The Ninth Circle Normal Raid Guide
Welcome to our guide to The Ninth Circle, the first encounter in the final raid tier of Pandaemonium, Abnabaseois. This guide aims to prepare players for the raid so they will know what to expect, with simple mechanic instructions and notes on what to watch out for.
Kokytos
The Kokytos, a Mythic Creation, is the first raid boss fought in Anabaseios.
Unlock Requirements
To unlock The Ninth Circle, players must start the quest "Eater of Souls." This is the first quest in the quest chain which can be received from Ruissenaud in Old Sharlayan (x8.6, y27.5). There is a minimum item level restriction of 615 to enter through the duty finder in a matched party.
Lore
Like a blotch of dark ink on a serene canvas, Pandæmonium now floats foreboding upon the aetherial sea. From its gates has emerged a beast with an insatiable appetite for souls, and its feast threatens to sever the flow of life itself. Although Pandæmonium's mysteries beckon to you from the darkness, you must first quell this immediate threat to the star.
Kokytos Raid Guide
Kokytos Phase One
The arena will gain an outside wall after the first mechanic. Players should make sure they do not move into the wall. Throughout the fight, Kokytos will absorb souls and gain their powers, using new abilities each time.
Mechanics
- Gluttony's Augur: Moderate raidwide magic damage.
- Ravening: Kokytos will absorb souls, swapping between three laments and gaining new mechanics in each.
- Fire III: Players are marked with a fire AoE.
- Blizzard III: A donut AoE around the arena.
- Kokytos's Whisper: Kokytos will flash an element on the screen. Attacks of this element will expand in size. Fire III will expand, while the safe spot of Blizzard III will become smaller.
- Dualspell: Kokytos will cast Fire III and Blizzard III at the same time.
- Global Spell: Moderate raidwide magic damage that inflicts a bleed DoT.
Strategy
- Kokytos begins the fight with a raidwide, Gluttony's Augur. It will then absorb the power of the mage, using elemental abilities.
- Kokytos will use Fire III. Players will need to spread out, as it will use Whisper to expand the size of the AoE.
- Kokytos will then use Blizzard III. Players need to stand close to the middle, as it will use Whisper to expand the size of the AoE, making the safe spot smaller.
- Dualspell will cast Fire III and Blizzard III together. One element will flash - players need to spread out with the expand AoE, or go close to the middle with the reduced safe spot.
- It then casts Global Spell, so mitigate and heal through.
Kokytos Phase Two
Kokytos will absorb the power of the martialist in phase two.
Mechanics
Kokytos gains new abilities in its martialist phase.
- Archaic Rockbreaker: A knockback from the centre of the arena. The knockback creates ground lines that explode in AoEs along its path.
- Archaic Demolish: Stack markers on both healers that must be shared.
- Ascendant Fist: A tank buster on the main tank.
- Front Combination: A donut AoE followed by a frontal 180 degree AoE.
Strategy
- The phase starts with Kokytos absorbing the martialist's power with Ravening.
- It then casts Archaic Rockbreaker. Stand close to the middle outside of the knockback marker to not get knocked back into the wall, then stand between the lines to dodge the subsequent AoEs.
- After the lines disappear, both healers get stack markers, so create two light party stacks to soak damage. Heal up for Gluttony's Augur.
- The tank needs to mitigate Ascendant Fist.
- Next, the boss will use Front Combination. Stand inside the hitbox behind it.
Kokytos Phase Three
Kokytos will absorb the power of the beast in phase three.
Mechanics
Kokytos gains new abilities in its beast phase.
- Charybdis: Marks four players with AoEs. These leave tornadoes on the ground that deal damage to players inside, so move them to the edge of the arena.
- Beastly Roar: A knockback from the centre of the arena. Make sure not to get knocked back into a tornado. Four players are marked with AoEs.
- Pulverizing Pounce: Kokytos marks a player with a stack marker, jumping to them and dealing damage that must be shared.
- Gluttonous Rampage: Both tanks are marked with a proximity tether tank buster. The boss will jump to them in succession, followed by a jump to the middle of the arena that deals proximity damage.
- Comet: Spawns three comets that deal proximity damage. Two comets will be cracked and one will be solid.
- Ecliptic Meteor: Deals lethal damage that must be prevented by standing behind the solid comet. The comet explodes afterwards.
Strategy
- The phase starts with Kokytos absorbing the beast's power with Ravening.
- It then casts Charybdis on four random players. They need to take the AoE out of the middle of the arena.
- Next, stand in the middle and get knocked back by Beastly Roar, but not into an AoE and not together, as four players are marked with an AoE.
- The tanks need to stretch their tether and mitigate Gluttonous Rampage.
- Move to the side of the arena without a comet to take less proximity damage. Players will then move behind the solid comet to prevent death from Ecliptic Meteor.
- Dodge out of the comet's AoE and stack for Pulverizing Pounce.
Kokytos Phase Four
Kokytos will gain new abilities in phase four in all forms.
Mechanics
Kokytos gains new abilities.
- Iceflame Summoning: Spawns four circles on the arena, two ice and two fire. One element will expand, causing that side of the arena to be unsafe.
- Rear Combination: A donut AoE followed by a 180 degree AoE to the rear of the boss.
Strategy
- Kokytos will absorb the mage's power, gaining a new ability.
- Iceflame Summoning will spawn four circles on the arena, two fire and two ice. One element will be expanded and that side will be unsafe, so move between the element not being expanded.
- In the martialist phase, Kokytos can cast Rear Combination, so stand in its hitbox and in front if this happens.
- Kokytos will mark players with an AoE after Ecliptic Meteor, so spread out.
- The rest of the mechanics are all previously seen before. Do the mechanics and defeat Kokytos!
Loot
Coffers that appear after completing the duty will yield tokens that can be traded in for gear.
- 2x Unsung Helm of Anabaseios;
- 1x Unsung Armor of Anabaseios;
- 1x Unsung Gauntlets of Anabaseios;
- 1x Unsung Chausses of Anabaseios;
- 1x Unsung Greaves of Anabaseios;
- 2x Unsung Ring of Anabaseios;
- One Amongst the Weary Orchestrion Roll (Rare Drop)
Changelog
- 19 May 2023: Guide added.
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This guide has been written by Lyra an accomplished raider in FFXIV and has written raid guides for the game for the past five years. You can follow him on Twitter and he streams raids on Twitch.
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