FFXIV Arcadion M3 guide – Brute Bomber boss skills and strategy

Commit this Brute Bomber boss skills list to memory and you should have no trouble avoiding the burn of the Arcadion M3 bout. It’s the third fight in the first FFXIV Dawntrail Arcadion raid.

Playing out like a wrestling match complete with staff assaults and dramatic twists, everything Brute Bomber does it intended to stun you long enough for the burns to finish you off. Keep your cool and you’ll be able to avoid nearly everything this man chucks at you.

Brute Bomber skills

• Brutal Impact | A series of quick raid-wide damage for around 30,000 HP each
• Brutal Lariat | Rushes from one side of the area to the other, targeting 70% of it from the side of his outstretched arm. Stuns.
  • Lariat Combo | Used during Doping Drought phase. Second Lariat doesn’t also come from the opposite side of the first.
• Barbarous Barrage | Four knockbacks
• Fire Spin | Gradual 360-degree conal attack
  • Becomes Infernal Spin during Doping Drought, adding cascading ring/donut attacks
• Murderous Mist | 270-degree conal attack everywhere but the user’s rear
• Fuses of Fury | Summons bombs with two lengths of fuses
• Doping Drought | Signals a phase shift
  • Modifies attacks like Brutal Impact, Brutal Lariat, and Brutal Burn.
• Brutal Burn | Stack marker
• Knuckle Sandwich | Stacked tank buster

Arcadion M3 Strategy | How to beat Brute Bomber

Phase 1 | A Fair Fight

Brute Bomber quickly introduces you to his main attacks before shifting into his one real phase. The first ability, Brutal Impact, hit the team for small raid-wide damage four times rather than in one huge go.

Brutal Lariat comes soon after. For this, just watch for which arm he outstretches. Run to the far opposite side. It has a wider range than you’d think. The first instance of Barbarous Barrage has no real risk attached. Just stay within the area of the four bombs and you won’t get pushed far enough to land outside the arena. Keep in mind that you’ll need to position yourself to be pushed into a safe zone during this later in the fight.

For Fire Spin, you can make things easier by positioning yourself on the opposite side of the first attack’s rotation indicator. He won’t hit the same area twice, so you can just step into the first attack’s location as it resolves and wait the rest out. There’s no need to run with it this time.

Lastly, you’ll see Fuses of Fury. Covering the whole stage with bombs with short and long-fused bombs, it’s the short-fused ones that blow up first.. Just stand under a long-fused bomb and shift over to a short-fused one as it blows.

Phase 2 | Doping Drought

After chugging some illegal substances and vandalizing Refbot, Brute Bomber whips out the same skills with some added effects:

• Brutal Lariat is performed twice in succession for Lariat Combo. He can hit the same side twice.
• Fire Spin now requires you to run around the breath while weaving in and out as three-tier ground rings blow, culminating in large drop markers.
• Brutal Impact now hits around six times rather than four.

He’ll perform these familiar attacks in rapid succession. Healers need to stay on their toes to deal with unavoidable party damage from Brutal Burn and Burtal Impact, which can easily kill those weakened by any of the previous attacks.

Things don’t let up, either. Fuses of Fury can be combined with Lariat Combo, rendering the side covered by his arm unsafe for the duration. Here’s how to deal with that:

Fuses of Fury + Lariat Combo

• Short-fuse bombs explode first
• Long-fuse bombs explode as Lariat resolves.

Stay under a long-fuse bomb on either side of the Lariat. Move to the spot previously occupied by a short-fuse bomb on the opposite side of the Lariat once the first bombs explode. Move away from the second lariat if needed.

After some more Brutal Impact blows and the stacking tank buster that is Knuckle Sandwich, he’ll combine Fuses of Fury with the Barbarous Barrage knockback.

Fuses of Fury + Barbarous Barrage

• Aim to get knocked under a long-fused bomb
  • The knockback is big. Choose the knockback bomb the furthest from your desired final location to avoid landing in the fire.
• Move over to the usual short-fused bomb location after it explodes.

Following that, Brute Bomber brings out the hard-hitting party attacks. Stack for Brutal Burn and prepare for hits of Brutal Impact right after. This is a rough heal check if the previous attack caught anyone out, with a Knuckle Sandwich coming in an attempt to finish the high-HP tanks off for good.

Now presumably on death’s door, Brute Bomber will alternate between his doped-up Fire Spin and the Fuses of Fury/Lariat Combo, mixing in the Brutal Burn/Impact/Knuckle Sandwich barrage between each. It’s a race against the healer’s mana.