Athos

So 8 months after higher tier VW release, Athos head finally dropped:

Athos's set 5/5!

This is after assault/campaign/AF2/AF2+2/Neo Nyzul/AF3+2 my 7th completed 5/5 ex/rare gear set.

Feels good to complete a gear set ;)

Almost done with VW probably, at least none prov VW I only need Qilin HQ dagger and Hahava body now.

Next set to aim for is probably T.abj set......so far I'm 3/5 on abj already, but no hex gear to use the abj ;(

Fighting for STR?

So recently I went back to FFXIV after getting a bit bored in 11.

Last time I stopped at unlocking MNK, after 1 month of slow questing, I managed to unlock MNK and starting working on AF.

I heard that AF full set on MNK is indication of noob in 14, so maybe time to do some research.

After some forum reading regarding how to gear, it seems I have to hit STR 350 on MNK.

Time to do some AH shopping D;

I had about 2M after years of leve grind and quest grind(some came from pre-leve gil nerf), so I decided to aim for following setup(which seems easiest way for noob like me that doesn't require zomg hard/expensive to obtain items):

AF head/GC STR body/double meld STR hands+legs/HQ STR rings/bracelets

After tossing all gil on double STR meld gears, I managed to hit 324 STR.....

Not enough D;

Further more, not enough gil to buy +1 STR accessory too D;

And I wasted too many points on other attribute too D;

Also need a lot of GC seal grind for body D; 

Damn, Caravan escort for GC seal is fucking boring D;

So pretty much, need a few hundred gil grind, and at least 7k more seals.

Time for grind grind grind, grind gil, grind seal, so I won't be gimppppp....wait.

This is something I've been doing, for past 3 years in FFXI.

Oo I just ding 1st job BLU 75 and wearing AF 5/5.What? you said AF 5/5 BLU is noob? D;

Oo so I need to gear like this for this, and gear like that for that ;(

Farm gil, farm gil, farm gil, so I can buy moreeee STR rings!

I need 50 empy items for my empy, time to spam Sobek!

I need 1500 HMP for my Arma, time to grind gil!

Dyna everyday!

NPC cruor everyday!

Collecting X amount of item for Y decent gear until I can get Z super elite gear.

It's boringgg, dyna is boring, just like how Caravan Escort is boringgg!!

But need the gearssssssssssssss D; Have to suck it upppp D:

So next time when I see another MNK wearing AF 5/5 to Ifrit battle and not stacking correct JAs I can secretly say "OO doingitwrong" in my mind.

So why is everything so Deja vu? 

Isn't it what I(and majority of players) do in FFXI everyday? 

I've already experienced all those in XI, went through the era of full set AF in XI, see other players wearing full set and secretly said "OO you doing wrong". Grind boring shit every day until I got X gear, the happy for entire day after I got it. Then after a while I realized I need MORE GEARS!

Then the entire loop continues.

It's basically the same thing.

I guess, maybe FFXIV isn't the game for me.

I started playing since launch, always felt FFXIV is fundamentally the same as FFXI, with some different touch here and there, at least majority of playing experience I had in XIV is something very similar. Some of the design is certainly not as outdated as 11, but the fundamental is the same.

For example, I always feel it's pointless to have "lv up era" for every player, so players lv up a job to do  endgame. That's why nobody pt in XI anymore, because lving up a job is very pointless if the entire purpose is to have a job to use in end game. Why can't a game just start at max level from the start and get stronger by grinding gear to begin with?

This also applies the philosophy of "level necessary job, and grind necessary gears so you can do endgame for even more bad ass shiny gears" in both games.

The fundamental philosophy in both games, are not different at all.

So if it's something I've already been doing in XI for years, why'd I need to do it again in another game?

I agree, I was looking for an entirely different MMO playing experience. 11 certainly gave me a lot of cool experience, but now I'm looking for something entirely different.

Is 14 fun? Maybe, at least I spent way more time in 14 than 11 in past 2 days, but I can almost predict what's coming up every time when I do new event, like how I can predict 11's new event everytime:  Nothing new, fundamentally the same with different touch here and there.

But for me, I don't see much point to play 2 games at once when they're fundamentally not too different.

Maybe I need to go to play MapleStory if I want something different ;<

COR in legion

Recently there are several voice in FFXI or forum, regarding an issue of their COR in legion often takes forever to do rolls and caused their group killing less NM than it should be.

