NPC Buddy Blues

[Eue]

Hello ! Not sure if this is the right spot, but here goes :

When I got my NPC Fellow, I was hoping to - as a mage - stand back and nuke, while the NPC did the melee-ing. Now, while I have already gotten to the point where I can change the NPC job, it seems that no matter what, the NPC will not attack until I actually run up to a monster and hit it.

This is not good.

If Nanako - my NPC Fellow - is set to Attacker, she will not pull hate off of me, and I get stuck with the death spiral of death (i.e., if I cast magic, the monster will hate me, if I cure myself, the monster will hate me more.... )

If Nanako is set to Shield, she can Provoke and get hate off of me, but then I can't get it back. I told her to tell me when she is low on health, but that never works, and then she dies.

If I stand back and nuke something, or pull it with a fireball (currently my favourite tactic), she will just stand there until I actually hit it. Even if it hits me first.....

So what I am asking, is this :

1) Is there a way to get the NPC to start attacking after I nuke ?

2) If not, can I use a ranged attack (bow and arrow) to get the same result ?

3) If not, then what is the NPC Fellow useful for, and how can I use it ?

Please discuss.

[Macht]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

NPC will only engage a mob when you hit it with a regular melee attack. No bow or spells. They will stay engaged as long as you stay engaged if you disengage they stop.

The best probably is to go with the Healer type, they will heal you when you get down low enough, they'll cast protect and shells, they'll even cast haste.

Outside of that when they get more levels they'll have a decent defense and health. When the NPC gets up higher level then setting to Stalwart Shield might work for you. You'll likely not get hate away from it if you're struggling with regular Shield type, but they can heal themselves too so it helps a little.

[silentsteel]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

Another is the Second Tank job you can get, they're basically a pld and will heal themselves, but also dont have too great of an mp pool. =/

[Eue]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

NPC will only engage a mob when you hit it with a regular melee attack. No bow or spells. They will stay engaged as long as you stay engaged if you disengage they stop.

The best probably is to go with the Healer type, they will heal you when you get down low enough, they'll cast protect and shells, they'll even cast haste.

Outside of that when they get more levels they'll have a decent defense and health. When the NPC gets up higher level then setting to Stalwart Shield might work for you. You'll likely not get hate away from it if you're struggling with regular Shield type, but they can heal themselves too so it helps a little.

I see - so even as a mage, I should try the Healer type ? Also, can the NPC run out of MP ? Will I be able to see how much MP they have ?

[Yuanlung]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

I see - so even as a mage, I should try the Healer type ? Also, can the NPC run out of MP ? Will I be able to see how much MP they have ?

I use fierce attacker as WHM and RDM, and gentle healer on BLM. Pretty much as long as I can haste and heal myself, I don't need the NPC to cast.



You can get the NPC to report his/her MP to you, but it's done in a qualitative manner ... ("I've used almost half of my magic", "where did my magic go?")

[Esoa]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

On my RDM I use the attacker as I can heal myself, melee, and have decent defense with stoneskin and phalanx. I just need the extra DPS. I don't like the tank since most of the time I spend with my NPC is leveling him, and being 10+ lvls below me he would get killed super fast.

On my MNK I use the healer even though she really sucks. Low MP and randomly casts a buff/enfeeble/heal every 30 seconds. She will literally let you die if she cast a spell recently and the timer isn't up. Even when she heals, it's a pathetically low amount of HP.

The NPC's are basically a toy. They might be useful for occasionally trying to kill a mob that would be too tough for you solo but if you consider the amount of time you have to invest to level them up it's really not worth it. Do it for fun.

[Avoklex]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

They won't outright tell you they are low on health or mp. WHen you clikc on them and then click talk, they will tell you that way. The only they thing do on their own w/o talking to them is to tell you when they are going to WS.

[Eue]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

Oh dear... looks like NPC buddies are a lot more work than I thought..... at any rate, thanks for the info and the quick replies. Guess I'll look into BST DRG PUP or something with a pet....

[Nakti]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

The NPC HP bar is just above the chat window on the right side (where the pet bar shows up). It doesn't show any numbers, but you can at least see what % of HP is left.

[nazlfrag]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

You can keep an eye on their health on the bar above the chatlog. You can protect/shell them and later on haste them too.

When I used my rdm and go with attacker + great katana, we seem to hit 100% tp around the same time and SC distortion when I use fast blade. I can get in Blizzard or Water II for a burst, even if I'm closing.

I'd reccomend a sword/shield for yourself, and melee food (mithkabobs are good). You will want phalanx, enspells and spikes. Always keep phalanx active, these three spells all have the same timer and a fairly low mp cost, so you can keep them all active fairly easily. Stoneskin is good to reapply as it is cheaper than curing, just the casting time is a pain. Its best feature, it makes your spells uninterruptable while it lasts. Always having refresh + regen is a good idea, wether via spells or drinking au laits + juice.

When engaging, I whack them once so the npc engages. I cast paralyze, slow and blind and get meleeing. I unlock from the target so if needed I can turn my back so the npc can steal hate. I melee, cure the npc, and reapply any worn spells. A steady stream of Cure I is much better than a sudden Cure III, but don't neglect your melee.

Another good thing about unlocking the target, you can continue to melee while keeping your npc selected for a simple /ma "Cure II" <t> macro, and quick reapplication in case protect/shell wears.

If things are going bad, remember you have sleep, bind and gravity at your disposal. Move a distance away, disengage and try to sleep II. If you fail, elemental-seal + sleep I should stick. If not, bind and gravity, and try to kite until you can sleep again. Once slept, you can then heal up, reapply food/buffs and rest for a few ticks. Keep sleeping/resting until you are at full strength, then finish them off.

This is why I don't use dia, bio or other DoT spells, they cancel sleep. I prefer the security of sleep to the lower def or atk of dia/bio. If you need dia/bio to kill a mob, the mob is probably too tough anyway. Dia/bio will speed up a fight, but not by more than a few extra swings. Having tactical options is much better than a 30 second faster kill at the risk of death, losing xp for you and losing your npc for 20 hours.

All this said, I call my NPC mostly when I'm farming and in trouble, and occasionaly when a party member d/cs. Its always fun to start the fight as a whm by smacking a critical for 4 pts of dmg and running away ^^

Also, one of the best ways to level your npc is to duo with someone else whos npc is near your npcs level. This lets you play a more standard party role.

[ikkleste]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

Okay... this is what i've found.

if you pull > run up and engage, swing> your NPC will engage too > take off auto target and turn your back > your NPC will keep swinging > let him take hate > nuke away.

you still pull hate quite easily normally so you'll have to really stage yourself. on the plus side it gives you a really good understanding of hate.

[Joon]

Re: NPC Buddy Blues

They won't outright tell you they are low on health or mp. WHen you clikc on them and then click talk, they will tell you that way.

Actually, you don't have to click on them for them to tell you they're getting low on mp. I usually have my NPC set to attacker, but I tried healer just for the hell of it. While fighting, my NPC told me she was getting low on mp. After we healed & I clicked on her, she said her mp was about half.