The Minstrel's Ballad: Call - FFXIV Endwalker Raid Guides

Overview

From the first note of the minstrel’s melody, you recall the scene with crystal clarity ─ your allies and Hydaelyn, hope against hope.

Overcome once again with the emotion of that day, no epithet seems too grand, no verse too epic…

The Minstrel’s Ballad: Hydaelyn’s Call is one of two Extreme Trials for Patch 6.0.

It is unlocked after finishing the Main Scenario for 6.0, then talking to the Wandering Minstrel in Old Sharlyan.

If you have any suggestions, corrections or feedback for particular phases please let us know at feedback@akhmorning.com.

Loot can be found below.

Video Guide

General Considerations

• Figure out groups of four (1 healer + 3 others) to assign for Crystallize (Water) stacks.
• For Lightwave 1, determine which role (tank, healer, or DPS) will stay at the line-of-sight crystal, which role will go to the middle crystal, and which role will go to the far crystal. There are merits to any combination, so don’t fret too hard about the “perfect” setup.

Enrage & Required DPS

Healers

Be aware that if tanks decided to hold adds on top of each other in add phase, they get a damage up buff. This is not impossible to heal through, but it will require notably more attention.

Add phase enrage is easier to beat if adds are held together, but you will have to work harder. Tanks will require more coordination if you choose to not hold them together.

Tanks

If you choose to tank adds together in add phase, you will want to run mitigation as often as possible.

The Echoes hit pretty hard with their Damage Up buff, but it does make positioning and moving them a lot easier. Make your healers’ lives easier by mitigating a lot!

Mechanics

Here we’ll explain the underlying mechanics throughout the encounter.

Timeline

Phase 1

After attacking the tank for a little bit at the start, Hydaelyn opens the fight with Heros’s Radiance, followed by Shining Saber. You’ll want to be stacked for heals anyways, so just huddle up and don’t move too much until after Shining Saber.

After this, She does a combination of Crystallize (Water) and Job Change (Staff or Chakram).

Here is a clip explaining the Crystallize and Job Change mechanic:

The Job Change will resolve first, so dodge appropriately before splitting into groups for the Crystallize water stacks. This is followed by Magos’s Radiance, which hits pretty hard. Make sure to fully top up and have some mitigation active for it.

Next is an Aureole or Lateral Aureole, followed by another Crystallize (Ice) and Job Change (Chakram or Staff). This job change will always be the job not used the first time.

Resolve the weapon first, then spread to avoid hitting each other with ice. Tanks should prepare to share Mousa’s Scorn, and then everyone should get into position for Lateral Aureole or Aureole.

One more Crystallize (Earth or Water) and Job Change (Sword) before add phase.

Move out and to the diagonals to avoid Hydaelyn’s cross-shaped AoE, then either stack with your assigned healer or spread apart to handle the appropriate element. Once that’s handled, add phase immediately begins.

Phase 2: Adds

Add phase begins with Hydaelyn summoning 2x Echoes of Hydaelyn and 6x Crystals of Light.

The Echoes will tether to any nearby Crystals and each other, decreasing their damage taken. Additionally, three Crystals will have large pillars of light coming up from them. These pillars greatly increase the rate at which Hydaelyn’s Conviction bar increases, and when it reaches 100, you will wipe.

Killing a Crystal deals massive damage (347,508) to both Echoes (importantly, even if they’re tethered to each other), but killing all six does not deal enough damage to completely kill them.

To clear add phase, each tank needs to pick up one Echo add and move it away from the glowing Crystals as quickly as possible. DPS should kill these as quickly as they can, to prevent the ultimate gauge from increasing too much.

Once they’re dead, tanks can rotate the Echoes to the now crystal-less area, so that DPS can kill the remaining Crystals.

When all Crystals are dead, tanks should separate them so that they can be damaged, and everyone should converge back on the Echoes to deal the last bit of damage to kill them.

Successfully completing add phase should give you LB3. There’s no need to use it on the ultimate, so now you have at least one guaranteed use somewhere in Phase 3!

Phase 3

Following the cast of her ultimate, Exodus, Hydaelyn enters Phase 3. After a little bit of auto-attacking, She casts Halo and then casts Lightwave 1.

Here is a clip detailing all of the Lightwaves:

Lightwave 1

Hydaelyn will summon two slow-moving waves of light on one side of the arena. Additionally, there will be an arc of 3 crystals summoned nearby.

Two of these crystals will be in the path of the two waves. The waves are staggered so that one wave will hit one crystal, there will be a short pause, and then the next wave will hit the other crystal.

When the crystals are hit by a lightwave, they explode in room-wide damage that can only be avoided by hiding behind something and line-of-sight dodging the damage.

To this end, you should hide behind the third crystal to avoid the damage of both explosions. Due to the positioning of the crystals, you will need to move slightly between the first and second hits in order to successfully dodge them both.

After the first two explosions are dodged, Hydaelyn will begin casting Infralateral Arc. You should have a set crystal each for tanks, healers, and DPS to hide behind.

While She is cleaving you with Infralateral Arc, the middle lightwave will hit another crystal at the opposite end of the arena. This is why you need to hide behind the crystals, so that you can simultaneously line-of-sight dodge its explosion while also spreading out for Infralateral Arc.

Once Lightwave 1 is complete, Hydaelyn immediately begins casting Lightwave 2. She casts Heros’s Glory right after that, so dodge the 180-degree cleave before getting in position for Lightwave 2.

