Rivenroad (Hard) Discussion and Strategies Thread

[carraway]

Order of the Blue Garter's Guide to Nael deus Darnus (Hard)
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2012/08/15
bluegarter.guildwork.com
compiled by Carraway Author
with special thanks to the killteam
and tactical/moral support from everyone else in BG

Video link (sorry for the low-quality; vent included, ripped from our private restream): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwvi79-qAjM

Summary

Remember that guy, Nael Darnus? Nael deus Darnus? Well, he’s back. The arena is the same as the last phase of the regular fight: a large platform containing a lighted circle downstairs, two sets of stairs (one north and one south) leading to two middle platforms (west and east) and a top center platform. The full fight consists of two Megaflares and two distinct phases separated by full health bars.

Nael himself takes regular damage from both physical and magical sources of damage and reduced damage when he charges Megaflare/Dalamud Dive. Because of the structure of the fight, the party needs to have a solid balance of melee and ranged damage sources. Our party composition for our first kill was: THM, THM, BRD, DRG, DRG, WHM, WHM, PLD. There is certainly some room for flexibility with your party as long as you can survive Megaflares and kill Lunar Fragments and Golems while simultaneously dealing damage to Nael.

Gear-wise, magical damage dealers should aim for at least 515 total m.acc to try to mitigate potential resists on Lunar Fragments. Physical damage dealers should aim for at least 450 total accuracy.

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Abilities

Iron Curtain
- PBAoE, full circle, knockback, approximately 12 yalm range, ~1.5k damage

Teleport
- Teleports to one of the corners around the arena or dead-center in the arena or at the north or south edge
- Follows it up immediately with Thermionic Beam or Lunar Dynamo
- If teleporting from upstairs (Megaflare/Dalamud Dive), can be followed by Plasma Acoustics

Lunar Dynamo
- Can be used after teleport or independently
- PBAoE, full circle, hits everyone outside of ~15 yalms for ~2k damage and ~15% MP (eyeballing)
- Heals Nael for ~1-2k HP per target hit

Plasma Acoustics
- Can be used after teleport from upstairs (Megaflare/Dalamud Dive) or independently
- Deals ~2k damage, places defense-down debuff on target and defense-up buff on Nael
- Defense-down can be Esuna’d; defense-up can be ripped off Nael with Aerora
- Can be blocked with 100% success by a PLD using Aegis Boon or Divine Veil

Thermionic Beam
- Occurs directly after any teleport, including after charging Megaflare/Dalamud Dive
- Straight line that targets across the arena or target with highest enmity
- Deals ~2.5-3k damage

Thermionic Blast
- Occurs directly after Thermionic Beam
- Clusters of blasts can occur in a V-shape branching from the beam (after porting to one of the corners) or ~10-15 yalms behind (after porting into the middle) or to the sides (after porting to an outer edge)
- Can be dodged by being completely outside the circle or being directly behind Nael

Summon Lunar Fragment
- Raises lance into air and summons a Lunar Fragment that falls from the sky in the NW or SE of the arena
- Accompanied by combat log text: "Lunar debris is caught in the elemental field over Rivenroad."
- Regular fragments have ~667 HP and can be targeted from the middle platforms in the arena; see detailed fight description for special fragments
- Nael: "I shall not suffer life" = SE; "I shall not suffer death" = NW
- Lunar Fragments, when destroyed, drop a deaspected cluster, which can then be made into a Lunar Curtain
- If not destroyed, they will deal ~1.2-1.5k damage to everyone and spawn a Lunar Golem with approximately 3800 HP; golems are weak to wind only

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The Actual Fight

Megaflare 1

Upon engaging, Nael will immediately begin charging his first Megaflare, which will deal overkill damage unless mitigated. By using Sanguine Rite, Sentinel or Lunar Curtain, Stoneskin, Rampart, and Battle Voice, you will ensure that everyone survives.

Dealing ~2.5k damage to Nael while he is charging will force Megaflare. During this time, he will also spawn alternating Lunar Fragments, starting with the SE position, then NW. These Fragments have approximately 834 HP. If any land, the resulting damage from Megaflare is substantially increased. One ranged DPS should move up to one of the middle platforms as soon as the party engages and destroy the Lunar Fragments as they spawn.

