Clearing the Myth

Long time ago on AH I put an argument that COR+3 DD could be decent pt set after embrava regain nerf, so you get to WS faster every time you engage. Some ppl jump up and disagree because you lost dmg(and that's when Peldin started to follow me on forum call me idiot every time I post an opinion on AH), but nobody can really come up with a conclusive proof to prove that adding a COR in low man pt increases pt output when you don't need attack(since you won't have problem with attack in lowman content like NNI/salvage 1&2).

I was eager to prove it, but due to how complex Nyzul is, it's extremely hard to test anything. The only way I can think of, is to run NNI 100 times with BLU+3 DD and record avg floor clear, then do 100 more NNI with COR+3 DD or BLU COR+2 DD then record avg floor clear with same ppl, then compare the result. Obviously that's too much work to do and I couldn't afford such test like this.

However, recent discussion about COR's use in salvage 2 with Zirael, he argued that you shouldn't use chaos, and should use DA+SAM roll for better result. He also argued that if DD output increase by 18% with rolls, 3 DD getting roll you're looking at 54% increase, and COR just need to make up the rest 46% to beat a 4th DD.

So I guess, time to clear the myth about COR or no COR in lower lv content when you don't need attack.

First of all, according to spreadsheet, with RCB and such, DA+SAM does offer higher increase than using chaos on dyna DC, thus chaos(biggest game changing roll COR has) is useless and shouldn't be used.

SAM roll is a lot more debatable  you have to roll a number to shave 1 hit off, otherwise SAM roll does nothing. Depending on situation and down time, regain roll may be better. But if you engage a lot, or have double march etc, SAM roll may be decent choice.

To take most advantage of SAM roll, COR have to prioritize SAM roll and save snake eye for it, since it's hit or miss. And ideally your 2h DD would have different TP set based on the number of the roll.

Using Taint's Rag DRK 99 TP/WS set, with /SAM and RCB, and double march(all dmg are floored cuz I'm lazy):

DRK with no LR up, no buff DPS= 665
With DA and No.10 SAM roll=784

With LR up, no buff DPS=729
DA+SAM roll=857

As for COR, I use my avg set but changed dagger to qilin HQ(which is slightly better than my current set), I picked /DNC over /WAR cuz I found COR/WAR last stand spam not so useful in lowman content....I can't self cure, can't stun, I lost offhand melee DPS(which isn't bad on dynamis DC), and once berserk/warcry wears my last stand does shit dmg. It's a lot of sacrifice for very little benefit except some epeen LS dmg. I'd say it's only useful for endgame event zergs on higher lv NM.


COR/DNC spamming exen with qilin HQ dagger and RCB+marches:
No buff:441
Buff:514

Numbers may not be entirely accurate cuz there are other factors such as DW tiers I didn't fix. But it seems that COR/DNC with exen spam still do well over 50% of a Rag 99 DRK with duplus on dyna DC, despite I really hated COR/DNC's melee DPS, it is higher than I expected.....it may be actually higher than BLU/WAR with almace 99 just TP/WSing and not casting any spells and not getting COR buff.

A pt of DRKx3 would do 1995~2187
A pt of DRK x2+ COR would do 2082~2228, not counting dmg boost to upgrade dia2 to 3.

Thus safe to say DRK DRK COR> DRK DRK DRK, pure dmg wise and survive-ability isn't an issue(may have a bit of problem in NNI if everyone solos 1 mob and less regen than used to be). Even if you really want a BLU for AoE sleep in NNI, DRK DRK COR BLU still > DRK DRK DRK BLU. Although it IS a little bit more work(such as different TP set for different number SAM roll) to fully take advantage of it.

Zirael is right, and those on AH forum calling others idiot cuz they don't do math, or just eyeballed pt output without numbers and jumping on conclusion are fascinating.

