Job Adjustments

So, NIN to get a spell that gives it "Store TP" and BLM to get Comet.

Comet will be Dark dmg and will stack like the -ja spells - sounds exciting!  Scramble to make Dark Magic Attack Staff - gogogo!

Automaton's to get Subtle Blow!  Yay!

Looks like RDM and BLM going to have an ability that transfers the ability of their two-hour to another player for the duration of a spell.

Slimer

It's been a good a week or so in Vana. Been doing a lot of different stuff and it's been fun.

Seal farming took a bit of a back seat and instead I have been working on Missions. My feed on Guildwork.com makes it look like I have been very busy!

That's not really the case, though. My friends helped me knock out the next ToAU fight and I am now set to fight Gessho, so that's cool. I've also started on MKD and, flaming heck, that stuff is infuriating. I actually thought I was going to have a psychotic episode doing the HELM part. Getting the beastmen items was not so bad once I started fighting the right mobs (you really need the highest level mobs in Giddeus). Still, progress has been made and I am enjoying the cutscenes.

I think maybe we had our expectations a little high for these add-ons. They were clearly meant to be whimsical and entertaining. Well, maybe ACP wasn't... anyhoo.

Also made a start on Shantotto (Shan-tot-toe, right? Not Shan-toe-toe), gear for that is a bit meh but the Atma is hawt. Maybe luke-warm.

Been working very hard on Indra's Staff too. The slimes were a nightmare. I can't lie. With the repop time it was hard to do more than 32 an hour. Since you need 200 that's a pretty big time sink. At that point you're still looking at 3 more trials and 700 kills. Phew.

Still, got that done and on to killing gobbie pets. That's nice and simple but pretty dull. 200 kills goes fast when you are one-shotting and have almost immediate repops.

Then, the penultimate trial (I don't consider buying 15 items a trial): Funguar. I thought this looked like slimes all over again. How wrong could I be? This is probably the most fun trial I have done! Sleep nuking 7 mobs at a time is great! I started last night with 250 kills and today I need about 48 more. It's flown by.

So, only 250 to go and the staff is considerably better than Jupiter's already. Sure I'll get round to that eventually.

{Hmmm.} {What's the battle plan?}

In the Summer I over did my To Do list. I tried to do way too much. This time I'm a Taru BLM first and foremost. I'm not exping any other jobs until my BLM is capped, has all job specific merits and I've picked up some of the newer gear.

I'm not going to insist on getting all my AF3 before I move on to NIN but I want my BLM to be "done" bar getting gear and TOM.

I'm still doing quests and missions on the side but I'm focusing on BLM still. For example, I'm working on the Windy missions to get that amazing Atma.

Once that's done, I might looking at finishing of RotZ and/or CoP.

That's a fine hat, Sir!

So~, those hats from AMKDE (can't see that being as popular as ACP or CoP as an acronym) look a bit nice don't they? At the very least you got some of the best multi-hit weaponskill head pieces in the game. Nice. And that mage head with a 10% chance of +10MAB and one less INT than the AF+1 hat? Woah, mama.

Unfortunately for me I think the BLM head is probably a must have, which is a shame because there is no doubt that PUP would love that head. Aside from the Acc. of an OHat but with some Att. there's some nice pet stats. -10% dmg taken? Not bad for the puny Automatons.

Good weekend just passed. Managed to take a chunk out of WotG Missions, which has to be good because we'll be seeing the end in a few updates time. Begin speculation on possible rewards: neck piece? I also found out I can rank up in Assault, just need that bloody hoofprint. Erm, oh, and we completed Three Paths (finally!) and we're now all set to to start the Airship battle. Hope to have Sea access within the month. Better late than never.

In other news, we flagged Dynamis Windy again. Much easier this time (prolly due to having 13 more people) and was actually pretty good fun. We got a bumper crop of drops, 16, our highest from one run so far. Sadly 4 of those were BST. Flag run in Beaucedine next week.

Almost managed to cap Evasion on NIN. Besieged plan working excellently ^^;

Have also built up a fair few merit points but have no idea what to spend them on. Could go some generic combat skills or keep hammering BLM. Hmmm.

Tempus Fuggit

Time flies.

Has been a good few weeks. Have made a lot of what might be called "steady progress" interspersed with some monster win.

First the bad, still working on NIN evasion. Flipping nightmare. Have had a fair bit of advice on how to cap it including getting buffed with Phalanx II and getting battered by Pucks in Den of Rancor. That’s worked ok except I had to /RDM myself and could only take about 11 hits before I had to zone. Something that has worked much better is Besieged and the “nullify physical damage” drink. Is it the Fool’s or Fanatic’s? One of the two. Anyway, I discovered if you pop that and run around in the bastion for a 10-15 seconds just as a new wave enters you can get a pretty good battering. Consistently pulling hate in Besieged is a bit of challenge so this works much better. To refine the method I’m going to sub either BLM or WHM and cast –ga spells to make sure EVERYTHING aggros me.

