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The Howling Blade is the final Cruiserweight Arcadion Raid inFinal Fantasy 14. In an attempt to save the Arcadion participants who are showing symptoms of psychonekrosis, you will need to continue battling your way up the Arcadion, with Howling Blade representing your final step in the Cruiserweight Division.
With the agreement that the loser of the match has to retire from the Arcadion, the stakes are higher than ever. Below, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about the Howling Blade fight, including each of his attacks and mechanics and how to avoid them.
Howling Blade Raid Walkthrough
This fight is divided into two phases, which are separated by an add phase. Throughout the right, the edge of the arena will be covered in anAoE that inflicts Bleedingif you step into it, so try to avoid this area as you dodge the boss’s attacks, which are all detailed below.
Great Divide
Line Stack Tankbuster
Targets one of the Tanks with aLine Stack Marker. Both Tanks shouldstack togetherto spread out the damage of this attack, and usedefensive cooldownsto mitigate. Also, non-Tank players shouldavoid being near or behind the Tanksfor this attack.
Wolves' Reign
AoEs
After a brief cast period, Howling Blade will unleash a combination of AoEs. First,four circle AoEswill appear around the arena. At the same time, the boss will dash to one of them, then prepare todash across the arena to the other side, dealing damage in aline AoE. Finally, Howling Blade will unleash aconal AoEfrom its new position.
This combo can easily be avoided byinitially moving to the opposite end of where Howling Blade dashes, then moving slightly to the side to avoid the incoming line AoE and conal AoE.
Heavensearth
Stack Marker
Targets a random player with aStack Marker. Group up on their position to spread out its damage.
Beckon Moonlight
Four Moonlit Shadow clones will appear around the arena in an order,holding their swords either to the left or right. Then, they will dash across the arena,dealing damage to half of the arena, indicated by the direction of their sword, and in the same order they appeared in. Watch their order and sword orientation carefully to avoid each attack.
Shadowchase
Line AoEs
Summonsfive clones near the center of the arenathat will each perform aline AoE forward. There aresafe areas immediately behind each of the clones; move there to avoid taking damage.
Bare Fangs
Howling Blade will summon itsGleaming Fang bitsin a line across the arena. Two of these will thenfire a line AoE, followed immediately by the other two. Watch the order these appear in and move accordingly to dodge.
Terrastrial Rage
Circle AoEs
At the same time theGleaming Fang bitsuse their line AoEs, Howling Blade will cast Terrastrial Rage, creatingcircle AoEs around the arena. Immediately after, the boss will useHeavensearthagain.
After Terrastrial Rage, the boss will useTactical Pack, summoning the Wolf of Stone and Wolf of Wind.
Add Phase
During this phase, the boss will be invulnerable, and hisSaber Intensity gaugewill begin to build over time.
Throughout the phase, the Wolf of Stone and Wolf of Wind will castWeal of StoneandWeal of Wind, respectively, dealing damage in aline AoE to their front. At the same time, players will either be targeted withGust, which are AoE Markers, orHeavensearth, which functions the same as before.
Once the Wolves are defeated, Howling Blade will castRavenous Saber, dealing damage to the partyaccording to how high the Saber Intensity gauge is. Defeat the Wolves before this maxes out to avoid wiping. After Ravenous Saber, the fight will enter its second phase.
Phase 2
At the start of this phase, the notification ‘Invigorated by battle, the Howling Blade strikes all the swifter.’ will appear, indicating that theboss’s attacks will come out more frequently and hit a bit harder.
Additionally,the barrier that previously prevented you from falling off the arena is gone, so take extra care around the edges of the arena not to fall off or take damage from the AoE covering the edge.
During this phase, the boss will use several new attacks, as well as enhance some of its previous ones.
Not only will this attack happen a lot faster, but the third,conal AoEin the combo will bepaired with a line AoE from each of the Wolves. Watch where the Wolf spirits appear and move accordingly to dodge their AoEs.
Terrastrial Titans
Falling Pillars
The boss will summonthree pillarsaround the edge of the arena. He will then castTitanic Pursuit, dealing damage ot the party andcutting the pillars up, causing them tofall in the direction of their cut, similar to Yojimbo’s bamboo cutter attack inThe Slice is Right GATE. This attack will be usedthree times back-to-back.
The first part of this attack works the same as it did earlier, but now, after the clones disappear, severalWolves of Windwill appear in their place,repeating similar line AoEs across the arena. Just like before, there aresafe areas behind each Wolf head.
Tracking Tremors
Continuous Stack Marker
Targets a random player with aContinuous Stack Marker, dealing several hits of damage to them.Group up with the targeted playerto spread out the damage of this attack, and heal through each hit.
Beckon Moonlight works the same way as before, but now, after the clones use their attacks,four Wolves of Earth will appear, creatingline AoEs that intersect in the center of the arena. Move to one of the safe corners to avoid these AoEs.
The boss will repeat these attacks and mechanics until he is defeated. Although you’ve seen each individual mechanic on its own, the boss will continue to combine several of them as the fight progresses.
For example, when the Howling Blade usesBare Fangsto summon theGleaming Fang bits, it will castWolves' Reign at the same time, so you’ll need to avoid all of these AoEs together.
One of the harder attacks to avoid isBeckon Moonlight, as the clones' AoEs come out rather quickly, giving you little time to adjust and avoid them. We recommend trying tostay as near to the center of the arena as you can, as this will make it so youdon’t have to move as much to avoid the next AoEin the sequence.
It’s also important towatch the order they appear in, as this will tell you which ones to avoid first.
Continue avoiding the Howling Blade’s attacks, and eventually you’ll bring him down. With that, your triumph over the Cruiserweight division is secured, and the Howling Blade’s retirement from the Arcadion is all but assured.
