Welcome to our T4 strategy guide! BcoB Turn 4 doesn’t exactly have a “boss”, but instead SIX phases of varying combinations of ADDS, each with their own abilities! The challenges in this turn is familiarizing yourself with each phase, and positioning properly!
“I’m tired of these @#$% Robots, in this @#$% Elevator!”
– FFXIVGuild raid team 1, prior to first down.
Phase 1 – Spiders
The first thing you encounter here is called “Clockwork Bug“, but we will be calling them Spiders from here on! 6 Spiders spawn and do nothing until you pull them. The “timer” starts from the second you aggro the spiders.
Spider Abilities – Spiders don’t have any abilities themselves, but when they are near a Dreadnought, they will be “eaten”, granting the Dreadnought extra healing and presumably damage.
Just stack them all up in the middle and AoE them to death.
Phase 2 – Knights & Soldiers
Say hello to your new friends, the Clockwork Knight and Clockwork Soldier. Main and off-tank need to pull 1 pair each.
Knight Abilities – Does Headspin (small PBAoE). MAGIC DPS against the knight damages it’s caster.
Soldier Abilities – Does Headspin (small PBAoE). Has STONESKIN that blocks only Physical damage. This Stoneskin refreshes itself after a set amount of time upon breaking. Don’t let this happen!
Given the abilities of these guys, Physical DPS should focus on Knights first. Magic DPS focus on Soldiers.
Here’s the strategy we use: Physical DPS goes for the Knight of Tank 1. Magic DPS goes for the Soldier of Tank 2, then switch. Why? It’s much easier to manage aggro this way.
Help, we have an imbalance of DPS classes (Too much Magic, or too much Physical)!
It’s okay, just keep doing the recommendation above. The only thing you guys should consider is having the MT Add-free for the next phase. For example, if you have 1 Physical, have him kill the MT’s knight first, then the MDPS kill the OT’s Soldier. The MT’s Soldier should be dead by the time the first Dread spawns.
Phase 3 – Dreadnought + Spiders
For lesser geared teams, it’s normal to have 1 add still alive from the previous phase entering this one. Spiders will spawn on the far side of the room, and must be fed to the Dreadnought.
Dreadnought Abilities – Seemingly cleaves on every attack. Does Rotoswipe, a massive cleaving attack. These guys hit hard! For each Spider a Dreadnought consumes, it gains a significant HP Regen + increased damage.
This is the first “significant” DPS race in the game. The Dreadnaught, having eaten 4 Spiders, is pretty strong and regenerates health quickly. For lesser geared teams, using Stat Potions would be a good idea here. The Dreadnought MUST DIE in 1 minute. Otherwise, the Spiders that will spawn next phase will heal it, likely resulting in a wipe.
Phase 4 – Rooks + Spiders
A new type of baddie appears in this phase. The Spinner Rook. 2 of these guys appear, along with 4 spiders.
Rook Abilities – Does Pox, a nasty frontal cone AoE, which reduces max HP and does a DoT. Don’t get hit by this!
Stack all EVERYTHING in the middle, enemies and allies, with only the tanks outside, so Pox has no risk of hitting anyone else. Tanks must dodge Pox by moving inside with everyone else, then moving back out once Pox is done casting.
Focus down the rooks first, then AoE the spiders down. These spiders must die before the next phase, or else the Dread that will spawn next phase will be tougher.
Depending on gear/group, using AoE magic Limit Break here is an option, but better saved for later on.
Phase 5 – Dreadnought + Knight & Soldier
Have DPS kill the Knight and Soldier as fast as possible. When they die, start beating up the Dreadnought (We will call this guy Dreadought A). This phase is kind of quiet, and a lot of extra time can be had in preparation for the final phase, which will probably kick your butt the first few (many) times you see it.
Phase 6 – Double Dreadnought + Knight & Soldier + Rook + Spiders
Also known as “EVERYTHING”. Have your MT pick up another dread (yep). and OT picks up everything else, except the Rook. Here’s a summary of what you need to do in this phase.
- Kill Rook
- Kill Dreadnought A
- Feed Spiders to Dreadnought B
- Kill Knight/Soldier
- Kill Dreadnought B
- After some time, the enrage timer activates, doing AoE damage to the entire raid.
Your first goal in this phase is Killing the Spinner Rook. Have any DPS tank this guy and just to to town on it. Some groups use Melee Limit-break here.
This phase sounds ridiculous when first getting through t4. “TWO DREADNOUGHTS” is just nuts. Having the tank survive this onslaught is key in this phase. Here’s what we do.
- Tank Limit-break helps greatly here.
- Have all defensive cooldowns up for this point. Line them up, don’t stack them up.
- Don’t forget about healer cooldowns! Rouse, Divine Seal, Presence of Mind…
- Sacred Soil & Eye for an eye are champs here.
The off-tank also takes significant damage here. Eye for an Eye helps alot in that end. Once Dreadnought A dies, a lot of pressure goes away, and you’re pretty much home free. Feed spiders to the remaining dreadnought and have your DPS kill the Knight and Soldier.
Once the final Dreadnought is the only enemy remaining, stack behind it and kill it ASAP. For lesser geared groups, defeating it DURING the enrage timer is quite normal.
Here’s a compiled image with all the phases.
Turn 4 Loot List
Tank | Healer | Caster | MNK | DRG | BRD | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weapon | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Off-Hand | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Head | - | - | - | Allagan Visor of Striking | Allagan Visor of Maiming | - |
Body | - | Allagan Tunic of Healing | - | - | - | Allagan Curias of Aiming |
Hands | Heavy Allagan Gauntlets | - | - | - | - | - |
Waist | - | Allagan Rope Belt of Healing | Allagan Rope Belt of Casting | Allagan Tassets of Striking | - | - |
Legs | - | - | Allagan Breeches of Casting | - | - | - |
Boots | - | - | - | - | - | Allagan Sollerets of Aiming |
Neck | - | - | - | - | - | Allagan Choker of Aiming |
Earrings | - | - | Allagan Earrings of Casting | - | - | - |
Bracelets | Allagan Bracelets of Fending | Allagan Bracelet of Healing | - | - | - | - |
Ring | - | Allagan Ring of Healing | - | Allagan Ring of Striking | Allagan Ring of Maiming | - |
Well, that’s it and good luck killing deez robots!
Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!
MNK ring drops on T1, not T4.
Allagan Tunic of Healing is set as Healer waist drop.
Fixed to Belt of Healing.