Final Fantasy 14: Arcadion Light-heavyweight M1 Savage Guide

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Black Cat (Savage) Party Setup

Black Cat Introduction: Quadruple Crossing

Black Cat Phase 1: Nine Lives/Soulshade 1

Black Cat Phase 2: Mouser/Copycat 1

Black Cat Phase 3: Nine Lives/Soulshade 2

Black Cat Phase 4: Mouser/Copycat 2

Black Cat Phase 5: Raining Cats

Raids in Final Fantasy 14 are an opportunity for players to test their skills against powerful bosses for a chance at some of the strongest equipment in the game. Split into multiple difficulty levels, Normal and Alliance Raids are aimed at players just getting started in the end game and are easily completed even for players entering for the first time, while Extreme Trials and Savage Raids are more difficult encounters requiring challengers to learn and practice the bosses' attack patterns and mechanics to triumph.

New to patch 7.05 is the Arcadion Light-heavyweight Savage series of raids, giving players their first taste of high-difficulty end-game boss fights in the Dawntrail expansion and an opportunity to earn themselves gear from the item level 730-735 Dark Horse Champion set. These items will be the highest item level available until the release of patch 7.2, making them common components of different classes' best-in-slot gear sets. Those ready to test their mettle can learn how to beat the first boss, Black Cat, below.

Black Cat (Savage) Party Setup

Before engaging the boss, players should begin by assigning each player a cardinal or intercardinal position around the boss (e.g., north of the boss, northeast of the boss, etc., commonly referred to as "clock spots"), assigning each DPS player with a tank or healer partner, and creating two groups consisting of one tank, one healer, and two DPS players (commonly referred to as "light parties"). These positions, partners, and groups will be important for properly executing some of Black Cat's attacks, so it's important to be familiar and comfortable with them before the fight begins.

Black Cat Introduction: Quadruple Crossing

Black Cat begins the fight by casting Quadruple Crossing, sending out four sets of conal Area of Effect attacks (AoEs). The first two waves of attacks are aimed at the four closest players, applying a Slashing Resistance Down debuff, dealing lethal damage to players who take consecutive hits. The final two waves will strike in the same area as the first two wave of attacks, regardless of the players' positions.

To best handle this, groups should assign tanks and healers to bait the first set of conal AoEs towards the cardinal directions (e.g., north, south, east, and west of the boss) by positioning themselves closest to Black Cat. Once the first set of AoEs has occurred, the remaining DPS players should replace their assigned partner to bait the second set of AoEs in the same position, while the tanks and healers move away and diagonally from the boss to avoid being hit a second time.

After Quadruple Crossing, Black Cat will cast Biscuit Maker, a heavy-hitting single-target attack commonly referred to as a tank buster, applying a short Slashing Resistance Down debuff before striking a second time. In order to survive this, tanks must either use the Provoke ability during the Biscuit Maker cast time to ensure the two hits will land on different targets, or use an invulnerability cooldown to survive both hits (Hallowed Ground for Paladins, Holmgang for Warriors, Living Dead for Dark Knights, or Supebolide for Gunbreakers).

Black Cat Phase 1: Nine Lives/Soulshade 1

Nine Lives is the first major mechanic Black Cat introduces, granting herself a buff that records the next attack she performs. When the boss next casts Soulshade, clones of the boss are created that will execute the recorded attack at a later time.

The first instance of Nine Lives will always be followed by One-two Paw, hitting the left and right halves of the arena in the same order that Black Cat raises her hands. Immediately after One-two paw, the boss will cast Soulshade and summon two copies of herself that will execute the exact same version of One-two paw as the boss. With the two clones being placed in different positions and at different angles, players will need to determine which area of the arena will be safe from both clones at the same time. As long as players successfully dodge the first swipe from the Soulshades, the second swipe can always be dodged by moving to the mirror opposite of the first safe position.

