Thief, FFXI, and other unimportant matters

holla

2009-12-10T20:20:51Z

No, not the crag, you...fuckin guy (or girl).

Short entries are ok, yeah?

Not much has changed in the IRL. Steady work at my job. My understanding of the Japanese language increases day-by-day, as does my proficiency with my job. I'll most likely be staying another year here, but it's not 100% settled yet.

I'm pretty content here. I have good feelings about where I'll probably be a year from now. I doubt I'll have developed any significant life skills other than proficiency in a second language but, hey, I'm happy with that.

For you guys that haven't thus done so, you might do well to check out evolith/synergy.

Unfortunately, while I find it so easy to say that, it is at the same time a bit disheartening that there isn't much to gain from these new additions, for most people. The shit's not yet been 100% sorted out yet, but so far the upgrades from both/combined categories seem to be mediocre.

However, if you're in my boat, you're pretty much capped otherwise, so why not?--Whatever it takes to take yourself up a notch, yeah? I'd check out these threads to get up to speed on this crud,
http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85534&page=7
http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85524&page=11

IRLz Update

2009-10-27T12:27:50Z

There are some weeks that are better than others. Lately I've resigned to just do my best at work and study Japanese, and enjoy FF and life at a casual pace. It's been pretty much SSDD lately (same shit, different day), only without the connotation of shit being unenjoyable. I find that it's rare when you're at a point in life where you can just enjoy every day, and not have to worry too much about the past nor the future.

I've been meaning to throw up some pics from a recent trip to Tokyo, but technical complications led that being impossible until this week. So this week I'll post some junk from that trip, as well as some stuff that's been going on this week.

School Festival
I don't watch as much anime as some of my friends, but they told me that they've seen the traditional JP school festival portrayed in many an anime. I never saw it in one, but I got to experience it, at least. There are two main festivals during the year. In the fall, there is the sports festival. That's where all the major (mainly athletic) clubs compete with other schools. My school doesn't do baseball and soccer. But in the Spring it competed in basketball, kendo, judo, table tennis, volleyball, badminton, and probably some others that I can't remember.

The Fall festival is called a "cultural festival."  I mentioned to my JP friend that I felt it wasn't so "cultural"--at least not in a multicultural sense. She agreed. It's strictly a Japanese culture kind of thing. The only exception at my school this year would be the presence of a single Chinese food booth.

This is a school flyer that they hand out before the festival. Preparations take place days and weeks in advance. At the bottom right it says "32; today too amidst the peaceful Teizan (my school's name) atmosphere, we can do it, yeah? ; Yes we can!" Or that's a rough translation. As for "Yes we can!" ..that being bob the builder / president Obama's trademark, it pretty much became an instant catch-phrase here. Anyone in Japan will understand the phrase and probably smirk if you say it int he right context. The reason there is a big sun there is because this is the 32nd Teizan school fest, so they take "3 2" which in JP is pronounced "san ni" and get "sunny."  So there were a lot of 'sun-related' decorations at this school fest. On the left is a basic floor guide for the school. It tells you where to go for what type of food.

As my friends might have seen in various anime, they do set up lil cafes in the classrooms. The cafes have different themes. As this falls around halloween-time, some of the festivities/cafes might be halloween-related, but my school didn't do anything like that. My friend also predicted that some of my students would cosplay, but only one did. One of my English1 students, Haruna, dressed up as Ichimaru Gin from Bleach, her fav char. I had no idea it was even her until she got right up in my grill and told me--the costume was so good. She's also an artist, and fairly good. There were a couple classrooms set up displaying the various arts and crafts of the students. One of the rooms was manga related, and here is some of Haruna's art,

Shoujo style, ne? I'm not sure who the other artists were. The language barrier only gets me so far :(, but here are some other samples,

It looks so sad ; ;. I just want my students to be genki, not depressed!

Yes, blame me that they spelled 'night' wrong :/. If there's one thing that non-English-speaking Japanese people have in common, it's that when they write something in English they tend to not check the dictionary, nor consult a native speaker of English. You see all sorts of ridiculous spellings and sentence structures on public signs written in English. Chances are, if it's in public and written in English, it's going to be your standard Engrish. Either way I think they did an excellent job on these.

I wish I could just take pictures of everything, but it would just be weird :/ aside from privacy issues. But I can try to use description. A gate was raised at the entrance of the school, made of cardboard, styrafoam, etc. There was a pikachu rendition attached to it. Outside near the front door of the school were several different booths each with different types of food. There was yakisoba (fried soba noodles). There was yakitori; shishkabobs of different varieties, including chicken and octopus. Mario's (the teacher at this both whose nickname it bears has a rather prominent mustache; hence the name) Chinese booth had dumplings (like an American dumpling you'd find at a chinese restaurant, only more tasty and like 4x bigger) and sweet yogurt. There was another booth with boiled eggs and something else I ate but am still yet to identify..

Inside were multiple cafes. For some of them, the students were dressed in normal (not school uniform--they don't do uniforms at my HS) clothes. Others, the girls were dressed in white dress shirts and ties. In some of the cafes, some of the girls dressed up in almost complete maid outfits. Have you ever heard of a maid cafe?  Just google "maid cafe, Akihabara Tokyo" and you'll know what I mean -.-. Crapes are popular in Japan, so some students were selling those. Likewise, cakes and pancakes. Some students walked around with soft drinks and candy. As mentioned before, aside from food there were art booths. Not only was there manga, but there was also a photography display. Some students were displaying or selling clay or leather work.

There were constant musical performances in the gym throughout the day. There are two bands at my school, and both do rock and roll. There was also a girl doing solo performances (with a teacher as pianist). The bands played both light and hard rock. An example of what they played would be Zetsubou Billy by Maximum the Hormone (the 2nd ending of Death Note).

The drama club won first place for the most outstanding content at the festival. They did an hour long performance. The play was set in the WW2 era. Unfortunately, I can't say much about the play as my Japanese isn't good enough yet to have understood it. As far as I could gather, this dude was having epilectic moments where he had visions of a mysterious woman. But I don't know what significance this had with the rest of the story. Interestingly enough, the male roles were all played (rather well) by female students. For anyone that doesn't know, there's something here in Japan called Takarazuka Revue (google'able as well). Females playing male roles is nothing new in Japanese drama, and is even quite popular.

The school was also decorated with many multi-colored streamers. There were also plenty of these little flower-looking wads of paper everywhere--made from like, the material you'd find in a gift bag.

After it all, I was so full. The students try to pass around coupons or otherwise try and get you to buy their goods. Byt he end of it, I'd tried just about everything.

School Outing
Occasionally, the staff at a high school will have a nomi hodai (sp), or otherwise called a 'drinking party.' It's goign to be going on this weekend, and I think I'll go to this rather than joining my ALT gai-jin brethren at the halloween party this year. None of the other English teachers appear to be going, so I don't know how it'll turn out. It was difficult enough to read the invitation and make a reply.

This is written in almost 100% kanji. It's crazy. But I made a bit of a study out of it. My Kanji's gotten so much better now. I don't know how many I know now--maybe 150, maybe 300. To be able to read 90% of a newspaper, you need to read 2,000.

Tohoku University International Festival
Now this is what I would call a "cultural festival." This weekend, a friend of mine invited me to go. She turned out to be several hours late to Sendai, so I spent that time shopping and browsing around.

I ran into some of my students at the station. This isn't the first time--I don't if it's chance or what. Sendai's a big city and it's not like I know a lot of people, but one always tends to run into others at the local station, it seems. If it's not students I see, it's other gai-jin I know.

The first things that my dork-self went to go buy were work-related supplies. I'm not even gonna get into the details. But then I went shopping for clothes--work related clothes :/.   There's a store here called "Uniqlo." It's kind of like a staple clothing store here, similar to the gap, though the styles are different.

While I was browsing for clothing in Sendai's AER (shopping) building, I happened to notice there was a small anime convention going on. It was 6 bucks to get in, but I decided to check it out.

These are pages from the catalogue that I got. Essentially, what artists do at these conventions is line up table after table into big rolls, and display their work in their own personal sections. Low and behold, it turned out that the majority of the work was hentai-ecchi related. What seems strangest to me is that this is somewhat acceptable for large portions of the female population. Many of the artists were female, and their work was charming to say the least.

Finally I grabbed an avacodo dog, stuffed my shopping junk in a $3/day locker (more on that later), and chilled at the Taito Station (major franchise arcade) for awhile until my friend came.

looked kinda like this

We took a bus from Sendai station and arrived at the Tohoku University International Festival. There were many many different kinds of people there, though most of the variety was from the Asias. Food was available from Malaysia, India, Thailand, the Phillipenes, Indonesia, Jakarta.. I could go on and on. I tried a sort of Phillpene gruel. I don't know how to describe it. It was like southern grits or a cornmeal of sorts, except delicious. It had chickena dn vegies in it and was slightly spicy.

There were also multiple kinds of dance on stage. Among some that I saw were Indian, Thai, and Latin style dances.

Since my friend was pretty late, it ended up closing within an hour after we got there. So we stalled until the international dance party that was to happen later. She showed me around her university a bit. Architecture and feel-wise, it reminded me of mine (University of Florida) back home. The only thing that stood out was the Japanese Tea House, constructed in classic Japanese architectural design, with an exquisite garden to boot.

After dicking around for a bit, we came across a band of musicians from Okinawa. For those that don't know, Okinawa is in the south. The far farrr south. Think of this as the "Hawaii of Japan" (in one of their own words). Okinawa is the home of the Ryukyuu people. These are ~Japanese people, but the language is supposedly a fair bit different. And the people on these Islands come from multiple descents--not just Japanese (Chinese, Korean, and Thai being some examples).

They showed me some of their instruments. They had a samisen decorated in snake skin (I'm sure by now this entry is simply riddled with grammatical and spelling related mistakes), which is like a Japanese guitar, and a sort of box-drum. I'm not sure what the deal w/ the drum was, but the player would sit on it, and depending on where they struck it, and how far up or down they tilted it, it would make a different sound.

They did a full-blown performance for us. I was not prepared for how epic it would be. I don't know how quite to describe it, but the dance looked like some mix of coreographed (sp) kung-fu, and hip-hop dancing. They performed for about 10 minutes, music and dancing and all, just for me and my friend. The dance and song seemed to be dedicated to Okinawa and it's splendor--specific references to its sea and sky. I don't know what else to say.. words can't really describe it.

Eventually we made our way to the dance party. There were a fair bit more westerners at this than at the prior festival. I wonder just how many different nationalties were present? Somewhere between 1 and 2 dozen would be my guess.

Tohoku University's international culture is definitely interesting. It's not as if my university was not international. But something felt different here.

Something that I've found quite interesting is the fact that all these people speak English. Perhaps it's why they speak English that's interesting. I know that it all boils down to America being a superpower, and the influence of Brittain and the spread of English in the 1800's. But it's interesting that it seems as if most of these people aren't learning English to speak specifically to people from native English speaking countries. They're using it to speak to...anyone o.O. Namely, most often, other Asian/Oceanic dwellers. To (roughly) quote someone that I spoke to "I've been here for a couple years, and will probably be here for several years more. I have no interest in learning Japanese. I get by with English just fine." I found it interesting that his perspective was so much different than mine. I know what he means by getting by with a dictionary, survival Japanese, fluent English, and otherwise to fill in the gaps with body language. For him, that's fine and it can eventually get him whatever he needs when in this country. But for me, it seems 'very difficult' to not be able to speak Japanese. Difficult and embarrassing. For me, I want to be able to read everything and speak to everyone. For him, he couldn't care to really communicate with people--he's here to work on his physics research.

But it's not just this impression that I get. More and more, it's become evident to me (although I knew it before), that people don't learn English as a second language to communicate with Americans or Britts, etc. They learn it to be able to speak with /the World/.

There's a strange kind of independence that you feel when you're not in your own country, and among others from many other lands that are, too, foreigners to the land. You get the feeling that things such as genetics, nationality, language, culture, and location begin to blur and become arbitrary.

As for the dance floor itself, heh. Japanese clubs and dance parties are so much difference. People don't dance close up together. They dance alone or in groups. The music they played ranged from 80's western music (think MJ), to hip hop from earlier in this decade (think 50cent and lil john).

Unfortunately, after the night was done, I followed the advice of some drunk friends and ended up taking the wrong train (go me :( ). By the time I hopped on it, it was already about midnight (the trains stop going at around that time), so by the time I got off, it was too late to re-correct my route and go home by train. I ended up taking a taxi for about $30 and going back to Sendai. Then I went to a Bagus Internet cafe and stayed for about $20 for 9hrs. (more on the convenience of Internet cafes in a bit)

Tokyo Trip

Original architecture of Tokyo Station.

Common ad for Marlboro black menthols here.. makes it hard for me to quit

Tokyo Metropolitan govt. building

Shinjuku (iirc), one of the busiest districts in Tokyo

More Shinjuku

More Shinjuku. Not only do they have a mock "Big Ben", but there's also a miniature of the Statue of Liberty in Odaiba.

A common Tokyo arcade. This isn't actually a good picture. It doesn't really do any justice to the "competitive feel" you get at some of the arcades. At some of them, when like 8 dudes are going at it in Tekken 6, and 8 other crazy dudes are entering Gundam cockpits to prepare for battle, you get a really lively feel; something akin to a nerdy fight club.

Common commercial toilet. Sometimes public ones are also this advanced.

I have no idea why these are so popular in some areas..

I think this was taken in the sleezy area of Shinjuku. Even though some districts, like Shinjuku, are kind of upper class, they're not without their sleezy areas. There were lots of gentleman's clubs around the region of this photo. Shortly after we took this I was passing by a gent who didn't look me in the eyes but said "sekkusu.." under his breath as I was walking by, I guess urging us to follow him as inconspicuously as possible.

Shibuya. This pic is for Leonstrife.

For another friend.

Tenshodo sighted? (feeling nerdy right now) This was in Ginza.

Me sighted? (guess we were pretty bored that day)

Shinjuku Gardens, a scenic tourist attraction.

Right outside the nearest station to central Harujuku, one of the fashion capitals of the world.

A fetching outfit from one of Harujuku's many unique outlets.

No tout!

Shibuya maybe?

Travel Secrets (Internet Cafes, etc)
If you don't have a lot of money, are traveling light, and have a party that doesn't mind roughing it, I will share with you one of the biggest secrets of urban exploration and tourism. Well, I suppose it's not so secret if you know a fair bit about Japan, but if you don't know much then here is my advice.

Don't stay at hotels. Youth hostels are a cheap alternative, but you have to book them months in advance. The answer is to stay at internet cafes. This will cost you between $10-30 dollars a night depending on the length of your stay and the quality of your "room." This is the ultimate baller deal. You get a shit-ton of manga and magazines that you can rent for your stay, no additional charge. There are free movies (porn included, if that's ur thing). You can buy snacks, and some cafes even allow you to purchase full course meals.

There are free drinks. This is one of the most epic parts.  I think these places cater to people who wish they coudl be 8years old their entire lives. I know that every time I go to a Bagus Cafe, I'm always on the strawberry milk right away. They've got that as well as banana milk. Cold soft drinks including cola and calpis (this is like a kind of sweet JP gatorade), hot and cold tea, milk tea, coffee, ice coffee, espresso, etc etc. Oftentimes there are free unlimited ice cream cones. And free cereal with an ample supply of sugar (I call this the 'gerbil bowl', because you have to basically go to the machine and turn this crank and it spits out the chips). There's, of course, internet. Often you'll get a pc, a ps2, and a tv. Depending on your deal, you might get a selection of various games/mmo's.

That's a pretty sweet deal, getting all that for what's usually $10-20. However there is a bit of a catch. You don't really get a room, lol. You get a high walled cubicle. Generally, for us, it's ok though. Most of the Internet cafes will have the "flat" option, where you get this padded leather flooring and a leather chair/pillow thing. It's plenty comfortable for the weary traveler. The other option is the open seat. This is like your basic quality lean back computer chair. I've slept in one of these... I much prefer the flat option, lol.

Oh yeah, and most of the computers come equipped with FFXI. Though even if you bring your security token, go ahead and enjoy playing on the JP POL :(. Even for me, being able to read katakana, it was difficult. No windower, and I couldn't get macros nor typed commands to work. I did an exp party as bard and rdm and played decently well, but had to manually select everything from the menu, reading the katakana, and do manual stave changes. You will also find that they have FFXI guidebooks. They'll be on various subjects, such as crafting, endgame, or general. But of course, they won't be in English.

But even if you do have to sleep in a padded cubicle, the other perks and the price really make these cafes win-win for some people. I should note that there's a really nice ambiance. Likely, the walls will be painted black and there will be no windows. People are always quiet and the staff always helpful and courteous. There's usually soft music playing in the background, such as Jazz. It's a really comfortable atmosphere. Oh yeah--there are also showers, and massage chairs that you can pay additionally to use.

I've got many pics, but as they're on my friends camera I only have a couple for uploading here atm.

This is Maboo, that we stayed at in Shinjuku. But there are many other types of Internet Cafes. My favorite is Bagus. Another nice one is "Personal Room," which is the following,

So this would be the personal room. The picture a bit up with the label that says "Ryx", the picture of the anime dude in the suit jacket, is essentially their mascot.

This isn't really an Internet cafe. But it's an option. Basically depending on your traditional Internet cafe, you might be able to stay 6-9 hours in either open seat or flat, for $10, or might have to upgrade from open seat to flat, or otherwise 6 to 9 or 12 hours, for a price of $20. The deal you want at the personal room is about $30 (on the blue sign above, you'll see that it's 3k yen for 12 hours). There are a number of good thing about the personal room and other places like it. Firstly, it's an actual /room/. It's a shitty room, but one nonetheless. You get a small bed and a little pillow, and a space with a computer chair and your computer. Now, we were highly interested in using it as our mock hotel. But it so turns out that most people (I think) use these places as some kind of fap-box?  Essentially you pay up front, and then some dude will ask you to select some number of DVD's from their selection down in the lobby. I tried declining kindly, but he simply repeated "3 DVDs!" Ok ; ;. Well I accepted and carried up some TV dramas they had (heroes) and maybe a couple of...other things.. (hey, when in Rome). Not only this.. but they give you a complementary fap can. There is no turning it down, they stick it in your bag along with your room card and dvd's. Sorry if this grosses anyone out :( but hey, I'm reporting.

But these are your options. You can pay possibly $10 a night for a full nights rest in a computer chair. Or you could pay possibly $10 for only 6 hours of sleep in a flat. Or you could pay $20 for a full 9+ hours in a flat. Or you could go to the personal room and pay $30. Now, let's compare this to hotels. The cheapest hotel I could get my hands on was $65 a night. Obviously the quality of the room was leaps and bounds above a cubicle. Only you don't get all the free drinks, games, etc. And in addition, hotels are less flexible. You have to check out by noon. At an Internet cafe you can come and go as you please. And one more bit--oftentimes you'll find Internet cafes right in the heart of the city. Discount hotels will usually be a bit farther out. Really though $65 is not terrible, but when you're on a budget trip, you want to save as much as possible. More importantly though, this was a rare find. Normally a cheap hotel will be barely less than $100/person/night. Standard ones will cost anywhere within $100-200. Some of these make for a really nice experience though. If you want to stay at a traditional Japanese Inn, where you can eat Japanese cuisine, bathe in a hot spring, sleep among walls of shoji and floors of tatami, there's nothing wrong with that--it's just a bit expensive.

Final note on this: where do you put your stuff?  If you have several suitcases and bags, and if your Internet cafe stay is only 9-12 hours, do you just lug around your stuff for the rest of the time?  Doesn't sound very fun. Well, fortunately, lockers are very popular in Japan. All of the major train stations will have spacious pay-to-rent lockers lined up, and they are easy to find. They're usually $3/day and can hold perhaps a big suitcase and a shopping bag or two. Other bigger ones might be available for $5. You'll get either a key or a key code, and you can come back and retrieve your stuff later. If your stuff has been in there for over 24 hours, you simply need to put in additional money before you can get your stuff out.

So going this route, it is very very possible to stay in Tokyo for $23/night as far as base expenses, some food (cereal, ice cream) and drink (soft drinks etc) being included. This is great as a base. Tokyo is still expensive, and you're going to need money to get around by train, bus, etc. Food will be pricey. Everything will be pricey. But having a cheap place to stay is an essential start.

As I don't have all my pics on me right now (friend is still uploading), I'm not gonna bother finishing this up or editing.

At an arcade in Shibuya. Dk, but I'm really amused by stuff like this.

School Dress Style
Most junior and high schools still do uniforms. I went out to a new shopping mall today and I came across a store that should have looked all too familiar to me. This is precisely how my kids dress,

Real California surfin', nig.

Dark Ixion Strategy

2009-10-23T06:23:14Z

Overview
So, I posted this on Allakhazam, but I decided I'll add it here as well. This is basically my strategy for how Thief should fight Ixion: what subs, WS's, and foods to use.., thief's general role for the fight.., a guide on Dark Ixion's TP moves and other particularities.., and strategies on how to best build TP and maximize (a safe) WS rate.

So.. I think this fight is a lot more involved than most others. This is possibly the best designed NM in the game. For a lot of jobs, fighting Dark Ixion is more complex than other fights. I don't think thief is any exception.

Illustration 2
24/7, the "NASA" shell on my server, wiping to Ixion

Thief's Role
*Apply TH (at end)
*Collaborate DD's as close to 1x/minute as possible
*Feint as close to 1x/2minute as possible
*Maximize WS Rate

The first 3 are, to a point, the most important. But they're self explanatory. Realistically, you won't be able to collab/feint every single time they're up, but as long as the time is spent doing damage efficiently, that's ok.

WS's
Mandalic Stab, Shark Bite, and Mercy Stroke. I'm guessing Mandalic Stab is nice on this, but I still don't have it ;/. For me, mercies /nin seem to do about 750 to 1k+ with only a yellow curry bun. /war and zerk brings it maybe 200dmg higher. With minuets or triple attack, etc, I've seen 1200-1700. It feels disappointing on this mob compared to what Sam/Thf's are putting out. I haven't tried shark bite but I don't imagine I'd see better results. However, I did see a screenshot with Archain doing about 2k. On Mandalic Stab vs Shark Bite, I'd be interested to know what you guys think. I have no experiences with either and haven't touched the math.

Subs
*/Drk - Obviously nice for spike damage. As for stun, DI (Dark Ixion) is immune.
*/Sam - Not a terrible option for TP gain. Med is always gauranteed TP, and storeTP is always nice. However I feel that this sub is more suitable for a fight like Khimaira, where you have no fodder mobs to TP on, and where you can't melee constantly and are sometimes even prohibited from doing so.
*/War - A good sub. This was my favorite sub for it before the rampant stance adjustment. Berserk is the drive behind it, obviously.
*/Nin - Not the typical HNM sub. Though sometimes it is useful. For this fight in particular, I feel it is the best sub. (1)The main reason to use this now is because utsusemi can absorb rampant stance (more on that later). (2)It's also nice for general defenses. You're going to be TP'ing up off of fodder mobs usually, and at some camps they can actually hit you hard. Ixion can also go after you, which is likely if you have a good WS and Collab rate. (3)This sub also usually allows you to kill mobs faster or build larger amounts of TP. If you're lucky enough to have Mandau/X's, X's will provide a damage boost on WS. (4)Speaking of WS, it is important to note that the WS's you'll use at DI will see a nice marginal boost from a damage offhand (+1.24 hits, the 0.24 being from brutal and capped triple). Mandalic Stab and Mercy Stroke are 1-hitters; and Shark Bite is a 2-hitter. Personal offnote, I feel that for mercy stroke in a merit situation /X's produces better avg #'s than /war; on DI it only seemed slightly higher with berserk up.
*/Mnk - (Click to see)

Food
*MarinaraPizza(+1) - Probably best if you intend to melee ixion for TP.
*YellowCurryBun,etc - Probably best if you intend to gain most/all of your TP from adds.
*Carbonara - Possibly your best choice overall. Gives you attack, storeTP, and very importantly, HP.

Ixion's TP Moves
Much of this is copied straight off of other wiki. These are listed in general order of danger,

For the following two attacks, Ixion will ready them by charging up. You won't know which he will use until seconds later.
Lightning Spear - Wide Cone Attack lightning damage (600-1500) and powerful Amnesia. Will/can pick a random person on the hate list for this attack. Not always the tank. After the charge if this move is selected and hate is pulled from another player, Dark Ixion will turn and Lightning Spear in their direction making MPKing DDs a thing to look out for.
What to do: This attack can be avoided if you're >20' away. You always want to be at this range when he uses it. So run! Don't chance hiding outside his field of vision within 20'. He can turn and aim the spear potentially anywhere at any time. The conal range is huge (90-180?). You also want to get beyond 20'. I recommend about 23-25'. Due to lag, etc, it's possible to get speared at 21'+, though it's rare. I've died at 25.7' once.
Wrath of Zeus - Area of Effect lightning damage around Ixion (400-1000) and Silence. Effective distance of about 14'.
What to do: This one isn't too dangerous. Seeing him charge almost always gives ample time to get 14'+ away.
You want to be at 20'+ away when he is charging. Only after you see lightning spear used, or "Dark Ixion readies Wrath of Zeus," should you dare to edge in.

