BLU vs Imp performance.

[shukuffxi]

Apologizing in advance for this long ass post:

Every BLU I talk to seems to have a slightly different style of Imp soloing. Different spell setups, different gear setups, and especially different merits, etc... I'd like to figure out what would be sort of the "optimal" setup for BLU soloing Imps for myself.

I generally merit at the Khimaira camp. This is generally what I use, keep in mind this is my first melee job, most of my merits are mage, and i'm working on finishing BLU Job Specific and general merits. Other jobs I have at 75 are: RDM, WHM, BLM, SMN. RDM would be my main.

Relevant Merits: (Hume M)
4/8 MP (Going for 8/8)
5/8 Sword Skill
3/4 Critical Hit Rate+
5/5 Physical Potency
0/5 <stat> merits, still can't decide which to go.
Magical Merits are taken up by my RDM, so I won't ever have Blue Magic merits, and don't have much information on how useful they are for Physical spells.

Food used is almost always Sole Sushi.

TP Gear:
Main: Dissector
Sub: Ifrit's Blade
Throwing: Death Chakram
Head: Homam Zuccheto (Due to space concerns, I have O.Hat/Turban)
Neck: Chivalrous Chain
L.Ear: Suppanomimi
R.Ear: Minuet Earring / Loq. Earring (Working on Brutal Earring)
Body: Homam Corazza
Hands: Jaridah Bazubands
L.Ring: Jaeger Ring
R.Ring: Venerer Ring (Fire in the Sky refuses to drop a Woodsman)
Back: NQ Amemet Mantle
Waist: Swift Belt
Legs: Nashira Seraweels / Vendor's Slops.
Feet: Homam Gambieras.

Casting Gear:
Head: Voyager Sallet
Neck: Chivalrous Chain
L.Ear: Suppanomimi
R.Ear: Minuet Earring / Loq. Earring
Body: Magus Jubbah
Hands: Custom M Gloves (Gigas Bracelets available, but I prefer these mostly)
L.Ring: Ruby Ring
R.Ring: Ruby Ring
Back: Commander's Cape
Legs: Nashira Seraweels / Vendor's Slops
Feet: Homam Gambieras (Marine M Boots out of price range atm)

Magic Hammer Gear:
Main: Light Staff
Head: Magus Kefiyeh (12,000/20,000 Yigit Turban)
Neck: Promise Badge
L.Ear: Static Earring (>_<)
R.Ear: Moldavite Earring
Body: Errant Houppelande
Hands: Devotee's Mitts (0/20,000 Yigit Gages)
L.Ring: Tamas Ring
R.Ring: Sapphire Ring
Back: Rainbow Cape
Waist: Penitent's Rope
Legs: Errant Slops
Feet: Errant Pigaches

Solo setup with Magic Hammer:
Head Butt
Frenetic Rip
Hysteric Barrage
Disseverment
Refueling
Plasma Charge
Actinic Burst
Magic Fruit
----------------- Up to here, these spells are always on for solo, 32/45.
Magic Hammer (4 points)
Sound Blast (1 point)
Heat Breath (4 points)
Sprout Smack (2 points)
Bludgeon (2 points)
----------------- If not using these, I'll put in a mix of Clear Mind / Conserve MP and maybe 1 more STR spell (Uppercut or something)

This setup gives Accuracy Bonus job trait, as well as Magic Atk. Bonus.

While I realize some of the gear is not perfect (Missing 2 pieces of Homam, and HQ Rings instead of NQ, gil is tight, and I hate dipping too low for a job I tend to only use for solo merits and very few LS events) it's as good as I have availble.

With the Magic Hammer setup, I generally hit Chain 4-6 solo, 5~6 depending mostly upon where the pops are/how fast I can get them back to a safe area to start casting, and if my Magic Hammer was resisted. I generally solo Imps as follows:

Pull > Head Butt > Sprout Smack > :Ichi > Disseverment > Head Butt >CA > Frenetic Rip > (Imp TP move around now) > Hysterric Barrage > Head Butt or :Ni > depending on how much HP remaining, I use an appropriate spell (This is why Bludgeon is in the setup) with Head Butt spam in between. HP remaining at this point ranges widely from 35%~15%.

