Abyssea Experiences

[Malacite]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

There's no point in being elitist about how much insane EXP people are getting.

And I've gotta say I'm not the least bit surprised that you're not worried about 20 different job in the game not really making that much of a difference in these setups. Its nice that everyone's accepted for EXP now, but now no one stands out in any particular way.

Its just TP Burn +1.

Or ToA continued, really.

Oh well, maybe SE will make combat meaningful again in FFXIV.

Uh huh, news flash; just randomly slapping jobs together and going nuts in Abyssea doesn't work. It's not a "TP Burn +1", not if you really want to reap the rewards. Even with capped Azure the game can still bitch you on time chests >_<
Again I refer to Carabosse as an example (and she's only tier 2) just try and take her with a random group, see how well that goes after she Benedictions and rages on you.

It is a little TP-burn esque when it comes to just grinding mobs in the area sure, but you have to make sure you get the right kill shots in the right order to max out all your lights and your time in the area. Like I said, a group that knows wtf it's doing can rack up 5+ hours on the clock, cap EXP & Merits and with all that stored up light and time go do some serious NM hunting for profit, especially if you picked up any NM triggers like Alkaline Humus (Bomb Thewet or w/e NM)

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

Go back and read what you posted and tell me you don't sound like an elitist prick.

[Vyuru]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

Actually, 'Kitten does not sound like an elitist prick. He just sounds like someone who wants job diversity and non burn parties, all of which is quite understandable and reasonable.

And I'm going to disagree with Mal here. For a very barebones setup, all you need is 3 Blm, 2 Whm, some additional healing like Rdm, Sch or Smn, 2 tankishpullers (pld pulling and then tanking works quite well here), toss in some support with the DD and you're good to go. The sheer amount of DD here will make coordinated SCing almost impossible, so yeah, this is a TP burn situation. However it's a TP burn that so far accepts all comers.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

Actually, 'Kitten does not sound like an elitist prick.

I assumed the comment was directed at Malacite.

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

I assumed the comment was directed at Malacite.

Thanks, I thought I was having a Twilight Zone moment there.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

A more detailed look at this (from PLD's perspective):

Perle gear is still trash over all IMO, given the alternatives (W Turban, Dusk/Homam) but I can see how it'd be nice for players on a budget or what have you.

Perle (set):
Def: 179
STR +22
DEX +14
VIT +10
Acc +18 (effectively Accuracy +25 for 1-hander, w/DEX)
Att +25
Enmity +4
Haste +14%
"Critical hit rate" +2%


For PLD, the (old) standard was Homam (hands, legs, feet), Walahra Turban, Haubergeon +1:

Walahra Turban: HP+30 MP+30
Haubergeon +1: Def:46 STR+6 DEX+6 AGI-5 Acc+12 Atk+12 Eva-20
Homam Manopolas: Def:20 HP+20 MP+20 Acc+4 Enmity+3 Haste+3%
Homam Cosciales: Def: 35 HP+26 MP+26 Acc+3 Haste+3% Enhances "Fast Cast"
Homam Gambieras: Def:16 HP+31 MP+31 Acc+6 Haste+3% (left out PLD-don't-care stats)

Combined, that would be:
Def:117
STR+6
DEX+6
AGI-5
Acc+25 (effectively Accuracy +28 for 1-hander, w/DEX)
AtK+12
Eva-20
Enmity+3
Haste+14%
Enhances "Fast Cast" (-4%)

HP aside (and MP, to a lesser extend), the Perle set looks quite competitive for both the idle/TP set and the Utsusemi: Ni casting set. (One can even argue it's better for solo use due to much higher defense.)

This is certainly not "trash", give how easy it is to obtain compared with Homam. (I'm still waiting for my Homam feet; making due with Aurum at the moment.)

And I've gotta say I'm not the least bit surprised that you're not worried about 20 different job in the game not really making that much of a difference in these setups. Its nice that everyone's accepted for EXP now, but now no one stands out in any particular way.

Healers always stand out. At least, they would, when they are missing.

It's not really toss in any job; from what I've read so far, fast kill is really important and you'd need to build Azure light or something with magic kills. That argues for both a TP burn setup (at least one party) with at least one BRD (BRD+COR preferred), and a mana based party. BLU is a real standout for the mana kill; fast spells with very decent means it can decisively end battles to ensure both fast kill rate and opportunity to build light.

