Reisenjima's HELMs are the big leagues. Each can be extremely difficult, on par with Kirin or Warder of Courage.
Albumen
Albumen luckily isn't too difficult, but is particularly annoying. It spawns with four adds - a RDM that will cast debuffs such as silencega and graviga, a WHM that will Benediction (healing all adds and Albumen itself), a NIN which can Mijin Gakure, and a DNC. These adds will use their SP abilities very quickly after being summoned, and Albumen will summon a new set of four adds every ~2 minutes, until summoning a total of 12 adds. Albumen itself can use Hundred Fists, and tends to spam out AOE status effects. Scream is an AOE terror. Fatal Scream is an AOE doom. Tepal Twist is an AOE Max HP down -50%, which is very brutal with Hundred Fists and will amplify to -75% when Albumen is under 25% hp. Petalback Spin inflicts Poison, Paralyze, Blind, Silence, Plague, and Amnesia along with a hate reset. Additionally, during nighttime hours it will gain access to Phaeosynthesis, which will increase all of Albumen's stats - because of this it's almost always fought during the day. Finally, Albumen also has a very high counter rate that melee DDs need to be cautious of. Beating Albumen mostly comes down to being able to burn it down quickly enough so that things don't snowball, and carrying LOTS of remedies and panaceas. The adds are generally ignored in favor of killing Albumen as quickly as possible, since spawning more adds is based on time rather than health percentages.
Erinys
Erinys is a gigantic pain in the ass, and again is more annoying than difficult. It summons up four adds called Boobries (which are usually ignored), but really only has one major gimmick. Unfortunately, it's a very annoying one - a DoT and knockback aura. This means killing Erinys by meleeing is nearly impossible. Instead most groups tend to use ranged options to take it down, with a tank backed up against a wall to deal with the knockback.
Onychophora
Onychophora is a callback to the old abyssea NM Glavoid. When above 50% HP, Ony will absorb all damage while readying a TP move. Below 50%, it will also absorb during spellcasting. It will also switch between two different modes below 50% - when it casts a fire spell, it will begin absorbing ALL magic damage, including skillchains. When it casts an earth spell, it will switch to absorbing ALL physical damage. It will also spawn between 2-8 Onychophora's Sandworm adds whenever a skillchain is performed on it, the number of adds summoned depending on the skillchain performed (higher lv SCs resulting in more adds). If the same skillchain is used on it too often, it will use Doomvoid, which will 1-hit KO your entire alliance. It can use Gorge to drain HP from players hit, which will power-up Disgorge to deal more damage if more HP is drained with Gorge - often dealing enough damage to one-shot your tank. Dust Void will strip anyone hit of ALL of their equipment, which can be particularly harsh on your tank - ensure everyone has macros ready to equip their gear again. Finally, Ony can use Psyche Suction which will steal up to 1-300+ from each main (STR, DEX, VIT, etc) stat from those hit. Most of its attacks are conal, so only the tank should be standing in front of it. Due to its ability to absorb a ton of damage, running out of time against Ony is the bigger threat than it killing your group. Generally, only a few melee DDs will engage Ony, and will coordinate to ensure none of their Weapon Skills will skillchain. Generally this is done by spamming Resolution and Savage Blade. As long as your DDs are vigilant to not heal it, Ony shouldn't cause too much trouble.
Zerde
Zerde is a fight decided almost immediately once it begins. Its most threatening move is Just Desserts, which spawns 4 adds that contain Bio, Poison, Doom, and Curse auras. If Just Desserts is used again, another set of adds will spawn. It attempts to use Just Desserts immediately upon spawning, and if it goes off successfully the fight is often unwinnable due to these powerful auras. Zerde is generally killed by having mages spamming stun as often as humanly possible to prevent Just Desserts from going off. Aside from this, Zerde isn't anything particularly threatening and is a fairly straightforward fight. The only other notable move Zerde has is Slimy Proposal, which is a charm + dia, but your tank should be able to handle it with either a lot of magic evasion or a Charm Buffer. Zerde takes extra fire damage, and strong enough fire damage can terrorize it, so if a stun gets resisted and adds spawn, your group can try burning him down (literally) before the fight ends from the auras.
Schah
Schah is the grand-daddy of Abyssea caturae NMs, and the first of what are known as the "big three" of Reisenjima HELMs. While Schah spawns alone, every 30 seconds it will summon an add - summoning 14 in total. Killing these adds is top priority, as each of them is uniquely threatening, and if two or more adds are alive then Schah will gain a powerful damage reduction effect.
- Bhata - 7 are spawned in total. the first is spawned at 30 seconds, and then each will spawn 48 seconds after the previous was killed. The weakest of the adds and doesn't have any large threats on its own. However, if left alive for over 2 minutes, it will transform into a Mantri, which is the strongest of the adds. Has the unique ability Dark Arrivisme which is an AOE knockback that also dispels 3 effects
- Ashva - 2 are spawned, first at 60s and the second 48s after the first one dies. Has the unique ability Banneret Charge which is a 20' AOE that sets everyone hit to 1 HP and resets hate.
- Gaja - 2 are spawned, first at 90s and the second 78s after the first one dies. Its unique ability is Besieger's Bane, which will inflict an AOE Bio, Terror, and Zombie - likely resulting in deaths from the bio unless the zombie gets erased. Gaja is fairly weak, however can use Stygian Sphere to reduce all incoming damage to almost nothing. Enough magic damage will break the shield, but generally the strategy is to try and burst down Gaja before it gets the shield up.
- Ratha - 2 are spawned, first at 120s and the second 78s after the first dies. Unique ability is Shadow Wreck - AoE damage and 50% Defense Down, and can give Ratha powerful Dread Spikes.
