Gilgamesh is back, and he’s not alone this time. His ever-faithful partner Enkidu (or at least a Primal that resembles her) is makes her first actual appearance in Final Fantasy 14 after a long while, and the duo is ready to cause some havoc and give the Warrior of Light some more problems.
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The rematch with the honorable warrior happens in the Battle in the Big Keep Trial, a direct follow-up to the previous encounter with him. Gilgamesh is not holding anything back this time, so don’t pull any punches this time either, as his extra arms can be a bit much to handle.
How To Unlock Battle In The Big Keep
The second fight with Gilgamesh is unlocked at the climax of the Hildibrand Adventures quests, during the Her Last Vow quest. This happens halfway through the quest, and the duty will automatically be added to your Duty Finder once you reach the correct step.
Battle in the Big Keep is a Level 50 Trial, with a minimum Item Level of 90.
While it normally requires a whole traditional party of eight people, you can also use the Unrestricted Party option to enter with less people, but with no level restrictions. This might be the optimal way these days, as it will usually take a very long time to find a party for this using the Duty Finder.
Battle In The Big Keep Guide
If you thought that the first Gilgamesh fight was messy, get ready to see the real deal here. He’s bringing a lot of new tricks to the battlefield this time, and is also partnered with Enkidu for a certain portion of the fight. You’ll have to fight both of them at once during the first phase, and Gilgamesh will unleash his full might upon you once he’s cornered.
We can separate this fight into two separate phases, with Gilgamesh and Enkidu both sharing the spotlight during the first. Below you’ll find all of their moves. Gilgamesh particularly uses a lot of the same tricks he used in the first battle.
|
Attack |
Type |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Aero II |
Targeted AoE |
Enkidu launches a wind blast at a random target, also hitting all players around them. Avoid stacking so you won’t take double damage from this. |
|
Web |
Single-target |
Applies Slow and Heavy to random players, which can be removed with Esuna or similar effects. |
|
Eerie Soundwave |
Cone AoE |
Targets a random player with a conal AoE, with some time for them to dodge. |
|
White Wind |
Heal |
Restores HP to Gilgamesh. |
|
Missile |
Target AoE |
Marks a player, then launches a missile that damages them for half of their current health. |
|
Pradamante |
Circle AoE |
Attacks all players around him with his spear. Untelegraphed, but doesn’t deal much damage. |
|
Whirlwind Slash |
Circle AoE |
Similar to Pradamante (his untelegraphed AoE), but with a cast bar. |
|
Bitter End |
Cleaving Tankbuster |
Gilgamesh sweeps the area in front of his main target. Must be mitigated. Avoid being in front of him if you’re not a tank. |
|
Minimum |
Special |
Just like in the first fight, Gilgamesh reduces two players’ size with Mini and links them with a tether. Walk up to your partner to return to normal. |
|
Chicken |
Special |
Gilgamesh turns players into chickens. Various players can become chickens at once, including healers, so be careful. Chickens return to normal after a few seconds, but they should touch the tornados around the room. |
|
Woken Wind |
Special |
Tornados appear around the room, knocking up and damaging players severely if they touch them. If chickens touch the tornados, they won’t take damage and the tornado disappears. They’re still knocked up, though. |
|
Turbulence |
AoE |
Gilgamesh explodes any remaining tornadoes, causing huge damage to the whole party. Can lead to a few deaths if people are at low health. |
Focus your attacks on Enkidu, while one of the tanks keeps Gilgamesh busy. This phase ends as soon as Enkidu is defeated, causing Gilgamesh to flee once again.
But this time, when you meet him again, he’ll come at you with his full power, transforming into his definitive form for this battle.
During the second phase, Gilgamesh uses some of the same attacks from before, with notable additions.
|
Attack |
Type |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Icewind |
Special |
Gilgamesh creates ice lines on the floor, leaving only small squares as safe spots. Dodge to the safe squares as needed. |
|
Enchain |
Special |
Gilgamesh targets a healer and, after a few seconds, locks them down in chains. The healer must go as far as possible from Gilgamesh, and players must break the chain to release them. Staying near Gilgamesh makes the chain more resistant to damage. Kills the target with Hell’s Gate if they’re not freed. |
|
Swords Dance |
Cleaving Tankbuster |
Multi-hit attack on the main target. Don’t stand in front of Gilgamesh if you’re not a tank. |
|
Moonlight |
Room AoE |
Hits the whole arena, with safe spots being the lower parts of the arena without the faint glow. |
|
Dragon’s Head |
Special |
Summons four Dragon Heads around the arena. Each of them uses Dragonfire (Line AoE), and will explode with Dragonstrike if they’re not killed in time. |
|
Bloomshower |
Arena AoE |
Various purple AoEs appear throughout the arena. Find the safe spot between them. |
|
Lightning Orbs |
Orb AoE |
Summons various orbs either around him or at the arena borders, leaving the opposite zone as a safe area. He always does it twice in a row, hitting the opposite zone at the second time. |
|
Giga Jump |
Special |
Gilgamesh jumps into a random player, causing AoE damage around the target. Immediately after, he dashes back to the main tank with Masamune. |
While it’s a lot more to digest, this phase is quite easy to understand, with the only real issue being the Dragon Heads. Players must focus them down as soon as they appear to avoid massive damage. Don’t worry if you can’t bring them all down, but try to take out at least two or three before they explode.
The chains can also be a problem if the healer stands too close to Gilgamesh. Fortunately, there’s a lot of time for everyone to break them out, so don’t stand waiting and help your teammate. It won’t be long until Gilgamesh is, once again, defeated. This time for good.
Battle In The Big Keep Rewards
Similar to Battle at the Big Bridge, the second Gilgamesh fight does have some unique drops. While the main prize is still being able to continue the amazing Hildibrand Adventures quests, the following items can be obtained after the fight:
- Enkidu Minion
- Faded Copy of Battle on the Big Bridge
- Bartz Klauser Card
The Orchestrion Roll and the Triple Trial card are automatically added to your inventory, but are not a guaranteed drop. Enkidu always appears in the final chest, and it’s untradeable, so you can only get it from here.
Another notable side rewards are Eerie Soundwave, Missile, and White Wind skill for Blue Mages. These abilities are used by Enkidu during the first phase, and the last two are some of the most powerful spells for the Limited Job.
To learn them, you need to enter as Blue Mage and then proceed to learn them normally, which can be done as soon as you clear the trial once.
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