Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn – How do I Beat Hard Mode Titan?

The last obstacle standing between you and a relic weapon is HM Titan. Find out how to take him down!

The journey to obtain a relic weapon is one of the first quests you should start when you reach level 50 in Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. That quest ends with a battle against the hard mode versions of Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan. There are a few key tips that will help you run through these battles, even with an inexperienced party to aide you.

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When it comes to the hard mode Primal battles, Garuda is about knowing the battle plan and executing it properly, and Ifrit is mainly about knowing attack patterns, standing in certain places, and moving accordingly. However, even if you get hit with everything Ifrit throws at you, unless the entire party has poor movement skills, you can still win the fight. The hard mode fight against Titan is similar to Ifrit in that movement is key, but if you mess up against Titan it’s basically an instant death at best and losing a party member for the rest of the battle at worst.

The ideal party make-up should feature one tank and two healers. If you can have any party setup you wish, a Paladin tank alongside two White Mages and a bevy of Bards with a single melee damage dealer (DPS) is the best setup. There’s a lot of moving around in this battle, and Bards are the only job that can dish out significant damage while still on the move. Titan inflicts significant damage during the latter half of the battle, which is easier to heal through with the additional defense of a Paladin. In addition, double Medica II from two White Mages makes it a lot easier to keep the party alive during Titan’s area of effect (AoE) attacks. You also need the one melee DPS for its Limit Break. If you have trouble taking out Titan, remove one DPS and add a third healer.

Phase One

Titan Rotation: Landslide > Tumult

The battle against Titan consists of five phases. During the first phase, Titan uses the Landslide and Tumult attacks. Landslide creates a large, linear AoE attack that can knock a party member off of the platform. If you are targeted and cannot run to either side to escape, run toward Titan. The closer you are to Titan when Landslide hits, the better your chances at staying on the platform. Dodging it completely is the best strategy, but if you get knocked off the platform, you cannot return to the fight.

Tumult is a series of stomping attacks that hit everyone in the arena. At first this is fairly easy to heal through, but as Titan’s health gets lower, he stomps more and more times, making it harder and harder to heal through. White Mages should cast Medica and Medica II to help with healing through Tumult.

All party members except for the tank should be standing to the side of, or behind Titan. After Landslide Titan will use Tumult, then repeat the pattern. Avoid Landslide and continue attacking Titan until his health reaches 90 percent, at which point he jumps into the air and a red circle outlines the edge of the platform to signal the end of phase one. Make sure you’re standing inside of the circle. When Titan lands, the area within the circle falls off and the entire party takes damage. Scholars should use Sacred Soil to reduce the damage.

Phase Two

Titan Rotation: Weight of the Land > Landslide > Tumult

The second phase is identical to the first, except that Titan adds the Weight of the Land attack to his rotation. During this attack, four circles of swirling sand appear on the ground under randomly targeted party members. After a very short time, the circles explode inflicting significant damage to any party member within. It’s best to stack just behind Titan to make it easier to avoid these (you can simply run left or right). If you’re caught in multiple circles, you will take damage for each circle you’re standing in when they explode. You’re unlikely to survive if you’re standing in more than one circle.

In addition to Weight of the Land, the edge of the platform has no vanished. This means it’s not possible to run off the edge. For this reason do not stand near the edge of the platform. If you fall off, you cannot be revived.

When Titan reaches 75 percent health, he once again jumps into the air, and the red circle appears around the edge of the platform. This is exactly the same as the first phase and marks the end of phase two.

Phase Three

Titan Rotation: Landslide > Weight of the Land > Bomb Boulders > Landslide > Weight of the Land > Rock Throw > Tumult

The third phase takes everything from phases one and two and adds the Bomb Boulders and Rock Throw attacks. Rock Throw randomly targets one party member and encases them in a boulder. The other party members must attack the boulder to free the encased individual. Once they are free, one healer needs to remove their determination down debuff.

