Cinder Drift (Extreme) Raid Strategy Guide

Written by Lyra Rose. If you see this guide elsewhere besides thebalanceffxiv.com it isn’t supposed to be there.

This guide aims to provide tips and strategies for defeating the Ruby Weapon in Cinder Drift (Extreme).

The Ruby Weapon is the first Primal encounter in the Sorrow of Werlyt questline, available February 18, 2020 in Patch 5.2. Players must have completed the Main Scenario Quest “Old Enemies, New Threats” and the sidequest “Ruby Doomsday”. Players must be item level 470 or above to challenge thiis fight in a non-premade group.

Videos

DRG PoV

Drops

Equipment:

iL485 weapons

Token (one per kill per player):

Ruby Totem

Ten Totems can be traded for a Ruby Weapon of your choice by talking to C’intana in Mor Dhona (X: 22.7, Y:6.7).

Other:

Ruby Gwiber Horn

Ruby Plating

Orchestrion Roll

Mechanics

Phase 1

All players should choose cardinal and intercardinal positions for Ravensclaw, and choose two stacks to split for Homing Lasers - one healer in each stack. Markers should be placed on cardinal and intercardinal edges, with the 1 marker North and the marker NW being placed slightly closer to the middle.

Optimized Ultima

Raidwide moderate magical damage.

Stamp

A tank buster on the main tank that inflicts a Blunt Resistance Down debuff. This forces a tank swap.

Magitek Bit

Spawns four magitek bits around the arena, which shoot line AoEs - Magitek Ray - at random players.

Flexiclaw

Ruby Weapon drills into the ground and has an AoE in his hitbox. He then does mechanics based on the phase.

Helicoclaw

Helicoclaw spawns three AoEs, which move along the yellow line indicated from each AoE.

Ravensclaw

Eight patches of earth spawn from Ruby Weapon in the centre and slowly move outwards.

Spike of Flame

AoEs appear around the arena. They have markers, but blend into the environment. The outsides between the Ravensclaw patches are generally safe, as well as to the intercardinal of the boss; adjust as necessary.

Liquefaction

Ruby Weapon turns the arena into quicksand, which slows players heavily and kills them after 6 seconds if they do not stand on the Ravensclaw patches or non-quicksand areas.

Undermine

AoEs appear under the Ravensclaw patches which inflict burn if players are standing inside them.

Ruby Sphere

Three AoEs will drop on all players, dealing light magic damage. The AoEs leave behind a puddle which explode in a wide radius if a player is standing in it.

Ruby Ray

A wide frontal line AoE coming from Ruby Weapon.

Ravensflight

Ruby Weapon dashes along the arena, indicated by the double arrows on the ground. Once it hits the claw mark, it will begin its second set of dashes. It will then extend its claw and additionally cleave the entire room on the side of his claw while dashing. Once it hits the quicksand mark, it will reverse the quicksand - the middle will have quicksand, while the outer ring of the arena will be safe from quicksand.

Ruby Dynamics

Ruby Weapon jumps to a random cardinal and casts a donut AoE around it.

Homing Lasers

There are two variations to this mechanic:

  • Stack: Two stack markers appear on healers. All players should be standing inside Ruby Weapon’s hitbox and stand in one marker only.
  • Spread: AoE markers appear on all players.

Cut and Run

Ruby Weapon cuts and runs across the arena with conal AoEs. The safe spots are along the wall parallel to how he dashes, further than the intercardinals. Two Magitek Charges will spawn, which deal proximity damage.

Phase 2

As Phase 2 starts, Ruby Weapon will become Nael van Darnus. The fight checkpoints you here - wiping in Phase 2 will reset you to the beginning of Phase 2. Nael sits in the middle, cannot be moved, and is omni-directional. She does auto the MT. Tanks need to choose which Comet add they will tank, east or west. The wall is lethal during this phase.

Meteor Project

Nael van Darnus summons Dalamud in the background, indicated by the Dalamud Reborn duty gauge. After the countdown, Dalamud will impact the arena and deal heavy raidwide magical damage to the entire party. If the Dalamud Reborn gauge is not 0, it will instantly wipe the party. Killing either a Raven’s Image or Comet add will reduce the gauge by 50. All players should remember their cardinal and intercardinal positions for Meteor Mine.

