Hi folks,
One of the last things my group and I are looking to overcome is Dynamis-D, primarily to get our masks complete. We have already entered wave 3 in several zones (not tried Windurst yet), and had a pop at the Galka in Bastok, but we're still some way off. The first main boss we defeated was Halphas (on our first attempt), although it was extremely dangerous and took a long time. Tonight, we absolutely destroyed Obstatrix, but wave 3 proved difficult.
There's a lot of strategies out there all over the place, and I think it would be cool to bring more recent strategies in to one place. I'd like to pull together many of the basics with help from those who have destroyed this content over and over.
The below information has been pulled together from personal experience and others feedback.
Statue Colours
San d'Oria - Blue eyes = Magic Weak / Green eyes = Physical Weak
Bastok - Blue eyes = Dark Weak / Green eyes = Light Weak
Windurst - Blue eyes = Reduced Physical Damage (-50%) / Green eyes = Reduced Ranged/Magic Damage (-33.3%)
Jeuno - Blue eyes = +50% DT, AoE's won't work / Green eyes = +20% DT and enfeebling (% Sleep) resistant
The above stats only affect the beastmen they spawn, and not the statues themselves.
- Most groups bring Corsairs with Leaden Salute (Ranger with Trueflight also works) to deal with statues. Any kind of elemental magic works though, so BLM, RDM, GEO, SCH, and even SMN can play their part. If statues are defeated in one blow, they will not spawn beastmen. This is crucial if you are looking to save time for wave 3.
A group brings COR+RNG because mage nukers cannot kill statues in one blow. The colour you aim for depends on the beastmen you want to deal with if there is a resist. Bear in mind that Lightsday makes resists more likely for Leaden Salute, and Darksday more likely for Ranger's Trueflight.
For example, in San d'Oria, do you have a melee setup? Then green would be safer, because if your statue killers resist you can kill beastmen quicker. However, if you are setting up magic bursts for wave 2? Or are using COR+RNG magic WS? You may prefer blue.
In Bastok, again, are you using Leaden Salute? Blue eyes would be preferred, so the Corsairs can be more effective against beastmen. Windurst is very much like San d'Oria. Jeuno is unique, because green eyes means you can't sleep your enemies! This may be acceptable in wave 1 if your group is strong enough, but in wave 2? I wouldn't advise it. Jeuno is mostly a blue eye zone.
Other Statues
Red Eyes are special statues which spawn Notorious Monsters. They can be avoided unless you are only interested in farming the shards they drop. The NMs are far more difficult than regular beastmen, and therefore eat up more time.
San d'Oria - Orcs will gain access to Counterstance. This sucks! If you are a melee, you must stand behind them at all times.
Bastok - Quadav gain access to Wrath of Gu'Dha. It is an AoE move which enfeebles players with Gravity and knocks them back. The group is best off fighting on a wall to prevent time loss. Shadows will stop Gravity being applied.
Windurst - Yagudo use Doom on the target with hate. Your tank and melee damage dealers should bring plenty of Holy Waters. Healers
need some kind of Cursna set. Please, do not overlook this. Holy Waters rarely do the job, but a prepared healer will.
Jeuno - Goblins have Goblin Dice for random buffs to themselves, and rarely your group. There is no way you can prepare for this, so don't worry about it.
Colourless - All zones have one of these statues up at any time. It spawns
Aurix with beastmen (with none of the above stats applied) and should be fought first. Aurix can spawn on any wave, including from elemental fetters in wave 3. Prefers to use Bomb Toss, but also has other Goblin TP moves: Frypan, Goblin Rush, Smokebomb, Paralysis Shower and Crispy Candle.
