Advice for a new salvage LS

[ubermonkey]

Also, don't be the nice guy and let bad players in your ls. Though that may be a problem only I have...

You've met me in game.

Nice guy?

:D


Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm putting suggestions to the members on some things, and adopting some things straight out (notably pullers, since I don't pull too fast when left to do it).

[Ferien]

PULL FAST. Get a puller with balls who will have mobs at camp before the previous mob is dead, or within 2-3 seconds. Streamlining pulls can shave many minutes off of your time.

This is huge. Cannot stress enough how much a good (read: insane) puller can help.

[Gaea]

I'm going to chime in on the Phalanx thing real quick, I suppose. It's not necessary but it is a very divine luxury that doesn't need a Red Mage to be tapped into. Consider a Scholar as your main healer instead of a White Mage. While on chariots I'll go SCH/WHM, I'll do SCH/RDM for strictly LV35 farming runs and it's definitely proven its worth to me, especially on first or second floor NMs coupled with Stoneskinga. Also if you sleep a group of something, SCH/RDM is useful for pegging them with Graviga.

To emphasize its usefulness, we did a low-number (6 people) run on Wednesday for Zhayolm Remnants and had enough time to do the boss after a few NMs. I can only imagine how much more difficult it would have been if the Red Mage hadn't subbed Dark Knight to stun half the Discoids, and SCH/WHM to cut the other half of Discoids by more than 50% with Stoneskinga. Scholar also has the strongest Phalanx and Stoneskin that can be shared by other players. Diamondhide has a max of around 200 (assuming you have 300 BLU skill) and Earthen Ward is also a max of 200. Scholar's Stoneskin would be 350 if you can reach the cap, and I'm working on boosting mine to 380. I have a satiater remnant I just need to go kill the stupid mob in promyvaz.

There are only two considerable downsides to SCH as main healer. You'll need to unlock support job for -na spells which can be a pain in the ass in Arrapago Remnants (-na spells are mandatory for chariot bosses). The other is you won't have Stona but there's only a few things that petrify you (Zhayolm Remnants, Ziz & Lizards comes to mind and those are just baby mobs on the first two floors). Things like Cure 5 and Curaga III and higher are things you don't really need. Scholar has the ability to Protect IV, Shell IV, and Cure IV and has the ability to use Accession with all those spells. SCH/WHM is more useful on chariots because of the extra -na spells. Otherwise, your RDM/WHM should suffice during farming runs, etc.

[Gaea]

My suggestions:

Make a priority of cells before you enter, and DON'T BRING PEOPLE WHO DON'T LISTEN.

Give weapons to two-handed DDs first, then weaker DDs, then MNKs. Make mages LAST. Follow the same order for abilities and subjobs (though in some areas, /WHM is needed, like in Arrapago).

Give your first magic to a RDM who has Phalanx II merited. Hi2u 0-10 damage from first floor mobs!

One thing worth mentioning here is your THF needs a weapon and abilities to have TH2 and TH3. TH usually isn't always needed right away as some mobs have a set number for cell drops, (particularly first floor mobs). But you'll definitely want this (as well as hands if your thf has TH4) unlocked when you are doing any NMs that drop 35s as well as farming mobs who's cell drops are affected by TH.

Sorry for double post. I was trying to avoid WoT on two different topics.

[Xanthe]

My suggestions:

Make a priority of cells before you enter, and DON'T BRING PEOPLE WHO DON'T LISTEN.

Give weapons to two-handed DDs first, then weaker DDs, then MNKs. Make mages LAST. Follow the same order for abilities and subjobs (though in some areas, /WHM is needed, like in Arrapago).

Give your first magic to a RDM who has Phalanx II merited. Hi2u 0-10 damage from first floor mobs!

One thing worth mentioning here is your THF needs a weapon and abilities to have TH2 and TH3.

This is true for TH3 and TH4 since they are gear related, but job traits are never locked unless they are from a sub job, and that is due to them being level 0 to start. A NIN with only an Incus cell will be able to Dual Wield immediately. A BLM/RDM will have Fast Cast with only a Duplicatus cell (and a Praecipitatio cell assuming they actually wanted to cast).

[Gaea]

Our previous THF, Shamsude, insisted that his TH trait wouldnt be active without abilities and whined incessantly about this. Sounded plausible back when we first started so I just sorta went with it. But if that's true, then my thf is getting abilities freaking last.

[rithridan]

The only reason a THF should get abilities in earlygame salvage is when they need to be able to use steal. Otherwise there are plenty of DDs who gain a lot more from being able to use /ja and /ws then THF does.

[Xanthe]

Our previous THF, Shamsude, insisted that his TH trait wouldnt be active without abilities and whined incessantly about this. Sounded plausible back when we first started so I just sorta went with it. But if that's true, then my thf is getting abilities freaking last.

