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Walkthrough
- Trade some crystals to activate this mission. (3 stacks is what it took for me.)
- After accepting this mission from any gate guard, go speak to the President for a cutscene.
- Form a full level 50+ party and travel to Xarcabard and on to Castle Zvahl Baileys.
- You do not need a full party, if you bring players at or near level 75. It's recommended to at least have a melee fighter and a mage, however.
- Note: there is no cutscene upon entering Castle Zvahl Baileys or Castle Zvahl Keep. The next cutscene is when you start the fight.
- Upon zoning into Castle Zvahl Baileys, go straight until you encounter the first intersection and make a left. Go down a small flight of stairs and then turn right and follow the left wall and you will enter the Beastmen section of the castle, finding Orcs first.
The following is a bit confusing, it needs to be fixed.
- Go through the area by going left, then turning a sharp right to go up the stairs. Stay on the upper area and move right. You will start to see Yagudo. Continue forward, and, keeping to the upper area, make your way to the right. You will find Quadav in this corner. Do not continue on to the Goblin area. When you reach the Quadav, keep going straight, and go down the stairs. Head to the right, and try to make your way south, towards the center of the room. You should enter a room, and find the pathway that leads west, to the zone for Castle Zvahl Keep.
- Once you enter Castle Zvahl Keep, you will have to open several gates, very often in front of mobs that detect on sight.
- You will encounter a series of teleport devices. These devices will cancel the Invisible effect after they are used. Once you use the last device, run to the west exit of the map where you will find a zoneline to the Throne Room.
- When ready, gather in front of the door go inside and head to the Burning Circle. When you enter, a cutscene will happen and the fight begins:
- This fight is level capped at level 75, which means buffs will wear upon entry.
- You have 30 minutes to complete this battlefield event.
- The Shadow Lord does not attack until you approach, so cast the prefight buffs before getting closer.
- The Shadow Lord has 2 phases:
- In the first phase, he alternates between physical and magic immunity. He has magic immunity until around 50% HP, then starts to switch to physical. From this point he will switch about every 5 minutes or 1000 damage.
- When he's immune to magical damage (his magic stance), he will mainly cast BLM spells such as elemental debuffs and tier 2 AoE nukes. He also has a weaponskill, Dark Nova (AoE dark damage).
- Dark Nova seems to indicate that he will switch to melee stance very soon, after casting a spell or two. So use your TP quickly.
- When he's immune to physical damage (his melee stance), he uses a variety of weaponskills: Giga Slash, Kick Back, Umbra Smash. Mages should start dealing magical damage during this stance. Monks can use Formless Strikes to bypass the immunity.
- After the first phase is defeated, a brief cutscene will occur as he switches to phase two. He will immediately attack after this cutscene, so there's no time for rest.
- In this phase, the Shadow Lord will do nothing but his Implosion attack. This attack hits everyone in the battlefield, but he only has 4000 HP and should go down quickly, however.
- Melees should use their two-hour abilities, and Icarus Wing, if possible, to have TP for their best weaponskill. Mages should cast their Curaga spells, and try to keep Stoneskin (and Phalanx, if available) up.
- Since hate is mostly irrelevant in this phase, mages should feel free to spam spells.
- The battle ends after the second phase. The Shadow Lord gives experience points for a Level 60 mob.
- After the Shadow Lord is defeated, another cutscene occurs. Once the cutscene ends, you will be transported back to the entrance of Castle Zvahl Baileys. You will also receive the key item Shadow Fragment.
- Note: At this point, you can now take Lion's offer and visit Norg to begin the Zilart missions. In addition, you may later return to Xarcabard for the initial cutscene to begin Dynamis.
- Report back to the President for another cutscene.
Strategy
- This fight can be soloed by a RDM/NIN or BLU/SCH or PUP/WAR or /NIN. Taking about 17 minutes for RDM, 9 to 11 minutes for PUP. Also soloable by a 75MNK/NIN with Formless Strikes, taking 6:55.
