- DISCLAIMER - This is for Computer Players only. I don't know how PS2 works with FFXI.
This Post Covers:
- Introduction to the Guide
- Setting a "Standing" Equip Macro
- Genearl Macro Considerations - Watching HP and MP Changes
- Equipment Macros - Order Matters
- Inventory Management
- Macro /recasts on Everything!
Black Mage Guide (Part II)
Black Mage Guide (Part III)
Black Mage Guide (Part IV)
Black Mage Guide (Part V)
Black Mage Guide (Part VI)
Black Mage Guide!
Introduction to the Guide
I think of all the jobs in Final Fantasy XI, Black Mage is probably the most sought-after in the endgame community. I guess this is definately true for teamKANICAN in particular since we're pretty much known for doing everything under the sun with Black Mage. I've heard a lot of knocks on strategies that use BLM DD recently and I guess, to be fair, there is some merit to those criticisms - the job itself is so strong in endgame activities, it really doesn't take a great deal of skill to produce good results.
However -
I think even with all the obvious advantages BLMs have in endgame material, soloing, etc. a great deal is still lost on the vast majority of 75 BLMs. Most would agree that certain players are "better" than others at their job (for any job), but whereas for some jobs the gap isn't all that large, for BLM, the difference between the worst and the "best" is just striking. My hope is to try to show just how incredibly strong a single BLM can be when played to it's fullest.
So why the hell should the career Black Mages bother listening to anything I have to say?
I always believe that no matter how good someone is at something, there is someone else out there that is better. That being said, I think that some of the solos I've done should be at least enough to warrant reading this.
Very little of anything stressed is actually related to nuking or damage. The vast majority of BLMs always focus on damage - this is an incredibly narrow-minded approach to the job. I want to stress the more subtle points of playing BLM endgame - the things that some people probably never bothered to consider or are too lazy to implement. I may go a good 3-4 posts without even talking about nuking or damage.
Feedback, suggestions, etc. are welcome and appreciated!
________________________________________
Setting a "Standing" Equip Macro
This is a huge key to anything that I do - whenever an action is not actively being performed, I always reset my equipment to a specific "standing" equip macro. This means I will never show my nuking equipment, enfeebling equipment, etc. out in the open for checking - 99% of the time I'm wearing this 1 setup. The significance and reasoning behind this is a BLM's equip doesn't matter as far as damage or enfeebling unless you're actively casting a spell. There are only a certain few stat bonuses that even matter when not actively casting (which is 99% of the time you're on BLM at some event).
- Damage Taken - %
- Auto-Refresh
- Movement Speed +12%
- Magic Defense Bonus
- Resistances
When considering gear in the "standing" setup, these are the only 5 things I consider. Notice none of them are offensive and the vast majority are purely defensive statistics. This setup is the most important equipment set for a Black Mage - more important than nuke equipment macros even. You're going to be in this setup about 99% of the time on any event and it does matter.
A lot of pieces have stats that I didn't bother listing. The pieces with stat comments are the most important as they emphasize the main keys to this setup. Some key things to note are that I use a Dalmatica despite having AF2 Body - both have refresh but Dalma has additional magic defense. Some will mention that Dalmatica also has -50HP on it which is "suicidal" on a taru, but I'll go over why it's preferable later on.
The setup provides a ton of damage down in only 3 pieces - Terra's Staff, Umbra Cape, and Sorcerer's Earring. This pic was taken from one of the times I solo popped Jailer of Temperance. In this setup, I always have at least -26% damage down, -32% if at night, and -50% (cap) if I ever hit low HP due to the earring. This enhances survivability greatly and at only the expense of really 2 item slots (you should have a Terra or Earth staff with you regardless anyway).
Having a purely defense setup on at all times when kiting or standing isn't just useful when you have hate. Some BLMs tend to have a seperate macro for damage down when they take aggro, but why not just keep it on anytime you're not actively casting? Sometimes, shit hits the fan and AoEs do hit - Dynamis Windurst Vanguard Sweeps anyone? Having this setup on at all times prevents a ton of damage over time and with Stoneskin, may prevent any real damage.
________________________________________
General Macro Considerations - Watching HP and MP Changes
Every action should always have a macro switch associated with it - there is always a "best" setup for any spell or situation. Whether you're doing a cure, nuking, resting, or something small like casting a bar- spell, there is always a best setup. If you can't think of a single stat bonus that helps, then the best set is just your "standing" setup. Because there is so much switching going on, your MP and HP are constantly changing with every action - this is incredibly annoying at times and even dangerous if certain setups put you in Yellow HP while others don't (around HP aggro mobs, you may end up killing yourself with your own macros due to HP changes).
