FFXIV Turn 9 Tank Strategy Guide

FFXIV Turn 9 Tank Strategy Guide by Slickace1215

So I’ve been doing a lot of Turn 9 practice over the last month and a half and I’ve noticed there are a lack of detailed guides from a tank’s point of view. Now I’m not clamming any of this to be the best strategy to go about any of this but it does work for us and we now have two kills under our belt so I hope this can at least help another group out.

I do main tank this fight and play as a PLD so this is from a PLD point of view. Our group set up is as followed:

PLD – me WHM SCH Bard Bard Monk Dragon BLM

We do have a kill video from the other day up on Youtube as well if you wish to see this play out in there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ILvn9eH2c

First and foremost as a Solo Main Tank Cool Downs are essential. I’m still learning this the hard way from time to time and unfortunately one little mistake from me often leads to a wipe. If there’s one thing I can’t stress enough from my perspective is to stay calm, don’t act hasty and know what’s coming next.

So now I’m going to go phase by phase and break it down for you all. Before getting started we use the following marks, they do change and I myself change them.

Mark A – Due north right behind the boss

Mark B – that one is located to the left of the initial spawn on the inside of the large circle and to the left of the first inner circle. Basically if you follow the inner circle right in front of where you spawn around counter clock wise until it does a bend like a V the mark will be placed in that region. This is will be where you stand for the heavens fall during phase 3.

Mark C – Place this marker dead center, that mark does not need to change at all and is a good reference for both thermionic beam and also for where heavens fall will come down.

Phase 1 –

There are a few minor mechanics you need to worry about; mainly the big one for everyone besides the tank is meteor placement, the tank on the other hand just needs to worry about the Claws and the explosion that follows 11 seconds later.

If you’re looking at the arena with 12 o’clock being due north the way we work for meteor placements are on one of 6 locations

*keep in mind they don’t need to be exact but they do need to be far enough away from each other not*
*to get the wiggle wiggle then explosion*


We tank the boss at 12 o’clock with the marker A marking due north and place the comets on either 2 o’clock, 6 o’clock or 10 o’clock. The meteors can either be on close to the blue outside wall or on the inner triangle closer to the center.

For the Tanks there this is the CD order I use:

• Rampart the first claw/explosion, this happens directly after the first stardust skill is used
• Sentinel the second claw and Balwark/forsight/covalence the explosion, this one happens after she does the thermionic beam and then jumps back to you. Be ready to use sentinel after she lands.
• She will jump in the air one more time and do a double dalmon dive and when she comes down this last claw/explosion will happen shortly after that, use rampart again here.Tank note, use your Stone skin when you can during jumps to help mitigate damage you receive but becareful not to be casting stone skin when you’re about to be hit with major hits because casting stone skinduring a hit will not allow your Block or parry to work.

Phase 2 –

*Tank note no CD's needed for this phase save them for phase 3.*


In this phase we have the MT aka myself tank the Green golem, a Bard tank blue and the WHM tank red.

I do not feed the green during the first set of comets and the whole team burns down Green first.

* Important note for tanks save your provoke to take the next one off of your WHM. Do not use it on the*
*initial pull of the green golem. Also when going to provoke your second golem from the WHM always wait
*for the golems to switch colors just in case your bard gets the green golem.*


Once the green one is down everyone needs to switch to the blue golem soon to be red one that the Bard is tanking and burn that down. The Bard should feed two of the comets to his golem if he can, but if not he needs to at least get one so that the last golem can eat the remaining three.

*important notice for PLD’s here once you switch over to the Golem on your healer save Sprites Within so*
*that you can silence the Blue Golem when he cast his AOE paralyze skill, it’s good to have a backup just in*
*case your bard doesn’t make it there in time. A WHM also can use their push back skill to stop that cast*
*bar.*


After the bard’s golem is dead everyone needs to quickly switch over to the last golem and burn that down.

Once we are set here then we play a game we like to call dodge ball. Everyone spreads out on the inner points with two people stacking up with one other person on their point. Then as the comets start to drop, you move after it disappears from on top of your head, then move to the outside and wait and if you get targeted then move clock wise too half way in-between you and the next person two possible comet drop locations. If you get targeted one last time then you move to join the next person who would be clock wise from your position.

