1
Forum Settings
       
« Previous 0 Next »
Reply To Thread

General HNM GuideFollow

#1 Dec 27 2006 at 10:08 AM Rating: Good
***
3,379 posts
General HNM Guide
Version 1.5
Still a work in progress (like my sea database). Suggestions are helpful!
I will update with drop lists / attack lists as time goes on.
Alternative strategies for the NMs is appreciated and you will be added to the credits listing, as well as any help completing this large database.

HNM Etiquette
Generally talking during a window is next to nil since it will be time to focus and claim!

Spam is usually frowned upon. /say and /emote spam on the shell that claims is just poor stature and probably will give your shell a rather immature reputation.

Expect a lot of accusations to be flying at HNM camps about who does what. Generally? Just keep quiet and maintain a strong but silent standpoint.

If a linkshell claims the king and then it is becoming clear that they will not win, the other linkshells should shout a representative to do a /random so that a claim order will be created (consider your server lucky if this still goes on though, we had a shell break that rule, and now HNMs are pure chaos on Siren).

Why do HNMs?
Most people in endgame seek to demolish the toughest of monsters be it for the abjurations, black-belt items, other itemss, or just the satisfaction of saying "Hey, we beat this thing." Whatever your reason is, try to enjoy it rather than contribute to drama that usually accompanies large-scale NM battles.

What is a window pop?
Almost all HNMs are on window pops. HNMs like Behemoth, Fafnir, and Adaman are 21-24 hour pops. During that 3 hour period, there are small minute-long "windows" in which the NM can pop. They are calculated using the last known "Time of Death" or "ToD". For instance, a ToD of 4:40pm means that the next day, the first window of spawn is 1:40pm-1:41pm the next window will be at 2:10pm-2:11pm and so forth in 30 min increments until finally the last window forces the NM to pop if it has not done so. Also Behemoth, Fafnir, Admantoise have what we call "Day" windows. After 3-4 days, there is a chance that the pop will be the HQ of their NQ form (King Behemoth, Aspidechlone, Nidhogg). As the days go on without an HQ pop, the chance that it will be HQ increases until finally it is basically guaranteed. After the HQ pops, the days restart from 0.

What is Spike Flail?
Spike Flail is a move used by wyrm type mobs which deals massive directional AoE damage. If a Spike Flail goes off, generally it will wipe the entire alliance. Avoid this at all costs by following standard tank procedures and not allowing the wyrm to turn or move. (See below post in order to understand the nature of Spike flail)

Rage timer? <== What's that?
A rage timer is a countermeasure added by SquareEnix to prevent holding. King timers are generally placed at 1 hour. From the time you claim the King, you have 1 hour to defeat it before it enters what I like to call "SSJ Mode". When in rage, the King will exponentially ramp up its damage over a short period of minutes (generally one-shotting people) and will become near impossible to enfeeble or damage. You must make sure you are able to kill the King mob before this time limit hits or basically you just wiped the alliance.

The catch about wyrms
Aside from avoiding spike flail, it is important to know that all wyrms (independently from SSJ timer) will go into a sort of mini-rage mode when they hit 10% or lower. They will spam many more TP moves in this state, and strike for much more damage. They do not exit this mode should you keep claim, but let them regen back up past 10% and will only wear off if a total wipe occurs and you let it naturally regen back to 100%.
_________________________________________________________________________________
The Kings
_________________________________________________________________________________
The wyrms

Fafnir (NQ Pop)
Pop location: Dragon's Aery
Type: Wyrm
Attacks include:
<List incomplete>
Dragon Breath: Directional Cone AoE damage 200-400
Spike Flail: Directional AoE damage 1100-1500
Hurricane Wing: AoE damage 100-200. Adds Blind effect.
Absolute Terror: Terrorized effect (unable to move, cast, or act)
Horrid Roar: Slight hate reset and removes 1 buff from those it hits.

Generally for wyrms, you place mages on the left front foot, and tanks and melee on the right front foot. Your DD must be careful not to pull too much hate, lest you cause the dreaded and infamous Spike Flail. BLM nukes and melee DD work fine on Fafnir and should easily bring him down within the hour-long rage timer.

