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. :)
Friday, May 14, 2010
Sub-Routine: White Mage.
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.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Thin Black Line: Convert 101
The Thin Black Red 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 Red. So much potency in such a small package, delivered straight to you! Today, Tuufless puts away the pointy hat, and takes out the almighty chapeau.
Before my bit of a hiatus, I very briefly spoke about playing mages in general. For today, I’m going to change gears and talk about something very specific, focusing on Red Mages in particular. Let’s look into what is arguably one of the most powerful Job Ability in the game- Convert.
Be forewarned- this turned out to be a lot longer than I originally expected. ^^
1. What is it?
From bare basics, Convert is a job ability on a ten minute cooldown gained at RDM40 that swaps your HP and MP bars on a 1:1 basis. So, a RDM with 780hp and 40mp would Convert into 40hp and 780mp.
Convert can be enhanced through Group 1 merits, each upgrade reducing the cooldown by 20 seconds to a minimum recast time of 8:20.
2. Why is it so powerful?
Convert gives RDMs something that no other job in the game enjoys- a complete MP reset. To illustrate just how powerful Convert is, I can Convert 900mp every 8:20 because my Convert is fully merited.
That gives me an effective mana restoration rate of:
900mp/8.3333 minutes = 108mp/minute!
As a comparison, Refresh only gives 60mp/minute while Gjallarhorn Ballads give 100mp/minute. Yes, that means that Convert can be more powerful than a relic horn’s Ballads.
It is because of Convert that Red Mages are the only class that can keep chugging on endlessly at what it is doing, earning itself the “battery” nickname, because as long as you don’t completely wipe out your entire MP reserves within ten minutes, you are free to just Convert and start the cycle all over again.
Because of Convert, mana management for Red Mages work differently compared to other mages- Red Mages are able to function without resting at all; all they need is to stretch their MP to last until the next Convert timer.
3. The whole Convert process.
Essentially, the whole Convert process can be summarized into the following four steps:
With a brief explanation,
1. Swap into Convert gear.
First, you would change into a Convert gear setup (more on this below) which is a combination of gear that sets up for maximum returns on your Convert.
2. Convert
This is self-explanatory, although one thing to note is to please not join the ranks of Convert deaths by doing this step next to a mob with Area-of-Effect moves.
This is also the part where you would typically put in some silly comment, telling the whole party that you are Converting, and for the resident White Mage, to please not /panic at the sight of your HP plummeting down to double digits.
3. Cure IV while still in Convert gear.
After Converting, your HP would be dangerously low, so you need to quickly Cure IV yourself to get out of danger. However, you must still be in your Convert gear while you cure yourself, because you are likely to have more MP with your Convert gear than any of your other gear sets. If you were to swap out of your Convert gear and Cure IV yourself normally, you’d lose that extra MP.
4. Swap out of Convert gear, continue normal activities.
The whole Convert sequence is essentially complete, so you can continue with your normal activities until the Convert timer resets again.
3a. Macros
I personally use two macros for my Convert.
The first macro swaps me into my Convert gear and Cure IVs me, while the second macro actually Converts and Cure IVs me again. Some people would slip a Divine Seal in there as well, but I personally choose not to.
4. Making a Convert gear setup.
The first thing to keep in mind is the efficiency of your Convert to avoid wastage. Because Convert swaps your HP and MP around on a 1:1 basis, the ideal setup would have your max HP and max MP to be the same, thus eliminating any wasted HP.
For example, If you have 900hp, but have only a maximum of 700mp, then your Convert will result in a full MP bar, but you would have effectively “lost” 200mp’s worth. On the flip side, if you have 700hp but have a maximum of 900mp, you would only Convert into 700/900mp, which could be improved by having more HP in the first place.
Most Red Mages stop when they see the 1:1 ratio, however, one’s Convert setup can be further improved by adding on one more consideration.
Maintaining a good 1:1 ratio is one thing, but ratios just tell you how much your HP and MP should be relative to each other, but don’t actually tell you what your HP and MP should be.
So, one needs to plan out just how much is enough, as follows:
If we take myself as an example, the actions I am most likely to do right after Converting will be either an Enfeeble, a nuke, or a Cure. My Enfeebling setup has just 989mp, my nuking setup has 991mp and my Cure setup has 950mp. So, I’m going to try to engineer my Convert process such that I end with 991mp after everything is done.
