You Are Not Your O's Kote: The Math of Sword and Spell

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.

--

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.

--

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.

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. 
 -- 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. -- 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 25, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Party Multipliers part two

Posted by Araelus at 12:45 PM

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 White Mage and Scholar can enhance your party's effectiveness, and mentions the abandoned Dancer and Summoner jobs.

This week's article contained a few mistakes that have thankfully been fixed due to reader support and commentary. Thank you to Evilpaul for pointing out that Double Weather is +25%, which I should have remembered from Enspell math, hmm hmm, and I like pie too, by the way. Thank you to Yoteo for pointing out an error regarding Erase. I suppose I meant that Erase cannot be cast outside the party. -Araelus, 25 June 11:33pm

Last week, we discussed some of the ways Red Mages and Bards can benefit a party, but those are only the most stressed-out of the backline. What about some of the other support roles FFXI has to offer? This week we consider the dedicated White Mage healer, the bookworm Scholar, even two forgotten jobs: Dancer and Summoner.

White Mages have had their ups and downs, but are currently the best healers in Vana’diel. Powerhouse instant HP restoration abilities don’t stop them from casting certain enfeebles, top-tier protective magic, and even reducing the enemy’s TP gain.

Cure – the amount of HP restored first depends on MND, then Healing Magic skill, then VIT. But since multipliers do more than expected, it becomes clear Cure Potency +% is the best available stat. It increases the amount of HP cured after all other statistics are taken into account. Divine Seal doubles a Cure, or +100%, and equipment can boost this factor all the time.

Under normal circumstances, for the average White Mage, this would mean a Templar Mace and Noble’s Tunic for a +20% bonus. The use of a mace instead of a staff allows for the Muse Tariqah (MND+7, interrupt down 10%) or Legion Scutum (Enmity -2) as desired.

Going beyond the standard equipment, a Roundel Earring (Potency +5%) is from the Plucking Wings Yagudo Op, and the BCNM50 reward Medicine Ring (Potency +10%) works when HP is at or below 75% and TP is below 100. In Temenos, a Korin Obi means Potency +25%. In Salvage, the Lambda Sash provides Potency +3%, but this is a rare reward from Assault.

The solo ENM “Pulling the Strings” might produce a Healing Feather, which gives twenty charges of Potency +15%, each for three minutes. Wealthy White Mages can get another Potency +2% from the HQ Aristocrat’s Coat, and if they are subbing NIN for Dual Wield should sub an Asklepios for Potency +5%.

This means the maximum Cure Potency +% values for everyday use with the best possible gear is +57%. In Salvage, 60%, and in Temenos, +82%. Just remember that the more HP restored, the more Enmity gained. Don’t forget to have Afflatus Solace active, which further increases each Cure’s HP return through a 25-second duration Stoneskin buffer effect.

Haste – no less powerful than when cast by a Red Mage, although no better, either. If both mages are present in one party, courtesy dictates they settle on a Haste pattern. For example, if the tank is getting Refresh and Phalanx II, usually the White Mage will pick up that Haste.

Bar-spells – in addition to having access to every Bar-ra spell, White Mages can cast more powerful elemental bar-spells than any other job. While Red Mages have an 11.3% higher base Enhancing skill cap, and cap out 18.3% higher sans merits, White Mages can directly boost their Bar-spells’ effect and add in a Magic Defense Bonus.

The number next to the elemental icon in the equipment screen after a Bar-spell is cast is equal to Enhancing Magic skill times 0.2, plus 40, rounded down. A capped RDM gets 100, a capped WHM gets 91. But then the WHM should be wearing Cleric's Pantaloons (Bar+20, HQ is Bar+22) and that immediately surpasses RDM’s best. Add in a Blessed Briault and Afflatus Solace and Red Mage can no longer compete. This doesn’t even take into account a possible bonus from White Mage Bar-spell Effect merits.

