I was recently looking into what exactly the proc rate is for the "Augments 'Conserve MP'" property of the full Goetia attire +2 set (5/5), which was estimated indirectly last year (a thorough overview of the set bonus, including the relationship between damage multiplier and the fraction of MP conserved, is presented at The Black Mage's Apprentice in two posts). This was done by estimating the effective rate of observed procs, or the product of the actual augment proc rate (which itself cannot be observed directly when the Conserve MP rate is not 100%) and the proc rate of BLM's Conserve MP trait, which is supposed to be 25%. If you believe the set proc rate is a multiple of 5, then 15% and 20% are plausible estimates.
While some of the reasonable assumptions underlying the analysis caught my interest, such as whether the occurrences of Conserve MP, resists, magic critical hits and the Goetia set bonus are all actually mutually independent (kind of similar to whether the Double Attack trait procs on two hits of a multi-hit WS; no one actively looks for these rare events so you have to use more clever methods of providing evidence of such), of greater interest was the suggestion that there are multiple "tier"s (or "ranks" or "levels") of Conserve MP.
I just checked wiki.ffo.jp for the Conserve MP article and found a claim of at least one more Conserve MP "rank" at level 76 for BLM and level 96 for SCH. The claimed Conserve MP rate was 33%, but I couldn't find any evidence supporting this. (But there must have been some reason for this to be posted?)
I then tried to look for evidence of another tier on the BG forums. I totally forgot I already looked at the evidence for this last year (posts #154 and #155...), and test 1 showed that the estimated Conserve MP rate for BLM was well below the claimed 33% rate. (Due to the use of a non-MVUE for the conserve MP rate, which is a binomial proportion, for the sake of convenience and sanity, the nominal 95% normal approximation confidence interval based on the binomial proportion but plugging in the non-MVUE actually has a lower coverage probability, or 91% as I claimed previously...). This was before the September 2011 version update raised the maximum job level to 95, so this doesn't rule out any new levels being introduced since then.
So as long ago as June 2011 there did not appear to be evidence of multiple tiers of Conserve MP. If this is to be checked again in the future, the data collection procedure as described on the BG forums (see the previous link) would be one way to amass evidence for or against multiple tiers.
Showing posts with label black mage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black mage. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2012
Monday, August 29, 2011
Some black magic - test server findings
There are at least 20 things I could post about more interesting than my checking parameters for black magic spells (BG forum), but those other things would take too long.
That Breakga appears to last only 30 seconds unresisted is notable since the recast time is 50% longer (45 seconds). Compare this to single-target Break (30 second duration, 30 second recast). Even Horde Lullaby II lasts 60 seconds (with only a 24-second recast).
Comet's direct damage/MP efficiency doesn't compare favorably to Blizzaja and Thunder IV without the usual ice or lightning potency merits.
I also checked the magnitude of Kaustra's direct damage, but surprisingly the direct damage appears to be variable in a way that can't be explained by resists. With 85 INT on SCH95/MNK1 I managed to get 378 damage 3 times and 340 twice.
That Breakga appears to last only 30 seconds unresisted is notable since the recast time is 50% longer (45 seconds). Compare this to single-target Break (30 second duration, 30 second recast). Even Horde Lullaby II lasts 60 seconds (with only a 24-second recast).
Comet's direct damage/MP efficiency doesn't compare favorably to Blizzaja and Thunder IV without the usual ice or lightning potency merits.
I also checked the magnitude of Kaustra's direct damage, but surprisingly the direct damage appears to be variable in a way that can't be explained by resists. With 85 INT on SCH95/MNK1 I managed to get 378 damage 3 times and 340 twice.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Black mage solo EXP in Xarcabard [S]
This may have gone under the radar for many considering the hype surrounding fay weapons, Igqira Weskits with INT+6 that you'll never get, and the rat race to finish A Moogle Kupo d'Etat (what's the acronym? AMK? MKE?), but this latest version update actually provided an alternative to Ebony Puddings as a solo EXP fodder for level 75 black mages and scholars in the form of the five or so LV 75+ Gigas's Tigers with only 1,400 or so HP within striking distance of the Xarcabard [S] teleport point at (H-9).
Considering the interval between the start of the ToAU expansion and now, this is totally (un)characteristic of SE depending on your point of view, whether you're a fucking retard for fulminating about the "exploiting" the generally low HP of BST pets or a realist.
Perhaps "alternative" is a gross understatement since chain #19 has been achieved on these tiger pets with BLM/SCH (and the attendant MP-efficiency advantages) and the ability to one-shot these tigers with the appropriate weather (ice) or day (Iceday or Lightningday). Not only that, there was the suggestion that these can be chained indefinitely! This seems like a pretty good case for /SCH at this camp if you can one-shot (you have Bind and Sleep anyway).
As for the bread-and-butter /RDM sub, I don't know about you, but even attaining chain #5 on Ebony Puddings (even though I can't three-shot, as in three tier IV), my average EXP/hour doesn't even approach 10K per hour (more like 8K).
In contrast, even without day or weather bonuses and basically lolly-gagging, after trying my hand at these Gigas's Tigers I still managed to average about 8K/hr over two chains with BLM/RDM as summarized in this parser output:
Personally, I would rather not rely on the crutch of having the benefit of the right weather or day effects to be able to one-shot tigers, but my gear or merits do not give me the flexibility to one-shot anytime. After determining that these tigers have 55 INT, I determined that I would need to acquire Selenian Cap with INT+4 and MAB+2, a Novio Earring, and 4 INT merits to clear 1,400 damage with Thunder IV.
With this in mind, those players with Novio and full Morrigan's would have a field day at this camp.
Considering the interval between the start of the ToAU expansion and now, this is totally (un)characteristic of SE depending on your point of view, whether you're a fucking retard for fulminating about the "exploiting" the generally low HP of BST pets or a realist.
Perhaps "alternative" is a gross understatement since chain #19 has been achieved on these tiger pets with BLM/SCH (and the attendant MP-efficiency advantages) and the ability to one-shot these tigers with the appropriate weather (ice) or day (Iceday or Lightningday). Not only that, there was the suggestion that these can be chained indefinitely! This seems like a pretty good case for /SCH at this camp if you can one-shot (you have Bind and Sleep anyway).
As for the bread-and-butter /RDM sub, I don't know about you, but even attaining chain #5 on Ebony Puddings (even though I can't three-shot, as in three tier IV), my average EXP/hour doesn't even approach 10K per hour (more like 8K).
In contrast, even without day or weather bonuses and basically lolly-gagging, after trying my hand at these Gigas's Tigers I still managed to average about 8K/hr over two chains with BLM/RDM as summarized in this parser output:
Experience RatesMoreover, after achieving a chain #10 (cheating with Manafont), I averaged over 9.6K/hr on this chain while still not being able to one-shot tigers:
Total Experience : 2538
Number of Fights : 17
Date : 7/26/2009
Start Time : 11:46:32 AM
End Time : 12:05:28 PM
Party Duration : 0:18:56
Total Fight Time : 0:04:33
Avg Time/Fight : 66.85 seconds
Avg Fight Length : 16.07 seconds
XP/Fight : 149.29
XP/Minute : 134.00
XP/Hour : 8039.97
Experience RatesI would argue that, at least for me, at worst the EXP/hr in Xarcabard [S] is equivalent to that in Mount Zhayolm, with the potential to clear 10,000 EXP/hr easily with /SCH and enough oomph to one-shot these tigers.
