We did it. We’ve finally arrived at the last boss of Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers. Well… It’s the last Trial of the patch 5.0 main story anyway. There will be plenty more to do and see before this expansion is over! That doesn’t make the ultimate battle feel any less epic, however. The music, choreography, and emotional thrust of The Dying Gasp are really something to see. That’s why we want you to experience the whole thing with as little hassle as possible. It’s time for our guide to the Hades Trial in FF14.
Ravenous Assault – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
Your Trial begins with something that should be very familiar to you at this point: a tankbuster. Ravenous Assault will deal high damage to whichever target Hades is currently targeting. Naturally, this should be your “main tank”: whichever player you want to bear the brunt of the boss’s onslaught throughout the fight. Tanks should be ready to shield through this attack, while healers need to be ready to mend the damage.
Bad Faith – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This is a somewhat unusual attack that doesn’t quite look like anything else you’re used to in FF14. Bad Faith will create two high walls of purple spikes on either side of Hades. The spikes will face in opposite directions, indicating which way the walls will swing in a 90 degree arc. It’s easy to tell which area is safe to stand; just move next to whichever wall has its spikes facing away from you.
Double – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This isn’t really an attack. It’s more of a buff that Hades places on itself before casting whatever attack it chooses next. Double will simply cause that next action to activate twice. So be ready for the extra onslaught of damage.
Broken Faith – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This attack creates eight orange circles spread evenly around the room. These aren’t dangerous themselves, but will call down slow-moving discs that detonate whenever they hit the ground — somewhat similar to meteors. You definitely don’t want to stand under these discs, though! They will deal AoE damage and debuff affected players in a much wider radius than the discs themselves, making you more susceptible to future attacks.
These seem tricky to dodge at first. They have no accurate AoE markers and explode in a massive area. However, there’s a trick to dodging them every single time: Just look at the floor. The arena is actually segmented into a pattern of nine overlapping rings. Each disc falls into one of these rings, indicating the full breadth of the final explosion. This also includes the center ring — where Hades himself is standing — which can also be targeted by an explosive disc from time to time. Watch the rings, be ready to move, and don’t forget about the center!
Shadowspread – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
Another Double cast serves as your first warning to this next skill: Shadowspread. Shadowspread simply fires thing cones of AoE damage with obvious markers. Stand in the safe spots to avoid it! However, thanks to Double, you also need to avoid a second blast of Shadowspread. These cones will spread out in the opposite locations as the last attack. That means, after dodging Shadowspread the first time, you should move into the previously affected area to avoid the next strike.
Add Phase & Fervor of the Ancients – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
Around 10 percent health, Hades will begin calling forth additional enemies. These adds aren’t much to write home about, but spawn in two separate groups on opposing sides of the boss. Each tank should grab a different group and move them towards each other. That way DPS players can use their AoE attacks to burn the minions down as quickly as possible.
You want to work quickly because Hades will charge up Fervor of the Ancients all throughout this phase. If his special gauge reaches 100 percent, the entire party will wipe. The only way to stop the instant kill is by killing every wave of adds in a timely fashion.
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It’s not quite that easy, of course. You also have to deal with some AoE attacks between every wave of adds. Three players will be marked with small, but potentially deadly circle markers. Those affected must split up and move away from the rest of the team to avoid sharing the damage. Meanwhile, one of the unaffected players will be marked with a “stack up” indicator. You can identify it by four glowing arrows that point towards the sorry teammate. Anyone not marked by the circle AoE attacks must stand next to the player with the stack up marker. That way the party members share and divide the damage between them.
Naturally, healers should be ready to counter all this AoE goodness as soon as possible. They will also have to contend with Ancient Dark IV: the ability Hades was charging up this whole time with his Fervor of the Ancients. Even if it doesn’t hit 100 percent, it will still do significant damage to the entire party. If you survive this phase, however, Hades will transform and you will gain a checkpoint. Huzzah! Now if you die you will restart at this part of the fight.
Titanomachy – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
From here on out Hades will, in his new and much larger form, will stand loom over the battlefield from the outside. At which point he will usually begin his assault by casting Titanomachy. This is your run of the mill, unavoidable AoE attack. Tanks can shield the party while healers make up for the lost hit points, but you will take damage from it every time.
