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Looks like I owe the FFXI community an apology. I was under the impression that, when mobs have 25-100% HP left, they have a random chance to use Feral Skills on every attack round (as opposed to 1-24%, where it'll use its Feral Skills the instant its TP reaches 100.) I hadn't seen any evidence to contradict that, and since I thought it to be true, I spread the word whenever a relevant discussion came up.
After about 3 hours of really boring and annoying testing, I have determined how mobs really use their Feral Skills. Turns out the above statement was wrong. What really happens is that the mob decides on a random amount of TP between 100 and 300. As soon as the mob acquires at least that much TP, it'll use a Feral Skill (assuming there's a target within range; if there isn't, it'll pick a self-targetted move by default, and if lacks any, then it'll attempt its longest-reaching move the instant a target comes within range.) It just so happens that in many cases, the mob meets its TP requirement right when it smacks you/the tank.
Although this really doesn't change party mechanics too much, it's still relevant info for soloists (especially when attempting to defeat dangerous NMs) and it also explains how mobs can pull off TP moves so quickly in quick-killing, melee-heavy parties. It's also important for BLUs to know this since you could basically force TP moves out of any mob by filling up its TP as quickly as possible, simply by bringing people with /BLU sub and having everyone spam Bludgeon.
After about 3 hours of really boring and annoying testing, I have determined how mobs really use their Feral Skills. Turns out the above statement was wrong. What really happens is that the mob decides on a random amount of TP between 100 and 300. As soon as the mob acquires at least that much TP, it'll use a Feral Skill (assuming there's a target within range; if there isn't, it'll pick a self-targetted move by default, and if lacks any, then it'll attempt its longest-reaching move the instant a target comes within range.) It just so happens that in many cases, the mob meets its TP requirement right when it smacks you/the tank.
Although this really doesn't change party mechanics too much, it's still relevant info for soloists (especially when attempting to defeat dangerous NMs) and it also explains how mobs can pull off TP moves so quickly in quick-killing, melee-heavy parties. It's also important for BLUs to know this since you could basically force TP moves out of any mob by filling up its TP as quickly as possible, simply by bringing people with /BLU sub and having everyone spam Bludgeon.
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