On 2nd pull, the only real difference is when I get back to camp I hit Burst Affinity > Magic Hammer, unresisted for the most part, for 210~MP, and again on 4th pull. (Higher once I get some extra Yigit and HQ Light Staff)

My problem seems to be, that my "big 3" physical spells can be highly undependant at times, and I don't know if that's just their nature, or lack of gear/merits on my part.

Disseverment averages 650~700. Sometimes dropping as low as 450, and sometimes as high 850~900.
Frenetic Rip has lows in the 350s, highs around 550, average is around 400-450. CA tends to make it 650-750.
Hysteric Barrage has the widest margin, sometimes dropping to 300, but averages 450-550.

I tend to get the damage I stated as "average" about 80-85% of the time I'd say, which leaves a noticeable margin of kind of gimped damage for 10-15% of the time, meaning I have to cast an extral spell to keep chain, and lose more MP.

So what i'd like to know from other BLUs: What different spell sets do you use? Some prefer stacking Clear Mind as high as possible, others like to melee more. What gear/food do you use with different spell setups? How much does Blue Magic Skill merits effect your Physical magic, more attack/accuracy? Especially sword selection for different setups, would a Wing Sword+1 be better for flat out spell spamming, or the Perdu sword for better Acc. All of this, in regards just to Imp solo obviously, as other XP mobs/HNM/etc will require different setups and gear.

[ono]

Here is a recent thread that might interest you:

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17196

Some talk of gear set-ups, swaps for spells, etc.

Kind of OT, but doing Proto-Omega tonight. If Homam hands drop they're mine outright, and if feet drop, I'm in a pool of five that get to lot them. Both pieces will replace gear I used on BLU currently; Homam hands replacing Dusk Gloves and Homam feet replacing Mountain Gaiters.

[shukuffxi]

Yeah, I was looking at that thread, the part that seemed to be missing was exactly how people differently handled Imps, I got the feeling that some people liked to melee to 100% TP and attempt to MB Magic Hammer, but I find landing Magic Hammer mid fight can be difficult. By the time you have TP, the mob probably also has TP, and unlucky JA lock or Silence can screw it up, or a Poisonga/Sleepga as you go/put up shadows, which is why I try to just use after pull (pull from far, get back to camp, BA+Magic Hammer while the Imp is still a decent distance away since Magic Hammer has OK range) and hopefully only lose 1 shadow before you're free to Head Butt/Ichi again.

Since I am spell spamming type instead of adding in more melee, would a Wing Sword +1 be better than a Dissector's 6% crit rate? I find after a point, no matter how much +STR/+DEX I add, the additional damage is very minimal. If Blue Magic Skill is kind of like "Attack" for Physical Blue Magic, then I am stuck since I can not raise Blue Magic Skill, and my damage can not go up, and perhaps I should get a Demon Slayer since an intimidation or two will probably help a decent amount. I'm intrested in these kind of things ^^

[Jeryhn]

It sounds like you're having accuracy problems with your Big Three Physical spells, and it looks like you're macroing out a decent amount of accuracy when casting spells. Try finishing off your sword merits ASAP.

I'm not sure if there have been any conclusive results on Dissector and its critical hit rate effecting Blue Magic spells. What you really should do is look into the new Perdu Hanger that was released this last update, but that requires Chief Sergeant rank. Until then, maybe replace it with Demon/Devil Slayer ofr Wing Sword +1.

[shukuffxi]

How much +Accuracy would you suggest on those spells? I'm sitting @284 Sword Skill (BLU Cap + Suppanomimi + 5 merits), Accuracy Bonus job trait (That is like +10~ Accuracy?), +11 Accuracy from gear, and if DEX counts, around +12 from there, and of course, Sole Sushi. How much more accuracy would you suggest, considering these are only VT~VT+ mobs?

Removing Warwolf Belt and putting on Potent Belt? Or maybe just the last 3 Sword Skill merits? I was working on last 3 Sword Skill, but atm some other merits take priority >_< Perdu Hanger I am working on, have plenty of IS, but alot of ranking up, and I am more focused on getting AP currently. Demon Slayer as well seems like a really nice option, but it's something like 1.5M on my server, but I should probably get a HQ Light Staff first to make Magic Hammer better.

