Crit-hit, VIT and Rogues roll

According to info on SE forums, by next update VIT will Will play a role in calculating damage taken from critical hits......

Incoming NIN THF MNK DNC w/e overpowered job with crit-hit nerf!

I still remember when I helped some MLIA ppl doing Kannagi fighting Bri, Akuji's h2h melee crit-hit attack hits harder than my ranged attack with my rattk set even WITH chaos roll AND Pot-au-feu. And h2h attack also hits 100 times faster. And I was like omg BS, I spent more money to DD, collecting every fking rattk gear I can find only lacking AV ring/Skadi pants and WoTG earring, and still dealing less dmg, so what's the point to use /ra? Ever since that fight I ended up using dagger with RR/VV setup when fighting Bri, much more dmg and cheaper, not like eating the AoE is big deal nowadays.

I personally don't like SE's way to nerf something when it's godly, I was expecting SE to boost ranged attack instead of nerfing crit-hit dmg instead. But I suppose it has to be done. So let it be.


A couple of weeks ago, I joined MLIA's Dyna-Xarc run. Ager wanted to test Rogues roll, so instead of usual Chaos/Fighters, I used Chaos/Rogues roll instead. And the result is Blade:Hi NINs are doing 1.9k~2k Hi. Note that most of other average DDs in pt can't even hit 1k+ with none-empy WS. Let alone 2k. One of the NINs that's outside of my pt was doing 300~500 Blade:Jin. They told me Rogues roll boosted their Blade:Hi dmg from 1.1~1.5k---->2k

I don't have the screenshot to prove it, and not sure if I believe 500+ WS dmg increase or not. But if it's true, then Rogues roll actually has great potential to be a godly buff.

I wonder what will happen after next update? Death of all crit-hit dmg jobs? Let's just wait and see.

/BLU v.s /RDM

Due to some discussion about /BLU v.s /RDM for Wildfire spam on forums, I did a test yesterday Aurelis's pt when I log in to do WoTG quest with Mem and Free.

Let me explain the pros and cons of both subs first. /RDM gives MABII, that's MAB+ 24. /BLU gives MABI, that's MAB+20. But /BLU can set AGI spells. After setting all the AGI spells /BLU gives 9 extra AGI compare with /RDM, as you can see in the screenshot below, that's the stat of naked Afania ;>










Test it on Tigers in Altepa, with Lone wolf/Ultimate/GH atma and squid sushi, no wizards roll no temp items, Earthsday.

/BLU:


/RDM:





It seems /RDM wins no?
Well I don't know why the test result shows /RDM wins, as +9 AGI supposed to beat +4 MAB...... Perhaps I need to do the math to figure out why....




Well anyways, when I joined Aurelis's pt to test /BLU, it happened to be firesday. I was planning to make an epeen SS for Wildfire after I finish lv 90 Armageddon, however since I'm planning to take a break and deactivate my account soon maybe I should just do it now before I leave. I invited a SCH to the pt and got firestorm, used the Agility potion I got from WoTG missions, used squid sushi, used Ascetic's Gambir, used Karin Obi, used Lone wolf/Ultimate/GH atma, and the result....




This WS is so OP in EXP pt......
Note that my WS and atma set is not even capped. If I have Reaver grip+1, Ambusher's hose, AGI+7 rings, Novio earring, smoldering sky atma, one more abyssite of furtherance and a BRD, it can go even higher. Is it possible to break 10k dmg with this WS? I'll leave the question for those who has better gears than me to find out.

My FFXI retrospective- Top 10 (4)

No.1 CoP

If you ask me what's my favorite and least favorite experience in FFXI, I'd probably say CoP. CoP is like old school JRPG, you make a pt with a group of adventurer, kill the boss, and read stories. As the story progress, you unlock more and more areas. Eventually you reach final boss and save the world by beating it. When CoP was out, it was really hard, by the time I cleared it, SE already nerfed it but haven't remove cap yet. Although it was easier when I got clear, it was still a pain to do. One of the most painful event(besides dyna) in this game, and yet one of the most rewarding experience.