For the Golems we feed at least one but two can be done to the green then 2 or 3 to the bards and the rest to the last guy.

After this I move the A mark because you no longer need to know where north is unless it’s the last phase and I use A to mark where I’ll be dragging the Ghost dragon too during phase 3, the whole group needs to stack up on B though for heavens fall.

Our WHM also has stone skin up on everyone before the transfer happens.

*Tank note for marking A if you were to mirror where you placed B and move clockwise around the large*
*circle to the next possible spot that is where I place A. It’s far enough away that the dragons AOE doesn’t*
*hit your group but close enough that they can run to take off garrote twist.*


Phase 3 –

*For this phase it’s recommended to use potent passion pots to help add DPS here, if everyone uses them*
*it adds around 2k extra dps.*


At the start of this phase I make sure to move away from the party but not too far that I’ll be in the yellow Heavens fall area for the first one. I do one Fast blade and by this point the boss will start to cast Heavens fall. I pop tempered will as soon as fast blade is over and DPS one full rotation Fast blade, Savage Blade then Rage of Honan. On the second rotation I use Fast blade then savage blade to get ready for the dragon.

Before the dragon drops I use a VIT potion plus also Balwark and Rampart.

At this point I start to drag the ghost dragon to the mark A that is just far enough away that it won’t AOE my group. I stay focused on the dragon until it starts to do its AOE blast. Our BLM also starts to Limit Burst as I’m moving him to the A mark. I make sure to stay on the Dragon until I see him starting to cast the chains and then I run back to the group so that you don’t accidentally pull the dragon back to the group.

Whoever gets the first purple chain takes care of it as soon as the AOE disappears and then the second person to get garrote twist can try to take it off before the second heavens fall but sometimes they need to wait and do it during heavens fall.

During heavens fall expect two Supernovas, they can target anyone even the person running to take the garrote twist off themselves.

*Group note about taking garrote twist off, you must stand inside the little white circles for a second or*
*two before it will take it off, it is not instantaneously done.*


Phase 4-

Myself I do all the marking so I have A and B but whoever you have do them in your group should have them on a hot bar for quick placements. After the heavens fall you are all DPSing as much as possible to push the boss to under 48%. During the push from phase 3 to 4 I will take down the A and B mark so that I can quickly place them when needed for the final phase.

Once the boss is pushed we pull her to the center to get ready for phase 4.

As the boss is casting BH favour that’s when I use the skills Forsight/covalance and Awarness, my healers are both on top of keeping me alive for this one and that’s very important not to use any other CD’s here because you will need them for the next few claws. The first claw also is the easiest to heal threw.

Once I have my CD’s up for when the boss is doing the BH favour and claws that’s when I look to the North and spin clock wise to start placing the markers for dive bombs

I place A between the first and second dragon you see (If there is a dragon at due north he is the first one so between him and the next one clockwise would be where you pace A) and B across from that to the right of the last dragon if you kept going clock wise around.

*It's very important if the tank does this to try and get it done at this point because you will only have a*
*few extra tries to get them down or else you’re in trouble and things get out of hand.*


Ideally as long as you can get A down and before the first fire out that’s all you really need because B can always be placed right after Iron Chariot later in the phase because it’s always directly across from it and a little to the right. (Not recommended but can be done)

Once the Dragon does the claws you must get ready for Fire out, the tank can also get this so that’s why it’s important to get A and B down quickly and accurately before the fire out. That was if the MT does it get this fire out he can be paying attention and move out of the group.

After the Fire out the boss will randomly jump to one person and during the jump someone will get lighting. Make sure everyone in the group is paying attention to who gets lighting because that person needs to move behind the boss while the rest of the group runs to the front of the boss.

*A good rule of thumb here is if you have the boss targeted then the target circle for the boss you want*
*make sure if you have lighting you are on the edge of it behind the boss and the rest of the group wants*
*to be on the edge in front of the boss. This way when Lunar Dynamo is cast no one will get hit by the*
*lighting and also LD.*


After LD is cast you will have a fire in followed by a lighting. Now here’s the part everyone needs to pay attention to their debuff. Who ever got the first fire out they need to check and make sure they don’t have the fire debuff on them. We usually check during LD to make sure the individual is ready to move out. If they have the fire debuff theyMUST move out of the fire in following LD or they will die. If they don’t have the fire debuff they can stay inside and take the hit.

