BLU vs Imp performance.

[shukuffxi]

I was fooling around to see how well I could chain @ Khimaira camp as BLU/RDM. It turns out, not badly. Constant Chain 5, with some Chain 4s mixed in, depends alot on the same things srewing your chains up /NIN (Poisonga / Sleepga / Sleepga 2)

Protect II / Shell II @ start. Stoneskin > Zephyr Mantle > Cocoon > pull with a chakram. Dia II > Head Butt > Sprout Smack > Head Butt > CA Frip > Disseverment > Head Butt > HBarrage > fit in Bludgeon/Head Butt spam to finish it if it's under 20%, if it's higher, better to use a stronger spell to drop it to 5% or less. I would throw in BA+Magic Hammer on pull, or whenever it was up, very little fear of interuption from anything but Sleepga while casting it.

A few of the times I did this, I didn't take any damage at all, I really find Sprout Smack to be helpful, low MP, does some damage + Slow. Many times I would be able to Head Butt > <spell> > Head Butt without it hitting me after it unstunned from the previous Head Butt.

I tried using Frightful Roar a few times, and while it helps, it felt like I was trying to stack too many debuffs and taking too many hits while I was doing Dia II + Frightful Roar + Sprout Smack (Not neccesarily in that order).

Overall though, it was slower than /NIN, by i'd say maybe 1~1.5k/hr. My BA Magic Hammers were hitting for 220~ HQ Light Staff + Yigit Head and I had forgot my Devotees and I could easily see hitting 300 a pop. 300 damage and 300MP drained is really sickeningly good for all of 40MP.

It felt alot safer though at the lose of some XP/hr, and freed up some Set Points for other usage (Didn't need to put in anything to make MAB or Clear Mind, as /RDM gives both those traits, and removed Magic Fruit since I had access to Cure III.) I'm not sure if I was hitting the 350 cap on Stoneskin either, I was 62+53MND for 115. Fast Cast from /RDM was also really helpful.

The biggest problem with hitting a constant Chain 5 was often low MP and like 30 seconds to Magic Hammer, killing the chain by a few seconds. I am going to try again later, but maybe use a Swift Belt on Magic Hammer?

Gear used was pretty much idential to my first post, but kept the Loquacious Earring on full time. Before Chain 0 i'd swap into max MP gear for first set off buffs. Spell set was fairly similar, the big three spells, Head Butt, Bludgeon, Refueling, Sprout Smack, auto-refresh spells, Zephyr Mantle + Chaotic Eye for Conserve MP, Cocoon, random 2-3 points in STR I believe.

[Vhess]

I personally think I parry and evade alot more then the other BLUs I duo with, so I think it helps.

I believe Judai is correct. My filters prevent me from seeing just what is happening, but based on the number of times I get hit vs. the number of times he gets hit, I would say he is evading and parrying more than I am.

Of course, I am elvaan so my AGI sucks, which doesn't help evasion any; also, Jud's parry is capped for BLU (I think) while mine is 177.

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 ^^;?

Hey, I resemble that remark. I like my zucchetto. I enjoy wearing it.

For solo I usually use the same equipment I do for most melee situations, I don't really change anything for solo, though I have a set of eq to macro in for Magic Hammer as well. I like to use Hammer to open the fights, so I have time to cast it without getting hit and interrupted. This is easier to do in the Mire than on Hedive.

My spell set has been evolving somewhat. When I first began killing imps I would equip a lot of high damage spells and just zerg the imps. Later I started killing them slower, relying more on my swords and on sc to try and conserve mp for chain. This has proven to be a bit faster in terms of xp gained but a lot more dangerous; however, I think some tweaks to the spell set may allow me to keep the speed while reducing the danger. For example, I phased Sprout Smack out of my solo setup when I began zerging imps, but I'm going to be putting it back in now, which should help the survivability.

