The First Circle (Savage) Raid Guide (2024)

Last updated on Jan 11, 2021 at 12:00by Lyra1 comment

This guide aims to prepare players for Asphodelos: The First Circle (Savage)by providing detailed explanations of the fight's mechanics, as well asconsistent strategies for the purpose of farming.

Nemjiji sequesters you in Aporia for what she insists will be a simple sessionof dictation, but what the glint in her eye promises will be so much more.Whether or not her written account of your triumph over Erichthonios at theGates of Pandaemonium will be strictly veracious...well, a little creativitynever hurt anyone, right?

The First Circle (Savage) can be unlocked at level 90 after completing theNormal difficulty of the Asphodelos raid and talking to Nemjiji in Labyrinthos(x8.4, y27.4). It requires a minimum item level of 570 to queue, but thisrequirement can be bypassed when entering with a full party.

This encounter has a hard enrage of 10:20 and has a DPS check of roughly 39,700raid DPS.

All players should be assigned a clock spot.

• Heavy Hand: A tank buster on the main tank which deals physical damage.
• Warder's Wrath: Moderate raidwide magic damage.
• Gaoler's Flail: Two weapons will be brought out in succession. Erichthonioswill do two mechanics in succession based on what weapons were used in which order.
  • Sickle: A 270 degree cleave on the side in which the sickle was brought out.
  • Morningstar: A point-blank AoE.
  • Chakram: A donut AoE.
• Pitiless Flail of Grace: Knocks the main tank back, dealing moderatedamage and inflicting a magic vulnerability debuff. Afterwards, the player firston the enmity list will have a group stack, forcing a tank swap.
• Pitiless Flail of Purgation: Knocks the main tank back, dealing moderatedamage and inflicting a magic vulnerability debuff. Afterwards, the player firston the enmity list will have a flare marker, forcing a tank swap.
• Aetherial Shackles: Marks a random player with Shackles of Loneliness (red)and a random player with Shackles of Companionship (purple). Once these debuffs expire,they will inflict the player with Inescapable Loneliness and Inescapable Companionship,respectively.
  • Inescapable Loneliness: The marked red player and the three furthestplayers will have a large AoE on them.
  • Inescapable Companionship: The marked purple player and the three closestplayers will have a small AoE on them.
• Intemperance: The arena is divided into nine sections with three Spell Crystalseach. These crystals will explode in order starting from the top or bottom, depending onif Erichthonios raises or lowers his hand. As the crystals explode, players will beinflicted with Hot Spell (fire), Cold Spell (ice), or be killed with Disastrous Spell(purple). If no player is on a section with Hot Spell or Cold Spell, all playerswill take extra damage and a damage down debuff.
  • Hot Spell: deals light damage and inflicts players with the Hot Spell debuff.If they already have the Hot Spell debuff, they will take massive damage and receive a damagedown debuff.
  • Cold Spell: deals light damage and inflicts players with the Cold Spell debuff.If they already have the Cold Spell debuff, they will take massive damage and receive a damagedown debuff.
• Intemperate Torment: Erichthonios commands the crystals to start explodingfrom top to bottom or bottom to top depending on if his hand is raised or lowered.
• Shining Cells: Massive raidwide damage. Additionally, this changes the arena to adifferent layout.

The encounter mainly consists of three different phases. The shacklesand elements mechanics are introduced in phase one and expanded on in later parts ofthe fight. The goal is to resolve these mechanics in a way that does not wipethe raid.

The fight begins with a tank buster, Heavy Hand, which needs to bemitigated by the main tank. Immediately after is the first Aetherial Shacklesof the fight. This mechanic is solved by each player standing at their clock spot, withintercardinal players outside of the boss's hitbox and cardinal players on thevery inside. However, if an outside player is inflicted with Inescapable Companionshipor an inside player is inflicted with Inescapable Loneliness, they will need toswap positions with the player directly clockwise of their clock position. If thereis a swap, players must stay in their new position until the mechanic is resolved.

Gaoler's Flail is a mechanic that will appear many times throughout thefight, and it will later be combined with other mechanics, meaning the beginning of thefight is a good time to learn it. One of the combinations is two Sickles, requiring players togo left to right or right to left inside the boss's hitbox. The other combinationis Morningstar and Chakram, which requires players to go in then out or out then in.

The boss will use either Pitiless Flail of Grace or Pitiless Flail of Purgatoryafter. The main tank needs to position themselves not to get knocked back intothe wall, and the off-tank needs to provoke during the tank buster. If the mechanic wasGrace, the off-tank (now main tank) needs to stand with the party in thecenter, and if the mechanic was Purgatory, they need to run far away from both theparty and the other tank.

