Alexander - The Cuff of the Son (Savage)

Level: 60 (Sync: 60)
Item Level: 220
Difficulty: Normal

Party size: Full Party
8 man • 2 2 4
Unsyncing: Allowed
Time limit: 90 minutes
Phoenix Down: Not Available
Duty Finder: Savage Raids (Heavensward)
Tomestones: 15
Req. quest: A Refrain for the Undaunted
Location: The Cuff of the Son
Region: Dravania
Stone, Sky, Sea: Available
Patch: 3.2
The Echo: Permanent +20%

Sometimes even the most thrilling tale can benefit from slight embellishment, and the wandering minstrel's reimagining of your foray into Midas─while stretching the bounds of believability─proves to be even more invigorating than your memory of it. A memory you must relive in order to compare...

— In-game description

Alexander - The Cuff of the Son (Savage) is a level 60 raid introduced in patch 3.2 with Heavensward. Also known as A6S, it is the second section of Alexander: Midas (Savage).

Strategy

This is a gauntlet of four mini-bosses that must be defeated in a single run. If the party wipes, they will have to start back over at the beginning. As players progress, bosses will have increasingly dangerous attacks that are more likely to wipe the entire party if mishandled.

Once combat starts, players will have 10 minutes and 30 seconds to defeat all four bosses before "Auto-clean" is initiated, defeating all players with Final Judgement.

Note: Bosses have been changed since its initial implementation. Footage prior to April 13, 2016 may be out-of-date.

Blaster

The simplest of the four, this boss tests the party with individual skill tests and a minor DPS check.

Blaster Abilities
Name	Description
Brute Force	A physical damage tank-buster that inflicts a stack of Magic Vulnerability Up. Tanks should not swap for this fight.
Mind Blast	An interruptible cast that deals moderate damage to the entire party if successful.
Ballistic Missile	Spawns three mines in three of thirteen potential positions. These mines deal Magical Damage and thus can not be handled by the main tank. Two will be regular Minefields that explode and inflict Paralysis if stepped in. One will spawn on a random outer blue circle on the arena, and one will be on a Mirage (Mind Blast) spawn point. One will be a blue Hidden Minefield. After this mine drops, it will become invisible. This mine must be detonated by the off-tank or else it will wipe the party. Beware the knockback.
Mirage (Supercharge)	Four players are marked with purple arrows, then a Mirage drops on these players dealing damage in an AoE. These four Mirages will aim at a random direction and prepare to dash in a straight line. Any player hit will take high damage and suffer Damage Down for 60 seconds.
Mirage (Mind Blast)	Blaster disappears and five Mirages appear in the center, four small and one large. Each will begin casting a uninterruptible Mind Blast and must be killed before they succeed. Each successful Mind Blast deals party-wide damage and inflicts a stack of Damage Down for 60 seconds. These Mirages stagger their casts, the cast order being North, East, South, West, then finally Center. After all Mirages are defeated or finish their cast, the main tank will be marked with a purple arrow and Blaster will dive-bomb them to return to the arena.
Mirage (Tethers)	Four players are marked with purple arrows, then a Mirage drops on these players dealing damage in an AoE. Each Mirage will tether to a random player and do one of two attacks: If the Mirage's arms are up, it is casting Blinder. The player must face away from the Mirage to avoid taking high damage and a 60s Damage Down. If the Mirage's leaning forwards with its arms down, it is casting Power Tackle. The player must face towards it to avoid high damage and a 60s Damage Down.

The boss debuffs the main tank with a stacking Magic Vulnerability Up debuff regularly. This does not require a swap however, as the boss deals mostly Physical damage and Unique Damage.

Blaster has two phases. Phase one will progress via time, but will also end prematurely if Blaster is brought to 50% hp.

