Randomerest Question Thread III: This Time It's Random

[Nerull]

Also, simple question:

Shadow Trews vs Mahatma Slops, can I nuke in shadow without losing very much damage, it's a sidegrade, shit's situational, mahatma will do significantly more in every situation, etc?

Short answer: Mahatma are slightly better.

Long answer: In terms of pure damage, they're pretty similar. Which one will do more will depend on your INT vs your target's, favoring the INT on Mahatma more as you fight mobs with higher INT, but we're talking single digit differences. On low INT mobs, they are equally as accurate, but Mahatma are more accurate on high level mobs. Mahatma also have more -enmity, and no + damage taken, for what that's worth. So... basically Mahatma are a bit better for high level mobs, but if you're not a blm main and want to save a bit of gil, I wouldn't consider you too gimp for using shadow.

[Carraway]

hi, i was just wondering how the macro system works (either ff or windower) for switching staffs with the same name ?

I currently have a staff with MAB+4, and i'm planning to get another one for BP delay-, of course i'll multi switch them when i use wind blade for example. Is it possible ? '-'

There's no way for a command to differentiate between two items with an identical name as far as I know.

[Darlantan]

Despot;

Is it still believed that you should kill all the groundskeepers in order to pop it, or has it been proven you can just kill one over and over and it will eventually pop, as its random?

I know it only takes a few hours of killing the same one to answer this, but I havent got the time for that atm, specially without being certain it will eventually pop.

[Despain]

Despot;

Is it still believed that you should kill all the groundskeepers in order to pop it, or has it been proven you can just kill one over and over and it will eventually pop, as its random?

I know it only takes a few hours of killing the same one to answer this, but I havent got the time for that atm, specially without being certain it will eventually pop.

From what I understand, its a lotto pop without a single PH. (Think VE, which has a PH you can kill over and over and leave the other flies be).

I've done Despot a ton in my career, and I've always believed that its random, considering we almost always popped it just killing all the Groundskeepers.

[Atlasion]

I took a break from FFXI for 6 months and just came back. I'm now hearing that the WS atonement has changed the way PLDs tank or something like that. So whats the deal with atonement?

[Thorny]

Atonement deals damage proportional to how much total enmity you have. It can go as high as 720 guaranteed damage for 100 tp, which in return gives you a nice chunk of VE to keep your hate at cap as well as making you a significant damage dealer in most fights. Current PLDs use as much haste and accuracy in their idle set while tanking as they can, in the interests of maximizing atonement, and macro a full enmity set when actually using it. Sushi is a consideration as well, but you still need to keep in mind that a dead tank has 0 enmity, so some tradeoffs may be worth giving atonement damage up for in idle gear: tacos, jelly ring, sattva ring, etc.. really depends what you're tanking and how comfortable you are with it. A standard atonement idle setup would be something like:

Joyeuse/Koenig-Kaiser-Terror/Lamian+1
Turban/Ancient Torque-Peacock-Fortitude/Suppa/Ethereal
Homam-Hauby+1-Hydrabert/Homam/Toreadors/Toreadors
Cuchulains/Swift-Speed/Homam/Homam

[liggy 0]

Just need a quick clarification on that smn nm/ last time icon sac pull in dynamis windy. After puller aggros everything, blms can nuke the time icon from on top of the bridge, right? In fact, can someone just do a quick explanation on what the pull should look like. Thanks much.

been along time since we did city dyna..

aggros n trains SMN NM house flee/powder boots n starts running. after the first bridge sac would drop glass and keep running till he gets kicked out(or die and RR), but he can't run any further than the camp above AH or the mobs will do a full 360 and come up behind you and kill you. (our first try our thf trained all the way back around us when he was suppose to die after shantotto's house ~_~).

when the train is aggro'd and starts moving send 2 blms down the ramp under the bridge to the TE icon. drop glass and time nuke with AM2 drops it to 1% then just drain/bioII to finish it off. first timers should buff, nuke, then use warp (esp if HP is in windy) before considering dropping glass. because if they mess up you wont get your TE and the mobs around it will have spawned.

be sure to have a glass mule outside too lol

[Thalandor46]

Sites that post guild items refer to "patterns" lettered A through H. What exactly do these letters mean, and where can I find detailed information on each?

