Talk:Darkness Rising

Testimonials[edit]

Uncapped Fight

50BLU/25RDM Solo: 26/05/2014 - Poorly geared. Used Trust NPCsx3 Kupipi/Zeid/Excenmille. Used 1 yagudo drink. Tactic was: Kill the 2 Sorcerers first quickly with bludgeon/headbutt (blunt). Then target the boss, kill the Warriors that appear by casting a bludgeon or head butt on them once, no need to actually switch target. Don't allow there to be more than 2 warriors at any one time. Keep cocoon/regen on and bludgeon/head butt the boss as much as possible. If boss casts sleepga, use healing breeze to wake the npcs. Easy fight with this technique.

55THF/27RDM Solo(esque) July 12, 2014 - Easy peasy. Shoddy gear. Trust NPC's make a HUGE difference. Kupipi (for keeping me alive) Curilla (paladin vs. undead), and NajaSalaheen (monk for bashing power). Regen, Enfire, Barsleep, Barfrost for buffs, ate a Sweet Lizard, and waded in. Unleashed Cyclone when the mobs began to overwhelm my Regen, which managed to wipe out pretty much any warrior it hit even at only 1000 TP. Didn't change targets once, just kept SA when I had a clear shot. The two Ancient Sorcerers "survived" the entire time, with me mostly ignoring them. This strategy would probably work with various classes/subclasses -- just use a powerful area nuke when the warriors get thick, and keep wailing on the archlich.

75DRG/WHM Solo: Mindlessly simple fight, expected more out of these guys. Went in with Prot II and Shell, never once had to heal myself. Took out the sorcerers first, then let my wyvern do his thing against the Archlich. Occasionally switched to crowd control when the warriors got too annoying. Just wore dated leveling gear, nothing fancy. --Jhandfield (talk) 07:39, July 21, 2013 (UTC)

61 PUP/DNC Solo: Only used Curing Waltz II once. WHM Automaton did the rest of the curing. Just make sure to Deploy out of range of Sleepga...got a little risky when my Auto was slept (hence the CWII). Nothing hit very hard and Spinning Attack (H2H AoE) was enough to kill the warriors. Just focused on the Boss.

85MNK/DNC: Pretty easy solo fight. I stacked boost first, then opened the fight with Chi Blast and buffed with Focus, Dodge, and Counterstance. Then poped Hundred Fists and just focused on the main skeleton. Hundred fists wore off shortly before the lich died. I didn't bother curing or healing once, and ended the fight with about half HP. Pretty easy. Gear was just the Aurore Doublet Set.

95WHM/47BLM: Buffed with all the appropriate spells (Protect/Shell V, Afflatus Misery, Auspice, Stoneskin, Blink, Aquaveil, Haste, Reraise 3 just in case), ran in, engaged, used Banishga II to deal with most of the adds. Ended up having to use Regen III once. Extremely easy (and it should be).

63PLD/30BLU: Buffed with Cocoon, Protect III, and Shell III. Kept Sprout Smack on the boss and ignored the others, except to make sure they were in front of me for shield TP. Used Vorpal Blade whenever possible (Banish beforehand to maximize damage), with the occasional Bludgeon as well. I took enough damage to necessitate the use of a Hi-Elixir and a Vile Elixir. Sheep Song was effective against the whole bunch. EQ-wise, I had full AF, Dragvandil, Parade Gorget, VIT rings and attack earrings. Finished in 8:56, with 544/1178 HP. --Rauha 21:52, December 3, 2011 (UTC)

60RDM/30WHM: I bought a Field Recipe Salted Fish from a Field Manual in Beaucedine Glacier on the way to Fei'Yin. I zoned in to Qu'Bia Arena, entered the Battlefield, used Composure and buffed up with Protect, Shell, Stoneskin, Aquaveil, Haste, Phalanx, Refresh, Blaze Spikes, Enfire II, and Barparalyze, as well as a scroll of Instant Reraise. My equipment was RDM AF, MP rings, earrings, waist and back, and a Hornetneedle. I debuffed Archlich with Silence, Slow, Dia, and Paralyze, and spammed Banish II and Banishga, which eventually took out the other skeletons. I used Cyclone when I had TP. Nearly everything they tried on me did 0-10 damage. I only needed to Cure once, Regen was sufficient otherwise. I re-buffed as needed. I used Convert, making certain I wasn't paralyzed from Archlich's Ice Spikes and that I had a fresh Stoneskin applied. This strategy was very straightforward and simple. I completed the Mission in 12:37. -Ff11inanna 09:56, February 15, 2011 (UTC)


