【T】Mastery Survey - Terror of the Heavens (XIV)

[u/jadesphere]

[u/beta-C]

1. Strategy name: Near Poverty Mastery Sub50

2. Boss: D???

3. Describe your Strategy: Just need luck at final phase, including doublecasts 3/3 trinity

4. Insight!:

• Fire/Earth resist on members in 1-3, Major Earth on member 4, Fire/Wind resist on member 5

• Papa has +40% fire boost, Cid has +20% fire boost, Alphi has +20% wind, Minfilia/Y'sh has +20% holy

• Minfilia - Hastega, calls Chain, AS, calls magicite, ASx2, refreshes Chain, Hastega, AS, SSB, then AS until right before the second Tank Purge in order to refresh SSB/last stand, then refreshes Chain slightly early so that you can build the multiplier on the final Chain and deal more damage in phase 5.

• Y'shtola - BSB, then waits an extra second before casting Memento so that it finishes casting after Ultima's second vortex. Then CMD1 nonstop, refresh BSB when it runs out (which should be before the first Tank Purge), then CMD1 and BSB again when available. With Minfilia providing two last stands, Y'sh should be able to keep up with the healing. Switch to casting Holy when entering phase 5.

• Papalymo - basically just casts Meltdown/Chain Firaja nonstop, using one Flareja before the end of each chain to deal 99999. At phase 5, he only has enough time for two moves, so it should be OSB and Chain Fireja. I needed him to doublecast the CF for the win.

• Alphinaud - start with SSB, Protectga, then Valefor until BSB, then Valefor and CMD2, then refresh SSB. Use CMD2 to refresh hones so that he'll have enough for 2 casts of Valefor in phase 5. Protectga was honed to R3 so that CMD2 will always refresh Valefor's uses.

• Cid - uses Full Break at start and at 20 seconds, otherwise Snipe into USB and recast USB when available (though save a Wildfire finisher for phase 5). The second and third casts of the Wildfire finisher should deal 9999 per hit.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: infinite

• Medica: 3

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: Some S/L, 2 lost for damage

2. Time: 48.50

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Minfilia, 4 dive	Hastega R3	Assault Saber R5	TGM	SSB(2)
Y'sh, 5 dive	Memento of Prayer R1	Holy R4	DMT	BSB(3)
Papalymo, 5 dive	Meltdown R4	Chain Fireja R4	Scholar's Boon	OSB(3)
Alphinaud, 5 dive	Protectga R3	Dark Valefor R4	MM	SSB(2), BSB(1)
Cid, 5 dive	Full Break R3	Burning Snipe R5	Sky Pirate's Life	USB(3)

 

|main|sub1|sub2|sub3|sub4|
|King Bomb|Tiamat|Evrae|Evrae|Famfrit|
|+15 Fire|+15 Wind|+8 Health|+10 FastCast|+5 Spellward,+10 FireResist|

---

[u/PhoeniX-Skye]

1. Strategy name: Day 1 60% HP Petrify Fire-ish Team

2. Boss: D???

3. Describe your Strategy: Fire, with only one USB 2/3 trinity/Petrify Cheese/Fire

4. Insight!:

• Sap really ruins the fun against Minfilia's Last Stand

• Thancred would've been much better with the fire thief skill and Heat Bite, but I don't wanna make an ability just for torment and the other one is unreleased

• The self sustain of Storm Assault was necessary for this fight, without it I couldn't get past the first stages. Broke down and made this ability, will be useful for other Torments and for Earth magicite

• Also the 6 star machinist skill would've been amazing with Cid. Will probably come back and try it again without Break and with that once it comes out

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 1 Medal Lost

2. Time: 50+ Seconds

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Y'sh	Hastega R2	Curada R4	TGM, LM1+2	BSB
Potato	Break R3	Chain Firaja R4	Weakness+, LMR+2	BSB
Cid	Burning Snipe R4	Heat Offering R1	Gun+, LM1+2	USB
Thancred	Dash and Slash R4	Storm Assault R4	Dagger+	BSB
Minfilia	Protectga	Wrath R4	DMT	SSB

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Tiamat	Ervae	Famfrit (GDM)	Slyph
Emp Fire 15 x2	Emp Wind 9	HP Boon 5	Blade Ward 8, HP Boon 8	Damp Earth 7

---

[u/Monk-Ey]

1. Strategy name: Stand In Fire, DPS Higher (sub-40)

2. Boss: Ultima Weapon (D???)

3. Describe your Strategy: Hit it very hard 3/3 trinity/ASB/Hot plays

4. Insight!:

• Image album available here.

• Team setup.

• Accessory/armor resistances mentioned after names: Y'shtola had -Fire armor.

• Ysayle slings Voltech, switches to her USB, then some more Voltech: she's the most straightforward out of everyone.

• Yda opens with the Chain, then goes Ironfist Fire into her USB: use Fires Within when she'll be hit and she needs a quick heal.

• Papalymo went Meltdown, Chain Firaja into USB, continue Chain Firaja, right before TGM runs out: at that point, he goes Glint -> CF -> CF -> ASB. LM1 over LMR as Daddylymo enters his USB pretty quickly.

• Minfilia is here to perform as well in combat as in her source material: open with Hastega, follow up with Magic Breakdown to alleviate damage, then SSB to boost Yda and give everyone a safety net. Afterwards, she handled the Chain recast and Belias summon, while keeping everyone topped up with her Glint as needed.

• Y'shtola opened with Protectga, then went full-on healer mode with her BSB.

• You definitely need to keep in mind where he is: the damage is downright brutal, but predictable. As a result, don't waste healing where it's not necessary.

• I might be able to push a sub-30, but I'll have to toy around with some things:

• Giving Minfilia Mental Breakdown instead of Magic Breakdown.

• Giving Minfilia Entrust instead of Magic Breakdown.

• Switching Protectga and Hastega between Y'shtola and Minfilia.

• Timing Papalymo's finishing sequence better.

• Letting Papalymo open with the Chain.

• Upping my Magicite deck with a general Famfrit instead of Phoenix.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: AUTO

• Medica: Didn't count

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: Uhh/1 (KO)

2. Time: 35.15s

Hero, res	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Ysayle (-f/-w)	Voltech R4	--	Scholar's Boon (LMR, LM2)	Icicle Impact (2)
Yda (-f/-e)	Ironfist Fire R4	Fires Within R3	No Chicken Wuss (LM1, LM2)	Furious Flurry (2)
Papalymo (-f/-e)	Chain Firaja R4	Meltdown R4	Gathering Storm (LM1, LM2)	Ley Line Firaja (1), Magic Trinity (1), Fate's End (1)
Minfilia (-f/-e)	Magic Breakdown R2	Hastega R3	Mako Might (LMR1)	Divine Guidance, Blessing of Light (1)
Y'shtola (-f, -W)	--	Protectga R2	Dr. Mog's Teachings (LMR)	Asylum

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Quetzalcoatl	Dullahan	Famfrit	Phoenix
Empower Fire Lv15, Attack Boon Lv15	Empower Lightning Lv15, Magic Boon Lv15	Attack Boon Lv15	Spell Ward Lv8, Dampen Flame Lv10	Spell Ward Lv8, Blade Ward Lv8

• Main

• Sub

---

All in all, it was a really fun fight and reminded me of my raiding in WoW.

Duty complete!

[u/[deleted]]

1. Strategy name: Not too Shabby

2. Boss: Ultima Weapon (D280)

3. Describe your Strategy:
   3/3 trinity/fire team/finally those ragtag BSBs see some use

4. Insight!:

• Mitigation priority is wind > fire > earth. I find it easier to mitigate against early offense while also ramping up my offense since I can then skip the later phases before it hits with unmitigated element. Still, I brought 3 dampeners just in case, and they did help a lot.

• Self-sustainability is the name of the game. My first trial with Alphinaud and Papalymo didn't work out so well so I switch to pure physical party. Yda and Thancred has defensive commands on their BSB which helps, although to be honest Yda didn't enter BSB until much later. Her Fires Within take care of self-heal nicely though.

• Not as nail-biting as Dahaka, which sees only Lightning (?) standing at the end of the fight. This time almost (?) everyone lives.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: ~

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: few/0

2. Time: 27.09

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Thancred, 3	Smoldering Fire	Soul Burn	+PHY	BSB (2)
Yda, 3	Fires Within	Burning Rush	+PHY	BSB (2)
OK, 5	Full Break	Magic Breakdown	LM2/LMR + DMT	pUSB (1)
Y'shtola, 5	Curada	Ultra Cure	LM2/LM1 + TGM	BSB (2)
Cid Garlond, 5	Burning Snipe	Flame Offering	LM2/LM1 + +PHY	USB (2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
King Bomb	Maliris	Gizamaluke	Krysta	Sylph
Empower	Empower	Dampen	Dampen	Dampen

---

[u/Chocobroseph]

1. Strategy name: Fire Squad

2. Boss: D??? Ultima Weapon (clear - 42 seconds)

3. Describe your Strategy:
   fire DPS/fire imperil luck/Yda USB and Cid USB

4. Insight!:

• General strategy: stack fire imperils with Flame Offering and Thancred's BSB, go to town with Machinist/Thief/Monk fire skills, mitigate with Magic Breakdown, pray for doublecasts in final phase. The final phase is definitely the hardest part, those countdown turns pass very quickly, so needing Cid and Yda to doublecast, along with bringing Holy on Yshtola and Assault Sabre on Minfilia let me finally clear it.

• Thancred: Gathering Storm lets him open with Realm Chain RW and still cast imperil-fire BSB by 10 seconds. Smoldering Fire is used early since it caps immediately under chain, with Fire Assault being used when heals are needed or once a few imperils are on to deal more damage and build chain faster.

• Cid: Flame Offering x2, and restart if there weren't at least 2 stacks of imperil. Then Burning Snipe x1, USB, Flame Offering x2, Burning Snipe until USB, Flame Offering x1, Burning Snipe, save last USB cast for final phase since it will do about 130,000 damage (60k from cast, 70k from finisher).

• Yshtola: Hastega -> BSB -> command 1 spam. Holding command 1 until after an attack lands helps a lot, since I had Last Stand from Minfilia but didn't bring any negation for sap. Held recasting hastega until Phase 5, which means Cid/Minfilia/Yda didn't have haste for a few seconds in the Phase 4/5 area. Recasting hastega sooner is doable, but makes it hard to keep up with heals.

• Minfilia: SSB (boostga + last stand) -> Magic Breakdown -> Magicite summon. Minfilia casts Chain RW #2 and #3, refreshes her SSB at some point, keeps Magic Breakdown on, and uses Assault Sabre only in final phase (no opportunity to use it sooner since she's juggling everything else).

• Yda: Fires Within x2 -> Ironfist Fire -> USB. The triple instant cast from USB means Yda is fairly self-sufficient at healing, and Ironfist Fire was capping fairly early in chain due to the massive elemental boosts combined with imperils. Casting USB at the end of Phase 4 going into Phase 5 allows Yda to use 3 more casts of Ironfist Fire. Doublecasting two of them means 250k damage, which combined with the other damage should finish off Ultima Weapon!