There are generally a few rules to follow when testing out any macro in the future like Enfeebling, Nuking etc...
1) Your Max HP in any setup should never exceed your Max HP in your standing setup (to prevent HP aggro situations).
2) Macro as much MP gear in the "standing" setup as possible - it should have more than the other setups.
3) If you have Herald's Gaiters - Keep them on as much as possible and avoid switching them constantly.
4) Keep Max HP and MPs reasonably close to your MAIN setup.
Having a higher MP count when in "standing" or MAIN setup is essentially having free MP. This gives a slight edge in certain situations - for instance, when soloing, if you have higher MP counts in this setup, you can get a free Blink spell off before fighting and switching to setups with lower MP. The keeping HP at or below MAIN setup is extremely important and really needs to be followed. Granted there are few situations where this actually matters but when it does, you'll be glad you considered it. There is nothing more embarrassing than killing yourself with your own macro.
If you have Gaiters, keep them on as much as possible! Equip macros lag; meaning there is a delay between when you hit the macro and when you "blink" on the gear switch. While Stat bonuses usually work the instant you hit the macro, the running speed stat does not. This means you will still run slower until you actually "blink" the equip change. (Yes there is a way to do equip switches without the "blink" animation if you really want to - but later on I'll show why the animation is a good thing)
________________________________________
Equipment Macros - Order Matters
Always macro pieces with +HP first and pieces with -HP last. The game recalcuates your HP after every switch and if you lower your max HP with gear first then raise it again later, you will end up losing some current HP. This means that when you make a macro, run through step by step after each change to verify that your HP is not going down then up again. If you don't, you will lose HP everytime you switch equipment when at max HP.
It is perfectly fine to raise HP first then lower it during the macro. If raising HP puts you from above 75% to below 75% (basically going from white to yellow HP), you're actually safe from blood aggro. Unlike your current versus max HP, the actual aggro is not calcuated that fast so you can get away with momentarily being in blood aggro range.
The same thing also applies to MP pieces - macro your switches that increase your MP pool before the ones that decrease your MP pool. This typically doesn't affect your MP as you're really rarely at max, but it does help still.
________________________________________
Inventory Management
Unfortunately, there are only 60 slots availible for storing equip on you, so you cant possibly hold every item you want to use on every situation. This means you really have to prioritize what to take - weigh the benefits of each with the others etc. This part is really the one thing that requires the most trial and error - I've switched pieces out left and right constantly for the past 2+ years just because I had trouble weighing the benefits of each piece.
I keep myself at 56/60 at all times right now - 5 of these items are non-macro related... This leaves 51equip slots.
- Stack of Remedies
- Stack of Food
- Stack of Imperial Silver Pieces (Warp Taru)
- Reraise Hairpin
- Linkshell Pearl
Currently this is the setup I carry with me. No doubt it'll probably change by next month again. Of the major Black Mage E-Penis items, I think the only thing I'm missing that is notable is the Novio Earring.
________________________________________
Macro Recasts on Everything!
For any spell or ability macro, I end the macro with a recast of the spell. There are 2 main reasons for doing this.
1) If the spell is not up, you now know how long until it's u again - particularly useful for things like Aspir.
2) Sometimes you misfire macros - the /recast can tell you very quickly if you're trying to cast the wrong spell.
For any spell, the macro should have this basic format...
/ma "SPELL" <TARGETTYPE>
- equipment switches -
/recast "SPELL"
There should NEVER be a reason to look at the spell menu to find out the recast time on something. If you do this often on certain events then A) you're wasting time doing it, B) the fact that you're checking means it's probably a pressure situation and you should be doing something else.
For certain spells, knowing the recast is particularly important due to constant use but long recast timers. In particular, the sleep spells, the 2 drain spells, stun, and gravity/bind come to mind. I set 1 macro in particular with only spits out 6 recast timers for the sleep spells, gravity, and aspir. This macro becomes particularly important when doing things like Dynamis - where the sleep timers become essential to survival.
Now we come to Stun - of all the Black Mage spells, this is by far the most important to always know the recast timer on. Because it's used to often and is so vital, I not only macro the /reast into the spell macro itsefl, but also directly into MAIN setup macro.
