Shadow Lord BCNM Unlocked

[Kimiko]

Info on this subject has been pretty much detailed to death. But I uploaded a video of the BC to youtube in case anyone is interested. (since the first vid required signing up for a Japanese website and the repost turned out squished)

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufbznfWmT1A
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw90jmZHsIA
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufbznfWmT1A

Part 3 is same as first. Corrected link here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FFXIgwyn.../0/iGVJdVM1Lh0

[AzazaelFenrir]

If any adds stay up, I would recommend not fighting it as the HP total is very high and the clone's DEF is just as difficult to crack. Best to wait for the depop.

My group last week actually saw the opposite. 1 WS from our SAM did 45% of the clones health.

[Toth]

Interesting...

Our add took little physical damage and our WSes did maybe 3%? I can say for certain that if it had not despawned, we probably would have run out of time or wiped since it really taxed our WHM's MP trying to get it down.

[Neosutra]

SO, me being away from the game for a while Im not that up on campaign.. Is it fucking impossible for a non merged server to get this BC fight open? i.e. should I not waste my time recapping my rank?

[Eanae]

Cerberus is a merged server and hasn't even come close. It really comes down to a lot of people putting in many hours straight before the tally.

[Nightfyre]

Fenrir didn't merge and we had it last week. I don't think Alexander merged either?

[Gwynplaine]

Part 3 is same as first. Corrected link here:

Thanks.

SO, me being away from the game for a while Im not that up on campaign.. Is it fucking impossible for a non merged server to get this BC fight open? i.e. should I not waste my time recapping my rank?

Siren was not merged either. Castle Baileys + Keep were taken almost entirely due to the effort of one JP linkshell and several players from various NA linkshells. I'm not sure who was influening Xarc but it was probably the same handful of people. Glacier seems like it is most accessible to overtake just from players and a couple people directing the NPC's.

Someone's just got to bust their balls all night killing Campaign mobs for no short term reward. That's pretty much it. Which is a huge signal to me that Campaign has lots of design problems, but given that the increase in level caps will make it a joke I can't nerd rage.

[ronin sparthos]

Thanks.



Siren was not merged either. Castle Baileys + Keep were taken almost entirely due to the effort of one JP linkshell and several players from various NA linkshells. I'm not sure who was influening Xarc but it was probably the same handful of people. Glacier seems like it is most accessible to overtake just from players and a couple people directing the NPC's.

Someone's just got to bust their balls all night killing Campaign mobs for no short term reward. That's pretty much it. Which is a huge signal to me that Campaign has lots of design problems, but given that the increase in level caps will make it a joke I can't nerd rage.

Roughly 7 hours of work for access to two pieces of upper tier DD gear which inevitably lead to Anniversary Band clones since inevitably once you unlock the BCNM that rings will follow.

I think most BG posters can say that they've shit away ~7hours on ventures with less potential reward. Odds are you'll be getting support from JP players on most servers as well.

My only gripe is when conquest is tallied cause it's a kick in the balls for EST.

[Weeks]

SO, me being away from the game for a while Im not that up on campaign.. Is it fucking impossible for a non merged server to get this BC fight open? i.e. should I not waste my time recapping my rank?

Caitsith got it last week, but it took about 150 people working for several hours right before the tally. If you have a bunch of dedicated JPs, it'll get done. If not, good luck getting the NA endgamers to work together.

[Dooom]

Roughly 7 hours of work for access to two pieces of upper tier DD gear which inevitably lead to Anniversary Band clones since inevitably once you unlock the BCNM that rings will follow.

It's not just the time to win over the northland zones; there's also the time to get max rank. I dunno about many other posters, but I'm currently campaigning on my dnc rather than other, potentially faster methods of exp for that single reason. And given how many posters say about not having the rank for items such as Rose Strap or Iron Ram gear, well, I think you see my point.

[Kimiko]

Something tells me that jp linkshell is Priceless. They've been known to spearhead such major efforts in the past.

edit: Update as of 8:20am EST, Throne Room on the verge of falling. Should go as of jp midnight.

[ronin sparthos]

It's not just the time to win over the northland zones; there's also the time to get max rank. I dunno about many other posters, but I'm currently campaigning on my dnc rather than other, potentially faster methods of exp for that single reason. And given how many posters say about not having the rank for items such as Rose Strap or Iron Ram gear, well, I think you see my point.

There is still reason to campaign even working towards max rank because simply by keeping your Iceland zones under control you keep the Throne Room active which means Allied Rings remain available which means that more players get interested in fighting Beau/Xarc/Bailey/Keep battles.

It isn't hard to maintain/uprank either, just time consuming.

The actual process of having the zones swing your way come down to just killing Campaign mobs with or without Campaign and winning the battles when they happen the day before tally. Any competent group can get a pretty good foothold in those zones which encourages more people to show up. That is pretty much how most Splitting Heirs used to open up pre-patch.

Glacier campaign used to be pretty dead but since the last update it has gotten popular which has piqued interest in Xarcabard campaigns as well. The Amphiptere is still an annoying obstacle though.

Overall, theres incentive for people with and without access to get the Shadowlord BCNM opened and to keep zones under control.

[Niiro]

I think people seriously overestimate the amount of effort you need to put in to gain rank.

Doing a bunch of crafting campaign ops (few minutes each, also 1k+ AN apiece) to level my subs + 2-3 battles of decent length was consistently enough to rank up all the way to Altana.

[Priran]

I'd like to see someone who held a northlands zone for over a week. I did a couple battles and in each one, there were 3-4 generals, several siege turrets, and all the mobs people would aggro due to their stupid placement right near the fort against maybe 20 people and one allied unit of NPCs.

[Not Kuno]

I think people seriously overestimate the amount of effort you need to put in to gain rank.

Doing a bunch of crafting campaign ops (few minutes each, also 1k+ AN apiece) to level my subs + 2-3 battles of decent length was consistently enough to rank up all the way to Altana.

I'm trying to keep my highest rank and I got 12k exp and it still says I'm about to derank. The system is terrible.

[Niiro]

I'm trying to keep my highest rank and I got 12k exp and it still says I'm about to derank. The system is terrible.

I haven't had to eval since getting Altana, if it's that hard to maintain then ugh.

[SephYuyX]

All you need to do is get 10k before the 5 days are up, and you will maintain/upgrade. Ive been doing this for months now.

No ops, or anything else, just battles.

[Drakath]

I've gone from the first rank to Mythril Wings with only 6-8k EXP per

[ronin sparthos]

As long as you dont let the evals drag, it isn't too bad.

[Gwynplaine]

Anyone happen to know if someone has already accepted the Ops mission, but loses their rank or is due for evaluation, can they enter the BC?

Edit: Turns out the answer is yes. Someone in group had Fiat Lux flagged but their evaluation was due and couldn't get sigil or campaign etc. He wouldve lost his rank but he d/ced during evaluation CS. But he was still allowed into the BC with it flagged.