FFXI Master Trial: Unafraid of the Dark (Shadow Lord)

Master Trial: Unafraid of the Dark (Shadow Lord)

Setup: NIN/WAR BRD/WHM COR/WHM GEO/RDM WHM/RDM BLU/NIN
Roles:

NIN: Damage/main tank.  Stay in Yonin for the enmity increase. Heishi Shorinken is mandatory to allow Blade: Shun to skillchain with Chant du Cygne.   Must have Daggers (Odium/Ternion Dagger (+1) are the best Daggers a NIN can use) and an Evisceration set for Tzee Xicu the Manifest.  Keep Migawari up as much as possible, and prioritize it (and shadows) against Za'Dha Adamantking and Shadow Lord.

BRD: Support/Sleeper.  After initial lullaby, Shadow Lord and Za'Dha Adamantking must be slept as soon as they wake up until they are ready to be fought - can use the GEO for Focus/Languor if Nightingale/Troubadour is down.  Must have Marsyas and Gjallarhorn at least; Carnwenhan and Daurdabla are a plus (ours didn't have).  Clarion Call to start, and try to keep up that extra song as long as possible (only Shadow Lord dispels, and he dispels one buff).
Songs: Honor March, Blade Madrigal, Sentinel's Scherzo. Fourth song Sword Madrigal, fifth song Valor Minuet V. Ballads for the mages. Horde Lullaby II for sleeping things.

COR: Support/JA Resetter. Must have maximum Phantom Roll duration equipment, as well as all phantom roll recast time reduction gear (prioritize duration).  Also have all of the necessary Reforged pieces to enhance merit JAs, Random Deal, and Wild Card.  Light Shotx2 after every Dia II cast.  Your luck with Wild Card will be tested...
Rolls: Buffs carry into the BC, so we had an outside COR doing rolls before we went in.  Initial rolls were Samurai/Rogue's (outside COR), Chaos/Allies' (main COR).  After these fell, kept Chaos/Samurai until the end.  Give the WHM and BRD whatever they want (probably Evoker's/Caster's).

GEO: Support.  Must have Idris, 900 skill, and a full DT- set (PDT must be capped for Za'Dha Adamantking).  Stay alive, and keep Stoneskin up.  Convert in between TP moves if necessary, alert the WHM first!  Blaze of Glory/Ecliptic Attrition as much as possible, but keep in mind Bolster doesn't stack with these.
Bubbles: Indi-Fade, Geo-Frailty, Entrust Indi-Fury for Tzee Xicu the Manifest.  In the video, we tried Indi-Vex Entrust Indi-Attunement, but it had absolutely no effect on Sweep (long Stun) so Fade/Fury are superior.   Afterwards, Indi-Fury, Geo-Frailty, Entrust Indi-DEX.  Switch to Indi-Wilt against Shadow Lord when he has two swords out, and use Indi-Focus and Geo-Languor when Lullaby needs to be reapplied without NiTro.

WHM: Main healer.  Yagrush is almost certainly required, for quick erasing of debuffs (especially Shadow Lord's Doom Arc).  Not quite as intense as other fights (Tumult Curator is worse from a WHM perspective), but still must be top tier.

BLU: Damage/off tank.  The main damage source on all enemies except Za'Dha Adamantking.  Almace might be required, not sure how a Tizona or Sequence BLU would do.  Survival is paramount; keep up Cocoon, and Barrier Tusk forever, and prioritize Utsusemi on Za'Dha Adamantking and Shadow Lord.  Erratic Flutter and Nat. Meditation should be kept up as well, but less of a priority. Must have Clubs (I used Nehushtan with DMG:+25 Accuracy+14 PDT-4% augment, and Septoptic+1) and a Black Halo set for Za'Dha Adamantking.

BLU spell set:
Casted:
Erratic Flutter - Haste II (Also Fast Cast Job Trait)
Nat. Meditation - Attack+20% (Also Accuracy Bonus Job Trait)
Cocoon - DEF+50%
Barrier Tusk - DT-7.5~15% (15% if 0 DT, 7.5% if 50% DT, breaks the cap)
Winds of Promy. - Erasega (can probably be replaced if your support is fast)
Mighty Guard  - ...Mighty Guard (Unbridled Learning only, stack with Diffusion if up)

Job Traits Set:
Dual Wield III - Delta Thrust, Barbed Crescent
Triple Attack - Heavy Strike, Empty Thrash, Thrashing Assault
Accuracy Bonus IV - Nat. Meditation, Vanity Dive, Frenetic Rip
Store TP V - Sudden Lunge, Fantod, Diffusion Ray, Tail Slap, Sickle Slash
Crit. Atk. Bonus III - Sinker Drill
Fast Cast III - Erratic Flutter
Skillchain Bonus III - Paralyzing Triad
Inquartata III (+9% chance to Parry, works on TP moves) - Saurian Slide

Food: Sublime Sushi +1 for both DDs, anything for the rest (Miso Ramen +1 might help with survival, but up to you).

