Final Fantasy XIV kicks its Patch 6.2 Abyssos raid series off with Proto-Carbuncle, an ancient, less cuddly take on the usual Summoner pet. The Fifth Circle Savage (P5S) may go down as one of the most challenging FFXIV first-floor raids, but the grind is worth your time for Carbuncle’s Item Level 630 rewards.

Beware of fight spoilers — we’re teaching you how to master Ruby Glow and handle Devour like a pro in our Pandaemonium Abyssos: The Fifth Circle Savage guide below.

FFXIV The Fifth Circle Savage Carbuncle fight guide

Unlocking Abyssos Savage & Requirements

To unlock Endwalker’s Pandaemonium Abyssos Savage, you must first clear the Normal difficulty added in FFXIV Patch 6.2. Then, with The Eighth Circle (Normal) and story quests complete, you can speak to Nemjiji in Labyrinthos (X:8.4, Y:27.4). For any help on specifics, we’ve got a detailed walkthrough on how to unlock the Abyssos Raids.

As for queuing in, P5S requires Item Level 600 or higher to enter. Of course, a full pre-made group can always skip Item Level checks outside of Duty Finder, but we don’t recommend it. Carbuncle makes quick work of anyone not geared up, chewing through the party’s HP with its nasty raid-wide hits and frequent DoTs.

If you need to gear up, we recommend clearing Storm’s Crown EX for an Item Level 615 Windswept Weapon. FFXIV Patch 6.2 also adds the usual crafted gear and Tomestone equipment, scoring Item Level 610 and 620 pieces for the Warrior of Light.

Fifth Circle Savage: Assignments & Waymarks

Before charging headfirst into the beefed-up Carbuncle, take a moment to set up your waymarks and assign a few typical raid positions. First, mark both healers with a One or Two Sign over their heads, then break things down by assigning partners, clock positions, and light parties.

Waymarks

For something so big, Proto-Carbuncle is a pretty quick bun. Successfully resolving mechanics like Devour or Ruby Glow are often down to the wire with unforgiving server ticks, so it’s essential to keep an eye on Waymark assignments before the next attack begins.

In this setup, a Waymark sits at every cardinal and intercardinal position to help players orient themselves. Every quadrant also has a number, making things easier for parties to call out unsafe squares. However, some Party Finder groups prefer other options, like having four markers set at every cardinal Devour tower.

There’s no wrong approach here when it comes down to what scores your group the clear. Just consider how Carbuncle frequently divides the arena and how you’ll adjust to its speedy jump mechanic.

Role Partners

Proto-Carbuncle loves dropping its poison towers in random spots and further complicates the mechanic by requiring two players to soak the attack. Party Finder standard pairs players off by Role, so your pairs wind up as two Healers, two Tanks, two Ranged DPS, and two Melee DPS.

If the party doesn’t have a double Melee DPS composition, pair one of your extra Ranged DPS with the lone Role. Ultimately, any combination of two players works, but these assignments ease some of the guesswork in the soak mechanic.

Clock Positions

Occasionally, Carbuncle decides it’ll drop a set of spread AoEs on the party, but the typical clock assignments easily avoid deadly overlap.

Place Tanks and Healers at cardinal positions, keeping one Healer east and the other west. DPS should stick to the intercardinal directions, with Melee DPS prioritizing southwest and southeast assignments for their positionals.

Light Parties

No FFXIV encounter seems complete without a few spicy stack markers, and P5S has several. Unless they’re on the ground, Carbuncle always targets both Healers for its stack hits.

Break your group into two parties — one with a Tank, Healer, and two Ranged DPS, another with one Tank, Healer, and two Melee DPS. Be a good sport and prioritize the Melee DPS party near the boss, too.

Fifth Circle Savage Phase 1: Ruby Glow & Towers

Your showdown with the big bad ‘Buncy begins with heavy raid-wide damage, DoTs, and an arena shake-up. This entire encounter is a lesson in mitigation management, and that doesn’t mean making your Barrier Healer work harder.

