Gearing

https://xivgear.app/#/bis/sge/stormblood/uwu

This link includes three different sets for UWU prog. All three of these sets should be considered viable and fairly easy to obtain. If there is a piece that you are missing, you can swap it for any gear piece with an item level over 500 that has the same substat distributions (i.e. you can swap a Crit/Det piece in the set for any Crit/Det piece with an item level higher than 500).

During Ultimate prog, it’s always recommended to have 2-3 pieces with Piety as a substat until you are comfortable with the fight and understand the necessary healing output. One of these sets includes three Piety pieces and is highly appropriate and effective for prog.

The other two sets are differentiated by synced pieces (gear over item level 500) and the inclusion of unsynced pieces (gear either item level 370 or 375 with appropriate materia).

Prepull

Sage’s prepull responsibilities are fairly minimal in this (and most) fights. The first phase opens with a single auto, then a shared attack targeted on one healer. Sage should cast Eukrasian Diagnosis on Sage, H2, and the Off-Tank. As the cleave damage occurs just over 10 seconds into the fight, applying Eukrasian Diagnosis at any point during the countdown will allow it to apply to the cleave damage. Alternatively, you can use Eukrasian Prognosis, but the additional shield potency on each individual player will keep players at higher health values. You should also use Kerachole right before your initial prepull Dosis that occurs at -2.5s.

Phase 1: Garuda

• Open with a prepull Kerachole and E. Prog/E. Diag (depending on your strat) to cover Garuda’s Mistral Song cleave
• Cover Spiny Plume’s Cyclone tankbusters on the Off-Tank with Haima, give your Main Tank Taurochole when they dodge Slipstream and use Soteria after they take Downburst
• When Garuda goes untargetable, cast E. Prog in preparation for Mistral Shriek raidwide.

Cleanses

• Use Ixochole and Physis to heal damage from initial Off-Tank cleanse and first Friction stack; ensure players outside of the bubble are at full HP before first Friction stack (NOTE: This damage is a stack that is shared between all players, so players need to be on edge of bubble)
• Use Kerachole after first Friction raidwide; this will help cover all upcoming cleanse and Friction damage. (Depending on your group’s mitigation, you might want to play it safe by casting E. Prog between cleanses. Take advantage of tools like Druochole and potentially swapping Kardia to ensure that people cleansing stay healthy.)
• When Garuda goes untargetable following cleanses and bubble, use E. Prog to ensure that party shields are up for the upcoming Aerial Blast when she drops back down. After she casts Aerial Blast, ensure that Kardia is on the Main Tank to handle autos. 

Mistral Song (Cleaves)

• The next raidwide damage occurs almost 20 seconds after Aerial Blast. When the party moves to dodge the Feather Rain and tanks move to intercept Mistral Song cleaves, use Kerachole again to mitigate high amounts of damage from multiple sources.

Tethers

• Following the Mistral Song cleaves, the next heavy damage instance comes from cleanses that occur roughly 30 seconds later. The party needs to be at full health and should have Kerachole up. For safety, it’s also recommended that you use Zoe + E. Prog, though a group that’s more optimized with mitigations might not need it.
• When Garuda disappears after her HP is depleted, do not use CDs such as Physis to restore the party to max HP. Have your co-healer use a regen (Medica 2, Aspected Helios) or use an ability such as Ixochole, but ensure everyone is at maximum health by the time Ifrit appears.

Phase 2: Ifrit

There are very few changes to how Sage handles healing Ifrit and Titan whether you skip dashes or not. This guide assumes you skip dashes.

• After Garuda and before Ifrit, you need to ensure that your party is at full HP before Ifrit casts his opening raidwide. It is also recommended to cast E. Diag on both of your tanks and have them stand in one of the puddles in order to assist with generating limit break.
• Once the party moves to dodge Ifrit dashes, use Kerachole and E. Prog. This will minimize damage from Ifrit’s Hellfire cast.
• After the party takes damage from Hellfire, use E. Prog to prevent knockback from Vulcan Burst. E. Prog must be one of the first two GCDs after Hellfire goes off to guarantee that it applies to the party in time. With current strats, missing E. Prog here will likely wipe the party.

