With the September update having come and gone, and with some time to settle into the new world SE has created for us, it's time for me to start putting it all together.
Obsidian
We've got new gear, new zones, new skills, new spells, new all kinds of shit, but the most important change with this update was not something SE had any say over and that's the Obsidain Linkshell. Before the update we were seeing a drop in attendance for Dynamis and it was becoming clear to us that people were losing interest (interest has been declining for some time, but recently it's turned into an avalanche), hell I was losing interest. Fact is Dynamis is a big commitment, twice a week, 7 hours of playing time minimum and there is so much new content and stuff to do from the last two updates, most folks are opting to go with the new and say to hell with the old. This is understandable, especially since much of the gear just got bitchslapped by the Empyrean Armor (I'll get into that another day), the only motivation for most people to do Dynamis is to hang out with friends.
So with that in mind, about two weeks ago we had a sackholder summit and laid out the direction Obsidian would be going forward with. The biggest change is a massive one, our focus is switching from Dynamis to Abyssea. For those of you unfamiliar with Obsidian this may not seem like a big deal, but Obsidian has been a Dynamis shell for almost 6 years (some knowledge for you courtesy of Qtipus and Kaeko: Obsidian's Origin and Old School Dynamis), and that's a lot of history to walk way from. We'll still do Dynamis, but we're scaling it back to once a week and only focusing on Xarcabard and the CoP zones. Even with this shift in focus, the sign-ups for the CoP zones are disconcerting, 20 for Qufim, 20 for Valkrum and 9 (yes, fucking NINE!) for Buburimu. Hey, I know we're all level 85 and shit, but those bosses don't kill themselves... At any rate, there is so much to do in Abyssea, that we had to adapt or watch the shell die.
It also doesn't stop with Abyssea, we also still have Einherjar, VNMs, Sky and Dynamis in our event schedules and we're doing so much stuff all the time, I've given up and just use Obsidian as my social shell also.
Job Changes
Ninja
So it turns out I was way offbase with Yurin and Myoshu, both of them are essentially Subtle Blow as opposed to the Silence and Defense Down spells I was hoping for. Yurin is a debuff that "Inhibits TP" gain for a mob, while Myoshu is a buff that is "Subtle Blow Plus", and both are very nice for soloing. The thing to note here is that Yurin is easily the more useful of the two tools for a group event, especially when fighting an NM. The reason for this is Yurin helps the group as a whole, it's inflicted on the mob, Myoshu on the other hand is only on the caster, it's solo only and even then, if you are near the Subtle Blow cap (it's 50), it may not be helpful at all. So not total fail, in fact Yurin is something I can cast with Aisha that gives me two debuffs only a NIN can use to help the cause.
The damage increase for elemental ninjutsu has been disappointing, it appears Ichi got roughly a 25% increase and San got around a 10% increase, however, as near as anyone can tell, Ni spells seem to have LOST about 10% of their damage. I can't personally verify these numbers, but I can say the numbers are marginal at best, there was no significant increase.
The one thing I can say about the Skillchain Bonus is it's real, and it seems to generate enmity. I've actually got to test this one quite a bit with Atma farming when I've self skillchained Blade: To > Blade: Chi (creates Impaction) and I've been pulling hate with that. Now anyone who knows much about Katana Weapon Skills can tell you, they don't do much damage, in fact a single two-hand weapon skill will out-damage both the weapon skills and scillchain combined, so to be pulling hate from doing this seems odd to me (especially with Innin up). It might be my imagination, or the fact I'm piling in multiple hits and the game mechanics dictate more hate generation, or the way we are fighting the mobs, I simply don't know.
Dual Wield V, say what? My initial thoughts on this were, no, SE would have put that in the update notes, but now I'm not so sure. Many jobs are reporting tier increases in their job traits and SE was mum about those also. Is it noticeable? I haven't been able to tell, I hit so damn fast already so it's hard to say. Plus, I'm not one of those people that understands how to test and confirm it, so all I have is rumor.
Black Mage
As I stated in a previous post, BLM didn't get much in this update except new spells, it seems most people still feel BLM didn't get much. Break is probably the one that has most folks irritated. On the surface it's a great spell, lasts about 30 seconds and stops the mob cold. That is, if it lands. For some dumb ass reason, SE decided to make this a spell that relies on Enfeebling Magic, which BLM has a C+ rating in. This means a typical BLM has to put a ton of work in just to get decent Enfeebling Skill, and even then, against high level mobs there a good chance it will get resisted. It also has a 4 second cast, which is middle ground casting, but if you are hoping to get this off like Stun and give yourself time to run away, then you better hope the mob doesn't interrupt you. I can live with the casting time, but why Break isn't Dark Magic is beyond me, would be tons more useful if it was.