- Also able to be soloed by SCH/RDM at level 73 with little to no difficulty. High staff skill recommended to gain TP and use Spirit Taker during magic invulnerability times. Helix spells used around 51% can greatly help for the first magical invulnerability. Gravity/Bind then Nuke strategy used. (see testimonials)
- Soloable by a 75PLD/RDM with ease. Takes ~18min. Enspells for physical immunity, dispel ice spikes, stoneskin/phalanx up all times. Save TP near end of first form for chivalry if needed.
- Soloable by a 75BST/RDM. Takes ~20min. Used two Courier Carries to tank with plenty of Pet Food Zeta.
- Duoed by 75MNK/DNC & 75WAR/NIN Breaking Record @ 3:45 Fast Burn, Raging Rush Right Before Immunity Then Mnk Formless Strikes / Asuran Fist {Agent & Ukiyasan Of Bahamut} Retested, War (Agent) Used Dual Axes Rampaging For 1.8k Time Is 2Minutes 54Seconds
- Duoed by 75DRG/SAM (with Deep Breathing, Angon, and wyvern HP increase gear) and 70DRG/RDM using AF helm & healing breath. used Angon at 51% and both DRG uses ws then when the Shadow Lord is immune to physical, DRG/SAM Chips away at remaining hp with Deep breathing and Elemental Breath while DRG/RDM uses En-spells until immunity is switched again
Game Description
- Mission Orders
- You must go to Castle Zvahl in Xarcabard. The President himself will brief you in his office.
SPOILER WARNING: Details about the Final Fantasy XI in-game storyline follow.
Cutscenes
Script
Xarcabard, Land of Truths (pt.1) - Metalworks Karst: Good of you to come.
The reason why I didn't have Naji or Iron Eater bring you here is because the secrecy of this mission is paramount.
Karst: Volker will soon join us.
Let us talk in my private chambers.
Come.Karst: Galina, tell Volker to come to my private chambers when he arrives.
Karst: We could not get the Senate's approval. The Musketeers won't be allowed to leave the city gates.
Those fools think that Bastok should not get itself involved...Karst: "Let San d'Oria deal with the Northlands," they said! What do they think the Musketeers are for!? Surely they don't intend to use them in another war with San d'Oria!
Karst: I admit that Bastok would do anything for its own gain. That is how we have come so far--myself as well.
Karst: Bastok's success is a result of aggression and initiative. But with the Senate dawdling so, we may pay dearly for our lack of action.
Karst: Remember one thing: you are an adventurer, not a hero.
You have no duty to the majority--especially one that chooses to stay idle at a time like this.Karst: Go on this mission for your own gain. That is the Bastokan way.
Do not concern yourself with responsibility--let a certain president and a Musketeer captain worry about that.Karst: Volker.
Come.Karst: Tell the adventurer what you know of Castle Zvahl.
We do not have much time. Be brief.Volker: Cross the Beaucedine Glacier to the northernmost corner of Quon, the frozen land of Xarcabard.
Volker: There you will find Castle Zvahl, the Kindred's stronghold.
That is where our allied forces defeated the Shadow Lord twenty years ago.Volker: But now, someone is trying to bring the Shadow Lord back.
We must stop them, no matter what the cost.Volker: If you are too late, and they succeed...you and you friends must try to defeat the Shadow Lord yourselves, as Cid, Zeid, and I once did.
Volker: You adventurers hold the future of Vana'diel in your hands.
We cannot accompany you, but our hopes and hearts go with you.Karst: Go finish your preparations and leave as soon as possible.
You are dismissed.Volker: Wait... If you see Zeid, tell him that he has yet to best me in a fight...and that he should come back and challenge me.
The Rank 5 Mission (pt.1) - Throne Room Zeid: Could this be... Zeid: Yes, it is the tomb of the Shadow Lord!
Shadow Lord: Ah, the dark knight...
It's been twenty years since we last met, Zeid.Zeid: No! How is this possible? I defeated you!
Shadow Lord: I cannot die. Not until I have eradicated you and your kind from this world.
Zeid: So it is true... I suspected as much since we last met. you are a Galka!
Shadow Lord: Thirty years ago, I was in a group that came to this cursed land, seeking to uncover the secrets of a lost civilization.
Shadow Lord: And it is here that I fell, betrayed by one I trusted with my life.
