I haven't done a list post in a long time, but what should I do a list about? I have already gone over everything that I am looking forward to in the next update. Hell, I have already gone over a lot of things. But there are a lot of things that still need to be completed before the next update. That would make a good list!
10. Finish Kurodachi - DONE - This one was my main focus for the last couple of days. I got all my Krabkatoa shells and turned them in on Monday. I love it so far. I can't say whether the damage is better or worse over time than Hagun, but it is looking good so far.
9. Finish meriting BLM - This should have been done a long time ago. I did just dump 8 more merits into Thunder and Ice potency, but I still need 10 more to top that off. Then I need to do Enfeebling Magic merits. And then I have to see what I want to do with tier 2 merits.
8. Finish Radennotachi - Haven't even started working on this, and it is probably going to be back burner for other Magian weapons I need to get done. My math shows that it is slightly better than Hagun, but not by much. Even with Kurodachi, there are still places for the Radennotachi, like on Salvage bosses or just about any place that you don't want to feed mobs a lot of TP.
7. Finish the Cure Potency Teiwaz - This is probably my next highest priority not only because it is an amazing piece of equipment, but also because Omoi has one and we are close to being on the same stage. She owes me some dead Trents. :)
6. Finish the Thunder Potency Teiwaz - Another hot piece of gear that I need to get done. Especially if the weapons are going to get better as SE extends trial of the Magians. My BLM would love this, especially now that I am getting closer to having a good Elemental set on my BLM.
5. Finish the OAT Goshawk - This weapon is just insanely good, but you have to understand the math to understand why. 600 Delay makes it look really slow, but for a job that can get to a 5-hit build the extra Delay means you have a lot more space to mess around with the Store TP you are wearing. This one is going to kill a whole lot of RNG.
4. Finish the Wings Missions - While this one isn't as important for this update, unless they require the current mission set complete to finish the Wings quests, it is still good to be ready for the end when it does come. I don't want to be locked out of Walk of Echoes when it is opened.
3. Finish the Wings Quests - I am all caught up in Bastok, but I still need to finish the Sandy and Windy quest lines. Iz is almost caught up to me on the Sandy quest line so I will probably do that with him, but Omoi is way past me on the Windy storyline. Maybe she will help me go back and finish them. :)
2. Start really meriting my RNG - While my gear is great on my RNG, my merits for the job are pretty lacking. I will occasionally toss a merit hear or there, but it's really time I knuckle down and get them done, especially because the tier 1's are pretty darn good for RNG.
1. Finish my Morrigan's set - I don't know if I will get this done in time, but it is a pretty big goal for me. I already have two ingots and I should be able to get at least 1 more before the end of the week, but I am only getting about 1 or so a week, and I will never be able to get all 12 before the update. And then I need to get the O. Ingots for the head.
Those are what I wish I could accomplish before the June 2010 Update, but I won't be able to finish them all. What do you wish you could finish before you have to level all your jobs to 80?
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
The End is Coming... Are You Wearing Clean Underwear?
Friday, May 14, 2010
Sub-Routine: White Mage.
I should have probably gone back and revised the Ninja sub job post because apparently SE did explicitly state during Vana'fest that they would be keeping the Ninja and White Mage stances exclusive to their main jobs. This means that the information for Ninja might not be correct and that decreases the benefits of subbing Ninja by quite a bit. I thought about ranting about how the jobs that would sub Ninja actually need Yonin and Innin, but I think I am going to save that for a separate post. Also, I am going to include the White Mage "stances" because I think they should be included and available as a sub job, but I will get into the specifics for that below.
My general thought on White Mage is that it is still going to be a core subjob for all mage jobs. Now, you might think that I am retarded because I just made a post praising RDM as the new sub job that all mages are going to use. I still think that is the case for some mage jobs, like BLM and SCH because they either have access to the specific spells that /WHM brings to the table (SCH) or they don't give a fuck about those spells (BLM). The problem is that several mage and support jobs will still be called upon do perform the roll of a WHM main. For example, in Salvage many RDM are required to be able to fill the roll of a main healer also (and there is also the fact that a RDM can't sub RDM, LOL). This requires access to a full compliment of -na spells and Erase which are best available through /WHM. In the end, offensive mages are almost definitely going to want to use /RDM but healing mages are going to want to use /WHM, and support jobs are going to have to pick what they need on a case by case basis.
Afflatus Solace @40 (maybe?).
Of course people are going to say this is the reason that /WHM shouldn't get access to the WHM main stances, but are they really thinking about it that deeply? SE actually put this ability together pretty well when they made it, and that is why I am not really worried about it. The real benefit of Afflatus Solace is the "cureskin" effect, or the bonus Stoneskin that is given to the recipient of the Cure. This would be a problem if everyone was walking around with a full strength "cureskin" effect, but that is not the case. The cap on the amount of "cureskin" you can give is based on the level of your WHM, so subbing it will mean that you will have a lower cap. If the "cureskin" is too strong while subbed then SE may have to do some tweaking down either by decreasing the "cureskin" effect at lower levels, or by nerfing it while subbed. But if you consider the fact that SCH gives their healing and cast bonus at full effect, I don't see why WHM can't give out at least a nerfed "cureskin" to other mages.
"Cureskin" isn't the only benefit to Solace, but the other benefits either have limited use or can't be accessed. Here is a quick run down.
*Sacrifice - Higher than the 49 level-cap.
*Bar-Element Effect - Ok, this one might need to be nerfed a little bit. RDM is already able to hand out a decent Bar-Element but a good WHM is going to have a much higher -ra effect. It's not that big of an effect, but it's definitely something WHM need to do well and RDM don't really need. I would say that this shouldn't be available when subbed or it should only be +1 or +2 MDB at best.
*Holy - Only other job with access to this is PLD, and while they might be able to drop a big Holy because of this, I just don't see it as all that game breaking.
And that is about it. I still can't see why /WHM should get Afflatus Solace.
Afflatus Misery @40 (Maybe?)
If I think that /WHM should get Solace, there is no reason they shouldn't get Misery. Like Solace the amount of damage you can take to increase it's effect is limited by your level, so you would only be getting the subjob level of effect. Unlike Solace though, Misery doesn't really have a permanently beneficial effect, but it all spell specific, so lets look over those.