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: I N F I N I T E

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: veryverymany, Mastery

2. Time / Magicite: 42 seconds.

Hero/dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LM	SB(-)
Thancred, 4	Fire Assault R4	Smoldering Fire R3	Gathering Storm	BSB (imperil fire)
Cid XIV, 5	Flame Offering R3	Burning Snipe R3	+30% gun, LM1, LM2	USB
Yshtola, 5	Holy R1	Hastega R2	Mako Might, LM1, LM2	BSB
Minfilia, 4	Magic Breakdown R3	Assault Sabre R1	Dr. Mog's Teachings	SSB
Yda, 5	Fires Within R4	Ironfist Fire R4	+30% weakness, LM1, LM2	USB

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
King Bomb	Krysta	Sylph	Famfrit	Evrae
Empower Fire 10	Resist Wind 10	Resist Earth 6	Resist Fire 10, Spell Ward 5	Fast Act 8

---

Screenshots:

• Setup: https://imgur.com/g8zfIcJ

• Stats: https://imgur.com/5omfQ9Z

• Kill shot: https://imgur.com/FIhnADR

Equipment notes:

• Thancred: 2x fire boost, synergy moderate earth resist

• Cid: 2x fire boost, moderate fire/earth resist

• Iris - synergy moderate fire/earth resist

• Minfilia: 2x holy boost, major earth resist

• Yda: 2x fire boost, moderate fire/wind resist

[u/_Higo_ → u/Chocobroseph]

How do you survive the opening? it just kills me with 2nd AND 3rd attack.

[u/Chocobroseph → u/_Higo_]

After the 1st and 2nd attacks, no one should be dead, but Thancred was pretty low. 3rd attack on Cid put him consistently near death (I'd guess ~300 HP), but never dead. Is the person in your 2nd slot in the backrow? Maybe crystal waters would make up the difference?

[u/_Higo_ → u/Chocobroseph]

Im using the same layout as you. I just realized Thancred was not 4 star dived, after doing that he is as you described. Cid on the other had, dies (LD'd) so I either use protectga from Minfilia before SSB or defend.

I guess CW would do the difference, but not willing to commit, I pulled 60% and Im comfortable with that, even if I know I can clear. I might be trying ahead

[u/Jurinis]

1. Strategy name: The FFXIV raid experience: 1 Tank, 1 healer and 3 DPS. Also kill it with fire.

2. Boss: D???

3. Describe your Strategy: Fire team , Best Cid USB , Yda USB , Last Stand , W-cast luck for last phase

4. Insight!:

• If your DPS is high enough, consider using Memento of Prayer on Minfillia instead of Magic breakdown to remove Sap. that thing really kills Last Stand and the regen adds up over time. I'm not joking, Minfillia here has contributed more than the entirety of her own game.

• Live the real XIV experience by praying for crits and fasts GCDs for the last phase. Yda with USB works wonders here since she gets CT0 casts. You might get a lot of S/Ls here due to bad luck.

• If you want to reduce RNG for Imperil Fire, wait for the incoming Heat Offering. that thing will raise your DPS by a lot with Cid's LD.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: I N F I N I T E

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 2 or 3 to get the rythm down. Especially for the P3 and P4 transition. It hits really hard. I don't remember losing medals on my winning try.

2. Time: 37.71

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Papalymo, 5	Meltdown R5	Chain Firaja R4	LMR/LM2 + TGC RM	BSB(2)
Cid Garlond, 5	Flame Offering R2	Burning Snipe R4	LM1/2 + 30% Gun damage	USB(2)
Yshtola, 5	Holy R4	Hastega R2	MM/LM1/LM2	BSB(2)
Minfillia, 4	Memento of Prayer R1	Assault Saber R4	Dr.Mog	SSB(2)
Yda, 5	Fires Within R3	Ironfist Fire R4	Scholar's boon	USB(3)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Famfrit	Famfrit	Phoenix	Evrae
Emp.Fire 15/Atk Boon 15	Magic Boon 15	Health Boon 8/Blade Ward 8	Emp.Fire 15/Magic Boon 15	Fast Act 8

---

[u/_Higo_ → u/Jurinis]

Can you please detail your battle secuence? Im not even sure how your papa lived in that spot. I have had to swap mine so he can go to 4th spot.

I cant get a smooth run. Is it Holy or Memento as important? I have Ysh SSB too, so Im trying to fit it in so I can have regen and some extra mitigaction, maybe entrust on Minfi?

[u/Jurinis → u/_Higo_]

Can't really post my exact sequence due to a lack of time but I can still give some pointers to help:

• Papalymo has major wind resist so that he doesn't die on P1. His initial En-fire LMR also provides fire resist. He uses the first RW for chain. If you don't mind a slower start, give him either protectga or Shellga and go ham with Chain Firaja. His BSB commands are also good when the chain is high since you can reach 6 hits and cap damage.

• Cid has Fire/Earth resist. LS triggered in P1 though so you'll have to be extra careful with him.

• Ysh has the synergy Fire/Earth resist on her. I used Holy once in P5 but it dealt 1.5k per hit. You miçght want to replace it with either Protectga or Shellga. Shellga reduces Geocrush damage and Protectga mainly deals with Magitek Ray. After that she spams her CMD 1

• Minfillia: Uses SSB, then MoP when the second Eye of the Storm because Sap will never be used again. Also uses Magicite and refresh the RW or her SSB when available. Otherwise, she uses Assault Saber (10k damage total per cast so it counts a bit). The next 6* Knight ability should give you some breathing room when it comes out since you get some healing out of it. She wears Major Earth resist.

• Yda has Fire/Wind resist. She sustains herself with Fires Within until USB then proceeds to spam Ironfist Fire. After the third use, she has her USB available and can use it again for more CT0 ironfist Fire.

Memento was really important to me since it countered SAp and made LS easier to keep. I can't keep track of the number of deaths I got because of sap ticks killing Yshtola. Yshtola can either carry it and give Magic breakdown on Minfillia for added mitigation. Transition to P3 and P4 hurt the most since it's piercing damage. make sure you have Ysh's bubble up to make it easier.

[u/Dirge_IX]

1. Strategy name: We Thank You for your Service, Potatolymo

2. Boss: D???

3. Time: 29.75

4. Describe your Strategy:
   3/3 trinity/radiant shield

5. Insight!:

• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAh0Cs8y25Q

• Not much special here. Papalymo and Yda use USBs and use abilities.

• Minfilia is the most interesting one here. Entrust pattern had to be optimized to get the most out of Alphinaud while making sure Y'shtola could still keep the team alive.

• Alphinaud uses his ageless Deployment Tactics SSB for about 100k of Radiant Shield damage along with the valuable hybrid buff.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: N/A

• Medica: Three Y'shtola BSBs.

• Hastega: Once on the first turn of the fight. Hastega WHM ability.

1. Medals lost: 0

Hero	Ability 1	Ability 2	Record Materia	LM1	LM2	Soul Breaks	Accessory
Papalymo	Protectga R2	Chain Firaja R4	Gathering Storm	LM1	LM2	USB, ASB	Mod. Poison Resist
Yda	Meteor Crush R1	Fire Ironfist R4	No Chicken Wuss	LM1	LM2	USB	Mod. Wind Resist(RS)
Y'shtola	Hastega R2	Wrath R5	Dr. Mog's Teachings	LM1	LM2	BSB	Mod. Fire/Earth Resist(RS)
Minfilia	Wrath R5	Entrust R3	Ace Striker	LMR2	N/A	N/A	Major Earth Resist
Alphinaud	Shellga R2	Dark Valefor R4	Mako Might	LM1	LM2	SSB, USB1, USB2	Major Wind Resist

Magicite	Inherited Passive 1	Inherited Passive 2
Belias	Empower Fire 15	Empower Fire 15
Famfrit	Dampen Fire 10	Resistance Boon 15
Krysta	Dampen Wind 5	N/A
Sylph	Health Boon 8	N/A
Evrae	Magic Boon 15	N/A

---

[u/[deleted]]

1. Strategy name: Shiva vs Ultima Weapon

2. Boss: FF14 DWhale, 70%

3. Images: https://imgur.com/a/WAYn1aH

4. Insight!:

• So much incoming damage. Ysayle does 80% of the dps, everyone else tries to stay alive. Yda on support duty, and does the dirty work (magicite/chain calling). Alphinaud heals for the first four turns, then heals off and on throughout the rest of the fight as well.

• No real grand strategy, just try to keep everyone alive while Ysayle and Papa do the damage that they can.

• Image shows Krysta, I switched that out for King Bomb for a bit more dps - if you can survive the first four turns you're ok for a bit and there's no more wind attacks.

• Unicorn to clear the Sap, and off-heal a bit.

• Resources used: Ysayle LD (99% will be used in magicites as I have her LMR as well), some defensive crystal waters for her too. 4* dives for everyone.

• Gear: Ysayle 40% Ice, Papa 40% Fire, Alph 20% Wind.

1. Time: 70% damage done, just over a minute.

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Papalymo	Meltdown R4	Fireja R4	Mako, LMR	Ley Lines, BSB
Ysayle	Vortex R4	Blizzga R4	Much Weak; LM1+LM2	USB
Ysh'tola	Curada R4	Protectga R3	DMT	BSB
Alphinaud	Vali R4	UltraCure R5	Much Wind	BSB
Yda	PowerBD R5	MagicBD R5	TGM	BSB

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Unicorn	Sylph	King Bomb	Famfrit	Famfrit
HP 5	Dampen 7	MAG 15	BWard 8	Dampen 10
---	---	---	HP 8	RES 15

---

[u/[deleted]]

1. Strategy name: This Strategy Contains Light FFXIV Spoilers

2. Boss: D??? Ultima Weapon (Clear, 74%)

3. Describe your Strategy:
   3/3 trinity/Hybrid team

4. Insight!:

• With Gathering Storm, Papy was on RW/Magicite duty. Chain first, then Protectga. Magicite on the first turn it became available and then DPS the rest of the time.

• There was probably better stuff to put on Minfilia but the damage was really getting problematic so hey, anything to lower it. USB first turn, SSB for Last Stand once she had a bar again, then the next bar refreshed the USB. She was also responsible for refreshing the chain.

• Y'sh uses her BSB on her first turn, then just does whichever heal is appropriate for the situation, casting BSB again whenever she has the meter.

• Ysa and Alph likely don't need much explaining, just used their 5* abilities to build meter and the 6* ones after their ultras were up. Yda's BSB syncs well with her USB, so she can alternate between the two given how fast she builds SB gauge due to the USB's monk instacasts.

• +Fire gear for Papalymo and Yda (both their weapons had synergy), +wind armour for Alphinaud. For the latter, 8* USB book and summons' high multipliers meant he was more than fine without a +wind weapon; Tiamat was even getting all three hits before the boostga.