 A little bit of side note:

DD x3+BRD(that's not DDing) still > DDx3+ COR(that's DDing), since double march gives 100%+ increase for output if LR not up. If BRD is DDing with mandau or something, the gap is even bigger. BRD also doesn't need weapon slot to contribute fully, making it one of the best job to have in salvage 2.

I hope that cleared some myth for anyone completely refusing to bring COR to lowman content like NNI/meeble/limbus/salvage2 just because everyone on AH starts calling others idiot when this job is mentioned in NNI discussion. You may need someone else to tank the mob, or have a healer if you don't want to swap to evasion set and gimp dmg or use TP to waltz, lack of defensive JAs kinda hurt this job for lowman content depending on strat.

Time to buy a qilin HQ dagger, god damn it D;

Salvage 2

Recently did a bit of Salvage 2, honestly I kinda liked this event. It has good balance of challenge: more output/better gears means more efficient run, and the event is fairly friendly to majority of players. Although the fact not every job gains good gear from it means some ppl won't be interested.

Anyways, looking at new salvage set and possible interesting pieces:

Sigyn's visors: According to spreadsheet, when acc uncapped T. abj head HQ and Oce+1 still wins, but  on stuff like dyna DC Sigyn has higher TP DPS.

(Verdict: gonna work on it cuz I just love inv -1)


Sigyn's bazubands:

Last stand acc swap probably, and ranged TP.

Another inv-1 damn it!(since I'm currently TP in AF3+2 hands to save space)

Skadi pants +1:

Side grade to current alternatives unless you need STP.

(last priority atm)

Skadi body +1: Seems like an upgrade to Gunman gambison if I TP/WS in right spot(which is rarely).

Considering how shit it is to pop Skadi body 35 NM, it's very likely to be "Items I can never get D;" piece D;


--------------------------------------------------------------

A bit of derail, thanks to Zeig's help I finally collected some more data for prov zerg, this time with Aluh instead of MK:

Afania                   35039    10.87 %        3273           0        1101       30665           0          0            


Afania                      30665          0     30665    87.52 %      10/0   100.00 %   1756/4101  3066.50
 - Last Stand               30665          0     30665   100.00 %      10/0   100.00 %   1756/4101  3066.50


Melee Damage
Player            Melee Dmg  Abs'd.Dmg   Net Dmg   Melee %   Hit/Miss    M.HR %   M.Acc %  M.Low/Hi  M+0.Avg  M-0.Avg
Afania                 3273          0      3273    9.34 %       62/2   96.88 %   96.88 %     24/81    49.46    49.46




Compare with last zerg with MK, this fight lasts a lot longer, thus my total output was a bit higher. However, 3.2k melee dmg(which is only 2k higher than MK's melee dmg in shorter amount of time) was kinda not acceptable for a build focus on more melee DPS ;< Although it's partially fetter's fault. Considering MK can very possible squeeze out 1 more WS and deal 3k more dmg.

Even though I QDd and popped wings this time, melee dmg was still lower than I expected D; Obviously didn't use DA roll on myself.

Pretty safe to say MK>Aluh unless your ally really proc alot.

This fight is also my 1st time lose to a MNK(with empy 99) in PW zerg ever since I switched to melee TP for zergs, proved that MNK can DD, lol.

Semi-inactive!

Haven't update this blog for almost a month!

Mainly that's because it's almost nothing to mention.......FFXI haven't got anything new recently, and I've been thinking about quitting too.....even if they're going to release new expansion tomorrow, I wouldn't have time to play.

Recently if I log on, I just go solo dyna and that's it. I did a few melee TP setup after last post, to test my ability to deal dmg in prov/legion/meeble via melee TP method.

http://pastebin.com/5XrTPE4e
(this is done with MK btw)

I tried both MK and Aluh, but couldn't find much difference. MK certainly TP faster, but the TP phrase dmg is loooow. I also think I should start using QD during TP phrase again, a few sec JA delay for 20 TP return isn't bad....I think?

I'm still more inclined to believe Aluh pull ahead in VW with wing spam though.