Now in addition to reseting gear to the MAIN setup, this macro always spits out the recast timer for Stun. Generally in most fights, my chat log is literally spammed with the Stun recast because I press this macro so often. The 5 button on my keyboard is practially worn out since I press it so often now, too.
________________________________________
________________________________________
This Post Covers:
- Introduction to the Guide
- Setting a "Standing" Equip Macro
- Genearl Macro Considerations - Watching HP and MP Changes
- Equipment Macros - Order Matters
- Inventory Management
- Macro /recasts on Everything!
Black Mage Guide (Part II)
Black Mage Guide (Part III)
Black Mage Guide (Part IV)
Black Mage Guide (Part V)
Black Mage Guide (Part VI)
Black Mage Guide!
Introduction to the Guide
I think of all the jobs in Final Fantasy XI, Black Mage is probably the most sought-after in the endgame community. I guess this is definately true for teamKANICAN in particular since we're pretty much known for doing everything under the sun with Black Mage. I've heard a lot of knocks on strategies that use BLM DD recently and I guess, to be fair, there is some merit to those criticisms - the job itself is so strong in endgame activities, it really doesn't take a great deal of skill to produce good results.
However -
I think even with all the obvious advantages BLMs have in endgame material, soloing, etc. a great deal is still lost on the vast majority of 75 BLMs. Most would agree that certain players are "better" than others at their job (for any job), but whereas for some jobs the gap isn't all that large, for BLM, the difference between the worst and the "best" is just striking. My hope is to try to show just how incredibly strong a single BLM can be when played to it's fullest.
So why the hell should the career Black Mages bother listening to anything I have to say?
I always believe that no matter how good someone is at something, there is someone else out there that is better. That being said, I think that some of the solos I've done should be at least enough to warrant reading this.
Very little of anything stressed is actually related to nuking or damage. The vast majority of BLMs always focus on damage - this is an incredibly narrow-minded approach to the job. I want to stress the more subtle points of playing BLM endgame - the things that some people probably never bothered to consider or are too lazy to implement. I may go a good 3-4 posts without even talking about nuking or damage.
Feedback, suggestions, etc. are welcome and appreciated!
________________________________________
Setting a "Standing" Equip Macro
This is a huge key to anything that I do - whenever an action is not actively being performed, I always reset my equipment to a specific "standing" equip macro. This means I will never show my nuking equipment, enfeebling equipment, etc. out in the open for checking - 99% of the time I'm wearing this 1 setup. The significance and reasoning behind this is a BLM's equip doesn't matter as far as damage or enfeebling unless you're actively casting a spell. There are only a certain few stat bonuses that even matter when not actively casting (which is 99% of the time you're on BLM at some event).
- Damage Taken - %
- Auto-Refresh
- Movement Speed +12%
- Magic Defense Bonus
- Resistances
When considering gear in the "standing" setup, these are the only 5 things I consider. Notice none of them are offensive and the vast majority are purely defensive statistics. This setup is the most important equipment set for a Black Mage - more important than nuke equipment macros even. You're going to be in this setup about 99% of the time on any event and it does matter.
| Main | Terra's Staff | Damage Taken -20% |
| Ranged | Phantom Tathlum | |
| Head | Sorcerer's Petasos | |
| Body | Dalmatica | Auto-Refresh ; Magic Defense Bonus +5 |
| Hands | Sorcerer's Gloves | |
| Legs | Sorcerer's Tonban | |
| Feet | Herald's Gaiters | Movement Speed +12% |
| Back | Umbra Cape | Damage Taken -6% |
| Waist | Hierarch Belt | |
| Neck | Uggalepepih Pendant | |
| Ear 1 | Loquacious Earring | |
| Ear 2 | Sorcerer's Earring | Latent Effect: Damage Taken -30% |
| Ring 1 | Tamas Ring | |
| Ring 2 | Snow Ring |
A lot of pieces have stats that I didn't bother listing. The pieces with stat comments are the most important as they emphasize the main keys to this setup. Some key things to note are that I use a Dalmatica despite having AF2 Body - both have refresh but Dalma has additional magic defense. Some will mention that Dalmatica also has -50HP on it which is "suicidal" on a taru, but I'll go over why it's preferable later on.
