Optimal Cape farming!

[Erlayn]

After I spent the weekend farming capes in Marj. I ended up with War, Rdm and Blu mantles, none of which I can use. Totally wish SE gives you the option that allows you to trade the cape once to someone. I found a Blu, Rdm and War who were out hunting for their respective mantles this weekend.

[Sechs]

I might be wrong but I don't think it's gonna happen.
Seeing from another point of view, capes are not just another item reward, it's a way to keep players doing Reives for a long time or, hopefully, a longer time than they did on the previous content patch.

This is probably why they put so many capes with completely random chances, to keep you "trying". While you try you're gonna keep doing reives, and while you do you're gonna keep the colonization system alive.

Pretty shortsighted solution to the core issue, but it's gonna work for a while.
(doesn't change the fact that basing a whole expansion THIS much on the colonization system was probably not a pretty wise choice, from a game design point of view. Unless, of course, your goal was to "burn" the little life FFXI has left in it with lots of shinies and a big, huge, awesome bang, instead of carefully putting fuel inside the engine and making it keep working as long as possible)

[dannyl]

Ya... I said that on page 1

[Sechs]

Credit to dannyl for entering my brain and letting me type my previous post then.

[Tarage]

It's funny because on Ragnarok, Colonization is at 99-100%. It's even more funny given that none of the outposts are built because no one can flag the supplies quests.

[dasva]

It's funny because on Ragnarok, Colonization is at 99-100%. It's even more funny given that none of the outposts are built because no one can flag the supplies quests.

I think it's funny how Ravine over here is around 100% last I checked by the weald is at like 21% lol. Apparently a bunch of jps got together last night and did yumcax... but it was weird cause I saw nothing in shout that could be construed as that in the autotranslate or google. Only reason I found out about it is cause a friend was doing a quest over there and noticed the zone was lagging and then noticed like 400 people in zone and jumped in real quick

[Damane]

I think it's funny how Ravine over here is around 100% last I checked by the weald is at like 21% lol. Apparently a bunch of jps got together last night and did yumcax... but it was weird cause I saw nothing in shout that could be construed as that in the autotranslate or google. Only reason I found out about it is cause a friend was doing a quest over there and noticed the zone was lagging and then noticed like 400 people in zone and jumped in real quick

I think the reason why the wield is so low is:
1. frustrating to navigate (lets be honest the map is shit)
2. Reives are ore more spread out
3. Less reives etc
4. mobs there seem to be more annoying/harder.

Its Foret and morimar all over again!

[dejet]

So like right now there are 18 people, is that safe to say someone is doing colonization in the weald? most of the time that number screams delve? but I dont think you can do delve there yet, right?

[Rhiannon2]

I might be wrong but I don't think it's gonna happen.
Seeing from another point of view, capes are not just another item reward, it's a way to keep players doing Reives for a long time or, hopefully, a longer time than they did on the previous content patch.

This is probably why they put so many capes with completely random chances, to keep you "trying". While you try you're gonna keep doing reives, and while you do you're gonna keep the colonization system alive.

Pretty shortsighted solution to the core issue, but it's gonna work for a while.
(doesn't change the fact that basing a whole expansion THIS much on the colonization system was probably not a pretty wise choice, from a game design point of view. Unless, of course, your goal was to "burn" the little life FFXI has left in it with lots of shinies and a big, huge, awesome bang, instead of carefully putting fuel inside the engine and making it keep working as long as possible)

I don't know, I actually think it is a pretty decent solution to the Colonization system and will put the needed fuel inside the engine to keep people working at the two new areas for awhile.

What is the one question every FFXI player asks themselves before doing an event? It's "what's the reward?" Although this might be a somewhat cynical viewpoint, that makes it no less true. The Colonization system was never going to thrive by appealing to the random player's innate desire to "explore" the frontier. They needed a long-term incentive. Players built up Yahse/Ceizak/Morimar's colonization until they got their coalition rewards, and until they got their Wildskeeper rewards/KI. Then they abandoned them and moved on to the next "shinies." There was no further reward or incentive.