On the whole I have found solo, duo and trio to all be about the same speed in terms of xp/hr (with duo maybe being slightly faster than the others). However, duo or trio is vastly more relaxing, and therefore more fun, for me. I realize that's getting a bit off topic, but Judai and I have settled into a nice routine when we duo; I will self sc Savage Blade -> Disseverment on one imp for max damage and fast kills, and on the next mob he will self sc Savage Blade -> Cannonball and we both MB Magic Hammer. Then we just alternate mobs. It works out very well and lets us rest very little. Since he is taru he also has more mp and better Hammers, so he pulls, allowing me to rest a tick here and there to catch up on the mp. Works like a charm.

[Judai]

Yea, I used to use Sprout Smack and F.Hold but I took them out when I realized I could get my Utsu/Ni up ok without. When Solo I really just focus on not letting them hit me.

I checked last night and I evaded and parried several times an Imp. So to the people who think you don't evade/parry at all, I call bullshit. If you aren't evading or parrying, then maybe it's just my mantle that is helping out a ton or your evasion/parry sucks. I counted at least 3 parrys that saved my ass last night as I was casting Ichi and if I hadn't parried I would have been hit and maybe screwed. So, I'm keeping my Boxer's Mantle on.

My parry isn't fully capped, I got 1.4 parry last night in solo/small pt. That's how much I parried in 3 hours. We all know how often you get parry skills.

My spells are still kinda low damage. 600-800 Disseverment, FRip about 4-500 and CA FRip 500-700. Sometimes they miss and go lower..

As for obtaining Demon Slayer, iono, cause Ifrit has a ton. I bought an Adaman Kilij and signed my own with my alt. So sexy having a self signed Demon Slayer. :D

[shukuffxi]

Bump.

Lately been duo'ing these with a MNK/WAR friend (who 2boxes a RDM outside PT, but this can be done w/o the RDM) and myself as BLU/RDM, and it's been a pretty solid 12k/hr, with us being kinda lazy and AFKing here and there for a few minutes.

The MNK/WAR tanks, Counterstance up, and with capped Evasion and just normal DD gear they die fast, often 7-11%per attack round. I just pull with a Chakram, Dia II + Frightful Roar. Roar seems to get resist about 15% of the time (2/5 Magical Accuracy merits, I don't switch to a staff since I usually have TP, when I don't have TP and use Staff, it's almost never resisted)

I'll only really bother to cast spells when we get around Chain 5-6, and we're low on chain time. Full sword merits now, capped potency merits, with Dia II and Frightful Roar Frip often does 650+, spikes around 800, and CA is almost always 800-1k. Asuran Fists > CA Disseverment on Chain 6 @ the start is really nice too. I'm really finding Frip to be the most steady of my spells now, a few weeks back I woulda said it was Disseverment.

[edit] I use Pallas's Bracelets for Frenetic Rip instead of Custom M Gloves. I've spent alot of time comparing the two on Frip, and like 9/10 I get a better result with Pallas's Bracelets. Disseverment definetly gets better results with Custom M Gloves tho. Not enough testing with HBarrage, don't use it nearly as much as I used to.

I'm sure if we were less lazy, or fought more Soulflayers (Need Blank Gaze equipped if you want to) we could easily bring it up to 14k/hr. I'm really enjoying this aspect of BLU that allows me to duo with most jobs (read: i can XP with just 1-2 friends) for decent XP. This is with a 2box'd RDM on the outside, but honestly, if I just cut back on the casting and supported the MNK a bit, it would be fine, maybe 1-2k/hr less. Magic Hammer for 220~ not MB'd every 2 minutes has been more than enough to keep up.

Y'all duo with any other jobs, prolly to help buffer for friends? And as for Khimaira camp, how high can you get your chains? No matter what I do, almost never hit Chain 7, due to Imps being too far/Soulflayers in the way/etc.

[Mertron]

Y'all duo with any other jobs, prolly to help buffer for friends? And as for Khimaira camp, how high can you get your chains? No matter what I do, almost never hit Chain 7, due to Imps being too far/Soulflayers in the way/etc.

Where do you normally camp when at Khimaira? If you take the time to MGS your way to the north, theres a tunnel with 3-4 imps in it and it opens up to the larger area where theres a few more imps you can pull. The tunnel is on the map, west side of H-7, north and west of where Khimaira pops. For soloing (if I don't go to the main Imp area by sanctum) I usually camp the tunnel north of Khimaira, unshown on the map at I-6. There's two imps there and you can pull 2-3 more spawns from the larger area if they move close enough.

