Aht Urhgan Mission 42: Path of Darkness/Strategies

This strategy involves a party setup similar to the next mission, which is why it might be beneficial. The format is: 1 tank (NIN used, but PLD/NIN would work), 3x DD/NIN, 1x RDM/BLM, 1x Healer. In both of the first two rooms, the BLU sleeps easily even though the gears do not. The RDM will run in and sleep II the BLU, then each of the melees will grab one of the Imperial Gears. The healer will watch the party; the RDM will watch the BLU, while the melees handle the gears. Once the gears are down, focus on the BLU.

The same strategy is used in both rooms. 2 things are important to note here: First, the melees must pull away from the BLU and toward Naja. If the gears are positioned right, Naja will not attack the BLU until it is the only target. In the first room, we used two corners of the room the BLU spawns in and two corners of the room the party starts in, and this worked very well. In the second room, we used the east portion of the room, and the previous two rooms. If they are positioned correctly and the RDM sleeps so that the BLU stays in the same general area, Naja will only attack gears. The second is that everybody should be somewhat self-sufficient (Potions, /NIN, etc) as spreading out makes it more difficult on the healer.

Once the second form is down, the Soulflayer is fairly easy with this setup. No job, melee or BLM, seems to do particularly outstanding damage to the Soulflayer. Heal to full after the last room, have the tank run in and the party just tough it out. Healer must watch for Paralyze, Curse, and Bio, as with /NIN on all melees there is not significant need for massive healing. The RDM can usually do a fine job assisting in healing.

Other format changes that will work: One, two, potentially even 3 of the DDs can be exchanged for BLMs. An actual tank of some sort is needed (PLD/NIN, RDM/NIN, or just NIN), but the gears are susceptible to bind and gravity, so a kite/bind/nuke strategy can work. A BRD in place of a DD can work as well, provided a DD is comfortable handling two gears or the RDM is able to bind/gravity one of the gears. Sleeping the gears does not work all that great in either room. It will land in the second room, but it will not last long.

Notes: Had DD/NIN x4, RDM, and BRD and did fine. I was the BRD and accidentally subbed BLM and we still cleared. Basically each melee should be able to handle their own gear. When fighting the soulflayer, don't bother with the curse effects if you are melee-heavy as they will simply get cursed again and again.

PLD/ WAR (tank), NIN/WAR, WHM, DRK and DD x2

A well equipped PLD can kite the gears in both rooms. On my attempt at this mission I was wearing the Adaman Hauberk Set. Two crucial points of emphasis for this strategy to work.

1) The PLD must run into room1 and room2 ahead of Naja. Don't even give her a chance to target one of the gears. 2) The PLD DOES NOT engage the gears at all. The PLD merely sight aggros them with an earth staff equipped and proceeds to kite the gears while the rest of the party engages Amnaf.

While the PLD may not engage the gears or target any of them with Provoke or Flash, the PLD may however use Sentinel, Rampart and Defender at the outset to mitigate damage taken at the start. With the gears distracted, the NIN tanks Amnaf. The DRK stuns in order to prevent the damage output from Amnaf's BLU magic from getting out of hand. It's crucial that the healer be able to keep an eye on the PLD kite, Naja, and the rest of the pt and heal as needed. Using this strategy it's not necessary to sleep the gears. Once Amnaf is taken down, the party can proceed to taking out the gears one by one.

This strategy focuses on the second, and arguably most difficult, room.

Second Room: Another strategy for this room involves a different tactic used by a party in the Unicorn Server.

When doing the strategy above, my party was consistently slain when our mages kept trying to sleep the Imperial Gears. NOTE: I would not suggest doing this on the 1st OR 2nd room. Due to the Blue Mage's convenient Flee effect, Naja's first target more often than not is the blue mage forcing your party's strategy to immediately change if they can't put the gears to sleep.

Note Again: The gears cannot be slept easily. I would not recommend this as a tactic unless you have a Red Mage or Black Mage with a very high merited or equipment enhanced skill! As for Bard, an unmerited Bard with 126 CHR could not stick Lullaby on Lightsday during Light weather. Your mileage may vary.

