The Binding Coil of Bahamut

The Binding Coil of Bahamut is a series of s in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, available after the first main storyline is completed. It is a series of five raids located below Castrum Occidens in Eastern La Noscea.
At the time of A Realm Reborn initial launch, it was the most challenging content available. Initially, players could only enter a pre-made party into a turn the leader had not yet cleared, and if any member was further than the leader, entry was denied, and each turn could only be done in sequence. With Patch 2.2 and the debut of , the Binding Coil can be accessed through Duty Finder and grants a fixed 20% Echo bonus to all parties.
== Story ==
In the aftermath of the Battle of Carteneau, a fragment of Dalamud landed on an area on which a force from the Garlean Empire build the fortress Castrum Occidens on. After the declaration of the Seventh Astral Era, Alisaie Leveilleur recruits the adventurer to aid her in exploring the Binding Coil of Bahamut to discover the fate of Bahamut and her grandfather Louisoix, and to ensure Garlean forces do not obtain the Allagan technology Dalamud's still active defensive systems possess.
As they travel past the Imperial Exploratory Outpost, they discover the severed, colossal wing of Bahamut embedded in corrupted crystal formations. They descend into a buried Ragnarok-class starship that jettisoned from Dalamud, using its drive cylinder as a makeshift elevator. At the bottom of a chasm they find the right hand of Bahamut, along with a fearsome dragon enslaved by the Allagans.
== Objectives ==
The Binding Coil is divided into five "turns" that act as independent instances. While parties originally had to do them in sequence, Patch 2.2+ enabled them to be done in any order.
=== Turn 1 - Upper Aetheroacoustic Exploratory Site ===
:Requires average item level 70 or higher
Entering the passage leading inward, the party must battle a mid-boss, an ADS (Automated Defense System) of Dalamud. Throughout the fight, it will use High Voltage to paralyze the party, making it recommended to Silence the attack. During the battle, smaller Attack Drones will appear from behind and should be dealt with by an off-tank.
Once the ADS is eliminated, progressing further leads to an open area. Several powerful Dark Matter creatures are found in this section. At two points, a Dark Matter Golem controls a barrier preventing further progress. These golems can use a dangerous Obliterate attack, which can be lethal to weaker party members.
A cutscene appears at the final section, where an enormous snake called Caduceus attacks. The Caduceus progressively gains an attack boost, but this can countered by bringing Dark Matter Slimes to it. At 60% health, it splits into two snakes, each having half the remaining health. Both must be slain quickly to avoid being overwhelmed by the remaining snake.
=== Turn 2 - Lower Aetheroacoustic Exploratory Site ===
:Requires average item level 73 or higher
In this ziggurat-like turn, the party must eliminate defense nodes while making their way to the ADS. Defeating a certain node will prevent the ADS from using an ability, but will grant it a passive buff that enhances certain traits. The goal is to carve a path to the ADS and defeat nodes based on party setup (left path for melee heavy groups, right path for magic heavy groups). The Quarantine Node in the southernmost room can be slain to disable the Allagan Rot, but doing so grants ADS a haste effect.
To complete this turn, the ADS must be defeated in the center. Unless the Quarantine Node was eliminated, it will use Allagan Rot on a party member. This effect has an 18 second countdown, and must be passed by standing next to a party member to reset it before it severely damages the party with an explosion. An "infected" player cannot receive it again for 40 seconds after transfer, so the party must coordinate when to pass it.
The ADS will slowly prepare an "enrage" mode after the instance starts, where upon it will repeatedly hit the party with Object199. As this disables all other abilities (including Rot), most players opt to let its time elapse and simply heal through Object199 barrage while performing an all-out attack.
=== Turn 3 - The Ragnarok ===
:Requires average item level 70 or higher
Unlike other turns, there is no boss here. It is simply a gauntlet of jump pads that descend the hull of the starship. Throughout this turn several Dark Matter creatures are fought (or avoided) while heading to the exit.
=== Turn 4 - Ragnarok Drive Cylinder ===
:Requires average item level 77 or higher
This turn is an elevator encounter. Rather than a singular boss, there are waves of clockwork creatures that must be fought. The most dangerous are the Clockwork Dreadnoughts, which hit hard and have more health than others. The waves consist of the following:
# Clockwork Bug x6
# Clockwork Knight x2, Clockwork Soldier x2
# Clockwork Bug x4, Clockwork Dreadnaught
# Clockwork Bug x4, Spinner-Rook x2
# Dreadnaught, Clockwork Soldier, Clockwork Knight
# Dreadnaught, Clockwork Soldier, Clockwork Knight, Clockwork Bug x2
Once all the machines are destroyed, the turn ends.
=== Turn 5 - Ragnarok Central Core ===
:Requires average item level 82 or higher
The final and most difficult turn, Turn 5, features the first superboss in A Realm Reborn: Twintania. Unlike the previous turns (or most boss fights for that matter), the dragon must be fought through challenging set of phases. Even the most well-geared players can be overwhelmed by some of her attacks.
Defeating the ancient dragon concludes the Binding Coil, and enables access to the Second Coil of Bahamut.
