SMN job questions

[shihei]

well my questions is:
is there a way to know time left on your BP timer without having your pet actually out or using a RL timer?
does Astral Flow have different effcts if you are low mp? i used it once with carby at very low mp, he started searing light but didn't get it off and then he stayed out and my mp didn't go down with him out.
and Any useful macro's you use for smn beside the basic pet command ones?

[Zhais]

1. Nope

2. You need enough mp for Astral Flow to work. Your level *2 I believe it is.

3. I personally just use macros for summoning, then go into the pet commands manually for more control over BPs. Otherwise, if you want to macro say Shining Ruby:

/pet "Shining Ruby" <me>

or

/ja "Shining Ruby" <me>

[Naver]

I have on macro that contains the following:

/pet "Predator Claws" <t>
/pet "Spinning Dive" <t>
/pet "Flaming Crush" <t>
/pet "Chaotic Strike" <t>
/pet "Mountain Buster" <t>
/pet "Rush" <t>

This saves me 6 macros and contains all the Lv70 BPs in one. What'll happen is, ie: Ifrit is summoned, I use my macro, I'll get errors for the first two, but Flaming Crush will be used.

Astral Flow needs Lv x 2 worth of mp. so for example. Lv40 x 2 = 80mp, you need that much MP to use Astral Flow. Of course you should add in the summoning cost as well, so always rest up enough for Lv x2 + Summoning Cost.

And as for knowing the BP timer without having a pet out, all I can say to that is you have to "feel" it. Sort of how RDMs know when refresh is going to wear off, or WHM with regen, or WAR with their Zerk timers, etc.. Just play it enough to learn the 'feel'.

[Jer]

If you use the windower, Bloodpace is a handy thing, but the last time I used it was at the beginning of this year so don't know if it still works/around. Be careful though, some people will begin arguing this is a game-breaking functionality despite the fact it should have been included in the first place.

[Scythiroth]

The last time I tried using Bloodpace it wasn't working, probably a few months ago, and haven't tried it since. I kinda got a feel for about when the BP are ready now though, so I probably wouldn't need it anymore. It did help a lot though, but with the seperation of BP, it probably needs a new version.

[Sonomaa]

zerocast still works and its much nicer in my opinion

[Scythiroth]

zerocast still works and its much nicer in my opinion

Is that a windower plugin? Probably posted somewhere and I didn't think to check it.

[Swatt]

zerocast still works and its much nicer in my opinion

Is that a windower plugin? Probably posted somewhere and I didn't think to check it.

kinda. its not a plugin, but you need windower to make it work. can find it on the windower site.

[Scythiroth]

Hmmm, might check it out later, thanks.

[Rehont]

they updated bloodpace about 3 weeks ago. shows rage and ward timers now ... and pettp is a nice one too ... shows pet name HP% TP% and distance pet is from you ... again need windower for them to work as they are plugins

[Charla]

As for the astral flow thing, it requires 2 times your level to use the astral flow move, and if your mp drops below that before the animation starts, it whiffs and doesn't take the mp, but does blow the bp timer. Astral flow itself prevents mp drain from all avatars while the SP icon is up.

[Rehont]

While on the subject of summoners (and seeing as the OPs questions have been answered), have any of you noticed a bug where if you call for a bp and either you (for example healing ruby) or the mob (example predator claws) is out of range ... the ability doesnt go off but you still lose the mp for it? I havent concluded if thats an actual bug or SE's way of saying "Hey you screwed up with distance, so your punishment is losing the mp anyway! ha ha!!". Thoughts?

[Eraphiel]

While on the subject of summoners (and seeing as the OPs questions have been answered), have any of you noticed a bug where if you call for a bp and either you (for example healing ruby) or the mob (example predator claws) is out of range ... the ability doesnt go off but you still lose the mp for it? I havent concluded if thats an actual bug or SE's way of saying "Hey you screwed up with distance, so your punishment is losing the mp anyway! ha ha!!". Thoughts?

Same thing happens with WS's and TP. If you start the action and the mob moves out of range (there's a second or two between the move being 'readied' and firing), you're hosed. Not a bug, just a pain in the ass.

[Rehont]

yeah that is true ... didnt even think about the whole WS out of range losing tp thing ... then again I dont have many melee jobs above 20.

[Khamsin]

For those without BloodPace or ZeroCast, the next best timing mechanism until you learn to 'feel' it is the ingame clock.

Approximately 20 game minutes will pass before your BP is ready again, not counting -BP timer gear.

Watch the game time when you BP, and estimate in time to resummon and position, so you may want to summon at 15 game minutes past your last BP to have a few seconds to summon and position your avatar. You can adjust it slightly to your own -BP timer setup, or however long you think it'll take you to position your avatar.

Another thing I've done, even though I do have ways of telling exactly when my timer is ready, is immediately after BP and release, I will rest. I have just enough time for one tick of MP regen before I can stand up and resummon with my timer ready. This is a pattern I follow mostly on wyrms, if I bother to rest between BPs at all. Usually I can stand and BP 3x then rest all that MP back just during flight time. But for timing purposes, resting one tick equates rather well, too.

[loial]

When you download a copy of zerocast, be sure to read the first post in the Zerocast thread. The author updates the offsets necessary in that post and you'll need to make the appropriate change to your zerocast.ini file.

[shihei]

i don't play on pc so windower and its plug ins are definately out of the question.
Thanks for all the answers

[Rehont]

it was once said that if you flow with full mp as opposed to just over the 2*lvl limit ... you would do more damage .. which has been proven false. Barely over the limit or at full mp flow results in the basic same damage ... although range is a huge factor in the damage. Also, your flow cant be enhanced with Tp like other magical attacks can ... I tested it and sadly they cant.

For maximum flow damage (I have found anyway) is let the tank get 2-3 vokes in and make sure they are holding hate. Summon the avatar .. use AF but DONT tell it to attack. Telling it to attack seems to put a distance on the pact. Instead, run up to the mob so the avatar is right beside it then use your 2 hour pact. Always seems to do more damage for me being right beside it