61Sam/30Dnc Used a Tav. Taco and meditated twice and used rr just in case. Used seigan/third eye (kept using it the whole fight) Killed the 2 Sorcerer's first then the Boss Archlich. The warriors were missing a lot and doing around 10-30dmg when they did connect. I used my main gkt for more dmg at first skillchaining then switched to Soboro for rest of the fight. I just kept Cure Waltz II myself and ws's when I could. I did not have my 2hr up so was not used. Did 2-400 on the Sorcerer's using Jinpu. No merits on this mule. Never got into the red. Did 3-400ish on the Boss using Jinpu. Only Paralyzed once from Ice Spikes and it did not last long. His nukes were pitiful for damage. Took me 14mins but that's also waiting on meditate twice and killing the sorcerers to get them off my back nuking.


EASY 5-1 MISSION This is new 5-1 easy way to win. You don't even need a tank with this plan you need at whm with repose this is a new spell its sleep lvl 48 its last 90 seconds spell divine magic so it works on undead. After you enter buff up. Have the whm go in frist there will be 3 skeleton the boss & 2 others minions have the whm sleep one of the 2 minions then have the party attack the boss. When the whm can cast repose again have it sleep other skeleton. Now that both are asleep this will stop the other skeletions from nevering the room and you will only need to fight the boss. I did this twice with my Linkshell easy win. I have ben playing 2 years now i wish they had repose when i did it cuz we all almost died with this plan we won easy. you can haste the whm in you want this will cut 5 seconds off repose recast time its 30 second recast.

Masta Gilgamesh San d'Oria Rank 9 whm 75 rdm 71 smn 45 nin 38 other job below lvl 38.


I am a whm lvl 62 on pandemonium and i tried the repose method. I got instant hate and was almost immediately killed. It's possible i just didnt understand the proper way to do this but it sure didnt work for me. Thunderstorm pandemonium

Solo'd with a couple of nervous moments as 76 thf/dnc, used persikos au lait, had dagger main hand for Cyclone to kill adds and club offhand due to triple attack and skeletons weakness to blunt. Opened with SA and then just went from there, stealing ice spikes and healing waltz for the one paralyze that hit me, otherwise trying to save TP for the occasional cyclone. Can't be sure, but the fight seems to have a cap on the number of adds spawned. Fight lasted abut 12 minutes. --Jakk Frost 23:09, June 15, 2011 (UTC)


We used the strategy as above mentioned. It didn't work. MNK went in, and sooner WHM Repose one Minion, while waiting for recast (Hasted herself), Warrior Minion has already started to get in. When WHM started another Repose, there is like 4+ minions.... [ Did this on 16th March 2008 ]


Was rather easy to win with a duo of RDM/WHM and SAM/WAR. Took only about 10 minutes, (only like 30 seconds short of a new record o.O) could've done faster with both 2 hour abilities but that wasn't possible at the time and I really didn't think we'd be anywhere close a record time IF we'd even be able to win. All in all, was excitement, adventure and fun. ^^ Sore wa sore, kore wa kore... 15:06, 19 June 2009 (UTC)


