Officially in Heavensward content!
Or, I will be as soon as I'm done writing this and actually go accept the first Heavensward quest.
Keeper of Lake went fine. We wiped once on the second boss due to everything going wrong with the fire puddles, and also one of our DPS got disconnected, but we cleared it easily after they came back and we figured out better fire puddle positioning.
The Chrysalis went well as well. Again, we wiped once, and it was in the meteor phase, which was perfectly reasonable, honestly. We lost a lot of DPS during the second ball phase, and one of the tanks told the healers to LB and resurrect the DPS because we were just about to enter the meteor phase, and they said that they had been in a group that has cleared the meteors without DPS LB. Well, we got the DPS up (although one died shortly after in meteors), and we were soooo close to finishing the meteor phase. SO close that I honestly thought we had cleared it when we wiped. But no, we wiped. Second time went so easy that it was kind of anti-climactic, honestly. OH, and so exciting: my healing partner was an Astrologian who was in Diurnal Stance! First time I've seen that, and honestly, that's probably part of why we did so wonderfully! Yay for synergy!
I was so proud of myself in Chrysalis though. I felt like I did well as a Scholar in this one. Whenever we got Triple Spark I would Adlo the main tank + Virus Nabriales or Eye for an Eye the tank if Virus was on CD. And when he would do his explosion after the ball phase I would Succor + Sacred Soil (yay!).
Steps of Faith went pretty flawlessly. I was assigned main healer (thank goodness! I was so worried I'd have to do the Dragonslayer part, and I was so nervous about the idea of having that much responsibility!), and basically spammed Adlo on the tank and/or Succor whenever everyone was taking damage. Whoever was on the Dragonslayer missed with it like, twice, and I think we got the counterattack from it on the last one because we very nearly wiped. I say very nearly, but we did actually all die. It's just that, our deaths were staggered. I was in the first group to die, which consisted of me and half the DPS. By the time we had run back to the boss, the other healer and a tank had died. By the time the second tank died, the original tank had made it back, etc. Weird. We won in one try though.
And now I just got done watching allll the cutscenes, and I'm in Heavensward!
Astrologian here I come!
I might also try Dark Knight. Not sure yet. I stockpiled some tanking accessories from the MSQ and I also have a full set of Monk/Ninja gear (also from MSQ) for if I ever want to play that. Neat.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Big sigh of relief!
Making very fast progress on the MSQ if I do say so myself. I'm on Before the Fall - Part 1 quests now (just starting them).
Last night was interesting, doing the Dreams of Ice patch quests. Primarily because I ended up being on the same quest as another player, and we ended up grouping up. I then did Snowcloak and Shiva with their guild. I stayed up way later than I liked to doing Shiva with them, but it all worked out in the end, so it was fine!
And then I went to bed dreading today because I knew what the next encounters on my list were. I think I had nightmares about hard mode Primals.
Did them bright and early this morning. Ifrit was wicked easy. Trivial, in fact. The group DPS was so high that he only did one rush and we never got even the second plume pattern.
Garuda, also easy. I would dare say easier than normal mode. We skipped the last phase entirely, I think. We just kind of ignored the adds since she was already basically down at that point. Mostly solo-healed that one as well because the other healer forgot they were in Cleric Stance and was healing with it on.
Titan...was not as bad as anticipated. There were two deaths, but they were both the same person because they didn't dodge the bombs at all. I had a few very close encounters because I kept getting hit by the plumes even though I wasn't standing in them. Don't know what was up with that. I don't think it was lag because then I would have had problems with Landslide, and the game didn't feel laggy except for the plumes hitting me strangely. Oh, and the other healer was an Astrologian in Nocturnal Sect again. I have yet to see an Astrologian in Diurnal Sect. Ended up being fine this time because we had practically 100% upkeep on shields without draining either of our MP because we just kind of switched off.
Keeper of the Lake will probably be a breath of fresh air, oddly enough, and then on to...Chrysalis. The encounter I said I never, ever wanted to do ever again. But, then again, I kind of thought the same thing about Titan Hard, and that really wasn't that bad. Oh, I hope Chrysalis doesn't go horribly on me.