However, no matter which weapon I use,  I’m still unable to break my dmg cap….I did a bit better than I used to be, but not to a point to be job changing. 

Note that for legion groups using COR in DD pt full time method, and getting BRD attack buffs, this could be decent way to deal dmg until embrava and buff lock nerf hits and you can no longer get high pDIF with less attack from BRD.

Other things happened recently are about legion. I now officially give up/admit that I failed at leading legion LS. And probably still have a lot to learn.

I started leading a group since B.rex was out, that’s when I learn to make use of connection, find most talented players with good performance, find players that parse high, find players that pays attention and good at communication. That’s when I learned to read strats online and watch videos for research, and pay attention to details when I execute them.  And that gave me confidence; as long as I have connections to the talents, have good communication and execution, and pay attention to every detail make sure they’re all covered, I can win anything in FFXI.

However, when it comes to legion, there are more things to deal with that’s more than pt swap order, finding pimps, do X and Y on Z NM etc.

I made wrong decisions several times, and I value flawless execution way more than efficiency too.  There are a lot more things to manage in a group when it comes to legion. In the end, I’m unable to create a group that stick together.

I have no idea what I miss to create a group that stick together.  Maybe it’s an area I have to study and work on, a life lesson from now on(again, would help rl with such skill too). Some ppl seems having np doing it, while I have big problem when it comes to this aspect. 

Recently SE announced that they're going to nerf buff lock finally. I've been predicting it's going to happen sometime, but when I brought it up in the LS nobody believe me wwww. Probably my 1st time FFXI prediction come true!

One of the main reason is because it's being abused to a point, and completely trashed original design for many jobs.

Most notable abuse is probably multiple embrava with 1 SCH, SV full time in legion for every song, and LR/berserk full time for DDs in legion.

So that means no more SV full time, no more embrava mule in prov etc.

Prov KI BCx3+dragon goes back to 40~50 min a round instead of 30 or less ;( Since it's an event without content adjustment.

Another minor change(although no where near as game breaking as SCH and BRD) is that COR no longer have the option to play smart on rolls. 

Before nerf there are several tricks to get double 11 or lucky or at least good rolls on COR with lock buff trick. For example, if your snake eye(a JA that increases roll potency when used on right number) recast is 1 min when you need it, you can lock double up while waiting for SE recast reaches 0. That way you get extra SE to use.

If you happened to get a No.11 while waiting for pt to gather, you can also lock it for unlimited bust/reroll when you roll.

And when you finally hit a good number, have DDs lock it until pop means you can easily get double good number at least 90% of time in VW.

Another trick is when you try to reset snake eye with random deal. If you happen to need snake eye after PR, but it's not up and you wanted to reset SE, you're most likely going to reset PR instead. By locking double-up and wait for PR recast up, you will have higher chance to reset SE. Although you can* reset SE before you use PR after nerf, but that also means you can't save RD for QD reset for extra dmg too(I use that often too, if I have nothing else to use)

Personally I'm pretty sad to see those tricks unusable  since it's one of the major difference between COR that puts effort into getting a good buff, and COR that just roll and not trying any tricks to get good number. Now it's a straight gamble, with very little decision making.

In the end all COR JA are like a deck of cards, when to use what is like playing cards and use best cards on right time for best result. Taking away lock buff is like taking half of the deck away and less cards to play with.

That also means snake eye 5/5 goes back to must have or gtfo merit, some variation such as SE 3/5 winnng streak 5/5 which has an advantage at certain situation will no longer be viable.

No fun lah! D;

SE taking away my fun with COR with nerf after nerf D;

First nerf RD, then nerf lock buff D;

Now what else I can research about improving performance of this job lah D;

D;

D;

Melee notes

Remember once upon a time every COR /WAR in pink bird merit pt, gain TP with a MK or Joytoy, spamming 2k slug shot every few sec, and out parse a bunch of real DDs?