- Mantri - only 1 is spawned, 180s into the fight, but if any Bhata are allowed to live for 2 minutes they will transform into Mantri. Its unique ability is Enthrall, which is an AOE charm.
- Schah - has access to ALL of the unique abilities of the above adds. It also has its own unique ability, Royal Decree, which will deal AOE damage and reset Job Ability timers.
The priority of which adds to kill tends to vary from group to group, so check with your leader on the order to kill them. The main obstacle when it comes to Schah is the time limit. The first half of the fight needs to be spent killing the adds, and that leaves considerably little time to kill Schah itself. Some groups choose to leave the Mantri alive in order to save time, since Schah will only get the -DT% effect if two or more adds are alive. However, that isn't to say Schah itself is a pushover. Because Schah uses all of the adds' unique abilities, this means you have to deal with constant Zombie, dispels, dread spikes, Stygian Sphere, and charms. What may be worst of all is Banneret Charge, which will reduce everyones' HP down to 1 - if you still have Bio from Besieger's Bane then it's an instant alliance wipe. Even if bio's been cleared, Schah has access to AOE spells and isn't afraid to use them. Schah is a very difficult fight, but if your group is coordinated and skilled then you should be able to take it down.
Teles
Teles is another doozy, and the second of the "big three" HELMs. At 79%, 59%, 39%, 29%, 19% and 9% HP, she will use either Invincible, Manafont, or Soul Voice. Below 9%, she will just constantly use these. Each SP has its own unique set of behaviors and a powerful 25-30' aura:
- Invincible - Teles will begin casting white magic such as Protect, Shell, Cures, and Banish. She will also gain a Dia aura, which will tic for ~300 damage.
- Manafont - Teles will begin casting black magic such as Aero, Aeroja, Aeroga, Impact, and Death. She will also gain a powerful Magic Defense Down aura.
- Soul Voice - Teles will begin casting various bard songs, including Maiden's Virelai, a charm. Not only that, but she also gains access to Entice, which is ANOTHER charm move. She will also gain a Mute aura.
When the SP ability ends, there will be a second SP animation, signaling her returning to her normal AI behavior. Similarly to Warder of Courage, if ice or dark damage is deal just as she uses an SP, there's a chance to interrupt the SP and either force her to use a different one, or cancel it entirely. Finally, if large damage is dealt to her from a range (either via ranged attacks or magic), then she will reset her hate on the tank. This often encourages her to use Clarsach Call, which deals very strong wind damage in a VERY large AOE, and gives Teles a variety of stat buffs. Teles is a very chaotic fight, but luckily you always know when an SP is going to come up. If she uses Invincible your group will need to back away ASAP to not get melted by her Dia aura, and the tank will need to use Lucid Potion IIIs and any other healing they have at their disposal, as the group healer likely may not be able to get close enough to support them without taking significant Dia damage. When she uses Soul Voice your tank will need to be quick with the Charm Buffer, and if she uses it multiple times then hope your tank has a good magic evasion / resist set. While muted your tank will also likely have trouble keeping hate, doubly so if Clarsach Call goes off, so your party's DDs should take it easy to not steal hate.
Vinipata
Vinipata is a royal pain, and the last of the "big three" HELMs. It summons two Vinipata's Narakas, smaller versions of itself, which will synchronize TP moves with Vini and are difficult to control the hate of - they're usually slept, as it will just resummon them. As the fight goes on, Vini will continue to summon more and more adds, up to a maximum of 6 up at once, which should also be slept. Vini itself hits VERY hard, with stronger physical attacks than any other HELM and a potent Quadruple Attack chance. Vini will also swap between two stances, which determine what abilities Vini will use after using Meikyo Shisui (which it will use a LOT throughout the fight) and also determine the behavior of its adds:
- Raksha Stance - this is the stance you want Vini to be in if you're going with a melee strategy. It has a -50% MDT buff, and Vini will swap to this stance if someone around it is buffed. While in this stance, blue adds will share Vini's hate, but green ones will go after any player that takes almost any action. When Vini uses Meikyo Shisui, it will perform the following TP moves in this order:
- Raksha:Judgment (damage, silence, amnesia, and bind) or Raksha:Illusion (damage, paralyze, and Curse that reduces max HP and MP by 50%).
- Raksha:Judgment or Raksha:Illusion
- Raksha:Vengeance (damage, Muddle, and Weakness)
- Yama's Judgment, an AOE doom with a 5-second(!!) counter - BRING HOLY WATERS!!
- Yaksha Stance - this is the stance you want Vini to be in if you're going with a magic strategy. It has a -50% PDT buff, and Vini will swap to this stance if Vini is debuffed with any erasable debuff. While in Yaksha stance, green adds will share Vini's hate, and blue ones will go after any player. When Vini uses Meikyo Shisui, it will perform the following TP moves in this order:
- Yaksha: Bliss (damage, attack down, and mag. attack down) or Yaksha: Damnation (damage, defense down, and mag. defense down)
- Yaksha: Bliss or Yaksha: Damnation
- Yaksha: Oblivion (High damage, hate reset, and reduces all stats by 110)
- Sakra Storm, an AOE damage and hate reset move that also inflicts zombie, paralysis, and muddle.
Whenever Vinipata switches stances, it will also remove all of its debuffs and wipe 3 buffs from anyone around it. Vinipata is a major threat, and will pump out huge damage numbers while also resetting hate constantly. There's really no right answer for fighting Vini - a melee strategy means he will be spamming Max HP down along with Weakness (very big problem with how strong he hits) and short-count dooms. A magic strategy means he'll be resetting hate left and right while also obliterating your party's stats. Beating Vini is a matter of holding on for dear life and doing your best. Good luck.