*Cura - Incredibly efficient but never really used because if you are a good WHM for the most part you aren't going to take much damage. /WHM is going to have access to this anyway, and the level correction on Misery is going to limit the additional potency.
*Esuna - Higher than the 49 level-cap.
*Auspice - Higher than the 49 level-cap.
*Banish - Like Holy this could be used to increase their damage, but again it is limited by the level correction on the damage absorbed effect. And really... who is going to be spamming Banish anyway?
I will say it again, there is no reason /WHM shouldn't get these abilities, there is nothing game breaking. A limited Solace effect is not really that much better than what you can get from /SCH, and come on, /WAR is going to give freaking Aggressor. It's time to throw /WHM a bone.
Now onto the spells. I am only going to go over the critical ones here, I don't think we really need to worry about every little random Bar-spell that /WHM is going to get.
Teleport-Altep and Yhoat @ 38 and Teleport-Vahzl @ 42.
These spells would have meant a whole lot more a couple of years ago, but today those Teleports just aren't that important because there isn't much reason to go to those places. Even if you are leveling in those areas, most parties are going to have at least one WHM main in it that can teleport then change jobs. Besides, there are tons of alternative ways to get around the game anyway, and that cuts into the relevance of these teleports most fundamentally.
Stona @ 39.
This is the last -na spell that WHM had uniquely. Honestly, I am more concerned that SE is giving this up as a subjob spell than I am about the WHM stances. A good spell to have and it will let the WHM not have to worrying about exclusively covering this from now on. I do think that SE should give Amensiana (Amensna?, Amensina?) to WHM above the new sub job cap so WHM has that one last -na spell that no one else gets.
Haste @ 40.
Went over this when discussing RDM already, but man, this is going to be great of a lot of mage subs. BLM will love it (but will probably get it from /RDM), SCH will love it (but will probably get it from /RDM), SMN will love it (but don't they already have it from Garuda?). It will be exclusive to /WHM if the first level cap increase is only to level 80, but after that /RDM is going to have it too, and then it's not really going to matter. It's a good spell, necessary and it's probably time that other jobs get access to it even if it is through there sub job.
Cura @ 40.
See above under Afflatus Misery. Potentially interesting, but probably never going to be used.
Cure IV @ 41.
Finally, the non-RDM and non-SCH mages will get access to a decent cure, even if it is a hate-filled monster. No more Cure 3 spam. But again this is a much greater blow to WHM uniqueness than both of the Afflatus JA's combined. I think SE is going to need to give WHM a new even bigger Cure (Cure VI? I know totally original) to make up for this. If not, you might see WHM quickly pushed to the back burner because most jobs are going to be able to do the basic function of a WHM just by subbing the job. This had almost completely happened before with RDM, and while the Afflatus JA's fixed the situation, it was RDM's access to Cure IV and Haste that caused the situation to begin with.
Regen II @ 44.
I think this one is going to be play style dependent, but some people love their Regens. I don't think it will be much of a factor for most people though.
Flash @ 45.
This one is surprisingly unimportant, I think. While Flash can be nice to help out a tank, I don't know that it is a make or break spell for anyone that would want to sub WHM. That is unless NIN would want to sub WHM, and I am not really kidding here. NIN/WHM would get access to Haste, self-cures and Flash, that is potentially a whole lot of hate. NIN already largely subs DRK just for a couple of hate spells and three 5+ minute job abilities. /WHM has the potential to deliver more hate, more quickly outside of those JA's. I think it is at least worth looking into after the level cap hits 90+.
Protect III and Protectra III @ 47.
A nice additional spell for jobs that don't get access to it a convenient Protectra. Nothing to write home about, but I don't think people are going to be complaining either.
Repose @ 48.
A light-based sleep available to jobs like RDM, BLM and SCH? That is pretty powerful, and it will definitely cut into the utility of the remaining jobs that have exclusive access to light-based sleep. BLM, RDM and SCH are already known for their crowd control skills, getting Repose isn't going to overpower them, but I don't think they are going to be looking down their nose at it either.
Subbing WHM is going to offer some pretty powerful options and even if SE decides that no one else besides WHM should have access to the Afflatus "stances" it is still going to be a great sub job. So if you are a mage main, get out there and level your WHM! And if you are a NIN, at least give the /WHM some thought, because I think it might surprise you!
Two final things. First, that awesome WHM painting at the start of this article was blatantly stolen from Atua on the FFXI AH website. It's a great work! Second, this is my last post for a week as I am going on vacation. I won't be back until May 24th. Maybe if you are lucky and you wish really hard, Omoi might post something on the blog to keep you entertained while I am gone. :)
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sub-Routine: Red Mage
I begrudgingly review Red Mage next not because I don't think that it will be a bad subjob, it will indeed be awesome, but because it is too obviously awesome. I wanted to hit on a couple of the more interesting potential sub jobs before I went too far into the obvious ones. The problem is that I think that most mages really want to know what is coming from RDM and what they are going to expect. And I also think they don't want to hear about another melee sub job. I think that there are actually some other interesting sub jobs for mages, but I do think that RDM is going to be the "go to" sub jobs for a whole lot of jobs once the level cap increases. I will say this, if you have a main mage job and you don't have RDM leveled then you are going to want to do that before anything else. Like right now... why are you still sitting there? Go! NOW!
Convert @ 40.
The quintessential RDM ability... and before Composure was added, the only non-two-hour ability that RDM had. Get an entirely new MP pool for your HP every 10 minutes. It's one of those abilities that had SE claiming they could never raise the level cap for over 5 years, and then one day SE drops the bomb says it's one of the great things about raising the level cap. Of course RDMs the world over are going to whine and complain about losing their signature JA, but that is because after BRD, RDM is the number 1 prima donna job. News flash, everyone else is losing their signature JA's too. And lets get another thing straight, while Convert is a powerful JA, it's not god-like. It's a full MP once every ten minutes. This is probably most beneficial for WHM in the end, because most other jobs have other limitations on how they can use the MP. SMN still have to wait on Bloodpacts, BLM get a few more nukes but nothing game breaking, SCH get to do more of their... well they do everything already. It just isn't that broken to give this to other jobs.
Magic Attack Bonus II @ 40.