Honestly, I can't tell if things are easier this time around for me because players as a whole are better geared than they were last time I did these, if I'm just getting wicked lucky with groups, or if I'm a better Scholar than I am a White Mage. Probably a combination of the three, honestly. Except maybe the last one. I don't think I'm a great Scholar. I don't like stance dancing and I always forget about Eos. But I am good at shielding! And placing Sacred Soil! I love Sacred Soil. It's my favorite Scholar ability and I wish I got to use it more often, but it often feels like a waste when it takes Aetherflow stacks that could probably better be used for Lustrate. Lustrate is great, but it's so boring. And even though I do forget about Eos, if there is a ton of damage happening, I often Rouse + Whispering Dawn without really thinking about it.
Last night was interesting, doing the Dreams of Ice patch quests. Primarily because I ended up being on the same quest as another player, and we ended up grouping up. I then did Snowcloak and Shiva with their guild. I stayed up way later than I liked to doing Shiva with them, but it all worked out in the end, so it was fine!
And then I went to bed dreading today because I knew what the next encounters on my list were. I think I had nightmares about hard mode Primals.
Did them bright and early this morning. Ifrit was wicked easy. Trivial, in fact. The group DPS was so high that he only did one rush and we never got even the second plume pattern.
Garuda, also easy. I would dare say easier than normal mode. We skipped the last phase entirely, I think. We just kind of ignored the adds since she was already basically down at that point. Mostly solo-healed that one as well because the other healer forgot they were in Cleric Stance and was healing with it on.
Titan...was not as bad as anticipated. There were two deaths, but they were both the same person because they didn't dodge the bombs at all. I had a few very close encounters because I kept getting hit by the plumes even though I wasn't standing in them. Don't know what was up with that. I don't think it was lag because then I would have had problems with Landslide, and the game didn't feel laggy except for the plumes hitting me strangely. Oh, and the other healer was an Astrologian in Nocturnal Sect again. I have yet to see an Astrologian in Diurnal Sect. Ended up being fine this time because we had practically 100% upkeep on shields without draining either of our MP because we just kind of switched off.
Keeper of the Lake will probably be a breath of fresh air, oddly enough, and then on to...Chrysalis. The encounter I said I never, ever wanted to do ever again. But, then again, I kind of thought the same thing about Titan Hard, and that really wasn't that bad. Oh, I hope Chrysalis doesn't go horribly on me.
Honestly, I can't tell if things are easier this time around for me because players as a whole are better geared than they were last time I did these, if I'm just getting wicked lucky with groups, or if I'm a better Scholar than I am a White Mage. Probably a combination of the three, honestly. Except maybe the last one. I don't think I'm a great Scholar. I don't like stance dancing and I always forget about Eos. But I am good at shielding! And placing Sacred Soil! I love Sacred Soil. It's my favorite Scholar ability and I wish I got to use it more often, but it often feels like a waste when it takes Aetherflow stacks that could probably better be used for Lustrate. Lustrate is great, but it's so boring. And even though I do forget about Eos, if there is a ton of damage happening, I often Rouse + Whispering Dawn without really thinking about it.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Why?
I hit level 50 on my Scholar last night, and I'm working my way, with decent speed, through the MSQ to get to Heavensward.
Anyway, for every 8-man thing I've done thus far, I've been paired with an Astrologian. And every single one of these Astrologians has been in Nocturnal Sect?
Am I missing something here?
Nocturnal Sect adds barriers to Aspected Benefic/Helios, but those shields do not work with Scholar Galvanize.
Diurnal Sect adds Regen to Aspected Benefic/Helios and also increases attack speed.
Are the Astrologians I've been with just trying to get that extra +5% healing potency out of Nocturnal Sect, or what? Is it because they're a higher level than me? Because, I don't know, I don't really feel like I'm very useful as a Scholar if I don't have to throw out shields. Every single one has also overwritten my Protect at the beginning of the fight, and overwrites my Galvanize whenever I use Succor. The only thing they don't always overwrite is Adlo on the tank. And then they don't really ever seem to contribute to the actual healing at all, leaving me to do it with my otherwise quite-lack-luster Scholar heals.
Example is Good King Moggle Mog earlier. We wiped three times. The other healer wasn't really healing much, aside from using Aspected Helios. I was trying in vain to keep everyone up. Adlo on the tank whenever it was needed, Lustrate whenever it was available and needed. I think I used Sacred Soil once. Rouse + Whispering Dawn whenever it was needed/available. Physick practically constantly. Didn't have time to do Cleric's Stance because the other healer wasn't healing aside from overwriting my Succor.
