Recently I'm stuck in the debate between COR merit choice again. Usually I wouldn't care about how others merit, as long as others respect my choice. But when being called "lazy" "useless choice" or even "retarded" regarding to my merit choice, it turned me into augmentative mode. However since there are also a chance that others can be right and I'm wrong, I decided to give myself a homework, the homework is to land No.11 or lucky roll in all VW runs. After a while of practice and changing my roll frequency, I'd say the result is good and I'm confident to say that there are 0 needs to change my merit of choice at all. Those who calling others "lazy" and "retarded" regarding fold merit is overlooking the deeper layer of the complexity of Phantom roll, which is main reason why majority of COR players just do 2 rolls and gtfo.
I have to agree, I often have different POV from other CORs regarding many aspect of this job. Long time ago when every COR and their mother merit QD acc+recast in G1(and called others retarded if not doing this), I was trying to convince everyone that PR recast+QD recast is the most beneficial choice for this job unless you only use this job for soloing(where majority of dmg will be came from QD). QD dmg is just way too low and not main source of dmg to worry about it's acc, and COR is never the main sleeper in event anyways. Then I got into that Desultor tassets augment between mattk+macc augment v.s mattk+PR recast augment. I heard ppl telling me PR recast merit is useless and would rather want macc on pants for QD.
The thing is, PR recast merit+pants augment pushes PR recast to 45 sec, which greatly outweigh the benefit of a JA that's already incredibly accurate and not main source of damage. I used to have 2/5 QD acc merit as well, after I change to PR recast 5/5 I never look back. QD acc merit is pointless, even if my QD got resist to death and only deal 1 dmg every shot, PR recast 5/5+augment still offers greater benefit by having higher chance of rolling a No.11 for entire pt.
Why is that?
The reason is simple, lower recast on PR means you can do more PR in set amount of time frame, and the more PR you do, the higher chance you can land a No.11 and started a No.11 chain. A good COR should keep rolling during down time. You should be rolling while walking, rolling while waiting for afk ppl, rolling while waiting for ppl to relog, rolling while waiting for unweak, you should be keep rolling and rolling as long as you're not DDing and not doing anything else, everytime you roll you have 1/11 chance of landing No.11 and another 1/11 chance of landing No.10 which can turn into No.11 if Snake eye is up. There are no reason NOT to be doing PR repeatedly over and over for a chance of No.11 when you're not doing anything else. And when you get a No.11? Keep rolling for 2nd No.11, 3rd No.11, so No.11 is up forever.
Now that community is starting to ditch QD acc merit and go for PR recast merit, and "QD acc merit is pointless" POV started to become a trend. I hope everyone can start making the best use out of it. I just recently start to push myself to roll this much after I started my homework as well, so it does take time to get use to.
Now to the Fold 1/5 Winning streak 3/5 v.s Fold 4/5(or 5/5 even) and 0 Winning streak.
A lot of players liked Fold 4/5 or even 5/5 so they can "roll aggressively", I have no problem with their choice(doesn't mean I agree that it's optimal choice), but when they started calling others "lazy" or even "retarded", I ended up facing the difficult choice of defend for it or not. If I don't defend for it, then I feel I'm admitting that I'm lazy and retard that picked a useless choice, but if I defend for it, it usually ended up as a massive and endless argument. So I usually stay silent to avoid the trouble, on the same time not wanting to stay silent.
One of the player who plays COR once said he chose Fold 5/5 Snake eye 4/5 and called anyone who merit winning streak "lazy" because "higher chance to roll a bad roll with lower fold merit and bad roll just stays longer with winning streak merit".
Whether having Fold 5/5 by sacrificing snake eye will give higher chance to roll a good roll or not is another 10 pages long debate, but "bad roll just stays longer with winning streak merit" is a false statement. If you roll a bad roll, you should overwrite it. If meriting winning streak is "lazy", then same argument can be used on not to overwrite a bad roll(you're being lazy if you're not overwriting bad roll as well no?). With PR recast 45 sec, overwriting a bad roll should be fast. In that aspect, Fold is just a convenient tool to overwrite a bad roll, but fundamentally it's the same as straight overwrite.
For example, you rolled a No. 8 chaos, double-up, bust, fold, wait for 45 sec, roll again, got No. 11 with fold up, takes 45 sec to do.
You roll No.8 chaos, and fold+snake eye not up. You do another roll to overwrite it, it just take 2 extra roll longer to do.
For example, A is Misers, B is chaos, you tried to land a good Chaos+Misers for DD pt.