[Kkel]

BLU/NIN: Solo

ELV (M)

HP: 1412
MP: 698

Main: Demon Slayer
Off: Leech Scimitar/Ifrit's Blade
Range: Mamoolbane (for pulling)
Ammo: Hedgehog Bomb (for buff before chain)
Head: Homam Zucchetto
Neck: Chiv. Chain
Ear 1.: Suppnomimi
Ear 2.: Brutal Earring
Body: Homam Corazza
Hands: Homam Manopolas
Ring 1.: Raja's Ring
Ring 2.: Garrulous Ring
Back: Commander's Cape
Waist: Warwolf Belt (melee) Forest Rope (chain buff)
Legs: Homam Cosciales (Crimson Cuisses for pulling)
Feet: Homam Gambieras

Relevant Merits:

HP: +5
MP: +3
STR:+3
DEX:+2
Sword:+5
Blue Magic Skill:+8
Phys.Spell Potency:+5
Mag.Spell Acc.+5
Critical Hit:+4
Enemy Critical:+2
Spell Interrupt.:+2

Spell Set for Imps:
Head Butt
Frenetic Rip
Disseverment
Refueling
Healing Breeze
Sheep Song
Plasma Charge
Actinic Burst
Magic Fruit
Metallic Body
Reactor Cool
Blank Gaze
Chaotic Eye
Sandspin

I use Squid Sushi because it's cheap and i need to cap parrying.

When i solo, i tend not to macro anything in or out during the fight (except Vorpal Blade). I usually end up at the Khim camp because of overcrowding, but i dislike having to pull mobs back to me. I prefer the Staging Point camp because i can just run around and kill them as they pop for easy chain 4/5s.

I've hit chain 7 before, but only with duo'ing with a BLM. Since i stick with CA > Savage Blade > Disseverment > Disto, a BLM can cut the fight in half with a good Blizz 4 MB.

F.Rip is my quick damage, usually hits around 600-700.
Disseverment: Is my big damage, usually around 900-1100.
Chaotic Eye usually sticks 9/10.
Garrulous Ring has an absurdly high proc rate for Resist Silence for those few Tantara's that sneak through.

[shukuffxi]

Where do you normally camp when at Khimaira? If you take the time to MGS your way to the north, theres a tunnel with 3-4 imps in it and it opens up to the larger area where theres a few more imps you can pull. The tunnel is on the map, west side of H-7, north and west of where Khimaira pops. For soloing (if I don't go to the main Imp area by sanctum) I usually camp the tunnel north of Khimaira, unshown on the map at I-6. There's two imps there and you can pull 2-3 more spawns from the larger area if they move close enough.

Duo or solo, I always end up at the camp with the tunnel leading to Khimaira. Only on rare occasions do I ever find another BLU there duo/solo. There are about 2-3 imps near the entrance, and if you to the left, to the edge of the ledge you can usually pull 3-4 Imps that are often near by, and if you run to right right, there are 1-2 Imps there as well. Or you can solid snake it between a few flayers (not that hard most of the time, they have such a tiny aggro range) and there are a few imps there as well, but it's a fairly far run, just enough to kill your Chain 6+ -_-

The other camp you are talking about, i'm not sure... It's a bit north on the island, on the way to the Engraved Tablet on the island? Or are you refering to the tunnel on the way back to the Staging Point that has an Imp on each end, and that leads to a small area with some Imps as well? I've never actually camped there, I just try to solid snake by with powder boots if I forget warp >_> But I think it could make for a decent camp.

I never end up at the camp just outside the SP: It's almost always taken by a normal XP PT.

Kkel, what do your Disseverment/Frenetic Rips look like? Just so I know what kind of damage i'm missing out on by not being able to get the 8 Blue Magic Skill merits :/ If I read VZX's page thingie right, higher Blue Magic Skill makes it as if the spells you cast with higher skill have a higher D rating? i.e: Casting Physical Spells with capped skill + AF body = Like D43 (random #) and with merits, it might be like D48 (random # )

Also, what kind of MP drain do you get off the Leech Scimitar? I never got one and tend to go Demon Slayer/Ifrit's Blade.

