Random Question Thread XVII: Toy Surprise Inside!

[Koyangi]

t2 smn merits, after capping heavenly strike, whats next best 1 to put points into

[Jem]

^ Eh, even with Future Fabulous & Shell 5 it was hitting pretty hard. But then most players are garbage and we had people feeding him TP instead of on pots, weakened people scattered all over getting caught by AoE etc etc...

Makes me long for the pre-ToAU days when you actually had to know what the fuck you were doing in a PT. All I can say on the matter is thank God WHM is so damned easy to play with Atma (and /SCH - still seeing way too many WHM/BLM or WHM/SMN these days. SCH is NOT HARD TO LEVEL PEOPLE). I use MM Ambition & Rescuer, works pretty well. I thought about Allure but seems pointless given how little hate Cure 5 and 6 generate, unless someone has a better set up?

You're exaggerating the difficulty of Rani here imo. Yes it's not easy mode like most of Abyssea but it isn't anywhere near as hard as everyone makes out. As long as your tank has PDT/MDT gear and shell is reapplied then they're never really in danger of dying and you can just kite on charm. And she only starts getting bitchy when her -DT starts cranking up (It seemed to me that it increased either proportionate to Stygian Sphere usage or to damage absorbed) which you can reset by abusing fluxes/zoning (Obviously only viable if nobody will steal her). Meteor shouldn't one shot anyone.

Strategy wise I'd suggest 2 Seigan DD tanks (or even a PLD) with 3k+ HP and PDT/MDT sets. Only have 1 of them on her at a time with the back-up accumulating hate from a distance. Kite her on charmga. Use SMNs/CORs/RDMs/BLMs as DD's and make sure they actually time their damage. COR we used said that he never caused her to absorb with QD so they're pretty good damage options. Reset her -DT if necessary/capable but this only seemed to be a problem when we fed her excessive TP and/or healed her excessively so may not be necessary once people get to grips with her. Without the -DT her HP goes down pretty quickly.

Or of course you can brew her like everyone says but she really isn't anywhere near as hard as people seem to be making out imo.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Best Ascetic's Fury setup? atma and gear

Just recently got RR/GH/etc, and never really used it before abyssea. I've seen it posted already I'm pretty sure, but waded though pages of search results without finding it. Thanks

I second this motion. 100+ pages of digging isn't easy.

[Fereydoon]

t2 smn merits, after capping heavenly strike, whats next best 1 to put points into

Whichever looks nicest to you. I unlocked all but grand fall and put two into wind blade. You'll probably use HS the most anyway.

[Koyangi]

Really stumped on nin t2 choices, capped raiton: san, what's next best choice(s)?

[Guitarman]

I second this motion. 100+ pages of digging isn't easy.

As much str as you can load up on ws. either VV/RR/AO (alpha and omega) or VV/RR/SS will do wonders. im hitting 3900 fairly often with that combo, highest 4760.

[ccf]

You're exaggerating the difficulty of Rani here imo. Yes it's not easy mode like most of Abyssea but it isn't anywhere near as hard as everyone makes out. As long as your tank has PDT/MDT gear and shell is reapplied then they're never really in danger of dying and you can just kite on charm. And she only starts getting bitchy when her -DT starts cranking up (It seemed to me that it increased either proportionate to Stygian Sphere usage or to damage absorbed) which you can reset by abusing fluxes/zoning (Obviously only viable if nobody will steal her). Meteor shouldn't one shot anyone.

Strategy wise I'd suggest 2 Seigan DD tanks (or even a PLD) with 3k+ HP and PDT/MDT sets. Only have 1 of them on her at a time with the back-up accumulating hate from a distance. Kite her on charmga. Use SMNs/CORs/RDMs/BLMs as DD's and make sure they actually time their damage. COR we used said that he never caused her to absorb with QD so they're pretty good damage options. Reset her -DT if necessary/capable but this only seemed to be a problem when we fed her excessive TP and/or healed her excessively so may not be necessary once people get to grips with her. Without the -DT her HP goes down pretty quickly.

Or of course you can brew her like everyone says but she really isn't anywhere near as hard as people seem to be making out imo.

Not to quarrel with you , but I think you neglect certain portions of both how people play and the mob itself that makes this mob tough.

1. Lots of people do not own a pdt/mdt set and with a lack of good mdt atma, a tank who is caught with no shell can eat the dust just like that.

2. You really do need 2 whm at least that are on the ball, reapplying shell/haste/-na and also not overcuring. Abyssea refresh has made lots of mages extremely wasteful with their mp and you do pay for it in this fight if it goes on long.

3. Bard that is relentless on finale, certainly not your I'll sing four songs and afk kinda of bard. This in itself is IMO one of the most important part, if you let pro/shell/march/haste stay on her , it makes the damage by the tank slower and of course the tank also takes damage faster. Thereby resulting in almost a very long fight.

4. Last of all, if duration of fight goes on, people's attention will start to fade and that's when you end up with silly error that could cost you and a wicked cycle of prolong time.

So yes, for a good competant and know what to do group, she's likely more of a nuisance than a threat but let's face it how many good and competant group do you really know exist these days?

I do think, if you don't have a decent mdt set for tanks, rdm with proper buffs etc can stand inside to help reduce the damage on -aga and help the tanks survive.