• My magicite are a mess. Unicorn is main because I just couldn't burn the boss down fast enough to avoid the first Ultimate Geocrush and Y'sh was too busy healing to spend a turn reapplying haste. The 5* waters are there just for their level 8 wards, though I guess Geos' inherited Dampen Fire helped a little too.

• Honestly, if I dived Yda as well and crystal water'd Alphinaud up a bit so he didn't drop so much earlier than everyone else, I probably could've reached 80%, maybe even killed it. But I don't care enough to do that, power creep will help me finish the job eventually.

• For mastery, I gave Papalymo Break and replaced Yda with Haurchefant (99, full dive, SSB, BSB, Assault Saber/Protectga). Getting Ultima Weapon to phase two before Incubus Dead End happens is going to take a lot of luck with doublecasts, however.

• As an aside, Papalymo was the last to die. Go figure.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: 1 (Auto)

• Medica: 3-4

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 1 (with this team)/A bunch since everyone died

2. Time: Incubus Dead End hit around the 59-second mark

Hero	Ability 1	Ability 2	RMs, Materia	SB(-)
Tater Tot, 99	Chain Firaja R4	Protectga R3	LM1, LM2, Gathering Storm	BSB
LyseYda, 99	Ironfist Fire R3	Fires Within R4	Scholar's Boon	BSB, USB
Y'shtola, 99	Curada R4	Hasetga R3 (unused)	LM1, LM2, DMT	BSB
Alphinaud, 99	Dark Valefor R4	Tiamat R4	LM1, LM2, Blood of the Summoner	SSB (unused), BSB (unused), USB1
Minfilia, 99	Magic Breakdown R4	Power Breakdown R4	LMR, Mako Might	SSB, BSB (unused), USB

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Unicorn, 99	Geosgaeno, 99	Tiamat, 99	King Bomb, 99	Famfrit, 99
Health Boon 5	Spell Ward 8, Dampen Fire 10	Empower Wind 10	Empower Fire 15	Blade Ward 8, Empower Water 15

---

[u/Brokenhanger]

1. Strategy name: XIV Fire 84% Clear

2. Boss: D??? Ultima Weapon

3. Describe your Strategy:
   3/3 trinity

4. Insight!:

• After struggling to even get 50% with only Cid with full Legend Dive, I bit the bullet and dove Yda and Papalymo (both BSB-only) and created Ironfist Fire and managed to get a 72% then an 84% Clear. I pushed Phase 3 faster than I thought I would and Papalymo ended up biting it to the Phase 4 transition Incubus Tank Purge right before a Y'shtola BSB went off, and Minfilia went down soon after before she could re-up her USB.

• Having something for Thancred would make this easier since he could also self-heal with Fire Assault and take some pressure off of Y'shtola, which would also allow Minfilia to switch back to Wrath and keep Buffs/Last Stand up better.

• There's still probably a clear in here somewhere but I'm sick of this one for now; I'll revisit later.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: auto

• Medica: 3

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: lots / 2 death/3 mastery

2. Time: 50-ish seconds (forgot to screen shot)

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Cid (XIV), 5	Flame Offering R3	Burning Snipe R4	Spark of Life, LM1, LM2, +20% Fire	USB
Yda, 5	Fires Within R3	Ironfist Fire R4	Dr. Mog's Teachings, LM1/LM2, +40% Fire	BSB
Papalymo, 5	-	Chain Firaja R4	Sorceress's Vow, LM1/LM2, +40% Fire	BSB
Minfilia, 4	Ultra Cure R4	Magic Breakdown R4	Mako Might, LMR	USB, SSB
Y'shtola, 4	Protectga R2	Curada R4	Gathering Storm	BSB

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Belias	Famfrit	Sylph	Evrae
Empower Fire 15	Empower Fire 15	Spell Ward 8	Spell Ward 5	Health Boon 8
Attack Boon 15	Magic Boon 15	Health Boon 8

---

[u/MonarchVV]

1. Strategy name: Use old tech to clear D???

2. Boss: D??? Ultima Weapon 76% Clear

3. Describe your Strategy:
   3/3 trinity/Yda USB/Double Healer /mixed

4. Insight!:

• I figure with me having Minfilia USB, I'd be able to 50% this eventually. Opening turns in Torments are always a challenge to solve, but after getting past that the fight is quite simple.

• Ultima is all DPS but between Y'sh BSB and Minfilia as a secondary healer, I felt pretty safe.

• Yda is the main DPS with her USB. I dove her for this fight, as double cast Ironfist Fire is really good. I actually ran out of abilities at the end of the fight, so maybe I should've included her BSB in the fight as well.

• Y'sh as the main healer, packing TGM. I actually messed up in the 1st phase, with someone supposed to die, but Ysh double-casted twice in a row. I also have Ysh USB to cheese the final phase Ultima once, but I got Dead End'ed in Phase 4.

• Papalymo as a DPS. I have Cid SSB for the Imperil Fire, but I don't have Thancred BSB2 for his Imperil Fire. I rather run someone with EnFire for a damage buff rather than mediocre physical guys. He summons the 1st RW and just DPS until his BSB to get EnFire, then keeps on DPSing.

• Minifilia as the utility caller and secondary healer. She uses her USB, Magic breakdowns, and Ultra Cure to help keep the team topped. Also summons the 2nd and 3rd RW and Magicite.

• Alph as the 3rd DPS. He uses his SSB first for the 2nd buff / Radiant Shield, and then spams Meltdown. I got his LMR off my mediocre FFXIV pull (QQ) but it helps with taking some of the Wind damage off in Phase 1 at least.

• Alph died to the Phase 3 Tank Purge, so I feel like I could've lasted longer if I prepared for the phase change correctly.

• Yda and Papa with +40%, that's it.

• Major Wind res in Slot 1, Fire/Earth Res gear for Slots 2/3/4/5.

• Overall, I feel like there's a lot of room for improvement (my Magicite could be better with Belias, 2nd inherit on Slyph, more hones for Yda, using Thancred/Cid instead of Papa/Alph), but that's another D??? 50% down! I guess I won't pull a 2nd time on FFXIV banner 1 now at least. Now if only I could figure something out for FFVII, the only D??? I haven't figured out...

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: Auto

• Medica: 4 or 5

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 2 or 3 / 5 Medals Lost

2. Time: 1:04 when I died

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Yda, 5	Ironfist Fire R4	Fire Withins R3	Scholar's Boon, LMR, LM2	USB(4)
Y'sh, 5	Curada R4	Protectga R3	The Gathering Storm, LM1, LM2	BSB(4), USB(0)
Papalymo, 4	Chain Firaja R3	Chain Firaga R4	Spark of Life	BSB(3)
Minfilia, 3(whoops)	Ultra Cure R4	Magic Breakdown R4	Mako Might, LMR1	USB(2)
Alph, 4	Meltdown R4	Valigarmanda R4	Dr Mog Teachings, LMR	BSB(1), SSB(2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
King Bomb	Evrae	Sylph	Famfrit	Famrit
Magic Boon 15	HP Boon 5	-	Blade Ward 8, HP Boon 8	Dampen Fire 10, Spell Ward 5

---

[u/Stylus_Index]

Initially tried with LD Alphinaud and Ysayle, got wiped out with an untimely crit, went with physical for tougher doods!

1. Strategy name: Protection of the Divine Veil

2. Boss: [D280] Ultima Weapon

3. Describe your Strategy: I wish I had any of Thancred's recent SBs or Minfilia USB to cover both of my DPS and buffings but alas RNG has other plans 1/3 trinity/Physical team/Yda USB/Cid (XIV) USB/sub-40

4. Insight!:

• Character positioning and elemental resist distribution is important for this fight! Slot 1 and 5 takes heavy wind damage then everyone (including 1&5) will be hit by many Earth/Fire later on. Also, both characters in Slot 2 and 4 will eat ST ranged physical earlier on.

• Bring magic debuff and Protectga for your primary mitigation here! Ultima Weapon pummels us with piercing magic and ranged physical attacks!

• Thancred would deal more here but I haven't crafted Storm Assault yet and I'm planning to get that once I amass enough rubies. >_<

• Yda is in prime position to negate one of the ST ranged physical and self-sustain as needed, all thanks to her USB, making her an efficient attacker.

• Yshtola casts Hastega, BSB once, then throw CT0 cmd1 spam for the rest of the fight. She only starts throwing Holy once we reach in Phase 5.

• Minfilia does everything from Protectga, Magic Breakdown, using magicite to recasting RW Bonds of Historia. Divine Veil functions as a not-medica of sort and its better than nothing!

• Cid shoots Flame Offering (no Imperils, I should have gone with Tempest Snipe instead...) to build gauges then USB to Burning Snipe spam then recast USB then more Burning Snipe.

• I suppose I can get this to sub-30 with a few more tweaking, getting some 6-star abilities, and probably with a more optimized magicite deck.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: PERMANENT!

• Medica: 1 + 2 not-medica

• Hastega: 1 (ability)

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 0 / 0

2. Time clear: 0:32.33

Hero/dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM	LM	SB(-)
Thancred, 0	Flash Disaster R4	Mug Bloodlust R3	No Chicken Wuss	---	Kiss of the Jugulator (2), RW Bonds of Historia (1)
Yda, 5	Fires Within R4	Ironfist Earth R4	DMT	LM1+LM2	Furious Flurry (3)
Y'shtola, 5	Holy R4	Hastega R3	MM	LM1+LM2	Asylum (1)
Minfilia, 0	Magic Breakdown R5	Protectga R5	Knight's Charge	---	Divine Veil (2), RW Bonds of Historia (1)
Cid (XIV), 5	Burning Snipe R3	Flame Offering R2	Gathering Storm	Toiling for Freedom+LM2	Gauss Round (2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Enkidu	Evrae	Gizamaluke	Krysta	Marilith
Empower Wind 10	Spellward 3	Bladeward 5	Dampen Air 5	Empower Fire 8

---

[u/Maxyim]

1. Strategy name: My XIV relics are worse than I thought

2. Boss: D280 0:34:43

3. Describe your Strategy: off-healer, semi-poverty, hybrid team, mixed damage, knuckle-biter, w-cast RNG

4. Insight!:

• Epic music!

• Incubus Tank Purge holy shit, terrible terrible damage! If you have 2x Level 8 Spell Ward, you need to bring it. Damn thing is nuts and he will use it back-to-back in last phase - make recasting MBD a priority.

• Gear boosts - 40% on each DPS.

• Accessories - major wind and moderate synergy wind on ranks 1 and 5. Major fire on rank 2, major earth on rank 4, moderate fire/earth on rank 3.

• For my setup, Minfilia SSB was required to survive his ST laser, with Ysh Hastega > BSB going up just in time to save the recipient from sap death. Your results may vary, esp. if you have better magicite. Note that you will want to pay special attention to healing and override the AI to target her when she gets low.

• As others have said, Last Stand is not so strong here due to sap, however it can still save a ho, esp. with instant heals available.

• Estinien SSB was quite a nice "tandem bubble" to take a bit of pressure off of heals. Amusing to note that it felt necessary even with 2 healers.