Lightwave 2

Lightwave 2 has a similar concept to Lightwave 1. Two waves will be summoned on one edge of the arena, and you must block their explosions by line-of-sight dodging using a crystal. This time, however, the line-of-sight crystal is in the center of the arena, and the two waves are two your left and right. To successfully dodge everything, you’ll end up having to make an hourglass shape around the center crystal:

• Dodge Wave 1 as it hits its close crystal
• Move horizontally towards Wave 1 to dodge Wave 2 hitting its close crystal
• Move diagonally towards Wave 2 to dodge Wave 1 hitting its far crystal
• Move horizontally to dodge Wave 2 hitting its far crystal

After dodging all four explosions, a third wave spawns, headed towards the middle crystal. At the same time, Hydaelyn begins casting another Heros’s Glory. Dodge the cleave in a manner that lets you easily hide behind a crystal for the final explosion.

With Lightwave 2 finished, Hydaelyn then casts Halo, followed by a Heros’s Sundering tank buster, and Shining Saber raid stack. She will then do a Job Change (Chakram or Staff), followed by Magos’s Radiance. Dodge the weapon ability, and heal up after all the raid damage.

Next is another Crystallize, quickly followed by Parhelic Circle. Parhelic Circle will resolve first, so dodge the explosions and then resolve the Crystallize mechanic properly.

Shortly after Crystalize resolves, Hydaelyn will cast another Aureole or Lateral Aureole. Dodge appropriately, then prepare for another Job Change. Tanks then have to split another Mousa’s Scorn.

After the tank buster, Hydaelyn begins casting Parhelion. Remember which set of chakrams went out first, and stand nearby it. Hydaelyn then casts Crystallize, so additionally make adjustments to resolve that mechanic now.

After augmenting Herself, She then casts Subparhelion, ordering the chakrams to dash to the opposite end of the arena.

At this point, the Crystallize mechanic resolves, so you should already be in the correct position for it. Wait for the first set of chakrams to dash, then get as close to the middle of their path as you can. The other two sets of chakram will then dash harmlessly nearby.

Once Parhelion is complete, Hydaelyn casts Aureole or Lateral Aureole, followed by Job Change. Dodge the mechanic appropriately, and make sure everyone is healed up for the upcoming Radiant Halo. Hydaelyn begins her Lightwave 3 loop after this.

Here is a clip explaining Parhelion:

Lightwave 3 loop

Lightwave 3 will loop two times. The Lightwave 3 loop consists of the following mechanics:

1. Lightwave
2. Echoes
3. Mousa’s Scorn + Bright Spectrum + Lightwave
4. Crystallize
5. Shining Saber OR Aureole
6. Job Change

Hydaelyn summons waves on each cardinal direction of the arena. They will not be positioned exactly in the center, but instead offset to various sides. This means that one corner of the arena will have a large amount of space in which to dodge.

Identify that area and have the whole party move there, as Hydaelyn will begin casting Echoes. Stay grouped up for all of the hits, but keep an eye out, because things are about to get chaotic.

As Echoes is finishing, another set of light waves spawn, and tanks get targeted for Mousa’s Scorn, and everyone else gets targeted with Bright Spectrum.

Tanks should move as a pair away from everyone else, while the rest of the raid scatters to avoid hitting each other.

Be careful! The first set of light waves hasn’t completely exited the arena yet, so it’s very easy to accidentally run into one and die.

The second set of light waves will leave a safe spot in the center of the arena.

Once everyone is spread out and taken their damage, you should all collapse back into the middle and let the waves pass you by. The timing for this can be a bit tight, so don’t stand around doing nothing.

While everyone is grouping up in the middle, Hydaelyn will cast another Crystallize, followed by Shining Saber or Aureole.

Shining Saber or Aureole will resolve first, so handle that before you do Crystallize. Then, do the Job Change mechanic properly, and catch your breath before going back in for Round 2 of Lightwave 3.

After you’ve finished the second round of Lightwave 3, Hydaelyn will loop Steps 4 - 6 of the Lightwave Loop until She enrages.

Show Her you’re worthy, and claim your loot!

Loot

Totems

1x Umbral Totem per clear.

Weapons

Hydaelyn drops i580 weapons. She will drop a Divine Light Weapon Coffer in addition to her other items.

Weapons can also be bought for 10 Umbral Totems each with the usual exception of 7 + 3 for PLD.

Job	Weapon	Major Substat	Minor Substat
PLD	Bastard Sword of Divine Light	181 Critical Hit	127 Determination
PLD	Shield of Divine Light	72 Critical Hit	50 Determination
WAR	Labrys of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
DRK	Greatsword of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
GNB	Gunblade of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
DRG	Partisan of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
MNK	Sainti of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
RPR	War Scythe of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
SAM	Blade of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
NIN	Daggers of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
BRD	Longbow of Divine Light	253 Critical Hit	177 Determination
MCH	Pistol of Divine Light	253 Determination	177 Critical Hit
DNC	Tathlums of Divine Light	253 Determination	177 Critical Hit
BLM	Rod of Divine Light	253 Determination	177 Direct Hit Rate
SMN	Grimoire of Divine Light	253 Direct Hit Rate	177 Critical Hit
RDM	Foil of Divine Light	253 Direct Hit Rate	177 Critical Hit
AST	Torquetum of Divine Light	253 Determination	177 Critical Hit
SCH	Codex of Divine Light	253 Determination	177 Critical Hit
SGE	Wings of Divine Light	253 Determination	177 Critical Hit
WHM	Cane of Divine Light	253 Determination	177 Critical Hit

Mount

• Lynx of Divine Light Flute

Orchestrion Roll

• Faded Copy of Your Answer

Cosmetics

Crystal of Divine Light is a crafted material used to create:

• Trophy of Divine Light (Housing)
• Barding of Divine Light (Chocobo Barding)

Triple Triad Card

• Hydaelyn Card

Change Log

• 2021/12/28: Release of this guide.