FF14's Solo Only Streamer plots and grinds over 85 days to topple Susano - a boss who has a 14-second counterdown to an unavoidable demise when fought alone - and comes out on top.

RathGames is a'solo-only' streamer of Final Fantasy 14. He has just accomplished the almost impossible: he endured a week-long grind and dodged the executioner's blade of patch notes to reach level 100 with a diet of only level 63 content.

Before we continue, I want you to understand the magnitude of Final Fantasy 14. RathGames created the Solo Only challenge, which is documented in an excellent YouTube series. It requires him to be completely self-sufficient.

It means that Solo Only players can't use the NPC duty assistance system or, more masochistically: quest rewards. He can only achieve anything by himself, using gear he has crafted or earned through hard work.

RathGames was unable to enter the Crystal Tower raids without at least 3 players. (And, there are mechanics in place that require at least 3 players). RathGames, however, managed to defeat that raid by assembling a party of Solo Only players. This is an ingenious solution, and I'm happy to let it go.

He's done more than I thought possible. He played both the base A Realm Reborn game and the Heavensward extension without any assistance. Susano, the level 63 Stormblood trial boss, has been a huge wall.

This is due to a phase in which the Lord of Revel swims, pulls out a huge sword, and slams into the arena twice. Both tanks (or an especially spicy-feeling DPS), must run in and block the sword while the other players melt it down. If the damage check fails, it's curtains. It seemed that Solo Only could only block the sword , orattack.

As explained in a livestream, it took almost a month for a plan of attack to be formed. "For the last two weeks, I have been trying to figure out how to get past Susano... I was pretty sure that Pictomancer would be able do it, because it had the burst-potential to make it possible, but I hit a wall."

The inability to obtain the Echo buff was a major problem. This buff gives a stacking bonus after a wipe, as long as the fight has lasted a certain time. Solo Only was simply not living long enough to harvest the Echo buff (on a mission that could do enough harm). RathGames calculated that Solo Only only had 14 seconds to kill Susano, before the fatal sword phase started.

"Susano has between 800,000 and 850,000 HP from 40% to 0%. Susano's sword phase begins at 40%. In the best case scenario, it is 14 seconds before Susano switches to his next phase. I needed a class to burst Susano's health for 40% in just 14 seconds.

He then offered a 50,000,000 gil reward - money funded by his main character - to anyone who could figure out a way to win "where we can solo Susano, within my restrictions and with the items I had [access] to.

"Within 4 to six hours... someone had the answer." It is confirmed as being completely within my limitations, it is something that I can get, and something I can realistically accomplish, and Susano is able to die alone.

This was the plan

• Step 1: Level up Pictomancer. Pictomancer has an insane amount of damage. With the echo buff, he could easily put out 850,000 DPS in 14 seconds.
• Step 2: Use Star Prism to heal yourself for 400 potency. This will allow Solo Only to barely make it through Susano and fight her long enough to trigger stacking echo buff.
• Step 3: Do the unthinkable.

Step 1 was the most time-consuming. Since Stormblood is currently Solo Only, there are few good sources of experience: "I must level to 100. I must reach level 100 by using Palace of the Dead, weeklies, and Wondrous Tales. Once I reach 100, I won't be able use Wondrous Tales any more."

It's a big sacrifice for the overall challenge run. While Wonderous Tales is an excellent source of EXP, the game will start assigning late-game tasks to you once you reach level 100. Second Chance points can be earned by repeating lower-level tasks, but this requires you to work with other players, which is not ideal for the challenge run.

RathGames, after surviving patch notes which could have nerfed Pictomancer embarked on an arduous, 200+ hour, 6-week long gauntlet in order to reach level 100. On July 14, he started the grind. By September 8, he had a showdown ready. After all his hard work, the mad man pulled it off.

RathGames literally counts down the seconds until his death, and a lucky stroke of luck has added a few extra seconds. Oh my god! That's it, dude, that's it!" He roars.

RathGames may be alone in terms of material support, but he is not alone in terms of moral assistance. When RathGames leaves an instance, he finds a crowd of mounted waiting to salute him. He says, "I can't load all of you," through audible sobs, "and I am running at three frames a second." Thank you for being present for this.

This achievement is truly staggering. Susano isn't a boss that you should fight alone, not even with two echo buffs giving you 110% damage boost at the highest level.

A 50 million gil bounty for research, weeks of grinding, and a race to beat a 14-second clock before an unavoidable end. There will be more bosses such as Susano and I fear Solo Only may eventually hit a wall that he cannot climb. But for now, I'll borrow a line from the boss he killed: "Resilient Souls, I salute You."