New Dynamis Drop Rates?

[Izzy]

This is what we cover in a good run (not including Vanguard Dragons, etc.)

http://starflare.usc.edu/ffxi/linked...rd_farming.jpg

Don't forget the 284 group which will inevitably link and wipe everyone when the mob pathing fucks up Q_Q.

I've noticed a lot of groups that enter Xarcabard do not do the Dynamis Lord. I'm wondering if we should set aside a run where we do nothing but farm and see what return we get. 200+ currency does not seem unreasonable for using the entire time in the zone farming.

[Neosutra]

Im not sure why that map doesnt include "Areas Neosutra will aggro" in large red circles.

[Callisto]

It's not shown, but I think it's listed on the sidebar as #'s 1-402

[Teorem]

Don't forget the 284 group which will inevitably link and wipe everyone when the mob pathing fucks up Q_Q.

I've noticed a lot of groups that enter Xarcabard do not do the Dynamis Lord. I'm wondering if we should set aside a run where we do nothing but farm and see what return we get. 200+ currency does not seem unreasonable for using the entire time in the zone farming.

We haven't pulled 284 in a long time, probably over a year now. If you're referring to what linked during Sunday's run, that was 196 and 188.

I don't think we'll ever really opt for a non-Dynamis Lord farming run in Xarcabard as long as there are people who want Shadow Items unless we're doing an Animated weapon (...maybe). While I'm sure we could probably pull off 50 more currency doing so, the main reason why I'm asking is in part due to the low-numbers claim and that most of the remaining pulls I didn't highlight are high-probability links or dense spawns that require more sacrifice pulling.

I have a couple ideas for expansion of our own farming (455-466, 296-308, 176-185 iff people avoid the damn Dagger, 110-123 piecewise, 36-52 piecewise) provided we're managing our time better, but specific details about how a small group is able to cover that much more ground would be interesting.

Im not sure why that map doesnt include "Areas Neosutra will aggro" in large red circles.

That's because Neosutra isn't going to aggro any areas in Dynamis-Xarcabard. Isn't that right, Neosutra?

[Wizerd]

I was going to edit your image to show you what we farm, but the numbers work just fine.

170 coins is nice for a Dynamis Lord run - 150-170 is about what we got when we did it before, with 28-34. At some point, we had about 38 members in there and came out with a Dynamis Lord kill on top of 223 singles or something. That was just a ridiculously fast run though.

Anyway, with what we have now (2 Tank+DD parties, a third DD party, and a BLM party, and me pulling - usually around 25), we farm most of the same things that you do, with a couple changes.

434-451 (The last line) - I'm not sure what most groups about this pull, but doing it right can save a lot of time. We split the pull by having a puller hit the bottom eye at the same as the top eye, and we get 3 eyes, 6 mobs split evenly. Very easy to manage if you don't attack the DRGs or PLDs first (Invincible wastes too much time, I try to tell them to do DRK > PLD > DRG).

234-240 - Thundaga III by 5 BLMs kills the 3 eyes, as you'd do on the NMs. With THFs being smart and throwing a ranged in with perfect timing, the mobs are still aggroless and you still get TH4; a simple sleepga and then 2 Sleep IIs for the back corner mobs that don't get hit and you're golden.

142-154 - Split the pull in two with the same princible as the last defense line; makes it very easy.

For the above, I realize you probably already have a good way of doing it - that's just in case.

176-185 - Why aren't you pulling this? The pull is 4 BLMs, 4 RNGs, and 4 eyes. The easiest 12 mobs to deal with in the entire zone at this density. With everything west of it cleared, the puller has a huge kiting area and nothing should ever kill him/her. The mobs are extremely squishy and the pull is over within 5-6min. 12 potential coin droppers and 4 potential 100 droppers (since eyes can drop either or). It does not link with Animated Dagger, just pull this pull west into the open area.

