Welcome to The Foodie Geek’s FFXIV Raid Guides: Sigmascape (Savage) Edition!
Yep, these guides are a little too late in the game with tons of others already out there, but I like to have a grasp of the fights by writing about them in my own way. This is to help me memorize the mechanics more, and me visiting this page can serve as a reminder on how the fights go. These guides are primarily for me and my friends, but I hope everyone reading this can learn a thing or two as well.
You are currently at Sigmascape V4.0 / O8S Part 1
Links to other guides:
- Shinryu (Extreme) / The Minstrel’s Ballad: Shinryu’s Domain
- Byakko (Extreme) / The Jade Stoa
- Sigmascape O5S | O6S | O7S | O8S God Kefka
- Tsukuyomi (Extreme) / The Minstrel’s Ballad: Tsukuyomi’s Pain
- Rathalos (Extreme) / The Great Hunt
- Suzaku (Extreme) / Hell’s Kier
- Alphascape O9S | O10S | O11S | O12S
- Seiryu (Extreme) / The Wreath of Snakes
O8S Kefka Clear Video Paladin Off-Tank POV:
Mechanics & Rotation
Mana Charge (Flagrant Fire) – after the cast, there will be one of two possible attacks (with each attack having two variants- true or fake). To simplify things, everyone STACK together if you see one big shareable AoE marker, or SPREAD if each player has their own marker. BUT DO THE OPPOSITE if there are question marks floating around Kefka. Question marks would connote ‘fake’ so you do the opposite of what is shown (e.g. one big stack marker but with question marks on Kefka = spread) (0:26 of video)
Hyperdrive – AoE tankbuster around the Main Tank. Stay away from his area and shield and heal as necessary (0:41 of video)
Mana Release (Flagrant Fire) – just a copy of the earlier Mana Charge (Flagrant Fire). Ignore the markers here for less confusion (same markers will appear but it won’t tell you if it’s true or fake). Just do the exact same thing on the earlier Mana Charge (0:49 of video)
Note: Thrumming Thunder will already start casting even before Mana Release (Flagrant Fire) explodes. Don’t panic- handle Flagrant Fire FIRST (stack or spread) and wait for it to explode before moving on to dodge Thrumming Thunder
Thrumming Thunder – strips of intersecting AoE markers will appear while casting. It has two variants – (1) go to safe zone or non-violet area if there are no question marks around Kefka, or (2) if there are question marks, you must go to the AoE where THE LINES INTERSECT. Intersecting areas are your only safe zones on a ‘fake’ cast (0:56 of video)
Ultima Upsurge – raid-wide AoE damage. Shield and heal as necessary (1:03 of video)
Graven Image 1 – a couple of mechanics have been squeezed in here (1:24 of video):
- Meteor – circular AoE markers will appear beneath four random players
- Wave Cannon – two DPS will be targeted by straight-line AoE. Spread to bait lasers away
- Meteor
- Pulse Wave – four random players will be tethered and will be knocked-backed in a few moments
- Meteor
- Wave Cannon
- Indomitable Will – all DPS will have a shareable damage marker and each must be paired up with one tank or healer. This means the party will be split into four pairs
How to handle Graven Image 1:
- Everyone stack in the middle while Graven Image is being cast to bait Meteor AoE
- Spread to avoid Meteor AoE and go to your assigned positions
- Wave Cannon will attack two DPS
- 2nd set of Meteors will drop – avoid AoE areas
- 4 players will be tethered (Pulse Wave) and should prepare to run to the north
- 3rd set of Meteors will drop – make sure not to bait them on the north
- Non-tethered players will go to their assigned positions and wait for Indomitable Will
- Tethered players will run to the north and will be knocked back. They must position themselves in a way that they will be knocked back near their assigned positions so they can stack for Indomitable Will
- Indomitable Will will pop, then everyone will proceed to handle Timely Teleport
Timely Teleport – right after the Graven Image 1, Kefka would have already be done casting half of Timely Teleport so watch out. After casting, he will teleport to an edge in the arena (marked by an empty black circle) and will do Revolting Ruin, super-wide frontal AoE attack. The trick here is to run to the edge of where he will teleport IMMEDIATELY after getting damage from Indomitable Will (1:41 of video)
Light of Judgment – very heavy raid-wide AoE damage. Use big shields and heals here (1:50 of video)
Mana Charge (Thrumming Thunder + Blizzard Blitz)
- Blizzard Blitz – circular AoE marker on either (1) around Kefka or (2) away from him. Question marks also apply here so you know the drill- go to the violet areas if there are question marks (2:16 of video)
Graven Image 2 (Shockwave) – the statue at the front will float to the west to place and cast a ‘knockback’ ball that will push you eastwards. BUT WATCH OUT because it might troll you by suddenly teleporting to the east and push you westwards instead. The trick here is to stay put in the middle and wait for Mana Release to start casting before running towards the direction of the ball (2:24 of video)
Mana Release (Thrumming Thunder + Blizzard Blitz)
This is where things get a bit tricky. After being knocked back by Graven Image 2 (Shockwave), you need to quickly determine the safe spots of BOTH the Thrumming Thunder and Blizzard Blitz from the last Mana Charge (and run there). Like the other Mana Releases, no question marks will be shown even if there are fakes so this is more memorization than dealing with the mechanics visually.