Dalamud Impact

Dalamud’s Fall from Meteor Project, dealing heavy raidwide magical damage.

Negative Personae

Nael summons two Raven’s Image adds, one coloured orange and one coloured blue. All players will be inflicted with a orange or blue debuff - players must hit the opposite add. Nael is untargetable while any add is still alive.

Meteor Stream

An AoE centered around all four DPS, which deals heavy damage.

Greater Memory

Both adds gain a damage up buff, and two untargetable ghosts - White Agony and White Fury - spawn which tether to DPS. The ghosts move slowly towards the tethered player. If any player gets hit by the ghost, they will explode and deal heavy damage to the raid and inflict a damage down. The ghosts need to be taken to their opposite coloured add, which will remove the damage up stack.

Lunar Dynamo

Casted by the adds. A donut AoE that can be outranged.

Iron Chariot

Casted by the adds. A small AoE around the add.

Ruby Claw

A moderately strong multi-hit physical tank buster that does more damage with the Damage Up buff from Greater Memory still active.

Change of Heart

The adds will swap buffs, necessitating a tank swap and target swap.

Negative Aura

Any players looking at Nael will get feared. Look away.

Meteor Mine

Nael marks all eight players in order with meteors. Meteors will land dealing proximity damage, exploding if they are close to any other meteor and wiping the party. Meteors will explode after a short while, dealing heavy damage to all nearby players.

Magitek Meteor

A gigantic meteor falls from the sky. Players must line-of-sight the meteor behind a Meteor Mine in order to survive.


Screech

A short knockback centered on Nael. This can be Surecasted/Arms Lengthed.

Mark II Magitek Comet

Nael summons two comets that will drop on players soaking them, moving towards the east and west. Tanks must use CDs and soak this. It will make them unable to move and spawn two Comet adds on top of them. These Comet adds will kill the tank via a debuff that deals increasing damage over time until they are killed.


Bradamante

Two players are marked. After the cast bar resolves, Nael will shoot a line AoE at them, dealing light magical damage. This should be aimed away from the tanks soaking comets.

Outrage

Moderate raidwide magical damage. This is spammed until enrage.

Fight Mechanics

Phase 1

Optimized Ultima

Magitek Bit

Flexiclaw

Magitek Ray

Helicoclaw + Magitek Ray

Helicoclaw + Magitek Ray

Magitek Ray

Stamp

Flexiclaw

Ravensclaw

Unnamed AoE

Liquefaction OR Undermine

Ruby Sphere x3

Ruby Ray

Optimized Ultima

Flexiclaw

Liquefaction

Ravensflight

Optimized Ultima

Stamp

Ruby Dynamics

Homing Lasers stack

Homing Lasers spread + Cut and Run

Magitek Charge x2

Ruby Ray

Optimized Ultima

Flexiclaw

Ravensclaw

Undermine OR Liquefaction

Ruby Sphere x3

Ruby Ray
Optimized Ultima

Repeat from Flexiclaw until the boss reaches 5%.

Enrage

Enrage is a long casted Optimized Ultima. The boss cannot be killed before he starts to enrage, and will do so once brought under 5%.

Phase 2

Meteor Project

Negative Personae

Meteor Stream

Greater Memory

Lunar Dynamo / Iron Chariot

Meteor Stream

Ruby Claw

Greater Memory + Change of Heart

Repeat from Lunar Dynamo / Iron Chariot until adds are killed

Negative Aura

Dalamud Impact

Meteor Project

Meteor Mine

Magitek Meteor

Screech

Mark II Magitek Comet

Bradamante x2

Meteor Project

Outrage spam

Meteor Stream

Enrage

No idea what enrage is currently at this time; speculation is the Dalamud Impact 100 gauge explosion.

Timeline (will be updated when ACT works)

Cast        Resolves        If there is only cast, it is instant / no marker.