I can only think of one job that is going to care about this because any job that it would really matter to already has something like this available. The one job that is going to care is SCH. SCH has no innate Magic Attack Bonus and has to get them from their sub job. While SCH can get MAB II from BLM already most SCH would still prefer to use RDM as a sub because it gives them access to a wider and far more utilitarian selection of spells. Getting MAB II from RDM as a sub job pretty much eliminates any reason to consider using BLM as a subjob altogether (as is MAB II was a reason to use BLM in the first place).
Magic Defense Bonus II @ 45.
While pretty bland at first this might be a nice little bonus for tanking jobs that already like to sub RDM for dealing with more magic damage intensive fights. PLD already sub RDM for fights like JoL because they can pull a lot of hate and don't need to worry about shadows at all. The problem is that Magic Defense Bonus II only provides +2 MDB over MDB I, while MDB I provides +10 MDB, so the upgrade is comparatively very small. It is an added bonus for those that would be subbing RDM anyway, but it definitely isn't enough to justify switching if you weren't going to do so already.
I am not going to go over every possible spell that RDM is going to get as a sub but I will go over the notable ones.
Raise @ 38.
While this is available for those mage jobs that generally sub WHM, this is a nice added boost to BLM that may need to raise a fallen comrade or if someone forgets to put up Reraise. This is nowhere as good Reraise, but it is something that may make life a little easier for people that want to sub RDM anyway.
Refresh @ 41.
This is the great grand-pappy of all the new things that we will be getting through subjobs as the level cap increases. This one is more game changing than anything else, including Convert. Almost all jobs are going to sub RDM because of this spell, as a constant 3MP per tick is just that good. While there will again be complaints from RDM about the loss of the main reason they are being brought to events (if any RDM thinks the only reason they are brought to events is because of Refresh then they must not know how to Enfeeble at all), SE has already hinted that they will be giving RDM a new Refresh II replacement to keep them in the refresh game. My guess is that it will be better than Refresh and it won't stack with Refresh, so all the prima donnas don't go crying home to mommy.
Sleep II @ 46.
While definitely not unique to the RDM sub job, it is just another added benefit when you are going to be subbing RDM anyway for those other bonuses. It gives mages a bit more real crowd control options if they have the enfeebling skill to use it properly.
Protect III @ 47.
Another little perk for those BLM out there that are going to be loving /RDM for other reasons. Take a little more of a physical beating before you die a horrible death because all of your crowd control got resisted.
Cure IV @ 48.
Another spell that you are going to get through a different sub job and much earlier too, but again, you are going to want to be subbing RDM for other reasons and having Cure IV now means that you are basically capable of doing what a RDM does right now. That doesn't necessarily mean that you will be able to fill the roll that a RDM does right now because MP and HP pools will definitely be increasing as the level cap increases and Cure IV might not be as good an idea as it is now (more Cure IV casts, more hate gained, more MP spent).
Haste @ 48.
This might sound familiar: A spell you really want, that you could get through another sub job, but you will want more from RDM. Essentially this will give all mages the ability to cast haste at least on themselves, and it may help to relieve the burden that is places on RDM and WHM to cover all of the melees and tanks with Haste. This one is so good that it might even mean that melees start to consider using a mage job as a sub. At very least it will be a major boost to PLD/RDM soloing just about everything, and it could mean that PLD/RDM takes over the "Soloing God" position from RDM.
And that's about it. RDM will get a few other spells, but nothing to write home about. RDM is going to be a really important sub job, not just for mages, but for PLD and a few other jobs as well. This is one of those sub jobs that you should level now before the first increase in the level cap so you are ready to go once the update hits.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Cheap Loots: Aesir Gear.
I think I forgot to mentioned something yesterday, like why this post is called Cheap Loots. Well, to put it simply, this is just to help find places you can save money by replacing relatively expensive gear with cheap or free stuff. The Aesir gear that comes from the Odin fight is pretty much free. Yes, you will need to spend some time collecting the items to do the fight again, but when you compare the items to the equivalent AH prices you are saving a ton. Hopefully this will provide an appendix to the On the Cheap series of articles. Instead of providing a slot by slot analysis for each job, this is more of a gear analysis for all jobs. And most importantly it's about free gear for those jobs!
On to the cheap loot! Remember, you can always get the 10k gil or the Summoner Pact from the fight, but if you are doing that then you shouldn't be reading this anyway! LOL
Aesir Ear Pendent
+7 Attack is pretty decent for MNK, but it has this curious new stat Conserve TP too. What is Conserve TP? Pretty simply, it is a trait much like Conserve MP, but instead of saving MP after casting a spell it saves TP after doing a WS. So this is awesome, right? Well, maybe not. It really depends on how much TP you conserve and more importantly how much TP you are going to end up saving. It is still pretty unclear how much TP you can actually conserve from a WS, but if you are not able to get back enough TP to replace a full attack round then it is pretty much worthless. Keep in mind that it is already pretty worthless for most jobs already because you are generally going to be using a Brutal Earring and a STR earring (SAM especially won't be using this item if they have a Bushinomimi). If there is no chance that you can reduce the number of attacks needed for the next WS then the Conserve TP function is essentially completely useless.
So this sucks, right? Well, maybe not on that count either. MNK's like to use a lot of Attack for Asuran Fists, and the Brutal Earring is completely useless for Asuran Fists, so they tend to use Attack Earrings already and there isn't that great of a supply for them either. So it's already one of the best Attack Earrings for MNK, but the Conserve TP could actually be a great boon for MNK. It really depends on how Conserve TP procs end up working out, but it seems to me that with the lower TP return per swing on a MNK (this applies to NIN too but I don't know if it would be worth it for them to use it just for the rare proc compared to other options) it should be easier to get the Conserve TP proc to cover a whole attack round, or at least one swing of an attack round that might be missed. So far it looks like the proc is pretty low and the amount of TP you can conserve is veritable so I would be hesitant to use this just for the Conserve TP proc, but if you are a MNK and are going to use an Attack earring like the Merman's Earring anyway, then the Aesir Pendant Earring is a slight boost there and the Conserve TP boost just might be pretty cool.