Blaster Rotation
Phase	Attack	Strategy
Phase 1	Brute Force	Heal the tank through this, but do not worry about tank swapping. The main tank should not be taking any magic damage at all.
	Mind Blast	Any player with an interrupt should attempt to stop this attack.
	Ballistic Missile	Pull the boss away from any mines and all players should move away from the blue Hidden Minefield. The off-tank should run into the hidden mine once no one is nearby, avoiding getting knocked back into other mines.
	Mirage (Supercharge)	Marked players should spread out to the edges. Once the Mirages land, move to safespots away from where any Mirages are facing.
	Brute Force x2
	Mirage (Mind Blast)	Will trigger early if brought to 50% HP. Kill the smaller Mirages first before attacking the larger one in the center, as it has significantly more health. Afterwards the main tank should move away from the group.
Loop	Mind Blast	Use your interrupts.
	Brute Force
	Ballistic Missile	Ensure the area around the blue mine is clear for the off-tank to explode.
	Brute Force
	Mirage (Tethers)	Spread out to the walls. If you get tethered, check the stance of your corresponding Mirage. If arms are up, look away. If arms are down, look towards it.
	Brute Force
	Mind Blast	Interrupt.
	Ballistic Missile	Ensure the area around the blue mine is clear for the off-tank to explode.
	Brute Force
	Mirage (Supercharge)	Marked players should spread out to the edges. Once the Mirages land, move to safespots away from where any Mirages are facing.
	Brute Force
Loop Repeat

Once Blaster is defeated, the path to the next boss will open. Players will remain in combat so Waymarks cannot be placed, nor can countdowns or ready checks be started.

The enrage timer will still be ticking down, so do not spend too long waiting for debuffs to expire.

Brawler

The off-tank with no Magic Vulnerability Up should tank this boss initially. Ensure the other tank has less than 30 seconds remaining on their Vulnerability before pulling Brawler to allow them to safely tank swap.

Brawler will test the party's movement as a group, requiring players to stand or move to specific areas frequently to minimize damage from attacks.

Brawler Attacks
Phase	Name	Description
Phase 1	Magicked Mark	A magic damage tankbuster that inflicts a stack of Magic Vulnerability Up. Tanks should swap after 2 stacks.
	Attachment	Brawler will attach one of four weapons two their arms. These attachments will rotate so that each is used once before repeating, but the order is random. Single Laser: Brawler casts Single Buster, a magic-damage tank-buster cleave. The main tank should stay away from other players. Double Laser: Brawler casts Double Buster, a huge magic-damage stack attack towards the main tank. The party should group with the tank. (If the off-tank has 3+ vulnerability stacks, they should avoid the group). Single Drill: Brawler shoots a Rocket Drill at one random player. This deals more damage the closer that player is to Brawler. All players should run to the edge away from the boss. Double Drill: Brawler casts Double Drill Crush, hitting the closest and farthest player with a large AoE that knockbacks and stuns other nearby players. Assign one ranged player to be far while the main tank stays close.
	Steam Chakram	Small red drones that fly in a circular path around the arena, shooting electricity directly below it regularly. Players stood under these drones will be inflicted with Paralysis for 30 seconds.
Phase 2	Power Plasma Alpha	A small pink orb that must be killed. If it reaches Brawler, will explode for moderate magic damage to the entire party and inflict Damage Down for 60 seconds.
	Power Plasma Gamma	A medium green orb that must burst by a tank, exploding into an AoE. If it reaches Brawler, will explode for moderate magic damage to the entire party and inflict Damage Down for 60 seconds. The tank with Magic Vulnerability Up should not burst these until their debuff expires.
	Power Plasma Beta	A giant orb that can not be killed and always spawns in a pair. One orb must be stunned to delay it so that both do not explode simultaneously.

Brawler has two phases: The first phase simply alternating between Magicked Mark and Attachment. Once Brawler hits 0.1% health, they will move to the center, spawning multiple waves of Power Plasma orbs and attacking with Attachment four times inbetween.

Note: Despite the shield Brawler puts around itself in phase 2, players are free to run in and through the center without harm.