Nidhogg (HQ pop of Fafnir)
Pop location: Dragon's Aery
Type: Wyrm
Attacks include:
<List incomplete>
-Breath: Directional AoE damage 300-500
-Spike Flail: Directional AoE damage 1300-1800
-Hurricane Wing: AoE Damage 300-400. Adds Blind Effect.
-Absolute Terror: Terrorized effect (unable to move, cast, or act)
-Horrid Roar: More powerful hate reset (moderate level). All positive buffs removed.
-Nidhogg also has a "2hr mode". It's not quite Mighty Strikes, but somewhat similar to it, with additional effects. His Defense, Magic Defense and Attack will increase substantially, and any TP moves he uses during this period will deal far more damage than normal. You will know he's in his 2HR mode when his Wings stand straight up in his "resting" animation. When his wings fold back down, his 2HR mode is over. He can use this as many times as he wants for the duration of a fight.


Same strategy on the feet as Fafnir. The only difference is Nidhogg will deal far more damage than his NQ counterpart and makes it difficult on the healers to keep people alive and not pull hate at the same time. Stoneskin is a must for mages, and melee should take it easy on the DD, or else you will be faced with massive Wing Spam which will probably wipe your alliance. BLM nukes and standard melee DD work just fine again and should easily be able to bring him down within the rage timer.

_________________________________________________________________________________
The Turtles

Adamantoise (NQ pop)
Pop location: Valley of Sorrows
Attacks include:
<List incomplete> Will be searching for more complete attack lists

This HNM is very easy to bring down with even a duo or trio. Although it possesses high defense, a team of 75 melee / mages should easily be able to bring it down. The only catch is that its pop location has a high chance that you will aggro manticores, raptors, or large birds that can add to the difficulty. When Adamantoise goes inside his shell, it will begin regenning. It can be brought back outside via damage. Also, rage timer for Adaman is 30 minutes instead of 1 hour.

Aspid (HQ pop)
Pop location: Valley of Sorrows
Attacks include:
<List incomplete>
Aqua Breath - Cone AoE Water damage. ~600
Earth Breath - Cone AoE Earth damage. ~600
Harden Shell - Defense boost. Magic Defense Boost.
Tortoise Song - AoE moves that removes songs and buffs.
Tortoise Stomp - Front Cone AoE damage 600-800

This HNM is notorious for its extremely high regeneration rate inside its shell. It is essential that you bring it outside of its shell as soon as you see it go in by a round of high nukes and/or weaponskills, or you will not make it before the rage timer goes off. The same catch of additional monsters aggroing the alliance exists with this NM the same as it does with Adamantoise.

_________________________________________________________________________________
The Purple Dogs

Behemoth (NQ pop)
Pop location: Behemoth's Dominion
Attacks include:
<List incomplete>

This HNM is probably one of the easiest to bring down. The rage timer on NQ Behemoth is 30 minutes instead of an hour. Any regular DD can bring this NM down with little to no difficulty. There isn't anything really big to watch out for.

King Behemoth (HQ pop)
Pop location: Behemoth's Dominion
Attacks include:
<List incomplete>
Meteor: AoE damage 400-600
Thunderbolt: AoE damage 100-200. Adds a very long stun effect.
Kick-out: AoE cone damage 300-500 (happens when a person takes hate directly behind Behemoth)
Flame Armor: Buffs (unsure as to what)
Additional effect on all normal melee attacks: Powerful Stun.

This HNM is widely considered the easiest of the three kings. The strategy most used to kill it is having your tanks kite it in a circle around the huge arena-like spawning area while BLMs and other DD wait in the middle to come and strike it as it is kited around. Meteor is a very strong AoE spell and should be avoided at all costs. Generally speaking out and notifying the linkshell that "METEOR IS CAST" can help reduce how many people are damage / die by this deadly spell. General DD work vs this HNM.