As the game progress and entered VW era, majority of COR no longer do that, instead most ppl just spam WF with a staff. Although it’s also a decent way to do dmg, I realized it happened to reached the limit, no matter how hard I try, I’m unable to break the biggest curse: Shooting is just way too slow for dmg dealing.

Recent announcement of Embrava nerf made me go back and look at melee COR once again, to push COR’s performance higher in variety of events(which is my main goal since I started this job from day 1), and how viable to COR/WAR melee + last stand spam, and COR/WAR v.s COR/DNC exen spam.

Let’s start with COR/DNC exen. It actually worked well on something like Cities T4 ironclad. But as soon as I switch to Qilin, exen starting to seemed weak. After 6 pops, even with RCB and double 11 on Chaos/Fighters, I was unable to break 2k avg, in fact, only broke 2k once entire run with over 1.1k attack. It’s slightly below my BLU/WAR’s performance with CDC also, not counting TP DPS lose without ODD, and my BLU has inferior gear. According to spreadsheet and my personal experience, exen just falls behind CDC and majority of other melee WS by a large amount. Spreadsheet shows about 1.7k avg depending on setup. Not having the option to /WAR with DW also sucked, although I may actually cap or close to capped attack with No.11 chaos and if ppl stop using bio instead of Dia.

But final verdict, exen sucked. Any WS unable to avg 2k+ on lol Qilin is pretty much not an option. And Exen as a WS in this game, just isn’t a very strong one. And if I can’t reach 2k+ avg with No.11 chaos/fighter with lv 99 arma/Thaumas 4/5, no way I can avg 2.5k+ until SE release new batch of better gears. The only benefit for /DNC exen spam on qilin, is probably haste samba for none-DRK melees and that’s it. And that’s pretty debatable, /DNC just to haste 2 ppl in pt.

Side note: When I tried exen in a PUG Qilin pt though, I actually had one of highest WS avg in ally, lol VW PUG pt ;P

So that really leaves last stand, with capped pDIF as the only option. Since last stand with proper attack buff/def down is a 3k~5k WS.

1^st question I wanted to ask myself is which weapon.

There are several choices, Aluh has highest melee DPS, and minor boost for the WS. Joytoy, the melee weapon I used at 75, now no longer have good DPS but still has fast TP gain. Another option is MK, which has fastest TP gain but but complete crap melee DPS, with a risk of hitting 0 or feed too much TP.  I couldn’t tell which one is most optimal tbh, since melee COR is a play style nobody bothers anymore. There are no discussions about it, everyone and their mother just spams WF with a staff, and nobody ever bring COR to lower lv content….including myself. ;( Can’t help it, BLU with CDC is just to boss in lower lv content ;(

Personally I’m guessing with DA roll and higher DA/TA/QA etc in melee set, MK/joytoy got devalued. But the only way to find out is ask everyone’s favorite FFXI gear question machine: Spreadsheet ;)

Using DNC spreadsheet(since DNC has same dagger skill lv as COR, and similar stat lv, except a few STR higher than COR), modified sword skill to match COR’s –B rank sword skill for joy.

With /WAR, chaos, dia2, minx2+ march x2 on qilin. ( I know kinda unrealistic to have 4 songs for qilin, but last stand not worth using with high enough pDIF already, so I’ll just try to get as many as possible) Using “standard” melee set with thaumas 4/5 and Oce head, except suppa to regain moonshade earring. Spreadsheet shows using Houyi over rancor is 1 round less to 100 TP, but since there are regain atmacite in VW, I’m too lazy to truly create super optimal set with right amount of STP.

