The Eighth Circle Phase 2 (Savage) Raid Guide (2024)

As your journey into the depths of Pandæmonium concludes, you are left withnearly more questions than answers. Professor Claudien has disappeared, andPandæmonium has drifted into the modern age upon the currents of the aetherialsea. Even so, the glint in Nemjiji's eyes shines brighter than ever, and sheseems more than eager to provide her own answers as she hears your story.Whether those will give rise to ever more questions, however, remains to beseen...

The Eighth Circle (Savage) can be unlocked at level 90 after completing theNormal difficulty of the Abyssos raid and talking to Nemjiji in Labyrinthos(x8.4, y27.4). It requires a minimum item level of 610 to queue, but thisrequirement can be bypassed when entering with a full party.

Hephaistos has a hard enrage of 8:28 and has a DPS check of roughly 64,700raid DPS.

If you would prefer to watch a video that covers the fight, take a look atHope Productions visual guide.

The fight is divided into five phases of mechanics, with three full uptimephases and two High Concept intermissions in between.

The arena is divided into sixteen squares. For most mechanics, only the fronttwo rows will be used. The boss has no positional markers and remains at theNorth side of the arena at all times. The boss's auto-attacks must be sharedbetween both tanks and deal damage in an AoE, targeting the #1 in enmity.

All players should be assigned a quickmarch position from one to four basedon their role, with melee jobs in the front and ranged jobs in the back. Allplayers should be assigned a spread position inside a single row for safety, andone melee DPS and one tank should be designated to be a "flex" player for NaturalAlignment.

• Aioniopyr: Massive raid-wide magical damage that inflicts a bleedDoT for 9 seconds.
• Tyrant's Unholy Darkness: An AoE magical tank buster on both tanks.Tanks need to split up after auto-attacks have ceased during the cast, andstack together before they start again.

Hephaistos introduces the following abilities in this phase:

• Natural Alignment: Two players are inflicted with the NaturalAlignment debuff. This debuff deals damage over time to the player, and theplayer cannot be damaged by any other instances of damage besides or elsethey will explode, wiping the party.
• Twist Nature: Castbars will appear on top of the player's heads,indicating the next mechanic about to be cast. All of these do heavy magicdamage.
  • Tyrant's Flare: A stack marker on a random non-debuffed playeror an unmarked AoE on all non-debuffed players.
  • Forcible Trifire: An AoE on the three furthest players fromthe debuffed player that requires one other person to be stacked withthe target.
  • Forcible Difreeze: An AoE on the two closest players to thedebuffed player that requires two other players to be stacked with thetarget.
• Ashing Blaze: Hephaistos will cleave the right or left side of thearena, depending on which arm is glowing.
• End of Days: Hephaistos will summon illusions at the edge of thearena which will do a line AoE across one of the two Northern rows. Therewill be a second instance of this ability, hitting the row that was notpreviously hit.

Hephaistos will begin the fight by autoing the tanks twice, so both should bestacked and away from the party. He will then cast Aioniopyr, so be sureto mitigate as tanks to cover the bleed DoT, the autos, and the incomingTyrant's Unholy Darkness. It is possible for the main tank to invuln theirbuster, and then take the two subsequent autos with the remainder of the invuln.This may be useful for saving tank and healer cooldowns for the next part.

Hephaistos will then cast Natural Alignment. Two players of the samerole will be inflicted with the debuff, and healers should make sure these twoplayers do not die to the damage over time. At the same time, the two melee jobsthat were designated to "flex" for the upcoming Trifire and Difreeze mechanicswill automatically know where to go. Hephaistos will then cast TwistNature, marking the debuffed players and making them show the next set ofmechanics.

The two debuffed players will move up to ensure they are not in the path ofthe spread or stack mechanic. Look at the graphic above the debuffed player'shead to see whether it is spread or stack. If it's spread, use quickmarchpositions or clock positions from phase one to spread the AoE. If it's stack,the party should by default stack on the left side of the arena.