One of the hardest part of CoP is to get a pt together, with right jobs(ummm not again). By the time I try to clear CoP, most ppl in this game already cleared, or has progress way ahead of me. And since each CoP event takes really long time to do and doesn't offer any reward for helpers, it's VERY hard to get help. I still remember once I pretty much sit in front of the computer for 8hr none-stop just to get one mission done. Which is just a bit too much and unhealthy for a game. I also remembered once I got into a JP pt that aimed to clear three path in one sitting, and I left just because there's no way I can clear three path in a day...I ended up clearing three path with Sylvester and some random ppl from /shout, sit in front of the computer for 4hrs, and only got 50% clear for one path...so you know how long Three Path missions take :(

Pretty much every other missions are a pain to get a pt going and clear too. Also, the BC fight in CoP is much harder than BC fight of other story missions. Lv 30 cap Promy is really a noob killer-for those new players who just started and attempted CoP, they usually got ass kicked in Promy bosses if pt not well prepared. Well, I wrote my first CoP BC fight experience 10 months ago here http://an-empty-vessel.blogspot.com/2010/07/goodbye-cop.html, so too lazy to repeat all the typing XD.

In the end I managed to get a group of ppl that's on same progress together and cleared all the way to the end without /shouting in WG all day. I cleared notorious 6.4 airship fight with Sylvester, Agerknux, Chymerial, Bnoonu and Pandalol(I think...I forgot kinda), and pretty much spammed /tell to everyone after I cleared it(so you know how excited I was).
After that got Arkangelo joined the group when Chy can't make it, and managed to got sea access and Rajas, it was a very rewarding experience in the end. I even remember me, Ager and Pandalol was chating on Skype in sea for last mission, and aggro mobs all over the place in the palace. Too bad Sylvester, Bnoonu and Pandalol no longer plays, but it's one of the adventure that I'll never forget.

Ever since CoP lv cap removed, people starting to forget about CoP, and hardly mention it anymore. It's now just a mission that you can solo most of the part and get it done in 3 days so you can get a Rajas.

I don't know if I really miss CoP....I admit that it's a rewarding experience, but if SE going to make another expansion as hardcore as old CoP, I don't know if I have the patience to sit in front of the computer for 8hrs none stop just for clear now. Maybe because I got spoiled by XIV, which is a game I can log on for 30 min and still able to get shit done and make progress, maybe just because now I no longer want to committed to a MMORPG and spend that much time and effort just to put a pt together. Maybe I really got spoiled by Abyssea, where I can just brew and get NM killed really fast instead of spending large amount of gil on items for a BC fight, and spending 8hrs just to put a pt together with right setup.

I wrote that "Good bye, CoP" nearly one year ago when CoP lv cap removed, and now it seems so irrelevant. Now the way I look at CoP is very different from 1 year ago. 1 year ago I really think it's a pity that some people will never get a chance to experience CoP with a pt, and now if you ask me, I'd say: No, I don't miss CoP at all, it's a memorable experience, but I can't really say I enjoy it, let it fade and die in people's memory.

BLU + BLU

Or BLU+DRK, w/e.

Recently I've been duoing some Abyssea shit with Zeig who only has BLU and DRK, both of us are kinda similar, we both have no Abyssea easy mode jobs (NIN MNK WHM), and kinda refuse to lv a bandwagon job just to gear up main jobs. That makes getting Abyssea gear extremely hard. Those who said Abyssea is easy mode and able to get gear fast should try to play as none easy mode/proc jobs and friends without easy mode/proc jobs, see if you can still finish empyrean/AF3+2 in one week.

So is it still possible to get gears without a group with right jobs?
I don't have a good tank/DD job like NIN MNK, so I'd have to tank NM on BLU or Zeig do it on DRK/MNK. Both of us has no WHM, so if we need a healer for duoing, we cure on BLU/WHM or DRK/WHM.


