The Arcadion raid series in Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail kicks off with a battle against Black Cat, a fellow rookie making her Arcadion debut alongside you and your party in the AAC Light-heavyweight M1 match.
The Dawntrail expansion spiced things up in the mechanics department with itsdungeons and trials, and the Arcadion is no joke either. This is a significantly more involved raid series than its predecessors, but thankfully, each of the mechanics is fairly simple once you get the hang of them. They’re a blast to play, too, and Black Cat has a few unique twists that set her apart from previous raid bosses in Final Fantasy XIV.
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How to unlock AAC Light-heavyweight M1 in FFXIV
The AAC Light-heavyweight M1 raid is unlocked by beginning the Arcadion raid series questline in Solution Nine. After clearing the7.0 MSQ, speak with theStylish Stranger (X: 19.1, Y: 18.8)inSolution Nineto set things in motion. Then, just head to the Arcadion and speak to Metem to startThe Claw in the Dark, which is the quest that unlocks AAC Light-heavyweight M1.
All Black Cat mechanics in AAC Light-heavyweight M1
Before we get to the unique mechanics for this fight, let’s discuss the general setup of the battle. The arena is a4×4 grid of tilesthat can be damaged and destroyed (similar to theShinryubattle in The Royal Menagerie trial).
you may get revived if you fall, but pay attention to the ground and ensure you avoid cracked tiles that are close to breaking. Black Cat also has a spell calledShockwavethat she will periodically cast thatknocks you backward,which can be tricky to survive with the broken tiles.
Black Cat has all the usual attacks that raid bosses have like a tank buster (Biscuit Maker), a raid-wide spell (Bloody Scratch), and a stack mechanic (Clawful), so just watch for the usual symbols. She has a bunch of unique mechanics on top of these, though, so keep reading to be prepared for the raid.
One-two Paw
The first mechanic that you need to watch out for is One-two Paw. When she casts this, Black Cat will raise her claws one after the other. She performstwo huge cleavesin the directions of her glowing claws, so dodge based on the order that she raises them. If you stay near her, you should only need toperform a small sidestepto dodge this attack. Occasionally, Black Cat will perform a leaping version of this attack where she will move to another section of the arena before swiping.
Black Cat Crossing
Black Cat’s next major mechanic isBlack Cat Crossing, which spawns two sets of glowing lines ineither a plus or an X formationone after the other. These lines are conal AOEs that will be launched in the order of their appearance, so dodge them just like One-two Paw. She’ll occasionally perform a leaping version of this attack just like she can with One-two Paw.
Mouseris one of Black Cat’s more complicated attacks, but it’s easy enough to avoid if you follow someone who knows what they’re doing. Black Cat will telegraph along sequence of red square AOEsand then bounce around the arena,damaging any tiles that she hits.
Tiles can only take two hits before they break, so the goal here is topick a safe tilethat Black Cat either misses entirely or only hits once. Cracked tiles are perfectly safe to stand on, but remember that acracked tile can only take one more hitbefore it breaks.
Elevate and Eviscerate
Elevate and Eviscerateis the most unique mechanic that Black Cat has, and she casts it multiple times in a row so you have to know what to do since there’s a decent chance that you’ll be targeted by it.
When Black Cat casts Elevate and Eviscerate, shetethers to a random playerand thenknocks them into the air. The targeted player will have anarrowfollowing them that indicates where they will land after the attack.Landing on a tile will damage it, so you should aim for pristine tiles instead of cracked ones.Landing on a cracked tile will break itand cause you to fall to your death.The arrow indicator will turn redif it’s pointing at a cracked tile, so you don’t have to pay too much attention.
Predaceous Pounce
Predaceous Pounceis similar to Mouser in that it’s another long sequence of telegraphed AOEs. During this attack,paw printswill appear on the ground. These are linear AOEs that will be followed up bylarge circular AOE attacksthat must be dodged. After the AOEs are triggered, every player will receive aspread marker.
Copy Catis a tricky mechanic to deal with, but it really just makes the existing mechanics a bit harder. During this phase, Black Catsummons a clone of herselfso she can perform two attacks simultaneously. The clone will start off by usingElevate and Eviscerateto launch players into the air while Black Cat herself castsOvershadow, which places astack markeron another player. The second time Black Cat spawns a Copy Cat clone, it will usePredaceous Pounce.
How to beat Black Cat in AAC Light-heavyweight M1
The key to this fight to this fight is keeping a close eye on the tiles and positioning yourself in a safe space where you have plenty of escape routes in case Black Cat starts targeting the ones near you. Keep a close eye on Black Cat herself toprepare for One-two Paw and Black Cat Crossing. These are very easy to dodge as long as you pay attention and don’t let the other mechanics stress you out.
The biggest difficulty spike in AAC Light-heavyweight M1 isMouser, which is Black Cat’s tile-destroying attack. Instead of trying to memorize the attack pattern for the entire arena, we recommendsticking to one quadrant of the battlefieldand paying very close attention to just four of the squares. That way, you’ll have a much easier time remembering Black Cat’s attack order and keeping track of which tiles are going to break.
Predaceous Pounceis the other major mechanic that most players struggle with, but we have some advice for that one, too. We recommendplacing yourself inside one of the AOEs near the end of the telegraph sequence. Once Black Cat actually starts jumping around the arena, you can thenmove to one of the AOE spots from the beginning of the sequencethat Black Cat has already hit. That way, you don’t have to worry about dodging anything else.
While you canfollow an experienced playerfor most of this fight to safely ignore most of the mechanics, there are still things that you will have to contend with no matter what like Elevate and Eviscerate. Breaking tiles just makes things harder for everyone else, so please don’t be that person. Also, your healers will thank you if you pay attention to Black Cat’s telegraphs and avoid her AOEs since theSustained Damage debuffapplied on hit is super tough to heal through.
AAC Light-heavyweight M1 will thankfully only get easier as people become more familiar with the mechanics and acquire better gear to make the fight go faster. Farming the raid over and over for weekly gear drops makes great practice, too. Once you’ve got your raid gear, though, you may get back to Dawntrail’s other optional content like waiting for theSerpentlord Seethes FATE.
Diego Perez
Currently serving as a Senior Staff Writer at PC Invasion, Diego Perez has been writing about video games since 2018, specializing in live service games like Destiny and Final Fantasy XIV. His work is featured at publications like Game Rant and Attack of the Fanboy (where he served as Associate Editor), but PC Invasion is home to his best work. When he’s planning content or writing guides, he’s yelling about Ape Escape or grinding Lost Sectors in Destiny. Plus, he has a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication Media Studies for Texas A&M University.