Phase 1

After the first Megaflare, Nael will teleport into the arena and the fight will actually begin. At this point in time, he has access to his full suite of abilities as described above. If all ranged players maintain a ~13-14 yalm distance from Nael outside the circle, they should be safe from all abilities, but they must constantly be ready to adjust every single time Nael teleports.

Keeping the one ranged DPS on one of the middle platforms should ensure that you have regular Lunar Fragment coverage. However, at or below 60%, Nael will say, "Hope and despair...Joy and sorrow...Such things are meaningless." This signals the beginning of a fast Lunar Fragment phase that lasts until below 40%. You will likely need at least two ranged DPS on one of the middle platforms to be able to kill the constantly spawning, fast-moving Lunar Fragments. As with the regular ones, they have ~667 HP.

Once you’ve taken Nael below 40%, it’s back to basics until below 20%. He will say "Oblivion...Well do I know thee..." and after a certain amount of time, he will teleport upwards, accompanied by the combat log message "You sense a sinister presence overhead!" This signals the beginning of the next Megaflare.

Megaflare 2

Nael teleports to the top platform and begins charging the second (and final) Megaflare. At the same time, a total of eight Lunar Golems (~2200 HP) spawn on the north and south sides, including two on each middle platform, and two on each set of stairs. The golems have very high magic evasion, but can be leashed across the arena, tanked, or killed. Lunar Fragments will also start constantly spawning, starting in the SE position and alternating with the NW. These have ~1333 HP. The first six will fall slowly. From the seventh on, they will start falling quickly. As with the first Megaflare, if any fragments land, they will increase the damage dealt by Megaflare.

Melee DPS should immediately move to the top platform to deal as much damage to Nael as possible in order to force Megaflare. The faster Megaflare happens, the less time you have to spend dealing with Lunar Fragments and Golems. Without any landed fragments, Megaflare should deal ~1.5k damage to everyone and can be mitigated through the usual means.

Phase 2

Now comes the super-fun part. The eight Lunar Golems despawn, Nael heals to 100% HP, and teleports down with his full suite of abilities, including the occasional Lunar Fragment summon. For this reason it’s suggested to keep a ranged DPS on the middle platform at all times.

After at least one-and-a-half minutes downstairs (depending on how much Nael spams other abilities), Nael can choose to teleport up top again (accompanied by the combat log message "You sense a sinister presence overhead!"). He will begin to charge Dalamud Dive, which can deal a highly variable amount of damage. A Lunar Golem will spawn downstairs at the same time. By dealing a certain amount of damage to Nael up top, you can reduce the damage of or completely prevent Dalamud Dive. After Dive (or forced teleportation downstairs without Dive), he repeats this pattern.

If Nael is around 60-75% when he teleports up to Dive, he will spawn golems (~2200 HP) when he returns downstairs, one after the other in timed intervals, capping out at five total. These need to be killed or the party will be overrun. They can also spawn with initial enmity on any player in the arena, so they need to be picked up as quickly as possible by someone downstairs. WHMs’ Aero and Aerora out-of-combo can deal the vast majority of damage to these.

From 40-59%, Nael only uses his regular abilities. Once you knock him below 40%, he can initiate a special sequence of ten total Lunar Fragments (~667 HP), accompanied by Nael saying, "Come, lost child, and receive of me the gift of purity." We recommend at least two ranged DPS on each middle platform, west and east (reached via north and south stairs respectively). Here, a WHM can switch to Cleric Stance and put on a nuking set to help out. Five total Lunar Fragments will spawn on the north half of the arena, and five on the south half of the arena, in alternation, starting with the SE. They can spawn high (just above the top platform) or low (level with the middle platforms). At least one high-spawning fragment per north and south halves can spawn as fast-falling.

On the north half, the sequence is: first high far north, second high further north, third high just NW of the platform that can land on the stairs, fourth low just NE of the platform, and fifth low slightly further NE of the platform.

On the south half, the sequence is: first high south, second low SW, third low SE, fourth high SE over stairs, fifth high SE over stairs.

This sequence of fragments is independent of Nael’s Dive rotation, so the physical DPS will need to continue chasing Nael up to force/prevent Dive. Once you’ve finished the fragments off, the fight goes back to normal until 20%. At this point, the alternating fast-falling Lunar Fragments from Phase 1 will resume until he’s dead, but the rate at which they spawn is potentially slower than before.

And that’s it. PUT THAT NAEL IN THE COFFIN.