The -ja spells, as it turns out, are indeed like Cura, going up 5% in damage after each successful cast, however, there seems to be a time limit for casting so it's not a permanent increase. They are also AoE spells, so they seem to be the next tier of -ga spells as well. However, like Stone V and Water V before them, most BLMs don't have merits in either element so the interest in them has been marginal.
BLM also got two new traits, one we knew about, the other we found out about. The first is Occult Acumen, this grants TP applicable to a spell's MP cost (elemental and dark magic only) and was first introduced for DRK and SCH in the last update, now it's BLM's turn. On the surface this seems rather intriguing, the return is 2.5% of the MP cost (I have no idea if Conserve MP or Clear Mind affect this, btw), so if you cast Thunder IV, you'll get 4.275 TP, Burst II will give you 7.175 TP. Seems cool, but then...when does BLM ever melee that they need TP?! It's almost exclusively a solo thing, so meh, it has its uses, but most of the time no one will give a shit. The other trait is Magic Attack Bonus V, like Dual Wield V above, SE didn't mention BLM was getting this and in fact no one was expecting it until level 90, but it's been confirmed that BLM does in fact have MAB V at level 81.
That should be enough for today, there's a lot more stuff to cover, gear, AF3, Abyssea, etc., but that's for another day...
Stating the Obvious
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
September Update Thoughts: NIN & BLM
So the with the September update just a few days away, it's looking like this update will be job centric, with additional content if one purchases the second Abyssea expansion. This is fine with me as I have plenty to do as is, if someone needs more then they need a better fucking hobby.
NIN
I never look at the BG forums as they are mostly filled with immature elitist assholes, plus I hate looking for things there, it just doesn't work for me. Instead I tend to focus on the Alla discussions, which also have immature elitist assholes, but there isn't nearly as many (aside from the BLM forum, that one is full of fuckwads). Why do I bring this up and what does it have to do with the update? Well NIN has been getting shit on daily at Alla, led by the Jerk Ass Rog (ThePhsycoticOne), who has declared NIN useless, him and his minions karma bomb anyone who dares state otherwise. Folks there are demanding that SE make NIN a top tier DD or it will be branded the next BST. Meanwhile, Rog himself is a RDM (though he says NIN was his first 75, thus, apparently giving him the right to bitch and moan like a fucking asshole all he pleases), and if anyone has been paying attention they will note that RDM and NIN are becoming similar jobs with slightly different approaches. Neither are the best at anything, but both are in the top five of everything, so I find his bullshit to be that much more annoying because he comes off as a smug little hypocrite to me.
The worst part of all of this nonsense is his constant barrage of bullshit has somehow convinced otherwise smart people to think like him and QQ over the death of NIN. You fucking morons! NIN is just as good today as it was a year ago, it's a great DoT DD, a great tank, a great puller and a great kiter, not the best at any of those, but far from useless. Some want it to be a better DD, but to make it on par with SAM you need to buff one-hand damage and add an epic WS, which would be nice, but probably not necessary. Others think it's dead as a tank, and these special little shitflakes think this because of the nerf to RDM hate spells. WTF?! You dumbasses were supposed to be subbing DRK for a fucking reason, i.e. Weapon Bash and Last Resort (you open the fight with these abilities shit for brains) and then spam Stun and NIN enfeebles, RDM was always the better option for kiting! Idiots. The only thing lacking for NIN tanks is a native hate generating ability like Flash or Provoke (Yonin is good for holding hate, but not generating it), as a tank it can still embarrass a PLD when one tries.
At any rate SE responded by...not changing any of that, which is fine with me, I think NIN is a great and versatile job that doesn't need any serious changes. What SE has decided to do was shore up the major weakness in NIN by addressing Ninjutsu, specifically adding more debuffs (or are they buffs?) and adjusting the damage to the elementals. Sure the aforementioned shit for brain message board saps may think this is bad (as witnessed by the near immediate karma rating of someone who did like it), but Drakus is excited (yes, I just referred to myself in the third person). I'm stoked by the idea of higher damage Ninjutsu, especially if it means Ni = Tier III and San = Tier IV, nuking is the best part of being a BLM and I always enjoyed it on NIN (I even carry around tools just in case I feel like nuking shit), so if my Nis can do a minimum of 200 damage and Sans start at 500 then I'll be a happy NIN. Think about the damage that can be inflicted in a short period of time, running through a Ni wheel will net 1,200 damage in around 30 seconds, while a San will do 3,000 damage in under a minute. Sure, BLM and maybe SCH or RDM can top that, but I won't be out of MP or have used up my two-hour to do it. As for the two new spells themselves, I'm not as bent out of shape this time, sure I'd prefer my Ni tier be finished, but if my hunches are correct, I'll be happy.