[Kkel]

Leech Scimitar has always been good to me. It never seems to absorb more than 8 MP at a time, but it procs pretty decently on anything i fight. I've had it proc back to back on a Double Attack.

I swap between Leech and Ifrits usually just based on my mood. The thing i love about solo BLU is that i can just sort of go with whatever i want and relax. The mob is going to die either way, so i just go on my whim. In a party or alliance situation i always go for max output. There's too many gimpass weaksauce BLUs for the ones who know what they're doing to not output 100% at all times.

I edited my post above with my average F.Rip/Disseverment numbers. They're pretty consistant all around, especially Disseverment. F.Rip fluctuates a bit, but i'm always impressed with it's damage on Imps.

[shukuffxi]

Hm I never thought about the Garulous Ring, i'm Hume so I lack the extra Elvaan +STR, no STR merits yet (Not sure if i'll go STR or MND, so I just delay >_>) and my casting gear after Sole Sushi usually puts me around +45~50 STR. I wonder how good Resist Silence is on Defeaning Tantra tho, when I was XPing another job around low 70s, we had a PT going a long time, and eventually everyone ran out of echos, and the BRD switched to the resist Silence song, and RDM gave Barsilencera (and Baraera, but can't say for sure that helped ), we ended up resisting like 80%+ of the tantras, BRD didn't get silenced at all after (but they have the job trait ) Coulda gone back to town, but we disbanded like 30min later after getting someone their level.

If those Frip/Disseverment #s are without Frightful Roar, that's pretty sick ; ; I don't tend to get those #s without at least 1 Defense Down on the mob (Roar, or Dia II), infact, my Disseverment has never broken 1K on an Imp without TP.

Disseverment is really spazzy for me, tends to be 600-700 most of the time, with the rare 900s. Frenetic Rip breaks 1K more often than Disseverment for me. It seems kinda like those 8 Blue Magic Skill merits make a fairly large impact on damage >_< SE really needs to allow extra magic skill merits

[Kkel]

That ring has been a life and chain saver for me. It's happened to all of us; Starting up the casting animation for F.Rip or Dissever, or Vorpal/Savage and seeing the "The Heraldic Imp readies Deaf.." and thinking "DAMMIT!". Not seeing the little "Silenced" icon appear and seeing Resist! in your chat log brings wonderous mental relief.

Same feeling with the intimidation proc on Demon Slayer or when Head Butt stun just procs for like 10 seconds and you marvel at what to do with all the free time.

I tend to not use Frightful Roar solo. It just compounds the feeling of "wasted seconds" to me, I use Chaotic Eye instead. But yeah, F.Rip and Disseverment never do me wrong with their numbers.

[Teorem]

I've been going over this thread and assorted information on other forums trying to figure out how to improve my soloing on Heraldic Imps, but it's getting to the point where I can't help but feel like the numbers I see here for soloing are pretty exaggerated, both for general damage and rate of exp gain.

I use:

+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+	Head Butt       Filamented Hold	
| Perdu Hanger  | Demon Slayer  | Trollbane     |               |	Frenetic Rip    Poison Breath
+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+	Disseverment    Magic Fruit
| Voyager Sallet| Chiv. Chain   | Loq. Earring  | Suppanomimi   |	Self-Destruct   Actinic Burst
+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+	Lowing          Sandspray
| Magus Jubbah  | Cust. M Gloves| Flame Ring    | Flame Ring    |	Chaotic Eye     Zephyr Mantle
+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+	Refueling
| Cmdr.'s Cape  | Potent Belt   | Homam Cosc.   | Marine M Boots|	Frightful Roar
+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+	Plasma Charge

Which when combined with 8 Blue Magic merits, 5 STR merits, 5 Physical Potency, 5 Magic Accuracy merits, and 4 Sword merits, my "average" damage on Disseverment is 600-800 with the uncommon 900 spike (rarely breaks 1000) and Frenetic Rip is 350-600, rarely approaching 700. The upper end of the damage is typically when Frightful Roar lands, which I always use at the start.