With Fold up: AB(bust and fold) A (45 sec) AB
Without Fold up: AB (45 sec) BC(45 sec) CA(45 sec) AB
Without fold up, it does take 1.5 extra min to achieve the same result, but is it a big deal?
There are 5 factors that will make that 1.5 min extra time not such a big impact.
1. Huge down time waiting for ppl to organize/gather/relog/depop gold chest in VW and ADL runs, 2 main event you'd bring COR to. More time intensive events like Nyzul/salvage/dyna you usually don't use COR anyways. You have plenty of time to overwrite most of the time.
2. "The more you roll the higher chance to land a No.11 and start No.11 chain" rule.
3. After you land your 1st No.11, fold is entirely pointless and you can just keep busting and reroll.
4. COR has more different type of rolls available compare with BRD, that overwrite existing rolls with 3rd roll is just as beneficial even if you're fighting. For example, if A is Misers, B is chaos, when you do C roll to overwrite you can do a fighter, that way DDs still has 2 DD roll up full time while you get rid of unlucky Chaos. On the other hand with fold up, your DDs will have 45 sec with just 1 DD roll if you bust that chaos and intend to redo chaos.
5. And tbh, both snake-eye+fold not up(even with fold 1/5 merit) rarely happen. If it happen that means it's super bad luck today, and if it's super bad luck, fold 4/5 or 5/5 isn't going to save you.
Spend 1.5 min to overwrite during down time, and overwrite bad roll with another beneficial roll, is IMO, makes fold not so significant. Especially if you land a No.11 in the process, which gives unlimited fold and lower recast time.
Fold 4/5 or even 5/5 is overrated. Sacrificing snake eye merit(which should be 5/5 or gtfo) for fold is even more ridiculous. And those who suggesting others to sacrifice Snake eye for Fold merit, you're leading others to the wrong way and affecting everyone else who pt with them because they're getting less chance to get a No.11 with less Snake eye, please leave.(BG elitist mode on >:( )
And yes, I've been recording my roll numbers recently in VW, just to make sure that I didn't argue about this for the sake of wanting to argue. Note: Only roll number that's on ppl after pop counts, rolls during downtime doesn't.
My recent runs on COR result:
ADL:Double No.11
Kaggen:Double No.11 on 2 pops
B.rex x4:double No.11 in my pt and lucky no in BLM pt for 3 pops, only landed 1 No.6 in BLM pt once, but it has nothing to do with fold merit 1/5, since my fold was up when I landed a No.6, I entered selfish mode was saving fold for myself cuz I was parsing against Ganu's COR and want to win ;< (you can slap me kick me tell me to stop playing COR now for entering selfish mode, doesn't make my argument invalid)
CoP VW T1 clear run, double No.11 on at least 7~8 pop NMs, rolled a No.8 chaos once but rewrite soon after, busted a No.9 regain with no fold nor 2hr but I brain farted on that one.
I can safely say that after a bit of practice after my homework, I have at least 90%+ of chance to have ppl on No.11 or lucky roll, unless I'm extremely unlucky that good number just won't come. And if I'm unlucky, Fold 4/5 or 5/5 isn't going to save me since I still can't bust a roll back to back with fold, and it'd still be unlucky number after reroll anyways.
Now that someone is going to argue, even if fold is just convenient, what's so wrong to have it more?
The real question is, does fold merit outweigh winning steak merit, which, when used properly, is far from just a lazy tool?
Some of the benefit of Winning Streak merit including:
1.Your No.11 stays longer, thus more chance to do No.11 chain.
2.Spend less time to roll and have more time to DD(where the "lazy" statement came from)
3.Your roll last longer on everyone else when you're just in a situation you can't reroll(like running to different area, d/c, dead with no R and so on....)
4.Better use for Roll rotation, especially when you're doing multiple rolls/pt.
Note that long time ago when I talked about COR roll rotation for different pt, some ppl replied "COR roll rotation? We playing the same game?"Implying that ppl doesn't use COR roll rotation in this game.
But there are no reason not to. Others doesn't use it doesn't mean it's not a good idea. I often rotate buffs if I'm pt lead, just so that one buffer can do the work of 2 buffers and get extra spot open. And considering ppl been doing BRD rotation forever, there are no reason for COR not to do rotation when PR stays even longer than BRD songs. With a No.11 roll up, the recast time for COR buff should be short enough to rebuff all 3 pt in alliance fairly quickly. A good COR if knowing that buff rotation is coming, should struggle to keep a No.11 up on him/herself.