[Tonko]

There have been test for crits & BLU spells, dissector does not help. It's a worthless weapon for BLU now. Even if it did help, it's not worth loosing the other benefits that the other swords would give you.

Main hand: Perdu Hanger, always. This sword is SO good, it rediculous.
Sub: Ifrits for everything but Imps. Get a Devil Slayer, the intimidation proc is such a benefit for soloing imps.

My strat for soloing imps is pull with Lamiabane, run out of range of spell, Headbutt on Arrival, Frightful Roar, Heabutt, reapply Ichi, HeadButt, Diss, Melee with HeadButt everytime it's up tossing in Bludgeon as main damage spell, with Frip if MP is good or Chain is high, Self Distortion every time I hit 100% TP and CA is up and unlocked, and BA Magic Hammer everytime recast on magic hammer is up, regardless of how much TP I have (unless it's just very close to 100%.)

Always get to Chain 5 this way, and i don't run out of MP unless something goes horribly wrong.

[Suiram]

Since Dissector's usefulness got brought up, there's something I've been meaning to ask. Not regarding its effect on blue magic, but rather the deal with mainhand/offhand crit bonus. I know the general consensus is "KS30 weapons only receive a crit bonus in the hand using it, that's why Destroyers are so good because you get the same bonus in both hands, blah blah blah". But doing searches here and elsewhere I have been unable to find the source of that belief, and I was wondering if anyone remembers who it was that originally (or subsequently) tested it, and if you could direct me to the data from those tests.

[aurik]

Since Dissector's usefulness got brought up, there's something I've been meaning to ask. Not regarding its effect on blue magic, but rather the deal with mainhand/offhand crit bonus. I know the general consensus is "KS30 weapons only receive a crit bonus in the hand using it, that's why Destroyers are so good because you get the same bonus in both hands, blah blah blah". But doing searches here and elsewhere I have been unable to find the source of that belief, and I was wondering if anyone remembers who it was that originally (or subsequently) tested it, and if you could direct me to the data from those tests.

Search on the KI ninja forums, for senj/fudo topics. There's some decent data there which indicated such.

[Judai]

My Magic Hammer still seems kinda weak for some reason so I go with a Clear Mind set-up atm. I hit Chain4, sometimes 5. I've gotten better lately though and have been pumping out around 9-11k an hour solo though. I can prolly get better but I need some more gear and merits. I used to try and TP/MB Hammer and it was hard, so I started to try and just use MHammer without MB and it's a little weak atm, so I switch to resting strat.

Merits
1 Sword (only room for one more because of MNK and SAM)
3 Crit Hit (only help on melee hits tho)
2 Blue Magic (all I can do because of BLM and I gimped EleSkill for them..)
2 Physical Pot.
2 Magic Acc.

Melee/Headbutt (I usually just melee in Head Butt gear since I spam it so much)

Swords: Demon's/Ifrit's - Demon Slayer is a godsend. Get one.
Head: Turban/Ohat - Switched back from Homam to Ohat for Head Butt and like it.
Neck: PCC
Body: SH/AF
Hands: Dusk Gloves - Want Homam;;
Belt: Swift
Pants: Vendor's - Want Homam;;
Feet: Homam - Want Denali now!
Ears: Brutal/Loq
Rings: Rajas/Woodsman
Back: Boxer's

Disseverment/Frenetic Rip

Head: Voyager's
Neck: ChivChain
Body: AF
Hands: Creek Mitts +6 STR
Belt: Potent Belt
Pants: Vendor's
Feet: Homam - Want Denali now!
Ears: Brutal/Loq
Rings: Rajas/Woodsman
Back: Forager's

Spell Set is:

Head Butt
Frenetic Rip
Disseverment
**Acc Bonus
Self-Destruct
Frightful Roar
Actinic Burst
**Auto-Refresh
Refueling
Magic Fruit

Zephyr Mantle
Chaotic Eye
**Conserve MP
Poison Breath
Lowing
Awful Eye
Filamented Hold
Sandspray
Venom Shell
**Clear Mind 3

So far this has been more consistent then M.Hammer set-up for me. Hopefully after I get some more merits in BLU I can switch to M.Hammer.

