Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Winners and Losers part. 2.

Ok, just a quick rehash of the Augments that are available, then I am going to go over a couple of potential sets of Augments that you could create.

First, the Augments again.

Ok, lets go piece by piece shall we?

Nuevo Coselete first.

The Replacement Haubergeon option: Adding the Attack and Accuracy would essentially create a Haub with an additional +5 VIT which could be used for Steel Cyclone by a WAR. This set of Augments could save you some gil but that is about it, and if you have any number of other pieces for meleeing or WSing in then although it is the most obvious choice, it will likely be one of the least taken. The exception for this is DRG, which could use a Haubergeon-style body piece because they have nothing similar available.

The WAR/NIN option: This would combine the accuracy with the dual-wield option. Sure it would lack the attack of the Haubergeon option, but that is probably nothing compared to another 3% dual wield. With the /NIN bonus, the Suppanomimi and this bonus there would be a definite reduction of swing speed. I know that not many WAR's go /NIN anymore, but if you do then this is something to consider.

The Valor What? option: Adding enmity and fast cast to this body piece would have a great effect for PLD's. More enmity than Valor, and an additional bonus that you don't get on Valor. It has a decent HP bonus and the other stats can help with other melee/WS if you should want that. In the end you could probably add a decent selection of options to compliment the enmity bonus, like accuracy and get something decent out of the piece.

The Accurate Askar option: The problem with Askar is that it doesn't have any accuracy at all on it, which can work against some of the jobs that need it for the Store TP for a 6-hit build. Getting the accuracy and Store TP/Subtle Blow options can get you very close to fulfilling or actually surpassing your needs to get to a six-hit build. For a SAM with Usukane feet it might make a Sword Strap build viable depending on the amount of Store TP used during WS's (I am not sure on that, I haven't done the math). The point is that with some adjustment these Augments could cause this piece to replace Askar or Aurum.

The Scorpion Harness +2 option: I suppose you could use the accuracy and evasion for something that you might want to try soloing with, like in Campaign or with mobs low enough were an E-skill in evasion could benefit from the extra evasion. I do really see it, but I am sure that someone will.

The If-it-looks-to-good-to-be-true option: This would be anything that has the additional crit hit or the additional DA on it. This is because while either of these may be beneficial on some other piece where you don't get a choice they are probably not that great in comparison to the other options available. If you are properly built to take advantage of the crit bonus it might be an option with say the accuracy, but that would be for pretty much perfectly built players that probably already have another option that is better available to them.

Finally, the Jess option: That would be getting this piece and putting the magic accuracy and magic attack on it for your DRK spells. :) Obsessive of perfection in totality. :)

Next up we have the lighter geared DD/Ranged DD. They get the Mirke Waldecors. Now, you might say that the first piece for the heavy melee is the best piece available but I think this one might be better.

The merited RNG option: This would use either the Ranged Accuracy or the Ranged Attack and then the Snapshot +5%. A good RNG with Snapshot and Archery merits could really take advantage of this situation, combined with the relatively new (I don't have one yet) Quadav head from the SCNM. This would pretty substantially reduce delay on Ranged Attacks.

The unmerited RNG option: This would be the category I fall into until they raise the cap on combat merits, and I will in all likelihood be picking up this piece with these stats, which is to get Ranged Accuracy and Ranged Attack. I really don't know the mathematics on ranged attacks as well as I know the melee calculations, so I don't know if this will be better that Osode in most situations, but I do know that I do have to use Sushi to have reliable accuracy on end-game mobs. This would help out in any situation were I would like to use meat in general, and it may increase my accuracy enough so that I can land those Sidewinders on end-game mobs. I don't know if it will be better than Osode for TP build, but I do know that it will help me in the situations that I find most frustrating on RNG.