Adding 88mp for a Cure IV gives me 1071mp. This is the minimum number I need to reach in my Convert macro. Likewise, I will also need at least 1071hp, so my Convert setup should have 1071hp/1071mp.
4a. Special considerations- Murgleis
Murgleis is the Red Mage’s Mythic Weapon, and looks like this:
The interesting line here is obviously, “Augments ‘Convert’.”
But is this weapon really worth it? What Murgleis does is alter the Convert ratio from 1:1 to 1:2 as long as you have more than 50% of your maximum HP. That is, for every 1hp you Convert, you get 2mp in return. Sounds good right? Look closer.
Murgleis lets you take 500hp and Convert it into 1000mp. However, unless you can think of scenarios where you would constantly Convert at just over 50% max HP, Murgleis doesn’t do much. All it does is save you from having to Cure yourself to top up your HP while in your Convert gear (basically a savings of 88mp.) Even worse, if your HP is less than 50%, Murgleis doesn’t do anything for your Convert!
In short, don’t bother with the Red Mage Mythic. It is just not worth the slot unless you have more gil than you know what to do with and really, really want to save on 88mp every ten minutes.
5. Using Convert
With the whole Convert process, what about when should you actually use Convert?
Essentially, there are two separate schools of thought on this matter. One is more passive, and saves Convert as an emergency pool of mana, while the other is more aggressive and advocates using Convert as soon as the timer has reset.
5a. Saving Convert
The defensive approach tries to hold off Convert for as long as possible until absolutely needed. Essentially, you don’t want to Convert unnecessarily and be caught in a situation where you are waiting on the cooldown.
By reserving Convert in this way, your Red Mages will act more like the other mage classes, and will have to be more watchful over their overall mana consumption. It also largely denies the full use of one of the more powerful job abilities in the game because you simply aren’t using it that often, and could technically be forever waiting for that proverbial rainy day to come.
Thus, this style is suited for harder, more unpredictable fights. Several HNM fights for example, involve moves that suddenly deal large amounts of damage, and it would be very useful to have that extra MP to fall back on if such moves appear a little too frequently.
5b. Using Convert whenever possible.
The other, more aggressive style Converts whenever the timer has reset.
By doing so, the focus shifts towards a Red Mage’s active contributions over a given time period. The Red Mage will try to expend his entire pool (down to at least 88mp for the initial Cure IV) while the Convert timer resets, and then Converts as soon as the timer is up again.
The advantage of this style is that you fully maximize the utility you gain from Convert, and are given a much larger effective pool to work with over time. In fact, as long as you are not overly aggressive, you are largely freed of most forms of mana management and can afford to be much more liberal with your mana usage, like nuking the mob.
The drawback of course, is that should a situation arise and things get tough, you will not have Convert available as a crutch to lean back on.
This style is more suited for easier, repetitive fights like merit parties where the party flow literally just chugs along with no real variance. In such cases, the Red Mage really becomes the battery behind the scenes.
6. Should you merit Convert?
There are seven Group 1 merits for Red Mage- six of them are elemental Magic Accuracy merits, while the last is the one in question- Convert recast.
As mentioned earlier, meriting Convert recast lowers the recast timer by 20 seconds per upgrade. Five upgrades brings your Convert down to a 8:20 recast.
With an ability as powerful as Convert, you might think it’s a no-brainer to immediately throw your merit points into it, but some would argue that it is completely unnecessary, and that lowering the recast down to 8:20 actually gives them too much effective mana. What’s the point of lowering Convert’s recast when good mana management means you don’t have to use it that often?
The truth is, Convert does cut Red Mages quite a bit of slack as far as mana management is concerned and you can function perfectly well with a 10:00 recast.
What I do feel meriting Convert is good for is that it gives you more leeway in terms of managing the aggressive and defensive playstyles. After all, the big draw towards the conservative approach is the ever-present “What if?” scenario. What if you Converted aggressively, and something happened within the next ten minutes that requires me to Convert?
Lowering the recast at least alleviates some of that pressure in that this window for error goes down, so that even if you Converted aggressively to find that you probably should’ve saved it, at least you won’t have to wait as long. Once the timer’s reset, you’re in the green again.