Total Experience : 1773
Number of Fights : 11
Date : 7/26/2009
Start Time : 12:12:18 PM
End Time : 12:23:18 PM
Party Duration : 0:11:00
Total Fight Time : 0:03:31
Avg Time/Fight : 60.03 seconds
Avg Fight Length : 19.20 seconds
XP/Fight : 161.18
XP/Minute : 161.10
XP/Hour : 9665.87
Personally, I would rather not rely on the crutch of having the benefit of the right weather or day effects to be able to one-shot tigers, but my gear or merits do not give me the flexibility to one-shot anytime. After determining that these tigers have 55 INT, I determined that I would need to acquire Selenian Cap with INT+4 and MAB+2, a Novio Earring, and 4 INT merits to clear 1,400 damage with Thunder IV.
With this in mind, those players with Novio and full Morrigan's would have a field day at this camp.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Another half-year in parses
While others hoard screenshots, I hoard parser files. Another six months, another excuse for a filler post based on parser "output." The point of this exercise is to show that parsing can be a useful summary of your activities and, in some cases, help to assess how well you are doing in aspects of the game other than mindless merit damage.
Edit (July 4): updated
Where do you farm Royal Jelly? You can risk dying to Final Sting while farming pephredos in Wajaom Woodlands (if you melee) or mow down all the Death Jackets, all on a 14-minute respawn timer in Crawler's Nest. 234 bees later, I got a 13th Royal Jelly and I still didn't get to 100 cooking.
Similarly, a "Seigan rate" can be calculated by substituting the sum of counters and anticipates for the number of blinked attacks. To the extent that the Seigan rate, as a measure of "active" defensive efficiency, can be maximized with judicious use of Third Eye, it could help identify room for improvement. I have yet to see any discussion about what an optimal Seigan rate might be, though.
Unfortunately, my personal insight on WAR/SAM damage mitigation consists solely of two pickup parties. The parser output above is a partial record of a short (approximately 30 minutes) March 13 merit party where I was actually allowed to sub /SAM. My Seigan rate was 79/128 = .617.
This combination of lower enmity (sounds like this will have the effect of lower rate of enmity increase with Innin active) and increased damage-dealing capability seems peculiar, especially since these new abilities are subject to decay per "development" team fetish. I can imagine the enmity change doesn't "decay" while the damage-dealing part does. But it could be of use in low-number activities where ninjas can still melee, provide enfeebling support, and don't have to worry about positioning, but basically concede "tanking" to a far superior DD (like monk), possibly in conjunction with thieves being unaccountable for the damage they inflict. (Oh, you call that hate control?)
The above output from an "arena-style" fight from the quest "Bonds That Never Die," is a partial picture of how feeble (my) ninja was even with sushi. Being totally outclassed by 2-handers (samurai) who ended up tanking the latter half of the fight, Innin could've helped to speed up the fight.
Okay, this is a really weak argument for Innin, but at least it's something.
In later attempts, I also decided to cast three times in a "lap" around the fifth floor (Blizzard IV, Aspir, and Bio II or Drain where applicable) as opposed to the two times that others do, but this seemed counterproductive since I wasn't really inflicting damage at a faster rate with a "three-point" approach and I was exposing myself to higher risk.
Even 44+ accuracy (estimated) wasn't enough to achieve maximum hit rate, though.
Edit (July 4): updated
An Affable Adamantking? (June 26)
Damage SummaryComments: I responded to a Whitegate shout for one of the "beastmen helm" quests that hardly anyone cares about. I had done this previously with NIN/WAR and the assistance of a RDM/WHM by zoning Diamond Quadav until it was isolated from its stooges, and I was interested if they would take a different tack. Actually, their approach called for a DRK-zerg of Diamond Quadav, leaving the BLMs to preoccupy (sleep) the others, which isn't a bad idea yet they still ran out of steam. As you can see, the damage output seemed to be decent enough to pull this off. (The DRK/DNC didn't 2-hour for some reason.) Diamond Quadav being a WHM, of course Benediction ruined this attempt, especially with no attempt to separate the boss from its minions.
Player Total Dmg Damage % Melee Dmg WSkill Dmg Spell Dmg
BLM (me) 5 0.04 % 0 0 5
BLM 1078 8.12 % 0 0 1078
DRK/DNC 2109 15.88 % 1287 526 296
DRK/NIN 10090 75.97 % 9756 0 334
Total 13282 100.00 % 11043 526 1713
Melee Damage
Player Melee Dmg Melee % Hit/Miss M.Acc % M.Low/Hi M.Avg
DRK/DNC 1287 61.02 % 12/2 85.71 % 86/134 107.25
DRK/NIN 9756 96.69 % 83/6 93.26 % 5/187 120.43
Damage SummaryWith Blood Weapon now unavailable, the only realistic tactic was to isolate Diamond Quadav and proceed to plink away at it with nukes and letting the DRK/NIN "tank." Unfortunately, the guy who wanted to "upgrade" the quadav barbut died without reraise and, in fact, Diamond Quadav is rather accurate for an easily-enfeebled NM, giving the DRK/NIN some trouble with shadows, so I just kited it with gravity and bind until the guy returned along with someone else on bard, making blink-tanking realistic. Meleeing was just terrible (not sure why there was a switch to 1-handed sword), but whatever gets the job done...
Player Total Dmg Damage % Melee Dmg WSkill Dmg Spell Dmg
BLM (me) 3347 19.23 % 0 0 3347
BLM 5610 32.23 % 0 0 5583
DRK/DNC 906 5.20 % 439 0 467
DRK/NIN 7544 43.34 % 2843 2659 2042
Total 17407 100.00 % 3282 2659 11439
Melee Damage
Player Melee Dmg Melee % Hit/Miss M.Acc % M.Low/Hi M.Avg
DRK/NIN 2843 37.69 % 198/74 72.79 % 0/167 13.44
Weaponskill Damage
Player WSkill Dmg WSkill % Hit/Miss WS.Acc % WS.Low/Hi WS.Avg
DRK/NIN 2659 35.25 % 12/0 100.00 % 38/525 221.58
- Vorpal Blade 2659 100.00 % 12/0 100.00 % 38/525 221.58
Farming Royal Jelly (May 7)
Experience RatesComments: For those aspiring to level cooking to 100, it's either Red Curry or Cursed Soup, the latter requiring Royal Jelly, which was inexplicably flagged "exclusive" by some asshole on the "dev team." With a glut of 20 red curries languishing on a mule and sitting somewhere above 99 skill, I tried my hand at farming this shit.
Number of Fights : 234
Date : 5/7/2009
Party Duration : 14:14:40
Total Fight Time : 2:11:13
Avg Time/Fight : 219.15 seconds
Avg Fight Length : 33.65 seconds
Item Drops
89 beehive chip
13 serving of royal jelly
22 insect wing
6 giant stinger
Where do you farm Royal Jelly? You can risk dying to Final Sting while farming pephredos in Wajaom Woodlands (if you melee) or mow down all the Death Jackets, all on a 14-minute respawn timer in Crawler's Nest. 234 bees later, I got a 13th Royal Jelly and I still didn't get to 100 cooking.