The setup provides a ton of damage down in only 3 pieces - Terra's Staff, Umbra Cape, and Sorcerer's Earring. This pic was taken from one of the times I solo popped Jailer of Temperance. In this setup, I always have at least -26% damage down, -32% if at night, and -50% (cap) if I ever hit low HP due to the earring. This enhances survivability greatly and at only the expense of really 2 item slots (you should have a Terra or Earth staff with you regardless anyway).
Having a purely defense setup on at all times when kiting or standing isn't just useful when you have hate. Some BLMs tend to have a seperate macro for damage down when they take aggro, but why not just keep it on anytime you're not actively casting? Sometimes, shit hits the fan and AoEs do hit - Dynamis Windurst Vanguard Sweeps anyone? Having this setup on at all times prevents a ton of damage over time and with Stoneskin, may prevent any real damage.
________________________________________
General Macro Considerations - Watching HP and MP Changes
Every action should always have a macro switch associated with it - there is always a "best" setup for any spell or situation. Whether you're doing a cure, nuking, resting, or something small like casting a bar- spell, there is always a best setup. If you can't think of a single stat bonus that helps, then the best set is just your "standing" setup. Because there is so much switching going on, your MP and HP are constantly changing with every action - this is incredibly annoying at times and even dangerous if certain setups put you in Yellow HP while others don't (around HP aggro mobs, you may end up killing yourself with your own macros due to HP changes).
There are generally a few rules to follow when testing out any macro in the future like Enfeebling, Nuking etc...
1) Your Max HP in any setup should never exceed your Max HP in your standing setup (to prevent HP aggro situations).
2) Macro as much MP gear in the "standing" setup as possible - it should have more than the other setups.
3) If you have Herald's Gaiters - Keep them on as much as possible and avoid switching them constantly.
4) Keep Max HP and MPs reasonably close to your MAIN setup.
Having a higher MP count when in "standing" or MAIN setup is essentially having free MP. This gives a slight edge in certain situations - for instance, when soloing, if you have higher MP counts in this setup, you can get a free Blink spell off before fighting and switching to setups with lower MP. The keeping HP at or below MAIN setup is extremely important and really needs to be followed. Granted there are few situations where this actually matters but when it does, you'll be glad you considered it. There is nothing more embarrassing than killing yourself with your own macro.
If you have Gaiters, keep them on as much as possible! Equip macros lag; meaning there is a delay between when you hit the macro and when you "blink" on the gear switch. While Stat bonuses usually work the instant you hit the macro, the running speed stat does not. This means you will still run slower until you actually "blink" the equip change. (Yes there is a way to do equip switches without the "blink" animation if you really want to - but later on I'll show why the animation is a good thing)
________________________________________
Equipment Macros - Order Matters
Always macro pieces with +HP first and pieces with -HP last. The game recalcuates your HP after every switch and if you lower your max HP with gear first then raise it again later, you will end up losing some current HP. This means that when you make a macro, run through step by step after each change to verify that your HP is not going down then up again. If you don't, you will lose HP everytime you switch equipment when at max HP.
It is perfectly fine to raise HP first then lower it during the macro. If raising HP puts you from above 75% to below 75% (basically going from white to yellow HP), you're actually safe from blood aggro. Unlike your current versus max HP, the actual aggro is not calcuated that fast so you can get away with momentarily being in blood aggro range.
The same thing also applies to MP pieces - macro your switches that increase your MP pool before the ones that decrease your MP pool. This typically doesn't affect your MP as you're really rarely at max, but it does help still.
________________________________________
Inventory Management
Unfortunately, there are only 60 slots availible for storing equip on you, so you cant possibly hold every item you want to use on every situation. This means you really have to prioritize what to take - weigh the benefits of each with the others etc. This part is really the one thing that requires the most trial and error - I've switched pieces out left and right constantly for the past 2+ years just because I had trouble weighing the benefits of each piece.
I keep myself at 56/60 at all times right now - 5 of these items are non-macro related... This leaves 51equip slots.
- Stack of Remedies
- Stack of Food
- Stack of Imperial Silver Pieces (Warp Taru)
- Reraise Hairpin
- Linkshell Pearl
Currently this is the setup I carry with me. No doubt it'll probably change by next month again. Of the major Black Mage E-Penis items, I think the only thing I'm missing that is notable is the Novio Earring.
________________________________________
Macro Recasts on Everything!
For any spell or ability macro, I end the macro with a recast of the spell. There are 2 main reasons for doing this.