The Fight:
Get any outside buffs you can/want (we only used a COR, but you can also use SCH Regen/Embrava, another BRD for songs, RUN for Valiance, anything you can get your hands on). Be sure to get Sigil too!

Enter and buff up.  NIN puts up Utsusemi: San, then runs in and aggroes. BRD waits until everything is within range (Shadow Lord spawns away from the others) before using Horde Lullaby II. NIN runs to the door, BLU wakes up Tzee Xicu the Manifest and pulls it back to the door.

Kill Order: Tzee Xicu the Manifest (Yagudo) -> Bloodcrown Brradhod (Orc) -> Za'Dha Adamantking (Quadav) -> Shadow Lord
Note that all spells and TP moves are executed instantly in this fight, and all 1hrs can be used multiple times except Benediction.

Tzee Xicu the Manifest:

Spells: Helix II (AoE), Embrava/Kaustra (both AoE, casts one of these once directly following Tabula Rasa)
TP Moves: Sweep, Feathered Furore, Shirahadori, Dark Invocation (no Doom), Vorticose Sands (with full gear strip, but not Encumberance)
1hr Abilities: Tabula Rasa (enables one cast of Embrava or Kaustra), Astral Flow (summons Manifest's Diabolos for Ruinous Omen)

-Skillchain order: Evisceration -> Chant du Cygne.  This is paramount, as Tzee Xicu dies incredibly quickly to this strategy, especially with Skillchain Bonus III set and Allies' Roll.

-Feathered Furore can disable your lockstyle, Vorticose Sands will definitely do so.  Be sure to re-lock, for your supports' sake!
-Have some way to re-equip everything very quickly after Vorticose Sands, or you will probably die afterwards.

-Sweep is blocked by 3 shadows, but as the BLU will probably be tanking most of the time it's very difficult to keep three shadows up at all times.  NIN will not have this issue.

-Shirahadori is Knockback+Bind; if you can put your back to a wall, this isn't an issue.

-Gains an aura at some point that gradually reduces all damage to 0 except Piercing damage (Daggers).  If this gets too strong, it's best to restart as you want all the time you can get for the other three.

-Counteract Kaustra with Benediction, immediately.  Not much you can do about Embrava except maybe Lullaby the other enemies far away so it doesn't hit them.

-Astral Flow is ALWAYS Ruinous Omen. It's percent based, so it's not terrible, but can be deadly if Tzee Xicu follows up with a TP move.

Bloodcrown Brradhod: (5:25 in the video)

Spells: None
TP Moves: Battle Dance, Tornado Edge, Shoulder Charge, Howl, Arm Block, Veil of Chaos
1hr Abilities: Meikyo Shisui, Invincible

-Skillchain: Chant du Cygne <-> Blade: Shun (Heishi Aftermath).  Who closes it isn't as important, just keep making it over and over.

-Use Wild Card as soon as the Yagudo dies.  If Bolster gets restored, use it again immediately. If Wild Card didn't work, don't forget about Cutting Cards.  At this point NIN can switch to Katanas (Heishi Shorinken in the mainhand) for the remainder of the fight.

-By far the least threatening offensively, with Veil of Chaos being his only high-damage TP move and it is infrequent.  BLU can afford to forego shadows for the most part, but don't get too complacent otherwise (he can rarely decide to Veil of Chaos back-to-back under Meikyo).

-Extremely luck based with how much he wants to do Invincible and waste your time.  He didn't do it at all this run (despite my teammates' best attempts to jinx us...), but he's done it upwards of 10+ times in earlier attempts.

-Gains an aura at some point that gradually reduces all damage to 0 except Slashing Damage.  Swords/Katanas are both slashing damage, but Skillchains can be affected drastically.  We have found that repeatedly swinging at him for 0 under Invincible floors skillchain damage, so turn!  Meikyo Shisui seems to activate the aura.

-Any support that isn't busy should try Dispel, to remove any buffs Za'Dha Adamantking may have given him and to remove Howl/Arm Block (particularly the latter).

-Be prepared for this to take much longer for you than it did for us in the video, this run was unnaturally quick against him.