Regen – White Mages have the option of Regen’s 8.33 HP/MP (125HP in 75 seconds), Regen II’s 6.67 HP/MP (240HP in 60 seconds), or Regen III’s 6.25 HP/MP (400HP in 60 seconds) and that is without any effort on their part. Bothering to equip a Cleric’s Briault when casting adds one, two, or three more HP per three seconds to each spell respectively, and maxed Regen Merits adds 5HP/tick to each spell.

At most, Regen gives 18.3 HP/MP (275HP in 75 seconds), Regen II gives 10.56 HP/MP (380HP in 60 seconds), and Regen III gives 8.75 HP/MP (560HP in 60 seconds). It should be easy to see why Regen Merits are the second most popular merits for White Mages, after Cure Cast Time.

Auspice – a recent addition to the arsenal, this spell grants Subtle Blow to all party members for 48 MP and lasts three minutes.

Devotion – this ranged Convert JA transforms 25% of a White Mage’s HP to another party member’s MP. It cannot be used solo. Meriting Devotion takes away from possible Protectra and Shellra V tiers, but around 22% of White Mages have at least unlocked the ability, making it twice as popular as Martyr, the HP to 2xHP equivalent. The secret to Devotion (and Martyr) is using Stoneskin, which reduces HP loss but does not lower the MP or HP restored.

Divine Veil – unless Yagrush is available, this can only be used by spending Divine Seal on a status removal spell such as Poisona or Paralyna. Interestingly, Divine Veil does not change who can be targeted by these spells (although Erase remains party-only) so if diligent White Mages keep track of other parties’ status effects, Divine Veil can come in handy for anyone in range.

Erase, Esuna, Sacrifice – Erase removes one negative magical effect from one party member, Esuna removes at least the same, and Sacrifice basically enables the use of Esuna. These spells are necessary for the healing of effects that otherwise cannot be fixed, such as Bio and Evasion Down. While Erase can remove any such debilitating status, Esuna will only heal an effect the caster is also afflicted by. Thus Sacrifice transferring effects from other party members to the White Mage allows for Esuna to then remove that from the rest of the party.

Casting Erase six times would take 108MP. Casting Sacrifice and Esuna would take 42MP. If Afflatus Solace is active, Sacrifice will siphon more than one effect, up to seven, and if Afflatus Misery is active then Esuna can remove up to two effects at once, making that MP go even further. The only weakness of Esuna is that it will not remove most status effects without Afflatus Misery, the stance which is not usually active.

Scholars started out as a relatively broken job, outshined by the other mages. Arguably they are still broken, but in a powerful way. With too many Job Abilities to handle and an accompanying slew of spells, these casters are called upon to apply spells to the party no-one else can dish out, in addition to their crowd-control duties.

Past level 70, Scholars can store up to four Stratagem charges, and get one back every minute. This allows for the continual use of powerful effects, especially the White Grimore’s Accession, which boosts the range of one healing or enhancing spell to the entire party.

Phalanx – a generally agreeable subjob for Scholar is RDM, which provides access to this powerful damage reduction spell in addition to native Sleep and Dispel. Because Scholar will be casting Phalanx while in Light Arts, their Enhancing Skill should be at least 285, resulting in 26 damage reduction, only two below a Red Mage’s cap for Phalanx II. And Scholar’s skill cap without merits is 293, providing 27 dmg down, or only one point less than a Red Mage’s party-targeted spell, and this affects the whole party at once for only 21MP.

Enspells – damage is currently calculated based on the caster’s Enhancing Skill, plus if the attacker has any relevant Enspell+ gear. This damage can be resisted, and usually is to some extent. It should not be cast if Stratagem charges are in short supply, or if another additional effect is more powerful, such as if players prefer to have a Samba active or if Soul Weapon is being used.

Stoneskin – much better than Summoner’s paltry 200HP, 92MP Earthen Ward, this should provide a 350HP buffer to the whole party for only 29MP. If any party members are wearing a Stone Gorget or Mufflers, they will get an additional 30 or 60 HP buffer, but these items only benefit the wearer. Even in the usual case of no-one wearing these items, one party-wide Stoneskin provides a bonus 2100HP, which equates to 72.4 HP/MP, the highest such ratio available in the game.