Acheron Kick - Physical Cone Attack damage (700-1200+). Only contacts with those behind Dark Ixion when the move is executed. Dark Ixion CAN turn around to use this move on anyone with hate at any time after he begins to ready it, regardless of their original position or even distance.
What to do: This one is very dangerous. This makes meleeing Ixion particularly dangerous. This can one shot you easily through shadows (though HP merits have saved me many a time). sh*t, one time it even one-shotted me off of my chocobo while I was watching another LS fight it. If you're meleeing DI and it uses this, it's often best to strafe or diagonally run around it as opposed to running away. I imagine the distance it can hit you is 5'ish, but even if you're quick, it can still kick you if you're behind; possibly due to lag. Likewise if you melee DI, it's best to fight on his flanks.
This move is the main reason it's probably better to build TP off of adds, and also why you have to be very careful when you choose to WS.
*Trample - Charges forward, dealing high damage to,(400-1000).
What to do: I'm not entirely sure this move is TP-based. There is no message in the log when he begins it. It usually lasts about 10-20 seconds. He'll just run off in random directions and try to hit random targets. Again, lag can be an issue because you might not see this coming, and it might 'teleport.' Generally it is pretty easy to dodge.
Rampant Stance - Physical area of effect damage around Ixion (300-900). Occasionally causes Stun, Gravity, and/or Aspir.
What to do: When /nin, this move is one of a few 'freebies.' This is the perfect time to run in and SA, feint, WS, or finish building some TP. Oftentimes, this is a better time to do so than when he's doing nothing, since you don't know when or if he'll choose to Acheron Kick when you run in. Distance on this isn't high; maybe about 10'. This can absorb 2-3 shadows. Therefore it's best to always have 3. If it hits you and then stuns/gravs, you are at the mercy of a potential lightning spear, trample, etc, which will finish you off.
Damsel Memento - Recovers 5% (5,000) of his HP.
What to do: This is your other freebie. Another perfect time for SA, feint, WS, and TP-upping.

Dark Ixion "Aura"
This is an extremely important part of the fight to take note of, and is the cause of many a noob's demise. Very often, DI will put up an 'aura'. You'll see him glowing and little balls of light will be streaming up while it's on. There will be no message in the chat log when he does this, and it can last for several minutes. I'm not sure if it gets limitless TP during this, just high regain, or otherwise. In any event, it will TP very often. It can use any of its TP moves twice in succession. I do not believe I have seen it do three. Because of this, if you're focused, you can use the aura to your advantage. If you see him acheron kick 2x, you're probably good to go in and WS right after if you're very quick. The point is that when the aura is up, you have to be very careful. Expect it to use a TP move at any time.
Trick Attack
Can't really be done in this fight. Not only is it that your tanks and DI are going to always be moving, but it takes much less damage from the front. Attacks from the front will be reduced by possibly up to 75%.

General Strategy
I'll be repeating myself a little bit here, but there are some general bits of strategy which I think are important. It's one thing to know how to deal with his TP moves, but it's another to maximize your effectiveness. Generally you'll be going through this cycle throughout the fight,

--> Build TP --> WS -->
Same as with any fight. However, there are specific strategies for both building TP and WS'ing that are somewhat unique to the fight.

Building TP
There are two ways to do it. Either you can TP off of Ixion, or you can go fight surrounding mobs. Choosing to TP off Ixion is possible, but in the long run you are likely to die one or several times. A lot of the reason is luck-based. You can avoid getting TP'ed with skill, but lag and randomness will make death very likely over time. I'm not saying this isn't the best way to fight Ixion. But I've has much greater success building TP off of adds

If you're going to try TP'ing off DI himself, fight on his flanks rather than in front or behind him. Always be focused, and if you see it ready a Kick, try to strafe around it. If you see it charge, run away. At least this is one strategy. Another strategy that I think works even better is the dart-in dart-out strat. Essentially you want to build TP as fast as possible, but stay as far away as often as possible. You want to strike at maximum range of about ~5', and then immediately dart out to maybe ~10'. When you feel your delay is at about 0 until your next strike is ready, dark back in only momentarily to hit it at 5' and immediately dart out. Usually you will not want to stay locked on while you're doing this. This strategy can apply to many other mobs that you want to melee but also want to avoid taking a TP move from.

If you're going to be building TP off of adds and are /nin, you might enjoy having various options. There are 3 different offhand types which can work nicely:
(1)Traditional Dagger: Anything you would normally use. X's, Blau, Sirocco, Thief's Knife, etc. If you choose to melee Ixion, or if there are no surrounding mobs to build TP from, this is probably best. For building TP off of normal mobs, I prefer the following two choices.

(2)Multi-hit Weapon: If you have an m.kris or a ridill, you've just found a use for them. Ridill will allow you to kill adds faster and TP up quicker, allowing you to get back to WS'ing, collabing, feinting quicker. The quicker you TP, the more time you have to try WS'ing ixion without dying. I don't have an m.kris, but I imagine it is likewise nice for all of the extra TP you'll be gaining while not quickly depleting the mob's HP. It may be that one of the other of these two weapons will be superior based on the different HP levels of surrounding mobs at various camps. Likewise, you may find camps where a traditional dagger, or the following one, is better.

(3)Relic Dagger (Stage1): I thought of this idea after watching some Sams in my LS meleeing Ixion. Part of what makes 2h's powerful on him is their weapons high delay. They can run in and hit Ixion, run to a safe range while their delay trickles down, run back, and repeat. Our low delay defeats much of the purpose of this strategy. I figured with a high enough delay offhand, we could play Thf as if it were a 2-hander. However, the problem with the stage1 relic dagger is that it has 1 base damage, greatly increasing the chance that it will hit for 0. I did notice, however, that it worked nicely at some ixion camps,

This is normal TP return from a WS. This essentially leads to a "4-round build".

With this Sam roll, we have a 3-round -- actually, a 2.5-round build.

This was yesterday and yeah.. it was fun. A single WS and a single melee round on a TP mob brought me back over 100TP.

When I say "x-round build," I am including the WS as one of the 'rounds'. It is possible to get a 3-round build without sam's roll, but you need a lot of StoreTP. I think it's around 25 with blau or mandau. I have a list of combinations for getting this amount, and if anyone wants, I can post it. Here's just an example (I think this = 25): Rajas, Brutal, Skadi Legs, Cobra Body, Carbonara.

The niche of this build seems to be at camps where the surrounding mobs (1)have very low HP and can die in a round or two of attacks, and/or (2)are very few and spread far apart. In these situations, I tend to build TP much faster than with a traditional dagger, and much safer. Where I would be missing ixion, getting slow TP gain, and having to go running every time it prepared a dangerous TP move, I can go fight a ~level1 mandy or two in WestSaruta[S] and gain 100+.

There are two big disadvantages to this. (1)You don't always finish a mob off right as you get 100tp. (2)If you don't finish the mob off and go to WS ixion, you'll have a mob following you. Regarding #1, there are two things you can do. Either you can wait out another 10 seconds'ish+ of round delay to kill it. Or you can use a dart, xbow, gun, etc to finish it right away. This is probably best, if possible. Regarding #2, you'll need to exercise caution. People get overly worried and annoyed when you're running around DI with a mob or two chasing you. But it can be slightly dangerous. Some mobs have annoying TP moves. Tigers can aoe paralyze, and treants can aoe sleep, for example. Also, if your mob is chasing you and takes you down to 2 or less shadows, this may cause you to eat a rampant stance.

Dark Ixion can spawn in the following zones. Your camps may differ from the ones my LS uses, but I prefer to use the above weapon combos in the following zones respectively:
(1)Traditional Dagger: Jugner Forest, Rolanberry Fields
(2)Multihit: Batallia Downs, East Ronfaure, Rolanberry Fields, Fort Karugo-Narugo, Grauberg
(3)Relic Dagger: West Sarutabaruta, Fort Karugo-Narugo, Grauberg
These are just examples based on my experiences. I might switch it up depending on camp or mob supply. But it will depend on the amount of nearby mobs and their HP.

WS'ing
So you've built TP on mobs and you are ready to WS. It'd be awesome if you could just WS whenever but, as mentioned, this is a dangerous fight, so you always have to take caution.

After you've built TP your collab and feint timers may be back up. So use those and then get into range. Engage ixion and stand at roughly a range of 10', and wait for him to WS. There are several "good moments" to go in, and many more that aren't. If it just TP'ed and you can get in there quick, you're probably ok unless there's aura. If it didn't TP just a short time ago, it's probably not safe. So you'll have to wait and one of several scenarios will happen
(1)It will use a random WS while aura is down. You're may or may not be ok to go WS right after if you're quick. (2)It will ready rampant stance. Go in, WS and get hit by the stance, and take advantage of the fact that it's standing still. Reapply your shadows after. (3)It will use Damsel Memento. Another freebie to go in and WS. (3)Aura will be up and it will do a TP-move other than these two. It's still not safe yet, keep waiting. (4)Aura is up and it will do 2 Acheron kicks in a row. Usually you're ok to go in there and WS quick. The worst that should happen will be a charge move, in which case you should be able to run away in time. (5)It will charge, you will run 20' away, and it will ready Wrath of Zeus. If you want, you can edge in to ~'14 as it's using the move. If it uses lightning spear instead, be careful cuz it might use a second one.

There are more scenarios as to what might happen. But the above are very common. A big part of the reason to use /nin for Ixion is because it greatly increases the chances that you'll have a safe opportunity to WS, as rampant stance is a very common TP move. So since you don't have to lose time on survival, your WS rate improves noticeably. Further, it opens you up to some interesting offhand choices. ^^

Crit Rate: Cracked?

2009-10-07T16:01:07Z

No. Check out this ongoing thread for current data and theorycrafting.

Not going to claim it's necessarily so yet. However, as the result of pondering a necro-bumped thread on BG, I stumbled across some very aesthetically pleasing numbers that appear to match the best crit testing data we have available. It was only after I'd started to play with some ideas that I realized how well it fit.

Crit Rate = 5% / (2 - dex/agi)

The appeal of this is,
- its simplicity, and
- how well it fits our data.

Not only does it account with the crit cap from Searain's data but it also reflects the non-linear ponderings (2) that many others had. Here's how it looks from paper to formula to spreadsheet to graph:

For those that aren't up to speed, crit rate is essentially a function of your Dex over the mob's Agi.

That last chart made by Masamune, and shows my theoretical formula as it stacks up against an approximation of Searain's data (the model in mind was a specifically tiered one). The red and black lines are attempts made at complex formulas that match the data perfectly. But my proposal does not attempt to match the data. It is merely independent, but yet matches very closely. Since the data nor it's approximation are fully accurate, this is not to be discouraging.

As of right now, this has not been specifically tested. (1)Verification on lower base agi mobs and (2)testing for possible level correction would be ideal.

But for now, it looks good because it's incredibly simple, fits our data nicely, and is good for accounting for a large scope of the game (not just merit parties). All-in-all, I have a very strong feeling that this formula is, if not "it", going to be integrally related to whatever the actual formula could turn out to be.

edit: October 23rd
What more is needed to solve the crit rate model?
So far it looks like the correct model is going to be a "piecewise" one, with the cap of crit being at dDex (your dex - mob's agi) of ~48-51. We're not sure what the floor is yet. It could be dDex 0, dDex 10, dDex 12, or something else.

Right now testing is needed. Some ideal mobs would be greater colibri, lesser colibri, EM steelshells, goldfish in sea (if you can figure out how to hit them for 0 and can find their AGI).

Testing is needed at critical points of 40dDex, 12dDex, and lower. After getting a working model on mobs that are above level 60, it might be nice to try a test on much lower level mobs.

If anyone would like to contribute, just PM me.

Man/Ridill vs GA/Nin vs Swordchucks

2009-09-18T07:10:33Z

September 18th

A work in progress

Overview
Comparing Warrior Builds -- Why?
I normally look into the mechanics of my jobs if I commit to them. Or otherwise I browse the forums to find out the consensus on topics related to the job, and the reasons behind said consensus vs other opinions. (To anyone that's ever gotten into a "what's better" or "what's the case" argument in FFXI, consulting a reliable forum, if not a wiki article, is by far the best thing you can do unless you're already 100% certain).

Recently, I grinded my war from 38-75 in about 9 days. East Ronafure [S] w/ a PL is entirely killer. It was my first time going there and now I know that at 38+ I'm pretty much not going to ever exp anywhere else. Now that I've got war 75, geared it well, and have started to skill up, it's time for me to make sure I know the facts before I start DPS'ing. Namely, what are my best weapon choices?

Irritatingly enough, though, I cannot find any reasonable consensus. If it was War/Sam vs War/Nin, that'd be another beast. But my concern is specifically War/Nin. One might question that, but the only reason I leveled war was simply to put use to my recently obtained ridill, and for warrior, ninja sub on easy to mid-range mobs is supposed to be ridill's niche. I didn't level warrior to use it in all its respects. I wouldn't have cared much to level it otherwise. So I'm specifically looking to maximize a build for /nin low/mid range; stuff like: merits, city dyna, nyzul, salvage (actually not rly, lolwar in salvage), limbus, and any misc NM's that are similar level. It might also be useful for low-tier einherjar (though GA vs boss).

On the warrior forums, there are a lot of GA toters who go so far as saying it's always superior to any "dual wield" build, even when /nin, even on exp mobs. I find it interesting that people say dual wield and not "ridill build," because no DW build without a ridill really compares to one with one. There are some warriors who concede that for /nin on exp level mobs, man/ridill is superior. That's been my opinion as well for a long time. But yet there are others, shockingly more than a few (and more than support man/ridill), that say the answer is "swordchucks." I believe that means Ridill/Joy though I don't know if it can mean any combo of swords. So quite a few seem to be saying Ridill/Joy. I met someone with armadaberk who also parsed very well, swearing by Organics/Ridill.

So I'm frustrated. This kind of thing would never fly on the thief forums -.-. Well, I guess it would, there's still an X's vs Blau debate, as well as Fane vs Sirocco and all that. But X's vs Blau is harder to solve. I would think that there would be a clear backed up consensus on this by now, but there is not so... My goal is,

To explore the math behind a few builds. Namely I'm interested in Man/Ridill vs Ridill/Joy. But also I'd like to do Perdu and Organics/Rid. That's right, war's!--I'm in yer base, doin your math. Of course it's always good to back up w/ parses, but I'm sure I'll enjoy exping after this is all done, so that'll come about naturally anyway.

Dk how long this will take to finish but it shouldn't be anywhere near as complicated as this.

September 28th
What makes this comparison different
I finally got around to completing this. This was not nearly so complicated as the SA/TA project, but it is still fairly complex. It probably is the cleanest and high level applied game math next to the sa/ta thing, the next closest being a thf/nin vs thf/war project I did a long time ago when I was still new to the math.

There are numerous problems with this comparison. There are bound to always be problems with any applied math, the most obvious of which are the settings chosen. How do you choose which character and mob stats to use? What about player behavior? Will the comparison you use be apply to much else of the game--if so, how general in scope is it?

Nonetheless this is probably the most sophisticated comparison between builds like these to-date. When I said there were problems, it's true that there are numerous, but this comparison cuts out many many inefficiencies that I'm sure have been prevalent in other attempts. That's because it accounts for so much. It accounts for specific foods and buffs, in precisely the area we're concerned with. Nobody really cares about Man/Ridill vs Swordchucks vs GA/Nin on anything higher than merit level. And on on anything merit level, we're usually going to have some buffs. This comparison accounts for precise multi-attack rates for all builds. In the case of 2 weapons, it accounts for each weapon's specific contribution to total damage, in terms of DoT, pDif, accuracy, and tp gain. Crit is accounted for. The WS formulas account for multi-attack probability as well as the fact that the offhand is weaker (in the case of the DW builds). It also accounts for the difference in berserk and aggressor down and up, taking averages of both.

There are probably two things unique about this comparison that make it stand out above others. Firstly, this uses a very real perspective on what damage over time actually is for (most) melee DD:

A Simple Formula (at first glance)
DPS =

(Dmg/Round * #Rounds(ws->100) + WSdmg)
/ (wsRate + wsPause)

It's a pretty simple formula but one I haven't seen applied before. Oftentimes when people do damage comparisons, they choose arbitrary time frames. Some will say "this comparison is for a minute's worth of damage," or "this comparison is for 1000 attack rounds," but that isn't really necessary. For most DD's, we simply have to account for the time it takes to do a single damage cycle, from the end (or beginning) of one WS to the other. Take the total damage done in that time, and divide it by the total time spent.

"WS Pause"
The other unique part of the comparison is the "wsPause" italicized above. I don't think I've ever seen this mentioned or used on forums before, but it's actually been a huge oversight on our part. People tend to say things like "it takes me 15 seconds to get TP to WS" but entirely forget about the time it requires for the actual WS to go off. Back in the day when mobs took minutes to kill or 100tp was attained in a minute, this wasn't as much of an issue. But today when DD's can get TP anywhere from 6~20 seconds (roughballing), the set time it takes to actually perform the WS is significant. In the case of Sam and War/Sam with various popular(ish) builds like Perdu, FortAxe, Hagun, Soboro, Rindomaru, etc, and given the high level of Haste and StoreTP options today, WS time is significant. Let's just say a Soboro sam gets TP in six seconds. If it takes 3 seconds to get the actual WS animation off, then 1/3 of his time is spent in WS animation (this is just hypothetical). So I think this is rather significant and it should be incorporated into any applied math where it is relevant.

The only problem for now is that I/we don't know the length of the actual "ws Pause." The number I used was 3 seconds. But I think it might be less. I really don't know. If anyone wants to come out there with a stop watch or some other method of coming up with a precise figure, it would be easy to edit my results to compensate. Either way it would be very good for anyone to know.

Data
Formula:
Dmg from TP'ing from average WS return, to at least 100, plus the WS, to the end of the WS animation.

DPS= (TP + WS dmg) / (real average time) =
(Dmg/Round * #Rounds(ws->100) + WSdmg)
/ (wsRate + wsPause)

food and attack formula double check
attack497 ; 408*1.25 = ; 358*1.25 + 50 = 497
full formula is ..(base attack)*(berserk + chaos)+/*food
berserk and aggressor duration 3m, recast 4m10s, on 72% of the time

Notes - even acc is 75% hit rate. 4acc cratio penalty per level. mob evasion levels include agi in formula; they're totals.
When STR-VIT value is high, fSTR can be approximated by (your STR - monster VIT+4)/4

Unanswered Queries
*how long is it between the execution of a WS (readies) and the end of the WS animation? (going w/ 3 seconds for now)
(note: This could be one reason why 2h/sam is so powerful. fast tp gain means that ws time is more significant, which means that more powerful ws's are also more significant)

Problems
Doesn't account for aggressor up/down builds, nor other alternate TP builds. Only uses one build. Only accounts for a single mob avg (7 mamool@ mamool stg pt). Builds not included for comparison: singlewield ridill(lulz), organics/ridill, fort axe, and more. Doesn't include warcry. Problems with calculating attack; that is, using the formulas my attack in-game (no buffs) was higher than it should have been by a couple points. Vit has been guessed. Due to laziness and time I was inconsistent with which functions I would truncate. Normally I wouldn't truncate any for a comparison, though. WS numbers come out lower than parsed. Various multi-hit scenarios towards accumulation of 100tp not accounted for; likewise excess TP-gain from multihit not accounted for--these two factors could balance a little actually. Likewise varying tp returns not accounted for in this scenario. WS-Pause (3 seconds) is an approximation. Surplus tp can reduce maneater dmg; not accounted for. pDif level correction was calculated for a level 82 mob instead of 83 and it is too much work to go back and fix it now--plus it doesn't matter that much. Crit rates used are theoretical. fStr function may also be strictly theoretical. Doesn't account for possibility of 2hander to use red curry with these settings. Doesn't account for king justice's rumored unknown critical-like spike damage. Only accounts for 2-hits of KJ allowing proc for multi-hit (is this correct?). Tier2 warrior merits not taken into account.

Settings
Mob: This was a tough choice. I used the data here, http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html?fjob=12&mid=121778995381071797&num=36&page=1
And after awhile, I decided to go w/ a lvl83 "MMJ average" (7mobs).
Stats are, Lvl83, 337def, 323 eva,353avg eva, 84agi, 80vit(guess!),
Acc Cap: 425acc
~There may be some question w/ these stats.

Food: MarinaraPizza+1,11%acc, 55atk (for ridill builds), YellowCurry 75atk, 5str(GA)
Debuffs: None
Buffs: Double March, Unbuffed Chaos Roll, Haste
Unbuffed chaos roll: (avg of rolls 2-11), 15.2% (avg of rolls 4, &6-11), 17.71%

Vorpal Blade: crits, 4hit (5 /nin), str30%, 1ftp, +0-10%crit?
Rampage: crits, 5hit (6 /nin), str30%, 0.5ftp, +0-10%crit?
King's Justice: no-crit, 3hit, 50%str, 1ftp,

Maneater/Ridill
Other gear: fire bomblet, turban, pcc, brutal/suppa, hauby+1, dusk gloves, toreador/rajas, cuchy, speed, byakko, aurum
merits: 8sword/4axe, 5zerk/aggressor, 5str; maneater: 18atk,5acc
**with sword build i get 400 by calcs but actually get 408; 326 axe but get 329***
aurum = 3dex, 5acc, 5atk, 2%haste

DoT Variables
Atk: [(74+15)str/2 +8+20+(10trait) + 277(axe)//271(sword)*0.9] +23gear =
350 offhand, 356 mainhand base,
*add maneater &aurum
372 offhand, 378 mainhand base
1.25(zerk)*72% = 1.18
** (*1.18 + 0.1771)+55 ??
off 560, main568
Acc tot: dex/2 +20 +combat skill(axe=277;sword=271)*0.9 + equip +aggressor(25) ))*food11%
off318+equip50+aggressor25 *1.11 = 436
main323+50+25agg *1.11 = 442
off318+equip50*1.11 = 408
main323+50*1.11 = 414
fStr: 1.25
BD: man(49), rid(40)

acc%:
main high95%,low89.5%,avg= (95*0.72 + 89.5*0.28) = 93.46%
off high95%,low86.5%,avg= (95*0.72 + 86.5*0.28) = 92.62%
pDif: off 1.287, main 1.301
swing vol(maneater): 1.15
swing vol(ridill): wiki30:50:20, 15% da, 25.5 : 57.5 : 17 = 1.915
crit%: 11.5%
fBD(BD + fStr): man(50.25), rid (41.25)

end delay/round (sec): (236+276)*0.8*0.44 = 180delay = 3sec
dmg/round: 179.1
off, 41.25*1.915multi*0.9262acc*(1.287*0.885 + 2.287*0.115) = 102.6
main, 50.25*1.15*0.9346acc*(1.301*0.885 + 2.301*0.115) = 76.5
dot dps: 179.1/3 = 59.7

WS Variables
-Rate Variables-
TP/hit: 5.8
tp/round: 5.8*(1.15 + 1.915) = 17.7
ws tp return (/nin = 6hit): 15

rounds (not w/ ws) -> 100+: 5
ws pause(constant): 3?

ws rate (secs ws->100+): 5*3/acc-avg(0.929) = 15/0.929 = 16.15
acc-avg=
avg-hit-contribution1.915 + 1.15 = 3.065, ridill%=62.5%, man=37.5%
avg-acc-contribution, ridill 62.5%*0.9262=57.9 + 37.5*0.9346=35.0 =92.9%

-Spike Variables-
Atk: [(74+54)str/2 +8+20+(10trait) + 277(axe)//266(sword)*0.9] +40gear =
381 offhand, 391 mainhand base,
*add maneater
399 offhand, 409 mainhand base
1.25(zerk)*72% = 1.18
** (*1.18 + 0.1771)+55 ??
off 596, main610

Acc tot: dex120/2 +20 +combat skill(axe=277;sword=266)*0.9 +10(gorget) +equip28 +aggressor(25*0.72) ))*food11% =
off319+equip38+aggressor25 *1.11 = 424
main329+38+25agg *1.11 = 435
off319+equip38*1.11 = 396
main329+38*1.11 = 407

ftp(constant): 0.6

BD: 49, 40
fStr: 11
acc%:
main high95%,low86.0%,avg= (95*0.72 + 86*0.28) = 92.48%
off high94.5%,low80.5%,avg= (94.5*0.72 + 80.5*0.28) = 90.58%
pDif: off1.351, main1.376
avg #hits: (no acc) 1.15 + 1.15 + 3 = 5.3
crit%: 17%
wsc: (74+54)*0.3*0.83 = 31

ws dmg:
[0.9248*(49 + 11 + 31)*0.6ftp*(1.376*0.83 + 2.376*0.17) + 0.9248*(49+11+31)*4.15*(1.376*0.83 + 2.376*0.17) + 0.9058(40+11+31)*1.15*(1.351*0.83 + 2.351*0.17)]
= (0.9248*(84.4 + 583.8) + 0.9058*143.4) = 747.8

Total Formula
DPS =
(Dmg/Round * #Rounds(ws->100) + WSdmg)
/ (wsRate + wsPause)

(179.1 * 5 + 747.8) / (16.15 + 3) = 1643.3/19.15 = 85.8

Ridill/Joy
DoT Variables
Atk: [(74+15)str/2 +8+20+(10trait) + 271(sword)*0.9] +23gear =
350 ,*add aurum, 355
1.25(zerk)*72% = 1.18
** (*1.18 + 0.1771)+55 ??
536
Acc tot: dex/2 +20 +combat skill(sword=271)*0.9 + equip +aggressor(25*0.72) ))*food11%
319+equip48+aggressor25 *1.11 = 435
319+equip48 *1.11 = 407
fStr: 1.25
BD: main(40), off(35)

acc%:
high95%,low86%,avg= (95*0.72 + 86*0.28) = 92.48%
pDif: 1.239
swing vol(joy): wiki 55:45, 10% da, 49.5 : 50.5 = 1.505
swing vol(ridill): wiki30:50:20, 10% da, 27 : 55 : 18 = 1.91
crit%: 12.5%
fBD(BD + fStr): main(41.25), off(36.25)

end delay/round (sec): (236+224)*0.8*0.44 = 161 = 2.68sec
dmg/round: 168.2
ridill 41.25*1.91*0.9248acc*(1.239*0.875 + 2.239*0.125) = 99.4
joytoy 36.25*1.505*0.9248acc*(1.239*0.875 + 2.239*0.125) = 68.8
dot dps: 172.8 / 2.68 = 62.76

