Random Question Thread X: Fucking 99 Level Cap, How Does it Work?

[miokomioko]

On what level of mobs (or events, or...) should I start prioritizing pet:macc over pet:mab? I have all attachments and full magic-based merits. I suck at this BLM-based math shit.

Also, what specific NMs or events would you say a Valoredge frame would excel at (besides the obvious Jailer of Love)?

[rog]

uhhhh, like 1.5-2 seconds i think

I can't imagine how that could change the usefulness then. It's certainly a pretty decent improvement over swift, even if you're losing the the ~1.25% haste due to the cap with march x2, and haste, and a useful ws belt. And really, they don't even cost 10k to synth, and last an hour, so i'd say it's probably worth using them all the time. Not to mention it lets you get 4% more haste from gear with RC.

In fact, i think i may start working on the key item needed to synth the leather, so i can make my own <.<

[Cream Soda]

5/5 zerk 5/5 da 5/5 war charge 5/5 tomahawk?

[Darkmagi]

I can't imagine how that could change the usefulness then. It's certainly a pretty decent improvement over swift, even if you're losing the the ~1.25% haste due to the cap with march x2, and haste, and a useful ws belt. And really, they don't even cost 10k to synth, and last an hour, so i'd say it's probably worth using them all the time. Not to mention it lets you get 4% more haste from gear with RC.

In fact, i think i may start working on the key item needed to synth the leather, so i can make my own <.<

Just tested in meripo. very noticeable effect on my overall attack speed/damage. Had no dnc sadly but I'd say it's definitely worth using if you don't mind the gil spent on them. Not sure of exact time it takes to use but id say it can at the very least make you unable to ws til a mob dies pending kill speed. So a bit of dmg lost every 3mins for a pretty large haste increase otherwise.

[Mercilessturtle]

5/5 zerk 5/5 da 5/5 war charge 5/5 tomahawk?

Yep. DA/zerk is the only way to go for group 1. For group 2, some people don't do 5 tomahawk, but the other options are so shitty you might as well so you can keep it up permanently with another war.

[Byrthnoth]

5/5 zerk 5/5 da 5/5 war charge 5/5 tomahawk?

5 Zerk/DA/Warrior's Charge is the way to go pretty much regardless of how you use Warrior. You should get 1 Tomahawk pretty much regardless of how you use Warrior.

The last 4 Tier 2 merits are a toss-up. If you use WAR mostly in meleeburn events where mobs don't last more than 30 seconds, more than 1 merit into Tomahawk is wasted because it extends duration as opposed to lowering recast. I went with 4 Savagery instead of capping Tomahawk. I can't say I really notice much difference with Warcry up, but it's gotta do something <_<;

[Mercilessturtle]

On what level of mobs (or events, or...) should I start prioritizing pet:macc over pet:mab? I have all attachments and full magic-based merits. I suck at this BLM-based math shit.

Not very often. The one possibility I can think of for using macc gear would be eo'aerns and aw'aerns, where you might be around a 90% unresisted rate normally (I am guesstimating, haven't parsed). Basically you have very few options for pet macc in the first place, so you are almost always in one of two situations. Either you just plain don't need the macc and can do full potency nukes, or all the macc gear available won't fix your resists and you need to swap loudspeaker for tranquilizer. For HNMs where you are still getting resisted with tranq, again all the pet: macc gear available won't fix it and you should either be using valoredge, or not be using pup at all.

Also, what specific NMs or events would you say a Valoredge frame would excel at (besides the obvious Jailer of Love)?

Anything high level where you have very little support. And its not so much "excel" as it is "doesn't suck". Sky gods, jol, some t3 znms (kited Gotoh for instance).

[Neosutra]

Anyone know how to get Direct Parse to work with Vista..?

I set the memloc to 518518.

I set the properties to run in XP compatibility. Although it also said to allow it to run as administrator, but vista wont seem to let me check that box.

Is there anything else I need to do?

[Kohan]

Anyone know how to get Direct Parse to work with Vista..?

I set the memloc to 518518.

I set the properties to run in XP compatibility. Although it also said to allow it to run as administrator, but vista wont seem to let me check that box.

Is there anything else I need to do?

Have you installed all of the Microsoft applications (e.g., .NET) mentioned in the Readme file?

[Neosutra]

I did not, I assumed they were base programs of Vista. Let me try that!

Edit: Nope, didnt fix..

[miokomioko]

Not very often. The one possibility I can think of for using macc gear would be eo'aerns and aw'aerns, where you might be around a 90% unresisted rate normally (I am guesstimating, haven't parsed). Basically you have very few options for pet macc in the first place, so you are almost always in one of two situations. Either you just plain don't need the macc and can do full potency nukes, or all the macc gear available won't fix your resists and you need to swap loudspeaker for tranquilizer. For HNMs where you are still getting resisted with tranq, again all the pet: macc gear available won't fix it and you should either be using valoredge, or not be using pup at all.



Anything high level where you have very little support. And its not so much "excel" as it is "doesn't suck". Sky gods, jol, some t3 znms (kited Gotoh for instance).

