Castrum Lacus Litore
- See also: Exploratory Missions and Bozjan Southern Front
Introduction
Castrum Lacus Litore is a special engagement that takes place on a separate map and serves as the "finale" to the Bozjan Southern Front. Available after reaching Resistance Rank 10 and completing the prerequisite quests, it is a raid dungeon that allows up to a maximum of 48 players, and is accessed in the same way as a critical engagement. When it pops, click the Register button in the Resistance Recruitment list, and if you are selected, click Commence. Defeating bosses within Castrum Lacus Litore grants rare loot and Bozjan Coins, which can be exchanged for special armor sets.
Requirements
- Disciple of War or Magic level 71 or higher
- Resistance Rank 10 or higher
- Quest: The Lady of Blades
Tactics
Castrum Lacus Litore is designed for a maximum of 48 players, however it is possible to beat it with significantly fewer than that. The time limit starts at 20 minutes, and is extended by 10 minutes each time a boss encounter is completed, as well as on completion of the prisoner rescue event.
Breaching the Front Gate
Split the raid into two roughly equal groups, with one going up the ladders to the side to face Brionac, and the other going down to face the 4th Legion Helldiver in two separate, simultaneous fights. Both bosses will need to be engaged simultaneously, or else they will enrage and wipe the raid. Once one of the bosses is defeated, adds will spawn infinitely until the other boss goes down. The adds are not difficult to fight, but if the other boss is not killed quickly enough, the enrage timer will cause the raid to wipe.
Brionac (Upper boss)
Up the ladder and on top of the wall is Brionac, a large magitek construct. It is important to note that with enough people and damage, some of the later mechanics in this fight can be skipped entirely. Important mechanics are as follows:
- Electric Anvil: Tank-buster. Mitigate.
- False Thunder: One of Brionac's arms will move to one side of the arena and start spinning. Move to the side the arm is pointing at, as it will cleave the rest of the arena.
- Anti-warmachine Weaponry: An add spawns on Brionac called "Magitek Core" that must be killed as soon as possible. While the core is alive, Brionac deals significant damage to the Tunnel Armor ally below.
- Lightning Shower: Raidwide damage.
- Energy Generation: Spawns orbs. The first set will be two Light Orbs, which each create a donut AoE. Stand underneath either orb in this instance. After the first set of orbs, four Dark Orbs will appear, which each create a large circular AoE. Stand in any corner of the arena to avoid damage. Four orbs will spawn in these positions from here on.
- Voltstream: Three large rectangular AoEs appear, creating three safe zones. After a few seconds another set of AoEs appears covering that safe zone, and then a few seconds after that another appears. Alternate between the safe zones to avoid damage.
- Energy Generation & Pole Shift: Two Light Orbs and two Dark Orbs appear and tether to each other, causing the orbs to swap with their tethered partner. If the Light Orbs are swapped to the east and west positions, the safe zone is underneath them. If the Light Orbs are swapped to the north and south positions, then the donut AoEs overlap and the safe zones are in any of the corners, away from the eastern and western Dark Orbs.
- Energy Generation & Magitek Magnetism: Two Light Orbs and two Dark Orbs appear as they did before, but now with a single tether attached to you and an orb. Note the symbol over you and the orb; if they are both the same (++ or --) you will be pushed away from the orb. If they are different (+-) you will be pulled into the orb, and if you are not pulled far enough, you will receive a damage dealing debuff. The push and pull distance is about the length between the east and west orb. Position yourself properly so that you are pushed into the correct position; pushed/pulled to the east/west so that you are placed underneath a Light Orb, or pushed into a corner, away from the eastern/western Dark Orbs.
- Energy Generation & Polar Magnetism: This is a combination of all previous orb mechanics. Two Light Orbs and two Dark Orbs appear, two of the orbs are tethered to each other and will swap positions, and you are tethered to a single orb and will have your position pushed or pulled depending on the + or - above both you and the orb.
The boss will repeat these mechanics throughout the fight. When the boss is killed and the lower boss is still alive, adds will spawn infinitely until the other team kills the lower boss. If they take too long, the enrage timer will cause the raid to wipe.