One additional perk of meriting Convert involves something quite different- meriting Convert lets the RDM squeeze in an extra Convert in timed situations, like BCNMs. With a 30-minute time limit, a Red Mage with a 10:00 Convert would Convert three times in the duration of the fight. If the cooldown was reduced to 8:20 on the other hand, you would be able to fit in four Converts within a 30 minute time period.
Finally done!
In the end, these are just some of the things you will need to think about when it comes to dealing with this one job ability. I have to admit, this got a lot longer than I originally anticipated, but it really does go to show what kind of considerations you can take with just one ability.
As for my merit situation, I personally upgraded Convert five times and have never looked back. I quite enjoyed writing this article, and I hope to look into some of the finer aspects of mage play , so if you have any questions or ideas to explore, please let me know!
Thursday, July 09, 2009
The Math of Sword and Spell: Phalanx
Every Thursday Araelus is bringing the science to FFXI.
The Math of Sword and Spell is dedicated not only to the hardcore calculations and statistics of FFXI, but more importantly to helping you use that math without confusing you. You may not know why you are playing better, but rest assured you will be playing better.
This week's edition is part of a series called "Occasionally Replies Two to Eight Times" focusing on reader questions and more in-depth analysis of previous concepts or interesting game features. This week we address Treubond's inquiry regarding Phalanx.
"Just a question, is a fully merited Phalanx II as good as a Phalanx? I thought Phalanx still had a higher damage reduction than a fully merited Phalanx II. You made a comment on it while talking about the Accession Phalanx and was wondering. Or is it just that SCH can't get high enough Enhancing Magic for it to do the full amount a Phalanx would do on a RDM or even a PLD/RDM? Thanks in advance."
Phalanx provides straight numerical damage reduction – and the higher the caster’s Enhancing Magic Skill, the more damage blocked. Thankfully, this skill check occurs during casting, so it is possible to swap gear and maintain the benefits of a high Enhancing skill.
Any job which subs RDM can cast Phalanx, but the capped support skill is 109, resulting in 8 damage reduction. With all available gear, this can be increased to 124, for 10 damage reduction. With merits, ANY/RDM can have 140 skill, for 12 damage reduction.
The most basic comparison of Phalanx results can be made between BLM, PLD, WHM, SCH, and RDM, the only jobs with native Enhancing skill, and thankfully these are the jobs most likely to be subbing RDM.
So different jobs can reach different levels of Phalanx. That’s all well and good, but how do we compare them usefully? What is the key difference between RDM, WHM, and SCH at 271 skill? The WHM and RDM will only be able to apply Phalanx to themselves, while the SCH can cast it once for the whole party. But what about Phalanx II, which only RDM can cast?
Phalanx II can be cast on any party member, and heavily depends on merit level for effect. At first it seems like a terrible spell. It costs 42 MP, twice that of Phalanx, and base duration is one minute less, at 120 seconds. With one merit level, a RDM at 256 skill will get 14 damage reduction from Phalanx II instead of 23 damage reduction from Phalanx.
Every additional merit level in the spell adds 30 seconds of duration and 3 additional damage reduction.
This results in:
Charted against someone casting Phalanx, we find that the only time Phalanx II provides more damage reduction is when fully merited, although it matches Phalanx when at 4 merits and low skill levels.
MP efficiency should be considered in addition to damage reduction. Standard Phalanx lasts 8.57 seconds per 1 MP cost, and Phalanx II at full merits lasts 5.71 seconds per 1 MP. Composure improves Phalanx’s performance for Red Mages to 25.7 seconds per 1 MP, and of course that is only for the caster. Since Scholar can cast on the whole party at once, they get up to 51.43 seconds of effect per 1 MP spent!
Just for the sake of argument, suppose the only person in the party who will really benefit from damage reduction is the tank. In this improbable case, if we only care about Accession landing on one person, which is the same target as a Phalanx II, then it simply returns the MP comparison to Phalanx’s 8.57 sec/MP vs. Phalanx II’s at best 5.71 sec/MP.
What about a Composured Phalanx II, which has at best 17.14 seconds of effect per 1 MP cost? That still pales in comparison to a Composured Phalanx’s 25.7 sec/MP.
Phalanx will always be more MP efficient than Phalanx II.