However, it is not very easy to do unless COR is pt lead(or if pt lead understand the job thoroughly). And probably easiest if I'm pt lead and also on COR, so I have a big picture of the timing and tempo of the run. Since getting up a No.11 or bust effect for rotation needs time.
IMO using 2 CORs for events like ADL run is a waste when 1 COR can buff all 3 pts, unless you want to reset 2hr twice(may as well add extra SMN for 100% extra PD). And even if you have extra COR for extra 2hr reset, no reason to have 1 COR buffing each pt when 2 COR can buff both pt with extra rolls.
The reason why ppl doesn't use it as much, is because ppl have the narrow mindset about how to use the job properly IMO, thus not pushing the limit of what a job can do as it requires too much subtle detail needs to take care of. At 75 era it IS harder to use this efficiently, but with more and more roll duration gear added, and new No.11 update, this should be take advantage of IMO. Just because majority of community doesn't utilize it properly, doesn't mean it's not a proper strat.
Long time ago when the entire community was against PR recast merit and PR augment on pants, and only accepts QD acc merit+macc augment on pants and calls anyone not doing the same "doing it wrong", I was one of the few that fought and defend for PR recast, now that PR recast is more of a commonly accept choice.
Long time ago when new No.11 rule came, which allows ppl to do PR faster with unlimited fold, community /rage without thinking and says that they want old No.11 rule(which makes No.11 has 10 min duration) back. I was the one who looked through the depth and complexity hide under the new No.11 rule and defended for the new rule. That new No.11 rule, when properly used, will benefit the entire pt way more than 10 min duration and allows extra room for decision making and more different possible way to use the job. Now that whoever plays the job bothers to think more than roll twice and gtfo will realize that this update(alone with QD STP update) is one of the few update that brings more depth into this game that allows player to think. And I also found out about the impact of regain regarding this matter, that CORs can DD with regain even when trying to land good roll most of the time(thus I still defend for regain augment on moonshade over TP bonus as well), when many CORs complained about no time to DD while spending time to roll.
Now I'm going to defend for the proper use of COR roll rotation, and to a lesser extend, Winning streak merit as well. Even if the community often didn't utilize it. Maybe one day this will become a widely accepted POV.
You don't always benefit from lower fold recast, my 90%~95% hit rate on double No.11 or lucky No in VW proves it.
But you almost always benefit from winning streak.
And hopefully one day, winning streak, 45 sec PR recast, and roll rotation will be more of a commonly used way of doing things, instead of just do 2 rolls and gtfo(and carry bad number roll for entire time)
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Anyways, since the title is "How to do a good roll in VW", I guess I will share some experience about how to land that many No.11 in VW. I'm still in the trial and error process, so maybe I can discover some more tips and tricks later. But currently the tips and tricks I discovered:
1.Take advantage of bust only lasts for 5 min, and ppl often spend longer than 5 min to gather/relog after fight. Double weak(which you can't do anything offensively) also lasts as long, so it's perfectly fine to carry 1 bust effect during those time with 0 penalty.
2.When I run to rift for pt to gather, I'd do a bolters roll and roll aggressively, but I don't waste fold if I bust. Since my bust will wear after NM pop anyways.
3.When pt still gathering and reforming, I redo/overwrites rolls over and over, for a chance at No.11.
4. After rolled a No.11, roll aggressively for rest of the rolls.
5. Pay attention to the tempo and timing of the run. Do they relog in VW? How long does it take? Did someone said they gonna afk for 5 min? Did someone just d/c? Did ppl mega death after certain TP move that you need to be ready to rebuff?
Rest is really just the timing of the downtime, and make use of the down time to try for a No.11. If I landed a lucky No. on one roll I often play safe and double-up away from everyone else that way pt member don't lose lucky No. It's personal preference though, you can take risk on pt member too, just that I don't like to take risk as much ;p
I hope after even more practice, everyone, including myself, can land double No.11 100% of time in a VW(and ADL maybe) run!
So if you happen to play COR, next time when you log on, give yourself a homework.
Land double No.11 for every VW run, and tell yourself that you have to land double 11 for everyone.
Now try it, don't be lazy, keep rolling whenever you can!
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Merit change
Recently I changed my BLU G1 merit to CA recast 5/5 instead of macc 5/5. Main reason being needing higher dmg output in dyna for higher currency gain. I also cancelled Diffusion and make enchaintment 4/5. (But keeping Convergence as I rely on it alot even in dyna)
Personally I love CA recast for higher dmg in lower level content, macc isn't really all that useful for BLU IMO unless I'm in VW trying to land proc. IMO, CA merit is useful for lower level content like nyzul/limbus/Ein/Dyna, while macc more useful for VW since I have no macc issue in any lower level content nor abby. So the debate is really just VW v.s lower level. Considering hard to land blu proc doesn't pop that often in VW, and BLU just dominates lower level content but not so useful for higher level ones(that means higher chance to come BLU in nyzul/dyna/ein/limbus for BLU players), CA recast is, IMO, more beneficial for BLU.
