Quick Questions for Proto-Ultima

[Xavierus]

Okay, our last Proto-Ultima run, my linkshell was having difficulties seeing what screen (mana or energy) was up during the last portion of the battle. This almost resulted in a loss of the battle as people were using 2 hours etc during wrong times.

Let us assume that the person responsible for calling out the screen that is currently up is a DD (either RNG or SAM). What filters should that person have on so that they will be able to easily call out what shield is currently up?

Also, we have a KC DRK in our shell. Would it be wise to use SE + BW during one of the CB count downs? We havent done this in the past but I'd assume the DRK could get a fair amount of damage off prior to biting the dust.

[Vigilia]

It's hard for just one person to call the screens, you can see the screen go on but as to when they wear off you need to listen to your tanks/melees and mages and communicate. We have PLDs whiffing at Ultima all the time anyway, they're the ones to say when Energy screen wears. For Mana screen it's up to mages just to test with tier I nukes and speak up asap when it wears.

[Seraph]

It's hard for just one person to call the screens, you can see the screen go on but as to when they wear off you need to listen to your tanks/melees and mages and communicate. We have PLDs whiffing at Ultima all the time anyway, they're the ones to say when Energy screen wears. For Mana screen it's up to mages just to test with tier I nukes and speak up asap when it wears.

This is how we do it we well. Since the PLDs are often engaged to get parrying procs anyway, they can call out when Energy/Mana screen go up, and can usually give a rough idea when Energy Screen goes down (often hitting for 0 anyways, but ocne that first non 0 hit happens...). For mana screen, we have a mage call when its down by tossing out some low level cheap nukes after like 30 seconds or so of it going up.

Also, for the record, with Atonement testing we have figured out that Proto Ultima seems to have exactly a built in 30% magic damage resistance. Not sure how to test physical damage resistance, but based on our melee complaints, it might be 30% as well. I might have our BLUs try to tag it with 1000 Needles and see how that goes. Damn floating prick of a mob if you ask me... >_>;;;

[Drex]

Special Actions Started on/by Foes = Off should show you what screen it uses in chatlog

[Aihree]

Cool, I'll give this a try, thank you.

Energy Screen, like rampart Reinforcements, is a self-based TP move that targets no one but themselves. As a result, filters often cut it out, unless you're in the party which has hate at the time. Usually, as a result, tanks will always see what it is.

Cerberus' magma hoplon has also confused me in this way when I'm not in tank party.

[Suiram]

Foes isn't enough. If you unfilter self, party, allies, and foes, you always see offensive spells and WSs, but self-target spells and WSs will only display when the last person to take an action before it is readied was a person from your party in the alliance (red-named). Tank party isn't reliable with those filters either, for the same reason.

In order to always see self-buffs like hoplon or gear's Restoral or Ultima screens, I unfilter both "others" and "NPCs" as well (special actions started on/by). It's possible that you only need to do one of those two in addition to the others, but I do both anyway because I've never verified which and I know for certain that doing both will work.

[Furionstormrage]

Why are your PLDs whiffing, he's easy to hit.

[Seraph]

Why are your PLDs whiffing, he's easy to hit.

Hitting for 0 is no better than not hitting at all.~

Even with full sword merits, it always seems that without atk food and atk gear on, often times a PLD that is tanking doesn't have enough attack to hit for higher than 0 on Ultima. Something to the tune of 50%+ of the hits that connect are often for 0. We don't really use our PLDs to DD or anything in this fight, so it really isn't a big deal for us. We only really noticed when they wanted to test out atonement damage since it was the fun new toy. I guess I should have clarified.

If you want to see something funny though, ask a THF, DNC, or BLU to TP on Ultima, and watch how fast they complain about total crap for DPS. Most of our serious damage seems to come from WSs, BLU spells, and nukes, not TPing.

[Osede]

Okay, our last Proto-Ultima run, my linkshell was having difficulties seeing what screen (mana or energy) was up during the last portion of the battle. This almost resulted in a loss of the battle as people were using 2 hours etc during wrong times.

