Even more news about the impending version update for FFXI peppered POL today, as the run up to the files been released becomes more imminent, SE feed the hungry fanbase with their tidbits of information regarding what to look forward to and expect.
With the announcement of the Evolith system most likely being the biggest thing in this particular update, it is not overly surprising that what we have as followups are going to seem a little less glittery.
As such, it is with no great surprise that the preview notes for today will only appeal to a minority of the fanbase rather than the majority. I would be REALLY interested to know what the % interest is on these mini events that SE throws at us, like the Chocobo circuit. You can check out all the update details on SE's site if you are really interested in it right here if you are desperate to know about the exciting and innovative additions, amendments and inclusions to chocobo racing.
If you are a keen angler then SE are offering bits of gear for fishing up a prized haul in the Mhaura quest "Inside The Belly", which is nice, I think. I guess it depends what gear they are talking about, although don't expect it to be anything amazing. More than likely just quirky.
The most interesting part of this update was the "And finally some common sense" additions to the end, no longer do you have to fear dying as soon as you zone into Xarcabard_S to do Campaign, which when you think of it was kind of a big oops in game design there! "Whoo hooo campaign.... err... can anyone come raise me please?! .. please????!!! I'll pay you.." and to tempt? people back to Eldieme one of the biggest putoffs for me at least, those darn gates will no longer lock you in once campaign ends, forever dooming you to wander the necropolis till you fall down an open grave and die from the 40 IT bombs sat down there just waiting for it to happen.
So! There you have it, a preview indeed.... on the other hand.. here are some dancing hamsters!
Friday, November 06, 2009
POL News: Version Update Preview!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Thin Black Line- On Beastmaster Pets
The Thin Black Line is here to protect you! Tuufless, our resident cute Taru (every site needs one!) is here to tell you all there is about magic and mages of all colors, especially Black. So much potency in such a small package, delivered straight to you! Today, we'll explore beastmen pets in light of the glory that is Xarcabard [S].
Ever since Treasures of Aht Urhgan shunned Black Mages from parties, Black Mages around Vana'diel were forced to find other ways of getting experience points, which led to the development of leveling off Beastmen pets. Since then, beastmen pets have long been the favorite of aspiring nukers and is now the de-facto route for those who aspire to wear the pointed hat.
With the recent July version update introducing at least one excellent pet camp in Xarcabard [S], which I have been obsessing over lately, I figured I might as well talk about leveling off pets for the time being.
What is it?
As the name suggests, your target xp mobs are beastmen pets. Essentially, you are looking for a Beastman whose job is either BST or SMN, and taking their pet as your xp mob. Oftentimes, people either solo or duo pets, but there have been entire 6-man parties that set out to kill pets.
For now, I’m going to refer to both Beastmaster pets and Summoner elementals as just beastmen pets, regardless of which it actually is.
Why does it work?
Beastmen pets have one very interesting characteristic- they have abnormally low HP for their level. Technically, any job can get solo xp through killing pets, but the task favours mages for two reasons.
First, mage attacks are ranged, which makes pulling very convenient. However, the important factor is that mages specialize in dealing burst damage—that is to say, only mages can deal lots of damage out of nowhere. Melee jobs have to build TP before they can use a weaponskill, while mages can stand up from resting and immediately deal a 1000-damage nuke.
That is not to say that other jobs cannot enjoy the perks that come with pets— player-controlled Beastmasters can also level off beastmen pets, using their own pet to mitigate the damage dealt by the beastman’s. However, melee will struggle a little more, because they cannot kill the pet as quickly as mages can, and may need some outside assistance, like a powerleveler to see them through safely.
What do I need?
Level 24 is an important level because you get both Utsusemi: Ichi from /NIN and get to wear Reraise Earrings. Level 42 gives you Gravity from /RDM. Which you use will depend on personal preference, although as a general rule, /NIN favours camps that are cramped or involve pets that move faster than normal, while /RDM is better for more open camps.