More Aura Statues x58 (Jan 21)
Debuff # Times # Successful # No Effect % SuccessfulComments: Aura Statues are bothersome with relatively poor enfeebling skill as I showed last time. But at this point, I am pretty sure I had all the key enfeebling pieces, including Oracle's Gloves and Enfeebling Torque, but no Witch Sash, Enfeebling Earring, or corresponding elemental grip. Even so, Gravity outright resisted 9 of 115 times. I would imagine scholar with dark arts and the appropriate equipment and merits would have little trouble enfeebling statues.
Aspir 2 2 0 100.00 %
Bind 60 43 0 71.67 %
Gravity 117 106 2 90.60 %
Sleep 5 4 0 80.00 %
Sleep II 17 17 0 100.00 %
Stun 37 37 0 100.00 %
Damage mitigation on WAR/SAM with Greater Colibri
Damage Taken SummaryComments: Where Utsusemi is involved, in KParser the "blink" rate is the number of absorbed attacks over the total number of attacks that weren't evaded or parried. The total number includes TP moves (but not their individual hits). From experience with Greater Colibri, my rate has ranged from 82% to 90%, which seems acceptable if not a sign of hyper-vigilance in recasting Utsusemi.
Player Total Dmg Damage % Melee Dmg Abil. Dmg
WAR/SAM (me) 7727 50.27 % 5660 2067
WAR/NIN 3687 23.99 % 1885 1802
DRG/SAM 1944 12.65 % 1304 640
RDM/WHM 145 0.94 % 145 0
BRD/NIN 1432 9.32 % 1432 0
BRD/WHM 437 2.84 % 437 0
Total 15372 100.00 % 10863 4509
Passive Defenses
Player Evasion Evasion % Parry Parry % Counter Counter %
WAR/SAM 4 3.13 % 7 5.65 % 17 15.18 %
WAR/NIN 3 3.41 % 7 8.24 % 0 0.00 %
Active Defenses
Player Shadow Shadow % Anticipate Anticipate %
WAR/SAM 0 0.00 % 62 52.99 %
WAR/NIN 56 71.79 % 0 0.00 %
DRG/SAM 0 0.00 % 3 23.08 %
BRD/NIN 54 85.71 % 0 0.00 %
Similarly, a "Seigan rate" can be calculated by substituting the sum of counters and anticipates for the number of blinked attacks. To the extent that the Seigan rate, as a measure of "active" defensive efficiency, can be maximized with judicious use of Third Eye, it could help identify room for improvement. I have yet to see any discussion about what an optimal Seigan rate might be, though.
Unfortunately, my personal insight on WAR/SAM damage mitigation consists solely of two pickup parties. The parser output above is a partial record of a short (approximately 30 minutes) March 13 merit party where I was actually allowed to sub /SAM. My Seigan rate was 79/128 = .617.
Damage Taken SummaryThis parser output summarizes defensive efficiency from a June 17 polearm-only (hey, I was curious) merit party (82 minutes) where I was also allowed to sub /SAM. My Seigan rate was 206/311 = .662, a sign of personal improvement but also an indication that I could be more efficient as I was being rather lazy with Seigan renewal. The other WAR/SAM had a Seigan rate of 101/168 = .601. In contrast, the DRG/NIN actually outparsed both of us (draw your own conclusions) and was much more efficient defensively.
Player Total Dmg Damage % Melee Dmg Range Dmg Abil. Dmg
WAR/SAM (me) 16069 45.15 % 13888 0 2181
BRD/NIN 4669 13.12 % 4669 0 0
DRG/NIN 2780 7.81 % 1576 0 1204
BRD/WHM 176 0.49 % 176 0 0
WAR/SAM 11527 32.39 % 9227 0 2300
WHM/SCH 372 1.05 % 372 0 0
Total 35593 100.00 % 29908 0 5685
Passive Defenses
Player Evasion Evasion % Parry Parry % Counter Counter %
WAR/SAM (me) 10 3.02 % 10 3.12 % 40 13.11 %
BRD/NIN 9 4.39 % 0 0.00 % 0 0.00 %
DRG/NIN 4 2.37 % 10 6.06 % 0 0.00 %
WAR/SAM 9 4.84 % 9 5.08 % 16 9.94 %
Active Defenses
Player Shadow Shadow % Anticipate Anticipate %
WAR/SAM (me) 0 0.00 % 166 53.38 %
BRD/NIN 164 83.67 % 0 0.00 %
DRG/NIN 134 86.45 % 0 0.00 %
BRD/WHM 3 60.00 % 0 0.00 %
WAR/SAM 0 0.00 % 85 50.60 %
Innin could've come in handy here (April 16)
Damage SummaryComments: The reaction to the upcoming (July 2009) Ninja job adjustments, particularly Innin, a new ninja ability that "lowers enmity in exchange for reduced evasion" while conferring bonuses to accuracy, critical hit rate, and ninjutsu damage "when striking your target from behind," has been mixed to put it charitably.
Player Total Dmg Damage % Melee Dmg WSkill Dmg
NIN/WAR 4454 100.00 % 2854 1600
Melee Damage
Player Melee Dmg Melee % Hit/Miss M.Acc % M.Low/Hi M.Avg
NIN/WAR 2854 64.08 % 87/62 58.39 % 11/43 30.64
This combination of lower enmity (sounds like this will have the effect of lower rate of enmity increase with Innin active) and increased damage-dealing capability seems peculiar, especially since these new abilities are subject to decay per "development" team fetish. I can imagine the enmity change doesn't "decay" while the damage-dealing part does. But it could be of use in low-number activities where ninjas can still melee, provide enfeebling support, and don't have to worry about positioning, but basically concede "tanking" to a far superior DD (like monk), possibly in conjunction with thieves being unaccountable for the damage they inflict. (Oh, you call that hate control?)
The above output from an "arena-style" fight from the quest "Bonds That Never Die," is a partial picture of how feeble (my) ninja was even with sushi. Being totally outclassed by 2-handers (samurai) who ended up tanking the latter half of the fight, Innin could've helped to speed up the fight.
Okay, this is a really weak argument for Innin, but at least it's something.
An example of NW Apollyon soloing failure (May 10)
Fight # Enemy Start Time End Time Fight LengthComments: This output represents a wasted opportunity to clear NW Apollyon with ease on my first legitimate attempt. You can see where I wasted a lot of time even with only two buffaloes to kill. Also, I lost valuable time by dying to Kaiser Behemoth somehow. Aspir accuracy is indeed a rate-limiting step (NW Apollyon motivated my earlier posts on Aspir), so to speak, and for some reason I managed to cast Aspir only three times in a half-hour (47, 91, 81). It seems Kaiser Behemoth can be killed in 20 minutes solo (unless the video from some jackoff hume BLM I saw was subtly sped up), so this was very disappointing to me. It's one thing to know what to do, and another to execute actually.
