What's up, Red Mages!?!

[Hyrist]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

People don't really even TP burn anymore?
Campaign is pretty much what is done for exp?
People actually LAUGH at Ninjas, end-game and in TP-Burn - subsequently, PLD/NIN is pretty much the standard for end-game tanking?

What's this about people getting banned for duping items?

Burns are still there, but most people campaign now. As such camps aren't hugely crowded as they used to be (Unless you're on Odin or Bahamut, which are both on lockdown and cannot accept new characters, Odin itself is locked down to the point of not even accepting transfers.)

Campaign is convenient, and people can play the way they want on them, so yah, you'll see some impressive campaign participation on the more populated servers.

People who laugh at Ninjas and RDMs in endgame tanking are morons. PLD/NIN is good but only asshats are limiting tanking participation.

Also, there was a big Duping glitch in Salvage that allowed people to tripple the items droped. BG and other groups allegedly swept it under the rug. (claiming that they had reported it and maintained the 'standard' of preventing such issues from spreading by deleting them after they've 'been reported'. Which sounds like a very well rehearsed lie to me.) Long story short, 450 perma-banned, an additional 500ish Temp-banned. Much lulz was had.


Anyways... OUTCH. Hope you win your suit man.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Pic of me and my lovely girlfriend at my fraternity's annual ball.

Love of my life.

She is absolutely lovely Wish! You guys make a gorgeous couple.....bet your babies would be cute!

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

TP burns still happen. Its just hard to get the good camps on some servers and since people are always "I want the best or nothing at all" many people will just give in and go campaign.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

@Hyrist
Ok good. I plan on doing Campaign anywayz for Paladin.

@TGM
They're going to have great skin, great eyes and great hair! (Oh their mother is ridiculously curvy. A lot of people don't believe she is 100% Asian. We mess around with folks and say she's part Egyptian sometimes, lol..)

@BBQ
So pretty much nothing's changed.


Speaking of which, last time I played, we were confined to the cities, skirmishes lasted like 45 minutes, there were no damn Ops to choose from, and the Beastmen were totally whooping our collective asses. Having 1 or 2 territories outside of the home town was actually an accomplishment.

I'm hoping that there was enough Q.Q going around for SE to hold our hands and "make campaign fun again" amirite?

And what's the deal with Field Training? I've read the wiki, and I get the gist of it, but is it pretty much cut off to people who can get exp from the highest area? For instance, a lvl 75 (like myself) is cut off from going to Xarc?

Also, no amount of Search Boxing is revealing to me what I want to know about Level Syncing. For instance - Do you get dropped down to whatever level the area is, or can you bring whatever you want and it gets adjusted as soon as you enter? (I would LOVE to not have to buy another few sets of gear for the rest of CoP. At the moment, I haven't even STARTED Three Paths. I guess I'll get all the cutscenes out the way in case I run across a pickup group. :-()

Thanks for dealing with my insatiable curiosity, DiV.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

The September Update brought about the epicness that is Level Sync. Form a party, Party leader then chooses to whose level to Sync to (ideally the lowest leveled member in the party, as you can Sync down, but not up), and presto! No stripping required (and the no stripping required effect has been retro-fitted to other level-cap situations, as well).

The December Update brought about two independently awesome things, Treasure Caskets and Fields of Valor, to the original FFXI areas. Upon killing a mob in a Treasure Casket area, it will have about a one-in-ten chance of dropping one of two varieties of Treasure Casket: Blue, and Brown. Blue Caskets are unlocked and hold Temporary items for use only while you stay in the area you got it in, and generally facilitate your experience in the area. Brown Caskets require you to unlock them using a two-digit code from 10 to 99, but if you do, what's within if yours to do whatever with forever. New pieces of equipment, mostly the kind to facilitate experience in the levels appropriate for the area you are at, can rarely be found in these.

Fields of Valor brought Field Manuals outside the cities in starter regions and to the outpost of all of the other original regions. These manuals assign to you various "training regimes" that ask you to kill a certain number of certain varieties of mobs (note: kills are only valid if the mob /checks at least Easy Prey to you). Upon completion of these regimes (which can be undertaken once per Vana'diel day), you are awarded an additional amount of exp and gil (both the same amount), and a number of "tabs" equal to one-tenth the extra experience you got from completing the regime. Tabs can then be spent at Field Manuals for a variety of buffs. The domains of both Fields of Valor and the Treasure Caskets are set to be broadened in the upcoming April Update.

And, well, yeah. So far as I know those are the biggest things you missed.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Level Sync will basically take whatever current gear you have and let you use it at a lower level, but with slightly reduced stats.

Think of it this way: If you have a piece of gear that's +15 MP and there's a piece of lower level gear out there that has +15 MP, then the MP on your higher level gear would remain fully unlocked. If there isn't a comparable piece at that lower level, but there is a +9 MP piece of gear, it would instead unlock to match that.