_________________________________________________________________________________
The Big Wyrms
*Note* They do not have a rage timer like the kings.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Jormungand
Pop location: Uleguerand Range
Attacks include:

Glacial Breath: AoE Cone Ice attack, used very rarely, works exactly how Dragon Breath works.
Absolute Terror: Single target terrorized effect
Horrid Roar: Dispel all buffs on the target and massive Hate Reset
Gregale Wing: AoE Ice Wing attack (400-700 damage), also adds Paralysis effect
Sleet Blast: AoE Ice attack (400-600 damage), similar to Inferno Blast
Touchdown: AoE damage 100-200, on landing, strips shadows
Spike Flail: Like the other Wyrms
Ice Magic: Ice Spikes, Blizzaga III, Paralyga, Bindga

Jormungand also has Fast cast effect on at all times, making it somewhat difficult to Stun Blizzaga III. However, it's generally not that strong, so it's ok to eat it.

Jormungand's 2 hour is Blood Weapon, which he can use any number of times during the fight.

Behaves like Tiamat, in the sense will stay on the ground and fly (alternating). However, unlike Tiamat, the time Jormungand spends on the ground is greatly reduced. He'll generally stay on the ground around 1 minute and 30 seconds (I could be off on the actual times, but it's far shorter than Tiamat) and then immediately take off.

Adds are Aglooliks (Bombs) and Ice Elementals, thus you'll need additional people (if this your first time or you're inexperienced) that need to take care of these. One strategy is to collect all of the bombs and elementals in the area, drag them into the alley and using a team of BLM's + BRD's, keep them slept during the entire Jormungand fight. Another strategy is to kill them off as they repop (5 minutes) using melee/mages to build TP for use on Jormungand.

Below 30%, Jorm will also start using Horrid Roar very frequently in comparison to before. This can lead to massive hate problems if you are not prepared for it, so be ready to sleep Jorm if necessary to regain hate.

Tiamat
Pop location: Attohwa Chasm
Attacks include:
<List incomplete>
Firaga III: AoE Fire Damage 300-500
Touchdown: AoE damage 100-200
Tebbad Wing: AoE damage 200-400. Adds Plague Effect.
Inferno Blast: Directional AoE damage 500-700.
Absolute Terror: Terrorized effect (unable to move, cast, or act)
Horrid Roar: Hate reset.
Fiery Breath: AoE cone damage 800-1000 (very rarely used)

This HNM is one of the most heavily camped wyrms of all. She is considered an endurance fight (like most of these wyrms are). SMN BloodPact damage is generally used vs this HNM. Every so often, she will take to the air, and becomes unsleepable (should your shell find itself in need to recooperate from a disaster). Adds are a concern at night since powerful Arch Corses will pop in the same area Tiamat does.
Also Elementals pop in the same area that Tiamat does, so a good reliable add crew is necessary. Again, placement on the feet is an absolute must (for tanks) or you run the risk of a Spike Flail. Should she turn towards the mages (very very bad, since she has multiple breath attacks which can wipe mages easily), a re-positioning will be necessary when she takes to the air.
When in the air, she will not Spike Flail, and you can freely move her around so she is no longer facing mages. A very difficult fight, it can last several hours. It is possible to stun her Firaga III which is very helpful to the tanks, however hate control is very shakey and so mages need to be very cautious, especially after a roar. She also utilizes the 2hr ability Might Strikes which makes her already powerful melee attacks reach 700-900 damage.

Vrtra
Pop location: King Ranperre's Tomb
Attack List:
<List incomplete>
Sable Breath: AoE Cone Dark damage 300-500.
Cyclone Wing: AoE Dark damage ~500. Adds Sleep Effect.
Absolute Terror: Single target terrorized effect
Horrid Roar: Dispel all buffs on the target and Powerful Hate Reset (Almost 100%)
Dark Magic: Bio IV, Bio III, Dispelga, Drain, Aspir, Dispel, Stun, Sleepga II, Blindga, Absorb Spells

Another huge wyrm, this one is notorious for the hectic add control needs. Every 30 seconds (in addition to the many high level skeletons that spawn in the room) he will summon a skeleton that will aid him in battle. They are summoned with hate on the person that Vrtra has hate on and are almost impossible to pull from said tank. A massive add ally is a must for this fight or the adds will overwhelm the main aliance (There is nothing good about having an angry Vrtra + 25 Lv 80 skeletons beating on your alliance).
Aside from adds, Vrtra himself is not extremely threatening. A tanking strat usually is to have SMN and BLM DD waiting in a corner of the room with the massive add ally positioned in the center of the room while the tanks kite Vrtra in a huge circle around the arena (much like King Behemoth). This also is a very long battle and will last several hours, putting tons of strain on the add alliance. Every few circlings of the room, the tanks can stop for a second in the little pocket of SMN and BLM in the corner and let them get off a round of Blood Pacts and Nukes to steadily bring it down.
Vrtra's 2hr is Charm, which he will use any number of times during the fight. This is single target charm on the person who has the most hate (usually the tank) and will completely reset hate/TP for that person. General idea is to sleep said person until Charm wears off (usually 2 - 3 minutes).

