1 week impressions of the patch

[Jkun]

i dont see how going around taking pictures is possibly a grind...
If you're getting 15 zeni per pic it probably means you're doing it wrong somehow..

If you're willing to spend time on soultrapping, its easy to accumulate enough points for tier 1 NMs.
In the best case situation, it doesn't take u 30mins to get enough zeni for a tier 1 pop (at their base/near base costs)
All u gotta do is pack your inventory up, leave town like 12hrs b4 Vana'day change, find the correct mob at a good level and whittle it down to 10% and snap 20 shots. Go back before day change, trade in 10. Wait for day change, trade in 10.
Provided interest doesn't change, which means timing is involved... (but this is best case scenario like i said), you're getting at least 60 zeni per pic. I average 75 zeni when i do this..
Thats 1200 zeni on the low end.. and takes a lot less time than if you're to compare it with sky / sea NM tier 1 equivalents in terms of obtaining triggers.. Hell, it probably takes less time than running to DA + the time u're needed to be active in DA when window comes...

Getting the wrong mob is fine too.. Very high lv mobs (HNMs esp) with low HP turn in a good deal of zeni as well. This is still actively being tested tho.

I just feel you're judging the zeni/soultrapping system a little too harshly considering you're not doing it right..

15 a shot is when the mob is unclaimed and at 100%. Grab a RDM or BLM, knock it to low HP, then sleep it. You should be getting 80+ Zeni a pop, which is 800+ total a day. Considering msot T1s are 1k a pop, how can you possibly call this a grind?

I'd much rather spend 30mins~ taking pictures of a near dead mob for an item that lets you make an NM appear 100% of the time than sit around waiting for PHs to repop every 15 mins with an unknown chance of an NM popping tbh. THAT is grinding.

[Lyramion]

Yeah you are doing it wrong. Yesterday we had MARID as enemy - oh boy they have so much HP which gives so many Zeni.


I went out took 20 pics of a 1% Marid and got 97-99 for the first 10. Waited some minutes for daychange and handed in the other 10. That are almost 2000 points right there for 40 minutes of work - which is as I mentioned on par with ENM triggers.

[Alibeemac]

No promised SCH merits /sad face.

Instead they give me another 150+ merits to get on jobs I was finally done with /stab SE. I would rather level new jobs than grind my BRD (Since its BRD or no PT -.-) for another 1.5mil exp on the same shitty birds and crappy mamool in noob pts in over crowded areas. I love my BRD but only in LS events etc. I hate grinding it in exp pts. I literally start falling asleep after 2 hours..

New NM system... I love the whole pop idea and Tier etc. I detest every second of the way I have to get points. Screw Pankration. Already burned most of my IS on ISNM tags to get my Khroma for my Salvage Body and now I have to burn more to get stupid cameras that I need minimum of 12 inv spots for to hold camera, plates and the 10 used plates to turn in daily. So basically I shell out 8k per gold coin to get cameras or I grind my BRD even more for IS. Oh wait... I don't have time to exp for the IS cacuse I'm spending hours taking pictures of shitty assed mobs for 40-50 Zeni a pop. Yesterday, it was about 8 hrs of Fire and Water Eles on Lakshmi. So if you wanted decent points you go to Sky and fight over claims of the eles. Great, we now spam claim elementals instead of HNMs. Worst part of any update in a long time for me.

Einherjar = <3. Finally less stress on organising runs (other than the fact we have way more than 36 people show up now per run... ). More ampoules even if you lose is win. Easier way to get to Odin = win. ie no more DA camps all going to plan.

Nyzul weapons... I am just amused at all the people who wanted to upgrade these and ranted about how crappy salvage was and how they would never ever do it etc and now they are forced to come crawling to ask to participate for titles.

