Sub-par tank with big attitude

Expert roulette today was full of drama, again. Frankly, that is why I tried to avoid DF solo and only go when I have at least one friend with me. Today, though, I was with Corn and Bray, and we went in as a party of three, then were matched with a stranger who was a DRK.

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Right off the bat, without any heads up, he or she stood there for like a minute, seeming AFK. We went ahead and pulled a group of 3 enemies, having Corn’s Titan-Egi tank. The tank came back a bit later, when enemies were almost dead. Tank said sorry and helped us kill 2 out of 3 enemies, and ran off to grab next group before last one died.

Bray said “go big” so the tank kept going…..up the stairs where it was a dead end. We fought there and proceeded to next set of mobs. Tank pulled all the way to the monkeys’ room. I had difficult time keeping up with the cure. This tank was strangely squishy. I wasn’t sure if DRKs are squishy by nature, or if this person had bad gear, or if this person had bad skill rotation. I couldn’t Cleric Stance properly. I had healed DRKs before. I felt DRK is quite hard to heal and I’m more accustomed to healing a PLD. And in level 60 content (non-sync) I can also heal a WAR alright. But DRK is another story. However, this DRK seemed a little bit squishier that others. So, I selected to focus on healing instead.

Boss room was ok. I couldn’t DPS and tank didn’t 100% dodge the Folio AoE, but that’s fine. Everything was manageable.

This DRK kept quietly going AFK (or at least seemed AFK) every once in a while, without notification, too. So we crept forward slowly using Titan-Egi tank, which complicated things because when the tank arrived late at the scene, it was harder to secure enmity. I almost got mowed to death a few times due to my Medica II pulling hate from Titan-Egi.

Then, in Liquid Flame boss, I made a bad decision and spent Benediction on Bray when he was dying. Bye-bye my cool down. Ugh!

Next mob after flame boss was in a room where vision is blocked by a narrow door. Corn wandered too far into the room and was seen. (I did this twice, because I forgot and didn’t see the enemies visually.) So we started fighting.

The tank (back from being idle) ran in, said “Ffs” and grabbed all the 3 enemies, and headed further up the stairs. I used Sprint to follow. We reached the next room, where there are many statues. Inside the room, near the entrance there are 3 more enemies. Once tank reached the enemies, Corn placed Shadow Flare there. I spent my Divine Seal and used Medica II. But lo and behold, the tank didn’t stop there, he or she continued to the end of the room, missing Medica II and waking up first set of statues, which spawned 2 3 more enemies. That’s 8 (I was wrong, it was actually 9 enemies) in the fray.

I followed immediately and Swiftcast, reapplied my Medica II to help with tank’s HP. I also landed Tetragrammaton on the tank for 7888 HP and placed Asylum. Meanwhile, one or two loose enemies whacked on me because of my too-early Medica II. (I usually let tank secure enmity first, but this tank had me panicked because he or she ran off for more enemies when I wasn’t expecting it, and tank’s HP gushed like water.)

Tank used Convalescence but from that point on, I could only land 1 Cure. I tried to Cure II, as Benediction and Tetra were both on cooldown. We all dodged a bunch of cluttered AoE and either I was hit or my Cure II was interrupted by damage, and in a blink, tank died.

I was shredded into pieces right after. And then Corn, and then Bray.

Tank was like “Great” then said “Can pull cant heal.”

Um? I didn’t pull. And wait, you were the one who decided to take a bigger bite than you can chew, no? We wanted to stop at the front of the room. You dragged the mobs all the way to the back of the room. YOU.

And where’s the oh-shit emergency skill, Living Dead, that could have extended your death for at least 10 seconds?  And not all enemies were on you, yet you still died. =_=;; That means your tanking skill, in combination with my healing skill, cannot withstand that many enemies.

I was so miffed and replied “Where’s your Living Dead? :P”

Corn got pissed off, too, and called the DRK out on those mysterious AFKs. The DRK said “I was trying to type”  (I thought to myself, type what? You’re not supposed to type while engaged in battle.) On my second thought, though, maybe the DRK meant he or she was trying to type to tell the party that he or she needed to go AFK. But….how long does a person need just to type “Wait” or “BRB” or “AFK” or “sec” or to type wa [and tab, for auto-translation of “Wait, please.”]. After 3-letter notification to make the party listen, one can have plenty of time to explain the situation or the need to AFK or to pause the pull.

Anyway, after everyone went to HP and ran back again, the DRK darted forward without waiting for Protect (probably was too pissed off to care). So I had to cast Protect on them again, at the same time the DRK aggroed first group of enemies, and my Protect stole enmity right off the bat. DRK didn’t even care and kept running forward for the 2nd group. I had to Sprint to catch up and heal, etc.

Unhappy.

While we were fighting through the room full of statues that gradually spawned enemies, the argument went on and on. The tank was angry that Corn pulled. (Honestly, I would, too. I always hate DPS that pulls before tank.) Corn was pissed that the tank kept going AFK unannounced. (In this case I regrettably sided with Corn, because going AFK unannounced is very rude, IMO. And to top it off, the tank was so squishy and died from pulling too many mobs without consulting the party, and then immediately blamed me, I was infuriated.)