The other mechanic will then resolve at the same time as the boss castsAshing Blaze. This means that the second stack or spread needs to be onone half of the arena. The two debuffed players will be together at the veryNorth of the arena. If it's stack, the party will stack on the safe side, and ifit's spread, the party will line up with quickmarch positions on the safe sideon one column per role. Make sure to come in to receive healing before spreadingout. After the first set of mechanics are done, return to the middle for thefire and ice Twist Nature mechanics.

For Forcible Difreeze and Forcible Trifire, the two debuffedplayers will always stay in the centre of the Northern two rows, moving intothe row that is safe from End of Days. All other players will adjusttheir positions based on this, with supports defaulting on the left side andDPS defaulting on the right side.

For Forcible Trifire, the melee jobs of the role not chosen will beNorth or South of the debuffed players depending on which row is safe. Have oneplayer in each two-person stack be further out to bait the stack AoE, and oneplayer on the inside as to not bait any other stack AoEs.

For Forcible Difreeze, the designated flex player will move to the otherside to bait the stack AoE. The other melee player should be on the inside baitingtheir AoE. Be slightly further than the middle of the square to ensure thedebuffed player is not hit. The other two players should try to be further awayto not accidentally bait an AoE as well.

After the first mechanic, the opposite mechanic will happen with the otherrow being safe, so make sure to heal up, mitigate, and do the other mechanic inthe other row. For example, if it was Difreeze first with the first row safe, itwill then be Trifire second with the second row safe. After both mechanics aredone, return to the middle and heal up for another Aioniopyr. Both tanksshould be stacked pre-emptively to deal with the autos and another Tyrant'sUnholy Darkness. Heal up and get ready for the first intermission,High Concept. This deals massive damage and inflicts all players withdebuffs.

Hephaistos introduces the following abilities in this phase:

• High Concept: Deals massive raid-wide magic damage (~110k) and inflictsall players with debuffs. Imperfection debuffs will explode in a large AoEwhen they resolve and inflict players hit with a Perfection buff. Splicerdebuffs require players to stack with a number of players.
  • Two players will be inflicted with Imperfection: Alpha, oneat 8 seconds and the other at 26 seconds.
  • Two players will be inflicted with Imperfection: Beta, oneat 8 seconds and the other at 26 seconds.
  • Two players will be inflicted with Imperfection: Gamma, oneat 8 seconds and the other at 26 seconds.
  • One player will be inflicted with Multisplice which requirestwo players total in the stack.
  • One player will be inflicted with Supersplice which requiresthree players total in the stack.
• Arcane Control: Summons towers in the middle of the arena in avertical line. Players are required to have a Conception buff of the matchingelement to stand in and soak the tower, or else they will take a massive DoT.Towers that are not soaked will explode.
• Deconceptualize: Removes all High Concept buffs and debuffs.

The goal of High Concept 1 is to conceptualize creations to deal with ArcaneControl towers. When players are damaged by Imperfection explosions, theywill receive a Perfection buff corresponding to the type they were damaged by.After a few seconds, standing close to another player with a Perfection bufffor around two seconds will fuse the alchemical creations, creating a Conception.However, overlapping Imperfection hits, creating incorrect Conceptions, and fusingPerfection debuffs and Conceptions will all result in a wipe.

1. When fusing Alpha and Beta, a Winged Conception (green) is created.
2. When fusing Beta and Gamma, a Shocking Conception (purple) is created.
3. When fusing Gamma and Alpha, an Aquatic Conception (blue) is created.

First, all players will spread to their pre-determined positions based on whatdebuff they originally received. Stay in the middle for a second to cast andreceive heals before fanning out to the corners of the arena.

• The players with short Imperfection debuffs will go to the assigned corners.Alpha will go to A, Beta will go to B, and Gamma will go to 4.
• Splicers will stand on the same numbered marker as the number of playersrequired. Multisplice will go to 2, and Supersplice will go to 3.
• The players with long Imperfection debuffs will stack with Splicers. Alphawill stack at 2, while Beta and Gamma will stack at 3.