Yurin: Ichi
Yurin apparently means deep woods. Initially I took this debuff to mean defense down to collaborate with attack down, but after seeing the animation (found here at 0:37) I'm thinking something altogether different. There is no sound after the spell is cast, thus I'm thinking it's Silence. This makes sense when you consider the translation, that deep woods, are thought of as a quiet darkness, i.e. silence.
Myoshu: Ichi
Myoshu means something along the lines an extraordinary, excellent, or magnificent move. Unlike the above one which makes sense as a debuff, this translation sounds more like a buff, to be more specific, it sounds like Accuracy. However when I see the animation (it's right after the one in the link above) I'm reminded of the RDM Sword WS Death Blossom, that WS gives RDM an aftermath effect of Magic Accuracy and Magic Attack. Again, it seems more like a buff. That said, aside from Shadows, Sneak and Invisible, NINs have never been given a buff spell and this is why I go back to my original speculation of it being Evasion Down. I think the translation is rather telling that it involves Accuracy and the debuff for that is Evasion Down. We'll know what both of these do in around a week, in the meantime, it's been kinda fun to conjecture.
Blade: Hi
Could this be the WS I mentioned that will put an end to Jin? Somehow I doubt it, but fuck if it ain't a cool animation (found here at 1:47). There's some speculation over the translation (could mean fire or secret), but the animation seems pretty clear to me it's a fire based attack that probably deals fire elemental damage and if that's the case then it's not gonna beat Jin (Shell and MND come into play with elemental WS).
BLM
I imagine BLMs were a bit disappointed with today's update one sheet, unlike most jobs BLM is getting no new abilities, traits or tweaks, instead they get five new spells. When one considers the spells though, I think it all evens out in the end.
Aero V
This was to be expected, some people were expecting Fire V, but it looks like they are giving us V spells every three levels which means we can expect Fire V at 86, Blizzard V at 89 and Thunder V at 92. That aside, just like Stone V and Water V (neither of which I've bothered to get yet), Aero V doesn't bring much since merits are in Blizzard and Thunder, will be nice for Kirin, but beyond that I don't think it will see much use when I do get around to getting it.
Aspir II
Fucking win. This is a fantastic addition to the job, even better than Convert imo, couple this with Aspir and you're pulling back around 400 MP and you aren't risking death to do it.
Stoneja/Waterja
These two spells have led to a lot of speculation as to what they are. It's clear they are AoE spells, but they are not the expected -Ga IV spells, even though those spells are in the game and used by mobs. My guess is instead of divided damage, these spells will do the same damage to all mobs within range. For example, say a -ga spell does 1,000 damage to a single mob, if there are three mobs, each receives 333 damage, -ja on the other hand may deliver 1,000 damage to each mob whether there is one or 20 of them. Maybe, who knows?
Break
Another potentially cool spell. If you've ever fought that fucking turtle and his pieste pets in Pashhow (S) you have an idea of what this spell can do, here's hoping it's our Stun II spell.
I'm excited about this update, in addition to the above we are getting Armor Trials, the first half of our AF3 (BLM is gonna be fucking awesome, NIN is a wait and see), more WotG and more Abyssea, lots to do!
NIN
I never look at the BG forums as they are mostly filled with immature elitist assholes, plus I hate looking for things there, it just doesn't work for me. Instead I tend to focus on the Alla discussions, which also have immature elitist assholes, but there isn't nearly as many (aside from the BLM forum, that one is full of fuckwads). Why do I bring this up and what does it have to do with the update? Well NIN has been getting shit on daily at Alla, led by the Jerk Ass Rog (ThePhsycoticOne), who has declared NIN useless, him and his minions karma bomb anyone who dares state otherwise. Folks there are demanding that SE make NIN a top tier DD or it will be branded the next BST. Meanwhile, Rog himself is a RDM (though he says NIN was his first 75, thus, apparently giving him the right to bitch and moan like a fucking asshole all he pleases), and if anyone has been paying attention they will note that RDM and NIN are becoming similar jobs with slightly different approaches. Neither are the best at anything, but both are in the top five of everything, so I find his bullshit to be that much more annoying because he comes off as a smug little hypocrite to me.
The worst part of all of this nonsense is his constant barrage of bullshit has somehow convinced otherwise smart people to think like him and QQ over the death of NIN. You fucking morons! NIN is just as good today as it was a year ago, it's a great DoT DD, a great tank, a great puller and a great kiter, not the best at any of those, but far from useless. Some want it to be a better DD, but to make it on par with SAM you need to buff one-hand damage and add an epic WS, which would be nice, but probably not necessary. Others think it's dead as a tank, and these special little shitflakes think this because of the nerf to RDM hate spells. WTF?! You dumbasses were supposed to be subbing DRK for a fucking reason, i.e. Weapon Bash and Last Resort (you open the fight with these abilities shit for brains) and then spam Stun and NIN enfeebles, RDM was always the better option for kiting! Idiots. The only thing lacking for NIN tanks is a native hate generating ability like Flash or Provoke (Yonin is good for holding hate, but not generating it), as a tank it can still embarrass a PLD when one tries.
