Final Fantasy XIV Trail Strategy: Alexander – The Burden of the Father (A4)

As the culminating encounter of Alexander: Gordias, Alexander – The Burden of the Father (commonly referred to as A4) maintains consistent entry standards with preceding floors. Participants must achieve an average item level (ilvl) threshold of 170 or higher to access this challenging content. Unlocking A4 necessitates advancing through the complete quest chain and successfully clearing all previous Alexander instances, following a progression structure similar to the Coils of Bahamut series. This systematic approach ensures players develop the necessary mechanical awareness and coordination skills required for this demanding encounter.

Many groups underestimate the importance of proper gear preparation – while ilvl 170 is the minimum, aiming for ilvl 175+ significantly improves survivability during critical phases. The questline begins with ‘An Unexpected Ambition’ and progresses through ‘Gordias Awakening’ before reaching this final floor.

The Manipulator encounter unfolds across three distinct phases, with Phase 1 and Phase 2 focusing on systematic leg destruction while Phase 3 integrates all previously introduced mechanics into a comprehensive test of raid coordination.

Crucially, every boss ability generates splash damage, mandating strategic positioning where ranged combatants spread widely while melee specialists distribute evenly around their assigned targets. Teams must concentrate firepower on a single leg simultaneously, as the remaining leg will completely regenerate health if its counterpart is eliminated first.

Throughout the engagement, The Manipulator will periodically mark players for substantial area-of-effect damage. Additionally, the encounter will select one DPS and the off-tank for ‘Quarantine’ status, transporting them through specialized piping to an isolation chamber where they must eliminate one additional enemy before rejoining the primary battle. Critical note: fatalities within the quarantine zone prevent any resurrection attempts, making survival paramount.

Leg selection order remains flexible – coordinate with your raid team to establish preference based on composition and strategy. A common mistake is splitting damage between legs, which wastes significant DPS and prolongs the dangerous phase unnecessarily.

A randomly designated party member will display a blue orb marker above their character. Shortly thereafter, multiple orbs emerge from the arena perimeter and advance toward the marked player. Team members must intercept these orbs to trigger controlled detonations that mitigate splash damage. While DPS and healing roles can safely absorb one or two orbs, the off-tank and main tank (contingent on the MT’s current health pool) should claim the majority to optimize raid safety.

Following the initial leg’s destruction, The Manipulator becomes temporarily vulnerable, providing a narrow window to maximize damage output. Ensure critical cooldowns remain available for this burn phase. After this brief period, the boss regains invulnerability and executes raid-wide area damage, signaling the transition to Phase 2.

Phase 2 eliminates the orb mechanics while introducing two new complex elements that test raid awareness and reaction speed.

Three untargetable adds materialize and designate a single player with distinctive orange targeting beams. At minimum, two of these laser trajectories must be intercepted by additional raid members before the adds discharge their attacks. The targeted individual should cease movement since the beams track their position, and avoid receiving multiple hits simultaneously.

Essential directive: eliminate these adds immediately upon appearance. Do not complete any active ability combinations on the boss during this critical period. Advanced groups often assign specific interceptors for laser duty, with healers and ranged DPS being ideal candidates due to their mobility and positioning flexibility.

The laser interception timing is precise – waiting too long results in fatal damage, while moving too early can cause misalignment. Practice timing the interception to occur just before the laser fires for optimal results.

The final phase represents the ultimate test of raid coordination, combining all previously encountered mechanics from both Phase 1 and Phase 2 into a demanding symphony of coordinated execution.

During Phase 3, teams must simultaneously manage orb collection, laser interception, quarantine protocols, and strategic leg targeting. This requires exceptional communication and role awareness, with each member understanding their specific responsibilities during overlapping mechanic sequences.

The key to success lies in establishing clear priority systems: laser adds always take precedence over boss damage, quarantine survival outweighs all other concerns, and orb management remains critical for raid-wide survival. Groups that master this phase typically complete the encounter within 2-3 minutes of entering Phase 3.

Optimal execution involves pre-assigning positions for orb collection, designating laser interceptors, and establishing emergency protocols for unexpected mechanic overlaps.

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