4th Legion Helldiver (Lower boss)
In addition to actually killing the boss, you will need to protect the Tunnel Armor (drill tank) while it demolishes the main gate to the Castrum. Important mechanics are as follows:
- Magitek Missiles: Tank-buster. Mitigate.
- Chain Cannon: Line AoE targeting random player. Do not stand directly between the boss and the Tunnel Armor, or else the Tunnel Armor may get caught in the AoE and take damage.
- Command: Chain Cannon: Adds fire line AoEs targeting random player. Like regular Chain Cannon, but fired by adds instead of boss. Aim away from Tunnel Armor.
- Command: Lateral Dive: Multiple simultaneous blue rectangular telegraphs. Soak them, or the Tunnel Armor will take damage.
- Dive Formation: Three blue rectangular telegraphs spawning one after another. Watch the spawn order and soak in order. This hits harder than Lateral Dive.
- Command: Suppressive Formation: Adds appear along sides of room. They display rectangular AoE telegraphs covering most of the room, then charge cardinally (Not diagonally) across the room, so stay out of the way.
- Infrared Blast: Adds create orange tethers to the Tunnel Armor. Players must stand in and intercept the tethers.
The boss will repeat these mechanics throughout the fight. When the boss is killed and the upper boss is still alive, adds will spawn infinitely until the other team kills the upper boss. If they take too long, the enrage timer will cause the raid to wipe.
Prisoner Rescue Event
You will need to rescue 6 prisoners before they are executed. There are 6 branching corridors with 3 cells each: NW, W, SW, NE, E, and SE. Plan which parties go to which branches before engaging Albeleo. Ideally, you should be able to split the raid into 6 parties, with 1 party assigned to each branch. Please note that if your raid is significantly undersized, it may not be possible to save all the prisoners, in which case you will want to split the raid into 5 or even 4 parties. The intercardinal branches (NW, NE, SW, SE) should always be handled first, so that you can run drop down and run to the cardinal branches (W and E) after rescuing the prisoners from the intercardinal branches. Before actually beginning the rescue, you will need to engage and defeat Albeleo.
Albeleo the Maleficent
Albeleo is fairly simple miniboss without much in the way of notable mechanics. He just summons lots of adds that you need to kill, and these adds will do a lot of AoE attacks (Always telegraphed), and some will shield the boss (Indicated by a green tether), some have a very large AoE that can be stunned or silenced, and so on.
Rescuing the Prisoners
With your party, immediately go to your assigned branch ASAP. NW, SW, NE, and SE branches are upstairs, while the central (W and E) branches are on the ground floor. Kill the trash mobs in the corridor to unlock the cells. In each branch are 3 cells: One with the prisoner and executioner, one with a miniboss, and one that is empty. Your goal is to find and take out the executioner as quickly as possible, as they are attacking the prisoner and saving them secures extra loot. Lost Death works on any adds in this area, including the executioner themselves. Stuns also affect the executioner, stopping them from attacking the prisoner. These tactics are vital if you do not have enough people to go to each branch, because if you want to secure the extra loot, you will have to rush to the unattended branches and save the prisoners there.
After doing this, kill the minibosses, and have one person stand on the glowing platform in each of the minibosses' cells. Once all 6 platforms have someone standing on them, an enemy will spawn in front of the door leading forward, and defeating them will lead you to the next boss. If you are standing on a platform, you will know all are pressed when it turns blue, then you can get off and rejoin your group.
Adrammelech
The main gimmick of this fight is called Curse of the Fiend, in which the boss will summon orbs of a given elemental aspect, which will float together. When they collide, they will set off certain mechanics that you need to handle. Only three (3) orb types will be used in any given battle, and the ones you get are random for each instance of Castrum Lacus Litore.
- Fire: Press ESC to untarget the boss, and cease all movement and actions. This includes autoattacking.
- Ice: Move and keep moving until it finishes going off.
- Lightning: A giant AoE will go off in the center of the room. Move to the edges.
- Earth: Cascading concentric donut AoEs. Move and dodge them. The donut AoEs line up with the circles in the stonework on the arena floor.
- Wind: Donut AoE on the outer edge of the room. Get to the center.
