This may tingle a bit!
Titania when tethering players with Thunder Rune
The Dancing Plague is the first 
Trial in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, taking place in the castle of Il Mheg where the Warrior of Light faces off against Titania king of the fairies.
Story[]
Normal[]
The white dress, the shell crown, the stone scepter, the crystal shoes... Having acquired the four fae relics through considerable effort, you now stand ready to break the seal over Lyhe Ghiah and confront the Lightwarden of Il Mheg—the fallen faerie king, Titania. Yet even as you hunt the sin eater, you are in turn hunted by the forces of Eulmore, who have thrown all caution to the wind and march resolutely on the faerie kingdom...
In-game description
Extreme[]
Since the great sundering of the Source, life on the resulting shards was free to grow and evolve independent of outside influence. And yet, perhaps as an indication of a greater plan or a higher purpose, a series of coincidences occurred over the long years and centuries and millennia, resulting in the birth of certain individuals with no particular relation who are nevertheless eerily similar in every respect.
Indeed, the minstreling wanderer has as powerful and vivid an imagination as any soul of the Source, and after listening attentively to your tale of Titania, he has composed a ballad that would move a man with a heart of stone to weep bitterly, and a Warrior of Darkness to walk in memories of a terrible trial, albeit one somewhat enhanced and embellished. As is a minstrel's wont.In-game description
Progression[]
We're sick of this cramped old castle! Let's play in the forest!
Titania, transforming Lyhe Ghiah into a forest
Normal[]
- Bright Sabbath- Raid wide AoE blast.
- Phantom Rune- Point blank AoE or room wide.
- Divination Rune- Large frontal cleave on tank.
- Mist Rune- Four puddles will spawn around the boss and one player must be inside each to avoid spawning enemies.
- Flame Rune- A large flaming fist appears and the party will have to stack within a water puddle.
- Midsummer Night's Dream- changes the terrain of the arena to a forest.
- Growth Rune- Vines begin to grow and bloom outwards, any player caught in the vine will be unable to move.
- Frost Rune- Large AoE's will appear around the arena, move to the last one and then to the first.
After these mechanics is an add phase where each tank has to grab each add and burn them down quickly. after their defeat Titania will revive each tree and enlarge them. Once the adds are destroyed she casts Being Mortal dealing raid wide damage. After this she will repeat mechanics.
Extreme[]
First phase[]
Like on Normal difficulty, the fight opens inside Lyhe Ghiah; she starts by casting Bright Sabbath, dealing moderate raid-wide damage.
Titania then casts Phantom Rune. Phantom Rune either covers Titania with glitter, in which case it inflicts heavy damage, Vulnerability Up, and Confuse on anyone too close to her, or spawns jets of wind around Titania, which deal heavy damage, Vulnerability Up, and knock-back to anyone too far away from her. After the first phase, there will be no railings and this will likely cause anyone who does not successfully avoid the attack to fall off the platform, though in case of Confusion, a well-timed Rescue will prevent this.
In any case, the first Phantom Rune cast is always glittery. Titania follows with Mist Rune, spawning eight water puddles that pink pearls begin spawning in, and which provide anyone standing in them with Fire Vulnerability Down: four far away at corners, and four close to Titania at the cardinals. If a player is not standing in each water puddle when the last pearl spawns, a Spirit of Dew will spawn and promptly explode, probably wiping the group if it cannot be slain quickly enough or mitigated through.
Titania then casts Flame Rune, targeting each of the healers with a flaming fist. This will be lethal if it is not stacked with at least three other party members who all have Fire Vulnerability Down. However, the fist will also inflict Fire Vulnerability Up, so exactly four party members must be in each stack.
Titania then casts Divination Rune, a moderate tank buster which is also a conal cleave; this must be faced away from the group. She then casts Chain of Brambles, tethering each DPS to a tank or healer, dealing damage and Vulnerability Up stacks unless they run in opposite directions from each other. She follows with a windy Phantom Rune, and casts Midsummer Night's Dream, causing the castle to turn into a forest, removing railings, and ending the phase.
Second phase: Midsummer Night's Dream[]
A party member is immediately tethered to Titania. The tether can and must be intercepted by another party member: she casts Thunder Rune on the tethered party member every five seconds, six times. This cast deals moderate lightning splash damage, but also inflicts Lightning Vulnerability Up and so any one party member cannot survive more than one hit without an invulnerability or heavy mitigation.