(Alternative Strategy: submitted by Asherek):
Another strategy for Vrtra is to straight tank it, however the problem associated with this method is that Vrtra shifts everytime he summons his adds. This causes the main ally to have to reposition, but sooner or later, Vrtra will end up in a wall and will spin -> Spike Flail. However, it can be done, just frustrating due to the terrain not being level combined with Vrtra shifting when he summons (a problem with any mob in this game that summons).

_________________________________________________________________________________
The New Guys
*Note* The New NMs are special in that they are very easy until around 20-30% when they gain a new move (usually devastating) and become a great deal more difficult.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Cerberus
Pop location: Mount Zhayolm
Attacks include:
<List incomplete>
Ululation: AoE paralyze
Gates of Hades: AoE damage 600-1000. Adds a very very powerful burn effect.
Scorching Lash: Directed AoE behind him that will hit anyone in the line-of-sight of the Tail. 500-700.
Magma Hoplon: Massive Stoneskin effect (estimated by some to be in excess of 2,000 HP absorbed) combined with Blaze Spikes effect. This cannot be dispelled.
Lava Spit: Short range cone AoE 200-400 damage.
Sulfurous Breath: Cone AoE Fire damage ~500. Can be absorbed by Utsusemi.

This NM is very easy to tank and DD until about 20-30% when it gains the ability to cast and spam the dreaded Gates of Hades. A stun team is necessary to stun Gates of Hades, or the alliance will be wiped very quickly. Adds here can include a few nearby trolls or an elemental. Magical DD is almost nullified by this NM due to its incredibly high resistance to any sort of magic DD. Physical damage is the only way to reliably bring this NM down. Until 30%, stunners should practice stunning Cerberus's moves so when the time comes they are ready for a barrage of GoH spam. If your stun team is competent, they shouldn't have too much trouble sticking to a rotation and keeping Gates at bay.

Hydra
Pop location: Wajoam Woodlands
Attacks include:
Trembling: AoE attack, around 400-500 damage, added Dispel effect.
Barofield: AoE wind attack, added Gravity effect.
Serpentine Tail: Similar to Cerberus' Scorching lash, 500-800 damage line-of-sight damage to person with hate from behind.
Nerve Gas: AoE attack, doesn't deal any damage, but added effect of Curse and a Poison with 20hp/tick.
Pyric Blast: Fire Breath move, only used when right head is alive (Fire).
Pyric Bulwark: Physical Damage Shield, physical attacks deal no damage to Hydra, only used when right head is alive (Fire) and can't be dispelled.
Polar Blast: Ice Breath move,only when the left head is alive (Ice).
Polar Bulwark: Magic Shield, magic deals no Damage to Hydra, only used when left head is alive (Ice) and can't be dispelled.

Hydra has 3 heads, 2 of which can be "chopped off", using WS or Critical hits. Heads can still be lopped off even when it has Physical Shield up and damage is 0, as long as the hits are critical. Seems to occur a little randomly though.

When is has all 3 heads up, it has massive HP regen, far greater than Aspidochelone's HP regen. It also has a TP regen effect that goes away if both the left and right heads are chopped off. Randomly, Hydra will regrow the 2
heads back in order, regaining it's TP and HP regen effects.

Hydra is very highly resistant to Stuns and Enfeebling magic in general. Unlike Cerberus or Hydra, it doesn't gain any additional moves below 25%, but it will enter a "rage" mode similar to Wyrms and will start spamming TP moves at a far more frequent pace.