The Can-I-get-to-a-six-hit-build-without-/SAM option: If you get the r. accuracy, r. attack or even the Snapshot, you could add the Store TP/Subtle Blow option to it and see if you can get to a six-hit build without having to sub SAM. Like everything else here, I haven't checked the math to see if it would work because there are too many different situations to worry about it right now.

The Don't forget the Corsairs option: Ranged Accuracy and the Quick Draw delay reduction seems to be a pretty potent option for COR. I know that Cel was happy enough about this option to stop worrying about trying to get a Denali body for her COR.

After the ranged DD considerations there are the lighter-geared melee options.

The Scorpion Harness +3 option: This is a place where that accuracy and evasion could actually come in handy for something. The two jobs that could benefit from this are NIN and THF. The accuracy is always helpful for dual-wielders, and the evasion is great for solo and low-man, but the additional AGI would help with a bit more evasion, and also for procing those parries too. The DEX helps that much more with accuracy and the STR is not too bad either, and for THF and NIN this also makes for a very good WS piece, especially THF that can benefit from all three of the stats for different WS, SA or TA conditions.

The Ninja Body +2 option: This would get the Accuracy and the Dual-Wield option. Yes, it is less Dual Wield than than NIN AF +1 body, but the Accuracy and DEX help to make up for a lot of that. If I was still a main NIN or even if I was a THF main this would be one of the most tempting options. The accuracy would almost definitely help to make up for any decrease in Dual Wield while letting meat become a decent option depending what your other gear looks like.

The Wannabe-Haub option: This would just toss the accuracy and attack on this body piece, which would be good for pretty much all of the jobs on this piece besides NIN and BST because they don't have access to a Haub.

The Enhanced Senj option: This would probably be NIN only but some combination with the critical hit bonus. I wouldn't suggest it really but it is still an option that could benefit someone that was set up to take advantage of the situation.

Finally, the Pet option: This would include any of the plethora of pet amplifications available from this armor. Iz was pretty happy about the options so I am going to say that they are probably pretty good, but what do I know? LOL

Tomorrow we will talk about the mage version which is rather less impressive than the other two options.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Initial winners and losers of CP body pieces.

The new pieces of gear added as a reward for the Crystalline Prophecy have some pretty basic but relative good stats. All of them have appropriate HP/MP additions as well as +5 to their basic main stats.

The heavy melee/tank option: Generic piece with HP, STR, DEX and VIT. Definitely a decent piece as it is right now, and these particular stats don't really appear on any other piece in this combination. That doesn't mean that there are not better pieces than this because there obviously are better pieces, but this is a good baseline for both tanks and melee jobs.

The mage option: Now this option probably is not as good as it is for the other jobs, but it does have rather good base stats for those jobs. It is definitely not even as good as some AH items, but it is a very good starting point for other jobs. More importantly, it may provide the ability to add opportunities for some jobs that have no other options for bonuses in those slots. But I will get to that in a minute.

The light/ranged DD option: This one on it's face may not appear to be that much better than the other options, but it may in fact be the best piece because of the lack of gear for the jobs listed. STR, DEX and AGI for jobs such as NIN, THF, RNG and COR are very beneficial to start with and the additional list of options only makes them even better.

Now to the real benefit of these new items, the Augments.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

We don't need no stinkin' higher drop rate!

As if the game decided to reward our hundreds of Salvage runs and literally years of repetition we finally got something done in Salvage.

Pants! PANTS ARE IZMAN'S BANE NO MORE! It was awesome, and we didn't really expect it. I never really think of that drop anymore, I just try to put it out of my head. I never have the treasure pool open when we kill Gears. And I always figured that when it dropped people out immediately start screaming on vent or something. But it took a second for people to react, I think it was because they were in shock. I am so happy they are finally done, and now Iz just needs to get the feet to finish the set.

And then as if that was not enough, we still had one more piece to get to finish up Celestria's group. And I can't really do more than just post about it because anything that I do to explain it will not match the completely epic moment. We had already gotten something like 5 or 6 Greater Birds to spawn, but none of them dropped anything but coin purses. It was totally epic!