If anything, it can be argued that Adoulin rewards people too quickly. Once you get the initial 6 Delve KI's, it is just a matter of joining a few plasm groups to get an item of choice. Then you can just buy Airlixirs off the AH, which have been severely devalued due to Fracture Boss runs, to upgrade it instantly. Some groups can farm hundreds of thousands of plasm and cap out needed drops in the space of a couple days to a week or two. Ask the people doing the Fracture Bosses what is left for them. The answer will be "farm plasm for future added items and charge scrubs for Boss KI's to line our pockets for the future."

In the end, I don't mind the random nature of the cape farming because it ensures the zones will thrive for awhile. However, I DO mind that the drop rate for ANY cape can be low and inconsistent based on participation in the Reive. I don't need to have a way to guarantee my cape after participating for a couple hours. I DO want more consistent rewards than Pebbles or Iron Sand, which is just insulting.

[Malithar]

Nah, no Delve. TBH, I'd lean towards it being random explorers, people doing quests and missions up there. They might work together to take down a reive in the way for ???s and stuff, but I wouldn't count on any dedicated effort. SE kinda neutered the zone for reive farming, only 4 colonization reives, and I think 4 or 5 lair reives. :/ Now that we've got good maps out and about, the bushes aren't as annoying as they were at the start, but the true sight pompets in the NW are quite frustrating.

I don't need to have a way to guarantee my cape after participating for a couple hours. I DO want more consistent rewards than Pebbles or Iron Sand, which is just insulting.

That so, so much. I mean, we're farming bayld regardless, so we're getting something for our time. but the item rewards should still be useful. Maybe I'm just forgetting, but I really can't think of any MMO that's approach to an endgame casual event is handing out lvl 1 junk that has literally a value of 1 gil.

[Yeager]

I've been doing Reives in Marjami Ravine off and on for the past week, and I have nothing but Pebbles, Velkk Masks and Necklaces, and Iron Sand to show for it.

Looks like my shitty luck towards drops is rearing it's ugly head yet again.

[Tarage]

I found as soon as I started Astral Flowing, I started getting capes. It's probably just random luck but I'm sticking to it.

[In Flames]

I got a double cape drop on my first morjami reive as WHM. It only lasted about 5 minutes with 20 or people there I'd say, long enough for me to get ~4 evaluations. I didn't do much apart from throw out cures/haste/pro/shell. Done a couple reives since then but they've had a good 30-40 people in and have been raped within 2-3 mins, no luck on those.

[Yeager]

I got a double cape drop on my first morjami reive as WHM. It only lasted about 5 minutes with 20 or people there I'd say, long enough for me to get ~4 evaluations. I didn't do much apart from throw out cures/haste/pro/shell. Done a couple reives since then but they've had a good 30-40 people in and have been raped within 2-3 mins, no luck on those.

That's the problem I'm experiencing. Reives are over in 2 minutes or less. Hardly any time to get any Evaluations done. And when people speak up trying to get people to not attack the wall right away, they get called gimp and get laughed at.

[dasva]

That's the problem I'm experiencing. Reives are over in 2 minutes or less. Hardly any time to get any Evaluations done. And when people speak up trying to get people to not attack the wall right away, they get called gimp and get laughed at.

Well without someone on the wall you wont get anything. Part of the problem is there are just too many people. So you either try to kill mobs that die before you can engage or hit a wall.

[Malithar]

Well without someone on the wall you wont get anything. Part of the problem is there are just too many people. So you either try to kill mobs that die before you can engage or hit a wall.

This is why I take War/Sam to this shit when there's tons of people. MS FC spam ensures you get a decent chunk of bayld and items. Too many come jobs that are more suited to a slow paced Reive, and with so many people, it'll never go slow. /say, /shout, /tell all you want, people won't stop hitting the wall because if they do, they're not going to get shit. Adapt to the situation (tons of people fucking up the wall) and either take part in it to ensure you yourself are getting rewarded, or sit back and QQ about all the one's killing the wall while you hit your mobs a few times before they die.