I mean, it just seems to me like Diurnal Stance would have been the better choice there. I don't have much in term of AoE healing. I can heal the tank just fine, but if they're handling the shielding, then I don't really have anything I can do for AoE except when Rouse + Whispering Dawn is ready to go. It's not like I'm going to overwrite with Succor because that seems like a waste of MP then, and even then, that doesn't really actually *heal* for much. I would have liked if the AST had been doing the AoE healing, since they're actually capable of it.
I really want to know though. Is there any reason why an AST would be using Nocturnal Stance with a Scholar (albeit a new one) in the party?
Anyway, for every 8-man thing I've done thus far, I've been paired with an Astrologian. And every single one of these Astrologians has been in Nocturnal Sect?
Am I missing something here?
Nocturnal Sect adds barriers to Aspected Benefic/Helios, but those shields do not work with Scholar Galvanize.
Diurnal Sect adds Regen to Aspected Benefic/Helios and also increases attack speed.
Are the Astrologians I've been with just trying to get that extra +5% healing potency out of Nocturnal Sect, or what? Is it because they're a higher level than me? Because, I don't know, I don't really feel like I'm very useful as a Scholar if I don't have to throw out shields. Every single one has also overwritten my Protect at the beginning of the fight, and overwrites my Galvanize whenever I use Succor. The only thing they don't always overwrite is Adlo on the tank. And then they don't really ever seem to contribute to the actual healing at all, leaving me to do it with my otherwise quite-lack-luster Scholar heals.
Example is Good King Moggle Mog earlier. We wiped three times. The other healer wasn't really healing much, aside from using Aspected Helios. I was trying in vain to keep everyone up. Adlo on the tank whenever it was needed, Lustrate whenever it was available and needed. I think I used Sacred Soil once. Rouse + Whispering Dawn whenever it was needed/available. Physick practically constantly. Didn't have time to do Cleric's Stance because the other healer wasn't healing aside from overwriting my Succor.
I mean, it just seems to me like Diurnal Stance would have been the better choice there. I don't have much in term of AoE healing. I can heal the tank just fine, but if they're handling the shielding, then I don't really have anything I can do for AoE except when Rouse + Whispering Dawn is ready to go. It's not like I'm going to overwrite with Succor because that seems like a waste of MP then, and even then, that doesn't really actually *heal* for much. I would have liked if the AST had been doing the AoE healing, since they're actually capable of it.
I really want to know though. Is there any reason why an AST would be using Nocturnal Stance with a Scholar (albeit a new one) in the party?
Monday, March 7, 2016
Ooh!
I don't know if I just had a good group, or if Scholar actually makes Garuda trivial. Seriously, I swear Sacred Soil + Succor actually just makes her trivial.
That was the easiest and most stress-free Garuda fight I have ever done.
That was the easiest and most stress-free Garuda fight I have ever done.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak Rant...again
I swear I write a post on this every month I subscribe to FFXIV.
Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak.
Why, oh why, does this appear to be the most difficult dungeon in the game for people to grasp?
Brayflox's Longstop has nothing on Toto-Rak; that's what I think. I've done Brayflox's Longstop many, many times, and it's only gone wrong once or twice and that was because the tank was new and didn't know to keep Aiatar out of the poison puddles. But Toto-Rak consistently goes wrong.
I always make sure to explain the last fight, and if someone is consistently running face-first into Fleshy Pods I ask them to please not to do that, but almost every single time, one of those two things goes wrong.
Let's start at the beginning of Toto-Rak with what can go wrong?
First boss? Not much can go wrong here, so we'll skip over that.
Second boss? The tank not picking up the adds can be problematic because then they focus on the healer and slow them. This isn't bad at all if your healer is a SCH, but it can be fatal if you have, say, a new Conjurer. Also, ranged classes, please stay out of melee range on this fight so you don't get unnecessary poison. That can make this harder.
Trash pulls from the second boss on? Again, ranged, please stay out of melee range of the plant-things so you don't get poisoned when you don't need to.
Slow green goop area? Don't go running face-first into Fleshy Pods. This goes for literally everyone in the group. Every single class with the exception of Pugilist/Monk and Dark Knight have a ranged attack by this point.
