Garuda Hard Mode

[Nichigo]

Essentially I'd say ilvl 55-60 is pretty good. So when all your main gear has be updated once you should ok, your acc are fine for Garuda. At the end of it all she never really hits too hard just make sure to avoid slipstreams and hope the heals do well when the adds spawn. The add phase is the only spot where I get nervously low on hp.

How do you avoid the slip streams? I always though it was target based since it wasn't a "red box" move.

[Bhaelor]

Just run behind her before she's finished casting. You may get stuck eating some when she teleports and calls in her sisters, in that case just make sure she's positioned so as not to hit anyone else in the group.

[Sephirah]

Just run behind her before she's finished casting. You may get stuck eating some when she teleports and calls in her sisters, in that case just make sure she's positioned so as not to hit anyone else in the group.

When she jumps to summon her sisters, she always uses slipstream once she gets within a certain range, so if you move closer to her it will trigger sooner, giving you enough room to run back and not be hit by it.

[Vortok]

How do you avoid the slip streams? I always though it was target based since it wasn't a "red box" move.

As mentioned, run behind her. It works for a lot of spells in this game (Void Thunder/Fire is another strong example). I know we've all played a lot of MMOs where npc casters can magically face the right direction no matter how much you run around them and finish their cast anyway, but in this game they seem to obey the same rules that player casters have to deal with. Was fighting a Gigas in Mor Dhona earlier that used Stone as its primary attack - just ran around it a bunch and it rarely finished a cast. Similar story for a nearby sprite that used Thunder.

It's probably why the cast time on generic spells that enemies use (Blizzard, Thunder, Stone, etc.) is so fast - to make the effort of dancing behind them less worthwhile, especially if you have melee dps that'll get cranky if you're constantly turning stuff. Might try it next time I'm in Stone Vigil with no DRG or MNK, though. Could lower the damage output of those 'trap card' 3 pulls of sprites since some healers seem to have issues bombing heals during those pulls.

Would've made that giant burst of damage (from 2 adds + the boss casting a void spell) at 25% of the last fight in Haukke Manor a lot easier to deal with if I'd known it back then, haha.