WS Variables
-Rate Variables-
TP/hit: 5.2
tp/round: 5.2*(1.91 + 1.505) = 17.7
ws tp return (/nin = 5hit): 13

rounds(not w/ ws) -> 100+: 5
ws pause(constant): 3?

ws rate (sec -> 100+): 5*2.68/acc-avg(0.9248) = 14.49

-Spike Variables-
Atk: [(74+54)str/2 +8+20+(10trait) + 266(sword)*0.9] +40gear =
381
1.25(zerk)*72% = 1.18
** (*1.18 + 0.1771)+55 ??
572
Acc tot: dex120/2 +20 +combat skill(sword=266)*0.9 +10(gorget) +equip23 +aggressor(25*0.72) ))*food11% =
319+equip33+aggressor25 *1.11 = 418
319+equip33*1.11 = 390

ftp(constant): 1.1

BD: 40, 35
fStr: 11
acc%: high91.5%,low77.5%,avg= (91.5*0.72 + 77.5*0.28) = 87.6%
pDif: 1.308
avg #hits: 1.15 + 1.15 + 2 = 4.3
crit%: 17%
wsc: (74+54)*0.3*0.83 = 31

ws dmg: 0.876acc*
[(40 + 11 + 31)*1.1ftp*(1.308*0.83 + 2.308*0.17) + (40+11+31)*3.15*(1.308*0.83 + 2.308*0.17) + (35+11+31)*1.15*(1.308*0.83 + 2.308*0.17)]
= 0.876*(133.3 + 381.8 + 130.9) = 565.9

Total Formula
DPS =
(Dmg/Round * #Rounds(ws->100) + WSdmg)
/ (wsRate + wsPause)

(168.2 * 5 + 565.9) / (14.49 + 3) = 1406.9/17.49 = 80.4

Perdu Voulge/pole-grip
DoT Variables
yellow curry (75atk, 5str)
perud/pole,bomblet,turban,torque,brutal/merman,haub+1,dusk, rajas/toreador,cerb+1,speed,byakko,aurum
Atk: [(74+15+5food)str*0.75 +8+20+(10trait) + (292+torque7)(ga)*0.9] +59gear =
436
1.25(zerk)*72% = 1.18
436*(1.18 + 0.1771)+75
666
Acc tot: dex(76+29)*0.75 +20 +combat skill(ga+torque299)*0.9 + equip +aggressor(25*0.6) ))
367+equip35+aggressor25 = 427
367+equip35 = 402
fStr: 2.5
BD: 96

acc%: high95%,low83.5%,avg= (95*0.6 + 83.5*0.4) = 90.4%
pDif: 1.552
swing vol: 1.22
crit%: 9.5%
fBD(BD + fStr): 98.5

end delay/round (sec): 504*0.44=221 = 3.683sec
dmg/round: 178.9
98.5*1.22*0.904acc*(1.552*0.905 + 2.552*0.095) = 178.9
dot dps: 178.9 / 3.683 = 48.57

WS Variables
-Rate Variables-
TP/hit: 14.5
tp/round: 14.5*1.22 = 17.69
ws tp return (3hit): 16?

rounds -> 100+: 5
**how accurate is it to say this?
ws pause(constant): 3?

ws rate (sec -> 100+): 5*3.683/acc-avg(0.904) = 20.37
-Spike Variables-
Atk: [(74+54)0.75str +8+20+(10trait) + 292(ga)*0.9] +50gear =
446
1.25(zerk)*72% = 1.18
** (*1.18 + 0.1771)+75
680
Acc tot: dex120*0.75 +20 +combat skill(ga=292)*0.9 +10(gorget) +28equip +aggressor(25*0.6) )) =
372+equip28+10+aggressor25 = 435
372+equip28+10 = 410

ftp(constant): 1.1

BD: 96
fStr: 11
acc%: high95%,low87.5%,avg= (95*0.72 + 87.5*0.28) = 92.9%
pDif: 1.601
avg #hits: 3.44?
crit%: 0%
wsc: 53

ws dmg: 0.929acc*1.601pDif
[(96 + 11 + 53)*1.1ftp + (96+11+53)*2.44]
= 0.929*1.601(176 + 390.4) = 842.4

Total Formula
DPS =
(Dmg/Round * #Rounds(ws->100) + WSdmg)
/ (wsRate + wsPause)

(178.9 * 5 + 842.4) / (20.37 + 3) = 1736.9 / 23.37 = 74.32

Closing Notes

Party 1
War/Nin Ridill/Joy (Sham), War/Nin Perdue (Rescom), Drk (Sige)

Party 2
War/Nin Ridill/Joy (Sham), War/Nin Perdue (Rescom), War/Nin (Viscount)

I actually think parsing is important. I've had a bad rap in some circles on my server because some think I'm always trying to "be the best" or "be an ass," when very often I parse just for data. Like here for example. As far as choosing how to play this game, or how to gear, I think a combination of (1)math, (2)parse, and (3)intuition is always best. I don't think any of these should be neglected if possible. Parses can be used to verify math and vice versa. Generally, parsing is good for zeroing in and "parsing" close relationships from not-so-close. For example, if we wanted to compare Bravura War/Sam vs Mnk/Nin (lol), if someone was really questioning it, it would only take a parse. You wouldn't need to go into game math there. On the flipside, for comparing two singular pieces of gear for example, the numbers are usually going to be too close to show up on a parse, and math is better.

I still haven't finished skilling up Axe and GA, so I've been using swordchucks. I also wanted to try it since several people on the war forums have recommended it, as well as others in-game. It did about how I expected. It was fairly close to this GA/Nin in my LS, and also got very similar numbers in comparison to an unmerited Maneater/Ridill war in my LS.

The major difference in gear between myself and Rescom is that I have speed belt and full heca+1, and he's got askar head, aurum feet, and e.body. He also has capped merits. I had 7or8 sword in the first party and 1or2 in bergressor by the second party. For both parties, Rescom used Red Curry and I used Marinara Pizza +1. I played roughly the same in both parties, but Rescom told me he "played for the parse" in the second party and really pushed it to the limit. For that second party, he did not voke or use ichi. The difference in this can be seen in WS rates. In the first party, I did 40% more WS's. In the second party, I only did 20% more. By the math in this post, I should in fact do roughly 20% more. Another thing that could have given me an advantage in the first parse was buffed chaos roll, which would have given me a greater marginal pDif increase. Other than that we played equally aggressive.

Conclusions
Perdu Voulge: (178.9 * 5 + 842.4) / (20.37 + 3) = 1736.9 / 23.37 = 74.32
Ridill/Joyeuse ("Swordchucks"): (168.2 * 5 + 565.9) / (14.49 + 3) = 1406.9/17.49 = 80.4
Maneater/Ridill: (179.1 * 5 + 747.8) / (16.15 + 3) = 1643.3/19.15 = 85.8

The comparison uses yellow curry bun for voulge, pizza for others. Voulge had 8GA merits. Ridill/Joy had 8sword. For Man/Ridill, I put in 8sword but only 4axe, so with 8axe this would have been higher. GA had berserk/double-attack for merits. The DW builds had bergressor merits. Most of the equip was the same, but for example for GA I put in fort torque merman's earring and brutal and cerb+1 for meleeing. For Man/Rid I used PCC, cuchulain's mantle, and brutal/suppa. For Swordchucks, I replaced brutal with hollow earring. Not perfect but I tried.

For mob, I averaged up the stats of every type of mamool found at merit locations.

Buffs were Double March, Haste, and unbuffed chaos roll (avg of rolls 4, &6-11 = 17.71%).

I didn't account for piercing damage, but this can easily taken from the data. If Joytoy took advantage of a piercing bonus 100% of the time, the difference would bring Swordchucks to 85.4. At colibri, it's probably feather tickle that creates a disparity between WS & DoT, allowing swordchucks to pull ahead. But there's also polearm.

Speaking of polearm, I did choose to neglect it. Similarly I neglected other builds that some people advocate like Fort Axe, Organics/Ridill, etc. The reason I left them out was simply time. Time and that I don't think they're tempting enough to touch on.

Below is a copypasta from my messy wordpad. If anyone is very bored, the math is there for the checking. Should be good though. I don't blame anyone for being confused looking at it though, and I don't really feel like formatting it to look any clearer -.-;;

Randomness from life in 日本

2009-09-13T07:02:10Z

This is where I'll dump Japan/Japanese related stuff that might be mildly interesting or humorous.

May '09, Kirin :: キリン,
means "giraffe" in Japanese. I was surprised to find this out today.

= ?

epac

June 7th, Japanese Words
Also found out that the Japanese word for "dentist" and "loser" are one and the same. No joke; the word is "へいしゃ" ("heisha").

July 14th, ケイタイ は気をつけてね!

Today at my high school there was a presentation on the 'harmful effects of けいたい (keitai :: cell phone) usage at school.'

I can read katakana slowly but I caught the worlds "online game" (オンラインゲイム) and "final fantasy" (ファイナルファンタジ) on the presentation screen. I'm guessing that was a mistake. I don't really know what's out there for FF cell phone wise. I thought there were talks long ago of releasing something which allowed you to manipulate your FFXI account while on the cell phone long ago, but nothing came of them. And as far as I know, that's the only FF online game. Perhaps they labeled a single player game by mistake, such as this one,

, as seen on this site. But maybe not. I don't really know too much about the FF world outside of XI.

September 8th, I eat like a Galka now
I ate raw red horse meat last week:

And I ate Gyutan (beef tongue) today,

Notice how the meat is serrated. Yum.

September 13th, Seafood is tasty?
Tried Eel for the first time today, 'Tempura de'

I've normally got a phobia of seafood, or just don't like it period. But I had to admit this was quite delicious; easily the tastiest sea-cuisine I've eaten thus far.

Also checked out the Sendai Jazz Festival this weekend. Was kinda disappointed that they started shutting junk down so early (10pm'ish). In the states, something like this might be goin till the wee hours of the mornin. So for hangout stuff to do, people usually go get trashed and do karaoke after events like these. Clubs aren't really very big here. In Tokyo I'm sure, but there aren't very many big nightclubs in Sendai. One of my Japanese friends mentioned that one particular club was the best she knew of in Sendai. Lame thing is that that club is realistically 10x smaller than the biggest club back in Pensacola, and Sendai is like 10x bigger than P'cola o.O. Not that I am a major clubber, but it's nice at least havin that option.

Wasn't all Jazz. There was some rock and latin music as well.

I went to Tokyo this summer, and I have so many pictures, but my computer died recently and I don't have the means of getting those pics on the Internet yet :(

September 17th, Japanese bugs are quite creepy
Anyone that knows me in-the-realz would know that I have 2 phobias: (1) seafood, sea creatures, (2) bugs :(

In Japan, these are called げじげじ (gejigeji). And as it turned out, one of these little bastards was in my house last night. Freaking creeped me out. I could've smashed it, but I was gonna trap it with some tupperware or the like and just put it outside (lifelong bug-pacifist). But it managed to scurry away. Fortunately doesn't seem they're harmful to humans, from what I've read.

I'm not gonna lie. I could (and possibly will) do a whole entry just on Japanese bugs. Roaches may not be commonplace here, but they've got everything else. And every bug in Japan is bigger than its American counterpart. It's surprising and seems to be across the board. Bees, hornets, moths, beetles, centipedes.. it's all just bigger here. And there has been more than one I couldn't identify.

The above pic is from wiki. Below is a pic my friend took in Odaiba last month. I have a cooler picture on my digicam, but the computer that I mainly use is having problems. It just came back to me by post yesterday after they'd 'fixed' it. I booted it once, restarted, and am now getting the old "hard drive not found" error. So...sending it back to them...thanks dell.

freaky

This little bugger is a 'cicada'. You know those bug-noises you tend to hear in anime, usually around dawn/dusk when the main character is going to/from school?  That's these guys. And they are damn freaky to see 1st person. With wings included, these things are maybe 2-3 inches long. And they crawl and fly around like it's nobody's business. When visiting Odaiba, Tokyo last month, one of these guys flew past me, into a wall, and then fell dead on the floor. It looked a little different than this guy, but I do think it is of the same species. I took a pic with it--but again, waiting on my dell to be fixed -.-

September 28th, Japanese bugs are quite creepy

WHAT IS THIS!?!?
My co-workers couldn't even tell me :/

October 28th, More Creepy Bugs

More evidence that if it's a bug, and it's in Japan...it's going to be bigger.
October 19th
More food-related. Yeah, this is why I tell people I hate Japanese pizza..

October 22nd, So the JP's are fond of retro American family sitcoms
When I first arrived at my apartment here in Tagajo, I turned on my TV. What did I see?  This:

Of course, I later learn that there is another popular family sitcom that the Japanese watch. My coworker tells me he gets angry every time his daughter switches off the news to watch it instead,

Why so popular?  I do not know.

October 28th, Porno Stores: the lighthouses of urban life
I wonder if the other 50% of the human population feels slightly offended by these urban Meccas; sometimes I feel offended for them,

Not an uncommon site.

Totally different note, I tried take-out grilled eel over rice recently. Unfortunately I didn't like it :(--it was no eel tempura.

November 1st, Manju and Baozi
More food. Manju and Baozi are chinese-style stuffed buns. They'll be can be stuffed with either/and/or meat, seafood, curry, vegetables, or more. Manju is more like a typical bread bun, while baozi is as if wrapped in like a flour tortilla; not quite but that's what I'd compare it to, lol. The baozi is what I'd gotten at the school festival recently, made by our school's Chinese teacher. Manju is probably more popular in Japan, and it seems like it's being sold in a lot of the conbini (convenience stores) as of late (guess it's a fall/winter food).

Here's what manju looks like,

This one is called "Nikuman" (niku = meat; man = manju).

November 2nd, Japan has just now begun using a jury system?
Yeah, apparently so. Here's a good NYT article on the subject. :3)

Melee, TP feeding, Subtle Blow, and Thieves

2009-07-30T14:07:32Z

I don't have work for the next month. My non-dinosaur of a computer died a few days ago and is currently in for repairs and the one I'm currently using doesn't even meet the specs to play FF. Nothing is really happening IRL for another week. So I'm going to try to think of this as an opportunity and finish yet another task on my checklist of things I'd like to contribute or figure out.

To get an idea of how lazy I am, I basically finished this a long time ago--like over 6 months ago. I just never got around to doing some final tweaks before posting it.

Looking over it, I'd made a few small errors and inconsistencies (now fixed). Some things have also changed since then. For example, it's now commonly believed that Homam Corazza gives +1% triple attack rather than +2.5% (a disappointment, if it is indeed true). Also, Mirke Wardecors (with 10acc and 3% D.W.) are thusly believed to be superior to Corazza for Thf tp-gain. In the thief portion of this, I used Homam under the 2.5% assumption, but rest assured that the values shown are actually very close to what they would be if I'd used the Mirke Wardecors ACP body for the calculations instead. If you're going to be using Corazza (/war or otherwise), the tp fed will be lower than shown.

A Cross-Comparison

(look at the subtle-blow, not the horse!)

The purpose of this is to allow us to cross-examine TP feeding values for various melee. I've chosen some of the popular melee that count not only as DD's but also situational tanks: Nin, Mnk, Sam, and Thf.

Since I'm more concerned about the thief community (all due respect to Nin/Mnk/Sam/etc out there), this is tailored a little more to us. I've examined these DD's in parallel, given realistic settings: traditional TP builds, traditional buffs. 100% accuracy is assumed since accuracy is actually fairly arbitrary here. So that's ok.

Near the end, I've included various Subtle Blow Builds, that show just how important subtle blow can be on a Thief. More on that later--moving on,

Formula

"TpGiven over X amount of time"
=
(# of hits over X amount of time) * TpGiven/Hit
=
(BaseTP +3)*SubtleBlowCalc * [TestDelayPeriod / (BaseDelay*HasteCalc)]*Multi-ProcCalc
Notes
-StoreTP irrelevant; only BaseTP used for enemy's TP-Gain.
-w/ TestDelayPeriod of 3600, this gives ->
TpGiven/Hit * #Hits/Minute = TpGiven/Minute

Settings
-Haste Spell + Victory March = +26% haste
-TestDelayPeriod (this # is arbitrary) = 1 real minute = 3600
-Significant Figures taken for each calc (arbitrary-ish) = 5
-TpGiven/Hit Truncated to 1st decimal after SubtleBlow. I think this is correct.

Cross-Comparison
Thief/Nin
Equip: Blau/Sirocco, x, Turban, x, Brutal, Suppa, Corazza, Homam Hands, Rajas, x, x, Swift, Homam Legs, Homam Feet
Other Stuff: Capped Triple Merits (5%) ; Native Triple (5%) ; Subtle Blow II (10%); No dragon-set equipment or peiste belt+1 used; No /war, so no native Double-Attack
-Delay/hand(Dual Wield) = 131.2 = 131
-HasteTotal = Gear(18%) + Spell(26%) = 44%
-Delay(w/ Haste) = 131 * (1 - 0.44) = 73.36 = 73
-Multi-Procs = 5*2(Native) + 5*2(Merits) + 5(Brutal) + 2.5*2(Corazza) = 30ExtraHits/100; Multiplier = 1.3
-BaseTP/Hit = 4.5
-Subtle Blow Total = Native(10%) + Gear(5%) = 15%
-Factoid - Just for interest, with 95% accuracy and constant swinging, this would give 286.25 tp to the player in 1 minute (w/ storetp), or, assuming a base TP of 13% after each WS, 3.29 WS's per minute assuming no TP surplus, or rather, TP13->100% in 18.237 seconds.
TpGiven/Minute: (4.5 + 3)*(1 - 0.15) * (3600 / 73)*1.3 = 7.5*0.85 * 49.315*1.3 = 6.3*64.110 = 403.89

Thief/War
-Delay(blau) = 178
-HasteTotal = 44%
-Delay(w/ Haste) = 178 * (1 - 0.44) = 99.68 = 99
-Multi-Procs = 5*2(Native) + 5*2(Merits) + 5(Brutal) + 2.5*2(Corazza) + 10(sub Native) = 40ExtraHits/100; Multiplier = 1.4
-BaseTP/Hit = 4.98 = 4.9
-Subtle Blow Total = (Rajas) 5%
TpGiven/Minute: (4.9 + 3)*(1 - 0.05) * (3600 / 99)*1.4 = 7.9 * 36.364*1.4 = 7.9*50.909 = 382.07

Monk/Nin
Equip: Destroyers, x, Turban, x, Brutal, x, x, x, x, x, Rajas, Black Belt, Haidates, x
Other Stuff: Capped Kick-Attack Merits (5%) ; Native Kick-Attack Trait (10%) ; Subtle Blow IV (20%); No /war, so no native Double-Attack; No AF2 Hands used; No tp given from counter considered
-Base Monk Delay at 75 (Martial Arts VI) = 300, Destroyers Delay = +48;
-Delay/round = 348
-HasteTotal = Gear(22%) + Spell(26%) = 48%
-Delay/swing(w/ Haste) = (348 / 2) * (1 - 0.48 ) = 90.48 = 90
-Multi-Procs = 10(Native) + 5(Merits) + 5(Brutal) = 20ExtraHits/100; Multiplier = 1.2
-BaseTP/Hit = 4.5
-Subtle Blow Total = Native(20%) + Gear(10%) = 30%
TpGiven/Minute: (4.5 + 3)*(1 - 0.3) * (3600 / 90)*1.2 = 7.5*0.75 * 40*1.2 = 5.6*48 = 252.00

Ninja/War
Equip: Senji/Perdu, x, Turban, x, Brutal, Suppa, x, Dusk Gloves, Rajas, x, x, Swift, Haidates, Fuma
Other Stuff: Dual Wield IV (30%); Subtle Blow V (25%); Native /war Double-Attack (10%); Subtle Blow Merits (5%); No AF body used,
-Delay/hand(Dual Wield) = 135.525 = 135
-HasteTotal = Gear(20%) + Spell(26%) = 46%
-Delay(w/ Haste) = 135 * (1 - 0.46) = 72.9 = 72
-Multi-Procs = 10(sub Native) + 5(Brutal) = 15ExtraHits/100; Multiplier = 1.15
-BaseTP/Hit = 4.6
-Subtle Blow Total = Native(25%) + Gear(5%) + Merits(5%)= 35%
TpGiven/Minute: (4.6 + 3)*(1 - 0.35) * (3600 / 72)*1.15 = 7.6*0.7 * 50*1.15 = 5.3*57.5 = 284.05

Samurai/War
Equip = Hagun, PoleStrap, x, Askar/Ace's, x, Brutal, x, x, Dusk Gloves, Rajas, x, x, Swift, Haidates, Fuma
Other Stuff = Native /war Double-Attack (10%); No Zanshin attacks considered; Hasso not considered (we'll pretend seigan full-time)
-Delay = 450
-HasteTotal = Gear(19%) + Spell(26%) = 45%
Delay(w/ Haste) = 247.5 = 247
-Multi-Procs = 10(sub Native) + 5(Brutal) + 2(Strap) = 17ExtraHits/100; Multiplier = 1.17
-Base TP/Hit = 11.5
-Subtle Blow Total = Gear(5%) = 5%
TpGiven/Minute: (11.5 + 3)*(1 - 0.05) * (3600 / 247)*1.17 = 14.5*0.95 * 14.575*1.17 = 13.7*17.053 = 233.62

Thief/Nin (Corazza -> DH, etc)
-Subtle Blow from gear: Rajas + DH = 15
TpGiven/Minute: 7.5*(1 - 0.25) * (3600 / 73)*1.25 = 7.5*0.75 * 49.315*1.25 = 5.6*61.644 = 345.21
-
Thief/Nin (an S.B. Build; D.H. + D.Subligar + PeisteBelt+1) & H.Q. S.B. Set
-HasteTotal = Gear(11%) + Spell(26%) = 37%
-Delay(w/ Haste) = 131 *(1 - 0.37) = 82.53 = 82
-Subtle Blow from gear (NQ set): Rajas + DH + DragonSubligar/Enkidu'sSubligar + PeisteBelt+1 = 30%
-Subtle Blow from gear (HQ set): Rajas + DH+1 + DragonSubligar+1 + PeisteBelt+1 = 33%
TpGiven/Minute(NQ): 7.5*(1 - 0.4) * (3600 / 82)*1.25 = 7.5*0.6 * 43.902*1.25 = 4.5*54.878 = 246.95
TpGiven/Minute(HQ): 7.5*(1 - 0.43) * (3600 / 82)*1.25 = 7.5*0.57 * 43.902*1.25 = 4.2*54.878 = 230.49
*Estimated*50%SB Build: less than 7.5*(1 - 0.5) * (3600 / 82)*1.25 = less than 205.79

Conclusions and Marginal Differences
Using standard melee sets, we can make some comparisons. Of course, the comparisons are not so valid if the melee sets aren't these exact sets, or if the haste gained from spells is different. Using these sets and these settings, though, we get the following ratios for comparing these three melee classes and the tp they give to mobs:

Those Bloody Eastern Melee Jobs
-Mnk/Nin gives a base of 252.00 tp/minute to the mob
-Nin/War gives ~12.7% more tp/time than the mnk
-Sam/War gives ~7.3% less tp/time than the mnk

Thief in a Traditional DD Build
-Thf/Nin gives ~60.3% more tp/time than the mnk (lolololol)
-Thf/Nin gives about ~5.7% more tp/time than Thf/War

Thief, in Subtle Blow Builds
-Thf/Nin in DH gives ~37.0% more tp/time (big difference)
-Thf/Nin in a heavy, but inexpensive(NQ) 3-piece-extra Subtle Blow set gives ~2.0% less tp/time
-Thf/Nin in an even heavier SB build (and still 7 SB away from the cap) gives ~8.5% less than the Mnk, and 1.3% less than the Sam
-Thf/Nin in a capped SB build would give over 18.3% less tp/time than the Mnk and 11.9% less than the Sam

I started this particular project simply because I was interested in knowing just how much TP I was giving mobs in comparison to other melee. Also I wanted to know how much of an effect subtle blow builds were having on my Thf, as knowledge to help me as both a soloer and as a tank.

I wasn't particularly concerned about showing this to anyone else, but I do know that this information may be of interest as some and can certainly be of use to thieves in particular. It's good to know that the stigma that thieves are tp-feeding machines is true and to avoid stubornness and quantify the difference. 2 Thieves will feed a little more TP to a mob than 3 Mnks, in standard gear. Fair enough.

But it also helps to see just how much of an effect the subtle blow has. It is easily possible for us to feed less TP/time than other melee by using the wide variety of equipment we have available. Our dragon JSE is a godsend for this. Also, unlike Mnks, we can equip Peiste Belt +1, which is a godsend and I would highly recommend it to anyone who takes their Thf seriously. Of course, other melee can stack up on subtle blow as well, and this is encouraged if they so desire it.

I'd recommend at least making two new equipment sets if you don't have them already:
(1) DD Set - Subtle Blow

(2) Solo/Tanking Set - Subtle Blow

The DD set should simply be your traditional TP set, with the only differences being pieces that have heavy SB on them. A good example of swaps to change are: dragon harness, peiste belt +1, rajas (should already be on), dragon/enkidu's subligar. The same goes for your solo or tanking set(s). Keep it just as is (evasion or whatever else you use), but use the previous equips as well. If you want to stack up closer to the subtle blow cap (50%), adding dragon cap or dragon mittens is just fine. The more HQ the better on these, for sure, as the NQ's are pretty terrible to melee in otherwise. Failnaught is also an (expensive) option. The new Fane Baselard is also a very interesting option as well. We've been seeing some very interesting things on the forums with this new dagger (Allah', KI).