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I also had to use Benediction there (like, what the!?! I only used Benediction there on Dew when and if we pull 8 enemies at once.) The tank seemed so occupied in exchanging angry messages with Corn and didn’t focus on tanking AT ALL. It was even worse than before. Tank was always on the verge of dying, even when I fully focused on healing and switched to bombing Cure II instead of Cure as usual.

I finally snapped and said “You’re squishy enough when not typing, please focus.” Which is very mean, I know. But I just really can’t tolerate that attitude. A sub-par tank who’s not trying to do the job properly, but focusing more on typing an argument…

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After that, 4 enemies spawned, and the tank seemed to be mad at my remark, and seemed to intentionally neglect to take back the aggro. I tanked 2 of them the whole time until they died. I spent Tetra on myself. I cure bombed myself. I refused to die. Meanwhile Corn threatened to vote kick the tank, to which the tank replied “Kick me u crybby” and “Like i care” so after the mobs died, we voted kick the tank.

Good riddance.

There was just one enemy on the way to last boss room, if I remember correctly. We got past that just fine and got to the boss room. Corn waited for a bit, but no tank came in. I was unwilling to wake Dew up, so I just stood there, trying to not get mad at what happened. =_= As you can see, apparently, I failed to stay not mad.

Corn eventually decided to tank with Titan-Egi.

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And of course, we won without casualty.

Titan-Egi, tanking a boss better than a real person Dark Knight. =_=;; WTF.

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Corn is barbaric when he’s on SMN

Lately, Corn had shifted to playing SMN instead of PLD. I guess he got tired of tanking and found a new fun in the DEEPS zone. He seems chirpy and energetic when he shredded the horde of enemies into pieces with his magick. Nowadays he goes to roulettes with us on his SMN about 98% of the time.

Today, too, he was on SMN. And we were about to do some unsync runs for the kitten’s sticker book (Wondrous Tails) but I was distracted by the new teaser trailer, drooling at the monks sparring. I changed to Monk to admire my new gearset, which Corn and I and Diver crafted yesterday. Then there was a kaching and I realized Corn entered CoB T1 while I was on my monk. XD

I was like “Oh shit, I’m on monk.” But Corn said “I know.”

So, yeah we went on and killed the trash mobs. Corn died at the last mass pull before I could kill the damn Golem. I finished off the few mobs that were still alive, and we tacked the epic Snake.

Long story short, after letting Corn tank one half of the snake while Titan-Egi tanked the first half, Corn died and Titan went poof! So both halves of the snake came after me, and merged. I tried to put up the fight best I could, but I died. Corn went homepoint after he died so he didn’t see my epicness. As, after I died for about a second, the snake also died. We double-KO. lol

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I swear I didn’t remember using Blood for Blood. I never used Blood For Blood while straight-tanking anything. So I guess it was either I used it when Titan was still alive, or I accidentally smashed the button while in frenzy. I would have been so bummed out if we didn’t win. So that DoT was a nice save!!!

Leviathan Ponies Farming

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Alright, last night our FC went to farm a few ponies using undersized (unsync) party. What we lack most is Leviathan’s horse. 3 people including me still need it. So, at one point, we spammed Leviathan EX. We didn’t wipe. Just half wiped or almost wiped, which is a good thing, because it shows that we learned the rhythm of Levi EX battle and have improved in executing plans. Corn was on commander duty, reminding us when to stop DPSing and such, and also he was the switch person for the barrier.

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During one fight, I died alone because I didn’t look at where Levi would slam down and when I realized it and sprinted, I was 1 step short from not falling off. XD The party won, however.

The next fight, Dew later said it was karma, I had to work harder than the others to make up for the previous fight. At one point, while people were towing the water orbs, something happened and suddenly 3 people died. I didn’t even know what was going on. Only Dew (PLD), Kuji (DRG) and I (WHM) were left. We waited for the machine’s energy, and Kuji managed to hit the switch on time. We survived and I thought it was going to be ok.

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Nope, the damn add cursed Dew with Hysteria and Kuji accidentally stepped on a terror circle while dodging shit, so they both walked off the edge and went swimming with the rest of the party. At 10%, I was alone and scared as hell. There were 2 terror circles on the floor when Levi next slammed on the raft. I slid, and very luckily missed the circle by inches. Party screamed a lot of stuff. Dew was so hyped and was squeaking her excitement in our Skype call.

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Nervous and panicked, I still remembered to Asylum, Divine Seal Medica II, and Regen myself while dodging stuff and attacking Levi’s head. I deactivated Cleric Stance to use Tetragammatron when needed, then went on the nuking spree again. Then while spamming Stone III, I spent my Benediction. Levi hits hard, the Scale Darts were like 2300 HP dmg each. Eventually, while ignoring the adds out of sheer fear and excitement, I felled Leviathan.