Here, have a list of what attacks you can use to kill Fleshy Pods:
Marauder / Warrior = Tomahawk
Gladiator / Paladin = Shield Lob
Lancer / Dragoon = Piercing Talon
Archer / Bard = Anything
Conjurer / White Mage = Aero is the fastest
Thaumaturge / Black Mage = Scathe is the fastest
Arcanist / Summoner / Scholar = Bio is the fastest
Rogue / Ninja = Throwing Dagger
Astrologian = Combust is the fastest
Machinist = Anything
So, unless you are in a group with a Dark Knight and 3 Monks (in which case, good luck without a healer), then someone in your group can kill the Fleshy Pods for you.
This is especially true if your healer is a Scholar. At least a Conjurer / White Mage can Esuna the poison stacks off you when you stop running around. A Scholar just has to heal through it, which is a particular pain when you then run through one of the spider web gates and it closes in their face. And then proceed to die because you're now being hit by enemies + 3 stacks of poison and your Scholar is stuck behind a wall that you aren't helping to break them through because you're dead.
Finally, last boss. Please kill the tail. Please. If you don't know to, someone will probably remind you. Please kill the tail. I was in a group the other day where I told them twice to kill the tail, and they ignored me. Do you know what happened? The entire floor became poison and we all died. Just kill the tail.
Please.
Please make Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak less painful.
Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak.
Why, oh why, does this appear to be the most difficult dungeon in the game for people to grasp?
Brayflox's Longstop has nothing on Toto-Rak; that's what I think. I've done Brayflox's Longstop many, many times, and it's only gone wrong once or twice and that was because the tank was new and didn't know to keep Aiatar out of the poison puddles. But Toto-Rak consistently goes wrong.
I always make sure to explain the last fight, and if someone is consistently running face-first into Fleshy Pods I ask them to please not to do that, but almost every single time, one of those two things goes wrong.
Let's start at the beginning of Toto-Rak with what can go wrong?
First boss? Not much can go wrong here, so we'll skip over that.
Second boss? The tank not picking up the adds can be problematic because then they focus on the healer and slow them. This isn't bad at all if your healer is a SCH, but it can be fatal if you have, say, a new Conjurer. Also, ranged classes, please stay out of melee range on this fight so you don't get unnecessary poison. That can make this harder.
Trash pulls from the second boss on? Again, ranged, please stay out of melee range of the plant-things so you don't get poisoned when you don't need to.
Slow green goop area? Don't go running face-first into Fleshy Pods. This goes for literally everyone in the group. Every single class with the exception of Pugilist/Monk and Dark Knight have a ranged attack by this point.
Here, have a list of what attacks you can use to kill Fleshy Pods:
Marauder / Warrior = Tomahawk
Gladiator / Paladin = Shield Lob
Lancer / Dragoon = Piercing Talon
Archer / Bard = Anything
Conjurer / White Mage = Aero is the fastest
Thaumaturge / Black Mage = Scathe is the fastest
Arcanist / Summoner / Scholar = Bio is the fastest
Rogue / Ninja = Throwing Dagger
Astrologian = Combust is the fastest
Machinist = Anything
So, unless you are in a group with a Dark Knight and 3 Monks (in which case, good luck without a healer), then someone in your group can kill the Fleshy Pods for you.
This is especially true if your healer is a Scholar. At least a Conjurer / White Mage can Esuna the poison stacks off you when you stop running around. A Scholar just has to heal through it, which is a particular pain when you then run through one of the spider web gates and it closes in their face. And then proceed to die because you're now being hit by enemies + 3 stacks of poison and your Scholar is stuck behind a wall that you aren't helping to break them through because you're dead.
Finally, last boss. Please kill the tail. Please. If you don't know to, someone will probably remind you. Please kill the tail. I was in a group the other day where I told them twice to kill the tail, and they ignored me. Do you know what happened? The entire floor became poison and we all died. Just kill the tail.
Please.
Please make Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak less painful.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
You know what is so frustrating?
That Duty Finder can pull up Ifrit / Titan / Garuda and there's no new player message, meaning that no one there probably actually queued for it. I don't mind getting placed into a Primal if someone actually needs it, but if I'm in there with 50+ characters, it's honestly just a waste of time. I wait 15 minutes in the DPS queue for a fight that gives no drops or much exp, and that people often just leave before it begins because it's such a waste.