Storm Spells – this unique line provides the appropriate single weather effect to party members regardless of the current area weather. However, if the area weather is the same element as the Storm, then a double effect will be gained. This works best when party members have an appropriate Elemental Obi, increasing the weather spell boost change to 100%. Meriting Stormsurge means party members also gain a stat bonus corresponding to the element: Fire is STR, Ice is INT, etc. This starts at +3 and goes up to +7, which is considerable.

All the scrolls for Storm spells can be acquired from Professor Layton in the Eldieme Necropolis [S], where he is taking a break from his famous puzzle-solving adventures.

Dancers are not often included in FFXI activities for a number of reasons, most importantly their dependence on TP generation. While a boon in solo work, as a support job ability, and in lower level parties, having to hit a monster continually generally means the Dancer ends up damaging their friends more than helping them. Nevertheless, this job has three powerful abilities to consider having on your side, even if a main-job Dancer isn’t included. And it’s absolutely invaluable for Campaign parties, if those even exist.

Sambas – the third-tier makes fighting through WotG missions a breeze, since undead aren’t involved. During more relaxed events, a Soboro Samurai can throw on DNC as a sub, and keep up either tier-one Samba.

Waltzes – Converting TP into HP is another unique Dancer ability, and just like Sambas it can benefit only party members. While this limitation is one of Dancer’s serious flaws in high risk events, considering that in order to gain TP to cure, the enemy monsters have to be given TP which they use to damage the party, lower level players fighting for experience points usually attack monsters with weak TP moves. If those same monsters are weak to piercing attacks, including a Dancer could be the right decision, especially during off-peak hours when the familiar party jobs are not available.

Spectral Jig – with a recast of 30 seconds and a maximum duration of 90 seconds, this allows a Dancer to gain Sneak and Invisible without using items, without casting magic, and without dropping Invisible. Simply click off Sneak and re-apply. And it works well from a DNC subjob, at or above main job level 50.

How can a self-only ability benefit the whole party? Am I reaching too far here for the inclusion of Dancer? In any situation where the party is split up and moving around in a dangerous environment, the ability to self-sufficiently avoid aggro is crucial. Lamp floors in Nyzul Isle especially come to mind, or certain parts of Salvage, but the same is true for mission runs and getting to distant camps such as the far areas of Castle Oztroja [S].

Sometimes the little benefits go a long way, and Dancer is a job made up of small benefits.

Summoners may be more populous than Rangers (strange yet true) but they remain the red-headed stepchildren of FFXI.

With Summoner at 72, leveled the old fashioned way over a long, long time, I may or may not be qualified to write this job off as a loss for general party endeavors, but that’s my verdict based on experience and feedback. Six-Summoner parties can be a lot of fun for some NM fights, or messing around by the Moongate, if you enjoy that kind of thing, but for standard events the job is sadly lacking.

While Summoners can still do consistent damage to any mob for zero Enmity, gone are the days of requiring that tactic on Wyrms to succeed, not to mention ye olde Aerial Armor rotations. (Interesting how those zero Enmity blood pacts still work well on Odin, huh?) Even the separation of Rage and Ward was not really enough, because all casters are limited by MP and time to begin with. Restricted more than any other caster, SMN simply could not do any single task efficiently, and thus their role could be bettered by a combination of other jobs. Then Scholar took a nail gun to Summoner's coffin.

At least Summoner is the namesake of a great Final Fantasy cocktail invented by the folks at the IT University of Copenhagen.

This week's...

Most Valuable: Afflatus Solace adding Stoneskin to all Cures, for everyone, means it probably should have been included in the article on universal force multipliers. But then it wouldn’t have won this category over Dia III and Angon. Then again, Bar-ra spells and Sacrifice are party-only targeted.

Ignored Ability: If they can keep up initial TP generation and land Steps, Dancer’s No Foot Rise combined with Reverse Flourish can maintain quite a bit of TP and keep them running with less mob attacks generated.