Overall efficiency is our final goal. The best way to do this is to create an index, which provides a normalized average. Consider that 25 damage reduction over 180 seconds for 21 MP is the result any lazy RDM or SCH can produce wearing their AF gear on an unaltered cast of Phalanx. We’ll score that cast as “100” and treat any other spell result as follows:
Index rating = 100* [(damage reduction * (duration in seconds / MP cost)) / index]
Phalanx at 271 skill needs to be valued at 100, so our “index” constant’s value is 214.28571428571428571428571428571
Since damage reduction, duration, and MP cost are all exact whole numbers, I’m just going to use scads of significant figures in the background and round off for ease of reading.
Composure increases a cast’s value by the expected 3x multiplier. Since multiple targets have the same “increased MP efficiency” effect, Accession will dramatically increase this efficiency score. In the same way, hitting six party members with Noctoshield increases its rating from a measly 11.87 to a more respectable 71.22.
We can gather from this data that Phalanx II should probably be a party-wide spell, at its current MP cost and tiered durations, in line with how Bar-status-ra spells have twice the MP cost of an equivalent Bar-status. Indeed, making Phalanx II AoE would be worth even an MP cost of 60, more in line with the Cure vs. Curaga series. But as a single-target-only spell it will remain sadly lacking against Accession Phalanx.
Red Mages can take heart that they do not need any Stratagems to cast on a party member of their choosing, and that Scholars are not always present.
--
Notes:
Players may acquire or add equipment in a different order than shown here. This chart obviously includes some cases where not all available equipment is added, because it would make no difference in damage reduction, such as BLM+gear not including an Augmenting Earring or Genie Huaraches. Other cases show the addition of gear which does not immediately add to damage reduction, such as SCH+AF adding an Enhancing Torque, or “too much” gear added, for example, the WHM shown at 247 skill could remove the Enhancing Torque and remain at 22 damage reduction with 240 skill. This has been done for illustrative purposes.
Phalanx’s damage reduction tiers at increments of 10 Enhancing Magic Skill. Any change to equipment that does not change the skill’s tens-place numeral will not change damage reduction. Please pay attention to your individual skill needs when selecting equipment and merits.
Bar chart in table form:
Monday, July 06, 2009
Sir Iron Will's Wisdom: Preventing Level Down.
Sir Iron Will's Wisdom is here to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about tanking, and probably some things you never wanted to know and now wish to blot out of your memory, whether you like it or not, Izman is here with the do's and don'ts of tanking, in general, solo or end game. Izman is doing some Campaign to get all that XP back that tanks lose, let's join him.
Hello my shield bashing minions! Today I wanted to talk about getting XP back on PLD at end game which of course means only a couple options for us. Campaign, Level Sync and of course, burn parties.
The most popular of these is campaign. This is a fast and easy way for PLDs to get that XP they have lost due to dying a honorable death in battle. No need to put your party flag up for this, just go change your sub to Dancer or my favorite Red Mage and let the XP roll in. Most PLDs will sub Dancer for this which is great but if you have never tried Red Mage sub prepare to have your mind blown. Phalanx will make most mobs hit you for 0 almost every time. It also makes NMs easier to tank, for the most part, like Shadow Hand who goes around pimp slapping everyone. With Phalanx even her weapon skills are to be laughed at. The best advantage of Red Mage sub is that you can use your TP for Atonement to get that extra damage in for more XP. Of course I don't have dancer sub so I don't know how awesome it is in campaign but since most PLDs sub it I'm sure its amazing.
Level Sync is also a great way to get that XP back. I enjoy a level sync party every once in a while to relive those Crawler's Nest days. Not much to say about this but that it is easy to get a invite on PLD and it's fun to XP with your pals, even if it is not the fastest XP in the world.
The least likely situation to get your buffer back is burn parties. Don't put your flag up if you think you're getting into one of these, cause all you will get is a Level Sync invite. Best chance of doing it is begging your friends to let you come along and tell them "Well I can cover you and holy circle and stuff". Having a DD set for this is also something you will need. If you get into one of these prepare to lose all that XP tanking some big nasty for one of your friends who let you come along. LOL
Now don't get me wrong PLD can do some great damage but you're not going to get a chance to show most people that you can. So remember all you people who abuse your PLD pals, be nice cause we go through a lot of crap to get all that XP we lose for you!