At any rate SE responded by...not changing any of that, which is fine with me, I think NIN is a great and versatile job that doesn't need any serious changes. What SE has decided to do was shore up the major weakness in NIN by addressing Ninjutsu, specifically adding more debuffs (or are they buffs?) and adjusting the damage to the elementals. Sure the aforementioned shit for brain message board saps may think this is bad (as witnessed by the near immediate karma rating of someone who did like it), but Drakus is excited (yes, I just referred to myself in the third person). I'm stoked by the idea of higher damage Ninjutsu, especially if it means Ni = Tier III and San = Tier IV, nuking is the best part of being a BLM and I always enjoyed it on NIN (I even carry around tools just in case I feel like nuking shit), so if my Nis can do a minimum of 200 damage and Sans start at 500 then I'll be a happy NIN. Think about the damage that can be inflicted in a short period of time, running through a Ni wheel will net 1,200 damage in around 30 seconds, while a San will do 3,000 damage in under a minute. Sure, BLM and maybe SCH or RDM can top that, but I won't be out of MP or have used up my two-hour to do it. As for the two new spells themselves, I'm not as bent out of shape this time, sure I'd prefer my Ni tier be finished, but if my hunches are correct, I'll be happy.
Yurin: Ichi
Yurin apparently means deep woods. Initially I took this debuff to mean defense down to collaborate with attack down, but after seeing the animation (found here at 0:37) I'm thinking something altogether different. There is no sound after the spell is cast, thus I'm thinking it's Silence. This makes sense when you consider the translation, that deep woods, are thought of as a quiet darkness, i.e. silence.
Myoshu: Ichi
Myoshu means something along the lines an extraordinary, excellent, or magnificent move. Unlike the above one which makes sense as a debuff, this translation sounds more like a buff, to be more specific, it sounds like Accuracy. However when I see the animation (it's right after the one in the link above) I'm reminded of the RDM Sword WS Death Blossom, that WS gives RDM an aftermath effect of Magic Accuracy and Magic Attack. Again, it seems more like a buff. That said, aside from Shadows, Sneak and Invisible, NINs have never been given a buff spell and this is why I go back to my original speculation of it being Evasion Down. I think the translation is rather telling that it involves Accuracy and the debuff for that is Evasion Down. We'll know what both of these do in around a week, in the meantime, it's been kinda fun to conjecture.
Blade: Hi
Could this be the WS I mentioned that will put an end to Jin? Somehow I doubt it, but fuck if it ain't a cool animation (found here at 1:47). There's some speculation over the translation (could mean fire or secret), but the animation seems pretty clear to me it's a fire based attack that probably deals fire elemental damage and if that's the case then it's not gonna beat Jin (Shell and MND come into play with elemental WS).
BLM
I imagine BLMs were a bit disappointed with today's update one sheet, unlike most jobs BLM is getting no new abilities, traits or tweaks, instead they get five new spells. When one considers the spells though, I think it all evens out in the end.
Aero V
This was to be expected, some people were expecting Fire V, but it looks like they are giving us V spells every three levels which means we can expect Fire V at 86, Blizzard V at 89 and Thunder V at 92. That aside, just like Stone V and Water V (neither of which I've bothered to get yet), Aero V doesn't bring much since merits are in Blizzard and Thunder, will be nice for Kirin, but beyond that I don't think it will see much use when I do get around to getting it.
Aspir II
Fucking win. This is a fantastic addition to the job, even better than Convert imo, couple this with Aspir and you're pulling back around 400 MP and you aren't risking death to do it.
Stoneja/Waterja
These two spells have led to a lot of speculation as to what they are. It's clear they are AoE spells, but they are not the expected -Ga IV spells, even though those spells are in the game and used by mobs. My guess is instead of divided damage, these spells will do the same damage to all mobs within range. For example, say a -ga spell does 1,000 damage to a single mob, if there are three mobs, each receives 333 damage, -ja on the other hand may deliver 1,000 damage to each mob whether there is one or 20 of them. Maybe, who knows?
Break
Another potentially cool spell. If you've ever fought that fucking turtle and his pieste pets in Pashhow (S) you have an idea of what this spell can do, here's hoping it's our Stun II spell.
I'm excited about this update, in addition to the above we are getting Armor Trials, the first half of our AF3 (BLM is gonna be fucking awesome, NIN is a wait and see), more WotG and more Abyssea, lots to do!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)