1 Bardha 11:55 AM 11:57 AM 00:02:27
3 Mountain Buffalo 12:00 PM 12:05 PM 00:05:03
4 Mountain Buffalo 12:05 PM 12:13 PM 00:07:32
5 Apollyon Scavenger 12:15 PM 12:17 PM 00:01:40
7 Gorynich 12:20 PM 12:22 PM 00:02:14
8 Gorynich 12:22 PM 12:24 PM 00:01:32
9 Gorynich 12:26 PM 12:28 PM 00:01:42
10 Gorynich 12:31 PM 12:33 PM 00:01:54
11 Gorynich 12:36 PM 12:37 PM 00:01:38
12 Kronprinz Behemoth 12:43 PM 12:47 PM 00:04:16
13 Kronprinz Behemoth 12:50 PM 12:52 PM 00:02:26
14 Kronprinz Behemoth 12:55 PM 12:58 PM 00:02:46
15 Kaiser Behemoth 1:01 PM 1:32 PM 00:31:11
Player Spell Dmg Spell % #Spells S.Low/Hi S.Avg
- Aero IV 629 7.47 % 1 629/629 629.00
- Bio 5 0.06 % 1 5/5 5.00
- Bio II 434 5.15 % 8 16/69 54.25
- Blizzard IV 6345 75.33 % 8 770/853 793.13
- Drain 1010 11.99 % 9 35/165 112.22
In later attempts, I also decided to cast three times in a "lap" around the fifth floor (Blizzard IV, Aspir, and Bio II or Drain where applicable) as opposed to the two times that others do, but this seemed counterproductive since I wasn't really inflicting damage at a faster rate with a "three-point" approach and I was exposing myself to higher risk.
Ninja, Marinara Pizza, and Temenos - Western Tower
Damage SummaryComments: I had a chance to do Temenos West as NIN/WAR, so I took this opportunity to see how well I could do with Marinara Pizza (+1), which is kind of a boon for 1-handed melee since it overcomes the accuracy deficit that 1-handers face compared to 2-handers and also provides an attack bonus.
Player Total Dmg Damage % Melee Dmg WSkill Dmg Spell Dmg Other Dmg
PLD/NIN 32083 14.21 % 25625 5980 0 371
NIN/WAR (me) 79879 35.37 % 53089 26707 0 83
DRK/NIN 53584 23.73 % 28735 21994 1960 895
RDM/WHM 7327 3.24 % 0 0 7327 0
THF/NIN 51155 22.65 % 30764 19718 0 134
SC: Detonation 833 0.37 % 0 0 0 0
SC: Scission 965 0.43 % 0 0 0 0
Total 225826 100.00 % 138213 74399 9287 1483
Melee Damage
Player Melee Dmg Melee % Hit/Miss M.Acc % M.Low/Hi M.Avg #Crit C.Low/Hi C.Avg Crit%
PLD/NIN 25625 79.87 % 672/121 84.74 % 0/77 35.50 56 32/112 67.11 8.33 %
NIN/WAR (me) 53089 66.46 % 1069/145 88.06 % 0/90 43.69 181 32/139 78.98 16.93 %
DRK/NIN 28735 53.63 % 252/57 81.55 % 0/222 104.41 29 138/287 187.97 11.51 %
THF/NIN 30764 60.14 % 797/72 91.71 % 0/68 28.57 140 29/381 85.67 17.57 %
Weaponskill Damage
Player WSkill Dmg WSkill % Hit/Miss WS.Acc % WS.Low/Hi WS.Avg
NIN/WAR (me) 26707 33.43 % 46/0 100.00 % 159/901 580.59
- Blade: Jin 26078 97.64 % 44/0 100.00 % 268/901 592.68
- Blade: Kamu 629 2.36 % 2/0 100.00 % 159/470 314.50
Passive Defenses
Player Evasion Evasion % Parry Parry %
BRD/WHM 1 11.11 % 0 0.00 %
PLD/NIN 13 8.28 % 3 2.08 %
NIN/WAR (me) 25 11.26 % 6 3.05 %
THF/NIN 3 15.00 % 0 0.00 %
Active Defenses
Player Shadow Shadow %
PLD/NIN 76 53.90 %
NIN/WAR (me) 152 79.58 %
DRK/NIN 3 27.27 %
THF/NIN 5 29.41 %
Even 44+ accuracy (estimated) wasn't enough to achieve maximum hit rate, though.
Damage SummaryThis other (successful) attempt to clear Temenos West involved a different NIN/WAR using Dorado Sushi. It was really annoying to see average melee and WS damage similar to mine when using Marinara +1, but this could be explained by other factors (birds have low defense, Usukane, more katana merits, more consistent application of Dia II, etc.).
Player Total Dmg Damage % Melee Dmg WSkill Dmg
RDM/WHM 4133 1.07 % 0 0
WHM/SCH 1395 0.36 % 0 0
THF/NIN 62995 16.29 % 35352 26928
NIN/WAR 110655 28.61 % 78434 32156
WAR/NIN (me) 113930 29.45 % 72330 41287
PLD/NIN 49607 12.82 % 29385 19984
Diabolos 231 0.06 % 231 0
Garuda 34906 9.02 % 5926 0
Leviathan 72 0.02 % 72 0
Shiva 1615 0.42 % 166 0
SC: Detonation 2272 0.59 % 0 0
SC: Impaction 307 0.08 % 0 0
SC: Light 2034 0.53 % 0 0
SC: Reverberation 1676 0.43 % 0 0
SC: Scission 978 0.25 % 0 0
Total 386806 100.00 % 221896 120355
Melee Damage
Player Melee Dmg Melee % Hit/Miss M.Acc % M.Low/Hi M.Avg #Crit C.Low/Hi C.Avg Crit%
THF/NIN 35352 56.12 % 897/104 89.61 % 10/65 30.99 178 28/290 73.42 19.84 %
NIN/WAR 78434 70.88 % 1510/99 93.85 % 0/103 45.94 231 27/150 85.17 15.30 %
WAR/NIN (me) 72330 63.49 % 458/25 94.82 % 50/247 143.30 67 135/306 243.28 14.63 %
PLD/NIN 29385 59.24 % 797/204 79.62 % 0/88 35.23 32 42/128 76.13 4.02 %
Weaponskill Damage
Player WSkill Dmg WSkill % Hit/Miss WS.Acc % WS.Low/Hi WS.Avg
NIN/WAR 32156 29.06 % 55/0 100.00 % 220/1023 584.65
- Blade: Jin 30307 94.25 % 50/0 100.00 % 220/1023 606.14
- Blade: Kamu 1849 5.75 % 5/0 100.00 % 259/490 369.80
WAR/NIN (me) 41287 36.24 % 56/0 100.00 % 161/1615 737.27
- King's Justice 35740 86.56 % 50/0 100.00 % 161/1291 714.80
Passive Defenses
Player Evasion Evasion % Parry Parry %
RDM/WHM 1 7.14 % 0 0.00 %
THF/NIN 4 50.00 % 0 0.00 %
NIN/WAR 42 17.00 % 4 1.95 %
WAR/NIN (me) 4 5.13 % 2 2.70 %
PLD/NIN 16 11.76 % 5 4.17 %
Active Defenses
Player Shadow Shadow %
THF/NIN 3 75.00 %
NIN/WAR 165 82.09 %
WAR/NIN (me) 56 77.78 %
PLD/NIN 77 66.96 %
Monday, November 24, 2008
Estimating changes in magic hit rate with skill
For the purposes of estimating melee hit rate, the functional relationship among accuracy, dexterity, combat skill, mob level, and mob evasion has long been established, thanks to the clever use of the check function. Sadly, no such relationship has really been justified for magic "hit rate" (or resist rate), but that doesn't mean we are condemned to flail in the dark.