I don't think you understand how much pet:macc gear there really is these days. And Valoredge does "excel" in instances like Kirin/Jailer of Love/etc.

[Cream Soda]

Bomb core and what item would be good temp war items to hold me over until Fire Bomblet and Dusk+1 shoes? Waiting till after June update to buy them, in case something equiv or better is released that would either be cheaper or lower the price of said items.

[Nemesio]

Just about to ding 40 RDM, and I am not going to lie, I have no fucking idea what I am doing.

What should I be looking for in my convert macro? If anything? High HP? High MP? No damn idea.

Also should I focus on MND or INT or enfeebling skill for enfeebles? Basically looking for a break down of wtf to do.

P.S. I am elvaan if that matters.

[Kohan]

I did not, I assumed they were base programs of Vista. Let me try that!

Edit: Nope, didnt fix..

This may sound silly, but have you actually opened any tabs? When you start KParser, they're all closed by default, resulting in a blank display. Also, no results will be shown until someone actually does something the respective tab will report (e.g., the Offense tab will probably remain blank until the first enemy is defeated).

[Dathus]

Just about to ding 40 RDM, and I am not going to lie, I have no fucking idea what I am doing.

What should I be looking for in my convert macro? If anything? High HP? High MP? No damn idea.

Also should I focus on MND or INT or enfeebling skill for enfeebles? Basically looking for a break down of wtf to do.

P.S. I am elvaan if that matters.

As much MP as you can get, since you've got a natural high HP. Basically you want as close to 1:1 HP:MP: ratio as possible.

Both. Slow/Para/Silence you want Skill/MND. Grav/Sleep/Blind/Bind/Poison INT/Skill.

[Caerloc]

Is there any server with a strong EU population and a healthy pug-culture?

[Mercilessturtle]

I don't think you understand how much pet:macc gear there really is these days. And Valoredge does "excel" in instances like Kirin/Jailer of Love/etc.

That's a bold assumption. Why exactly did you ask the question if you are going to insist you know better when you get an answer? The grand total macc vs mab trade-off you can make is 13 macc at the cost of 16 mab. And that is assuming you have spammed all those addon fights long enough to get both the max macc and max mab pieces. And making that swap will lower your damage overall, not improve it.

I gave you the only example I can think of where adding 5% or so landing rate will be enough to help you. In cases where you are getting resisted more often than that you need to swap in tranquilizer, and then you are either over 95% and don't need the macc gear again, or still getting resisted way too often for 10 macc to help and you need to either switch frames or switch jobs. And in reality, it is quite possible that you should never use macc gear over mab gear for pup, the 2 macc boots instead of relic is a definite loss of damage, and all the 1:1 trade-offs are likely equal at best. It's not like blm where you get ~18 macc vs 5 mab trade-offs to make. (See below for actual math.)

Finally: if you want to pretend pup excels at something that's up to you. But don't expect the rest of the world to treat your fantasy as reality. It's ok to play a job because you like it, you don't need to pretend its awesome. Pup can do adequately on jol, but is easily outparsed by an actual DD. The only way you can get valoredge to "excel" is to kite so actual DDs can't do anything. Are you seriously convincing your ls to kite kirin just so you can feel useful?

Having done the math now, I'm editing in some actual numbers here. Never swap out relic feet for the augmented 2 macc boots. Swapping in 1:1 ratio pieces like cat's claws is a benefit when you need the macc. Assuming an 85 int target and perfect pet mab gear/merits/attachments, swapping out 5 mab for 5 macc at 90% unresisted rate will raise your average nuke from 1624 to 1630. The improvement is greater the worse your resist rate is, until you hit 50%. From 80% to 85% you go from 1524 to 1537. So parse yourself, get a vague idea of your resist rate and adjust gear/attachments as follows:

25-50% resist rate: swap loudspeaker for tranquilizer (or change frames/jobs if you already have tranq on)
7-25% resist rate: swap in macc gear to bring you to the 5% floor or as close as you can get (1 macc = 1% less resist)

[Benz]

i couldnt find a good answer with a quick search, only looked thru like 8 pages tho >.>;
any quick tips on using Apradar v2 for Sheep in antlions clothing? seems 1 week it works and the next it doesnt. does zoom matter?

[rog]

As much MP as you can get, since you've got a natural high HP. Basically you want as close to 1:1 HP:MP: ratio as possible.

Both. Slow/Para/Silence you want Skill/MND. Grav/Sleep/Blind/Bind/Poison INT/Skill.

Don't worry about a 1:1 ratio. Just get your mp as high as possible, while keeping your hp higher, or at least very close. It often tends to be that an ideal build will have fairly close to 1:1, but not always, and don't go out of your way to get that.

[rog]

i couldnt find a good answer with a quick search, only looked thru like 8 pages tho >.>;
any quick tips on using Apradar v2 for Sheep in antlions clothing? seems 1 week it works and the next it doesnt. does zoom matter?

I believe you need to zoom in to 1.5 (i think?) then change it again to make it work. Though doing that once will make it work forever, so not sure what is causing your problem. Try playing around with the zoom.