[fren.]

How safe is the security keyboard that asks you enter your password prior to signing onto POL?

[Gergall]

What is the cap for casting time reduction? Looks like BRD can get 25 from latent ring, 15 from RDM, 5 from new augmented dagger, 5 from moogle kupo hat, 12(or 13) from manteel, 2 from loq earring, 2 from rostrums, and at least 1 from moblin cest.

That's at least 67% casting time down, right?

Then how does Nightingale factor in? Does it halve the remainder? So if you put on all the gear above your spells cast in 33% the normal time, and then if you Nightingale it cuts that to about 16.5% the normal time? That would be...pretty insane.

Surely there is a cap somewhere?

Thanks!

[Suiram]

Sites that post guild items refer to "patterns" lettered A through H. What exactly do these letters mean, and where can I find detailed information on each?

Think of it as 8 different charts, each chart labelled A through H (the labelling is arbitrary, I think, the important part is there are 8 distinct charts). Each chart has 9 rows (corresponding to the 9 crafts including fishing), and 10 columns (corresponding to the 10 different guild ranks). This is fixed for each chart. So for instance, the Day B Journeyman Clothcraft item is a Velvet Robe. That means anytime the game picks the "B" chart (this choice is random each day, so far as I know), any Clothcrafter whose current rank asks them to turn in a Journeyman item for that day will get a Velvet Robe. These sites figure out which "chart" is being used that day based on input from members who enter information like "I'm an Artisan Woodworker and I was asked for a Maple Wand today." Usually only takes 1~2 testimonials like that to determine which chart is being used, provided people are honest in their input.

Everything else is on a fixed pattern. For instance, as you probably have noticed, you don't always get asked for an item of your current rank, but rather it cycles through every rank less than or equal to yours. This is based on how many days have passed since January 1, 2002 (that's the epoch for the FFXI clock, so if there had been guild items on that day, everyone would have had a Novice item, and then it would have began cycling from there).

So as an example, I'm veteran cooking. 2738 days have passed (in Japan) since Jan 1, 2002. So regardless of which chart is picked, my item for today is going to be an Adept-rank item. A few hours ago, at JP midnight, the game rolled a number corresponding to what sites label as "B" chart. So I get offered the B chart Cooking Adept item, which is, apparently, seafood stew.

[Thalandor46]

Spoiler: show

Think of it as 8 different charts, each chart labelled A through H (the labelling is arbitrary, I think, the important part is there are 8 distinct charts). Each chart has 9 rows (corresponding to the 9 crafts including fishing), and 10 columns (corresponding to the 10 different guild ranks). This is fixed for each chart. So for instance, the Day B Journeyman Clothcraft item is a Velvet Robe. That means anytime the game picks the "B" chart (this choice is random each day, so far as I know), any Clothcrafter whose current rank asks them to turn in a Journeyman item for that day will get a Velvet Robe. These sites figure out which "chart" is being used that day based on input from members who enter information like "I'm an Artisan Woodworker and I was asked for a Maple Wand today." Usually only takes 1~2 testimonials like that to determine which chart is being used, provided people are honest in their input.

Everything else is on a fixed pattern. For instance, as you probably have noticed, you don't always get asked for an item of your current rank, but rather it cycles through every rank less than or equal to yours. This is based on how many days have passed since January 1, 2002 (that's the epoch for the FFXI clock, so if there had been guild items on that day, everyone would have had a Novice item, and then it would have began cycling from there).

So as an example, I'm veteran cooking. 2738 days have passed (in Japan) since Jan 1, 2002. So regardless of which chart is picked, my item for today is going to be an Adept-rank item. A few hours ago, at JP midnight, the game rolled a number corresponding to what sites label as "B" chart. So I get offered the B chart Cooking Adept item, which is, apparently, seafood stew.

Ok cool, I get it. Just as a matter of pure curiosity, is there anywhere that lists these charts?

[Deimos]

What is the cap for casting time reduction? Looks like BRD can get 25 from latent ring, 15 from RDM, 5 from new augmented dagger, 5 from moogle kupo hat, 12(or 13) from manteel, 2 from loq earring, 2 from rostrums, and at least 1 from moblin cest.