- Water: Knockback from the center to the edge. Get to the center to avoid being knocked into the bad stuff at the edge.
Please note that telegraphs will only be shown the first time each type of orb goes off. You will need to memorize what each type of orb does for any subsequent uses. At first, only one type of orb will go off at a time, but later, 2 will go off at a time, requiring you to handle 2 orb mechanics simultaneously. Potentially problematic combinations include:
- Lightning/Water: Stand just outside the innermost circle in the stonework on the floor so you get knocked into the safe zone for lightning.
- Earth/Fire:
Other mechanics include:
- Holy IV: Raidwide damage.
- Burst II & Warped Light: The boss summons multiple blue orbs that tether to each other in a chain, with a giant AoE centered at the end of the chain. Get to the opposite side of the room from that last orb.
- Tornadoes: Multiple tornadoes are summoned. Don't stand in them, and don't be in the way when they move.
- Meteor: Kill the Arcane Sphere adds quickly, or else the meteor will hit the arena, causing a wipe.
- Flare: Tank-buster. Mitigate.
Dawon and Lyon
Before this fight, it is common to designate one party to be those going "Top" to fight Lyon the Beast King, who is somewhat more difficult than Dawon. Midway through the fight, a glowing area appears called "Passage to Majesty's Place" allowing up to eight people to jump to the northern arena to fight Lyon, which is vital to the fight. The rest of the raid continues fighting Dawon and adds in the main arena.
Dawon
Dawon is a large, black and red griffin-like creature commanded by Lyon.
- Molting Plumage: Raidwide damage, followed by creating Silver Feathers and Golden Feathers around the arena. Similar to the Light and Dark Orbs from earlier in the engagement, Silver Feathers create a donut AoE, while Golden Feathers create a circular AoE. Standing underneath Silver Feathers guarantees that you will be safe. These feathers are a key mechanic later on.
- Scratch: Tank-buster. Mitigate.
- Fervid Pulse: Cardinal AoE centered on Dawon. Note that this makes a large + shaped AoE pointed in the direction it is facing. This move will be used in a later mechanic.
- Swooping Frenzy: Dawon marks a spot and jumps to it, dealing damage to the point of impact and anyone in the way.
- Frigid Pulse: Donut AoE centered on Dawon. This move will be used in a later mechanic.
- Obey: Dawon marks locations in the arena (three marks for the first use of Obey, and four marks every time after) which appear in the order Dawon will act on them. The marks have a symbol at the top and a number of lit bars at the bottom. The symbol (a + or a O) determines if Dawon will do either Fervid Pulse (the + shaped AoE pointed where it is facing) or Frigid Pulse (the donut shaped AoE attack centered on Dawon). The number of lit bars below determine the order of the attack (1 bar means it will be first, 2 second...). Shortly after all marks appear, the +/O symbols disappear, forcing you to remember which attack will happen in what order. Act accordingly. After the first cast of Obey, every cast from then on consists of two +s and two Os in a random order.
- Molting Plumage (After the first): There is immediate raidwide damage, the Silver and Golden Feathers appear throughout the arena, and the entire area is covered by four AoEs with arrows moving a direction. These four AoE do not push you, but push the Silver and Golden Feathers in the directions indicated. Similarly to predicting where the Light and Dark Orbs were going to swap, you must stand in a spot where either no feathers will be pushed to or where a Silver Feather will be pushed to in order to avoid damage.
- Pentagust: Five narrow AoE cones in the direction Dawon is facing.
- Add Phase: A "Passage to Majesty's Place" appears at the northern end of the arena, which the party that will fight Lyon will take. After this, three different kinds of adds will spawn in the arena, detailed below. The adds spawn up to three times, or until the party fighting Lyon succeeds. Note that Dawon is still active during this phase, using Swooping Frenzy, Pentagust, Fervid Pulse, and Scratch. Healers should be mindful of the tank's health in the case of Scratch due to it being a tank-buster.
Adds
- Tamed Beetles: Four of these spawn each time, tethering to Dawon and making Dawon invincible while casting Defend on themselves to reduce damage taken.