Titania casts Fae Light, a heavy-hitting tank buster that can be split between both tanks and hits three times, similar to many incarnations of Akh Morn, such as that of The Final Coil of Bahamut - Turn 4. She then casts Growth Rune, spawning roots that cover the platform slowly, leaving only certain safe polygons, before withering and dying; standing in roots inflicts Bleed and should be avoided, though it is possible to dash through the roots. Titania follows with Chain of Brambles, forcing party members to break their vines in such a way that does not force them to cross through roots, followed by Divination Rune.
Titania then casts Frost Rune, a mechanic which originated in the Akh Afah Ampitheatre: it spawns, one by one, circles of icicles which then fall and deal light damage and Vulnerability Up if not dodged. She follows with Uplift, a spread marker on each party member, and a windy Phantom Rune. She then goes untargetable.
Third phase: Small treants[]
Three adds spawn: Treants known as Puck, Mustardseed, and Peaseblossom. Titania begins stacking Titania's Power; if she reaches 100 stacks, she casts Being Mortal, instantly wiping the group. Mustardseed does not have a tank buster, but quickly enrages and must be killed quickly, while the other two adds have tank busters.
Mustardseed and Puck, respectively, cast Leafstorm and Gentle Breeze, telegraphed area-of-effects that can be easily avoided, while Peaseblossom casts Peasebomb, a spread marker on four party members. Mustardseed casts Leafstorm again, and then Puck and Peaseblossom cast Pummel and Hard Swipe, tank busters. Moreover, Pummel inflicts Blunt Vulnerability Up, and is blunt (though a tank can survive multiple hits of Pummel with mitigation). Mustardseed casts Whispering Wind, instantly wiping the group, if it is still alive. From this point on, the surviving treants rotate through Pummel, Peasebomb, Pummel, and Hard Swipe until the phase ends.
Fourth phase: Large treants[]
The treants respawn, but this time are very large, off the edge of the stage, and omnidirectional. Moreover, they continue casting even after they are killed, only stopping when Titania begins to cast Being Mortal. After casts of Leafstorm and Peasebomb, Puck casts Puck's Breath, a stack marker. Shortly after, Mustardseed casts Whispering Wind, this time only dealing damage proportional to how much health Mustardseed has left.
Puck casts Puck's Rebuke, targeting the center of the platform with a very large, blue area-of-effect marker. Anyone in the marker will be instantly killed; otherwise, they are knocked away from the center. At the same time, Titania and the other treants cast Chains of Bramble, Leafstorm, and Vineswipe, which spawns giant vines that crush two of the four platform quadrants. Therefore, the party members must be knocked back by Puck's Rebuke in such a way that breaks the Chains of Bramble, without knocking them off the platform or into the Leafstorm or Vineswipe. After this is a much weaker Puck's Breath and Peasebomb (so that the four party members not targeted for Peasebomb can stack for Puck's Breath) followed by Puck's Caprice, dealing damage proportional to Puck's health. After this, Titania will surely have 100 stacks of Titania's Power, so the treants cannot be allowed to live this long.
If Titania does not have 100 stacks of Titania's Power when the last large treant dies, she casts Being Mortal anyways, dealing moderate raid-wide damage and removing her invulnerability.
Final phase[]
The final phase brings nothing new, but is somewhat faster paced. After Mist Rune, Titania casts a random Phantom Rune. Party members cannot go to their puddles until the Phantom Rune resolves. She then casts Flame Rune followed by Growth Rune; party members may need to move to avoid the Growth Rune before stacking for the effects of Flame Rune. After this is another random Phantom Rune, a Bright Sabbath, and a Fae Light. After a Frost Rune, Uplift, and Bright Sabbath, Titania again tethers to a party member and casts Thunder Rune six times. Then she casts Growth Rune, Chain of Brambles, two random Phantom Runes, Bright Sabbath, and Divination Rune. She then casts a very heavy hitting Bright Sabbath, instantly wiping the group.
Enemies[]
- Titania
- Spirit of Dew
- Peaseblossom
- Mustardseed
- Puck
Achievements[]
Musical themes[]
Titania's boss theme is "What Angel Wakes Me".
Behind the scenes[]
The Dancing Plague takes its name from the real-life dancing plague of 1518, where 400 people in Strasbourg danced for one month without rest, causing them to collapse or die from exhaustion.
Gallery[]