Over the course of a couple hours, I'll get around 8k/hr soloing (slightly higher with an Empress Band) reaching Chain 4 regularly. Chain 5 is a little harder due to further pulls from camp and/or Disseverment/Frenetic Rip failing to pull through on full damage. I've had some trouble finding a groove lately, but the usual chain I go through is Imp > Imp > rest to full > Imp > rest to full > Imp > Imp > repeat. Previously I would rest to about 350-400MP after each Imp and though I would hit Chain 5 more often, the average exp gain was less because I was resting more, which I have a Clear Mind setup to try and minimize.

I have tried using different food (usually Bream Sushi for cost, but I have tried Sole Sushi many times and have not been impressed at all), swapping out equipment (Potent Belt <=> Warwolf Belt, Loquacious Earring <=> Brutal Earring, Flame Rings <=> Sniper's Rings, Voyager Sallet <=> Optical Hat) and played with my spell setup a little, but I have yet to see the numbers that people claim they get with such relative ease. The only thing I have not really done is work on using Magic Hammer in my setup, but that is due to working out efficient macros for all of the equipment swaps that would be necessary for it.

I really can't see what I must be missing that results in the numbers that are "usually" hundreds of damage more than what I normally get and thousands of exp higher on average over several hours.

[shukuffxi]

I've been going over this thread and assorted information on other forums trying to figure out how to improve my soloing on Heraldic Imps, but it's getting to the point where I can't help but feel like the numbers I see here for soloing are pretty exaggerated, both for general damage and rate of exp gain.
<snipped out code>

Which when combined with 8 Blue Magic merits, 5 STR merits, 5 Physical Potency, 5 Magic Accuracy merits, and 4 Sword merits, my "average" damage on Disseverment is 600-800 with the uncommon 900 spike (rarely breaks 1000) and Frenetic Rip is 350-600, rarely approaching 700. The upper end of the damage is typically when Frightful Roar lands, which I always use at the start.

Over the course of a couple hours, I'll get around 8k/hr soloing (slightly higher with an Empress Band) reaching Chain 4 regularly. Chain 5 is a little harder due to further pulls from camp and/or Disseverment/Frenetic Rip failing to pull through on full damage. I've had some trouble finding a groove lately, but the usual chain I go through is Imp > Imp > rest to full > Imp > rest to full > Imp > Imp > repeat. Previously I would rest to about 350-400MP after each Imp and though I would hit Chain 5 more often, the average exp gain was less because I was resting more, which I have a Clear Mind setup to try and minimize.

I have tried using different food (usually Bream Sushi for cost, but I have tried Sole Sushi many times and have not been impressed at all), swapping out equipment (Potent Belt <=> Warwolf Belt, Loquacious Earring <=> Brutal Earring, Flame Rings <=> Sniper's Rings, Voyager Sallet <=> Optical Hat) and played with my spell setup a little, but I have yet to see the numbers that people claim they get with such relative ease. The only thing I have not really done is work on using Magic Hammer in my setup, but that is due to working out efficient macros for all of the equipment swaps that would be necessary for it.

I really can't see what I must be missing that results in the numbers that are "usually" hundreds of damage more than what I normally get and thousands of exp higher on average over several hours.

Well, lately I have been goin BLU/RDM with MNK/WAR friend, mainly because all /NIN offers is Utsu for such short fights, and Stoneskin + Zephyr Mantle will last me 3-4 fights most of the time. Fast Cast helps, but more than that stacking Dia II + Frightful Roar is really helpful. With only Frightful Roar, my damage is a bit less, but not THAT much less. Sticking Frightful Roar is really useful.

For Frenetic Rip you might wanna try Gigas Bracelets, they seriously seem to work much better than Custom M Gloves, don't ask me why, they just do for me. Since you have 8 Sword Merits and Suppa, i'd suggest using the Warwolf over the Potent Belt, though the only real difference is you use Potent + Marine M Boots where I use Warwolf + Homam Gambieras.

I wouldn't bother with Filamented Hold, it has a slightly longer casting time, and they are rather short fights as is, if you feel the need for Slow, Sprout Smack is cheaper MP wise, faster casting too and gives enough slow that you can Head Butt > Ichi once you get the hang of it. Usually mob arrives at camp > 1 shadow gone > Sprout Smack > 2nd Shadow gone > Head Butt > Ichi.