Nails

• Use Haima on whichever healer receives the Searing Wind debuff.
• If you are the healer that receives the Searing Wind debuff, ensure that the party has E. Prog, Physis, and Kerachole before moving to the wall. E. Prog and Physis should be cast from the middle, then Kerachole should be used as you get close to the wall. Keep an eye on your party’s HP bars in case you need to Druochole or Taurochole someone from afar. When you return to the party, cast Ixochole to ensure everyone is at max HP before the upcoming raidwide.
• If you are not the healer that receives the Searing Wind debuff, wait to cast any of your healing abilities until just before the first nail dies. You should use Kerachole before the first nail dies, then use Physis and cast E. Prog on each of the following nails. It is also recommended to use Ixochole between the 2nd and 3rd nails dying.

Post-Nails

• When Ifrit jumps and goes untargetable, cast E. Prog to assist with the upcoming Hellfire raidwide. For safety, everyone should be max HP before this raidwide goes off as mitigations will vary between parties.
• Following this, the next damage that your party might take is a Fireball stack. Your party has plenty of time to regen health naturally, but you might want to help them by casting E. Prog before you move out to resolve Searing Wind. Cast Kerachole two GCDs after the Fireball marker appears. Doing this will ensure that Kerachole covers the upcoming Titan raidwide, Earthen Fury.

Phase 3: Titan

• Kerachole should still be active from the end of Ifrit to cover Titan’s proximity landing as well as his opening raidwide. If you killed Ifrit before the Fireball stack applied or after dashes, you can use Kerachole at any point during the transition to cover both the proximity and the raidwide. As with all downtime, ensure that you cast Zoe + E. Prog before the Earthen Fury raidwide.
• After the opener, Titan will cast two tankbusters on the main tank. Typically, tanks will either invuln or kitchen sink these two hits. Once Titan’s punch tankbuster, Rock Buster, goes off on the MT, Titan will use Mountain Buster on the MT. He will weave autos between and around these tankbusters, so feel free to use Soteria if it is available. As Haima will not be back up, you should use Taurochole after Titan’s punch tankbuster in order to heal between the two busters and mitigate the harder hit more effectively.

Gaols + Tumults

• When Titan leaps away and the party moves to the wall, cast E. Prog to apply shields to the party. Though it will be available again, do not cast Kerachole at this point.
• After gaols have exploded and puddles have formed, Titan will begin casting several raidwide hits called Tumult. Each of these will do roughly 3000 damage if they are fully unmitigated, and Titan will cast 8 Tumults during this time. You should use Kerachole and Physis after getting knocked back; this will cover all 8 of the Tumults, though you might want to wait for a GCD after getting hit. An effective combination here is one cast of Toxikon after getting knocked back immediately into a double-weave Kerachole and Physis. This guarantees that you have instant movement available after getting knocked back and allows you to get out major healing and mitigation cooldowns that will heavily assist your party through Tumult damage. Depending on your party’s composition, you might need to cast E. Prog, and should use free heals like Ixochole to help heal to survive each hit.
• When Titan jumps away and becomes untargetable again, cast E. Prog in preparation for his next landing. Do not cast Kerachole at this time.
• Titan will gaol one of the healers. Though it may seem tempting, do not cast a heal or mitigation before going into the gaol if you are the selected healer. After Titan casts his Awakened Landslide and the gaol breaks, he will cast 6 Tumults. If you used Kerachole and Physis immediately after getting knocked back earlier, they will both be available to help heal all 6 Tumults. As before, you might need to use Ixochole and E. Prog to help your party.

“Mario Kart” Titan

• After Tumults complete, Titan will cast the same double tankbuster that he opened the beginning of the fight with. Kerachole should still be available on your tank to help mitigate the first and second hits, but it’s worth using Taurochole to help your tank here.
• At this point, if Titan is still alive, continue using abilities such as Kerachole, Physis, and Taurochole in the same manner as before to mitigate through any incoming damage. After Titan dies, you will enter a period of extended downtime, and it will allow your abilities to come back before the next active phase.