I changed my Diffusion merit after a while though, I don't particularly notice a big difference between enchantment 3/5 or 4/5, but Diffusion AoE haste is almost too useful for lowmanning without a mage. And I can't live without convergence JA either, IMO having 1/5 on both diffusion and convergence for situations that needed offers greater benefit than small enchantment difference.
Personally I love CA recast for higher dmg in lower level content, macc isn't really all that useful for BLU IMO unless I'm in VW trying to land proc. IMO, CA merit is useful for lower level content like nyzul/limbus/Ein/Dyna, while macc more useful for VW since I have no macc issue in any lower level content nor abby. So the debate is really just VW v.s lower level. Considering hard to land blu proc doesn't pop that often in VW, and BLU just dominates lower level content but not so useful for higher level ones(that means higher chance to come BLU in nyzul/dyna/ein/limbus for BLU players), CA recast is, IMO, more beneficial for BLU.
I changed my Diffusion merit after a while though, I don't particularly notice a big difference between enchantment 3/5 or 4/5, but Diffusion AoE haste is almost too useful for lowmanning without a mage. And I can't live without convergence JA either, IMO having 1/5 on both diffusion and convergence for situations that needed offers greater benefit than small enchantment difference.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
After update...........
Since now the new nyzul F100 set bonus was found, I tried to put together my new "goal" gear sets.
Yes, it seems that after every update I have to do a post like this.
Last year, and the year before last year, I also made my "goal" sets to work on no? With plenty of seems to be impossible to get gear on the list, and super pimp sets.
And same thing just repeat every year.
I complained, and still kept going.
I guess I'm just that masochist ;(
BACK TO THE TOPIC!
It seems my WF sets are completely dead with new nyzul F100 gears. Current best WF set involves 4/5 F100 gears and new shiny white armor:
Yes, it seems that after every update I have to do a post like this.
Last year, and the year before last year, I also made my "goal" sets to work on no? With plenty of seems to be impossible to get gear on the list, and super pimp sets.
And same thing just repeat every year.
I complained, and still kept going.
I guess I'm just that masochist ;(
BACK TO THE TOPIC!
It seems my WF sets are completely dead with new nyzul F100 gears. Current best WF set involves 4/5 F100 gears and new shiny white armor:
Wildfire set goal:
Well, technically my ring/earring/neck/back/waist still lives, but all the visible gears on head/body/hands/legs/feet slots are dead. And I did B.rex for 2 fucking months for nothing ;(
Nyzul F100 gears are also best Last Stand piece if 4/5.
Last Stand set goal:
Optimal QD set haven't change much. Optimal TP set now involves Nyzul F100 body for QA, which I should work on it for BLU anyways. Also a lot of new good /ra pieces added. Feet slot and body slot are replaced with khemper feet and gunman gambison.
Now my real question is, even if I have all those sets, how'd I supposed carry every fucking gear? ;(
Some of my old WS sets share slot with other gears, like Alruna is also my snapshot macro gear, Athos's body is also evasion and works on both WF and last stand. AF3+2 feet is also a QD piece and AF3+2 body is also JA macro. Now they're no longer the most optimal items for /ra and WS, how'd I have enough inv to carry everything ;(
I also realized finally need to toss some of the old abyssea gears...........I can't find any use for Loki anymore(which cost alot of gil, time and drama for me to got - -), if I ever obtain 4/5 nyzul set, Ambusher's hose is bye bye as well. I also found my athos's gloves are getting less and less useful when I look at some of the new gears for req/exe/last stand.....
Have a feeling that all those needs to be tossed unless we can store it( we still can't, no?), or unless I really can't get nyzul gears.
And of course, after tossed, a new update or WS introduced make it useful again so we tossed for nothing.
Now I feel the idea of gear swap in this game is getting more and more retarded ;< Probably SE's evil plan to make us pay for mules = (
Saturday, 24 March 2012
1/3
Finally managed to get more than 500 metals before March update, which is 1/3 done for lv 95!
As planned, about 500 metals a month. Although I often d/c in dyna and that made me lose massive income(since d/c in dyna often means death) and somewhat slowed down the progress, still slowly reaching the goal of 99 Arma.
I expect by next update my progress will slow down probably, since I'd be doing new content, and if new VW doesn't drop metals, price will probably increase.