Ixion... I would have much preferred this to be on a 1-3 day timer. Lakshmi is already at the stage of some LS's having one person in each zone /rng to scan for it for the 3 hour window. 21-24hrs still leaves it open to be overly camped. Otherwise tho, the fact the NM spawns randomly in any zone is a nice welcome addition.

Overall, the update is mostly win for me with just one or two things I hate...

[TB]

New NM system... I love the whole pop idea and Tier etc. I detest every second of the way I have to get points. Screw Pankration. Already burned most of my IS on ISNM tags to get my Khroma for my Salvage Body and now I have to burn more to get stupid cameras that I need minimum of 12 inv spots for to hold camera, plates and the 10 used plates to turn in daily. So basically I shell out 8k per gold coin to get cameras or I grind my BRD even more for IS. Oh wait... I don't have time to exp for the IS cacuse I'm spending hours taking pictures of shitty assed mobs for 40-50 Zeni a pop. Yesterday, it was about 8 hrs of Fire and Water Eles on Lakshmi. So if you wanted decent points you go to Sky and fight over claims of the eles. Great, we now spam claim elementals instead of HNMs. Worst part of any update in a long time for me.

Amen.

[Lordwafik]

New NM system... I love the whole pop idea and Tier etc. I detest every second of the way I have to get points. Screw Pankration. Already burned most of my IS on ISNM tags to get my Khroma for my Salvage Body and now I have to burn more to get stupid cameras that I need minimum of 12 inv spots for to hold camera, plates and the 10 used plates to turn in daily. So basically I shell out 8k per gold coin to get cameras or I grind my BRD even more for IS. Oh wait... I don't have time to exp for the IS cacuse I'm spending hours taking pictures of shitty assed mobs for 40-50 Zeni a pop. Yesterday, it was about 8 hrs of Fire and Water Eles on Lakshmi. So if you wanted decent points you go to Sky and fight over claims of the eles. Great, we now spam claim elementals instead of HNMs. Worst part of any update in a long time for me.

Oh I know what you mean! I'd much rather sit and fight for claim over the same NMs that everyone else are trying to get so we can spawn the one mob between us rather than do this competition free activity that's less of a timesink.

[Kayos]

And I would rather camp Fafnir.

Then go camp Fafnir.


Seriously I can't fathom how people are bitching about the implementation of the new ZNM system. I have had more fun (and lost more exp) in the last few days than in years of FFXI. The system is almost perfectly implemented requiring just the right amount of effort for the quality of rewards. Being able to get pics anytime I wan't (solo no less!) and just grabbing a few friends for the lower tiers is great. Sure the upper tiers require more people but it really isn't hard to find that many.

Overall I am very pleased (and I am usually a cynic) with the expansion as a whole. As other people have mentioned the only issue I have atm is not finding enough time to do everything.

So basically I shell out 8k per gold coin to get cameras or I grind my BRD even more for IS. Oh wait... I don't have time to exp for the IS cacuse I'm spending hours taking pictures of shitty assed mobs for 40-50 Zeni a pop.

QQmore. Clearly it is your fault you are doing it wrong and not the system.

[Juront]

I agree with lord's sarcasm lol. The dev team finally did something right on this one. But all you people who don't like it, feel free to spend hours in one spot not accomplishing anything fo the slim chance that your bot will out-perform someone else's bot.

[Alibeemac]

New NM system... I love the whole pop idea and Tier etc. I detest every second of the way I have to get points. Screw Pankration. Already burned most of my IS on ISNM tags to get my Khroma for my Salvage Body and now I have to burn more to get stupid cameras that I need minimum of 12 inv spots for to hold camera, plates and the 10 used plates to turn in daily. So basically I shell out 8k per gold coin to get cameras or I grind my BRD even more for IS. Oh wait... I don't have time to exp for the IS cacuse I'm spending hours taking pictures of shitty assed mobs for 40-50 Zeni a pop. Yesterday, it was about 8 hrs of Fire and Water Eles on Lakshmi. So if you wanted decent points you go to Sky and fight over claims of the eles. Great, we now spam claim elementals instead of HNMs. Worst part of any update in a long time for me.