Having wondered myself about the utility of meriting elemental magic skill for the purposes of reducing the frequency of resists on "hard stuff," I looked for some information on the relationship between magic skill and resist rate, but solid evidence was hard to come by. Fortunately, after wading through senseless conjecture on BG, I managed to come across an interesting data set for which the "success" rates of casting magic on Ebony Puddings were recorded, given specific levels of elemental skill, magic accuracy, and INT. Even better, this data all but invites me to take a swing at it using some kind of linear regression analysis.
But first, if the factors that go into "magic hit rate" (rate of success or rate of no resists) are similar to those that go into melee hit rate, there are several issues that immediately come to mind when trying to suss out some kind of relationship, such as the relationship between magic accuracy and magic resistance (or evasion?). (Dec. 15: I wrote "Is a ratio involved, as is the case with melee accuracy and melee evasion?" which is incorrect. I probably was thinking of MAB/MDB, but that would be analogous to melee attack and defense.) Furthermore, even if magic resistance/evasion were constant among the flans on Mount Zhayolm, there is a range of levels for Ebony Puddings (supposedly 75-80 on Mount Zhayolm), and if a "magic hit rate" calculation involves a level correction, there is no practical way to account for that.
Still, looking specifically at the nuke data (tests II, III, IV), there appears to be some evidence of a linear association between magic skill alone (holding other relevant factors constant) and success rate. You can do your own plot if you're not convinced.
But as far as magic accuracy is concerned, there are only three combinations of magic accuracy and elemental skill where the success rate was measured. One may argue that magic accuracy seems to be less effective at 242 elemental skill than at higher levels of skill, which may seem persuasive (random variability and unaccounted sources of variability notwithstanding). Really, though, it's a reach to conclude that elemental skill and magic accuracy are correlated with the limited data here.
Finally, INT seems to have no effect at 242 elemental skill, yet has some effect in large quantities at 274 skill. Maybe it's not all that far-fetched to say that the effect of INT on magic hit rate is dependent on magic skill level, which can compromise the estimates associated with a regression analysis. Even worse, perhaps the relationship between INT and magic hit rate (holding other factors constant) is not strictly linear but follows some weird piecewise function depending on your target mob's INT. This calls attention to the need for more data at other levels of INT, macc, and elemental skill (or perhaps a better choice of target whose level and magic resistance value is known to be fixed, but in practice this will be extremely difficult to achieve).
At any rate, using linear regression (with unresisted magic hit rate as the binary response) on the above observations (ignoring the middle rows of test II because they contribute to a poor model fit) gives the following parameter estimates (I truncated output to save space):
I included both INT and magic accuracy in the model just for the heck of it even though the parameter estimates associated with them aren't all that reliable. Certainly, including more observations with varying levels of INT and magic accuracy may improve those estimates (assuming magic hit rate is linear over some range of either factor), and they should be included in a model for the sake of a comprehensive view of magic hit rate. But for now, we can see that the data suggest that magic hit rate increases by about 1% for every one-point increase in elemental magic skill (holding INT and magic accuracy fixed). The range of elemental magic skill considered is between 242 and 295.
One can also perform a similar analysis with the Sleep trials (tests V and VI), but note that the "success" rate encompasses partial resists also:
It seems that the effects of magic skill (enfeebling in this case) and magic accuracy are weaker for sleeping than for nuking. (Granted, the interval estimates are rather wide.) The range of enfeebling magic skill is between 307 and 333. It's possible that the acts of sleeping and nuking are just not comparable (unlikely) with respect to resist rates. It's also possible that the effects of general magic skill and accuracy on magic hit rate are diminished past the 300 level of general magic skill. Either way, this complicates understanding of magic hit rate somewhat and steps can be taken to rule out either explanation.
It hasn't escaped my attention that magic accuracy seems to increase magic hit rate more than magic skill, ignoring the wide interval estimates. If this is really the case, the difference is so slight and direct competition between the two attributes so rare that it's not worth caring about. Even comparing Oracle's Robe (magic accuracy +6) to Igqira Weskit (elemental magic skill +5), I would first argue the benefits of using Oracle's Robe to replace both Errant Houppelande (like anyone cares about the elemental enfeebling line) and Igqira Weskit. The HP+20 for Sorcerer's Ring activation can be useful, too.
It also occurred to me that one may try to argue, in analogy to melee accuracy and melee hit rate, that this data support the contention that magic skill increases magic hit rate by 0.9% above the 200 skill level (1% at or below 200), although it is ludicrous to distinguish between 0.9% and 1% based on random data without excessive sample sizes.
But, if all you cared about was estimating the change in magic hit rate for every one-point increase in elemental skill, you might as well focus on the change in magic hit rate between two levels of elemental skill that are relatively far apart, assuming the rate of change is constant (in other words, a linear relationship between hit rate and skill), an assumption that is borne out by the previously considered data.
The regression analysis for the nuke data used 1,400 total trials; these trials could be allocated equally between, say, 242 skill and 292 skill. Then you'll have an easier time showing that the increase in magic hit rate is less than 50% (less than 1% per point of elemental skill). (Use a test for two proportions.)
Having wondered myself about the utility of meriting elemental magic skill for the purposes of reducing the frequency of resists on "hard stuff," I looked for some information on the relationship between magic skill and resist rate, but solid evidence was hard to come by. Fortunately, after wading through senseless conjecture on BG, I managed to come across an interesting data set for which the "success" rates of casting magic on Ebony Puddings were recorded, given specific levels of elemental skill, magic accuracy, and INT. Even better, this data all but invites me to take a swing at it using some kind of linear regression analysis.
But first, if the factors that go into "magic hit rate" (rate of success or rate of no resists) are similar to those that go into melee hit rate, there are several issues that immediately come to mind when trying to suss out some kind of relationship, such as the relationship between magic accuracy and magic resistance (or evasion?). (Dec. 15: I wrote "Is a ratio involved, as is the case with melee accuracy and melee evasion?" which is incorrect. I probably was thinking of MAB/MDB, but that would be analogous to melee attack and defense.) Furthermore, even if magic resistance/evasion were constant among the flans on Mount Zhayolm, there is a range of levels for Ebony Puddings (supposedly 75-80 on Mount Zhayolm), and if a "magic hit rate" calculation involves a level correction, there is no practical way to account for that.
Still, looking specifically at the nuke data (tests II, III, IV), there appears to be some evidence of a linear association between magic skill alone (holding other relevant factors constant) and success rate. You can do your own plot if you're not convinced.
But as far as magic accuracy is concerned, there are only three combinations of magic accuracy and elemental skill where the success rate was measured. One may argue that magic accuracy seems to be less effective at 242 elemental skill than at higher levels of skill, which may seem persuasive (random variability and unaccounted sources of variability notwithstanding). Really, though, it's a reach to conclude that elemental skill and magic accuracy are correlated with the limited data here.
Finally, INT seems to have no effect at 242 elemental skill, yet has some effect in large quantities at 274 skill. Maybe it's not all that far-fetched to say that the effect of INT on magic hit rate is dependent on magic skill level, which can compromise the estimates associated with a regression analysis. Even worse, perhaps the relationship between INT and magic hit rate (holding other factors constant) is not strictly linear but follows some weird piecewise function depending on your target mob's INT. This calls attention to the need for more data at other levels of INT, macc, and elemental skill (or perhaps a better choice of target whose level and magic resistance value is known to be fixed, but in practice this will be extremely difficult to achieve).