The difference in the TP you give to mobs is huge. With a dedicated build, you'll notice the difference immediately. And you'll be that much better of a DD and a, if pimp enough, tank.

How to Maximize Sa/Ta Damage

2009-07-29T21:07:10Z

Sorry for anyone who was waiting for this to be finished. It took longer than expected, work and life and all that. Plus I ran into some snags with excel. Looking at the excel I made it looks pretty professional, but I really am by far not an expert at it. I also heavily underestimated this task I'd set for myself. I really, really did not enjoy writing this. Yet it was something I felt I needed to finish. Big thanks go out to Kornemuz from Asura and Ceiyne from Bahamut, for helping me figure out 'if functions.' I'd like to credit Releena of Seraph and Searain of Garuda, as well as the KI Thief Forums for providing a lot of the basis for this.

Ready for (another) ridiculous wall-of-text? Good.

For those who want to cut the crap and see conclusions,
-Summary, Formula, Conclusions, Stats, Rankings (link)
-Stat Comparison
-Gear Comparison
-Formula

For those who want an in-depth reading,
In-Depth Explanation (link)
-Considerations
-Background Info
-Test Settings
-Explanation, w/out math
-In Closing,

Download the Excel Spreadsheets here:
(1), (2), (3), (4)
(math has been reworked; above files not current)

Conclusions

Relative Stat Values
SA
(updated Sep.25th, 2009)
I used my formula and an adapted excel spreadsheet to find the ultimate SA set for the given settings, including double march, haste spell, and 20% in TP set haste. Then I found the raw damage increase from adding a single point of the following given stats. Using a single point of Double-Attack as the standard of comparison, the following ratios were found.
1Dbl.Atk = 1
1TripleAtk = 2.38 (d.a.)
1Dex = 2.58 (d.a.)
1Str = 1.20 (d.a.)
1Attack = 1.19 (d.a.)
1Slow(2xMarch,Haste) = -2.64 (d.a.)
1Slow(1xMarch,Haste) = -2.22 (d.a.)
1Slow(NoMarch,Haste) = -1.84 (d.a.)
1D.Wield(2xMarch,Haste) = 2.16 (d.a.)
1Haste(2xMarch,Haste) = 2.65 (d.a.)
1Haste(1xMarch,Haste) = 2.22 (d.a.)
1Haste(NoMarch,Haste) = 1.84 (d.a.)

TA
1Dbl.Atk = 1
1TripleAtk = 2.51 (d.a.)
1Agi = 3.35 (d.a.)
1Dex = 0.39 (d.a.)
1Str = 1.29 (d.a.)
1Attack = 1.26 (d.a.)
1Slow(2xMarch,Haste) = -3.50 (d.a.)
1Slow(1xMarch,Haste) = -2.88 (d.a.)
1Slow(NoMarch,Haste) = -2.43 (d.a.)
1D.Wield(2xMarch,Haste) = 2.59 (d.a.)
1Haste(2xMarch,Haste) = 3.50(d.a.)
1Haste(1xMarch,Haste) = 2.89 (d.a.)
1Haste(NoMarch,Haste) = 2.43 (d.a.)

Comments
I wasn't originally going to search for stat ratios, but now I'm glad I did. It's probably the easiest and most effective way that players can use the data I've got here. I chose double attack as the base, with a value of 1, because it improved damage by the smallest amount (without negating).

We can draw some interesting and important knowledge from these ratios. For example, a single point of haste is, as probably expected, the most important stat in a double-march/haste-spell setting. But we can see it's not very far ahead of Dex in importance. Intuitively we could predict that haste would be much less more important in lower-haste situations, but I did the math anyway. Just by removing the lesser march, 1dex is now more important than 1haste.

It's also interesting to see how 1 single pt of attack does almost as much as 1str. This is due to the high base damage of SA/TA's, and the corresponding lack of importance of fStr. Also interesting is how a single unit of Str and Atk do more for sa/ta than double attack. I did not expect this, and it also means that by these numbers Brutal Earring would be obsolete, Pixie and Merman's earring being superior. Also from this, we can get that for SA, 2Str and 2Atk are roughly almost = to 1Dex. These numbers also confirm suppanomimi as being a superior choice for Sa, easily trumping Pixie and other options. Also it may be interesting to see that 1 triple attack is easily more valuable t han 2 double attack. This is because, since double attack proc is assumed to check before triple attack, adding double attack essentially nerfs some of our triple attack potential. Meanwhile, we can say generally that 3 pts of Dex and 5 pts of Slow roughly cancel each other out.

For TA, I'm a bit surprised at the difference. I'm fairly surprised that Agi is so high up in the ratios, even though I know one reason why it is the case. And that is because of the AF+1 hands' +15% agi bonus effect. But it's still quite a bit high. Str and attack are skewed farther apart for TA, and the benefit of attack is surprisingly low--less than the benefit of a single point of double attack in this case. (Looking further into the reason of the low attack benefit value, I found that it's due to pDif tier. Before an atk/def ratio of 0.833, attack gives significantly less of a boost to pDif than after 0.833, at least until nearing the pDif cap). Slow and haste show similar value relationships for TA as for SA, though.

Relative Rankings, by Gear
The following gear comparisons have been made via the statistical ratios shown above. Slow/Haste values used are for double-march.
(updated Sep.25th, 2009)

SA
(head) Maat's Cap (26.46) > Skadi's Visor (25.41) > Gnadbhod's Helm (13.84) > AF2 (12.9) = Turban (13.25) > Emp.Pin (7.74) > Heca+1 (0.84)
(neck) Love Torque (20.04) > Kubira Bead Necklace (15.08) > Spike Necklace (11.34)
(ears) Suppanomimi (10.8) > Pixie (7.74) => Merman's (7.14) > Hollow/Adroit (5.16) = Coral (5.95) = Brutal (5.0)
(body) Dragon Harness+1 (32.34) > Skadi (26.59) = DH nq (27.38) > Anatares Harness (20.64) > BlueCote+1 (16.32) > WarAketon +1 (12.9) > Rapp (10.6)
(hand) ANNM Dragon Mitts (20.44) > Skadi Bazubands (17.9) > Dusk+1(2xMarch) (17.74)* > Enkidu's (15.12) => Tarasque Mitts +1 (14.28) => Dusk(2xMarch) (13.9)* > Merman's (8.94) > AF (7.74) > Heca +1 (4.02)
(rings) Rajas Ring (18.9) > 5Dex Ring (12.9)
(back) Charger's (23.8) => Cerberus Mantle +1 (22.65) > Forager's (21.45) > Amemet +1 (20.25) > Cuchulain's (15.12) > Commander's (11.34) > AF2 (10.32)
(waist) Cuchulain's Belt (27.38) > Ninurta's (23.04) > Warwolf (18.9) > Speed Belt (15.9) > Swordbelt +1 (14.28)
(leg)Enkidu's (18.9) > Dusk (16.66)* > Hecatomb Subligar +1 (12.44) = Heca nq (12.76) > Dragon+1 (12.9) = Barbarossa's (12.75) > Dragon nq (10.32)
(feet) Enkidu's (17.8) > Dragon +1(13.89) > Dragon (10.12) => Dusk (10.06)* > Leapers (7.74)

TA
(head) Maat's Cap (35.21) > Skadi's Visor (33.02) > Denali Bonnet (31.18) > Dragon+1 (16.75) > Turban (17.5) > Dragon (13.4) > Emp.Pin (11.22)
(neck) Hope Torque (16.75) > Crocodile Collar (13.4) > Love Torque (9.51) > Agile Gorget (6.7) => Justice Torque (6.45) => Tiger Stole (6.3) > Spike Necklace (5.04)
(ears) Suppanomimi (19.65) > Genin (13.4) > Drone (10.05) > Merman's (7.56) > Coral (6.3) => Brutal (5.0)
(body) Denali Jacket (44.84) > Dragon Harness +1 (41.3) > Skadi (36.22) > DH nq (35.04) > Antares Harness (26.8) > BlueCote+1(24.76) > Rapp (14.0)
(hand) AF+1 (?, ~54.77) > Skadi (35.8) > Dusk+1(2xMarch) (21.56)* = Dragon+1 (20.53) > Dusk(2xMarch) (16.8)* = Dragon (15.92) => Tarasque Mitts +1 (15.12)
(rings) 5Agi Ring (16.75) > Rajas (8.4)
(back) Charger's (25.2) => Cerberus Mantle +1 (24.06) > Forager's (22.77) > Amemet +1 (21.48) > Commander's (15.09) = AF2 (14.96)
(waist) Ninurta Sash (28.56) > Speed Belt (21.0) > Grenadier Belt (18.87) > Swordbelt +1 (15.12) => Scouter's (13.4) > Ryl. Knight's Belt (10.06) > Vanguard Belt (10.17) > Warwolf Belt (8.4) => Swift Belt (7.7)
(leg) Dusk+1 (18.9)* > Dusk (17.64)* > War Brais +1 (16.75) > Barbarossa's (15.66) > WarBrais/AF (13.4) > Heca nq (-13.68) > Hecatomb Subligar +1 (-17.77)
(feet) Enkidu's (23.26) > Dragon +1 (18.74) > Dragon (13.74) > Dusk (13.3)* > Leapers (11.22)

edit: *Movement Speed*
I've been criticized (constructively) quite a few times, or bafflingly questioned at my prescription for Striders/Skadi for sa/ta, or for my hating of dusk. Since I can't quantify the benefit of these foot pieces, I've taken them out of the table above. But I stand by my stance that:

Strider Boots / Skadi's Jambeaux are, essentially, the best Sa/Ta feet you can wear at almost all times.
Suppanomimi likewise seemed quite counterintuitive for Sa, and yet it easily comes out as the top ear piece. And people have been questioning my use of it for years. Quantify it and people will be convinced. It's too bad these pieces can't be quantified in though. I am willing to admit though, that if you can't see how these would help you at all for Thf, you may just not be playing the job to its max potential. These will only help people who already understand how movement speed will affect your play. And similarly, dusk shouldn't ever be used for sa/ta for the very same reasons (this is coming from someone who used dusk himself for years before switching).

Comments
Playing around with the spreadsheet, I also spotted a few interesting things. I'd wondered sometimes if the slow on heca+1 made it so that the NQ heca was actually better than the HQ for sa/ta. It doesn't seem so; HQ still appears to be better. I also found it interesting that Dusk NQ was better than Heca+1 with double march. This is probably counter-intuitive to what most people would think. This doesn't mean, however, that homam hands are better than heca+1; it's the attack that helps push dusk ahead. Either way, this is anecdotal and unimportant, since dusk slows down movement speed and therefore I wouldn't use it for sa/ta anyway. So I've italicized it to point out that it's arbitrary, same with Skadi and Striders since conversely they trump all.

Some of this stuff ran counter to what I'd expect as well. The idea of an adroit/hollow doing as much as a coral earring or brutal feels a bit odd. I find the back pieces interesting, since Cerb+1 is rare and thought to be the end all be all of backs, and nobody goes out of their way to buy a Charger's. But I remember in a thread long ago I was discussing how I thought that Chrarger's was the best. Seems so, but I was surprised to find AF2 so low in the rankings, even below commander's which is kind of funny.

Shocking is how Love Torque is virtually equal to justice torque which is also virtual equal to agile gorget and barely above tiger stole, for TA. It goes in that order, but the numbers are pretty close. I find it interesting that Genin Earring came decisively above brutal for ta, as did even drone. I'd been under the impression that both were very 'lol' compared to brutal (for ta) for a long time. Meanwhile, while coral/merman's more closely rivaled brutal for SA, brutal seems to come ahead for TA given the difference in pDif tier. Also, I was going to include Rapp vs Denali for TA in the spreadsheet but it became obvious that denali destroyed it, so it wasn't worth looking much further into. Unlike for SA, Skadi decisively won over DH nq for TA. DH nq came barely above antares harness though, which was shocking to me given that it was a comparison of 10 attack versus only 2 agi. Again, that lower pDif tier makes a very big difference. For backpieces for TA, the values came out differently. Again due to pDif tier, Cerb+1 pulled ahead of charger's. The rest of the back pieces came pretty close together, with commander's surprisingly above Amemet+1 in this case. For waists, swordbelt+1 came out high, but this was because in my comparison, it'd just breached the pDif tier. So it seems that tier may be skewing the results a bit. Perhaps most shocking of all was the leg pieces for ta. Hideous dusk came out on top (though it technically can't due to the decreased movement speed). Surprisingly barbarossa's was equivalent to af pants, and this gave a bigger boost even than heca nq, which funny enough was ahead of heca hq. This has to do with the attack value not really overcoming the slow value on the piece.

Formula Breakdown
Sa/Ta "Act" Dmg =

=
(SA/TA round Dmg) - (TP round opportunity cost)
=
(Initial Critical Hit)+(Extra Swings) - (dDelay Function)*(TP round Dmg)

=
{(Main. +fStr'a +Dex/Agi)*(pDif'a+1) + [(Main. +fStr'a)*Dbl./Trip.Atks + (Off. + fStr'a)*(1 + Dbl./Trip.Atks)]*(CritRate'a*(pDif'a+1) + NonCritRate'a*pDif'a)}
- ((delayTP - delaySA)/delayTP)*[(Main. + Off. +2fStr'b)*(CritRate'b*(pDif'b+1) + NonCritRate'b*pDif'b)*(1 + Dbl./Trip.Atks)*Accuracy

In-Depth Explanation

The purpose of this inquiry is to help people choose which stats and gear to use for unstacked SA / TA.

What's best for SA/TA: dex/agi, attack, or haste? Do str and slow herein matter much either? Just like everything else in FF, the answers to give are not so easy because the game is situational. All of these elements and more play roles in sa/ta effectiveness. Sometimes it's almost impossible to say what's better/worse generally. Denali or skadi head for ta? Rapp or DH? Heca+1 hands or enkidu's? Many options come really close.

In order to answer this question I chose to make an excel document ((1), (2), (3), (4)) (these files are outdated as of 9-25-09) which ranks gear sets based on the formula that I crafted. I'm not an excel expert so I didn't include everything thief can/might equip. Instead I wanted to create a spreasheet of the equips that I thought were best.

Things to consider:
-Buffs
-Food
-Race
-Mob Target
-The quality of your other SA/TA gear
-The quality of your TP gear (yes, even this)

From these settings you will find pDif, crit pDif, hit rate, crit rate, fStr, and delay for both SA and TP equip sets. Also important will be double and triple attack rate, but these are constants for our mathematical adventure. All of these elements will go into our formula.

These values all have a huge effect on the answer of "what sa/ta gear is optimal." The equip set that works best for the person who's eating meat with double march vs trolls and has a really shotty TP set is not the same set that works best for the person farming inner sea with one march, no food, and fantastic TP gear.

Given how hard it is just tell everyone what gear to use, I'll limit my aims instead. So my aims are:
1. To use my own stats and gear so I can at least know how to best gear myself,
2. To use the standard "merit settings" ruler that people are familiar with, so I can gear myself optimally in at least one situation,
3. To thusly try to work out the "best of the best" for SA/TA sets,
4. In conclusion, to rank stat options based on these specific example settings,
5. In conclusion, to rank gear options based on these specific example settings,
6. To offer some closing prescriptive advice.

Background Info
About a year ago there was a really nice thread on the KI Thief Forums as well as a followup thread on Allah' about this subject. Slightly before that time Releena of Seraph also began looking into this subject. In the thread, some people stated that they really didn't switch out of TP gear at all, or at least not the pieces with haste on them. Others were appalled by this counterintuitivity, but yet others could see the merit behind these ideas given the growing haste-worship in 'XI these days. The thread died on a rather unfinished note, not quite fulfilling the nagging desires of people wanting to know for sure what to equip. This was frustrating, as it's generally much easier to say what we should equip in most other situations.

Sa/Ta gear concerns didn't begin just there though. People've been wondering about this for years. Some people don't swap. Some go very heavy on dex/agi while others go heavy on attack. Some balance between attributes/attack. Others balance in haste vs slow as well. Some, like myself, have been questioned before over seemingly odd gear choices, i.e. that I sa/ta in striders and suppanomimi.

The debate used to be mainly dex/agi vs attack. Then after awhile it was found how awesome haste was and haste stacking became more common, so this became a concern. Then, prompted by some of Kirschy's haste research, Releena covered in in her LJ entry that slow5 was =/= (not) -%haste. Actually, once again it has been confirmed (by Krischy) that gear slow% is actually -haste%. This is not the case for magic slow, which is actually a separate function.

For those that don't understand why it's difficult to calculate what's best, I suppose I could say a little more. Dex/Agi are great, but as you stack more the marginal gains are less and less. Dex/Agi is chiefly what you're looking to improve upon, but sometimes there's a choice between a mediocre amount of dex/agi and a lot of attack. A good example of this is AF2 cape (4dex/4agi) vs AmemetMantle+1, a question we've seen on the Thf forums a few times in the past. Further, attack also decreases in benefit as you add more of it. Also sa/ta are criticals, which make attack less important than if they were non-critical melee strikes. As for haste and slow, the haste/slow you have on at the time you sa/ta affects the delay until your next attack round. The difference in added delay often means the loss of an extra melee attack before the mob dies, which would generate damage as well as TP.

Test Settings
So I mentioned earlier that very specific settings would have to be chosen for any sort of comparison. Here are the settings used:
-75 Mithra Thf/Nin
-5Str Merits and merits capped otherwise

SA Set
Mandau/X's
Bomb Core
--head unchosen--
Love Torque
Brutal Earring
--ear2 unchosen--
--body unchosen--
--hands unchosen--
Rajas Ring
Any +5Dex Ring
Cerberus Mantle +1
--waist unchosen--
--legs unchosen--
Strider Boots

Variable equips chosen for my excel spreadsheet comparison:
(head) Walahra Turban, Hecatomb Cap +1, Skadi's Visor, Maat's Cap, Gnadbhod's Helm
(ear2) Suppanomimi, Pixie Earring
(body) Dragon Harness +1, Rapparee Harness
(hands) Dusk Gloves +1, Hecatomb Mittens +1, ANNM Dragon Mittens (7dex,2atk), Enkidu's Mittens
(waist) Cuchulain's Belt, Speed Belt, Swift Belt
(legs) Barbarossa's Zerechs, Enkidu's Subligar, Hecatomb Subligar +1, Homam Cosciales

TA Set
Mandau/X's
Bomb Core
--head unchosen--
Hope Torque
Suppanomimi
--ear2 unchosen--
Denali Jacket
AF+1
Any +5Agi Ring
Any +5Agi Ring
Cerberus Mantle +1
--waist unchosen--
--legs unchosen--
Strider Boots

Variable equips chosen for my excel spreadsheet comparison:
(head) Maat's Cap, Denali Bonnet, Skadi's Visor, Walahra Turban
(ear2) Genin Earring, Brutal Earring, Merman's
(waist) Speed Belt, Swordbelt+1, Scouter's Rope
(legs) Barbarossa's Zerechs, War Brais +1, Hecatomb Subligar +1

TP Set
Mandau/X's
Fire Bomblet
Walahra Turban
Love Torque
Brutal Earring
Suppanomimi
ACP Body (10acc,3%DW)
Homam Manopolas
Rajas Ring
Toreador's Ring
Cerberus Mantle +1
Speed Belt
Homam Cosciales
Homam Gambieras

-Lvl82G.Colibri w/ totDef327 and totEva339
-No food
-Double March & Haste (Spell)
-Madrigal-level accuracy buff
(this could also be viewed as close to Hunter's Roll, Crab Sushi, or other Sushi)

Next, we must have a formula that can accurately describe the real damage contributed by the action of an sa/ta. Base game mechanics can be found on wiki, but applied math such as this is something for freelancing. I had to think for a little while while on what formula I should use, what elements to include, and how to calculate the various elements. A lot goes into it that would probably not occur to most people, and even then the formula is still not perfect but is merely a best (though probably pretty good) attempt. If I hadn't participated in forums so much in the past years, my making of this formula would not have been possible.

Here's what it is. I'll start simple and then expand it more to show more detail.
Actual SA/TA "act" damage =

=
(SA/TA round Dmg) - (TP round opportunity cost)
=
(Initial Critical Hit)+(Extra Swings) - (dDelay Function)*(TP round Dmg)
=
{(Mainhand +fStr'a +Dex/Agi)*(pDif'a +1) + [(Mainhand +fStr'a)*Dbl./TripleAttacks + (Offhand + fStr'a)*(1 + Dbl./TripleAttacks)]*(pDif'a function)}
- ((delayTP - delaySA)/delayTP)*(TP round Dmg)

=
{(Main. +fStr'a +Dex/Agi)*(pDif'a+1) + [(Main. +fStr'a)*Dbl./Trip.Atks + (Off. + fStr'a)*(1 + Dbl./Trip.Atks)]*(CritRate'a*(pDif'a+1) + NonCritRate'a*pDif'a)}
- ((delayTP - delaySA)/delayTP)*[(Main. + Off. +2fStr'b)*(CritRate'b*(pDif'b+1) + NonCritRate'b*pDif'b)*(1 + Dbl./Trip.Atks)*Accuracy
The above formula should suffice for showing all of the special elements that go into solving this. But for anyone who craves more detail, then the following is one way of showing most of the constants and variables that go into the calculation.

Actual SA/TA "act" damage =

{(39 +(totStr'a-67)/4 +totDex/Agi))
*(Atk'a/327def - 0.35cRatio)
->[IF(0.833 < a/d cRatio'a < 1.25),THEN(pDif'aAvg=(2.4*a/dcRatio'a -0.5)/2) ELSE etc..]
+
[((39 +(totStr'a-67)/4)*0.24 + (34 +(totStr'a-67)/4)*(1 + 0.24)]
*{IF((9 + (totDex - 20 -67)/2) > 24,Crit'a=24%, ELSE Crit'a=(9 + ( - 20 -67)/2)%)}
*[IF(0.833 < a/d cRatio'a < 1.25),THEN(CritpDif'aAvg=(2.4*a/dcRatio'a -0.5)/2)+1, ELSE etc..]
+
(1 - Crit'a)
*[IF(0.833 < a/d cRatio'a < 1.25),THEN(CritpDif'aAvg=(2.4*a/dcRatio'a -0.5)/2)+1, ELSE etc..]

-
((b.Delay*0.77dw*0.45haste - b.Delay*%dw*[%haste -%slow])/b.Delay*0.77dw*0.45haste )
*
[(39 + 34 +2(totStr'b-67)/4)
*(13%Crit'b
*{(381atk/327def - 0.35cRatio) -> [IF(0.5 < a/d cRatio'b < 0.833),THEN(pDif'bAvg+1=(1.2*a/dcRatio'b +0.5)/2 +1)}
+ 87%nonCrit'b
*{(381atk/327def - 0.35cRatio) -> [IF(0.5 < a/d cRatio'b < 0.833),THEN(pDif'bAvg=(1.2*a/dcRatio'b +0.5)/2)}
*1.24 d.a./t.a.Procs
*94.5 acc%

(the above is for SA. TA formula was slightly different, including the +15% agi bonus from af+1)

Problems/Inconsistencies/Shortcomings:
-This test doesn't account for TP gained
-Nor how that TP might be used to contribute damage
-Does not account for the probability of meleeing in your sa/ta set for more than 1 melee round
-Of course, the test settings are rigid in that they assume only 1 mob of 1 given level, do not account for frequency of buffs or possible debuffs (dia/angon/feint/etc), and the equips chosen for settings are high-end.
-There are a couple errors in truncation steps, but they're not very serious
-X's Knife crit boost not taken into account. Relic 3xProc not taken into account
-Assumptions are made as to the mechanics of crit rate
-fStr is not truncated; I'm listing this here because some would view this as problematic. However, it actually isn't since it allows for broader comparisons
-Hard min and Hard cap values are not set for pDif functions, but in reality we're not herein concerned about these situations either

Understanding Actual SA/TA Damage, an Explanation for Non-robots
SA/TA produce spike damage. However, the attack round usually produces higher delay so some delay is lost. How do we find the damage lost due to that delay loss? Well, what would have happened during that delay?

I mean, if I SA and then it takes 6 seconds for my next attack round because SA slowed me down, and if my normal rounds of TP only take 3 seconds each, then what have I lost? Well, if I hadn't switched to an SA set my delay would have been 3 seconds. So I lost 3 seconds. That means I lost a round of melee strikes in my TP set. So I just multiply the amount of delay lost (in this case enough for 1 round of attacks) by the damage dealt on average from my TP set.

What goes into calculating SA dmg and TP round dmg? A lot and a little. For SA, the SA big crit dmg = mainhand weapon dmg + fStr + total Dex. Also accuracy will be 100% in this case. Other little known fact, but every attack in that melee round will be 100% accuracy, including your offhand hit, or any double or triple attack procs that might go off on either hand during the SA attack round. Of course, these extra attacks are also modded by the same pDif that modified the big SA crit. And some of those additional hits may critical as well, so crit rate needs to be factored in. So this is all calculated and summed together as our "SA attack round Dmg."

We the need to find TP round dmg. Since the variables in our formula will only be for our SA round, these values are all constants. To find TP round dmg we simply use base damage and multiply against pDif, crit, multi procs, and accuracy. Base damage is the base damage of the weapons + fStr. pDif is of course a function of player attack over mob defense. Crits are just pDif+1. But we also must factor in crit rate. Multi procs are just our triple attacks and brutal double attacks. Accuracy is accuracy.

So the big three are finding out (1) how much dmg our SA and it's attack round do, (2) find out how much dmg our TP set does in a single round, and (3) find out what % of an attack round we've lost as a function of SA set delay and TP set delay. Multiply TP/round dmg against the delay function, and subtract that from the damage dealt in our single SA attack round, and we have our answer as to how much dmg we /actually gain/ by doing a Sneak Attack. Same thing goes for Trick Attack of course, only we use Agi instead of Dex as our primary attribute of course.

