FFXIV: P9S Guide - Anabaseios: The Ninth Circle (Savage)

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With a new tier of Savage arriving in Final Fantasy 14, you know what that means. Tears, frustration, and a lot of attempts before getting a clear. So far, many people have managed to defeat the first boss of Anabaseios: The Ninth Circle (Savage). Yet, other people are struggling, especially those finding other players through Party Finder. Whether you have a static group or want to band with other random players, we’ve prepared something for you. We have a complete FFXIV P9S guide that’ll let you clear this raid with your friends or whomever you try it with.

FFXIV: P9S (Anabaseios: The Ninth Circle Savage) Guide

FFXIV Pandaemonium 9 Savage Raid Guide — Image Source: Square Enix via Ahri Effect

We will be breaking down this FFXIV P9S guide the best we can so you can organize your party before trying this content. We’ll review the mechanics and things you must do in the fight. If you lose, don’t get discouraged, as this is one of the most challenging fights in the game, and trying it is already a huge feat.

Assign Clock Positions

Anyone who’s tried any Savage content already knows how important clock positions are in the game. For Anabaseios: The Ninth Circle (Savage) is the same. Before you start the fight, drop a marker in the arena and assign positions. Tanks and Healers go to cardinal points, while DPS go to intercardinal points. Most of the mechanics in the fight will have players rotate clockwise, meaning you need to memorize your position as soon as the fight starts.

Now that you’ve positioned yourself and others, it’s time to start the fight. We’ll break down the mechanics below:

Gluttony’s Augur: Raid-wide damage. Heal and mitigate as necessary.
Ravening: Raid-wide damage. Save big heals for this one.
Duality of Death: Tank-buster for both tanks. Requires tank swap and tank spread.
Dualspell:
- This mechanic involves rotating clockwise (DPS only). You’ll need to head to a new spot as a DPS and be with another character. A DPS will pair with a tank or healer.
- There are two variants of this mechanic:
  - Fire: Players leave the boss’ ring and stack with their buddy.
  - Ice: Players enter the boss’ ring and stack with their buddy.
Lightning: You’ll get a spread mechanic between each cast of Dualspell. If you get hit by Fire, spreaFirehen go back inside to stack and get the Ice mechanic.
After the boss finishes casting its Dualspell mechanic, you’ll get Ravening which will do a lot of raid-wide damage.

Wall Phase

At this point, you might’ve noticed the boss spawned ice walls at cardinal or intercardinal points. Let’s explain how this new mechanic works in our FFXIV P9S guide.

Archaic Rockbreaker: Players will get knocked back by an attack. You must gather your buddy from the Dualspell mechanic and position yourself to hit the ice wall. If you get hit alone, you’ll die. Always have a buddy.
Elemental Cracks: While the previous mechanic is happening, you’ll see cracks in the arena. These are similar to the normal fight, as they’ll explode at the end. You need to check where the circle will end to avoid the explosion. At the same time, you need to resolve another mechanic.
Front/Rear Combination: While the above things happen, the boss will cast a Front or Rear Combination. The name will tell you where the boss will hit, so you must position yourself accordingly. If it’s Front, headFronthe back of the arena, avoid the cracks, and you’ll be safe.
- Note: The boss will also cast a spell similar to Dualspell, which means players need to move in our outside the boss’ ring. If the boss did in first, go out for the second, and vice versa.
Archaic Demolish: Requires light party (4 players) stack. You can assign those before you start the fight, and when you see the cast, run to your light party at either side of the arena.

All New Diadochos Gear in FFXIV (Patch 6.4 Crafted Gear)

Levinstrike Phase

FFXIV Anabaseios Savage Guide — Image Source: Square Enix via Ahri Effect

The next phase is one of the hardest as it adds more mechanics to many things to watch out for. Don’t fret; we’ll try to cover it all in our FFXIV P9S guide to making the raid easier for you.

Levinstrike Summons: This mechanic will spawn orbs with little dots above them showing the number the orbs have.
- The point of this mechanic is avoiding orbs and having players soak up towers and the Defamation attack. Usually, players with even numbers will get the job and move to soak the tower. On the other hand, the player with Defamation has to stay far from the group. The boss will rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise; you must repeat this step. You can watch the above image for a more precise look at the mechanic.
Two Minds: This mechanic is similar to Dualspell, and you must treat it as such. Fire means out; Ice means ice, and so on. You need to time this right after Levinstrike because it goes fast. Healers need to top up everyone as soon as possible.

Comet Phase

Contrary to the normal fight, Anabaseios: The Ninth Circle (Savage) has a more complex Comet mechanic, complicating things for many players. Yet, this FFXIV P9S is here to help when solving this mechanic. This is how it works:

Comet: Split into roles. You must get all DPS and support (tank and healers) together. Once the mechanic begins, send all support to find a boulder with cracks on it. DPS players should position themselves in a cardinal or intercardinal point, depending on the position of the boulders.
- Beastly Bile: Will target the group next to the boulder.
- Thunderbolt: Will hit each DPS. Never hit a boulder with Thunder; this is extremely important.
Comet (Part 2): Players will switch now. DPS players go to a boulder with cracks and support players to a cardinal or intercardinal point.
Ecliptic Meteor: Run behind the boulder that doesn’t have a red mark above it and wait for the hit. After that, run away from the boulder to avoid the impact.

Final Phase

FFXIV P9S Savage — Image Source: Square Enix via Ahri Effect

The last phase of the fight features many of the previous mechanics, especially the ones from the Wall Phase, but instead of Front and Rear attacks, you’ll get Dualspell. This means you must position yourself to avoid Fire and Ice while avoidFirecrackIcend stacking with your buddy. If you thought this would be the final thing of the fight, that’s not the case.

Chimeric Succession: Four players will get marked with a number. Send the first one to the southwest corner to get the hit; after that, the player with the number three mark swaps with one while the number two player gets hit. Repeat that with even-numbered players.
Front/Rear Firestrikes: The four remaining players will stack to get hit by this mechanic at the Front or back of the areFrontdjust for the above mechanic and this one accordingly.

After the above mechanics, you’ll get Two Minds once more, which you need to solve depending on what you get.

And that’s all we have for our FFXIV P9S (Anabaseios: The Ninth Circle Savage) guide. While it all sounds complicated, it is easier in practice. Speaking of which, practice makes perfect. Don’t worry if you lose many times; you’ll get it eventually. Remember to grab a good group and dedicate time to this challenging but fun fight.