When does Campaign become relevant (fun) if ever?

[The Q]

I've heard tell that 60+ is ok for Campaign. I find this odd as on my 63 BLU I still can barely hit any of the campaign mobs, even stacking accuracy, and if for some reason I catch agro it means instant death and a waste of time, a fast track to ragequit.

So when is it possible to actually do Campaign shit without running out and whiffing and dying and wasting time? Are there any actual tactics to try to use outside of hope and pray that I don't die and thus waste my time? As of right now it looks like another Besieged aka 75 onry.

Also why is BLU so biased against in exp parties? Is it because it's a DD that uses MP, a bad stigma that they all suck, or both?

[Toth]

I didn't have issues when I used sushi, starting around 61. At 65 or so, you'd probably stop needing the sushi.

As for the getting pwned part, I suggest you go to the starter area Campaign parties were people tend to appear the most and wail on any mob claimed by 2+ players. Never, ever attack your own mob unless you can survive for its whole life bar solo.

Oh and about why people ignore BLUs...its hard to say. There are crappy BLUs for sure that sour our reputations but a good BLU will go through mobs like butter with the right spells (ie Sickle Slash, Frentic Rip, then Hysterical B, then Disservement). Just make sure you have a RDM to refresh you and MP Drainkiss set for birdies.

[ronin sparthos]

I've heard tell that 60+ is ok for Campaign. I find this odd as on my 63 BLU I still can barely hit any of the campaign mobs, even stacking accuracy, and if for some reason I catch agro it means instant death and a waste of time, a fast track to ragequit.

So when is it possible to actually do Campaign shit without running out and whiffing and dying and wasting time? Are there any actual tactics to try to use outside of hope and pray that I don't die and thus waste my time? As of right now it looks like another Besieged aka 75 onry.

Also why is BLU so biased against in exp parties? Is it because it's a DD that uses MP, a bad stigma that they all suck, or both?

BLU like THF and PUP is one of those jobs where you either get someone who knows what the fuck they are doing and does well or a festering mass of a wasted party slot. Most people rather pick the "safe" jobs that are WAR and SAM than take a chance on said jobs above.

You'll either have to make your own parties or get some willing friends to help speed up EXP because LFP is all but a lost cause for anything outside a handful of jobs. I cant remember the last time ive actually had to flag up because if I dont see a party in the LFP column, im not wasting my time. Personal opinion of course though.

Campaign? Stick to fodder mobs that 75s pull away for EXP and avoid areas where its very likely you'll be mobbed (Garliage [S] comes to mind) by incoming forces or defenders that spawn. If you have /DNC, use it.

Pack RR as well, its your friend.

Also... you could do pet EXP, its not bad and beats wasting time LFP.

[The Q]

Well I'm not using sushi because it would be a waste of money at this point for me to use it for Campaign considering my luck. IE: Me and 5 others beating up on a mob and the boss walks over out of nowhere, 2 shots me and walks away ignoring everyone else.

I usually do try to hang around starter/lower areas and beat on others stuff, I just feel pretty ineffective. And I went to Garliage like twice. Never going back.

Have /DNC but didn't know how valuable it would be to sub at 63 in campaign. I'll give it a shot next time if I go. I had been using /nin and /thf before (months ago, didn't have dnc leveled yet).

I'll look in to pet killing.

[ClarkSammich]

Definitely try pets, otherwiki has a few BLM solo guides that can be applied to BLU if you ignore certain camps. Also slautmanodin: BST Pet Soloing Guide! which is still somewhat relevant.

I would recommend a duo partner for BLU and going to a camp a few levels early, though.

[Neosutra]

Campaign never becomes relevant or fun. It is a horrible event that was poorly designed to punish players that dont want to party.

Here are a few things to remember about campaign:

1. Campaign battles will always end 30 seconds after you get there. And if you get lucky enough to get there at the start of a long one, the NM will one shot you at the start and you will stay dead for the majority of the fight (as whms melee ontop of your corpse).

2. If you are smart and bring RR, the NMs will dispel it.

3. No matter how much effort you go through to pull a NM to the side to solo for EXP, at least 2-3 other people will come and attack your mob, rather than grab their own mob.

4. Rdms, Whms, Plds, Schs, and /whms all have the spell "raise" locked during campaign.

5. Fortification nerf.

6. The quadev NM that petrifies everyone hax.

7. Curing other people in campaign, especially the person curretly tanking the mob everyone is beating on, is forbidden.

As long as you remember those 7 points, campaign will be great for you. Have fun.

[Kintups]

3. No matter how much effort you go through to pull a NM to the side to solo for EXP, at least 2-3 other people will come and attack your mob, rather than grab their own mob

go solo somewhere else, the end.

[Neosutra]

K thanx.

[Falisa]

Campaign is pretty frustrating really... I've never had fun with it myself, especially tired of it when i pretty much had to solo my DNC and THF to 75 in it. The only time when you can get decent exp is when you can take damage and heal it back, which is what makes /dnc so nice for it.

Also Neo, pretty sure RR can't be dispelled now.

[Maaglin]

Campaign comes and goes for me. I either do it all the time, or I don't do it for a long time. Currently I can't bring myself to get the last medal rank up.

I don't know how people suffer through it with non-ideal jobs. When I do go, I go nin/dnc to earn as much AN and xp as possible.