Well that's it for this one. I'm to tired to think of any other options for getting XP back so why not do the thinking for me and let me know how you get your XP back.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
The Math of Sword and Spell: Tanking Multipliers
Every Thursday Araelus is bringing the science to FFXI.
The Math of Sword and Spell is dedicated not only to the hardcore calculations and statistics of FFXI, but more importantly to helping you use that math without confusing you. You may not know why you are playing better, but rest assured you will be playing better.
This week's edition focuses on how Slow effects are a great boon to tanking, perhaps more than anything else. Also discussed are creative ways to increase Enmity, reduce damage taken, and even use some unusual jobs for tanking, such as Black Mage.
Last week, we discussed some of the ways White Mages and Scholars can benefit the whole party, as well as taking a critical look at Dancer and Summoner (especially in the comment thread). This week we take a break from support jobs and examine the difficult but crucial role of tank. Whether Paladin, Ninja, or something out of the ordinary, tanks are called upon to focus damage from the enemy to a well-defended target: themselves.
In order to preserve some kind of game balance, not everyone takes damage equally well. What should a designated tank focus on in available gear? What might they ask the party to do in assistance, and how can you help a tank stay alive, besides curing? What can those predisposed against tanking do to make up some of the difference when targeted? Should I try to avoid stepping on Izman’s toes in this article?
“Preventing Damage Outright” might as well be the slogan of Utsusemi, and clearly not taking damage is the best way for a tank to keep on going. But how about preventing the attack entirely?
If you remember back to the start of this column, three categories of effects were mentioned which could be described as benefiting everyone in the fight since they helped the tank: stopping enemy actions, slowing enemy actions, and weakening enemy actions.
Paralyze and Jubaku, if they take effect, are outstanding. The issue is that “if” part. A paralyzed enemy will have some percentage of regular melee attacks and spell casts interrupted. The same is true for activation of Killer Effects, particularly Undead Killer for Paladins. The Bash line of abilities has a high success rate, but long recast timers. Stun certainly lives up to its name, and its 45 second cooldown can be reduced, although the spell might be resisted depending on its target. Violent Flourish is yet another stun effect, but on a 20 second timer, reliant on Finishing Moves, with accuracy depending on monster level, the target’s magic resistance, and use of an Etoile Casaque.
When preventing enemy actions, we have to consider how often a spell or ability will function. Shield Bash is fine, once every five minutes. A continually applied Paralyze might stop one attack in ten or it might never process at all. Taken from this perspective, Elegy and other Slow effects are the most effective means of reducing damage dealt to a tank through status effects on the foe.
Reduction in attack speed can be considered a direct reduction in melee damage dealt to the tank, of course excepting TP move physical damage. But the benefits of slowing the opponent go beyond merely reducing incoming damage. More time between attack rounds means safer buffers on Utsusemi recasts, more time for the tank to cast any spell, and a generally lower level of stress all round. Best of all, Slow, or Slow II, or Jubaku: Ichi can be applied in addition to Elegy.
Just as consistently reducing the speed of an enemy’s attacks can be considered damage reduction for the tanks, so can consistently reducing the accuracy of an enemy’s attacks. Blind and Kurayami lower accuracy by a small amount over a long period of time, and Flash dramatically reduces accuracy for a very short time.
As for preventing magic damage, Silence is excellent. However, some foes should be left to cast rather than attack, especially if their pause to cast aids in kiting. Black Puddings on Mount Zhayolm are an excellent example of monsters that are not very dangerous when left to cast, but should not be locked into meleeing by Silence.
Bind should be mentioned, as it potentially prevents all damage to a tank, but that use is very specific based on monster location and fighting strategy. For that matter, Sleep or having the monster attacking someone else prevents all damage to a tank. More likely, Bind could stop an enemy from moving away from the tank during a sudden moment of Enmity imbalance. Since it is negated by damage dealt to the bound target, a better choice for this task might be Gravity. In that case, these spells are preventing damage from being dealt to someone other than the tank.
Damage Reduction is the next best thing after damage prevention. If you can no longer avoid getting hit, get hit for less damage. Combining damage reduction gear (to remove a percentage) and damage reduction spells (to subtract a flat amount) is very effective. Elemental resistance builds have a similar effect against special types of attacks, since a resist means a percentage reduction in damage.