That is all, right? No quite, there is one other job that might actually be interested in the Conserve TP effects, especially if they stack well, that job is Dancer. No other job uses TP like Dancers do. A Dancer is going to have far more opportunities to proc the Conserve TP trait, and they don't have to worry about whether they get enough to replace a whole swing because they can burn their TP whenever they please. This should even apply to jobs that sub Dancer for low man events like Assault or for Campaign where you want to cure yourself as much as possible. Here is where I am going to fail you, because I have no idea what Dancers generally use for the earring slots. While I presume they use the Brutal Earring, I don't know what they use for their other earring (Roundel Earring? Maybe, but that is quite an expensive investment) and I don't know how this would stack up for them, but this might be something that jobs that are subbing Dancer might consider to use for self-curing even if they don't use it for WS's.
Aesir Mantle
I am much more unsure about this item than I am about even the Aesir Pendant Earring. Sure, it looks like it could be great, and while Double Attack is a trait that people like to see on gear, it isn't a trait that people generally go out of their way to pick up unless there isn't anything else that great available (e.g. Brutal Earring) or it has something else on it that makes it important (e.g.... Brutal Earring for the Store TP). 8 Attack just isn't make or break for any job, and it is a big cut from even the cheapest available options like Amemet Mantle +1 which also has more STR on it. For the TP phase, 1% DA just isn't going to over come at the minimum 2 STR and 7 Attack on every hit, and the situation gets even worse for WS's when the 2 STR and 7 Attack are going to mean even more. Sure it is 1% more during Darksday, but even then it just isn't going to cut it. If you are down to choosing between the Aesir Mantle or the 10k, take the 10k.
Aesir Torque
The real gem of the bunch, this torque is the King of Cheap Loots. An Elemental and Dark Torque rolled into one with a little splash of awesomeness on Darksday, and it's free? It doesn't get any better than this. Surprisingly, there isn't much else to say about this. If you are a BLM it is a must have. It lets you sell two expensive torques and saves you one inventory slot. The only drawback is that it is level 75 which is higher than the level 65 requirement of the other torques, but really does that matter at all? Just rent the Elemental Torque from the AH until you hit 75, then use the Aesir Torque. It really is a no-brainer.
It looks like the Odin fight is a great option for Cheap Loots, and it is pretty much mandatory for some jobs. Tomorrow we will go over Alexander and see what kind of fruit that will bear.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Black Mage.
Recently I made the decision to switch from perfecting my RNG to perfecting my BLM. The problems I have had with RNG are two-fold. First, I was having problems coming to grips with the difficulty involved with getting some of the final pieces of gear that I needed to complete my RNG. The Mekki Shakki was one of these issues with it's low drop rate, it's difficulty in obtaining and being rare/ex (as opposed to something like the Organics). Also, getting a Hope Torque was pretty high on my list but because of scheduling I have been unable to attend events to get it.
Second, RNG is a hard job to control. The problem is that when it is well played you will quickly gain so much hate that it becomes very difficult to play your job properly. I suppose that is part of playing the job well, and I do try to find the break point and then hold it under that, but it is a little bit frustrating that a job that is designed to put out this much damage is more limited by itself than other factors. I had started looking into getting a variety of enmity reduction items that wouldn't effect my damage all that much but in the end, I have put that on hold because I can use those points to be more useful on BLM.
BLM is a ranged DD as much as a RNG is, but it does have an inherent limitation that RNG does not have that works to limit it's hate gain. Simply, that is MP. I can burn through everything I have then I have to rest for MP. Even if I have a ton of refresh, I will inevitably get to a point where resting to full is more efficient than just trying to wait for the next cast. Of course over time you can build enough hate to become the target of an angry dragon's rage, but it doesn't feel like it is going to inevitably happen after the next Sidewinder.
There was a simple breaking point at which I decided to go full-bore BLM and leave my RNG as it is. Not to long ago, I was able to pick up a pair of Herald's Gaiters for my BLM, and I was torn as to whether I should take them or save my points for a Faith Torque I might never see. I mulled this over until we did a Silver Sea Remnants in which I got the last piece for my Morrigan's Slops which I needed to complete my Morrigan's set. This bit of luck locked it up for me. It wasn't like I felt that it was a sign (it totally was, God told me so), but it was going to be a lot easier for me to finish my Morrigan's set (lies, all lies) than it was going to be to get what I really wanted to be able to better commit dragon-assisted-suicide.
All of this is pretext to the real cost benefit analysis for BLM. The question now that I have decided to go with gearing up my BLM is what should I do next. My Morrigan's Slops are already made, but I still need to finish my Coronal and even more expensive my Morrigan's Robe. The most efficient way for me to get my Morrigan's Robe would be to use my points to buy gil packets which are a great deal that my LS offers it's members (we used to get a normal pay out too but our bank got nuked as an RMT bot... yeah, that's a bitch-fest for another day). It will take a while to get all the gil I need, but it will definitely help out to getting this thing done in a reasonable amount of time. The problem with spending points is the opportunity cost involved. I could save the points and get a Novio Earring. Now that is the first real question about BLM I have in the short term.
Oh, and the picture at the top of the post? Yep, I got my Sorcerer's Petasos last night. Does this qualify me as a real BLM now? :)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Getting to know my BLM: Nuking Gear.
Ever since we joined up with BBQ, I have been on BLM more and more. It's not my favorite job but it's not my least favorite either. BBQ likes to use BLM for a lot of mobs, and I am fine with that. It has just meant that I have had to move BLM merits up in my priorities, and that I might have to change what I want to get from my points in the LS but that is a discussion for another day.
BLM more than almost any other jobs need more "sets" of gear. Elemental, enfeebling, enhancing, standing, etc. Elemental and nuking sets are by far the most common set of gear and probably get the most focus from most BLM to start with. Mine is mediocre, and could still use a lot of improvement. A nuking set can vary based on the mob that you are fighting at the time but for the most part it tries to get a good combination of Elemental Skill, INT and Magic Attack bonus to ensure the highest damage without getting resisted.
Check below the cut to see how I set up my nuking set for my BLM.
I will not be coy here. I am not the best BLM in the world. I am getting better though, and I am always looking for more information to try to be the best player I can be. While this post doesn't fall into the "On the Cheap" series, I am in general very cheap when it comes to my BLM so you might be able to use it in the same way.