Personally this is the problem I encountered when I just started legion. Slowly I learned not to bust/double-up on 6+ in legion, pop Snake eye(I have 5/5 snake eye again for legion now) on No.6+ for a chance to get No.11, and use random deal to reset PR timer(I often save random deal for offensive JA in VW since I have much more time to wait for PR recast in VW between pop).

With those method, I tend to roll faster than I used to be, but I wonder if there are any way to do it EVEN FASTER?

If I didn't get a No.11 on 1st roll, and random deal isn't up, that means I pretty much have to deal with 45 sec recast after 1st roll. Further more, if I accidentally messed up the order,such as rolled Chaos roll as 2nd roll on myself, and forgot fold it when I buff the DDs, I will ended up having to do 3 rolls to erase that chaos if I have to buff the DDs with chaos too.(Note, so need to learn to remember to fold Chaos if it's 2nd roll on myself and stop making silly mistakes D;)

One of the post on BG pointed out one way to solve the problem is to keep a No.11 up full time, via VW overwrite roll style. That means while the DDs been trying to DD, COR is trying to get a No.11 up  by overwriting old rolls instead of DDing with DD rolls up.

Note that trying to keep a No.11 up full time and overwrite old roll every 45 sec means COR can't DD very well, at least not as well as keeping 2 DD roll up. Not just that reroll takes time to do and you can't TP/WS, but it also means COR will lose DD rolls.

Although it's possible to reroll during down time, but overwrite any DD roll on COR with another roll means lower output. Personally I can't live without chaos if I'm using last stand, and chaos increased TP phrase dmg too. I also can't live without hunter on boss NM and more evasive NM.

However, my dmg in legion also only worth about 5%~7%, most of the time only 5%. In Hall of Ki when wave 1+2 resists WF it went even lower than 5% due to lack of ODD after WS, having to /WAR for last stand(thus less WS done than /SAM), and last stand just straight weak without BRD buff.

So the real question is, 5% worth of dmg(which doesn't make a difference?), or 30 sec faster during buff phrase(which may* make a difference)???? Which one is more efficient?

It's hard to say really, 30 sec faster during buff phrase, if I buff 3+ times a run, that's 1~2 min time lost, which makes quite a big difference in such time intensive event.

Ideally, the real answer is, still do 5%+ of dmg, but try to get a No.11 up no matter what.

Not an easy task, perhaps! It requires a lot of multi-tasking(a lot of times just cycling through offensive JA during DD phrase got me exhausted especially when I lead pt and give order on the same time too), plus memorizing every number/roll order I got up so far.(So I stop forgetting to fold DD rolls when I roll DDs)

Also having to deal with losing DD roll which will lower output too.

That's why I personally prefer WF more than last stand, the WS doesn't need to have specific roll to have good effect, and gives ODD. Unless it's in Hall of Ki which WF is just shit can't be helped.

But with WF as main WS, technically I can cycle through 5 rolls(chaos/hunter/snapshot/regain/wizard) that still benefit me before NM pulled or when NM just died depending on which NM I'm fighting.


And I only need to do that when Random deal down.



I wonder if it's possible to live without hunter completely, such as deck out even more acc in gear(although I'm very close to the limit atm) or change food to sushi(gonna gimp TP phrase and last stand dmg I know). I guess I'll have to see. Pretty sure on some NM I should be able to live without hunter. That way I can overwrite hunter for a chance at No.11 but still able to DD.

Another way to keep 11 up but still doing enough contribution is to enter /WHM or /RDM support mode....every time when DD complained they are not hasted I really want to change SJ so I can help haste DDs - - But ideally the way to solve this problem is to get SMN help haste some how, instead of lowering more % in ally for the sake of haste.



So new goal for me in legion!!

1. Whenever I roll DD, both roll has to be done in 40 sec or less everytime, with Random deal timer reset and keeping up No.11 for shorter recast.

2. I have to contribute 5%~10% of dmg in entire ally, can't sacrifice any output for the sake of keeping No.11 up. Yeah, I know 10% is probably out of reach for me atm as my highest was only 7%, but a goal is a goal! Have to aim for better goal!!! >:O

It's certainly a lot of multi-tasking this way, and I probably can't do it in Hall of Ki(hate hall of Ki ;(  ), but every other hall, this is new goal!

Jump off the cliff

After month of leading legion, sometimes I can't help but feel

I agree, there are a lot of things I've learned, and enjoyed while leading a group. And majority of time, the satisfaction outweigh the frustration, which allow me to continue. I certainly enjoy doing research, map out a strat, and see it executed flawlessly to achieve desire result, but majority of time, it went worse than originally planned, and rarely go better than expected.