At any rate, using linear regression (with unresisted magic hit rate as the binary response) on the above observations (ignoring the middle rows of test II because they contribute to a poor model fit) gives the following parameter estimates (I truncated output to save space):
Standard Wald 95% Confidence
Parameter Estimate Error Limits Pr > ChiSq
Intercept -1.9393 0.1872 -2.3062 -1.5724 <.0001
skill 0.0095 0.0007 0.0082 0.0109 <.0001
macc 0.0147 0.0022 0.0103 0.0190 <.0001
int 0.0028 0.0010 0.0009 0.0047 0.0038
I included both INT and magic accuracy in the model just for the heck of it even though the parameter estimates associated with them aren't all that reliable. Certainly, including more observations with varying levels of INT and magic accuracy may improve those estimates (assuming magic hit rate is linear over some range of either factor), and they should be included in a model for the sake of a comprehensive view of magic hit rate. But for now, we can see that the data suggest that magic hit rate increases by about 1% for every one-point increase in elemental magic skill (holding INT and magic accuracy fixed). The range of elemental magic skill considered is between 242 and 295.
One can also perform a similar analysis with the Sleep trials (tests V and VI), but note that the "success" rate encompasses partial resists also:
Standard Wald 95% Confidence
Parameter Estimate Error Limits Pr > ChiSq
Intercept -1.3636 0.5853 -2.5108 -0.2164 0.0198
skill 0.0056 0.0018 0.0021 0.0091 0.0016
macc 0.0085 0.0025 0.0035 0.0134 0.0008
It seems that the effects of magic skill (enfeebling in this case) and magic accuracy are weaker for sleeping than for nuking. (Granted, the interval estimates are rather wide.) The range of enfeebling magic skill is between 307 and 333. It's possible that the acts of sleeping and nuking are just not comparable (unlikely) with respect to resist rates. It's also possible that the effects of general magic skill and accuracy on magic hit rate are diminished past the 300 level of general magic skill. Either way, this complicates understanding of magic hit rate somewhat and steps can be taken to rule out either explanation.
It hasn't escaped my attention that magic accuracy seems to increase magic hit rate more than magic skill, ignoring the wide interval estimates. If this is really the case, the difference is so slight and direct competition between the two attributes so rare that it's not worth caring about. Even comparing Oracle's Robe (magic accuracy +6) to Igqira Weskit (elemental magic skill +5), I would first argue the benefits of using Oracle's Robe to replace both Errant Houppelande (like anyone cares about the elemental enfeebling line) and Igqira Weskit. The HP+20 for Sorcerer's Ring activation can be useful, too.
It also occurred to me that one may try to argue, in analogy to melee accuracy and melee hit rate, that this data support the contention that magic skill increases magic hit rate by 0.9% above the 200 skill level (1% at or below 200), although it is ludicrous to distinguish between 0.9% and 1% based on random data without excessive sample sizes.
But, if all you cared about was estimating the change in magic hit rate for every one-point increase in elemental skill, you might as well focus on the change in magic hit rate between two levels of elemental skill that are relatively far apart, assuming the rate of change is constant (in other words, a linear relationship between hit rate and skill), an assumption that is borne out by the previously considered data.
The regression analysis for the nuke data used 1,400 total trials; these trials could be allocated equally between, say, 242 skill and 292 skill. Then you'll have an easier time showing that the increase in magic hit rate is less than 50% (less than 1% per point of elemental skill). (Use a test for two proportions.)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
My worst anomie
Casting about for things to do before the next version update comes around (15k for NW Apollyon and ABCs, go!), I first settled on taking a shot at Genbu.
Not much ado is made anymore about soloing Genbu, at least not after Genbu has been shown to be defeated by players using Chi Blast and offensive ninjutsu. Not unexpectedly, Genbu is handled more efficiently and more safely as a monk (when you have tools such as Boost and Chakra, you have to be shit-for-brains to get killed) than as a ninja (five hours to kill?!) or a black mage (no native, MP-free healing that allows you to leave Poisonga II untreated). But since I don't have monk leveled I decided to try my hand at Genbu with my black mage and get this crap done in under five hours.
While those other players may have been motivated primarily by vanity (vain enough to put some videos on Youtube, anyway), I was just fed up with other people who don't know how to return favors. Last time I checked, you don't need a tank when anyone can kite something that moves as slowly as Genbu does, and Genbu "only" has about 20,000 HP (from my estimation). Also, now that chocobo racing is my everyday source of income, I'm much more receptive to buying triggers (forget farming) even though in the case of Genbu I had to resign myself to taking a net gil loss given the value of the money drops. So ultimately I decided to take a shot at doing this on my own, after finding what I thought was an ok deal (relatively speaking) for a Winterstone (400k).
This thread on Killing Ifrit, which I consulted for planning, has a good overview of things to consider when soloing Genbu, but from a red mage perspective. In my case, as a black mage, I decided to forgo the safety net of cures from /RDM or /WHM and instead went with /NIN under the assumptions that I would never get hit by any direct-damage spell (including Waterga III) and that shadows could absorb any non-AoE spells for the sake of depleting Genbu's entire MP pool (thereby all but eliminating the risk of death after that point), save the MP gained from its auto-Refresh (enough for Drown at best).
The first assumption held. I had carried 12 Hi-Potions with me in case of an "emergency," but I ended up using a few just to offset the HP lost from poison. (I used 28 antidotes, to give an idea of how many stacks to carry.) But by the time I finally killed Genbu--1 hour, 45 minutes later--it was still casting the big nukes.
Still, were I to try this again actually, I think I would still sub ninja in exchange for the opportunity to sneak in a Thunder IV whenever Genbu casts Flood. I had intended to stick to a strict regimen of Bio II only for the sake of conserving MP. (My source of refresh was the Yigit set.) At 8 HP/tick for 120 seconds, Bio II should do about 320 damage from damage over time alone depending on whether the "ticks" occur at either end of the 120-second interval. But I also had 12x Yagudo Drinks with me (I could've brought more in retrospect) and I was getting frustrated with the pace, so I threw in a tier III or IV spell (paired with ES when available) whenever I felt I had an opportunity. In the end, I did 4,861 HP of direct damage (16 nukes), and ice-based nukes were resisted terribly compared to thunder-based ones (contrary to FFXIclopedia's article that claims Genbu is weak to ice), so sticking to Thunder IV seems to be best for the purposes of balancing MP efficiency and kill time.
Had I kited Genbu differently, I probably could've avoided using Stun at all for Waterga III. (I ended up using Stun 28 times; Genbu cast Waterga III 43 times). From the monk video (which I saw after I killed Genbu), note that waiting for Genbu to cast around the halfway point of the kiting path allows ample time to run away in case it casts Waterga III, and there is still enough room to run past Genbu when reversing direction.
Given the cost of obtaining the Genbu triggers, I definitely wouldn't solo Genbu again, but my success at killing Genbu this way emboldened me to take a shot at killing some lower-tier ZNMs on my own time with some combination of dot/kiting/nuking. Sprinter's Shoes, the only thing worth a damn from Campaign, are extremely handy for spawning and kiting some of these ZNMs to a safe location.
Unfortunately, the only ones that can actually be soloed in a reasonable time frame (read: less than 1 hour, 30 minutes maximum) are Brass Borer and Iriz Ima; they don't resist Poison II too often, and they move so slowly you even have time to cast nukes and get separation afterwards.