  • Confirmed with PLD/BLU, BLU/NIN, and WHM/BLM.
PLD engaged Archlich while BLU and WHM took out the two flanking minions. The minions that spawn after that are considerably weaker. Ignored the weak minions as they continuously re-spawn.
MP Drinks will definitely prove useful. WHM also used a few ethers.
  • Confirmed solo with well geared RDM/DRGVerification Needed, RDM/WARVerification Needed, BLU/NIN or BLU/DRG
Use defense food and mp drinks (ethers and hi-pots too for emergencies). Merits help but not required.
Begin the fight by killing the first minions and then focus on the lich, kill new minions as they spawn.
  • Successful strategy: 50THF 50DRK 50RDM 50BLM 46WHM 45PLD. DRK ran in first to get aggro from the addons. THF & PLD ran in to attack Archlich. BLM helped DRK kill the addons. RDM kept Archlich dispelled and silenced. Do not attempt to sleepga addons. By the end of the fight, all members still had a decent amount of HP & MP. Good Luck!
  • Confirmed with MNK/NIN, WHM/BLM, and BLM/WHM.
MNK fought Archlich and used Spinning Attack everytime he had TP. BLM used tier I -aga's on Archlich to wipe minions that the MNK didn't get. The WHM was gearless and Elvaan. The BLM took turns healing while WHM rested. No 2 hours were used for win.
  • Confirmed with PLD/WAR, DRG/BLU, WHM/BLM, BLM/RDM.
DRG tanks Archlich while PLD kills all lesser skeletons. BLM nukes while WHM keeps the DRG alive. After skeletons have been dispatched in the main room (Circle Blade will one-shot them), PLD stands in the hallway and kills additional spawns. Very easy win.
  • Confirmed with PLD/BLU, MNK/NIN, and RDM/WHM.
All 3 wore Level Sync gear. PLD and MNK both eat Tavnazian Tacos. PLD engages first, and MNK 2HRs the initial adds. Both adds start with Ice Spikes, so a Dispel or constant Paralyna is required. After the initial adds are dead, concentrate on the Archlich. MNK uses Spinning Attack when the Warrior adds run to the circle. Barring anything unexpected, the Archlich should go down without much of a fight.
  • Confirmed with RDM/WHM and SAM/WAR.
For safety and less excitement, all the minions should be killed, even the weaker ones, as they get to the circle. No problems with anything really. A fun fight!

Limitation on characters entering[edit]

I just finished this mission and noticed something. The info on the wiki page says "Form a level 50 party. You may use anyone from any nation currently on Mission 5-1...". I had a rank 10 character (obviously having done this before) assist the party that they gathered and apparently have done so before. Is the wiki wrong? --Eylgar 04:48, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Naturally, anyone that has already completed this mission can participate. --Docstu 04:49, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Title?[edit]

I just did this mission after Magicite and while my Windurstian friend got the title "Archmage Assassin", I still own "Have Wings, Will Fly". I'm not sure why this is, and I haven't changed the article to reflect this because I was wondering if anyone else has experience the same for Bastok. (Done July 6th, 2008) Gaussian 19:21, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Monk method[edit]

I'm surprised this isn't listed on here at all, and with newer players on the game lately, I feel it's worth mentioning. The "Monk Method" basically entails a level 50 MNK using Hundred Fists on the boss and smashing its head into dust. The rest of the party is pretty irrelevant, just have people who can bind/grav or put a pet/avatar on the other two mobs that start there. Your Monk essentially will solo the boss before his 2HR wears off. Just be sure you dispel his Ice Spikes.Valesti Leviathan 06:13, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, that's how my party did it as well. We had 3 monks and myself (whm). Mnks 2hrd and I...well I just stood there. It was over before I even really knew it. --Aletheia 12:28, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm curious, Valesti mentions 'A' MNK demolishing the NM. How feasible is it that one MNK and a WHM with Repose could beat this boss? Going to have a go at it, will report back ^^ --Sherpaj 01:12, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

I recently tried several times to solo this fight with my MNK/DNC. I could get quite close, but never managed to win it; it may be possible with a good deal of luck. It eventually came down to a choice between gearing for attack and being able to deal enough damage to win the fight within 15 minutes but not being able to keep up with curing, or gearing for evasion and surviving the full 15 minutes but not dealing enough damage to win in that time. Today I went back with another MNK/DNC and had a relatively easy duo win. A MNK/DNC with attack food and geared for attack will do roughly 25-30% of the Archlich's HP with Hundred Fists. - Ooka 08:15, February 25, 2010 (UTC)

Manaburn Method[edit]

I am very surprised this method isn't listed. You only need 5 people for this to win. Although 6 helps.

Setup 2x whm (must have capped divine magic) 2x blm 1x pld 1 extra - Have used monk for hundred fist and have used rdm for refresh.

First thing, the pld runs in, gets initial hate on the mega boss, flash, shield bash, and provoke will be needed at around the same time. Draws all the skeletons to him. Then both blms will simultaniously use aga2 on the extras. If this does not kill them then a banishga 2 will. Now at this point, you simply let the adds run in, and an aga 2 (including banishga2) will kill them. The important part is to make sure the boss is in range of the aoe. By the time you run out of MP the mega boss should be close to death. Manafont may be necessary to kill the boss. And it is very important to set up an ES silence order to avoid sleepga 2.

A win with only three members.[edit]

I just currently beat this for an LS mate last night with only 3 members, set up was this.

