Scholar Discussion #3 (post March patch)

[Aemora]

Duo'd the Gnat Pellet droppers last night in Oz. Sch70 Nin75... Sams were bastards, but Phalanx and occasional Stoneskin helped a lot... Regen2, Enblizzard, and Klimaform'd Paralyze and Bliz3 Nukes too... Nins are easier, and Smns were a joke, Aspirga was some pretty nice shit. Went 0/13 though, duo, then Thf and Rdm frens came and joined in, went 4/18 <.<

1/3 on the NM tho, somehow ma Nin fren lost his pop (spare, etc).. AoE Erase helped a shitload, if you consistantly land Slow on Bloodlapper that is..

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...usmufflers.jpg

They look so awesome on Blm... Want Lv75 now for awesome pimpage...

Edit: wtf@me being top of last 3 pages <.<

[Lordwafik]

I think it was really awesome of SE to be so considerate of our AF.

Aside the fact that our AF stats have stats that AF2 should be getting (I really don't care if we don't get AF2, because this AF is very great), they released AF hands to be complete garbage instead of sticking skill onto it, this is great in the sense that we don't have to choose, like BLM, between skill and MaB+5 (which were released in the same update). It was oh so intentional, I just know it And I love them for doing that.

CoP team aren't very good at making content, but boy do they make really good and useful jobs. Kinda scary, imagine how CoP would have been if they chose to add jobs there too?

[Not Kuno]

Getting Tele-Vazhled on SCH starts the limit break quest. Also an interesting cut scene to watch if you don't plan on doing it either way.

[Gilthas]

*Cap is 25% of max HP (33% with Scholar's M.board on). When is the cap determined, upon initial activation, upon using the stored MP, or some other point in time?)

Cap isn't determined upon initial activation for sure and it doesn't really make much sense for it to be calculated from stored MP either.

My SCH isn't high enough to do any testing with the AF head piece, but I did notice something pretty strange when I was at a sea event on my WHM. Sublimation was capping at 274 MP for me but another WHM in my party that has the exact same base HP was capping at 276. Occasionally he'd also get 278 MP back.

I know that the difference isn't justified by differences in current HP when Sublimation is activated since I'd usually activate Sublimation while using MP gear which puts my HP around 940.

There might be a secondary stat that influences the amount of MP that can be stored with Sublimation. Only difference in stats between me and the other WHM was that he had 5 more INT due to merits.

[Kimiko]

My bad, I was going by information that was posted mere hours after the update. Shame on me for not doing my homework. ;_;

[EternalSnow]

my scholar is lvl 55 and I am wondering if anyone knows of any solo spots

[Enygma55]

Have we determined how much HP and MP is lost and gained respectively through sublimation?

Some rough testing shows that its 2HP/2MP without AF Hat and 3HP/3MP with.
Test was just me standing infront of mog in tavnazia and waiting til it stopped. With 784 HP max I lost 214 hp and gained 216 mp. It seems HP is not allowed to go over 25% but MP is for the final tick.

I tried again with 762 HP and got 190 HP loss and 192 MP gained. 25% would be 190.5. (this is with AF hat if this matters)

Using this knowledge (if it is indeed correct) Sublimation seems to cap at EITHER when total HP lost or MP gained = 25% max HP for ANY given time.

Meaning whenever the total amount of HP lost or MP gained ever conflicts with the current max HP during gear swapping.


This is just pure theory but it makes sense to me. I havent done any testing with gear swapping during the process so take it for what its worth.

[Muffins]

You receive a complimentary tick of MP just for activating Sublimation that has no cost to HP, you can see this for yourself by activating it while under 50% hp.

[Kaeko]

You receive a complimentary tick of MP just for activating Sublimation that has no cost to HP, you can see this for yourself by activating it while under 50% hp.

I can confirm this. If you go salvage and try Sublimation without your HP cell, you only get your free 1 tick for either 2 or 3 MP depending on your AF.

[Lordwafik]

I tested in salvage how much I'd get back from sublimination before humi unlocked, I got 4mp back without it taking anything from me.

[Wakmidget]

Duo'd the Gnat Pellet droppers last night in Oz. Sch70 Nin75... Sams were bastards, but Phalanx and occasional Stoneskin helped a lot... Regen2, Enblizzard, and Klimaform'd Paralyze and Bliz3 Nukes too... Nins are easier, and Smns were a joke, Aspirga was some pretty nice shit. Went 0/13 though, duo, then Thf and Rdm frens came and joined in, went 4/18 <.<

1/3 on the NM tho, somehow ma Nin fren lost his pop (spare, etc).. AoE Erase helped a shitload, if you consistantly land Slow on Bloodlapper that is..