Khimaira
Pop location: Caedarva Mire (Hediva Isle)
Attacks include:
Dreadstorm - AoE cone damage move, added effect of Terror, strips shadows.
Fossilising Breath - AoE cone damage move, added effect of Petrify
Plague Swipe - Similar to Scorching Lash from Cerberus, however AoE Cone damage to anyone who has hate from behind or to the side of Khimaira.
Tenebrous Mist - AoE move, deals no damage but reduces TP to 0%.
Thunderstrike - Full AoE damage move, also has a long-lasting Stun effect.
Tourbillion - Full AoE damage move, around 500-700 damage, has a massive knockback move.
Fulmination - Massive full AoE damage move, around 800-1000 damage, with Paralyze and Stun additional effects. Khimaira only gains this below 30%.

In addition, Khimaira is resistant to Enfeebling and Stun-based spells. He appears to gain more resistance to Stun as more are used, similar to Bahamut v2. Fulmination can be stunned if Stuns are used sparingly before 30%.

In terms of the fight, it's fairly straightforward. Make sure that mages are off to the side and don't pull hate. Melee appear to give it massive TP gain, so it's advisable to not have your melees smacking it around, but rather build TP on imps and WS only onto Khimaira. Rangers deal very good DoT and WS in this fight. Highly resistant to Thunder based spells, similar to Behemoth.

_________________________________________________________________________________
The BC Wyrms

Ouryu (Real Ouryu)
Location: Riverne Site #A01
Attacks include: <incomplete>
Added monsters include:
Ziryu (Worm) (up to 4)
Water Elemental (1)
Earth Elemental (1)

This is a difficult battle, manageable by many setups but the fastest of all kills being in an almost manaburn-type setting. Several BLMs are necessary to keep the adds under control. At least one RDM needs to be circling around the arena keeping the wyrms silent while a small team of BLMs needs to be keeping the worms and Elementals silent. The elementals will begin to resist sleep until it is almost a 100% resist rate at which point they must be killed. The worms and elementals respawn very soon (within a few minutes) of being killed so wiping them out entirely isn't a logical idea. If you use manaburn, do not use mist melts. Try to keep Ouryu in the air and stand with the tanks while he is flying. Unleash hell on Ouryuwhen in the air, and then upon Touchdown, ES Sleep II him and wait for him to fly upon awakening. Ouryu is most dangerous on the ground so its not a great idea to keep him where he's most potent.

Bahamut Level 2
Location: Riverne Site #B01
Attacks include: <Incomplete>
Added monsters include:
Vrtra
Ouryu
Tiamat
Jormungand
Water Elemental
Earth Elemental
Ziryu (4)
Pei (2 skeleton warrior)
Iruci (2 skeleton Sorcerer)
Airi (2 ghosts)

This is by far the most difficult of wyrm battles. There are several strategies to beat this, but I shall give the one that I have personally experienced. A slight manaburn party is best to take this fight down with since the adds need to be wiped out very quickly lest they pile up on your alliance. At every 20% interval, Bahamut will summon one of the 4 other wyrm brethren he has. Each wyrm add although weakened (a lot less HP than full powered counterparts) are absolutely no less powerful. They all have access to their specialty wing, Spike Flail, and all their regular TP moves which all are at full power. Vrtra will spawn her own undead adds upon spawning as will Ouryu. The added wyrms need to be taken out very quickly or it could result in disaster. Every 10% Bahamut will unleash an unpreventable, yet delayable (with stun) Flare attack. At first he will start with MegaFlare, then Gigaflare, then finish off with Tera Flare. Each Flare is considered fire damage so try to keep barfira up on anyone who will be getting hit by it. Megaflare is going to hurt a lot, but Gigaflare / Teraflare are very likely going to kill any non-tank job that is within range. Keep mages and weaker melee back from Bahamut when approaching a 10% mark unless you want to wipe. Although you can stun the flares for a little while, Bahamut will continue to spam the same attack until he gets it off.
_________________________________________________________________________________
The Beastmen Kings and Miscellaneous NMs
_________________________________________________________________________________

Cactrot Rapido
Pop Location: <incomplete>
Attacks include:
<Incomplete>

21-24 hour spawn. Altepa Eastern Desert. Impossible to claim using job abilities. Must be linked with a Sabotender and pulled back to camp. All participants should sub /Bst and charm one of the mobs nearby to further distribute the damage being dished out by 10,000 Needles. Massive resistance to Stun, Bind, and Gravity. Weak to Dark and Ice with Ice seeming to be the most effective. No particular strategy is really needed. You can zerg him down easily enough, this is an extremely fast fight, less than ninety seconds if done properly.

