POTD Palace of the Dead Solo Guide - X|Vnews

Introduction

Palace of the Dead or POTD is a Deep Dungeon found in Final Fantasy XIV. It is comprised of 200 floors, divided into a set of 10 floors each. A party of up to four players may enter. There are various rewards in progressing through the floors, including loots and achievements. This guide focuses on soloing Palace of the Dead to obtain ‘The Necromancer’ title.

The Necromancer

For most people, the title of ‘The Necromancer’ is the main reason they solo Palace of the Dead. The title can be obtained by completing the achievement called ‘Pal-less Palace III’. This achievement requires a player to ‘Clear the 1st through the 200th floors of the Palace of the Dead solo’.

To fulfill this achievement, players must enter Palace of the Dead as a ‘Fixed’ party from Level 1. Note that the game lets you enter Palace of the Dead from Level 51, however completing a save from Level 51 to 200 does not fulfill the requirement of the achievement. To obtain the achievement players must start from Level 1. Players can exit every 10 levels to take a breaker or to restock on Sustaining Potions.

Preparation

Aetherpool

It is recommended that you have an Aetherpool Arm and Aetherpool Armor of +99. While you definitely may start a save with less, you will want to make sure that you are at +99 for Aetherpool Arm and Aetherpool Armor by the time you reach floor 100.

Sustaining Potion

The other important thing you will need is the Sustaining Potion. This will be your primary means of healing in Palace of the Dead as a solo player. This potion heals you for around 80% of your maximum health and has a cool down of about 15 seconds. This makes it perfectly doable to do Palace of the Dead as a non healing job. While there are players who have cleared Palace of the Dead solo without using the sustaining potions, doing so will make an already hard achievement even harder. Most of the players who have cleared without using a sustaining potions would have already cleared it first by using them.

You can obtain the Sustaining Potion by speaking with E-Una-Kotor who can be found close to the entrance of Palace of the Dead (Wood Wailer Expeditionary Captain). A set of 20 Sustaining Potions can be exchanged for 1 Gelmorran Potsherd. Most players will need around 400 to 500 sustaining potions for a single save of a Floor 1-200 clear. You don’t need to have this many when you enter as you are able to exit every 10 floors to restock.

The Gelmorran Potsherd can be obtained a number of ways. Killing the Bosses at floor 50 and floor 100 guarantees a Gelmorran Potsherd. The potsherd can also drop from Bronze Chests. At floor 1-100 the Bronze Chests have a very small chance of dropping. However at floors 101 and above, the drop rate is significantly higher. Many players will make a practice or preparation save starting at floor 51 to farm Gelmorran Potsherds in preparation for their run.

Food

The food bonus will increase your stats, but not the EXP you receive. The main reason to use Food is for the 10% Vitality boost (health boost) and the damage boost. Use the highest food appropriate for your Job to get the most amount of stats to help you in your climb.

Jobs

It is generally agreed that the easiest Job to complete Palace of the Dead with is the Machinist. This is because the machinist is able to kite most enemies and use a sustaining potion for healing. They also have an interrupt which is useful for dealing with the Accursed Pox debuffs that Mimics inflict on you. While other jobs such as tanks and other ranged classes also have an interrupt they don’t do as much damage. Please note that while an interrupt is great to have it is not necessary. You can deal with the Accursed Pox by using a Pomander of Purity which will remove the Accursed Pox debuff.

The 2nd most popular job to use is a Red Mage. While a Red Mage does not have an interrupt, they have a self heal that they can use. Self Healing is still important because some floors have an enchantment (Item Penalty) that prevents using items (including the Sustaining potion). The enchantments can be cleared by using a Pomander of Serenity.

Why then is Machinist more popular than Red Mage? This is because you will likely encounter more Mimics than you do the enchantment that prevents you from using items.