As always, DPS should help with tools like Feint, Addle, and Tactician while Tanks prepare for the tank-buster-DoT combos accordingly. Typically, you can squeak by a first-floor Savage boss shrugging off some of that responsibility, but Carbuncle isn’t here to play like that.

Sonic Howl – Proto-Carbuncle’s first raid-wide attack hits just a few seconds into the fight. Pre-pull shields from a Barrier Healer help, but plan opening mitigation accordingly as another raid-wide cast follows up.

FFXIV P5s Ruby Glow 1 Poison Crystals Topaz Stones Pattern

Ruby Glow 1 – With every Ruby Glow, Carbuncle deals heavy raid-wide damage and divides the arena into quadrants using its reflective barriers. The number of quadrants varies depending on the phase of the fight, but this first cast slices the arena into four sections.

Only one spot is safe in Ruby Glow 1, determined by two possible Topaz Stones patterns.

Topaz Stones spawn two yellow crystals and two poison crystals.
Yellow crystals reflect along the wall when they explode, making two whole quadrants unsafe.
Poison crystals spawn expanding puddles, but sometimes leave enough space in the safe quadrant.

FFXIV P5S - Ruby Glow 1 Tank Position Pattern

The safe quadrant never has one of Carbuncle’s reflecting yellow crystals. This leaves you with two possibilities determined by the poison crystals.

If there is a quadrant with no poison crystal, that is always your safe square.
If both quadrants have a poison crystal, the party shares their square with the innermost poison puddle.

The first pattern gives you a mostly free quadrant; Tanks can rotate the boss safely to help Melee DPS reach positionals. In the case of the second, the entire party must stack in a tiny corner away from the expanding puddle.

Venomous Mass & Toxic Crunch – Proto-Carbuncle’s first tank buster hits as the party deals with the end of Ruby Glow. First, Venomous Mass lands with a large AoE, leaving the targeted Tank with a vuln stack and poison DoT.

Then, Tanks swap for Toxic Crunch. It’s not worth wasting invuln cooldowns here, so shield and heal through the DoTs left behind.

FFXIV P5s role partners and where to stack for poison towers puddles

Poison Towers – Study the arena carefully in preparation for Carbuncle’s green poison puddles (often referred to as towers). You can see all possible tower locations as darkened circles outlined on the arena floor. Spawn points are random, but the boss will always summon four towers — two in melee position, two ranged.

FFXIV P5s Poison Tower Puddle Enumeration Position

Two players must stand in these green circles or they explode, damaging the two closest players and spawning an add (which also explodes unless killed). The party should split into preassigned pairs, prioritizing puddles by their Role.

Tanks soak one tower within the boss’ hitbox.
Melee DPS soak one tower within the boss’ hitbox.
Ranged DPS soak one tower in an outer corner.
Healers soak one tower in an outer corner.

The towers countdown using the purple circles surrounding them. If you arrive at your tower fairly early, wait a second before moving in to soak. The poison chips away at your health while standing inside, but taking a few extra ticks of damage is always preferable over dying to the explosion.

Venomous Mass and Toxic Crunch target Tanks again. Heal and shield up before the next big Ruby Glow hit.

Final Fantasy XIV Carbuncle casts Ruby Glow 3 in P5s, dodge behind the boss for Double Rush.

Ruby Glow 2 – Proto-Carbuncle’s second Ruby Glow hits for more raid-wide damage and splits the arena diagonally. There are two rounds of damage to dodge in this phase, but as long as you prepare with your knockback resist, it’s not too bad.

Topaz Stones spawn one yellow crystal and one poison crystal; stand in the opposite diagonal corner of the arena. Note where the yellow crystal reflects; this quadrant explodes during Carbuncle’s dash.
Double Rush – Carbuncle moves to the center of the arena for this cast. When it begins, pop your knockback resist at its rear flank near the yellow crystal. The side with the crystal will explode.

FFXIV How to Dodge Double Rush in Fifth Circle Savage

If its rear begins Double Rush in the quadrant with the yellow crystal, move through to the next quadrant as Carbuncle dashes.