Like I said; fine if someone specifically queued for it and I get placed in theirs. I don't mind helping! But if no one specifically queued for it, I don't think it should randomly come up in DF. It's a waste of time if no one needs it.
In case you're wondering what prompted this, I just got placed in Ifrit on my Summoner. Everyone in my group was high level (they all had glamours), so I assume they didn't need normal Ifrit. Tank and Healer immediately quit. I quit after that because it wasn't worth sticking around waiting for a new tank and healer. Frustrating.
Like I said; fine if someone specifically queued for it and I get placed in theirs. I don't mind helping! But if no one specifically queued for it, I don't think it should randomly come up in DF. It's a waste of time if no one needs it.
In case you're wondering what prompted this, I just got placed in Ifrit on my Summoner. Everyone in my group was high level (they all had glamours), so I assume they didn't need normal Ifrit. Tank and Healer immediately quit. I quit after that because it wasn't worth sticking around waiting for a new tank and healer. Frustrating.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Progress!
Doing good in FFXIV, I think!
My character, Yomi Tosho (Adamatoise server) is currently leveling fairly well!
My main class at the moment is my Bard, which is level 37. Followed by my Summoner/Scholar, which is 34.
After that, I have:
Conjurer: 28
Gladiator: 24
Rogue: 23
Thaumaturge: 17
Pugilist: 15
Lancer: 13
Marauder: 8
I'm really, really enjoying my Bard right now, but I am frustrated slightly with it. I want to have Invigorate and Blood for Blood before I get to Garuda, but I absolutely despise Lancer. It has been torturous to get it even to 13, so I am absolutely dreading getting it up to 34 for Blood for Blood. 22 for Invigorate at least seems doable, but 34 is just...ugh.
The only class I dislike more than Lancer is Marauder. I hate Marauder. It will probably never get past level 8. As far as I can tell through all my researching, I probably don't absolutely need Mercy Stroke to tank as a Gladiator/Dark Knight, and if I don't absolutely need it, I am not going to level a Marauder.
I'm almost half thinking of just giving up on my Bard now and swapping to Summoner. I like my Summoner well enough, and now that I have Quelling Strikes then that's the hard part out of the way. I don't mind Thaumaturge, and getting it up to 24 for Swiftcast will be easy. And, well, I need Swiftcast anyway for healing, so I have extra motivation.
But, honestly, I don't care enough for any of the DPS classes besides Bard to have enough motivation to level Lancer to 34. I've been enjoying DPS, but I think I can enjoy it just as much on Summoner, at least for now. Maybe at some point I'll work up the motivation to level Lancer, but for right now, I'm very, very much thinking of swapping to Summoner.
My character, Yomi Tosho (Adamatoise server) is currently leveling fairly well!
My main class at the moment is my Bard, which is level 37. Followed by my Summoner/Scholar, which is 34.
After that, I have:
Conjurer: 28
Gladiator: 24
Rogue: 23
Thaumaturge: 17
Pugilist: 15
Lancer: 13
Marauder: 8
I'm really, really enjoying my Bard right now, but I am frustrated slightly with it. I want to have Invigorate and Blood for Blood before I get to Garuda, but I absolutely despise Lancer. It has been torturous to get it even to 13, so I am absolutely dreading getting it up to 34 for Blood for Blood. 22 for Invigorate at least seems doable, but 34 is just...ugh.
The only class I dislike more than Lancer is Marauder. I hate Marauder. It will probably never get past level 8. As far as I can tell through all my researching, I probably don't absolutely need Mercy Stroke to tank as a Gladiator/Dark Knight, and if I don't absolutely need it, I am not going to level a Marauder.
I'm almost half thinking of just giving up on my Bard now and swapping to Summoner. I like my Summoner well enough, and now that I have Quelling Strikes then that's the hard part out of the way. I don't mind Thaumaturge, and getting it up to 24 for Swiftcast will be easy. And, well, I need Swiftcast anyway for healing, so I have extra motivation.
But, honestly, I don't care enough for any of the DPS classes besides Bard to have enough motivation to level Lancer to 34. I've been enjoying DPS, but I think I can enjoy it just as much on Summoner, at least for now. Maybe at some point I'll work up the motivation to level Lancer, but for right now, I'm very, very much thinking of swapping to Summoner.
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