[Bootykilla]

Took break about 2 months ago cuz of new job and now I'm back. I am wondering what the new "ideal" setup for WAR would be in Abyssea. I am working on RR and VV atma's atm. I am also working on WoE GA, almost done with coins, working on path.

My current TP setup is http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/180023

[Gabai]

ideal? goading belt, stp body (aurum or af3), tactical mantle, hoard ring, +2 those feet and legs, white tath, rose strap is what has been talked about. Basically going for a 5 hit with gear along with capped haste. Atmas being SQ, RR, VV (SQ lets you swap out stp gear out and keep 5 hit once you get it)

right now (as in once you have rr/vv)? ditch the pole grip for claymore, if acc is capped switch body to perle, ravager's orb should be easy enough to get and maybe something else i'm missing.

if you don't have rr/vv yet I guess keep using that set until you do.

wb

edit: reworded, stp on sq is a lot more than i thought

[Cairthenn]

Not to quarrel with you , but I think you neglect certain portions of both how people play and the mob itself that makes this mob tough.

1. Lots of people do not own a pdt/mdt set and with a lack of good mdt atma, a tank who is caught with no shell can eat the dust just like that.

2. You really do need 2 whm at least that are on the ball, reapplying shell/haste/-na and also not overcuring. Abyssea refresh has made lots of mages extremely wasteful with their mp and you do pay for it in this fight if it goes on long.

3. Bard that is relentless on finale, certainly not your I'll sing four songs and afk kinda of bard. This in itself is IMO one of the most important part, if you let pro/shell/march/haste stay on her , it makes the damage by the tank slower and of course the tank also takes damage faster. Thereby resulting in almost a very long fight.

4. Last of all, if duration of fight goes on, people's attention will start to fade and that's when you end up with silly error that could cost you and a wicked cycle of prolong time.

So yes, for a good competant and know what to do group, she's likely more of a nuisance than a threat but let's face it how many good and competant group do you really know exist these days?

I do think, if you don't have a decent mdt set for tanks, rdm with proper buffs etc can stand inside to help reduce the damage on -aga and help the tanks survive.

Two works: Suck less.

[Roundelk]

What's the best NM to hunt Coin of Wieldance and Card of Wieldance? Can the NM be low manned with say 6 people?

^

[Jememy]

Do master caster brc. work in abyssea?

[Koyangi]

Really stumped on nin t2 choices, capped raiton: san, what's next best choice(s)?

To add to this, good route for complete warrior t2? Already have 1 in Tomahawk and Warrior's charge.

[Esvedium]

With Kamome being the default off-hand for Ninjas now due to the +10% crit damage, would a Dominion-augmented dagger with 6+% crit hit damage be worth off-handing for THF or DNC? for a DD set? Base dagger is D:35, and I've seen as high as +6% crit hit damage, +7 damage, just not on the same dagger. At what point would it out-do a STR Kila+2 if I'm main-handing a DEX Kila +2? I assume with RR/GH/DD inside Abyssea the crit damage would be a nice bump up, but would it ever be worthwhile outside of Abyssea, where you're not getting 90%+ crit hit rate?

...or should I stop wasting my Dominion Notes on these daggers and use them for something else for my dnc/thf/nin/mnk?

Anyone...?

[TheDirtyHobo]

To add to this, good route for complete warrior t2? Already have 1 in Tomahawk and Warrior's charge.

Don't know too much about the NIN route, but for WAR I would recommend 5/5 Warrior's Charge, 5/5 Savagery. Unless you do Sea/Einherjar/WoE a LOT on WAR, that single Tomahawk merit is going to be wasted. If you really want to keep it unlocked, shave a point off of Savagery.

[Fluid]

Don't know too much about the NIN route, but for WAR I would recommend 5/5 Warrior's Charge, 5/5 Savagery. Unless you do Sea/Einherjar/WoE a LOT on WAR, that single Tomahawk merit is going to be wasted. If you really want to keep it unlocked, shave a point off of Savagery.

Semi-related, does anyone know if Tomahawk works on the various Uragnite NMs?

[Stromgarde]

What is the deal with the Martello upgrade quests? I've tried it across multiple zones and it seems that east can be any random direction depending on when you click it. Is there any surefire way to get a guaranteed max return?

[JustaWAR]

Just got NIN to 75, few questions regarding gear/merits. It's going to mostly be used for soloing KIs.

How should I merit it? I guess capping Subtle Blow is a given, other than that I'm not too sure. For combat skills, I have 12 free spots, cap Evasion/Parrying then throw the rest into Katana?

What does a typical evasion set look like? In regards to gear and atma.

Is there a difference between Evasion and Evasion Skill?

Thanks.

[Rooney]

What is the deal with the Martello upgrade quests? I've tried it across multiple zones and it seems that east can be any random direction depending on when you click it. Is there any surefire way to get a guaranteed max return?

After it tells you to examine it from the east, when you get back into the menu it will say "Upgrade from xxx direction". Exit out of the menu, go to that side of the martello, and upgrade it there. Should be max return everytime.

[Cairthenn]

Spoiler: show

http://www.gwcdn.com/albums/images/4...089c000da5.jpg

Anybody else notice weakness not procing if Abyssite of Discernment does?