FFXIV Fifth Circle Savage - How to Dodge Double Rush Knockback

If its rear begins Double Rush in the quadrant without the yellow crystal, do not move after Carbuncle dashes.

Double Rush damage is proximity-based, so take it easy on your healers and stand max melee from the boss.

Sonic Howl hits again for heavy raid-wide damage. Heal and shield up as Carbuncle hits with another nasty Ruby Glow cast seconds later.

Fifth Circle Savage Phase 2: Ruby Glow 3 & Venom Surge

Proto-Carbuncle is quite fond of changing up the arena, and its Ruby Glow shake-ups grow more complex with time. The third Ruby Glow is easily overcomplicated, so stick to our few guiding rules for tackling the mechanic. After that, things remain pretty simple until Devour.

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Ruby Glow 3 – Proto-Carbuncle introduces its first Party Finder menace with the third Ruby Glow. Again, the boss divides the arena into four quadrants, dropping an intimidating sum of crystals along with the change. Don’t worry — it’s not nearly as bad as it looks.

Topaz Stones summons four sets of yellow crystals. It follows the same pattern every time: two, two, three, and three.

FFXIV P5s Ruby Glow 3 - How to count Topaz Crystal Pattern, Find safe spots, and dodge explosions

You only need to see the first and third sets of crystals to know what to do.

The first safe spot is always in the opposite two quadrants of the first crystal set. The third safe spot is the only quadrant with one crystal once the third set spawns.

Final Fantasy 14 Savage Raid - Fifth Circle how to dodge Ruby Crystal patterns

As the crystals explode, your movement should follow the below pattern.

Quadrant 1: Begin where second crystal set spawns.
Quadrant 2: Move into either square where the first crystal set just exploded.
Quadrant 3: Move into quadrant with only one crystal during the third cast.
Quadrant 4: Move into diagonal opposite quadrant from third safe spot.

Venomous Mass and Toxic Crunch hit for another DoT heavy tank buster. Try not to waste too much recovering here, as Carbuncle is about to unload several attacks on the party.

FFXIV P5s Savage - Carbuncle Venom Squall or Venom Surge

Venom Squall or Venom Surge – Carbuncle only casts one of these attacks, but its choice is random. Regardless of its choice, you’ll always have some variant of clock position spreads, an AoE bait in the middle, and light party stacks.

Venom Squall: Spread to clock positions first, move to the center to bait AoEs, then stack at east and west with assigned light party.
Venom Surge: Stack at east and west with assigned light party first, move to the center to bait AoEs , spread to clock positions.

FFXIV Fifth Circle Savage - how to dodge Tail to Claw or Claw to Tail hits from Carbuncle

Tail to Claw or Claw to Tail – Again, Carbuncle’s choice for this cast is a surprise. The tail always hits with one big swoop behind the boss while its claws slash away for six total hits in front. You’ll want to begin where Carbuncle isn’t hitting first, then move into the safe spot.

Tail to Claw: Begin in the front, wait for the tail to hit, then move behind the boss.
Claw to Tail: Begin in the back, wait for the six hits to go off, then move in front of the boss.

If you’re struggling to identify when the Claw attack ends, Carbuncle always finishes with both arms slashing forward.

Fifth Circle Savage Phase 3: Devour & Ruby Glow 4

Party Finder groups live and die depending on their patience with Proto-Carbuncle’s speedy jump attack, Devour. Don’t let failure with this mechanic discourage your P5S prog; the ordeal only seems so rough since it occurs late in the fight. So shake off the opening fatigue and practice, practice. Once this is over, you’re almost there.

Devour – Carbuncle’s game of hopscotch comes with deadly repercussions should you stand in its path. Since this mechanic requires an extensive breakdown, we’ve dedicated a lengthier guide to giving you the full Devour play-by-play.

A successful Devour resolution involves the entire party surviving Carbuncle’s eight jumps and soaking all but one poison tower at the end. Since you purposefully fail one tower soak, one Lively Bait add spawns, and Carbuncle snacks on the goop to replenish its Satiety gauge. If you don’t spawn an add, the boss enrages and you’ll wipe.