Joytoy:

Without DA roll but has chaos:

Melee dmg per round: 129

Round/WS:9.48

Melee dmg before you WS per round: 1290

Total cycle time:700

With chaos/DA roll:

Melee dmg/round:135

Total cycle time:676

Melee dmg before you WS: 1350

MK

Chaos/fighter:

Melee dmg/round:43

Round/WS:8.67

Melee dmg before you WS:387

Total cycle time:575

Chaos only:

Melee dmg/round:40

Melee dmg before you WS:360

Total cycle time:569 (yes, using DA roll with a MK actually make you TP slower ;), thus standard TP set with too much DA isn’t even optimal for MK, but that’s another issue)

Aluh:

Chaos only:

Melee dmg/round: 150

Round/WS:11.95

Melee dmg before you WS:1800

Total cycle time: 777

Chaos+DA:

Melee dmg/round:164

Round/WS:11

Melee dmg before WS:1804

Total cycle time:724

It seems that Aluh has highest melee dmg and WS dmg, but it’s TP speed is nearly 50% longer than MK(if I understand total cycle time correctly). However, it has over 1.5k melee dmg more than MK. Aluh also add about 60ish more last stand dmg with STR at capped pDIF.

In the situation when WS dmg is really high, like 3.5k~4k, or even 5k, I only see MK pulls ahead. But if last stand can’t do 3k+(not enough attack or def down), then Aluh may pull ahead. 

Note that MK also gained extra advantage with roll slot. You don’t need DA roll with MK, so 2^nd roll slot can either be hunters or regain roll depending on acc need. However, if MK can’t hit higher than 0 on the target, then MK will be completely useless.

As for joy, it seems to fall in the middle ground between both weapon, without any specific advantage. It’s melee DPS is lower than Aluh, doesn’t offer WS boost, lower skill means lower acc, in the situation when melee DPS shines Joy falls behind Aluh. It also TP slower than MK, in the situations where last stand doing crazy amount of dmg, it can’t spam LS fast enough.

Goodbye Joytoy ;( It was my precious, meant a lot back at 75, but it’s golden era is over ;( Joytoy sucked now Q.Q

Some other random fact with this setup:

Last stand is only good with capped, or very high pDIF.  So BRD attack song is pretty much must have on top of chaos. Since COR have very little attack boost ability besides chaos roll, you need every attack and def down you can possibility get.

However, you also need capped haste for TP, which means you either need embrava, 4 song BRD, or 2 x BRD rotating pt to get enough attack. Due to how hard it is to get 4 song BRD, I believe after embrava nerf COR output would drop a lot due to losing song slot for attack song, on top of losing regain on embrava since regain benefits 1h weapon more.

Sucks that COR DDing is more attack striving than any other job. No other DD job require this amount of attack/def down support to do well. MNK WAR has crit-hit WS, SAM has shoha, DRK has lots of attack, RNG has higher attack than COR also. NIN BLU all got crit-hit WS. Although DRG also suffers from low attack, it has angon to offset the disadvantage.

COR only has light shot dia def down enhancement ;(

But advantage is advantage, and it’s necessary to abuse it for most optimal output.

So if someone uses Dia, COR/WAR should always follow with a light shot period.

Sucks that ppl in VW always likes to overwrite dia with bio……………….

Need to tell ppl stop using bio in VW especially prov unless it’s confirmed to be proc ;(

Another random fact, I don’t use QD if I’m meleeing with capped haste. All that JA delay for such small dmg and TP just doesn’t seem to worth it.

Anyways, I tried spamming last stand on prov watcher instead of WF a few times, I’m pretty certain that melee for TP and spam last stand, is better than spamming WF with a staff on none firesday. Last stand can hit 3k+ on watcher easily with that much SV BRD songs, even 4k+ if your BRD’s pimp and ppl do def down properly.  And I can’t reliably hit 3k+ WF unless on firesday and lucky that no WF got resist, or got lucky with fire shot bonus.

My highest was 4.1k on dragon, although I probably can’t do that high anymore due to WS at melee range, and sacrificed more AGI for racc to land it.

Now current list of “need to work on” items for my COR:

HQ T.abj hand/body/feet.

I honestly can’t afford body atm and don’t know anyone can T1 D; Hands may be easier to get though, I know maybe 3 ppl that can T1 it.