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It wouldn’t have been a big deal for undersized party to win against it, but it was a HUGE deal for me when I had to solo. I was particularly scared because I don’t perform well in Leviathan EX. I used to always die first because I couldn’t dodge the dive and the slam. When I won, while the party was screaming their joy in the FC chat, I was trembling, LOL. The same old excitement and rush of adrenaline I haven’t felt in quite some time came back again, and I felt as if I were on crack. XD

 

 

T9, T10 and (attempt) T11

Again, we (finally)  managed to scrape together 5 bodies to attempt T9 (Second Coil of Bahamut, turn 4) last night. This time PZ logged in and joined us (yay!) so we had more targets for the fire & ice. No more getting 2nd ice in my face before the aiming fire could land!!!! XD LOL!

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T9 alone took 3 hours, including dinner break/snack break/bathroom break.

Last session (about a week ago, or maybe it was 2 weeks ago) we knew we improved. Even though PZ wasn’t with us, we nailed the Comet phase and got to the 2nd part about 90% of the time. The Fire & Ice thing was what we had BIG problem with. But last night, with Corn’s plan of having everyone huddling together except Fire-debuffed person, we flew through it quite smoothly. I even developed a skill in reading my own debuff precisely and managed to avoid zapping the party with my Thunder shots. This time, though, the Divebombs are once again my woe, up until we won.

To be honest, I ran around like a headless chicken when it’s Divebombs phase. Amid the havoc and my panic, I had completely no idea where the north is, not to even mention remembering where to place bomb or hide from bomb (4-11 o’clock, 7-2 o’clock, 2-7 o’clock). Also, I think I kept killing Corn with Lunar Dynamo that was aimed on me.

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In this pic (above), I didn’t even remember what all happened…. But 3 people were dead and I entered panic mode.

From examining the chatlog: PZ died (twice), then Corn also died (from my Lunar Dynamo, I think) then Dew died.

[2:18]Philemon Zydyk is defeated by Iceclaw.

(Corn raised PZ with Swiftcast, but sadly, I also spent a Swiftcast + Raise on PZ too.)

[2:18]Philemon Zydyk is defeated by Nael deus Darnus.
[2:19]Corn Muffin is defeated by Thunderwing.

(I started casting Raise on Corn without Swift.)

[2:19]Chibidew Kinoko is defeated by Thunderwing.
[2:19]Nael deus Darnus uses Dalamud Dive.
[2:19]   Parried! Kujimaro Hanabi takes 4616 (-20%) damage.

(From here, Kuji started tanking.)

[2:19]You cast Raise.
[2:19]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Raise.
[2:19]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Bloodbath.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi gains the effect of Bloodbath.
[2:19]You use Swiftcast.
[2:19]   You gain the effect of Swiftcast.

(I Swiftcast + Raise Dew as soon as Swift cooldown ended. Meanwhile, Kuji had to save himself using all the surviveability skills he could, LOL.)

[2:19]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Second Wind.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi recovers 2714 HP.
[2:19]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Power Surge.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi gains the effect of Power Surge.
[2:19]You lose the effect of Swiftcast.
[2:19]You cast Raise.
[2:19]   Chibidew Kinoko gains the effect of Raise.
[2:19]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Jump.
[2:19]   Nael deus Darnus takes 2319 damage.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi absorbs 579 HP.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi loses the effect of Power Surge.
[2:19]Corn Muffin is revived.
[2:19]Corn Muffin suffers the effect of Weakness.
[2:19]You begin casting Cure.
[2:19]You cast Cure.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi recovers 4921 HP.

(After raising Dew, I finally regained conscious and remembered I had to prioritize keeping Kuji alive.)

[2:19]Screenshot saved.
[2:19]Chibidew Kinoko is revived.
[2:19]You cast Cure.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi recovers 4867 HP.
[2:19]You begin casting Cure.
[2:19]Chibidew Kinoko suffers the effect of Weakness.
[2:19]You cast Cure.
[2:19]   Corn Muffin recovers 4830 HP.
[2:19]You use Benediction.
[2:19]   Chibidew Kinoko recovers 26006 HP.
[2:19]Chibidew Kinoko uses Hallowed Ground.
[2:19]   Chibidew Kinoko gains the effect of Hallowed Ground.

(Dew prepared to take back enmity.)

[2:19]Kujimaro Hanabi loses the effect of Bloodbath.
[2:19]Corn Muffin casts Ruin II.
[2:19]   Nael deus Darnus takes 765 damage.
[2:19]   Nael deus Darnus fully resists Blind.
[2:19]You use Tetragrammaton.
[2:19]   Critical! Kujimaro Hanabi recovers 10786 HP.
[2:19]Chibidew Kinoko uses Provoke.
[2:19]   Chibidew Kinoko’s enmity increases.

(Dew managed to take Nael back on her.)

[2:19]You use Divine Seal.
[2:19]   You gain the effect of Divine Seal.
[2:19]You begin casting Medica II.
[2:19]You cast Medica II.
[2:19]   You recover 3112 HP.
[2:19]   You gain the effect of Medica II.
[2:19]   You take 241 damage.
[2:19]   Corn Muffin recovers 3073 HP.
[2:19]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Medica II.
[2:19]You recover from the effect of Icebitten.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi recovers 3113 HP.
[2:19]   Kujimaro Hanabi gains the effect of Medica II.
[2:19]Kujimaro Hanabi recovers from the effect of Icebitten.
[2:19]   Chibidew Kinoko recovers 3136 HP.
[2:19]   Chibidew Kinoko gains the effect of Medica II.
[2:19]Corn Muffin recovers from the effect of Icebitten.
[2:19]Nael deus Darnus readies Lunar Dynamo.
[2:19]Chibidew Kinoko suffers the effect of Icebitten.