Shadowstream – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This is a very obvious attack with a very loud warning sound. Whenever you see the boss cast Shadowstream (or hear the whir of his energy charging up) move to the sides of the platform. Hades is about to fire a blast of energy directly in front of himself, from one end of the area to the other.
Dual Strike – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
Next up is Dual Strike. This simply marks two players with unavoidable damage circles. Deal with them the same way you always do! That is to say, affected players should move away from their teammates so as not to spread the damage unnecessarily.
Echo of the Lost – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This is an AoE attack that covers 90 percent of the platform, with just a thin sliver of safe space one one side. You can tell which side is safe by looking at Hades’ arms. He will reach forward, spreading his arm far over the battlefield, and prepare to swing it across the arena. To avoid this, you need to move to the same side of the platform as his chosen arm. Stand past it — close to the edge of the arena — to be sure that you’re safe.
Polygdemon’s Predation – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This attack is the exact opposite of Shadowstream. Instead of dealing damage right down the center of the arena, in a beam in front of the boss, Hades will place damage markers on either side of himself. You must stand somewhere in front of Hades in order to avoid the damage.
Hellborn Yawp – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
Hellborn Yawp is arguably the trickest attack in the entire Hades Trial, if your tanks don’t know what they’re doing. When the boss casts this attack, both tanks will become marked with glowing symbols above their heads. When the attack is finished casting, Hades will fire off absolutely enormous, cone-shaped AoE blasts at both tanks.
The idea is for each tank to pick one side of the arena, to the left and right of Hades. They should stay in their respective positions when not otherwise avoiding Shadowstream, or some other attack. That way when Hellborn Yawp does go off, they won’t share the damage. This will also leave a safe sliver of space in the center of the arena. Everybody who isn’t a tank should stand in this spot to avoid the massive strikes.
Captivity – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This attack targets two players with larger-than-average AoE markers. As usual, they should spread away from each other and allies to avoid spreading the hurt. But it’s not just damage this time! The affected players (and anyone else caught in the circles) will soon be pulled into an Aetherial Gaol. Unaffected players must attack this new prison to destroy it. If they don’t, and Hades finishes casting his skill Chorus of the Lost, the captured players will all die. Obviously you want as many people as possible to be outside the Aetherial Gaol for this very reason. So be careful not to put allies in those beginning markers!
Dual Strike (2.0) – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This attack shares a name with the original Dual Strike, but is practically an entirely different skill. Hades will no longer just mark two players for a bit of AoE damage. Instead, he will mark nearly everyone with tethers and more circle markers. Those with the “basic” circle markers will take damage first. Then the tether players will receive blasts of AoE damage in a random order. The basic concept remains the same as ever, though; spread apart to keep from stacking damage.
Doom – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
This ominous attack turns the entire battlefield black. Well… Technically there are five white circles littering the area. At least one player must stand in each of these rings in order to remove a party-wide “Doom” debuff. Failure to do so will result in the aforementioned Doom from killing everybody. And nobody wants that!
Wall of the Lost – Hades FF14 Trial Guide
Last but not least, Hades will cup his hands in the center of the room. This indicates the boss is casting Wall of the Lost. The attack will push all players away from the center of the platform, indicated by the glowing arrows that radiate outwards. It’s not a heavy push, but you still want to stand close to the center of the platform. If you get pushed off, you will fall into the void and immediately die. Nobody wants that, either.
All of these attacks will now begin to do what they are wont to do in FF14. They will continue to repeat, overlapping more and more, until you finally kill the boss. At that point congratulations are in order! You haven’t just beaten Hades and The Dying Gasp Trial in FF14. You’ve also beaten the entire main storyline for FF14: Shadowbringers. There are still two Extreme Trials to master in Patch 5.0, but otherwise you’ve made it to the end… Make sure you sit back and enjoy that heart wrenching finale. And finally, be sure to check out our full list of FF14: Shadowbringers coverage in our mega guide. Until next time, thanks for reading and take care!