Feet is low priority for me now, I have NQ and going to stick with it for a while.

Mythic.

Honestly can’t see a damn situation where it pulls ahead of Arma 99 unless I’m kiting something and still dealing dmg with QD blink macro, especially recently when I found out using QD with capped haste meleeing isn’t a good idea…less reason to use a high QD dmg gun now. On top of this job’s natural low TP phrase % D; SO SAD THAT MYTHIC SUCKED SO MUCH.

But still want. Not going to sell my soul to finish it though, Mythic sucked, sucked so much. And will suck unless SE gives dmg boost to dark shot, or if there’s even 1 damn situation I can get free AM3 without having to sacrifice 1 precious WS.

MK.

I didn’t spend time to play with spread sheet for nothing, I want to try it out myself instead of listing everything on paper. High priority!

Elemental Obi.

I have fire/darkness/ice and that’s it, hard to see other element being useful tbh, low priority I guess.

PDT- waist.

Too broke to afford, but I’ll try my best D;

Meeble acc back piece

If I’m going to melee in prov, I may as well take it seriously and cap my melee acc. High priority, but meeble cool down is shit, going to take FOREVER ;(

A.Omega /ra pants. Honestly, sidegrade to Mirador due to lack of STR and lower acc. But wanted to test rapid shot effect on it D;

Your relic and it's value

After chocobo blinker nerf and all that inevitable shit storm on official forum(official forum has been shit storm since day 1 btw), I can’t help but find it funny at how majority of player acting as if SE will kill this game with several nerf hammer. And as if SE hand out gil and gear to everyone, the game will keep running forever because everyone is happy.

Player base response:”Nooooo, I can never afford a relic/mythic anymore!” “Noooo, now the game is going back to lv 75 era when only rich ppl own a relic, majority of player can’t afford it!!”

I guess time to talk about the factor of relative value in FFXI.

If ppl can calm down,  and rethink, then look at things from bigger picture.

Does nerfing chocobo blinker makes everyone more broke? Most likely not for average players.

Atm there are ppl posting on forums, with SS of capped gil on multiple characters. Obviously those players have multiple relic/Mythic, owned 10+ account, leech cruor at work/sleep, then bot NPC all of them and convert cruor to gil when they work/sleep too.

They make millions and millions of gil everyday. And those gil went to economy, everyone else’s gil devalue.

The fact is, if you ever try to convert cruor to gil pre-nerf with just 1 character, you will find it’s less gil per hour than dyna/salvage/ADL. Thus I rarely make gil from cruor. Unless I have events, I usually play about 2hr a day and I don’t bot. If I go to dyna, I make more gil than warping back and forth turning those cruor to gil, so there’s no way I’d convert cruor to gil when I can make more gil in dyna.

And average player should be in same boat as me(honestly, I know more fish botter than NPC blinker botters), I don’t know a whole lot of player that actually can abuse cruor/gil enough to gain huge advantage of it. Most ppl probably just convert small amount of gil here and there for some extra cash. Compare with afk leechers/NPC blinker players, it’s pretty small lost. And once all item price go down,  those who doesn’t abuse cruor NPC with multiple account and bot will get biggest benefit.

If you don’t own multiple account, don’t NPC blinkers with bot, then other ppl who is currently doing it, will devalue your gil and make you more broke. Thus chocobo blinker NEED a nerf. Chocobo blinker, does nothing except encourage botting and paying 120$ a month for all characters(although you can probably make real money back by selling cruor gil, but that’s another discussion)

Now on to relic.

Some ppl argue that the game is “better” if everyone is rich, can afford a relic, and happy ever after.

However, they did not consider the value for the relic(or mythic/lv 99 empy, expensive weapons in general) compare with the amount of player owns it.

In this game, there will always be a gap between super rich higher tier player, average middle-class, casual player with less money, and new player without 1 lv 99 job or just ding lv 99 yesterday. And there will be content with different difficulty designed for different ppl. Thus serious hardcore player do hardcore content, casual player do casual content etc.

