Final Fantasy XIV Patch 6.2 brings Barbariccia back for another showdown in the Storm’s Crown Extreme, and this one makes the normal version look like a breeze. The Archfiend’s EX Trial is easily Endwalker’s toughest yet, but weathering the storm pays off handsomely.
If you’re down for the challenge, Barbariccia rewards best-in-slot Item Level 615 Windswept Weapons upon her defeat. And, if you’re lucky, clearing Storm’s Crown Extreme may give you a chance at one of Endwalker’s sparkly cat mounts, the Lynx of Imperious Wind.
Beware of fight spoilers — we’ve got the full breakdown of Barbariccia’s tricks in our Storm’s Crown EX guide below.
How to Unlock Barbariccia (EX)
To unlock the Storm’s Crown EX, complete the FFXIV Patch 6.2 Main Scenario questline up to “The Wind Rises.” Once you’ve cleared the normal version of Barbariccia’s Trial, speak to the Wandering Minstrel in Old Sharlayan (X:12.7, Y:14.3), and he’ll add the Extreme difficulty to your Raid Finder options.
Before charging in, double-check and ensure you’ve got the best gear available for your Job — in Patch 6.2, FFXIV added plenty of new crafting, tomestone, and raid options. But even if you opt for something cheaper, older gear should prepare you for the Item Level 600 requirement.
Barbariccia (EX) — Assignments & Waymarks
Don’t start your countdown timers just yet, as Storm’s Crown EX requires a little pre-pull prep work. To secure the clear, everyone should have a Light Party assignment, a clock position, and Waymarks placed for easy-to-spot directions in the chaos. Let’s break down what that looks like.
Light Parties
The Archfiend loves a good stack mechanic, so the party should cover all their bases and split into two groups of four. These Light Parties consist of one Healer, one Tank, and two DPS each — preferably with those DPS spots prioritizing melee Jobs on the boss’ hitbox. To help with visibility, place the one and two-numbered markers on your healers; this should help the party find safety on the fly.
Clock Positions
For cardinal assignments, place one DPS in every intercardinal direction — again prioritizing melee Jobs along the rear for their positionals. Healers should take the east and west spots while Tanks go north and south. This arrangement helps avoid deadly overlap later on, so take note of the Waymark in your direction and don’t lose sight of it.
Waymarks
With the party’s positions assigned, it’s time to set up Waymarks in Barbariccia’s blustery arena. First, place the markers for letters A, B, C, and D in cardinal directions north, east, south, and west, respectively. Next, drop the remaining one, two, three, and four-numbered Waymarks in the northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest intercardinal positions.
In the diagram above, we place number markers closer to the boss’ hitbox while letters sit at the arena’s edge. This setup provides a guide for mechanics along the center and helps players differentiate between cardinal and intercardinal directions faster.
Storm’s Crown EX Phase 1: Savage Barbery, Hair Raid, Teasing Tangles
Barbariccia begins with a crash course lesson on the Storm’s Crown EX core mechanics, introducing you to a series of different attack patterns all under the same cast names. Pay close attention to how she stands and where her sword goes — these are the key indicators for predicting her next move.
Void Aero IV – This is Barbariccia’s first raid-wide AoE, easily covered by a barrier healer’s opening shields. Unfortunately, she follows up the initial blast with a second raid-wide AoE seconds later. There’s no warning or cast bar to signal the second attack, so prepare accordingly.
Savage Barbery – Watch the boss carefully during this cast, as the attack’s name does not indicate how her next few moves play out. Once Savage Barbery begins, Barbariccia will get into position for one of two variations.
In both versions of Savage Barbery, the boss throws her sword at one side of the arena. The red arrows indicate where she’s throwing the weapon, and once the cast finishes, her sword explodes in a large half-circle AoE from that point. You’ll need to adjust where you’re standing based on her stance and the sword’s position. For the second part:
- If Barbariccia points her sword up, she cleaves in a line AoE down the center of the arena in the direction she’s facing. This will be perpendicular to the side she throws her sword, making the one side safe. Move to her safe flank on the opposite side of her sword explosion.
