Where Messengers Gather (Ulmia's Path)

Walkthrough

 * Talk to Hinaree in the Count's Manor in Southern San d'Oria (A-6).

5-3U1: Entanglement

 * Zone into Port San d'Oria for a cutscene.
 * Talk to Chasalvige in the manuscript room of the Northern San d'Oria cathedral, (L-6).

5-3U2: Head Wind

 * Talk to Kerutoto in the Rhinostery, Windurst Waters South (J-8). Note: This is the same NPC that gives you the key item for the uncapped Diabolos fight.  If you receive this cutscene first, talk to her twice afterwards to watch the correct cutscene to continue on with this mission.
 * Talk to Yoran-Oran in Yoran-Oran's Manor in Windurst Walls (E-5).

Boneyard Gully - Level 50 Cap BCNM

 * Head to Attohwa Chasm and on to Boneyard Gully. Once there, check the Dark Miasma for a cutscene and a level-50 BCNM battle (Head Wind).
 * There is a large ridge in the center of the Boneyard Gully and on the far side of the ridge are your three opponents: the Mithran Trackers Shikaree X, Shikaree Y, and Shikaree Z.
 * Shikaree X is a BST/NIN wielding two daggers. She calls Shikaree X's Rabbit.
 * Shikaree Y is a DRK/MNK wielding a Scythe. Be sure not to attack her from the front, as she can Counter.
 * Shikaree Z is a DRG/WHM wielding a Polearm. She calls Shikaree Z's Wyvern.


 * All three Trackers have a strong innate Meditate effect, causing incredibly high TP gain. They can use all standard Weapon Skills up to and including Level 240+ WSes (Evisceration, Spiral Hell, Impulse Drive). They will use these WSes rapidly, producing Skillchains in turn (even with themselves, in some cases).
 * Using a Blackened Muddy Siredon (obtained from the quest Mithran Delicacies) on the Trackers will remove their Meditate effect for an unknown amount of time.
 * The Trackers have about 2000 HP each; the pets have about 900.
 * Strategy tips:
 * The Trackers' hate works in a different manner than most other fights. It's not completely shared&mdash;they will attack different targets if they are Provoked by different players&mdash;but when they have TP for a weaponskill they all attack the same target so they can skillchain (They talk to each before doing this so you can Stun/Bind them to stop weaponskills connecting).
 * Their pets have normal hate rules, and can be kited away.
 * Sleep any Trackers and pets you aren't fighting to prevent Skillchains. Note that the Tracker you are fighting can wake the others up by talking to them.
 * Beastmaster pets and dragoon wyverns will not vanish when their masters fall. They must be defeated separately.
 * Shikaree X can resummon her pet.
 * Sleepga, when combined with Elemental Seal, can be of use on the Trackers.
 * Astral Flow is known to be an effective method to assist in clearing this battle. Two Astral Flow Blood Pacts are known to be enough to defeat both pets and leave the three Trackers with severe damage.
 * Drag the Trackers away from the arena; on a wipe, all enemies will return to their positions in the battlefield, leaving you to Reraise/Raise, rest to full, and return to fight remaining opponents. The Trackers will recover HP in the meantime, though any defeated Trackers or pets will remain defeated until the battle ends.
 * If you kill Shikaree Y and then wipe Shikaree Z's Wyvern will despawn
 * Highly damaging two hours, used in conjunction by your party damage dealers, is another good way to quickly improve your chances of winning. Hundred Fists, Meikyo Shisui, Mighty Strikes, Spirit Surge, and Eagle Eye Shot all used simultaneously at the beginning of a fight will quickly take down a mithra's low overall HP. The faster your party can take one out, the less liabilities you have to deal with. Invincible from a Paladin tank is a good way to make sure this method works at its full potential. By taking out at least one mithra, you have increased your chances of winning by at least 33% in the event of a wipe and reraise.
 * Note: It is not necessary to kill the pets. You only need to kill the 3 Mithra.

Bearclaw Pinnacle - Level 60 Cap BCNM

 * Head to Bearclaw Pinnacle from Uleguerand Range (J-9). Enter the BCNM.
 * Take as much time as you want to buff, Meditate, etc. The Snoll Tzar won't aggro until you enter the ice circle.
 * Once the Snoll Tzar aggroes you have 45 seconds to defeat it before it blows up. At 15 and 30 seconds it will grow in both actual size and in brute force of attacks. Once the 45 seconds are up, it will use a Hypothermal Combustion move that does heavy damage to everyone. If this happens, even if someone survives the blast, you lose, and are ejected from the BC.
 * If your party wipes before Snoll Tzar uses Hypothermal Combustion you will not be ejected from BC. You will either have to Raise and hope he does not aggro or you HP. Even if one of your party members HP's and returns he/she will not be able to re-enter BC to raise you. So it would be wise to fight near tunnel.
 * The Snoll Tzar's TP attacks are:
 * Arctic Impact: AoE ice damage (~275 each).
 * Cold Wave: Nasty AoE Frost (31 HP/tick).
 * Hiemal Storm: Extreme directional AoE ice damage (600-1400 to Paladin, be careful of this, one shotted our tank many times).
 * Berserk: Gives the Snoll Berserk. This makes the fight much easier, but is very rare.


 * The AoE attacks have a fairly small area, so it's not hard for mages to avoid them.
 * It is estimated that the Snoll Tzar has 9000 HP.
 * You can complete the quest Bombs Away! to obtain the Shu'Meyo Salt, which can be used to gain an additional 20 seconds.
 * Using the salt takes 12 seconds. At the end of this time you will see the message “The Snoll Tzar has begun to melt!”. 7 and 14 seconds later, you see "The Snoll Tzar is emitting a large amount of steam." Finally, 21 seconds after the first message you see “The Snoll Tzar shakes off the salt!”  The melting time does not count against you. You can use multiple salts in a given battle, but do not overlap their use.  Once you see the first message "The Snoll Tzar is emitting a large amount of steam." it is okay for the next person to begin using their salt.
 * Strategy tips:
 * Start using salts early. They take 12 seconds to use, so if you use them at the end you might run out of time before the item is actually used.
 * Time salt use with a player's usefulness in the battle. A WHM does not need to do much at the beginning so that person can go first, a SMN has to wait after their blood pact so that person can go second, etc. Note that the player using the salt will be unable to use abilities, spells or other items for approxamitely 9 seconds after the Snoll begins to melt.
 * Hate control is terribly important. If a BLM dies in the first 10 seconds you have basically no chance to win.
 * Don't panic and keep calm. This is one of the most tense missions in the game. Go over your plan and do some dry runs on normal enemies to get the proceedures down.
 * A Bard in the party makes a big difference. Soul Voice combined with Minuet II & III as well as Carnage Elegy makes the fight a lot easier. The Attack songs will give a tremendous boost to melee damage, and since staying alive long enough to do the damage is usually a problem in a DD heavy party, the Carnage Elegy is a big help.


 * Talk to Cid in Metalworks for a cutscene.
 * If Ulmia's Path is your final path to complete on mission 5-3, you will get an additional cutscene at Cid that leads into the next mission, if not, head to another fork.

Game Description

 * Mission Orders: Ulmia has journeyed to San d'Oria to search for any word on the whereabouts of Prishe.