The Weapon's Refrain

The Weapon's Refrain, commonly abbreviated by players as UWU (for "Ultima Weapon (Ultimate)") is an released in Patch 4.31, "Under the Moonlight", of Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood. The duty comprises of a single encounter, where players fight the game's original three primals—Garuda, Ifrit, and Titan—in succession, before once again facing off against Lahabrea and then the Ultima Weapon as it repeatedly summons the three primals.
The primal encounters have a twist on their previous incarnations that plays off player expectations from having faced each of them three times before (in their Normal, Hard, and Extreme trials), as the party must "improperly" act on some of their mechanics to trigger an empowered "Awoken" form to survive the phase transition into the Ultima Weapon. The mechanic is not immediately apparent as each primal can be defeated without awakening them, but this inevitably results in the party's death.
==Story==
==Progression==
Throughout the first three primal phases, resolving certain mechanics in a particular manner will provide the primal with a stack of Aetherically Charged; four stacks make the primal Woken, gaining a blue aura and new abilities while also changing certain non-Woken abilities. Slaying a Woken primal drops a puddle that grants a charge of Beyond Limits, a status which, if held by a player, will immediately refresh Limit Break 3 if it is held by a party member who uses their Limit Break 3.
Standing in the wall of the platform is immediately fatal at any point of this fight.
===Garuda===
The battle begins in The Howling Eye, with the party fighting Garuda. She opens with Slipstream, a frontal cleave that must be dodged. After this, she marks a healer for Mistral Song, and attacks them with a linear area-of-effect spell that deals tank-buster damage to the first target it hits; a tank must stand between the target and Garuda to survive this. The Mistral Song also leaves behind a tornado.
A Spiny Plume and four Satin Plumes spawn. The Satin Plumes have 114,500 HP and cast Sleep so they must be killed immediately. The Spiny Plume has 229,000 HP and tethers to the first player to attack it, inflicting stacks of Thermal Low with its attacks. When it is killed, it casts Gigastorm, a telegraphed area-of-effect spell which leaves behind a bubble which cleanses Thermal Low.
Thermal Low is a debuff that damages the party when it is cleansed—one stack is minor damage, two stacks is heavy damage, and three stacks is a wipe. Garuda will forcibly cleanse the stacks with a tether known as Mesohigh. If a player has no stacks of Thermal Low, Mesohigh is fatal, so any player assigned to intercept a Mesohigh tether must hold at least one stack of Thermal Low. Cleansing two stacks of Thermal Low in the Gigastorm grants Garuda a stack of Aetherically Charged.
Garuda casts Slipstream and then Downburst, a cleave that must be stacked and mitigated for if she is Awakened. She then becomes untargetable while casting Feather Rain, telegraphed AoEs that must be dodged to avoid a heavy Windburn DoT, before returning and following up with Mistral Shriek, which deals raid-wide damage. Garuda then casts Friction twice on random targets, splash damage that inflicts a stack of Thermal Low on any targets hit, followed by a long pause before becoming untargetable again, casting another Feather Rain. By the second Feather Rain, barring a strategy that awakens her early, Garuda should have three stacks of Aetherically Charged.
After returning to the arena and casting Aerial Blast, which is a raidbuster that must be mitigated, Garuda summons Suparna and Chirada, untargetable adds who cast another Feather Rain before appearing in random cardinals, marking two random non-tank players for Mistral Song. She then casts Eye of the Storm, a fatal telegraphed AoE that forces the party to be close to the center of the platform, followed by a fatal point-blank telegraph called Wicked Wheel. After another Feather Rain from the sisters, she spawns four more Satin Plumes before casting Slipstream and Eye of the Storm again. At the same time, the sisters will spawn two Mesohigh tethers on random players from east and west, which should be used to Awaken Garuda, again barring strategies that Awaken her early. The sisters then cast another Feather Rain before Garuda follows with Slipstream, a likely woken Wicked Wheel, which will follow with Wicked Tornado, a fatal circle AoE with a small safe area under her, and another likely woken Downburst. After one more Slipstream cast, she will become untargetable and wipe the raid with a fatal Aerial Blast.
===Ifrit===
Once Garuda is defeated, Ifrit spawns, but before he is even targetable, he will cast Radiant Plume, covering the platform with fire except for two small regions, and then use Crimson Cyclone, a dive bomb that targets one of those regions. He then casts Hellfire, another raidbuster that must be mitigated, and transforms the platform into The Bowl of Embers.
Ifrit becomes targetable and casts Vulcan Burst, which is a knockback that will likely kill the party, but does nothing if it is mitigated entirely. He follows with three casts of Incinerate, a tank buster that cleaves and forces a tank swap. After this triple tank swap, four Infernal Nails spawn. These adds have 87,875 HP and gain a stack of Vulnerability Down after being hit with a burst of Eruption, a telegraph that targets the farthest DPS, and should be baited appropriately by the ranged DPS; if an Infernal Nail is killed with two stacks of Vulnerability Down, Ifrit gains a stack of Aetherial Charge. After spawning the nails, Ifrit casts Inferno Howl, inflicting Searing Wind on a healer for 18 seconds. This will kill and knock back anyone who stands anywhere close to the healer; he then Infernal Fetters, tethering the off-tank and a random DPS, forcing them to stand together. He casts Eruption four times, and this should be used to Awaken Ifrit. As usual, killing the nails also gives stacks of Vulnerability Up, so they cannot be killed too quickly.