Oh I know what you mean! I'd much rather sit and fight for claim over the same NMs that everyone else are trying to get so we can spawn the one mob between us rather than do this competition free activity that's less of a timesink.

We very rarely camp Faf/Behe/Turtle. Post maintenance sometimes and if people are very very bored. Camping in DA to try outclaim botters is indeed a timesink which we don't participate in. I personally would rather I got extra Assault tags a week so I could do more Nyzul and Salvage. That is fun, taking photos isn't.

[Guyverarmor]

If you would rather camp HNMs from Zilart, by all means, have fun...If you don't like the new ZNM system, then quit your bitching and do not do it. simple as that

[Lordwafik]

So your complaint is you have to do something miniscule to reap rewards greater than the effort (kind of like ENM). The nerve of SE.

[riddaraan]

Well, I haven't been on much since the major patch, but from a Paladin's perspective, I have to rate Reprisal as pretty suck. Now, I haven't gone out to solo, so I'm not sure how it holds up well out and about - my Blue Mage would probably be preferable anyway - but in Dynamis and Limbus, I have to rate it as pretty pointless. By the time you cast it, it feels like it's already falling off, and the recast is so long, I typically forget to even put it back up.

The damage returned is pretty pitiful, although they may be fairly equal to what normal spikes would do (except the cheating ass Dread Spikes). There doesn't appear to be much enmity from casting the spell, and I'm not sure about enmity returned from the miniscule damage you'll do. Basically for one cast, you can look at doing, on average, 100ish damage, at best. And that's probably with a Monk Dynamis mob Hundred Fisting your face.

I read in one thread where someone fighting Cerberus in shield gear was returning about 20 damge per blocked hit. Woo. Lemme tell you that's so awesome. /sarcasm

Please don't take this as me just QQing that the spell wasn't powerful enough. I appreciate SE trying to add something for Paladins to encourage us to return to blood tanking. I just think that by offering this spell they would've made it actually useful. Perhaps instead of doing damage, had it return 3% of the damage blocked to MP, or something. Pretty much, as it stands it's like having Banish. I may use it from time to time, but it won't ever have a space in my macro blocks.

[Midnightjade]

I like the update a lot, spent a couple hours the first few days getting Zeni, then dragged a few pals together and fought a couple of the T1 NMs. Very very fun, and a couple of nice drops (love my Blood Ring ). The new system seems as though it can be used for casual low-key fun, or can be ground by endgame linkshells. All things to all people - very clever.

New missions are cool, and Einherjar finally looks interesting.

Only minor gripe is that some of the drops look like they were tossed together rather than carefully considered, and some of the models are bloody ugly (I'm looking at the aurum set ^^). Other than that, I like the whole thing.

[Plow]

So your complaint is you have to do something miniscule to reap rewards greater than the effort (kind of like ENM). The nerve of SE.

Yeah, is that not a valid complaint? I'd much rather it be something challenging to actually do than "go take some pictures."


Running retarded places for no reason for ENM sucks too.

[Toksyuryel]

I just can't help but laugh at the people blowing all of their IS on jettons when they're so easy to get from actually participating in pankration. But yeah, this update is total win. Only thing I didn't like was the campaign op nerf.

[Seraph]

Well, I haven't been on much since the major patch, but from a Paladin's perspective, I have to rate Reprisal as pretty suck. Now, I haven't gone out to solo, so I'm not sure how it holds up well out and about - my Blue Mage would probably be preferable anyway - but in Dynamis and Limbus, I have to rate it as pretty pointless. By the time you cast it, it feels like it's already falling off, and the recast is so long, I typically forget to even put it back up.

