The Minstrel’s Ballad: Hades’ Elegy, commonly known as Hades Extreme, is slightly longer than the other Shadowbringers Extreme Trials. It may take you longer to understand all the mechanics of this fight, but they can all be mastered with the right approach. I searched the available tutorials to find the most accessible explanations and highlight the best tutors for different learning methods.
If you’re just starting to use Party Finder to access endgame content, you might find some helpful tips in this article on barbarian attacks.
Fast visual resources
If you’re looking for a quick fix for a specific mechanism, I usually put together a few pictures for common failure stages. However, the awesome u/GabrielCeleste created animated slideshows for each mechanic, so no matter what mechanic you’re looking for, you can find it in their guide.
video tutorials
Many people make how-to videos, but some are too long and some don’t cover all the important stuff. This is the best video I have ever seen. See which sounds right for you to learn or send to friends.
Lycona DaCheeChee – Fully verbal explanations using clips from Bard PoV. (13:11) (Stage 2@2:56) (Stage 3@7:35) (Stage 4@11:01)
Lycona has a shorter video, which is great if you don’t want to spend half an hour before starting the fight. He still covers everything you need to know because he keeps it short. He starts with setting markers and specifying locations, and uses infographics multiple times for simple explanations.
Strategy used: In the second stage, all tethers are taken by the DPS player. Not common in Group Finder.
If you can’t focus on the audio without the visuals, you may have trouble following his talk. But if you’re looking for a quick video to get you ready to get started, this is the perfect video.
MTQCapture – Quick comments and text overlays from various PoV clips. (11:15) (Stage 2@3:28) (Stage 3@7:31) (Stage 4@9:48)
All Mizzteq videos are in the same format. She’ll narrate the entire battle, one by one, with the attack name and gist stacked at the bottom of the screen. For this video, she used some beautiful infographics at each stage to illustrate the safety points.
Tactics Used: In the second stage, the tether is taken by tanks and healers.
If you’re used to Mizzteq’s style or don’t want to hear lengthy explanations, I recommend watching Mizzteq’s video. As with most of her tutorials, you may need to re-watch or pause the video to see a particular mechanic she’s interested in as she goes through things quickly.
OneActual – In-depth explanations and reasoning with text overlays. (21:21) (Stage 2@6:35) (Stage 3@14:34) (Stage 4@18:31)
OneActual took a moment to discuss the battle setup in depth, including marking and grouping. He discusses the purpose behind marking, which can be useful if you want to learn static combat and keep your tactics consistent.
Tactics used: In the second stage of tethering, tanks occupied the north tether and DPS occupied the south tether.
While there’s certainly some nonsense in it, this guide also has plenty of additional perspectives and provides a more complete understanding of combat mechanics. If you are just looking for a quick preparation, you should probably click elsewhere.
Zeke Estheim – A guide to video therapy with commentary. (18:37) (Stage 2@4:51) (Stage 3@12:58) (Stage 4@15:36)
I’ve never seen a therapist-specific video about extreme trials before, but this is a great idea. This has lots of specific tips that you won’t find in general video tutorials, so if you’re struggling as a therapist or maybe just nervous before getting in, check this out. Zeke’s guide.
While it’s not marked as general instruction, he still goes through the battle sequentially from a healer’s perspective, so players in that role don’t need to watch other videos. He offers guidance on when healing can be delayed and when healing must be immediate. He also gives specific options to each of the three healers to deal with the Shattered Faith’s “stack and soak” strategy, as well as timing like the Astrologer’s Earth Star.
text instructions
Illustrated Text Guide by Seiji Telayo (u/Telayo)
Telayo offers written instructions in slide format, including many great illustrations for different mechanics. Use the stage tabs on the side to jump to the section you’re interested in.
If you need written instructions, you can read at your own pace, it’s conversational writing style and the diagrams greatly complement the explanation.
Animation Guide by Gabriel Celeste (u/GabrielCeleste)
This animated tutorial is a great resource for learning how to safely complete each mechanic. For a visual learner like me, this is a clean, easy way to learn all the stages of combat.
The mechanics are also very well explained, so if you want to pause the slides to read the text at your leisure, make sure to use the presentation view (“Presentation” in the top right corner). ).
Rotation and Schedule for Syldris (u/Syldris)
This is not a guide, but rather a timeline of timestamped events, with color-coded attack names and short descriptions. While it’s not very helpful when first learning how to counter every mechanic, it’s a great tool for planning your cooldown if you’re a tank or healer.
It’s also a useful reference if you’re still used to fighting and don’t remember the order of the mechanics. You can easily take a quick look at the entire timeline to see what happens next. Keep in mind that by pushing the DPS high enough in the early stages, some mechanics may be missed, that’s why the timestamp resets to zero at the start of each stage.
macro
Considering how many mechanics are in this fight and how many people are working on it at this point, you’re bound to encounter different types of macros. u/laeriie posted a macro that makes time targeting work at the expense of having to remember multiple locations.
Did you find these resources helpful? Which method do you prefer when learning Extreme Trial for the first time or teaching a group? Let me know below, as there’s a lot of value in clear and easy-to-understand tools that help new players get started with harder content.