The Ktsis Hyperboreia is the fourth dungeon in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. This story-rich dungeon holds three bosses, a race to the end for the Warrior of Light.
I would make sure to try this dungeon using Trusts for the first run if you care about the story.
Table of Contents
Lyssa
Lyssa is the first boss of the Ktsis Hyperboreia. Its mechanics require players to pay close attention to their surroundings.
Frostbite and Seek: During this mechanic, Lyssa turns temporarily invisible. However, during this time, Lyssa will leave a set of footprints in the snow on the floor. At the end of this mechanic, Lyssa will reappear at the endpoint of the footprints and cast an enormous AoE attack that covers arena in front of it. Players will need to follow these footprints, then stand behind the point where they end up behind Lyssa. This will ensure that when Lyssa reappears, players will not be hit by the AoE.
Frigid Stomp: Frigid Stomp is an unavoidable, arena-wide AoE that needs to be healed and mitigated.
Heavy Smash: Stack up marker, move together to share damage.
Skull Dasher: Lyssa’s tankbuster ability. Tanks should use their mitigation to lessen the damage and healers must be prepared for the burst of tank damage.
Icicall: Lyssa summons icicles throughout the arena that trigger an AoE on their locations then launch themselves in a line AoE after a few seconds. Players must avoid the initial AoE, then the line AoE.
Ladon Lord
The second boss of the Ktsis Hyperboreia is Ladon Lord. During this fight, the players need to watch the boss’s heads carefully.
Scratch: Scratch is the tankbuster of this fight. Tanks will need to use their mitigation and healers must be ready for the damage spike.
Intimidation: An arena wide AoE that must be healed and mitigated through.
Inhale: Ladon Lord will inhale, causing one to two of its three heads to swell up.
Pyric Breath: After casting Inhale, the boss will jump to the middle of the arena and face a specific direction. It will then cover that side of the arena with massive AoEs depending on which head(s) are swollen. If the middle head is swollen, the arena’s third directly in front of him will be hit. If one or both side heads are swollen, then the one or two thirds of the arena on the boss’s corresponding sides will be blanketed in the AoE. Players will need to stand in front of the unswollen heads to avoid this mechanic.
Pyric Spheres: This mechanic summons four fireballs that deal line AoE damage in a cross-shape after a few seconds. Players will need to watch where the fireballs land and position themselves to avoid the AoEs.
Pyric Blast: Stack up marker, stand together to share damage evenly.
Hermes, Winged Defiance
The final boss of the Ktsis Hyperboreia, Hermes, requires a lot of mobility and quick thinking.
Trismegistos: This arena wide AoE deals unavoidable damage and creates a barrier enclosing the arena’s edge.
Double: A buff that Hermes will cast on himself that allows him to use his next spell twice.
True Tornado: Hermes tankbuster ability. Tanks will need to use mitigation and healers must be ready for the damage spike. If Hermes casts Double on himself, this attack will fire twice in a row.
True Aero: This mechanic targets all players with a tracking line AoE attack. Players should spread out and avoid stacking damage. This ability will fire twice in a row of Double is cast beforehand.
Hermetica: Hermes will periodically summon squares outside the arena which fire line AoE attacks after a few seconds. Players will need to position themselves to not get hit by one.
Meteor: Meteor drops ground AoEs on all four corners of the arena. Once they land, three will be damaged, one will not. After, he will cast Double, then Hermetica. This form of Hermetica will sweep the entire arena in one direction. To avoid these Doubled Hermeticas, players need to hide behind the undamaged meteor twice to avoid each cast of Hermetica.
True Bravery: This spell must be interrupted, or Hermes will gain a damage boost.
Quadruple: Like Double, this buff quadruples Hermes next spell. He follows this with Hermetica, triggering a set of four Hermeticas that must be dodged. They will blast in the order in which they spawned in so pay close attention and move accordingly.
True Aero II: Hermes will place AoE target circles on all players. It is important that players avoid stacking so they don’t take critical damage. After the first set fires, a second set of fixed AoEs will be dropped. Players should move to avoid these.
Double and true tornado: There will be another double tankbuster and immediately after there will be circle damage under the tank so make sure to move away ASAP.