With the Twelfth Circle of Pandaemonium, Anabaseios, the entire raid series for Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker comes to an end. The Warrior of Light has fought through every other encounter in this mystical prison. Now you face the architect of Pandaemonium’s return.
The fight takes place in a square arena. There’s no hazard zone, but there’s also no barrier, meaning you can fall right off if you’re not paying attention. The boss also has attacks that change the shape of the battlefield, so be prepared.
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 Athena – Phase One
This is how the boss starts the fight. She will return to this phase after Phase Two finishes.
- On The Soul: Just your average party-wide AoE. Healers, top everyone up.
- Trinity of Souls: As this attack is cast, three successive rings will appear behind the boss’ wings, on either the right or left side. After the cast finishes, the boss will cleave either the right or left side of the arena three successive times, in the same order that the rings appeared.
- Paradeigma: This creates four clones of Athena that then move to the edge of the arena. Two of these clones will attack in straight line AoEs across the battlefield. The other two will tether to two random party members. After a few seconds, the two tethered clones will attack their chosen party members in direct line AoEs.
- Glaukopis: Your main tank will get marked with a Link Tankbuster Marker. When the cast finishes, the boss will attack in a straight line toward the tank. The tank should use their cooldowns and mark sure they face the boss away from the rest of the party.
- Superchain Theory: When this cast resolves, a number of chained clouds will appear on the arena. These chained objects will be tethered to either a sphere or a donut. After a few seconds, the spheres/donuts will move toward their tethered chain cloud. When they reach them, they’ll resolve into two different attacks. The spheres will lead to mid-sized circle AoEs, while the donut will lead to an arena-wide donut AoE. The only safe space will be inside the donut AoE. In subsequent casts, the tethers can be short or long; short tethers will resolve first. So you want to stand inside the first donut AoE and then the second.
- Parthenos: A long line AoE diagonally across the arena.
- Unnatural Enchainment: Athena tethers to three sections of the arena. When the cast ends, these sections will be removed from the battlefield. Don’t be standing on them. This will happen twice, among other attacks. On The Soul will restore the arena.
- Dialogos: The boss marks one party member with a Stack Marker. Stack up to share the damage. The second cast of this will be followed by circle AoE markers on every party member. Spread out to avoid sharing damage.
How To Defeat Athena – Phase Two
When Athena says “This is but a glimpse of a god’s strength,” this marks the transition to Phase Two. The boss will start this phase off with a cast of…
- Ultima Blade: A meaty party-wide AoE. Heal through it.
The AOE will also shrink the arena into a smaller hexagon via a hazard zone. The boss will summon four Anthropos minions and a meter called “Athena’s Power” will appear. If you don’t kill the minions before the meter fills, it’s a wipe. It’s a bit hectic as the boss and the minions will attack.
- Palladion: The boss will mark successive players with medium-sized circle AoEs over the course of this phase. Spread away from the raid to avoid stacking damage.
- Clear Cut: A small cone AoE from an Anthropos.
- Ray of Light: When this finishes casting, two of the Anthropos will attack in wide line AoEs.
At the end of this Phase, the boss will mark and destroy the four center platforms of the arena. It will then attack with Theos’s Ultima, dealing more damage the higher the Athena’s Power meter goes.
And with that, you head back to Phase One. Stay the course and you’ll obtain your gear and a single Unsung Blade of Anabaseios. You’ve finished off all of Pandaemonium and the only thing ahead of you repeated runs and the Savage versions. If you need guides for the previous wings, you’ll find them here.
- Anabaseios: The Ninth Circle
- Anabaseios: The Tenth Circle
- Anabaseios: The Eleventh Circle
- Anabaseios: The Twelfth Circle