Here is how we easily beat the second room: Party Setup PLD/WAR SAM/WAR WAR/NIN THF/NIN RDM/BLM RDM/BLM

The Thief (or another designated member) will be responsible for kiting the gears. Now that the first room is clear, this can be done easily. Ensure the thief has a Reraise Earring Utsusemi and Flee ready as they will be needed. Additional Note: Thief works incredibly well for kiting the gears. With Strider/Trotters and a full Evasion gearset (around 301 skill + 50 evasion bonus,) the gears are basically a non-threat. Use the pillars in middle of the rooms while kiting to your advantage as well, and they'll almost never catch up let alone drop a Thief's shadows with with that much evasion gear on. Save Flee in the case of a freak accident and you need a moment to recover. If the pillars are used effectively while kiting, +movement speed gear may not be necessary, although it certainly adds a significant margin of safety. If using +movement speed gear, it is not necessary to use Flee in the initial pull.

Make sure no one is resting before and during pull or the gears will break off and aggro them.

Have the Thief pull, Flee, and run. Meanwhile, your tank will immediately provoke the Blue Mage. This is essential, as Naja will attack the closest mob to her, as you must ensure that it is the Blue Mage.

Enjoy your "Tank and Spank" as your heavy DD in the party give the Blue Mage a big dose of fun. As she reaches 30% or so, have your kiter (ours was a THF) run back and have one of the DD (Samurai with Seigan/Third Eye or anyone with Nin sub is ideal for this) grab one of the gears off of the kiter and begin to kill it as the Thief continues his/her kiting route into the other side of the room. Given the damage capabilities of your party's DD, they should have it dead by the time your thief makes 1 pass around the room. Saving TP for the gears when the Blue Mage is about to warp (50% and 30% Health) is recommended, as she will regen to 49-50% no matter how low you get her at the last minute.

Do not fire a ranged weapon with a long delay on the Blue Mage when she is under 55%. It is possible that the arrow will follow her to the next room and initiate the next fight before your party is ready. This is confirmed on completion of the first room, unconfirmed on the second room.

NOTE: It is also possible for the gears to slap the kiter with their Gravity AOE attack as the kiter makes their pass. The party will have to improvise if this is to happen. The tank and available DD can yank 2-3 mobs off of your kiter to help prevent any unnecessary death.

Continue doing this until the gears are killed. If you run into trouble, have your THF use his/her Perfect Dodge and stand away from the party as your DD quickly dispatch the Imperial Gears one at a time. Your thief will need to plan his/her kiting route based on the damage capabilities of your party. For example: A shorter route for a more damage intensive party or a longer route for a less damage intensive party.

(SMN BST or PUP), Healer with some sleep spell, 4x DD/NIN

All DD make an /assist macro to assist Naja. First 2 rooms: Pet pull Amnaf. Once the gears pop and start attacking, despawn your pet. All the gears will lose hate and sit around. Have whoever is in charge of sleeps, sleep Amnaf. All DD can assist whoever Naja feels like attacking til that mob is dead and do /assist again to find the next mob. Last room: Keep all the DD alive as well as Naja and you'll win no problem.

Note: We had 2x SMN, RDM, NIN, DRGx2 when we did it. We had no clue when we did the first room that the gears would lose agro when my pet died so we pulled all of them at the same time anyway. 2nd room is when we noticed when my pet died that only Amnaf was running towards us while Naja was solo'ing a gear.

I'm not sure how well this strategy works. I did some testing solo on BST/WHM in the battle to see what would happen. I did 3 tests:

1) I sent my pet in and used Leave once all the Gears were attacking it. Amnaf came towards me and the Gears just sat there. Naja went after a gear. I kited Amnaf around for a bit trying to test the aggro behavior of the gears. The gears linked onto Amnaf and attacked me.

2) I called pet and waited out recast timer. I sent my pet in and used Leave once all the Gears were attacking it. Amnaf again came towards me and the Gears just sat there. Naja went after a gear. I pulled Amnaf into the starting room, called a new pet, sent it against Amnaf, and used Snarl to dump hate so my pet was tanking Amnaf. I ran into the other room to try to test magic aggro, but before I could cast a spell, all of the Gears were attacking Naja. I had the wrong filters on, so I thought maybe Naja did an AoE move or something to get the other gears, hence test 3.