Head: Wizard's Petasos
A good middle of the road and easy item to get. You are going to have it from leveling anyway, may as well use it until you get something substantially better. The Wizard's Petasos +1 is a good standard upgrade if you do Limbus, and the Sorcerer's Petasos is great if Dynamis doesn't hate you.
Neck: Right now I am using my Elemental Torque to good effect. In the last update the Aesir Torque and Lemegeton Medallion were added and are definitely worth looking into in the near future. The Uggalepih Pendant is still your best choice for nuking under 50% MP.
Earrings: I don't find picking Earrings to be too hard or the Earrings themselves to be too helpful. I am sure I will get a lot of suggestions here but I currently use the standard issue Moldavite Earring and then a Cunning Earring because it is cheap. There are a ton of alternatives, some of which can get pretty expensive for a very small upgrade. I also have a Diamond Earring with a +2 Magic Attack Bonus on it from doing one of the mini-expansions. It's filling the hole for now, but once I get the points I am investing them into a Novio Earring.
Body: Igqira Weskit is the trade mark nuking body for BLM. There are lots of other options with small upgrades, and the Morrigan's Robe is probably the best upgrade that you can get even though the cost is still amazingly high.
Hands: I am luckily enough (or have been doing Salvage long enough) to have a set of Morrigan's Cuffs for my BLM. I think this is pretty much the best option available but the Zenith Mitts and the Vicious Mufflers are suitable replacements.
Rings: My rings are pretty gimp. I am using a Diamond Ring and an Omega Ring, neither of which I am too proud of. I really should get Snow Rings but man, at a cool half mil I can't really afford them right now. The Omega Ring definitely has more Magic Accuracy than my Diamond Ring, but it will be relegated if I get Snow Rings or eventually get a Galdr Ring.
Back: Generally considered to be an Elemental Skill slot because of the Merciful Cape I am using it as an INT slot because I don't have that cape yet. The Gleeman's Cape from Einherjar points is my favorite right now. I do think I will prefer the Merciful Cape though because that is a 45 MP turn around from the Gleeman's Cape and my BLM MP is a joke.
Waist: One of my rare high dollar BLM purchases is the Penitent's Rope, hey it was more expensive a while ago! The Witch Sash is definitely better, in fact it is best in slot, but the difference in price just don't meet the different in stats. I have bigger fish to fry.
Legs: In short order I will be getting my Morrigan's Slops completed, which are going to replace my Mahatma Slops. The price trade off for that exchange is going to be quite favorable.
Feet: Ugh, not a lot of good choices for BLM to begin with, but I don't even really have one of the good choices. I am rocking Rostrum Pumps right now, but I still dream of finally getting Yigit Crackows. They are good nuking feet, but with my lower INT (no jokes) and lack of merits right now, I am still hoping to pick up Shrewd Pumps but it may take a while.
And there you have a list of what I have and want. Yeah, it's not comprehensive but I think it's a good starting point. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them as I am still learning the job and I want to learn as much as I can!
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Of everything I have lost, I miss my mind the most.
There are a lot of things to do in FFXI, and there are a lot of things you can do on the internet when you alt+tab out of the game. I am quite often occupied for almost every moment that I am in the game, so if I don't focus on getting something done, it gets left behind. Most of the stuff that gets left behind is for a reason. The relative level of importance is low, my time is consumed by something else, the time-reward ratio is poor or I am just lazy. Any of those reasons can quickly lead to forgetting about some important pieces of gear, either situational or even a slight upgrade.
It's not like I don't have better things to do. I need about a million merits on several different jobs. Still, there are still many different upgrades for a bunch of jobs I could just get off of the AH. The problem is getting these items to come to mind when I have an opportunity to get them. There is a certain opportunity cost involved with doing things I have missed in the past because I could be working on a new Magian weapon or I could be working on the Wings missions and quests. There are always good excuses. And sometimes the gear that I have skipped over comes from something that is annoying or tedious and I am just putting it off instead of just sucking it up and getting it done.
Check below the break for the top 3 items I have passed over, and should be mocked for not having yet.
Item(s) #3 - AF +1
I am missing so much AF +1 that it is just a joke at this point. Most of the time, this is because I haven't been able to win a lot on something important or for BLM it just doesn't drop that much. I am in need of parts for RNG AF+1 hands and for BLM AF+1 hands and head. As with most things on this list, these aren't game breaking pieces for sure, but they are also good to have and they are things that I should have by now. Maybe if the Limbus gods smile upon me, I might be able to get some of this done soon.
Item #2 - BLM AF2
I do have my BLM AF2 coat, and it serves me well. I use it in my standing gear and I don't have to use a Black Cloak or something more expensive. I still need pretty much the rest of the BLM AF2 gear. Hat, hands and legs I believe are all good for BLM for some reason or other. I would like the hat the most because even with my half done BLM merits, I am still weak on Elemental Skill for a lot of mobs.
Item #1 - You guessed it, Temple Crown
Yeah, there are a lot of MNKs out there that might think I am gimp for not having this yet. It's just an AF quest, and I am not even talking about the AF+1 version (even though I have both of the pieces to get the +1 version made ._.). I have decided that I am going to get it soon. At least when I remember to get it. :)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Morning in Vana'diel: Freeze Up.
Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! I hate days like today, too many things to talk about and I can't decide on just one. I just freeze up and barely get anything done.
So, lets see, we have a ton of FFXIV information coming out. We have a great late night story about Izman. We have some needs/wants lists for Ring. We have several days of missing columns because of travel and personal sickness. And we potentially have a contest...
That's right, I am in discussions (with myself) about having a contest here at YANYOK... and it isn't going to be about coming up with a new name for whatever we have here, but I probably should consider that at some time. LOL Once I talk to a few more people about this but it should be coming down the pipe pretty soon so be on the look out.
As for FFXIV, there has been a flood of information about it in recent days and we will have a review of that today or tomorrow, but lets just say that it looks absolutely gorgeous and potentially has the updates we have all been looking for from FFXI. I think this is a good time to make a comparison to other games both out now and coming down the pipe. So look forward to that soon.
For me, I hardly ever post about just me and what I want from FFXI anymore because of the way we have changed this site, but I think it is time for one of those personal posts so I can list out what I am doing in case anyone cares.