1) If the spell is not up, you now know how long until it's u again - particularly useful for things like Aspir.
2) Sometimes you misfire macros - the /recast can tell you very quickly if you're trying to cast the wrong spell.
For any spell, the macro should have this basic format...
/ma "SPELL" <TARGETTYPE>
- equipment switches -
/recast "SPELL"
There should NEVER be a reason to look at the spell menu to find out the recast time on something. If you do this often on certain events then A) you're wasting time doing it, B) the fact that you're checking means it's probably a pressure situation and you should be doing something else.
For certain spells, knowing the recast is particularly important due to constant use but long recast timers. In particular, the sleep spells, the 2 drain spells, stun, and gravity/bind come to mind. I set 1 macro in particular with only spits out 6 recast timers for the sleep spells, gravity, and aspir. This macro becomes particularly important when doing things like Dynamis - where the sleep timers become essential to survival.
Now we come to Stun - of all the Black Mage spells, this is by far the most important to always know the recast timer on. Because it's used to often and is so vital, I not only macro the /reast into the spell macro itsefl, but also directly into MAIN setup macro.
Now in addition to reseting gear to the MAIN setup, this macro always spits out the recast timer for Stun. Generally in most fights, my chat log is literally spammed with the Stun recast because I press this macro so often. The 5 button on my keyboard is practially worn out since I press it so often now, too.
________________________________________
________________________________________
Page Summary
- (Anonymous) : Drains and Aspirs [+1]
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+2]
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+1]
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+4]
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
stringztoo : macro editor program? [+8] - (Anonymous) : nuking gear [+1]
- (Anonymous) : against 3rd party programs [+6]
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+3]
- (Anonymous) : Ethereal Earring in BLM Defense Build [+1]
- khoisan : CoP Earring [+2]
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+1]
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+4]
- (Anonymous) : Windower (honest question... not a flame) [+3]
- (Anonymous) : Safety of /console exec [+0]
- (Anonymous) : Questions on Ix'mnk [+1]
Designed by chasethestars
chasethestars
Comments
With a 314 dark magic skill gear setup you have to decide on head and waist piece(no dark magic skill help) For me it was simple. Haste, you have the turban and nodoubt you macro it in for drains, aspirs, stuns.
Could you explain in a little more detail why Swift belt isn't on your "on-hand" list? 52 second drains and Aspirs are a godsend for soloing(i'll get limbus-KB one day :( 22%). And you do a lot of soloing. It would definantly be in one of my top pieces to bring with me.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing your reply! :)
On the list of things I wanted to add to the setup, Nashira Body and Swift Belt are definately on there. I guess the choice is easier since I don't have a Swift Belt and am too lazy to get one.
I do agree it's very nice to have when doing complicated solos like Kaiser; however, I consider the biggest strength about the way I play is I never change any inventory especially for any situation - what I use for Apo NW solo is the same thing I use for Tiamat.
did you play with magnetic earring (i'd guess you don't have static since novio is obtainable for you and you do less bursts when there's no melees for renkei) and decide the conserve mp/interrupt rate isn't worth changing something else out for?
do you use situational gear like diabolos's pole/other obis or leave it on a mannequin?
if you were a new 75blm and didn't have the af2 pieces for example, what would be your next priority to place in the inventory slots? - this question might seem silly i know. conversely, what will you put in storage if/when you obtain a novio earring?
is the amount of enfeebling skill gear you carry because you do a lot of soloing and need to stick gravity et al for that?
i think the veiled insult you get when completing gobbiebag VI is SE's way of saying there'll be no more inventory spaces - though that doesn't stop them implementing a system for warping equipment in and out of storage, if it wasn't a sort of game-break.
-mikazuki
I chose Magnetic Earring - it's now in storage, I made the wrong choice. I say this because there is not a single stat on there that is specifically needed for any spell or situation. It's an amazing Earring if you don't equip switch - if you do it's horrible because it's good overall, not best for anything.
I use Fire, Wind, Ice, Thunder Obis; hence I keep them with me at all times even knowing it doesn't get all that much use. While I don't stress the importance of damage in this, damage is definately still important. Also Diabolos' Pole still loses to Pluto's even in Dark weather - would never use it.
AF2 plays a huge role in the other equipment choices - My setup would look completely different in just about everything without AF2. Sorry that I can't really answer your question here but I put a ton of thought anytime even 1 piece is varied - no way I could for 3 missing pieces. If I had Novio I would ditch Relaxing Earring I think.
