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The Keeper of the Lake is a level 50 dungeon added in patch 2.5 of Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. This is one of the final content updates of A Realm Reborn, and the final dungeon you must complete as part of the main story before moving into Heavensward.
However, before you can move into the icy lands of Ishgard, you'll need to get to the bottom of the rumors of Midgardsormr's revival. As you climb through the wreckage surrounding the Keeper of the Lake, you'll need to be prepared for some difficult encounters. Let's go over each boss found in this dungeon, and how you can beat them.
Updated September 4, 2022: With the release of patch 6.2, all three boss fights in the Keeper of the Lake have been reworked. We've updated this guide with each new attack the bosses will use, as well as how to avoid them.
How To Unlock The Keeper Of The Lake
The Keeper of the Lake is unlocked through the following Main Scenario Quest.
- Accept the Main Scenario Quest 'The Rising Chorus'
- NPC Location: Tataru - The Rising Stones (X:6.0, Y:5.9)
After accepting this quest, head to the entrance of the dungeon in Mor Dhona, where the Keeper of the Lake will be unlocked.
Dungeon Walkthrough
As you progress through this dungeon, certain enemies will drop Imperial Identification Keys. You will need to pick these up and use them on the Magitek Terminals to deactivate the gates and progress further. These Keys will appear in the section after the first boss, so keep an eye out for a dropped key during that part of the dungeon.
Upon completing the Keeper of the Lake, you will be rewarded with 100 Allagan Tomestones of Poetics.
Einhander
The first boss of this dungeon is Einhander. This large bird monster will summon explosive canisters that you'll need to watch out for. Listed below are each of Einhander's attacks and mechanics.
- Aero Blast: Einhander will deal damage to all party members. Use AoE healing to recover.
- Resounding Screech: Einhander calls in bird reinforcements that will drop Ceruleum Tanks around the arena. Then, Einhander will follow up with one of the two following attacks.
- Mark XLI Quick-firing Cannon: Einhander will fly to an edge of the arena and cast a line AoE across the arena, dealing damage and igniting two Ceruleum Tanks. The Tanks will then explode, dealing damage in a large area and inflicting vulnerability up. The explosion will cause the Tanks on either side to also explode. To avoid this attack, stand away from the first two exploding Ceruleum Tanks, then quickly move into their area after the explosion resolves to avoid the subsequent explosions.
- Mark XLIII Mini Cannon: Einhander will target the center of the arena with a cannon blast, dealing proximity-based damage from the center of the arena. Then, all Ceruleum Tanks will explode. Avoid this attack by finding the spot where a Tank didn't drop, and move there.
- Heavy Swing: Einhander will deal high damage to the Tank. Use defensive cooldowns as necessary.
The boss will repeat these attacks until it is defeated. The main thing to avoid in this fight are the exploding Ceruleum Tanks. Keep a close eye on which attack Einhander will use to explode them, and move accordingly to avoid the AoEs.
Magitek Gunship
The second boss of the Keeper of the Lake is the Magitek Gunship. This boss is pretty straightforward, but will use some high-damage attacks that can be deadly if you're not careful. Listed below are each of the Magitek Gunship's attacks.
- Flame Thrower: Deals continuous damage to the front of the boss. Quickly move outside of the area of this attack to avoid taking too much damage.
- Garlean Fire: The Magitek Gunship will move to one edge of the arena before slowly moving across the arena, dealing damage with large fire AoEs behind it as it moves. These AoEs will inflict Burning if you are hit by them, dealing damage over time. Avoid standing in the Gunship's path as it moves.
- Carpet Bomb: The Magitek Gunship will target a player and drop an AoE attack on them. Move outside the targeted area to avoid taking damage.
- 6th Cohort Adds: The Magitek Gunship will summon four adds to the arena, which will attack targets as normal. Group them up and defeat them before returning your attention to the boss.
- 6th Cohort Vanguard: The Magitek Gunship will summon a 6th Cohort Vanguard add that uses the following attacks.
- Drill Cannons: The Vanguard will deal damage in a line AoE to its front. Move out of the AoE indicator to avoid this attack.
- Overcharge: The Vanguard will deal damage in a cone AoE to its front, inflicting Paralysis. Move out of the AoE indicator to avoid taking damage and being debuffed.
- Blitz: Quickly charges towards a player, dealing damage and knocking them back slightly.
The boss will repeat these attacks until it is defeated. Kill the adds as quickly as possible when they spawn, and watch where the Gunship flies to avoid the fire AoEs.
Midgardsormr
The final boss of the Keeper of the Lake is Midgardsormr. The revived spirit of the father of dragons will summon even more dragons to aid him in battle. Midgardsormr's attacks and mechanics are listed below.
- Admonishment: Midgardsormr will deal damage in a large line AoE to his front, inflicting vulnerability up to hit players. Move out of the AoE indicator to avoid this attack.
- Inner/Outer Turmoil: Midgardsormr will deal damage in a half circle AoE or a half circle ring AoE. Move out of the respective AoE indicator to avoid taking damage.
- Phantom Kin: Midgardsormr will summon two dragons on either side of the arena. Then, he will cast Phantom Admonishment or Phantom Inner/Outer Turmoil, which are the same as the normal versions of these attacks. At the same time, the two summoned dragons will use Admonishment to their fronts, indicated by the directional arrow in front of them.
- To avoid these attacks, identify which direction the summoned dragon's attacks will come from, then move to avoid these while avoiding Midgardsormr's attack.
- Disgust: Midgardsormr will deal damage to all party members. Recover with AoE healing.
- Mirage Dragons and Animadversion: Midgardsormr will summon two Mirage Dragons before becoming untargetable. Then, he will slowly begin charging aether for a powerful attack. When his aether is fully charged, Midgardsormr will cast Animadversion, dealing lethal damage to all players.
- To prevent this, defeat the Mirage Dragons before Midgardsormr finishes charging his aether.
- Antipathy: During this phase, Midgardsormr will attack with Antipathy, dealing damage in a series of three AoEs. First is a circle AoE in the center of the arena, followed by two ring AoEs one after the other outside of the circle AoE. Watch the timing of these AoEs and move to avoid them while defeating the Mirage Dragons.
- Akh Morn: Midgardsormr will target a player with a persistent stack marker. Group up on the targeted player and stay at their position for the duration of this attack to spread out the damage of Akh Morn. The Healer should be prepared to restore the party's health through the attack.
- Condescension: Midgardsormr will target the Tank with a small AoE attack that deals high damage. Move away from other players and use defensive cooldowns to reduce the damage of this attack.