I don't know the answer to your question, but you can dual-wield the augmented daggers as BRD/NIN, so it's actually possible to hit 72-73% just from gear. Which is pretty ridiculous. I'd assume that it caps at 50% the same as recast time does, but I have no idea.

[Jakson]

Ok cool, I get it. Just as a matter of pure curiosity, is there anywhere that lists these charts?

Guild Pattern - FFXIAH.com ?

[Suiram]

ffxiah and the other sites don't list the full charts. They're already adjusted for what rank you need to turn in for that day. So for example, if you go Adept Goldsmithing, it gives you Spark Kris, the Journyman Day B item (since today Adept Goldsmithers turn in a Journeyman item). If you wanted to know the Adept item, you'd have to look at Veteran on ffxiah (as that's what Veterans need). This is actually more convenient for almost everyone, since few care about the items for ranks that nobody has on a given day, and it would take an extra step, one to refer to which rank you need, and another to find that rank on the chart. It'd probably confuse some people, at that.

The people who run sites with these features obviously know the full charts for all ranks. You might be able to ask them to provide it for you? Or else you could track the items every day in a spreadsheet and compile them over time, although while you'd fill out most of the chart pretty fast, some items may take a long while to figure out, since Veteran items are only requested once every 10 days, and what if it happens not to pick, say the "D" chart on those days for a long time.

If you only care about the possible items requested for each craft/rank, and not which A~H chart they correspond to, you can get that information easy over the course of a few days by going to the ffrecipe "report item" page and picking that craft and rank, and looking at the drop-down menu of items. Again, it won't tell you which chart they're on, but it'll at least tell you the possible choices, and it would take at most 10 days to compile, depending on which day you started. (In fact, I think if you started it today you'd be done tomorrow, just by luck.)

Edit: Sorry, you'd be done the day after tomorrow, since you wouldn't get the Artisan list today or tomorrow.

[Midnightjade]

Random question: how do I check my pol emails when I have no idea of the password?

Quite why the mail password is different from my FFXI password is a mystery to me.

Thanks!

Also, isn't there a moogle in Selbina now? I can't locate him. I'm half expecting to find him asleep in a hammock. Either that or picking up sailors on the dock, lol.

[Rocl]

Also, isn't there a moogle in Selbina now? I can't locate him. I'm half expecting to find him asleep in a hammock. Either that or picking up sailors on the dock, lol.

Up the right-hand staircase past the home point

[Ramses]

been along time since we did city dyna..

aggros n trains SMN NM house flee/powder boots n starts running. after the first bridge sac would drop glass and keep running till he gets kicked out(or die and RR), but he can't run any further than the camp above AH or the mobs will do a full 360 and come up behind you and kill you. (our first try our thf trained all the way back around us when he was suppose to die after shantotto's house ~_~).

when the train is aggro'd and starts moving send 2 blms down the ramp under the bridge to the TE icon. drop glass and time nuke with AM2 drops it to 1% then just drain/bioII to finish it off. first timers should buff, nuke, then use warp (esp if HP is in windy) before considering dropping glass. because if they mess up you wont get your TE and the mobs around it will have spawned.

be sure to have a glass mule outside too lol

Thanks a lot, that's even a little better than what I was thinking.

[Argettio]

With no dark merits, is there any way to reach bio II cap tic dmg on rdm? You have to get blood gauntlets yes?

With capped dark gear of RDM you will get +38 (inc the new belt), meaning with full merits you get to 254.

The tiers start @
200
211
269
291

Without subbing SCH you can not break the 269 tier. With /SCH and Darkarts it will take you to 246 base which will mean you only need 23 on you gear to break the 269 tier.

But 99.99% of the time you are aiming to break the 211 tier, which is impossible with out rare/ex (as you can only buy 10 skill from the AH).

Personally I use Dark torque + Abyssal = 12 Skill.

[Moonguard]

Quick question: DRG doesn't intimidate skels/shades right? Farming Lich in The Eldieme Necropolis as DRG/WHM and they get intimidated by me. First time this happening and I don't have any "Killer" effects other than Dragon Killer. I'm equipping Bourdonasse for Blunt dmg, but I can't recall it giving intimidate effect.