Challenges have a special role in the End Fantasy 14 universe. Players get the opportunity to get a large amount of experience and gils. Challenges are often a high-difficulty raid with interesting rewards.
To get serious about the passage and increase the chances of success, you need equipment and weapons for your character type. You can get it by farming, story quests, craft it yourself, or turn to artisans, or buy ffxiv gil from professional players and provide yourself with everything you need. You will be provided with the required number of gils in compliance with all measures of disguise and anonymity, so that for the game administration everything looks like a standard exchange between players, and not a deal with currency, and then the buyer will be completely safe from imposing game sanctions.
How to access the Dark Side Challenge in Final Fantasy 14
To unlock the Dark Side Challenge, you need to be level 83 and complete The Marytr main quest.
This is the very first challenge for players from the Endwalker update. To get started, you need to go to Mare Lamentorum – locations from the new update. If you are above level 84, you will be synchronized with this level.
General information about the mechanics of the boss in the Dark Side challenge
Kokytos is a boss skill that leaves all raid members with 1 HP.
The boss will use the Esoterikos skill – this skill will create various shapes, the shape of which will determine the direction and strength of the AoE damage. Gradually, as the boss’s health level decreases, there will be more such attacks.
Paradeigma is a skill that will use circular or linear damage depending on random circumstances. You need to track the potential direction of attacks and maneuver away from them.
Astral Flow – the area on which the battle takes place will start to rotate, you need to have time to run back as far as possible, because after the rotation stops, all players will get immobilized and the boss will start dealing AoE damage around him.
Algedon – the boss will move to the corner of the map and create a projection of future linear damage that will pass through the center of the field. You need to run to the opposite side to avoid taking damage.
Astral Eclipse – This is a skill that signals that the third and final stage of the boss fight has begun – keep track of where the stars spawn to calculate where to deal heavy AoE damage.
The main skills that Zodiark will use during the test
- Kokytos – The skill of all party members will be reduced to 1.
- Ania – deals the strongest damage to one, the most powerful tank according to the boss.
- Phlegethon – AoE damage that will be created from points that will appear under the feet of all participants in the test.
- Styx – pulls all players to a certain point and inflicts several blows of great force on the place where the characters gather.
- Exoterikos – Creates an arcane sign that transforms into a triangle or square. If a square is dropped, AoE damage will cover half of the total area. If a triangle, then the damage will go through the center of the combat zone and affect diagonally everyone it meets on its way.
- Paradeigma – Summons images of animals that randomly set the direction of future AoE damage. If there is a hippopotamus, then the damage will be around the boss, if there is a python, then in a straight line in front of the head of the dungeon.
Combat strategy
Immediately restore health after lowering to the level of 1 xp – with a potion, healing a healer, in any way before striking.
In order to avoid a triangle type sign, he will approach the cone point-blank, in that part of the site where the sign appeared.
To avoid a square sign, you need to move to the edge of the combat area, close to the place where the square symbol appeared.
Dodge the ability to create the image of a python or a hippopotamus – these are not difficult skills, you just need to avoid getting into their field of action – linear, or circular.
When the Zodiark boss starts casting Exoterikos and Paradeigma’s two abilities together, you will have to run around a lot until the skill chain stops and you can return to dealing damage to the dungeon master.
After using the Complete Control skill, the boss fight will move to the second stage.
The second stage means that the boss will not only use the random skills that we listed earlier, but also combine them with each other to create maximum difficulty for the combat group.
Tips for different group members
It is important for the tank not to take physical damage during the decrease in health to a value of 1. You can quickly drink a healing potion, or trust the healer, who should give priority to the tan. It is also worth using defensive skills during the screed to the common area of all players.
The healer should keep healing skills with quick cast on hand and heal the tank first and only then himself.
Attacking characters can hit up to the final part of the cast of any of the skills and move to avoid damage at the moment the skill is used. Classes that have the ability to jump, or move forward, can strike even at the time of the strike and jump back just before taking damage.