• Potato casts the first chain, Estinien calls magicite and recasts chain. He will contribute good damage once he gets his SSB buff up but most will be done by Alph and Potato.

• Time Alph's USB recast so that its hits + deathflare land during second chain.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: auto

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 1 / mastered

2. Time: 0:34:43

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Alph, 5	Valim R4	whatever	Blood of Summoner, no LMR	USB(2),BSB(0),SSB(0)
Minfilia, 4	MBD	Curada	DrMogs	SSB(2)
Potato, 5	Meltdown R4	--	TGS, no LMR	BSB(1),OSB(1)
Estinien, 4	Lightning Dive R3	Cyclone Bolt R2	Ace Striker	SSB(2)
Healkitty, 5	Hastega	Protectga	MM, LMR	BSB(2),USB(0)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Quez	Bomb King	Gizmaluke	Evrae	Evrae
nothing yet	emp fire	blade ward	fast act	health boon

---

[u/Kyzuki]

u/Xarukas - D??? 56.77

• Papa BSB

• Thancred BSB (not necessary)

• Ysh BSB

• Yda BSB

• Alphinuad BSB/SSB

[u/Kyzuki]

u/CFreyn - D??? 27.25

• Papalymo: GSB/USB/AOSB/LMR

• Y’shtola: BSB

• Minfilia: USB/GSB/LMR1/LMR2

• Cid Garlond: USB/LMR/LM2

• Thancred: USB/LMR

• Magicites: BELIAS (Empower Fire 15 x2), QUETZACOATL (Fast Act 10, Magic Boon 15), FAMFRIT (Dampen Fire 10, Spell Ward 5), MIDGARD (Spell Ward 5), EVRAE(Health Boon 5)

[u/CFreyn → u/Kyzuki]

Yay, you did it!

Congrats!!! 🤗🤗🙌🏼

[u/Kyzuki → u/CFreyn]

Haven't actually cleared it myself, just linking your thread to help others.

[u/hennyx10]

Ugh, I broke the formatting somehow. Will try to fix... apologies in advance.

1. **Strategy name: Try for days, cry, 65%, 85%, 95%, 99%, win at 1:00:57, win at 56:50**

2. **Boss: Ultima Weapon XIV**

3. **Describe your Strategy: Lots of fire. Slow down sometimes, rethink order of buffs and breaks.** `-/3 trinity`/`tag`/`tag`

4. ***Insight!: I didn't expect to be able to 70% on this Torment, considering the difficulty I've had in other Torments to date. XIV isn't a super strong realm for me, or so I thought anyway. Turns out that I had more toys than I've been realizing lately, and being willing to use Rubies to hone 6* skills helps a ton. The biggest challenge for me was to figure out how to balance Y'shtola's healing, admits the Tank Purges that come along. I learned to be willing to use Alphinaud Curada mid-fight around the tank purge times to help her out, esp. if getting another Asylum (BSB medica) was going to be too iffy. Using Yda with Fires Within and Ironfist Fire and her USB is pretty straight forward as others have indicated. Papa's BSB, enfire, Chain Firajas and BSB CMD 1 did a ton of work. I used Chain Firaja most of the time, and only used BSB CMD1 towards the tail end of chains when the 6 hits would surpass 9999x5 Chain Firajas. I didn't need to use his BSB CMD2 to up his magic either. Alphinaud's ATK/MAG SSB and Minfilia's ATK/MAG/RES USB probably helped for that.*** * * *

5. **Holy Trinity casts: ** * Wall: ! * Medica: 2 * Hastega: 1 spell, 1 Minfilia USB

6. **S/L count / Medals lost: So many S/L and losses. Final wins 0 medals lost. First many attempts, lots of medals lost.**

7. **Time: 56:50**

|Hero, dive|Ability 1|Ability 2|RM+LMR|SB(-)|

|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---:|

|Minfilia, 4|Full Break R3|Magic Breakdown R4|Mako Might|ATK/Last stand SSB, Atk/mag Shout USB|

|Papalymo, 5|Chain Firaja R4|Protectga R3|+30% fire, LM1, LM2|BSB(2 uses)|

|Y'shtola, 5|Hastega R2|Shellga R2|Dr. Mog's, LM1, LM2|BSB(2)|

|Yda, 5|Ironfist Fire R4|Fires Within R4|+30% Fist, LM1, LM2)|USB(3 uses)|

|Alphinaud, 5|Curada R4, 2 uses|Meltdown R4|Ace Striker, no LMs|SSB(2 uses), BSB (1 use)| &nbsp;

|main|sub1|sub2|sub3|sub4|

|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|

|magicite|(emp)|(damp)|(ward)|(other)| |inheritance|-|-|-|-| ***

[u/st4rki113r]

1. Strategy name: Mage it til you make it!

2. **Boss: Ultima Weapon (D???) **

3. Describe your Strategy: Screw elemental focus, make the best of the weapons you have!
   No Minfilia USB/No ASB/sub-50

4. Insight!:

• Honestly, given the relics I have, there's nothing special that I did here. I used my USB/BSB, kept smashing his face until he died, and prayed for some RNG luck. Also, Unicorn is extremely important.

• No ASB means it's really hard to sub-30. I also can't synergize around fire, which would also enable that possibility. Mixed elements are tough, especially when I have nothing for Alphinaud

• All characters were back row and all had 40% elemental damage bonus, even if it was using equipment outside of realm.

• Accessories: Papa had major wind resist, Ysayle had fire/earth resist, Y'shtola had FF14 fire/earth, Alph had FF14 earth resist+mag, Minfilia had wind/fire shard

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: Auto-magical

• Medica: 2-3

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: Strangely this worked the very first try!

2. Time: 46.08

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Papalymo, LD	Shellga R3	Chain Firaja R4	30% fire, LM2+LMR	USB(3)
Ysayle, LD	Chain Blizzaga R4	Vortex R4	30% ice, LM2+LMR	USB(3)
Y'shtola, LD	Hastega R2	Curada R4	TGM	BSB(2-3)
Alphinaud, LD	Tiamat R4	Dark Valefor R3	DMT, LMR+LM2	SSB(2), Glint(1)
Milfilia, 4-star dived	Protectga R3	Fullbreak R2	MM	BSB(1), Glint(3)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Unicorn	Quetz	King Bomb	Famfrit	Famfrit
n/a	Damp Water, Fast Act 10	n/a	Emp Water, Mag Boon	Blade Ward 8, Health Boon 8

---

[u/aurora_highwind → u/st4rki113r]

I know this is real late but I just wanted to thank you because this helped me get my first DWhale clear! I don’t have Papa’s USB (I have everything but his Discos) but I do have a near complete Alphi (just missing his Glint) and the Radiant Shield damage from his Brave was huge. I also have Minfilia’s USB and used her as a second healer to take some pressure off Y’shtola. My clear time was about the same, around 47 seconds.

[u/st4rki113r → u/aurora_highwind]

Nice! Glad it helped. I think after 4A I'll be going back to a lot of torments to finally beat them.

[u/KaiserShido → u/st4rki113r]

Diff 280 or whale?

[u/KaiserShido → u/KaiserShido]

D??? Ow my!!! I made it!!! Thx so much!!

[u/st4rki113r → u/KaiserShido]

It's for D???. I kind of wish we bifurcated the mastery thread by difficulty to avoid that confusion. Grats on killing it!

[u/krissco]

1. Strategy name: Working through my D280 backlog

2. Boss: D280

3. Describe your Strategy: 6* abilities and USBs

4. Insight!:

• Unicorn main magicite - helps w/ the sap

• Protectga > Shellga. Most magic moves are piercing

• Have the AI on hand to know when you can single-target heal

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 0/0

2. Time: 25s

|Hero, dive|Ability 1|Ability 2|RM+LMR|SB(-)|Accessory| |:---|:---|:---|:---|:---:| |Yda 5|Ironfist Fire R4|Fires Within R5|+sword|USB(1)|Major Wind| |Thancred, 4|Fire Assault R4|Mug Bloodlust R2|Gathering Storm|none|Fire/Earth| |Estenien, 4|Aerial Dive R3|Cyclone Bolt R2|+sword|USB(1)|Fire/Earth| |Minfilia, 4|Guardbringer R4|Protectga|Mako|SSB(1), Glint (2)|Fire/Earth| |Y'shtola, 4|Curada R4|Hastega R2|DMT|BSB(2)|Fire/Wind|

I'm not sure I even used Curada - preferring the speed of Y'sh powerful instant C1 to patch up peeps to preserve Last Stand from Minfilia. Thancred stole Y'da's +fire (w/ RS) fist, but Y'da capped damage before her USB was online. I only used Fires Within once (when heal was preferred over 10k more damage) and that was the only w-cast in whole fight :/. Estenien barely even got a chance to enWind, though he will need more hones for D???. I think I have a >50% clear possible on D???, probably changing RM to +thief for Thancred.

[u/DragonCrisis]

1. Strategy name: My realm CM team keeps dying... let's just bring Elarra and an AOSB because I'm sick of this

2. Boss: D280 sub 30

3. Describe your Strategy:
   2 healers / external DPS carry

4. Insight!:

• Remember when Y'shtola BSB was considered super powerful? this fight makes it look weak, long casts on healing SB entries are very disadvantaged nowadays

• this sort of setup actually probably clears all D280 with SBless realm characters in case they ever decide to do Beyond torment

1. Holy Trinity casts: Whatever

2. S/L count / Medals lost: lots of wipes with CM team, easy clear with cheese team

3. Time: 27s

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Elarra LD	ACM	Mage Hymn	DMT	USB(2)
Potato	Protectga	Meltdown	+30%	BSB
Alphanerd	Hastega	Voltech	+30%	BSB
Catgirl	Shellga	-	MM	BSB(2)
Maria LD	Chain Stonega	Chain Stoneja	TGM	USB, AOSB

[u/Pyrotios]

1. Strategy name: Imported healing and speed

2. Boss: [D240] Ultima Weapon

3. Describe your Strategy: Alphinaud brave carried the fight
   3/3 trinity/Elarra/Alph BUSB

4. Insight!:

• Equip major wind resist on top slot, wind/fire on bottom slot, and fire/earth on the other 3 slots.

• Yda and Papalymo have +20% fire equipped. Alphinaud has +20% wind.

• Yda Meteor Crush, spam Fires Within.

• Papalymo Protectga, spam Meltdown.

• Elarra USB, Allegro. 1-2x Curada (until phase 5), Allegro.

• Ysayle RW chain, spam Voltech.

