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Ifrit (Hard Mode)
General Party Setup
One tank
One stunner (PLD or DPS)*
Two healers
Remainder DPS (at least one BLM or SMN)
*For Duty Finder groups, PLD is typically the stunner when at least one of the tanks is a PLD as there is no need for two tanks on this fight.
Requirements
Complete the main story, activate the follow-up quest "Ifrit Bleeds, We Can Kill It" in The Waking Sands. Continue the quest to attune to the aetheryte which activates "The Bowl of Embers (Hard)" in Duty Finder.
Ifrit's Abilities
Vulcan Buster
Very large AoE centered on Ifrit - low damage and huge knockback. No ability target area warning (there is a chat message warning).
Incinerate
Conal fire breath attack (used frequently between other abilities). No one should ever be in front of Ifrit at any point except for the tank, so this should only ever hit the tank.
Eruption
Heavy targeted AoE damage. Ability target area warning by large areas of glowing cracked earth which are centered directly beneath one or more players. As the fight proceeds, each use of the ability will cause more and more simultaneous eruptions. If players are close to each other, the Eruptions can be stacked, instantly killing anyone on top of them.
Radiant Plume
Heavy targeted AoE damage, used below 75% HP. Ability target area warning by swirling lava circles on the ground. Three patterns:
-Outer Ring (border of arena)
-Inner Area (center of arena)
-Full Arena (only used during final phase; plumes cover the entire arena except for small areas immediately surrounding Ifrit)
Crimson Cyclone
Ifrit disappears, then reappears untargetable at a position on the border of the arena. After a couple of seconds, he charges rapidly forward straight across the arena, dealing severe damage to anyone in his path. In later phases, additional clones of Ifrit will appear during this attack (two Ifrits below 75% HP, then three Ifrits in the final phase), each charging forward from its position starting with the Ifrit on the left with about one second between charges. Make sure your camera is panned out and quickly rotate it if you do not immediately see the clones after Ifrit jumps in the air. Note that when he spawns multiple clones, the positions at the border of the arena that are immediately between and next to the clones are actually safe.
Hellfire
Special ability, used only once. Deals very high AoE damage to everyone depending on the number of Infernal Nails present when utilized. Essentially impossible to survive if any Nails are left standing when used.
Battle Strategy
In all phases, and particularly later phases, Eruption should be stunned. It is important that healers and ranged DPS can rely on Eruption to be stunned so that they can continue to heal and deal damage while Eruption is readied. Because of the battle pacing, Ifrit should not build resistance to Stun if Eruption is the only ability that is stunned, but he will certainly build resistance if you attempt to Stun other abilities too frequently. The Stunner's role boils down to interrupting Eruption for the duration of the battle. Anything else they do is a bonus, but they should never do anything that will compromise their ability to interrupt when Eruption is the next ability in the cycle. Stunning Eruption is coincidentally the "fine play" technique for this fight, and so it will also serve to quickly charge the limit break meter.
Note that throughout the fight, any time Crimson Cyclone is used, once you are in position to avoid the clone charges you are completely safe until Ifrit returns to the battlefield. This is the time to top off HP, get up buffs, accept raise, etc. Once the charges are complete, everyone should return to their positions so that the battle can continue immediately once Ifrit returns to the arena.
First Phase
Tank should position themselves against the border of the arena, with Ifrit facing to the outside of of the arena (this will prevent Vulcan Buster from knocking the tank back). Stunner and Melee DPS should be to the side or behind Ifrit, never in front. Healers and ranged DPS should position themselves relatively far away to avoid being pushed back and interrupted by Vulcan Buster. During this phase, Crimson Cyclone will only spawn one clone of Ifrit.
As his health decreases below 75%, Eruption will begin to target more than one location and Ifrit will spawn an additional clone during Crimson Cyclone. After the charge(s) are complete, everyone should return to their original positions so the fight can continue immediately once he drops back down. In this phase, Ifrit will also begin to use Radiant Plume, first targeting the outer ring, then the center area shortly after. The ability cycle below 75% but prior to Infernal Nails is:
Vulcan Buster
Eruption
Radiant Plume (Outer Ring)
Eruption
Radiant Plume (Center)
Crimson Cyclone (Two Clones)
Hellfire
As Ifrit reaches 50% HP, four Infernal Nails will spawn at the center of the arena. DPS should immediately refocus on destroying the nails immediately. During this phase, most of Ifrit's other abilities will temporarily not be utilized.
At this point, the group should have a full three bar limit break ready, and a BLM or SMN should use Meteor targeting the center of the arena to hit all four Nails and reduce them to low HP. DPS should be able to finish off the nails prior to Hellfire (melee DPS may be able to perform an additional one bar limit break before the Nails are gone). Without using Meteor, this portion of the fight is a high DPS check and will likely kill all but the best geared groups. As soon as the fourth Nail is defeated (or if too much time passes), Ifrit will disappear and prepare Hellfire. At this point, the group has a few seconds to get ready by stacking as much damage mitigation as possible (Stoneskin, Adloquium, Sacred Soil, etc.). Immediately after the move goes off, toss out AoE heals to get everyone to full while getting back into position.
Second Phase: Clones, In, Out, Stack
In the second phase, it is important to be aware of the ability cycle:
Vulcan Buster
Eruption
Crimson Cyclone (Three Clones)
Radiant Plume (Outer Ring)
Radiant Plume (Center)
Eruption
Radiant Plume (Full Arena)
After interrupting the first Eruption, then dodging the charging clones, while continuing to deal damage, everyone except the tank should move in towards the center of the arena, out of range of the outer plume locations. Once the outer ring of plumes goes off, the group should move out, away from the center of the arena (but still not in front of Ifrit, except the tank), until the inner plumes go off. After Eruption is stunned once more, the entire group should stack behind Ifrit. The next plumes will cover the entire arena except for the area immediately around Ifrit (you may still need to reposition slightly to avoid plumes even if you are stacked on Ifrit).
For the remainder of the battle, this cycle will repeat indefinitely until either Ifrit's dead, or you are.
Loot
Each player receives:
10 Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy
4 Allagan Tomestones of Mythology
The final treasure chest will add one of the nine Ifrit weapons to the pool at random:
Ifrit's Blade
Ifrit's Battleaxe
Ifrit's Claws
Ifrit's Harpoon
Ifrit's Bow
Ifrit's Cane
Ifrit's Cudgel
Ifrit's Grimoire
Ifrit's Codex