You will also need to keep up to date with all your spells and gear, as this is a solo task, you will only have yourself to rely on. As advance warning, you will die a lot, especially if you are just starting out. Remember your Reraise!
How do I start?
There are lists scattered around the internet that can tell you where to find pets appropriate to your level. I personally use this one over on FFXIclopedia.
Before you start, you will need to know the basics about mob behaviour. First, the pet will always assist the beastmaster, but the Beastmaster will only assist the pet if it sees the pet engaged. This means that when you need to pull the pet from behind or at least from the side of the Beastmaster, so the Beastmaster does not see the pet.
You will also have to be mindful of the terrain, as mobs have erratic pathing when it comes to uneven terrain. Usually, this is a good thing, especially when it comes to soloing NMs, but in this case, it means the pet might illogically run in front of its master and cause it to link if you try pulling it from the side and there's a slope involved.
Next, all pets do not link with other mobs of the same family. However, outside mobs will still link with the pet, so you will need to exercise caution when dealing with pets that come from linking families, like Leeches and Rabbits, especially when there are other family members around.
If the beastmaster in question is actually a Summoner, there are two things additional things to keep in mind—first, summoner elementals have more HP than beastmaster pets, though still within a manageable range. More importantly, elementals will always start to cast a spell immediately upon aggro. The problem here is that elementals will stand still and will not follow you immediately once you pull, so there is a very real possibility of the Summoner turning around and linking with the elemental, especially if the elemental opens with Ancient Magic.
Once you get there, your xp/hr rate will depend on the following few factors:
First, how quickly you can kill the mob? This is the most obvious one, but still bears mention. This is the part where nukers outshine melee jobs, because they are able to quickly deliver damage whenever it is needed.
Secondly, how open is the camp? Camps that are in small, cramped places generally see lower xp/hr rates because you may be forced to just wait long periods of time for the Beastmaster to turn around before you can pull. Essentially, the more directions you can pull from, the better your xp/hr rate will be. Camps that are in open give you lots of freedom to move around, so instead of waiting for the Beastmaster to turn around, you can move to a good location yourself.
There is an exception to this rule, and that applies to Black Mages and Ancient Magic. Normally shunned because of their inefficient use of MP, Ancient Magic spells have much higher base damage for their level range and are single-target. This means that Black Mages are able to one-shot pets until around level 60, depending on how well they are geared. Black Mages that can one-shot pets will see their xp/hr will skyrocket as they are freed from the restriction of having to wait for the Beastmaster to turn its back—if the pet dies in one-shot, the beastmaster will not link, even if the pet dies in front of it.
Finally, how many Beastmasters are around? Typically, with one Beastmaster, you can expect to get Chain #3 consistently. Two or more Beastmasters let you go up to Chain #5 or possibly even Chain #6.
Xarcabard [S]
With that in mind, I’d like to conclude by introducing the inspiration for this post- the new pet camps in Xarcabard [S].
This camp has everything a pet soloist could ask for- it is very accessible, literally right where you teleport into Xarcabard [S]. It is open, which means a lot of room to maneuver into good positions, and lastly, I counted up to five Beastmasters (Gigas Floggers) in the area. The picture you see above shows you what one can do with a camp like this.
For those who have yet to try this way of leveling, I highly encourage you to do so. Best of luck!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Grading the July Update.
Initial reactions are never a good grade of how good anything really is, and this update is no exception. Iceblazek went from hating the update as he was downloading it, to absolutely loving it when it appeared that we may have been killing the first Amphiptere on Odin and maybe even the whole game.
After an enjoyable night testing out new mobs and the new Union system even I have to admit I was much more pleased with this update than I thought I was going to be. To evaluate this update though, we need to look at other updates and juxtapose this one with those to get an idea of just how good it is. The last update was on-balance pretty disappointing, in fact, I didn't really remember what was added in the last update, so I had to check. There were some significant additions, but nothing really said "new" like we have had in the past. There were four significant additions in the April Update. 1) The new WHM JA's (and the RDM and SMN additions), 2) ANNM's and Augmented Items, 3) Gobbiebag expansion. There was definitely more and people will love pointing out the things I missed, I am sure.