The damage returned is pretty pitiful, although they may be fairly equal to what normal spikes would do (except the cheating ass Dread Spikes). There doesn't appear to be much enmity from casting the spell, and I'm not sure about enmity returned from the miniscule damage you'll do. Basically for one cast, you can look at doing, on average, 100ish damage, at best. And that's probably with a Monk Dynamis mob Hundred Fisting your face.

I read in one thread where someone fighting Cerberus in shield gear was returning about 20 damge per blocked hit. Woo. Lemme tell you that's so awesome. /sarcasm

Please don't take this as me just QQing that the spell wasn't powerful enough. I appreciate SE trying to add something for Paladins to encourage us to return to blood tanking. I just think that by offering this spell they would've made it actually useful. Perhaps instead of doing damage, had it return 3% of the damage blocked to MP, or something. Pretty much, as it stands it's like having Banish. I may use it from time to time, but it won't ever have a space in my macro blocks.

I have grown to like it for the increased shield block rate. I agree though, that the returned damage is a bit low.

[Tan]

Well, I haven't been on much since the major patch, but from a Paladin's perspective, I have to rate Reprisal as pretty suck. Now, I haven't gone out to solo, so I'm not sure how it holds up well out and about - my Blue Mage would probably be preferable anyway - but in Dynamis and Limbus, I have to rate it as pretty pointless. By the time you cast it, it feels like it's already falling off, and the recast is so long, I typically forget to even put it back up.

The damage returned is pretty pitiful, although they may be fairly equal to what normal spikes would do (except the cheating ass Dread Spikes). There doesn't appear to be much enmity from casting the spell, and I'm not sure about enmity returned from the miniscule damage you'll do. Basically for one cast, you can look at doing, on average, 100ish damage, at best. And that's probably with a Monk Dynamis mob Hundred Fisting your face.

I read in one thread where someone fighting Cerberus in shield gear was returning about 20 damge per blocked hit. Woo. Lemme tell you that's so awesome. /sarcasm

Please don't take this as me just QQing that the spell wasn't powerful enough. I appreciate SE trying to add something for Paladins to encourage us to return to blood tanking. I just think that by offering this spell they would've made it actually useful. Perhaps instead of doing damage, had it return 3% of the damage blocked to MP, or something. Pretty much, as it stands it's like having Banish. I may use it from time to time, but it won't ever have a space in my macro blocks.

Hows your haste gear? With Capped Haste, (Along the lines of 15% gear, Haste spell and March x2, which you typically get tanking HNM's) you should have a recast of 1:30 on Reprisal for a 1:00 duration effect. I think thats pretty damn good recast. As for the enmity +, meh who cares I just cure bomb or flash, and the damage of the spikes is typically 1/2 of what you shield block. I think its a nice spell for "Oh shit my Utsusemi went down" or "Look at that MNK hundred fist me" not a wtf amazing spell, but I think all of us don't expect huge job transformations from SE and atleast its an easier way to cap enhancing magic while on PLD too 8)

[riddaraan]

Hows your haste gear? With Capped Haste, (Along the lines of 15% gear, Haste spell and March x2, which you typically get tanking HNM's) you should have a recast of 1:30 on Reprisal for a 1:00 duration effect. I think thats pretty damn good recast. As for the enmity +, meh who cares I just cure bomb or flash, and the damage of the spikes is typically 1/2 of what you shield block. I think its a nice spell for "Oh shit my Utsusemi went down" or "Look at that MNK hundred fist me" not a wtf amazing spell, but I think all of us don't expect huge job transformations from SE and atleast its an easier way to cap enhancing magic while on PLD too 8)

That's about what I'm looking at, haste gear wise. In a "blood tanking" situation, I'll use Homam legs & hands and Swift Belt, and that's only 10% haste. Of course, throw in a little bit of that Fast Cast from the legs. I'm usually double marched, or single march & ballad, plus haste is on. Annnnyway, I'm probably looking at about 1 minute without any spikes. That seems like a helluva long time to me. Seeing as during that minute, I can probably provoke twice, flash two times, perform other job functions, weapon skill, Cure bomb, take a bite of cake and so on. At what point in all my actions & such, do I have time to care for a spell that will probably net me about 100 damage, on average? Holy casts fast too, so why not just use that? I'll throw it up at the start of a Monk or Warrior mob. But that's about all I think it's worth. And even that's probably a bit extreme.

