Final Fantasy 14’s Main Scenario is long, but there are tons of side and optional content to unlock throughout your journey. Reaching level 50 for the first time and completing the base A Realm Reborn story unlocks plenty of new Duties and quests to work on.

As part of the Zodiac Weapon questline, you will eventually have to enter the eight-player Duty A Relic Reborn: The Hydra, in which you must defeat the titular Hydra. Below, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about this fight.

The intro cutscene for the A Relic Reborn: The Hydra Trial in Final Fantasy 14.

This content is heavily outdated, andmany of the mechanics detailed below may not appear during a normal run of this Trial. If you’re just looking to complete the Duty for the Zodiac quest, you may easily complete it unsynced at level 70 or higher.

How To Unlock A Relic Reborn: The Hydra

Before you can unlock this Trial, you will need to complete the level 50 MSQ’The Ultimate Weapon', then begin your Zodiac Weapon quest by accepting’The Weaponsmith of Legend’fromNedrick Ironheart in Western Thanalan (X:12.0, Y:14.3).

With that done, you will be able to start the quest’A Relic Reborn’for your chosen weapon, which will eventually lead to the unlocking ofA Relic Reborn: The Hydra. Follow this quest until the Duty unlocks, and you will be able to use the Party Finder to attempt the Trial.

The Hydra in the Thanalan coliseum before the Trial begins in Final Fantasy 14.

Hydra Fight Walkthrough

The attacks and mechanics that the Hydra uses are detailed below.

Triumvirate

Conal AoE

Deals untelegraphed damageto the front of the boss. This damage issplit between up to three playersthat are standing in the AoE. The Tank shouldmove the boss away from the rest of the partyto prevent Triumvirate from hitting more players than necessary.

The off-Tank can stand near the main Tank tosplit the damage of this attack.

Mean Thrash

Deals telegraphed damageto the back of the boss, triggered by players standing behind the boss. Melee players should be prepared to dodge this attack throughout the fight.

White Breath

Deals telegraphed damageto the front of the bossthat inflictsInfirmity, reducing the healing received. Unlike the other debuffs applied throughout this fight,Infirmity is not cleansable using Esuna, so the Healers will need to be prepared to recover a bit more health for each player hit by Infirmity.

Ball of Ice

AoE/Puddle

Deals damage in a circular AoE thatleaves behind a puddle of icethat inflictsHeavy. This puddlepersists for a long time, so avoid stepping into it as you avoid other mechanics.

Ball of Fire

Deals damage in a circular AoE thatleaves behind a fire puddlethat inflictsBurns, dealingdamage over time. Similar to Ball of Ice, this puddle will persist for some time.

Fear Itself

AoE/Debuff

The Hydra willmove to the center of the arena, then deal damage to all party members, with asafe spot in the area directly underneath the boss. Players hit by this AoE will be inflicted withHysteria, which will force them torun around the arena at random. To avoid this attack,stand just inside of the Hydra’s hitbox.

If you are inflicted with Hysteria, there is a very good chance you will run into one of the ice or fire puddles that still linger around the arena, making this attack one of the Hydra’s deadliest. WhileHysteria isnot cleansable with Esuna, the Healers should do their best tokeep affected party members healthyuntil the debuff expires.

Wyvern

Add

Wyvern adds will appear at certain intervals throughout the fight. This enemy willinflict Poison with its normal attack, and occasionally give the Hydra a damage-up buff. Focus on killing the Wyverns as soon as they appear to prevent these effects.

This fight is fairly straightforward, but you will definitely need to watch out forFear Itself. For the best odds of avoiding this attack, it’s best if the main Tankpulls the Hydra to the top of the arenaso that it’smore obvious when the boss moves back to the center. Use this as your queue toget near the boss to avoid the AoE of Fear Itself.

Also, be sure totake out the Wyverns as quickly as possible, as the damage buff it provides to the boss will make its large AoE attacks even stronger.