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The Stone Vigil (Hard) is an optional level 50 dungeon in Final Fantasy 14. After bravely venturing through the ruins of the Stone Vigil to secure the Enterprise airship, and clearing it of its biggest threats, the Knights of Ishgard are prepared to recapture the keep for good.
With you as their guiding light, you must enter the Stone Vigil with the Knights of House Durendaire, and reclaim the ruins from the Dravanian Horde. Let's take a look at each boss you'll face in this dungeon, their attacks and mechanics, and how to beat them.
How To Unlock The Stone Vigil (Hard)
To unlock the Hard version of the Stone Vigil, you must find the side quest below.
- Accept the quest 'Blood for Stone'
- NPC Location: Faillicie - Mor Dhona (X:21.9, Y:8.4)
This quest will appear after clearing the Main Scenario Quest 'The Ultimate Weapon'.
Dungeon Walkthrough
The layout of this dungeon is fairly similar to the original. Follow the path through the dungeon and group up the dragons you encounter. The path to the first boss has almost no barriers, meaning you can pull as many groups of enemies as you can handle. As always, make sure the Tank and Healer are both on board before doing large pulls.
In the second section of this dungeon, after the first boss, you will come across three Bertha Cannons. You will need to use these to shoot down the dragon outside, who will periodically launch balls of ice at your party. Pick the correct cannon and fire at the dragon three times. In between each time you fire the cannon, Dragonfly Hunter adds will spawn. Kill these before the dragon returns and the cannons are ready to use again.
Gorynich
The first boss of the Stone Vigil (Hard) is Gorynich. This boss has similar mechanics to Chudo-Yudo, the first boss of the normal Stone Vigil. Gorynich's attacks are detailed below.
- Swinge: Gorynich will deal high damage in a large cone AoE to its front. This attack has no AoE indicator, and must be avoided by moving away from the front of the boss.
- Later in the fight, Gorynich will move to one of the corners of the arena before using Swinge. When this happens, run to the boss and hide behind it in the corner to avoid taking damage from Swinge.
- The Lion's Breath: Gorynich will deal damage in a short cone AoE to its front. The Tank should face the boss away from the rest of the party to avoid hitting them with the Lion's Breath.
- Vigil Hier: These enemies will spawn throughout the fight, and will always target the Healer. However, when they are killed, they will cast Agony, which is a long cone AoE to their front, dealing damage and inflicting Heavy and Flesh Wound, slowing movement speed and dealing damage over time, respectively. Additionally, if the boss is in the area of Agony's AoE, it will gain a stacking damage and attack speed up buff.
- To prevent the boss from gaining the damage buff, the Healer should position themselves away from the rest of the party when the Vigil Heirs spawn. Then, the DPS players should focus on killing the adds, unleashing the Agony AoE away from the boss.
- Agony can also take the shape of a large circular AoE, rather than a cone AoE.
Gorynich will repeat these attacks until it is defeated. When the Vigil Heir adds spawn, the Tank and Healer should move to opposite ends of the arena to ensure Agony doesn't hit the boss.
Cuca Fera
The second boss of the Stone Vigil (Hard) is Cuca Fera. For the duration of this fight, you will be accompanied by several House Durendaire Knights. If all of the Knights die, Cuca Fera will cast an attack that instantly kills all party members. Additionally, Cuca Fera will take significantly reduced damage from your normal attacks.
To defeat this boss, you will need to use the Bertha Cannons around the arena. Using the cannon's first skill, you will be able to deal a normal amount of damage to the boss, while the Knights keep it from attacking your party. Cuca Fera will also use the following attacks and mechanics throughout the fight.
- Hard Stomp: Cuca Fera will deal damage to all party members, including the Knights. Use abilities that inflict Stun like Low Blow, Leg Sweep, Holy or the Bertha Cannon's second ability to interrupt the boss during this skill, preventing it from damaging the Knights.
- Diamondback: Cuca Fera will become invulnerable to damage for a few seconds.
- Whipstream: Cuca Fera will ignite its back before spinning around, dealing damage to nearby players and knocking them back. Then, the boss will spin around the arena, dealing damage in its path, while making itself invulnerable.
- During this time, Sordes and Paleoavis enemies will appear, and will begin to attack the House Durendaire Knights. Quickly kill the enemies before returning to the cannons to damage the boss.
- Paleoavis: Cast Electric Velitation, targeting an area with a circular AoE.
- Sordes: Cast Tail Chase, dealing damage in a small AoE circle around itself.
The general strategy for this fight is to use the Bertha Cannons to damage the boss, then quickly deal with the adds when they spawn. Interrupt Hard Stomp using Stun abilities, and try to keep the House Durendaire Knights alive as best you can.
Giruveganaus
The final boss of the Stone Vigil (Hard) is Giruveganaus. This boss's attacks have no AoE indicator, meaning you will need to rely on physical tells to determine which attack the boss intends to use. Additionally, Giruveganaus will attack players at random, and can't be aggroed like normal enemies. Most of Giruveganaus's attacks will inflict Infirmity, reducing the amount of health restored by healing abilities.
- Wild Charge: Giruveganaus will move its right arm back, then charge forward a short distance, dealing damage and knocking back. Move away from the front of the boss to avoid this attack.
- Tail Smash: Giruveganaus will raise its tail, then deal damage in a short cone to its back. Move away from the back of the boss to avoid Tail Smash.
- Ripper Claw: Giruveganaus will raise its arm above its head before swiping to its front, dealing high damage. Move to the side of the boss to avoid taking damage.
- Fireball: Giruveganaus will stand up tall before launching a ball of fire at a random party member. The Healer should be prepared to restore the targeted player's health.
- Heat Breath: Giruveganaus will deal damage in a cone AoE to its front. Avoid this attack by moving away from the front of the boss.
- Second Giruveganaus: Later in the fight, the boss will summon a second Giruveganaus that will use the same attacks as the original. The copy has less total health than the original, meaning you will be able to kill it more quickly than the original boss.
- Bloodboil: After the clone is defeated, Giruveganaus will periodically use Bloodboil to grant itself a damage-up buff. Prepare for the boss's attacks to deal much more damage while this buff is active.
Giruveganaus will repeat these attacks until it is defeated. Most of its attacks can be avoided by staying behind or to the sides of the boss, but be sure to reposition yourself often as the boss randomly moves around the arena. After Giruveganaus is defeated, the Stone Vigil (Hard) will be complete.
