Let's talk about Hunts - a detailed rundown of their assumed mechanics

[NoboruSouma]

Alright, Stormblood is only a few days away - let's bring up all the notes we have for the HW S Ranks, shall we?
I will keep Vandesaan's formating if that's okay.

So .. let's go:


Zone: Coerthas Western Highlands
Hunt target: Kaiser Behemoth
Spawn condition: Spawned by running or flying over or near the spawn locations with your "Behemoth Heir"-minion out.
Respawn cooldown: approx. 80 hours
Maximum respawn time: approx. 135 hours
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: approx. 60 hours / insufficient data
Maximum respawn time after maintenance: yet tbd / insufficient data

Zone: The Sea of Clouds
Hunt target: Bird of Paradise
Spawn condition: Squonk's "Chirp" will bring Bird of Paradise to show up. It doesn't matter if Squonk is at critical HP or not. If you are searching for Squonk: He will only spawn in the southern half of the Map.
Respawn cooldown: approx. 80 hours
Maximum respawn time: approx. 135 hours
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: approx. 60 hours / insufficient data
Maximum respawn time after maintenance: yet tbd / insufficient data

Zone: The Dravanian Forelands
Hunt target: Senmurv
Spawn condition: Spawned by completing the F.A.T.E. "Cerf's Up" (located at X:19.5 Y:27.5) five times in a row. It doesn't matter if you do it alone or in a group. Remember that the timer for the F.A.T.E. to respawn can vary from 30 minutes to nearly 3 hours.
Respawn cooldown: approx. 80 hours
Maximum respawn time: approx. 140 hours
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: approx. 60 hours / insufficient data
Maximum respawn time after maintenance: yet tbd / insufficient data

Zone: The Churning Mists
Hunt target: Gandarewa
Spawn condition: Spawned by gathering "Seventh Heaven" (located around X:18 Y:36.5 at 4a.m./4p.m.) or "Arumn Regis Ore" (located around X:10 Y:36 at 2a.m./2p.m.). Since these are legendary nodes you need the dravanian mining/botany folklore. You can get these for 99 blue gatherer marks in Idyllshire respectivly.
Respawn cooldown: approx. 90 hours
Maximum respawn time: approx. 150 hours
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: approx. 60 hours / insufficient data
Maximum respawn time after maintenance: yet tbd / insufficient data

Zone: The Dravanian Hinterlands
Hunt target: The Pale Rider
Spawn condition: Spawned by opening a Wyvern Skin Treasure Chest or a Levequest Treasure Chest (spawning through levequest chests seem rare. haven't seen this myself yet, just going by messages from otheres here. need more confirmation).
Respawn cooldown: approx. 85 hours
Maximum respawn time: approx. 150 hours
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: approx. 60 hours / insufficient data
Maximum respawn time after maintenance: yet tbd / insufficient data

Zone: Azys Lla
Hunt target: Leucrotta
Spawn condition: Spawned by killing 50 Lesser Hydra (located around X:12.5 Y:33.5), 50 Meracydian Vouivre (located around X:10.5 Y:37.5) and 50 Allagan Chimera (located around X:31.5 Y:8.5). (If it appears to be less that only means that someone else already killed a few when the window opened.)
Respawn cooldown: approx. 90 hours
Maximum respawn time: approx. 140 hours
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: approx. 60 hours / insufficient data
Maximum respawn time after maintenance: yet tbd / insufficient data


I will still look through my notes if I missed anything but this should be all from my side now.
Yes, the respawns after maintenance are approx. the same though they vary only in a small way. usually they open at the same time but, depending on the random factor, can take longer.

[NoboruSouma]

First Stormblood S Rank spawned on Cerberus (EU) just now - 06.18.17 around 6p.m. GMT+2 - seems to be FATE-triggered, needs confirmation

Min Spawn after maintenance: ~ 55 hours

[KageTokage]

I've been checking all the FATEs in the zone rather religiously, hoping to find one with an obvious connection to the hint that was given based on the flavor text, but no luck.

I have a decent idea of how the S rank in the Ruby Sea, the Lochs, and Yanxia might be spawned, but need to put it to the test.

[NoboruSouma]

I've been checking all the FATEs in the zone rather religiously, hoping to find one with an obvious connection to the hint that was given based on the flavor text, but no luck.

I have a decent idea of how the S rank in the Ruby Sea, the Lochs, and Yanxia might be spawned, but need to put it to the test.

Have a decent idea on those as well - though my attempts in Yanxia failed. But I can't go to every place in that area, so ..

[KageTokage]

I think it would be good if someone could transcribe the JP hunt descriptions.

Some of them were a lot less subtle in the hints, and some of the translations have just been plain wrong before (IE, the Garlok doesn't even mention what makes it spawn at all).

[KageTokage]

Just had an Orghana spawn on Cactaur.

I think it might be tied to the completion of the "More then Tribute" FATE, because I noticed it was up while I was doing a circle of the map shortly after I completed it .

The hunt is pretty simple mechanics wise, but there's TONS of avoidable and unavoidable AoE damage going out. It has a random target instant AoE, a choreographed line AoE (Epigraph; don't stand in front of it), and spams an unavoidable AoE several times (Trembling Epigraph), then follows up with a huge, but avoidable AoE right after (Flaring Epigraph). The Trembling Epigraph spam is the worst, as it does it as much as four times in a row for 10Kish a hit, which can wipe any non-tank players swiftly.

