Need advice: Garuda (Normal Mode)

[Jaminos]

So I am about to jump into Garuda for the first time and I would really appreciate any advice my fellow tanks may have. I am avoiding watching any videos on YouTube simply because I don't want any of it spoiled for me.

While I don't want to see any cut scene/visual spoilers. I would like to know the mechanics for each stage.

Additionally, what is the recommended defense rating and health level for this fight? Currently I am sitting at 2800 range for health with 428 defense rating. Should I farm Stone Vigil a few more times for gear or am as prepared as I can get?

Thanks guys!

[Avalon_Albrook]

I've run Garuda SM a bunch of times now and here are all the steps from my PLD perspective.

-- Tell your party to, except for one single time, never ever ever face Garuda. You may be able to absorb her slipstream attack if you end up getting caught in it and don't move out of it fast enough, but it can KO any of the others very easily.

-- Tank her to the most extreme far edge of the field as you can in phase 1. The way I do it is to just have her hugging the edge she starts on at first. When she respawns the second time and is on the other end of the field, I switch to tanking her on that side. Have her hug the edges because her AoE attacks will damage the stone pillars. You want the pillars as intact as possible for the phase 2 transition. The less of the pillars there are, the more damage your party takes, and it's extremely easy to wipe in the phase 2 transition.

-- When feathers spawn, they need to be destroyed ASAP. In phase 1, they attack the pillars to wear them down. In phase 2, they can harm the party. DPS and even the healer (if you use rampart and/or sentinel to keep Garuda from dealing you serious damage) need to nuke the feathers immediately, and if you can toss some shield lobs to the ones closest to you to help out, even better.

-- In phase 1, she respawns 4 times. The first, second and fourth times require hiding behind the pillars or else you die from massive AoE damage. The first time she respawns, it's right around where she starts off. The second time, it's right behind where the party starts off. Fourth time she respawns is in the center. When she respawns the third time, it's also in the center, but doesn't cause damage.

-- I would recommend having your party not touch the limit break and keep that just for you to use. The instant she disappears to respawn for the fourth time, I'd suggest using the limit break yourself to put up Mighty Guard for the party. If the pillars have been worn down enough, this will be the difference between surviving and a wipe.

-- That fourth respawn in the center is what triggers phase 2. The pillars are gone and Garuda shrinks the field down to a much smaller circle. This time, the barrier that surrounds you will damage you if you step into it. You need to stay within the barrier. Keep her facing away from the party, and you stay hugging the edge of the barrier as much as you can.

-- In phase 2, the first time she respawns, make sure everyone runs behind her. She does frontal AoE damage that will KO the party if they're caught in it. The feathers then reappear. Destroy them asap.

-- She'll respawn again after that, this time outside of the barrier. You and the party need to QUICKLY run as far to the opposite side from her as you possibly can. This is the ONLY time that you want to be directly facing her. Frankly, you have no choice but to face her, because there's no way to avoid it.

-- From here, she's at about 10-15% left. Nuke the crap out of her until she's dead. Use your buffs as needed to keep yourself alive for as long as possible in case your healer has died during any of the other hairy parts of phase 2. This means you should avoid using rampart and sentinel again once phase 2 starts until you're at this point. More than one Garuda run has ended with me ending up as the last man standing of the party, slashing the hell out of her like crazy while buffed and just barely killing her before I drop. It may end up being the same for you.

And that, sir, has been my Garuda experiences so far. With all of that being said, it's going to mean jack to you until you're actually running it and you start seeing the mechanics for themselves. Way easier said than done for the entire party. But when you get it down, it's an awesomely fun fight.

[Jaminos]

Thanks Avalon! Any suggestions on health or defense minimums? I want to have every advantage I can have.

[Shuon]

i dont think she is that hard to faceroll as long as you are ware of the mechanics, because she doesnt hit hard at all.

a few more suggestions:
- advise members to be evenly spread out but maintain line of sight with the healer, and away from the pillars' the aoe she tosses hits everyone and pillar, and there is no need for everyone to get hit

- after slip stream, run away from the pillars asap because she tosses an aoe immediately after, and it will damage the pillar if u stay behind the pillar for too long

- if ur healer is new, assure him/her not to worry too much abt healing. garuda doesnt hit hard. the feathers dont hit hard either. a few light heals for dps is all u need even when the feathers spawn, until after reckoning

[Jaminos]

I am pleased to announce I was able to take on Garuda with my first group. I have had the past two primals take a couple of different groups before we were able to take it down
Usually this was due to teamwork issues or for Titan, a healer just was not ready enough.

Took us four attempts to get the fight down even with Avalon's guide. Some things just require trial and error. By we did indeed take her down. One time was my fault for acid gently.using the limit break on the wrong phase. I was waiting for her to jump to the middle rather than her vocal queue when she hits phase 4. But fourth time it was easy.

Thanks again, guys!

[antiviolence]

If you're serious about tanking, I'd advise you to practice dodging Slipstream. You're gonna be doing it a lot on Garuda HM.

[Jaminos]

If you're serious about tanking, I'd advise you to practice dodging Slipstream. You're gonna be doing it a lot on Garuda HM.

Slipstream was never an issue. Usually it was a coordination issue. But I will take it into consideration for next time I feel like running Garuda.