I tend to prefer the zerg method when completely solo, only starting with Head Butt > Frightful Roar > Ichi if needed > Zerg spells with Head Butt and :Ni if needed. The more time you spend casting debuffs, the longer it gets, 1 or 2 more shadows get eaten, you recast shadows not to get hit, it casts Poisonga, shit happens at least once a chain. Some people can't do without their Sprout Smack, some just use Roar, some use Sandspin/Sprout Smack/Frightful Roar/Chaotic Eye. Too many debuffs makes the fight' go too long, and the longer it goes, the higher the chance for stupid stuff to happen .

I never skimp on Sushi for this, I want as much STR as I can get barring, i'd really like to push +55~60STR (including STR merits) and Sole Sushi helps there as well as what little accuracy problems we have after full merits + suppa. It seems you equip Sandspray, I don't equip that either.

Magic Hammer + Sound Blast is usually what I use (Sound Blast since it saves on Set Points >_>) to creat Magic Atk Bnus. It's fairly easy to get a large amount of +MND (AF Head, Errant body/feet, Devotee's Mitts, gimp +4 MND ring, etc) to push Magic Hammer to 200 damage per BA+M.Hammer. The biggest problem with M.Hammer + /NIN solo is, I find the only "safe" time to use is it when you get back to camp, and start casting before the Imp is in physical range. The casting time is long for a BLU spell, so I usually lose 2 shadows before it's done casting, and am putting up Ichi as soon as it finishes. Or you can just ditch this and fit in as much Clear Mind as you want, it's certainly less stressfull.

I'd say 8k/hr is about avg, sometimes shit happens and I hit 7k/hr, sometimes I pay more attention to my pulls, less shit happens, and it's like 9k/hr. If you have a really good streak, 10k/hr is possible (good procs from Demon Slayer, lucky parry/evades, Conserve MP kicking in alot if you equip it, etc...)

/RDM is relaxing as hell too, since you're not worried nearly so much about casting :Ichi, but your chain time is a bit low if you're casting Stoneskin + Zephyr Mantle + Cocoon before every pull, but there is very little chance of getting interupted on your Magic Hammers with such a solid defense for what amounts to like a 20-30 second fight, and you can get Dia II as well, and Stoneskin if you end up with an Elemental debuff / Poison / Bio on you when you need to /heal.

[Kkel]

I skip Roar and usually stack Chaotic Eye into my 1st melee cycle. I like the silence effect because it usually saves me from losing a shadow to something like Blind or Burn. I can definitly see how some wouldn't though, since their casting is easy to stun and they're wasting a melee round by making the attempt. Blank Gaze if it has Blaze Spikes up, then start my Head Butt > F.Rip > Melee cycle. If i miss a few swings i'll dump Disseverment, but i usually save it as a fight closer, or a fight opener if i have TP for Self-Disto.

Usually i'll let an Imp take down my shadows on purpose at the start to proc a hit against Reactor Cool and Metallic Body. The hit for 0 won't interrupt casting and ReaCool's paralyze rate is awesome. If it does interrupt i'll blow the MP on Ac.Burst and restart from there.

[Teorem]

Frightful Roar is the only debuff I regularly use when soloing. Filamented Hold and Sandspray are parts of the Clear Mind setup I have but aren't used, though occassionally I will use Actinic Burst (which sadly still allows the Imp to hit sometimes, even when it is not resisted) if I am low on shadows with a long recast remaining or try to set up a self-skillchain.

The lower damage suggests to me that I'm either missing hits too often (which is supported somewhat by a frustrating amount of Heat Butt resists) or the setup isn't offering enough STR/DEX to significantly increase the damage of Frenetic Rip and Disseverment. However, as I swap out STR/DEX for Accuracy, I find the average and peak damage going down instead of up.

I've never tried Gigas Bracelets, though my understanding was that the DEX- made them a pretty bad choice in general for Disseverment and Frenetic Rip.