If you just want a brief TLDR, we’ve got a few notes for the good ol’ eyeball strat:

Carbuncle hops eight times; count these as you go if you’re afraid of moving into your tower too early.
Devour only comes in two patterns, commonly called Zigzag or Circle pattern in PF.
- Start by positioning yourself opposite of where the red bite marker starts, then identify which pattern will be used.
- Circle: immediately run in a clockwise semi-circle around the center of the arena, then after the fourth jump, run back the way you came.
- Zigzag: wait for two jumps, then run in a counter-clockwise semi-circle to where the mechanic started and stay in the corner.
Role pairs should resolve the towers at the end. Party Finder typically assigns Tanks north, Healers east, Melee DPS south, and Ranged DPS west.
Regardless of cardinal assignment, Tanks should stand close to, but not inside their tower to soak the hit together.
If a DPS or Healer dies during Devour, Tanks can save the run by soaking the tower with the solo player. The Tank left at the north Devour tower must invuln to take the damage alone.

Devour Circle Pattern

FFXIV-Devour-Circle-Pattern-Jumps

Devour Zigzag Pattern

FFXIV P5s Devour Zigzag Pattern - How to Dodge the bites

We recommend using our aforementioned guide on tricks for solving both Devour patterns. However, if those strategies don’t click, some players position toward the middle arena, and dodge jumps back and forth through the center. This approach works, but you’ll need damn good ping to execute this safely — the Devour snapshot is a mean one.

Sonic Howl follows the chaos up with another raid-wide attack. Heal and shield up; Carbuncle is changing the arena again.

Where to stack light party groups in FFXIV Fifth Circle Savage for Ruby Glow 4

Ruby Glow 4 – Like in the second Ruby Glow, Proto-Carbuncle divides the arena into two sections. Topaz Stones spawns two sets of yellow crystals — one set of three and another set of two. The party should move to the side with two yellow crystals.

FFXIV P5s Ruby Glow 4 Part 1 Where the topaz crystals spawn

Light parties then stack in or near each yellow crystal, baiting Venom Pool (targeting Healers) to hit both. Let the Healer with the melee DPS take the innermost crystal near the boss while the other group takes the crystal along the arena’s edge.

The poison AoE turns both crystals green. Run towards the arena’s center, but don’t cross until the yellow crystals on the opposite side explode.

Searing Ray or Raging Claw – The boss randomly casts either of these attacks. Searing Ray reflects through the entire quadrant it’s standing in, so move to the opposite side. Raging Claw hits everything in front of Carbuncle, so run behind it in the corner.

FFXIV 5th Circle Savage Carbuncle Ruby Glow 4 part 2 dodge

While dealing with Searing Ray or Raging Claw, watch for the expanding poison puddles. Depending on the pattern, the party may only have a tiny triangle to stand in or a wide-open corner.

If you’ve only got that tiny triangle of safety to work with, Tanks must book it out of the corner as soon as it’s safe — before the puddles expand. Otherwise, they’ll wind up with the party for the next Venomous Mass and Toxic Crunch combo.

Fifth Circle Savage Phase 4: Ruby Glow 5

Proto-Carbuncle’s next Ruby Glow cast is arguably its second biggest Party Finder hurdle. Nailing this one means you’ve got a handle on the worst of P5S, as mechanics mostly repeat after Ruby Glow 5.

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Ruby Glow 5 – As Topaz Stones go out, pop party-wide mitigation to prepare for the fifth Ruby Glow’s fast-paced mechanic combo. Carbuncle divides the arena into four quadrants again, this time with one poison puddle in two sections and one yellow crystal in two sections.

The group must split into their light party assignments again, and each party needs two quadrants to work with — one with a poison puddle and one with a yellow crystal.

Assign each group a direction — one light party takes northeast and the other moves southwest. Each party should move into their poison puddle quadrant and huddle in the outermost eastern or western corner, respectively.

Do not leave this square until the yellow crystal in your neighboring quadrant explodes.