Next, two players with Perfection buffs will need to conceptualize the correctConception buff to soak the Arcane Control tower. At the same time, theboss will cast Ashing Blaze, so all players must stand on one side of thearena. To see which players are fusing buffs in the middle, look at the graphicon top of their head. If one of their three elements matches, they will go fuse.Spread out loosely to coordinate who is going to the North tower and who is goingto the South tower.

Additionally, players need to keep track of what Perfection buffs were used tofuse. This is because the goal of the Splicer players is to be hit by anImperfection explosion to duplicate the Perfection buff. The Multisplicer playerwill stack with the first one clockwise, and the Supersplicer will stack withthe first one counterclockwise. The player that had the unused Perfection willgo back to their original spot. Finally, the two players in the tower will moveto the safe corner to not get hit by any explosions. Once the towers have beensoaked, head to the second explosion spots.

Again, players with Perfection buffs will need to conceptualize the correctbuff. However, this time there are four towers of the same element. As the samePerfection buff cannot combine with each other, players will need to fuse withsomeone with a different buff. To do this, have the players with long Imperfectionbuffs take the South two towers and the players who did not have the longImperfection buffs take the North two towers. This will ensure that the correctbuffs are created. After fusing, soak the towers and dodge Ashing Blaze.Make sure the other players are spread out to not accidentally create anotherConception.

After the second set of Arcane Control towers go off, the boss willbecome targetable and cast Deconceptualize, removing all buffs and debuffs.

Hephaistos introduces the following abilities in this phase:

• Limitless Desolation: Four players, one in each role, are targetedwith an AoE in succession. Eight towers will spawn on the arena in pairs, divided intotwo halves. Players who took an AoE are targeted with a large ground AoE inthe same order before having to soak the towers, again in the same order.
• Inverse Magicks: Players affected with the Inverse Magicks debuffhave their Twist Nature mechanics reversed: stack becomes spread and vice-versa,and ice becomes fire and vice-versa. This only applies if the player has thedebuff.

After casting Deconceptualize, the tanks should stack and the partyneeds to heal up for Aioniopyr. For Limitless Desolation, spreadinto quickmarch positions on both sides of the arena at the edge, with supportsleft and DPS right. This mechanic requires some on-the-fly adjustments, and allplayers have to obey traffic laws that mandate whether they can move or not.

Each player is targeted by an AoE in order. This will inflict a magic vulnerabilityup debuff that expires right before a tower explodes. However, as it expiresthey will additionally be targeted with a large ground AoE. Therefore, each playertakes an AoE, baits a ground AoE, and soaks a tower in the order. The baitedAoE should be baited in the corner of the square the tower spawns in, and towerscan spawn in the first three rows only.

Players should only move once they have been hit by their AoE in order, andthey should move closer to their tower in order on the inside two columns. It isimpossible to have an AoE cover someone else's tower, so ensure that you dodgeother player's AoEs before baiting yours. Additionally, avoid baiting these AoEswhere a player's path to the inside would be blocked off.

After all towers have been soaked, return to the middle with tanks stacked foranother Aioniopyr. This is followed by two autos into Tyrant's UnholyDarkness, so make sure to mitigate and move apart. Again, an invuln can be usedto save single-target cooldowns for the next Natural Alignment. Stacktogether again afterwards.

The second Natural Alignment differs slightly from the first one. Thestack or spread mechanic is cast with End of Days instead of AshingBlaze, and the mechanics can be reversed via Inverse Magicks. Whatthis means is that when a player with both the Natural Alignment and the InverseMagicks debuffs shows a mechanic over their head, it will be the opposite one.Either one player or both players are inflicted with the Inverse Magicksdebuff, so make sure to check if the mechanic set is inverse or not.

The first set of mechanics will always be spread and stack in one row, and thenthe other mechanic in the other row. For spread, use pre-assigned positions. Thepositions from Octaflare from phase one work, or assign new positions. Forstack, make sure all players are far away from the Natural Alignment debuffedplayers. Check if the mechanic is inverse before doing it.