Ifrit briefly turns invulnerable and then casts Hellfire again, becoming targetable. Hellfire will be fatal if an Infernal Nail is still alive at this point. He casts Inferno Howl and then Flaming Crush, a stack that inflicts Accursed Flame, a Burn that will be immediately fatal if Flaming Crush was not stacked.
Ifrit then turns invulnerable and casts Crimson Cyclone four times, dive-bombing in an order which is a function of the nail kill order. He then spawns two clones at a right angle to each other, and casts Crimson Cyclone again, this time causing both to dive bomb at the same time; the Woken Ifrit will not dive bomb and so is safe. After three Incinerates, he casts Eruption three times on the two furthest targets, followed by Flaming Crush and then an enraged Hellfire.
===Titan===
Titan jumps down after Ifrit is defeated, casting Geocrush and dealing light proximity damage focused on the center of the platform. He follows with Earthen Fury, which does moderate raid-wide damage and transforms the platform into The Navel, creating a ring of yellow around the outside that grows with each Geocrush; standing inside it is fatal.
After a tank-busting Mountain Buster, Titan casts Weight of the Land, telegraphs that must be baited, twice. After another Geocrush, this time centered on the side of the platform that he is facing (we shall treat this as the "north" end of the platform for the purposes of the following mechanics), Titan spawns several Bomb Boulders in the south of the platform, which have a tiny safe spot in the center of them. He will then knock the party back, and the only way to survive is to be knocked into the middle of the Bomb Boulders. Titan follows this knockback with a penta-Landslide (similar to his Extreme-difficulty Trial) and transform three party members in Granite Gaols while spamming Tumult, which is an instant-cast raid-wide damage. Because Titan is continuously Tumulting, he will not leave the north of the platform.
Unlike in The Navel, these Granite Gaols detonate when blown up with a Bomb Boulder, and can chain-detonate as well: a detonating Granite Gaol will blow up other gaols caught in the blast radius. Gaols leave behind puddles that grant Titan a stack of Aetherial Charge if he is inside them (it is not enough for the hitboxes to overlap; he must touch the center ring of the puddle).
Thus, to Awaken Titan, it is necessary to have the three Granite Gaol targets form a line from the last Bomb Boulder to explode, between two Landslides, all the way to the north end of the platform, such that Titan is caught in the blast while he is Tumulting.
When the eighth Tumult resolves, Titan will Awaken if the Bomb Boulders were resolved correctly. He then casts Weight of the Land twice, followed by Landslide—but if Titan is Woken, then a second set of invisible Landslides will go off immediately after the first set, and the only way to survive will be to run into the first Landslides as they are resolving.
Titan again casts Geocrush followed by trapping a healer in a Granite Gaol, which must be destroyed. After another Landslide and six more Tumuluts, Titan casts Mountain Buster, then three Weight of the Lands along with Bomb Boulders; another Landslide, another Mountain Buster, three more Weights of the Land, eight more Tumults and an enraged Earthen Fury follow.
===Lahabrea and Magitek Bits===
After Titan is defeated, six Magitek Bits spawn, causing proximity damage in the form of Freefire at several points on the platform. They begin to Self-Destruct, wiping the raid; the only way to survive is to destroy them with a caster Limit Break 3 (though not even this may be enough).
After the Magitek Bits are defeated, Lahabrea will cast Blight, dealing massive damage and inflicting Doom on the party. This will be fatal, defying even attempts to Raise through it, unless cured with a healer Limit Break 3.
Lahabrea will then cast Dark IV, which will be fatal to the entire raid. The only way to avoid this is to kill him with a melee Limit Break 3.
Because the party must have a fourth Limit Break 3 before the Ultima Weapon spawns, the only way to survive this phase is to have Awakened all three primals, and given one charge of Beyond Limits to a healer, a caster, and a melee.
Doom was the first major roadblock in world progression; after approximately ten hours of progression, raiders were baffled that the first three phases were so easy, only to realize that the only way to survive Doom would be to Awaken each primal.
===Ultimate Predation===
After Lahabrea is defeated, the Ultima Weapon will spawn and cast Ultima, which will be fatal without a tank Limit Break 3. If the party survives Ultima, the Ultima Weapon will eat each of the three primals, become targetable, begin glowing white, and cast Tank Purge, dealing massive damage to the party.
For the rest of the fight, the Ultima Weapon will gain Ultima Aether over time, generating more as party members die and are resurrected. If it reaches 100, the Ultima Weapon will enrage, as described below.