After getting more and more atma, including the useful GH atma, with some cheap evasion gear, I can finally tank or solo many visions/scars easier NMs with evasion setup. Of course my eva set isn't good at all and needs lots of work such as evasion swords/boxers, but it still feels nice that I'm able to get some shit done which I couldn't before. Such as:

Carabosse pop set: It gets pretty easy to farm Carabosse pop set now on BLU/DNC with Zeig getting red proc on DRK. Makes me wonder why I spent so much time to farm KI at 85 to begin with ._. I can probably solo the fly on BLU/DNC now with GH atma. If I know /DNC is that good when I farm Cara KI for Armageddon, I'd have done it already.

CC pop set: When I worked on 85 Armageddon, I already duoed Heqet with Zeig on DRK/WHM getting proc+ heal(yes he is the best DRK healer out there =D). Pull Heqet ---> Sleep adds with dream flower, run back to CF for adds to depop, rest is curing waltzIII spam and watch Zeig's awesome DRK/WHM healing ability while getting red proc+keep me alive. For mini fish, I just realized I can tank mini fish on BLU/DNC and evade most of it's attack, stun Seismic tail to avoid getting one shotted, as long as I don't have to kite this NM for 30 min to kill it I'm happy =D

Whiro: Pretty sure I can solo this on BLU/DNC now, can't believe I actually wiped when I duoed it with Tavera's WHM at 85, lol.

Isgebind: Farm KI in Abyssea - Uleguerand from gold chests with Charged whisker burn, invite leeches to help open chests and hold KI, brew 4~5 Isgebind at once with Wildfire when getting enough ppl holding KI.

Any NM that can't be killed with BLU+BLU or BLU+DRK: Ummm farm 200k Cruor in 2hr with Charged whisker burn, and brew them ._. Sell useless gears from NM, sell stuff from gold chest, sell leech spots during cruor farm, merc any gears that needs blue proc ._.

Ok, I suppose even without right jobs, it's still possible to get shit done without abyssea easy mode jobs. May not be the most efficient way to do it, but those who complained about abyssea easy mode on FFXIAH.com, should really stop using easy mode jobs and do it in hardcore ways.

Project WHM

After months of struggle, I finally give up. Time to accept the fact that I need to lv WHM for Abyssea shit ;(

It's not that I'm too lazy to lv WHM, it's not hard to lv WHM to 90 at all with a leech pt. It's just I probably won't be able to play my jobs once I get WHM to 90....so how to avoid such situation?

Answer: Lv WHM to 80 or 86 only =D So I'll still only have 2 lv 90 jobs and get to play them =D

WHM gets Cure VI at lv 80 and Regen IV at 86, so in theory this job works in abyssea at lv 80 just fine with all the atma. Then when ppl ask "what jobs you have?" I'll just tell them "BLU COR 90", so I don't have to be forced to play as WHM because I don't have WHM 90 =D

I don't even have to buy all the spells, just need Protect V, Shell V, Cure V and VI, Esuna, Flash,Regen IV(if I take it to 86 instead of 80) Curega IV and Repose and that's it =D

I always thought having only 2 90 jobs is cool in this game, forcing myself to solve the problem and get shit done with jobs that's not optimal and really think hard to solve the problem + face challenge. But now it's getting more and more frustrating due to the nature of Abyssea. I know I should do MNK, but I kinda don't have enough combat skill merit point for MNK atm. Right now I have sword 8/8, dagger 4/8 and marksmanship 8/8. After next update I'm going to get my dagger to 8/8 for COR, that means only 8 merit points left. So it's either h2h 8/8 and let Evasion gimp or h2h 4/8 and evasion 4/4. Either way I just don't have enough ;/ I also merited AGI instead of STR, so lving another DD job without STR merit is just, um, not a good idea.

Prehaps I should drop AGI merit and do STR merit instead.....once Abyssea era over Wildfire may become ODD trigger WS and that's it, and Slug shot become strongest COR WS once again. Right now outside of abyssea, I don't even use Wildfire unless triple shot is up. Or perhaps I should do hybrid, like STR 4/8 and AGI 4/8 after next update ._.