But only HP, MP, DEF ratings seem to scale this way. Base stats and things like Accuracy, Attack, Evasion will skew lower than the current average you're synced down to. And things like Haste or multi-hit procs are nullified entirely. Delay on weapons, however, remains the same, though I think SE did something about the Machine Crossbow in regards to level sync, it was too fast for their liking, even though there are ranged weapons that are faster.

>.>

<.<

Go Go Loxley Bow!

[Raydeus]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Here are pics from the accident. Not for the faint of heart.

Right after I was fully stitched up.

These negligent bastards sent me home without Gauze on my head, nor without cleaning off my damn scalp. Yes, I have a lawyer, and yes, he has these pictures. This is in the morning, I'd say about 6 hours after my accident. Was pouring peroxide on my scalp for 30 minutes to get it cleaned. (Couldn't, "get my head directly wet" (shower) for a couple of day. I was reduced to bird baths...)

Different angle.

But, it's healing ok, I suppose. 2 weeks after accident.

MOVING ON!
Pic of me and my lovely girlfriend at my fraternity's annual ball.

Love of my life.

Ouch, did it leave a scar?

[WishMaster3K]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Yeah it left a scar, but it's not really that bad. I remember for about a month or so, I was pretty depressed. But there's nothing I can do about it except take care of it and hope it fades. I still can't really feel the top of the left side of my head. When I brush my hair, it feels weird. Doctor said that nerve damage will take years to repair (nerves come back at like an inch every couple of months or something).

MY friend told me that he had War Gloves on, and when synched down to a Dune party, the only thing left on it was the -VIT, and his Snipers Rings had the minus defense and dark still, lol. But I'm at the 50cap portion of CoP, so thankfully, my AF won't be nerfed TOO hard. I suppose I'll lose all the nifty Job Related Effects, right? *sigh* And my Joyeuse is pretty much useless?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Any + skill or "effect" bonuses fall under the same restrictions as Haste gear or Joytoy would.

Don't totally bank on level sync for capped events, though, if there's a way better gear for the slot, then use it.

BTW, if you're going PLD through 50 caps, look at chasing down some Gothic Gauntlets (Beaucidine Glacier treasure casket reward) and Gothic Sabatons (Behemoth's Domintion treasure casket reward).

These two level 45 armors are a smidge lower on DEF than than the AF would be in 50 cap, but you'll gain +4 enmity, +3 STR/DEX, an Ice Spikes effect that procs fairly often and also a Set Bonus of +5 attack. And they look cool too.

[Karinya]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Joyeuse isn't completely useless in sync - it loses its DA mojo, but it also loses its subpar DMG and becomes an average sword of the level you're synced to. (I haven't tested whether it loses its piercing property.)

It's not as good as special weapons at the sync level like Grudge Sword, but the bonuses on those usually aren't that big anyway (with the possible exception of Centurion, which you might want to pick up if you're doing 30 cap stuff).

Incidentally, Nyzul, Trials, and KS30 latent weapons also replace their poor stats with average ones - and can still accumulate points for WS/SC performed with them. (Although if you unlock a KS30, the latent will be suppressed under Level Sync, too - you'll have to go back to your real level to get the benefit.)

[Reverent Knight]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

and can still accumulate points for WS/SC performed with them

I always thought you couldnt get WS points if you were level synced. mite make the crappy Spear of trials quest i'm stuck on easier if i take a lower level Sync party, it mite actually make it a viable weapon to use rather than a useless stick clogging my inventory and stopping me from getting taci kasha.

[Lmnop]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Can I pretend I'm a RDM so I can talk to you? =(

Got into a car accident on December 7th, had to get 10 stitches in my head and 5 past my scalp, had a concussion, don't remember the accident, had insane blood loss, and should've taken two weeks off, but I didn't because it was the start of the trimester and there were a jillion things going on on campus.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU LEFT YOUR MACROS?

[WishMaster3K]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

For the love of all that is holy, I'm hoping that they are still on the server (I did that Server-side storage thing that SE offers).

[Pteryx]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

People don't really even TP burn anymore?
Campaign is pretty much what is done for exp?

People do still TP burn. It's just that instead of trying to shoehorn themselves into meleeburns, the last-picked kids go play Campaign instead. Thus, who does and doesn't rely on Campaign for XP is job-dependent. -- Pteryx

[Callisto]

Re: What's up, Red Mages!?!

Read also: If you're looking for a PLD, head for Jugner (S)

---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:39 PM ----------

I haven't played since August 2008.

What's been going on in the world of RDM since then?

I see this nifty new gear on the front page, but I plan on getting the heavy set and throwing it on my PLD, adding Enmity and Fast Cast.

First off, welcome back duder!

Secondly, do what you said there, most of the bodies you can make for RDM are sidegrades to already existing bodies, but Enmity/Fast Cast on a PLD body is fap-worthy. I had debated the melee RDM ghetto hauby but the PLD goodness is too much to pass up.