I decided to assist others in one of unguided areas of the game… the “ Burning Circle” battles. The following information is not set in stone and can vary with your personal findings and party setups. This is just a guideline of what I have witnessed works best and comes from a Bards point of view. Words like “must” and “you have to” are strong suggestions, not the only solution.

Before you go…

You need to ensure that you prepare well before going to do a BCNM40. Taking shortcuts will cost you 40 beastmen seals and possibly EXP points.

Food - Juice and pie is strongly suggested for mages. Boiled Crab and Fishkabobs for BRD and melee party members.

Armor – PLD should be in best possible armor for a level 40 (wearing level 20 armor wont cut it) .

BRD should have +CHR items and to make things easiest, Mary’s Horn. I know not everyone can afford it, but it makes a hard battle a much easier one. +CHR rings, Corsette, BRD AF1 Dagger, and Noble ribbon are common items to have.

Party members – The combinations are limitless, but one thing is common with all Giddeus BCNM40s…. you need a BRD. Now I know some people would like to argue otherwise, but unless you are 6 BSTs, the safest party will have a BRD.

The Basics

Now party lineup will vary as stated above, but we will focus on what I have noticed works best. My normal BCNM40 PT lineup consists of WHM, PLD, BRD, BLM, RDM, ??? (Damage dealer). I have found this works best personally. I have witnessed a video on the Internet that worked very well consisting of a PLD, WHM, BRD, RNG, RNG, RNG. But you have to choose what you want to try.

The normal scenario will goes as follows:

PLD runs in the center of the circle and provokes BLM mandragora.... all the other mandragoras will rush the PLD.

BRD casts Horde Lullaby on the mandragoras and walks to rim of the burning circle.

BRD waits for all of them to wake up and cast only when he sees them close enough together. (They will all rush the BRD since Lullaby draws agro.) If one is straggling, the BRD should Foe Lullaby him ASAP.

BLM and RDM should NOT use their sleep...it’ll screw up timing.

The BRD needs to stay perfectly still; running around will separate the group of mandragoras. Target one in the center of the group and Horde Lullaby when they wake up. As a BRD you WILL get hit, its ok…that’s what the RDM is there for.
It’s best to turn off most filters...I usually see "Domovoi is no longer asleep" (or whatever they are called) in the chat window before I notice them moving. So it gives you a second to cast resulting in less hits.

Right after sleeping, ill use Ballad and Paeon on myself. Then next "round" of sleeping ill use Blink and Barsleepra (or regen/cure).

Once the BLM mandragora is dead, have the PLD pick the next white mandragora to kill...then have the party kill them off one by one.

Some people say to drag them down to the entrance instead of fighting in the circle incase you die you can re-raise safely. I prefer less traveling of the mandragoras. The less distance the have to run, the less spread apart they have the chance of getting.

Note: PLDs have a lot of trouble getting agro from the white mandragoras since the sleep a BRD casts on them over and over gains so much aggro.

Party Roles

WHM
- Buff Barwatera and Barparalyze at the beginning of battle.
Barwatera for protection from Flood (BLM mandragora spell) and barparalyze since the BLM can do an AOE paralyze that’s horrible for a BRD trying to sing/cure. Later on do Barsleepra with the white mandragoras. Keep the PLD and BRD alive.
- Cure cure cure

BLM
-Elemental seal + Silence to silence the BLM mandragora when he starts to cast flood. If seal isn’t ready, try Silence anyway, you may get lucky. BLM/SMN is not a suitable substitute.
-Nuke nuke nuke

PLD

-Watch for flood and try to stop it. Have a macro setup so BLM and RDM know the BLM mandragora is about to cast it. You can tell its flood when it starts a long casting of a spell. Save TP for Flat blade, to assist in stunning.
- Kill kill kill

BRD

-Well you should know what to do by now, but also assist the mages by singing your ballad. Make sure they stay close to you so they get it. Keep yourself alive
-Sleep sleep sleep

RDM

-You need to keep the BRD alive...the WHM will be trying to help the PLD.... you’ll also have to play backup healer for them and silence the BLM mandragora with the BLM

Misc. Melee

-Follow the lead of the PLD and destroy anything he is attacking. If you use a sword, also save TP for Flat blade while BLM mandragora is alive.

Things to remember…

• Don’t let the BRD die! His sleep is what keeps you going.
• Don’t let the BRD die!
• Nominate one person to pick which mandragora dies next (after boss dies). I usually use PLD to keep confusion down.
• Food makes a big difference, don’t be cheap. If you cant afford food to go, spend 20-30 minutes farming gil for food.
• Remove spam-macros. They make it hard to see what’s going on. Having a macro saying “May the rocks of death destroy you, STONE II!” is less important than seeing a PLD shout “FLOOD!” When the mandragora is about to use it.
• Don’t let the BRD die!
• You only have 30 minutes once inside. Discuss battle plans outside, go in and take care of business.
• If you are a mage and you get put to sleep, use Curaga to wake party members if possible.
• Regen and Blink are your friend.
• Don’t let the BRD die!

Well I hope this helps. Anyone on the Midgardsormr server can send me a /tell for more info and questions or contact Xarddrax@pol.com . The choice to vary from this guide is yours to make, I can only tell you what death and success has taught me.

-Xarddrax of Midgardsormr

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