Final Fantasy XIV: Jeuno The First Walk Alliance Raid guide

Final Fantasy XIV’s Jeuno The First Walk Alliance Raid is the first of the Final Fantasy 11 raids we’re going to get in the Dawntrail expansion. Filled with familiar music, faces, and encounters, it’s a real trip back in time for players like me who actively played FF11 back in the day — or even recently! It can be a challenging raid if you aren’t paying attention, but the rewards are equally great.

Now that the FF14 update 7.1 has launched and this raid is live, you can pick up item level 720 gear, though only one piece per run, and some great minions/cards. That said, while you can only get one piece of gear a run, you can farm this one until you have everything you want, instead of only doing it once a week.

Here is an overview of every boss you'll encounter in Final Fantasy XIV's Jeuno The First Walk Alliance Raid.

All bosses in Jeuno The First Walk Alliance Raid in Final Fantasy XIV

While there are eight sections of Jeuno The First Walk in Final Fantasy XIV, there are only four bosses to deal with. Trust us though, these bosses are more than enough to test you. In the guide below, you'll find tips to deal with them, as well as their most potent attacks.

Pay attention during Jeuno The First Walk in Final Fantasy XIV, and you too will see "Duty Complete" (Image via Square Enix)

The later ones present tons of ground mechanics to navigate around. While the bosses are challenging, it’s nothing you can’t deal with. As long as you’ve unlocked the raid, are level 100 in a combat class, and have an average 695 item level, you can take part.

All bosses in Jeuno The First Walk

Prishe of the Distant Chains
Fafnir the Forgotten
The Ark Angels
Shadow Lord

1) Prishe of the Distant Chains

Prishe has some annoying attacks, but if you listen closely to her, you can avoid them (Image via Square Enix)

Prishe of the Distant Chains is the first boss in Final Fantasy XIV's Jeuno The First Walk. She's also incredibly interesting, to boot. As you fight her, she’ll display three telegraphs for her abilities. Depending on how many times she says “Wait for it…” will determine where you need to stand to not get hit.

Later in the fight, you’ll also have to deal with her dropping AOE attacks at the same time. So, you’ll not only have to watch where you’re standing, but also how far away from her you need to be standing. The most interesting part of this fight is when she sets out Crystalline Thorns and then calls out for Auroral Uppercut — the attack with the launch trajectory.

You’ll have to determine how far away she plans to hit you, so you can land safely on the ground, and not in the spikes, as I did the first time this happened.

Attack	Explanation
Knuckle Sandwich	Three circles will appear on the ground, and depending on how many times Prishe says "Wait for it..." will determine where you stand. Stand outside of the closest circle depending on how many times she says the line.
Nullifying Dropkick	Tank Buster - all three tanks converge for this one. Use mitigations to not get flavor-blasted by her attack.
Banish Storm	Staves hit the ground and have directional arrows coming from them. After a delay, AOEs will travel down that line. Just don't be in the way.
Crystalline Thorns	Huge sections of the ground will turn red. After a delay, spikes will pop up. This teases Auroral Uppercut.
Auroral Uppercut	Players get a knockback targeting icon with three trajectories. Depending on how many times she says "Wait for it.." will determine how far you go. Position yourself to land on something that isn't spikes.
Banishga IV	Lots of orbs fill the screen. Stay close to the smaller ones - the large ones will detonate into AOEs. Then move to safe spots.

2) Fafnir the Forgotten

Fafnir the Forgotten will certainly be remembered after this fight (Image via Square Enix)

At first, this can feel like an incredibly frustrating boss fight. There’s lots of AOE and stuff to move out of, and you’ll have to do it quickly. However, this Final Fantasy XIV boss fight in Jeuno The First Walk isn’t too bad. There are some relatively simple things to keep an eye out for. Early in the fight, for example, he’ll show you all three of his Offensive Posture moves, with a dialogue line on screen.

That way, you can see what the boss is about to do in Final Fantasy XIV before it triggers the next deadly attack. Fafnir will also occasionally summon adds that will need to be dealt with, so keep an eye out for friends.

The hardest part about Fafnir during Final Fantasy XIV’s Jeuno The First Walk is Hurricane Wing. It’s a chaotic blend of hurricanes and wind that can knock you up and drop you hard. You have to be very careful about where you stand in this fight.