Myself= Pld/Dnc with merits and no food Equipped with: Joyeuse, Koenig shield, Walhara turban, Bibiki Seashell, Parade Gorget, Suppanomi, Insomnia Earring, Adaman cuirass, Dusk gloves, Jelly ring, Unyielding ring, Knightly mantle, Warwolf belt, Gallant breeches, Valor leggings.

With a Whm/blm using 2 yagudo drinks and Healers armor set. Mnk/War had Squid sushi+1 and only fell close to critical once. Nothing was special about gear since he hasn't even gotten past G1 yet.

I started off by kiting the first two minions and mnk went to work on boss. After all the minions spawned just stopped and tanked them next to mnk using Tp for divine waltz with cure IV and holding hate with flash. Whm took hate once very briefly but was easily regained with flashWhm ran out of Mp and I continued to spam Divine waltz. It took about 11 minutes for him to finish off the boss, falling in critical once. No repose was used just straight tanking, meeleing and healing. Sentinel and rampart were both used once and I finished the fight at about 300 hp with 1oo+mp. (Ashling Odin Rank 10 Bastok Pld 75 Rdm 46 all others 37+)

A win with only two members[edit]

X2 RDM/PLD using a melee method with EN spells and dots. Undead Killer and Holy Circle come in handy, as does Shield Mastery for recasting Stoneskin and casting spells in general. Never had a problem throughout the fight and neither of us had to covert. No food or meds were used either. As far as gear goes, I threw some random stuff together and my partner had mostly level sync gear on. Probably the most important thing that we both had, was Hornetneedle dagger. That dagger, coupled with haste and Enthunder II, wrecked the boss(relatively speaking, for lvl 50 RDMs anyway).

At the start I ran in and aggro'd the boss and the two Sorcerers and immediately started melee'ing the boss. In the mean time, my partner took out the Sorcerers one at a time, and eventually joined me in melee'ing the boss. We used the dagger weapon skill Cyclone to clear the Acient Warriors (one shotted them). Fight took about 10 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbaNI7yodVY Onishi22 04:52, March 17, 2010 (UTC)Onishi22


Also Duo with 2x RDM/WHM using Melee with En-spells and Banishga. Used tavnazian tacos (not completely necessary) fully buffed and rested. Engaged ArchLich Taberquon and IGNORED all other mobs. Keep Phalanx and Blaze Spikes up at all times. Ancient warriors will kill themselves on your blaze spikes. Cast Banishga and Banish whenever possible, 1-2 banishgas will kill any ancient warriors that are around, ancient sorcerers will eventually die to banishga. Arch Lich will die soon after. The key to winning with RDM/WHMx2 is to ignore the other mobs completely and only fight arch lich. in previous fights, we fought the sorcerers first and ran out of time (never in any danger of death) both with clubs and hornetneedles. Dvorakk 13:40, March 26, 2010 (UTC)

2x Sam/Dnc with Soboro easy duo

A lot of people don't really realize the setup on the peons. At the start of the fight, there are 2 blm and 4 war skeletons as well as the Archlich. The blm do NOT respawn. The wars respawn in pairs, but have less than 50 hp and are an easy one shot kill. So, any food or none, basic gear + soboro. Tacos make it a no brainer. Meditate up, run in and each take down a sorceror. On person goes on to engage the Archlich while the other clears the warriors. Then, just kill the Archlich while facing the door. Occasionally, Skeleton Warrior x2 will enter the room, one person switch target, take them out, then re-engage the boss. Whittle him down this way until it's all over. Ice spikes can be a pain with no access to Healing Waltz, but not enough to cause a death.

Soloable?[edit]

I'm a 75 rdm with all the merits you can have active at 50. I went in rdm/war, defense food, never needed my ethers, used hi pots a few times, overall not a hard fight. Problem is, solo, I couldn't even get the Archlich below 75% before timing out; 50% when I chainspelled. I'd like to know who confirmed rdm solo of this mission.

     *Added confirmation to the rdm sections. Without the defense bonuses of /war a rdm would have a very hard time
     surviving, pots or no pots, so I wonder how /drg would work, even with the /drg gear.

Essentially it was confirmed by a video on Youtube of Avesta soloing it, but he did it mostly nuking style if I recall correctly. --Jakk Frost 13:34, January 28, 2010 (UTC)

This article uses material from the "Talk:Darkness_Rising" article on FFXIclopedia and is licensed under the CC-BY-SA License.