Continuing on the TP Spam party +1 theme, it is indeed a continuation of it, but instead of 2 (or 3) people who forgo the glory of Big Numbers on the damage output side, you need even more higher percentage of people who work for the good of the group: healers, buffers, dedicated pullers, mages who save MP and time carefully for kill shots, and some poor saps who are practically full time box openers.

The DDs jobs may be even less distinct than before (except for BLU, BLM, and SCH--yeah, I count people who deal damage as DDs), but overall the spirit of cooperation prevail for any well working alliance.

Oh well, maybe SE will make combat meaningful again in FFXIV.

I'll argue that all games rely on repetition to some extend. If that means grind, and grind turns you off, avoid ... games (including most sports). Or at least avoid expensive games, because you'll need lots of new games to keep from feeling bored.

How does combat in a virtual world even become "meaningful"? (Though, in some ways I'm quite glad it's meaningless, unlike real life's combat and wars.)

[Malacite]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

Perle requires you wear the full set or you get knocked down to 9% Haste, and there are much better body pieces available.

And other DD's can get more haste using other pieces; there's no way in hell I'm taking off my Byakko's Haidate.

[Lmnop]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

Stop vomiting BG opinions, Mal.

You give up 1% haste for over +15 STR (EDIT: that's my on-warrior math. Samurai lose 2 haste and probably gain less STR).

Do you really believe that to be crap? Or do you just believe what you're told?

---------- Post added at 04:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:07 AM ----------

Uh huh, news flash; just randomly slapping jobs together and going nuts in Abyssea doesn't work. It's not a "TP Burn +1", not if you really want to reap the rewards. Even with capped Azure the game can still bitch you on time chests >_<
Again I refer to Carabosse as an example (and she's only tier 2) just try and take her with a random group, see how well that goes after she Benedictions and rages on you.

It is a little TP-burn esque when it comes to just grinding mobs in the area sure, but you have to make sure you get the right kill shots in the right order to max out all your lights and your time in the area. Like I said, a group that knows wtf it's doing can rack up 5+ hours on the clock, cap EXP & Merits and with all that stored up light and time go do some serious NM hunting for profit, especially if you picked up any NM triggers like Alkaline Humus (Bomb Thewet or w/e NM)

News flash! You can go for just XP, ignore the damn NMs. It's easy, you'll get plenty of levels, and the community will only get better at it. Ignoring kill shots, we left with over 180 minutes remaining (and that's after staying for over 3 hours and starting with 120 mins).

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

Perle requires you wear the full set or you get knocked down to 9% Haste, and there are much better body pieces available.

For TP'ing? You'd be hard pressed to find a better general use PLD TP set than the one I posted. (And, for the price of that Haubergeon +1 I listed, one can buy almost five Perle sets.) For Utsusemi: Ni, of course the Fast Cast is nice. Otherwise, it's same amount of Haste.

I'll probably never get the full set since I already have 4/5 Homam, but you have to be rather thick headed to not see that for under ~200k gil, the Perle set is an exceptional value with few drawbacks.

Or, put it another way: A DD new to the endgame scene just joined the LS. Are you going to be happy seeing the Perle set on him? I know I will be.

And other DD's can get more haste using other pieces; there's no way in hell I'm taking off my Byakko's Haidate.

OK, but my post was about:

A more detailed look at this (from PLD's perspective):

More to the point, the Perle set with its Haste bonus, was never targeted at the players who think that Byakko's Haidate is the standard gear that everyone should have.