Maxing Enfeebling is incredibly important to me. It's not just about 'soloing'. Many times at events, we don't have that many people online yet have to deal with a ton of adds - which usually means I have to 'solo' hold or kill 3-4 mobs at a time. Enfeebling isn't just useful at solo but at events for add handling.
Everytime SE adds a Gobbie Bag, Black Mage gets a whole lot stronger - my performance is pretty much dictated by how many equipment pieces I can carry now. There are so many great pieces of gear for certain situations you cannot possible carry it all.
A lot of this stuff I hope to eventually cover in more depth. This post unintenionally turned out pretty long - and honestly I did not even talk about casting a spell yet.
gimp.
God, seeing people like you who feel the need to get all +1 items really saddens me. Do your skills not get you enough "cred" that you have to try to flex your tiny taru epeen by getting +1 on everything you can?
Self esteem... do you have it?
Nice guide though.
what the fuck lol
He has a Magnetic Earring, since you didn't bother to read his comment replies, or the post, wherever it was he mentioned it. It stays in his safe.
Kae collected his gear over time; someone made a Genie Weskit and Kaeko went into debt for it and paid back over the next few months. The other +1 gears are pretty standard on nearly every BLM who gives a shit out there: Mahatma Slops (though many opt for Jet Serawheels now, losing 1 INT for MP bonus for Uggalepih and no stat detriments), Prism Cape, etc. Umbra Cape, for the hidden bonus on it is well worth it, not to mention every % helps, esp for BLMs. :P
Genie Huaraches.... Kae might bother if he wanted to solo Genbu or something on BLM. Otherwise, they're not exactly necessary pieces, esp for as difficult as they are to obtain. :P
Also, in terms of pure game mechanics, each little bit helps. Each +1 INT gets you that much closer to having even or higher INT than the mob's in order to land your spells. Each extra bit of skill means that much less of a chance of getting a Sleep or Gravity or Aspir resisted.
Kaeko isn't talking regular exp gear. He isn't even really talking HNM gear, except for the fact that he can pull hate on Fafnir/Nidhogg within two spells if both NIN tanks get Terrorized. We're talking about the fact that like, he can solo the King Apollyon, skipping only the Fafnir and killing all the Kaiser and Kronprinz Behemoths. He and one other BLM in our shell with similar gear can completely solo Ix'MNK. So no, this is not your typical BLM who just wants e-peen gear.
Did you know that ~90% of insults are the spawn of jealousy? (And that 85% of statistics are made up on the spot?!)
On a totally unrelated note, I always wanted to make something like this for RDM, tho I've just been too lazy =P Not having blm leveled until recently, I learned to do all my soloing on Rdm, and Blm still feels a little.. clunky to me.
One thing I did with my blm macros, was buy/macro in random spell interupt gear into my sleep/gravity/bind macros. Since I'm not sacrficing any enfeeb skill to swap these pieces in, it's not that big a loss. The thing I like most about Rdm is that you can practically get hit with a semi-truck and still never get interupted while casting, but Blm kinda seems the exact opposite (even with spell interupt merits). Add that into I'm still lv73 with no gaiters =P I found macroing in simple things like af1 feet and druid's rope for sleeps in case stoneskin gets broken has reallllly saved my ass more than a few times while soloing. I might end up ditching this when I get to 75 and become more familiar with the job, but eh. I want lag to make me an Umbra cape, but no cloths have been on the ah in like over a month, and I'm too lazy to go camp the NM's that drop it -_-
~Cali (http://kattenodin.blogspot.com)
I downloaded this macro plugin called "MacroMaster" but it's being kind of a pain in the ass and doesn't look like what you are using. Thanks in advance.
Anything Fafnir and harder (Tia, Khim, etc.) I will use full elemental skill and INT setup mix. I use about 335 Elemental Skill - didn't bother going past that because it didn't seem to help.
Of course you know the whole drama of people in different linkshells using 3rd party programs to "bot" HNMs, which is a much hate based issue. FF society has rejected these 3rd party programs as an "okay" method of enhancing gameplay, yet... they then contradict themselves by saying such programs like Windower and its plugins are "okay". Can you argue that these plugins infact don't enhance your gameplay in any way?
You've lost a great amount of respect in my eyes =/ And I have seen it start a trend in other members of TK also (NA members typing in Japanese). Where will it stop?
