Solo Salvage Discussion

[Aemora]

my question is for silver sea 2 2nd floor ramparts that you're supposed to link to pop mnk fomors to trigger the rampart for fomor mnk NM. does anyone have a clearer explanation on linking them than what's on wiki? i managed to do it once by running at the 1st rampart as it was approaching the paired one in the corner, but haven't been able to reproduce it since. not sweating a few plans ultimately, but wondering if someone has a better method.

I pull the first two ramparts on the left without making them link (thus fighting DRK Fomor instead of three RDM and three BLM which I've found to be an instawipe). Then I aggro the third Rampart and pull it back, kill the three PLD that spawn. Because the Ramparts attack so slowly, you can put sneak up or use a Silent Oil or Jig after it attacks you, and run passed the fourth rampart, forcing it to spawn MNKs as it links with the Third Rampart. Kill everything in the final room which is where the NM Rampart also spawns.

This works perfectly for me as it'll unlock all stats and HP/MP, and spawns the NM.

[Streak]

I need to stop going to solo salvage so late at night. Three times in the last month I've fallen asleep or been too tired and made a bone headed decision.

Going as PUP/THF is fine and all, but when using SS as your automaton your only healing is regen from gear and role reversal. It's fine until you do something dumb like decide to skip using silent oil/prism powder/reraise and accidently aggro a huge a whole train on floor 3 arrapago First time I outright wiped in there so far, it was pretty embarassing.

The next phase of my plan revolves around two boxing TWO arrapago runs at the same time since each of my accounts can go on PUP and do it. I won't be able to full clear both, but a speed run for 2-4 linens a night beats spending 30 mins extra killing 32 gears for 32-35 alex.

[Eastaran]

I keep seeing people talking about pulling 2-3 of the triple gears in AR2. I've yet to be able to replicate this and always end up with all 8. It's never been a problem on BLU because I just WoR and sleep them.

I'm thinking about switching to pup for my runs though and would like to know how you only pull a few at a time =3.

[Wheeldog]

I keep seeing people talking about pulling 2-3 of the triple gears in AR2. I've yet to be able to replicate this and always end up with all 8. It's never been a problem on BLU because I just WoR and sleep them.

I'm thinking about switching to pup for my runs though and would like to know how you only pull a few at a time =3.

The one thing we noticed when doing those gears is that they will link with the rampart if he is on you, even though they don't move. You can also lose hate on the extra gears by kiting around the pillars in the room in a big loop but if they get back close to the rampart they will link and come for you.

[Fwahm]

It's random if you can pull only a few at a time; their pop positions and roaming is random, so unless you wait a good amount of time, you often can't pull only a few. I just kill them all simultaneously on red mage.

[Systematicchaos]

The one thing we noticed when doing those gears is that they will link with the rampart if he is on you, even though they don't move. You can also lose hate on the extra gears by kiting around the pillars in the room in a big loop but if they get back close to the rampart they will link and come for you.

I consistently only pull a few gears at a time (Because one is boring). Step one, kill the rampart. Step two, get away from the gears. Step three, get the gears you want. One thing to watch for though, is that under certain weather conditions gear aggro/link range is huge and you'll get all the gears anyway. It's pretty rare, but I imagine pup in ilvl PDT gear with a whm puppet should have no issues.

[Eastaran]

He usually pops the gears around 40%. Do you just stay on it to finish him off and then run away?

I imagine pup will be fine with whm frame, but I'm a noob pup and would like to build up to all 8 if possible =P

[Systematicchaos]

Usually he spawns them <25%, sometimes just above. I hold my TP to that point and finish him as soon as I see gears. Then I start moving out of their spawn area, sometimes I'll drag a few with me.

[Streak]

I do the 4x rampart with either SS auto or WHM auto. It's important to kill the rampart before it links to the gears or it can be a mess. I used to hold my TP and so on but I don't anymore. I know it will pop reinforcements before I kill it, even if I WS the whole time. Normally it pops the triple gears below 25% and nearly always I can finish the rampart before they become active and link.

The SS auto can hold all 8, though I may need to use repair once. I just pull one off the auto at a time. With WHM puppet I can hold all 8 myself but it's always more risky so why bother.

Though like most people it's my preference to pull 2-4 at a time, which is usually possible, and a lot safer. They die quickly, usually before they do a TP move.

[Psion]

I just go as blu and cocoon up, then pull all 8 and WoR/empty thrash/benthic them down. sleep? pssh, who needs it, they're pushovers.

[Damane]

He usually pops the gears around 40%. Do you just stay on it to finish him off and then run away?

I imagine pup will be fine with whm frame, but I'm a noob pup and would like to build up to all 8 if possible =P

are you missing ikvl 119 weapons? because i have to sometimes unequip thw weapon before it dies so it gets summon mive off. this is the case for any melee job i went in

[Eastaran]

Missing 119 sword on BLU. That's why I'm considering switching to pup. Have Oats at least.