Pull> Head Butt> F.Roar> HButt> Ichi usually> HButt> Disseverment> HButt> CA FRip> Ni: usually> HButt> repeat with spells until dead Imp.

Usually takes 2 Disseverment and a CA Frip to kill. Sometimes I need an extra Frip. FRoar makes the spells hit alot more consistent imo. After I just rest and repeat. If I'm lucky on Conserve MP and hits I can get Chain 5, if not Chain 4 easy unless they screw me.

[shukuffxi]

I've noticed a few BLU seem to TP with a Boxer's Mantle on, do you find it to be that effective? These are VT, and our skill caps in Parrying and Evasion are nothing too awesome (210, and 220 respectively). Do you find it a much better option for TPing in, or just an "I have it so I use it" like it seems with BLUs and Homam Zucchetos ^^;?

I guess overall an Amemet Mantle +1 or Forager's wouldn't help our sword swings -that- much (+25~ Attack if coupled with an Ifrit's Sword) since we don't stack +Attack in many other slots, not to mention Swift Belt has -5 Attack. I knew I could only afford either an Amemet Mantle +1 or Forager's Mantle or Commander's Cape, and since most of my damage comes from spells, I opted for the Cape, especially as it's a bit cheaper than a Forager's Mantle on my server.

[Jeryhn]

I've noticed a few BLU seem to TP with a Boxer's Mantle on

Stop there. They are idiots.

[Judai]

I've noticed a few BLU seem to TP with a Boxer's Mantle on

Stop there. They are idiots.

Man you are just a moron sometimes. You do know this is solo talk so all the Imps attacks are directed at the BLU, right?

I'm a PLD so all my skills are pretty much capped in regards to evading. Imps being VT, you have a better chance at evading then if they were higher. So even smaller boosts to evasion skills helps.

+10 Evasion and +10 Parry does more for me and surviving then +3 STR +15 Atk imo. In the whole Stun Lock and spam spells process, I really don't hit many times anyways. I think it's better to evade a few extra attacks then it is to hit for like 5 extra damage sometimes. I use my Forager's for spells and WS's anyways (I'd rather a commander's but I don't feel like adding another item atm and Forager's comes from MNK and SAM).

I don't get near 100TP on an Imp usually so what's the point of adding a few damage to my sword hits? The extra damage from Forager's would add maybe 100 damage to my total hits? Where as one extra parry or evade could potentially save my life.

The Zuchetto thing you might have gotten from my post in the other thread and I stopped using it, lol.

[Jeryhn]

I've noticed a few BLU seem to TP with a Boxer's Mantle on

Stop there. They are idiots.

Man you are just a moron sometimes. You do know this is solo talk so all the Imps attacks are directed at the BLU, right?

Yea I do, but the mantle might actually matter vs. VT-IT mobs if your skill caps weren't so low to begin with.

This is like saying a BLM chooses Abyssal Earring because the +5 Scythe skill is godly.

[Judai]

So 210 and 220 is low when fighting VT mobs?

Abyssal earring was a stupid comparison because BLMs don't melee.

WARs' Sword(250) is only 30 points higher without any gear and yet their supposed best melee weapon is a Sword. DRKs' Sword(240) is 10 levels lower then WARs'. DRK's Club is 220 btw.

All these weapons are used on Kings/HNMs and such which are much higher then VT-IT mobs. So shouldn't they suck as well?

[Jeryhn]

So 210 and 220 is low when fighting VT mobs?

Abyssal earring was a stupid comparison because BLMs don't melee.

Wasn't an ideal comparison, I'll give you that.
Couldn't think of anything better at the time.

WARs' Sword(250) is only 30 points higher without any gear and yet their supposed best melee weapon is a Sword. DRKs' Sword(240) is 10 levels lower then WARs'. DRK's Club is 220 btw.

All these weapons are used on Kings/HNMs and such which are much higher then VT-IT mobs. So shouldn't they suck as well?

The difference being is that there are other pieces of gear or even food to compensate for this. For instance, is Ridill a bad weapon by itself to be using on an HNM? Yeah, but you got sushi to compensate for accuracy losses for using a lower-ranked weapon, and it might not hit as powerfully as a main weapon, but the traits on Ridill or Kraken when paired with a particular strategy (for instance, Homam + Souleater) is what makes them such powerful items in capable hands.