(At this point my brain couldn’t think and was on auto-pilot mode. My eyes bulged at the HP bar of the boss, we were so close.  I tried my best to recover the party, because everyone took lots of DMG even then. And Fire & Ice shots were still coming at us ruthlessly.)

[2:19]Chibidew Kinoko loses the effect of Hallowed Ground.
[2:19]Nael deus Darnus uses Lunar Dynamo.
[2:19]   You take 4529 damage.
[2:19]   Nael deus Darnus absorbs 4529 HP.
[2:19]   Corn Muffin takes 4662 damage.
[2:19]   Nael deus Darnus absorbs 4662 HP.
[2:19]Corn Muffin recovers from the effect of Thunderstruck

And OMG holy shit, Corn was so in the zone and was trying to zerg Nael down while I was busy Sprinting (I can’t even remember why I sprinted) and healing people. I mostly paste just what people did, but the the DMG, but below I MUST paste Corn’s damage. XD

[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Tri-disaster.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Bio.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Bio II.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Miasma.
[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Virus.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Virus.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Fever.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Fast Blade.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 803 damage.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko hits Nael deus Darnus for 439 damage.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Vorpal Thrust.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1687 (+50%) damage.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi hits Nael deus Darnus for 887 damage.
[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Fester.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 2779 damage.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Aethertrail Attunement.
[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Swiftcast.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Swiftcast.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Dragonfire Dive.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 2056 damage.
[2:20]You cancel Raise.
[2:20]Corn Muffin loses the effect of Swiftcast.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Savage Blade.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1025 (+50%) damage.
[2:20]Critical! Chibidew Kinoko hits Nael deus Darnus for 699 damage.
[2:20]You use Sprint.
[2:20]   You gain the effect of Sprint.
[2:20]Corn Muffin casts Summon.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Full Thrust.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 3018 (+72%) damage.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Bulwark.
[2:20]   Chibidew Kinoko gains the effect of Bulwark.
[2:20]Corn Muffin loses the effect of Aetherflow.
[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Energy Drain.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1466 damage.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin absorbs 733 HP.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin recovers 884 MP.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Aethertrail Attunement.
[2:20]You lose the effect of Divine Seal.
[2:20]You begin casting Medica II.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Jump.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1581 damage.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi hits Nael deus Darnus for 870 damage.
[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Painflare.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1906 damage.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Aethertrail Attunement.
[2:20]Critical! Chibidew Kinoko hits Nael deus Darnus for 673 damage.
[2:20]Corn Muffin loses the effect of Aethertrail Attunement.
[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Dreadwyrm Trance.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Dreadwyrm Trance.
[2:20]Corn Muffin begins casting Ruin III.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Impulse Drive.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1508 damage.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Rage of Halone.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1450 (+61%) damage.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Strength Down.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Foresight.
[2:20]   Chibidew Kinoko gains the effect of Foresight.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko hits Nael deus Darnus for 431 damage.

(Meanwhile, Fire & Ice shots kept hitting us, making me nervous and scared.)

[2:20]You cast Medica II.
[2:20]   You recover 2337 HP.
[2:20]   You gain the effect of Medica II.
[2:20]   Garuda-Egi recovers 2389 HP.
[2:20]   Garuda-Egi gains the effect of Medica II.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin recovers 2358 HP.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin gains the effect of Medica II.
[2:20]   Kujimaro Hanabi recovers 2394 HP.
[2:20]   Kujimaro Hanabi gains the effect of Medica II.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Fast Blade.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 786 damage.
[2:20]   Chibidew Kinoko recovers 2385 HP.
[2:20]   Chibidew Kinoko gains the effect of Medica II.

[2:20]Corn Muffin casts Ruin III.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 2105 damage.
[2:20]Corn Muffin begins casting Ruin III.
[2:20]You use Cleric Stance.
[2:20]   You gain the effect of Cleric Stance.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko hits Nael deus Darnus for 422 damage.
[2:20]You use Assize.
[2:20]   You recover 564 HP.
[2:20]   You recover 1395 MP.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 3934 damage.
[2:20]   Garuda-Egi recovers 584 HP.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin recovers 596 HP.
[2:20]   Chibidew Kinoko recovers 581 HP.
[2:20]   Critical! Kujimaro Hanabi recovers 873 HP.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Savage Blade.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1076 (+50%) damage.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi loses the effect of Heavy Thrust.
[2:20]Corn Muffin casts Ruin III.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 2041 damage.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi hits Nael deus Darnus for 764 damage.
[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko hits Nael deus Darnus for 414 damage.