As players are occupied with dodging the Soulshades, Black Cat will begin casting a second Nine Lives, followed by either Double Swipe or Quadruple Swipe, AoEs requiring players to split the damage between multiple players. Double Swipe requires players to split the damage across two groups by separating into their "light parties" created before the fight, typically on the left and right of the boss, while Quadruple Swipe requires players to split the damage across four groups by separating into their 2-person partner groups created before the fight, typically on the four diagonals of the boss. A Soulshade will then be created to repeat this same attack shortly.

Finally, the boss will cast Leaping Quadruple Crossing, teleporting to the marked location on the ground before immediately executing Quadruple Crossing. Players will need to be ready to position themselves around the purple arrow marker to correctly bait Quadruple Crossing as she dashes to its location. After baiting the initial hits from Quadruple Crossing, players will need to dodge the repeated hits while also splitting into the same Double Swipe or Quadruple Swipe groups as before, as the Soulshade clone will execute its copied attack as soon as the final hit of Quadruple Crossing occurs. This phase finishes with the boss casting Bloody Scratch, a heavy-hitting attack that hits everyone in the party, requiring players to quickly heal up and mitigate damage with abilities like Reprisal, Feint, or Addle.

Black Cat Phase 2: Mouser/Copycat 1

The second major mechanic of Black Cat's fight has her destroying parts of the arena with Mouser, with attacks hitting the square floor tiles around the room. If a floor tile is hit twice, it will shatter, instantly defeating any players standing on it. The final arena shape after Mouser will always create a zigzag pattern vertically or horizontally through the center of the arena, making it an easy way to keep track of the AoEs by looking only at the four middle tiles. After destroying the ring, Black Cat will cast Copycat, creating a clone of herself while the arena is partially repaired.

Shortly after the Copycat clone is summoned, it will target a random player with Elevate and Eviscerate, entering either a standing or crouching stance and placing a marker above the target's head. The marked target will be knocked up, creating a cross-shaped AoE originating from the tile they were standing on that will push any player hit off the arena. As the player lands, the tile they land on will be damaged, shattering if it is already cracked. If the Copycat clone is standing while casting Elevate and Eviscerate, the player will land in the same position they started at. If the Copycat clone is crouching while casting Elevate and Eviscerate, the player will be knocked forward a short distance in the direction of their facing.

One trick to land on the same tile when being knocked forward is to stand on one corner of the tile and face the direct opposite corner . Elevate and Eviscerate will repeat four times, targeting either all DPS players, or all healers and tanks. Once all four players have been hit, Black Cat will cast another Biscuit Maker tank buster.

Shortly after, the remainder of the arena will begin to be repaired, starting from two opposite corners, and Black Cat will begin to cast Shockwave, knocking all players back, immediately followed by Grimalkin Gale, placing AoEs on all 8 players. In order to survive the knockback, players will need to aim themselves towards the two corners of the arena that are being repaired first before spreading away to prevent hitting each other with Grimalkin Gale. A good way to handle this is to once again split into the light party groups from before, with each light party aiming for a different corner. After getting knocked back, melee players can spread around the boss, while ranged players can spread around the corners they were knocked into.

Black Cat Phase 3: Nine Lives/Soulshade 2

After the arena is fully repaired, Black Cat will begin the next phase by using Nine Lives to first copy Leaping One-two Paw, followed by a second Nine Lives to copy Leaping Quadruple Crossing. The Leaping versions of these attacks are handled the same way as their regular variations, but Black Cat will quickly dash to the marked location before executing the attack. As before, players will need to be ready to position around her new location to dodge the mechanic. As Black Cat casts Soulshade, players will need to remember not only the attack being recorded, but also the direction of the leap, as well as which clone stores which attack.

After both clones are created, one random clone will awaken to execute their stored mechanic, leaping in the same direction as the boss did previously. While the clones execute their attacks, Black Cat herself will cast an additional attack at the same time. While the Leaping One-two Paw Soulshade is awoken, Black Cat will cast Tempestuous Tear, placing two line AoEs on the healers that must be shared with their light parties to survive, hitting at the same time as the first swipe of One-two Paw.