- If Barbariccia holds her sword down, she targets the ground in a donut AoE around her. Stay inside her hitbox and move to the opposite side of her sword explosion.
Hair Raid – Following Savage Barbery, the Archfiend tethers to her sword. Again, Hair Raid follows one of two patterns depending on her stance. At the same time, the party must resolve stack or AoE (spread) markers.
- If Barbariccia stands, she attacks again with a donut AoE around her. Stay inside of her hitbox to dodge the attack.
- If AoE markers target the party, huddle together in the center for safety during the donut cast. Spread out to assigned clock positions as the donut AoE goes off.
- If Stack markers target both healers, split into light parties and assign groups to the north and south positions, just inside her hitbox.
- If Barbariccia kneels, she jumps to her sword and cleaves the arena in a wide conal AoE in front of her. The safe spots are to her left and right, hugging the arena wall.
- If AoE markers target the party, spread out along the slope of her cleave. Ranged/Magic Jobs should run out as soon as the cleave goes off.
- If Stack markers target both healers, split into light parties and assign groups to her left or right to share the damage.
Once this resolves, the boss follows up with another Savage Barbery and Hair Raid cast. Barbariccia’s follow-ups always use the opposite pattern on both casts.
For example, if she raised her sword for the first Savage Barbery, expect her to keep it down in the follow-up. If she kneeled and used stack markers in the initial Hair Raid, she’ll stand and hit the party with the individual AoE assignments.
Void Aero IV hits again for raid-wide damage, and it’s time for the tank buster.
Void Aero III – Barbariccia’s tank buster leaves behind a nasty DoT, dealing lethal damage to her target through auto attacks. Since the DoT lasts a while, save invuln abilities here and have the Tanks swap.
Teasing Tangles – As Barbariccia begins this cast, watch out for the four large AoEs around the arena. She’ll stun everyone as the cast finishes and split the party into groups of two per circle.
Thanks to the hair tether tying you to the center, you’ll move slower in these mini arenas; save sprint to make this easier. Also, be careful not to touch the greenish edge of the circle. If you do, the hair tether snaps you back to the middle.
When you’re free to move, check which type of marker you do (or do not) have. One player in each green circle will have a large, red AoE. The other player will either have a small blue marker with two rotating triangles (Enumeration) OR no marker at all. To resolve this:
Players with no markers and Enumeration must stack together at the One and Three Waymarks while not touching the edge of your green circle.
Players with red AoEs must move to the opposite side of these pairs along the arena wall.
Secret Breeze casts as the party moves into position, placing a large cone AoE down the middle of your circle. The cast shouldn’t hit you if you’re in the proper positions.
At the end of the cast, the Enumeration pairs, red AoEs, and cone AoEs all resolve. However, Barbariccia immediately follows up with a conal AoE (Protean) aimed at every player.
- Enumeration pairs should shuffle slightly apart toward the center of their circle so they do not overlap Protean cleaves.
- Red AoEs do not have to worry about cleaving another player with their Protean if they are in the proper position.
Void Aero IV deals more raid-wide damage, and the boss auto attacks for a while. When you see her transform, shield up to prepare for the hit from her phase change. The party should go ahead and pre-position along their clock assignments, as the next few mechanics make heavy use of them.
Storm’s Crown EX Phase 2: Curling Iron & Mario Kart
Barbariccia announces her phase change with Curling Iron, a punchy transformation that speeds things up. While things get faster, focus on your assigned clock position and carefully time any baited mechanics. There’s a lot of personal responsibility in this phase that almost always guarantees two players go down together from one person’s mistake.
