FFXIV World First Race: Thoughts Per Second clears Pandaemonium: Asphodelos (Savage) Raid in First Place

Raiding group Thoughts Per Second has become the first group to clear the most challenging difficulty of Final Fantasy XIV's newest raid tier.

TPS felled Hesperos and cleared all tiers of Pandaemonium: Asphodelos (Savage) becoming the first static in the World to clear the boss. As a result, the North American group claims their second straight title as World First, continuing a two-year legacy of outstanding achievements.

The team set a blistering pace with their clear. With the Savage raid's difficulty launching at 10:00 GMT simultaneously across all regions, it was less than an hour before groups were able to fell the chained monstrosity Erichthonios. At this point, TPS was just 12 minutes behind the race leader.

But the team quickly pulled ahead for the second boss, unraveling the mysteries of The Hippokampos quicker than anyone else. This second boss, in particular, caused issues with its complex positional mechanics. Then, enduring the fiery wrath of The Phoinix, the group made their way onto Hesperos, only to be stuck for a grueling eight hours. 

In particular, the dramatically complex environmental effects in the arena and the need for precise movement meant that Hesperos lived for a dramatically long time. Ultimately, TPS dropped him at around 4 pm their local time, with the entire raid series cleared in just over 14 hours.

With Final Fantasy XIV surging in popularity over the past 12 months, this world first raid race was one of the most hotly contested in recent memory. In particular, several groups joined the race from prominent World of Warcraft Guilds. World First raiding group Echo and chief rivals Complexity Limit have both fielded statics in the race, albeit in a more casual capacity. Neither group had cleared all four bosses at the time of writing.

But the most notable competition to TPS came from Aether Group 3 and Entropy. Aether Group 3 was the first group to clear the huge 48-man Savage Delubrum Regina, while Entropy is somewhat of the old guard, having claimed several World Firsts in 2019 and earlier. These groups came second and third in the race, respectively, clearing just a few hours after TPS.

But TPS's rise to the top has been unstoppable. The group smashed The Epic of Alexander in 5.1 and have claimed two of the last three World Firsts in eight-man raids. 

If you're looking for info on any Final Fantasy XIV raid race, then Mog Talk is the 100% best resource. While primarily a podcast on the game, Mog Talk's website is also a detailed tracker of the World First competition. 

Mog Talk raised a massive $27,420 for Extra Life during the race, a charity that raises money for children's hospitals. This means that while the bosses were slain, many viewers contributed to a fantastic cause. It's always heartening to see competitive gaming used for good, and the Final Fantasy XIV World Race for Charity event was a great example.

But, for the rest of us in non-elite raiding statics, the brutal process of trying to clear a Savage tier will continue.