Anyway, dealing with some stuff at work, but I am back with a passion now that I don't have to travel anymore more for the rest of the summer. :)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Doing this instead of other things I should be doing.

So, I have been slacking on the blog lately because of the need to do other things. This should be over in a couple of weeks. Since you could care less about my personal life, lets get on to things about the game.

Well, lets not because I ran out of time. Instead, lets do the porn edition!

Iz, trying to win my love from Omoikitte once again!

Kallo tastes the bitter fruits of defeat!

Jamel is just the poor victim of a drive-by!


Ok, enough of all that. Lets talk about the update. I have decided that I am so far feeling completely meh about the update. Gobbie bag, sure that is great, but 10 more slots is just going to be filled up with more things that I should have been carrying around for a long time but haven't because of space. FoV and MMM, I really couldn't care less. FoV I hardly ever use and MMM doesn't really interest me at all. Also the people that think that the NM's in FoV are going to be any interest at all are just completely deluding themselves. The new NM's from Campaign is the only thing that has peaked my interest, but this just appears to be the BCNMs of this expansion. BCNM > KSNM > ENM > ISNM > CNM? ANNM? Whatever, it doesn't matter, but it's not really that new, it's just the next in the series. I want something really new, like Salvage, Einherjar, Limbus, whatever the next event is supposed to be. We have finally gotten close to finishing Salvage (more on that later when I get the pictures uploaded) and we are going to shift over to Nyzul by dropping two Salvage runs a week once we get the last Salvage piece we need for Celestria's group. I just want something a little new and interest to confront for a while. It is still really early in the update note cycle so more should be coming soon and I can't wait. :)

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Get the fuck off my lawn! *waves cane*

Apparently my penchant for ranting and raving about every little thing has caused me to gain some kind of reputation for acting like an old man. Or maybe it is because everyone thinks I am an old man. Anyway, lets do a bit of a recap to go over what you may or may not have missed from the last couple of days.

Let's start with BLM. I am a retarded BLM. I feel like Micky Mouse in Fantasia, and Iz is the super-sweet hella-wizard. I know I will get better at end-game and that I need a few more HQ staffs, but seriously, he is just better at dealing with stuff than I am. I think it comes from leveling BST. Iz is an awesome BST, and leveling BLM solo is similar to that kind of situation. I usually forget RR and to have extra spells ready for when I level out in the wilderness. I forget to make sure I have shadows up before the next pull. He has the experience and the memory of what needs to be done.

Ok, random tangent. Lets continue this trend. Ok, Celestria is probably one of the best players I have ever met in this game, seriously, I am not even close. Blaize is a close second. Just smart, prepared, well-geared and a font of experience. Iz has become an incredibly good tank. Omoi has always been a simple amazing WHM and now her DRG can out damage any of my DD jobs. I am simply surrounded by people that are much better players than I am. I try not to be dead weight, but sometimes I think the best thing I can do is just not get in the way and let those people around me do their job.

And now back from that small interruption. I got my BLM hat! :) And now I have finished all of my AF quests for my BLM. The gear for BLM is actually much better than most AF for other jobs. You can use all of it for some circumstance or the other, except for the boots, which are just crap. I am now 62 BLM which I got with Iz over last weekend. We are now at a very good camp, and pretty much after that we will be doing Wamoura Princes I think.

I have a headache, but I have more for monday, and the pictures are already uploaded.

I did want to mention something. Because of my time commitments during the school year, I find it more and more difficult to do daily updates. So, I think I am going to start looking for an additional writer or two for this blog. I am looking for one or two people that do all or almost all end-game events, have a working knowledge of gear mechanics, mob mechanics and general mechanics of the game. Also, they should have a cynical and sarcastic style.

If you are interested send me an e-mail at tweiner1@gmu.edu or if you want to talk you can get on my vent and I can give you the information.