FFXIV Euphrosyne raid guide - Nophica, Althyk and Nymeia, Halone, and Menphina boss mechanics

As part of the Final Fantasy XIV 6.3 patch, the 24-man raid series Myths of the Realm continues, splitting your Warrior of Light and 23 others up into groups of three with a single goal - to pass the test of strength put together by the guardian deities of the world. These fights can be tough, so we've put together this FFXIV Euphrosyne raid guide to get you through it.

There's nothing worse than being the one person wiping a group of 23 others because you just can't understand a particularly tricky mechanic. We haven't seen math come back into play since the Stormblood days, but there's always something else out there that risks tripping you (and everyone else) up. So swallow your pride and stave off the anxiety by learning exactly how to deal with each problem.

We'll have a load more Final Fantasy XIV 6.3 guides up for launch, so keep checking back. If you're still working on your item collections, here's how to get the Pupu minion, the Mandagora mounts, and the Manderville weapons. Right now, you can find out how to get the Blackjack mount and all the FFXIV 6.3 quest locations you need.

How to unlock Euphrosyne, the new FFXIV 6.3 Alliance raid

Unlocking Euphrosyne, the FFXIV 6.3 Alliance raid set after Aglaia, you first need to complete that previous entry in the raid series. If you completed all the quests after the run, you'll find the starting point for Euphrosyne just outside of Mor Dhona as you hear toward the area to the east.

If you cleared the raid when it launched but didn't complete the quests, though, you won't see this new quest, and you'll struggle to find the NPCs you need to clear it.

If you're in that position, look on your quest log for a single quest from the Aglaia/Euphrosyne area. Chances are, you either need to use the teleporter south of this would-be starting point to travel back there and carry on a quest, or you need to go to Rhalgar's Reach.

The quest goes from there to Ul'Dah, and then to the entrance of The Sunken Temple of Qarn. So check around these areas if you're lost.

FFXIV Euphrosyne boss guide

Nophica

Nophica uses nature itself to deliver death unto your raid team. Tread lightly. She'll cover the whole arena in flowers, starting with The Giving Land to sneakily strike anyone within melee range. Shortly after, she'll cast it again, this time striking ranged. Then comes Matron's Harvest, dealing raid-wide damage for the healers to deal with.

After her intro, she'll cover the outer edge of the arena with deadly thorns and apply a debuff to everyone that, when it expires, forces them to walk in the direction of the icon's arrow. Avoid the area attacks during the 15-second countdown and then position yourself to that the forced walk doesn't send you into the brambles or area attacks.

Next up is Matron's Harvest, which places floral rings on the area with shapes circling them. Just stand in the ring whose shape matches the hollow ring closing soonest and move to the next in sequence. Heal up before the next raid-wide attack goes out.

After that, Nophica will string together Reaper's Harvest, Matron's Haze, and The Giving Land before using Sowing Circle. Dodge these attacks in sequence and then position yourself in the second set of the Sowing Circle markers. Just move to the first as they resolve.

Beyond that, things just get a little more intense as they repeat, with combo attacks you'll just want to go through in sequence and a Matron's Harvest with more pops.

Althyk and Nymeia

Coming at you together, these two siblings pose a double threat, coordinating their attacks with each other to split your attention. Nymeia uses tarot cards to give away her attacks and follows up with Water-based moves to push you away. Althyk, on the other hand, messes with the earth beneath you. If you don't clear this fight within eight minutes, you'll wipe in spectacular fashion.

First off, Nymeia will use Spinner's Wheel to cast Arcane Attraction on the team. It's a "Look Away" mechanic that also forces her brother to look at her, culminating in a conal cast between the two. Look away, but also don't cross their path. Throughout the fight, she'll draw and flip two different cards for four different effects, so pay attention to the art on the top of your card to know how to react. Here's the possible cards mechanics

• Look away (heart)
• Look toward (heart upside down)
• Keep moving (ice)
• Stop moving (fire)

Next, you'll get a taste for how Althyk's time mechanics play with Nymeia. The next application of Arcane Attraction will resolve faster than its 15-second timer once Alythyk casts Time and Tide. He can apply it to other mechanics, too, generally making something at the end of a sequence resolve before the rest in the queue.

After a hard hit from Axioma, you'll notice dark rings along the arena. You can stand in these to apply Heavy, avoiding the gravitational slam of Inexorable Pull or the push of Hydrorythmos, but you can also just walk back into the latter as it resolves to easily avoid it. Alythk will cast his frontal cone during this, so prepare to move for that, too.

After a short break, Althyk and Nymeia will cast Petrai and Hydrostatis respectively. Tanks and healers should deal with the hard-hitting Petrai first. Then, take note of the diamonds above each Hydrostatis spot to work out the order they'll fall. They push back, so position against one to send yourself to the next in the sequence. If one is affected by Time and Tide (which they will be soon), that will fall first.