Once the fire in and then lighting are cast the boss will then do an iron chariot, there will also be a Fire out and Lighting cast on two players while iron chariot is being casted. Make sure your group is spread out because she will cast a skill three times called Supernova. It’s the same skill you saw in phase 3 right after the first havens fall.

*Now during the iron chariot if the tank or whoever didn’t get B into place for divebombs this is their*
*chance, they got around 2-4 seconds before they need to do something depending on a little RNG and*
*if they get targeted with Supernova, if not they have one last opportunity coming up before it’s too late.*


So once your group is spread out after the iron chariot, making sure to stay away from the person with fire and also the person with lighting, the boss will cast Supernova. We call it out over voice chat and count, first one, Second One, and then everyone collapse into the center where we have C marked for thermionic beam.

*C never moves from the center for us. It helps to have it there for the first phase for thermionic beam, it*
*also helps for phase 3 for haven’s fall and also in phase 4 so that everyone has a location to run too again*
*for thermionic beam.*


One thing to also not about moving in for the thermionic beam one person will have fire on them and this is the last fire till after divebombs. This fire is a fire in for the group. If you had the fire out during the start iron chariot you must be paying attention to your debuffs to make sure you can move in and take this fire in. If you have the fire debuff you can still move in for the thermionic beam but you must move out instantly as soon as its animation has started to hit or you will die to the double fire debuff.

*I do not recommend the tank or a healer to risk this if they have the fire debuff on them.*


Now here’s the next major moment for your Main Tank, they have to and I stress this a lot because I’ve messed up and died here a lot, they have to put up sentinel as soon as the beam is finished, DO NOT WAIT. Don’t wait for the one attack she does in between, just use it. Sentinel will not come off before the attack if used directly after thermionic beam and will help eat the one basic attack the boss does before the Claws. It helps do have both healers fully prepared for this one because this one will hurt.

During this claw your group needs to start spreading out and paying attention to where the A and B markers are because as soon as the claws are done, that’s when divebombs will start.

*Stay spread out around the center of the arena, DPS isn’t crucial at this point, just making sure you get to A and B for the divebombs. If you have to Sprint to get to the mark do it. **Again DPS isn’t crucial here at all because one wrong move and it’s over**. *


The first divebomb will happen at A the boss will still be on the group at this time and you can still do a little DPS but again don’t stress DPS at this point. If you have the divebomb marker get to A as fast as possible and wait for it to disappear from above your head to start moving back to the center.

Everyone needs to be aware of what dragons are diving at this point so that they aren’t hit by the divebombs. Once the first set of divebombs happens at A the next divebomb marker will happen, that usually happens right as the marker disappears from the first person. That person needs to get to B as soon as possible.

While the second divebomb is happening the boss will do a dalmon dive and hit I believe 4 random people, this is why you need to stay spread out. Once divebomb is over, the boss will do one last dalmon dive on 4 people again.

Everyone needs to stay away from the tank at this point because the boss will be jumping down onto the tank and doing an AOE around the tank. At this point I take away the marks for A and B to get ready to set them down for the second divebomb set.

That’s the whole first part. The second set is exactly the same besides the divebomb part but for tank’s I will list out my CD order and I also will cover the second divebomb part.

So the tank is back down now and at this point its balls to the walls DPS, give it everything you have. You can even have one of your healers switch to DPS until you see BH favour again. At this point Rampart is all you should need but depending on situations you can use covalence here. It’s not recommended thought and best to save it for the 5th one coming up. Rampart is all you should need to live through this part. Your healers should be ready for heavy hits but they also have plenty of time to get ready.

During the BH favour and Claws again place A and B markers by looking north use the mini map to find north and then spinning clock wise till you see the first dragon then place it half way between that guy and the next one and then keep spinning till you get to the last one and place B across from A and to the right of the last dragon.

At this point it’s exactly the same as the first set:

-Fire out

-Lighting/lunar dynamo

-Fire In watching your debuff if you had the fire out.

-Fire out/Iron chariot/Lighting making sure to stay away from each other here.