But to get to Iriz Ima, a "tier 2" ZNM, the only tier 1 ZNM I could actually solo is Cheese Hoarder Gigiroon, which is immune to poison, has about 15,000 HP, and runs at normal speed. Without any realistic opportunity to get any nukes off (no Herald's Gaiters), I had to rely almost exclusively on Bio II for damage, so you can see how tedious that would be. Once is enough for me.
Yes, I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to do. It'll probably be weeks, months, if at all, before I find a competent group (that I don't loathe) to fight a tier 3 ZNM using the Apple Green Seal I obtained. The real challenge in FFXI has always been to befriend motivated, knowledgeable players as opposed to running into do-nothing chickenshits all the time.
Not much ado is made anymore about soloing Genbu, at least not after Genbu has been shown to be defeated by players using Chi Blast and offensive ninjutsu. Not unexpectedly, Genbu is handled more efficiently and more safely as a monk (when you have tools such as Boost and Chakra, you have to be shit-for-brains to get killed) than as a ninja (five hours to kill?!) or a black mage (no native, MP-free healing that allows you to leave Poisonga II untreated). But since I don't have monk leveled I decided to try my hand at Genbu with my black mage and get this crap done in under five hours.
While those other players may have been motivated primarily by vanity (vain enough to put some videos on Youtube, anyway), I was just fed up with other people who don't know how to return favors. Last time I checked, you don't need a tank when anyone can kite something that moves as slowly as Genbu does, and Genbu "only" has about 20,000 HP (from my estimation). Also, now that chocobo racing is my everyday source of income, I'm much more receptive to buying triggers (forget farming) even though in the case of Genbu I had to resign myself to taking a net gil loss given the value of the money drops. So ultimately I decided to take a shot at doing this on my own, after finding what I thought was an ok deal (relatively speaking) for a Winterstone (400k).
This thread on Killing Ifrit, which I consulted for planning, has a good overview of things to consider when soloing Genbu, but from a red mage perspective. In my case, as a black mage, I decided to forgo the safety net of cures from /RDM or /WHM and instead went with /NIN under the assumptions that I would never get hit by any direct-damage spell (including Waterga III) and that shadows could absorb any non-AoE spells for the sake of depleting Genbu's entire MP pool (thereby all but eliminating the risk of death after that point), save the MP gained from its auto-Refresh (enough for Drown at best).
The first assumption held. I had carried 12 Hi-Potions with me in case of an "emergency," but I ended up using a few just to offset the HP lost from poison. (I used 28 antidotes, to give an idea of how many stacks to carry.) But by the time I finally killed Genbu--1 hour, 45 minutes later--it was still casting the big nukes.
Still, were I to try this again actually, I think I would still sub ninja in exchange for the opportunity to sneak in a Thunder IV whenever Genbu casts Flood. I had intended to stick to a strict regimen of Bio II only for the sake of conserving MP. (My source of refresh was the Yigit set.) At 8 HP/tick for 120 seconds, Bio II should do about 320 damage from damage over time alone depending on whether the "ticks" occur at either end of the 120-second interval. But I also had 12x Yagudo Drinks with me (I could've brought more in retrospect) and I was getting frustrated with the pace, so I threw in a tier III or IV spell (paired with ES when available) whenever I felt I had an opportunity. In the end, I did 4,861 HP of direct damage (16 nukes), and ice-based nukes were resisted terribly compared to thunder-based ones (contrary to FFXIclopedia's article that claims Genbu is weak to ice), so sticking to Thunder IV seems to be best for the purposes of balancing MP efficiency and kill time.
Had I kited Genbu differently, I probably could've avoided using Stun at all for Waterga III. (I ended up using Stun 28 times; Genbu cast Waterga III 43 times). From the monk video (which I saw after I killed Genbu), note that waiting for Genbu to cast around the halfway point of the kiting path allows ample time to run away in case it casts Waterga III, and there is still enough room to run past Genbu when reversing direction.
Given the cost of obtaining the Genbu triggers, I definitely wouldn't solo Genbu again, but my success at killing Genbu this way emboldened me to take a shot at killing some lower-tier ZNMs on my own time with some combination of dot/kiting/nuking. Sprinter's Shoes, the only thing worth a damn from Campaign, are extremely handy for spawning and kiting some of these ZNMs to a safe location.
Unfortunately, the only ones that can actually be soloed in a reasonable time frame (read: less than 1 hour, 30 minutes maximum) are Brass Borer and Iriz Ima; they don't resist Poison II too often, and they move so slowly you even have time to cast nukes and get separation afterwards.
But to get to Iriz Ima, a "tier 2" ZNM, the only tier 1 ZNM I could actually solo is Cheese Hoarder Gigiroon, which is immune to poison, has about 15,000 HP, and runs at normal speed. Without any realistic opportunity to get any nukes off (no Herald's Gaiters), I had to rely almost exclusively on Bio II for damage, so you can see how tedious that would be. Once is enough for me.
Yes, I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to do. It'll probably be weeks, months, if at all, before I find a competent group (that I don't loathe) to fight a tier 3 ZNM using the Apple Green Seal I obtained. The real challenge in FFXI has always been to befriend motivated, knowledgeable players as opposed to running into do-nothing chickenshits all the time.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The albatross
I probably wouldn't have even bothered leveling black mage all the way to 75 were it not for the Sorcerer's Ring, which allowed me to "one-shot" Yagudo's elementals and Goblin's pets up to level 70.
When elementals pause to cast magic before pursuing you, and the vagaries of beastmen movement can interrupt experience chains, the additional damage from the ring can provide just enough oomph to kill with a single ancient magic spell and allow you to avoid these issues. For me, the irritating expense of cobbling together a set of HP-reduction equipment was worth reducing the risk inherent in soloing.
But since there was no reasonable way to one-shot anything T-IT for experience after Newton even with the Sorcerer's Ring, I considered the ring to have no practical use any longer, and so I got rid of the ring and the latent-activating gear altogether.
Recently though, the tantalizing prospect of killing an Ebony Pudding with only three "tier IV" nukes led me to reacquire the ring. And since soloing puddings is a bread-and-butter activity for any "respectable" black mage, this is enough of a pretext for me to keep the ring for good and to put together a set of HP-reduction equipment that is "acceptable" for situations beyond puddings.
The whole point of being able to kill a pudding with only three tier IV nukes is to minimize the MP expenditure per kill (since tier IV spells are among the most efficient of offensive magic available to BLM, in stark contrast to the AM II series, which are generally less MP-efficient than tier 4 and even the tier 3 nukes), thereby allowing a reasonable opportunity to attain exp chain #5. Unfortunately, doing the math with my current equipment and maximum lightning and ice potency shows that this is possible only with the Rairin Obi (lightning) to activate the damage bonus on Lightningday.
For example, with a Rairin Obi a sequence of Thunder IV > Gravity > Blizzard IV > Aspir > Thunder IV on Lightningday should inflict 4467 damage (1548, 1371, 1548). With a 200+ HP Drain to finish the pudding off, the total MP cost is 551 MP at worst.
What about Iceday? With a Hyorin Obi a sequence of Blizzard IV > Gravity > Thunder IV > Aspir > Blizzard IV on Iceday should inflict 4393 damage (1481, 1431, 1481), but it's optimistic to think that Drain will finish off a pudding (544 MP at worst), although it's possible. Here, the Sorcerer's Tonban would be useful, but I don't expect to obtain this ever.