[2:20]Corn Muffin uses Deathflare.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 3987 damage.
[2:20]   Corn Muffin loses the effect of Dreadwyrm Trance.
[2:20]Kujimaro Hanabi uses Disembowel.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1566 (+54%) damage.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Disembowel.
[2:20]You use Fluid Aura.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 2007 damage.
[2:20]Corn Muffin casts Ruin II.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 721 damage.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus fully resists Blind.

[2:20]One or more party members completed this duty for the first time. A bonus has been awarded to all members.
[2:20]You obtain 100 Allagan tomestones of poetics.

[2:20]Chibidew Kinoko uses Rage of Halone.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus takes 1363 (+61%) damage.
[2:20]   Nael deus Darnus suffers the effect of Strength Down.
[2:20]Corn Muffin defeats Nael deus Darnus.

During the last breath, Corn did a whopping amount of 15,005 DMG (DoT and Garuda not included). Kuji Pumped out 13,050 (not includeing DoT).

The battle was so intense and I couldn’t stop cackling when we won!

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And we were rewarded with some epic and super epic cutscenes.

Then, onto the first turn of Final Coil, T10.

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We got eaten badly from the adds, so we had to exit and have Corn change back to PLD.

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After a few wipes, we managed to win, with me dead on the floor, screaming internally “KILL IT! Just 1% left!!!!! We can’t fail!!!”

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And woop! We won.

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Then, onto T11. Which we haven’t beaten yet.

ffxiv_05092016_035713_new ffxiv_05092016_035720_new ffxiv_05092016_035925_new ffxiv_05092016_041106_new ffxiv_05092016_041637_new ffxiv_05092016_043144_new

This thing is very difficult, and the best we could do was 44%. Then, it was almost 4 a.m. and PZ had to sleep because he has work on Monday.

Generous person in FATE

OMGGGG This person, Aina ???????? (censoring because the person is a stranger and I did not ask for permission to reveal name), is so nice. I’m not saying that people who don’t notice such things and don’t realize they could be generous in FATE are bad or unkind, but this person, in my eyes, is very kind and is also a discerning individual. This kind of person will often look out for others and extend generosity to strangers. Sometimes they would even spend time and effort and go out of their way to help others.

ffxiv_12182015_100521 (4)

Today I took 3 Amalj’aa beast tribe quests to start collecting beast tokens for 3rd stage of Anima weapon. Unfortunately, one of them involves killing a FATE boss to obtain a key item. It just wouldn’t pop. So I went to Sylphlands for other quests and after finishing Sylph’s quests, I went back to Southern Thanalan to check on the FATE. And yes, it popped and it had 12 minutes left. I rushed there at my top speed. It was so far away, all the way inside Zahar’ak.

When I got there, someone else was there with their chocobo, and the boss HP dropped from full to 50% VERY quickly. I panicked and hopped off my chocobo, hit level sync button, and then did everything to try to get the FATE participation credits. Swiftcast + Divine Seal + Medica II, and Eye for Eye on my chocobo, for example. And I used all my instant spells like Aero and Fluid Aura, thinking I still might not make it. (I can’t remember if you needed Gold for FATE key item to drop or not.)

Amid my flurry, I saw that the person doing emotes at me. So I looked closely, the person was standing with weapon sheathed and not attacking. O_o! He or she must have noticed me and my desperation, and decided to let me get more share of the participation credits.

My battle did not even last longer than 30 seconds, but I ended up getting the item drop!!!

I was so glad and very grateful. This trivial kindness is really what encourages me to continue playing the game without shutting myself in FC house crafting all day (or roaming the waters, fishing without interacting to human, lol.)

Most people would just either not even notice me and my need of FATE credits, and some might do, but still don’t care enough to share, as I’ve experienced many times before. It’s not a good feeling. I get pouty and a little mad. Not mad enough to insult the person or the shout channel, but mad, yeah.

As a result, whenever I notice late comers to the FATE and I’m sure my reward is secured, I stop competing and change my chocobo to healer mode, so that more people could benefit from the FATE instead of me hoarding the excessive participation credits. Because, you know, some FATEs could take 7 hours to respawn.  

Summoner in Ifrit Hard last night

[Self note: short link to this entry is http://wp.me/p3QlNa-nh]

To the Summoner person using Ifrit in Ifrit (Hard),
(Time of incident = December 15, 2015, 4:35 AM on UTC+7, which equals December 14, 1:35 PM on PST.)
As my friend was unable to construct an English response to you when you belittled the tanks in Ifrit (Hard), I am now trying to reach out to you in her stead.

Please note that I wrote this entry for 2 reasons:
– My friend was extremely frustrated because she was unable to convey her feelings or to explain herself and the situation to you.
– I’m hoping that upon hearing us out, you will now understand the basic reasons for 1) why the party should let the tanks pull first, not the DPS and 2) why people (and their pet/summon) should not stand in front of the enemy except when they are the tanks.

I did not write this to upset you, or anyone. It is simply to express the feelings and reasons from a tank’s (my friend) and a healer’s (me) point of view as well as to correct any misconception you might have had about pulling and aggro.

A_Skyflower

 


 

Short version:

  • 1) You asked “Why my ifrit was tanking?”