Finally, Izman is on a roll like no other right now. Not only is he the King of FoV but last night he got even more lucky. We were farming organs in Sea and decided to give Ix'DRK a try. Iz got the animosity on the first kill, and we popped it. There was a little bit of confusion on how to pull it from the Qn's, but once that was settled and a few friends showed up and we killed it 6 times, it dropped the cape. So Iz is now official 1/1 on Ix'DRK's cape. LOL
It's Iz's world, we are all just playing in it.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Morning in Vana'diel: Left out of the Level 40 Fun.
Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! SAM has 18 million JAs and BLM has two. Where is the love?
I think everyone should have level 40(ish) abilities, and I think that SE is moving that way from the last couple of update. WHM, RDM and NIN have gotten a few things tossed in for level 40 that have really changed and improved their jobs especially for NIN and RDM. There are still some jobs that are lacking these abilities, and there are some jobs that have abilities around this level that are these kinds of defining abilities. In the end, there really should be these kind of alternating or “stance” abilities for all jobs. It surprisingly adds a lot of flavor to the jobs and are more buttons to push which most people like.
Like I said some jobs get these abilities around level 40 instead of at level 40. WAR and RNG get really nice abilities around this level even though it is not exactly at level 40. SAM gets them a lot lower because they were intended to be used as a subjob too, but SAM gets a level 60 ability that is also kind of nice. SAM has a bunch of other nice little toys that makes up for it so it’s not so bad for them.
But there are some jobs that have gotten the shaft in the backside from SE when it comes to job adjustments. Yes, BLM I am talking about you! You have gotten screwed and you really need something to help you out. WHM really needed something to make it stand out from RDM and SMN and SCH when it came to healing and that was in the form of the level 40 JAs. Now BLM needs something that makes it better than SCH for nuking. They really need something that either improves their MP efficiency or damage potential or both. I think a set of alternating JAs would be helpful here for BLM.
I think it is probably coming for BLM, probably in the next update in fact (probably in October when I am out of town). It is something that BLM really needs to be competitive in their pretty much sole role as a nuking DD. It’s time that SE hands out a little JA love to the BLM.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Thin Black Line- On Beastmaster Pets
The Thin Black Line is here to protect you! Tuufless, our resident cute Taru (every site needs one!) is here to tell you all there is about magic and mages of all colors, especially Black. So much potency in such a small package, delivered straight to you! Today, we'll explore beastmen pets in light of the glory that is Xarcabard [S].
Ever since Treasures of Aht Urhgan shunned Black Mages from parties, Black Mages around Vana'diel were forced to find other ways of getting experience points, which led to the development of leveling off Beastmen pets. Since then, beastmen pets have long been the favorite of aspiring nukers and is now the de-facto route for those who aspire to wear the pointed hat.
With the recent July version update introducing at least one excellent pet camp in Xarcabard [S], which I have been obsessing over lately, I figured I might as well talk about leveling off pets for the time being.
What is it?
As the name suggests, your target xp mobs are beastmen pets. Essentially, you are looking for a Beastman whose job is either BST or SMN, and taking their pet as your xp mob. Oftentimes, people either solo or duo pets, but there have been entire 6-man parties that set out to kill pets.
For now, I’m going to refer to both Beastmaster pets and Summoner elementals as just beastmen pets, regardless of which it actually is.
Why does it work?
Beastmen pets have one very interesting characteristic- they have abnormally low HP for their level. Technically, any job can get solo xp through killing pets, but the task favours mages for two reasons.
First, mage attacks are ranged, which makes pulling very convenient. However, the important factor is that mages specialize in dealing burst damage—that is to say, only mages can deal lots of damage out of nowhere. Melee jobs have to build TP before they can use a weaponskill, while mages can stand up from resting and immediately deal a 1000-damage nuke.
That is not to say that other jobs cannot enjoy the perks that come with pets— player-controlled Beastmasters can also level off beastmen pets, using their own pet to mitigate the damage dealt by the beastman’s. However, melee will struggle a little more, because they cannot kill the pet as quickly as mages can, and may need some outside assistance, like a powerleveler to see them through safely.
What do I need?
Level 24 is an important level because you get both Utsusemi: Ichi from /NIN and get to wear Reraise Earrings. Level 42 gives you Gravity from /RDM. Which you use will depend on personal preference, although as a general rule, /NIN favours camps that are cramped or involve pets that move faster than normal, while /RDM is better for more open camps.
You will also need to keep up to date with all your spells and gear, as this is a solo task, you will only have yourself to rely on. As advance warning, you will die a lot, especially if you are just starting out. Remember your Reraise!
How do I start?
There are lists scattered around the internet that can tell you where to find pets appropriate to your level. I personally use this one over on FFXIclopedia.
Before you start, you will need to know the basics about mob behaviour. First, the pet will always assist the beastmaster, but the Beastmaster will only assist the pet if it sees the pet engaged. This means that when you need to pull the pet from behind or at least from the side of the Beastmaster, so the Beastmaster does not see the pet.
You will also have to be mindful of the terrain, as mobs have erratic pathing when it comes to uneven terrain. Usually, this is a good thing, especially when it comes to soloing NMs, but in this case, it means the pet might illogically run in front of its master and cause it to link if you try pulling it from the side and there's a slope involved.
Next, all pets do not link with other mobs of the same family. However, outside mobs will still link with the pet, so you will need to exercise caution when dealing with pets that come from linking families, like Leeches and Rabbits, especially when there are other family members around.
If the beastmaster in question is actually a Summoner, there are two things additional things to keep in mind—first, summoner elementals have more HP than beastmaster pets, though still within a manageable range. More importantly, elementals will always start to cast a spell immediately upon aggro. The problem here is that elementals will stand still and will not follow you immediately once you pull, so there is a very real possibility of the Summoner turning around and linking with the elemental, especially if the elemental opens with Ancient Magic.
Once you get there, your xp/hr rate will depend on the following few factors:
First, how quickly you can kill the mob? This is the most obvious one, but still bears mention. This is the part where nukers outshine melee jobs, because they are able to quickly deliver damage whenever it is needed.
Secondly, how open is the camp? Camps that are in small, cramped places generally see lower xp/hr rates because you may be forced to just wait long periods of time for the Beastmaster to turn around before you can pull. Essentially, the more directions you can pull from, the better your xp/hr rate will be. Camps that are in open give you lots of freedom to move around, so instead of waiting for the Beastmaster to turn around, you can move to a good location yourself.