3) I called pet and waited out recast timer. I sent my pet in and used Leave once all the Gears were attacking it. Amnaf again came towards me and the Gears just sat there. Naja went after a gear. I pulled Amnaf into the starting room, called a new pet, sent it against Amnaf, and used Snarl to dump hate so my pet was tanking Amnaf. I ran into the other room to try to test magic aggro, but before I could cast a spell, 2 of the gears went after Naja and 2 of the gears went after my pet (which was still on Amnaf in the other room).

I conclude that pet pulling does reliably get Amnaf out of the pack and does result in the Gears just sitting there, but the Gears only sit there for a short time. It seems like after the short time they will link with something even if separated by distance. --Redhobbit 06:34, January 28, 2010 (UTC)

PLD/NIN
RDM/WHM
BLU/NIN
BLU/NIN

Yes, four.

We did it after a few unsuccessful runs, failing not through our faults, but because Naja is a bit of a moron, and likes to attack Amnaf, we failed a couple of times before she caught on and started fighting gears instead. Not that it matters, considering no exp is lost upon death.

Round 1: Amnaf + four single gears.

• Enter BC, buff party and Naja, then rest to full.
• PLD runs in, aggro Amnaf, gears pop.
• RDM sleeps Amnaf, DDs kill gears.
• Kill Amnaf as far as you can, stick DoTs on her (Bio II and Disseverment as they will affect her when she runs to the next room.
• When she runs off, rest to full, buff up, etc.

Round 2: Amnaf + four gear-trios.

• Similarly to Round 1, PLD runs in, aggros, pops gears.
• RDM sleeps Amnaf, DDs kill gears.
• Kill Amnaf as much as possible.

Note: We put DoTs on Amnaf just like the previous round, but it appears they don't carry over to the third round.

Round 3: Amnaf as Soulflayer.

• PLD tank, BLU DD and Stun horrid TP moves/-ga spells, RDM heal.
• RDM keep an eye out for Mind Blast's paralyze effects, as it can be rather crippling.

PLD/NIN,RDM/BLM,RDM/WHM,DRG/NIN,SAM/NIN,THF/NIN

round 1 + 2 like on strategy 5

every DD pulled a gear into a corner and soloed it like on ODS.PLD tanked one gear untill DDs finished with their gears,after each round full rest.

on round 3 we were unlucky with AoE spells and PLD + THF died with mob 40% remaining,rest of pt was closely dead.RDM used Chainspell & cured himself to full hp + blink & stoneskin up.then put Bio II + Gravity on mob and started kiting it while SAM + DRG attacked it,RDM closely never lost hate.if mob puts bio on kiter dont erase it because it helps if mob hits with sleepga.2-3 minutes left.