Answer: Because you pulled first, before the tank.

  • 2) You asked “Tanks can’t even hold the aggro?”

Answer: No, the tanks gained back the aggro and was holding it (they were competing each other for aggro, in order to put situation back to normal). Your Ifrit-Egi died because it stayed in front of Ifrit and took damage from frontal AoE attacks.


 

Full version:

I will write with so much detail here, because you might not have meant to be rude, but only lack the knowledge on how the battle really works. In this entry, I offer you the explanation of the situation in question.

  • 1) You asked “Why my ifrit was tanking?”

Answer: It is simple, because you ordered your Ifrit-Egi to attack before tanks did any action on the enemy. As everyone knows, the first person or NPC who lands the attack on an enemy (or uses any action when detected by an enemy, or uses any action/spell on the person who is detected by the enemy) will always receive the initial enmity (first aggro) and sometimes also receive the first one or first two attacks. It is common for a DPS to receive damage from the enemy’s first blow, if the DPS did not allow time for tanks to be the one to start the battle.

An attack or two on a DPS could easily kill a DPS, or at least cause some trouble. Therefore, in usual circumstance, it is a widely accepted practice for the DPS players to wait patiently until any of the tanks attacks or uses a skill first. This is to ensure that no one else gets whacked in the face before tank could secure the aggro. Moreover, as you may already know, Ifrit-Egi is a melee type, so the range between Ifrit-Egi and the Ifrit was very close, therefore the tank didn’t have a chance to divert the aggro before your Ifrit-Egi received damage.

Let me elaborate further, usually, as a WHM myself, I would stand a distance away from the tank AND the enemies. If, under unfortunate circumstance, I ever draw enough enmity for the monster to target me, while the monster is running from the battle front line to me (in the back line), the tank would have about a second to spend Provoke, for example, on the monster to call it back to front line.

In your case, as Ifrit-Egi is a close-range attacker, and because you ordered your Ifrit-Egi to stand in the tank spot instead of moving away, it is inevitable that the Ifrit-Egi would receive a blow (or many) from Ifrit.

  • 2) You asked “Tanks can’t even hold the aggro?”

Answer: To elaborate from the point 1) above, for the sake of team work, most DPS prefer to let a tank attack first instead of rushing in to steal enmity and complaining about it later when they get their face kicked by the enemy. Enmity (aggro) control is easier when the party allows tank to land the first attack/skill on the enemy.

Also, as you might not realize it, even after the tanks win back the aggro, if you or your Ifrit-Egi keep standing in the tank’s spot, of course all of the frontal AoE will also inflict damage on you or your Ifrit-Egi.

Ifrit has a front swipe (claw) attack that hits EVERYONE in a cone area in front of it. There is also a flame breath attack, called Incinerate, which will damage everyone in front of Ifrit. Therefore, although your Ifrit-Egi didn’t have the aggro, and the monster was already attacking the tanks because they gained back the aggro, your Ifrit-Egi still took damage, and died.

  • 3) The other person commented “too much deeps” and “so stronk [sic]”

Answer: Incorrect. Gaining initial aggro because you jumped your attack button doesn’t indicate that you have too much DPS and are too strong for the tanks to handle. Just because your summon died from that AND also from staying in the wrong spot doesn’t mean your summon had the aggro all the time. Please look at the Target Bar more carefully and read whom the enemy was attacking, because I’m so sure that the two tanks were competing aggro against each other and wouldn’t let the aggro stay on your Ifrit-Egi for too long.

Moreover, from what my friend told me, Ifrit-Egi died when the enmity was on my friend, meaning she had the red aggro indicator, not your Ifrit-Egi. This is also why I concluded that your Ifrit-Egi died from eating AoE from Ifrit, not by holding aggro.

——————————————–

Also, I’d like to tell you that it is very unkind and is NOT OK to ignore the party role and mess things up, and then be mean about it, mocking the tank. It is a disruptive behavior and seems rude to me. It is also selfishly discouraging to talk down other person, especially when the problem was caused by the fact that you did things that a DPS shouldn’t do, and then let your summon die by leaving it in the tank’s spot. You blamed the tanks for your errors in using preemptive pull and then letting Ifrit-Egi stay in the wrong and dangerous spot. (DPS should avoid standing in the tank’s spot, because many enemies, especially Primals, have frontal Area attacks that don’t even have AoE indicator on the floor to notify you.)

The hidden paragraphs below (in white text) are quite judgmental on my part and may contain assumption about you, your action and your statement. What I said in the next 2 paragraphs could be a little offensive to you, so please feel free to skip it if you do not wish to see the message.

(Hidden text begins)

I felt like you did it on purpose, because for a summoner who’s already level 60, it seems impossible to me for someone to not understand the concept of aggro and first aggro, as well as frontal AoE attacks. If you really intentionally did that, please, I beg you to stop. It if not nice to others. It is also bad for the learning and practicing for the tank, because pulling by tank’s surprise messes up the battle rhythm and the team work. When a DPS pulls before a tank does, it takes experienced or quick-reacting tanks to correct the situation and put things back in control. It is fine if someone accidentally pulled before a tanks and then allowed the tank to take control of the situation without insulting the tank. It is NOT OK to do it intentionally only to mock the tanks or brag about your almighty DPS rate or strength.