Compare that to this update and we can see that this update is probably a little better overall. We got two new zones, which is something we really haven't gotten in almost a year and a half. Included in those zones are three new mobs and several potential melee and BLM XP areas. We got new JA's for NIN, which I believe was sorely in need of some kind of improvement to balance them with PLD. Now, I still believe that those improvements don't fix what is really needed for NIN, which is a bit more survivability.
The Union system is definitely interesting and rewards doing Campaign even if you have to be lucky to get those rewards. It definitely spices up Campaign a bit. We got the long awaited Campaign bodies which were about as good as I expected, the tanking body is great but the rest of them are pretty mediocre. Finally, we have a little bit of a surprise in the large number of Wings missions that were added. There are other things that still need to be determined, like the quality of the Fairy weapon quests and if this FoV stuff is even worth it.
Overall, I would have given the last update about a C- and this update was a little better than the last, that being said, and even considering the positive things I have said so far, this update doesn't really have that much going for it either. New zones are nice, but you need to have a reason to be in those zones besides just doing Campaign. New JA's are good too, but why do they share a recast and have diminishing effects? Union is decent, but the rewards are pretty weak and will soon flood the market and crush the cost of all of the items, except for the ancient currency which don't drop very much at all. One of the Campaign bodies is good, the rest are in line with the "mehness" of the other parts of the set.
I am holding out hope for the Fairy weapons, the packs of mobs you have to fight to get the rewards looks pretty difficult. I am thinking it will take more than a party to handle these and it looks like at least some of them resist sleep. The additional effects for these looked pretty good in the preview, but so did the FoV ones and we all know how they turned out.
So far I am giving this update a C+, but I still have my pen out and I am willing to improve the grade if things turn out to be better with the Fairy weapons. This update still has the problems that I had discussed before. It is tiny, it is uninspiring, it is flawed and it feels like there isn't anyone at SE that is motivating the forward momentum of the game right now. I can't wait until this cycle of crappy scenarios is over, but we still have at least one more coming before we get a regular update without all of this fluff. We can only really judge the direction of the game at that point.
Morning In Vana'diel: Give Me a Sign.
Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Today, Ring is confused about the update, and can't really seem to get his head around it.
I am confounded. For the first time in a while, I was really excited when I was playing FFXI. I very much enjoy playing, and I do get excited for rare drops and close victories. But last night was enjoyable for a whole new reason... or should I say it was enjoyable for a very old reason? Last night I got to explore for the first time in ages. It wasn't the exploration of a zone I had already seen that was exciting, it was the fact that I actually had to pay attention, dodge mobs that I had no idea what they would aggro to and kill new stuff. And kill new stuff we did.
The new zones are a much better re-imagining of the Northlands in the past than the other past zones. While I very much like the fully new zones in Wings, I didn't think that the reworked zones really did much to stimulate the imagination. This is not the case with the new (old?) Beaucidine and Xarcabard. While the structure of the zones is the same as it is in the present the appearance is very different. And the music in Xarcabard is simply excellent, and fits the mood of the area very well.
And for killing stuff? We definitely got to test out the new Amphiptere and Greater Amphiptere mobs, and they are fun. We will have a post up specifically about them later on today, but lets just say they take very good advantage of the fact that the zone has a whole lot of mobs that are willing and able to eat your face whenever they please. And they aggro in new, interesting and face-eating ways. You thought UFO's were bad? LOL At least they are not true everything though.
So, did you have fun exploring the past yesterday? Did you think that the past Northlands was just a rehash? Did you get to fight any of the new mobs? What about Cointeach? What are your plans for today now that everything has settled? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!
#1 ~ Monk
#2 ~ Samurai
#3 ~ Ninja
#4 ~ Dragoon
Chaotic Pellucidity
Teabags and KY Jelly
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