Take a BLU soloing. You got a bunch of MP, Accuracy, and Haste gear. Macro in STR for spells. You might parry an imp's attack once or twice during soloing it, is it more likely it's because of your base skill or because of the Boxer's Mantle that added a piddily 10 skill to a low skillset, and you are wearing no other gear to help supplement it?

Its about focusing on your strengths instead of trying to cover your weaknesses. That's what Utsusemi is for, and why its so powerful.

[Judai]

I still sub in the Forager's for spells, so all I am doing is boosting two stats while i hack away at an Imp for TP. Really, the only thing I want is to parry/evade their attacks and keep utsu up until my next spell is up anyways. I really don't care about marginally boosting the 4-5 attacks I hit with my swords inbetween spells.

I can understand not using it and I wouldn't tell anyone to rush out and get one. I just don't see how you can say someone is a moron for using it. I personally think I parry and evade alot more then the other BLUs I duo with, so I think it helps.

[Jeryhn]

Okay, now take that line of thinking and apply it to this:

What's more likely to help you out?

+3 STR and +15 Attack on the 4-5 hits you land on the mob in between spellcasts? Or +10 evasion and parry on the mobs that's not likely to miss an attack on you because those native skills are so low, when you are actively trying to Stun-lock and blink away its attacks?

It's a pretty clear answer.

[Judai]

Yea, neither matters much. They are both small bonuses.

So I'll take survivability over something that I am not relying on to kill the Imp. +3STR +15 Attack is pretty minute for sword hits as well. Would you rather deal 5 more damage or possibly evade? I don't know about you but I evade/parry alot and it has saved my ass several times, whether it's the mantle or not.

[shukuffxi]

What kind of #s do you two (or three, I don't know if Jehryn is a BLU?) get with Disseverment / Frip / CA Frip on Imps? I'd like to be able to hit 800-900 Disseverment more frequently than I do.

And neither of you list Sprout Smack, but both use Frightful Roar? I find the Slow on Sprout Smack to be actually really helpful with casting Ichi over Ni, and I guess would be more helpful over all if your style leans more to more melee swings.

As for as evade/parry vs Imps, if the parser can see that, i'll get some results next time. I do know that I see more than a few parries every hour, but i'm not sure a Boxer's Mantle would up the # significantly. The back slot feels a bit week for BLU Imp Solo overall. Would a Settler's Cape not be pretty good for this? They run fairly cheap on my sever, but i've never seen anyone with one on, probably because most people prefer getting their +Acc in other slots and using Forager in the back slot?

As for Demon Slayers, any advice on how to actually get one? They are rather rare on my server, I only know of 3 (screw you Shok :() I spent about 5 hours yesterday trying to mine up some ores, without any luck. Is the drop rate in the ISNM Compliment's to the Chief any good? I heard from multiple sources that the desynth rate from Lamian Armlets are pretty shitty too. Easier maybe to just buy the materials as they pop on the AH?

[fantasticdan]

Don't bother with evasion gear, really not worth it. Even against the VT imps at khimara spawn island, with 4 evasion merits, boxers mantle, AF boots, SH, actual evasion rate is still very poor, parry more than I evade, and parry is only like 170.

Priority gear wise is just str/acc/haste, I don't use magic hammer for solo. I prefer to just keep clear mind II and conserve mp set, and have a huge hMP setup. Imp will melee down 2 of your shadows during the casting time of magic hammer, and if you get hit and have to heal yourself, it's not very productive.

Start casting Magic Hammer ->The heraldic imp starts casting poisonaga/sleepga/firaga/thundaga. Also happened alot for me, so meh. If you really want to use magic hammer, the best time to cast it would be to get the killshot with it IMO, that way imp won't hit you afterwards after shadows are expended.

I prefer to just zerg 2 imps, rest, zerg imp, rest, etc. and get 9-12k hour with sanction no ring. No debuffs, just headbutt, bludgeon, and the three multihit spells. Occasionally use actinic burst incase of sleepga, poisonaga, stun resists, etc.

How much acc you need depends where you are, barely need any for spells in the regular section of the mire, but at khimara spawn they are a few levels higher, and have devent eva, so I use potent belt there over warwolf, and PCC over c. chain.