Brutal Rush – As Barbariccia returns, she quickly tethers herself to Tanks and Healers, so have the party stand at their assigned clock positions to handle incoming baits. One at a time, she punches in a line AoE toward the four marked players in a random order, so run to the side as she turns to you. As long as every Job stays at their assigned position, there should be no overlap.
Boulder Break – Her next tank buster follows up as the last Brutal Rush tether resolves. This one doesn’t leave a nasty DoT, so the randomly marked Tank can pop an invuln to eat the damage. Since there’s so much movement in the prior mechanic, this approach is far easier than soaking together.
Boulders – Prepare for her fast-paced Boulder phase as the tank buster goes out by watching the center of the arena. Barbariccia quickly summons a red and black AoE underneath her, and once it’s gone, it’s safe for the party to move into the arena’s center. Do this immediately, as the boss starts to summon a lethal checkerboard pattern of crisscrossing line AoEs which makes the journey harder. Here’s how to handle it all:
- Once in the center, stack tight and wait for the orange Boulder AoE telegraphs to spawn underneath the party.
- As the Boulder AoEs drop, run to your cardinal assignment at the arena’s edge. Do not let the returning red AoE bait you into running too early; there’s enough time to wait for the Boulder drop before running.
- Additional AoE markers spawn on all eight players as they run from the center — do not let these overlap. As long as Boulders are baited correctly, the safe edges of the arena have enough space for two players to position in their clock assignments.
- Enumeration returns, marking both Tanks and Healers. Have those Jobs remain in their spots while DPS rotate clockwise to partner with one Tank or Healer. As this resolves, dodge into the middle with your partner to avoid Barbariccia’s circular AoE along the ground.
Move back to your assigned position around the boss, as Barbariccia casts Brutal Rush again on all four DPS. Handle these just as you did before, and prepare for heavy raid-wide damage.
Knuckle Drum – Just like in your early days against Titan, Barbariccia has her own version of Tumult. The boss punches the ground 12 times, with each hit coming faster than the last and dealing raid-wide damage.
To handle this, have the party stack up tight on her rear and use mitigation sparingly. The party must remain together for the next mechanic, and with the heavy damage about to go out, you don’t want to blow all of your cooldowns too early.
Blow Away – When Party Finder descriptions mention “Mario Kart,” this is the mechanic they’re referencing. Named for its silly movement around the arena, Barbariccia’s Mario Kart strat requires the party to start out stacked together at her rear. Don’t move until the attack begins — the idea is to bait all of her attacks at one spot.
Several AoEs spawn underneath the group, so run clockwise around her hitbox as a party. Don’t pop sprint or Expedient; stay calm and don’t let the frantic pace of the AoEs fool you. There should be a rhythm to your dodging — AoEs spawn, move clockwise, AoEs spawn, move clockwise, etc. There will be four sets of AoE puddles in total.
As this resolves, a set of new markers go out to the party. Note the Blue knockback circle in the arena; you can use knockback resists here, but it’s a little pointless since you want to move away. During this phase, throw up shields and heavy mitigation. You’ll want as much distance as possible between the Tanks and the rest of the party, so here’s how we adjust:
- Flares – Each Tank should have an assigned Waymark to stand at with their Flare. Party Finder typically places them northwest and northeast.
- Stack – One Healer receives a Stack Marker. Have all DPS and the unmarked Healer share the damage with them south along the blue AoE’s edge, away from the Tank Flares.
The blue AoE goes off, pushing everyone back from the center. Flares and the Stack trigger at the same time, and if there’s enough distance between everyone, you should be safe. Be aware you can run through the blue AoE before it goes off, so there’s plenty of time to get into position.
With the Mario Kart phase conquered, Barbariccia targets the DPS again for Brutal Rush tethers. Dodge these in your assigned clock position as usual, then prepare for another Teasing Tangles.
Teasing Tangles’ second instance looks far busier from the first, but it’s not as bad when you break it down. Unlike the attack’s initial version, this time you don’t have to worry about deciphering different markers. The party will have more Enumeration pairs to resolve instead.