Brawler Rotation
Phase	Attack	Description
Phase 1	Magicked Mark	Will add a stack of Magic Vulnerability Up to the tank. Swap at 2 stacks.
Phase 1	Attachment	Will rotate between one drill, two drills, one laser, and two lasers, but in a random order. Watch its hands and react accordingly.
Loop until 0% HP
Phase 2	Power Plasma Alpha x2 Power Plasma Gamma x2	The tank without any Magic Vulnerability Up should run into the Gamma orbs while other players kill the Alpha orbs. Brawler will use its first Attachment during this phase, so watch the center and react accordingly.
	Power Plasma Alpha x2 Power Plasma Gamma x1 Power Plasma Beta x2	Have the tank without debuffs run into the Gamma again. Mark one of the Beta orbs for the tanks to stun while DPS focus on the Alpha orbs. Brawler will not use an Attachment this wave, so focus on your assignments.
	Power Plasma Alpha x2 Power Plasma Gamma x1	The first Beta will explode during this wave, followed immediately by an Attachment. Healers must be ready to heal the entire party frequently. Once the Attachment is done, DPS can kill the Alpha orbs while tanks take care of the Gamma.
	Power Plasma Alpha x3 Power Plasma Gamma x1	Brawler will use an Attachment at the start and end of this wave. If DPS are unable to attack orbs due to Double Buster, a tank stun can be used on an Alpha orb to delay it. Brawler will end the phase with its final Attachment before shutting down.

Once Brawler uses its final attachment, it will run out of power and shut down, opening the path to the third boss.

Swindler

Swindler tests the party's ability to react and organize into groups of exact size. This boss will instantly kill players who don't follow its directions.

Swindler Attacks
Name	Description
Magicked Mark	A high magic-damage tank-buster. Healers will want to be on their toes.
Enumeration	One tank and one healer will be marked with a yellow circle that has two, three, or four orbs floating above it. The amount of orbs represents how many players must stand in that circle. If the wrong number of people are in the circle, all players inside will typically die— however surviving players would also be inflicted with Damage Down, Healing Magic Down, and HP Penalty.
Height	All players are assigned with either High Arithmetic or Low Arithmetic. Players on the height marked by their debuff will die and deal 3000 damage to their party. There are two easy methods to recognize which height is correct: The debuff icons themselves put a spiky Vulnerability symbol on the damaging height, so players should seek out which step in the debuff icon is clear. Raised squares will glow red like Low Arithmetic while lowered squares will remain dark. Players can match the red debuff to red squares and the purple debuff to dark squares to survive.
Bio-arithmetics	Unavoidable damage to the entire party.
Summon Goblins	Will summon a set of goblin enemies from Cuff of the Father and gain a stack of Vulnerability Down and Magic Damage Up for each living goblin. The extra enemies must be killed to remove Swindler's buffs.
Auxiliary Power	Gives every goblin in a 15y radius a stack of Damage Up and Vulnerability Down.

It is vital that the party is split into two groups, as it is possible for both the tank and healer to get an Enumeration circle of four players. The party should split into a group of two tanks and 2 DPS (melee) and a group of two healers and 2 DPS (ranged).

To minimize mistakes and misunderstanding of who is staying in or out of Enumeration, two rules are often employed:

If Enumeration is 2, only the healers/tanks stay in the circle.
If Enumeration is 3, the two DPS stay in the circle, with the unmarked healer/tank staying out.

To aid with the combination of Height and Enumeration attacks, the boss should be tanked on an intersection of squares to allow players of differing heights to group together.

