The first Primal you face in your Final Fantasy 14 journey is Ifrit, the Lord of the Inferno. Now that you're level 50, you will once again face off against Ifrit, this time with a full party of eight players. Although you may have experience in the Bowl of Embers, don't discount Ifrit's increased difficulty in this Hard version of the fight. If you aren't prepared, this trial just might get the best of you.
Related: Final Fantasy 14: The Whorleater (Extreme) Guide
Let's take a look at each of this trial's phases, and what attacks Ifrit will use in each of them. Additionally, we'll go over how you can avoid these attacks, and ultimately defeat the Lord of the Inferno.
How To Unlock The Bowl of Embers (Hard)
To unlock this trial, you will need to complete the following quests.
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Main Scenario Quest – 'The Ultimate Weapon'
- Raubahn – Northern Thanalan (X:15, Y:16)
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Sidequest – 'A Recurring Problem'
- Minfillia – The Waking Sands (X:6, Y:6)
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Sidequest – 'Ifrit Bleeds, We Can Kill It'
- Thancred – The Waking Sands (X:6.1, Y:5.1)
- Completing this quest will unlock the trial
Trial Walkthrough
Phase One
This trial will begin in Phase One, and Ifrit will have access to the following four attacks. These attacks should be simple to avoid, as the real challenge of this fight will come later on.
- Incinerate: Ifrit will breathe fire in a cone in front of himself. This attack has no cast time and deals a fair amount of damage to all players in the area. Everyone but the tank can easily avoid this attack by standing behind Ifrit. Also, be sure that the main tank has Ifrit facing away from the rest of the party to avoid unnecessary damage from Incinerate.
- Vulcan Burst: Ifrit will knock back all players that are near him and deal a small amount of damage. This attack is instant, so if you are a tank or melee DPS, there's no avoiding damage from Vulcan Burst. ranged DPS, magic DPS, and Healers can avoid this attack by staying at range from Ifrit.
- Eruption: Large cracks will appear on the ground beneath a random party member. After a few seconds, the crack will erupt, dealing damage to all players within its area of effect. When a crack appears on the ground, run out of it. Additionally, this attack can be interrupted with a well-timed stun like Leg Sweep or Shield Bash.
- Crimson Cyclone: Ifrit will jump to the edge of the arena and become invulnerable. After a short delay, he will charge forward, dealing damage to anyone in his path. Avoid this attack by sticking close to either side of Ifrit after he jumps and by ensuring you aren't standing in front of him.
Phase Two
Phase Two begins when Ifrit reaches roughly 75% health remaining. In addition to the attacks he performs in phase 1, Ifrit will add two new moves to his arsenal.
- Sear: This attack will deal damage to all players around Ifrit. Similar to Vulcan Burst, this attack is instant and can't be avoided if you're a melee job. However, Sear will not knock you back. Dodge this attack in the same way as Vulcan Burst; stay far away from Ifrit if you're a ranged job.
- Radiant Plume: Ifrit will mark the ground with red circles, which will deal a large amount of damage after a short delay. Radiant Plumes will first appear on the outer ring of the arena, then the inner ring. To dodge this attack, run to the center of the arena, then immediately back out once the next set of Radiant Plumes appear.
Phase Three
- Infernal Nails: When Ifrit reaches 50% health, he will summon four Infernal Nails. These will appear in a diamond shape around the arena, and each has its own health bar. They must be destroyed as quickly as possible, as immediately after, Ifrit will cast Hellfire. Once the Nails spawn, immediately divert your focus from Ifrit to the Nails, and burst them down as quickly as possible.
A trick for quickly destroying the Nails is to save your Limit Break for them. Using a magic DPS Limit Break on all four Nails should bring them to around 25% health, allowing your party to quickly finish them off.
- Hellfire: After you destroy the nails, or after a short period of time, Ifrit will cast Hellfire. This attack will do damage to all players, based on how many Nails you destroyed. If you didn't destroy any of them, Hellfire will instantly kill every player. As this damage is unavoidable, make sure your party's healers are prepared to bring everyone back up to full health.
Phase 4
After Ifrit casts Hellfire, the fight will enter phase four. Here, Ifrit will attack will all of his abilities from previous phases (excluding Hellfire), until you defeat him. Ifrit will use his attacks in the following order.
- Radiant Plumes (outer ring)
- Radiant Plumes (inner ring)
- Eruption
- Radiant Plumes (whole arena except for a small area behind Ifrit)
- Crimson Cyclone (this version differs slightly; Ifrit will summon two additional copies of himself, dashing a total of three times. The left-most Ifrit will always dash first)
Besides the change to Crimson Cyclone, there are no new attacks introduced in this phase. Use everything you've learned from the previous phases and take Ifrit down.
Loot
- Ifrit Card
- Ifrit's Horn
- Ifrit's Weapon (iLvl. 60)