Pirates

[TaruMortis]

As I'm leveling my fishing I have started to camp the cudgel NMs that appear with pirates.. now, if I'm not mistaken, isn't there a way to tell if pirates will be appearing on a trip in advance? I believe something is supposed to load before it usually does when they are supposed to appear.

[The Stig]

Pirate attacks are always predictable after the ferry leaves port. Upon zoning onto the ferry, the doors leading from the cargo bay to the stairs will not be selectable as a target for several seconds; if a pirate attack is imminent, they will be selectable immediately.

[Kaylia]

While we are at it, can I solo those NM easily on war/blm/whm/sam subbing thief?

[TaruMortis]

Thanks Stig. Mmm.. I don't know Kaylia. I've always just done whm/nin. Sorry

[The Stig]

While we are at it, can I solo those NM easily on war/blm/whm/sam subbing thief?

I suppose with SAM you can solo by quickly rushing it down with 5 weaponskills (including 2 hour). I don't recall them hitting hard but they're capable of casting high level magic (Tier 3 -ga and Ancient Magic). Don't think WAR can do it unless you're subbing DNC. Will need other people's opinion's on this.

[Spekkio]

i was poorly geared at the time (made space for fishies!) but as blm i was unable to take it down in time. i got some good hits in on him initially, but he started to spam spells on me and not having any significant MP recovery mechanism, i couldn't keep up with the damage he was doing when i had to cure and rebuff myself so often. whm/nin iirc can take it down fairly easily though. the blunt bonus, reliable blinks to block his tier4 and am spells, and cures/stoneskin for when he ga's, with mystic boon and hexa he should buckle with ease iirc.

[Innuendo]

Whm/blm soloing both NMs:
Blackbeard YouTube - Tameria vs Blackbeard
Silverhook YouTube - Tameria vs Silverhook

Seems to only be using ice spikes from sub, you can probably do without that and use /thf?

[hypnotizd]

To tell if there are pirates when the ferry zones the screen will stay black for up to five seconds while showing the chatlog. Otherwise everything loads at the same time for a normal ferry ride.

[Octavious]

To tell if there are pirates when the ferry zones the screen will stay black for up to five seconds while showing the chatlog. Otherwise everything loads at the same time for a normal ferry ride.

I wanted to second this, as well as Stig's info. If you keep an eye out you'll definitely notice a difference when the boat loads. The first time you experience it you won't know what you're looking for exactly, but the first time it strikes you you'll know it.

@Kaylia: I've done the NM's as WHM/NIN w/I.Wing + Remedies (in case of paralyze from Ice Spikes) and it's pretty easy with some average gear and the ability to make a light skillchain & burst it. /THF though, I think it would be pretty rough unless you rush it down as mentioned. Although those YouTube videos are pretty interesting, depending on how decent your equipment is I would love to see a WHM/THF fight. With the addition of Mystic Boon it's pretty feasible I would think.

[Thistle]

You can also tell by checking guild prices each trip. The pirate ferry is a different zone than the normal ferry, so if all the prices are very different, you know you're on a pirate ship.

[Indalecia]

I always knew it was pirates not by the targetable door, but by it taking so much longer to load the zone. Example, if zone loads immediately, its normal. If text box is up with black background for ~3-4 sec, its pirates.