Shadow Lord: My fried Ulrich could not abide the fact that I was the best swordsman of the Mythril Musketeers. That I was advocating peace with the beastmen at the time was not to his liking, either.
Shadow Lord: Cornelia died protecting me...
Shadow Lord: But I came back. Not even death could keep me from exacting revenge on those who wronged me.
Shadow Lord: A power hidden deep beneath the earth gave me a new form and granted me control over the nether beasts.
Shadow Lord: It was then that I became aware--that I was made aware--of the dark anger smoldering deep within my soul.
Shadow Lord: I realized it was not revenge that drove me, but the old, undying anger of our race: the wrath of the Galka!
Shadow Lord: Others cannot fathom the depth of our rage.
But I cast myself willingly into its flames, and broke the chains of mortality!Shadow Lord: Your kind awoke the fury within me, and I was reborn into rage incarnate--as the Shadow Lord!
Shadow Lord: I swore to myself then to purge this world of your kind, and I will not rest until I crush every last one of you!
Shadow Lord: I underestimated you twenty years ago, but I will not make that mistake again!
Zeid: What!? No!
Shadow Lord: Stand there and watch, Zeid. Search within for the dark rage, the flame that burns in the souls of all Galka!
Shadow Lord: Now...I will cleanse this world of your filth, unless I am first consumed by fury!
Shadow Lord: Come, it is the hour of reckoning! Death itself failed to stay my wrath. Let us see if you can do any better!
The Rank 5 Mission (pt.2) - Throne Room No script applicable The Rank 5 Mission (pt.3) - Throne Room Shadow Lord: No...it is not over yet! I told you, even death cannot stop my revenge! Shadow Lord: I will not fall! I will keep coming back, until the fires of wrath consume me!
Zeid: Raogrimm, stop! Listen to me, it is over!
Shadow Lord: "Rao...grimm"?
Shadow Lord: No, that is not my name! I am... I am the Shadow Lord!
Zeid: You are no such thing! Search your memories for your true self! You are Raogrimm, the Galka's greatest swordsman!
Shadow Lord: I...
Shadow Lord: I am...Rao...Raogrimm!? Aaargh!
Zeid: Do you remember?
Raogrimm: Yes... I do now.
Zeid: Raogrimm, it is good to have you back. How has all this come to be?
Raogrimm: As you know, I was the Talekeeper of the Galka--the keeper of our race's memories. But there was so much pain, so much anger...
Raogrimm: I let myself become trapped in a dark abyss of swirling rage and madness...
Zeid: Raogrimm...
Raogrimm: People are capable of kindness beyond angels, yet we also commit sins that would put a demon to shame...
Raogrimm: We all stand precariously on the edge between darkness and light... And when we fall, we are greeted by only madness and chaos.
Raogrimm: And so I have fallen...
Raogrimm: There is no salvation for me. The Raogrimm who you once knew is gone, forever.
Raogrimm: I expect no forgiveness for what I have done, but...
Lion: Come on! This way, hurry!
Raogrimm: My true self died thirty years ago... All that remains is an empty shell...
Raogrimm: Cornelia... Finally, we may meet again...
And so the Shadow Lord was defeated,
thanks to Player name's selfless courage and sacrifice.Through the clouds shines a symbol of
newfound hope for the peoples of Vana'diel.But none should forget that wherever there
is light, there is always shadow.The legend goes on to say...
From the darkest depths of the earth
the Warriors of the Crystal rose...Lion: So...I guess this is goodbye for now.
I hear they've started flights to the Outlands. If you ever get your hands on an airship pass for Kazham, come see me in Norg sometime.Zeid: I, too, feel that our paths may cross again. Until then, I wish you farewell.
Xarcabard, Land of Truths (pt.2) - Metalworks Volker: You've done it!
You stopped them from bringing back the Shadow Lord!?
Cid: What are you talking about, Volker?
They probably defeated him and sent him back where he belongs!
Am I right?Volker: What? Defeat him? But that's...
Lucius: Impossible? You find it hard to believe that some adventurer could defeat the Shadow Lord, Captain? Have you not heard what the townspeople are saying?
Cid: They're saying the Age of Adventurers has come!
Karst: Hmph. Only historians, in posterity, have the privilege of saying such things.