Please be a team player and stop bullying the tanks. Tanks are rare nowadays and it is so difficult to get into a Duty Finder party because we don’t have enough tanks to fill up the DF. Playing tank is hard and stressful enough, they don’t need more discouragement, poor treatments, mockery and insults from you or anyone. Please be kind and be considerate. Other players behind the characters you see in the game are actual people, are real flesh, and they have feelings. They aren’t just pixels on your screen.

(Hidden text ends)

Please also feel free to leave a comment if you would like to explain your actions or if we’ve misunderstood you in any way.

Don’t automatically blame Cleric Stance for your death

Alright, it took me 2 days to cool down enough to sit down and write about this. I need to be heard. And yes I’ll admit that I’m still butthurt from the incident. I’m now still upset enough to try to hunt down the person and shove the screenshots in his or her face to prove that I DID NOT use Cleric Stance before he or she died. Too bad this person isn’t on my server, else I would personally search for them and send a tell with the screenshot link.

To avoid name-shaming, I crossed out parts of people’s names. But if you are the person’s friend, I am quite sure you will be able to guess who it is. This person is from Zodiark server and has the initials of Y. G. If you know him or her, please forward my screenshots, because when I explained myself, this person didn’t seem convinced.

The day before yesterday, I joined my friend’s party to queue for High Roulette and we got placed into a Pharos Sirius duty. First pull, the tank went to the first corner to get 5 mobs in one pull. It’s nothing we can’t manage, right? So things seemed fine at first.

Mind you, though, that I usually evaluate the party’s tank before I choose my play style. If the tank seems sturdy enough and has sufficient survivability to let me Holy while letting Regen and Medica II work in my stead, I Cleric Stance and Holy a few times. However, if I see that the tank takes too much damage and I’m not confident that they can stay alive while I Holy twice or thrice, I refrain from that and continuously Cure tank instead.

This time I saw that the tank took too much damage and I couldn’t afford the time to cast Holy, so I decided to stick to healing mode. I also noticed that the tank stood in the middle of the group of enemies instead of rounding them up and face them all with the shield. But things escalated very quickly and I didn’t have enough time to comment on that. With this positioning, the tank also pointed one of the mob at me, putting me in a cone AoE attacks. Again, things was crazy and I had to try to keep people alive and didn’t have time to comment on that.

What happened was that the Elbst managed to land an AoE move (I googled later and found that it is Acid Shower, which should be stunned) that put people under the debuff effect “Vulnerability Up” thus increasing damage taken. 3 persons received that debuff, including me and my friend, MCH. I Esuna the tank first. The Esuna cleansed Poison instead, because, guess what, either an enemy has insta-cast poison attack or built-in poison in a physical attack, or the tank ate a poison AoE. I cured and Esuna again, which erased the tank’s Vulnerability Up, but it was too late, the tank went down already.

Note that some milliseconds before that, my friend died, too. And I did not even have time to Esuna myself. The BLM started running to the entrance, trying to kill the rest of the mobs while regrouping with the tank and my friend who respawned. I turned on my Cleric Stance and used Swift Cast Holy to try to stop the mobs in their track and buy us more time to regroup and for me to cure up the BLM after spending my Fluid Aura and Aero to chip at the enemies’ HP and turning off my Cleric Stance.

The first thing the tank said when he or she rejoined us was “Why cleric stance dude?”

At the moment, I didn’t have enough time to read it and just assumed that it was the BLM being mad at me for letting the tank died. So I replied referring to the tank as 3rd person: “Not my fault, the tank ate debuff that increases damage.” “I cleric after he died.”  (I didn’t realize that the tank died before I managed to land a cure BECAUSE the tank stood there and ate yet another AoE attack which induced “Dropsy” status effect, otherwise I would have also added that to my answer.)

The tank replied “Sure” and after a while, I realized that I was talking to the tank, not the BLM. So I added “You have to dodge AoE” referring to the Acid Shower which induced Vulnerability Up debuff.

Along the way, my friend tried to make light of the situation to help us relax and said “It is normal that tank die here” to which I replied “No it’s not normal.” And he said something along the line of “well it’s normal with debuff, that debuff kills people.” Yes of course, with increased damage taken, getting beaten up by 4-5 enemies at once is brutal. Then my friend went on to speculated whether the AoE which gave the debuff was instant or not. I said I don’t know because our tank friend never got it. Probably because he stunned it or the Elbst died fast and didn’t get to use this debuff move.

In front of the door to first boss room, the tank, again, tanked in the middle of the mobs. So I commented on that. Yet, there was no reaction, and further up the tower, this tank kept tanking with some enemies behind his or her back. I didn’t want to bother, so I didn’t say anything else.

Anyway, what I’m mad about is the fact that the tank did not stun stuff (also no stun on the pudding’s Divide and no silence on Banish III from the elemental), ate debuff, ate AoE, yet had the nerves to point the finger at me and my Cleric Stance (which, in fact, wasn’t active until after the tank died) for dying.

