Rivenroad (Hard)

[fusional]

timing is a factor, but not a huuuuuge factor. people still want white ravens. the problem is that rivenroad (hard) is designed in such a way as to have very strict requirements as far as tanking, healing and dps... and given that it takes most LSs almost the full 30 minutes to actually score a kill, it feels very punishing and unforgiving when those requirements aren't met and you wipe. (ie: you do everything right and don't blow yourself up but still don't meet the DPS requirements and have to start all over again from scratch)

ifrit extreme is harder overall, i think, due to latency. but as far as straight up battle design goes rivenroad (hard) is much more execution-heavy and most people just don't have the gear/skill/patience to try a 30 minute fight over and over again until they finally get it right.

as far as achievement tracking on xivcore goes, it looks like only about 10% of registered members have completed garuda. less have completed ifrit extreme (i'm gonna estimate 3-5%)... and only 1% have finished rivenroad hard.

so, yeah. tl;dr i think it's a combination of the fight being too hard for the current player base as well as the current player base largely lacking the fortitude to gut it out until they win.

[Madruk]

I'm sorry for hijacking your thread but my group just started doing this today (so much fun!) and I have one question: how should we deal with the golems during 2nd megaflare (when he's charging the 2nd megaflare, that is)? What have you guys done?

There's actually a very easy way to avoid this stage entirely. I'm assuming you're talking about the golems that pop around 60% in the second phase. The setup we used was PLD, BRD, DRGx2, WHM, BLMx3. If you get Darnus down to 80%ish after the second phase, stop dps and wait for him to do Dalamund jump (just make sure you keep at that % dont let him regen too much). When he lands again, burn him from 80% to 50% and you can skip the golem phase entirely (he does the actual golem phase at 60%, so anything below that works). With two DRGs and the BLM's we usually got him down to below 50% before he did his second jump, but that was with a fairly stacked group. Even with less gear it should be fairly easy to burn him down past 59% so long as you know what you're doing with two DRG's.

Being able to switch out those extra WHM's and MNK's for DRG's makes this fight go much much faster.

Edit: Nvm im a dumbass you're just talking about the golems that pop with the megaflare haha, but what I posted above should still help some people that might be struggling with the actual golem phase.

[Mook_Mook]

SO are the dd suppose to be running out of the circle slash? Between unbuffing nael, healing tank, and dd's eating circle slash, it was tough with just two white mages.

[Taika]

Thank you for the golem advice (for both phases), much appreciated!

SO are the dd suppose to be running out of the circle slash?

I'm not sure which move you mean here, probably the Iron Chariot (circle AoE knockback)? We have our melees just eating the move but it's rarely any danger to them. We have 2 WHMs and keep regen up on all melees and also rotate AoE stoneskin on them.

We tried this for the first time yesterday. Had a WAR tank and he didn't need too much healing (only have experience in phase 1!) other than when he got hit by the defense down thing. And when he did, both of us cast Cura on him, then one did Esuna and the other Aerora on Darnus. Our MNK also used the disbel combo.

[Req]

SO are the dd suppose to be running out of the circle slash? Between unbuffing nael, healing tank, and dd's eating circle slash, it was tough with just two white mages.

No, this means your white mages need to step it up and get a better rotation down. I have beaten the fight twice with one white mage (One of those times I was the white mage) The fact you can keep regen on the entire party for the near entirety of the battle with 2 makes things alot easier. Just make sure you use your curagas very liberally and do your best to hit the regen cap for your enhancing magic. The better your regen is the easier any fight will be, especially ones where everyone in the party is taking damage regularly.

And the most important thing of all to differentiate a good white mage from a bad one is knowing when to use benediction. Too many white mages never use the damn thing in case there is an "oh shit moment" but then when that moment comes they end up trying to just use normal cures to get through it in case they need their benediction later. 90% of the time someones going to die. You will get it twice in this fight if you use it within the first 10ish minutes and that goes for every 15 minute ability.

[Honz]

Thank you for the golem advice (for both phases), much appreciated!


I'm not sure which move you mean here, probably the Iron Chariot (circle AoE knockback)? We have our melees just eating the move but it's rarely any danger to them. We have 2 WHMs and keep regen up on all melees and also rotate AoE stoneskin on them.

We tried this for the first time yesterday. Had a WAR tank and he didn't need too much healing (only have experience in phase 1!) other than when he got hit by the defense down thing. And when he did, both of us cast Cura on him, then one did Esuna and the other Aerora on Darnus. Our MNK also used the disbel combo.

As many others have stated PLD tank is ideal for this fight. WAR takes too many plasma acoustics (def down) and requires one WHM to stay with him at all times. If your DRGs are pulling the damage they suppose to, the WAR tank will have a really hard time keeping hate. PLD's single target enmity generation and self healing makes them far superior to WAR in this fight.