Another Gaoler's Flail and Warder's Wrath will follow this.Erichthonios will then cast Intemperance. This will be the first elementsphase of the fight. Players will have to first head to their clock spot on theoutside of the arena to soak a Hot Spell or Cold Spell. Theywill then have to note the final element of their Spell Crystals. All playerswill have to "fix" their debuff so that they have the opposite one of the thirdcrystal. This is done by using the north crystal, middle crystal, or southcrystal on the second set of crystal explosions. Finally, all players shouldreturn to their clock spot to soak the third crystal.

The boss will cast several Warder's Wraths during this sequence. Inaddition, sometimes the north player, usually a tank, has to soak a crystal ofthe same color. To remedy this, the player north and the player northeast shouldstart on their square, but fix their debuff and swap places with each other forthe third explosion. This will prevent any damage downs.

After another Pitiless Flail, the boss will then cast Shining Cells,transitioning into the second phase. This deals heavy damage, meaning party mitigationis necessary.

• Aetherchain: Erichthonios summons red orbs and white orbs. Red orbsmean the red sections of the arena will explode, while white orbs mean thewhite sections of the arena will explode.
• Aetherflail: Erichthonios will use Aetherchain, one SickleGaoler's Flail, and one Morningstar or Chakram Gaoler's Flail.Players need to be on the left or right of the arena, inside or outside of theboss's hitbox, and on red or white.
• Shackles of Time: Erichthonios inflicts a random player with theShackles of Time debuff. All players standing on the same color as that playerwhen the debuff expires will take damage and a heavy DoT.
• Slam Shut: Deals heavy raidwide damage. This also changes the arena back toits original form.
• Fourfold Shackles: Erichthonios inflicts four players with Shacklesof Loneliness and four players with Shackles of Companionship, previously seenin Aetherial Shackles. Each of these debuffs starts with a differentduration: 3 seconds, 8 seconds, 13 seconds, or 18 seconds.

Erichthonios starts this phase with an Aetherflail. For example, if itis white orbs, left Sickle, and Morningstar, players will have to be outsidethe boss's hitbox, on the right side of the arena, and on a red panel. AnotherPitiless Flail of Grace or Pitiless Flail of Purgatory followsthis. The tank needs to ensure they are close to the center to not get knockedback into the wall.

Another Aetherflail is followed by Shackles of Time. The playerdebuffed should plant on a spot, and all other players need to be standing on the oppositecolor. Mitigate Heavy Hand and Slam Shut. Afterwards is the secondshackles phase.

Fourfold Shackles is cast next. This can be resolved by all playersmoving to the correct spot and staying there for every debuff resolution.Players marked with Shackles of Loneliness will need to go to the outsideintercardinals based on their debuff duration going clockwise. Players markedwith Shackles of Companionship will need to go on the inside cardinals based ontheir debuff duration, again going clockwise. See the diagram posted below fordetails.

Afterwards, heal up. The final elements phase will begin. For this one, afterthe second set of crystals explode, Erichthonios will do a Gaoler's Flailwith Morningstar and Chakram weapons. Therefore, players will have to go in thenout or out then in before going to their final crystal spot. Otherwise, it isdone exactly the same as the first one. After the elements phase, anotherWarder's Wrath and Shining Cells is cast, transitioning into thelast phase of the fight.

Erichthonios does not gain any new abilities in this phase. There are two setsof mechanics Erichthonios can cast, and they will be cast one after the other.

The first set is a Shackles of Time into a Pitiless Flail of Graceor Pitiless Flail of Purgatory. Players will have to resolve the PitilessFlail mechanic and ensure the debuffed player is standing on the opposite colorof all other players.

The second set is an Aetherial Shackles with two Aetherchains.Players will do Aetherial Shackles exactly like the first one in the fight,swapping with another player if necessary. However, they will also have to bestanding on the correct colored ground section for both Aetherchain casts.

Finally, Erichthonios will cast three Aetherflails and three Warder'sWraths before enraging with a Lethe, which finishes when the fightduration reaches 10:02.

When Erichthonios is defeated, treasure coffers will appear depending on howmany players have already defeated the fight for the week. The first cofferwill contain a random Asphodelos Accessory Coffer, while the second one willcontain two random Asphodelos Accessory Coffers. When opened by a player, these cofferscontain an Asphodelos Accessory for the job the player is currently on.

Players who defeat the encounter for the first time during the weekly reset willalso receive an Asphodelos Mythos I token. Four of these can be tradedin for an Asphodelos accessory of your choosing at a Pandaemonium gear vendor.