New Assumptions for Calculating Crit Rate
All the mechanics that go into this are already solidly accepted as true represenations of how the dmg is calculated in FFXI--with the exception of crit rate. For crit rate I used data on this very helpful article by Searain of Garuda. Based on the data in that thread and elsewhere, it seemed to me that the cap for melee crit rate is likely the assumed number of 50-points-of-dex above a target's agi. There's also a supposed "placebo region" where if you don't achieve a certain level of dex above the targets agi, adding dex will not increase crit rate. For this test and for my own future reference, I've assumed this placebo region to be any point below 20-points-of-dex above a target's agi. That is, if a target's agi is 100 and your dex is 119, you will have the same floored crit rate as if you had 0dex. This leaves a spread between 20 and 50 points-of-dex above a target's agi to account for the spread of 5%-20% floored/capped critical hit rate (or 9%-24% if fully merited). I stumbled into this accidentally but it turns out to be convenient that the spread of dex-agi for the area of efficacy is 30 points, and the spread of crit% is 15 points. So, we have an easy ratio of 2dex=1%crit or 1dex=0.5%crit. It's my belief that this or something close to it is a correct representation of crit mechanics. I drew my assumptions based on looking for trends in Searain's data, as well as additional anecdotal evidence seen elsewhere.

In Closing
I can honestly say that throughout most of my working on this, I did not enjoy it. Not in the least. I had the idea of finding the formula for showing actual marginal sa/ta damage, and adapting it, but I hadn't predicted the amount of work that that would entail. So, some closing comments/conclusions:
*Suppanomimi is essential and trumps all for /nin sa/ta.
*Brutal earring isn't king for sa/ta; In fact it can be easily outdone.
*The full haste idea for sa/ta does not produce the highest damage.
*Likewise, laziness and not swapping for sa/ta does decrease your damage output.
*Heca slow does make a difference, especially for TA, where you're not gaining a real benefit from dex.
*Mid-range equips, with a combination of good stats, seem to be the best.
*It's best to not follow any particular mantra when gearing, but look carefully at each option. The stat ratios laid out in the beginning can help out.
*I haven't covered my stance on movement speed and sa/ta (striders/skadi > etc > dusk), but that can't be gotten into with math.

I also have a feeling that the optimal sa/ta sets should cover a variety of situations. Given the way the stats work out, the relative values of haste, dex/agi, str, attack, etc, should hold nicely whether you're farming low level mobs, fighting an HNM, are stacked with heavy buffs, or have no buffs on at all. Multiple, situational SA/TA sets is probably going to be excessive.

Now to find an ice pack for my head.

Funding a Relic through Gardening

2009-07-13T13:55:40Z

How I did it. Where it stands today. (part 2)

* * *
This is a continuation of part 1, which has lots of the essential how-to details as well extra background information.
* * *

What do I need to get started?

Here's a little bit of a checklist.
+ Time, and lot's of it; A schedule that supports multiple 10 hour days in a row twice a month, an unwavering 2.5hr/day+ for checking pots.
+ Starter packs (30-day free trial discs), the key ingredient. At $2/piece. It is important to find a supply. Hopefully gamestops near you carry them, but they've been discontinued as of like 3 years ago, and what's remaining in gamestops are the packs that have taken so long to sell cuz nobody wants them. At the time I did it they'd been discontinued for like a year but there were 1 or 2 dozen packs at most gamestops I went to. You could also look into purchasing online, though I think gamestop.com limits to 1 or 2 per order.
+ Gil to invest in:
- wildgrass seeds at 3.6k/stack iirc; buyable at the south port in whitegate, from a vendor in a little tent
- ceramic flowerpots at almost 1k/pot; buyable in North Sandy in the area near the exit to W.Ronafure
- crystals from the AH at 1-2k/stack; I recommend 1-2 stacks of water crystals as these are cheap, give a good yield, and also yield lightning crystals which you can turn around and use for feeding as well
+ a visa giftcard; this is optional. You can always cancel trial accounts before the end of 30 days. I did almost all throughout my funding. I'm not going to go into further detail on this one, but keep it in mind and think about it
+ extras like multiple pc's and multiple main accounts can help to speed things up, but are essentially unnecessary
+ lots of viewing/listening material etc to keep you busy while you garden. Unless you're not human, this is pretty much a necessity and not an accessory
+ I can't think of anything else right now but if I do I'll add it

Step-by-Step Guide
I've written a tome, so something more step by step might be a lot more useful.

Readiness
1.Organize your life and schedule to allow for large scale gardening to be reliably possible.

The Bread & Butter
2.Locate and buy your starter packs.

Registration
3.Open them up. Register them. Get on playonline and hit join playonline. You'll need to input your address and personal information as well as your credit card information. You'll need the FFID that comes with the pack. Write down your 8-digit login, ie 'XQCL4388'. What I prefer to do is write this right at the bottom of the card where the FFID etc is written, which you'll find in the CD slip. I keep all of the cards together by my computer and flip through them as I check one account after another. You might want to write backup copies of your logins somewhere.

Tips for registering accounts.
When I did this, there seemed to be about a 15-30 minute+ wait or so in between registering accounts. At some point in fall '09, it seems they've adjusted this. No matter what I do, and I've heard this from others as well, there seems to be a 12-24hr+ wait on a single person registering accounts. I'm not sure if they do it by credit card or by IP, but I think it's by both...not sure. This past fall if I needed to register a couple accounts I would give friends the info and a diff cc to use, and they'd register it from their end and that seemed to work ok. Unfortunately nowadays a system like this, or multiple CC or access points, IP maskers, etc, would be necessary I think. Otherwise to register 16 accounts could take 8-16 days. Not viable.

Content ID's
4.Login & Content ID's. You'll need to accept a TOS agreement and make a handle. Then proceed to the screen w/ the "play" button. Click "content ID." Then click "obtain ID." You need to "obtain" ('purchase') 16 content ID's. Don't worry, if you cancel within 30 days there will be no fee. Once that's done go back and hit play. You'll be asked to make another handle and link new content ID's to it. After you do that you can now log in and make characters.

Creating & configuring characters
5. It helps to have a certain name theme to each of your accounts. That way you can easily identify the account and deliver stuff to the right mules. For me, I used a system like. ehh.. One month I'd name all the accounts after foods or something, so I'd have something like Canadianbacon. I would do this with the letters a->p at the end so I could easily locate and dbox w/e etc, to the required mules. Make w/e model you like. I just held down the right arrow key and made all hume males as this was fastest by far. Name it and select sandy and hit ok. While the initial CS goes by, you can occupy yourself with something else, such as making another mule on another account.

+ Tip: It's really important to multitask here to save lots of time. This may sound bonkers, but I would go through 4-6 CS at once. On one comp I would have 4 pol's up, and then maybe 1-2 up on another computer. There's a wait in between when you click ok on cutscenes and the next time it'll let you click ok, so just tab or click through the different pol's to get through many cs as fast as possible. You can also click through manual cs while other pol's are going through the automatic cs.

+ When you finish the manual cs, logout. You'll need to configure settings on this char b4 you move it around, if you’re a laptop player at least. Or reduce settings if you have a laggy computer. This is done in your USER folder. What you do basically is get through all the cs first. Then you start copying and pasting settings in order to quickly set macros and configurations on your mules. If you have 256 mules, this will save loads of time. Here's how you do it. Actually set the macros you want on a single mule, as well as configuration settings (ie weather off, etc). Then go into that characters USER folder. It's easy to locate the character you did this on if it's the last char you made, and you organize the USER folder by date modified. Then go into that char's folder and copy mcr.dat and cnf.dat, and paste those in your USER folder for future reference. Then copy them again, and paste and overwrite those files into every one of the folders that belongs to one of your newly created mules. Then when you log in everything's set, which is a godsend especially if you use a laptop.

+ Pro Tip +
+ I imagine other people that have done what I've done know this as well. But it appears there's a sort of limit to how many folders you can have in ur USER folder. If you have too many, then every time you try to make a new character your pol will crash. If you let this happen each time you will fail. It will consume far too much time. I don't know what the max folders allowed is. Maybe 60? Maybe 100? Either way, just drag a shit ton of folders you're not using and put them in a temporary folder. Now when you try to make a new char your POL won't crash. Drag the folders back into USER again later.

+ Helpful macros: mine were (alt1: /targetnpc, /garden), (alt2: /targetpc, /follow <t>), (alt3: /bank), (alt4: /target my-main-char's-name, /target my-alt-char's-name), (alt6&7: /deliverybox), (alt8: /follow main-char-names), (alt0: /logout or /shutdown for 16th mule), (crtl1: /c), (crtl7: /layout, /equip body, /equip hands, /equip legs, /equip feet), (crtl0: /ja "Mighty Strikes" <me>)

These macros save an incredible amount of time and make going through mules much easier and require less concentration. alt1 seems to be the fastest to hit. /Targetnpc is used for targeting an npc to sell grass, etc. /Garden is so it goes into your gardening so u don’t have to from the menu. Alt2 is meant to follow other mules to the MH so you can train multiple at a time. Alt3 just opens your mog house. Alt4 saves a lot of time trading to your mains. Alt6&7 yada yada. Alt8 useful to save time. alt0 I didn't really use. I found that pressing space and up for the '/logout' in my log was faster. /Shutdown just saves time so you don’t have to type it but if you hit it twice in succession it just brings you to the starting screen. Crtl1 is a habit I’ve had since game day 1. Think of crtl10 as the equivalent of a fighting game 'taunt.'

Loading-up Mules :: Setting the MH
6. Loading and setting mules. This part is maybe most time consuming and boring.

Before you do this you need to start loading up your main character with goods to trade. Start with wildgrass seeds or pots. Doesn't matter which is first. Dbox crystals later. Throw everything in your mog house so you have a lot of space. If you're going to get wildgrass seeds it helps to have /blm. I didn't have /blm so I just level oned and poison potted. I'd go buy wildgrass seeds in WG, poison pot warp to sandy MH. When I was out of seeds to trade my mules, I'd walk to the npc to warp you to wg, rinse and repeat. This will go by much faster if you have a main and an alt char on 2 diff accounts like I do. If you do, post one at south sandy MH and one at port sandy. All mules that finish a CS in north sandy should go to the south sandy MH. Interesting note here. When I was doing this you could pop up in perhaps 5+ places in each of the 3 zones. Now when you make a new char, it will always spawn in the same location in whatever zone it spits the char into. I take it this was changed to help SE keep a closer eye on RMT.

If you're doing ceramic flowerpots just main/sub thf and/or blm. When you're out of pots, flee to the north sandy NPC, buy up pots to max yourself, and warp back to the MH.

next,
Log your mules on. I found that running 2 mules at a time was just about as effective as 3, 4, or 5. Too many mules just seemed too clumsy. 2 computers w/ 2 hands on 2 keyboards makes this easier but it is not necessary. If you encounter another one of your mules on the way to the MH hit alt+2 at the right time to target and follow them. Doing this in traings of 3 mules+ requires some balls. I've been confused w/ GS many times, especially in trains greater than 3. If someone questions you, just pop your 2hr taunt macro at them and speak to them in some combination of fluent and complex or sarcastic English.

next,
When you get to the MH your main should be waiting there. Hit alt+4 to target them and while running toward them hit /logout. While your char is logging out you have time to trade them either 40 wildgrass seeds or 10 pots. If you logout while your trading this can save 30 seconds per mule, which can add up to be a lot of time saved.

next,
After you're done trading all your mules either pots or wildgrass seeds, you log them back on and now trade them the other item. So if you traded 40 seeds to each mule, now trade them flowerpots. Log them on, immediately hit /logout, target and trade ur main, rinse and repeat. Or it might be better just to trade, then zone in the moghouse and log, as that logs you instantly.

As you're doing all this, you should periodically be logging onto jeuno or starting city mules on your main accounts to buy up crystals. Usually there is enough supply and it's not something of concern but if necessary, start early and start buying around when you're doing cs's or before. If necessary have mules at every AH. Many times for big operations I would about completely deplete the Jeuno, Sandy, and Basty AH's of a given crystal for a day or two. If you have multiple stacks to send each mule, great. If you only have one stack for reach mule at the moment that's ok too. If you don't have any, that's still ok. Just make sure you send your mules the crystals before it is feeding day.

next,
Zone in your MH if you haven't, hit your dbox macro if you've got crystals, take em out. Now put everything in your MH. Now hit your /layout macro, which will also unequip all your equips so you can move them to the /bank later. Commence pot placement. I don't know how to explain what a "large amount of mules" and a "small amount" is, but if you've got a small amount you can lay your pots and immediately plant. If you've got a fuckton of mules, you might want to layout pots on all your mules first and then plant seeds so there's not a large timespread on your plants. Hawt, now all your mules are loaded up and set. Everything in this step will have literally taken days, and by the end of it you'll be glad as hell it's over, though in my case I could have enjoyed an entire season of LOST during this time.

The Daily Grind
7. Daily Examination/Upkeep.
+ Do something to keep yourself entertained while you check mules. If you like anime, national-anime.com is a paysite but very good. You could watch TV, or internet TV. You could camp NM's on your mains or chat though this will slow you down. You could be on vent or skype. Listen to music. You could listen to podcasts. Petfoodalpha and limitbreakradio are very good, but so are all the other FF podcasts.
+ Load 2 pol's on your pc, or preferably use 2 pc's. Simply examine 10 pots on one, logout, examine 10 pots on the other, logout, login and check 10...etc. Plant/harvest/feeding days will take longer but it's the same concept.
+ Nothing much else to say here. Just keep it up and use your macros to speed processes up. If you don’t' have quick fingers like I do, you'll probably get them after practice. Keep scoutin the AH and delivering bulks of crystals if you still need to.
+ I recommend not selling plants until you've harvested all 4 rounds if possible. This helps you to use your time most efficiently. However if you don't have any money you may need to start selling things after 2 harvests, etc. This will take much more time, so this is a habit that should be broken if possible.

The Bacon
8. Harvesting
This is fairly easy. Also there is leeway with harvestable plants. It takes awhile for them to die so if you want you can log on a mule, harvest, and start selling instead of harvesting on all and then beginning to sell.
+ Harvest on all your plants. Don't worry about the day. In mass gardening you don't have time for that. Same goes with when you examine, plant, and feed crystals. Harvest and then fill up your inventory. Exit and walk to the nearest NPC, and sell everything. If you've done 4 harvests, sometimes you'll get a paltry sub 40k. Other times you'll get 100k to 120k. Most of the time you'll get more than 80k. Your main chars should be standing at the npc's, so after you sell, hit logout and trade as you're loggin out.
+ Don't worry about selling pots or crystals or other junk. Almost always there will be no time and it won't be worth the time even if you had it. Just stock up to 30 invent and only go back to your house for a second round if you have actual valuable greens in the house. If it's just worthless gyashal or little worms, rock salt, ceramic pots, crystals, etc, forget about em. If you fill your invent w/ valuable greens and still have space leftover, sure, throw crystals or pots in there for some extra cash if you want, but it's not gonna make or break anything usually.
+ Grats, you're now much richer!

Canceling Accounts
9. Canceling. They're 30 day trials so you might want to do that. Easy. After you're done harvesting, just go into playonline, go to content id's, and cancel all of them. And done is done. Might want to keep the account information though for a rainy day, as opposed to throwing it away. If you've got a special piece of plastic though there may still be some bonus levels, hint.

Hmm..
So that in a nutshell is a very detailed account as to what I did, how I did it, how others could do it, and what SE is doing and can do to people who currently might do it. Took me 9 very long months to fund what now seems like a paltry 120m or so. I took many breaks in between and also had incidents with lost harvests. It wasn't all smooth. While I was doing this I ran dynamis for about 6 months. During the last two months of gardening I did much better. Instead of 15-20m a month, after I quit dynamis and after the semester was over, I made 30m/month. The last month and a half actually produced almost half of the entire funding required.

I'm not terribly concerned about finally posting this. I don't really have beef with anyone. I've already got just about everything I want out of the game. And I don't have any shame really. Posting this doesn't threaten my current gilmaking methods, nor can one be sure that gardening is even safe now. I thought this would be very informative to some though, as many have asked or begged me for details which I've withheld until this time. And of course there are others that never believed this was possible. And yet others who would just label me a common relic gilbuyer.

While this guide is thorough, I understand that it's all quite prohibitively difficult. Especially the scores of starter trial packs required--and now long since discontinued. As if that weren't enough, you can now apparently be banned for this.

I'm open to any questions, etc on these articles.

Funding a Relic through Gardening

2009-07-13T13:55:04Z

How I did it. Where it stands today. (part 1)

+ =

So I'm at work and bored and I thought I finally had time to finish my excel for the SA/TA calcs. It's been weeks since I was working on it and I'd forgotten how engrossing it is--far too engrossing to complete here. Just a little more time.

So instead I'll go into a topic of much interest to many I know. This topic can be phrased in many ways, "how I make so much damn money" "how did you fund a relic in a short time" "do you buy gil?" "I want to pimp out a relic too" "what's a good way to make money" "how do you make money through gardening" and, of course "relic funding through gardening."

What's about to ensue is a WoT of epic proportions.

Let's first look at Today's World.
This Month’s Bannings: Legit Gardeners, and otherwise
Theme of this entry sound like BS? It's not. And this is probably a good time to talk about it, in light of some recent events:
(I'd have to say I've recently been pretty impressed with PetFoodAlpha.com as a ff news source, so I'll link them first. For anyone who hasn't checked them out, they have written news / forum thread summaries and are even better known for their podcasts.)

PetFoodAlpha: Legit Gardeners Banned
PetFoodAlpha: Gardening Accounts Restored
Allah': Legit Gardeners Banned
BG: Legit Gardeners Banned
BG: Testing the accuracy of the "RMT PwNeR 1.337"

These recent reports and threads talk about this last month’s wave of bannings, not rivaling the holocaust of last January but very likely the second most intense wave of bannings ever. The forums are mad with talk about SE's seemingly defunct customer service and quality assurance, and ideas as to how or if it they can be fixed. This month’s mass/controversial bannings are three of a kind: (1) halting the "brogame" in-game RMT tells, though this only lasted about a week and a half, (2) chargeback bannings--where a player had been billed twice accidentally, which led to a successive ban upon the player having their CC company do a charge back to remove one of the charges, (3) legit gardeners.

There's discussion of this all over the forums. Also there are polls and threads about whether SE is trying to decelerate their own game in the coming of FFXIV. People are talking about the temporarily decreased "brogame" tells, interestingly enough followed by tells asking players to sell gil. There's a very interesting thread about a test done in which a player: 1, subscribed a 14 day trial account, 2, went out and farmed up a single crystal, 3, NPC'ed that crystal to an NPC frequently used by RMT, and 4, logged off only to find upon logging on later that evening that the account had been banned. In light of this, people are posting very recent, very poor GM decisions. Such as in one case, an LS created a new shell for themselves called "SpecialTaskForce," as a joke. They were then GM'ed by a rival LS under the pretense that this could be construed as 'impersonating SE'. Upon being brought to jail and asked to break the shell, the linkshell leader promptly did so, and was then informed that they would receive a suspension and were up for review for perma ban. In another thread, someone was suspended for having their linkshells URL in their bazaar comment. Another poster was suspended for having the name of a friend in their bazaar. Yes, the name of a friend (I guess this is some kind of privacy angle the GM was taking). In the midst of all this, there is however a single thread made in an attempt to defend SE.

Most of this can be found at BG but there is much buzz going around everywhere else about it. On a positive note, though, it seems that most if not all of the LM-17'ed (by the way, that's supposed to mean a perma-ban) legit/non-RMT gardeners have gotten their accounts back. I haven't seen anything regarding the charge-back people though.

I was pretty shocked on a personal level actually, because one of the people banned had only started gardening 2-3 weeks before the bannings after I'd taught him some of the basics mentioned here. Fortunately he's back. On top of that, I had an extra account of my own banned this month. I'd only used it to make a recent cross-server transfer, so fortunately I didn't still need it; it was only a reactivated trial account I'd had from back in the day.

In any event, this allows me to highlight what some had mentioned about their own gardening operations, spoken in the light of all this.

Gardening Massively for Gil

"The main character on the account has multiple level 75 jobs and is very active. The rest of the account is full of gardening mules that her husband is using to fund a relic. The gardening mules primarily produce Ice Ore with Platinum Leaves as the byproduct. A significant amount of gil is transferred between these characters at every harvest. Much of this gil is generated via selling items to NPC's, as the platinum leaves NPC for around 1700 each and multiple stacks are generated on every mule each harvest. The majority of the gil goes to her husband, though he kicks her back some gil with every harvest because she will occasionally check and feed plants for him.

Two other accounts are used in this gardening operation: her husband's main account, and an alt account acquired from a friend who quit the game some time ago."
-Allah' Forum User(3)

This is just one of a few who talked about their gardening operations, aspirations, or works-in-progress in terms of high-end potential: funding a relic.

I'm not sure if I'm the first. It's possibly so. But a lot of people keep their secrets well kept. Perhaps Minidragon was the first, or the most accomplished of people who used gardening for gil. For those that don't know who Minidragon was, he was the leader of a small but very successful LS called NiN (nine inch ninjas), but was banned in January for exploiting the salvage duping glitch. He was ranked #1 on FFXIAH's achievement point system, and had a stunning 6 relics at the time. After being banned, he mentioned that long ago there was a glitch where you could have more than 10 (up to 80?) gardening pots per mule, and that this is how he began to amass his fortune. So his mules were quite literally about 8 mules-in-one. He also had 2-3 alt accounts which he gardened on, all stacked to the brim with pots. I'm not 100% sure what he gardened, but I believe it was elemental ore. This was pre-deflation, so the gil he amassed was enormous (approaching a billion?). Deflation allowed him to sit on all that gil, where eventually one day relics would cost ~110-~130m at their cheapest. Details were posted in a farewell thread, but it seems that the NiN site is now gone. Edit: Actually I just ran into a copy of it while I was looking for something else.

Background: An Idea

I played little during deflation and was also able to take advantage of it, but my gardening started a year and 9 months ago during the time I'd just started funding Mandau. Back then one of my friends had been reading about wildgrass-seed NPC gardening. I and a few close friends chatted about it but discarded the notion. Then, one of my friends had a brilliant idea. Why not, he said, use $2.00 30-day-trial accounts (also called "starter packs") and garden en-masse. The great part: the sky's the limit; the other great part: they're trials so we wouldn't even have to pay more than $2/month for them.

So we did a test batch. The next day I went to gamestop and bought a pack. A week and a harvest later, we were happy with the results. I went back and I bought every single starter pack they had. In fact, I eventually bought all of the starter packs at every gamestop in my city as well as the neighboring town. All and all over time I bought a little over a hundred starter packs (I'm sick, I know). It was at this time that I also started running a dynamis linkshell.

What ensued was one of the most difficult years of my life. I had to balance school and real life with running a dynamis shell and mass-gardening. I cannot understate just how difficult the mass-gardening was. It may be a beautiful thing to say that I essentially bought a relic weapon through the NPC, but the amount of thought and expirmentation and the chronic daily effort that went into it were staggering.

Operation Scale and Profit Formula
I usually did 8-16 accounts a month. 12 was about average. That's 16 mules on each account, so for 12 that's a total of 192 mules to check each day. That may sound absolutely ridiculous, and it kinda is. But, actually, it really wasn't that bad time-wise. I read on a forum recently about someone claiming that 8 accounts would take 5 hours to check. Maybe, maybe not. For me, it took about 2 and a half to 3 hours a day. So, reasonable. Profit was maybe about 14m/month at that rate. For me it was easy to check my mules and enjoy my time because I had 2 or 3 computers. While I was examining mules on one pc, the other pc was either logging on or off of a mule. And then I'd switch. Meanwhile I was easily able to watch TV (internet that is) or Anime, listen to music, podcasts, or chat with people on vent, etc. So the 2 hours went by quickly and productively. I hadn't been a huge anime fan before gardening. By the end of it, I'd seen maybe 25-30 new anime. Now if I'd only had one computer it could have taken more time. If I'd had no anime or the like, I don't think I would have been able to do it, lol.

I didn't garden the entire 9 months it took me to fund Mandau. I took a break in December. I also took occasional breaks to focus more on dynamis or school. I had a few other things holding me back, such as the treasure hunter tests I did that year. All in all though, it was about 9 months or so from start to finish.

Maybe I should break down the profit formula. Fortunately it's very simple.

20k (per) mule (per) 6 days

Mules make about 20k avg profit (maybe 19.5) per each 6 day harvest. That's all you need to do to figure out how many mules, accounts, or harvests you might need to achieve your goal. You can do 4 harvests a month, and each account has 16 characters, so profit by account/month would be 20k*4*16 or 1.28m. Of course this figure is actually less than that. The profit I laid out factors in the cost of the crystals and seeds but not the pots. Pots are almost 1k each, so 10k per mule, or 160k per account.

The recipe.

Wildgrass seeds + ceramic flowerpots + lightning/water crystals = (crystals, azouph greens, sharug greens, tokopekko wildgrass, garidav wildgrass, and misc useless junk).

Recipe Advice and Daily Maintenance
The above recipe is pretty much the staple. Some say to use brass flowerpots, but this is not a good idea. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly is elemental balance. Gardening theory (theory of course) says that wildgrass seeds are water based. The recipe for the max yield also uses water crystals or a crystal that is strong against water. Likewise we want a water based pot. Some people say to use brass flowerpots and/or fire crystals, but this really just pits fire against water, and you can see this because you'll get lower profits. I tried fire crystals and they sucked. I tried brass flowerpots for a long time and they were decent, but when I switched to ceramic I got better results. Reason two is setup efficiency. You have to set all these mules up. It's not bad to buy pots from an NPC in basty (brass) and dbox them to your mules, but it was easier for me to walk to the NPC in sandy (ceramic) and trade directly to my mules. You want your mules to be in sandy because that is the shortest distance (south and port sandy) between a mog house and an NPC (or at least I thought it was)..