Hazard Symbol: When Scholars run out of Stratagem charges, access to all those special powers goes away until the next minute mark. Watch out for which Addendum is needed when, so necessary spells aren’t removed from the casting list.

Overworked and Underpaid Job: Scholar has a lot to do, and just as many JAs as tasks. Without a lot of planning and practice at it can be too much to handle. Decide whether or not you want to use equipment swaps to skip animations, amongst other tricks.

Stupid Square Moment: Summoner’s Hastega still doesn’t overwrite Spider Web! But more seriously, capped melee skill levels are much lower than magic skills to begin with, and this lack of accuracy compounded with Dancer’s base Dagger ranking of B+ hinders the job. This severely hurts their ability to build TP and land Steps on high level enemies, not to mention problems with TP feeding when maintaining a Samba. Even a Corsair’s Loaded Deck won’t help Dancers recover from that bad deal.

Notes: Job population and merit popularity is sourced from the 9^th Vana’diel Census at
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/guide/development/census/09/4.html

We’ve taken a look at how many jobs can help everyone in the battle and also their own parties. But are you wondering about the percentage effects of Slow vs. Hojo? Interested in why Blind and Flash stack? Tired of not hearing about whether you should merit Sentinel or Rampart? Think all those guys are Paladrones and Ninjerks and they should let your SAM/DRG or RDM/BLU be in charge? Next week, we'll take a look at force multiplication for the tanks.

Until then, keep your graphing calculators handy!

Questions? Concerns? Did I take a logarithm when I should have used the antiderivative? Please leave a comment.

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 White Mage and Scholar can enhance your party's effectiveness, and mentions the abandoned Dancer and Summoner jobs. 
 
This week's article contained a few mistakes that have thankfully been fixed due to reader support and commentary. Thank you to Evilpaul for pointing out that Double Weather is +25%, which I should have remembered from Enspell math, hmm hmm, and I like pie too, by the way. Thank you to Yoteo for pointing out an error regarding Erase. I suppose I meant that Erase cannot be cast outside the party. -Araelus, 25 June 11:33pm 
 
