Two SMN party, duoing.

[Saikou]

Greetings fellow Summoners,

I would like to know if someone has any experience into duoing with another summoner. I would like to know if it is doable, at a reasonable rate, to duo from level 1 to 75 as two SMN ? or is it better to duo as a SMN with another job ?

Thank you !

[Shinoe]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

Duoing with a pair of SMN is indeed good. Pre-20, anything T-VT is cake, as you're never in danger. You have various ways to go about it as well. If either SMN has any of the Avatars (from doing the Prime fights at 65+ on another job), they get access to tier 2 blm spells at level 10 (Thunder II, Blizzard II, etc). For only 24 mp, at level 10...those spells pack a nice amount of damage all the way into the 30's, where it seems to taper off for 6-10 levels. But in your 30's you'll get some nice avatar blood pacts anyway and problably disregard your nukes until later. Here are the various ways that i've done SMN duoing, when i've found a partner to go along with it...
1) both SMN call Carbuncle, and send those two nuclear squirrels in to do some up front damage. Poison Nails is a nice aggro grabber, once you learn how much hate you get from issuing commands. Both can sit back and watch as their carbuncle's bite the knees off of whatever you're fighting.
2) One SMN calls Carbuncle and sends him in, and reports his health in a macro <pethpp> and <pettp> for the partner to see. When carbuncle gets low, around 15% or 20%, the other SMN pulls his/her carbuncle out to join the fray. 1 will die, the other will already have hate from the few attacks it got in before the first dies. First summoner rests until the second gets to 15% or 20%, then resummons. This way, you're constantly having 1 smn regening mp, but you're not blowing all of yours up front as you would while soloing.
note: At level 25, carbuncle will auto regen a small amount of hp every 3 seconds. i'm not sure how much as we don't have a numeric value for avatar health (just percentages via <pethpp>, but i believe its the same as auto-regen for WHM).
3) The above two methods are basically just like "carby-kiting", which is what most SMN do solo anyway. However, the third option i've done is both of us pull out our Avatars and spam blood pacts at the mob. They die faster this way, but it does burn through mp a lot while spamming BP's. Personally, my believe is that one person should use Ramuh and spam Thunderspark whenever it's up. Not only does this BP do loads of damage no matter what level you are, but it almost always lands the Paralyze debuff on the mob. At 21 you have Rock Buster with Titan which has a Bind effect, for sticky situations when the avatars are almost dead, you're low on mp, and need some good running distance to the zone. get yourself and titan close to the target, hit Rock Buster, and when it goes off, run like a bat out of hell. Tail whip at 26 is a good Gravity effect, which is great for kiting around if you have hate. Double Punch at 30 is good...dual Ifrit using DOuble Punch on any day but Iceday is great damage. At 40, if either of you pulls something wrong, you'll both have SLeepga from Shiva.

There are tons of ways you can duo. Just find what is fun for you, and go with it. In my opinion, it beats the snot out of BST, who takes an exp hit *and* has to waste mobs to get their exp. Also, you can just keep chucking carbuncle after carbuncle at something until it dies. While the exp might get slow...you'll never really have downtime depending on how you do it. if you alternate (type 2, lol), someone is always regening mp. Ginger Cookies (+5MPH), Pineapple Juice (my favorite, lasts for 3-4 minutes i think), and a Pilgrim's Wand (level 10~51, +2MPH) is great mp management.

With your subjobs, it's up to you which you decide to use. Personally whenever i did it we were both /whm. I had more MP so i would cast Dia, and Paralyze, while the other would try to land Slow. In most cases it sticks, but also that depends on your enfeebling skill from the WHM/BLM/RDM jobs. Divine Seal + Silence is great for when you need to shut down that goblin leecher before he banishgas everyone in the face then casts Cure III on himself.

Dia goes a long way, and actually helps carbuncle, so it's always a good thing to cast. spamming Poison Nails for the measly 11mp it costs is good DD at lower levels as well. YOu can always jump in and level staff/club skill also. I usually waited until the mob was at 80% or lower, as long as it wasnt something that used AoE's. at Wand 100and 125, you get MP stealing attacks, which will help speed you along your way. and at 225 Staff you get Spirit Taker, which is godly.

[Truece]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

These are great suggestions! I can't wait to try them out with another SMN

FYI:

Divine Seal + Silence

DS will have no impact on Silence.

