Need a second opinion from the NINs. (Magic defense related)

[Aribeth]

I'm interested in the effectiveness of the -magic dmg gear as well as the resistance gear for pld against wyrms. I've tanked them with a pretty standard setup (nothing really beyond hrotti for tiamat and such). I'm interested in how effective full builds of resistance gear are in these situations. Could you elaborate a bit more on your experiences Aribeth??

With my Coral build, I take consistantly 157 dmg from his air breath attack (152 with Carbuncle Ruby) with about 15% of them being 1/2 resists for 80 or so dmg and every once in a while a 1/4 resist. This of course doesn't factor in Shadow Ring (which procs at least 1 in 10 times).

Of course, Winraf (our aegis pld) affords the same luxury but he sits all the time in his koenig gear while I swap.
Also due to Shell V, I've swaped in more MDB and Emnity. When I was a baby PLD with no defending ring or shadow ring, it was all Magic Damage Reduction.

I don't believe Hrotti affects that dmg. It only affects his "breath" WS that he does on the ground. I use Terra's Staff on the Ground and Durandal/Kaiser Shield in the Air. Once again, I used to use the Palmerin's Shield when I had lesser equipments.

Also realize that the distance between you and Tiamat when he does his air breath attacks affects the dmg you take. In the rare event when I am kiting he does a mere 34 dmg to me.

Later tonight/tomorrow, I'll make a little site with more specific info on my PLD/WAR builds.

I think in the end no matter what Tank style you do, having a magic dmg reduction and/or resist build is a 100% must if you want to become an expert tank. For PLD and WAR, magic dmg reduction works very well. For NIN and WAR, using sky gear to build magic resist works well too. Ohh if PLD could use Suzaku's Sunate and Kirin's Osode!

[kisada]

I'm interested in the effectiveness of the -magic dmg gear as well as the resistance gear for pld against wyrms. I've tanked them with a pretty standard setup (nothing really beyond hrotti for tiamat and such). I'm interested in how effective full builds of resistance gear are in these situations. Could you elaborate a bit more on your experiences Aribeth??

I think in the end no matter what Tank style you do, having a magic dmg reduction and/or resist build is a 100% must if you want to become an expert tank. For PLD and WAR, magic dmg reduction works very well. For NIN and WAR, using sky gear to build magic resist works well too. Ohh if PLD could use Suzaku's Sunate and Kirin's Osode!

you know, i think pld can actually achieve more fire resist gear than a ninja can. i'm pretty sure you can hit over 300 resist and put yourself in the same category as ninja (or better) for air damage negation.

[Lyramion]

Lyra how is NIN/BRD? I saw Tyche mention that you were using it on Tiamat? Sorry if its the wrong person; but I think I remember him mentioning your name specifically.

The Mazuruka topic might be better for this question but its a Flash vs Stun derail atm so here it goes:

I usually Co-tank Tiamat with 2PLD/NIN.

NIN/WAR I tanked about 20% of the time
NIN/DRK I tanked about 50% of the time
NIN/BRD I tanked about 70% of it

With NIN/BRD I also require no Viruna, no Balad/Refresh, can use my MP for Cassie/Intruders, dont make our paranoid BLMs even more paranoid by spamming Tiamat with Magic Stuff like Stun, Sleep, Bind. NIN/BRD got hate back after Roar in 1 Flight. You can see Mazuruka as a Warcry on a 12-13 second timer.

Only downside of NIN/BRD is when an AOE hits you while you sing and you cannot recast Utsusemi as fast as with other combinations.


As of now NIN/BRD feels incredibly broken and almost like cheating. You basically dont need any enmity+ and even the greatest noob NIN could hold hate as long as he doesnt die.




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On topic I did tank Bahamut V2 today. It was my first time and we barely won. The roars always dispel 4 Buffs including food. Carol and Barfire are easy victims for it. I died 3 times total.

First was a Silencega > Normal hit > Flare. Second time it was a Flare without having HP healed full. Third time he resisted Stun and hit with a Firega > normal hit > Wing.

My fire resist gear is good but not top notch like Kenshins. Out of 8 Flares I half resisted only 2 due to bad luck / missing buffs. Full magic down gear has first priority - then HP - then comes fire resist. Halfresisted Flares sure make nice screenshots but if that one unresisted Flare kills you it all makes no sense.

[Tyche]

Kind of a related topic, but totally off topic and not worth making a new thread over...

We found out today that you can still kill bahamut with the last wyrm out. Dont know if that was known info or not (or assumed), but at 30% with one wyrm left, we had like 7 minutes left due to 2 tank PT wipes, my fault im sure. BLMs zerged it from 30% to 0 in about a minute, a PLD invincibled jormungand (the last wyrm) while the BLMs burned bahamut down. Jormungand then just "fell to the ground"...twice on everyone's log.

[Lyramion]

I think first whipe was my fault since I dint park my ass int the wall. If you park your ass into the wall all of Bahamuts Push Back WSes (Wing Touchdown) dont actually move your position and you can still cast Utsemi while the animation of your character shows you getting tossed around.

Like said it was my first time in this BC - next time it be easier >>;

[Kandykanez]

Hmmm... maybe MND is for halfresists whereas INT boots the direct number?

Just some wired theory no solid claims or tests

That's what I learned when I was a noob, and I never really bothered to question or test it. I used to be one of those BLMs that cast Shock to lower the mob's MND so I'd get less 1/2 resists.

