Something Interesting I found out

[Khidir]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

Ya spirits can do am Air Spirit(the smn guide maker) said there are ways to limit the spells elementals cast to force them into making certain spells and how to time when it will happen

[IBHalliwell]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

Hey guys, I've found out something really interesting in getting buffs from Light Spirit on other people. I've run this multiple times, and got the same result.

1. When you are in a party and you have Light Spirit out, it will start to buff you first before anyone else.

2. When positioning yourself so that a person is in between you and Light Spirit*, that will give said player casting priority. Therefore, Light Spirit will cast spells on them.

*Positioning is like this.

You >>>>>PT Member>>>>>Light Spirit

Go on and try it out. Maybe this could also be a way to have Light Spirit toss out cures more often.

I concur the Light Spirit will cast first on another party member if (s)he is between you and the Light Spirit.

As for what buffs LS gives:

1) If you have any type of the buff on the LS won't give you another - even if its is a better version (e.g. Protect 2 .vs. Protect 4).

2) Regen, Haste, Protect 1, 2, 3, & 4, Shell 1, 2, 3, & 4

One thing I do after summoning the LS is put regen on myself so the LS doesn't spend time putting it on me.

The casting time relates to you Summoning Magic Skill.

Merits and gear can reduce the MP of spirits to almost nothing or even 0.

I find spirits are good for fighting - once you can get their MP cost down and your summoning magic skill is high (270+). They cast quicker than the BP timer and can use less MP than an Avatar with BP.

IB

[Darkhound]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

The debate here is wether merit that or merit accuracy. I chose my path and went down the pysical acc / pysical damage merit path. I rather rely on my avatars that i know what they will do then i tell them to do... then on a random cast. That is just me, but I dont deny that I would have liked to have more use for those spirits!

[Tif]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

As much as I love my light spirit, I just can't justify putting merits into the spirit timer. With capped summoning magic, gear to boost it more and af2 pants, the cast time is already down enough. I've had good luck in emergency situations getting it to cast cures on the right people in my alliance (I even got a curaga out of it for a different party then the one I was in in my alliance during a proto fight once), I don't like relying on it too much. I'm also extremely careful as to what types of fights I'll put it out during. If the strategy consists of sleeping the mob or there is something that an aoe can mess up, I leave my spirits packed away because even though we think we understand them, with my luck, it will be in one of those fights when I pull it out for a cure and it decides to go attack mode on me and do a dia spell or a banishga type thing and totally mess over my group.

[Kitalrez]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

Yes, Spirits normally get the same nukes/debuffs BLMs get at the same levels on SMN. With the exception of the Aga spells, (Dark Spirit gets Sleepga however, and likes to spam it to draw hate from you.)

Spiria wrote up a whole guide on these once, but I'll boil it down a little here.

1. Capping your Summoning Magic Skill will make the spirit cast a bit faster, it will also make him more aggressive (prone to using nukes rather than debuffs).

2. Summoning on the same day as the spirit does two things, a. it triggers your AFv2 or +1 -perps, and b. it makes the spirit cast faster. Casting on the day the spirit is weak to has the opposite effect on casting times. Casting on any day other than these two gives you a baseline timer that doesn't change until your skill or level rises.

3. The closer the mob is to your level when it's above you, the more aggressive your spirit tends to be. If the mob is something you wouldn't normally be able to damage anyway, the spirit is more likely to try softening it up with debuffs first.

4. That -Avatar Enmity gear on your AF1s? Yeah, it's for spirits. Load up on that stuff, cast a spirit, and notice how much faster it starts going into berzerk mode when its worried you'll get more hate than it has.

5. Finally, to make a spirit nearly chain cast, (if your summoning magic is sufficiently high enough to merit aggressive spirits): Wait for the spirit to begin casting a long spell, like Quake or Stone IV, then as soon as it casts hit /Assault again. This will give you a little more hate, but it also resets the casting timer to go from when /Assault was given, instead of from the completion of the spell. (Meaning it's counting down for all 18 seconds of that Quake spell).

Right now spirits are the only thing summoning magic skill actually effects, so you don't see a whole lot of summoners with this capped. If S-E implements the changes to our job that they're talking about, I suspect you'll see this change, and more people out there testing spirits for usefulness later.

[Rakshaka]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

If you have enough room to run around, you can try the following: Summon Carbie and have him attack a mob. Run out of sight of carbuncle then keep running for a few seconds (not sure how far you need to run, it'll depend on your spirits casting time). Then summon a spirit. If you're the right distance away, he'll start to cast on the monster as the monster gets in range of him. If the spirit is casting AM or tier IV, tell them to assault so they grab hate from you. When they finish their spell, run away, and repeat.

[Kametame]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

Yes, Spirits normally get the same nukes/debuffs BLMs get at the same levels on SMN. With the exception of the Aga spells, (Dark Spirit gets Sleepga however, and likes to spam it to draw hate from you.)

Spiria wrote up a whole guide on these once, but I'll boil it down a little here.

1. Capping your Summoning Magic Skill will make the spirit cast a bit faster, it will also make him more aggressive (prone to using nukes rather than debuffs).

2. Summoning on the same day as the spirit does two things, a. it triggers your AFv2 or +1 -perps, and b. it makes the spirit cast faster. Casting on the day the spirit is weak to has the opposite effect on casting times. Casting on any day other than these two gives you a baseline timer that doesn't change until your skill or level rises.

3. The closer the mob is to your level when it's above you, the more aggressive your spirit tends to be. If the mob is something you wouldn't normally be able to damage anyway, the spirit is more likely to try softening it up with debuffs first.

4. That -Avatar Enmity gear on your AF1s? Yeah, it's for spirits. Load up on that stuff, cast a spirit, and notice how much faster it starts going into berzerk mode when its worried you'll get more hate than it has.

5. Finally, to make a spirit nearly chain cast, (if your summoning magic is sufficiently high enough to merit aggressive spirits): Wait for the spirit to begin casting a long spell, like Quake or Stone IV, then as soon as it casts hit /Assault again. This will give you a little more hate, but it also resets the casting timer to go from when /Assault was given, instead of from the completion of the spell. (Meaning it's counting down for all 18 seconds of that Quake spell).

Right now spirits are the only thing summoning magic skill actually effects, so you don't see a whole lot of summoners with this capped. If S-E implements the changes to our job that they're talking about, I suspect you'll see this change, and more people out there testing spirits for usefulness later.

If #4 is true, does that mean it only takes your hate into consideration and not the hate of other party members? That would mean they can cast much more often if you're doing something like main healing (or any hate-inducing activity). However, I highly doubt you'd want these out when you're main healing... XD

[Omniblast]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

It seems when you draw more hate, there is a higher chance for your spirit to cast Ancient Magic &/or cast more frequently. To draw the hate back to them.

[Darkhound]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

In my smn life.... i have never seen my spirits cast, tornado, flood and quake.... ki have seen flare and freeze but that is just about it!

[Tif]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

Flare and Freeze do seem to be more common, but I've gotten ancient magic out of mine on a regular basis. Quake is another common one for me. My thunder spirit tends to prefer the tier 4 nuke though.

[Kametame]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

This positioning DOES seem to work with forcing light spirit to cure. I've had 2 recently raised people in my party with red HP. I positioned Light Spirit as I would for buffs, and I got Cure V twice in a row.

[Khidir]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

Spirits use the smns mp to cast the spells right? i forget

[Kametame]

Re: Something Interesting I found out

Spirits have their own MP to cast spells. SMNs just pay initial casting + perpetuation costs to keep the spirits out.