[Gobo]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

3) The above two methods are basically just like "carby-kiting", which is what most SMN do solo anyway. However, the third option i've done is both of us pull out our Avatars and spam blood pacts at the mob. They die faster this way, but it does burn through mp a lot while spamming BP's. Personally, my believe is that one person should use Ramuh and spam Thunderspark whenever it's up. Not only does this BP do loads of damage no matter what level you are, but it almost always lands the Paralyze debuff on the mob. At 21 you have Rock Buster with Titan which has a Bind effect, for sticky situations when the avatars are almost dead, you're low on mp, and need some good running distance to the zone. get yourself and titan close to the target, hit Rock Buster, and when it goes off, run like a bat out of hell. Tail whip at 26 is a good Gravity effect, which is great for kiting around if you have hate. Double Punch at 30 is good...dual Ifrit using DOuble Punch on any day but Iceday is great damage. At 40, if either of you pulls something wrong, you'll both have SLeepga from Shiva.

I agree with everything up to here. Thunderspark is nice, but leaving Ramuh out is too much of an MP sponge and you'll go OOM a lot faster than your partner. Also, other than a Stun effect, additional effects from avatars are decent at best. Bind from Rock Buster (and Mountain Buster) will wear off as soon as any damage is done, so both avatars would have be retreated or dismissed immediately after its used. Again, other avatars cost a lot more MP to leave out, while carby is usually free/1 MP a tick with the right gear. Also, pre-SMN skill change update, Sleepga rarely stuck. While it has ok Acc after passing the skill cap for your level, I don't know how accurate it would be unless you were at cap. 70+ when you get the very damaging BPs (65 if you have Fenrir), using the other avatars becomes a much better option due to the damage the BPs can do (Like Titan and Ramuh vs pots, Garuda vs pretty much anything non undead etc). If you are going to use this method, I suggest having 1 SMN use a blood pact, then switch back to carby, then the other SMN go, switch back to carby and repeat. This way you can save some MP/gain some MP while carby is out, but still do the higher damage from the other avatars BPs (and not have to leave them out so long).

In my opinion, it beats the snot out of BST, who takes an exp hit *and* has to waste mobs to get their exp.

This is incorrect post-35 and somewhat incorrect pre-35. The JA Leave lets BSTs dismiss their pets at anytime they wish, so the 30% EXP loss from having a pet goes away, letting the BST gain full exp. Also, BSTs rarely kill the same mob they are using as pets. 9/10 there are more than enough mobs for a BST to use one type as their pets and another type as prey. Also, unless they are duoing suicidal mobs, SMN are pretty hard pressed to get chain 4-5 as duo (which BST can do solo).

You can always jump in and level staff/club skill also. I usually waited until the mob was at 80% or lower, as long as it wasnt something that used AoE's. at Wand 100and 125, you get MP stealing attacks, which will help speed you along your way. and at 225 Staff you get Spirit Taker, which is godly.

Never, ever attack a mob while you are soloing/duoing for exp as SMN. Should both avatars die (and Murphy's Law owns FFXI) you'll have accumulated enough hate that it can be difficult for avatars to save your behind before you take a dirt nap. Plus you are just adding more TP for the mob to use against you/your avatars.

Other than those things, everything is good/already been touched upon.

[Slip]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

Those were very cool ideas Shinoe!

My wife and I have duo'd our Smns from 14 -> 20 in Korroloka Tunnel on the worms there using Carby, and then solo'd the 6 avatars. I've been wondering what our best options were going forward now that we're full up (well still missing Fenrir and Diablos but those can wait a little) and this gives me some useful thoughts on things to try next.

For Smn's working their way to 20 I can definitely recommend the worms in Korroloka. They're easy and very safe to fight (since you can run out of range most of the time).

One issue we found was that if you have hate from the worm Carby will valiantly charge in to melee with it while you stand safely out of range. For the smn who doesn't have hate though you need to run in and force Carby to attack either by using the assault command or by casting on the worm. That can be a little dicey as the worm will almost instantly aggro to you and will inevitably rasp or Stonega you. Barstonra helps but at 14 you do need to be a little careful (packing Juices is a great idea).

The other catch with fighting worms is that if 1 Carby is killed before the other Carby runs in (easy to happen with a Stonega or Gastric Bomb) the worm can go unclaimed. Unclaimed mobs heal like they have Regen XII on them so it's important to keep Dia on the worms to prevent that. Poison Nails helps there too and gives Summoning skillups.