== Enemies ==
;Turn 1
* ADS (Boss)
* Attack Node
* Defense Node
* Patrol Node
* Dark Matter Coeurl
* Dark Matter Golem
* Dark Matter Mantis
* Dark Matter Pelican
* Dark Matter Pteroc
* Dark Matter Pugil
* Dark Matter Slime
* Caduceus (Boss)
;Turn 2
* Attack Node
* Defense Node
* Disposal Node
* Monitoring Node
* Sanitary Node
* Quarantine Node
* ADS (Boss)
;Turn 3
* Dark Matter Aurelia
* Dark Matter Golem
* Dark Matter Mantis
* Dark Matter Slug
* Dreadguard
;Turn 4
* Clockwork Bug
* Clockwork Soldier
* Clockwork Knight
* Clockwork Dreadnought
* Spinner-Rook
Turn 5
* Twintania (Boss)
* Scourge of Meracydia
* Asclepius
* Hygiea
* Dreadknight
== Treasures ==
;Turn 1
;Right Side Chest:
* Allagan Round Shield
* Heavy Allagan Armor
* Allagan Gloves of Healing
* Allagan Tassets of Maiming
* Allagan Trousers of Striking
* Allagan Earrings of Maiming
* Allagan Bracelets of Aiming
* Allagan Ring of Striking
* Allagan Ring of Casting
;Left Side Chest:
* Allagan Circlet of Casting
* Heavy Allagan Flanchard
* Allagan Cuirass of Maiming
* Allagan Gloves of Aiming
* Allagan Trousers of Maiming
* Allagan Choker of Fending
* Allagan Earrings of Healing
* Allagan Bracelets of Striking
* Allagan Wootz Nugget
* Allagan Silk
* Allagan Leather
* Allagan Aetherstone - Head Gear
* Allagan Aetherstone - Hand Gear
* Allagan Aetherstone - Foot Gear
;Turn 2
;Right Side Chest:
* Allagan Circlet of Healing
* Allagan Gauntlets of Striking
* Allagan Gloves of Casting
* Heavy Allagan Cuisses
* Allagan Boots of Casting
* Allagan Choker of Maiming
* Allagan Earrings of Aiming
* Allagan Bracelets of Casting
* Allagan Wootz Nugget
* Allagan Silk
* Allagan Leather
* Allagan Aetherstone - Head Gear
* Allagan Aetherstone - Leg Gear
;Left Side Chest:
* Allagan Visor of Aiming
* Allagan Tunic of Casting
* Allagan Gauntlets of Maiming
* Allagan Plate Belt
* Allagan Boots of Healing
* Allagan Choker of Healing
* Allagan Earrings of Fending
* Allgan Earrings of Striking
* Allagan Ring of Fending
;Turn 4
;Wall Side Chest:
* Allagan Visor of Maiming
* Allagan Cuirass of Aiming
* Allagan Rope Belt of Healing
* Allagan Breeches of Casting
* Allagan Sollerets of Striking
* Allagan Ring of Healing
* Allagan Bracelets of Fending
* Allagan Belt of Striking
* Allagan Choker of Striking
* Allagan Wootz Nugget
* Allagan Silk
* Allagan Leather
* Allagan Aetherstone - Hand Gear
* Allagan Aetherstone - Foot Gear
;Center Chest:
* Allagan Visor of Striking
* Allagan Tunic of Healing
* Heavy Allagan Gauntlets
* Allagan Belt of Casting
* Allagan Sollerets of Aiming
* Allagan Choker of Aiming
* Allagan Earrings of Casting
* Allagan Bracelets of Healing
* Allagan Ring of Maiming
;Turn 5
;Left Side Chest:
* Level 95 Allagan weapons
* Allagan Wootz Nugget
* Allagan Silk
* Allagan Leather
* Allagan Aetherstone - Weaponry
* Allagan Aetherstone - Body Gear
* Faded Copy of Thunderer
;Right Side Chest:
* Allagan Helm
* Allagan Sollerets of Maiming
* Allagan Cuirass of Striking
* Allagan Tassets of Aiming
* Allagan Pants of Aiming
* Allagan Pants of Healing
* Allagan Bracelets of Maiming
* Allagan Choker of Casting
* Allagan Ring of Aiming
*Note: Materials can be awarded alongside equipment.
== Musical themes ==
The Binding Coil of Bahamut features musical themes based on "Answers;" the ambient of the dungeon called "Primal Timbre" and its battle theme is "Spiral". "Calamity Unbound plays during most boss battles. "Thunderer" plays during the battle with Twintania
== Gallery ==
Coil T1.png|Upper Aetheroacoustic Exploratory Site (Turn 1).
Binding Coil of Bahamut.jpg|Lower Aetheroacoustic Exploratory Site (Turn 2).
Coil T3.png|The Ragnarok (Turn 3).
Coil T4.png|Ragnarok Drive Cylinder (Turn 4).
Coil T5.png|Ragnarok Central Core (Turn 5).
== Trivia ==
* It was originally called the Great Labyrinth of Bahamut; this is a direct translation of the Japanese name for the dungeon, which remains Dai Meikyuu Bahamut.
* Various models of enemies from previous Final Fantasy games, namely Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XIII, are used. Some are later reused in Syrcus Tower and Azys Lla.
Binding Coil of Bahamut
Binding Coil of Bahamut