Good news: we made some more progress on CoP. We’ve now done Promy V and I’ve done two out of the Three Paths. Just need to do the other one this Saturday and we can low-man all the way to the Airship battle. Duoed the Disaster Idol on NIN/DNC with a RDM/NIN which was fun.

Best news: I got my BLM Relic body! So, I’m now 5/5 on BLM Relic and 40k better off now my Black Cloak has sold! Admittedly the coat is a massive luxury but there’s something quite nice about having a set. I also feel pretty vindicated in my decision to leave my old Dynamis shell. Whether it was due to their numbers, schedule or points system I could see very little chance of getting any gear with them within a respectable timeframe and investing 7ish hours a week for no foreseeable return didn’t seem all that great. I see people on their points list who were above me still waiting for items.

My new shell, Hustlers, weren’t even planning to do Dynamis when I joined (they did Sky and Einherjar) and so I got in on the “ground floor” when we started, which has to be the very best way to get any end game gear. However, our points system is pretty cool and has so far ensured a nice spread of gear with only those holding out for THF hands or RDM hat getting nowt. Myself I have had 4 pieces of nice gear, which is pretty high BUT that’s about all the gear I do want until we hit Dream.

Jobs wise: I got THF to 37. Seems stupid to have to level a job just so you can farm without looking a tit; NIN75/THF12 just don’t paint the right picture. I had terrible trouble getting invites though and never one managed to get into a party over level 30. As a result I never used Trick Attack once. Such a shame considering what a massive part of the job it is. I was actually forced to solo my last two levels in Rolanberry Fields. Bloody bolts ftw!

I’ve heard Magic Mortar and Sneak Attack + Dragon Kick is pretty good on PUP for big skillchains, so it’s not entirely pointless.

I guess that’s about it for now.

Stripey Pants and Confectionery Jewellery

It's not been the most exciting couple of weeks. At least, I didn't think it had until I started to think about it. Funny how things slip your mind the second you tick em off your list?

Aside from the usual events I've mainly been doing the odd assault, reckon I am just short of T3 now, so that's good. Also been doing a bit of campaign but it's pretty depressing when you can't find any Beastmen to batter.

In terms of jobs I have now finished DRK37, so that's another sub-job ticked off. I'm still toying with the idea of it as a potential 75. {Hmmm}. Do I really want 4 75s? Make good use of any Homam I get though...

Continuing the DRK related news: my brother helped me camp Sewer Syrup so I am now the proud owner of a Jelly Ring, which nicely completes my "ghetto" dmg down gear set for NIN/DRK. NIN more of a hobby than a pprofession at the moment. Still, be very nice for my PUP solo fun.

Slightly more exciting news: I got the BLM Relic legs from Dynamis-Bastok! First time I have ever seen them drop, which is slightly odd I am told. No-one wanted to pay points so they went free and I won with a real monster. That takes me to 4/5 on BLM. Good stuff :)

Still working on capping NIN skills. Evasion still sucks. Boo.

Kirin Captivator

Frankly, I was dreading this. We took a week out from Dynamis to get some much needed Kirin pops done in Sky. We do joint runs with another LS for big events and we needed to do two pops each so it was looking like a long, and possibly arduous night.

Previously my LS has kited Kirin to take him down but last time we fought him we wanted to try a zerg and it didn't go too well :S This time though we had a compromise plan. To play it safe (drops before glory), rather than a straight zerg we'd kite Kirin while we dealt with his pets, then zerg him. We planned to do this first, then do two pops kiting him for full fight while 2 hours came back up, and then kite/zerg him again.

It went brilliantly and we won 4/4 with barely a hiccup. Considering it took 5 hours I think everyone really enjoyed it, though it was a bit harsh for the GMT+1 guys who were up until 1am on school day! Dealing with the pets during the kite part was great fun for me personally (BLM get no zerg loves) and I even enjoyed chasing the DD around outside curing during the kites! Managed to stick a couple of stonking nukes on Genbu during Invincible too and died for my efforts!

We also got excellent drops with 3 Osodes, a Shura body, a Heca body and a much needed pair of Crimson Legs: add another PLD to our elite kite team :D

Back to Dynamis Bastok next week.

Vicious Mufflers

Kanbe and I are going Yagudo hunting in Castle O [S] tomorrow. Hopefully get some pops for Bloodlapper. I can't afford the HQ Z Mitts and I'm not sure I can afford to lose the HP from Z Mitts anyway, so they're a nice choice...as long as we can get the drop.