85BST/WHM, 85SMN/RDM, 85SMN/RDM

Did this with me(bst) and two smns, Vanfreiheit and Astralis. Bst calls Crafty Clyvonne(why crafty? because it has movement speed traits to run faster than the mobs helping you do the pulls with the boss to make this work) right away, buffs and waits till call beast has one min till ready. Smns wait in the lobby while bst goes in and sends pet. Soon as your pet hits the blu and gets initial hate from gears(IMPORTANT: you need to make the Boss run infront of the gears so that naja attacks it first and not a gear, which means you need to hope your pet hits and not miss, which at that point the gears will spawn but not attack right away giving you time to use heel and make the boss run infront of them. If your pet misses the blu and you heel then you know the boss and all those gears are after you and will have to kite them around the pillar and hope you live long enough), have it heel while you are standing in the door way with the 2 smns and their Garudas (for PC which is what makes taking these gears out easy) ready to get the blu off you. Run in to the lobby and kite them around the pillars. Try to wait till avatars have the blu's hate, then kite them into the first spawn room and go to the furthest corner away from the lobby, have your pet stay and snarl. At this point, go back to the lobby before it dies, make sure the smns are at the furthest side in the lobby from the first spawn room. Once the gears kill your pet, Call Beast and fight the blu while the gears wait in the main room with no aggro (if you are too close to the door way they will aggro; they seem to have a larger aggro range or maybe link to the blu a long way when they wait in the room). Once the blu dies, you have to beat naja to the gears or its game over as she'll get gang raped. Send your Crafty to the closest one and kite the gears around the pillars again. Have 1 smn stick with the gear naja grabs and the other to get its own. Once one of the gears are killed, a smn will get one more and you get the other and move apart while you guys solo each so you dont get combod from AoEs coming from 2 gears and can get your naja killed. Make sure to rest up mp after the gears are killed and before poping the next set of gears. Same idea in the second spawn room but this pull is tricky. This time when you pull and get hate on crafty, make sure you are directly in between naja and the blu making a straight line (your distance between the to is not important just make sure your pet is the one aggroing and not you, so keep your distance), then when you send pet to get aggro and it pops the gears, heel quickly (hoping it doesnt miss) and wait in front of naja so the blu comes running infront of the gears and closest to naja. Now bail out the room with crafty so that smns grab the blu with avatars. Then you can take them back to the room with the pillars and kite the gears around at the lobby for a while. If you got naja to aggro on the blu, then you can take the gears to the back of the room where the first set of gears spawned that your pt killed and have your pet stay while smns take the blu to the lobby and kill. they should deaggro again and go back to the third room where they spawned at. In the case that naja grabs a gear, one smn has to be assigned to the blu and the other with naja, you have to kite the rest of the gears till they are done by kiting around the pillar, and the blu should be fought away from you in the other rooms. oh, and through out this whole process smns MUST keep an eye out for najas hp and keep her cured. The third phase of the fight is simple. After resting mp and hp, send your new pets on the flayer (maybe shiva to lessen the effects of paralize,...maybe, doesnt realy matter). At this point, you can simply stand back and watch; especially naja, making sure she has hp capped. Absolutezro of Bahamut 19:25, October 29, 2010 (UTC)

BLU/PLD(me) and BLM/WHM both 85

Just won this after around 8-10 tries of losing. What we would do is go in, buff up, rest, then Black mage would use Sleep II on the boss and pull the gears back to the Blue mage at the door way AWAY from the boss. The Blue mage would then cast Chain Affinity/Efflux Whirl of Rage followed by Actinic Burst and Sentinel then Benthic Typhoon. In between time for the next Whirl of Rage he would cast Quad. Continuum or Disseverment to take out 1 or 2 until Whirl of Rage was up again. Black mage focused on curing the Blue mage/Naja this entire time. After the gears were taken down usually the boss would wake up and come after the Black mage; this is when the Black mage kites the boss with Mana Wall, stunning every time he/she can to help with time. While kiting, the Blue mage rested mp to around 400ish mp about when the black mage ran out of mp. The Blue mage would then buff a little and go in spamming strongest physical spells along with Head Butt spam to take the boss out. Rest up for next battle and repeat except this time Black Mage used Elemental Seal Sleep II on the boss just in case. After second room is done, we went to the Soulflayer and rested to full once again along with buffing. The Blue mage engaged and put Disseverment on it for dot along with the Black mage casting Dia II. Black mage focused on curing Naja and the Blue mage; the Blue mage spammed strongest spells along with spamming Head Butt and Actinic Burst.(Would also Magic Fruit self when in critical hp/job abilities to enhance spells damage and self when up) The Black mage also focused on stunning Agas. Took the Soulflayer version down in around 5 minutes with 10 minutes remaining at start. Blue mage had no mp left around 20% of Soulflayer so spammed Vorpal Blade along with Black mage spamming Cure IVs, but won.

NOTES:

-Black mage friend had low enfeebling magic of 217 and could never land Sleepga II with Elemental Seal on gears in tested tries which is why we tried this and worked eventually. Never had problems sleeping 1st boss with Sleep II, but 2nd fight did resist without ES.

-Blue mage might want to use a Tavnazian Taco.

-Things can get out of control fast and naja could need cured if she gets hit with a few AoE attacks.

-Buffs include:

(Blue Mage):Protect II/Shell II/Diamondhide/Zephyr Mantle/Battery Charge with Diffusion/Cocoon right before fight begins

(Black Mage): Ice Spikes/Aquaveil/Stoneskin/Blink/Protect II/Shell II/Reraise

-Good luck to anyone that tries this. ^-^