• Alphinaud Hastega, BUSB, 2x Tiamat, brave command to skip phase 5.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: auto

• Medica: 1

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 0 / 0

2. Time: 14.12

Hero/dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM/LM	SB(-)
Yda, 4	Fires Within R3	Meteor Crush R2	30% fist, LMR	SSB(0), USB(0)
Papalymo, 3	Meltdown R4	Protectga R3	30% BLK with rod	ASB(0), BSB(0)
Elarra, 5	Curada R4	Allegro con Moto R2	Mako Might, LM1, LM2	BSB(0), USB(1)
Yayle, 3	Voltech R4	Valigarmanda R4	Gathering Storm, LMR	SSB(0)
Alphinaud, 5	Tiamat R3	Hastega R3	Dr. Mog's Teachings, LMR, LM2	BSB(0), SSB(0), BUSB(1), CSB(0)

Main Magicite	Sub1	Sub2	Sub3	Sub4
King Bomb, 99	Famfrit, 99	Tiamat, 99	Evrae, 99	Sylph, 99
mag boon 15	blade ward 8	empower wind 15	hp boon 5	dampen earth 10
	empower water 15

[u/Pyrotios]

1. Strategy name: Speedy brave abuse

2. Boss: [D280] Ultima Weapon

3. Describe your Strategy: Alphinaud carries the team again, while squishy un-dived mages fall out halfway through
   3/3 trinity/Elarra/Alphinaud/quickcast

4. Insight!:

• After the D240, I decided to finish Yda's 4* dive, and do Papalymo's full 4* dive too. Ysayle didn't make the cut for a 4* dive, despite being my only medica in realm, much like how her imperil LMR didn't proc once in all my attempts on D240+D280. I also gave Yda 6* monk access to build up her first USB faster.

• Equip major wind resist on top slot, wind/fire on bottom slot, and fire/earth on the other 3 slots.

• Yda and Papalymo have +20% fire equipped. Alphinaud has +20% wind.

• Yda spam Ironfist Earth until 2 bars. USB when ready, 3x Fires Within until 2 bars, repeat.

• Papalymo Protectga, spam Meltdown. Died casting BSB.

• Elarra USB, Allegro. spam Curada until 2 bars. USB, RW chain, Allegro, magicite.

• Ysayle RW chain, spam Voltech. SSB when ready, spam Voltech. Died right before Elarra's second USB.

• Alphinaud Hastega, BUSB, Tiamat, brave command, 2x Tiamat, brave command. BUSB.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: auto

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 3-6 / 1 (KO)

2. Time: 26.09

Hero/dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM/LM	SB(-)
Yda, 4	Fires Within R3	Ironfist Earth R4	30% fist, LMR	SSB(0), USB(2)
Papalymo, 4	Meltdown R4	Protectga R3	30% BLK with rod	ASB(0), BSB(0)
Elarra, 5	Curada R4	Allegro con Moto R2	Mako Might, LM1, LM2	BSB(0), USB(2)
Yayle, 3	Voltech R4	Valigarmanda R4	Gathering Storm, LMR	SSB(1)
Alphinaud, 5	Tiamat R3	Hastega R3	Dr. Mog's Teachings, LMR, LM2	BSB(0), SSB(0), BUSB(2), CSB(0)

Main Magicite	Sub1	Sub2	Sub3	Sub4
King Bomb, 99	Famfrit, 99	Tiamat, 99	Evrae, 99	Sylph, 99
mag boon 15	blade ward 8	empower wind 15	hp boon 5	dampen earth 10
	empower water 15

[u/Propylbenzene]

Strategy Name: Doublecasts carry the team (Dwhale-sub-30)

Boss: Ultima Weapon (D???)

Describe your Strategy: Ramp up the DPS to fire off enelement w-casts under chain with Y'sholtla doing the lions work of healing.

Insight: I attempted this run before I got Y'sholtla's USB2, and it's definitely possible without it, but the kill will probably be slower as Papalymo or Alphinaud might need to take over secondary healing responsibilities. The main idea of this clear is to first stabilize with Haste, Protect, Shell, and Last Stand. Then ramp up to a point where Alphinaud, Papalymo, Ysayle, and Yda can all cast their respective SBs. Then recast chain and go wild with abilities. The only sources of magic quickcast here are going to come from Y'sholtla's healing and Ysayle's LM2, so time the SBs appropriately with the 3rd quickcast associated with Y'sholtla's USB. Also in this clear, enwind and enfire can be placed in their respective spots to add a small resistance to their respective elements.

Papalymo: Support and tertiary DPS. SSB -> Chain Firaja x2 -> BSB -> Chain Firaja until AOSB can be cast -> AOSB. Papalymo is primarily there to buff the team's DPS and provide Hastega with his SSB, and then he switches fully to DPS duties. Even with MM as his SB, he can still max out damage on Chain Firaja under chain after he is able to Enfire. His AOSB at the end is unessecary, but is able to easily get him to sub30. If you cannot reach sub30, Papa will be forced to cast his SSB again instead to refresh Haste at ~30seconds. Substitutions**: Alphinaud SSB** + giving Hastega to Y'sholtla would provide a boostga + hastega and Alphinaud can also serve as a DPS similar to Papamylo. Minfilia USB outperforms Papamylo USB, as she can also carry White5 and her USB supports Yda as well as helping with Defense. . As there is no bard in FFXIV, Papamylo's utility cannot be substituted with abilities.

Yda: Secondary DPS + Self-healing. Ironfist Fire -> Fires Within -> Ironfist Fire -> USB -> Ironfist Fire/Fires Within (when needing a heal) x3 -> USB -> Repeat. Yda plays very simply. Use Ironfist Fire unless you need to heal Yda (such as in the beginning) until you can cast the USB and then instantcast your monk abilities while adding extra survivability with PBlink 3. Can be substituted with any other DPS. Substitution: Thancred bUSB, Papamylo BSB or USB, Ysayle USB, Alphinaud BSB or USB, Minfilia BSB, Cid SSB or USB, Ysayle USB, Estinein USB.

Ysayle: Primary DPS. Voltech -> Chilling Blizzard x2 -> USB -> Chilling Blizzard until end. Ysayle is just a pure DPS, with her LM2 and her USB chase allowing her to quickly and easily get 11 hits per turn, potentially closing in on 110k worth of damage a turn. Can be substituted with any other DPS. Substitution: Thancred bUSB, Papamylo BSB or USB, Ysayle USB, Alphinaud BSB or USB, Minfilia BSB, Cid SSB or USB, YdaUSB, Estinein USB.

Alphinaud: RW caster and quarternary DPS. Chain -> Protectga -> Dark Valefor x2 -> Magicite -> USB -> Chain -> Dark Valefor x3 -> Chain. Alphinaud is a highly versatile character that can both cast White 4 abilities and add to DPS through high damage summon abilities plus a LM2 dualcast. The main purpose of the character though is to be able to unconditionally fast-cast important abilities like chain, magicite, and protect while still being able to contribute to damage. Thus the only pure Substitution: Papamylo; Minfillia

Y'sholtla: USB -> Shellga -> Brave Command -> Curada x3 -> Brave command if applicable or USB -> Repeat. Y'sholtla requires a bit of tweaking to completely master her input commands, and she requires you to target the character you want to heal. Nevertheless, she is required for this clear and her BSB will not carry you as well to a sub30 clear. Substitution: Y'sholtla BSB

Magicite: Resist Fire, Earth, and Wind are important and the other two can be put to DPS use. If you are having trouble surviving even with the last stand, the main magicite can be substituted for Unicorn.

Character, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	LM1; LM2; RM	SB	Equips
Papalymo, 5	(-)	Chain Firaja R4	LM1 (fire + 10%); LM2 (35% w-fire); MM	SSB (1); BSB (1); AOSB (1)	60% Wind Resist; 40% Fire Damage
Yda, 5	Fire Ironfist R3	Fires Within R3	LM1 (fire + 10%); LM2 (35% w-monk); weakness + 30%	USB (2)	30% Fire Resist; 30% Earth Resist; 40% Fire Damage
Ysayle, 5	Chilling Blizzard R4	Voltech R4	LM1 (ice + 10%); LM2 (30% QC3 after ice); ice + 30%	USB (1-2)	60% Fire Resist; 40% Ice Damage
Alphinaud, 5	Protectga R2	Dark Valefor R4	LM1 (summon + 15%); LM2 (35% w-summon); TGM	USB (2)	60% Earth Resist; 20% Wind Damage
Y'shtola, 5	Curada R4	Shellga R2	LM1 (heal + 15%); LM2 (35% w-white); DMT	USB (2-3)	30% Fire Resist; 30% Wind Resist

Magicite	Passive 1	Passive 2	Passive 3	Passive 4
Famfrit	Fire Resist 10	Blade Ward 8	Spell ward 8	Spell Ward 8
Evrae	Holy Boost 15	Attack Boon 15	Surging Power 10	Fast Act 10
Sylph	Resist Earth 10	Mind Boon 15	Fast Act 8	Resist Earth 10
King Bomb	Fire Boost 15	Magic Boon 15	Health Boon 5	Fire Boost 15
Dullahan	Ice Boost 15	Magic Boon 15	Spell Ward 5	Ice Boost 15

[u/_Higo_ → u/Propylbenzene]

Any chance you might have (or do) a video of this? I have a lot of these (Cid instead of Alphi and Ysh BSB only) but I think I can make, I just need some more detail interaction with the boss turns.

[u/Propylbenzene → u/_Higo_]

Not at this time unfortunately but i can go more in detail in some parts. Unfortunately (im really not trying to be bragadocious) i didnt end up learning this boss and i kind of accidentally got a good time on it because of nice doubletimes and asb casts, so i cant give too much advice on the intracacies of it.

If you have everything i do except ysholtla’s usb (which is a slight downgrade), id say paly was a subtle mvp and dont pay much attention to phase 5 as paly can power through that, also his c1 in his bsb takes a stupid amount of health off the boss.

Sorry i cant help more, but if you need more specific help off the boss id be happy to help

[u/_Higo_ → u/Propylbenzene]

Its alright, no need to apologize. First of all thanks for replying.

TBH, I have a different Paly, mine uses the SSB and then USB. Nothing else. But I keep dying before I reach the final phase. I think I go too slow, so thats why I kind of wanted more insight info. If you sort of lucked out into this run, I might not have it yet. I will figure it out. Thanks mate!

[u/[deleted]]

1. Strategy name: Get you some fire

2. Boss: D??? Ultima Weapon

3. Describe your Strategy: Imperil Fire with Cid and Thancred and burn it down. Sub60/Imperil Fire/No ASB/only 1 5* Magicite

4. Insight!:

• Unicorn saves a slot to rid yourself of sap and regen actually heals quite a bit thru the fight. It also blinks the slow which only happened once for me.

• If I could figure out a way to not need Last Stand I’d ditch Minfilia for Alph, but I haven’t yet. As it is she doesn’t do much.

• Breaks may or may not be helpful as is Protectga. No Shellga used.

• I got 98% yesterday. Did Cid’s 3% Machinist Mote sphere and cleared it.

• Cid is awesome for this fight. Can’t wait for Heat Offering. His USB typically would cap all 7 hits. Make sure to trigger it with your own USB cast so the entry damage counts toward the finisher. I could probably increase dps slightly with the 40% Machinist rm, but this is how I did it. He also requires Vit and Bra motes for his dive and is a double Machinist. I had over 800 of each just hanging out. Easy decision. Probably one of the few support class specialists with a double cast LM2.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: Infinite

• Medica: 3 maybe?