- Tamed Manticores: Two of these spawn each time. Ripping Claw is a conal AoE attack in front of it. The Tamed Manticores also cast Left Hammer and Right Hammer, a 180 degree AoE to its left and right side, respectively. These are casted one after the other, so wait on one side and move into the other to avoid both attacks.
- Tamed Coeurls: Crackle Hiss is a massive cone AoE in front of it, Spike Flail is a cone AoE behind it. Point Crackle Hiss away from the northern side of the arena, as the attack can actually hit those in the other arena fighting Lyon.
All of these adds can be affected by Lost Death.
Lyon the Beast King
As mentioned above, only 8 people can use the "Passage to Majesty's Place" to fight Lyon midway through the fight with Dawon. Determining who these are prior is recommended so that they are all in one party together. Once Lyon's health reaches 50%, the party has succeeded and will be launched back into the arena with Dawon.
- Winds' Peak: AoE attack underneath Lyon with knockback.
- Heart of Nature: AoE indicated by Lyon striking the ground and a bulging glow on an area of the ground. The ground underneath that erupts. Quickly move into the area after it does this, as two large damaging donut AoEs will erupt out of it afterwards.
- Taste of Blood: Lyon quickly jumps to a spot in the arena, faces a direction, and does a large cleave in front of him. Get behind him to avoid damage.
- Heart of Nature: Lyon strikes the ground again. Four small AoEs spawn in each corner and move in the direction indicated on their marker.
- Twin Agonies: Tank-buster. Mitigate.
- The King's Notice: Gaze. Look away from Lyon to avoid the attack.
Note that if Lyon is quickly damaged, some of the mechanics in this fight can be skipped entirely, as he only needs to be brought to 50% health.
Rewards
After defeating bosses within Castrum Lacus Litore, loot chests will appear, which you can loot for the rewards. It is important to note that Castrum Lacus Litore uses Personal Loot, so you have to be sure to click and loot each chest yourself. A perfect run with all bosses slain and all 6 prisoners rescued will grant a total of 100 Bozjan Coins, fragments, and a rare chance at additional loot. Loot chests are available at three points within the Castrum:
- After completing the front gate encounters, the Tunnel Armor will demolish the inner door, granting access to the next part of the Castrum and the first loot chest. This chest always contains 10 Bozjan Coins.
- After defeating Adrammelech, there will be loot chest up ahead always containing 10 Bozjan Coins. There will also be additional chests, 1 for every prisoner you saved during the Prisoner Rescue event, up to 6 chests. These extra chests each contain 5 Bozjan Coins (30 total if all 6 prisoners rescued) and a different type of Forgotten Fragment listed below.
- Defeating Dawon and Lyon, the final encounter, will spawn the final chest, which always contains 50 Bozjan Coins.
Bozjan Coins can be exchanged for special Bozjan armor and for any Bozjan Runner's Secrets at the Resistance Supplier in the Bozjan Southern Front.
Completing Castrum Lacus Litore will grant mettle, as well as experience (for players under level 80) or 50 Allagan Tomestones of Revelation (for level 80 players).
Players who have reached Change of Arms for the Resistance Weapons quest line will also receive 5 Loathsome Memories of the Dying.
Possible additional loot includes:
Name | Type | Item Level | Rarity | Quantity |
---|---|---|---|---|
Forgotten Fragment of Caprice | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Forgotten Fragment of Transcendence | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Forgotten Fragment of Superstition | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Forgotten Fragment of Sagacity | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Forgotten Fragment of Mastery | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Forgotten Fragment of Becoming | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Magitek Helldiver F1 | Minion | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Field Notes on Albeleo | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Battle with an Esper (Zodiac Age Version) Orchestrion Roll | Orchestrion Roll | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Life and Death (Zodiac Age Version) Orchestrion Roll | Orchestrion Roll | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Into the Fortress (Zodiac Age Version) Orchestrion Roll | Orchestrion Roll | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Bozjan Runner's Secrets (Head Gear) | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Bozjan Runner's Secrets (Body Gear) | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Bozjan Runner's Secrets (Hand Gear) | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Bozjan Runner's Secrets (Leg Gear) | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |
Bozjan Runner's Secrets (Foot Gear) | Other | N/A | Basic | 1 |