Was hoping after BST TH nerf dyna currency price will go higher as well, so more income a day.
Either way, kinda stopped Project Death Penalty until lv 99 Arma finish, no reason to do an inferior and yet more expensive weapon before the best weapon is done no?
As planned, about 500 metals a month. Although I often d/c in dyna and that made me lose massive income(since d/c in dyna often means death) and somewhat slowed down the progress, still slowly reaching the goal of 99 Arma.
I expect by next update my progress will slow down probably, since I'd be doing new content, and if new VW doesn't drop metals, price will probably increase.
Was hoping after BST TH nerf dyna currency price will go higher as well, so more income a day.
Either way, kinda stopped Project Death Penalty until lv 99 Arma finish, no reason to do an inferior and yet more expensive weapon before the best weapon is done no?
Sunday, 18 March 2012
Practice makes perfect
Long time ago when Ager told me he can solo 200+ coins on BLU in dyna bubu, I didn't really believe him.
My first time solo in dyna-bubu at lv 99, it was less than 100 coins a run, which is only 50% of 200 coins, and 200 coins was just not possible for me.
However, after a bit of practice, and more practice, I'm able to solo 174 coins in bubu if competition is low. I even d/c for 5 min during the run, and I didn't team up for TE with anyone(so it's a true solo). If I didn't d/c and gain extra 5 min, it's entirely possible to break 180 coins. If I team up for TE, it's also very likely to gain 10~20 more coins, since TE5 in bubu is a pain when they pop on entirely different side(and I spent at least 15~20 min running across the whole map to find TE5).
And if I have TH sash for TH2, it's entirely possible to solo as many as an average BST.
I always believe that jobs are like instruments, the more you play it, the better you'll get. I never believe those who claim they can leech a job to 99 and be good at a job within a few hours of practice.
Ok, maybe some ppl is more talented, and able to be good at it within a few hour......like how some ppl able to master piano faster than an average person. But not everyone is that talented, at least not me.
After weeks of soloing dyna, I'm starting to get used to the tempo of killing EP mobs in bubu. The recast time of 2 major DD JAs, the TP speed and MP regeneration rate, the most efficient and balanced way to DD and cure with TP and MP..... My hands is part of the job now, this job called BLU/DNC. Which I can DD and cure with both MP and TP, and plenty of time to recharge them while getting proc and moving around. When to use self-SC, when not to use self SC, when to use low MP cost spells like HS/delta thrust. When to use big (but costy)spell like QC, and when not to use it.
Basically, if I have CA up, I do darkness SC if mob has high HP(which can one shot EPs), and save it if mob has low HP. Depending on my remaining MP, I sometimes use it without WS. If Efflux is up, I almost always use it. If mobs only have half HP left, HS+delta+E.thrash(which can hit more than one mob at once too) can kill it. I use a lot more costy spells like A.spike and QC on crabs, which I can MP drainkiss, and typically only MP drainkiss while waiting for JA recast. I also use those costy spells on none-crab mobs if I have 70+% MP.
Sometimes even if MP run very low, and there's a risk of running dry, I still burn quite a lot of MP(although only use MP efficient ones). It can be risky, but I typically chain pull in dyna, proc, kill right away. Proc, kill right away. And recharge MP while waiting for red proc since they often take ages to proc. If I encounter a serious of lucky proc, then MP bound to run low, and vice versa. So any MP saved may result MP overflow and reduce the kill speed when next mob gets unlucky on proc again.
The main reason is to kill the mob as fast as possible after getting proc, since sometimes it takes so long to proc and I ended up getting near full MP again while getting proc, the faster the mob dies, the sooner I can grab next mob and start procing next mob.
Ever since empy became popular and BLU melee build became stronger, many BLUs spam spell a lot less and rely on melee/WS dmg a lot more, like MP is some sorts of precious that shouldn't be used. However, IMO on EP mobs there are very little reason to slowly melee TP it to death when MP can easily be recharged while waiting for proc and moving around. Able to deal large outburst of dmg in very short time on EP mob is still one of the biggest strength of BLU outside of VW, there are no reason to play it like a NIN or DNC.
Cure with TP or MP is entirely depending on the JA recast time, and if it's proced. Since I don't have CDC, my MP typically do more dmg, and more efficient to use TP cure. However, if JA recast time is up, or I'm experiencing MP overflow, then I still use MP to cure(and use TP to healing waltz or haste samba).