0:00

Fight Strategy

Phase 1

  • Mitigate Optimized Ultima prepull.
  • Dodge Magitek Ray, then prepare for Helicoclaw. It is advise to mitigate this as it will cover for any mistakes.
  • The AoEs from Helicoclaw will move along the curved line emanating from the middle. In order to dodge this, stand between two AoEs in the middle and move in immediately once the first AoE has gone off. There will be a small safe space to move into. This takes practice, but is the safest method as Magitek Ray resolves right after, giving you time to dodge. (0:56 in the video is how to do it properly)
  • Helicoclaw is done like this. Alternatively, there is a safe spot around here, but I suggest moving in as the arrow indicates as you might get hit by Magitek Ray if you don’t.
  • Dodge one more Magitek Ray, mitigate and tank swap during Stamp, and prepare for Ravensclaw.
  • Patches of earth will emanate from the centre of Ruby Weapon, as well as a point blank AoE. Either the cardinal or intercardinal will have long patches, and the opposite will have short patches. The AoE following Ravensclaw will hit everywhere except in between the long patches at the edge of the arena, as well as directly to the intercardinal of his hitbox.
  • Players must then look for Liquefaction or Undermine.
  • If it is Liquefaction, players must go to their clock position’s patch of earth. Stand on the edge, and drop the three AoEs while moving inside slowly - drop the next patch right inside the previous one. Make sure to not overlap with anyone else. After dropping three patches, there will be a safe spot in the middle.
  • In PF, the strategy where all players will rotate CW one patch if melee have long patches for Liquefaction is being popularized. This allows melee to have uptime through the section.
  • If it is Undermine, players must go to the edge of their clock position between the long patches. They will drop the three AoEs, the first two on the edge of the arena and the third slightly inside. Do not stand in the fire puddles on the ground.
  • Go behind for Ruby Ray, and heal through Optimized Ultima.
  • The next Flexiclaw > Liquefaction will spawn quicksand on the outer edge of the arena, leaving a safe circle inside Ruby Weapon’s hitbox.
  • He will then teleport to the north edge and start casting Ravensflight. Melee can still hit the boss, but make sure to back off quickly.
  • He will then dash according to the arrows on the ground. The first dash will stop halfway in the middle, then towards the edge. Make sure you stand on the south edge and away from the direction it is dashing next to avoid that dash.
  • Once he reaches the claw marker, notice which side the claw is glowing. The next dash is thinner, and the safe spot is on the side opposite of the claw at the edge. He will then dash to the quicksand marker, which reverses the quicksand - the inside is dangerous and outside is safe.
  • The final dash will have the claw cleave too. Players must note which side has the claw and go opposite of that side ahead of time, in order to move out of the quicksand.
  • Here is a diagram visual representation on how to do Ravensflight.
  • Heal Optimized Ultima and mitigate and swap through Stamp.
  • He will go to a random cardinal. Players should stack with their pre-assigned groups on the right and left flanks of the boss, inside the hitbox.
  • Heal up and mitigate. Players should then move alongside the edge parallel to where the boss is dashing. Four players will be on each side, and they should be between intercardinal markers. It is HIGHLY recommended to tank LB1 for this if you have the DPS, as it will prevent dying to getting hit by one cleave and the Homing Laser.
  • Dodge Ruby Ray, heal through Optimized Ultima, and get ready for Ravensclaw.
  • For Undermine/Liquefaction, it will be the opposite mechanic of what you did previously.
  • Burn the boss before he finishes the enrage cast.