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...usmufflers.jpg

They look so awesome on Blm... Want Lv75 now for awesome pimpage...

Edit: wtf@me being top of last 3 pages <.<

Man, SCH AF looks awesome on taru.....I need haul ass to 60 so I cn wear mine.....I have the same char model except w/ the grey hair......

[Not Kuno]

Lost the AF Limit Fight. 2 mobs, both unsleepable. Not fun for a mage getting interuppted so much.

[Not Kuno]

Went back and did the fight again: Pulled book with dispel then did water (which healed for 0) then did thunder which mostly killed it, then drain finished it. After that, the main guy is alot easier and with a Ebullence/Veritas'd helix and a few nukes he gave up really easily.

The cutscenes are really interesting and so I hope anyone who liked the af quests does them.

[whoami]

I'm not sure if this was said in this forum but another but I believe someone mentioned soloing/lowmaning a IX aern with sch and was wondering what exactly they did (ex used wether spell used 1/2 cost on nukes kept helix up?). I'm asking this because im tempted to solo/low man IX drk/mnk for there capes to use on sch.

[Kaeko]

I'm not sure if this was said in this forum but another but I believe someone mentioned soloing/lowmaning a IX aern with sch and was wondering what exactly they did (ex used wether spell used 1/2 cost on nukes kept helix up?). I'm asking this because im tempted to solo/low man IX drk/mnk for there capes to use on sch.

This might have been me. I solo popped ix'drk on Friday using SCH/RDM. Was windsday. I basically kept weather on myself and spammed Parsimony when I had charges. Coupled with Sublimation, I can kill the Aern + the Reraise without resting, even without the mob having MP for aspir.

Best way I found to do it is to keep your Sublimation MP stored unless you really need it on a Reraise. Since only 3 aerns can pop there at the ??? anyways, it's not essential that you be very fast between kills, just that you don't have to rest during kills. I have about a 1050 MP pool on a Taru. Coupled with Parsimony spam and a possible extra 200 MP boost from Sublimation, that's plenty to kill an Aern and the Reraise, even with resists.

Very self-sufficient since you have Sublimation along with using very MP efficient DoT.

If you get Sheer Animosity, rest to full and get your charges back (you have like 5 minutes before it wears I think?). Prior to pop, buff, Manifestation, and when you pop, Graviga everything and run to zone. The RNGs will separate from the DRK due to gravity because the DRK resists but Qn's won't. After zoning, rezone and pick up DRK. Catch the Ix trying to cast something, then B-line for the portal at the center of the zone (elavator takes you up or down area). This will require you to enter a semi-cut scene to pass the door so you need a bit of a head start. Once you're there, that room is a perfect place to solo kite.

Alternatively, you can bring it to a square room and just use the portal there to temp zone.

On the actual fight, Bio II DoT is good (maxed gear SCH can get exactly 291 skill without merit boosts - exact number you need to hit 8 hp/tick bio2). Helix also lands VERY well on it - at least 100 without any day/weather or Ebullience (I got up to 169 with double weather). The casting time for Helix is pretty long, so I would activate Alacrity then wait for it to cast something, then use Helix quickly. Make sure you're timing gear switches with your ability usage so you don't end up locking your character (this will get you killed).

[whoami]

Thanks a lot mind if i ask what gear choices you used for spells? (BTW good detailed write up ^_^b ) I'll try this once i get sch to 75 (71 now working on getting all the damn obi's) and get 8 elemental magic merits (other 8 are for my main blu so no 8 enfebling for me) As for dark gear im trying to figure that out 256 base 15 af 7 torque 3 ear 5 back is 286 so im coming short somewhere i think.

[Kaeko]

Thanks a lot mind if i ask what gear choices you used for spells? (BTW good detailed write up ^_^b ) I'll try this once i get sch to 75 (71 now working on getting all the damn obi's) and get 8 elemental magic merits (other 8 are for my main blu so no 8 enfebling for me) As for dark gear im trying to figure that out 256 base 15 af 7 torque 3 ear 5 back is 286 so im coming short somewhere i think.

I get exactly 291 skill for Bio 2 (8HP/tick tier) by using what you listed + Abyssal Earring. I don't think there's a way to hit that last tier w/o merits or using a the less-popular ZM earring.

Nuking gear, I use...