Note that a while ago when I first time tried to duo SSR alex farm with Zeig on BLU, we barely killed 4th NM with 1 min to spare(Alex farm in SSR need to kill A LOT of mobs for all NMs to pop), after weeks of dyna solo practice, we were able to clear SSR including brainjack boss duo with almost 15 min to spare.
From 96 coins in dyna to 174, from 1 min left for 4 SSR NM to 15 min left for 4 SSR NM+boss, I didn't get any new gear for BLU in the process, heck doesn't even learn new spells.
Just that after a lot of practice, my output increased, for sure. Even though my gear set didn't change at all.
Proves that jobs in FFXI does need practice, not just to get good gear.
Mannnnn haven't play COR for a while since I'm saving gil, I feel I'm going to be bad at it again next time I job change D;
My first time solo in dyna-bubu at lv 99, it was less than 100 coins a run, which is only 50% of 200 coins, and 200 coins was just not possible for me.
However, after a bit of practice, and more practice, I'm able to solo 174 coins in bubu if competition is low. I even d/c for 5 min during the run, and I didn't team up for TE with anyone(so it's a true solo). If I didn't d/c and gain extra 5 min, it's entirely possible to break 180 coins. If I team up for TE, it's also very likely to gain 10~20 more coins, since TE5 in bubu is a pain when they pop on entirely different side(and I spent at least 15~20 min running across the whole map to find TE5).
And if I have TH sash for TH2, it's entirely possible to solo as many as an average BST.
I always believe that jobs are like instruments, the more you play it, the better you'll get. I never believe those who claim they can leech a job to 99 and be good at a job within a few hours of practice.
Ok, maybe some ppl is more talented, and able to be good at it within a few hour......like how some ppl able to master piano faster than an average person. But not everyone is that talented, at least not me.
After weeks of soloing dyna, I'm starting to get used to the tempo of killing EP mobs in bubu. The recast time of 2 major DD JAs, the TP speed and MP regeneration rate, the most efficient and balanced way to DD and cure with TP and MP..... My hands is part of the job now, this job called BLU/DNC. Which I can DD and cure with both MP and TP, and plenty of time to recharge them while getting proc and moving around. When to use self-SC, when not to use self SC, when to use low MP cost spells like HS/delta thrust. When to use big (but costy)spell like QC, and when not to use it.
Basically, if I have CA up, I do darkness SC if mob has high HP(which can one shot EPs), and save it if mob has low HP. Depending on my remaining MP, I sometimes use it without WS. If Efflux is up, I almost always use it. If mobs only have half HP left, HS+delta+E.thrash(which can hit more than one mob at once too) can kill it. I use a lot more costy spells like A.spike and QC on crabs, which I can MP drainkiss, and typically only MP drainkiss while waiting for JA recast. I also use those costy spells on none-crab mobs if I have 70+% MP.
Sometimes even if MP run very low, and there's a risk of running dry, I still burn quite a lot of MP(although only use MP efficient ones). It can be risky, but I typically chain pull in dyna, proc, kill right away. Proc, kill right away. And recharge MP while waiting for red proc since they often take ages to proc. If I encounter a serious of lucky proc, then MP bound to run low, and vice versa. So any MP saved may result MP overflow and reduce the kill speed when next mob gets unlucky on proc again.
The main reason is to kill the mob as fast as possible after getting proc, since sometimes it takes so long to proc and I ended up getting near full MP again while getting proc, the faster the mob dies, the sooner I can grab next mob and start procing next mob.
Ever since empy became popular and BLU melee build became stronger, many BLUs spam spell a lot less and rely on melee/WS dmg a lot more, like MP is some sorts of precious that shouldn't be used. However, IMO on EP mobs there are very little reason to slowly melee TP it to death when MP can easily be recharged while waiting for proc and moving around. Able to deal large outburst of dmg in very short time on EP mob is still one of the biggest strength of BLU outside of VW, there are no reason to play it like a NIN or DNC.
Cure with TP or MP is entirely depending on the JA recast time, and if it's proced. Since I don't have CDC, my MP typically do more dmg, and more efficient to use TP cure. However, if JA recast time is up, or I'm experiencing MP overflow, then I still use MP to cure(and use TP to healing waltz or haste samba).
Note that a while ago when I first time tried to duo SSR alex farm with Zeig on BLU, we barely killed 4th NM with 1 min to spare(Alex farm in SSR need to kill A LOT of mobs for all NMs to pop), after weeks of dyna solo practice, we were able to clear SSR including brainjack boss duo with almost 15 min to spare.
From 96 coins in dyna to 174, from 1 min left for 4 SSR NM to 15 min left for 4 SSR NM+boss, I didn't get any new gear for BLU in the process, heck doesn't even learn new spells.