Beastmen
There's not much difference between regular monsters across all four zones. Statues are best taken down with magical damage and not melee'd on. You should be aware that Beastmen have dual jobs, and should be targeted based on which is more dangerous. Something like this:
BLM > SMN (sleep avatar) > RDM/BRD > PLD/THF (make them SP early) > everything else > MNK > BST > NIN
Job - San d'Oria (S) / Bastok (B) / Windurst (W) / Jeuno (J)
BLM/GEO - Evoker (S) / Magister (B) / Magian (W) / Arcanomancer (J)
SMN/WHM - Medic (S) / Mender (B) / Orisha (W) / Vivifier (J)
RDM/RUN - Enchanter (S) / Magician (B) / Prognosticator (W) / Defiler (J)
BRD/SAM - Troubador (S) / Balladeer (B) / Minnesinger (W) / Flautist (J)
PLD/DRG - Knight (S) / Cavalier (B) / Champion (W) / Banneret (J)
THF/DNC - Fleetfoot (S) / Trickster (B) / Ruffian (W) / Vandal (J)
MNK/PUP - Pugilist (S) / Combatent (B) / Ascetic (W) / Fistfighter (J)
BST/RNG - Tamer (S) / Harnesser (B) / Empath (W) / Animist (J)
NIN/BLU - Shinobi (S) / Shadowstalker (B) / Spy (W) / Operative (J)
Wave 2 Beastmen are considerably stronger. If the group is low man or not well equipped, consider a skillchain which can magic burst their weakest element. Beastmen weaknesses are as follows:
Orc = Water (Darkness)
Quadav = Thunder (Light)
Yagudo = Ice (Darkness)
Goblin = None
- It's important to remember that Quadav's have shells, which means reduced damage when attacking from behind.
Yagudo use stun TP moves Sweep (AoE) & Double Kick. Orcs have Shoulder Attack & Aerial Wheel. Quadav use Shell Bash & Headbutt. Barthunder may be preferred to counter Stun, especially against Yagudo's Sweep. Goblin's main weapon is Bomb Toss, so Barfire makes sense.
Buffs for Rune Fencers? You can refer to my guide for rune choices here:
Which Runes To Use? Gathering Info.
I have the following listed. Please correct me if you believe otherwise:
Orcs = Unda x3 (weak to water) / Tenebrae x3 (counter Charm)
Quadav = Sulpor x3 (weak to thunder)
Yagudo = Gelus x3 (weak to ice)
Goblin = Unda x3
If you prefer to counter stuns from Orc, Quadav, and especially Yagudo, Telus x3 is preferred. Anything that can Charm is best with Tenebrae x3 & Pflug.
Mid-Boss
The mid-boss in each zone are very similar. They have natural regain, so will use TP moves regardless of actions. The regain gets stronger the lower HP gets, which means more TP moves like Seismostomp. If a melee is in range to open a skillchain, it is recommended they have shadows to absorb stomps.
Magic damage is the way to go, especially Magic Bursts. Have a GEO? Ask them for Indi-Acumen & GEO-Malaise. Enfeeble the boss with Frazzle. Get a Wizard's roll from the Corsair. Rune Fencers shouldn't forget that they have access to Gambit & Rayke, which boosts magic damage even more!
For my group, I open with Ground Strike on Rune Fencer. Then, a COR will make Darkness by following with Leaden Salute. At this moment, any jobs which can MB (including SCH/RDM/GEO/SMN) can do great damage with Ice or Stone. To extend the skillchain with double darkness, a second COR can make a 3-step with Wildfire.
Ground Strike > Leaden Salute = Darkness (Ice/Stone) > Wildfire = Double Darkness (Ice/Stone)
Alternatively, if your tank focuses on hate, a THF/NIN can open for a COR with Rudra's Storm for Darkness. Some say a 2-handed DD should open, but it depends if they have shadows. Without that, they will be stunned much of the time. Before heading out, use FFXIcalc to see which jobs can open.
We have also done this the Scholar way. Using the weaknesses above, you're best off using level 2 Immanence skillchains:
Overlord Tombstone (S) = Distortion (Ice/Water*)
Mu'Sha Effigy (B) = Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning*)
Envincing Idol (W) = Distortion (Ice*/Water)
Impish Golen (J) = Fusion (Fire/Light*)
On the Tombstone, for example, you will have the choice to MB either Ice or Water, and orcs are weak to Water. The most difficult of these is Impish Golem, because they aren't many Light based nukes for Fusion.
FFXIclopedia is the best source for Magic Burst options on skillchains.
**Quickest Route**
Looking to do wave 3? You'll want to cut down on the seconds it takes to get to the bosses. Here are some maps, courtesy of the BGwiki "
Better Dynamis-ing" guide.
You may notice there is no Jeuno map, but it's pretty simple. After entering, run up the stairs and buff up. Ignore what is normally a red eye statue at the Auction House. Kill the one blocking the way to the palace. From here, hug the left wall and ignore the statues on the right.