[Saikou]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

Thank you for these replies.

Shinoe you really motivate us to give it a try. The thing is, we were leveling both dragoon (me) and rdm (my wife) but we kept finding bad parties, or even when we did create our own party, more often than not people didn't tend to give a damn about SC or anything else. The ambiance was very heavy, and it was hard to have fun. Furthermore, the exp was really slow, and I mean slow. We maybe got only two good parties in 2 or 3 months, and since we can't alway be online for like 10 hours (it what it took lately to gain a level or two at 30, even if it is only around 5k tnl) we wanted a change of pace, in order to have fun.

So, since I wanted to become a SMN (I was planning to level up until 75 with my drg to get Fenrir) we decided to try duoing as SMN, and since we will be duoing, Fenrir can wait.

This way, even if we get slower exp than a *GOOD* party, we can have fun and log/delog anytime without affecting other people. As I read your post, I can see it seem doable and it does really motivate us to continue playing FFXI that way.

As for duoing, we're not really new players so I think we'll be able to manage it. My cooking is leveled and we will always have juice ingredients on us. Furthermore, like you mentionned, we'll use +hmp food while resting and try to alternate our carbuncles for mp issues. In brief, +hmp food, and juices will help us out, all the way.

As for the long journey, we will visit the worms in the maze of shakrami until 20, and then we'll move on to Qufim Island worms until like 27. After that, I'll have to find another leveling area and do my homework about it.

All in all, I'm really happy with the replies, and I thank you. If anybody else have opinions or experiences on the subject, please share it.

[Slip]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

My suggestion -> move from Shakrami to Korroloka Tunnel (it's a 2 minute run from Bastok Mines) around level 15. Unlike the Maze, Korroloka tunnel has no aggroing mobs near the worms that you'll be fighting. Also the worms in Korroloka are higher level so you'll get better xps per worm.

I'm currently planning out where to go next at 20. Qufim's an option but I *really* hate that place at night.

[Saikou]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

I think I'll follow your advice Slip, it will be easier in Korroloka since we won't have to watch our back.

As for level 20, Qfim is nice but as you said, at night it is painful. You've to stay near the flag (near the tunnel leading to jeuno) and more often than not, there's already a party there to kill the worms. We duoed rdm and drg there and we did awesome experience, however at night we were forced to stop. I'll look for an alternative, but for now I don't really know. If I find out a nice alternative, I'll come back here and tell you.

[@>-Kyarah-<@]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

Thank you for all these informations everyone.
I really want to try this Duo now

We will have fun Saikou !

Let's rock with our Atomic Squirrels!

[Gobo]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

After Korroloka/Qufim you can move to Attohwa Chasm for more worm goodness until ~35-37 (worms spawn 34-37). Just have to invis/sneak past the hecteyes. Worms only spawn in the tunnels and in the bottomless crevasses. Many of the worm spawns are pretty safe from aggro.

[Shinoe]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

These are great suggestions! I can't wait to try them out with another SMN
FYI:
DS will have no impact on Silence.

Interesting. I never actually noticed that it said "healing" only. It just seems to stick better after i waste DS on it Fighting a Very Tough Goblin Leecher who was spamming Cure III and Banishga like it was goign out of style, carby wasnt lasting very long. Oh well, thanks for the correction!

[Shinoe]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

I agree with everything up to here. Thunderspark is nice, but leaving Ramuh out is too much of an MP sponge and you'll go OOM a lot faster than your partner. Also, other than a Stun effect, additional effects from avatars are decent at best. Bind from Rock Buster (and Mountain Buster) will wear off as soon as any damage is done, so both avatars would have be retreated or dismissed immediately after its used. Again, other avatars cost a lot more MP to leave out, while carby is usually free/1 MP a tick with the right gear.

I see where you're coming from...but the point of this method is to constantly use BP's to kill the mob, rather than kiting around with Carbuncle. They aren't a huge MP sponge, and releasing an avatar after using the BP isn't a very good idea because it's just going to come to the person who was highest on it's hate list. Pulling carbuncle out after using a BP is a good idea...but wait...you have the 9 second cast time. With a partner, i can see this maybe working, but you'd be very busy. I'd rather just leave the two avatars of choice out since they're doing more damage anyway. If both SMN are low on MP, one rests while one finds a new target, so when he gets back, they can swap to who gets to heal first.