EDIT: Confirmed spawn condition. It showed up again in instance 2 after I completed said FATE. The hint is slightly misleading/mistranslated, as it says Orghana seeks vengeance for his twin sister, but the subject of said FATE is stated to be male,

[NoboruSouma]

I think it might be tied to the completion of the "More then Tribute" FATE, because I noticed it was up while I was doing a circle of the map shortly after I completed it .
[...]
EDIT: Confirmed spawn condition. It showed up again in instance 2 after I completed said FATE. The hint is slightly misleading/mistranslated, as it says Orghana seeks vengeance for his twin sister, but the subject of said FATE is stated to be male,

Nice, good job!


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I think I will just go ahead and do another post about the Hunts and their triggers since we gather the informations very quick now. Let's start, shall we?



Zone: The Fringes
Hunt target: Udumbara (Due to Early Access not yet available.)
Spawn condition:
Respawn cooldown:
Maximum respawn time:
Respawn cooldown after maintenance:
Maximum respawn time after maintenance:


Zone: Thhe Peaks
Hunt target: Bone Crawler (Due to Early Access not yet available.)
Spawn condition:
Respawn cooldown:
Maximum respawn time:
Respawn cooldown after maintenance:
Maximum respawn time after maintenance:


Zone: The Ruby Sea
Hunt target: Okina
Spawn condition: Probably linked to the weather like Garlok - please look at this - link - for more information.
Respawn cooldown:
Maximum respawn time:
Respawn cooldown after maintenance:
Maximum respawn time after maintenance:
Description: Have you heard tales of Okina, the giant striped ray? Drunken pirates insist that the wavekin devours whales, but this is an embellishment─otherwise known as an outright lie. Okina eats only krill. The tiny shrimp gather to feed on the husks of shellfish, and when the seas teem with their numbers, that is when Okina appears, riding on the spring tide. But though the great ray does not prey on whales, its cavernous mouth can swallow careless hunters whole. Be sure not to slip in the ebb and flow of the shallows.

Zone: Yanxia
Hunt target: Gamma
Spawn condition: Spawned by walking or flying over the spawn locations with the Toy Alexander Minion out when it's dark. Best chances are between 8p.m. and a yet tbd time before sunrise.
Respawn cooldown:
Maximum respawn time:
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: ~45 hours -needs confirmation-
Maximum respawn time after maintenance:
Description: Ah, this one. The information on a rogue imperial prototype warmachina did not come cheaply or easily. Ahem. “Codename: Gamma. This model was designed to be an automated improvement over the piloted armored weapon, allowing it to operate without loss of function in near darkness. The results were unsatisfactory and the project was supposedly scrapped. During testing, Gamma was commanded to attack a compact craft capable of considerable maneuverability. Now, whenever it detects said craft, the weapon engages in indiscriminate hostility.” Sounds positively cheery, doesn't it?

Zone: The Azim Steppe
Hunt target: Orghana
Spawn condition: Spawned by defeating the FATE "Not just a Tribute at X:12.5 Y:14.5. Needs confirmation if it needs to be done more than once.
Respawn cooldown:
Maximum respawn time:
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: ~55 hours
Maximum respawn time after maintenance:
Description: The Xaela of these lands have a custom wherein we carve the histories of our greatest heroes and warriors into stone reliefs. The chuluu of the hero Orghana is an embodiment of his life's journey. So much so, that the stone itself wanders the steppes, seeking to emulate the story carved upon its surface. Orghana, a son of the Himaa, was said to have had a twin sister. And one of our most famous tales concerns the vengeance he wrought upon his sibling's killers...

There is a translation error - Orghana had a twin brother. Check the linked Screenshot. Also: all informations online link to "Orghana" being a "she".

Zone: The Lochs
Hunt target: Salt and Light
Spawn condition: Spawned by discarding items in your inventory in the zone. Where you need to discard the items is not recorded anywhere so just try it everywhere, though Loch Seld is mentioned in the spawn hint!
Respawn cooldown:
Maximum respawn time:
Respawn cooldown after maintenance: ~48 hours -needs confirmation
Maximum respawn time after maintenance:
Description: According to the records of the Resistance, a clan of goblins once came barreling in from the west, and smashed through an imperial checkpoint. The Empire's forces soon gave chase, and cornered the beastmen on the shores of Loch Seld. The goblins were slain to a man, but not before one of them hurled a strange device into the loch's waters. The surface of the loch was seen to bulge upwards, forming into a watery giant which proceeded to decimate the Garlean soldiers before suddenly draining away once more. Honestly, folk should be more careful with what they choose to throw away...


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Will edit everything as soon as I am getting back home this afternoon!

[KageTokage]

I thought that Gamma would spawn from riding the Manacutter mount around, but after doing what I think was a full sweep of the zone in the thing, it never showed.

It has spawned on other servers according to Reddit, though.

[Daralii]

I thought that Gamma would spawn from riding the Manacutter mount around, but after doing what I think was a full sweep of the zone in the thing, it never showed.

It has spawned on other servers according to Reddit, though.

Was it night when you tried? The hint does say it was designed to operate in darkness.

[KageTokage]

Oh. That's true.

Will have to try again, then, since it was daytime.

EDIT: Did it again, still nothing. I suppose it's remotely possible someone could've sniped it without anyone knowing, though.