[ShepardG]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

On the Pearle set:
I'll rock it, until next update and other stuff comes out that's even better lol ^^

On the XP in abyssea:
Yeah, wish they'd done something like this 2 years ago. I love how everyone can level whatever job they want and it dosen't effect exp output, UNLESS they're being a jack ass and not listening to the alliance leader when it comes to kill shots.
On that note, if your not specifically worried about Time chests, or increasing the cap on exp/per kill then you can still have fun and get 20-30k an hour. which is quite good. I for one though, would rather get more than that. Call me "Elitest" all you want, and here's why, I am fucking elitest! I don't fucking play FFXI half assed. It's a game where other people depend on me to perform my best and i'll be damn if that's what i'm gonna do. I would much rather get 50k+ an hour than 30k.
Sorry, It might make you uncomfortable but if you want to be casual about the thing, that's o.k., just go be casual about it in someone elses party. If your gonna exp with me, I'm gonna expect you to perform in conjunction with the other 17 and if I fucking say WS kills, then I expect the BLM's to stop snipping killshots, and If I say Pet Kills I expect the Melee to hold off and let the Ranger frame, or the crazy ass coeurl Jug pet to kill the mob. If your to gal damn lazy to pay attention in the chat spam, or just don't care, then I'm gonna need you to look for a rep, or i'll find you one myself.

If that makes me an elitest prick, that's fine. The other 16 people that can do what's best for the group will appreciate it I'd hope.

[Laynton]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

On the perle set:

i dont know much about it but from what i see and understand is that unless your the hardcore PLD thats either got luck and played non-stop or been playing for 6 years and has all the best end-game gear perle is the next best thing. Its definitely not trash and it definitely not the best.

on a parallel topic the teal set is pretty damn good imo (as a RDM). I got every piece but the feet and i dont know if i will even bother with it. the body and legs are great nuking near, and i dare say some of the best outside of morrigans. the head is great for other mage jobs but i dont find it that appealing for rdm nuking. AF hat has 3 less INT yes but had 10 ele magic skill and FC. and the FC on the hat is the same as the whole set combined. the hands are straight up the enfeebling hands that i can think of atm. 3 MND 5 MACC....dont know of any hands that can beat that. The feet have +6MND and are good for a mnd build but you can get errant piggache +1 (forgot +1 name) that has same MND plus mp. so besides from morrigans the errant piggache +1 will do just as good.


On the topic of the elitist style of abyssea:

You can definitely be the elitist and get tons of exp-crour/hr and you can definitely be the casual come-anything-you-like style pt and get tons of exp-crour/hr.

Yes the elitist style will get your more exp-crour/hr in the end....plain and simple.

BUT!

The mixing pot style pt will get the same amount of exp-crour as the elitist for the same amount of time they spent inside abyssea.

As everyone knows by now every starts out with shitty exp-crour/kill. no way around it. So, lets say both groups enter at the same time in the same zone fighting the same mobs. the only difference is the job set-up. Both groups start out trying for magic kill-shots. Both groups are getting decent amount of TE chests. So at the 3hr mark the elitist group is standing with still 60min left from getting TEs and the mixing pot group is at +40min left from TEs. By an hour later the mixing pot group ends up timing out and the elitist group is going strong and calls it a night at 7hrs in.

rewards @ the end:
mixing pot group: avg 40k/hr and ended with 400exp/kill
elitist group: avg 75k/hr and ended with 600exp/kill (current know cap)

ya elitist group won out in total exp BUT if your were to take a look at the time when the mixing pot group timed out the exp/kill/hr will almost be the same as the elitist group. Every time. period. The only reason the elitist group might be at a higher exp/kill/hr ratio is because those groups tend to be the uber geared ppl and thus probably will have killed a bit faster. The only way to get to that massive amount of exp/hr is by staying it 6-7+ hours. Its more common in elitist group yes, but ive personally done it with a pick-up group from WG and we DID NOT focus on kill-shots. We called it quits at 7hrs in and with 500exp/kill.
So yes elitists will the day in regards to exp but i dont really see how it matter. b/c the mixing-pot group will have nearly the same exp/kill as the elitist group at 4 hrs in and thats really all the time i want/have to spend anyways. The mixing-pot group is the way it is because those ppl dont have the time to commit to a ls that play the elitist style other wise they would.

Theres no right and wrong way to play abyssea (on this topic). So for any elitist who is saying the mixing-pot style of play is complete bull shit is a dumb shit. Im not knocking the elitist style. If thats the way you like to play, more power to ya but dont sit here and harp that its the only way.