243-249 - Another example of an easy pull you're missing out on. The first pull from directly west of it will link with the middle eye, so you'll get 4 mobs and 2 eyes. The final eye can be pulled after, for 2 more mobs.

95-105 - Not the easiest set of mobs, but we've found it manageable and worth pulling. I forget exactly what's on the pull, but I know you know how to look it up. The middle of the 3 will link either the north or south eye, depending on where you pull from - I believe the mob types are symmetrical so it doesn't matter which side you pull. I like going from the south. You'll only get 2 eyes whether you pull the north or south one, and then the remaining eye is easy to deal with.

There are two mobs sitting there (a DRK and a DRG) from the 94 group pull, which we snag near the end, but we don't pull the whole 94 group.

We do not pull 127-137, the pets can be a bit overwhelming for a small group since all 3 eyes linked for us when we tried it. I hate BSTs in Xarcabard.

Typically, if we are able to clear all of what I described with a few minutes leftover, we will pull 117, which usually links one or two but not the whole thing. Sometimes I find myself sacraficing here to avoid giving the group too much to handle though.

Keep in mind, the coins we get range from ~180 to ~220, that's all about luck. I was wrong about what I said in my last post, our last run wasn't over 200 coins, it was 195 singles - sorry. (Big difference, right? )

When we did full farming runs with our larger group that was able to kill DL, we also added in the following:

322-336 - 12 mobs, 2 eyes, and 1 statue. It seems daunting, but with just a few more sleepers, it's very doable. You get 2 of each basic job if I recall correctly, which means there are some pretty squishy jobs here and with Feint, the THFs die quite fast.

36-52 - SAM, DRG, SMN, NIN x2, and 4 eyes. A bit more difficult, but with the sleepers and some fleeing up > back down to give sleepers a few seconds, it's manageable.

We've tried 420-431 before... I wouldn't reccomend it. Been a waste of time each time we've tried it. Do not want.

I'm curious, how do you guys deal with your THFs? We simply bring 2 to each run - one that DDs, as much damage as he can, he just keeps Ass arms and THF knife on as the only DD setbacks. And myself, who pulls, and I make my #1 priority tagging every single statue, never skipping one even for safety. <_< (or I scream at the BLMs to let the statues through until I can tag them)

Party setups can also make quite a difference to kill speed I've found. Ours is pretty simple:

BLM x5, Refresher
WHM, BRD, RDM, Tank, DD, DD
WHM, BRD, RDM, Tank, DD, DD
BRD, RDM, DD, DD, DD, DD

If we have a 5th party, it's just a healer with some DDs unless it gets nearly full, then a BRD is added to support them.

[Teorem]

434-451, 234-240, 142-154, we do pretty much this way already (as you assumed).

176-185: We don't get to this for two reasons: 1) we're usually out of time, and 2) even though the Animated Dagger doesn't link with the pull, someone almost always finds a way to wander close to it and aggro, much like the Animated Horn if you ever try to pull 158-168.

A long time ago we used to approach this from the west and someone would ALWAYS get either 260-284 or the Animated Dagger even when told to avoid them, causing a wipe. Since we've been ending heading back west (typically 1-16 => 127-137 => 73-81 => 188-196 => 199 => 206), it would probably be easier with an approach from the east and we'll give that a shot if there's enough time.

95-105, 243-249: These aren't too bad, but the only time we've really cleared them is on the way to the Animated Hammer.

322-336: Has been awful for us every time we've tried it, mainly due to the initial spawning placement. If I remember correctly, they're too far apart for a single Sleepga to cover more than 3-4, and due to the placement on the hill, they path oddly after the puller.

420-431: Wipe every time for us. If I have our BLMs to down there to try to -ga the Vanguard Eyes, it's literally like shooting mages in a barrel for the Kindred. If I have a THF try to pull with Flee back to the open area, crowd control gets difficult because of the differences in positioning and the time needed to clear all 4 Vanguard Eyes.

