Enrage (term)

Enrage is a mechanic in Final Fantasy XIV used in certain battles that is designed to prevent undergeared or poorly performing players from clearing content. The most common form of enrage is a hard enrage timer, usually starting from the moment the battle begins. If the battle is not beaten before the time is up, the party will wipe either instantly or in a matter of seconds. Some battles have a soft enrage as a part of the battle mechanics, or possibly both.

Hard enrage
A hard enrage is designed to wipe a group if the battle is not beaten fast enough. The purpose of this is to prevent turtling and undergeared groups from beating the battle. The enrage timers in Final Fantasy XIV vary from 10 to 14 minutes. Most enrages will instantly wipe the party with an unavoidable AoE, while some will increase the damage taken by the party to a level it's impossible to keep the party alive for longer than a few seconds.

Examples of hard enrages:
 * Twintania: If Twintania is not defeated within 13 minutes, all neurolinks will break and Twintania will start spamming her ultimate attack, Aetheric Profusion. Without neurolinks to stand on, this ability will do over 8,000 damage on all party members, either instantly or quickly ending the battle.
 * Titan (Extreme): If Titan is not defeated before he summons the third set of Granite Gaolers, he will perform Upheaval in middle of the arena, knocking every player off the platform. While tanks can nullofy the knockback effect, they cannot survive against the Gaolers and Titan without the help of other party members.
 * Nael Deus Darnus: If Nael is not defeated within 13 minutes, he will cast an unsurvivable Megaflare on the party, instantly wiping the group.
 * Imdugud: After 10 minutes and 30 seconds, the center of the area will electricy, causing the party to take unavoidable 1,100 damage per tick. If a skilled party can manage the damage long enough, the next battle mechanic will inevitably cause a wipe as the damage is no longer healable.

Soft enrage
A soft enrage is designed to gradually increase the difficulty of the battle. Soft enrages take many forms, ranging from a specific point of battle to failing battle mechanics.

Examples of soft enrages:
 * Rafflesia: Every time a party member is devoured, the boss gains a permanent Damage Up stack. If too many players due to low DPS or mistakes get devoured, Rafflesia's damage soon becomes unhealable.
 * Melusine: Every time Melusine or her adds are hit by Petrifying Voice or Petrifying Shriek, they gain a permanent Damage Up stack, increasing the damage dealt.
 * Imdugud: Every time a mechanic is not played properly (ie. failing to shield the Prey target from Erratic Blaster), the boss gains a stack of Static Charge, increasing the damage dealt by next Electric Burst. In the last phase, the boss also gains a permanent Damage Up stack that significantly increases damage dealt.
 * Shiva (Extreme): Over time, Shiva keeps adding Damage Up stacks to herself, increasing damage dealt. Poorly performing players will not be able to survive the damage once the stacks grow too high.