This is all based on the OP's style of course.

The reason i mentioned the added effects is because people dismiss them all the time. Of course stun wont work long. Bind works for a few seconds, but it's not meant to keep the mob there for a minute so you can recast. In dangerous situations where you need a bit of a head start to get the hell out, it's great.

And carbuncle will never cost "1mp/tick" prior to 51. Maybe at 41 when RDM gets refresh, stacked on Ballad. But duo'ing, it's impossible. Theres a chart on allakhazam that shows exactly how much each Terrestial/Celestial avatar will cost in MP at any given level. I say, if you're not tossing carbies at the mob and just want to get it killed ASAP, use avatars, spam your BP's. You'll get 2 or so off before you need to rest. If you find that you're both out of mp, then unsummon and pull out carbuncle. I guess my point is, if you can support keeping them out for a while, do so as the damage is better even on melee attacks. If not, no worries. Be wary of Aerial Armor at 23 though...it eats 92MP...which is a lot at that level ^^

This is incorrect post-35 and somewhat incorrect pre-35. The JA Leave lets BSTs dismiss their pets at anytime they wish, so the 30% EXP loss from having a pet goes away, letting the BST gain full exp. Also, BSTs rarely kill the same mob they are using as pets. 9/10 there are more than enough mobs for a BST to use one type as their pets and another type as prey. Also, unless they are duoing suicidal mobs, SMN are pretty hard pressed to get chain 4-5 as duo (which BST can do solo).

Maybe it's all in the eye of the beholder, because i have indeed gotten chain 4 duo before. 5 could have been possible i'm sure, maybe if i had wanted to use the spare hi-ethers left over from the bncm i had done prior. This was all my opinion above, and is not "truth", so don't take it as such. Yes, i know about the "LEave" command, and i know to send the pet away so you can finish the mob for full exp. My point was, they still have to run around charming mobs in order to kill mobs, thus reducing the amount of exp mobs in the areas. Just my own personal thoughts on it, nothing else need be said. (This is a "SMN Power!" thread, not "lolBST Rules!" thread )

Never, ever attack a mob while you are soloing/duoing for exp as SMN. Should both avatars die (and Murphy's Law owns FFXI) you'll have accumulated enough hate that it can be difficult for avatars to save your behind before you take a dirt nap. Plus you are just adding more TP for the mob to use against you/your avatars.

Wrong, attack all you want, within a given Health percentage on a mob. Not only will you keep your skill up in club/staff, but at you get the (minor) MP regaining WS's from club early on (100/125 skill). If you find yourself getting too much hate, back off. Personally, after Ramuh has used Thunderspark, i could whack away all day, hardly miss, and not get hate. Just make sure that there is always an avatar in place for once yours falls. As long as you have that cushion in between the mob and you for hate, you're good. However if you issue a lot of commands, retreat, then attack again, etc, you'll get aggro, but not from just beating on mobs. Save your 300TP for before the mob is dead since you have to rest for mp anyway, and take that last 10% off fairly fast.


I appreciate all the comments. I'm by no means an awesome summoner, although i'd like to think so, lol , but i chose the job because it was fun, and the only reason i came back to Vana'diel was to have fun. This job is one of my all time favorites. THe only bad thing i've ever come across is that you have to /whm in most cases, and i hate leveling that job


You have 20 levels to test out what works for you and your partner in terms of battle tactics. It's fun, and keeps the game interesting.

Here's a list of camps that i used.

Start area: stay until 10 or so.

Konschatt Highlands/La thienne: There are worms all over the place. But my favorite spot was in Konschatt highlands, in the very center of the map, all the way WEST. There's a cave where you can fight The Forger for the SAM job quest. Outside the cave, about 6-8 worms will spawn...great fodder for exp. This was solo, mind you, so you can problably duo them earlier at level 8 or so. I believe they're around level 13-16.

Maze of SHakrami: not bad exp, great place to kill worms.

Korroloka Tunnel: Move here around level 16 or so. From the entrance, you'll see worms. Nothing aggroes but them (and they link). Even when i had a link, THunderspark would hit both, so use that to your advantage. avoid meleeing with your partner here unless there are no worms around that could spawn on top ofyou. and always try to silence them! Stay here as long as you can. i stayed until 24.