Just that after a lot of practice, my output increased, for sure. Even though my gear set didn't change at all.
Proves that jobs in FFXI does need practice, not just to get good gear.
Mannnnn haven't play COR for a while since I'm saving gil, I feel I'm going to be bad at it again next time I job change D;
Friday, 16 March 2012
Soloing in dyna
After I started empy 95 challenge, I started to solo in dyna on BLU to farm gil.
Personally I'd say BLU is actually not a bad solo job in dyna at all, although not top tier either.
Pros:
Extremely fast kill speed on EP mobs.
Have access to all 3 proc type.
Decent TE kill speed with Heavy strike and Dark Orb.
Self-haste and AoE sleep.
Good at steal mobs from greedy BSTs holding 1000 mobs =D
Cons:
Only have TH1, which is extremely weak.
No widescan for TE.
Can't proc as fast as BST.
It's probably not as good as DNC and BST which has access to higher tier TH, I'm not sure how it is compare with THF, since I'm not sure how fast a well geared THF can kill.
My highest solo was 158 coins in bubu with bad competition during Byne time(if no competition, breaking 170 is very possible), and 34 coins per round(so if 5 round all soloed 34 coins, that's 170)
Although that's under 100% focus, I can't really focus this much in dyna anymore, and often started to listen to music, muti-tasking while soloing in dyna, resulting major decline in solo result D;
BLU's advantage is extremely fast kill speed on EP mobs after proc(fairly sure I kill faster than every other jobs in dyna, including BSTs). With enough refresh gears and long proc time, MP isn't an issue to spam spells and do self SC. Biggest issue is TH1 is just too weak, it's a pain in the ass to spend that much time to proc a mob, and only dropped 1 coins. It's kinda hard to imagine BLU can solo as many as BST(which is a job that can solo 240+ often) with 1 coin dropping this often.
Sometimes I envy relic jobs.
I'm starting to face difficulties in building empy 95 as well, every time when I spent 2hr and made a Qilin pt, there are always a few other person buying metals in alliance, it gets a bit frustrating to get 0 metals after 2hr of /shout. Price of metals and alex are rocking sky high, with demand getting higher and higher, while supply getting lower and lower. While dynamis currency, my main source of income(tried to farm other items for sell, sell brew and do merc business, no other way offers as good gil/hr as currency farm), is falling price like a trash on the sidewalk.
Relic is almost too easy, log on everyday, still 130+ coins while multi-tasking on a none-optimal job and 150+ if I focus, even under heavy competition. It's also slightly cheaper than empy/mythic, with it's price falling everyday. I realized I can't really finish empy 95 in 2 months when supply of plates this low, but I'm confident to be able to finish a relic in 2 months by farming 2M a day.
While farming plates requires taking risk of spending 2hr to make pt, and got 0 plate from alliance because nobody is selling. And farming alex requires 3 ppl to enter, pain in the ass D;
Maybe I should go make an Excalibur....a sword I've been wanted for a very long time...just for the sake of having it D;
Personally I'd say BLU is actually not a bad solo job in dyna at all, although not top tier either.
Pros:
Extremely fast kill speed on EP mobs.
Have access to all 3 proc type.
Decent TE kill speed with Heavy strike and Dark Orb.
Self-haste and AoE sleep.
Good at steal mobs from greedy BSTs holding 1000 mobs =D
Cons:
Only have TH1, which is extremely weak.
No widescan for TE.
Can't proc as fast as BST.
It's probably not as good as DNC and BST which has access to higher tier TH, I'm not sure how it is compare with THF, since I'm not sure how fast a well geared THF can kill.
My highest solo was 158 coins in bubu with bad competition during Byne time(if no competition, breaking 170 is very possible), and 34 coins per round(so if 5 round all soloed 34 coins, that's 170)
Although that's under 100% focus, I can't really focus this much in dyna anymore, and often started to listen to music, muti-tasking while soloing in dyna, resulting major decline in solo result D;
BLU's advantage is extremely fast kill speed on EP mobs after proc(fairly sure I kill faster than every other jobs in dyna, including BSTs). With enough refresh gears and long proc time, MP isn't an issue to spam spells and do self SC. Biggest issue is TH1 is just too weak, it's a pain in the ass to spend that much time to proc a mob, and only dropped 1 coins. It's kinda hard to imagine BLU can solo as many as BST(which is a job that can solo 240+ often) with 1 coin dropping this often.
Sometimes I envy relic jobs.