We usually have 2 THFs in the zone, and typically I'll ask one to pull. If I ask someone else to pull (usually a NIN), our THFs are usually really good about shooting or doing something to the ahriman before they die. We only use single targeting in Xarcabard, so we definitely have all of the Kindred covered in terms of application of Treasure Hunter.

I play with alliance setups occasionally to try to eke out more damage (to Izzy's and others' frustration sometimes), as we usually have a diverse set of jobs available to us. Our normal Xarcabard setup isn't really different from other zones and is usually along the lines of:

BLM party/alliance: BLM x5-6, maybe SCH/BRD
Tank party: PLD x2, WHM x2, RDM or BRD, extra BLM
Melee parties: DD x4, RDM, BRD

I've also played with more merit-style setups for melee parties:

Tank party: PLD x2, WHM x2, RDM x2
Melee parties: DD x4, BRD x2

But due to various issues, that kind of setup has proven generally unpopular.

We've been trying a few things in Xarcabard lately to make our runs a lot more efficient so that we can come out with a Dynamis Lord kill and a 200+ currency count, which I think would be well within the grasp of a group going in with 40 people.

[Wizerd]

I find it interesting that you farm from East to West after DL; we have our farm path in a very rough figure 8 type track that members can follow easily, because I basically run a bunch of people who can't navigate worth crap without a map. I'm sure every dynamis is like this, but the stragglers are always asking where to go if we move very far from the last camp. This keeps things flowing for us and doesn't let anyone take a rest, because rests sometimes make people too relaxed and they don't try as hard. If you keep them working, but not too much, you get better results, I've found.

We usually have 2 THFs in the zone, and typically I'll ask one to pull. If I ask someone else to pull (usually a NIN), our THFs are usually really good about shooting or doing something to the ahriman before they die. We only use single targeting in Xarcabard, so we definitely have all of the Kindred covered in terms of application of Treasure Hunter.

I play with alliance setups occasionally to try to eke out more damage (to Izzy's and others' frustration sometimes), as we usually have a diverse set of jobs available to us. Our normal Xarcabard setup isn't really different from other zones and is usually along the lines of:

BLM party/alliance: BLM x5-6, maybe SCH/BRD
Tank party: PLD x2, WHM x2, RDM or BRD, extra BLM
Melee parties: DD x4, RDM, BRD

I've also played with more merit-style setups for melee parties:

Tank party: PLD x2, WHM x2, RDM x2
Melee parties: DD x4, BRD x2

But due to various issues, that kind of setup has proven generally unpopular.

We've been trying a few things in Xarcabard lately to make our runs a lot more efficient so that we can come out with a Dynamis Lord kill and a 200+ currency count, which I think would be well within the grasp of a group going in with 40 people.

The first of the two setups you outlined is how we used to do our parties. It worked ok, but what I found was that the WHMs in the tank party become tired and annoyed because there isn't a lot of work to do, ever, and when something does happen, such as a PLD being hit into red, or something like that, they aren't quick enough. The pace during the run shifts a whole lot and they don't want to come on WHM anymore because of it. I'll repeat what one of my WHMs said to me before: "You're watching the HP bars the whole time, but not doing anything. But you can't take your eyes off it." Something along those lines, anyway. With 2 WHMs, a RDM, a BRD, and 2 PLDs in the party, this is the breakdown of work:

WHMs: Watch alliance HP bars for people who need cures, often outside of their own parties because PLDs these days don't take shit for damage in most zones. They might take a PLD each, if the RDM doesn't want to, for Haste.

BRD: Ballad. Ballad. Curing, and some sleeps. But mostly just making sure Ballad is on...

RDM: 3-6 Refreshes depending on the RDM, how active things are, etc. Sometimes some curing. Often the RDM who casts sleep the most because the work is so repetitive and boring that they want to cast something outside of a large Refresh loop.