There is an exception to this rule, and that applies to Black Mages and Ancient Magic. Normally shunned because of their inefficient use of MP, Ancient Magic spells have much higher base damage for their level range and are single-target. This means that Black Mages are able to one-shot pets until around level 60, depending on how well they are geared. Black Mages that can one-shot pets will see their xp/hr will skyrocket as they are freed from the restriction of having to wait for the Beastmaster to turn its back—if the pet dies in one-shot, the beastmaster will not link, even if the pet dies in front of it.
Finally, how many Beastmasters are around? Typically, with one Beastmaster, you can expect to get Chain #3 consistently. Two or more Beastmasters let you go up to Chain #5 or possibly even Chain #6.
Xarcabard [S]
With that in mind, I’d like to conclude by introducing the inspiration for this post- the new pet camps in Xarcabard [S].
This camp has everything a pet soloist could ask for- it is very accessible, literally right where you teleport into Xarcabard [S]. It is open, which means a lot of room to maneuver into good positions, and lastly, I counted up to five Beastmasters (Gigas Floggers) in the area. The picture you see above shows you what one can do with a camp like this.
For those who have yet to try this way of leveling, I highly encourage you to do so. Best of luck!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Play Better, Suck Less: Spellcast Part 2: Going Back to the Beginning.
Play Better, Suck Less is a column dedicated to getting the most out of your FFXI experience in game and out. Whether Windower improvements, new game-play techniques, sweet strats or new tech, it will all be covered here! After last weeks bitching, Ringthree gets down to business and tries to figure out how all of this works. The cake is a lie.
You might remember that last week I complained a lot about how Spellcast is for geeks and not nerds like me. Sure, the geeks get it, but man, trying to figure out code is about the moral equivalent to shoving white hot pokers into my ears for me. But for you guys, I am willing to do it (I will be forwarding the doctor's bills to you too). The most important part in all of this is that we find a place to start, and basically all I told you last week was to download Spellcast. So unless you are really lazy we can at least get that out of the way. Well, now that the update has come you will want to get the newest version of Spellcast (if it is even up yet) so that all the new gear will be entered into it (at least I think that is what needs to be fixed). Also while you are over at the Windower site you might want to pick up a few other helpful plug-ins like Cancel, Text and Autoexec. You don't really need to know why you are getting them right now, just know they make Spellcast run better right now.
Now to dive into all of that code, right? Well, not quite. I also mentioned that Aikar's BLM Spellcast XML is a great place to start for BLM last week. Spellcast was originally created to help BLM with the myriad of things that they need to do while casting that are nearly impossible to do by hand or in the archaic macro system. So BLM is probably the best job to start a discussion about Spellcast. Everyone else can stop freaking out though, because there are Spellcast XML files for nearly every job and even though most of this discussion is BLM related you can apply it to any job and role very easily.
Ok, so go download Aikar's BLM Spellcast XML file.
Go on.
Stop reading and go get it. I'll wait.
Did you get it?
Ok, great.
Now, lets take a look at all this. I know it looks intimidating, but Aikar did a great job of adding explanations to each area of the XML document. Now don't be intimidated by "XML" or anything like that. It's just a notepad file, and if you have made a windower macro before you have dealt with this kind of file before. Go ahead and open the file and look at it as we go through it.
The introduction is nice and soothing for those in fear about the whole operation. Once you move through that we go to the first line of explanation, which are the automatic sleep timer notifications. You can turn these on by leaving a 1 on that line and you can turn them off by selecting 0. The next three lines deal with optional BLM gear, and again use a 1 to indicate you have the gear and 0 to indicate that Spellcast shouldn't consider using the gear. After those you can set the HP level you need to activate your Sorcerer's Ring if you have one. If you selected 0 for Sorcerer's Ring already then you don't need to worry about this area.
Now we move into the gear options area. This is pretty easy to understand, but the important thing to remember is that these are "rules" that are set up to pick gear for certain situations. It doesn't mean that Spellcast will always use this gear, but if you tell it to use a certain type of gear it will check to see if you have this gear then use it. That may have sounded a bit complicated, but basically Spellcast just needs to know what you have so it can use it if you tell it to. The first set of gear are the Elemental Grips, and again this is just a 1 for yes, and a 0 for no. The second set of gear is a little more complicated but not much. Basically Spellcast is set up to call all of your staffs by one name for simplicity's sake. So "IceStaff" is used anytime you want to use an Ice Staff or an Aquilo's Staff. Just put in the name of the staff you are using and whenever Spellcast looks for the name of that kind of staff it will use the one that you picked. The next group of gear are the Elemental Obi's and like grips you just indicate if you have them or not.
Now we move onto the gear sets. The first gear set is called "Main" and it is your standing gear set. This set is going to use any gear you have with Refresh on it, and any Defensive gear you might use like an Earth Staff or an Umbra Cape, and any movement speed gear you might like having on. You are never really going to cast in this gear, just stand there or get your face beaten in. The next set is Fast Cast, which obviously is just your Fast Cast gear. Resting is next, and it should be relatively easy to figure out what you need to put into the list. Some of the slots might be missing but they can easily be added if you want to put something into them. Also, not every slot needs to be added for this to work, it will use something from another set. For example, if you are casting a Fast Cast spell it will use your normal casting gear and then place the Fast Cast gear in last. So there is no need to always reconstruct your list of gear if the right circumstances are in effect. If you don't know what those circumstances are then you might want to fill in all of your gear if you are concerned Spellcast won't know what to use.
The next set is Minus HP which is just for activating a Sorcerer's Ring latent effect, if you don't have one don't worry about this, if you do have one then you already know the gear you need to swap to make it work. Finally, you have your Full Damage set. This is what will be used when you want your biggest nukes with no real fear of resists. Don't worry if you are fighting mobs that could resist you because the next set, High Resist, will put on your Skill and Accuracy gear when you are cast on mobs that are in the High Resist list which we will get to later. The Mid Resist set is next, and you can back down some of your resistance gear here. After that there is the Light Resist set which you can adjust as you need. You will notice that it says that it will use Full Damage as your base set. This is were Spellcast will look first to pick gear, then it will go to the these sets to put on the gear you need for these specific Resist situations. The next sets of gear are Dark, Enfeebling, Healing, Divine and Enhancing. You can fill these in with the appropriate gear.