-Supernova one, Supernova two then moving in directly after the second one to the center to get ready for thermionic beam.

• There will be one last Fire in here as thermionic beam is going off so if you had the first fire out make sure you watch your debuff here to make sure it’s safe. Again there is time to get in for the beam and then bolt out directly as the animation is going off but I don’t recommend the tank or healers to risk this part.Tank note, this is just like the sentinel part but instead of sentinel you will use Hallow Ground right after thermionic beam goes off. One of the main reason you do sentinel and hallow ground right after thermionic beam is because there is a slight cast animation/ delay for both of them so you want to make sure they are on you before the boss attacks or else its game over…

During this claw if you haven’t gotten A or B markers down you have around 2-4 seconds to get it done. So act quickly but don’t lose your cool.

As the claws are going off everyone needs to start spreading out and keeping an eye open for A and B. If you don’t see the A mark down have a DPS place it down quickly to help the tank. The MT is dealing with a lot of mechanics in this fight and the first few times getting to this point don’t expect perfection.

Now this is the point where things get a little different, there will still be the first divebomb but the boss wont jump into the air after that instead the boss does an iron chariot. Right before the iron chariot the second divebomb will go off, Just like the first set it usually happens directly following the marker disappearing from the first person that got marked. Make sure whoever is marked with the second set runs to B.

**Key note here that I learned last night is as the MT the boss will follow you right up until she cast Iron**
**chariot, popping Tempered Will right here will save your life if you don’t have time to get out. Even if**
**you think you do have time pop it. Because lag sometimes will have you still inside the iron chariot and**
**then your pushed back into the wall and it becomes a wipe at around 8-15%.**


While Iron chariot is going off everyone needs to get away from the boss and spread out a little bit.

Once Iron chariot is done she will jump to a random person not always the tank and then everyone needs to get to that person as quickly because she will start to cast lunar dynamo as soon as she lands on the person.

Who ever got tagged by the second divebomb needs to run back to the group very quickly or they will be hit by LD.Sprint if you need to also if you do get hit by LD don’t think it’s the end, you can still win even if 5-10 people get hit by a LD threw out the whole fight. After the LD its right back to the start of phase 4. This is your next heavy DPS moment with one healer DPSing at this moment until BH favour.

This should be your last set you should see for the tanks I will list the CD order in this part.

Once BH favour starts to cast I use Rampart/covalence and awareness here. If you have a Vit potion it is advised to use it here unless you guys have low DPS and will be seeing a 6th BH claw because she will hit very hard on the 6th one. Both healers need to be ready for this and on top of heals on the MT here.

**At this point it’s very important to keep your cool and make sure you place A and B**


The fight will be exactly like when you started phase 4 but the boss will hit a tad harder now. For the tank’s popping Sentinel after the thermionic beam is a must and if you don’t you will die. Other than that if for some reason you do see a 6th claw after the 3rd set of dive bombs you will have rampart/forsight and your vit potion up if you saved it. Pop all your cool downs you have at this point because you will not be seeing the 7th claw unless you very very unlucky.

After all that it’s over and congrats!

It’s a tough fight and lot to keep track of but there some of the big things to keep in mind is in phase 4

• It’s always 4 fires, Out – In – out – in.
• There also are 4 lightning that are always out if you can always go behind the boss it’s recommended just to stick to consistency, one lighting will happen during an iron chariot and that one does not need to be directly behind the boss.
• Marking the divebombs is best done during the first BH favour/claw and I wouldn’t make a Healer do it just because they have a lot to focus on.
• Keep calm, getting worked up or nervous or losing your cool won’t help anyone and will get on other peoples nerves.
• Team work and communication is key here, having one person call lighting always helps and the same for fire with one last person calling the other mechanics. Or have someone call them all out until everyone is comfortable in here.
• Right after thermionic beam – Tanks always pop your CD and everyone else take note on where A and B are placed for divebomb while spreading out.
• If someone goes down, it’s not over. Don’t give up, we had 2 people die on our first kill and we will got it right after the 3rd divebomb.
• Lastly stay focused, letting yourself panic or lose sight on where you are in the last phase will often lead to a wipe.

On a closing note, good luck everyone and enjoy the ride it’s a very challenging fight but there are a lot of fun mechanics.