For example, earlier's Muru run:

Example No.1

Afania: Ok, SMN and SCH please setup stun rotation, and test it in /l chat to make sure it works. Stun and PD order are

(3 min passed)

Afania: Err, did you guys setup stun rotation? 

SMN No.1 /tell:How do you setup stun rotation? What does stun rotation means?

SMN No.2 /tell:Sorry, but I don't know how to do it

(spent next 5 min explain what does stun rotation means in /l chat)

Afania: Ok fine, you stay out of stun rotation. Everyone else tested stun order in /l chat?

(After Muru)

SMN No.3 /tell: The stun order was never followed lol

Afania Q.Q

Example No.2

DD:Embrava wore

Afania:Ok SCH No.2 embrava go!

(SCH did nothing)

(1 min passed)

Afania: SCH embrava? Embravaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Example No.3

Afania: Ok, so our killing order for is, wave 1: Sandworm Ixion Turul Wave 2 Worm Turul Ixion

(On wave 2)

Pt member: Why is everyone killiing 2 different mobs at once on this wave

Afania Q.Q

Example No.4

Afania /tell to SMN: So if you stay out of stun rotation, can you keep DDs hasted?

Afania: MAKE SURE EVERY DD IS HASTED

(After Muru)

DD /tell:I never get hasted in entire run lolz

Afania jumps off the cliff..........

Long time ago, one of the leader leading top EGLS across whole server said something like this "Our LS has some of the most talented player, but without a good leader, it won't make them shine. "

Thus I've always trying to be a good leader, like what he said. IMO, good leader fully understands each player's capability, and will try his/her best to make the best use of it. Good leader are good at organization, and communication. And more importantly, ability to set out a goal, and aim for it for everyone to follow, and when it fails, a good leader should bravely take all the responsibility instead of blaming members.

I've already realized very long time ago, that "baby sit" each player's role is very important in this game, and only a few very talented player that knows what to do in right time and doesn't require baby sit. 98% of players, if you don't tell them what to do for optimal result, then they're not going to do it, nor have the ability to find out how to improve. I still see ppl in this game that's "doingitwrong", every single day, every single sec.

Thus, it made me want to jump off the cliff when pt still not doing what's planned after all the baby sit.

Perhaps I'm missing something, or perhaps learn to deal with none-talented players is required for leaders to do, or perhaps this game just doesn't have enough left over talented player to do something like Legion, as only 1% of population is that good, which isn't big enough.

I guess if I want to run a company in the future irl, this is probably the biggest problem I will face myself. Most talented ppl go to best/biggest company, while smaller company having to deal with luck when hiring.

It's certainly not hard to get ppl interested in legion.

But the hardest part is, get ppl that can get the job done nicely, which just consists of way too small % in this game.

Or perhaps, there's something I missed as a pt lead, that I'm unable to make best use of each pt member's capability.......

Maybe time to study more about business manage or leadership................

Fighting for Accuracy #2

It seems that after some adjustment, I'm able to cap(parsed 95%~100%) accuracy in Legion 4 T1 halls, and floating around 90% in Hall of Mul, that's shooting outside of sweet spot to avoid AoE too.

That means it's entirely possible to cap accuracy in Mul on COR/SAM eating Pot-Au-Feu with T.abj feet+Gunman or T.abj body with just 1 hunter or 1 prelude, really only need both on something like An 2nd wave Behemoth.

I also don't get a BRD in Kizuna's run, but with a BRD, /WAR last stand beats WF pretty easily in legion.

However, due to WF easier to buff after new staff introduced, and doesn't require chaos, personally I still prefer WF. That provides extra empty buff slot for something like snapshot roll for faster TP. Last stand probably works best with BRD buff, which isn't entirely reliable.

/SAM is probably the most useful SJ in legion, unless you need utility(which shouldn't),the ability to squeeze out extra 1~2 WS when JA's up is pretty useful. And of course 3rd eye helps survive-ability.

I tried /WAR a few runs in Ki, when I mainly use last stand. Although added extra LS dmg is nice, it's WS frequency isn't anywhere close to /SAM.

With everything setup correctly, I usually parse 5%~7% with Kizunas's group(with 5 rag DRK in ally) unless I died too much. When I started legion I did way less than that, I guess I'm getting better....maybe!