I'm starting to face difficulties in building empy 95 as well, every time when I spent 2hr and made a Qilin pt, there are always a few other person buying metals in alliance, it gets a bit frustrating to get 0 metals after 2hr of /shout. Price of metals and alex are rocking sky high, with demand getting higher and higher, while supply getting lower and lower. While dynamis currency, my main source of income(tried to farm other items for sell, sell brew and do merc business, no other way offers as good gil/hr as currency farm), is falling price like a trash on the sidewalk.
Relic is almost too easy, log on everyday, still 130+ coins while multi-tasking on a none-optimal job and 150+ if I focus, even under heavy competition. It's also slightly cheaper than empy/mythic, with it's price falling everyday. I realized I can't really finish empy 95 in 2 months when supply of plates this low, but I'm confident to be able to finish a relic in 2 months by farming 2M a day.
While farming plates requires taking risk of spending 2hr to make pt, and got 0 plate from alliance because nobody is selling. And farming alex requires 3 ppl to enter, pain in the ass D;
Maybe I should go make an Excalibur....a sword I've been wanted for a very long time...just for the sake of having it D;
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Guilt
After I started 2 months empy 95 challenge, I've been doing all sorts of event/activities for gil and plates, mostly dyna and VW, sometimes I merc stuff, sometimes CW burn or solo for pops and sell them.
Then I realized, I pretty much play BLU 24/7 nowadays. Even in VW, mostly so that I can save money to buy more plates.
I've been playing FFXI for almost 3 years now, look back my life in FFXI, at least 95% of achievement I've done are done on BLU. I finished ALL the mission fights(besides ACP at 75 cap) on BLU, finished old Nyzul climb at 75 on BLU, then grinded enough token in Nyzul mostly on BLU too. I also did a LOT of campaign for AN on BLU too. I solo dyna for currency on BLU, and solo/CW burn abyssea pop for gil on BLU too to fund my Armageddon 95. If someone need help with something, I'm mostly helping on BLU too, unless it's something like B.rex. I also mostly play BLU in salvage to farm Alexandrite, and farmed almost all Abyssea gears/empy on BLU during Abyssea era.
That's why I felt a sense of guilt when I started to sell my BLU stuff for gil now. Tbh, I really treated this job badly, despite I rely on it so much, it never really got any attention it deserved, which somehow made me sad. Even Zeig been saying that I just use BLU to make COR weapons.
Then I realized, I pretty much play BLU 24/7 nowadays. Even in VW, mostly so that I can save money to buy more plates.
I've been playing FFXI for almost 3 years now, look back my life in FFXI, at least 95% of achievement I've done are done on BLU. I finished ALL the mission fights(besides ACP at 75 cap) on BLU, finished old Nyzul climb at 75 on BLU, then grinded enough token in Nyzul mostly on BLU too. I also did a LOT of campaign for AN on BLU too. I solo dyna for currency on BLU, and solo/CW burn abyssea pop for gil on BLU too to fund my Armageddon 95. If someone need help with something, I'm mostly helping on BLU too, unless it's something like B.rex. I also mostly play BLU in salvage to farm Alexandrite, and farmed almost all Abyssea gears/empy on BLU during Abyssea era.
That's why I felt a sense of guilt when I started to sell my BLU stuff for gil now. Tbh, I really treated this job badly, despite I rely on it so much, it never really got any attention it deserved, which somehow made me sad. Even Zeig been saying that I just use BLU to make COR weapons.
Do I love the job? I honestly don't know, personally I can't live without it in FFXI, it's almost too useful for me that I can get anything I want done besides getting proc. But considering it still has incomplete spell list and shitty sets I never spend money to upgrade, maybe I don't love it as much.
If jobs have soul and personality, I'd want to say "thank you" to my BLU, I can't be who I am today without it.
Thank you.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
95 empy challenge
I decided to start 95 Arma after all.
More like because I was disappointed at how nyzul update actually made alex more expensive now. And it's probably easier to do 95 Arma since it's cheaper and I can do it whenever I have time.
Currently I'm at 219/1500. If I push I can farm 100 plates a week, that's 3 months to finish.
Push a bit and maybe can finish in 2 months I hope!
Thanks to all the gil spent on alex/plates, need to play COR less to save money now ;<
More like because I was disappointed at how nyzul update actually made alex more expensive now. And it's probably easier to do 95 Arma since it's cheaper and I can do it whenever I have time.
Currently I'm at 219/1500. If I push I can farm 100 plates a week, that's 3 months to finish.
Push a bit and maybe can finish in 2 months I hope!
Thanks to all the gil spent on alex/plates, need to play COR less to save money now ;<
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