Keep in mind if you can avoid getting hit to begin with, that is always better than taking damage and reducing the damage after the fact. Damage reduction gear should not take away from your use of the proper Haste+ gear, the correct JA enhancing gear, etc. So the issue here is primarily how much gil you can spare to spend on damage reduction gear. If you are taking absurd damage to begin with, to be sure, a percentage reduction can only go so far. But this should not be the case for tanks (if it is, talk to Izman – or someone – for help).
Along those lines, I’m not going to list out all the available damage down gear, or what jobs can use it, except to note that percentage damage reduction caps at 50% and RDM can get a surprising amount of physical damage reduction without a Defending Ring (44%) as can SAM (47%).
This is especially important if you suddenly realize:
Surprise! You’re the Tank!
Under ideal circumstances, Enmity is managed such that only the selected tanks are attacked by your enemy. Under ideal circumstances, AV can be defeated. One of these days I would like to play FFXI under ideal circumstances.
In the meantime, we have to deal with the reality that whoever has the most Enmity will be attacked. If that person is not a tank, “hilarity ensues”. In some situations this is acceptable, say to keep a monster moving between two targets, or perhaps you need to give a PLD who keeps getting interrupted time to cast Cure IV, or there is no tank in particular and every melee has some form of damage mitigation.
In most serious situations, however, anyone other than the tanks being targeted is problematic. When hate gets reset and Long-Bowed Chariot starts taking out the backline, that’s not exactly “everything going according to plan”. Every player should have a protective just-in-case equipment macro, in addition to casters who idle in such gear to begin with. Idling Tarutaru Black Mages shouldn’t load up on Zenith Gear and pretend to be playing Ghosts ’n Goblins.
The first thing to ask is “can you afford to lose TP?” and for most mages this should not be a problem. (BLU is always damaging those mage generalizations.) For melees, though, the answer will depend on current TP values, your hits-to-100TP, and whether you are deciding between zero TP and zero HP.
So long as TP can be reset, your emergency macro should include an Earth Staff. HQ is fine if you already have one, but since Terra’s does not offer any more physical damage reduction,1 don’t buy the HQ just for this purpose. Unless the name of FFVI’s stalwart heroine makes you feel safer.
The other should-have item for mages (including BLU this time) is a Cheviot Cape, which offers physical damage -5% during the day and -10% at night. The more expensive Umbra Cape is -6% and -12% respectively. In an extreme emergency (which is probable if you are using this gear macro) WHM, BLM, and SMN have latent earrings for use at or under 25% HP which reduce all damage taken. BRD, DRK, and RNG have the same for physical damage only; RDM and SAM for magical damage only.
Don’t neglect a Jelly Ring for free and a Defending Ring for winning Mog Bonanza, although the former is detrimental if you are taking magic damage and will require some time spent in Bostaunieux Oubliette.
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This week's...
Most Valuable: Elegy wins hands down, and stacks with the Slow effect. Elemental Seal ensures the song landing and Troubadour will increase duration. If you use Soul Voice this is absolutely brutal.
Ignored Ability: Two this week.
The Blue Magic Cocoon increases defense by 50%. A self-only spell, this can raise defense past the display limit of 999. Against swarms of low level or weak-hitting enemies, I’m sure you can find a use for this – if you leveled BLU at all.
The use of Waltzes to transform TP into HP is outrageous for a PLD/DNC, which basically gets HP from being hit, and the main job’s naturally high VIT and CHA boost the HP recovery even more. The Enmity gained from this constant self-curing may allow for its utilization in bizarre situations.
Hazard Symbol: When the tanks die. Don’t die, tanks.
Overworked and Underpaid Job: Popular opinion indicates PLD is the former and NIN is the latter. Taking into account available gear, damage mitigation techniques, and job abilities, both jobs are very powerful and useful, but they’re not necessarily equal. Whether this is a bad thing depends on who you ask.
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We’ve taken a look at how enemy attacks can be halted entirely, tanks can control damage taken, and even how anyone who comes under fire (or Tiamat’s aerial attacks) can survive. Over the past four weeks we’ve discussed a number of ways for players to multiply their impact on the battlefield. In that time a wide variety of interesting concepts came into play, but not all were discussed in detail.