Then you have the melee parties; RDM, BRD, DD x4. The BRD has to make sure he gets songs on 4 melees who are constantly moving from mob to mob (as usual). It's imperative that the BRD get Ballad on the RDM, because there's no way a RDM is going to keep a 4 DD party alive and all hasted without 2 forms of Refresh. The DDs often feel neglected because it's a 1:4 ratio of healers/hasters to DDs.


With the party setup I chose about 4 months ago, it evens out a lot of the loads. It's the exact same jobs:

Tank x2, WHM x2, RDM x2, BRD x2, DD x4 (12 players).

They go from this:

WHM, WHM, BRD, RDM, Tank, Tank
BRD, RDM, DD, DD, DD, DD

To this:

WHM, BRD, RDM, Tank, DD, DD
WHM, BRD, RDM, Tank, DD, DD


The WHMs are granted with a bit more to do than just watch the HP bars - and even better, they only have to watch their own party's HP bars. The RDM that was in the tank party has a little bit more to do now, but not so much that they can't sleep anything. They have the spare MP needed because the WHM can usually cover the curing, and MP seldom runs low. The BRDs are now both BRD/WHM merit-style bards, which they know how to do. They aren't too busy to sleep things either, generally. The DDs and Tanks both get the attention they need to perform well. All 3 are hasted, the WHM and PLD are Refreshed, and usually the PLD gets march because the melees want that as one of their songs.

The RDM that was in the DD party has a little bit less to do and is now freed up to help sleep things, as above. Additional DD parties still have the old format, but by now you have a bit more functionality that it makes it ok.

BLM x5 and a Refresher stays the same, that's a solid party. I like RDM in there, but RDMs don't like it. The BLMs prefer COR if it's available.

I invite you to try my party setup for a run and see how it goes - I only ever do single targeting though so I don't know how it'd work in cities. *shrug*

[Teorem]

It's not so much east-to-west farming as it is us doubling back around; the part I listed is second half, preceeded by 210-214 => 234-240 => 142-154 => 408-416 => 404-412 => 351 => 337 => 358.

Those hybrid setups (WHM, BRD, RDM, PLD, DD x2) are actually the way we used to have our alliances for the first couple years before we moved to the tank/melee party setups. Back in those days though, BRDs were still rarer in availability and we usually substituted another DD in where needed. Other than probably some tanks complaining when they were paired with incapable healers, it's been so long that it may well be worth trying it again.

I disagree with your WHM, having been WHM myself a few times to Dynamis. Especially since the addition of Repose, a tank party WHM should not be focused solely on the six HP bars in the corner of their screen, with the only exception being during the fighting/holding of any of the demon NMs when Cure is absolutely critical. There's plenty of curing to be done in other parties, status to be removed, and always something to Repose unless you're moving to another camp...always something to keep a WHM busy regardless of what party they're in.

I definitely agree with the equal division of labor in order to make sure no one is particularly burdened; it's actually this which caused the {PLDx2, WHMx2, RDMx2}, {DDx4, BRD x2}x2 setup to be unpopular, because it forced people to pay attention, divide up responsibilites ahead of time, and deal with someone not in their party.

CORs are definitely good in the BLM party. Lately we've been putting in a SCH when available to help give the BLMs a little extra boost to make sure Vanguard Eyes that get -ga'd without Elemental Seal go in one volley.

[Wizerd]

Oh wow, you don't kill 351, 337, 358 at the start? O.o I love pulling these at the start because it gives people a strong, full HP/MP start for the decent sized pulls, prepared people for the whole run since they get bigger later.

I disagree with your WHM, having been WHM myself a few times to Dynamis. Especially since the addition of Repose, a tank party WHM should not be focused solely on the six HP bars in the corner of their screen, with the only exception being during the fighting/holding of any of the demon NMs when Cure is absolutely critical. There's plenty of curing to be done in other parties, status to be removed, and always something to Repose unless you're moving to another camp...always something to keep a WHM busy regardless of what party they're in.