[Luhy]

People like the illusion of comfort. Ifrit EX is a shorter fight with less "rules" than Rivenroad (Hard). A lot of people still haven't even finished the relics that they want. Weapons are always shinier than accessories as well. I think it was confirmed that this quest is disappearing for 2.0, but it's not a priority for a lot of people.

It's not really a hard fight. The first Ifrit win for most LSs probably took a week, give-or-take. My LS didn't even TRY this fight until two weeks ago and we won on our third night. You just need a good PLD and a decent WHM. Use Divine Veil for the first block (since it can last for two Plasma Acoustics) and Aegis second. You want the more useful ability to cool-down sooner. (Divine Veil also gives AoE regen to the DDs right away, but the PLD should mostly be curing DRG for hate and to keep the WHM focused on just them). Other than that, another thing I did in my LS that most other videos don't do is we didn't use Lunar Curtain. Instead, we went in with a timed Resonance + Thundaga x3, then did STR potions and zerg'd a bit (BRD PLD MNK DRG and Aero for DoT). We all survive that first Megaflare because of the damage we dealt and we're free to use Mega-Potion of STR over and over every 5 minutes after a teleport-spree. This helps deal with the time issue (winning with 3-4 minutes left vs. winning with only seconds left)

[KiraHime]

The reason you wont find many groups for this is because the content is not "spam until you get a drop"

When content requires you to do it ad-nauseum to get your reward the player base benefits from everyone knowing how to do it. I remember when my group first started getting CC 5chest runs and nobody else was, if a few members werent online we couldnt do any more, no 5 chests for anyone! then as strats became readily available and we began to teach more people how to do it, it was much more beneficial to everyone!

With Darnus Hard - 1 win - Fight done - no need to do it again unless to help people. So unless your LS is going to have you in their main group, or is willing to help their members through, you wont find people doing it.

People seem to think 2.0 having a solid token system will help the dungeons. more than likely, an LS that knows how to beat the content will get their tokens and have no reason to go back, whilst the rest of the player base struggles to get a clear.

No need to spam it, no need to teach it.

[Meatdawg]

This fight was not too bad once we got a decent Mage Strat down.

What you need are the following
-A solid PLD tank. (I'm sure a war can do it but the survivability of the PLD comes in handy here)
-4 good mages. 2 Blm, 2 Whm
-2 drgs for max dps
-1 mnk to deal with golems at the 80-60% phase (The other golems can all be ignored, I'll explain later)

This link describes all the moves the boss can do. http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/112...=1#post5353871

The tank really needs to keep the boss in the middle, and when he can't, the mages need to adjust.

Blm's should practice nuking from the bottom, and only going up to the mid platform for the meteor phases. You can combo off the boss while you are nuking him and handle the random meteor he drops from time to time. (Thunder boss, Thundara Meteor.) The reason for this is you want the extra dps.

Lets go over the fight phases and how we handled each one.

100-65% everyone should be below doing max dps. The mages keeping good range to miss both Iron Curtain and Lunar Dynamo with the tank doing his best to keep the boss in the middle. He will go port crazy at times closer to 60% but just readjust as needed. Mele here is going all out and with 2whm's they should have np keeping them topped off after taking a Iron Curtain.

65% both blm's go up same side and prep to nuke the meteors. These will fall till about 40% (I forget the exact number because im the blm for this) These alternate one after the other on each side but can both be got from either platform. Just nuke in tandom or take turns, this is pretty easy.

40% both blm's go back down and nuke till about 25%. Once you get to 25% do the same thing and run back up to the same middle platform. At 20% he will port up top and prep MegaFlare. Here the meteors will start to drop SLOWLY and each blm can alternate or take turns nuking. Alternating is probably best. The tank will run up to where the 2 BLM's are nuking and grab the 2 golems that spawn there and just off tank them. (they DO NOT have to die) Up top DPS'ing the boss should be both DRG AND the Mnk. The whm's should stand with the pld next to the blm's. The reason for this is you have to do X amount of damage up top to force him to MegaFlare early. When you do this ALL GOLEMS will despawn and he pops down bleow. If your dps is too slow here fast meteors start to drop after about 7, and this along with the golems are completely avoidable if you DPS hard at the top.

100% phase 2. Now he is at the bottom again and will port up top every 1:45 about. Count it off and have the DRG's ready to run up a few seconds before hand. When he gets to 80% he will start spawning MULTIPLE golems down below and this is where the MNK wants to kill them. Use Fow and get help from the whm's with aero/aeroga. You can either try to control skip the 80%-60% golem spawning phase or just work through it. As long as he is in that range and jumps you will get golems down below every time. (multiple, not just the 1 he always spawns)

60% and below phase 2. Now that you are past the Glolem spawning phase you need your mages to get ready. Their are multiple ways to do this but you are going to need all 4 mages to participate. This is where the Pld can keep himself alive. We have tried multiple ways to do this but the strat that DN uses on Gungir worked best for us.