Qufim Island: The worms here may not be worth the time spent in the area. THe worms are at the entrance once you leave the tunnel, so it's always populated by lower level parties trying for some quick exp. You can fight worms a bit outside of the tunnel entrance, and also out near the lake, but be careful of the FOmor that roam around, and also the ghosts and bats/undead at night.

Level Gap: now you'll problably stop having to fight worms and fight other mobs. I'm not sure of bomb type creatures at this level, but i say you headout to Rolanberry Fields and start killing the Bees, Bats, Crawlers, and VT Quadave/Goblins in the area. Remember to silence Leechers and Gamblers!

Attohwa Chasm: i never tried this area, but the levels here leave a gap.

Altepa Desert: worms here start about 37 in Western Altepa Desert, and move to Eastern Altepa desert once you hit 40. THere are some worms that spawn just outside of the Rabao entrance as well.

After that...i'm not sure. I started partying a lot since that's when i got my hastega, stoneskinga, etc. There are worms in quicksand caves but i believe they're in the high 40's early 50's. And they're pretty far in so you'll need sneak up the entire time near the Anticans.

But it doesnt always have to be worms. GOblins, Bees, Bombs, are all good for solo/duo as they all have suicide attacks. And if you can't find those, find something with low def (bats), etc. Keep it fun and keep truckin ^^

[Gobo]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

I see where you're coming from...but the point of this method is to constantly use BP's to kill the mob, rather than kiting around with Carbuncle. They aren't a huge MP sponge, and releasing an avatar after using the BP isn't a very good idea because it's just going to come to the person who was highest on it's hate list. Pulling carbuncle out after using a BP is a good idea...but wait...you have the 9 second cast time. With a partner, i can see this maybe working, but you'd be very busy. I'd rather just leave the two avatars of choice out since they're doing more damage anyway. If both SMN are low on MP, one rests while one finds a new target, so when he gets back, they can swap to who gets to heal first.
This is all based on the OP's style of course.
The reason i mentioned the added effects is because people dismiss them all the time. Of course stun wont work long. Bind works for a few seconds, but it's not meant to keep the mob there for a minute so you can recast. In dangerous situations where you need a bit of a head start to get the hell out, it's great.
And carbuncle will never cost "1mp/tick" prior to 51. Maybe at 41 when RDM gets refresh, stacked on Ballad. But duo'ing, it's impossible. Theres a chart on allakhazam that shows exactly how much each Terrestial/Celestial avatar will cost in MP at any given level. I say, if you're not tossing carbies at the mob and just want to get it killed ASAP, use avatars, spam your BP's. You'll get 2 or so off before you need to rest. If you find that you're both out of mp, then unsummon and pull out carbuncle. I guess my point is, if you can support keeping them out for a while, do so as the damage is better even on melee attacks. If not, no worries. Be wary of Aerial Armor at 23 though...it eats 92MP...which is a lot at that level ^^

Fair enough, but its still very MP inefficient.

Maybe it's all in the eye of the beholder, because i have indeed gotten chain 4 duo before. 5 could have been possible i'm sure, maybe if i had wanted to use the spare hi-ethers left over from the bncm i had done prior. This was all my opinion above, and is not "truth", so don't take it as such. Yes, i know about the "LEave" command, and i know to send the pet away so you can finish the mob for full exp. My point was, they still have to run around charming mobs in order to kill mobs, thus reducing the amount of exp mobs in the areas. Just my own personal thoughts on it, nothing else need be said. (This is a "SMN Power!" thread, not "lolBST Rules!" thread )

Sorry didn't mean to come off like that . Let me rephrase that so it doesn't sound so bitting. From my experience of leveling BST, I have found it to be better at getting exp as solo/duo. Most of the time mobs you are fighting are gathered in an area much like a PT. But I degress, this is a thread about SMN, not BST.

Wrong, attack all you want, within a given Health percentage on a mob. Not only will you keep your skill up in club/staff, but at you get the (minor) MP regaining WS's from club early on (100/125 skill). If you find yourself getting too much hate, back off. Personally, after Ramuh has used Thunderspark, i could whack away all day, hardly miss, and not get hate. Just make sure that there is always an avatar in place for once yours falls. As long as you have that cushion in between the mob and you for hate, you're good. However if you issue a lot of commands, retreat, then attack again, etc, you'll get aggro, but not from just beating on mobs. Save your 300TP for before the mob is dead since you have to rest for mp anyway, and take that last 10% off fairly fast.

