Looking to work your way up to some new FFXIV raid gear? You'll need to know how to beat the sixth circle of Pandaemonium - the second of the Abyssos wing. This FFXIV P6 Hegemone boss guide should help by walking you through each move and phase, with a handy skill list at the top for at-a-glance research and reference.
Sporting a scythe-like tendril on one shoulder blade and a serpent on the other, this levitating ancient has some fun cards to play. Most of Hegemone’s danger comes from the attacks only telegraphed by their model, so you’ll need to pay close attention to the small shifts throughout the run.
Need more FFXIV 6.2 guides? We're here. Our FFXIV Island Sanctuary guide is primed for a big update that'll soon get you to rank ten. We can even show you how to get the FFXIV Mandragora mount, and walk you through the Fell Court of Troia boss roster if you're working on the main story.
FFXIV P6 boss guide - Hegemone moves
- Aetheric Polyominoid
- Drops staves around the arena, priming some of its squares to detonate after a time.
- Chorus Ixou
- Conal strikes launched from either the rear/front or flanks.
- The location is denoted by arms outstretched with dark orbs.
- Hemitheos’s Dark IV
- Party-wide area damage.
- Transmission
- Tethers party members to the boss, applying a debuff
- Each half of the group take turns getting countdowns
- Once the countdown expires, affected members a frozen in place and fire a conal attack in the direction they're facing.
- Dark Ashes
- Places area damage markers on each party member.
- Synergy
- Individual tank busters.
- Aetherial Exchange
- Signals Aetheric Sigma as the next cast.
- Aetheric Sigma
- Uses the same idea as Aetheric Polyominoid
- The impact zones swap with their tethered stave right before they resolve.
FFXIV P6 boss guide - phase 1
Aetheric Polyominoid is the main play here: placing Aetheric Nexuses into the convenient tiles that break up the arena. For now, these simply detonate where they are. They’re not a big deal... yet.
Shortly after, Hegemone teleports back to the centre to use Chorus Ixou: conal strikes originating from the two large black and red orbs the boss conjures around it, making either its flanks or front and rear safe.
This depends entirely on the enemy’s orientation, so it’s really a case of looking at them (or their target circle) when you see the cast. It hits hard, is cast around three times in relatively quick succession, and the stacking vulnerabilities will KO anyone who’s hit twice even with a heal.
With that done, you’re introduced to Transmission, tethering four players to the boss and infecting them in a tendril of their own at the end, beginning a countdown that, as it expires, renders the players immobile, forcing them to cast their own conal attack.
The idea here is to simply turn away from the group to fire the inevitability off the arena. The other half of the group is infected right as the first set resolves, so the team essentially takes it in turns spinning their attack away from the arena.
After that, Synergy comes out to bonk both tanks and apply a light damage over time effect before Aetheric Polyominoid returns mixed with Chorus Ixou, reducing the safe zone even further.
With another shift to the middle, Strophe Ixou is cast. This is basically a rotating Chorus Ixou: get somewhere safe (preferably close) and rotate with the boss. Heal anyone up to prepare for the area hit of Hemitheos’s Dark IV, and quickly heal them up again to deal with Chorus Ixou mixed with a party-wide Transmission infection.
This still has the party take turns with the eventual Transmission effect, but you won’t know who gets the first lot until it the countdown stats which, by process of elimination, tells you who’s going to get it next.
If you’re first to pop, you’ll have to position to being locked into Chorus Ixou while facing away. The second half will instead get his with Dark Ashes drops during theirs, which will be lethal if mistakes were made.
Now that the tricky part is over, it’s back to tank and party-wide hits. Things are basically repeating at this point until you knock Hegemone to 60 percent HP. At that point, they’ll introduce their final key mechanic - Aetherial Exchange.
FFXIV P6 boss guide - phase 2
so heal up fast and prepare any mitigation tactics. Careful, though: it’s time for the real tricky part - Aetherial Exchange.
This cast means the next Aetheric Polyonminoid becomes Aetheric Sigma instead. It’s essentially the same move as at the start of the run, but the strikes swap with their linked ones right before they resolve. This can take some getting used to, but it’s worth figured out: things only get worse from here.
Like any raid boss, the first use is just a test. Game design at its finest. Now that you’ve been shown how it works, subsequent casts will come with other moves that force you to rethink your positions.
It’s a running theme with this one for sure, but if you’ve lasted this long, you should be good. Focus on the mental gymnastics of Aetheric Sigma as soon as it’s cast, then factor in whatever other move is out at the time before making your move.
The trick is to pick a tethered set and ignore the other Sigma always comes after Exchange, so look out for that to know whether you’re dealing with the standard version of the reversed one.
The first doesn’t really add anything else from this point. It’s just a case of looking out for which previously introduced spell will combo with Aetheric Sigma. It may look like they combo up, but so long as you remember that each mechanic resolves in sequence (so one before the next) you should be able to maintain a level head. Treat each as its own spell and you’ll make it through.
If you manage to make sense of the long dance, you'll knock Hegemone down and end the fight. Roll for those chest piece tokens if you want to coolest piece of the new armour and prepare for the next fight. Before that, though, consider checking out our guide on how to get the FFXIV Pupu minion. Yes, it's a FFVIII reference.