[dasva]

So I've decided to try something new. Been afking on bst in dho gates. Basically a couple of spots safe where you hide behind the wall. 1 Decently geared bst ( a couple of BA merits with augmented AF2+2 hands, brethern/aalak axe, addon head with haste, af2+2 legs with familar and adaman with pet haste takes down 1 set of roots completely afk in about 40-50 minutes it looks. While 2 super gimp bsts, one is 95 no gear, the other is 99 with af2 gloves but no merits no weapon just addon head/body combine take the other one in about the same amount of time.

Now it's not exactly good time but you are afk and can get cape and in that time I got 3.4k baldy so faster than completely afk at a reive. As far as afk pets altenator pup probably be 10X better cause bst kinda got jipped with the pet increases hell smn might even be better but I don't have those lvld let alone geared so this is what I do. Actually got smn cape one of my characters first try.

Plus there is hardly anyone ever there.... so can always get evaluations though if someone else was doing that would probably be even better

[fantasticdan]

This is why I take War/Sam to this shit when there's tons of people. MS FC spam ensures you get a decent chunk of bayld and items. Too many come jobs that are more suited to a slow paced Reive, and with so many people, it'll never go slow. /say, /shout, /tell all you want, people won't stop hitting the wall because if they do, they're not going to get shit. Adapt to the situation (tons of people fucking up the wall) and either take part in it to ensure you yourself are getting rewarded, or sit back and QQ about all the one's killing the wall while you hit your mobs a few times before they die.

You realize if everyone 'adapted to the situation' and zerged the walls on well geared war/sam in crowded reives, no one would get items, including you, right?

[cdgreg]

So I've decided to try something new. Been afking on bst in dho gates. Basically a couple of spots safe where you hide behind the wall. 1 Decently geared bst ( a couple of BA merits with augmented AF2+2 hands, brethern/aalak axe, addon head with haste, af2+2 legs with familar and adaman with pet haste takes down 1 set of roots completely afk in about 40-50 minutes it looks. While 2 super gimp bsts, one is 95 no gear, the other is 99 with af2 gloves but no merits no weapon just addon head/body combine take the other one in about the same amount of time.

Now it's not exactly good time but you are afk and can get cape and in that time I got 3.4k baldy so faster than completely afk at a reive. As far as afk pets altenator pup probably be 10X better cause bst kinda got jipped with the pet increases hell smn might even be better but I don't have those lvld let alone geared so this is what I do. Actually got smn cape one of my characters first try.

Plus there is hardly anyone ever there.... so can always get evaluations though if someone else was doing that would probably be even better

Which <pos> reive if you don't mind sharing. This is something I would do while at the PC, but working on RL work.

[dasva]

Which <pos> reive if you don't mind sharing. This is something I would do while at the PC, but working on RL work.

So far I've only done the one right inside of the foret zone in. It's at J-9. Now if you are on the entrance side of it you kinda gotta hug the wall on the east side of it till you get to an indent. But if you on the other side it's super easy just hide around hte corner. There is another one I plan on checking out might be good. Also if you die and have to hp or run out of the area from aggro when it's at lower hp you probably wont get cap and crappy final evaluation. Wish I could just control my guy long enough to start attack during work. Could get a good 4 or more reives done while at work with only attacking once... but meh

The other one is up north near cirdas entrance/exit. West side doesn't seem viable since the tunnel opens up for you to hide behind a wall a little too far and the velkk move far enough to you to aggro. East might work check when I can get status again



Edit: Yeah north one completely unviable. So have to wait for the hour repop on the other one. Still on the upside you can play around in the lower half the map the entirety of which is blocked off by that reive. Rather neet down there especially the ergon loci spot

Edit2: I supposed I could probably charm some IT+++ if I had a set to make it faster since the wall will die before familar over