The second set of mechanics will be the same fire and ice as the first one,but it can be inverse. It will be resolved the same way, but if it is inverseand one mechanic is shown first, then it will be the opposite mechanic first.Keep in mind that the safe row by End of Days may change from the firstset of mechanics.

After both fire and ice are resolved, the boss will cast an Ashing Blaze,so head to the safe side of the arena. Stack together to receive heals forAioniopyr, and again the tanks needs to stack for autos, spread forTyrant's Unholy Darkness, and stack together again for autos. Mitigateand heal up for High Concept 2.

Hephaistos introduces the following abilities in this phase:

• High Concept: The same concept as the first High Concept, exceptthat inflicted debuffs are different now.
  • Two players will be inflicted with Imperfection: Alpha, oneat 8 seconds and the other at 26 seconds.
  • Two players will be inflicted with Imperfection: Beta, oneat 8 seconds and the other at 26 seconds.
  • Two players will be inflicted with Imperfection: Gamma, oneat 8 seconds and the other at 26 seconds.
  • One player with a long Imperfection debuff be inflicted withMultisplice which requires two players total in the stack.
  • One player with a long Imperfection debuff be inflicted withSolosplice which requires them to be by themselves.
  • Two players will not be inflicted with any debuff.
• End of Days: Four illusions spawn at the cardinal edges of thearena. These will tether to the closest player, and move to the same rowor column as the player. After a while, the tethered player will be inflictedwith Bind, and the illusion will shoot a line AoE at them.
• Ego Death: Destroys the party unless they have the power of theImmortal Conception.

The goal of High Concept 2 is to conceptualize creations to deal with ArcaneControl towers, as well as conceptualize the Immortal Conception to surviveEgo Death, granting the Everburn buff that doubles damage dealt.

1. When fusing Alpha and Beta, a Winged Conception (green) is created.
2. When fusing Beta and Gamma, a Shocking Conception (purple) is created.
3. When fusing Gamma and Alpha, an Aquatic Conception (blue) is created.
4. When fusing Alpha and Alpha, a Fiery Conception (red) is created. Thisdeals damage over time to the player.

First, all players will spread to their pre-determined positions based on whatdebuff they originally received. Stay in the middle for a second to cast andreceive heals before fanning out to the corners of the arena.

• The players with short Imperfection debuffs will go to the assigned corners.Alpha will go to A, Beta will go to B, and Gamma will go to 4.
• Splicers will stand on assigned marker. Multisplice will go to 2, andSolosplice will go to 3.
• The players with long Imperfection debuff and NO Splicer debuff will stackwith Multisplice at 3.
• The unmarked player will go to A to receive Imperfection: Alpha to createthe Fiery Conception.

Again, two players with Perfection buffs will need to conceptualize the correctConception buff to soak the Arcane Control tower. At the same time, theboss will cast Ashing Blaze, so all players must stand on one side of thearena. To see which players are fusing buffs in the middle, look at the graphicon top of their head. If one of their three elements matches, they will go fuse.Spread out loosely to coordinate who is going to the North tower and who is goingto the South tower.

The two unmarked players who received Perfection: Beta will need to standtogether to create the Fiery Concept. These players should preposition with onetowards the West side and one towards the East side to bait End of Dayslater in the phase. All other players will simply stay on the safe side of thearena from Ashing Blaze.

For the second spread, the long Imperfection debuffs will head to their assignedcorners. The five other players will head to the safe corner and loosely spread,making sure not to Conceptualize while location their position to bait Endof Days.

Arcane Control will spawn four towers at intercardinals in the centre.However, all players will already know the other player they are fusing with asit is pre-determined. Alpha and Beta will fuse on the East side of the arena tocreate a Winged Conception, while Gamma and the unused buff from the previousset will fuse on the West side of the arena. Loosely spread to coordinate whichplayer is heading to which tower.