I do not want to sound harsh but you don't know what goes on inside TK socially - I think it's great that the NA and JP sides talk to each other in both english and japanese. What is wrong with NA members attempting to talk to japanese members in their language? Japanese players in TK do it all the time as well as get access to it automatically. JP members get IME mode in chat automatically, but SE didn't give the same to NAs. So SE gimped the NA version and you think it's horribly wrong that NAs now get IME?
I'm not trying to be JP and neither are the NAs in TK. We work together NA/JP not a bunch of NAs trying to act like they are JP to please their foreign masters. I enjoy learning the language and culture in game and outside in RL. Also appreciate the person who originally decided to let NAs into a JP LS, which was and still is highly frowned upon by many JP players on Odin.
As far as the 3rd party stuff I'll respond post below.
The only hindrance is that when you need something in a panic mode, you can start hitting wrong buttons (happens to me a lot, still -.-). So why not use something that simplifies gameplay so he can be on top of things, be it crowd control or whatnot? It doesn't give him any unfair advantages in any way, except fewer keypresses.
I've been getting exp solo/duo up to 73 so the idea of conserve MP seems nice to save me some MP and help push for higher chains. The extra MB damage also seems good, but how often does a 75 BLM actually get to MB? The only real mob we SC + MB is faffy, and maybe the odd BCNM type. Seems like the majority of times the BLM just nuke solo.
If that's the case wouldn't the conserve MP be more useful than the MB bonus?
Thanks.
This brings things to Magnetic. I picked Magnetic and it sits in storage now. First off, conserve MP is not very useful as a statistic based on some previous testing. It is a marginal increase. So what equip set would you actually use Magnetic? Would the benefits from this switch in earrings be worthy of an inventory slot?
For me, I used to use Magnetic + other earring depending on situation, but eventually went with Loquacious + other. Loquacious has 10 more MP, but that's pretty small. So it basically came down to Conserve MP vs. Fast Cast. I generally always opt for speed stats if possible so I went with the fast cast (helps recast timers as well).
Magnetic is a very good all around earring - however, a BLM gets to switch as often as needed so it's not about being good all around, but being good for specific situations. It pretty much makes this earring good overall, not great at anything in particular, which is why I no longer use it. I would consider ethereal as being a good all around earring is actually useful for a tank because tanks are generally asked not to switch equip all the time.
My advice is don't get either. If you don't like ethereal then just don't finish the quest. Neither mage earring is going to help you due to the other earring options on BLM in my opinion.
As far as timing there are really only 2 things - before cast and after cast. The only big thing I can think of where this comes into play is fastcast/haste gear and how it affects /recast and casting speed. Also equipping before the spell causes a lag on your spell cast so that is why I will 99% of the time equip after the cast.
All the casting macros have their own gear sets. I cannot automatically have them switched back because many of them only partially complete the correct final setup on the cast. For instance, certain spells need adjusted gear depending on the situation (eg. if you want to use Sorc Ring, day/weather, etc.), so what I'll do is have a gear set for "normal" nukes macro'd to Thunder4, then a day/weather set to Thunder3. If you want to nuke say T4 in day/weather, you simply press T4 macro > T3 macro in succession. The T3 cast gets bypassed because you're already casting T4. If I had auto-switch back to standing, this would not be possible.
Another reason it's not that good an idea to auto-switch is if you want to "blink" during the nuke to bypass casting animation. This requires specific timing dependent on the casting time. Auto-switching will prevent you from doing this, especially on long cast spells.
A few comments up, you mentioned that you played without distance plugin for years, and then once you started using it, you had solo'd Kings Limbus w/in a month. Can you describe how much this plugin really helps? Did you mean that in the 1st month of having this plugin, you're play improved dramatically, to the point that you could now do a solo that you simply couldn't do before?
I'm not even to the point where I would attempt a solo like this yet, but in the future, it'd be fun to try. The thing is, I'll never have distance plugin (PS2 for years, now 360). I've seen videos of BLM soloing Kings, and was amazed that the targeted mob almost never appeared on-screen because they always knew exactly where they were due to the distance reading. It is certainly an added distraction having to constantly manipulate the camera to watch WHERE you're running, and how far you are from the mob.
Would you say these kinds of solos are significantly harder w/o distance plugin? Or is it just a minor enhancement? Earlier, you made it sound ground-breaking, which would sadden me, since I'll never have it.