Transition

• Once Titan dies, cast E. Prog and, if available, Kerachole to minimize damage to the party from the four proximity AOEs.

Magitek Bits

• When Magitek Bits are close to dying, take note of how many Toxikon stacks you have. If you have fewer than 3, cast E. Diag on the number of targets equivalent to the number of missing Toxikon stacks. The shields will break when Lahabrea spawns and will give you Toxikon stacks that can be freely used in Ultima.

Ultima

• When Ultima Weapon is about to cast Ultima, use E. Prog and Kerachole. This will help minimize damage and will allow natural regen to tick an appropriate amount to heal your party after the serious damage. You will need tank LB3 to survive this.
• Following the Ultima cast you have a few options. You can either heal to full using your abilities such as Ixochole or a hardcast Prognosis, or you can allow regen ticks to go off and heal the party. Either way, ensure Kerachole and Zoe + E. Prog are both on the party before Ultima casts Tank Purge. If you cast them when the screen’s color changes to indicate that the arena is changing, both will cover the upcoming Tank Purge damage.

Ultima Weapon - Active Phase 1

Note: Throughout Ultima, it is far more important that your party survives raidwides and tankbusters than you casting a Dosis. If you feel that you are unsure on mitigation (party finder, new to the phase, etc.), you should err on the side of caution and cast Eukrasian Diagnosis and Eukrasian Prognosis liberally. Don’t lose a potential clear to not having shields.

• Give the party a prepull Kerachole and Zoe + E. Prog to ensure security and safety after the Tank Purge cast.
• You should cast Haima on your main tank immediately after Tank Purge to assist them with the autos and stack tankbuster, Viscous Aetheroplasm. Give your other tank Taurochole to assist with the Homing Laser tankbuster. If you are unsure of your party’s mitigations, you should use E. Diag on your tank that is taking the Homing Laser tankbuster.

Ultimate Predation

• When Ultima goes non-targetable after casting Ultimate Predation, you should use Ixochole and E. Prog to heal to full.
• Once your party has dodged to the wall and before Ifrit dashes, you should refresh E. Prog to maximize your group’s shield. You should also use Kerachole. This will help ensure safety if anything goes wrong.
• Before Ultima becomes targetable again, ensure that the tank taking autos has a shield from E. Diag. 

Ultima Weapon - Active Phase 2

• Your main tank should start this active phase with a shield from E. Diag. You can also use Taurochole to heal the MT and assist them with their own mitigation throughout the active phase as they will be taking autos throughout while also taking raidwide damage and tankbusters at the end. However, Titan’s two tankbusters will likely be invulned, so feel free to use single-target cooldowns (other than Haima) liberally.
• Roughly 30 seconds after the active phase begins, there will be several instances of raidwide damage occurring back-to-back. This includes a series of 7 Tumults and one Mistral Shriek. When your party splits following the Landslide dodge, use Kerachole to mitigate all of these hits. After the first Tumult, use Physis to assist with healing and regen. It is recommended to use Ixochole at some point during the raidwide sequence. As there are several instances of damage at this time, you will likely want to cast E. Prog before the Mistral Shriek damage and potentially once or twice throughout the Tumult damage. 

Ultimate Annihilation

• When Ultima disappears briefly after casting Ultimate Annihilation, use E. Prog to assist with upcoming damage from the Fireball stack. You can use Kerachole during the second Titan puddle in order to catch the Fireball damage and help your tanks with orb bursts.
• Following the third puddle, give Haima to the Searing Wind healer. Additionally, use Zoe + E. Prog to mitigate upcoming light Super Cyclone and heavy Tank Purge raidwide damage. If you are the Searing Wind healer, there is very little you can do at this point other than ensure that your party has a shield before you run out. If you are not the Searing Wind healer, ensure that your party is completely healthy through a mix of Ixochole, E. Prog, and Prognosis. As most of this mechanic is reliant on heals from one healer, do not greed damage casts in exchange for healing. Do not let people die in exchange for a Dosis.