I'd say ignore putting tables in your mog house because it takes too much time to do that on accounts that only last you a month. However I read someone saying recently that if they did that, they only had to plant, feed, and harvest and never had to examine their plants to keep them alive. That's pretty surprising to me. I haven't gardened in over a year but I could swear I remember that not being the case. Either way, any wise gardener should test it for themselves. I'd give other general gardening advice but there's more than enough of that available on Pikko Pots, Wiki, Clan of the Angry Monkey (definitely worth a look), and elsewhere.

Another recipe that is also very worth trying:

Platinum Nuggets

Platinum nuggets = tree cuttings + ceramic/porcelain flowerpot + light crystal + light crystal. I believe this is correct. This for me was much more profitable per hour spent than wildgrass. The problem is heavy overhead investment but, mostly, repeatability. There are only so many nuggets that people will by and you will drive the price down if you mass produce. When I did platinum nuggets, at one point I had nearly 200 stacks on my mules. In order to sell them all in any reasonable amount of time, I had to drive the price down from 35k to 18k /stack. Still, on average, I made about 80k profit per 2 weeks effort. This is about 2 times more profitable than wildgrass recipes. Again though, there's only so many cuttings you can buy and nuggets you can sell. With enough accounts, wildgrass has no limit (except your physical limits when you die from lack of sleep, or except for the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day).

I've tried elemental ores and I really didn't like it. Maybe I just couldn't understand the mechanics of checking/feeding at the right times etc, but wildgrass recipes were more convenient, required less overhead, were less stressful, and overall more profitable for me.

The hard part: Setting Up
Actually daily maintenance is hard in its own right. When you have to spend 2 and a half hours each and every day to check your mules, that can be harsh. It makes going out and doing social events difficult. An overnight party?--bam, all my mules have died and I've lost millions. Visiting family?--"uhh, where can I hook my computer up in case I need it later tonight?" In a situation like this I would sometimes ask a friend to help me out for the night. The sucky thing about using trial accounts as well is that you only have 30 days. The first harvest will be 7 days and successive harvests will take 6 days each (this is because you can harvest and plant on the same day). So that's 25 days. That gives you 5 other days for setting up your mules as well as harvesting them. So you're going to be gardening alllll the time.

Now think about that for a second. 5 days. In the span of those five days, if you're doing 16 accounts for example as I did a few times, that's 256 mules. That's 256 mules you have to run to the NPC and sell things from and trade to your main (maybe) character at the end of the month, some of them needing to go back to the MH for a second trip. That's 256 seeds you have to plant for the first harvest. That's 2560 flowerpots you have to trade to your mules and set in your layout. That's almost 4 stacks of wildgrass seeds and a stack or two of crystals to trade/dbox /per mule/. That's 256 mules to run to the MH. 256 macro sets to make (or actually, what I would do and needed to do since I was on a laptop, would be to have a default macro set as well as online config settings that I'd made, and I'd go into my FinalFantasyXI/USER folder and copypaste the settings/macros to each mules. This saves a shit-ton of valuable time. Also you need do 256 whole cutscenes. This is possibly the most aggravating part. Especially the south sandy cutscene. I really hate that cutscene. I remember at one point I asked BG's infmaous Taj if he knew of a way to skip cutscenes in the way I'd wanted to, but no solution could be found :(

Setting up is extremely time-consuming. What's worse than how time-consuming it is that you need to do it with as few breaks as possible. This means that work, school, or other obligations will really mess you up. To get around this, I would skip classes at this time, or just not sleep. I've gone 30+ hour sessions with no sleep doing this.

After this is all done the rest isn't so bad (until the next month), even if you've got 16 accounts. You're just checking them 2 and a half to 3 hours a day, and that's plenty of time to get a nice fill of whatever you like to watch or listen to. The next batch of pain will be at the end of the month when you sell everything, but it's not nearly as bad and the fact that you're seeing your money go up by the millions every few hours makes this a lot more fun than listening to sandorian nobles bicker at each other 256 times.

Is it worth it?
Yes and no. Probably yes. Well, it depends. Firstly are you into the game to the point where others might claim you have no life (whether or not it's true). Secondly are you committed. Thirdly can you, can you manage the schedule required? If so, then it's probably worth it. But many cannot meet all the conditions. For some others, there are just better or equally good ways to make gil. There are probably several methods of making gil that are good, like this one.

What can make this superior even though it's so much work and so boring is: reliability and repeatability. It's reliable cuz you can always go and buy wildgrass seeds and pots from the npc and there are always crystals on the AH, and you just NPC everything. It's repeatable because, well...There's enough/infinite supply of what's required, so you're limited only by how much time you can invest and/or how many accounts you can find/afford. Only problem is of course...if I wrote this two weeks ago I could say that. Now I'm not so sure, as it seems that SE can flag and mistake people for RMT, and potentially ban them without necessary appeal.

Right now I have something better than gardening that I do; both much less time consuming and more profitable. However, for obvious reasons, I can't say what it is. Similarly I was at first unwilling to say anything about my gardening for a long time. But definitely there are other good ways to make gil. The people in my HNM shell sell/split ixion and sandworm every day, on top of other NM's and sell r/ex items. They make a killing. Selling abjurations and other r/ex items from various sources is nice. I personally sell MMM items for up to when I have the spare time. I just put up my advertisement, and people come to me. When they do, the MMM runs are very short. Now is probably as good a time as ever to be running a dynamis shell. Rather than currency going down, it's gone up heavily in the last year. Meanwhile dynamis costs have gone down. Back when I was gardening, I ultimately had to stop running my dynamis shell because I realized it was holding me back and I was /losing/ money by doing dynamis, as I could have been using that time to garden. When I stopped doing dynamis my overall gil/time more than doubled from the freed up time. W/ currency costs these days I'm not so sure that'd be the case.

Gil/Hour, Reliability, and Repeatability

Let's calculate gil/hour with the method. It's not as much as some might think. Let's say we garden 2.5 hours a day, but 5 days of the month for setting up / selling turn out to be 10 hours each. Total of 112.5 hours a month. With 16 accounts we're making 4harvests*16mule/account*16accounts*20k/account = 20.5m/month. Subtract pot costs (256mule * 10k) and we get about 18m profit a month. 18m / 112.5 hours = 160k/hr. Not bad. I'm not gonna lie. It's going to take more than 112.5 hours. 2.5 hours/day is peak efficiency. On days where you have to harvest, plant, or feed crystals you're looking at more time. Etc etc. Still, the important thing is how repeatable this is. Tell me if you can find another way of getting near 160k/hr and it actually be reliable and repeatable to the point that you could make 18m a month off of just that method. Some people may be able to do it, but for most people it's unlikely.

(continued here...)

Stacking Defense Down

2009-05-20T14:42:03Z

"What is the maximum amount of -% defense that players can inflict on a mob, and is it worth it to tailor party setups and strategies towards achieving this number?"

This is just an effort to tackle some things that I wanted to talk about a few months ago, so I'll start with an easy one. It was back in August of last when einherjar had finally gotten beefed down, that I was looking for some outside-the-box strategies for my LS's runs. Something that I had seen overlooked again and again was defense down stacking.  Defense down on mobs is great. But stacking it is even better, and I don't think that many people realize why. It'd be best if I explain by comparing it to some other buffs/debuff/property functions. Let's look at.

Haste
-Enmity
SubtleBlow
DefenseDown
etc.

vs.

Attack
+Enmity
DoubleAttack
etc.

Defense down is a cumulative-growth function
The buffs/debuffs in the first list operate via a function which subtracts from a value x to give us a value y. That is to say with haste, it subtracts from a value of delay(x) to give us a value of attack speed(y). -Enmity subtracts from a TE(x) (total enmity; CE + VE) value to give us a value of "decreased hate pulling"(y). And so on. The buffs/debuffs on the second list are ones which add a value x and that's it. +Enmity adds from TE(x) to give us a new TE, for example. We could also think of the functions int he second list which give us values via subtracting values, but it would not be useful for our purposes as players so we might as well ignore that possibility (for example, we could think of double attack increases as a function which decreases how slow our rate of attacks are).

The above may have sounded a bit confusing. If so that's my bad. The important thing to remember is that:
1. The things in the first list, being effects stemming from negative functions, have a cumulative rate of growth (increasing marginal rate of growth) as you add more and more of the stat, and are thus exponential functions.
2. The things in the second list, being effects stemming from positive functions, have a decreasing marginal rate of growth as you add more and more of the stat, and are thus, uhh, let's call them decreasing marginal functions.

Functions with decreasing marginal gains
For example, if you're a Mnk/Nin with no brutal earring, and you add brutal (+5% double attack), you gain a 5% boost in swing volume. Previously they had 100/100 (1) hits in terms of multi-procs, and now they have 105/100 (1.05). Divide the new number by the old number, and you get 1.05/1 or a 5% boost.

Meanwhile, if you were to add a brutal earring to a War with 5 d.a. merits, you'd get a ~4.35% boost in swing volume. Previously they had 115/100 (1.15) hits in terms of multi procs (5 from merits, 10 from native traits), and now they have 120/100 (1.2). Divide the new number by the old, and you get 1.2/1.15, or a ~4.35% boost.

Functions with increasing marginal gains
It's been well known for maybe 2 years now, I think, that stacking haste can lead to very good results. Commonly we've applied this to zerg fights, stacking as much as possible to make normally difficult fights a complete joke. So lets take haste for example. Let's say you have 0 haste gear or effects active at a particular moment. Then, you have the haste spell cast on you (15%). This decreases your delay by 15%. Your increased attack speed is 1/(new delay) divided by 1/(old delay) or, simpler, just (old delay)/(new delay). In this case, that would be 100/(100 - 15), or ~17.6%. So that 15% haste gives you a marginal 17.6% increased attack speed from 0->15% haste. Now what happens if we added haste spell onto an already haste-stacked situation? Let's say you had 25% haste in gear, 10% from a ja (hasso), 10% from another JA (capped haste samba), and 20% from 2 march songs. Adding a 15% haste spell do that brings you from 65->80% haste, or the current haste cap. Your increased marginal attack speed going from 65->80 (not from 0->80) would be (100 - 65)/(100 - 80), or (35 / 20), or 75% marginal increased attack speed. That's right, that very same haste spell that gave +~17.6% attack speed in one situation can give +75% in another.

The point is that the other buffs in the first list are also exponential functions. As you stack more and more haste, -enmity, subtle blow, or defense down, it has a cumulatively increasing (exponential) effect. Which is pretty nice.

Types of Defense down
When I was planning out einherjar, I tried to think about what the maximum defense down value was that I could expect to get on mobs and bosses. As with haste, defense down comes in a variety of flavors. Haste comes in the 'flavors' of: equip haste, magic haste, and ja haste. Defense down comes in flavors too, but they haven't really been named. So far, here's what I've figured out. Any effect which produces something in your chat log which reads "Additional effect: Defense Down" is of the same 'flavor' as all other effects which also do that. That is, they don't stack together.  I'm guessing stronger effects overwrite lesser ones, but I really don't know. If someone can prove this wrong, please let me know. Other than that, the only other types seem to be Dia, Light Shot (only when it can enhance dia), and Box Step. So:

Types
1. Additional Effect: Defense Down
2. Dia
3. Light Shot (enhancing dia only)
4. Box Step

Some LS's have used Blue Mages to do one of various spells which lower the defense of several mobs in their radius. This is not a bad strategy. I would encourage it for normal mobs, if you have a blue mage. However, let's take a look at the strongest effect in this 'flavor'.

Type 1
The strongest of type 1 is Angon. When fully merited angon lasts for 1:30. It's recast is 3:00. It gives a whopping -20% def down. 2 drgs is all that is necessary to keep full time angon on long duration fights (bosses).
Type 2
Next we have Dia 3. Rdm is a complex job and is open ended in terms of the style that the player wants to take. However, if a Rdm prides himself over being "ready for anything," this means he ought to have Dia 3. I recommend two merits in it. The longer duration helps w/ MP and micromanagement. One merit is all that is necessary, but it is imperative for zergish fights that Dia 3 be on full time. Dia 3's base duration is 30 seconds with one merit, and 30 seconds more with each additional merit. It gives -15% defense down.
Type 3
A corsair's Light Shot adds a little bit of boost. Corsairs are always great to have, and this is a little bit of extra utility that they can add. Light shot will add 5% more defense down, but only if a dia effect is already on the mob.
Type 4
Dancer has been mocked by many, along with scholar, as a useless job at 75. I'd have to disagree. While I don't see either job being exceptional in a large amount of circumstances in endgame, I do see them both having niche uses. Scholar is exceptional in low man dynamis since they can double as both a healer and a timed-nuker. Dancer is exceptional for mobile zerging parties (little known concept) since they have access to haste samba, which stacks cumulatively/exponentially with other haste effects. Box Step also stacks cumulatively, and that is an awesome thing. The first box step drecreases defense down by 5%. However, it can be stacked up to 5 times, and each additional step gives 2% each, totaling 13% def down. The delay beween steps is 0:15, so it would take 1:00 after the first step to achieve this level of defense down.

The maximum possible Defense Down
-20% - Angon
-15% - Dia 3
-5% - Light Shot (on dia)
-13% - Box Step
-53% Defense Down is our grand total for maximum possible defense down.

Since Box Step takes a full minute to reach 13%, it isn't instantaneous. Thus, the maximum defense down obtainable "instantaneously" is -45% (since the first box step gives 5% and not 13%).

-53% and -45% are large numbers. In my opinion, defense down is stacking is underestimated and just purely not recognized as highly beneficial. Most zergs that I've been apart of have a maximum of angon and dia 2 for -30%. The increasing marginal gain in terms of attack/defense from adding dia 3, light shot, and box step 1 to that is 27.3%. That is, if you just added those 3 effects, we'd marginally increase our dps by nearly a third. If we change box step 1 in that figure to box step 5, that's a marginal increase of 48.9%. We're doing about 50% more DPS. This is huge. In a sense, that's like taking an alliance with 15 DD's and adding 7.5 more DD's to the mix. Of course, corsair's and dancers aren't terrific zerging DD's on their own, but the raw DPS increase could be enough to justify it. If we said that the dancer and corsair did absolutely no damage (and didn't count samba or roll effects), that'd still be like going down to 13 DD's and increasing their dps by 50%, which sould be as if having 19.5 DD's. For einherjar, an event that can cap at 36 members, it seemed quite obvious to me that if you were going to bring along a lot of members, having a dancer in there was a win-win situation.

Why care about defense down stacking
It's all about maximum DPS zerging and max DPS in general. Here are a number of situations where I could see defense down stacking working nicely:

1.Swarm-of-mob style, larger (alliance+) events. In dynamis and einherjar, for example, dia3, box step, and light shot on every single mob would make a huge difference. With two drgs, most mobs should have defense down on them. Going from 0% defense down, this effectively double melee DPS on mobs.
2.Long zerg fights. I can't see a cor, rdm, and dnc necessarily being practical w/ some of the easier, shorter, common zergs such as BahamutV2, Kirin, and KV. I can however see it being very useful on einherjar bosses. These bosses are unique in that they are something which is "zerged" which actually takes awhile to kill. Normally we think of zerg fights as short, but in einherjar this is not so. With just 2 drg, 1 rdm, 1 cor, and 1 dnc, we can have just about permanent -53% defense down on the boss, which is just huge.
3.Absolute Virtue. This may seem like a bit of a joke to some, but I'd been toying around with the idea of whether AV was still zergable from a math point. When I say zergable, I think of "what is the maximum possible DPS we could hope to produce without souleater."  Now if we know AV's relative defense, we can actually say theoretically if he is zergable or not. Most of the other variables are known (such as player DPS formulas and his HP. We can rule out accuracy/evasion just based on the power of feint and 2hr madrigals). I think that stacking defense down would be integral to such a fihgt. However, it would require a bit of coordinative strategy. What I mean is having the bards 2hr, dropping the bards, adding a drg, rdm, and thf. Having them do their thing, and then adding a cor and a dnc. I'd discuss this in more detail in an AV post . But there we have a possible -45%+ defense down on AV, which as we've seen earlier increases DPS quite a bit over a marginal angon (which is all that I think most successful souleater AV zergs had in them).

And that about does it, I think.

First Vajra Completed

2009-05-11T11:52:10Z

And it's not mine :(

Feriel, a JP from Bahamut
BG Thread

Time away from home and FFXI

2009-05-09T20:47:01Z

A little about the RL

Those who know me in-game know that I haven't been on much for the past month. The reason for this is that I have a new job, as of late March '09. When I graduated from Uni almost a year ago, our US economy turned pretty shite. I chose to procrastinate from serious life plans and was enjoying my time playing FF and chillaxin while I worked entry level jobs. The first job of which was a waiting job. I worked a bow-tie waiting staff job at a luxury dining hall in an old home for the well-to-do. I really hated that job :(. But everybody knows that waiting sucks horribly, so that is no surprise.

Then I worked at The Limited, a women's retail clothing store, as the freight guy. I got to handle all of the hardware and receive, stock, and handle all of the clothing (yes, panties included). And for those without inside knowledge, Limited mannequins come equipped with a certain type of gel-filled ass-pad underwear that we have to put onto them manually. True story.

But while all of this was going on I was looking into getting an English teaching job in Japan. This kind of thing (in Japan or overseas in general) is becoming a little bit of a trend for recent college grads, I think. It's not only an opportunity to experience something new and test yourself, but also a great way to buy more time to postpone your life (don't we love to do that).

Although I can't talk about all of the more specific or private details about my job, I can still say a fair bit. For example, that I'm employed by a company called Interac, and the board of education contracts my services through them. The board of education in my case is that of Miyagi Prefecture. I work and live in a little area near the ocean; a place called Tagajo city, which is about 200 miles NE of Tokyo, just north of Sendai.

Soooo.., first impressions
If I could sum up my impression of Japan so far in few words, what would I say, hmm.. It is very clean, and very safe. Food is healthy and tasty, but they eat more carbs than one might think (noodles and rice). Actually, sometimes it seems like noodles and rice is just about all they eat. Public transportation is great, but the bullet train is expensive. Prices are a bit high, but technology is often a step ahead of us...or to the side. Think like, public toilet seats with seat warmers, but that start to play a tune when you sit on them. The western writing system is everywhere, and western slogans and slangwords are common. There are plenty of beautiful women. People are healthy. People are "overly polite" in formal or business matters, but in casual situations (which is much of the time), they behave very much like westerners. People care about their external appearance and many young people seem to take fashion seriously. Though when the Japanese are sick it is not uncommon to wear a surgical mask in public, which to me looks rather unfashionable. The TV is full of garbage game shows, but I guess American TV isn't really any better. Hip-hop is popular, both foreign and Japanese. I still don't know what to make of Jpop.

As for my particular high school, it is not what I expected. Firstly uniforms are not required. I made two speeches to the student body and faculty in the gym on my first/second day, and I was surprised upon looking into the crowd at how "American" they looked to me. Of course the school is Japanese and neither anglo nor multi-ethnic, but their behavior and dress made me feel like I was at home at an American HS. A lot of the kids at my school really don't give a damn, or at least pretend not to. They skip classes often and some try to sleep in class. They spike, bleach, and color their hair (some totally frowed out, some with dreds). They wear torn jeans, thug themselves out, and you also see the occasoinal trenchcoat. Some girls wear lots of makeup and they seem to be very fond of high stockings, either black or with fancy patterns. Not all students are like this, but a lot of the body is comprised as such. And beneath such an exterior, many of them have also turned out to be very shy. And most of them are really great kids and do try in class when they're tired of pretending that they really don't care (well, someof them aren't pretending). I should say that is more true of my day students than my night students, though (I work roughly from ~11am to 7pm).

There are pretty much no Gai-jin (foreigners) around here, though in the rare event that I do come across one, there is a likely chance they also work for my company. A lot of the gai-jin hang out with each other, and can become very close just because they're fellow gai-jin. Some of us 'ALT (assistant language teacher) no eigo sensei (english teacher)' play as hard as we work. It is common among the Japanese to book a spot at a bar or restaurant for a 'nomi hodae'(sp) (all-you-can-drink drinking party) for you and your friends or co-workers. And we foreigners do the same (some of us; less me than some others). And I have to say that I was surprised at how great of a time could genuinely be had at the 'karaoke box' (karaoke party room).

Many of us, especially new people like me, don't really have time for much play (like FFXI, for example), nor the money to do so (we don't get paid anything until the end of the first two months). Adjusting and getting set up here is rough. Learning some amount of both written and oral language is advisable, and that takes time. The work is also not always easy. For me it is very difficult, but that makes it very rewarding. I have no previous teaching experience and know (knew) almost no Japanese upon arrival, but my high school expects me to make full lesson plans throughout the year with no real guidance (and the texts here are more like a condiment than an entree), and essentailly teach 45 minute to hour-and-a-half sessions often very much solo, using no Japanese preferably. So I'm very much in control of what and how I teach at my school (was not expecting this). If that sounds tough, I can assuredly affirm that it is, haha.

With what little play time I have..
So adapting to this job leaves me with little play time. I am starting to log on FFXI for at least a short time almost every night though. I find that I can afk between HNM windows and use the time to lesson plan and study Japanese. In a week and a half of consistent (though not arduous) study, I can now read and write the 46 base Hiragana. Oral communication is another ballgame though.

(yeahhhhh durty)

As for current FF goals, I have a few. I would say that salvage gearing and just having a good time in my new HNM shell (as opposed to getting geared in it) are top priorities. My most fundamental in-game goal currently, however, is actually upgrading Vajra. Yes indeed; I've had my heart set on this for awhile. I currently have about 54m in easily convertable cash. So with current prices that is more than half way. But gil isn't the problem.

Right now by "currently upgrading Vajra," I mean I "currently attend einherjar twice a week." I have only about 30k ampoules. This means that if I go as often as possible, I still have like 7-8 months of ampoules ahead of me. I've just now gotten a regular einherjar shell, but they go at rather late hours so I might not always be able to make it. Either way I am confident that by the time I have 100k ampoules, I can easily have set out to've fulfilled the other arduous requirements ahead of time.

Why would I want Vajra? Just to upgrade it for completion's sake really, in the name of my Thief and Thief in general. I can picture it having use in non-/drk zerging (and maybe /drk zerging above m.kris), but other than that I'm not sure it will be very impressive. Or at least that's how it appears so far, though for all we know the SA/TA boost could be rather significant (beyond X's or Rogue'sArmlets+1). Mandalic stab is also increasingly useful on opponents with increasingly higher defense, so Vajra might have niche use for such enemies (Ixion, albeit not melee'd, comes to mind). And at least it can't poison things.

	Random Pix

Models for Gearing Thief

2009-05-09T17:35:07Z

.oO: Click to enlarge :Oo.

It's a bit self-absorbed to use myself as a model for how one should gear their thief. So instead, I'll say that what is presented here is one way of gearing one's thief, and that I feel that the builds I have created have been very useful for my purposes thus far. Likewise I welcome other thieves to try similar builds if they have not done so already.

I'll say a little about each of my builds; firstly about the gear that they contain and secondly about the purpose and uses behind each gear set.

Set Compositions
Weapons (main/sub): Mandau/X's mainly. Other options: Blau Dolch, Thief's Knife, Ermine's Tail, Adder Jambiya, Tatami Shield, etc.

TP Build #1 (VT+, /nin): Fire Bomblet, Walahra Turban, Love Torque, Brutal Earring, Suppanomimi, MirkeWardecors/HomamCorazza, Homam Manopolas, Rajas Ring, Toreador's Ring, Forager'sMantle/Cuchulain'sMantle, Swift Belt, Homam Cosciales, Homam Gambieras
TP Build #2 (T-): Fire Bomblet, Walahra Turban, Love Torque, Brutal Earring, Suppanomimi, Rapparee Harness, Homam Manopolas, Rajas Ring, Ulthalam's Ring, Forager'sMantle, Swift Belt, Homam Cosciales, Homam Gambieras
TP Build #3 (TW or Feint): Bomb Core, Walahra Turban, LoveTorque/JusticeTorque, Brutal Earring, Suppanomimi, Rapparee Harness, Homam Manopolas, Rajas Ring, Ulthalam'sRing/TriumphRing+1, Forager'sMantle, Swift Belt, Homam Cosciales, Homam Gambieras
Subtle Blow DPS Build: Bomblet, Turban, L.Torque, Brutal/Suppa, DragonHarness, HomamHands, Rajas/Toreador's, Forager's/Cuchulain's, PeisteBelt+1, Enkidu'sSubligar, HomamFeet

WS, Mercy Stroke: BombCore, Heca Cap, Justice Torque, Brutal/Triumph+1, Heca Body +1, Heca Hands +1, Rajas/Triumph+1, Forager's, Warwolf, Enkidu's Sub, Heca Feet +1
WS, Evisceration/DE: FireBomblet, Heca Cap, Love Torque, Brutal/Hollow, Antares Harness, Heca Hands +1, Rajas/Adroit+1, Cuchulain's Mantle, Cuchulain's Belt, Oily Trousers, Heca Feet +1
WS, Shark Bite: BombCore, Heca Cap, Love Torque, Brutal/Hollow, DH, Heca Hands +1, Rajas/Adroit+1, Forager's, Cuchulain's Belt, Enkidu's/Oily, Heca Feet +1

Trick Attack: BombCore, Denali Bonnet, Love Torque, Brutal/Suppa, Denali Jacket, Rogue's Armlets +1, NimbleRing2x, Forager's/Charger, Scouter's, War Brais +1, Strider Boots
Sneak Attack: BombCore, Heca Cap, Love Torque, Brutal/Suppa, DH, Heca Hands +1, Rajas/Adroit+1, Forager's/Charger/Cuchulain's, Cuchulain's Belt, Enkidu's Sub, Strider Boots

Max Evasion (Alchemadian/Nefarious set =D): Ermine's Tail + another dagger, GoblinCracker/UngurBoomerang/LeoXbow+1, Optie Hat, Eva Torque, Musical/Novia, Antares Harness, DenaliHands/MasterMitts, Nimble2x, Boxer's, Scouter's, Raven Hose, DanceShoes+1
UtsuNi, UtsuIchi(Part 2), and alt Eva/Haste Hybrid: Turban, Eva Torque, Musical/Novia, Rapp, Homam Hands, Nimble2x, Boxer's, Swift, Homam Legs, Homam Feet
Mid-Range Enemy Tanking set: Denali Bonnet, Eva Torque, Brutal/Suppa, Antares Harness, Denali Hands, Rajas/Toreador's, Boxer's, Scouter's, Homam Legs, Homam Feet
High-level Enemy Tanking set: Optical Hat, Eva Torque, Musical/Novia, DH, Denali Hands, Rajas/BqRing, Boxer's, PeisteBelt+1, Enkidu'sSub, DanceShoes+1

Ranged accuracy: LeoXbow+1(Needs upgrade to Ziska), Optie Hat, PCC, Suppa/Hollow, Pahluwahn Kzahagand, Deadeye Gloves, Behemoth/Behemoth+1, Jaeger Mantle, Precise Belt, Dusk Trousers, Homam Feet
Ranged DPS: Same as above, only with Coffinmaker, Iron Bullets, TriumphEarring+1, AmemetMantle+1. Other options are Gun Belt, Beater's Earring, and Trailer's Kukri.