At the same time, the four players with Conceptions from the previous set willhave to bait End of Days tethers. They will have to run to the very edgeof the cardinal they were designated: the North tower takes North, the Southtower takes South, and the Fiery Conception players take East and West. Oncetethered, go two squares counterclockwise to ensure that the AoE does not hitany player in the middle soaking towers.

After the second set of Arcane Control towers go off, the boss willbecome targetable and begin casting Ego Death. At this point, all playersneed to return to the middle and be healed. The Fiery Conception players need tofuse with the Winged Conception players to create the Immortal Conception, withthe North fire fusing with North wind and South fire fusing with South wind. Allother players should be loosely spread in the middle, making sure they are notstacked with any other player. All players must be at maximum HP afterfusing; any player not topped will die. If done correctly, all players will beat 1 HP and have the Immortal Conception, allowing them to survive Ego Death.After the phoenix cutscene, players will gain the Everburn buff and transitioninto the final phase.

Hephaistos introduces the following abilities in this phase:

• Aionagonia: Massive raid-wide magical damage that inflicts a bleedDoT for 6 seconds. Each cast of this gives Hephaistos a stack of a damage upbuff.
• Dominion: Massive raid-wide physical damage. Each cast of this givesHephaistos a stack of a damage up buff.
• Orogenic Deformation: Four players, two from each role, are targetedby a small AoE that inflicts an Earth Resistance Down debuff at the same timeas Dominion.
• Orogenic Shift: Four towers spread out from the middle to the Northedge of the arena, which must be soaked by one player each. This deals moderateearth damage, meaning that players hit by Orogenic Deformation cannot soakthese towers until their debuff runs out. There are two sets of OrogenicShift.

Once the phoenix cutscene transition ends, all players will gain the Everburnbuff, doubling their damage dealt. Death will remove this buff, making any deathextremely punishing in this phase. Be sure to have a mitigation plan in thisphase, as there is a high amount of incoming damage. Hephaistos will begin bycasting Aionagonia, so mitigate and heal through it. Each AoE cast giveshim a damage up buff, so save the strongest mitigation towards the end of thephase.

Next, the boss will cast Dominion. As this does physical damage, castersand healers will be hit harder so make sure to put mitigation on that helps them.Spread out to ensure that multiple players are not hit by Orogenic Deformation.To figure out which players are taking which tower from Orogenic Shift,supports will take the leftmost two towers and DPS will take the rightmost twotowers. Keep in mind that more than two towers can spawn on the same side.

The two players on each role that did not receive the Earth Resistance Downdebuff will take the two towers closer to their side. After soaking the tower,return to the middle. The other four players with debuffs can already be in thecentre and loosely spread in a line to make sure they know where which relativetower they will be soaking during the second set of Orogenic Shift. Aftersoaking the second set of towers, return to the middle to heal up.

The phase then repeats, with another cast of Aionagonia as well asanother cast of Dominion. Do this set the same as previously. Keep in mindthese hits will do more damage as Hephaistos will have more damage up buffs.Once the second set of towers are soaked, return to the middle and heal up thefinal Aionagonia of the phase.

At this point, Hephaistos will begin casting his enrage, Ego Death,over 15 seconds. After making sure the party survives the bleed DoT, DPS theboss down with your Everburn buff!

When Hephaistos is defeated, treasure coffers will appear depending on howmany players have already defeated the fight for the week. The first cofferwill contain a Abyssos Chest Gear Coffer and a random Abyssos Weapon, while thesecond one will contain a Abyssos Weapon Coffer, Sunforged Crystal, the WhiteStone Black Orchestrion Roll, and a Wind-Up Erichthonios minion. When openedby a player, these coffers contain gear for the job the player is currently on.

Players who defeat the encounter for the first time during the weekly reset willalso receive an Abyssos Mythos IV token. Eight of these can be tradedin for an Abyssos weapon or chest of your choosing at a Pandaemonium gear vendor.