Bomb Boulders is a bit more complicated. Titan creates a series of boulders that explode after a short time. There are two patterns for the boulders. The first creates boulders around the outer edge of the platform, then one final boulder in the center. Pay attention to where the boulders first appear. They explode in the same order they appear. When the boulders first appear, run to the center. As soon as the first boulder explodes, run toward the location of the first boulder to avoid the remaining explosions. The second pattern features a group of boulders in the center and the corners of the platform. Run to the far left or right to avoid the explosions. Just as the boulders explode, Titan uses Landslide, so watch where you move.

When Titan reaches 55 percent health, he once again jumps into the air and the red circle surrounds the platform signaling the end of phase three.

Phase Four

Titan Rotation: Rock Throw > Landslide > Weight of the Land > Tumult > Rock Throw > Landslide > Weight of the Land > Earthen Fury

During the fourth phase Titan’s heart becomes the new target. All DPS jobs should focus on attacking the heart. Titan still uses all of the attacks from the previous phases, except the Bomb Boulders. However, at the end of his rotation he uses Earthen Fury. If his heart has not be destroyed by the time he uses Earthen Fury, the entire party will die.

Titan uses Rock Throw twice during this phase. All party members should free the individual from the boulder following the first Rock Throw. However, ignore the second Rock Throw until the heart is down. If your DPS isn’t geared well, use a Limit Break to take down the heart faster. An alternate strategy if your DPS is lacking (although not as reliable) is that if a healer is targeted for the first Rock Throw, you can ignore it if you have low DPS. However, if the other healer is trapped during the second Rock Throw you’ll need to free at least one of them.

As soon as the heart is destroyed or Titan reaches the end of his rotation, he returns to the middle of the platform and unleashes Earthen Fury. If the heart was destroyed it will not kill any party members are full health, but it still inflicts considerable damage on the entire party. Healers should use AoE healing spells (Medica, Medica II, Succor, etc.) to heal the party as the battle shifts into the fifth and final phase.

Phase Five

Titan Rotation: Mountain Buster > Tumult > Weight of the Land > Bomb Boulders > Landslide > Mountain Buster > Weight of the Land > Rock Throw > Landslide

The final phase of the battle is the hardest. This is mainly because the lower Titan’s health gets, the more stomps he uses during the Tumult attack. When his health is very low he stomps up to seven times. It’s imperative that the healers are ready to use AoE heals throughout the final phase. If you have a White Mage, he should keep Medica II up at all times.

In addition to the heavy damage of Tumult, Titan also hits the tank (and anyone in front of him) with Mountain Buster. This attack inflicts significant damage on the tank. A Paladin can withstand the attacks a little easier than a Warrior, but in both cases the tank should use defensive abilities to lessen the damage. Eye for an Eye, Virus and other abilities that lower Titan’s damage are also helpful. Mountain Buster can hit a Warrior for over 4,000 HP, while a Paladin with decent gear generally won’t take more than 2,500 to 3,000 damage.

During this phase, Titan also adds a third pattern to the Bomb Boulders. This pattern features three rows with three boulders in each. The row in the middle appears first, followed rows on the north and south side of the platform. Run to the far north or side and wait for the middle row to blow up. This occurs right as Titan uses Landslide so pay close attention. As soon as the middle row explodes immediately run toward the opposite side and do not stop until the explosions are done.

The most important part of the final phase is for the healers to keep the entire party’s HP as high as possible. If anyone dies, it’s almost impossible to raise them and keep them alive due to the heavy damage inflicted during Tumult. If a party member dies, it’s best to save MP and not worry about raising them, unless it’s the tank. Luckily Titan should be near death at this point, so with one final push the fight will be over.


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Author
Bryan Dawson
Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist for various publications for nearly 20 years and participating in a multitude of competitive fighting game events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows and was the Operations Manager for the fighting game division of the IGN Pro League.