I have to admit MNK seems more fun than WHM. WHM just so bandwagon that everyone wants to do abyssea with right jobs but too lazy to work on gears/skill choose to lv WHM instead of MNK. But I just don't have enough merit points for MNK ;(

Exploit?

A couple of weeks ago when I talked to Stealthkiller in a pt about freezing brew timer to kill multiple NM at once to finish my lv 90 Empyrean(and some other random NM here and there), he mentioned I may get ban by doing it and used Salvage dupe ban as an example, SE mass banned players using Salvage dupe in 2009. Zeig also believe that it's an exploit and shouldn't be used. There seems to be some players in community believe that this is an exploit and there are chances of getting banned by using it. And my question is, so what can be considered as exploit and what is not?

When Salvage dupe trick was discovered, SE didn't say anything about whether this is an exploit or not until 1.5 years later they finally fixed the glitch and banned players who used it. It caused fears in old players for doing anything that may be consider as an exploit just because SE may not say anything about it being an exploit and decide to ban players after.

I personally don't think SE would ban ppl for freezing brew timer, because it's hard to tell whether this is an exploit or just game mechanic. There are too many gray areas for this kind of subject. I popped a brew to kill Isgebind, and after I killed it a gold chest popped, I examined the gold chest and brew timer just automatically froze, so should I get banned because I checked a gold chest after using a brew? That means I'm not allowed to check gold chest at all after popping a brew?

This can apply to all the little game mechanic trick people use it all the time. You can solo NMs in this game by pinning strategy, and never get hit once by NM, should all those player who used pinning strategy to solo Lord Ruthven got banned too? CORs can remove the JA animation lock by gear swap, allowing them to spam damaging JA every 45 sec and never get hit once by keep running, should those NM solo CORs got banned too? A couple of months ago before SE fixed it with a patch, every pt kill Carabosse near ramp so the mages never got hit by Carabosse AoE, should all those pt got banned too? Those LS who killed AV before Alexander released, should they all got banned as well?

There are just way too many little tricks exist and commonly used by players and accepted as game play mechanics, I'd say at least 95% of players all used little exploit trick at least once in their life time in this game. If SE doesn't like how it works then it's their responsibility to fix it. I personally dont think freeze brew timer is a big deal, if SE doesn't like it they will fix it in the future, and that's it, no need to overreact.

Anyways, SE already mentioned on their forum
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/2817-Brew-Lock?p=34730&viewfull=1#post34730
that freeze brew timer is "currently [03/18/2011] a known mechanic and by design", so time to finish lv90 Armageddon with brews =D

So, FF14

In case if you're wondering why I update my blog slooooowly recently, that's because I've been busying playing FF14 and playing less 11 now. I'm currently focusing on Pugilist(h2h weapons) and Gladiator(Sword), although I may eventually try all the classes. SE fixed quite a lot of problem in 14 recently, so I'm enjoying 14 very much atm, for me it's way more fun than 11 right now, since 11 is pretty boring atm with recycled area over and over again, and adding new gears and more gears for more grind etc. I guess after 2 years of playing this game and doing same game content over and over again, I'm more or less getting tired of 11, with recycled game content and areas. While 14 has lots of new stuff to explore and potential. Plus I'm loving the causal atmosphere of 14, while 11 is full of competition and elitism.

I believe if SE wants to keep 11 running, dropping PS2 support is inevitable. SE get away with it this year by adding abyssea and used recycled map. What about next year, or 5 years later? Or even 10 years later? Are they going to run 11 10 years later with same old zone and game content?

Well anyways, I still log on to 11 to do Nyzul/Wotg static and to complete some abyssea gears such as lv 90 empyrean guns. But it already losing the charm it once has when I first started.

From now on I may occasionally post my adventure in FF14 as well. After I make more progress in 14. Hopefully they release musketeer class soon so the class I play in 14 can match the blog title XD.