Back at lv 75, only super rich higher tier player have a relic. Some average middle-class players can maybe afford one if they grind for many years.

Back at lv 75, maybe 1% of player base has a relic. Majority of endgame player doesn’t.

Now that more ppl have relic. Super rich player have multiple relic, average player maybe have 1 or 2. Casual probably will work on one slowly, some are almost done with 1 or 2.

Now that majority of endgame player taking endgame seriously, probably will have at least 1 relic for their main job. The playerbase with a relic, is undeniably higher than it used to be.

Thus everyone’s relic just devalued because more player has one.

Now that next thing, and typical SE forum reaction will be “ZOMG you’re just elitist! Why can’t every casual player own a relic! You just want to be an unique snowflake!”

However, they did not factor the game content balance and it’s relative difficulty, which is tied to the population of players with relic.

I’m going to be blunt and say this, atm, if some jobs doesn’t have certain relic/lv 99 empy/Mythic, that job is not going to perform properly in harder endgame  such as legion hall of Mul.

Those jobs are: WAR needs Rag for MS zerg, Rag MS zerg is just way too OP nowaday.  DRK needs Rag, this weapon is just too good. BRD needs lv 99 empy harp(and it’s more of an impact once embrava nerf came, due to needing extra song slot for march) DRG needs Rynohige, DRG without Rynohige has little value as a DD. RNG needs relic gun/bow, the main strength of RNG over another melee DD is low enmity ranged WS and no reason to use it over another melee(although in the case of legion hall of Mul, buffed last stand may work).

And too an lesser extent, PLD benefits greatly from Aegis too. Oh, should I start talking about weaker DD such as SAM MNK, pretty much need lv 99 empy to catch up to average DRK for endgame today?

However, back at lv 75, no job “require” relic/Mythic to beat endgame content. When I did Einherjar with Sinister, only Saber has relic. When I did with Escaflowne, the only relic owner(who is a PLD) doesn’t play PLD in T1~T3 chambers. When I did with many endgame event with different LS, usually entire ally has 0~1 relic.

Now if I enter legion hall of Mul, BRD has relic, DD x5 has relic or empy 99, PLD has relic. The amount of relic in ally is slightly higher than 75 era.

And what happen is that SE already know about it, and will balance the content difficulty based on the percentage of relic owner. So if 1% of player base has relic, the the mob won’t be as hard. If 5% of player has relic, then the content will be more difficult because players are stronger. If 10% of player has relic, then the content will be even more difficult, and relic or gtfo if you want to do this content. SE already know players will enter Mul with an ally of relic owners, like how they know that players will utilize PD/embrava zerg strategy. They already know players will bring Rag WAR MS zerg, or Ryunohige DRG spamming Angon, or empy 99 BRD singing 4 songs, or PLD with Aegis, or relic RNG that generates little enmity to all current endgame events. Now Mul is at a difficulty that if you didn’t enter with an ally of multiple relic/empy 99 owners(and doesn’t gimp in skill/other slot of gears), you will have a very hard time. And Voidwatch, is at a difficulty that if your DD isn’t empy DD or merit WS DD, you will also have a very hard time. All Average Joe has a relic, just makes relic less valuable,  doesn't make average Joe rich nor pimp. 

SE hand out items to casual or middle-class players, does not make those player “pimp”, does not make them more powerful, and does not suddenly make content more accessible to everyone. Middle-class player will stay as middle-class player, 75 era or not. Casual will stay as casual, lv 75 or not. Content designed to only beatable by a group of serious dedicated endgame player, will never be friendly to casual player even if relic become obtainable. I still kick relic casuals that doesn’t parse high and no proper PDT-/MDT- set in event, or tell them to job change to mage jobs.

Hand out relic/empy 99 to players, will just make relic/empy 99 a requirement for harder endgame content, nothing more and nothing less.