While I don't ever expect to obtain Sorcerer's Tonban or any of the Zenith gear, much less a Novio, at least there's a window of opportunity to be able to chain #5 with puddings even if it's a small one. For all other days I resign myself to chain #4.
As for situations beyond puddings, the extremely peculiar properties of the Sorcerer's Ring latent (which I will not discuss) actually allow the latent to activate above 75% of some "base" HP level and thus without drawing blood aggro. Although this is rather annoying to accomplish without relying on Zenith Mitts (which I don't have), I was actually able to configure a set of HP-reduction equipment so that the Sorcerer's Ring activates at 579/771 HP--it is important to note that the "base" HP is 762 HP before Rainbow Cape, which adds 9 HP--with the following equipment:
Since Penitent's Rope is used for nuking, the net HP reduction is -192. Unfortunately, this setup includes nine pieces of equipment that I would otherwise not use. If I had Zenith Crown, Zenith Mitts, Zenith Slacks, and Serket Ring (three of them I would otherwise not use), the setup would instead be this:
Although I do save inventory space, the net HP reduction (again using Penitent's Rope for nuking, but not using Zenith Mitts) is -202. Suppose I had three more HP merits (pretty much for the sake of using merits, as extra HP "wouldn't hurt") so that my maximum HP were 801 HP instead (or 792 "base" HP for latent activation). The ring would then activate at 601/801 HP instead. At this point I wouldn't remove the Rainbow Cape for HP reduction, and my HP-reduction equipment would then look like this:
From 801 maximum HP (in the presence of Penitent's Rope), a swap of just four pieces (Z. Crown, Z. Mitts, Z. Slacks, Serket Ring) reduces max HP to 601, which is 75.88% of 792 (before Rainbow Cape's HP+9) and 75.03% of 801 (after Rainbow Cape's HP+9, and still "in the white"). And if I chose to use Zenith Mitts instead of some other hand equipment, the "base HP" would still be 792, but the actual HP would then be 601/742 (also in the white). I could elect to use Wizard's Gloves (+1) where warranted, and Zenith Mitts for everything else while still maintaining "white" HP.
Zenith pieces would indeed make life easier, but since I don't count on ever getting them, I can make do with an unwieldy 12-slot equipment swap... without Windower macros. I did say "make do"...
When elementals pause to cast magic before pursuing you, and the vagaries of beastmen movement can interrupt experience chains, the additional damage from the ring can provide just enough oomph to kill with a single ancient magic spell and allow you to avoid these issues. For me, the irritating expense of cobbling together a set of HP-reduction equipment was worth reducing the risk inherent in soloing.
But since there was no reasonable way to one-shot anything T-IT for experience after Newton even with the Sorcerer's Ring, I considered the ring to have no practical use any longer, and so I got rid of the ring and the latent-activating gear altogether.
Recently though, the tantalizing prospect of killing an Ebony Pudding with only three "tier IV" nukes led me to reacquire the ring. And since soloing puddings is a bread-and-butter activity for any "respectable" black mage, this is enough of a pretext for me to keep the ring for good and to put together a set of HP-reduction equipment that is "acceptable" for situations beyond puddings.
The whole point of being able to kill a pudding with only three tier IV nukes is to minimize the MP expenditure per kill (since tier IV spells are among the most efficient of offensive magic available to BLM, in stark contrast to the AM II series, which are generally less MP-efficient than tier 4 and even the tier 3 nukes), thereby allowing a reasonable opportunity to attain exp chain #5. Unfortunately, doing the math with my current equipment and maximum lightning and ice potency shows that this is possible only with the Rairin Obi (lightning) to activate the damage bonus on Lightningday.
For example, with a Rairin Obi a sequence of Thunder IV > Gravity > Blizzard IV > Aspir > Thunder IV on Lightningday should inflict 4467 damage (1548, 1371, 1548). With a 200+ HP Drain to finish the pudding off, the total MP cost is 551 MP at worst.
What about Iceday? With a Hyorin Obi a sequence of Blizzard IV > Gravity > Thunder IV > Aspir > Blizzard IV on Iceday should inflict 4393 damage (1481, 1431, 1481), but it's optimistic to think that Drain will finish off a pudding (544 MP at worst), although it's possible. Here, the Sorcerer's Tonban would be useful, but I don't expect to obtain this ever.
While I don't ever expect to obtain Sorcerer's Tonban or any of the Zenith gear, much less a Novio, at least there's a window of opportunity to be able to chain #5 with puddings even if it's a small one. For all other days I resign myself to chain #4.
As for situations beyond puddings, the extremely peculiar properties of the Sorcerer's Ring latent (which I will not discuss) actually allow the latent to activate above 75% of some "base" HP level and thus without drawing blood aggro. Although this is rather annoying to accomplish without relying on Zenith Mitts (which I don't have), I was actually able to configure a set of HP-reduction equipment so that the Sorcerer's Ring activates at 579/771 HP--it is important to note that the "base" HP is 762 HP before Rainbow Cape, which adds 9 HP--with the following equipment:
Main Asklepios (-30 HP)
Sub Astral Aspis (-25)
Head Wivre Hairpin (-20)
Neck Evasion Torque (+ 7)
Body Black Cotehardie (-25)
Hands Errant Cuffs (-20)
Ring1 Ether Ring (-30)
Ring2 Electrum Ring (-20)
Back (empty) (- 9)
Waist Penitent's Rope
Legs (empty)
Feet Errant Pigaches (-20)
Since Penitent's Rope is used for nuking, the net HP reduction is -192. Unfortunately, this setup includes nine pieces of equipment that I would otherwise not use. If I had Zenith Crown, Zenith Mitts, Zenith Slacks, and Serket Ring (three of them I would otherwise not use), the setup would instead be this:
Head Zenith Crown (-50 HP)
Neck Evasion Torque (+ 7)
Hands Zenith Mitts (-50)
Ring1 Serket Ring (-50)
Back (empty) (- 9)
Waist Penitent's Rope
Legs Zenith Slacks (-50)
Although I do save inventory space, the net HP reduction (again using Penitent's Rope for nuking, but not using Zenith Mitts) is -202. Suppose I had three more HP merits (pretty much for the sake of using merits, as extra HP "wouldn't hurt") so that my maximum HP were 801 HP instead (or 792 "base" HP for latent activation). The ring would then activate at 601/801 HP instead. At this point I wouldn't remove the Rainbow Cape for HP reduction, and my HP-reduction equipment would then look like this:
Head Zenith Crown (-50 HP)
Hands Zenith Mitts (-50)
Ring1 Serket Ring (-50)
Back Rainbow Cape
Waist Penitent's Rope
Legs Zenith Slacks (-50)
From 801 maximum HP (in the presence of Penitent's Rope), a swap of just four pieces (Z. Crown, Z. Mitts, Z. Slacks, Serket Ring) reduces max HP to 601, which is 75.88% of 792 (before Rainbow Cape's HP+9) and 75.03% of 801 (after Rainbow Cape's HP+9, and still "in the white"). And if I chose to use Zenith Mitts instead of some other hand equipment, the "base HP" would still be 792, but the actual HP would then be 601/742 (also in the white). I could elect to use Wizard's Gloves (+1) where warranted, and Zenith Mitts for everything else while still maintaining "white" HP.
Zenith pieces would indeed make life easier, but since I don't count on ever getting them, I can make do with an unwieldy 12-slot equipment swap... without Windower macros. I did say "make do"...
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