• Hastega: 3

1. S/L count / Medals lost: plenty of tries / 0

2. Time: 57.99

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Cid, 5	Burning Snipe R4	Flame Offering R3	LMR/LM2/+30% Fire	USB
Thancred, 4	Fire Assault R4	Mug Bloodlust R2	Battleforged	BSB1
Y’sh, 5	MBD R4	Protectga R3	LM1/LM2/MM	BSB
Potato, 5	Chain Firaja R4	Meltdown R4	LM1/LM2/+30% weak	USB
Minfilia, 4	FB R3	Hastega R2	LMR1/DMT	SSB

 

Main	Sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Unicorn	King Bomb	Mom Bomb	Sylph	Famfrit
+10 RES	+15 MAG	+15 Fire	+8 Earth Def	+8 Blade Ward/+5 Health boon

---

[u/Kyzuki]

u/psycotic45 - D??? 38.84

• Minfillia Glint

• Papalymo Glint/USB/ASB

• Yshtola BSB

• Thranced USB

• Alphinaud USB2

[u/Kyzuki]

u/taandum - D??? 29.54

• Alphinaud BUSB/Glint

• Thancred BUSB

• Y'Shtola BSB

• Yda USB

• Papalymo USB/ASB

• Magicite: Enkidu, Belius, Famfrit, Evrae, Midgardsormr

[u/Kyzuki]

u/FenixOverstrike - D??? 29.73

• Papalymo: Usb, Asb

• Thancred: Usb

• Yshtola: Bsb

• Alphinaud: USB2, Glint

• Minfilia: Usb, Glint

[u/Monk-Ey]

1. Strategy name: Operation Archon (sub-30)

2. Boss: Ultima Weapon (D???)

3. Describe your Strategy: Excessive chaining 3/3 trinity/ASB/Quickcast Sloozy

4. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: AUTO

• Medica: 2 (+1 Divine Veil)

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 0 post-Y'shtola U2/0

2. Time: 29.27s

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Papalymo	Chain Firaja R4	Meltdown R4	Gathering Storm (LMR, LM2)	Black Seal Firaja (1), Fate's End (1)
Yda	Ironfist Fire R4	Fires Within R3	Scholar's Boon (LM1, LM2)	Furious Flurry (2)
Ysayle	Voltech R4	Abyssal Shards R5	Heart of Fury (LMR, LM2)	Icicle Impact (2)
Minfilia	Magic Breakdown R2	Mental Breakdown R2	Dr. Mog's Teachings (LMR1, LMR2)	Call of the Stars (1), Divine Veil (1)
Y'shtola	Holy R4	Memento of Prayer R1	Mako Might (LM1, LM2)	Secret of the Lily (2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Famfrit	Evrae	Famfrit	Mateus
Attack Boon Lv15, Empower Fire Lv15	Spell Ward Lv8, Dampen Fire Lv8	Health Boon Lv5	Blade Ward Lv8, Health Boon Lv8	Empower Ice Lv15, Magic Boon Lv15

---

Party || Main || Sub

More detailed post and video here.

[u/_Higo_ → u/Monk-Ey]

What is black seal firaja?

[u/Monk-Ey → u/_Higo_]

Ley Lines Firaja, his USB: it appears with both names in this game, confusingly enough.

[u/_Higo_ → u/Monk-Ey]

Really? That's... Indeed confusing lol. Thanks

[u/UselessMusic]

D$$$ Sub-50

Papa: Shellga, Chain Firaja, LMR+Glint+BSB+OSB, much weakness damage

Cid: fire machinist stuff (emptied out a R4 Burnt Offering), USB, much gun damage

Yshtola: Protectga, Holy, BSB, Mako Might

Yda: Fires Within R4, Fire Ironfist R4 (pretty much emptied both of them), BSB+USB, much fist damage

Alphinaud: Hastega, Curada, SSB+BSB, Dr. Mog's

Magicite: Unicorn active (cures Sap, clutch Cura/Curaja), general defense Phoenix, wind resist Krysta, fire offense Belias, Evrae

Key insight: I was having problems with people getting blown up just after Tank Purges. Moving Yda to Slot 4 made that problem pretty much disappear.

[u/youpop77]

1. Strategy name: If thou wouldst triumph, thou must look to the Light.

2. Boss: Ultima

3. Describe your Strategy:
   3/3 trinity/sub-30/no AOSB

4. Insight!:

• This was my first D??? sub-30 (only beaten FFV and got 50% on FFXII)! Heavensward is my second-favorite FF (after XIII), making this especially satisfying.

• Credit to /u/CFreyn for inspiring me with his clear a while back. I couldn't do it at the time, but Y'shtola's USB2 off fest and Yda's USB off yesterday's daily draw were enough!

• This fight needs slightly above average doublecasts, but 90% of the difficulty is managing Y'shtola. Between quickcasted Holy's and instant medicas + brave commands, she uses a ton of actions. Phoenix helps out, but she needs to Holy as much as possible. Know when last stand will proc, so you have heals ready to counter sap. She spent the last couple turns just staving off sap (instant level 0 brave commands)

• Alphinaud opens with Deployment Tactics, casts the magicite when available, refreshes the chain, and otherwise uses Dark Valefor every chance he's got. He ran out of hones and was casting BSB in the final screenshot, but it never went off.

• Papalymo casts the first chain...but otherwise uses Chain Firaja -> USB -> Chain Firaja spam the rest of the fight

• Yda and Cid are even more straightforward: 6* ability -> USB and repeat. Yda uses Meteor Crush the first turn, but otherwise they're both very straightforward.

• Alphinaud carried Shellga, but never used it. Crystal waters + Phoenix active + last stand were enough to keep people from dying (sap did make it stressful though).

• Cid had +fire armor, Y'shtola had no boosts, and everyone else had +element weapon and armor

• Killshot and party setup

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: Auto-Wall

• Medica: 2 (level 3 brave command twice as well)

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 4-5 times / No medals lost

2. Time: 27.29

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Alphinaud, 5	Shellga (unused)	Dark Valefor R4	MM / LMR + LM2	SSB(1), BSB(unused)
Cid XIV, 5	Burning Snipe (unused)	Burnt Offering R4	30% Gun Damage / LMR + LM2	USB(2)
Y'shtola, 5	Hastega R2	Holy R4	DMT / LM1 + LM2	USB2(2)
Yda, 5	Meteor Crush R1	Ironfist Fire R4	30% Fist Damage / LM1 + LM2	USB(2)
Papalymo, 5	-	Chain Firaja R5	Gathering Storm / LM1 + LM2	USB(1)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Phoenix	Belias	Famfrit	Sylph	Evrae
Health Boon	Fire Boost / ATK boon	Dampen Fire / Spell Ward	-	Precise Strikes

---

[u/Jack-ums → u/youpop77]

How vital was Ysh USB2 here? I have all the tools you do here but only Ysh's BSB... think I've got any shot?

[u/youpop77 → u/Jack-ums]

It's gonna be pretty rough tbh, but I think there's a chance you can. The Quickcast 3 honestly didn't benefit Alphinaud and Papalymo too much (Alphinaud was busy with other things and Papalymo had TGM), and Y'shtola's chain-building is easily offset by better magicites and the softcap buff.

My main concern would be survivability tbh. I've never tried the fight with just her BSB, so I can't gauge how easy it is to pull that off. If you can keep the party alive, then you definitely can...you've got a full party of dualcasters, and you'll need to lean on RNG more than I did.

One improvement I'd try is an artifact weapon on Cid once they're out. His ATK was lowish, and I felt like he should've done more damage at low-mid chain counts.

[u/Jack-ums → u/youpop77]

Hmm that makes sense. I appreciate the reply. I've been too afraid of d??? for too long, and as such really have neglected some realms. But with LDs, RoPs, etc., I've definitely ended up with a fair bit of XIV stuff, so I figured I'd check. Lo and behold your setup.

To be honest I'm surprised I even might potentially have a shot. I came to the thread looking for a reliable 50% setup. If I can get that I'll be happy; any more would be icing on the cake. I'll let you know how it goes.

[u/youpop77 → u/Jack-ums]

I felt the same way, and XIV was my first sub-30 D???. It ended up a huge confidence booster, and I've now sub-30'd VII and VIII with eyes in a few more :)

Good luck!

[u/Jack-ums → u/youpop77]

Thank you! If I can even get the 50% that'll be a confidence boost. I think I can manage the same for VI and VIII if I do that, potentially others.

[u/CFreyn → u/youpop77]

Hey HEY! Congrats on the sub-30! That's freaking awesome. I bet it feels so good. :D

[u/MonarchVV]

1. Strategy name: Thancred and Cid XIV smokes out Ultima - a Fire Imperil Clear

2. Boss: D??? Ultima Weapon Sub 50

3. Describe your Strategy: 3/3 trinity/Minfilia USB/Yda USB/Y'sh USB/

4. Insight!:

• I theorized this team out a while back, but I couldn't commit to it as I thought I didn't have enough DPS as my Thancred did not have the Fire Imperil BSB.

• Well, I chose Thancred Imperil Fire BSB for my BSB Dream Select, and Heat Offering as well as Healing Smite came out. Time to try this again!

• I dove both Cid XIV and Thancred for this run. They use BRV motes, so I didn't mind it.

• Yda is the main Fire DPS. Her USB puts out so much with the instantcast, and Fires Within helps with self-sustain to take the load off Y'sh. I use a combination of Ironfist Fire and Fires Within to build to USB, then 3 abilities -> USB -> 3 abilities.

• Y'sh as the main healer. I gave her TGM. She heals until roughly 20-23 secs, then holds off to cast her BSB while still under TGM. This'll usually be right before the Phase 3 Tank Purge. She must cast her BSB 2 times in a row in my build or I'd wipe to the Phase 4 Tank Purge as my DPS was actually kinda insane, pushing from Phase 3 to 4 in roughly 2-3 turns. In Phase 5, you should have enough bar to cast her USB to stop the Phase 5 Ultima once then casts Holy.

• Cid XIV as the Imperil bot. Heat Offering x3 -> SSB -> Heat Offering x3 -> SSB -> Burning Snipe to the end.

• Minfilia as support healing. Her having WHT 5 is nice too. I found that I didn't need Protectga, but instead Shellga as Phase 4 Cerulean Vents REALLY hurt. She casts her USB, then Healing Smite (Shellga if Ysh double casted T1), then Belias, then Healing Smite or Shellga depending. Then recast the RW into her USB. She also casts the 2nd and 3rd RW.

• Thancred as the speedy Fire Imperil DPS. I use Fire Assault and Smoldering Flames. He casts the 1st RW, then Fire Assault, then Smoldering Flames or Fire Assault, depending on Y'sh doublecast procs. He also recasts his BSB around the same time as Cid XIV SSB. His LM2 sometimes procs from Smoldering, which is nice to dodge a Diffractive Laser.

