Just wanted to share my enthusiasm for what I felt was a significant (gaming) achievement this evening: finally successfully toppling Titan’s Hard Mode incarnation in Final Fantasy XIV without dying, without being blown up by bombs, without getting hit by Weight of the Land (too many times) and without doing anything stupid. The secret? Zoom out the camera.
For those unfamiliar with Final Fantasy XIV’s endgame, Titan Hard Mode was formerly one of the hardest encounters in the game, taking the form of an 8-player variation on one of the main story’s 4-player bosses. Mastering (or at least clearing) the fight is an important part of endgame play, since acquiring your class’s “Relic” weapon requires you to beat him along with the other two Hard Mode primal fights and two original bosses Dhorme Chimera and Hydra.
The actual battle against Titan bears some resemblance to its story mode counterpart in that Titan makes use of many of the same abilities throughout. The main difference is that the fight is overall a lot longer and incorporates a few new mechanics — most notably the addition of “Bomb Boulders” that drop down from the sky in set patterns and then explode in sequence, requiring the party to quickly and carefully manoeuvre from position to position in order to avoid damage — and while avoiding Titan’s other abilities such as Landslide, which can knock you off the arena and out of the fight completely if you’re not sharp enough.
Like the other Hard and Extreme mode Primal fights in Final Fantasy XIV, Titan Hard is quite a “choreographed” fight that requires the party be in the right place at the right time, and respond quickly to prompts on the screen. Titan always uses the same abilities in the same order, so there’s very much a sequence and timing you can learn, though there will be slight variations on exactly what you need to do each time you play owing to people standing in different places.
It may sound odd to say, but it’s a strangely beautiful sight to see a party pulling off a fight like Titan Hard efficiently and effectively. The group moving as one from place to place in response to the incoming threats is a very satisfying thing to watch, particularly when you’re part of it. It’s a hard thing to convey to anyone who hasn’t experienced it for themselves, but in many ways it’s like pulling off an impressive “dance” as a group — eight people working as one (for the most part… there’s usually at least one person who falls off remarkably quickly, and up until tonight it’s usually been me) to achieve a common goal.
I must confess to feeling pumped up and happy about my victory this evening — and, now, much more willing to jump into the Trials Roulette mode of the Duty Finder, which I’d previously been extremely hesitant about making use of despite the helpful rewards on offer. The Extreme Mode primals may still be a while off before I can confidently tackle them — same for Twintania, the notorious boss that guards the end of the first super-tough endgame dungeon The Binding Coil of Bahamut — but for now, I feel I have conquered Titan Hard and can move on to stiffer challenges.
Oh, and I should give a shout-out to Andie, too, who has been playing Final Fantasy XIV and has just got her first character to level 50, putting my friend James — who has been playing a lot longer — to shame. Nice job, W’khebica (an authentic Miqo’te name, apparently) — I look forward to enduring the endless Myth grind with you at my side.