The Valigarmanda Extreme Trial, also known as Worqor Lar Dor EX, is a high-level raid that challenges players with intricate mechanics and intense combat in FFXIV. It can be unlocked after completing the Dawntrail Main Scenario Quests. Players are rewarded with item level 710 equipment, which is the highest item level gear available until the Arcadion raid series releases. An incredible YouTube creator, Mrhappy, shared his advice on his channel to help us conquer this formidable foe. Now, let's find out. But if you need boosters to help you do this, buying FFXIV Extreme Trials boosting from MmoGah can be a good option. Leave everything to the specialists!
Preparation
For this fight, you need to sign light parties, which should include a tank, two DPS, and a healer in each. For partners, you should have one DPS and one support per pair.
Spikesicle
First, you'll see some curving ice rays for line AoEs firing out of the boss. Pay attention to the second AoE. Whichever side it went to, hug the wall in the middle on that side. After these casts, icicles will fire along these same paths. Meanwhile, some ice bombs will appear on the field, which will explode in the same sequence they were placed. Here, you need to dodge all the line AoEs and avoid the explosions. If you're hit by this mechanic, it will give you stacking damage dealt down. There is one movement - after two icicles AoEs, move back towards the center, though slightly on the opposite side of the big red arrow for the boss's hitbox.
Skyruin
Skyruin deals large raid-wide damage and places a fire dot on everyone. It also signals a phase change, probably the most challenging part of the fight. Once Skyruin fire finishes, the boss will follow it up with Triscourge for more raid-wide damage, and there will also be an ice and lightning debuff to every player and a fire debuff to the healers.
Volcanic Eruption
Far away from the east and west of the arena, you'll see two volcanoes off in the distance. Then, you'll get a warning that a volcanic eruption is imminent. One of the two volcanoes will begin bubbling, and you need to go to the opposite side of the room. Then, there will be a few sets of baited AoEs for everyone to dodge right after. Watch your feet and don't get hit. Make sure to dodge these baited AoEs by running either toward or away from the boss instead of back towards the middle of the room. Otherwise, you will die.
Vali Attack (Fire)
Once the baited AoEs are gone, get with your pair partner and react to the boss's next movement. He'll either do a point-blank AoE from his side of the room, a cone AoE, or a donut AoE. Dodge whichever one it is and stay paired up for a second after, as there will be a pairing check right after with some raid damage. Group one pairings go west, and group two pairings go east. You can also target your partner or use markers over your head to designate who your partner is, so you shouldn't have any trouble tracking it. Also, make sure you're a few steps away from the other pairs, as there is a small AoE explosion. If anyone is dead for this pairing mechanic, one or two other people are also going to die, and this can quickly snowball out of control, so try to avoid dying.
After the pairings go off, either all four DPS or all four supports will get an ice marker over their head, indicating the countdown of the debuffs that you got from Triscourge. You need to keep moving if you're marked.
Mountain Fire
Next is the Mountain Fire. This attack will summon a tank buster tower in front of Valigarmanda, which will hit six times back to back after a brief reprieve. Each Tower hit inflicts a burn and fire vulnerability, so your tanks need to alternate being hit. At the same time, anyone not being hit by the tower will need to stand directly behind it, relative to the boss's position. He'll move his head around between one of three positions before each tank hit, and when he hits, he does a massive AoE that will destroy everything except what's immediately on the other side in this small cone of safety.
Fire Markers
After the final hit, both healers' fire markers begin counting down. This does three back-to-back light party damage splits that leave behind fire puddles. You can start in the corner closest to Vali, with group one being in the west and group two east, then move towards the middle of the room a bit, then back a bit while staying stacked in the light parties. After the three fire puddles, the other group of ice debuffs will go off, so you need to keep moving. Make sure to stay around the middle, as another volcanic eruption will occur right after, the mechanics of which are the same as the first one.
Lightning Markers
Then, everyone's lightning debuff will begin counting down, which does damage in a small area around them. Be adequately spread around the room. Finally, Vali will end this phase with the disaster zone, changing the arena back to normal.
Ruin Foretold (Adds)
Vali will cast Ruin Foretold and begin a short add phase, and you need to split into your light parties once again, with light party 1 going west and light party 2 going east. Vali will become untargetable, and three elemental beacons will appear. Your goal is to kill these before his ruinous power gauge fills to full. Valley will also be firing calamitous cry over and over while you're killing the beacons. It will shoot several conal AoEs and an alternating pattern, as well as a wild charge at the supports. This split damage wild charge will always target either both healers at the same time or both tanks at the same time, as long as both are alive. These are called wild charges because they actually deal more damage to whoever is the first target hit, so your tanks always need to be closest to the boss for this entire phase. Just bounce back and forth between the same two cones of safety next to each nail. Once the east and west nails are dead, both groups can converge into the middle but stay separated because you still have the wild charges going off.
Vali is also gaining damage stacks with each calamitous cry, so each wild charge will hit harder and harder.