Sky

Awesome night in Sky last night. Headed up knowning the TOD on Despot and started trying to pop him then found out Zip was up so headed there ASAP. On the way we discovered we had competition but the scout pulled him as soon as well zoned in and we put him down like a sick bunny. So, that was cool! Then we Escaped and headed back to Despot. Only been back at Despot for a few mins when the scout confirms that MG was up so we headed there. We're all just moving out from Despot camp when he pops from our last kill. Result. I actually died during the manaburn (got an unlucky x2 TP Move in the chops) but we had no problems. Then we head to MG which we pulled in a bit of rush, and that didn't go so well but we killed her eventually.

So, we're 3/3 in less than an hour so we decided to go pop Genbu. Took a while to get everyone changed etc but needless to say went flawlessly but sadly no awesome drops.

As for my new hat. It was OK. My basis for comparison was 3 other BLM with capped merits and HQ staves , so that's not much of a comparison at all! Did land some nice fat unresisted nukes though. Need to cap my elemental skill and get a Jupiter's staff to make any real judgement.

{Sorcerer's Petasos}

Picked this up in Dynamis-Xarcabard Sunday. Should probably have posted sooner but the initial excitement wore off quite quickly. Was only one other person eligible so I had a decent chance when it dropped but still feel very lucky. I have never even seen one drop before. Am looking forward to playing with it though. Going to stack Ele Skill vs God's and NMs in Sky and see how that goes, other wise just stick to AF vs normal mobs.

NIN74 - BLM Merits

NIN74 finally. Crawling towards 75 with the speed of a striking slug. Admittedly I never LFP and do all my exp in campaign and with friends, so I can't be in that much of a rush. Feel a bit gimpy without my oHat though.

In other news, been meriting on BLM a bit with people from Hustlers. That's been great fun. Got another 3 merits and decided to unlock Freeze II. It easily outdamages my Burst II cos I have yet to get my Jupiter's Staff. Also means another AMII to cast in Dynamis.

Getting the most from Manafont

What's the better sub-job for getting the most from your Manafont? A lot of people would assume RDM because Fast Cast means more spells but a SCH Dark Arts only has 5% less Fast Cast effect and it has two strategems which you can use to half the casting time on two spells...

RDM

In theory, with a RDM sub, you can cast the following spells in 1 minute:

Blizzard IV
Thunder IV
Freeze II
Burst II
Blizzaga III
Thundaga III
Blizzard IV
Thunder IV

This ensures that you can cast all your most powerful spells as many times as possible. With a 90 second recast AM II can only be cast once regardless. If you open with your AM II, which I would do instinctively, then the recast for Tier IV won't be up in time to do both of them again by the end of the minute.

Now, just one caveat, due to lag (or whatever) there is a good chance that Thunder IV won't go off before manafont wears (it's cut very fine - 1.5s to spare). If this is a concern skip Blizzaga III but be aware that Blizzard IV won't be up by the time you finish Thundaga III and you'll have to wait a few seconds.

If you have Rostrum Pumps (or some other Fast Cast gear) you'll probably get enough breathing space to get Blizzaga III and Thunder IV off no problems but it won't give you enough time to get an extra spell off.

SCH

In theory, with a SCH sub, assuming you have both charges ready and Dark Arts up, you can cast the following spells in 1 minute:

Freeze II (Alacrity)
Blizzard IV
Thunder IV (Alacrity)
Burst II
Thundaga III
Blizzaga III
Thunder IV
Freeze II

When compared with RDM you can replace Blizzard IV with Freeze II and still have time to spare to ensure you get Blizzaga III and Thunder IV off. With extra Fast Cast gear you might even get another decent spell off because you already have almost 5 seconds to spare. You can probably improve on this combo too but I'm confident that this combo will work.

Conclusion

This is untested at the moment - I plan to give it a go in Besieged when I get chance.

Also it's only fair to discuss the relative demerits of SCH because in any situation where you are likely to pull hate and take dmg SCH is out! Without /RDM or /WHM sub you can't buff yourself so you are very vulnerable. However, if you can guarantee you won't pull hate e.g. jumping in at the end of a melee zerg for a big finish, or get a SCH or SMN to buff you, it's still an option.

Having said that SCH does give you a nice +2 base INT to boost your dmg!

Short version: if my math is right, SCH kicks RDM ass for Manafont.

Dynamis Bastok

It seems that my concerns about last night's Dynamis weren't just unfair but completely unfounded! We had very few deaths, apart from the obligatory, apparently suicidal BLM, and we flagged with 20 mins to spare with just 31 people. The run yielded 15 AFs and a fair old stack of cash.