From that point on, things will more or less repeat. Just keep an eye on Nymeia teleporting away from Hydrostatis and adjust for any of Althyk's time-tweaking until they're both down.

Halone

Halone is a great, big game of Simon Says, with sweeping area attacks threatening anyone who can't remember a simple sequence.

She starts with Rain of Spears - a raid-wide attack that hits three times. After that, she'll show you the ropes with Tetrapagos, telegraphing her next four sweeps during the cast and executing them in sequence once it ends. She'll use it again right after just to make sure. Here are the potential strikes

• Left sweep
• Right sweep
• Melee sweep
• Ranged sweep

After that, split to take the Doom Spear towers, the three tank busters, and regroup to watch the rings around Halone converge with Thousandfold Thrust. Quickly get to the opposite side of her to avoid the assault. She'll do this again for the people at the back of the class before casting Lochos, sending spears shooting across the arena from two outer positions.

The only thing to watch for now is Lochos converging with Thousandfold Spears as the fight goes on.

Will of the Fury comes out soon after Lochos. This attack starts from the outer arena and comes in. She'll cast the opposite kind of attack, Wrath of Halone, as it resolves, so start at the safest outer edge of the arena and walk to the far edge as the first part of Will of the Fury resolves to avoid the proximity-based damage of Wrath of Halone. Easy.

At the halfway point, Halone summons Glacial Spears. Get close to one of the three to avoid the one dropping into the middle. Burst them down while scattering to avoid and place damage markers from Niphas.

Cheimon will then be cast from the centre spear, demanding raiders rotate around the arena so long as all three spears remain. Once all the spears are down, Halone will strike the centre of the room. Stack to mitigate the damage.

From that point on, the fight will repeat with moves like Lochos and Thousandfold Spear coming at the same time.

Menphina

Menphina comes at you with the power of the moon without any references to a certain 90s anime beyond the fitting theme song. Part of the fight involves her dog, an embodiment of the lesser moon Dalamud. It's pretty neat.

First things first, though, is that you get used to the moon "waxing" mechanic. Whether it's a symbol on the edge of the arena or scattered across it, the moon icons fill up and resolve when they're fully visible. Use that knowledge to gauge when an attack is about to hit.

The first half of this fight is all about learning to avoid her area attacks. Some, like Midnight Frost, are telegraphed by a thin sheet of ice forming from one of her cardinal directions.

You don't want to be stood there when it resolves. Other than that, you just need to look out for her second cast of Love's Light which, when Full Bright goes out, will see areas of the arena pop in sequence. Just align yourself between the first and last of the sequence and move to the first once it triggers.

Once her initial onslaught is done, Menphina enters her mid-phase, dropping four Ceremonial Pillars on the area, defending them with Ice Sprites that periodically cover the arena with conal attacks. Just take care to dodge and heal the incoming damage and burst the pillars down before Menphina's enrage meter caps out.

At the end of that phase, Menphina drags out Dalamud, her hound, and blasted the raid for massive damage. She'll ride atop it for a while, casting from above while the doggo strikes from the ground, so you'll need to keep an eye on both.

A good first example of their tandem attacks comes first, with Menphina casting Midnight Frost somewhere around her, and Dalamud raising an icy claw on either flank. She'll then use Playful Orbit to separate from Dalamud, with the pair casting the same two spells again. Keep an eye on Menphina's nearby ice and Dalamud's risen claw.

For the rest of the fight, the pair will just continuously assault the arena with moves like Midnight Frost, Blue Moon, and Keen Moonbeam. At this point, the pair will continue casting spells in unison, creating moments where you'll have to find the sweet spot between two attacks like Winter Halo and Midnight Frost. They'll even sometimes throw in Winter Solstice, which creates slippy ice across the arena, for you to deal with. It's all very Shiva-esque.

Keep up with the delicate dance and you'll put down both Menphina and Dalamud no problem, clearing the raid in the process. Get your loot (we'll list it below soon) and move onto your next mission.

FFXIV Euphrosyne raid gear and loot

Each boss you defeat in Euphrosyne will drop two pieces of loot for your eight-man party. The drops are random, but they'll be selected from a pool of new ilvl 620 gear.

You can only obtain a single piece per week until patch 6.4, so you may have to run multiple times in a week to drop and successfully roll for your desired piece, or you may decide to just take what you can get for another class. Keep in mind that you can only 'need' roll on a piece you can equip on your current class.

At the end of the run, once Menphina falls, you'll get gear drops as usual, but also various orchestrion rolls, the Halone minion, and a trio of Triple Triad cards. You'll need to roll on them with the whole alliance, though, so don't expect any easy wins.

For more on Final Fantasy XIV, check out our recent interview with the team. We went over the sudden surge in popularity the PVP scene has enjoyed with the Crystalline Conflict mode and the history of player-vs-player combat in Final Fantasy MMOs as a whole.