I cannot overstate the significance of this plugin in my particular case. It is true in that I played BLM for a long time on windower without using the plugin, and I was still able to run some semi-impressive solos (Ix'MNK, Brothers, ODS long before distance to site some examples). However, none of these solos can even compare to the difficulty seen in Apollyon NW with the incredible damage her hit, mob movement speed, and time factor. I have no doubt I could not solo NW w/o distance plug in at this time - I would probably only be able to kill all 3 NQ Behemoth like I did before distance.
The reason this I say this is such a powerful thing is that, as you stated, you don't have to constantly pan your camera to tell what the mob is doing as it chases you. By simply looking at this little number, I can tell exactly if the mob is maintaining its pursuit, got caught on an obstacle, stopped, etc. Knowing what the mob is doing EXACTLY, all the time, is the key to hard solos, as you can react to more things with more information. Gaining this valuable information on the fly is just so much faster with distance access.
Some common examples of this can be found just on the 5th floor of Apollyon NW. On NQ behemoths, they move extremely fast and you MUST maintain the highest distance possible while still being able to cast. This is really really hard to tell w/o distance because the mob is so large and you cannot judge with the eye. The plugin allows you to easier maintain max distance - a key to hard solos. On the KB fight, I don't even need to pan my camera ever. I just look at the little number, focus on timing how long it's been since last meteor attempt, and go from there. Not having to pan the camera lets me focus purely on the strategy of the fight and maximizes the potential advantage terrain can give me.
The reason I say this plugin helps so much is partially this; however, also consider that the time and focus you saved not having to pan the camera can now be used to do something else. Many players will just use distance to be lazy and it makes adjusting easier; however, I use the time and focus I save with distance to focus on other things that require pin-point attention, such as the "blink casting" strategy. Such a strategy is already hard enough just focusing on that alone - it would require incredible skill to use this strategy while constantly checking on the movement of your enemy as well.
I would say that HARD solos are significantly harder w/o distance because I cannot both pan my camera and use high-level soloing strategies at the same time without messing up (requires too much focus on too many things). Easier things (I would consider anything Ix'MNK solo or easier to be "easy") I could honestly play nearly as well without it as I do not need to use high end strategy to win those solos.
Someone like an Avesta is what I would consider a true soloing 'master' in this game as he can do it entirely without extended macros or distance. By beating Apollyon NW on my BLM, the only 3 things I have proved/emphasized really are 1) Herald's Gaiters are really good, 2) distance plugin's ability to let the user maximize terrain advantage is overpowered 3) I'm a reasonably good soloer.
This is my honest take on things. If SE ever went to its own windower I would switch over and adjust from there; but as of now I'm keeping distance like everyone else does. I know that's really not what you wanted to hear, but that's my honest take on it.
PS: PS2 can do cheesy things PC can't so you can theorically take advantage of those if you knew them.
I always thought that use of windower macro execution via "/console exec *.txt" was trackable by SE since you're technically inputting a command into the chatbox that isn't an actual command in the normal ffxi client.
I play the game on PC using a wireless controller (because I like the feel of it better than playing with a keyboard) and would really like to take advantage of extended macros for all of my spells - I just always thought I was risking the banhammer if i did this. Am I safe to?
Currently I use a handful of keyboard binds for things that I definitely want a lot of equipment macro'd in for (resting, standing, etc) but I'm still doing the 2-macro shuffle on enfeebs and nukes and hating it. Thanks in advance for your reply! ^^b
Vysey of Seraph here. Thanks for your guides. I've done a lot after seeing your guides, including soloing KB and Ix'mnk. :D
Just a funny question about ix'mnk. One involves hate and the other involves the fight itself.
1)
A friend and I went to go duo ix'mnk. Basically, I popped a hermes quencher. I ran to the room right before the ebon panel room. I die. Stuff depops and aerns turn around and head down the hall. Friend stuns ix'mnk. Adds behind ix'mnk turn around and attack her.
We weren't in party for this either. Have any idea what causes this? I managed to put RR on and get the adds off of her, but still annoying.
2)
As for soloing ix'mnk himself, I kited him around the whole room with gaiters and casted bio whenever it needed to be casted. I found that when I casted drain, he would catch up to me 9 times out of time. Is there a special place to cast it? I casted in the corner of the room, but I'm just not sure. It ended up taking me an hour and 15 mins to kill him, which seemed a bit long. Thanks!