- To handle this, use the same rules every time: Tanks and Healers move to the left side of their green circle, and DPS move to the right side of their green circle.
Dodge the mini twisters the boss casts from the middle and move away from her ground AoEs. You’ll have to juggle all of this inside your Teasing Tangles circle, but there’s plenty of time to move into position for Enumeration.
As soon as this ends, Barbariccia delivers another Knuckle Drum beating. Mitigate and heal up; you’ve seen the worst Storm’s Crown EX has to offer. Now, it’s time for a phase change.
Storm’s Crown EX Phase 3: PlayStation & Repeat
In this phase, Storm’s Crown EX introduces a game of mix-and-match with familiar symbols. Barbariccia’s “PlayStation” mechanic is the only new thing you’ll see here; everything else is a rinse and repeat.
Entanglement – Nicknamed for its use of triangle, square, circle, and x symbols, the “PlayStation” strategy is how most Party Finder groups resolve Entanglement. In this first version, Barbariccia assigns everyone a symbol. The idea is to match the PlayStation-like symbols together and dodge oncoming attacks after being tethered.
- DPS should move into their intercardinal positions. If you need to adjust, default to the right side of your green circle.
- Tanks and Healers adjust by matching their symbol with the corresponding DPS. If you need to adjust, default to the left of your green circle.
Once the pairs are stacked together, the boss binds them with a hair tether, forcing pairs to stay within the bounds of their green circle. Like her earlier circular prisons, you cannot stray too far to the edge, or else the tether snaps you back to the middle.
You’ll have two attacks to dodge when bound: a cone AoE and Protean. The four cone AoEs originate from Barbariccia’s center, so adjust between the safe areas with your partner. As they resolve, spread apart enough so you can avoid overlapping her Protean cleaves.
Barbariccia takes a moment to repeat mechanics from the first phase with Savage Barbery, Hair Raid, Void Aero IV, and Void Aero III. Handle these with the same strategies you used before, and it’s time for another PlayStation — a “PlayStation 2” mechanic, so to speak.
Entanglement returns for its next iteration, adding Enumeration pairs into the fold. This looks far scarier than it is, but don’t let the overlapping circles concern you. Players can overlap their green Entanglement barriers; it’s the Enumerations we don’t want too many players in. To resolve the four Enumeration markers, we’ll need to get one unmarked player in the stack.
- DPS should move to their intercardinal positions again; Tanks and Healers find their partners.
- Barbariccia assigns Enumeration pairs at random, but each green circle will have either two unmarked players or two marked players.
- Regardless of who she selects, collapse toward the middle to add one unmarked player to every marked player’s Enumeration circle.
- A circle of marked players and a circle of unmarked players should always meet. You can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise while moving in to accomplish this while collapsing inward.
Regardless, remember you can overlap green circles and just need two players inside each Enumeration. The mechanic is typically messy and forgiving as Party Finder groups opt to “smush” into the middle. As long as you aren’t snapped back from stretched tethers, it’s simple to adjust and resolve.
When PlayStation 2 ends, Barbariccia casts another Savage Barbery and Hair Raid. You’re in the home stretch now, signaled by her next Curling Iron phase change.
Storm’s Crown EX Phase 4: Curling Iron & AoE Hell
The second Curling Iron marks the last time you’ll see this version of Barbariccia before her eventual enrage. Everything here involves mechanics you’ve already seen before; they’re just presented in different arrangements. Unfortunately, the boss doesn’t have many casts. You just have to watch the ground for AoEs and keep moving — sorry, Black Mage friends.
Brutal Rush tethers to Tanks and Healers again, so move into your assigned positions and dodge the line AoEs accordingly. The boss follows up with more Knuckle Drum raid-wide hits, and you’ll want to move to her rear again to anticipate the next mechanic.