I used to get mad when people came over and started beating on "my" mob when I was soloing it. Now I don't mind, but if you come over and start going apeshit and pull hate and keep doing that (lowering my points since I'm not getting hit and healing myself now), I'll just let you see if you can tank the mob and if not, I'll take over after you die. If you want to come over and do some damage and get some AN/xp, that's cool, just don't be stupid.

[Narol]

2. If you are smart and bring RR, the NMs will dispel it.

RR can't be dispelled anymore.

Now I don't mind, but if you come over and start going apeshit and pull hate and keep doing that (lowering my points since I'm not getting hit and healing myself now), I'll just let you see if you can tank the mob and if not, I'll take over after you die.

Campaign is how I merit my MNK. Oftentimes, just by meleeing (as MNK/DNC rather than MNK/WAR, no less), I'll draw and keep hate from PLDs trying their damndest to tank. Sometimes I live, sometimes not. Sometimes I decide the hell with it and go out in a blaze of glory if WHM NPCs are around.

Either way, when someone does something selfish like pull a mob halfway across the map to spend half an hour soloing it, I'll do something equally selfish like Asuran Fists it at 5% for the supposed killshot exp. If there are other mobs around, whatever, I'll fight them first, but I'm not going to sit around doing nothing if I can help it.

1. Campaign battles will always end 30 seconds after you get there.

Bloody seconded on this, though.

[Bakthi]

Campaign comes and goes for me. I either do it all the time, or I don't do it for a long time. Currently I can't bring myself to get the last medal rank up.

I don't know how people suffer through it with non-ideal jobs. When I do go, I go nin/dnc to earn as much AN and xp as possible.

I used to get mad when people came over and started beating on "my" mob when I was soloing it. Now I don't mind, but if you come over and start going apeshit and pull hate and keep doing that (lowering my points since I'm not getting hit and healing myself now), I'll just let you see if you can tank the mob and if not, I'll take over after you die. If you want to come over and do some damage and get some AN/xp, that's cool, just don't be stupid.

I feel pretty much the same way. I did a lot of campaign for a while, getting up to around 500k AN, but then dropped off quickly. Now that I have a mule to 2box, I've been bringing both to battles, getting the mule's rank up for longer Sigil/the lulz. It's more fun with 2; the combination of RDM/WHM and WAR/DNC is great.

I don't mind if people hit my mobs, but if you take hate and don't have a way to deal with it, that's not really my problem. People who come low 60s MNK/WAR to campaign battle, go all out, and then call out their HP in /say will be shown no mercy.

[Kerberoz]

go solo somewhere else, the end.

You're one of those people who find a soloer, feed their mob tp, get them killed without curing them, then run away, aren't you?

It's impossible to enjoy campaign if you're a decent human being.

[Soa]

Campaign is rarely ever fun to be honest. Sure it was at first but now its just one of those things I have to put up with to keep rank or get AN for whenever the hell they decide to release the good body armors.

It also doesn't help that they break it every other update for seemingly no good reason.

[Maaglin]

It's impossible to enjoy campaign if you're a decent human being.

This is a pretty solid summary.

[Plow]

Well, first off, my advice for the op:


Healing has the same exp ratio as damage. Healing NPC's creates virtually no enmity. Keep those 2 things in mind, always.

Also, if you heal someone enough, it really is quite likely they'll notice and try to stop the mob if it comes for you. Look for war/dnc and sam/dnc in particular.

By 65-68ish you should be fine to open up on dmg. Just make sure you don't attack anything you can't tank, no matter how strong the person tanking appears to be, unless you don't mind dying.


As far as the rest:

I mostly campaign during JP time, and I don't just get a lot of heals, I get hastes and shit too. Maybe it's just because war/dnc looks crazy op with a multi-hit and retaliation. Much more so since switching to Bastok recently and focusing on doing "go do campaign" ops for extra AN, but I got my fair share whoring windurst zones as well. I was mostly nin/dnc there tho, so it wasn't like I ever really needed a heal anyway.

I also have noticed lately that pretty much anyone that can raise tends to do so as much as possible, perhaps the fact (or is it just a rumor? not sure) that raising gives you 100 exp has gotten around?

[ClarkSammich]

I agree with campaign during JP time (if you can stand the crowds...)
I did Jugner last night, this JP WHM like... cured me, and hasted me and shit.

It's like when you go to Hawaii, and you get off the plane and pretty girls put leis on your neck, and everyones all happy and smiling. But inside, you know they hate your filthy guts because you're a foreigner. I'm not sure what that has to do with campaign, actually.

[Asdrabael]

Campaign can be fun sometimes, but in order to make it fun you have to pretty much steal all the fun from everyone else.

My favorite personally is waiting for a wave of monks or ninjas, doesn't matter whether its yags or orcs on the monks, and I link them all minus the NM and just solo all 8 at once. Takes about 50 minutes, isn't hard at all if your paladin is decently geared, and it forces the campaign to last until you get done. The worst time is JP time though, because they somehow always find you eventually.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29.../newrecord.jpg

I got this earlier today letting a friend on 66 sam leech. The next fight that started 30 minutes later I got 5600. It sucks pretty bad though unless you do something extreme to make it fun.

[Shenrien]

If you are not /dnc and trying to melee, you will die because no one around you will cure you in fear of pulling hate when you've already 2hr'd to live just that much longer.

[Asdrabael]

I always do it /rdm and have never had an issue with damage. Everything but NMs hit for 0 most of the time. Not much healing required.