On this page you can find all the details needed to defeat Anima, the final boss in the Level 83 Dungeon, The Tower of Babil in Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker. Details on the mechanics along with how to tank and heal.

Mechanics Phase One¶

Lunar Nail¶

Anima will drop multiple nails over the arena before a tether links them together. Any of the nails that form a square will then have an AoE so you should position yourself where in a quadrant that is safe.

Mega Graviton¶

This is an arena-wide AoE that will hit all players for light damage and summon three Void Orbs in the corners of the room. Simply heal through this with a Regen or Shield.

Pater Patriae¶

This is a simple line-AoE that serves more as a distraction due to the Void Orbs. At the same time, all players will be tethered to one of the Void Orbs, taking damage-over-time (DoT) if you remain close to it. You must move to the opposite side of your Void Orb; this will be reflected by the arrow becoming thinner to designate you’re the correct distance away. Shortly after this, all players will be pulled towards their Orb and if they’re not far enough away, will take damage and gain Vulnerability.

Boundless Pain¶

Once finished casting, Anima will pull the party to the center of the arena and use a devastating continuous beam on you, dealing large chunks of damage while you remain in its vicinity. Once you’ve been pulled in, run to the corners to avoid taking major damage.

Imperatum¶

Anima will stun all players and drag them down below the ground to face its lower half, starting Phase Two.

Mechanics Phase Two¶

During Phase Two, there will be a Chaos Gauge that fills up over time, you’ll need to defeat the lower half of Anima before this is full to prevent a wipe.

Obliviating Claw¶

Anima will summon multiple claws along the western edge of the arena, before another set on the eastern edge. Position yourself in between these Claws as they will then fire off a line-AoE across the arena. Don’t pause after the first set and turn your camera to find a safe spot in the eastern edge as they will soon activate following the first.

Coffin Scratch¶

Two players will be marked with a circular AoE with arrows on it. Once finished casting, Anima will summon claws underneath the player that will track their movement. Both players should avoid the rest of the party and avoid crossing paths while keeping on the move.

Erupting Pain¶

All players will receive a circle-AoE marker, simply spread out to avoid the damage overlapping.

Oblivion¶

This is Anima’s ultimate attack and will trigger once you defeat him in his second phase, dealing damage to the entire party based on how full the Chaos Gauge is. Be sure to group up and use Heals, Shields, and defensive cooldowns to limit the damage. Should you not defeat Anima before the Chaos Gauge reaches 100, he’ll use Oblivion and it will KO the entire party. Following Oblivion, you will return to phase one until Anima is defeated.

Strategy¶

Like the previous final boss battle against The Magus Sisters, this one can become quite chaotic the first time you face it and are learning the mechanics, some of them can cause a wipe if you’re not careful, especially if the Healer is caught out. Anima will always begin the battle with Lunar Nail, this will place multiple nails around the arena and then a tether will form around some of them, creating quadrants. These quadrants will then explode so look for the nails that don’t form a square with their tethers and stand there to avoid it.

Mega Graviton will follow soon after, this may seem like a simple group wide AoE, but if you look carefully, you’ll spot Void Orbs have been summoned in the corners of the arena. Heal up from the AoE and then pay attention to which Void Orb you’re tethered to. You’ll need to run to the opposite end of where your Void Orb is, and the line will become thinner once you’re the correct distance away from it. While you’re moving about, Anima will use Pater Patriae, a line-AoE, so make sure you avoid it while keeping away from your Void Orb. Once Pater Patriae finishes, you’ll be pulled towards your Void Orb, taking damage and Vulnerability stacks should you be pulled inside.

Anima’s final attack for its first phase is Boundless Pain, this will take a while to cast but once it is completed, all players will be pulled to the center and a massive AoE will go off, slowly spreading out and dealing continuous bursts of damage to those caught in it. As soon as you’re pulled in, dash out of it and into a corner to limit the damage you take. This is critical for the Healer, who can easily be killed here if they’re not quick enough to react. Anima will begin casting Imperatum following this, disabling all party members and dragging them into its dimension for phase two.

The first thing you’ll notice here is the Chaos Gauge, this will slowly increase to 100 throughout this phase and you’ll need to defeat the lower half of Anima before it reaches 100 to avoid a wipe. Obliviating Claw is Anima’s most common attack here, it will begin by summoning claws along the western and eastern edges of the arena, with gaps in the lines that designate a safe spot. Pay attention to which side appears first and get into position to avoid the line-AoE that follows, then turn to face the other side and do the same, you’ll need to be quick here.

After using Obliviating Claw for the first time, you’ll find two players are marked with a circular-AoE with arrows on it. Both players need to move away from the other two party members and get ready to keep moving as Anima will use Coffin Scratch and have claws track both players so be sure to avoid overlapping both markers. At any point during this phase, Anima can use Erupting Pain, this will target all party members with a circular AoE, simply split apart to avoid spreading the damage.

Once you defeat Anima’s lower half, you’ll return to the arena above and the mechanics from phase one will repeat until its defeat. There are a lot of mechanics that can trip you up in this battle, but so long as you don’t get caught up in Boundless Pain for too long and deal with the lower half quick enough, you should be able to slay Anima.

How to Tank¶

Anima can’t be moved around the arena, so it doesn’t matter where you stand to tank it. You’ll want to avoid getting too many (ideally zero) stacks of Vulnerability, that means ensuring you complete every mechanic. The biggest responsibility for a Tank however is during Phase Two, you’re likely to have the Coffin Scratch marker on you and it’s imperative you don’t overlap or bring it to where the Healer is standing to avoid a wipe.

How to Heal¶

Anima is a pretty simple boss to heal as there isn’t too many heavy hitting attacks, so as long as everyone dodges the mechanics and you’re keeping Regen or Shields on everyone throughout the battle, then it should out heal some of Anima’s Attacks, such as Pater Patriae and Mega Graviton. However, Phase 2 is where you need to be ready to heal, as there’s a lot more mechanic’s going on, so people are more likely to get hit. Keep Regan or Shields on everyone and be group heal if people take a large amount of damage. Finally, Anima will perform Oblivion which is his ultimate attack, so you’ll want to make sure everyone has Regan and Shields, then group heal multiple times to avoid losing too much health.