Venom Squall casts while you wait to move; remember this is a spread AoE puddle, bait AoE, and party stack.

Once it’s safe, sprint into your assigned positions for the spread AoE hit. Party Finder typically has the Tank remain at the starting point, and the Healer runs to the midpoint of the next quadrant. One DPS runs beyond the Healer to the outer corner, while the other DPS cheats in toward the boss (in front of the Healer).

FFXIV P5s Ruby Glow 5 P5s Party Finder strat

For the Venom Squall bait, all three players at the wall should remain on the wall. The one DPS in front of the healer should step back and bait along the edge with the party.

Run away from the Venom Squall baits toward the boss. There’s a tiny safe spot left open between the poison puddles closer to the center. Group up here for the Venom Squall stack.

Another set of four Poison Towers spawn immediately after. Handle these with Role pairs and watch for the next Tail to Claw or Claw to Tail as it ends.

Venomous Mass and Toxic Crunch target your Tanks again, and Carbuncle casts another raid-wide Sonic Howl.

Fifth Circle Savage Phase 5: Repeat & Enrage

Don’t let the extra squares fool you; the final P5S Ruby Glow is just the same thing as Carbuncle’s fourth cast. Everything else in the phase is just a repeat of mechanics you’ve already mastered.

Ruby Glow 6 – The P5S arena splits into four quadrants for its final cast. Topaz Stones drops two yellow crystals in three quadrants; all of these quadrants are safe. There is one quadrant with three yellow crystals, this is the only unsafe section.

FFXIV P5s Ruby Glow 6 poison puddle crystal spots and how to dodge ray

Light party stacks must agree upon one quadrant with two yellow crystals to drop their Venom Pool stacks in. Again, one party prioritizes the corner near the boss, the other takes the outer crystal.

Dropping these Venom Pool AoEs onto the crystals prevents them from exploding. Wait in this safe quadrant while the other yellow crystals explode. As those go off, run from the expanding poison puddles in your safe quadrant.

Carbuncle casts Double Rush again, but this time you don’t have any crystals to worry about. Just make sure you’re at the boss’ flanks, so you don’t take extra damage, and pop your knockback immunity to avoid flying into the poison.

Carbuncle follows up with its Venomous Mass and Toxic Crunch tank busters, then another Sonic Howl raid-wide hit. Prepare for the next mechanic by positioning near clock assignments and light parties.

Another random Venom Squall or Venom Surge goes off, following the same patterns as before. Then Tail to Claw or Claw to Tail, followed by yet another tank buster combo, Venomous Mass and Toxic Crunch.

Sonic Shatter begins as Proto-Carbuncle’s Satiety dwindles — a roaring raid-wide that hits five times. After finishing, the boss casts its Acidic Slaver enrage. Give it everything before time runs out, and congratulations on overcoming Devour.

FFXIV P5s Treasure Coffer Rewards and how to get them for BIS

Abyssos: The Fifth Circle Savage — Rewards

As of FFXIV Patch 6.2, P5S rewards two Treasure Coffers if all eight party members have not cleared for the week. This lockout resets every Tuesday, and you’re limited to only rolling on Treasure Coffers from your first weekly clear.

If one to three party members have cleared for the week, players who have not cleared will only see one Treasure Coffer. There are no Treasure Coffer rewards if four or more players completed P5S for the week.

Regardless, everyone gets one Abyssos Mythos I token for their first clear — as long as they have not skipped and queued into P6S, P7S, or P8S. Trade four of these with Djole in Radz-at-Han (X:10.3, Y:9.5) for an accessory of your choice.

Two Treasure Coffer P5S clears reward three accessory coffers, while single Treasure Coffer runs yield one accessory coffer. Your drops come from any combination of the loot list below.

Item

Abyssos Bracelet Coffer (IL 630)

Abyssos Earring Coffer (IL 630)

Abyssos Necklace Coffer (IL 630)

Abyssos Ring Coffer (IL 630)

Topaz Carbuncle Slippers

14

8

Details

Repairs

Attributes