Next is another round of Mario Kart so use the same strategy as before to bait the party’s ground AoEs. While dealing with that, Boulder markers return. Make sure you move together along the outside of Barbariccia’s hitbox during Mario Kart, leaving enough room for the party to stack their Boulder markers in the arena’s center.
When Boulder markers drop in the center, run to your clock position on the outside of the arena. The boss drops additional spread AoE markers on every player, so you cannot overlap at the same positions.
Brutal Rush tethers go out again, targeting DPS this time. She follows up with more AoE rings along the ground, requiring the party to dodge inward as the markers stagger outward.
As the AoE rings resolve, Barbariccia drops another blue knockback marker in the center. The party should stand around the knockback, and she’ll drop another set of spread AoEs on everyone. These hit just as the knockback pushes the group.
Brutal Rush targets Tanks and Healers for the last time, and Barbariccia turns the arena into AoE hell. There are small twisters, orange ground AoEs, red center AoEs, and more checkerboard crisscrossing.
Dodge it all — there’s no other good solution here. Everything devolves into an FFXIV bullet hell, but the chaos seems easiest to avoid from the edges. Another tank buster goes out during the mess, so have your Tanks invuln or stack.
The phase ends in the same way as before, marking Tanks with Flare and one Healer with a Stack. Resolve this using the same strategy from Barbariccia’s second phase.
Phase 5: Repeat & Enrage
Barbariccia is officially out of new tricks in this last phase of the Storm’s Crown EX. She casts Entanglement (PlayStation) again, using the cone AoE and Protean attack pattern first. She follows up with Savage Barbery and Hair Raid, then another Void Aero IV raid-wide hit.
Maelstrom is her enrage cast, so when it begins, give it everything you’ve got. While the fight is certainly chaotic, her DPS check is pretty forgiving. Practice cleaning up your messiest spots, and you’ve got it. Congratulations on your clear!
Storm’s Crown Extreme — Rewards
Congratulations on the clear and good luck on your rolls; defeating Barbariccia means a shot at her Item Level 615 Windswept weapons. Every Storm’s Crown EX clear drops one (1) random Job’s Main Hand and one (1) Windswept Weapon Coffer. She may also give up additional goodies, like the Storm’s Crown EX mount or crafting materials.
If you’re among the not-so-lucky folks who don’t score a weapon drop, don’t panic. The Extreme Trial guarantees you’ll receive two (2) Windswept Archfiend Totems per clear, and you can trade 10 totems for a weapon of your choice. When you’re ready to exchange tokens, speak to Nesvaaz in Radz-at-Han (X:10.6, Y:10.0). Barbariccia’s rewards (and the Windswept Weapons Nesvaaz offers) are as follows:
| Name | Job | Item Level |
| Windswept Weapon Coffer | Any | 615 |
| Paladin’s Windswept Arms | Paladin | 615 |
| Windswept Battleaxe | Warrior | 615 |
| Windswept Blade | Samurai | 615 |
| Windswept Bow | Bard | 615 |
| Windswept Cane | White Mage | 615 |
| Windswept Codex | Scholar | 615 |
| Windswept Daggers | Ninja | 615 |
| Windswept Faussar | Dark Knight | 615 |
| Windswept Fists | Monk | 615 |
| Windswept Grimoire | Summoner | 615 |
| Windswept Gunblade | Gunbreaker | 615 |
| Windswept Heirsbanes | Dancer | 615 |
| Windswept Milpreves | Sage | 615 |
| Windswept Musketoon | Machinist | 615 |
| Windswept Rapier | Red Mage | 615 |
| Windswept Rod | Black Mage | 615 |
| Windswept Spear | Dragoon | 615 |
| Windswept Torquetum | Astrologian | 615 |
| Windswept Zaghnal | Reaper | 615 |
| Barbariccia Card | Drops into inventory | |
| Lynx of Imperious Wind Flute | ||
| Faded Copy of Battle with the Four Fiends (Buried Memory) | ||
| Pearl of Winds | ||