Last week, we discussed some of the ways Red Mages and Bards can benefit a party, but those are only the most stressed-out of the backline. What about some of the other support roles FFXI has to offer? This week we consider the dedicated White Mage healer, the bookworm Scholar, even two forgotten jobs: Dancer and Summoner. 
 White Mages have had their ups and downs, but are currently the best healers in Vana’diel. Powerhouse instant HP restoration abilities don’t stop them from casting certain enfeebles, top-tier protective magic, and even reducing the enemy’s TP gain. Cure – the amount of HP restored first depends on MND, then Healing Magic skill, then VIT. But since multipliers do more than expected, it becomes clear Cure Potency +% is the best available stat. It increases the amount of HP cured after all other statistics are taken into account. Divine Seal doubles a Cure, or +100%, and equipment can boost this factor all the time. Under normal circumstances, for the average White Mage, this would mean a Templar Mace and Noble’s Tunic for a +20% bonus. The use of a mace instead of a staff allows for the Muse Tariqah (MND+7, interrupt down 10%) or Legion Scutum (Enmity -2) as desired. Going beyond the standard equipment, a Roundel Earring (Potency +5%) is from the Plucking Wings Yagudo Op, and the BCNM50 reward Medicine Ring (Potency +10%) works when HP is at or below 75% and TP is below 100. In Temenos, a Korin Obi means Potency +25%. In Salvage, the Lambda Sash provides Potency +3%, but this is a rare reward from Assault. 
 The solo ENM “Pulling the Strings” might produce a Healing Feather, which gives twenty charges of Potency +15%, each for three minutes. Wealthy White Mages can get another Potency +2% from the HQ Aristocrat’s Coat, and if they are subbing NIN for Dual Wield should sub an Asklepios for Potency +5%. This means the maximum Cure Potency +% values for everyday use with the best possible gear is +57%. In Salvage, 60%, and in Temenos, +82%. Just remember that the more HP restored, the more Enmity gained. Don’t forget to have Afflatus Solace active, which further increases each Cure’s HP return through a 25-second duration Stoneskin buffer effect. 
 Haste – no less powerful than when cast by a Red Mage, although no better, either. If both mages are present in one party, courtesy dictates they settle on a Haste pattern. For example, if the tank is getting Refresh and Phalanx II, usually the White Mage will pick up that Haste. Bar-spells – in addition to having access to every Bar-ra spell, White Mages can cast more powerful elemental bar-spells than any other job. While Red Mages have an 11.3% higher base Enhancing skill cap, and cap out 18.3% higher sans merits, White Mages can directly boost their Bar-spells’ effect and add in a Magic Defense Bonus. The number next to the elemental icon in the equipment screen after a Bar-spell is cast is equal to Enhancing Magic skill times 0.2, plus 40, rounded down. A capped RDM gets 100, a capped WHM gets 91. But then the WHM should be wearing Cleric's Pantaloons (Bar+20, HQ is Bar+22) and that immediately surpasses RDM’s best. Add in a Blessed Briault and Afflatus Solace and Red Mage can no longer compete. This doesn’t even take into account a possible bonus from White Mage Bar-spell Effect merits. Regen – White Mages have the option of Regen’s 8.33 HP/MP (125HP in 75 seconds), Regen II’s 6.67 HP/MP (240HP in 60 seconds), or Regen III’s 6.25 HP/MP (400HP in 60 seconds) and that is without any effort on their part. Bothering to equip a Cleric’s Briault when casting adds one, two, or three more HP per three seconds to each spell respectively, and maxed Regen Merits adds 5HP/tick to each spell. At most, Regen gives 18.3 HP/MP (275HP in 75 seconds), Regen II gives 10.56 HP/MP (380HP in 60 seconds), and Regen III gives 8.75 HP/MP (560HP in 60 seconds). It should be easy to see why Regen Merits are the second most popular merits for White Mages, after Cure Cast Time. Auspice – a recent addition to the arsenal, this spell grants Subtle Blow to all party members for 48 MP and lasts three minutes. 
 Devotion – this ranged Convert JA transforms 25% of a White Mage’s HP to another party member’s MP. It cannot be used solo. Meriting Devotion takes away from possible Protectra and Shellra V tiers, but around 22% of White Mages have at least unlocked the ability, making it twice as popular as Martyr, the HP to 2xHP equivalent. The secret to Devotion (and Martyr) is using Stoneskin, which reduces HP loss but does not lower the MP or HP restored. Divine Veil – unless Yagrush is available, this can only be used by spending Divine Seal on a status removal spell such as Poisona or Paralyna. Interestingly, Divine Veil does not change who can be targeted by these spells (although Erase remains party-only) so if diligent White Mages keep track of other parties’ status effects, Divine Veil can come in handy for anyone in range. Erase, Esuna, Sacrifice – Erase removes one negative magical effect from one party member, Esuna removes at least the same, and Sacrifice basically enables the use of Esuna. These spells are necessary for the healing of effects that otherwise cannot be fixed, such as Bio and Evasion Down. While Erase can remove any such debilitating status, Esuna will only heal an effect the caster is also afflicted by. Thus Sacrifice