Stray Apocalypse
The Stray Apocalypse is the exaflare mechanic of this fight, in which Kefka will throw two exaflares per set, alternating between northwest and northeast. This is then followed up by Stray Entropy, which is a targeted spread AoE on all players, forcing everyone to spread out immediately once they've dodged the final exaflare.
Simple in design, yet ironically, arguably the hardest mechanic in this phase due to the pace, the randomness and how unforgiving this mechanic is.
Melee dodge
The straightforward approach to this mechanic is by squeezing yourself in between the two exaflares. First, look at northwest, because thats where the first set of exa will appear. Once you see the telegraph, position yourself in between the two exaflares so that the exaflares safely passes you by. This approach is mandatory for tanks, mainly because you will risk pulling Kefka away from the center if you move too far away from the boss.
| Example 1 | Example 2 |
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Once in position to dodge the first set of exaflares, you want to point your camera at northeast and do the same thing by moving left or right to dodge the 2nd exaflare. Once the first set of exaflares safely passes you, you will go back to looking at northwest in order to dodge the third exaflare. You will repeat these few steps until you've safely dodged all the exaflares.
Once all exaflares are dodged, the party members must all spread out in order to not accidentally clip each other. You can roughly use your maddening spread spots, but due to the chaotic nature of this mechanic, go with the assumption that everyone is scattered all around and yoloing their spread spots. Help each other by giving each other space, and the spread part of this mechanic shouldn't be a problem.
Range dodge
The ranged players have more options because maintaining uptime is not an issue, although they are free to do the melee dodge if they wish to do so. There are six sets of exaflares in total and each exaflare sets will never travel through the same path. Knowing that the exaflares never travel through the same path can be useful in finding a safe spot at the edges of the arena, after which you will only need to pay attention to one side from which exaflares are coming from.
| Example 1 | Example 2 |
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This approach has the added advantage of vacating the center spot for the melee spots, which is useful for when they have to spread. For obvious reasons, this approach is not recommended for melee players unless you know what you're doing.
Maddening Orchestra 2
Once you've resolved the exaflares and the spread that comes after, Kefka will cast Maddening Orchestra again. This mechanic plays out exactly the same way as the first time, with the exception that the amount of Fell Forces auto attacks are three instead of two. Whoever didn't invuln on the first Maddening Orchestra will now invuln for this set. Time your invuln so that it will last for the first two auto attacks and have both tanks soak the third hit together with mitigations.
Assuming you've been following the recommendations, both tanks should now have rampart, 40% and short mitigations to their disposal to effectively deal with this mechanic. Try to time your 40% mitigation so that it will cover the flare and the third auto attack from Fell Forces.