/war /drk HNM'ing TP set: Mandau/Tatami, and same as normal TP set except with Hollow Earring, Charger Mantle, no Mirke Wardecors, and sometimes Homam Head.
/drk Zerging: (needs M.Kris), Mandau/Tatami, Turban, Love Torque, Brutal/Cassie, Rapp, Homam Hands, Rajas/BqRing, Gigant, Swift, Homam Legs/Feet.

Set Applications
Weapons (main/sub):
Mandau: Not much to say about it. If you're reading this, you already know something about it. If you don't, there's a whole post on it lower in my LJ.
X's Knife: This was a pleasant surprise for me. At first I was not terribly impressed. I noticed a TP gain loss changing to this from blau. Also, my first eviscerations were rather mediocre. Playing Thf with Mandau is different than playing without. Playing with Mandau/X's is a different style in itself. If things go well I'll make an entire post about X's Knife and evisceration, as there's enough to say elsewhere. To summarize, though, this is excellent if you find yourself hovering over 100% tp often. It's also excellent if one has a very good evisceration build. Otherwise it is nice, but only a mediocre increase.
Blau Dolch: Generally the best mainhand or offhand dagger. Post-mandau I use it with X's or another combo when I don't want to poison things. There are times where I don't get to do a whole lot of SA/TA and I use blau instead of X's.
Ermine's Tail: Best max evasion dagger. Great for solo/tanking.
Adder Jambiya: One of several options to use for a evasion/tanking build, dual-wield or otherwise. I'm about to craft this and use it over Azoth due to it's nice additional effect.
Thief's Knife: TH, yada yada
Tatami Shield: Handy single-wielding partner. Superior to viking shield if you're using mercy stroke.
Vajra: Currently upgrading. Hey, it doesn't poison things. And it looks like something a power ranger might use.

TP Build #1 (VT+, /nin): This is essentially my "merit build" and my overall "main TP build." I've found MarinaraPizza(+1) to be far too good to be using other alternatives except lolRedCurry in merits. If I'm cheap or low on invent space I use CoeurlSub for some events, but not merits. This is not true at GreaterColibri of course. If I'm there, I'll use this build but I'll also use MeatMithkabobs or Crab Sushi. Take a look at crab sushi if you don't know about it. Consider it. As a final note, I am still indecisive as to when or if I should TP in Cuchulain's Mantle, other than if I'm a skillchain partner and need the accuracy.
TP Build #2 (T-): This was my sushi build. I rarely use sushi now, but if I do I might use this. However, this set also works great for EM and T mobs.
TP Build #3 (TW or Feint): The goal of this set is to maximize on haste and other DPS stats while stressing as little accuracy as possible. It's similar to the T- build slightly.
Subtle Blow DPS Build: This build stacks as much subtle blow as reasonably possible. All other stats go into maximizing DPS. I use this occasionally in solo, but more often in low man or on HNM. I consider this a very important build for Thief, but one that few have created for themselves.

WS, Mercy Stroke: Same set for both SA/TA mercy.
WS, Evisceration/DE: I don't really use Dancing Edge anymore. This is for unstacked Eviscerations. I followed the advice of some recent threads, for example this one and this one, as well as things I read and heard in game and on Allah'. The goal is to stack as much dex as resonably possible to reach or approach the crit cap. Accuracy is the second most important stat. Put enough into a build like this and you will see good numbers.
WS, Shark Bite: When there is a need for light, shark bite is there. I try to stack as much dex and attack into this build as I can. I don't have Mandalic Stab, otherwise I would make a build for that, but from what I hear it is similar to this build.

Trick Attack: The set for solo TA. Movement speed and swing delay are taken into account for optimal performance, as opposed to raw spike damage.
Sneak Attack: The set for solo SA. Movement speed and swing delay are taken into account for optimal performance, as opposed to raw spike damage.

Max Evasion (Alchemadian Set, tm): As much evasion as possible. This set is used for the first part of ichi. It is also used for the second part of ichi if getting shadows up is more critical at the time than shadow recast. This is chiefly the "oh shit" set. This is also the set to use when shadows are up but recast timers aren't looking too great. This is seldom my main tanking build.
UtsuNi, UtsuIchi(Part 2), and alt Eva/Haste Hybrid: I mostly use this set for Utsusemi: Ni. It is also the second part of Utsusemi: Ichi. Occasionally I will use this set to tank in. It has more haste but less evasion than my mid-range enemy set, so it is useful if the mid-range set is semi-evasive. Generally if that is the case though, I'll be using a normal evasionless DD TP build anyway.
Mid-Range Enemy Tanking set: This is the set I ideally use for tanking most mobs in the DC->T range. Occasionally it is OK for a VT, or there is occasionally an EP that attacks fast or accurate enough to where this is necessary. This set hybridizes offensive and defensive stats. One could achieve the same effect by interchanging between a DD and heavy/max evasion set, but this set does the job in a simpler fashion.
High-level Enemy Tanking set: This is the build I most enjoy tanking in. This is for VT+ enemies. There are few enemies that I could/would tank where this set does not have enough evasion without mambos, but those few enemies do exist. In most cases though, this set is terrific for reducing an enemies TP moves while also evading attacks. For difficult mobs, I also consider HP to be very important. A mithra Thf/Nin in an evasion set has very little HP, (between 1k to 1.2k). Difficult enemies that would call for this set can often do TP moves for over that amount of HP. Therefore I often use BombQueenRing and Carbonara when using this set.

Ranged accuracy: This set is for stacking as much ranged accuracy as possible to land your bolts or whatever it may be. Oftentimes during solo/low-man play this set can be counter productive in that it lacks evasion. On tough enemies where you might have difficulty landing bolts, you might also have difficulty evading. Therefore I sometimes hybridize this set with evasion pieces.
Ranged DPS: This is for ranged DPS, /rng or otherwise.

/war /drk HNM'ing TP set: The H in "HNM's" signifies that they are difficult. Thus, different stats are sometimes required. Excessive haste sometimes feeds too much TP. You don't typically get the merit party buffs you're used to. Your fStr, hit rate, and pDif levels are all lower. So sometimes different equips are required.
/drk Zerging: The goal of this set is to stack as much haste as possible, and otherwise stack as much HP as reasonably possible. And it favors attack and str over accuracy. /drk zerging is also something that should often be done with outside cures in mind, as souleater decreases in potency as HP decreases. Without enough cures, a /war zerging set would prove better.

And so that is a list of some of the nicer gear that I have accumulated as I have been playing, and most of the different combinations in which I have come to use said gear for my Thief.

LM-17: You've disappointed me, SE

2009-01-23T14:57:08Z

From: www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news15265.shtml
"Jan. 22, 2009 03:00 [PST] From: FINAL FANTASY XI
Handling Misconduct (Jan. 22)

In November 2008, we discovered an issue that allowed players to create multiple items for certain treasures and rewards in areas such as Salvage and Assault by exploiting the game system.

The issue was fixed during emergency maintenance on November 26, 2008. However, we discovered that some players had already exploited the issue and used it to gain additional items before it was addressed. We then investigated more than a year's worth of logs throughout all areas.

As a result of the investigation, approximately 400 players were temporarily suspended based on the evidence gathered. Approximately 550 players who committed more serious misconduct had their accounts banned.

We are working hard to ensure that these kinds of issues do not occur again in FINAL FANTASY XI. However, if you discover any problems with the game system, please submit a GM call or fill out the feedback e-mail form to report the problems to us, instead of exploiting or spreading the issue.

We thank you for your cooperation in this matter."
-SE, January 22nd, 2009

I never expected the salvage dupe repercussions to be this harsh. 400 temp bans and 550 perma bans might not seem like a whole lot, but I've definitely felt this number on a personal level. Perhaps it's just that Asura was one of the largest servers hit, or maybe that I knew a lot of people that just loved salvage too much.

The bans this time aren't "nameless" RMT. These are long time, otherwise very legitimate (most of them), NA endgame players--some of the most loyal subscribers SE has. Among the count of people banned, we so far have a confirmed 67 relics removed, 2 mythics (the only two to have been confirmed completed), and 10 endgame LS's currently left leaderless.

Not only is the mass ban of somewhat questionable ethic, but it is probably a poor financial decision on their part. Not only did they permanently ban 550 of their most loyal customers, but they've caused a severe general upset. I guess I can't say that they've lost my subscription, but I know many who are thinking seriously about quitting because they've just lost some of their best friends--just about the only thing keeping them here in this "dying" game. And with those people leaving, I imagine I'd be more keen to the idea of leaving. I probably wouldn't, but I can see others who would as part of the spiral.

Is it really so hard to temp ban people, SE? I guess not, there are 400 temp bans. It seems like everyone and their mother that I'm hearing that has been banned, though, is calling up SE and hearing that their LM-17 is a perma ban as opposed to temp (LM-11 is usually perma; LM-17 is temp, pending review for perma). Many of these people, a great many, have never before had a ban, been jailed, or even had a GM call made on them before. Some people that got LM-17'ed didn't even know they were part of a duping run, where others who duped rampantly got by with a warning letter or nothing at all.

There is almost no consistency here. Sadly, like most of the other problems in this game, I think what's to blame regarding SE's actions is their lack of current financial support for FFXI. Interviews these days talk more and more not only of PS2 limitations, but of fund limitations. It's an old MMO, so that's understandable. If SE never had the funds to have enough employees or investigative power to have ever found out about or acted on the bug in the first place, it's easy to see that they wouldn't have the funds for a more thorough investigation, to guarantee consistency. Lack of funds are really the reason why we're getting really slow content updates now, and why job and content adjustments never come as promised, or come many months to years down the road.

This is just my own very subjective opinion, but slavage duping to me did not very much seem like any other exploit in the game. Sure, it was an unfair advantage of game mechanics. But it is nothing like other exploits and cheats in the game we are normally familiar with. Firstly, there had never been any action taken on SE's part for this kind of behavior prior, so players really wouldn't know for sure what the consequences would be if they (1) duped regularly, (2) duped once or twice, (3) took place in the duping process, but got no gear, or (4) partook in a run involving duping but held no interest in duping specifically. It is clear that the duping was a bug, and that the TOS is against the exploitation of bugs. Still, some level of severity is attached to this. Perma-banning is the ultimate retaliation, and should be reserved for an ultimate offense. Similarly, as offenses scale down, repercussions should also scale down accordingly.

No, you can't compare this to duping gil. There was no end to how much gil you could dupe, when it was dupeable. You could (more easily) RMT the duped gil, or use it to control various aspects of the game markets. Not the case with salvage gear. And again ease of duping here is important. It's not like people went into salvage and pressed a button and got everything they wanted in one run. It should be a testament to how gay salvage really is, that many of the people have put so much effort into salvage regardless. I can think offhand of one person who has played for many years, just completed his full set of skadi in the past month or two, and went to salvage 6-7 days a week during most weeks for one-and-a-half-years. And that's with knowing about duping. Yeah, salvage drops really are that bad. Now compare that to the duping of gil which occurred in the very early stages of the game. You could dupe whenever you wanted and as much as you wanted. Quite a difference. And people currently know the reprecussions for duping gil, if they could do it. People know the reprecussions if they bot claim or fish bot, speed hack or pos hack. People know these things and can expect a perma ban. Even so, they may be subject to only a temp ban. Maybe it's me, but I think less dramatic action should be taken to first-time bannings of new offenses.

I'm in a bit of a depressed mood, but there's still a bit of hope. Out of the dozen or so people I know well that have been hit by the ban, only a few have confirmed perma ban. Here's to hoping the rest are not. And to the more than dozen people that I knew less well to not know their IRL info, I'll miss them if they don't come back. Like a particular JP player I know, I know that if he's perma banned (which he probably is), I'll probably never be able to talk to him again. Sucks not having had the chance to say bye. And yet I still tuck my balls and play this game. Thanks, SE.

Relevant Links/Threads
POL "Handling Misconduct" Notification
Blue Gartr: LM-17 Thread
Blue Gartr: List of Players Banned
Blue Gartr: Quotes from Original Dupe Thread
FFXI-AH: LM-17 Thread
Allakhazam: LM-17 Thread
KI, Asura: LM-17 Thread
KI, Asura: List of Players Banned

Mercy Stroke & Necks: Justice Torque vs Soil Gorget, etc

2009-01-20T03:40:17Z



	I have all that stuff at the bottom to update, but I really am that lazy that I haven't written anything yet. I do, however, just so happen to have a bunch of my own JoJ popsets though, so I figured if some friends and I are going to pop him for fun, I might as well know if the torque happens to be better than soil gorget, etc, for mercy stroke. Normally when I do these equip comparisons I just write them down on wordpad, figure out what I want, and throw them in a folder. But I figured if I did the number crunching in the LJ post box instead of wordpad, that I actually might post something.

So for this comparison, we're going to use one of the golden standards (for whatever reason) of mobs as our basic settings. That is, the lvl82 Greater Colibri. Sad that I know by memory that it's defense is 327 and its VIT 67. I don't know it's evasion by heart, but as with other comparisons I've done, that's not really important here and is just extra work, as if you're at that camp you're usually sporting madrigal, which if you don't suck brings you basically to the acc cap. Further, for mercy stroke the mobs evasion really doesn't matter very much anyway.

For the next part of the settings I'll use my character stats. Lvl 75 mithra Thf/Nin,

, with a total of 125Str and 432 attack. Let's say march/madrigal so no minuets. And let's also say I'm too lazy to have brought mithkabobs or any other food for this test. Let's also restrict the test to Sa+Mercy, as for Ta+Mercy it'd pretty much just be Justice Torque vs Soil Gorget. But for Sa+Mercy we could also compare Love Torque and Kubira Bead Necklace as well. We know that as fStr approaches its cap for whatever weapon class someone is using, the Str:fStr ratio becomes 4:1. That'd put me at 14".5" for this example, or over the cap of 12 for Mandau and 10 for Blau. pDif median here is going to be ([(432/327) - 0.35]*1.2 - 0.25), which is 0.914 for non-crit. This is with no neck stats. For multi-hit procs on WS, I have brutal for 5% double and native+merits for 10% triple. If we pretend we know that double attack check goes before triple attack, what I get is that I probabilistically get an extra 24% swings on each hand. This is from (1*1.05 + [0.95*1.2 - 0.95]). So from an average probabilistic standpoint, my average number of hits per /nin mercy stroke is 2.48. With these settings in mind, we can now do our comparison.

I can do this comparison on all hits (which would be more accurate), or for ease stick with a 1-hit comparison. If it holds that Justice Torque is better for 1 hit Sa+Mercy than soil gorget or love torque, it'll be better for multihit. But this is not the case when comparing to Kubira Bead Necklace. However, Justice Torque would be superior for Ta+Mercy anyway; and if Justice Torque is superior to love and soil for Sa+Mercy, it'll obviously be better for Ta+Mercy as well. I'll start iwth some 1-hit comparison and then switch over to the multihit.

1-Hit Sa+Mercy Stroke
Soil Gorget
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.1fTP + 103dex} * 1.914pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((113".25" * 3.1) + 103)*1.914 *1.25
= 1083dmg
To generalize this comparison, to make it more accurate for everyone and not just my own set, I can alternatively not truncate anything. Skipping truncation gives me,
= 1086.4dmg

Justice Torque
Additional 5str will not affect my fStr here. It will change pDif slightly, from a non-crit median of 0.914 to 0.924 with only 2".5" attack.
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 103dex} * 1.924pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((115".74" * 3.0) + 103)*1.924 *1.25
= 1077dmg
Skipping truncation steps to generalize this, I get,
= 1082.8dmg

So far it looks like Soil Gorget is better here for 1-hit Sa+Mercy. If Str is lower, Justice Torque will become better. Similarly if fStr is lower (ie you're fighting much harder stuff), Justice Torque will also become better. Same if pDif is lower. Given how close they are here for 1-hit, it's very likely that Justice Torque is better for anything HNM level. This, again, is also 1-hit. The more hits you add, the better Justice Torque becomes in comparison.

Now let's take a look at love torque and kubira bead necklace for 1hit SaMS, this time also skipping truncation to favor generalization for each example.

Love Torque
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 108dex} * 1.937pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((113".25" * 3.0) + 108)*1.937 *1.25
= 1084.1dmg

Kubira Bead Necklace
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 107dex} * 1.923pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((115".24" * 3.0) + 107)*1.923 *1.25
= 1088.2dmg

2.48-Hit Sa+Mercy Stroke
As mentioned earlier, /nin with traditional merits and WS gear (5/5 triple, brutal earring), the average mercy stroke is 2.48 hits. While there are a number of offhands available, the most common used for DD'ing is still probably blau dolch, which is also what I have.

Soil Gorget
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.1fTP + 103dex} *1hit *1.914pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.914pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.914pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(869.1 + 24.8 + 119.3)
= 1266.5dmg

Justice Torque
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 103dex} *1hit *1.924pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.924pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.924pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(866.2 + 25.7 + 123.4)
= 1269.1dmg

Love Torque
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 108dex} *1hit *1.937pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.937pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.937pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(867.3 + 25.5 + 122.3)
= 1268.9dmg

Kubira Bead Necklace
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 107dex} *1hit *1.923pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.923pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.923pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(870.6 + 25.5 + 122.7)
= 1273.5dmg

The reason I'm so anal about my comparisons is because it turns out that, even though SE probably doesn't know what they're doing when they're designing this gear, the numbers from one situational piece to another always turn out to be so close. It seems to always come down to situationality in the end. Given that, I kinda feel bad that I didn't include accuracy as part of this comparison, but I got other things to do anyway, yo. So here's what this comparison probably boils down to:

#2 for Sa+Mercy by this comparison (greater colibri march/madrigal no food), and #1 for Ta+Mercy. Should be the best mercy neck for HNM's.

#1 for Sa+mercy by this comparison, and should be #2 for Ta+Mercy.

Lingers somewhere in between the above two necks and soil gorget for Sa+Mercy. Likely inferior to all for Ta+Mercy. When you're very high on pDif , gorget should be best, but I'm not sure if there's a point where love torque would ever be the best option. #3 by this comparison for Sa+Mercy, and #4 for Ta+Mercy.

#4 by this comparison for Sa+Mercy, and #3 for Ta+Mercy. However, this is probably going to be the best mercy neck at some inflection point of pDif, when pDif is high enough. If not on merit level mobs, this might be the best option for very weak mobs, like too weak to even match. But then again, the first hit of mercy becomes less and less important as pDif rises. Either way, it doesn't matter.

Also, ding, Justice Torque later in the day after getting half way done with posting this /(^_^)/

I bought some popsets and some friends and I went out and 5-manned it for fun. Went 1/1.

Upcoming brain food

2008-12-13T16:18:34Z

Rather than letting this LJ rot completely, I'm going to try and start adding a lot of what I've been meaning to for a long time. Over the course of the past half-year and more, there have been a number of topics that I wanted to post or talk about, either on here or on various thief forums. People can be lazy though and I'm no exception. I think the main reason that I don't post much though is that I don't like to do so unless I feel that what I've written is near as perfect as possible. So I'll start to write a huge WoT fraught with insight, questions, and mathematical breakdowns but end up letting it sit on wordpad somewhere. Most of the topics below are subjects which I've already written extensively on or have actually tried out in game.

Anyway, here are the options that I'd like to start writing about, either because I feel that they're important topics for furthering the game, or subjects that are worth looking into much more than they have yet been. If I manage to post on even some of them I guess I'll start striking through them until I'm done.

The smaller, italicized are entries that I have now already posted since this entry had been made, or are otherwise which I find no longer relevant or important.

PvE TP feeding
How much tp/time do melee DD's typically feed to mobs? How do the various classes stack up against one another as far as TpFed/time is concerned? When is subtle blow worthwhile, how much does it help an individual, and what are available options? Does mob TP move behavior always reflect the amount of TP being fed, or is it conditional; that is, when a mob gains x amount of tp/time, how does it relate to y amount of TpMoves/time--under what conditions are x and y unequal, why, and what can we gain from this knowledge?

Thf/Drk Zerging
When if at all is it practical? Does the individual need their own personal cures or "PL"? What are the ideal weapons and builds to use for it? How does thf/drk stack up against other zerging dd's?

Dancing Edge vs Evisceration
Does there come a point where having a certain amount of gear or buffs allow EV's damage to excede DE's? What are some good equipment and party setups to support evisceration? How good is X's knife really and does it really require much to make EV excede DE if you own one?

Thief Tanking, etc
When is thief tanking actually feasible or indeed desirable--vs what mobs, and with what party and equipment setups? Are there any tank party setups that would take thief tanking beyond previous limits, and how effective could such setups be? What is the ideal combination of evasion, HP, subtle blow, DPS, and other stats for thf tanking?  How many macros could one use to jumble these stat combinations into effective setups, and when and how would they be used? What are some personal tanking strategies (which don't include gear or macros) that are effective?

Vajra
How good can we expect it to be?

Theorycraft: Relic/Mythic Thf/Drg
As with many DD classes, dragoon is a good sub at very early levels. With the exception of elite endgame Sam/Drg setups within elite party setups, dragoon sub is not very common past the early levels. Could it be possible that thieves, specifically relic and mythic thieves, could also put this sub to use in the endgame? What are some advantages to the sub and what does the math predict as far as overall situational DPS?

Feint Testing
Not that it matters much, but will we ever know the precise potency value of feint?  Is it a specific -% to the mobs evasion, or a straight chunk of -evasion?

Unanswered TH Questions
When and how is TH value registered on a mob? That is, is it ok to strike the mob with TH3 or 4 but let the mob die with only TH2? Will TH3 / 4 still remain? Are there some items or types of items where the corresponding droprates are unaffected by TH? Will we ever figure out if day, moon, or facing east during windsday while killing the mob with a wind staff will increase drops?

Mobile Zerging
Most FFXI players are by now familiar with zerging. But what about mobile zerging? My friends and I sometimes joke around about our "mobile zerging unit."  Is having a plethora of permanently buffed 70-80% haste DD's really all that? Would this be an effective way of doing damage in situations like einherjar, dynamis, bcnm's, merit parties, or anywhere? What kinds of equipment and party setups are required?

Solving SA/TA Damage Mechanics
How much damage is actually done during SA/TA?  How much damage is lost by sacrificing haste in place of spike damage stats and slow?  Is it possible to produce convenient ratios to compare stats, or rankings for what gear is better than what?

AV Zerging
Can we mathematically deduce a setup that could possibly zerg AV at the rate that KC Drks took him down in September '08, without souleater? What would such a setup look like and could it be pulled off?

Gardening for Gil
How did one man fund a relic weapon through virtually nothing but gardening, and is he sane?

Stacking Defense-down
What is the maximum amount of -% defense that players can inflict on a mob, and is it worth it to tailor party setups and strategies towards achieving this number?

Marinara Pizza vs Meat vs Sushi
Could pizza be as epic in-game as it is in teh real?

Testing: Pyrrhic Kleos (Mythic Dnc WS)

2008-10-28T07:13:29Z

Went out to test the mods for Pyrrhic Kleos today, the mythic Dnc WS. Here's what me and my cohort Leonstrife got.

Test Conditions
*jambiya, base damage 33
*fStr cap of 11 ; new base damage of 44
*leonstrife's base attributes: str65, dex77, vit57, agi76, int59, mnd51, chr59, as a mithra 75Dnc/Thf
*West Ronafure mobs: Wild Rabbit, Wild Hare, Tunnel Worm, Orcish Fodder.
*All WS were done at ~100 to 105 TP, with Sneak Attack.
*capped pDif multiplier range w/ crit, assumed to be roughly 2.6 to 3, based on public data. (edit: I know the spread is larger than this, and I know the max is slightly higher than this. I just don't know how high.)

Field Data
WS's, naked, 301, 312, 332, 293, 321, 327, 337, 290
WS's, STR etudes, +25, 362 ; +26, 352; +25, 360; +26, 363; +25, 351; +26, 311;
WS's, DEX etudes, +25, 320; +26, 355; +26, 362; +25, 360; +26, 319; +26, 364; +26, 327; +27, 316; +26, 356;
WS's, CHR, +25, 290; we know that agi, int, mnd, vit cannot mod either.