[shukuffxi]

I have never bothered to Chaotic Eye the Imps: Most of the spells they cast i'm just sued to Head Butting, or interupting with a multi hit spell. Every time you have to Magic Fruit/Wild Carrot during/after a fight, it slows down your chain. Same goes for Blank Gaze, I let them keep their spikes up, I don't swing my swords enough times for their spikes to cause enough damage that I can't get it back in a quick /heal. I don't touch Reactor Cool either. Metallic Body I sometimes toss in when playing with random setups, jic I get Choke or something on and I need to /heal. M.Body doesn't last long against Bio II or Poison :/ Actinic Burst, it's sometimes in my setup, sometimes not, depending on what i'm using for Auto-Refresh, but on more than a couple of occasions it's saved my ass, but lately i'm using Frightful Roar + Plasma Charge + Self Destruct. I rarely find myself getting 100%TP, sometimes I /heal and lose TP from switching to staff, or more often, Magic Hammer is up and I swap in a staff too.

As for Gigas Bracelets: They suck for Disseverment. Custom M Gloves > Gigas Bracelets, the -DEX *and* you "lose" the +DEX you normally have from previous equipment, so taking a 8~12ish loss in DEX is a big hit. But for Frenetic Rip, they seem to work better. I was only using my Pallas's for CASA Cannonball, but I figure i'd tried them specifically with F.Rip/Disseverment, and my F.Rip was stronger with them. If I duo/solo this evening i'll try to get some #s, I don't know if DVS parser can differentiate between the different spells tho, so I might have to eye ball it.

[Kkel]

I never use Carrot and i only have Fruit equipped for emergencies. I used to use it to recover from wayward -aga spells, but i just started with Chaotic Eye to prevent the whole issue.

Once you can get the Imps into a pop cycle you don't usually have to deal with Blaze Spikes, but when you start tearing into a mob with triple/double attack i find it just worth it to dispel them if they're up. Like i mentioned before, i use that one 0 hit (Metallic Body/Reactor Cool) for a para proc, so i don't need anything else chewing at my stoneskin beforehand.

It's interesting to see how different people approach it. For me, even if i have -100 MP but +100% TP i'll go after the next in chain, just because the self-Disto is so powerful and you can make it through with just one strong Disseverment and a few Head Butts.

[Repairs]

There doesn't seem to be any equipment out there, that truely outshines another piece of the same slot (in terms of "damage"). Just like all the abjurations, etc... the +1 version is better but not by a huge margin. But, spellsets do seem to vary dramatically from person to person. (+~ str & +~ dex from spells) which would have an impact on damage.

From previous the previous posts here, I am guessing that people are equiping Freightful roar, so there sword hits are better? Or do you feel that lowering their def has an impact on their spell damage??

Wouldn't using stinking gas be preferable? Lowering str would benefit both melee hits and spells (based on the known formulas), would it not?

My personal setup is Headbutt,bludg,fren rip, Disseverment; heatbreath, firespit, refueling, metalicbody, plasma charge, magicfruit, Actinic Burst, magichammer, Zephyr Mantle (Accuracy, Magic Attack, Conserve Mp, Refresh traits). Which gets me chain 5 95% of the time, for 10k/hr or 11k/hr with ring.

[Kkel]

Wouldn't using stinking gas be preferable? Lowering str would benefit both melee hits and spells (based on the known formulas), would it not?

I know your context implied that you meant it, but Stinking Gas lowers VIT, not STR.

I usually only use Roar vs. High DEF/HNM style mobs as a benefit to other melee DDs. Don't get me wrong, i love the spell, but for solo i just think there's better ways to fill my set.

I almost never equip Stinking Gas.

[Repairs]

Opps, ya. Meant Stinking Gas lowers Vit not Str... I believe it is the best debuff you have in terms of increasing your damage/performance (if you want to use it).


Edit: Nevermind the below, no one here was actually claiming above 1100... must be thinking of another website..
Since we are only talking about soloing imps, are all of these posts killing imps @ (Khim/Nzyul Isle Portal) Caedave Mire or are you going to Nashmau Caed or regular Portal to Caedave? Especially for those that say they are getting highs of 1100+ for any non-SA spell.