Phase 2

  • I recommend resetting, as the wall is lethal and can be done quickly, but you can pull immediately.
  • Nael will begin by spawning two adds. She becomes invulnerable and untargetable.
  • Tanks need to pick up the adds, which spawn east and west. All players should be attacking the opposite coloured add of their debuff.
  • Tanks should bring the adds to the east and west edge as the first Meteor Stream is healed through.
  • Dodge Lunar Dynamo and Iron Chariot - both adds cast one randomly. All ranged players can stack south if the adds were brought to the edge, as it will dodge both Dynamo and Chariot.
  • The player tethered should stand on top of the tank with the opposite colour of their tethered ghost. Tanks should mitigate Ruby Claw.
  • Swap adds, and kill them before Dalamud Impact casts. Mechanics repeat after this point. When one add is killed, the debuffs wear off. Once the adds are both killed, Nael will be targetable again.
  • Look away and mitigate Dalamud Impact.
  • Nael will then cast Meteor Mine and Magitek Meteor. Players will be marked from one to eight in order of Meteor Mines falling. Players should place their markers at their respective intercardinal or cardinal edge when the meteor drops, except for the player marked with the eight meteor.
  • The last player (8) must place their meteor slightly closer to the centre. This is to ensure there is a meteor alive to hide behind for Magitek Meteor. It is very difficult to hide behind a meteor placed at the edge.
  • Once their meteor has been placed, all players should stack in the middle and mitigate through the light proximity damage.
  • Players should position themselves to get knocked back behind the eighth meteor by Screech, or use a knockback immunity and stand behind the rock.
  • Move away from the rock and any other exploding meteors immediately.
  • The two tanks will take their respective Magitek Comets. Stand inside the final arrow circle in order to do so. Both should pop cooldowns beforehand, and it is recommended for invulns like HG/Superbolide/LD to be used. Burn one down immediately to lessen the healing. Players who are marked for Bradamante should move to the side and hit the boss instead until the line AoE resolves, which then they can return to DPSing the Comet.
  • Healers need to keep the tanks alive.
  • Heal and mitigate through Outrage, and beat the enrage DPS check.

Role Specific Tips

Tank:

  • There is not much incoming damage except for the tank busters - mitigate Stamp heavily.
  • Use raid-wide mitigation for places that seem like players will make mistakes on - the AoEs do not do much damage and can easily be healed through.
  • Do not bother trying to position Ruby Weapon too much, as it will usually jump to the middle or edge for mechanics.
  • It is highly recommended to tank LB1 for Cut and Run. It allows players to soak one cleave as well as their Homing Laser with extra mitigation.
  • Use heavy mitigation on Ruby Claw, as it will all be back up by the time you have to soak Comets.
  • Use invulnerabilities with instant effect such as HG, Superbolide, and Living Dead on Comets if you can afford to, as it relieves stress from healers.

Healers:

  • Try and cover for mechanical mistakes, as there are lots of areas where players can easily be hit by a stray AoE or two.
  • Heal through Optimized Ultima with efficiency and save emergency tools to save party members.
  • Use heavy mitigation and top off for Dalamud Impact.
  • Even when staying south, try to move slightly closer to the middle of the arena during the first adds phase in P2 so that all players receive AoE heals. Be careful not to walk into the path of a ghost tethered add.
  • Make sure the tank is healthy going into Comets, and keep them topped off through the consistent damage.

DPS:

  • If you require the uptime as melee, it is possible to “Bokchoy” the Ruby Spheres much like Earthshakers in T13 - that is, drop one at the edge, go in for a GCD, and move out back to the edge in order to drop it, and repeat.
  • Try not to get hit by any avoidable mechanics - they do not inflict Damage Downs, but Vulns. Eat too many and you’ll likely die to the next raidwide.
  • In the final phase, do not overlap Meteor Streams. Have positions preplanned and make sure you are spread apart when they are about to appear such that players can move away from each other.
  • Stay close to the south side of the arena so that you are in range of heals when dodging Lunar Dynamo/Iron Chariot. Use self-heals if you miss a heal.
  • Use 3m burst on Comets, as freeing the tank quickly is very important to relieve stress on the healers.
  • Use your mitigation properly - Feint on Stamp/Ruby Claw, and Addle on raidwides. Ranged reduction whenever there is heavy damage.

Links and Credits

Written by Lyra Rose of Gilgamesh.

Visit the Balance FFXIV for job theorycrafting, discussion, and guides.

Guides for fights this tier:

Big thanks to ragtag group of gamers who did the trial on patch release with me and putting up with LOLDRG Elusive fatfinger shenanigans. You da bes

Ty /u/yue_tanakamura for Spike of Flame name + safe spots

Changelog

-updated meteor mine strat and safe spots for aoe