Za'Dha Adamantking: (13:10 in the video)

Spells: Protectra V, Shellra V, Hastega (will instantly reapply any if dispelled)
TP Moves: Shell Bash, Shell Guard, Head Butt, Ore Lob, The Wrath of Gu'Dha, Torment of Gu'Dha, Hellspin (Extremely strong physical AoE, blocked by 3 shadows)
1hr Abilities: Mighty Strikes, Benediction (Only once, under 50%)

-Skillchain: Black Halo <-> Blade: Shun.  Ideally you want the NIN closing as much as possible, but either works.

-BLU must switch to Clubs for this.  I used Nehushtan and Septoptic+1, but other options exist (Blurred Rod, Mafic Cudgel, and even Nibiru Cudgel).

-Extremely dangerous offensively, being able to one-shot with Shell Bash/Head Butt under Mighty Strikes and Hellspin at any time.  GEO must keep up Stoneskin and stay in full PDT set, NIN must keep up Migawari and Shadows, and BLU must keep up Shadows, Cocoon, Barrier Tusk, and (as much as possible) Mighty Guard.

-Torment of Gu'Dha wipes shadows and applies Petrify - this must be removed immediately so the BLU and NIN can reapply shadows!

-Periodically gains an aura that gradually reduces all damage to 0 except Blunt Damage (BLU's Clubs).  Enough blunt damage will mitigate this effect and occasionally remove the aura entirely.  Mighty Strikes seems to activate the aura.

-Hellspin's lethality cannot be understated; anyone in range without shadows or a capped PDT set will almost certainly get one-shot, even with Scherzo. Fortunately, it's range is only 10', and it's his least used TP move.

-Za'Dha Adamantking can use Benediction at any point under 50%, whenever he feels like it.  Pray he uses it early (we've had him use at 10% before).  This WILL wake the Shadow Lord if he's nearby, so plan accordingly.

-Any support that's free should try Dispel spam.  At worst, you'll waste his time by forcing him to reapply protect/shell/haste, at best you'll get rid of Shell Guard.

-Apparently he can be Silenced.  Not sure if that's useful or not, but if you want to try it go ahead.

Shadow Lord: (29:33 in the video)

Spells: None
TP Moves (One Sword): Vicious Kick, Implosion, Umbral Orb, Boon Void
TP Moves (Two Swords): Blighting Blitz, Cross Smash, Doom Arc
TP Moves (Both): Spawn Shadow (summons one clone, does NOT despawn even upon wipe, up to 3 max)
Abilities: Invincible (One Sword), Mighty Strikes (Two Swords)

Skillchain: Chant du Cygne <-> Blade: Shun (Heishi Aftermath).  Doesn't matter what order.

-At this point the Shadow Lord almost certainly has Protect/Shell/Haste from Za'Dha Adamantking.  Dispel all of these at the start (he doesn't apply any buffs to himself).

-Surprisingly non-threatening with one sword out: Implosion's HP down effect is bad, but Vicious Kick and Boon Void aren't very powerful.  Umbral Orb's range is very wide, however, be careful if you get Weakened.

-The most dangerous enemy in the BC with two swords out: gains 100% Double Attack, Cross Slash applies Defense Down, and Blighting Blitz takes 4 shadows and can easily one-shot the Blue Mage (doubly so under Mighty Strikes).

-Especially in two swords mode, let the Ninja keep hate as much as possible.  The BLU should turn during Mighty Strikes if they ever get hate, and prioritize keeping shadows!

-Spawn Shadow clones must be killed.  They can actually be slept, but the real Shadow Lord gains a massive Regen effect for each clone out.  The BLU should focus on the clones, while the NIN keeps hate on the main.

-If Spawn Shadow gets used, and both Shadow Lords are wielding two swords, try to split their attention so one player doesn't have hate on both.  This can shred shadows very quickly, even for the NIN.

-Slow is extremely helpful against the two swords version, if you can ever get it to land.

-GEO must switch between Indi-Fury with one sword out, Indi-Wilt with two.  Tag any clones that spawn as soon as possible.

-Boon Void, Vicious Kick, Blighting Blitz, and Cross Smash are all conal, take advantage of this.

-Use everything you have left to take this guy down - hopefully Wild Card has reset 1hrs at least once!  If not, with the 45 minute recast from Job Mastery, you will guaranteed be able to use them all at least twice if you burn them at the start of the BC.

-If you have lots of time left, as we did, play conservatively.  Death is the quickest way to lose your time advantage. Don't forget that Lullaby works if you really need to recover.

-When all's said and done, enjoy your new lockstyle/NIN Abyssea proc Great Lightsaber, title (Lux Ex Tenebris) and bragging rights (and try not to have a seizure on the keyboard like a certain someone...)