Tulidisaster
Once the beacons are all dead, Vali will do three back-to-back AoEs after finishing his Tulidisaster cast. The third hit is the most important as this applies a dot that persists for the remainder of the fight.
Skyruin (Blizzard)
For the next phase, Vali will start with either Skyruin Storms or Skyruin Blizzard, and his pattern will adjust depending on which he does. For Skyruin Blizzard, the raid-wide will apply a powerful blizzard dot. Vali will also do another Triscourge, which will again apply debuffs, two ice debuffs on the tanks, two fires on the healers, and a lightning debuff on everyone else.
Ice and fire debuffs will resolve almost immediately. The ice debuffs on the tanks are massive tank buster AoEs. Send the tanks towards Vali on their light parties' respective sides. The healers with a fire debuff will do split damage AoEs, so they just stand with the remaining DPS from their light parties near the back of the room.
Once those go off, keep an eye on the back of the room when the message "a rumbling avalanche approaches from the southeast/southwest side" shows. Stay out of its path. Vali will do one of his three AoEs at the same time, so you dodge the avalanche and Vali's AoE at the same time.
Then, several ice pillars will appear and do eight omnidirectional line AoEs, leaving a very small safe spot to avoid them. Fortunately, the safe spot is always in one of two locations close to Vali, on either the east or west side of his inner hitbox. It might be worth placing a marker down for this in the future. After this, four lightning buffs will begin to count down, so just have these four players spread from everyone else.
Spikesicle 2
After Spikesicle combined with the Avalanche mechanic, dodging this is nearly identical to the beginning, but with one major change. With the avalanche coming from behind you, you'll either be safe where you normally are during the start of the fight, or you'll need to double back to the side you came from. Follow behind the curving AoEs and pay close attention to avoid everything.
Vali will do one of its three AoEs, which you need to avoid. Then, ice pillars will reappear before one more avalanche. Dodge all of these mechanics in sequence. Vali will follow this up with Freezing Dust, and you must be moving for about 3 seconds when the spell finishes casting. If you stop at any point, you'll be frozen. Then, the remaining four lightning debuffs go off, and the disaster zone comes out, finishing the blizzard phase.
After the disaster zone, the blizzard will be two tank busters as well, and then Skyruins storm if the blizzard was first. For Skyruin Storms, you'll get a dot, and the Triscourge hit like before. This Triscourge is a lightning and ice debuff on everyone and a fire on each healer. Take note of which of your lightning or ice debuffs is the shorter one, as it will help you determine where to go ahead of time when the debuff is wearing off.
Hail of Feathers
This will drop six proximity AoEs back to back, each spawning a feather that can be attacked. The first one will always start directly east or west, so when you see that one come out, just start on the opposite side of the room. As the feathers hit the arena, you should rotate around opposite of them towards Vali and towards the other side of the room. When you get to where the first feather dropped, start killing it while leaning towards the back side of the room. Make sure that feather you're on is dead rather quickly, as killing it makes a safe spot for the next attack. Vali will begin casting a blighted bolt, which kills any player lifted by the glowing platforms and strikes every feather with an AoE bolt as well. Stand where you killed the feather to avoid all this.
Lightning/Ice Markers
Next, the first round of ice and lightning debuffs will begin expiring. Lightning debuffs do a point-blank AoE, and ice players drop an ice tomb at their location. Lightning players will need to be on the ground to survive, and the AoE from this is a bit larger than the previous phases. Ice players, on the other hand, will need to be in the air, or they'll be imprisoned. Their ice tombs also need to be far away from each other, or they'll tether and explode on the raid, giving a stacking damage volume.
We broke each pairing from the start of the fight into each corner of the room, so the tank and DPS pairs go towards the front right and front left corners close to Vali, and the healer and DPS pairs go towards the back corners, with group one on the west side and group two on the east side.
Vali Attack (Storm)
Next will be one of Vali's three AoEs, though this time with a twist. After they go off, Vali will place an AoE on every player's location a second later. Basically, everyone stacks together and moves as soon as the AoE goes off.
Thunderous Breath
Next is Thunderous Breath, which will fire five line AoEs from the east and west sides of the room, hitting all but one row with lightning. You'll need to find which row is safe and be sure to be on the elevated platform. Vali will also fire room-wide AoE that hits ground level during this; don't get hit by that.
Right after this is the second round of lightning and ice debuffs, so resolve these the same way. Then, there's another Vali attack, so stack up, dodge, and move after the AoE goes off. With this, Vali will cast the disaster zone and end the storm phase.
Ruinfall
After the Skyruin storm ends, there will be a sheer tank buster in the middle of the platform. Right after this, there is a knockback and several AoEs near the back of the room. Either line up the knockback to land in between the back AoEs or just knockback resist and ignore it altogether.
Next, Vali will use Wrath Unfurled and do raid-wide damage. After this, he'll begin casting Tulidisaster again. Then, he does mountain fire, tank buster tower, plus blocked AoE, which works exactly the same.
These are the all mechanics when fighting Valigarmanda. Happy gaming adventures!