Once you have filled in all of your appropriate gear you are basically done. After that the gear sets are the rules that Spellcast uses for pretty much all situations. We will go over these next week, and we might even talk about how to how to make our own rules, but I am not promising anything.
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Thin Black Line: From afar.
The Thin Black Line is here to protect you! Tuufless, our resident cute Taru (every site needs one!) is here to tell you all there is about magic and mages of all colors, especially Black. So much potency in such as small body, delivered to you every Friday! Today, Tuufless tries to get as far away from his subject as possible.
Previously, I briefly touched upon mana as one of the defining characteristics of a mage and talked about being wise with your mana consumption. The next basic trait of a traditional mage that I would like to bring up is that the vast majority of mage contributions to a fight come from a range (again, with exceptions like BLU).
Like last week, everything here will be very basic, since these are still fundamental concepts that we are dealing with.
For the uninformed, a player-controlled mage's casting range lies somewhere around 21.5" although this varies depending on the size of your target mob.
Flexibility
To start, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not going to win any prize or anything for saying that a mage’s casting range is much greater than melee range.
However, this gives mages a sense of flexibility. When fighting a mob, a melee job has to run up close to attack and a tank generally has the mob plastered against him or her. A mage on the other hand, can stand anywhere within 21.5" from the mob and still be able to contribute. Another way of looking at this is that your frontline is free to take the battle anywhere they want, as long as they stay within that 21.5” circle from the mages.
Because the area a mage can affect is much greater, mages don’t have to compensate as much for changes in a mob’s location. If a mob shifts from its location midfight, the entire frontline has to adjust to compensate for this, but the backline can usually just stay put, with maybe a couple of minor adjustments.
A mage's flexibility due to range is not just based on position- a mage is able to affect any targets within his or her casting range, and as such, all that is needed is effective targetting. One reason why one White Mage can provide effective healing for an entire party is because all the party members are easily accessible from the White Mage's location. Imagine if your White Mage had to physically run up to each party member that needed healing before being able to Cure the player, and how much harder things would be.
Safety
Ranged actions also largely negate the “squishiness” of mages, since one of a mage’s best forms of defense is simply not to get hit in the first place.
However, in the event that a mage does move to the top of an enemy’s hate list, range means that there will be a little bit of time available for appropriate measures to be taken. This little bit of time is significant- if you’ve seen a Black Mage solo Operation Desert Swarm, the very fact that mobs takes time to cover the distance in between you and the mob is critical in letting you to fire off that Sleepga.
While it is true that several mobs have abilities that affect a much larger radius than just melee, there will oftentimes still be that narrow band where mages can still contribute to the fight while staying safe. An example of this would be The Wyrmking Descends, where many of Bahamut’s crippling moves only affect players within 20.0”. Thus, standing anything between 20.1” and 21.5” from Bahamut allows mages to still contribute to the fight, while avoiding Bahamut’s moves.
Some other fights involve mob attacks that extend beyond casting range, like Khimaira’s Fulmination (30”). Fortunately, mages still have other options available to them, such as using the terrain to their advantage.
Terrain
Mages are in greater position to take advantage of any terrain features that may dot the surrounding area because of range.
Range allows mages to take advantage of terrain to further protect themselves by putting favourable terrain obstacles in between the mage and the mob. Sometimes, as in the above Khimaira example, differences in terrain height can be used to keep the mage safe from Fulmination. The key point here is that the mage is still in a position to contribute towards the fight.
Actual terrain obstacles also serve to increase the effective distance between the mages and the mob because even though the mob may be within casting range, it is forced to sidetrack in order to get to you. Good examples of this are the ramps that surround the Ix’DRG Aerns or the cliffs just before the dragons in Dynamis-Xarcabard.
Both these examples use a difference in height from keeping the backline safe, but in the event that a mage takes hate, the mob will have to cover much more distance to reach the mages, even though the mob stays within casting range throughout.
Fin.
With that, I'll wrap up this aspect of understanding how mages play. There is one final small thing that I would like to cover before moving onto more practical parts of playing a mage, as opposed to sticking with basic theory, so please stay tuned for that!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
You are not your fucking Yigit Crackows.
You are not your fucking... is a series of articles dedicated to profiling a variety of equipment. Brought to you every Monday (hopefully), this series will discuss why it is a good piece of gear, why it fills your needs, why you should get it or any other reason it could be useful. It could be something obvious, or it could be something off the beaten path, but it will always be useful in some way or another. Today we will focus on the Yigit Crackows.
The Stats: The feet slot is something pretty difficult for BLM to deal with in general, and the Yigit Crackows are a great solution until you get the top-most gear available. 
The Yigit Crackows had a pretty unique model when first introduced, based loosely on the Sha'ir and Nashira designs, but with it's own unique skin. Though I believe this design might have been recycled or at least only slightly tweaked for other pieces, they still stand out pretty well.
The first thing of note about the Yigit Crackows is the only feet slot equipment for BLM that has both Magic Attack Bonus and raw INT to directly increase magic damage. The Cobra Unit Crackows actually have more Magic Attack Bonus but on most mobs with standard gear the extra INT is going to provide more damage, at least that is what my standardized testing on the Magic Damage Calculator has shown. The in addition to the increased damage from the INT, you will also get some more accuracy for those INT based debuffs too.
The Get: The Yigit Crackows are the 20k Assault Points reward from Lebros Caverns and can be purchased from Famad in the Commissions Agency. They are Rare/Ex so there really isn't an alternative for getting these, and Lebros Caverns doesn't really have a good points run besides Apkallu Breeding which can get to be pretty easy after some practice, but even with all perfect 3 person runs it will still take over 2 weeks to get enough points. Take this into consideration though: Celestria (a player that deserves a ton of respect when it comes to gear choices) once said that if you don't have the Yigit Crackows for your BLM then you may as well just cut your feet off. The best thing about the Yigit Crackows is that even though they are not the absolute best you can get, they are close and they can be used for quite some time as the only thing that can really beat them for damage is a complete Morrigan's Robe set.
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