In Final Fantasy XIV, raids represent the biggest challenge. A group of players has mastered the hardest raid with unusual team dynamics.
Which raid is the hardest in the game? We are talking about the Fatal Raid “A Second Future.” The fight tells a story across five phases, based on the normal raid series “Eden” from Shadowbringers. Each of these phases features a unique boss with different mechanics.
Why is the raid so difficult? In fatal raids, each player must excel at their job. There is little room for mistakes, and a single wrong step could condemn the group to failure. The DPS checks are typically quite tough and require a consistent execution of the correct job rotation.
Tanks and healers need to protect themselves and the entire team with the right damage reductions, shields, and healing.
Which is the most important role? The most important members of the team are the healers. Without their shields and healing, nearly every raid will be difficult to master. In addition to the normal healer tasks, there are special mechanics that require specific abilities from the healers. When a raid uses these mechanics, it is impossible to succeed without healers.
How the raid was completed without healers
How did they do it? Their group consisted of four DPS and four Paladins. The Paladin in Final Fantasy XIV is the tank with the most defensive options. Additionally, he has an ability that takes all damage from a group member.
Paired with invincibility, all four Paladins could negate the total damage of all group members during key moments. Furthermore, the Paladin has a strong healing ability that, however, costs a lot of mana. A shield including healing for the entire group is very valuable in such fights.
In the raid itself, there is also no mechanic that requires a healer. In raids like Alexander Ultimate
, for example, there is a cleanse that the healers must perform; otherwise, the entire group dies. Such a mechanic is absent in A Second Future
. Therefore, the group was able to complete the raid without healers.
Community feels reminded of healer strike
What do others say about it? After the video of the group was posted on Reddit, various opinions emerged. Many consider it amazing to complete the latest fatal raid without healers. Other users refer to the healer strike of 2024, in which they refused to heal after dungeons were simply completed without them.
Additionally, the strategy of the four Paladins was criticized, as they essentially are healers with more defense. This is referred to in the community as a “blue healer,” since the tank symbol is blue and yet so much healing can be done. According to FFlog entries, the Paladin’s strong healing ability was used by almost every player over 40 times.
Despite the criticism of the Paladin strategy, some users are surprised that it was possible to master the raid with the high mana costs of the healing and damage abilities.
The developers of Final Fantasy XIV made a change even before the release of the fatal raid. Players are encouraged to play different jobs to quickly obtain the strong limit burst: Final Fantasy XIV: Change finally gives healers something to do again