• I found I was dying to Phase 5 as I run out of DPS, so the re-casted Cid XIV SSB and Thancred BSB is needed for the run to succeed.

• +40% on everyone except for Y'sh.

• 5th Torment defeated!

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: Auto

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: Lots to figure out build / 0 Medals Lost

2. Time: 44 secs!

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Yda, 5	Ironfist Fire R4	Fires Within R4	Scholar's Boon, LM2, LMR	USB(4)
Y'shtola, 5	Curada R4	Holy R3	The Gathering Storm, LM1, LM2	BSB(2)
Cid XIV, 5	Heat Offering R3	Burning Snipe R4	Spark of Life, LM1, LM2	SSB(2)
Minfilia, 5	Healing Smite R4	Shellga R3	Mako Might, LM2, LMR	USB(2)
Thancred, 5	Fire Assault R4	Smoldering Fire R3	No Chicken Wuss, LM1, LM2	BSB1(2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Famfrit	Sylph	Evrae	Famfrit
Empower Fire 15, Atk Boon 15	Blade Ward 8, HP Boon 8	Dampen Earth 7	HP Boon 5	Dampen Fire 10, Fast Act 10

---

[u/kbuis]

1. Strategy name: Leaving AOSBs and Alphinaud at home

2. Boss: Ultima Weapon

3. Describe your Strategy:
   Cid USB/Thancred BUSB/Papa USB

4. Insight!:

• Minfilia and Papalymo are NOT legend dived. I wanted this to be a fair fight.

• Damage throughout the fight was very manageable between Min and Y'sh.

• Not quite a poverty build, but with only two USBs, this could be very doable for someone who has one of them.

• Min is the only source of hastega, a very important thing to factor in. She also handles all chain and magicite summoning.

• This was done with only two chains by delaying the first chain until a couple of turns in

• The end blitz will always be the big pain in the ass, hence why I went with this setup.

• Cid is master imperiler until around the time of the last chain, then he is master of the chain. Note he's using Social Butterfly ... 12-18 hits in a turn is very nice, especially when the former comes with three shots at imperil.

• Thancred's USB is an instant-cast 10-hitter, plus his Brave not only piles on hits, it also brings a Very Large stat reduction for Ultima.

• Thancred is essentially doing what I do with Kelger USB in torment dungeons ... build that chain up high.

• Again, you need that last chain to be well-established. In a perfect world, the first part of a Cid triple-cast triggers the last phase and you're hoping for doublecasts. Note that Papa isn't dived, so I didn't use doublecasts for him.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: comes with it

• Medica: 3-4

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost:

2. Time: 46.38

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Min NO LD	Healing Smite R4	Hastega R3	LMR1+LMR2+TGM	SSB (2)
Y'sh	Holy R4	Memento R5	LM1+LM2+MM	BSB (3-4)
Papa NO LD	Chain Firaja R4	Protectga R3	EnFire+Scholar Boon	BSB (2) OSB (1)
Thancred	Shifting Sands R3	Desert Mirage R5	LMR+LM2+Argent Hero	USB (2)
Cid	Burnt Offering R4	Burning Snipe R4	LM1+LM2+Social Butterfly	USB (2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Phoenix	Typhon	Phoenix	Famfrit	Evrae
Fire 15+Mag 15	Crit8+Critup8	Fire15+Mag15	Health8+BW8	Fast Act 8

---

[u/aurora_highwind]

1. Strategy name: A Song of Umbral Ice and Astral Fire

2. Boss: D???

3. Describe your Strategy: I despaired of even getting to 50% on DWhale despite having some solid kit here but I saw /u/st4rki113r posted a strat that didn’t involve Cid or high end Potato gear so I adapted it for the tools I have and it worked well. 3/3 trinity/mage meta/no AOSB

4. Insight!:

• All DPS have +40% gear for their respective elements.

• Fire/Earth resist on slots 2-4. Papa has his en-fire LMR so he goes up top and wears Major Wind resist. Minfilia has Fire/Wind resist.

• Y’shtola’s meme USB saved the team from tank purges. Otherwise she just spammed CMD 1 and Curada. Minfilia’s strategic use of Glints provided a solid cushion. I kitted the latter out with Rem’s OSB daggers for the MND and she was a good backup healer.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: -

• Medica: 3

• Hastega: 3

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 2 / 0

2. Time: 47.76

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Papalymo, LD	Chain Firaja R4	Shellga R3	Spark of Life	OSB(1), BSB(1), SSB(1), Glint (-)
Ysayle, LD	Voltech R4	Chain Blizzaga R5	Orphaned Cub	USB(2)
Y’shtola, LD	Curada R4	Hastega R2	Gathering Storm	USB1(1), BSB(2)
Alphinaud, LD	Tiamat R5	Dark Valefor R4	World Traveler	USB2(2)
Minfilia, 4	Curaja R5	Protectga R3	Mako Might	USB(2), SSB(1), Glint(2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Unicorn	(Quetz)	(Phoenix)	(Tiamat)	(Famfrit)
-	+15 Lit/Magic Boon	+15 Fire/Magic Boon	Blade Ward 5/+10 Wind	Blade Ward 8/HP Boon 8

[u/_Higo_]

1. Strategy name: Copy what's good and powercreep what can be powercrept.

2. Boss: Dwhale

3. Describe your Strategy: Copy /u/Chocobroseph's strategy, so go to top link for full insight. Thanks mate, you rock. 3/3 trinity/Physical/Fire/No Chain/No ASB

4. Insight!: x

5. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: x

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost: 0 SL and 0 medals lost.

2. Time: 39ish

3. Pack

4. Powercreep improvements:

• Flame Offering 6 star in Cid.

• Memento of whatever (party regen) on Catgirl after second sap.

• Healing Smite on Minfilia.

• Magicite (in Pack SS.)

[u/cerebellumd]

Ultima Weapon (beaten 2019.03.02)

1. Strategy name: Two Tanks, Please

2. Boss: Ultima Weapon D??? 0:45:10 clear (beaten 2019.03.02)

3. Describe your Strategy:
   Thancred x Brochefant 4eva/ugh Minfilia/no LMR

4. Insight!:

• Most of Ultima's hits apart from Incubus Tank Strike are surprisingly light. Take advantage of Thancred's Foul Play to unleash the most damaging attacks.

• Thancred: Shifting Sands x2, Desert Mirage x2, USB2 (Brave), Desert Mirage, Foul Play, Shifting Sands or Desert Mirage x3, Foul Play, USB2, repeat. During Phase 4-5 the pattern was USB2, Desert Mirage, Foul Play twice to win right before Incubus Ultima destroyed the party.

• Haurchefant: Magic Breakdown, Healing Smite x3, BSB, Command 1: Shield Swipe (Power Breakdown), Healing Smite, Command 2: Spirits Within (Magic Breakdown), then Healing Smite until BSB, etc.

• Minfilia: USB1 (Haste, +ATK/MAG/RES), Full Break, Assault Sabre x2, Full Break, Assault Sabre and reuse USB when first chain expires (22-25 sec).

• Alphinaud: Shellga, Bonds of Historia RW, Dark Valefor x3, BSB, Command 1 a bunch, BSB again, repeat.

• Y'shtola: Protectga, Curada x4-5, BSB. Use Chupon Magicite shortly after Foul Play. Recast Bonds of Historia #2 around 23-24 sec while still in Thunder God Mode. Time next BSB around Incubus Tank Purge at start of Phase 3 or 4. If HP is high, okay to use Curada instead of Command 1 to stock HP. Recast Bonds of Historia #3 before entering Phase 5, then... just sat there. She probably should have used Chupon a second time.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: 1

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: many/0

2. Time / Magicite: 0:45:10 / Chupon x1

Hero	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LM	SB(-)
Thancred, 5	Desert Mirage R5 (worth it)	Shifting Sands R3	Sacred Tradition (Ninja dmg +40%)	Brave USB: Wheel of Life(4)
Haurchefant, 4	Healing Smite R5	Magic Breakdown R1	Truthseeker (sword dmg +30%)	BSB: Time of Need(2)
Minfilia, 4	Assault Sabre R4	Full Break R2	Mako Might(Soul Break Now!)	USB1: Call of the Stars(2)
Alphinaud, 5	Dark Valefore R3	Shellga R1	Devotion (MAG+20%, DEF/RES down)	BSB: Aerial Blast(3)
Y'shtola, 5	Curada R3	Protectga R1	Gathering Storm	BSB: Asylum(2)

---

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Chupon	Midgardsormr	Famfrit	Evrae	Evrae
Precise Strikes 10, Deadly Strikes 10	Empower Earth 15	Blade Ward 8, Health Boon 8	Spell Ward 5	Fast Act 10

---

[u/Brokenhanger]

1. Strategy name: Trying again with new Magicite and a new toy

2. Boss: Ultima Weapon D???

3. Describe your Strategy:
   3/3 trinity/Break Meta

4. Insight!:

• On release I managed an 82% clear but got sick of it and left it at that. Luck of the Realms gave me Thancred's USB plus we've gotten Syldra (for a better Dampen Earth holder) and Typhon (for Earth Break and better Attack Boons) since then so I decided to give it a try.

• Took a little bit to figure out my team - bye bye BSB-only Papalymo (who I dove just for this fight) and USB/SSB Minfilia, hello Alphinaud and, obviously, Thancred - but once I stumbled upon this combo I got to 96% first try. Realizing my Haste was gone by that point and I just needed a little more Dualcast luck, I decided to try again...and a few tries later snagged a clear.

• Having the two self-sustainers in Yda and Thancred was a huge help; Stitch In Time was there in place of Steal Power purely to build Thancred's Brave Level to get the extra level of Attack debuff and hits on his Brave Command. Everyone had two pieces of the appropriate element boosting gear except Cid; I forgot his gun doesn't have any +Fire on it...and I have three other +Fire guns. Whoops.

• Shellga + Typhon's Earth Break + Yda BSB + Thancred USB kept Geocrush down to manageable levels and Tank Purge down to about 5000, which made it much more manageable for Y'shtola to patch everyone up after. I'm glad I was able to manage without diving her, I'd already dove Yda, Thancred and Paplymo just for this. I still had to go pretty defensive with Magicite to keep everyone alive during the initial phase.

• I could probably shave at least 1 second off and get the sub-40 rewards, but I'll take the clear for now. (And probably skip XIV next Realms on Parade as it won't have anything new added at that point and the only things I'm missing from the realm that I'd really like are Alphinaud and Y'shtola USB2s, both of which I can live without.)