Tzee Xicu the Manifest
Pop location: <incomplete>
Attacks include:
<Incomplete>

Spawns once a week, the placeholder being the Yagudo Avatar. Tzee is also a 21-24 hour spawn like all of the other bigger NM’s. Easiest way to pull him is send a thief up to the plateau to aggro her and the two other NM’s that link with her(Templar and High Priest.) As the thief makes it down to the lower areas one tank will remain to pull Tzee off of the sac puller. Safest place to fight her is down the tunnel where you first drop down. It is relatively free of aggro unless someone strays a bit too far outside.

Tzee has the ability to Paralyze whoever she strikes with regular attacks. The key to fighting her is keeping her avatar asleep for as much as you can. There is no avoiding her two hour. It will hurt but it is survivable so long as your group is in good shape before it goes off. Tzee is very weak to Ice. The melee hits from Tzee are not exactly earth shattering but the Paralyzation can be irritating. The key to taking down Tzee is to not panic when Astral Flow goes off. If you’re able to make it through the 2 hour, taking her down the rest of the way will be no problem for you at all.

If mages are low on MP they can Aspir disgusting amounts of MP from the slept elemental. At about 50% it also is a fairly wise idea for mages to Stoneskin themselves if they haven’t already, to try and have a little bit of a damage reduction from the Astral Flow. Light or Dark skillchains seem interchangeable and will both do a very good amount of damage to her.

Za’Dah Adamantking
Pop Location: <incomplete>
Attacks include:
<Incomplete>

Spawns once a week, the placeholder being the Diamond Quadav. Once again another 21-24 hour spawn type. As do all the Beastmen Gods, Za’Dah will link with the two lesser NM’s at his spawn point(Ruby Quadav and Adaman Quadav.) The easiest way to pull Za’Dah is to clear the room of all the EP-DC Quadavs before pulling the three NM’s. Keep one tank and one healer focused on Za’Dah while the rest of your group quickly puts down the lesser NM’s. Once they are down you are able to concentrate on bringing down King Koopa.

Za’Dah is fairly weak to Lightning and has at least a moderate resistance to Water. So your Black Mages are looking for some Thunder loving this time around. Once you pull Za’Dah, take the three NM’s over to the tunnel that leads back out to Beadeaux. If at all possible drag Za’Dah down the ledge so that your group is farther away from the two Quadavs that will respawn nearby.

In my experience, Za’Dah hits very hard. Luckily he attacks relatively slow. The downside is he is an unseemly Regen rate. I forget the actual rate itself, but suffice it to say that if you aren’t applying constant damage, his health bar will go back up alarmingly fast. Fighting Za’Dah is just a straight up brawl to see who will last longer. Once you beat him down enough he will use Benediction. And the fun begins all over again.

Most groups don’t bother too much with Za’Dah because the drop rate on the Mistilteinn is small at best, but he will periodically drop Damascene Cloths as well. If you’re just starting out into the HNM game, Za’Dah is a very fun fight to test the people in your linkshell to see how well they can hold it together for a prolonged fight.

Feedback is greatly appreciated. This is a database, so anyone who sends me (via PM or just information posted in response) will be given credit for their contributions to the compilation. I am only one person and cannot spend a huge amount of time looking everything up so help on the research portions would be nice~

I hope the information provided here will help some people see what they're up against in these challenging HNMs before they charge in. Knowing your enemy's powers is half the battle.

Credits:
Asherek (additional moves, information regarding the nature of some attacks, a few NMs.)
Brill (Etiquette pointers & NMs)

Edited, Dec 31st 2006 6:25am by Hapernack

Edited, Jan 6th 2007 6:13pm by Hapernack

Edited, Jan 18th 2007 3:08pm by Hapernack
« Previous 0 Next »
Reply To Thread
Posting disabled in this Forum!
Recent Visitors: 1 All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (1)