Shattering Stars

[Malacite]

So my SMN has been 73 for a while and I really wanted to wait until I hit 75 but I'm starting to get impatient.


I've been reading all the diff strategies on the wiki, and I have a serious question;


Can't I just run up to him and beat him in with 70 pacts? Seems to me like I could buff up and then have Shiva use Rush followed by Sleepga (with the subsequent TP built up helping the spell) to take care of whatever pet he may call up and then rip into him with another 70 as soon as it's ready.

I mean, don't the 70 pacts do as much if not more damage than Astral Flow to a single target? And besides that I won't be draining my MP pool instantly. Just looking for some opinions from people who've done this fight.

[Takelli]

Re: Shattering Stars

Hmmm... If I remember correctly how my ls member beat him, he just meleed Maat, while having the summons keep hate with his 2 hour. Not sure exactly how he did it though.

[Zoltar]

Re: Shattering Stars

1.) Buff up w/ blink band/protect band, bring a Melon Pie +1
2.) Summon Garuda
3.) Assault Maat, Predator Claws
4.) Use hi-potions to restore hp
5.) Wait for next Predator claws to come available, repeat, done.

[Malacite]

Re: Shattering Stars

Yeah I was leaning on Predator Claws for big spike damage or Rush to give Shiva TP for sleepga. Why blink band though? I can take a few minutes to use wards for buffs and then recover with elemental siphon.

[Zoltar]

Re: Shattering Stars

You wont need to use elemental siphon for this fight. Blink band so any re-summons aren't interrupted

2 predator claws unresisted = dead maat

[Shirai]

Re: Shattering Stars

Beating maat at level 70+ can easily be done without Astral Flow.
It's even possible at 66 if you use doggy but you'll need luck.
Lots of the level 70 pacts have the potential to easily break the damage of the Astral Flow Pact.

Now strategy wise;

If you are not going for the time record, fully buff up with Earthen Ward and Aerial armor.
Als if you have it, use Light spirit to cast Pro and Shell4 on you.
You have plenty of time to recover MP, use Siphon to speed up recovery as you won't have time to use that during your fight anyway.
And lolblinkband, AA also gives 3 shadows and does not leave you with a useless band with 49 charges you cannot sell even if your life depends on it.
Don't spend gil you don't need to spend.
Also if you get hit while resummoning an avatar you're doing something wrong.

If you are planning to use Shiva it is best to open with Sleepga and then use Rush.
Sleepga is not modified by Avatar TP so it's silly to build TP for it.

Summoning Magic Skill does not affect the duration of this Blood Pact. It will, however, affect its accuracy.
Avatar's TP does not affect this ability

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Sleepga_(Blood_Pact)

Also by doing Rush before Sleepga you are taking the unnecesarry risk of triggering Maat's Astral Flow because of the damage inflicted by the pact.
It is not a potential one shotter, you're dead if you're caught.

Tips:
-When doing Maat the Shiva way, absolutely do not go on Firesday!
Better yet, choose Wind or Iceday.
I'm not sure where, but I read that the Avatar Maat uses corresponds to the day of the week of entry. (With the exception of Fenrir and Diabolos I believe.)
If your sleepga fails to land on Maat's avatar you want to have Shiva live long enough for you to run away far enough to resummon without getting hit.
Keep in mind that it's two mobs hitting on your avatar so you will want to have it nuked by an element it is strong against in case Astral Flow does go off.
Because even with an avatar's natural -50% PDT, they go down fast enough.

-Command the DD pact from the maximum possible distance, even if you manage to sleep Maat's Avatar, and run, run like the wind!
If you are a windower user, the range of Astral Flow damage is 30 yalms, The range of a BP command is between 17.5~ and 20 depending on the size of the mob.
Maat being a small mob you will have to assume the closest distance, preferably you want to have over 30 yalms distance between you and Maat's Avatar in 6 seconds.
(It takes 3 for your own pact to go off, followed by 3 for Maat's pact so if you're not out of there within that timewindow fight's over.)

-Go with as much avatar accuracy gear as you can get.
Always use AF1 legs! It's 14! extra Physical accuracy, there is no better piece.
If you have them, also use AFv2 hands, yes the do stack with the AFv1 legs.
If you haven't capped your summoning magic skill, fill out the slots you would normally use for summoning magic skill for defense, MP, Refresh, Regen and perpetuation cost reducing items.
If you can break cap with skil gear, go with skill, as much as you can get your hands on!
Why do I say this?
Even though Rush has real good damage potential as it's a 5 hitter, Shiva's Physical Blood pact accuracy is random at best.
It can break 1k but can just as easy whiff 4 out of the 5 and do no more then 200 damage, adding extra accuracy helps this pact in particular considerably.

-DO NOT USE AVATAR'S FAVOR!!
I appologize for the caps and the boldness, but Avatar's favor as nice as it is to save 2 MP/tick reduces your avatar's attack by no less then 15%!
Don't go gimping your damage and risk prolonging the fight just because you want to save a few MP.
If you're really unlucky and get short on it because of whiffing a few pacts use Astral flow to cancel your perpetuation and use meds like an Elixer to get it back up.
But if you are in the situation where you don't have the MP to support the fight it's best to run and live to fight another day.