There is a statue at the entrance to the palace to kill. Behind this, you will see two statues either side of the mid-boss stairs. If done right, you can walk between and completely ignore these statues. Here's the line you need to avoid them... forgive my poor Paint skills.
As you may have guessed, the red line is the route to get past the statues (blue boxes) without aggro. You can run, but walk if you're feeling unsure. After the mid-boss, the group can take the same route to get past the statues on the way to Obstatrix.
Zone Boss (Universal)
Zone Boss refers to the Beastmen leaders at the end of wave 2. This section outlines universal buffs and debuffs in a party using a melee setup.
GEO - Indi-Barrier is commonly used. Entrust would change depending on target & party. Because debuffs are nerfed by 75% in Dynamis-D, you are encouraged to use buffs like Attunement for tanks, and Fury for DD. Make sure you know which is required of you. You would set up fresh bubbles with Bolster just before 50%, to give the group the best buffs at the toughest moment.
RUN - Unless you have two heavy DD like WAR & SAM, I have found it useful to store up Great Axe to 3k TP for Weapon Break. This gives the enemy -25% attack down for 5 minutes. However, if your party is likely to take longer than this, you may want the alternative stated below.
Keep up Phalanx & Cocoon the best you can. Use 1 hours if hate becomes an issue. Consider switching to Tenebrae + Vivacious Pulse if you run out of MP. Also, for wave 3 especially, make sure all your midcast sets have damage taken, and you line up pulls in front of you for parrying.
PLD - Save Invincible unless hate becomes an issue. Use Intervene in the last 50% if the enemy gets dangerous. Keep up Phalanx & Cocoon the best you can. Your Protect is the strongest with Majesty, so let the WHM know to ignore Protectra. On wave 3, ensure your midcast sets have damage taken, and you link up pulls in front of you for blocking.
WAR/SAM/Club - Much like above. Armor Break (GA), Tachi: Ageha (GK), and Staff's Shell Crusher, each enfeeble the enemy with -25% defense down. However, they do not stack, so choose whoever is most likely to land it. DRG's abilities only give 20%, while Blue Mage's Tourbillion (33.3%) lasts 1-2 minutes.
Great Axe's Full Break is often considered. Despite only granting 12.5% attack/defense down, at 3k it lasts for 12 minutes. This is over two times longer than Weapon Break's Attack Down, and three minutes more than Armor Break. It negates Ka'Rho Fearsinger's Shell Guard, so would keep it powerless for longer.
RDM - The most useful job in Dynamis-D gets heavy use. Don't forget to Cure if needed. Never stop casting.
Buffs: Haste 2. Refresh III.
Enfeebles: Dia III. Frazzle. Distract. Slow. Paralyze. Silence. Addle. Inundation. Dispel. Blind. Sleep. Break. Impact.
COR - Crooked Chaos + Samurai Roll. Light Shot the RDM's Dia III. Wild Card the party under 25%? Depends on how it's going.
WHM - Auspice. Regen IV. Boost-VIT in tank party, Boost-STR in DD party. Favour Curaga over single target heals. Keep up defensive spells like Phalanx & Aquaveil, more so for hate resets like Halphas. Sacrosanctity, Asylum and Devotion could provide some short-term relief, but don't get killed doing them.
Melee DD - Use the right food. If you know you have enough accuracy, Red Curry Bun provides a substantial attack boost. Most DD default to Sublime Sushi for accuracy. Zerg with your 1-hours from 50%. Pulling hate on Zone Boss? Back off until the tank gets hate back. Being dead is less damage overall.
Speaking of accuracy, here are some checks (with buffs) to consider:
Wave 1: 1250-1300
Wave 2: 1375-1400
Wave 3: 1600+
Also, it's important to remember that repeatedly using the same weaponskill will incur a damage penalty. For example, if you bring DDs who only Savage Blade, this would make bosses harder to kill, because the damage would be considerably less than if you mix it up. Lastly, make sure you have damage taken sets, including a hybrid TP/DT set (with enough accuracy) for wave 3.
Halphas (S)
Positioning for Halphas is crucial compared to other zone bosses. Experienced groups may be able to get away with fighting it at the Mog House, but others may feel safer using a height difference to make it safer for healers.
-Information needed-