It is also possible to clear with other jobs. In fact it may be easier to clear with a job that you are familiar with the one that you are not familiar with. Having said that you will need to keep in mind that there is a 60 minute timer for each set of 10 floors. While this is a lot of time at lower levels at higher levels you will often find yourself running out of time. This makes it harder to complete the solo climb as a healer because of their lower dps output compared to other jobs.

General Tips and Tricks

Everyone hates floor 1-50 because you start off at a lower level. Many players will make sure to clear the entire floor before moving to the next to make sure they are as high level as possible for the bosses. This is not important when playing with groups but playing solo, being 2 or 3 levels below the boss could make it difficult. If you have Aetherpool 99/99 then you won’t need to out level the boss however it is still recommended that you try to at least stay even with the boss. Check the boss guides to see what levels each boss are.
If you are falling behind on time, use one of the many time saving pomanders such as Pomander of Rage, Pomander of Flight, Pomander of Alteration.
If you are comfortable, you can kite enemies to an landmine trap, the landmine trap will damage the enemies as well, but they will not trigger the traps. You will need to be the one to trigger the traps.
A pomander of safety removes all traps from a room. However, chests can still explode or turn into mimics.
If your goal is to obtain necromancer it may be a good idea to ignore Pomander of Intuitions because they can often distract you such as going into a room that you do not need to go which at best wastes your time and at worst lead to death.

Traps

If you use a pomander of sight you can tell what the traps will do based on their shape.

Dangerous Enemies

You will encounter a lot of enemies inside Palace of the Dead. However some are more dangerous than others. Here I will list common enemies that will often result in wipes.

Mimics

Mimics often spawn from opening Treasure Chests. They are easy to deal with but they can inflict players with the ‘Accursed Pox’ debuff with is a strong damage over time effect that lasts for 10 minutes. The debuff can only be cleared by a Pomander of Purity. The best way to deal with them is to interrupt the Mimic when it casts ‘Infatuation’. Please note that Mimics often spawn a chest when they die. There is a small chance that the chest they spawn will also be another Mimic.

Hornets

Hornets can be found in a number of floors. They are also spawned by the bosses at Level 20 and Level 120. They are dangerous because they cast ‘Final Sting’ which deals a high amount of damage. You can walk away from the hornet during this time to avoid the attack.

Slime

Slimes can be found in a number of floors. They will need to be killed quickly otherwise they will explode and kill everybody in range. The explosion range is large. It is best to dispatch them quickly and to avoid running or walking to a spot you have not been to yet as getting caught in traps can prevent you from killing them in time.

Cobra

Cobras area also encountered in a number of floors. They are only dangerous when you step on a toad trap. The cobras will use Devour and one shot you if you are a toad. Like with the Palace Slimes do not move around while fighting them.

Bomb

These are often found in later floors. They are similar to Slimes in which they will explode (Self Destruct) if they are not killed in time. Avoid moving around while fighting them and only fight one at a time.

Demon

These are found in the later floors. They cast Charybdis if they are not killed in time. Charybdis will take your HP down to 1%.

Wolf

These are found starting from floor 171. They do a cleave attack that applies Frostbite. Frostbite is a powerful damage over time debuff. Melee and Casters should try to avoid them. Ranged DPS can kite them without any issues.

Wisent

Also found in later floors. If they are not killed in time, they will suck everyone in and apply a ‘Heavy’ debuff that will cause a 95% slow. This will be followed up by heavy damage stomp that will do around 90% damage to health. You can use anti-knock back to avoid the suction and cast can be interrupted.

Snowclops

These have two attacks called Glower (front line AOE) and 100-tonze swing (point blank aoe). Both attacks can one shot. Move away as soon as you see them.

Sasquatch

At lower levels they don’t do much, but at higher levels, never pull them while they have their damage buff on as they will one shot. Always wait for the debuff to expire before pulling.

Claw

Found at higher levels. These will do a suction mechanic that will also cause damage. It also does an attack called Tail Screw which deals a lot of damage and applies slow. Anti-knock back will not work on the suction mechanic.

