Atomos, also known as the Distorter of Time, is an avatar in Final Fantasy XI responsible for regulating reality by consuming unnecessary objects and events. It deposits these in the Threshold, an interdimensional space. Atomos consists of a main body, which resembles a vast circular mouth with rows of teeth like that of a lamprey, and its avatars of Cavernous Maws, which are closer to how Atomos traditionally looks in the series. The Cavernous Maws are prominent features of the Wings of the Goddess expansion. Atomos was later added as a summonable avatar that provides an instant effect of absorbing a buff from the enemy and giving it to party members within range. Similar to Odin/Alexander, it is a one-off effect, but unlike these two, Atomos does not require Astral Flow to be summoned.
History[]
Atomos' true body as seen from the Walk of Echoes.
Atomos is unlike any other avatar in the world: it is not a celestial avatar who was once a mortal before being gifted deity by Altana; nor is it a terrestrial avatar, a race of avatars who predate the great Meltdown ten thousand years prior. Rather, he seems to predate both classes of avatars. It is implied that Atomos was not created by Altana or Promathia. It also does not need a crystal to travel between the lower and higher realms, a limitation on every other avatar with very few exceptions. Atomos fits much more closely with the supreme beings of Vana'diel along with Altana, Promathia, and the Cloud of Darkness, however, is still an avatar by race as it is capable of forming blood pacts.
In the original history of Vana'diel, the Crystal War never ended. Its factions turned dark powers against each other and reduced the world to ruin. Saddened by these events, the Dawn Goddess Altana created the Cait Siths to awaken Atomos and manipulate it into devouring this tragic future so that a more peaceful one might take its place. She also endowed certain individuals in the newly formed future with the capacity to travel through the Cavernous Maws without being affected by its devouring force. These individuals are the adventurer, Lilisette, and few others.
The residents of the world of strife were not willing to be obliterated. The intervention of Atomos had created Cavernous Maws connecting past and future, which Lady Lilith and her companions employed in an effort to preserve their timeline. Agents of the Dawn Goddess, including Lilisette, were subsequently drawn back from the newly forged future to oppose them. Initially, the Cait Siths failed to mobilize the adventurer and Lilisette towards Altana's cause. This resulted in a series of failures which caused Atomos to begin devouring the new timeline rather than the original timeline.
Lilisette is being consumed by Atomos.
The first failure occurred when the spite warden, Aquila, attacked the Cait Siths and killed two of them. Atomos deemed Altana's desired future to be less viable and began consuming the memories of Lilisette. Some time later, the adventurer, Lilisette, and Cait Sith Naoi fought Cait Sith Ceithir, a traitor among the Cait Siths. In this conflict, Cait Sith Ceithir summoned a Cavernous Maw as an avatar of Atomos. While fighting the Atomos avatar, it consumed all the remaining Cait Siths, but they combined their energies into a singular entity which saved them from Atomos's devouring.
In this conflict, Portia Fonteyn was taken captive by Lady Lilith, prompting Atomos to consume more of the Altana's desired timeline. After the defeat of the Allied Forces of Altana in the Battle of Xarcabard, both Ragelise B Baloumat and Portia turned to Lady Lilith for the strength to protect their loved ones. The agents of Altana pursued Ragelise and Portia to persuade them away from Lady Lilith. They failed to save Lilisette's parents, and finally, after consuming so much of Altana's desired future, Atomos consumed one of the Wings of the Goddess, Lilisette herself.
Lilisette bidding the adventurer and her world farewell.
Cait Sith and the adventurer recollected all the fragments of Lilisette's existence and forced Atomos to return her. Together once again, the three defeated Lady Lilith. Before she passed, she convinced Lilisette to take her place in the original timeline. Atomos, possessing no true consciousness and existing only to behold and devour, was impartial to these time-traveling parties' attempt to sway its course. In the wake of the final confrontation between the opposed futures, Atomos judged both versions of history dispensable and attempted to ingest everything. Even the memories of Altana herself would be consumed and it proved too much for the Distorter to bear. It regurgitated both worlds and allowed them to exist independently. Through the efforts of Lilisette and her companion, the rift between the worlds was sealed and the Cavernous Maws degraded into lifeless stone.
In the epilogue to Wings of the Goddess, Cait Sith alerted the adventurer that Lilisette was in need of their help, as certain demons from the Shadowreign timeline had reopened the Cavernous Maws and traversed to the Walk of Echoes with the intention of getting to the saved timeline. Cait Sith brought the adventurer and Lilisette, the Wings of the Goddess, back together once more to defeat these powerful demons. Upon their defeat, they revealed a nascent Cavernous Maw. Cait Sith told them that they could form a pact to Atomos through the Cavernous Maw.
In the storyline of the Abyssea and Rhapsodies of Vana'diel, the cavernous maws are used to travel back and forth to the world of Abyssea.
Gameplay[]
Atomos is obtained as a summon after the quest "A Forbidden Reunion". Summoning time for Atomos may be lowered with Fast Cast and Haste like any other summoning spell. Since it is only the summoning spell, Atomos's Blood Pacts can be used even if Blood Pact Rage and Blood Pact Ward are on cooldown. The Dispel effect of Atomos seems to be 100% accurate, if the buff is one that can be dispelled at all. Spamming Atomos to keep a mob dispelled can be useful on some mobs, and it allows SMN to dispel mobs that would resist dark based dispels as well as sometimes give potent buffs to your party. Atomos is also fought as the avatar of a boss.
Notorious Monster[]
| Name | Content | Requirements | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distorter of Time | Mission Battlefield | Completed previous "Wings of the Goddess" Missions | Story Progression |
Summon[]
While Atomos only performs a Blood Pact upon summoning, unlike other avatars like this, Atomos does not require astral flow. When summoned, Atomos costs 50 MP. This results in him performing two moves that do not require any further MP.
| Name | Level | MP | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deconstruction | 75 | 0 | Absorbs a beneficial status effect from an enemy. Used automatically after summoning Atomos on an enemy. |
| Chronoshift | 75 | 0 | Used immediately after Deconstruction. Grants the party the beneficial status effect (if any) absorbed via Deconstruction |
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
Atomos is the Greek word meaning "indivisible" and is the the origin of the word "atom" which means "that which cannot be cut".