The Akh Afah Amphitheatre

The Akh Afah Amphitheatre is a against Shiva in the Main Scenario patch 2.4 Dreams of Ice.
In Dragonspeak, "Akh Afah" means "eternal circle" .https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/201988-Revelations-from-Final-Coil-SPOILERS?p=2690935#post2690935https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/210674-アク・モーンという技名の意味について?p=2689461#post2689461https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/265527-Dragonspeak-Dictionary
== Story ==
=== Hard ===
=== Extreme ===
===Unreal===
== Progression ==
=== Hard ===
Shiva alternates between two stances throughout the fight: a staff that increases her damage output, and sword that grants her passive regeneration. She uses certain abilities in each mode, before using her Dreams of Ice ability to swap to a different weapon. The attack pattern thus follows:
* Staff: Hailstorm → Icicle Drop → Dreams of Ice
* Sword: Icebrand → Heavenly Strike → Glacier Bash → Dreams of Ice
Hailstorm targets three players, and inflicts ice damage on anyone standing near them, making it important to spread out to avoid compounding damage. The Icicles appear over the arena at set points, and players caught in it will receive damage as well as Vulnerability Up (stacking if in concentric icicles), making them more vulnerable to later attacks.
Icebrand is used upon entering sword stance, and inflicts heavy damage in a cone in front of her. As this can easily destroy any non-tank class, it is important that DPS and healers stay behind or to the side of Shiva. Heavenly Strike hit everyone in arena with slight knockback. Glacier Bash hits the tank before she changes stance.
Once her health drops to below 65%, she summons four ice soldiers into the fight. These must be eliminated before she prepares her Diamond Dust attack. This attack is preceded by an Absolute Zero arena wide attack. Eventually she teleports above and begins coating the arena with ice as she glides around, eventually freezing the party. When she snaps her fingers for Diamond Dust, the party takes damage based on how many ice soldiers were remaining (if at all), with damage minimal if all four were slain. This switches the fight to the second phase and changes the battle music.
In the second round, a ring of ice exists at the edge of the arena, which will freeze any player that contacts it into an Ice Boulder. Her icicle attacks now appear in overlapping rings around the edge of the arena before the final appears in the center. Players must now carefully watch the pattern to sidestep the raining ice. She can also coat the arena with Permafrost, making the ground very slippery and risk causing players to slide into the ice ring if they move while the floor is icy. In addition, she also starts using Absolute Zero during her staff phase.
=== Extreme / Unreal ===
In this fight, Shiva's attacks can reduce resistance to melee attacks, making tank swaps recommended depending on set-up. She now has a bow stance in addition to her sword and staff stances, used only after Diamond Dust.
==== Phase One ====
The first phase plays out similar to the Hard mode, however there are two major changes in her stances:
* When she pulls out a Sword, her opening move Icebrand now deals 18000 damage split evenly among those hit. Thus, the main tank must now move so she aims the attack at the entire party to survive it. This is always followed by Heavenly Strike and then Glacier Bash.
* When she pulls out a Staff, the Hailstorm targets every player. To avoid overlapping damage into potentially fatal amounts, the party should spread out. After this, she will use Absolute Zero.
Each time her stance ends and she uses Dreams of Ice, Icicles will appear. In the first phase, several overlapping icicles will appear, with one edge leaving a small gap. If a player cannot identify the safe safe, they should stay in the center to minimize damage. Once her health drops to 80%, phase two begins.
==== Phase Two ====
Shiva heads to the center and summons four Ice Soldiers. Regardless of what she was doing before, she will switch to sword stance for the duration of this phase, and so Icebrand, Heavenly Strike, and Glacier Bash must be dealt with as the ice soldiers are fought.
It's important that the soldiers are swiftly killed off. If more than one are still alive as Diamond Dust activates, the party will be annihilated. Soon Shiva will start readying Diamond Dust, signaling the start of phase three.
==== Phase Three ====
Once the party survives Diamond Dust and the music changes, Shiva now changes to her final and main phase. The outer edge of the arena form an ice wall that freezes anyone that touches it. She will summon four icicles in the corner of the arena before she pulls out either sword or staff. These stances have changed as follows:
* Sword: Icebrand + Icicles ---> Heavenly Strike ---> Glacier Bash ---> Whiteout
* Staff: Hailstorm + Icicles ---> Absolute Zero (multiple times)
Whiteout is now her final move in sword stance, dealing ice damage in a donut shape AOE, so players should stay close to evade damage altogether.
Hailstorm now only affects three players as in "Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Hard)", but the icicles make up for this in peril. In addition, she will use Absolute Zero multiple times following this, requiring healers to be diligent in keeping the party up.
Once either stance ends, she uses Icicles in an alternating pattern starting at the center and working its way around the edge. Players should move to the section with the last icicles, and then move in to the center to avoid damage. She then uses Dreams of Ice and now brings out her new bow stance.
Upon taking out her bow, she uses Glass Dance, inflicting 12k+ damage on anyone not positioned in a cone behind her. It goes without saying that every party member must hide behind her as she readies the bow. Her attacks are swift and relentless, so tanks must be ready to use whatever defensive abilities they have to soften the ice arrows. Halfway through this stance, she targets a single player (marked by an icon), and uses Avalanche to knock them (and anyone in the way) towards the ice wall. The main tank should move her near the edge of the arena during this stance, as this ensures players hit by the attack will stop short of becoming frozen. Note that if multiple players are knocked back, she will most likely use Permafrost to trip up those trying to move back into position.
Once the Bow phase ends, she cycles back to the beginning of the phase, summoning four icicles, using Dreams of ice, and then takes out either sword or staff, and eventually uses bow stance again, etc. Note that each time she uses Dreams of Ice, Shiva receives a passive Damage Up buff that stacks, making the fight more difficult as it drags on. If she reaches 12 stacks, she will use Diamond Dust again to destroy the party.
== Enemies ==
* Shiva
* Ice Soldier
== Achievements ==
== Musical themes ==
On both difficulties, "Footsteps in the Snow" plays during the first phase of the battle with Shiva, composed by Masayoshi Soken and arranged by Yoshitaka Suzuki, while "Oblivion" plays during the second phase.
== Gallery ==
FFXIV Akh Afah Amphitheatre.png
FFXIV Shiva Diamond Dust.png|Diamond Dust.
==Citations==
Akh Afah Amphitheatre
Akh Afah Amphitheatre