There are a dozen of possible combinations. To make things simple, we can just determine handling Thrumming Thunder as (1) go to safe zone or (2) go to intersection. And for Blizzard Blitz, (1) go inside or (2) go outside. This should eliminate needlessly confusing terms like ‘fake inside’ or ‘fake outside’.
So for example, Thrumming Thunder is fake, and then Blizzard Blitz AoE is near Kefka but fake, then the memorization would be (1) go to any intersection (2) near Kefka. So the moment Mana Release drops, the only safe spots would be the AoE intersections near Kefka (2:34 of video)
Ultima Upsurge
Hyperdrive
Graven Image 3 – another set of multiple mechanics to manage. The rule of thumb here is that each tank and healer must be partnered up with a DPS, and that each pair must have their own private space to move around to avoid clipping the other pairs with the upcoming mechanics. See diagram below (3:13 of video):
- Gravitas – a small circular AoE that will target either all DPS or all tanks and healers, and must be shared by two players. Gravitas will also leave a puddle where players were hit so everyone must move out of the puddle when they spawn
- Vitrophyre – an AoE stone attack that knocks non-tethered targets out of the arena
- Intemperate Will/Gravitational Wave – half-arena AoE. If the statue glows purple on the left, then the AoE will be on the left half. If it glows yellow on the right, AoE will be on the right half of the arena. Dodge as necessary
- Gravitas + Vitrophyre – another set will go off after the half-arena AoE. Just go back to your assigned positions and repeat the mechanic
- Once the tethers appear, go to your assigned positions and stack with your partner
- Gravitas will drop on each pair and leave a puddle
- Players move out of the puddle via their assigned positions with no one stacking
- Vitrophyre will hit the other tethered players
- Everyone look at the statue, determine the safe spot, and then run to safety
- Go back to your stacking positions for another Gravitas
- Move out of the puddle again, and wait for Vitrophyre to hit before going back to Kefka
Aero Assault – raid-wide AoE knock-back attack. You can use anti-knockback skill here (3:36 of video)
Light of Judgment
Mana Charge (Flagrant Fire)
Ultima Upsurge
Graven Image 4 (Intemperate Will/Gravitational Wave)
Mana Release (Flagrant Fire)
Thrumming Thunder
Ultima Upsurge
Hyperdrive
Graven Image 5 – another set of mechanics squeezed into one attack. Here’s the breakdown (5:06 of video):
- Meteor
- Ave Maria – statue of Mary will glow and you must either (1) look away if there is no question mark on the glowing eye or (2) look directly at her if there is indeed a question mark
- Indulgent Will – four random players will be tethered to the upper left statue, indicating that they will be inflicted with confuse and then proceed to walk towards their party mates to kill them
- Idyllic Will – the other four players will be tethered to the lower right statue and then get inflicted with sleep, making them vulnerable to those inflicted with confuse
- Ave Maria
- Stack together in the middle to bait Meteor
- Spread to avoid Meteor AoE
- Check Mary Statue and either look or look away (Ave Maria)
- Tethers will appear, determine which tether you have (Indulgent or Idyllic Will)
- Those tethered to the upper left statue means they should be on the edges
- Those tethered to the lower right statue means they should stack in the middle
- Proceed to your assigned positions
- If done right, the four confused players will move towards the sleeping players in the middle, but the confuse debuff would have run out before anyone is killed
- Check Mary Statue and either look or look away (Ave Maria)
- Timely Teleport is also being cast here so prepare to make a run for it
Timely Teleport
Light of Judgment
Ultima Upsurge
Mana Charge (Thrumming Thunder + Blizzard Blitz)
Graven Image 6 (Ave Maria)
Mana Release (Thrumming Thunder + Blizzard Blitz)
Hyperdrive
Ultima Upsurge
Ultima Upsurge
Ultima Upsurge
Enrage