Worm

These deal a lot of damage. If they are not killed fast enough they will suck everyone in and shortly afterwards deal a high damage attack that will one shot most jobs that are not tanks. Anti-knock back does not work on the suck in mechanic.

Garm

This does two dangerous attacks. The first is a point blank AOE called The Ram’s Voice. The other is The Dragon’s Voice which does a doughnut AOE.

Enemies To Avoid

When playing solo, these mobs should be avoided as they can be extremely difficult. These are found on higher level floors starting from floor 171.

Anzu

These do an attack that causes a lot of damage, stuns the target and applies a vulnerability. These mobs aggro by sight.

Crawler

These do a very high damage conal attack that will one shot most jobs. They also do an AOE attack that applies a heavy debuff as well as a very powerful damage over time effect. These aggro by sound.

Flood Dragon

These do a circular AOE attack that applies a powerful damage over time effect which will likely kill most jobs. These aggro by sight.

Boss Guides

Please note that at floor 110, the bosses will be similar to the lower level bosses, for example floor 110 is similar to floor 10, floor 120 is similar to floor 20 and so on. There is no floor 200 boss.

Floor 10

Boss Level: 20
If you are a ranged you can run circles around the room and will take very minimal damage.
For other jobs, simply avoid the telegraphed AOE. If you get hit by Whipcrack and take a lot of damage, use a sustaining potion.

Floor 20

Boss Level: 35
When the boss does a line AOE, it will spawn two hornets. Kill the hornets before they cast final sting.

Floor 30

Boss Level: 49
The boss will drop circular AOEs in a pattern: Fire, Ice, Fire Ice. Bait these AOEs to the edge of the room. When it does the last AOE (the 2nd ice ie the 4th aoe) run to the center of the room. The boss will walk to the center of the room and cast Fear Itself. If you are under theboss’s target circle then this won’t affect you. Once he finishes casting Fear Itself, run back to the edge and repeat.

Floor 40

Boss Level: 59
The boss will drop circular AOEs, bait them to the edge. The boss will aso spawn Nightmare Bloots. Kill them as soon as possible as they will cast Tornado which does a lot of damage and will one shot most jobs.

Floor 50

Boss Level: 60
Watch out for In Health which will be a doughnut AOE or a point blank AOE. It has a fairly long telegraph so you will have time to react appropriately. Also turn away from the boss when she does Cold Feet as it will fear you making it hard to avoid the next In Health cast. Her other casts such as Black Honeymoon and In Sickness are unavoidable.

Floor 60

The boss will drop circular AOEs move out of them. The boss will do a line knock back as well as have exploding orbs around the map. Get yourself knocked back into an area where there is no exploding orb.

Floor 70

The main thing in this boss is to make sure you and the boss are not inside the Douse puddles. Other than that, avoid the AOEs.

Floor 80

When the boss casts Charybdis, it will spawn a tornado. Make sure you run away from the telegraphed circle as the tornado will double in size. When you see the boss walk away from you, stay close to the boss as it will then follow up with a cone AOE.
Once the boss is around 25% or so health remaining, save your burst as the boss will cast Ecliptic Meteor once it has 17% health remaining. Ecliptic Meteor will deal 80% of your max health as damage. If you can’t burst it down make sure you are as full health as possible by using a sustaining potion and any other health recovery items or spell you may have.

Floor 90

The boss will summon many little ads and a big ad. If it summons a red big add, kill the big ad.
If the boss summons as blue ad, you must push the blue ad into the boss. The blue ad can be pushed by any skill you have.
If you didn’t get to push the blue ad into the boss it will do a Massive Burst which deals 99% of max HP. Run away from the boss, make sure your health is at 100% and be prepared to pop potion or a heal.

Floor 100

You will need to save a Pomander of Resolution or two for this to get rid of the ads that it spawns. If you don’t use a Pomander of Resolution the ads will keep reviving when they die.