transferring effects from other party members to the White Mage allows for Esuna to then remove that from the rest of the party. Casting Erase six times would take 108MP. Casting Sacrifice and Esuna would take 42MP. If Afflatus Solace is active, Sacrifice will siphon more than one effect, up to seven, and if Afflatus Misery is active then Esuna can remove up to two effects at once, making that MP go even further. The only weakness of Esuna is that it will not remove most status effects without Afflatus Misery, the stance which is not usually active. Scholars started out as a relatively broken job, outshined by the other mages. Arguably they are still broken, but in a powerful way. With too many Job Abilities to handle and an accompanying slew of spells, these casters are called upon to apply spells to the party no-one else can dish out, in addition to their crowd-control duties. Past level 70, Scholars can store up to four Stratagem charges, and get one back every minute. This allows for the continual use of powerful effects, especially the White Grimore’s Accession, which boosts the range of one healing or enhancing spell to the entire party. Phalanx – a generally agreeable subjob for Scholar is RDM, which provides access to this powerful damage reduction spell in addition to native Sleep and Dispel. Because Scholar will be casting Phalanx while in Light Arts, their Enhancing Skill should be at least 285, resulting in 26 damage reduction, only two below a Red Mage’s cap for Phalanx II. And Scholar’s skill cap without merits is 293, providing 27 dmg down, or only one point less than a Red Mage’s party-targeted spell, and this affects the whole party at once for only 21MP. Enspells – damage is currently calculated based on the caster’s Enhancing Skill, plus if the attacker has any relevant Enspell+ gear. This damage can be resisted, and usually is to some extent. It should not be cast if Stratagem charges are in short supply, or if another additional effect is more powerful, such as if players prefer to have a Samba active or if Soul Weapon is being used. Stoneskin – much better than Summoner’s paltry 200HP, 92MP Earthen Ward, this should provide a 350HP buffer to the whole party for only 29MP. If any party members are wearing a Stone Gorget or Mufflers, they will get an additional 30 or 60 HP buffer, but these items only benefit the wearer. Even in the usual case of no-one wearing these items, one party-wide Stoneskin provides a bonus 2100HP, which equates to 72.4 HP/MP, the highest such ratio available in the game. Storm Spells – this unique line provides the appropriate single weather effect to party members regardless of the current area weather. However, if the area weather is the same element as the Storm, then a double effect will be gained. This works best when party members have an appropriate Elemental Obi, increasing the weather spell boost change to 100%. Meriting Stormsurge means party members also gain a stat bonus corresponding to the element: Fire is STR, Ice is INT, etc. This starts at +3 and goes up to +7, which is considerable. All the scrolls for Storm spells can be acquired from Professor Layton in the Eldieme Necropolis [S], where he is taking a break from his famous puzzle-solving adventures. Dancers are not often included in FFXI activities for a number of reasons, most importantly their dependence on TP generation. While a boon in solo work, as a support job ability, and in lower level parties, having to hit a monster continually generally means the Dancer ends up damaging their friends more than helping them. Nevertheless, this job has three powerful abilities to consider having on your side, even if a main-job Dancer isn’t included. And it’s absolutely invaluable for Campaign parties, if those even exist. Sambas – the third-tier makes fighting through WotG missions a breeze, since undead aren’t involved. During more relaxed events, a Soboro Samurai can throw on DNC as a sub, and keep up either tier-one Samba. Waltzes – Converting TP into HP is another unique Dancer ability, and just like Sambas it can benefit only party members. While this limitation is one of Dancer’s serious flaws in high risk events, considering that in order to gain TP to cure, the enemy monsters have to be given TP which they use to damage the party, lower level players fighting for experience points usually attack monsters with weak TP moves. If those same monsters are weak to piercing attacks, including a Dancer could be the right decision, especially during off-peak hours when the familiar party jobs are not available. Spectral Jig – with a recast of 30 seconds and a maximum duration of 90 seconds, this allows a Dancer to gain Sneak and Invisible without using items, without casting magic, and without dropping Invisible. Simply click off Sneak and re-apply. And it works well from a DNC subjob, at or above main job level 50. How can a self-only ability benefit the whole party? Am I reaching too far here for the inclusion of Dancer? In any situation where the party is split up and moving around in a dangerous environment, the ability to self-sufficiently avoid aggro is crucial. Lamp floors in Nyzul Isle especially come to mind, or certain parts of Salvage, but the same is true for mission runs and getting to distant camps such as the far areas of Castle Oztroja [S]. Sometimes the little