Thus I found it extremely funny that players on SE forum often bitch about couldn’t get items because they’re casual. Unless all game content are designed for casuals and force everyone to be equal (which isn’t good for a MMORPG too), casuals will never really gain a benefit from getting items hand out to everyone. GL trying to clear legion hall of Mul wave 3+ with a group of none-relic/Nyzul F100 gear players.

Sure, getting relic for everyone makes everyone happy. But the connection tied to other players devalues it and you aren’t really becoming more powerful when comparing with game content and other players. That’s why I’d say chocobo blinker nerf shitstorm, on top of “omg I can’t finish a relic anymore!” comment is nothing but irrational reactions.

P.S(and douche mode on): Oh and btw, my empy  99 gun value just went up a little due to less profit from spamming VW and less ppl doing it. Should I be happy? :D It devalued pretty bad in past 3 months when surplus of 85k hMP sitting in bazzar cuz everyone spamming T3 VW   D;

But hey, empy 99 gun already have no value when I mainly pull in legion ;(

When all those hMP should have go to a harp or ukon 99 ;(

;(

My gun ;(

Nerf storm

For the past 2 days, SE been handing out nerf hammer in FFXI, 1st there is chocobo blinker nerf, then planned PD/embrava nerf.

To sum up some observation regarding chocobo blinker nerf:

Chocobo blinker botters and ppl afk leech cruor will get biggest hit.

Empy lv 99 value may go up due to less ppl interesting in doing VW.

Honestly though, I(or any player doesn't afk bot/leech NPC cruor) should* get benefit from chocobo blinker nerf. Personally I never find it possible to take advantage to make gil due to my way of playing this game. I only have 1 account, with limited inventory space, on top of I don't bot, it's less gil/hr than dyna/salvage/ADL for me, thus I rarely convert cruor when I can spend my playtime to solo salvage/dyna for more gil/hr. Chocobo blinker affects those who leech cruor at work/sleep with 12 accounts the most, and NPC them while sleep/work for capped gil. Now that majority of item should get cheaper for everyone, I see ppl with 1 account, or newer player should get biggest benefit.

So fish bot nerf when??? ;D


As for embrava nerf, it's pretty major hit for legion, on top of SMN now actually require capped skill to be useful. Making legion ally will just be harder, to a point that -10% HP can never compensate.

Last week in 1.0

One more week until we going to say goodbye to FF14 1.0.

Due to how hard to even put together a pt to do anything atm, I decided to try to grab all the tele point in 14.

I dragged Ager to travel with me. Personally I found it funny that he still called me "Afa" in 14, despite I used a different name. And if I call him his 14 name, he lold at me.

It's certainly an unique experience, to play with FF11 friend, and still calling each other names in 11.

We head to many dangerous areas while sight seeing on the way, riding our choco. Tunnel full of lv70+ bombs, giant bridge and epic waterfall, empty fort invested with monsters. And mobs that one shot me with 3.5k dmg on the way and needed his raise D;

We travel together,watch the scenery, chat about random subject(since I haven't seen him in 11 for ages), laughed at his female char ;D

Those are something I can no longer experience in 11, when I traveled to damn every places in 11, and able to kill every mob on the way with no danger.

And yet if it isn't because of 11, I will never do such thing such as adventuring with an old friend.

FF14 is an extension of 11, in a way.

Once upon a time I had such experience, when I first did rank 5 story BCs, travel to cold northland, which was a lonnng walk. Once upon a time I gained sea access after months of CoP static(and Ager was in it too) before CoP cap removed, and "OOOO" when we reached sea. But now it's no longer the same. Now it's log on, solo salvage or dyna, make ally for VW or legion.

I started 14 to start a new MMO, with new identity and play with new ppl, and it ended up become part of 11 experience, pretty ironic huh?

Either way. One more week until 1.0 shuts down, hope I can clear last GC quest I need by then D;