[Streak]

I should try going on BLU for some variety. Sounds like fun I tried it in Bhaflau but Cerberus was too tough. Given how much weaker Khim is, BLU should steamroll it.

[Systematicchaos]

I do the 4x rampart with either SS auto or WHM auto. It's important to kill the rampart before it links to the gears or it can be a mess. I used to hold my TP and so on but I don't anymore. I know it will pop reinforcements before I kill it, even if I WS the whole time. Normally it pops the triple gears below 25% and nearly always I can finish the rampart before they become active and link.

If you do weaponskill, be sure you aren't using shijin spiral, or that virus effect can prevent any weaponskills from happening. I did this once, never again.

[Hoshiku]

It's very easy to kill the ramp too fast with oats on (I try to unequip them around 30%). When I used to THF for AR2 the rampart was usually within 1 ws of death when the triples popped.

[Streak]

It's very easy to kill the ramp too fast with oats on (I try to unequip them around 30%). When I used to THF for AR2 the rampart was usually within 1 ws of death when the triples popped.

Yeah this is ideal. You want to WS and kill the rampart ASAP when the gears pop. Maybe it uses reinforcements for me just in time because both me+puppet feed it enough TP by 25%. The puppet does less damage but still feeds it TP, effectively giving the mob more TP per damage taken.

I agree that for the ramparts in Bhaflau, they will die too quick to pop anything if you Oats them. The ones in AR2 seem a bit more sturdy though.

It's actually advantageous if you can have 100 TP and oneshot the ramparts in Silver Seas in a few places. They use reinforcements as soon as you aggro them, but if you WS right away you can one shot them and they will die before the animation finishes and no mobs will pop. For example, the 4x ramparts room on floor 1.

[Sechs]

What's the best zone for Alex?

I still don't see any consensus in answering this question on the first page, or did I miss something?
Which SJ would you use for PUP?

BRII => Good luck killing Cerb with PUP. Magic damage from the automaton won't be enough from RDM doll and if you use BLM one you will die from lack of cures. Could use RDM doll and Heady Artifice to kill NQ I guess. Bit risky with Ululation though.
SSRII => Would need careful positioning of the doll against the 2 Dvergrs. If your puppet isn't fast enough in dispelling curse/mdefdown then you might get fucked very fast. Dunno, Dvergr stills cares me, I get nightmares from the days I used to heal on SCH
ZR2 => Uh... I fought Hydra only a few times back in the days. How hard would it be? I remember its triple attacks being the most dangerous thing? Which shouldn't be that big of an issue with ilevel gear, maybe just slow kill if he gets physical shield spammy.
ARII => Should be able to kill the chariot fast enough I imagine. As for Khim I don't know, back tanking with /NIN? Would fulmination still be that bad?


Are v1 Salvo zones that much worse? Could they be an option for newbies with bad gear?
ZR probably not an option because of the retarded NM pop conditions and the 4k needles, but other zones should be fine? PUP or BST should easily tear through SSR and boss, AR would probably be the easiest. BR could be messy on the 4th floor and boss.

I've tried pup but never solo. The puppet utterly destroys the Dvergr boss

NQ? HQ? Which configuration? You just stay at range with pet gear on? Divinator necessary?

Also- fighting khim from the back eliminates his fulmination

Uhm... You sure about this?


Also I'd love a bit more feedback on ARII ramparts. I remember those reinforcement-popped gears to hit pretty hard (the AoE TP move especially) at legit level 99 pre-SoA. Would PDT ilevel gear (Otronif?) be enough these days to survive with a WHM automaton healer?

[Prothescar]

NQ SSR is still viable for Alex if someone is undergeared or otherwise unable to clear a T2 zone. BLU can solo most of them, not sure if SSR would be reasonably doable though; Dvergr is a piece of shit even with iLvl gear. A badly timed Nercrobane + T5 nuke will likely destroy you. Hydra, Cerb, and Khim are no problem though provided they're debuffed and you keep some defensive buffs active, Cerb being the hardest of them.

And no, fighting Khim from behind does not cause it to stop using Fulmination. It shouldn't be a major issue when it goes off, however I imagine a few paralysis procs in a row on your puppet could make things interesting if soloing on PUP.

[Delayed]

No, now that I look back I may have just gotten lucky with tp usage..
I did one the other night and he used it, but he kept turning around on me too so I may have to redo it and find out for sure.
I did ssr2 on Sunday and I couldn't figure out how to link the ramparts correctly to pop the nm- I don't even remember how my old group did it.
The HQ dvergr was annoying with its spell spam, it's curse/paralyze move ->aga3 was a pita and owned me thf/dnc.
I had flash backs to the initial release and not liking the fight very well at that time either..

[Prothescar]

You need to just pull one of the ramparts and then sneak up and run it through one or two other ones, can be a pain in the ass since it deaggros fairly easily, but isn't so difficult overall. Worst part will be dealing with 2~3 ramparts and all of their fomors which could be troublesome when solo.