We did a few things that seemed a bit odd to me, the main one being that we didn't sac pull the mega boss and just owned the crap out of him and his mates on their doorstep. It got a bit messy but we had no problems.

While it's generally hard to see how everyone else is doing I never saw anyone obviously hanging back or generally shirking. That's a distinct change from my previous experience too.

Also, in contrast to me previous experience, having the whole team fluent in one language was a real bonus. I've never seen people do something so quickly when told to in Dynamis :)

All in all it was excellent fun and a credit to the guys that ran the run. They were extremely confident in their strategy and that was borne out in the level of success.

We're trying Sandy next week so hopefully it will go just as well, if not better :)

More BLM Merits

I got a few more merits on BLM this week. Finished off my 4th tier of elemental skill and got my 1st tier on Lightning Potency. I had noticed that my DMG was capping when we farm in Sky so I figured it was time to start introducing the MAB.

Having said that I was nuking the pants off Byakko last night and I managed to do get off about 5 T4 nukes, all of which did less than 100 dmg. So, I'll still be prioritising Elemental Skill ;)

However, I have been thinking more about MAB gear; the two stand-out pieces being the hideously expensive sorcerer’s ring and the ugg pendant. We were also discussing the relative merits of Yigit and Goliard feet. I feel that the increased accuracy and INT provided by the Goliard probably outweighs the Yigit MAB bonus in many cases. However, considering that I am a) poor and b) not doing any Nyzul or Assault, this is not a pressing concern!

Merits, merits, merits

I need 34 merit points to cap the skills I want to cap and that's just the tip of the iceberg. That'll be thunder fully maxed out though. Chuck an HQ staff on that I should be looking at a pretty much minimal resist rate.

You make kitty scared

First God run last night in Sky. We popped two Kitties and one Turtle and we got two lots of pants and all the abjurations that we wanted. So, that was good!

Personally I got the abjuration for Zenith Head. Since I have mixed feeling about latent effects I'm not sure I'll ever convert it but at least I have it if I decide I want it.

Mummy!

Sooooo...Sky farming last night. We went looking for Mother Globe. We found it and it was being trioed by 3 BLM. They weren't doing too well so a discussion was had about whether we should try and grab it if it went unclaimed. I don't think we really took a decision but I knew that if someone else acted I was going to back them up. However, when it did go unclaimed, no-one did anything. Except me. I stuck a lovely blind on it. We didn't get claim though.

When the wheels eventually came off the trio attempt they MPKed some of us for interfering. Prolly fair enough.

I felt slightly guilty but as someone pointed out "the worst that can happen is you won't make any friends".

Once the trio HPed we did get a claim, which went slightly sour due to an unfortunate link but our second attempt was pretty much text book.

I quite enjoy Sky so far, which is good considering we haven't even popped any gods yet!

Nyzul Isle Action

I had the chance of going to Nyzul Isle last night for several runs on floors 16-20. Unfortunately I was only able to make one run out of a possible four.

So, anyway, I went with some of the Hustlers guys and they use Vent for all their events and it made it pretty easy. We came across a Dahak (they're mean apparently) , which we managed to sleep after it petrified our 3 DDs, and handled pretty well after that, I thought. We fought a Fafnir on the last floor and that went pretty well too but it didn't drop any gear.

Myself, for a first run, I thought I did pretty well. I don't find it hard to do what I am told and pay attention, which always helps when you do something new. If anything I was probably a bit over-cautious. However, apart from a bit of farming in Sky I've never used REALLY big nukes in a normal party and so I dunno how much hate they pull. However, I stuck a 1.2k Burst II on the Dahak and it didn't even look in my direction. I certainly did more good than harm and we won, so that's gotta be good.

BLM Merits

So, trying to get some BLM Merits in. Vunkerl Inlet is just a godsend. Get about 10k an hour easy, 20k with ring. Managed to get 3 points to day and started on elemental skill ^^

Sky Larks

We managed to get Despot to pop last night, so that was pretty cool. We'd been there for two hours though so it was nice to get a result. I've never fought him before though, and I came close to messing it up, although I dunno if anyone noticed. Because all I was doing was the occasional stun I stopped paying attention to my MP so when Despot finally popped I was very low. As a result I popped my two hour a bit earlier than I probably should have (i.e. before I was told too) and it almost wore off while we were waiting to re-gravity him.

In the end though Gravity came up and I blew his pants off. Gravity was just a precaution anyway, he was pretty easily one-shottable. Annoyingly though I my stoneskin macro didn't seem to be playing ball at all...was very annoying.