Judging from an RDM's perspective, with low elemental skill and constant nuking... I always always always nerf more on BLM mobs than I do on WHM mobs. I'm set on MND having absolutely nothing to do with elemental damage resist period.
It also lends to the idea that elvaans have the highest physical strength, 2nd highest resistance, and highest magic defense... and that just seems imbalanced. (b/c everything in this game is so balanced anyway... )

[Grey Jorildyn]

Magic Def. Bonus gears is out in droves now.. Lamian Kaman, Lamia Mantle(+1), Globnius Ring, Unfettered Ring(Leujaom Sanctum), and Resolute Belt(Periqia). This stuff is great for any of the wyrm fights as swap gear. Focusing on resist works well for Tiamat and coupling that with a good MDB set is awesome. It significantly reduces damage in flight, and you can swap in enmity for stun and swap back, which is what I do. I don't remember exactly how low I've been able to get my damage, but I haven't acquired either ring (though i'd probably only try for the unfettered), or the belt yet. The best part is MDB is universal to all magic. I used the same gear swaps for a JoL last Sunday and I was able to reduce Thundaga III damage below 600 damage and other paladins were taking ~1150 each cast.

[RKenshin]

On the topic of Barfira, I remember someone took some time to make a detailed list of all the gear he/she found that each of the jobs could equip with the most +fire.. I think I remember PLD being able to get the most.

I know off my head NIN can get about 186 max, and I think PLD was like 188 max or something.. It was really close.

But, in either case bringing fire resistance up that high is kind of pointless. Once you break like 310-320 resistance with equipment+barspell+carol, you're already resisting at about 95% (the cap) of the time and the extra +fire is just there to look pretty. Much better off putting -magic taken or MDB in place of +fire once you get to about 150-160 from equipment. (assuming you have properly merited/equiped support)

I don't even have max +fire gear and I hit 350 barfira with buffs with 169 +fire from gear, so I substitude in -magic/MDB for about 15 points of +fire.

Btw, while also on that topic, Phalanx II is <3. I get hit for 1-3 damage an attack in the air now, with Firagas/Wings/Blasts for 5-8 damage.

[Kandykanez]

Btw, while also on that topic, Phalanx II is <3. I get hit for 1-3 damage an attack in the air now, with Firagas/Wings/Blasts for 5-8 damage.

Is that with a fully meritted Phalanx II? How much damage reduction is it? I've unlocked it, but I'm actually thinking about demeritting it to cap Slow II.

[Krandor]

Phalanx II is like a free D Ring. I think any RDM who is more often then not in the tank party for HNM fights should very strongly consider putting extra merits into it

[Kandykanez]

Phalanx II is like a free D Ring. I think any RDM who is more often then not in the tank party for HNM fights should very strongly consider putting extra merits into it

Point taken, but I've found that it's mostly an MP sink for blinktanking, which is what we tend do most on tougher fights. I suppose I'm just having trouble figuring out what to invest more merits into since capping Slow II.

[RKenshin]

I think that's only level one Phalanx II. I'm not sure off my head, but geared properly I think that fully merited Phalanx II takes off 23 points of damage? Something like that... I'm pretty sure that level one is 17 points though.

I agree with the post before that if you're often a tank PT RDM then it's very very useful to have.

I think most of the RDMs in my LS go for 3x Slow II, at least 1x Phalanx II, and either use the other two on capping Phalanx or on Paralyze/Bio/Dia.

[Kandykanez]

Is it really only 17? That's a bit disappointing. I believe with my max enhancing setup @ 299skill, Phalanx I absorbs 27 damage. I figured Phalanx II would absorb at least that much with the same equipment.

[Rocl]

Is it really only 17? That's a bit disappointing. I believe with my max enhancing setup @ 299skill, Phalanx I absorbs 27 damage. I figured Phalanx II would absorb at least that much with the same equipment.

You would think that. BUT BZZT WRONG >.>

[Kandykanez]

Most people would just burst my bubble Rocl, but nooo...
You had to go and capture it, tie it up, gather its friends & family and slaughter them one by one while it watched, THEN burst it.

[FFXIFlux]

Phalanx II is like a free D Ring. I think any RDM who is more often then not in the tank party for HNM fights should very strongly consider putting extra merits into it

It's like a free d.ring that costs MP to upkeep, requires a RDM to do, and can get dispelled. And then only on mobs that are hitting you for 200ish damage. 200 damage mobs are aura statues, thats an XP party. When you get to 600 damage mobs, Phalanx II isn't a d.ring.

[Kurp]

Phalanx II is like a free D Ring. I think any RDM who is more often then not in the tank party for HNM fights should very strongly consider putting extra merits into it

It's like a free d.ring that costs MP to upkeep, requires a RDM to do, and can get dispelled. And then only on mobs that are hitting you for 200ish damage. 200 damage mobs are aura statues, thats an XP party. When you get to 600 damage mobs, Phalanx II isn't a d.ring.

Eh, Fafnir and such are in the 200 range. It's pretty damn nice against everything. Taking less damage without having to give up any equipment slots is great. 20 damage per hit adds up over the course of a long fight.

[Pacha]

Thx for the info Aribeth and Robert, good stuff

[Lyramion]

Ya faf is 200range but after the Shield Skill update PLDs reduce that dmg even better so Phalanx 2 is even stronger as a percentage on shielded hits