Attack	Explanation
Offensive Posture	This attack can be three different attacks and he may cycle through them back to back. Keep an eye on the boss. Head Charged: Flame breath in a clockwise motion. Follow the circle closely, but get ready for a potential follow up attack from one of the others. Tail Charged: Swipes the area behind him - 270 degree AOE. Get in his face to avoid it. Feet Charged: Slams the ground and drops an AOE around himself. Get to the edge of the battlefield quickly.
Baleful Breath	Stack together as a group and healers should stay on top of this one. Multiple hits for decent damage. Don't unstack until its over.
Winged Terror	The boss moves to the edge of the screen and makes its wings glow purple. Everywhere is danger town, except the center of the arena in front of Fafnir's head.
Absolute Terror	Also at the edge of the screen, but his body glows this time. Opposite of Winged Terror, get to one of the sides of the screen.

3) Ark Angels

This fight seems really hard, but it's not too bad. Just make sure to not get caught in raid wipe damage (Image via Square Enix)

The Ark Angels look like a group of players, clad in black. They each have their own annoying attacks to deal with, and constantly move and flood the screen with dangerous things to avoid. Some players tend to pull the Ark Angels into two different groups, while others prefer to AOE them down together.

It’s faster to separate them and deal with two groups, one at a time, but either strategy works. In my experience, we kept them mostly split apart during Final Fantasy XIV’s Jeuno The First Walk. Tanks also have to keep an eye out for Cloudsplitter, which is an AOE Magical Tankbuster.

It’s really just a matter of hitting hard and not standing in stuff. The most important thing is knowing when to use Interject as a tank, to not get caught in one of two raid-wipe attacks.

Attack	Explanation
The Decisive Battle	When the fight starts each tank gets connected to one of the bosses. This grants Epic Hero. Players can only harm the Ark Angel with the matching effect - stay with your Alliance's tank.
Meikyo Shisui	AOE Gauntlet time: * Checkerboard AOE (stand in safe spot) * Look away from the glowing orb * Large Aoe Flower Attack * Head to the tiny safe zone for part two of the previous attack * Six cones of lightning from the center of battlefield
Meteor	Deals massive, potential wipe-levels of damage - A tank must use Interject to stop this from triggering. (Ark Angel TT)
Guillotine	Ark Angel TT heads to one side of the screen and cleaves. Stand to the side to evade.
Utsusemi	Four clones of Ark Angel HM appear that will link to targets in the raid. Run from them, and if you aren't targeted, do not get cuaght in the tether.
Mijin Gakure	Most important part of the fight: Ark Angel HM casts this, but Ark Angel EV makes an Ark Shield. Break the shield fast, and then Interject Mijin Gakure.
Rampage	Ark Angel MR dashes around and creates linear AOE attacks. Then they jump and smash the ground to create one more huge circular AOE.

4) Shadow Lord

Keep on your toes, and you'll complete this trial and get your achievement (Image via Square Enix)

The final part of Final Fantasy XIV’s Jeuno The First Walk is no joke — the Shadow Lord. This battle is very much like a game of SIMON. You have to remember what went on in order, especially towards the end of the fight.

There are lots of AOE attacks going off, thanks to the Shadow Lord, which is frustrating enough. Then, he’ll start doing them concurrently, and then, later in the fight, summon Shadow Clones to also perform huge sweeping AOE attacks. If that weren’t frustrating enough, he periodically walls off the map, locking players into a tiny space of the battlefield.

He can also use Echoes of Agony to hit a player with five hits of magical damage in an AOE. It's a multi-stack though, so get ready for it.

Then, you’ll have to position yourself in the right places at the right times so you don’t get pushed deep into the fire. This is not incredibly difficult — provided you’re paying attention to where you are on the map. Classes with movement abilities will do quite well here.

Attack	Explanation
Giga Slash	Two large sword attacks will appear, but will leave a safe zone to stand in. These hit left or right, and then again in the opposite direction. Move quickly from safe spot to safe spot.
Giga Slash: Nightfall	Same as the first, but now with a third attack added on for extra damage.
Umbral Smash	Shadow Lord smashes the ground, creating AOEs that come from him. Stay moving and find a safe spot after an AOE has passed through.
Implosion	The boss creates an orb in each hand, to make circular AOEs. One of these will grow - so move to the other side of the battleground to avoid damage.
Chthonic Fury	Phase Change: Raid-wide damage, and a new place to stand in.
Dark Nebula	A knockback will be triggered into each of the new passageways. Stand somewhere where you won't get knocked into fire. Towards the end of the fight, you'll have four of these knockbacks happen at once. You'll need to memorize the order to safely get knocked about and not die.
Dark Sigils	Shadow Lord uses Shadow Clone Jutsu to create two clones of himself. They'll use Giga Slash or Implosion, depending on what the boss does.
Binding Sigil	Three sigils will pop up on the ground, which will, after a time, detonate. Watch the order in which they appear and move to the appropriate safe spot, after a detonation occurs.

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Edited by Ritoban "Veloxi" Paul