Staff of Choice
Bugard's Strap +1
Phantom Tathlum
Scholar's M.Board
Mahatma Hpl.
Vicious Mufflers
Mahatma Slops
Yigit Crackows
Prism Cape
Penitent's Rope or Day/Weather Obi
Prudence Torque or Uggy Pendant
Novio Earring
Moldavite Earring
Tamas Ring
Snow Ring

I have 8 Elemental Merits and still working on Enfeebling with 6. I don't think not having those Enfeeble merits will hurt if you have the proper gear. My BLM does fine with low 280s and I'm sure SCH can hit that ok without merits.

I just tested it on Puddings and was able to always get chain 5, usually with about 400 MP to spare. I was able to hit Chain 6 once but it was hard to do it consistently with multiple BLMs soloing there. I would use only Parsimony for MP efficiency then 3 Tier4s and a Tier3 would kill it. Aspir and maybe a Drain in there too. I can pull of Chain 6s on BLM without 2hr too usually, but the issue sometimes is MP left over. For SCH, I had the MP left, but the kill speed was a bit too slow unless the mob was right next to me. All this was on Earthsday and Watersday.

My conclusion as far as the puddings thing is it's very very easy to hit chain 5 without 2hr compared to a BLM doing it. This is because the MP efficiency is high enough such that you don't need a huge base MP pool to pull it off - meaning a non-Taru SCH can more easily pull a chain 5 without 2hr compared to a BLM, which needs a high base MP pool to do 2 at a time. You can spma Parsimony in addition to saving your 200+ MP stored from Sublimation for the Chain 4 and 5 without resting kills. The ability aggro thing is kind of annoying. I would overall rather solo puddings on BLM since I don't have to worry about ability aggro. Stun is also nice since I don't ahve to run away (which causes deaggro sometimes).

Oh yea, weather buff yourself.

[Sho]

Bless you Kaeko. Gonna start trio'ing NMs based on your strats soon (once GF and I hit 75, 72 and 73 atm). Gonna be SCH/SCH/SCH or SCH/BLM/RDM. I must ask as a SCH however, which would you recommend for a SCH that has no skill merits and +8 Blue Magic Merits that won't be revoked-- +8 Elemental Skill or +4 Elemental/+4 Enfeebling?

[whoami]

Sho i'm in your same boat im also planning to take up rdm as well. The way i see it is anything beyong exp probly would need a rdm to land them. ALso i think if i read right somewhere that 300 skill for enfbeling is the magic # to get resist down. Anyways im planning to go 8 elemental with my 8 blu. Elemental will reduce resist rates on helix and nukes saving more mp in the run by not having resisted nukes. I relly wish though that SE would up magic merits to 20 like combat. Going a 6/6/8 build (blue/enf/ele) would be usefull compared to the current 8/8 builds out there (enf/ele or sing/wind as most popular ones.) Anyways way i see is that with enfebling skill you can suck up losing some potency (slow paralyze) to get more skill gear to make up for lack of merits but you cann't do that with elemental magic. (a blm with nothing but ele skill gear lacks punch on nukes do to more skill gear on events) Also the only enfebles that sch mostly work with are bind, sleep, gravity and those dont have any potency so no loss by stacking pure enfebeling gear to get it accurate. 256 +15 af +7 torque +3 ear +5 back +4/5 head and 4 macc ring and 4 macc hands (golliard hands) is +8 macc +290/291 skill. Should be more then enough to land on anything that you could land on.

(btw sence i don't have novio soany other suggestions? I was thinking magentic earring or loq ear but int ear or + skill ear might be good as well.) And as far as the MAB hands whats the best relaible low person set up for those? I have a few friends that are intrested in going after those and would like those myself till i get golliard hands (1 less MAB but +4 macc seems like a nice trade off) Just out of curoisity what do you think would be the best helix build? (exp and resist build)

[Kaeko]

Bless you Kaeko. Gonna start trio'ing NMs based on your strats soon (once GF and I hit 75, 72 and 73 atm). Gonna be SCH/SCH/SCH or SCH/BLM/RDM. I must ask as a SCH however, which would you recommend for a SCH that has no skill merits and +8 Blue Magic Merits that won't be revoked-- +8 Elemental Skill or +4 Elemental/+4 Enfeebling?

I'd go pure elemental. SCH has good enfeebling skill, better than whm or blm, but still wont come close to a RDM. You really need those Elemental merits capped to expect minimal resists on high end IT mobs like Aerns though.