If you are not using a high damage job, I suggest popping a strength and a steel potion at the start. You can use a Pomander of Lust to build vulnerability stacks then use resolution to DPS the boss down. You can use a sustaining potion before using a Pomander of Lust or Resolution so that you will have some hp regeneration while you are transformed.

Floor 110

Similar to the Floor 10 boss. If you are a ranged you can run circles around the room and will take very minimal damage. For other jobs, simply avoid the telegraphed AOE. If you get hit by Whipcrack and take a lot of damage, use a sustaining potion.

Floor 120

When the boss does a line AOE, it will spawn two hornets. Kill the hornets before they cast final sting. Unlike the floor 20 boss, the line AOE will now one shot you, so be extra careful of that.

Floor 130

Pull the boss to the edge of the arena. The boss will cast ground circle AOEs in order of Fire, Ice, Fire, Ice. Bait these AOEs to the edge of the arena. On the 2nd Ice, run to the center of the arena for the boss to cast Fear Itself. This will cast much faster than in floor 30 so be ready for it. Once Fear Itself has finished casting run back to the edge of the arena and repeat.

Floor 140

The boss will cast circular ground AOEs, move out of them. Kill ads when they spawn. The boss is also takes a lot of damage from Pomander of Resolution. You can stack a Pomander of Resolution along with Pomander of Strength and Pomander of Steel to do a high amount of damage.

Floor 150

The boss will use a lot of telegraphed aoe, move out of them. The boss will also spawn 4 zombie ads . If the ads hit you, you will be unable to move until they are killed. The boss will also spawn a Fanatic Succubus. If you don’t kill the succubus, the boss will eat the succubus and restore health equal to how much health the succubus has remaining. Depending on how much damage you are doing, you may be able to get away with bursting the boss down.
The boss will also do an unavoidable AOE called Blood Rain, this does a fair amount of damage so get a heal ready for this.

Floor 160

Floor 170

The main thing in this boss is to make sure you and the boss are not inside the Douse puddles. Other than that, avoid the AOEs. Save any movement cooldown (Sprint, Hells Ingress, etc) you may have for the Heavy debuff you will need it to avoid the Electrogenesis.

Floor 180

When the boss cast two Charybdis in a row, they will spawn tornadoes. Make sure you run away from the telegraphed circle as the tornadoes will double in size. When you see the boss walk away from you, stay close to the boss as it will then follow up with a cone AOE. This will always happen at the top or bottom of the map and will alternate between the two.
Once the boss is around 20% or so health remaining, save your burst as the boss will cast Ecliptic Meteor once it has 15% health remaining. It will also be a good idea to use a Pomander of Lust at this time to build up vulnerability stacks. Ecliptic Meteor will deal 80% of your max health as damage. If you can’t burst it down make sure you are as full health as possible by using a sustaining potion and any other health recovery items or spell you may have. The boss will continue to cast Ecliptic Meteors after this.

Floor 190

The boss will do a cleave (tank buster) at the start which does a huge amount of damage. Be prepared to shield and/or heal this.
The boss will also summon ads. Kill the blue ad and Hit the Red ad into the boss (yes this is the opposite of Floor 90).
The boss’s attack pattern is 3 saps then the cleave/tank buster.

Type	Description
Impeding	Silences anybody in the radius when triggered. This includes enemy mobs.
Toading	Transforms anyone who triggers the trap into a toad
Landmine	Explodes when triggered, doing damage equivalent to 80% of current health. This includes enemy mobs.
Luring	Spawns 3 random mobs that will automatically aggro whoever triggered the trap. While they can easily be dealt with at lower levels, this often ends many runs at higher levels. The best way to deal with this is a Pomander of Resurrection or a Pomander of Witching. If you are going to fight through the random mobs, it may be best to pop a Sustaining potion right away.
Enervate	Applies a debuff to the person that triggers it. The debuff increases damage taken by 20% and reduces damage dealt by 20%. This debuff can’t be removed by player actions.