Karst: And it does not matter if they only stopped the Shadow Lord from returning, or if they actually defeated him.
Karst: The important thing is that they kept the Kindred from gaining power.
And that, I believe, deserves a reward.Karst: Good work. I am raising your rank.
And here is your well-deserved reward.Lucius: The Shadow Lord may have been vanquished again, but the Kindred are far from defeated.
I have received reports of strange goings-on in the beastmen's strongholds.Cid: You've probably heard this too many times, but...we're counting on you.
RANK 6
Cid: So that was who the Shadow Lord was...
Zeid must have known, and that's probably why he went off on his own.Cid: Don't tell Volker about this. Ulrich's fate should also be kept from him, too. He may not be able to accept it yet.
Cid: He admired his grandfather a lot...that's why it pained him to hear people say that Volker, himself, only became Captain because Raogrimm was gone.
Cid: I know that hiding the truth from him is not a good thing, but most of us are not as strong as you. We need time to heal.
Lucius: Sorry to interrupt. What are you two talking about?
Cid: Uh...just saying that Karst hasn't really changed, even after all of this.
Volker: Yes but I think I understand him better now.
I may have been judging him too harshly.Lucius: Speaking of which...you still have not told us why you backed President Karst in the last elections, Chief.
Cid: Oh, that. Well... Fifteen years ago, even after I resigned my post as head of the Gunpowder Room, the Senate was still in chaos, trying to find more people to blame for the accident in Palborough.
Cid: But there was one junior senator there who proposed we abandon Palborough and reopen the Zeruhn Mines. That junior senator was Karst.
Cid: The miners stood to lose a lot, but at the time, his proposal was Bastok's best bet.
I'm an engineer, so I respect skill. And I felt that Karst's political skills could be trusted.Cid: And he's a real Bastoker, too--very ambitious, and real easy to figure out.
I can still remember the eager look on his face when he announced his proposal to the Senate!Cornelia's Plea - Metalworks Franziska: Lady Cornelia is in her room doing her studies.
For once, she isn't--
Franziska: No, Milady! Not this time! The president has given me strict orders not to let you out of your--
Cornelia: Hello.
Come in.Franziska: Oh, you were expecting a guest!
I'm sorry, I thought you were trying to sneak out--Franziska: Wait, Milady, no! You shouldn't be letting some adventurer into your room!
You know the kind of places they frequent! And it wouldn't be proper!Cornelia: Oh, brother... Can you believe her?
This is what I have to put up with every day.
I usually manage to sneak out, though.Cornelia: I've been meaning to ask you--have you ever heard the story of Cornelia the Musketeer?
- Have you ever heard of a Musketeer named Cornelia?
- Yes, I have.
- Who?
Cornelia: You've never heard of her? She was a monk who became a Mythril Musketeer. She helped all those in need, Galka and Hume, rich and poor alike.
- Have you ever heard of a Musketeer named Cornelia?
- Yes, I have.
- Who?
Cornelia: Cornelia, the monk who became a Mythril Musketeer, is pretty famous.
She helped all those in need, whether they were Galka or Hume, rich or poor.Cornelia: It was rumored that she and Talekeeper Raogrimm--the only Galka destined to have become a Musketeer Captain if he were still alive--were sharing a forbidden love...
Cornelia: But no one knows if that was true, since neither returned from their expedition to Xarcabard thirty years ago.
Cornelia: My mother named me after her. She told me that she wanted me to grow up to be just like her--someone who would treat everyone equally, and loved by all.
Cornelia: Maybe that's why I try so hard to help the Galka...though even if I weren't named Cornelia, I wouldn't stand by and watch them be treated like they are.
Cornelia: But it's no good. You've seen it, too. I just can't seem to do anything right. I wish I were as strong and smart as Lady Cornelia...
Cornelia: This Galka child told me the other day, "Why are you trying so hard? What can you do, you're just a girl!"
Cornelia: Maybe he's right. Maybe I can't change anything...
Cornelia: No! I've got to try harder!
I'll show that know-it-all, Gumbah, what I can do!Cornelia: I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I've got to go!
- Have you ever heard of a Musketeer named Cornelia?