I agree with watching the alliance's HP bars with your current setup. And I definitely agree with curing outside the party even with my setup. But it ends up being more of a "oh, I notice that the other party needs some curing" and otherwise watching logs instead of HP bars, since the one of the other parties in the same alliance is covered by another WHM. I've learned that people do not like to do things outside of their own parties, haha.

I also agree with you about Repose, I actually forgot about it. <_<

[Izzy]

I've learned that people do not like to do things outside of their own parties, haha.

This^^^^

People get really angsty and upset when you ask them to do something that is harder than hitting f1-f6.

[Wizerd]

This^^^^

People get really angsty and upset when you ask them to do something that is harder than hitting f1-f6.

Exactly. Although the new windower apparently has CTRL and ALT F1-6 bound to alliance members? So that shouldn't actually be that hard anymore to target them on the fly, right?

[Izzy]

Exactly. Although the new windower apparently has CTRL and ALT F1-6 bound to alliance members? So that shouldn't actually be that hard anymore to target them on the fly, right?

Vanilla FFXI has the ability to target alliance members. 3.4 just added the ability in the init.txt file so people didn't have to set it up themselves. Plus, you can't force people to use windower macros if they don't want to

[Callisto]

This^^^^

People get really angsty and upset when you ask them to do something that is harder than hitting f1-f6.

2 things to be fair:

1) Having your macro pallette up blocks the whole alliance list outside of your party, when you're hitting macros often it's not always an issue of not wanting to cast outside of your party, but more not seeing yellow/red HP etc. to know who needs it.

2) If you're on a console, one issue(this is huge for my g/f) is blinking...not so much the tank blinking when trying to cure/haste them b/c she has named macros for that, but when you use an <st> macro, then hit up/down to scroll through alliance list to target the DD who needs a cure...and as you're 1 name from them the DD you're targeting swaps to their WS set, and you lose targeting altogether. That becomes a serious pain in my experiences of playing her WHM.

[Izzy]

Type their name. Blinking doesn't matter if you do that.

[Callisto]

My g/f types like an autistic T-Rex, not really an option.

[Missnasty]

Yesterday we had:

1 Duelist's Tabard
3 Cleric's Briaults
1 Koga Chainmail
3 Sorcerer's Coats
1 Assassin's Culotte
1 Abyss Cuirass
1 Monster Gaiters
2 Bard's Justacorpses
1 Saotome Domaru

and many happy people in Dynamis - Beaucedine.

[Izzy]

My g/f types like an autistic T-Rex, not really an option.

ahahahhaahhaah

[Grieverao]

Yesterday we had:

1 Duelist's Tabard
3 Cleric's Briaults
1 Koga Chainmail
3 Sorcerer's Coats
1 Assassin's Culotte
1 Abyss Cuirass
1 Monster Gaiters
2 Bard's Justacorpses
1 Saotome Domaru

and many happy people in Dynamis - Beaucedine.

That's a fucking sweet Beauc pool. Most we've seen is 6AF, 3 100s and 2 Attestations. And it's usually BST, WAR and WHM AF >.> Plenty of unhappy RDM and NIN atm for us ><;

[anathema]

Vanilla FFXI has the ability to target alliance members. 3.4 just added the ability in the init.txt file so people didn't have to set it up themselves. Plus, you can't force people to use windower macros if they don't want to

i find it easier to assign the "menu up/down" buttons to something like y and h to scroll through party and alliance members. for some reason, these are unassigned on windows ffxi so not a lot of people use it. if you've ever played on ps2, they function the same as pressing up and down on the digital pad. a godsend for stpc tank cure macros. i believe they're in config/movement settings.

[Callisto]

i find it easier to assign the "menu up/down" buttons to something like y and h to scroll through party and alliance members. for some reason, these are unassigned on windows ffxi so not a lot of people use it. if you've ever played on ps2, they function the same as pressing up and down on the digital pad. a godsend for stpc tank cure macros. i believe they're in config/movement settings.

Wow, thanks. Not being able to move up and down alliance list on PC was driving me fucking batty, lol.