You’ve already tackled the Fifth Circle of Abyssos in Final Fantasy XIV. The doors to this wing have opened and Proto-Carbuncle was the first odd creature caged once again. The Warrior of Light and their companions delve deeper into the mire, running into another hybrid humanoid like Hesperos.
Each encounter in Abyssos is a single fight, similar to a trial. This time, Hegemone stands in your path. The root of decay and poison has taken hold of her. Be prepared for more tricks and traps compared to your last fight! You’ll fight her within a square arena where the outer edge is an instant kill hazard zone.
Be warned that raid guides contain light spoilers for the fight. If you prefer to preserve the surprise of raids for yourself, give them a try first before referring to a guide. Then, come back here for some help if you have trouble!
How to Defeat Hegemone – Phase One
The key to fighting Hegemone is the focus of her introduction cutscene. The square arena is divided into sixteen square sections, arranged four by four. Hegemone’s primary attacks will play around with this space.
- Aetheric Polyominoid: Hard to say, but easy to understand. This attack summons aetherial nexuses at the corners between each section, glowing spears that pulse orange energy into a random number of sections around them. After some time, the marked areas will explode, hitting anyone inside them with Polynominous Dark IV. Don’t be in the sections that explode.
- Choros Ixou: While casting this attack, Hegemone will charge up black and red orbs in opposite directions. When the cast ends, she’ll fire cone AoEs in either direction. You want to be in front or behind her to avoid this attack. Sometimes used in tandem with Aetheric Polyominoid.
- Hemitheos’s Dark IV: A light, raid-wide AoE. Heal through it.
- Transmission: Hegemone will mark four members of the raid with the Glossomorph parasite, a ten-second debuff. After a short pause, she does the same with the remaining members. When the debuff gets to five seconds remaining, you’ll see the countdown as a green icon over your head. When it finishes, you’ll go Out of Control and fire a long cone AoE in the direction you’re facing. You want to be facing away from the raid when your countdown finishes, preferably at the edge.
- Synergy: A dual tankbuster on both tanks. Both should use cooldowns to mitigate damage. There is an additional Bleeding debuff as well.
- Strophe Ixou: Similar to Choros Ixou, Hegemone fires cone AoEs in opposite directions. This time, they’re in front and behind her. The twist is there’s a directional cycle marker as well. After the first cast, she’ll rotate slightly and repeat the attack multiple times. Rotate around her to stay in the safe area.
- Dark Ashes: Circle AoE markers on the entire raid. Spread to avoid stacking damage.
How to Defeat Hegemone – Phase Two
At around 50% health, Hegemone will say “You cannot measure against a keyward!” and cast Aetherial Exchange. This marks her transition into the second phase, which adds on major new attack. It also precedes all future casts of the next attack.
- Polyominoid Sigma: This is similar to Aetheric Polyominoid, with the boss placing aetherial nexuses around the arena. The twist is these nexuses will now have blue and yellow arrows traveling between them. These denote which nexuses will switch prior to exploding. When the nexuses switch, the directions of the sections remain the same, so you need to look at the AoE pattern on the switched nexus to determine the safe spot.
The last weird combination here is Polyominoid Sigma and Strophe Ixou. If these attacks come together, then at the end of the latter’s cast, the nexuses will switch as marked and then rotate once counter-clockwise. This is the combo that will wipe a number of first-timers.
From here on, you’re just going to get different combinations of all the attacks you’ve seen before. The Vulnerability stacks can add up in certain combinations, so keep your eyes open.
Abyssos Sixth Circle – Loot Table
Defeating Hegemone will reward the raid with two Treasure Coffers. These coffers will have a mix of gear tokens. You can only pick up one token from each circle of Abyssos each week, so you have to choose wisely.
- Unsung Helm of Abyssos
- Unsung Ring of Abyssos x 2
- Unsung Armor of Abyssos
- Unsung Gauntlets of Abyssos
- Unsung Chausses of Abyssos
- Unsung Greaves of Abyssos x2
These tokens can be traded into Mylenie in Labyrinthos (X: 8.3, Y: 27.6) or Djole in Radz-at-Han (X: 10.3, Y: 9.6) . Each piece of gear requires a certain number of tokens:
- Head: Unsung Helm of Abyssos x2
- Body: Unsung Armor of Abyssos x4
- Hands: Unsung Gauntlet of Abyssos x2
- Legs: Unsung Chausses of Abyssos x4
- Feet: Unsung Greaves of Abyssos x2
- Accessories: Unsung Ring of Abyssos
If you’re tackling this raid, then you’ve already dove headfirst into Patch 6.2! It’s a big meaty patch with a whole lot of things to do. If you wanted to dive into the Island Sanctuary, we’ll tell you exactly how to unlock it and some helpful guides on how to progress! Those who are looking to raid might want to take a look at all our Pandaemonium Abyssos guides. Either way, we have a ton of FFXIV content over at the Linkshell!
The rest of our Abyssos guides are available at the links below.