Why could Dancer benefit from slower attacks? Should you have an algorithm for playing Corsair? What’s the best way to Haste an entire party? How is a meaningful comparison to be made between different Phalanx casters? Do Summoners have a reliable way to increase damage per MP spent? Next week, we'll start to answer some reader concerns and address specific spells and abilities, before moving on to melee-centric topics.
Until then, keep your graphing calculators handy!
Notes:
1. The HQ staff does have 25% more VIT than an Earth Staff, that is, it has VIT+5 instead of VIT+4. But both are "Physical damage taken -20%".
Questions? Concerns? Did I take a logarithm when I should have used the antiderivative? Do you have an idea for a future article? Please leave a comment.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Math of Sword and Spell: Party Multipliers part one (RDM & BRD)
Every Thursday Araelus is bringing the science to FFXI.
The Math of Sword and Spell will be a column dedicated not only to the hardcore calculations and statistics of FFXI, but more importantly he will help you use that math without confusing you. You may not know why you are playing better, but rest assured you will be playing better. This week's edition focuses on how Bard and Red Mage can enhance your party's effectiveness.
Last week, we discussed the ways that one player can help everyone participating in a battle. But many job abilities and spells can only target members of your party, especially songs. This week and next: what are the most useful ways to make a party stronger? From the Colibri Killing Fields to the depths of Valgrind and Dynamis, we’ll take a closer look at party force multipliers.
In addition to the same boosts universal multipliers offer, such as Attack and Accuracy, party-specific buffs can increase attack speed (Haste, March), restore MP (Refresh, Ballad, Devotion), and even directly increase experience point gain with Corsair’s Roll.
The key to party force multiplication is that these spells, songs, and abilities directly increase other players’ statistics. Dia can be said to raise your Attack by lowering the opponent’s Defense, whereas Minuet actually raises the displayed Attack value. Most every enfeeble the party can cast can be used, but only a few of the available buffs can be applied to the party at once.
Just as you have to choose one type of Threnody to use, most parties can only benefit from two songs at a time. A similar limitation of use is true of Bar-spells, Rolls, and Sambas. Even the number of active Blood Pact Wards is limited, due to the durations involved, although these generally mimic other spells.
Consider also that the relative difficulty of maintaining every possible buff on every player in the party compared to keeping every possible enfeeble on a single enemy varies depending on how fast mobs are defeated and what jobs the party contains. A merit party with one Bard will need Carnage Elegy on every monster, but probably never five different Etudes for the other party members, yet against HNM would only be casting that same Elegy after it wears off. White Mages battling Cerberus can easily reapply Barfira and then run slightly out of Ululation range for Paralyna, whereas a Red Mage fighting Ouryu may need to keep two elementals slept or utsu-tanked, Refresh or Haste on up to five other players, Paralyze II on the dragon, and so on.
As a result, in every situation you should pick the most efficient jobs, and then buffs, for the party. Among other things, we have to consider: MP cost and recast time – do the buffs need to be maintained indefinitely? Danger level – are you fighting Colibri or low-manning Sarameya? Current player statistics – is Accuracy capped, how much Haste is available, and is anyone using a six-hit setup? Unusual party balance – is this a Black Mage party in Dynamis, Einherjar, or Mount Z? Special circumstances – waiting on three other Bards to rotate before taking down King Vinegarroon?
If this seems a little overwhelming, and not in the good Samurai WS% way, let’s take a step back and consider each support job’s possible roles within the party.
This week, we take a look at the two most demanded support jobs: Red Mage and Bard.
Red Mages should maintain a full range of enhancing magic in addition to their enfeebling duties. Don’t count out seemingly weak spells such as Regen, or forget Bar-spells and Cures.
Refresh – provides at most 410 MP net to the caster, over 7.5 minutes. There is no reason not to Composure this spell, considering that doing so nearly quadruples net MP return. 1 With yourself removed from the Refresh cycle for two rounds, the +25% recast time on one cast shouldn’t matter.
Applied to other members of your party, the straight 150 MP boost, one per second, stacks with Ballad, Evoker’s Roll, and Auto-Refresh effects. This is the spell that made Red Mage invaluable, their Enfeebling skills aside. Please note that Refresh cannot be cast on a Scholar who is charging or holding Sublimation, and it does not stack with juices that give the Refresh-icon.