While the Leaping Quadruple Crossing Soulshade is awoken, Black Cat will cast Nailchipper, placing a marker above all DPS players or all tanks and healers that will explode in an area after a duration, killing players that are hit by two or more Nailchippers at once. Players without the Nailchipper marker should bait the first set of Quadruple Crossing AoEs while marked players spread away from each other. Once the first set of Quadruple Crossing and Nailchipper AoEs resolve, Nailchipper will target the remaining players as they swap positions to bait the second set of Quadruple Crossing.

To simplify this phase, tanks can drag the boss to the position the clones will leap to, making it easier for the party to know where the next mechanic will be occurring, and allowing players to continue hitting the boss while the mechanics execute. Another trick that can make remembering the order of dodges for the Soulshade's Leaping One-two Paw easier is, instead of thinking in terms of the clone's left and right, remember if the outside of the arena was safe first, or if the middle of the arena was safe first . This removes having to consider the clone's facing when dodging the AoEs.

Black Cat Phase 4: Mouser/Copycat 2

After both Soulshade clones have executed their attacks, Black Cat will return to the center of the arena to cast Mouser again. The following phase is identical to the previous Mouser/Copycat phase, with a few exceptions. The Copycat will again target either all DPS or all tanks and healers with Elevate and Eviscerate, selecting whichever group was not targeted in the previous phase. Additionally, one of two new attacks will hit at the same time as Elevate and Eviscerate, either Overshadow or Splintering Nails, targeting the remaining 7 players. Overshadow places a line AoE which must be shared with other players to survive. Splintering Nails targets one healer, one tank, and one DPS with a conal AoE, killing any players hit by two or more AoEs. A common way to organize positioning for Splintering Nails is to assign an order (e.g., tanks, then healers, then DPS) and position players based on their role in that order from the perspective of the camera facing toward the boss.

After four players have been hit with Elevate and Eviscerate, a Biscuit Maker tank buster will be cast, followed by Shockwave and Grimalkin Gale while the arena is repairing.

Black Cat Phase 5: Raining Cats

The final mechanic of the fight, Raining Cats, has multiple components occurring at the same time. Two tethers will be attached to players which can be intercepted to swap their target, dealing high damage in a conal AoE towards the targeted player and applying a 20-second Slashing Resistance Down debuff, preventing the target from surviving more than one tether hit. Two players are required to grab these tethers and aim the conal AoE away from other players, with two new players coming to replace them after each hit.

At the same time as the conal AoEs execute, Black Cat will target the closest player and the farthest player with a small AoE which splits damage among all targets hit. This AoE also applies a short Magic Vulnerability Up debuff, resulting in lethal damage to anyone hit by two of these AoEs simultaneously. The six players not currently attached to a tether should split into two groups of three players each, with one group ensuring they are the closest players to the boss, while the other group ensures they are the farthest players from the boss.

A typical method of handling this mechanic is to assign a role order to aim the tether north and south of the boss (e.g., healers, then ranged DPS, then tanks, then melee DPS), and have the remaining players wait east and west of the boss. One group of players should wait very closely underneath the boss to bait the close Raining Cat AoE, while the other group of players waits at the maximum melee range (three yalms) to bait the far Raining Cat AoE, and the tethered players stand on Black Cat's target ring to avoid being hit with either AoE.

One method of simplifying the Raining Cats mechanic is to ensure both tanks have their invulnerability cooldowns available, using them to have the tanks survive three out of the four tether conal AoEs. To do this, the mechanic should be executed as normal for the first set of AoEs before the tank players swap places to grab the tethers. Tanks should be hit by the first tethered AoE as normal before using their invulnerability cooldowns to survive the following second and third hits.

If Raining Cats is successfully executed, Black Cat will begin to cast one final Mouser, signifying the beginning of the fight's enrage, the time limit in which players must defeat the boss within. The final Mouser will eventually hit every tile in the arena, providing no room for players to continue the fight once fully executed.

Franchise Final Fantasy Released August 27, 2013 Developer(s) Square Enix See at Walmart