Garuda (normal) as a 44 SCH

[Hysterior]

Hello,

I got the quest for Garuda (for the first time) and it was quite a disaster...
I thought I was not a terrible healer until then...

I checked on internet for some gameplay of Scholar for garuda to see how to keep everyone alive and where to position but in all the videos people have part or all the AF and sacred soil.

So should I wait until later to continue the story or is it possible to beat Garuda as a 44 SCH?

I would like to have some advice from people who made it.
Thank you ^^

[Laiyenu]

I completed Garuda at lvl 46, while I dont recall the encounter being hard it was a challenge when people got hit by the AOE.

[TwoEggs]

its dependant on the tank mostly keeping her away from rocks and hiding when she teleports .. but healing can be tough just before last stage she does a huge power attk that requires everyone to hide behind the tallest pillar ... if u can coordinate threw till that single power attack and not lose all the rocks u can make it buddy

[Hysterior]

yeah the AoE heal of Scholar is so limited that if everybody is so low it takes forever to get people back to full HP and she keep attacking...
I think I start understanding the hide behind the rock mechanic but also hard to find where to place myself as the rock sometime cancel my heal if my target goes behind...

maybe I should wait 45 to get sacred soil and pieces of AF to be more effective...?

[Teleniel]

There are a few things to pay attention to for Garuda (story).
1: Tank her away from the pillars. no seriously you NEED them, face her toward the outside with your back to the wall.
2: you can hide from her damaging attacks behind the pillars in phase 1 (big arena)
3: kill the Plumes asap.
4: in phase 2 stay in the small part of the arena. Make sure the tank faces her outward in the arena.
5: don't stand next to the tank, some of her attacks are AoE
6: You can Healer limit break after shit from phase 1 > 2... or tank limit break before it doesn't matter.

7: Make sure you've learned relevant cross-class skills. Swiftcast & Stoneskin (I think Sch has access to both?)

Really this fight is mostly about the tank learning how to avoid beating up their party with a boss.

[fanservice]

Did it at 44. No sacred soil, no 45 AF, no swiftcast, no stoneskin.

Fun, and hella stressful. Boiled down to using the healer LB, succor spam, and prayer during storm phase after the rocks go.

The 2 random DF pugs I was with stuck around until we got it like 4ish tries later (a friend was a dragoon), since each try was progression, and we knew what we were doing, and apparently it was 'the best normal garuda group they had', while I was guilty about doing it at 44. Ironically, the attempt we beat her, we only had a 2 stack of rocks to hide behind during the transition, and I think I had to fit in a rez/resummon during one of her one shots while behind a rock (mind you I didn't have swiftcast) in the first phase.

Anyway, it is doable at 44, and missing alot of cross class perks (pretty much anything else useful besides protect), but even at your best with this lack of tools, it will likely be close. No one will blame you if you wait till 45.

[JonFarron]

Succor before the giant AoE of the last phase is a lifesaver as well.

[Xikaz]

Yea I did it at 44 as well. The only thing that was really an issue was just getting 1shot by the big timed AoE's. It was most likely the tank positioning poorly or dps not killing the plumes in time if the healing just seemed overwhelming.

[Mieck]

Admittedly I waited until 45 to beat this (did try at 44, and it went quite wrong), but a good tip I got from a friend was to position Eos near one of the pillars closest to where the tank was holding Garuda. She floated all round the middle of the arena and took care of the DPS while on plume duty, as well as helping to keep the tank upright. Liberal use of Succor in the last phases was also helpful. I did use Sacred Soil a few times, but I wasn't totally sure that in a fight that short the -10% was actually making much of a difference - not sure the timeline was long enough for it to pay off

[Hysterior]

I think I will wait 45.
I think Sacred soil + few pieces of equipment could help tremendously at this point.
I will try to place Aos as you said