Random Question Thread

[Velecic]

Thanks for the quick replys and the good link, going to read it now and try to understand more stuff >.>

EDIT : ok I read the links from that page and I still don't understand it... can someone explain how you relate attack & STR & weapon DMG as far as effectiveness goes? Sorry for the nooby question, but I don't understand the whole pDIF thingymabob

[Amele]

it's all there, but sometimes being walked through it helps.


there's two parts to damage calculation; the top level equation is:

Damage Dealt = Base Damage() * pDIF();

where pDIF is a random number generated based on your attack / mob defense. (there's more to it than this.)

Base Damage is: weapon D + fSTR() for a normal melee hit.

fSTR is a function of your strength and the mob's vit, and is approximately STR-VIT+4 / 4 for melee attacks when your strength is significantly higher than the mobs VIT.

this has an upper bound of weapon D / 9 + 8 (the 'wrank' most people refer to is weapon D / 9 ) this always rounds down (this is what floor() means).

pDIF is a function of the 'ratio' of your attack and the target's defense, modified by the level gap. (specifically for melee: ATT/DEF - 0.05*dLVL) this is called cRatio. Ratio is simply ATT/DEF

it isn't important to you how pDIF is calculated after that, for the purpose of getting the exact random number; since you're concerned with maximizing your damage.

pDIF will cap at a cRatio of 2.5 for 2h. (more or less)
for a mob that is ten levels above you, this is a Ratio of 3.0; so you stop seeing a benefit from attack once your attack is 3 times the mob's defense
(at merit levels this is closer to 2.8 so about 900~ if the mobs aren't debuffed)

[VZX]

Thanks for the quick replys and the good link, going to read it now and try to understand more stuff >.>

EDIT : ok I read the links from that page and I still don't understand it... can someone explain how you relate attack & STR & weapon DMG as far as effectiveness goes? Sorry for the nooby question, but I don't understand the whole pDIF thingymabob

see my FFXI Doc for now. The information is a bit outdated, but the concept is still the same. There is level correction, There is randomization.
When you pass a number into pDIF function, it throw you back a random number between range pDIF_min and pDIF_max

[Tajin]

On the topic off all INT merits or STR merits, just in my case is WHM and BLM as mains (i like to consider WHM as my main, even if LS uses my BLM more).
I'm also leveling RDM, and race is Elvaan, should i go 5INT, 3INT and 2MND or 5MND? Guess i cant go wrong with 5INT i'm just not too sure

[Amele]

rdm and whm will get more out of mnd than int
blm will get more out of int than mnd.

if you consider whitemage your main, I'd say you should be fine meriting mind.

once again though, int is the most obvious merit in that category (although mind is fairly obvious on cure V and stoneskin)

[Spekkio]

honestly, i've always said if you want to merit a stat and you don't know which one, go str. int is very useful for a blm, but rdm is about the only other job that will get hardly any mileage out of it. mnd is good on whm and rdm and for stoneskin on other jobs. str on the other hand is good for war, mnk, thf, drk, bst, rng, sam, nin, drg, blu, cor, and lolpup. considering the vast recyclability of str, if you plan on lvling more jobs, i'd honestly go with str. that's just my 2 cents though.

[Amele]

there's alot of people that only level support/mage jobs though; at which point str is basically useless. *shrugs* (I'd tend to recommend mind to mage players for similar reasons to strength) but there's nothing wrong with int or chr merits too.

[Spekkio]

oh no. i myself merit int b/c i don't have any melee jobs i intend to level seriously. i wouldn't want to deter people from doing the same, either. if i were aiming to be more well rounded as a player though, i'd probably go for the str merits, but being a 1 trick pony w/ my blm basically, int is the only sensible way to go.

[Saraphym]

either way just choose wisely for stat merits, because it really hurts to take them off
especially the last 3

[Kaope]

Is there a sure way to find out whether you have broken Subduer's latent? I've lost my count on the ws points....

[Doofus]

Is there a sure way to find out whether you have broken Subduer's latent? I've lost my count on the ws points....

Uhh.. does it do lots of dmg? I remember someone a while back told me that it does similar dmg to some weapon when broken... forget which, anywho parse crit rate? idk

It seems to me that with the huge dmg difference between broken and unbroken it would be obvious if it was broken

[Kaope]

Uhh.. does it do lots of dmg? I remember someone a while back told me that it does similar dmg to some weapon when broken... forget which, anywho parse crit rate? idk

It seems to me that with the huge dmg difference between broken and unbroken it would be obvious if it was broken

Was thinking in numerical ways, as in pre-break latent vs post-break latent on lvl 1 mobs numbers stuffs~ they should give different crit damage right?

[evilpaul]

Is the MNK AF3 NM soloable? I know it has a ton of HP, but if there's room I could Carby kite it and wear it down on SMN probably? I'm not too familiar with the pop area.

[Drunkenmonk]

i soloed him on mnk/nin when i redid af3, just clear the yags out before you pop, his acc is shit. there isnt much room to kite, maybe clear out the stairs just before his pop area and use a stronger avatar to kill faster.

[evilpaul]

NIN/RDM in Evasion gear might be viable then?

[Naphtali]

Does Moldavite Earring help absorb-tp? Been using it as I lvl'd DRK to 75 for second time (diff character >.>) and now that I'm 75 I'm debating.
Dark Earring & Moldy or Dark Earring & Loq. Earring !?

[Doofus]

Does Moldavite Earring help absorb-tp? Been using it as I lvl'd DRK to 75 for second time (diff character >.>) and now that I'm 75 I'm debating.
Dark Earring & Moldy or Dark Earring & Loq. Earring !?

Dark earring and abyssal earring, obviously

[Naphtali]

Obviously since I gave the options I had you should obviously use those options to answer.
Obviously I don't have abyssal or I would not be asking the obvious question of what earring to use...

Seriously if you can't answer the question just don't reply.. waste your own time typing it.

[Ferien]

Does the HQ mining gear have any effect on results, or is it just for the extra defense?

[Woozie]

It's not going to affect what you actually mine. Mining gear just decreases the break rate in pickaxes. I do a LOT of mining, and I personally haven't noticed much of a difference between NQ and HQ, which is why I eventually sold the HQ. However, next time I log on, I can write down the data for you to show conclusively whether or not the HQ decreases break rate more than NQ.