Swindler Rotation
Phase	Attack	Strategy
Phase 1	Magicked Mark x2	Swindler's tank-buster hurts, so be sure to keep the main tank topped up on health.
	Height + Enumeration	Check how many orbs are in your groups Enumeration circle first and either enter or exit it depending on your role (DPS in for 3 or 4, healers/tanks in for 2 or 4).
	Bio-arithmetics	Be prepared to heal the group.
	Summon Goblins	Swindler will summon 9 Midan Soldiers, a Midan Hardhelm, a Midan Hardmind, and a Boomtype Gobwalker. After a couple seconds, these will aggro onto the main tank. This can be handled in two ways: The main tank uses an invulnerability, and a caster uses a Limit Break on the group. Other players should aim to stun/interrupt the Hardmind and Hardhelm to stop them from buffing the group. Once the enemies aggro onto the main tank, the off-tank pulls Swindler to the opposite side of the arena and both tanks use large mitigations. AoE the mobs down fast while stunning the Hardmind and Hardhelm.
	Magicked Mark	This will hit extremely hard due to the Magic Damage Up from the goblins.
	Auxiliary Power	If not using the Limit Break strategy, make sure Swindler is not near the goblins.
	Height	Will be cast by itself. Simply stand on the correct height. Enumeration will follow though, so if Swindler was brought away from the goblins, start making your way back towards them.
	Enumeration	Stack the correct number of people in the circles. Make sure the group didn't stray too far away from Swindler in case the tank gets a 4 stack.
	Magicked Mark
	Bio-arithmetics	Heal the group.
	Summon Goblins	Four Midan Gunners will appear, one on each cardinal direction. Every time they fire, they will gain a stack of Physical Damage Up. Have the off-tank grab aggro while DPS kill them as fast as possible. If Swindler has less than 5% health at this point, it's also possible to ignore the Gunners and simply focus on the boss.
	Auxiliary Power	Will buff any nearby gunners.
	Height
	Auxiliary Power
	Height + Enumeration	Check how many orbs are in your groups Enumeration circle first and either enter or exit it depending on your role (DPS in for 3 or 4, healers/tanks in for 2 or 4).
	Magicked Mark
	Bio-arithmetics
	Magicked Mark
Loop	Bio-arithmetics
	Magicked Mark x2
	Height + Enumeration	Check how many orbs are in your groups Enumeration circle first and either enter or exit it depending on your role (DPS in for 3 or 4, healers/tanks in for 2 or 4).
Loop Repeat

Once the Swindler is down, the final gate will open to the last boss of the four.

Vortexer

The most difficult of the four bosses, Vortexer will test the party in all prior aspects at once, wiping the group if they fail in any aspect. This is the culmination of your trials.

Vortexer Abilities
Name	Description
Brute Force	A high physical-damage tank-buster that inflicts stacks of Physical Vulnerability Up. Tanks should swap at 2 stacks.
Elemental Jammer	Inflicts a random DPS player with Compressed Water and another DPS with Compressed Lightning.
Compressed Lightning	A 20 second debuff that when expires, deals lightning damage to those nearby in an AoE. One random other player in this AoE will then get Compressed Lightning while the initial debuffed player gets Lightning Resistance Down II. If the debuffed player dies, or Compressed Lightning fails to pass to another player due to no one else being in the AoE, Vortexer will enrage and wipe the party.
Compressed Water	A 20 second debuff that, when expires, deals stack damage divided across all players nearby in an AoE. One random player in the stack will then get Compressed Water while the initial debuffed player gets Water Resistance Down II. After the debuff expires and damage goes out, a Water Spout will spawn where the debuffed player was standing, which must immediately be run away from. If there are less than 4 people in the stack or any player dies from the damage, Vortexer will enrage and wipe the party.
Water Spout	A tornado spawned where Compressed Water expires. Will tether to players in melee range and hit them with Drainage, a high damage knockback attack. If this kills a player, Vortexer will enrage and wipe the party. Can be frozen solid by Ice Missiles or destroyed by Fire Beams. Will also be destroyed by Ultra Flash. Will explode and wipe the group if none of the above happens.
Earth Missile + Fire Beam	Vortexer will place four lava puddles under random players, as well as target two random DPS, one healer, and one tank with red arrows, which will be shot with Fire Beams six seconds later. The Fire Beams deal damage in a line AoE from Vortexer to each marked player, requiring marked players to spread out. These fire beams will also destroy Water Spouts and Ice Blocks in their path. The lava puddles inflict Sludge and Heavy to those standing inside.
Ice Missiles	Two players are marked with ice rings. Six seconds later, patches of ice will drop where the marked players were standing. These ice patches will grow larger once before expiring. These ice patches will freeze the Water Spout if close enough together. Be careful, as the Water Spout will wipe the group if players get too close— the ice will have to be dropped a short distance away and left to grow.
Super Cyclone	A arena-wide knockback away from Vortexer. Deals minor damage.
Ultra Flash	A long cast that will instantly kill any player within line-of-sight of Vortexer. Can only be survived by standing behind an Ice Block created by freezing a Water Spout. This attack also clears all Elemental debuffs, including Compressed Water and Compressed Lightning and their respective Resistance Down. The Ice Block is also destroyed.

