FFXIV Dawntrail The Arcadion M1 Guide
Phase 1 of the Arcadion raid series is finally out, and the theme for this raid is a wrestling championship. With new mechanics being introduced, this guide will help you clear M1 for the first series of raids. The boss for this encounter is Black Cat, one of the many competitors you will face in this raid.
Table of Contents
Phase One
Black Cat is fought on a platform split into sixteen squares. Players can be knocked off the arena or fall off if one of the squares breaks. Squares break when they are hit twice by certain mechanics: normal squares have no cracks, while squares that are about to break will have cracks on them.
Black Cat will start with Bloody Scratch, which is a raid wide attack that deals magic damage.
Then, she’ll start one of her main mechanics called One-two Paw. When this occurs, Black Cat’s left and right claws start glowing. She will cleave the arena based on the order of the glowing sides. Players must first stand on the side that glowed last, then move to the other side.
After One-two Paw, Black Cat will wind up with Black Cat Crossing, which is two back-to-back conal AoEs that are arranged in a cross and a plus pattern. Keep an eye on where the second set of AoEs are and stand in that zone first. After that, move away from the danger zone.
Once Black Cat Crossing is resolved, she will hit with Clawful and Biscuit Maker, which is a stack and tankbuster mechanic, so everyone must stack and pop cooldowns as necessary.
One of the most lethal mechanics in this encounter is Mouser. This marks squares on the arena to be hit by an AoE—players hit take damage and receive a vulnerability stack. Each hit damages the square, and ones that are hit twice will be broken. The safest spots during this mechanic are usually at the far most squares in the arena.
After Mouser comes Elevate and Eviscerate. Black Cat targets a random player with a line. The targeted player will be knocked up and back about one square relative to Black Cat. When the player lands on a square, this will damage it. The targeted player must position themself so that they land on an undamaged square.
Black Cat will then cast Shockwave, which is a standard knockback mechanic coming from the center of the room. Reposition yourself or use knockback resist skills as necessary.
The last main mechanic for Phase 1 is Predaceous Pounce. Black Cat marks the arena with paw tracks and large AoEs. These show where she will dash and do line AoEs as well as circle AoEs at the end of each path. There are a few safe spots on the outside of the arena, and her hitbox moves along with the dash.
Lastly, Black Cat will end the phase with Grimalkin Gale which marks AoEs on all players. The team must spread out to avoid clipping each other.
Phase Two
In Phase Two, Black Cat introduces new mechanics that shift her position while doing the mechanics of Phase One.
Starting with Leaping One-two Paw, Black Cat marks a location with an arrow, which she will then move into, casting One-two Paw after reaching the location. She will not turn around, so the sides she chooses will stay in the same direction. Make sure that everyone follows her as she transfers to the marked area.
She will also do Leaping Black Cat Crossing. It’s the same mechanic as Phase 1, with the only difference being that she will relocate first before executing the mechanic. Like the first Leaping mechanic, she will not turn around when doing this mechanic.
Black Cat will occasionally cast Copycat, which summons a Black Cat clone at the edge of the arena, which duplicates the same mechanics from that position. This is used in tandem with Mouser mechanics. When this occurs, it will be the clone that enacts Elevate and Eviscerate. Meanwhile, the real Black Cat will assign a random player with Overshadow, which is a standard line stacking mechanic.
The next Copycat mechanic will occur alongside Predaceous Pounce. The clone will execute this mechanic while the real Black Cat prepares One-two Paw. The most consistent safe zone in this mechanic is right beside the clone, whichever side the clone did not choose first. After Predaceous Pounce comes before One-two Paw, so react accordingly. She will loop these mechanics until enrage or your team clears the encounter.