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. Just be careful once you start getting AF. With the recent discovery by SharMarali that AF pants might be mistranslated and actually have -Avatar enmity, just take heed. Also you can do actions at the very edge of the radar and not take hate for it.

THe only bad thing i've ever come across is that you have to /whm in most cases, and i hate leveling that job

If you are going to be duoing more than PTing, you're free to be more versatile with your subs. /BRD would be a decent choice 50+, since it gives you and your partner ballad (though at the cost of some MP).
Also if you are having trouble finding worms/suicidal mobs to kill, Goblin BSTs pets make excellent sources of EXP. They have stupidly low HP for their level so they are very easy to kill. Plus with avatars, they are very easy to pull away from Goblins.

[SharMarali]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

And carbuncle will never cost "1mp/tick" prior to 51. Maybe at 41 when RDM gets refresh, stacked on Ballad. But duo'ing, it's impossible. Theres a chart on allakhazam that shows exactly how much each Terrestial/Celestial avatar will cost in MP at any given level. I say, if you're not tossing carbies at the mob and just want to get it killed ASAP, use avatars, spam your BP's.

I haven't been to Alla in a long, long time, and I don't know how up-to-date their info is over there, but in any case, does the chart take into account -perpetuation cost equipment?

Carbuncle's cost, if I'm remembering correctly, goes up by 1 MP/tick every 9 levels. Carbuncle mitts remove 50% of buncle's base MP cost right off the bat. I believe the number is rounded DOWN if it's an odd number. So, with mitts, at level 20 through level 24, he costs 2 MP/tick. At level 25, you get autorefresh, which most of those charts don't take into consideration when they tell you how much MP per tick your avatars cost. Now he costs 1 MP/tick [that's 3 MP base cost, which kicks in at level 18, minus 1 for the mitts and minus 1 more for autorefresh].

At 27, the base cost goes up to 4, but guess what? The mitts start taking off 2 MP/tick now, and you still have autorefresh, so he's down to 1 again until 36, when he goes up to 2. At 45, again the base cost goes up, but the mitts will take off yet another MP/tick, leaving him steady at two.

At 50, with the use of the Austere Robe, he's down to 1. And if you're really confident in what you're doing, by subbing anything other than WHM (which has autoregen beginning at level 50) and allowing your hitpoints to get knocked down a bit, you can use the level 50 conjurer's ring to knock off another MP/tick, giving you a free carbuncle. Or one of you can SJ BRD, which would give the same result. Or you can do BOTH, which would actually allow you to regenerate one MP every 3 seconds while keeping carbuncle out.

Yeah, I know this is really nitpicky, because you said he'd never be 1 MP/tick prior to 51 and I demonstrated that he goes up to 2 for awhile and doesn't come back DOWN to 1 until 50. But the point being, with careful use of equipment, carbuncle NEVER costs more than 2 MP every 3 seconds. Well except for levels 18 and 19 when he's up to 3 and you don't have mitts or autorefresh yet.

[Slip]

Re: Two SMN party, duoing.

Just a few minor corrections here:

Korroloka Tunnel: Move here around level 16 or so. From the entrance, you'll see worms. Nothing aggroes but them (and they link). Even when i had a link, THunderspark would hit both, so use that to your advantage. avoid meleeing with your partner here unless there are no worms around that could spawn on top ofyou. and always try to silence them! Stay here as long as you can. i stayed until 24.

Silence isn't available till Whm lvl15 - so you won't have it on Smn till 30 (aka not so much use in Korroloka). That said Silence does seem to land well even as a subjob. I was able to Silence Tonberries in Temple Uglyface with Pld/Whm when Pld's have 0 native enfeebling skill *and* my Whm sub was gimped at only level 31. Hopefully that'll mean Silence is still useful with a Smn main job too.

Altepa Desert: worms here start about 37 in Western Altepa Desert, and move to Eastern Altepa desert once you hit 40. THere are some worms that spawn just outside of the Rabao entrance as well.

You reversed the desert names (I do it too a lot, which is why I thought to check). *Eastern* is the lower level desert. It's the one with the Tele crystal and the one you exit to if you go straight down Korroloka tunnel. Western is the higher level desert, has the link to Rabao and Kuftal and is the where you exit from Korroloka if you stay on the upper path and hang a sharp right past the last bridge.