Vortexer must be handled very carefully and very specifically, as any misstep will more than likely cause an enrage and set the party all the way back to Blaster.

There will need to be multiple designated spots:

One spot to stack Earth Missiles (Center recommended)
One spot for the first Compressed Water to turn into an Ice Block (West recommended)
One spot for Compressed Lightning (East recommended)
One final spot for the second and third Compressed Water (North recommended)

A visual demonstration of Vortexer's fight.

Recommended placements would be to stack Earth Missiles dead center, Compressed Lightning on the east, first Compressed Water on the west, and second and third Compressed Water at the north.

The most difficult aspect of this boss is handling Compressed Water and Compressed Lightning efficiently. Only two players should be together for Compressed Lightning while the rest stack on the boss for Compressed Water.
Every time a player gets a Compressed debuff, that player will then get a matching Resistance Down that prevents them from taking that damage type again until the next Ultra Flash.
To start, one player (a healer is recommended) should be assigned as the Compressed Lightning first partner. All other players should stack on the boss for Compressed Water (except the off-tank, who should avoid the first stack. If the off-tank were to get unlucky and receive the debuff at this time, it would complicate the tank swap.)
That assigned player will then be inflicted with Compressed Lightning. The person that previously had Compressed Water will now be inflicted with Water Resistance Down II. Since they can't take another water attack, this player will instead be the next Lightning partner.
This will repeat one more time, with the final Compressed Lightning pair being both players with Water Resistance Down II. After this, Ultra Flash will clear any debuffs and loop back to the start of Vortexer's rotation.

Vortexer Rotation
Attack	Strategy
Brute Force	This attack hurts, so healers should keep the tank topped up.
Elemental Jammer	Keep an eye on who gets marked with Compressed Lightning. Having someone dedicated to marking them with Signs can be helpful. All players should start moving to stack for Earth Missile.
Earth Missile + Fire Beam	Stack together for Earth Missile, then spread out for Fire Beam.
Brute Force	Delay tank-swapping until after the Compressed debuffs resolve. The off-tank should avoid stacking for the first Compressed Water to ensure they don't immediately get the next debuff.
Compressed Water/Lightning	Make sure Compressed Lightning is standing with their assigned partner on the opposite side of the arena from where the Compressed Water stack is. All players near the boss should immediately run from the Water Spout. Tank swap here.
Ice Missiles	Drop the Ice Missiles slightly outside of melee range from the Water Spout, then run back to the group away from the ice patches.
Brute Force	The person with Water Resistance Down II should be moving to stack with Compressed Lightning away from the boss while the rest of the group moves to the second Water Spout location.
Compressed Water/Lightning	Boss should be away from the ice block and from the Compressed Lightning point. Afterwards, players should run towards the center to stack for Earth Missile.
Earth Missile + Fire Beam	At least one player should aim a Fire Beam at the Water Spout to destroy it (preferably the tanks), else it will wipe the party. Make sure no one points a Fire Beam at the Ice Block or the party will wipe to Ultra Flash later.
Super Cyclone	This will almost immediately be followed by the Compressed debuffs expiring, so players should aim to be knocked back to their designated spots.
Compressed Water/Lightning	Both players with Water Resistance Down II should be handling Compressed Lightning while the rest of the party is stacked for Compressed Water. Remember to run away from the Water Spout after.
Brute Force	Tank Swap.
Ultra Flash	Hide behind the Ice Block to avoid dying to this attack. The fight will now loop from the beginning until enrage or Vortexer is defeated.
Loop Repeat

Loot

Treasure Coffer 1

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Midan Head Gear Coffer (IL 240)	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Midan Hand Gear Coffer (IL 240)	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Midan Foot Gear Coffer (IL 240)	Other	N/A	ABasic	1

Treasure Coffer 2

Name	Type	Item Level	Rarity	Quantity
Midan Head Gear Coffer (IL 240)	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Midan Hand Gear Coffer (IL 240)	Other	N/A	ABasic	1
Midan Foot Gear Coffer (IL 240)	Other	N/A	ABasic	1

Music

Section	Theme
Main	Locus

Alexander - The Cuff of the Son (Savage)

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