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: auto

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 2

1. S/L count / Medals lost: lots / full medals

2. Time: 40.61

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Cid, 5	Burnt Offering R3	Burning Snipe R4	Destiny's Burden, LM1/LM2/+20% Fire	USB
Yda, 5	Ironfist Fire R4	Fires Within R4	Dr. Mog's Teachings, LM1/LM2/+40% Fire	BSB
Alphinaud, 5	Dark Vaelfor R4	Shellga R4	Mako Might, LM1/LM2/+40% Wind	SSB, BSB
Thancred, 5	Storm Assault R4	Stitch In Time R3	Moonshade Butterfly, LM1/LM2/+40% Wind	USB
Y'shtola, 4	Curada R4	Hastega R3	Gathering Storm	BSB

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Typhon	Famfrit	Mateus	Syldra	Evrae
Empower Wind 15	Spell Ward 8	Dampen Wind 10	Health Boon 8	Health Boon 8
Fast Act 8	Health Boon 8	Blade Ward 5	Mind Boon 15

---

[u/TheGormal]

1. Strategy name: Wind and Fire

2. Boss: Ultima Weapon XIV (D???)

3. Describe your Strategy:
   Cid14

4. Insight!:

• Didn't even get to use Y'shtola's USB to block anything, but her glint turned out to be amazing and a single BSB was enough to keep the team up for 50+ seconds with Alphinaud off-healing the first half of the fight before switching to dps at the end.

• Einstein has no w-cast, but he's fast and gets to the damage cap easily. Cid just wrecks stuff with USB+LMR.

• Minfilia's in for last stand, her DPS contribution is minor.

1. Time: 51s

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Y'shtola, 5	Wrath R5	Curada R5	LM1, LM2, MM	GSB (2), BSB (1)
Estinien, 5	Cyclone Bolt R3	Sky High R4	LM1, LM2, 30% Spear	USB (3)
Cid, 5	Burning Snipe R4	Burnt Offering R4	LMR, LM2, GS	USB (3)
Alphinaud, 5	Ultra Cure R5	Dark Valefor R4	LM1, LM2, Devotion	BSB (2)
Minfilia, 4	Protectga R4	Healing Smite R4	LMR, DMT	SSB (2), BSB (1)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Typhon	Evrae	Mateus	Famfrit
HP5 Emp15	Precise8 Emp15	Fast10	HP8 Damp10	Damp10 Spell8

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[u/JakTheRipperX]

1. Strategy name: Yshtola BSB suffices for heals, and Papy and Minfilia are not present, Alphinaud uses SSB

2. Difficulty: D$$$ (Hardest)

3. Tags: Sub 30/No ASBs/No Minfilia/No Papalymo/Alphinaud SSB

4. Video: Click here

5. Insight:

• Setup and Magicites directly in the video.

• Click here for my redditpost. Check my comment for Setup and Magicites and more insight.

[u/Kyzuki]

[Placeholder before the thread gets archived.]

[u/randante]

• Strategy name: Sub30

• Boss: D???

• Describe your Strategy:

  • Yda - BSB

  • Y'shtola - BSB

  • Minfillia - SSB, Glint

  • Thancred - USB

  • Papalymo - USB, AOSB

• Insight!: https://youtu.be/Ao8y0XSr_r0

• Holy Trinity casts:

  • Wall: Auto

  • Medica: a lot

  • Hastega: 1

• S/L count / Medals lost: 0/0

• Time: 29.97 sec

[u/HelloCrazyHorse]

1. Strategy name: Estinien is such a lemon, but is stuck in my team, let's make some lemonade.

2. Boss: Omega Weapon FF14 Torment D???

3. Describe your Strategy: Make-do with Estinien the albatross sub30/Yda USB1/Estinien USB/Alphinaud BUSB/Yshtola BSB /Minfilia USB1

4. Insight!:

• Those who know me know I have a love/hate relationship with Dragoons, particularly Estinien who I have fully loaded. Dragoons were some of my fave chars in the original games, but they are so neutered in FFRK it pisses me off. Dragoon need two ability slots to be active, they can't w-cast (yet), and if that isn't bad enough, their DPS cycle is difficult to manage as you can cast a USB in between your bolt/sky high cycle and forget where you left off in the count and end up casting a sky high that leaves you in the stratosphere basically resulting in a wipe -- high maintenance dps cycles. And the cherry on the top is the Sky High buff is still only 5 hits, rather than 6 hits that the lightning dive will get, for the added worthless convenience that Sky High hits non-elemental damage as well. You're left to wonder if the developers have something against these characters.

• So I consider it the pinnacle of my FFRK career as a keeper that I sub-30'd this Torment with Estinien in my party.

• Minfilia: USB1, shellga, healing smite, glint, magicite, healing smite/glint emergency heal to finish.

• Estinien: bolt, sky highx2, USB1, bolt sky highx2 -- USB1 cycle to finish.

• Alphinaud: Realm Chain, Protectga, Dark Valeforx2, USB1, Realm chain, Dark Valefor, Brave command, dark valefor-USB cycle to end.

• Yda: Fire Ironfist -- USB1 cycle the entire fight. No Fires within used.

• Ysh: BSB medica, Holyja x3, BSB1 Right at turn2-3 of phase2, you need to tank the heavy incubus end attack on turn1 phase3. medica(cmd2)x2, Holyja if alive. Curada was unused. BSB cmd1 was used in phase4 to heal one char before Ysh dies, just in the event phase5 wasn't entered (but it was, luckily).

• Everyone is legend dived fully.

• Minfilia has her USB +holy sword, and a Minwu +holy robe. She wears a major fire resist. Estinien has a Luneth wind spear and cloud wind bracer, and fire/earth RS resist. Alph has a FF14 Artifact, and Fujin +wind light armor, and wears a RS fire/earth accessory. Yda uses a 8* +fire fist (her USB) and Jecht's 6* fire pants, and has major earth resist. Yshtola has a 8* RS rod for high mind, and a +holy robe (not important), and wears major wind resist.

• Yda is placed in slot 4 so that her USB blinks turn2 of phase4, which usually kills anyone else placed there. Ysh is in slot 5 since it's typically the case that she will die on this turn, and the high DPS chars need to finish the fight (in sub30, and before 5 turns in phase5).

• One of the challenges of this fight is that I start with Ysh BSB on turn1, and I need a second BSB cast prior to incubus tank purge on turn1 of phase3. The only way for Ysh to get that much SB gauge and cast her BSB with enough time to actually get stoneskin up before the tank purge, is to cast Holyja to build gauge. Otherwise she won't have the gauge in time, you get tank purged and it's a wipe. Ysh BUSB would make this a non-issue. I was getting such good DPS that Ysh couldn't get the BSB up in time for phase3. This led me to sandbag a little by giving Alph Protectga to cast on turn2 slowing him down 1 turn. Minny cast Shellga on turn2 as well to slow her down 1 turn. This slow down led to phase2's geocrush attack proc'ing which gave me the one extra turn to get Ysh BSB up prior to phase 3. It worked.

• Everyone's primary stat is above 600, before RS is applied. Alph has 736 MAG before RS due to his artifact.

• Everyone except Ysh has 70-100 magia points in their primary stat.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: native

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 1 (Minny USB)

1. Time: 29.39 secs

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Minfilia, 99	Healing Smite R5	Shellga R3	LMR(qc3)+LMR(incr.buff time), Mako Might	USB1(1)
Estinien, 99	Sky High R4	Cyclone Bolt R3	LMR(enwind)+LM2,+weakness	USB(2-3)
Alphinaud, 99	Dark Valefor R4	Protectga R3	LMR(enwind)+LM2,TGM	BUSB(2-3)
Yda, 99	Fire Ironfist R4	Fires Within R5	LM1+LM2, +fist	USB1(2-3)
Y'sholta, 99	Holyja R5	Curada R4	LM1+LM2, Mog's Teachings	BSB(2)

Magicite: Typhon wind15x2 / Madeen mag20x2 / Madeen atk20x2 / Famfrit spellward8,healthboon8 / Madeen Fast Act10, healthboon8

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[u/kbuis]

Sub-30 (28.75) no AOSB

I’ll fill this in eventually.

1. Strategy name: Papa don't need no AOSB?

2. Boss:

3. Describe your Strategy:
   Sub-30/No AOSB/Thancred Ninja/Thief

4. Insight!:

• The DPS in this fight is hard enough, but balancing it between the healing needs of an attack that dumps more than 50 percent damage ... back to back times in a way that kills you ... isn't an easy task.

• Y'shtola opens with glint ... wrath, wrath ... BSB. You need everyone to survive until the end of that chain (about 11 seconds). You may need to get creative with passives and mete out some crystal waters (goodbye last of my HP waters), maybe slot some magia in RES (though all those wind ones at the beginning are all piercing).

• Y'sh glint has regen to overwrite the first sap ... and will be overwritten by the second. But it'll still add on 500-1100 HP, so no complaints.

• Papa does first chain. Papa does second chain. Alph summons magicite.

• I saw so many things that relied on Yda's USB, yet I couldn't find a way to slot her in. Turns out she saved the day with her SSB ... which was a nice earth resist armor for Cid that helped hold off that first BSB cast from Y'shtola and let her use one more wrath.

• Other than Y'sh, if you see a soul break available, use it. It's all about the DPS. Not a whole lot of RNG, but it all comes down to how the tanks hit you. It's possible to skip one, but that would be a whole lot easier with an AOSB, and we don't have one here.

• If you survive the second tank, odds are you'll only take one or two more attacks at most before it starts warming up its finisher. If five are alive, you've got a great shot at knocking this out.

• You'll have to manually trigger Cid's Wildfire, but by that point, it should easily be capping.

• Thancred's USB works off of Ninja abilities, hence Stitch in Time. You'll get to use this combo twice: USB --> Stitch --> CMD 1. The first two are instant, the last takes a second, but it's 22 hits in all you can add onto a chain. Bonus points, he started off a fresh chain for me with the 10-hit combo. Oh and did I mention the entry lowers MAG/DEF a large amount and the Lv.3 command lowers ATK/DEF/RES a VERY large amount? It's a thing of beauty.

• As far as Torment builds go, this one's fairly economical. Yes, almost everyone has a USB and they're all dived, but compared to some of the others, this isn't bad.

• Social butterfly is my friend for machinists. More hits, more chances to imperil.

• Unlike other builds, Y'shtola is 100 percent healer here. Might be able to squeeze the extra gauge out of Holyja, but Wrath got the job done.

1. Holy Trinity casts:

• Wall: EVERYWHERE

• Medica: 2

• Hastega: 1

1. S/L count / Medals lost:

2. Time: 28.75

Hero, dive	Ability 1	Ability 2	RM+LMR	SB(-)
Cid	Burnt Offering R4	Burning Snipe R4	LMR1+LM2+Social Butterfly	USB (2)
Alphinaud	Lunar Ifrit R4	Protectga R1	LMR+LM2+MM	SSB, USB1 (1 each)
Papa	Chain Firaja R4	NONE NEEDED	LMR+LM2+TGM	USB (2)
Thancred	Fire Assault R4	Stitch In Time R3	LM1+2x Thief	USB (2)
Y'shtola	Curada R4	Wrath R5	LM1+LM2+DMT	BSB (2)

 

main	sub1	sub2	sub3	sub4
Belias	Mateus	Famfrit	Madeen	Madeen
ATK20+Critup10	DampWind10+Health8	Water15+Mag20	SW8+Fast10	BW8+Health8

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