FFXIV Battle in the Big Keep: How To Unlock + Trial Guide

Gilgamesh Trial Boss Screenshot from FFXIV

The Level 50 normal-difficulty trial Battle in the Big Keep, also known as the Gilgamesh and Enkidu trial, can be unlocked by accepting the quest “Her Last Vow” from Julyan in Ul’dah – Steps of Thal (X:12.0, Y:11.8 – Hustings Strip).

Note that this quest is part of the patch 2.5 Hildibrand Adventures questline for A Realm Reborn.

Step-by-Step Unlock Guide

Sil'dih excavation site in Central Thanalan / Final Fantasy XIV
Sil’dih excavation site in Central Thanalan
  1. Finish the Level 50 Main Scenario Quest (MSQ) “The Ultimate Weapon” from Raubahn in Northern Thanalan (X:15.0, Y:16.0)
  2. Complete the quest “The Rise and Fall of Gentlemen” from Wymond in Ul’dah – Steps of Nald (X:9.8, Y:8.7) to begin the Hildibrand Adventures questline.
  3. Accept the Level 50 quest “Her Last Vow” from Julyan in Ul’dah – Steps of Thal (X:12.0, Y:11.8 0 – Hustings Strip)
  4. Follow along with the story and talk to the necessary NPCs, starting with Phillice at the Sil’dih excavation site in Central Thanalan (X:17.0, Y:22.4)

Detailed Unlocking Guide

“Her Last Vow” is a Level 50 quest included in the Hildibrand Adventures questline for patch 2.5 of A Realm Reborn.

This questline is only available after finishing the Level 50 MSQ “The Ultimate Weapon” from Raubahn in Northern Thanalan (X:15.0, Y:16.0).

So once you’re done with the patch 2.0 main story, accept the Level 50 quest “The Rise and Fall of Gentlemen” from Wymond in Ul’dah – Steps of Nald (X:9.8, Y:8.7) to begin the Hildibrand Adventures questline.

You’ll need to go through all the Hildibrand content from patch 2.0 to 2.5 before “Her Last Vow” becomes available.

After you’ve caught up, talk to Julyan in Ul’dah – Steps of Thal (X:12.0, Y:11.8 – Hustings Strip) to begin unlocking the trial.

Julyan’s map location in Ul’dah - Steps of Thal / Final Fantasy XIV
Julyan’s map location in Ul’dah – Steps of Thal

At this point in the story, you and the rest of the Hildibrand gang are chasing the fugitive, Ellie.

You’ll need to do the following steps while going through the story:

  1. Talk to Phillice at the Sil’dih excavation site in Central Thanalan (X:17.0, Y:22.4).
  2. Head to Central Thanalan (X:15.1, Y:22.3) and type /say Ellie! to call Ellie out.
  3. Speak with Hildibrand in South Shroud (X:24.6, Y:25.0).

After doing so, Battle in the Big Keep will be unlocked. This trial requires at least a Level 50 Disciple of War or Magic job and an average item level of 90 to enter.

Trial Boss: Gilgamesh & Enkidu

Greg and his oversized chicken! / Final Fantasy XIV
Greg and his oversized chicken!

This fight is easily soloable with a high-level character. Just enter the fight unsynced and burn down the bosses quickly. Remember to focus on Enkidu in Phase 1.

If you want to do it while synced with your friends or encounter it during your duty roulettes, we’ll cover the mechanics below:

Phase 1: Gilgamesh and Enkidu

Focus on killing Enkidu first. Any damage inflicted on Gilgamesh will be wasted due to Enkidu’s “White Wind.” Phase 1 will end upon Enkidu’s death.

Gilgamesh

  • Bitter End: A cleaving tankbuster attack on the primary target. Pop your mitigation cooldowns and heal through the damage.
  • Pradamante: A targeted circle AoE on a random player.
  • Declaration: A room-wide knockback attack that signals the use of “Tiny Song” and “Cockcrow”.
  • Tiny Song: Pairs of players will be tethered and debuffed with “Minimum.” This debuff reduces your size and the damage you deal and increases the damage you take. Tethered players should run toward each other to get free.
  • Cockcrow + Woken Wind: Random players will also be turned into chickens, preventing them from using any skills. During this time, tornadoes will also appear around the room, knocking players up should anyone touch them. Run toward a tornado to dispel the chicken debuff and dissipate the tornado.
  • Missile: Gilgamesh will target a random player with an orange marker for a point-blank AoE. If you’re marked, move away from the rest of the group. This attack deals especially high damage to players affected by “Minimum.”

Enkidu

  • White Wind: Enkidu will heal Gilgamesh back to full health should he take significant damage. Focus on killing Enkidu instead.
  • Aero II: Non-telegraphed AoE circles instantly cast toward random players. Spread out to avoid overlapping damage.
  • Web: Enkidu will target up to three players with “Heavy” and “Slow” debuffs. Dispel these debuffs immediately.
  • Eerie Soundwave: A room-wide frontal cone AoE that applies a non-dispellable “Atrophy” debuff for 30 seconds. This debuff reduces all of the affected player’s attributes by 30%.

Phase 2: Gilgamesh + First set of Dragonheads

Gilgamesh pulls out the big guns / Final Fantasy XIV
Gilgamesh pulls out the big guns
  • Bitter End: A cleaving tankbuster attack on the primary target. Pop your mitigation cooldowns and heal through the damage.
  • Whirlwind Slash: A point-blank AoE attack.
  • Icewind: Two sets of criss-cross AoE attacks throughout the arena.
  • Sword Dance: A seven-hit tankbuster attack on the primary target. Shield and heal through the hits.
  • Iron Chain: A healer will be chained and inflicted with a DoT. The chain will take less damage if Gilgamesh is too close to it. Pull Gilgamesh away from the chain and destroy it.
  • Giga Jump + Masamune: Gilgamesh will jump onto a random player outside melee range, dealing point-blank AoE around the player. Then, he’ll dash back to the primary target, damaging anyone in his path. Move out of his way as soon as the jump occurs.
  • Moonlight: A room-wide AoE attack. Mitigate and heal through the damage.
  • Dragon’s Head (Phase 1): When his HP drops under 70%, Gilgamesh will summon four dragon heads that use “Dragonfire” line attacks. Kill these heads immediately.
  • Dragonspirit (Dragon’s Head): The heads will float to the center or the outer edges of the arena and use a point-blank AoEs.

Phase 3: Second set of Dragonheads + Lightning Orbs

The second phase will have more mechanics overlapping with each other along with some new ones.

Always focus on destroying the dragonheads first to reduce incoming AoEs.

  • Dragon’s Head (Phase 2): The second set of dragon heads will appear when Gilgamesh’s HP drops below 20%. Dragon’s Head mechanics will overlap with lightning orbs, so be quick on your feet.
  • Bloomshower: Pink AoEs will appear on the ground in a set pattern. Move near the boss’ hitbox to have more space to dodge.
  • Electromagnetic Force: Two sets of lightning orbs will appear around the room, exploding either near the center of the arena or near the outer edges. Determine which set will explode first and move appropriately.

Rewards

Gilgamesh and Enkidu loot / Final Fantasy XIV
Gilgamesh and Enkidu loot
  • Faded Copy of Battle on the Big Bridge Orchestrion Roll (not guaranteed)
  • Bartz Klauser Triple Triad Card (not guaranteed)
Name Type Quality
Enkidu Minion Basic

Marc Vista

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Marc is a casual FFXIV Summoner veteran, retired TF2 Soldier main, and professional communicator. He's also a huge fan of anime, Hololive, and the Golden State Warriors.

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