edge.
  • There is a clear N/S and E/W split between the two groups.

Everybody records their position in this formation.

22. After recording your position, spread out for Spirit Taker on a random player.

Do not spread near the Fragment of Fate!

  • Red players: Spread out near the corner.
  • Blue players: Spread out away from the corner.
    • Unholy Darkness + Dark Eruption: Spread out on the North side.
    • Blizzard III: Take the SW puddle.
    • Water III: Take the SE puddle.

23. The rewind resolves, and the Usurper of Frost casts Hallowed Wings from the side where the first line AoE came from.

  • The party gets knocked back half the arena.
  • The first four members hit get a Magic Vulnerability debuff.
  • The first player hit also takes extra damage (which should be a tank).

24. The second Hallowed Wings resolves, this time from North or South (wherever the second line AoE came from).

The two bosses will reappear around the center of the arena and immediately start another 4-hit Akh Morn into Morn Afah sequence (where the two bosses have to be within 5% HP of each other).

Both bosses will then start casting their respective enrages (Absolute Zero and Memory’s End).

When both bosses are defeated, you will advance to the next arena. If the Fragment of Fate is not around, Eden’s Promise will spawn and wipe the raid. If, on the other hand, the Fragment of Fate is still alive, then the party advances to the final phase.

Frequently Asked Questions

[Akh Morn] Does Akh Morn ignore the raise invuln?

Yes, it does!

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Final Fantasy XIV Elemental DC Raid Macros