The Ultima Weapon follows with Homing Missiles, a cleave and tank buster on the second enmity target, and then, the primals return as the Ultima Weapon casts Ultimate Predation. The Ultima Weapon will turn invulnerable and the primals will cast Wicked Wheel, Crimson Cyclone, and Landslide; then cast Wicked Tornado, the "double" Crimson Cyclone, and a second Landslide, along with Ceruleum Vent, a massive knockback. To survive this, the party must identify the region of the platform that is safe from both Wicked Wheel and Crimson Cyclone, then dodge the Landslide targeting that area; dodge back into the first Landslide; and then run towards Garuda to avoid Wicked Tornado while still avoiding the Crimson Cyclones.
After a Feather Rain, the Ultima Weapon will become targetable again, cast Eruption four times, along with Infernal Fetters, and then cast Radiant Plume and spawn Titan. Titan will use his Woken Landslide and spawn six Bomb Boulders, then the Ultima Weapon will use Landslide, then Titan will Landslide again. After eight Tumults, the Ultima Weapon will cast Viscous Aetheroplasm, which can target a tank or a non-tank. If it targets a tank, it deals massive tank damage; otherwise, it will periodically pulse out damage that must be stacked.
===Ultimate Annihilation===
Two Garudas spawn, cast Wicked Wheel, Mistral Shriek, and Feather Rain. After another Homing Lasers and Feather Rain, the Ultima Weapon will become invulnerable and cast Ultimate Annihilation. Titan will cast three Weights of the Land, while Garuda casts Mesohigh and Ifrit casts Flaming Crush. Then Aetheroplasm bubbles spawn; these explode when touched or after a duration of time. After an Infernal Howl, a Feather Rain, a Landslide, a Crimson Cyclone, a double Crimson Cyclone, an Eye of the Storm, another Landslide and Mesohigh, a Tank Purge, another Mesohigh, and a Feather Rain, the Ultima Weapon becomes targetable.
Garuda casts Eye of the Storm as the Ultima Weapon casts Homing Missiles, followed by another Eye of the Storm. After a Radiant Plume, the Ultima Weapon casts Diffractive Laser, a tank-busting cleave. Another Eye of the Storm, another Vulcan Burst, and more Homing Lasers resolve.
This phase can be pushed early, if the Ultima Weapon reaches 50% health.
===Ultimate Suppression===
At 49% HP, or after being active for 3:03, the Ultima Weapon casts Ultimate Suppression and again goes untargetable. After four Eruptions on three random targets and two Mistral Songs, the Ultima Weapon casts Light Pillar, telegraphs that chase the player that did not get targeted for Eruption or Mistral Song, and Titan imprisons one of the three Eruption targets in a Granite Gaol. After two Feather Rains, the Ultima Weapon casts two Aetherochemical Lasers, line telegraphs. Then a Landslide, Mesohigh, and Flaming Crush, followed by another Aetherochemical Laser, followed by another Landslide, Mesohigh, and Flaming Crush combo. After a Tank Purge and a Feather Rain, Garuda casts Featherlance.
===Ultima and Enrage===
As the Ultima Weapon becomes targetable, it again casts Ultima, which must again be survived with a Tank Limit Break 3. After a knockback called Aetheric Boom, eight Ultimaplasms spawn, and try to move towards each other in four groups. If they touch they will wipe the raid, but the damage from touching and disarming one must be shared.
Three Viscous Aetheroplasms spawn, which will detonate in sequence. First, a Wicked Wheel and Wicked Tornado into the first Viscous Aetheroplasm; then a Feather Rain and two Eruptions into the second Aetheroplasm; then a Hellfire and three Weights of the Land into the third Aetheroplasm; and an Earthen Fury.
The Ultima Weapon will then stop attacking and begin generating Ultima Aether more rapidly still.
Once the Ultima Weapon has 100 Ultima Aether, it will enrage. Each party member—in order of total damage dealt (from least to most—usually Healers, Tanks, and then DPS), with a 3-second wait between each one, will be sucked into a glowing red orb hovering around the ground, and then targeted for Citadel Siege, dealing 999,999 damage and making them untargetable (and thus unable to be resurrected). It will then wipe the remaining player with Sabik.
==Enemies==
*Garuda
**Satin Plume
**Spiny Plume
**Chirada
**Suparna
*Ifrit
**Infernal Nail
*Titan
**Granite Gaol
*Magitek Bit
*Lahabrea
*The Ultima Weapon
==Loot==
The Ultima Totem can be exchanged for one of the following weapons, which have three materia slots:
==Achievements==
==Musical themes==
The majority of the music used during the fight is covers of previous primal trial themes by The Primals: Garuda is fought to "Fallen Angel", Ifrit is fought to "Primal Judgment", and Titan is fought to "Under the Weight". The Ultima Weapon, however, is fought to the Eorzea Symphony orchestral concert version of "Ultima".
==Gallery==
FFXIV Weapon's Refrain.png
Weapon's Refrain