40% 10 Meteor Phase. At 40% he will say something like "Come, lost child, and receive of me the gift of purity." You want one BLM solo on the far middle platform and 2 whm's on the other middle platform. The last Blm is on the bottom of the stairs by the 2 whm. 5 will drop each side with some out over the arena, some over the stairs all at differnt heights and speeds. THEY ALWAYS SPAWN THE SAME SPOTS. The bottom blm is responsible for geting 3-4 meteors. These are the ones that are out over the arena and start low for the platform mages. The 2 whm's are responsible for 3 meteors. Thats right, 3 meteors for 2 whm's. You can use stone, aero and when they are about to hit the stairs, holy. The lone blm on the other side gets 4. (this is normally me)
-My rotation was Thunder-Thundara the first one.
-blizzard-Thunder the 2nd one.
-Thundara the 3rd one. (in combo from previous nuke)
-Thundar-Thundara the last one

40-20% phase 2. Once you get past the 10 meteors just go back down and continue on as normall.

20% phase 2. Home stretch here and he will do another slow meteors phase like 60% phase 1 but all you need to do is send 1 blm up and the other can help from below if needed.

Other key points involve the tank and being able to block the Boss's debuff/buff move. This can be blocked with Agies and Veil but when it hits it gives the tank a debuff to about 200 def and the boss a def buff. This must be ensuna'd from the tank and stripped off the boss by either Aeroga or the Mnk's debuff move.

You can substitute a brd for a whm but I have found that 2 whm's give the best chance for new groups starting out and still practicing the encounter.

If you have any other questions about the fight just ask away.

I am always down to help any LS trying this on Gungir if you need an extra blm or just want to discuss strat's.

[fusional]

People like the illusion of comfort. Ifrit EX is a shorter fight with less "rules" than Rivenroad (Hard). A lot of people still haven't even finished the relics that they want. Weapons are always shinier than accessories as well. I think it was confirmed that this quest is disappearing for 2.0, but it's not a priority for a lot of people.

It's not really a hard fight. The first Ifrit win for most LSs probably took a week, give-or-take. My LS didn't even TRY this fight until two weeks ago and we won on our third night. You just need a good PLD and a decent WHM. Use Divine Veil for the first block (since it can last for two Plasma Acoustics) and Aegis second. You want the more useful ability to cool-down sooner. (Divine Veil also gives AoE regen to the DDs right away, but the PLD should mostly be curing DRG for hate and to keep the WHM focused on just them). Other than that, another thing I did in my LS that most other videos don't do is we didn't use Lunar Curtain. Instead, we went in with a timed Resonance + Thundaga x3, then did STR potions and zerg'd a bit (BRD PLD MNK DRG and Aero for DoT). We all survive that first Megaflare because of the damage we dealt and we're free to use Mega-Potion of STR over and over every 5 minutes after a teleport-spree. This helps deal with the time issue (winning with 3-4 minutes left vs. winning with only seconds left)

just being a little nitpicky, but disagree with a couple things. for one, solo healing this is about more than just focusing heals on the tank. whm should be able to single target regen on melee +tank and use prism to aoe stoneskin on melee + tank. with constant regen on melee (and popping featherfoot on cooldown to help out), the actual need to directly cure them is pretty low outside of the occasional curaga, and cure bombing the tank isn't really necessary, either, as long as tank has regen and is curing themselves as well. i guess you could try setting it up to allow your whm to just focus on the tank, and i'm sure that works, but i don't see how that's much of an attestation to the whm's skill. imo you get more out of the whm position by allowing them to multitask.

as far as surviving the first megaflare, i think maybe you're misappropriating what's going on. he always jumps up and megaflares immediately upon taking ~2500 damage. if you don't do 2500+ damage, he just sits there and spawns meteors forever and ever and ever. as soon as you cross the 2500+ damage threshold, he jumps and megaflares. now, it's possible i'm wrong about this, but i'm pretty sure unless you're somehow tracking damage so carefully that you have every DPS use some huge damaging ability at the same time just as he's on the cusp for taking 2500 damage, there's really next to no way you can do so much more damage before he actually registers it and jumps that it would somehow dramatically impact megaflare damage. however if you had a thm casting aoe sanguine rite, that should just about cover it.

the *only* other possible explanation i can think of is that the megaflare damage is tied to how long it takes you to actually do 2500 damage to him, but i don't really think that's it, either.

we'll be running it again tonight and we'll test this out, and maybe i'm wrong... but i'm preeeeetty sure it's not the case. (if i am wrong i'll happily return to this thread and admit as much)

and completely aside from that- even with just 2 melee dps and 2 thm/blm it's still easily possible to finish the fight in 23 minutes or less without STR/INT pots. while being able to use pots would help speed things up, it really shouldn't be *necessary* as long as people aren't getting hit by dynamo. the self heal he gets from dynamo is generally the main reason people time out.