Checking Data for tolerable Accuracy
3/2.6 is 1.153, so we want a split similar to that with our high/low ws's to ensure accuracy. We have:

naked, no etude high/low = 337/290 = 1.162
dex etudes high/low = 364/316 = 1.152
str etudes high/low = 363/311 = 1.167

Skillchain Properties
Distortion/Scission ; With Wild Flourish, Scission
(from http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_Kleos)

Thanks Fred :)

WSC Guesswork
dmg = 332 = pdif(3) *remainingformula,
110.6 = ftp*(wsc + 44),
110.6/ftp = wsc +44,
110.6/ftp = 44 + f(f(dex + str)*0.83)
pDif cancels out. Actual numbers used below.

ftp cancels out here as well: via naked/ftp / dex/ftp
dexHigh = [44 +f(f((77 + 26)*%)*0.83)]
/nakedHigh = /[44 + f(f(77*%)*0.83)]

DEX
0.2?
364/337 = (44 + f(f(103*0.2)*0.83) / (44 + f(f(77*0.2)*0.83)
1.080 = 60 / 56
1.080 = 1.071 = close
0.25?
1.080 = 64 / 59 = 1.085 = close
0.3?
1.080 = 68 / 63
1.080 = 1.079 = very close
0.35?
1.080 = 73 / 65 = 1.123 = meh
0.4?
1.080 = 78 / 68 = 1.147 = eww
0.5?
1.080 = 86 / 75 = 1.147 = eww

STR
0.15
1.077 = 54 / 51 = 1.059 = meh
0.2?
363/337 = (44 + f(f(91*0.2)*0.83) / (44 + f(f(65*0.2)*0.83)
1.077 = 58 / 54
1.077 = 1.074 = close
0.25?
1.077 = 62 / 57 = 1.088 = closeish
0.3?
1.077 = 66 / 59 = 1.119 = meh
0.35?
1.077 = 69 / 62 = 1.113 = eww
0.4?
1.077 = 73 / 65 = 1.123 = eww
0.5?
1.077 = 81 / 70 = 1.157 = eww

WSC Modifiers appear to be STR20% and DEX30%.

Solving for fTP
Our +Str high/low had the largest spread, so those high/low most accurately represent the pDif crit cap/floor. Let's assume the pDif crit floor is 2.6 and the cap is the spread times that, which would be 2.6*1.167 = 3.034. Let's run with that. Let's assume that we've found the Str and Dex WSC's, 20%STR and 30%DEX.

363 = 3.034 * fTP * (44 + f(0.83* f(91*0.2 + 77*0.3)))
119.64 = fTP * (44 + 34)
119.64 = fTP * 78
fTP = 119.64 / 78 = 1.534

fTP appears to be 1.5 @100tp.

This is all just copypasta'd from notes I took in wordpad, so some of it is a bit sloppy.

FFXI reference/portrayal in Anime

2008-10-17T05:00:43Z

Nothing breathtaking here, but I've been grinding through some anime the past few days, namely Welcome to the NHK, when this completely random FFXI reference came up. Was humorous to me, because I was actually in the middle of using the free trials portrayed in the video to make gil for myself.

I like how the kid describes RMT so admirably and innocently. Good anime btw; I'd recommend it to anyone who would bother watching more than just shounen.

I'd also like to send out propz to my friend Athena for this sketch rendition of my char.

...although she's a cheater at iSketch... >,<;;

Mandau Facts and Ponderings

2008-09-29T11:09:46Z

Como se dice, update?!
So I haven't updated in ages. I've been playing a lot, but have been less active on forums and such. The most important update is, of course,

Mandau Obtained!
Upgraded from start to finish in a little less than 9 months. It was some of the most grueling work I've ever done, both in game and IRL. I'd like to shout out thanks to Asuraka and Vistani, for covering the 3k byne loan. Thanks as well to my good friends Quintessence and Kenjiri. If it wasn't for their inspiration and encouragement, I wouldn't have been able to develop the specific methods I used to almost entirely self-fund the weapon in such a short period of time. Thanks to Sige and Zombiejonathan for helping out when it was needed, and a great big thanks to the Provenance linkshell, and Derivation dynamis linkshell, for allowing me the opportunity to sponsor runs. I've had it unlocked for about 3 months now; I'm just uber lazy with updates.

Me and my alt, Tepic.

I'd like to offer something fresh and unique to say about Mandau. Something that hasn't been said or done before. But it's not as if an unlocked relic dagger is something new. It's currently the second most popular relic, with almost 200 or more owners. But I guess I'll give my own two-cents about it, even if most/all of this has been said before.

Unlike a fraction of relics out there, Mandau doesn't generally break the game by offering utility which can greatly affect strategies and outcomes. G'horn and Aegis do that, and Apocalypse pretty much used to do that before the March '08 haste cap adjustment. But mandau is essentially like the other weapon relics in that it's primary utility is from much enhanced DPS. The foremost two marginally useful relics that come to mind would be Mandau and Amanomurakumo, simply because they offer WS's that are clearly more damaging than alternatives. The other weapon relic WS's are either mediocre, or for situational use.

Some Advantages of Mercy Stroke

Mercy Stroke

3.00 fTP

1x hit

STR_60% WSC

Aftermath: Improved Critical Hit Rate

Mercy Stroke is what makes Mandau uber-tasty. A strong one-hit WS means consistency and high damage when stacked with Sneak Attack or an assassin-trait Trick Attack. All of the Relic WS (~save knuckles) are strong 1-hitters. Being that SA/TA are designed to maximize the power of the first hit of a WS, any strong one hit WS will do nicely when stacked with them. Given that so much about Thf DPS is centered around SA/TA, a thief's Mercy Stroke is able to take full advantage of its WS potential. Here are just a couple epeen examples,

SA/TA excel on targets with high defense and/or evasion. Stacked SA/TA one hitters guarantee consistency no matter how high the mobs evasion. Meanwhile, a forced crit offers a straight 1.0 addition to pDIF, making the marginal increase of a crit more potent as atk/def gets lower.

Hide is fun, but I can't seem to break ~2600 at birds yet :(

Mercy Stroke is a very powerful DPS tool at Jailer of Love. Not only is JoL's evasion and defense high, making SA/TA useful, but JoL also has a common Yovra TP move called Fluorescence, which is a boost effect that greatly raises the base damage of the next attack. So for a 1-hitter like Mercy, this guarantees a tremendously powerful WS if you can absorb the effect using the aura steal trait. The above 2.5k is actually mediocre, compared to what others have done.

Relic WS's and SA/TA with /Thf sub
Just to exemplify what I mean about relic WS's being nice when stacked with SA/TA, its probably worthwhile to show this screenshot from when I was messing with bard,

This was brd/thf with a full sata. So you don't have to be Thf main to produce high SA/Sata relic WS's.

And then, you get general high damage from MS, not simply in virtue of its being a one hit WS, but in virtue of it leaving room for plenty of multi-hit procs.

The first of these was a Trick Attack MS, and the second two were Sneak Attack MS's, all 5-6 hit. Mercy Stroke with nin sub will be 2 hits instead of one, and the great thing about that is also that either of these hands can proc a multi. With full triple merits and brutal earring, thats a 10% triple and 5% double rate on both hands. Whereas Dancing Edge and Evisceration hits the multihit WS cap of 8 with only a single triple proc, WS's like Mandalic Stab, Shark Bite, and Mercy Stroke can take full advantage of potential multi-procs. While a full 6 hit mercy is rare, doubles and triples still proc very often, turning an already strong WS into an even more powerful one.

On the other hand, if the SA/TA don't land, and especially if the mainhand misses, you end up with low numbers. A more extreme example,

This is especially aggravating in situations where, say, a mob puts up a blink the moment that you WS.

Skillchain Utility
Lastly and importantly, Mercy makes for a nice skillchain closer.

I'm sure I've had darkness match on higher damage WS before, but it usually doesn't show up in the log, and closing a skillchain with it is oftentimes overkill. But there is a lot of utility in being able to do high damage darkness SC's. With a reliable partner, you can burn through mobs very fast in merit parties. I've most commonly skillchained with warriors, samurais, and dark knights. Skillchaining offers a bit of utility when you want to either zerg something down really fast, plant a lot of hate on yourself or another, or simply do a lot more damage. There are a lot of situations where you can take advantage of skillchains. Mercy is also a very nice alternative to evisceration, when required to do darkness for magic bursts rather than in virtue of the skillchain's own damage.

Skillchain Properties
There are two things about melee DPS game mechanics that I haven't taken the time to fully figure out yet, fStr and skillchain properties. By that, I mean how you determine the skillchain effect that occurs when you combine multiple weapon skills, based on specific properties of each WS. For general purposes, Mercy Stroke is in the bottom left corner of the level 3 skillchain chart. But combining relic WS's together can get a little tricky. While, for example, Mercy <-> Mercy (yes, the WS can make darkness with itself =D) and Mercy <-> Catastrophe make darkness in either order, Mercy Stroke can open darkness with Blade: Metsu but cannot close it. Actually looking at more recent charts, Mercy -> Metsu should make fragmentation, but it doesn't. This isn't the only exception. There are at least a few more. For more info, I would check the following BG thread, Gunslinger's Renkei Chart, for some nice discussion on relic skillchain properties. A link to his improved version of Aden's skillchain chart is also in the thread.
Edited November 18th, 2008

3x Damage Proc
Is tasty. The proc rate is low, but as you play you notice it often. I've heard quotes of the proc rate being 5%, which sounds like a nice even number and seems about right based on experience, but I haven't went about and tested that number or seen any tests on it. Here's some examples,
3x Normal Hit

What's interesting about this is that 125 is not evenly divisible by 3. A sign of how the melee damage may or may not be calculated. It can't be the case that the 3x-proc simply takes what was going to appear in the log, and multiplies it by 3. Otherwise we wouldn't end up with 125 in this example.
3x Critical Hit

3x SA/TA

Aftermath: Additional Effect, Improved Critical Hit Rate
I've been meaning to play around with some robber crabs and find out the exact percentage of the boost. Some have speculated that it's 5%, the assumption being drawn as a parallel to other relic aftermaths (can't remember offhand the relic WS's with which the potency %'s of the aftermaths are known). I can tell you that when I'm meriting, I do notice a higher crit rate than I did before. And with mandau, one does less free SA/TA in order to stack more WS's, so the increased rate for normal melee crits is actually higher than what's shown on the parse, since parsers don't/can't distinguish between normal crits and SA/TA crits. The difference I'm seeing is roughly (based on memory and not loading up actual parsers) 11-14% pre-mandau, to 15-17% post. As for duration, that was much easier to test since during the recent Fall '08 mythic weapon update/patch, an aftermath icon actually comes up after you WS (looks like a little pink spark). So what I have so far:

Potency: Speculated to be ~+5%
Duration: *20 seconds @100TP; *20 seconds per every 100TP.

Edited November 18th, 2008

OmgPoison
The aggravating thing about the Mandau is its additional effect. It's a testament to how nice the relic is though, that so many people have upgraded it despite this. But just to clear a few important things up:

Additional Effect: Poison, is not a 100% proc; the proc rate isn't very high. Maybe 5%.
The poison does not last for more than a fleeting moment on HNMs (as if you'd need to sleep them).
Mercy Stroke does not have a 100% additional poison proc attached to it. In fact, I don't even think that additional effects on select weapons can ever proc on weapon skills.
The poison does pose a problem for certain, dangerous, non-HNM level mobs. And it can pose a problem depending on what a thief is trying to solo / low-man.

When the poison procs, you'll see this message. This is standard to all weapons that have "Additional Effect: X" listed in its help text. If you don't see this message, the mob has not been poisoned. This will also not show on WS's, meaning that Mercy Stroke alone cannot poison mobs.

Fortunately, Mandau poison will very infrequently cause any significant problems as long as the weapon is not used when it shouldn't be used, and retarded mistakes aren't made. Essentially, don't attack mobs that aren't appropriate targets. IE random mobs in exp, non-targeted mobs in dynamis, etc etc. It also doesn't help to poison a Zeni target mob that you're trying to take pictures of (my bad on that ; ;). On top of knowing which mobs to attack and not attack, which should be common sense, one should always be prepared to simply unequip the dagger for appropriate fights. A macro can do, perhaps via a macro set for the specific situation in question (dynamis, limbus, etc). A common example are mobs that you sleep upon them 2houring, usually monk mobs. Come prepared with an alternate dagger, and when you reach that mob, switch daggers, DPS, and switch back after you've burned your TP and the mob is dead.

The same applies to solo. If you're fighting something that is difficult, they may often times resist sleep bolts. But in the even that they do not resist sleep bolts and you wish to sleep them, simply opt out of using the Mandau unless you're confident that you can and want to solo them without sleep bolts. A good example would be VT Ul'Phaubos (sharks). You may or may not need to sleep them, depending on skill and swaps. If poison is a problem, there are fortunately a lot of nice solo/tanking dagger alternatives now. There's Ermine's Tail from MMM, Azoth from Ixion, and a tier2 ZNM dagger with evasion as well.
Edited December 30th, 2008

* * *

A personal update
I haven't been doing much with forum community lately, as far as testing/analysis go. There are a few things that I've done already, or have been meaning to do but simply haven't bothered posting about it yet. If I come up with anything worthwhile I'm sure I'll write on it.

IRL, I've recently graduated with a BA from the University of Florida, entered the work force, and realized that I'm going to need to continue my education again at some point soon. I've done a lot of little things in game, though, in the past three months since I got Mandau. I got my alt character to Rdm 75. Still working on missions and misc stuff for her. I attempted a Genbu solo Thf/Nin, which was clearly failing so it ended up being a Rdm/Whm + Thf/Nin duo. I messed around with Zeni NM's a lot. Worked on assaults, and almost have Captain rank. I attempted hard-core, 5-6 day a week, 6-8 man salvages for a little over a month. Despite doubters, when I go back to doing salvage, I intend to keep it almost always 6-man.

I also led my LS's einherjar events for about a month, but we stopped doing it when I realized that we simply can't low man Einherjar the way I'd intended, meaning that with the numbers in our LS we won't be able to do Odin cycles. I'm unsure about upgrading Vajra, simply because I don't know if the method I used to fund Mandau will be repeatable to the extent which I'd need it to be (as if that doesn't sound cryptic enough). Gearwise, I'm trying to focus on getting my Love Torque and Assassin's Armlets (lol), and have been totally lazy about making gil since stage5 and am basically broke.

Most recently, I've been finishing off much needed subs (drk, sam, dnc, sch, and blm for Shamaya, and nin, drk, blm, and sch for Tepic) and almost have Rng up as my 3rd 75. My fourth will most likely be Blm, that also being Tepic's 2nd 75 to-be. I've been taking advantage of the new level sync system, and dual or triple box, it's absolutely broken if you continue to spam Korroloka Tunnel -> Qufim Island, and repeat. Broken, I tell you. Maybe after I ungimp myself I'll do something a bit more interesting.

Last edited December 30th, 2008

Yay - Some recent progress

2008-02-10T14:50:45Z

Hurrah. Moar2come.

Is Treasure Hunter cumulative? - Conclusions

2008-02-01T07:08:15Z

Two months ago, I decided to do a little TH testing. As my first test, I thought it'd be best to see if TH was cumulative--that is, to see if adding more thieves to the alliance would increase drops. I've talked to a number of people about the topic, and most seem to be quite sure of their conviction, either quite sure that it is the case, or quite sure that it is not the case. When asked how they were so sure, they could cite scanty anecdotal evidence, at best, to support their claims. I found that among those that I talked to, as well as on forums, there was no clear consensus on the issue. So I decided to do this to amend that. I also thought that the results would be of some practical value. If the test showed that TH is cumulative, LS's could ensure higher drop rates by bringing more thieves. If it showed that TH was not cumulative, LS's could save themselves from the trouble of the old "make sure to throw a thief in every party." So in absence of an official answer and a consensus, and with a practical value, I decided to do this.

Further, despite recent commentaries by SE, it was still unclear to some (though not so much to me) as to whether or not the party with the thief in it had to get the killshot in order to ensure TH's activation, so I figured I'd also test that while I was at it.

To those reading this for the first time, this post is a follow-up. You can read a lot about this in my (first entry - link). Also, as a background for those that are interested in drop-rates on these mobs with no TH, you can check out Shulula's LJ. The reason I wanted to follow up was, firstly, because I felt that the initial sample sizes might have been too low. Secondly, because the drop-rates in each phase weren't as close to equal as I'd have liked for confidence purposes. Thirdly, because I simply felt that one batch of samples taken on a single day wasn't enough. In any case, I'm confident enough now to stand by these results and make them public.

Data & Conclusions

My test included 3 phases: 1.Two parties, 1 thief, the party with TH getting the kill. 2.Two parties, 1 thief, party without TH getting the kill. 3.Two parties, 2 thieves.
The first set of bars on this graph is a combination of the first two aforementioned phases. Looking at the total drops, they're quite close, with the test phase including 2 thieves showing lower drops. This isn't because adding more TH decreases drops, but simply because the samples, though I think they're sufficient, weren't large enough to make the drop-rates completely equal.

In these next two graphs, you see the 3 phases separately. The point of the first graph was to see if perhaps adding extra TH might increase the chance of the mobs dropping multiple items as opposed to a pure increase in drop-rates. The second graph looks at actual drop rates. The sample sizes taken were 406, 167, and 310 in the order shown on the graph. Thus, the total sample of mobs killed with 1 thief in the alliance was 573, and 310 for 2 thieves.

The sample sizes are unequal, but I believe them to be sufficient--if there was any sort of cumulative TH effect worth a salt, it should have shown up in samples of this size. Further, previous samples still pointed to non-cumulative TH, with further samples only enforcing this trend. I conclude that -

TH does not appear to be cumulative; If it is, the cumulative effect is so small as to be hardly measurable and hardly worth the effort o maintain.
By non-cumulative, it does not increase drop rates, nor the chance of multi-drops.
The party with TH in it does not need to get the kill.

I imagine this is the case in dynamis, etc, as well, where people outside a given alliance can attack the same mob. I'd like to get more samples, maybe equal them out a bit, but I'm confident enough in these results, and unfortunately its unlikely I'll have time to continue this further. If time permits, I'll do a test on something else, such as whether or not the thief leaving the party removes Treasure Hunter, or something otherwise non-TH related.

Questions/comments/criticism are very welcome. Hit me up any time.
-Sham

Additional, more specific data on drop-rates and drop-events for the various phases can be found in this photobucket.
Raw Data (Excel Docs): 1, 2

Update

2007-12-12T20:13:44Z

Sir VTEC is a cry baby.

Dats ftw

2007-12-09T00:36:43Z

Some people have been interested in some of the dats I use. Some like them a lot, others think they look terrible. Here are the dats I'm currently using, and links to where I got them, since it's important to note the hard work of the creators.

And some of the others I've used -

Authors&Downloads
Might have to sign up at those sites in order to check 'em out.
Aphmau Outfit
Gothic Set
Beautiful Blue Hair
Bandana with Bells
Raver-Style Nin AF

/think Motion
Relaxed Idle-Stance

And yes, I love blue.

Treasure Hunter Testing - Should alliances include more than one thief?

2007-12-05T16:58:21Z

After a lot of juggling in my schedule, everything for this is finally complete. There's plenty enough to say about the test, if anyone has questions. But I'll try to keep it brief here and get straight to the meat of it: appealing to the best evidence, (1)it appears that TH does not stack within alliances. (2)Further (although not the main goal of the test), it also appears that the party which includes the TH does not need to get the kill shot.

The Results

Sample sizes: 1xTH2(TH0 Kill) had a sample of 218, 1xTH2(TH2 Kill) had one of 107, and 2xTH2 had one of 105.

Further Data

Excel file containing all the data.

Data on Proportions
TH2x1, TH0 Kill - Drop Types
TH2x1, TH0 Kill - Drop Events
TH2x1, TH2 Kill - Drop Types
TH2x1, TH2 Kill - Drop Events
TH2x2 - Drop Types
TH2x2 - Drop Events
Drop Type: IE beehive chip, honey, etc.
Drop Event: IE no-drops, single drop, double drops, etc.

Test Conditions and Method

Conditions

Target Mob: Death Jacket; Yuhtunga Jungle
Moon: 40%->55% First Quarter Moon
(Must be noted that a small portion of the first phase was in 38%WXC)
3 Test Phases: 1xTH2(TH0 Kill), 1xTH2(TH2 Kill), & 2xTH2.
2 Parties, 1 person each: 75Thf + 75Mnk, 75Thf + 75Brd, 75Thf + 58Thf
Each PC hit each the mob at least once.

Unknowns and Possible Sources of Error

Game-day
Sample size
Human error
Time of day, job level difference, direction faced, and other voodoo nonsense that shouldn't matter.
Need input here, anything I'm forgetting?

Method

Mobs were chosen because of reasons explained in Shulula's LJ, and as a base of comparison with his tests and possible future ones. I chose the route marked in the pic to the right because of the abundance of mobs along that path. I set up 2x 1-person parties before heading out. Per a recommendation by Ghikque, I chose to factor in party-kill as a control for this test, though that is not the main purpose.

I did 1xTH2(TH2 PT Kill) first, the TH0 PC hitting the mob at least once, while TH2 PC got the kills (218 kills). Then for 1xTH2(TH0 PT Kill), the roles were reversed(107 kills). For TH2x2, I let either myself or the other thief get the kill (105 kills). Dual-boxing was made easy. I would have the dual-boxed PC on follow, then hit "/assist" and "/a <t>" macro. Upon the mob's death, the dual-boxed PC would automatically go back to follow.

Total kills were recorded by a parser, as were the drops. In the event of multi-drops, I recorded the event on paper. At the end of the test, subtracting what I had on paper from what was shown on parser gave me the total number of singles. Excel was used to compile the data and make the charts.

Background

SE has recently made the following commentaries, which have stimulated a lot of TH talk recently. Here's what they said:

"Q: Do multiple instances of Treasure Hunter in a single party increase the chances of a drop? When exactly does the effect of Treasure Hunter take place?
A: When more than one member has Treasure Hunter, the player with the strongest version will have theirs take effect for the party. The effect comes into play as soon as the Thief generates enmity from the target enemy. Even if the Thief dies, the effect remains."(1)

"When there are multiple instances of Treasure Hunter in a party, the strongest effect is used. Treasure Hunter goes into effect the moment the Thief actively puts their self on the target's hate list. For the most part, once the Thief attacks a monster, they remember the effect of Treasure Hunter. If a Thief dies, they do not have to be Raised to strike the monster once again. However, if you lose possession of the monster and they regenerate back to full health, this information is lost."(1)

"Q:How does Treasure Hunter effect drops in battlefieds, dynamis, chest contents.
No effect on chests.
Same effect in dynamis etc. as elsewhere.
For TH to be active THF must perform an action on the target. Does not have to be killing strike."(2)

Sources: (1), (2)

Everyone wanted to know the answer to the question in the first quotes, but it's also obvious that players also wanted to know if TH had any sort of cumulative stacking effect within an alliance. I take it that the intent of the question in the first quote was to get an answer in the context of party and alliance, but notoriously vague SE only used the word 'party' in their response. For this reason, the multi-TH stacking within an alliance has been a matter of debate in the past month since the first fan-festival commentary. Without clarity, the best that we could do was discuss or go and test.

So I went ahead and, with input from several friends and Thf forum members at KI and Allah', brainstormed up a test and ran with it. Thank you all for your valuable input, you know who you are. Although I should say that I'm not going to make this public on forums until deciding on whether or not I need to enlarge my samples, and if so, getting those samples. So if you're reading this, try to keep it all under-wraps for awhile.

Conclusions

The best conclusion I can give after doing these tests is that it appears, to the best analyzed evidence, that TH does not stack within an alliance (and most likely also multiple alliances, as in Dynamis). This further supports the whole "debuff theory" idea that people have discussed at length on the forums, as opposed to the "party buff" theory. While the bar graph in the first pic above shows declining drop rates when the phase went from 1xTH (TH0 Kill) to 1xTH (TH2 Kill) and to 2xTH, common sense would have it that this downward trend is due to small sample size, and that if the sample were infinitely big, the drop rates should be equal. However, since they did decline, it seems evident that there is no correlation with stacked-TH and increased drops, and thus stacking TH in an alliance does not improve drops.

Advice, in light of these results

Other thieves reading this may feel like QQ'ing. Feel free to. These kinds of results are not the kind we'd like for our job class. For others, these results should be pleasing. This means that there is less of a burden on alliances. All that needs to be done is to have one thief in the alliance. However, some will say that, since this proves the debuff theory, this means that a thief can be invited in to hit the mob and then thereafter kicked. This is a possibility, but the debuff theory is not proved here. Even if SE stated that if the thief dies, TH stays in effect, it does not follow that if the thief is leaves the party, TH remains (although to the best of our knowledge it is at least possible).

My recommendation to linkshells is to keep a single thief in the alliance, full-time, or at least near the end of the fight before the mob dies. For dynamis, while it is theoretically possible that you'd only need one thief in order to "stick TH" on all of the mobs, I don't think it's a good idea to bring only one thief to dynamis. It's a difficult task for a thief to land TH on all mobs, even if he's not pulling. If the thief is pulling (as they should be), they'll have even less time to do this. I think at least 3 thieves for a dynamis is advisable, just to make sure that TH is on everything, while at the same time ensuring that there is a good supply of pullers and sac-pullers.

I'll go ahead and stop here. Questions and comments are more than welcome. If you have questions, comments, or criticism, you can comment here, reply on another forum thread, PM me, /tell me, etc.