benefits go a long way, and Dancer is a job made up of small benefits. Summoners may be more populous than Rangers (strange yet true) but they remain the red-headed stepchildren of FFXI. With Summoner at 72, leveled the old fashioned way over a long, long time, I may or may not be qualified to write this job off as a loss for general party endeavors, but that’s my verdict based on experience and feedback. Six-Summoner parties can be a lot of fun for some NM fights, or messing around by the Moongate, if you enjoy that kind of thing, but for standard events the job is sadly lacking. While Summoners can still do consistent damage to any mob for zero Enmity, gone are the days of requiring that tactic on Wyrms to succeed, not to mention ye olde Aerial Armor rotations. (Interesting how those zero Enmity blood pacts still work well on Odin, huh?) Even the separation of Rage and Ward was not really enough, because all casters are limited by MP and time to begin with. Restricted more than any other caster, SMN simply could not do any single task efficiently, and thus their role could be bettered by a combination of other jobs. Then Scholar took a nail gun to Summoner's coffin. At least Summoner is the namesake of a great Final Fantasy cocktail invented by the folks at the IT University of Copenhagen. This week's... Most Valuable: Afflatus Solace adding Stoneskin to all Cures, for everyone, means it probably should have been included in the article on universal force multipliers. But then it wouldn’t have won this category over Dia III and Angon. Then again, Bar-ra spells and Sacrifice are party-only targeted. Ignored Ability: If they can keep up initial TP generation and land Steps, Dancer’s No Foot Rise combined with Reverse Flourish can maintain quite a bit of TP and keep them running with less mob attacks generated. Hazard Symbol: When Scholars run out of Stratagem charges, access to all those special powers goes away until the next minute mark. Watch out for which Addendum is needed when, so necessary spells aren’t removed from the casting list. Overworked and Underpaid Job: Scholar has a lot to do, and just as many JAs as tasks. Without a lot of planning and practice at it can be too much to handle. Decide whether or not you want to use equipment swaps to skip animations, amongst other tricks. Stupid Square Moment: Summoner’s Hastega still doesn’t overwrite Spider Web! But more seriously, capped melee skill levels are much lower than magic skills to begin with, and this lack of accuracy compounded with Dancer’s base Dagger ranking of B+ hinders the job. This severely hurts their ability to build TP and land Steps on high level enemies, not to mention problems with TP feeding when maintaining a Samba. Even a Corsair’s Loaded Deck won’t help Dancers recover from that bad deal. Notes: Job population and merit popularity is sourced from the 9th Vana’diel Census at <a href="http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/guide/development/census/09/4.html">http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/guide/development/census/09/4.html</a> We’ve taken a look at how many jobs can help everyone in the battle and also their own parties. But are you wondering about the percentage effects of Slow vs. Hojo? Interested in why Blind and Flash stack? Tired of not hearing about whether you should merit Sentinel or Rampart? Think all those guys are Paladrones and Ninjerks and they should let your SAM/DRG or RDM/BLU be in charge? Next week, we'll take a look at force multiplication for the tanks. Until then, keep your graphing calculators handy! Questions? Concerns? Did I take a logarithm when I should have used the antiderivative? Please leave a comment.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Party Multipliers part one (RDM & BRD)

Posted by Araelus at 2:32 PM

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Dual-Wielding Slide Rules.

Posted by Ringthree at 3:44 PM

This week's...

Most Valuable: Dia III. It can only be resisted with Magic Immunity. Stacks with Angon.

Ignored Ability: Corsairs can increase the power of enfeebles by using the proper Quick Draw.

Hazard Symbol: Stacking single-target debuffs on multiple mobs at once with Scholar's Manifestation can lead to enmity issues. Be careful, and get support from melees.

Overworked and Underpaid Job: Blue Mages have the ability to inflict many enfeebles, using spells including Frightful Roar, Infrasonics, Light of Penance, Sandspin, Corrosive Ooze, or Geist Wall.

Stupid Square Moment: Lunar Cry inflicts the most evasion penalties during a New Moon, but very little during a Full Moon. Why not do a fixed amount of AccDown/EvaDown all the time?

Questions? Concerns? Did I take a logarithm when I should have used the antiderivative? Please leave a comment.

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Spectacles +1

Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Kabuki Dancer

Thursday, July 02, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Tanking Multipliers

Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Party Multipliers part two

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Party Multipliers part one (RDM & BRD)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Math of Sword and Spell: Dual-Wielding Slide Rules.

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