[travOtaku]

Yesterday, it was about 8 hrs of Fire and Water Eles on Lakshmi. So if you wanted decent points you go to Sky and fight over claims of the eles. Great, we now spam claim elementals instead of HNMs. Worst part of any update in a long time for me.

Lakshmi must be filled with douchebags because every time I've gone around to try and farm zeni, if there was competition I would just team up with them so we could both be done with our film faster.

Haven't ever had to fight anyone to get zeni, like at all. And several people from rival LS's I know even team up to get zeni since it just makes it so much easier and since helping other people get the points doesn't do jack to prevent your own LS from accomplishing anything.

I'd probably hate the system too if I was doing it horribly wrong. Thankfully, I'm not.

[Tan]

Hows your haste gear? With Capped Haste, (Along the lines of 15% gear, Haste spell and March x2, which you typically get tanking HNM's) you should have a recast of 1:30 on Reprisal for a 1:00 duration effect. I think thats pretty damn good recast. As for the enmity +, meh who cares I just cure bomb or flash, and the damage of the spikes is typically 1/2 of what you shield block. I think its a nice spell for "Oh shit my Utsusemi went down" or "Look at that MNK hundred fist me" not a wtf amazing spell, but I think all of us don't expect huge job transformations from SE and atleast its an easier way to cap enhancing magic while on PLD too 8)

That's about what I'm looking at, haste gear wise. In a "blood tanking" situation, I'll use Homam legs & hands and Swift Belt, and that's only 10% haste. Of course, throw in a little bit of that Fast Cast from the legs. I'm usually double marched, or single march & ballad, plus haste is on. Annnnyway, I'm probably looking at about 1 minute without any spikes. That seems like a helluva long time to me. Seeing as during that minute, I can probably provoke twice, flash two times, perform other job functions, weapon skill, Cure bomb, take a bite of cake and so on. At what point in all my actions & such, do I have time to care for a spell that will probably net me about 100 damage, on average? Holy casts fast too, so why not just use that? I'll throw it up at the start of a Monk or Warrior mob. But that's about all I think it's worth. And even that's probably a bit extreme.

See thats your problem. Cake goes after Reprisal.

[XanthePandy]

Yeah you are doing it wrong. Yesterday we had MARID as enemy - oh boy they have so much HP which gives so many Zeni.


I went out took 20 pics of a 1% Marid and got 97-99 for the first 10. Waited some minutes for daychange and handed in the other 10. That are almost 2000 points right there for 40 minutes of work - which is as I mentioned on par with ENM triggers.

I got around the same with Marid. If you can team up with other people it will make it a breeze. If you get a specially hard monster then just getting marids and taking pictures will net your around 50 zeni a pop even if they aren't requested. I've duo'd all the wanted pictures so far and gotten about 3k Zeni from 4 or so different mob requests. It took about 2 days at most. This was spread out as well. Only problem I had was the SAM I'm with keeps double attacking and killing mobs at 1%.



Tip: If you want an easy way to get Jettons and aren't completely attached to your bunny/bee/thing then enter a the tournament in the last Battle Cage. You'll pretty much get one-shotted if you have a low level pet and the waiting lines are low as well. You'll get 100 jettons/death. Because you're getting one shotted it won't take more than around half an hour to accumulate 1000+ points. Its also really funny to watch.



I think SE pretty much released a great update. Nothing that was released is bad in anyway. Of course there's disappointment over a few things that were expected to be added but if SE continue with this trend of actually making players happy, I'm sure they'll add it all.