Haste – this speed effect becomes more powerful the more Haste effect its target already has. In most situations, Red Mages can simply cycle both Refresh and Haste on applicable party members, since they have a duration of 2.5 and 3 minutes, respectively. If MP conservation is critical, they should be cycled separately, to not lose 30 seconds of Haste per round.
Regen – in the absence of a White Mage or Scholar, the first tier of this spell restores 8.33 HP/MP on any party member in 75 seconds. If subbing SCH, Regen II restores 6.67 HP/MP in one minute. Although the total HP restored is low, only 125 and 240 HP, compare this to Cure IV’s approx. 4.5 HP/MP.
Using Regen over a long period of time is an excellent means of maintaining the party’s HP. The only drawback is a 12 second base recast timer.
Phalanx II – usually overshadowed by Scholar’s Accession Phalanx, this merit spell is still strictly better if fully merited, although it can never be as MP efficient because of its single-target 42 MP cost. The damage reduction cap may be achievable with gear alone. This is a highly situational but potentially excellent spell, for when Scholar is not available or JAs are locked.
Bards always seem to be in high demand and short supply, because no-one wants to fight without March and Minuet. Linkshells may hand you a relic for Ballad, but don’t forget a Carol to reduce elemental damage.
Ballad – relatively straightforward, with Ballad I providing 1 MP per 3 seconds and Ballad II providing 2 MP. Unless using the Storm Fife or Gjallarhorn, each lasts 120 seconds.2 Since songs have no MP cost, in a party of six MP-users (assuming the Bard does cast), basic dual Ballads will produce a total of 720 MP per cycle, or 6 MP per second. This effect is obviously equivalent to a party-wide Refresh. 3
March – despite the song’s help text, this decreases recast timers as well as speeding up melee attacks. The more Haste you have, the better each additional point of Haste gets.
Madrigal versus Minuet – Madrigal increases Accuracy, and Minuet increases Attack. But which do your melees need?
The answer is complicated and involves WS damage percentages, Store TP totals, and even marginal returns to monster level variation. (Hint: melees, get a Cuchulain's Mantle if you can.) Despite all these factors, since cheap Sushi can provide twice the Accuracy of Madrigal (when it’s required) and Minuet affects both Attack and Ranged Attack, March+Minuet is a safe bet.
Also keep in mind that melees should already have paid careful attention to their gear and may specifically ask for songs. In some cases, double March will overpower the other options.
This week's...
Most Valuable: Haste and March are incredible. The boost to attack speed and spell recast timers, along with making strong players even better, make these indispensable. No amount of Haste will make Provoke reset at 27 seconds, though.
Ignored Ability: Bards get Pianissimo at level 45, and they’d better use it.
Hazard Symbol: Even with Composure boosting self-Refresh and Haste, Red Mages can get overwhelmed trying to do everything. Make sure that you don’t burn out when the chips (and Convert) are down.
Overworked and Underpaid Job: Both Red Mage and Bard, really, except both jobs also have their bad examples of Princess Syndrome.
Stupid Square Moment: It’s a pity Phalanx II has such a high MP cost.
All this and we’ve barely scratched the surface of available force multipliers for your party! Next week, it’s time for the newly super-powered White Mage to shine, as well as the versatile Scholar. What about Dancer? Summoner?! You may be surprised at what these jobs can do.
Until then, keep your graphing calculators handy!
Notes:
1) Going from 110 MP net to 410 MP net is a 272.7% gain.
2) In Dynamis, the Millennium Horn is equivalent to a Gjallarhorn for “All Songs +2”.3) If the RDM's first party-wide cycle includes a Composured self-Refresh, then these six Refresh casts will cost nothing, and the RDM will gain 210 MP net. Including two more cycles of five Refresh casts, the RDM will end up having lost 190 MP net. These three Refresh cycles will have restored 2700 MP total. In the same time, a Bard will have had to sing both Ballads four times, and will have restored 2700 MP as well. A Gjallarhorn would have restored 6300 MP total.
Questions? Concerns? Did I take a logarithm when I should have used the antiderivative? Please leave a comment.
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