Indeed, it isn't too hard to check. Since it just keep switching, so just let blm nuke tier1 spell and melee hitting to check which screen is up. And the effect of screen is so significant that you can't miss if it use any screen.

Let us assume that the person responsible for calling out the screen that is currently up is a DD (either RNG or SAM). What filters should that person have on so that they will be able to easily call out what shield is currently up?

These should not be filtered.
Effect on npc, Npc begin to cast. i'm on Jp client so I'm not quite sure what they called in EN.

Also, we have a KC DRK in our shell. Would it be wise to use SE + BW during one of the CB count downs? We havent done this in the past but I'd assume the DRK could get a fair amount of damage off prior to biting the dust.

No. Because you got quite a significant damage cut from proto-ultima

When we did proto ultima, we only use sam to do skill chain and MB for damage output. Giving too much tp will causes it spamming AOE which is bad for us.

[MillionDollarMan]

I filter everything but damage i do and actions taken by foe. It's easy to see the moves that way.

[Vigilia]

Why are your PLDs whiffing, he's easy to hit.

Meant to say whittling, dunno why I typed whiffing.

[Valyana]

"Others" is other PCs, you can leave those filters on. It's the "NPCs" filters you need to turn off to see mob self-buffs reliably in an alliance.

[Xavierus]

Thanks for the input everyone on what chat filters to use and what methods to use to see what screen is up. I will certainly use those methods as last Ultima was a bit uglier than previous ones. ^^


So to clarify on the zerging issue, we should not perform a KC zerg with BW + SE at all? Not even during the Citadel Buster countdown when the mob is doing nothing but counting down from 30 to 0?

Thanks

[Aux]

Thanks for the input everyone on what chat filters to use and what methods to use to see what screen is up. I will certainly use those methods as last Ultima was a bit uglier than previous ones. ^^


So to clarify on the zerging issue, we should not perform a KC zerg with BW + SE at all? Not even during the Citadel Buster countdown when the mob is doing nothing but counting down from 30 to 0?

Thanks

You can, here's a perfect example you can follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwbcWNYl7gg

[Yggberry]

Today I have some time off during lunch and I will contribute a little . . .

I think there is a misconception about Proto-Ultima.

You shouldn't be "zerging" at the end. The faster you zerg, the faster you will loose.

First and foremost, you must find a way to counter Citadel Buster.

In our strategy, we use one beastmaster to tank Citadel Buster and take it slow.

We don’t worry about Citadel Buster anymore. The only thing that hurts us is Armor Buster.

I recommend setting up a melee chain where only one melee is on Ultima at a time.

[Seraph]

Today I have some time off during lunch and I will contribute a little . . .

I think there is a misconception about Proto-Ultima.

You shouldn't be "zerging" at the end. The faster you zerg, the faster you will loose.

First and foremost, you must find a way to counter Citadel Buster.

In our strategy, we use one beastmaster to tank Citadel Buster and take it slow.

We don’t worry about Citadel Buster anymore. The only thing that hurts us is Armor Buster.

I recommend setting up a melee chain where only one melee is on Ultima at a time.

If you have two tanks that can survive CB, and they take turns eating the move, and your DD aren't acting stupid, the last 20% isn't a problem. I have been on runs with less than normal members where we have had to eat 6-7 CBs and been just fine. As long as the tanks can keep hate afterwards, everyone is happy.

What you need to stress to your members is when it starts counting down, they need to gtfo asap, expecially if they have gravity on them. Crowding Proto-Ultima towards the end can make Armor Bustor suck too...

[Crisco]

Having a BLU and SCH in the tank PT exponentially increases your survival rate the more CBs you need to eat. Saline Coat and a full 350 SS can reduce those ~1k CBs to under 500 dmg; much easier to recover hate lost as well.

@Seraph: Atonement rocks for Ultima. 30% resistance seems a bit high. That would mean a max 100% return of 504dmg and I know for a fact I was breaking 500 before CBs started. Either way, it's still a fantastic substitute to SW, although I had to use some DD gear to increase my non-zero hits though.