After 40+ Silver Sea runs and only seeing only one Macha's slops drop just recently one would contend that it never is active in Salvage regardless.

The only reason a THF should get abilities in earlygame salvage is when they need to be able to use steal. Otherwise there are plenty of DDs who gain a lot more from being able to use /ja and /ws then THF does.

QFT. And the only zone a THF needs Steal is Arrapago for QQs.

[Ferien]

Our previous THF, Shamsude, insisted that his TH trait wouldnt be active without abilities and whined incessantly about this. Sounded plausible back when we first started so I just sorta went with it. But if that's true, then my thf is getting abilities freaking last.

Job Traits are definitely active without abilities. Double Attack has almost gotten me killed on more than a few occasions.

[Amele]

My suggestions:

Make a priority of cells before you enter, and DON'T BRING PEOPLE WHO DON'T LISTEN.

but don't read it like a bible - sometimes things will change mid run and the difference between an 'ok' salvage shell and a 'great' salvage shell is adaptability.

Give weapons to two-handed DDs first, then weaker DDs, then MNKs. Make mages LAST. Follow the same order for abilities and subjobs (though in some areas, /WHM is needed, like in Arrapago).

we use a very different method: monks, then DD with no H2H skill, then DD with H2H skill. redmage and blackmage almost always get weapons, whitemage, ranger and bard will if we get extra. the primary reason for this is that our monks tank and also get the first opa's - so we found that we killed much faster giving them most things 'first'.

Get everyone the 25's that they prioritize and then go farming for 35's based on your list. This is the most effective way to farm salvage.

repetition fatigue might hurt this a little - and the relatively worse 35 rates vs. 25 rates: generally, we've never needed more than six bosses to get the 25 drop we're after, whereas 35s can take months. I'd recommend a balance of 35's and 25's early on, focusing on a pair (i.e. SSR boss with bhaflau 35's or arrapago boss with zhayolm 35s) then switch it up once the boss becomes routine - I recommend trying to add 35's to your boss runs as soon as possible, it'll help you increase your speed on both parts.

Also - go as often as possible - one run per week will NOT do it. You'll never get anything done. I would recommend two or three boss runs per week until you're satisfied with boss runs, and then you can start going 4-5 times a week, or even every day, once you're comfortable with 35 farming and smaller numbers.

I agree with this - you'll want to do at least 3 runs a week minimum. if you have time to do more it's a very good idea, but 14 hours a week in salvage (the max) is alot to ask for some people, especially those with full time jobs or significant prior ingame commitments. if you can't schedule at least 3 runs a week, be prepared to still be doing salvage 3 years from now (see: dynamis)

[Gaea]

I got the impression THF is also useful for farming Zhayolm Remnants for the HP and MP drops. But anywho, thanks for the tip on job traits. I'm always on SCH, and I never really paid attention to my "Clear Mind" to confirm anything and we're only going on our third week.

Oh this post started a new page >.< Here's the original post for quick reference.

Hey all.
Y'all have given me good advice in the past, so I figure this is as good a time as any to solicit more.

After it became apparent I wasn't going to be able to run salvage with any existing LS or group within my timezone, I took the initiative and started one of my own.

Now, I have some salvage experience, and I know my jobs, and generally I can manage people well (or shout a lot, both work).

This doesn't mean I can neccessarily run a linkshell though, so I solicit the advice of people who have done it, what mistakes did you make that I can avoid, and what advice can you offer in general?

[Ferien]

THF is pretty much necessary in Zhayolm, or you'll find that you more often than not end up without the required Ranged or Rings cells to pop the 5F frog. However, TH is completely useless for farming the 1st floor, because the mobs there all have set drops. When we do Zhayolm now, we keep our THF at the entrance with full Pathos to pop the 1F Madame.

[Jackalman]

Uber>

/poke me anytime in-game for advice.

[ubermonkey]

Uber>

/poke me anytime in-game for advice.

Will do!

Nich has been watching our runs on his brothers screen and /ting me all my mistakes so far too :D

[Ryushii]

Also, don't be the nice guy and let bad players in your ls. Though that may be a problem only I have...

You've met me in game.

Nice guy?

:D


Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm putting suggestions to the members on some things, and adopting some things straight out (notably pullers, since I don't pull too fast when left to do it).

Oh yeah, I think I remember you...only your name though, tbh. You have BLM and NIN leveled, right? Jobs are always the second thing I remember about a player. Anyway, best of luck to you. Jack is a good person to go to for advice, and I can give you plenty of what-not to-dos so that your members don't fuck you over after 6 months of hard work. Moving on...