[Malacite]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

On my SAM I use;

Main: Hagun
Sub: Pole
Ammo: Sachet (+2STR, I'd rather use white or black tathlum but oh well)
Head: W. Turban
Neck: Chiv Chain
Ear 1: Brutal
Ear 2: Ethereal/Wyvern (depending on SJ)
Body: Nocturnus Mail
Hands: Dusk Gloves (considering the +1 since prices have fallen)
Ring1: Rajas
Ring2: Ecphoria
Back: Amemet +1
Waist: Headlong (still trying for swift, though Goading isn't too hard to get)
Legs: Byakko's Haidate
Feet: Fuma Sune-Ate


Major items bolded. That's 2 more haste over perle, soon to be more once I get some upgrading done. That might not matter so much when solo, but when buffs come into play and I'm nearing a haste tier, no god damn way am I sacrificing a higher tier of haste.

I'll amend my original remarks though; The set is nothing special for anyone with really good gear (in my case it's trash) but yeah for new people who don't even have sky or CoP done yes I can see this being a very nice, cheap set for some haste & accuracy. But there is much better gear available with even more on the way (which is why I'm not bothering to get a YYR; I'm sure something even nicer will be out soon, may even be AF3 Body)

[Neverslip]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

Finally got into what is dubbed an elitist Abbyssea alliance. I was there from 1015pm -130am and it's addictive properties were like meth mixed with Peggle. I went in at 25k into lvl 77 and got 10k into lvl 80 + 8 merit points + more than 150min visitant status. Was capped at 600xp/kill for a long while. Seemed that the key to Abbyssea along with the gathering of lights is using Forbidden Keys to open the chests you want.

The person opening the chests had been there for apparently 7+hrs and started as a lvl 31... reached lvl 70 by the time we quit.

In comparison the alliance I had before this unsuccessfully attempted Bakka (w/o telling me before I joined them) and we wasted everyone's time after the wipe upon trees... I came out with 7k more experience and minimal amts of cruor.

When you get it right it's incredible... but it can be failsauce. I've had more failsauce runs than epic ones... 2/6 on amazingsauce.

Since Perle came so far down in price I bought the whole thing for my SAM. I bought it with gil mainly cuz I hadn't had the epic Abbyssea experience yet and cruor was more valuable to me than just farming... lol/facepalm. Proly won't full time the whole set for battle but it sure is purdy in town. In my SAM's WS macro I am playing with switching out my Haubergeon for the P. Hauberk (idk if I want Kirin's O anymore), Wyvern H. for P. Salade (permanent switch), and Rutter Sabs for the P. Solerets (wondering if I'll miss the Attk +5). Proly start saving for a Hauby +1 still anyway... as it's plummetting in price these days.

I'll proly get the Aurora legs and feet for my DNC as they seem like pretty good upgrades... but GDI WTF is it pastel pink?!?!? ... ugh... You wouldn't see me caught dedz wearing that horrible looking set. Feel like Ralphie in The Christmas Story in that bunny get-up.

[Malacite]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

That's Abyssea for you, I fucking love it!

It's like why ever party again? LOL and people bitched about SMN burns being broken... This really is the best thing ever to hit XI. It's fun, fast paced and virtually no job exclusion (except by a few assholes I've seen shouting in WG but F them). Got a lowbie job? No problem, stick that guy on chest duty and let the good times roll.


Honestly Abyssea is what I always wanted to see in XI - An entire alliance just plowing through mobs for epic EXP and most importantly having fun while doing it. Meriting has never been easier.
EDIT: I would still use Osode for WS because of GKT mods, but the other swaps are fine. Only other bodies that are really better than Osode are Haub +1, Usukane & Nocturnus.

[Neverslip]

Re: Abyssea Experiences

I would still use Osode for WS because of GKT mods, but the other swaps are fine. Only other bodies that are really better than Osode are Haub +1, Usukane & Nocturnus.

I'd probably just get the Hauby +1 (600k-800k atm) and not swapping in the Perle. Unless Kirin's comes way WAY down... but I haven't really seen it start to do that too much as of yet. And I don't do {sky} as an event. I've heard soooo many horror stories. After getting my Kitty pants thru a random Dyna LS adventure, I feel as though I got a "Get out of Jail Free" card.

One aspect I really like about the Perle pc's is that when I am eating cereal and I prioritize getting the bite over switching back to TP gear cuz of the spoon or w/e distraction is at hand... I'm no longer dinged on the Slow % from the Rutters any more. I really started noticing that lately when compared to my full hasty setup.