Ultima Weapon - Active Phase 3

• Between Ultimate Annihilation and Ultimate Suppression, Ultima will have a brief active phase. During this time, tanks will have to handle tankbusters. If you see past the tankbusters, the entire party will need shields from Eukrasian Prognosis to survive the knockback. Critically, you should not move into the party until the Searing Wind debuff from Ultimate Annihilation resolves. 

Ultimate Suppression

• Ultimate Suppression damage can be split into four major instances: the Mistral Song cleaves, Fireball stack, Super Cyclone tether resolution, and Tank Purge raidwide. It is possible to have Kerachole cover each of these hits; if you use Kerachole one GCD, or roughly 2-3 seconds after the Ultimate Suppression cast finishes, it will be available again just before damage from the Fireball stack applies. The first Kerachole will cover damage from the Mistral Song cleaves, and the second Kerachole will cover damage from the Fireball, Super Cyclone, and Tank Purge. Between each damage instance, ensure that the party has Eukrasian Prognosis and look to see if anyone needs to be topped off. If you are looking to farm Toxikon stacks, these will come naturally through casting Eukrasian Prognosis on each hit of this mechanic. 
• There is plenty of time to heal between Mistral Song and the next damage instance, Fireball. However, your primary focus when cleaves go off should be freeing the player who gets stuck in the Titan gaol. If you use Physis about 3 GCDs into the gaol spawn, it will help heal during the consecutive hits (Fireball, Super Cyclone, and Tank Purge). You should also have Ixochole available, but you might want to hold it for the upcoming mechanic. For reference, an unmitigated Tank Purge should be expected to do roughly 15000 raidwide damage.

Ultima Weapon - Active Phase 4

• Immediately top everyone off following Ultima’s Tank Purge cast. Ensure everyone has shields, but do not spend a resource such as Kerachole for the Ultima raidwide. This will primarily be covered by Tank LB3.
• After Ultima is finished, cast Zoe + Eukrasian Prognosis and Kerachole at your first available opportunity. Now is also a good time to use single target shields (Eukrasian Diagnosis) on both of your tanks. Continue pressing Eukrasian Prognosis through each hit of this mechanic. Following the explosion of the first sets of orbs, use Ixochole to heal before taking the second set of orbs. You might also consider something like a Swiftcast + Prognosis in addition to Eukrasian Prognosis between hits. The orbs are an instance of two extremely high damage hits in a row, so feel free to spend as much resource in your kit as you can. Though this is an uptime mechanic, do not die to greeding a damage cast.

Ultima - Primal Roulette

• Once both sets of orbs have been popped, Ultima will auto the tank holding aggro for a little bit before entering the Primal Roulette phase. During this phase, Titan, Ifrit, and Garuda will use several of their mechanics in a random order. The damage profile of this mechanic can be split into two parts that repeat three times: a Viscous Aetheroplasm tankbuster that is shared with the party and a heavy raidwide from each active Primal. Accordingly, the party should stay stacked throughout and healers should actively use a combination of their GCD heals (Eukrasian Prognosis) and other available abilities.
• The big idea when healing Primal Roulette is to ensure every Primal has, at minimum, a shield. Two Primals, the first and the last, will also have Kerachole available – use this Kerachole either directly before or directly after the first Viscous Aetheroplasm depending on when you used your last Kerachole. Similarly, you will be able to use Ixochole between the Viscous Aetheroplasm and raidwide on the first and third Primals. For the second Primal, ensure that Physis goes out at your earliest opportunity. For the sake of prog and clearing the fight, remember that you should you Eukrasian Prognosis liberally through this portion and feel free to use any single target mitigations or heals to assist the party.

Enrage

If you’ve survived the third Primal during this Primal Roulette phase, there is no more damage to consider during the fight! You will likely enter the Enrage sequence – during this time, Ultima traps players and depletes their health in order of lowest DPS to highest DPS. As Sage is a relatively high-damage healer, it is possible to take any spot from first gaol to fourth gaol. However the run has gone to this point, ensure that you use the appropriate Tincture of Mind and use both Phlegma charges before the boss traps you in a gaol. Your final cast before getting gaoled will likely be a refresh of your DoT, Eukrasian Dosis.

Good luck! Happy raiding, and enjoy ultimate prog!

Questions can be directed to .symph. on Discord.