In this case, I admit that I had slow reaction and did not use my Benediction fast enough to save the tank. I underestimated the enemies and thought a few cures would get the tank back in shape. However, the tank unexpectedly ate an AoE for 1380 damage before my cure could land, so I totally failed at situation assessment. If anyone or everyone in the party would blame me for not using my Benediction, I would regrettably take the blame. But for the tank to immediately blame my Cleric Stance, that’s unacceptable.

To sum it up:
Tank tanking with back toward an enemy : not my fault.
Tank not stunning AoE : not my fault.
Tank eating Vulnerability Up debuff : not my fault.
Tank eating Poison debuff so first Esuna failed to cleanse Vulnerability Up : not my fault.
Tank eating yet another AoE and died : not my fault.
Cure interrupted from getting splash damage : my fault.
Not using Benediction : my fault.
Tank not using Hallowed Ground : not my fault.
Using Cleric Stance after tank died : not my fault.

FFXIV_Pharos_Tank_b FFXIV_Pharos_Tank_cFFXIV_Pharos_Tank_aFFXIV_Pharos_Tank_d

 

My Gatherer’s (DoL) Macros

With the Unspoiled Nodes in Heavensward’s duration being so short, I can’t afford to waste time looking up on the internet or open a bookmarked link on my browser, I made /echo macro to tell me the slots. Then, realizing I have to head to the spawn spot before it actually spawns, in order to allow me a lot of time to pick the skills to use, I also added where to go.

ffxiv_07172015_010119_cr2/echo ★ ☆ MATERIALS : Unspoiled Heavensward Nodes ☆ ★
/echo  : Falcon’s Nest Chysahl Green [] — Top-left (Dragonspit)
/echo  : Falcon’s Nest Chives [], Prl. Sprout [], T. Leaves [] — Mid-right (Blk. Iron Br.)
/echo  : Camp Cloudtop Hv.Lemon [], Abal.Mistletoe [] — Mid-right (Vundu Ok’ Bendu)
/echo MNR 11:00 Helix Adamamtite Ore [6] — Top-mid
/echo MNR 12:00 Camp Cloudtop Abal. Rock Salt [1], Red Quartz [6] — Top-left (Cold Wind)
/echo  : Moghome Drav. Mistletoe [], Porcini [] — Top-right (Easton Eyes)
/echo  : Idyllshire Cloud Banana [], Morel [] — Low-left
/echo  : Tailfeather Old World’s Fig [] — Top-mid

The 2nd one is for nodes where Collectible items can be exchanged for Scrips. I pair the nodes list with execution of Collector’s Gloves skill as well as changing hotbar 1 to display my COllectible skills hotbar instead. You can manually switch between hotbars by using Shift + the number, or Shift + up/down button.

ffxiv_07172015_010119_cr1

/macroicon “Collector’s Glove” /action “Collector’s Glove” <me>
/hotbar change 6
/echo    Hotbar changed to collectable for Scrips   
/echo  : Camp Cloudtop Hv.Lemon [], Abl.Mistletoe [] — Mid-right (Vundu Ok’ Bendu)
/echo  : Idyllshire Cloud Banana [], Morel [] — Low-left
/echo MNR 12:00 Camp Cloudtop Abal. Rock Salt [1], Red Quartz [6] — Top-left (Cold Wind)
/echo MNR 2:00 Idyllshire Cuprite [2], Light Kidney Ore [3] — Low-right

Crotheon Rahool was wrongly accused

Related link: http://supernova-xiv.enjin.com/forum/m/31258443/viewthread/21316196-screenshots/page/1

Today I was harvesting Clusters in Mor Dhona and there was this random shout telling people to blacklist a person for being a ninja looter. (Meaning they roll lot for loots they aren’t meant to roll? Or probably rolling need when other people use greed?)

FFXIV_Crotheon_Rahool_Chatlog_2015-04-22x

The accused person defended himself (for ease of writing, I’m going to assume Crotheon is a “he”) and said he had the chatlog to prove it, so I volunteered to help (as his own shout won’t be able to clear his name because those who blacklisted him won’t see anything from him).

Note, though, that he seemed to have mixed up Wistrol Wistrol with Skyline Infinity and thought Wistrol was the one who asked that question in the raid.

So here I am, uploading the screenshots of the chatlog.

FFXIV_Crotheon_Rahool_Chatlog_2015-04-22lFrom the chatlog, Crotheon didn’t do anything wrong about looting. So, the accusation of him being a ninja looter was based on misunderstanding or false information. In my opinion, he doesn’t deserve to be blacklisted.

——————— UPDATE ——————-

Last night when I wrote this entry, it was very late at night and I was sleepy. Today I reviewed the chatlog again and wanted to add something.

I’ve marked number 1 to 6 from the above chatlog to make it easier to follow along:

FFXIV_Crotheon_Rahool_Chatlog2_2015-04-22

I am assuming that the loot that Wistrol was thinking about was the Caster’s Bracelet, because from the screenshot, it seems to be the only loot that could have been troublesome.

First, look at loot table, which is the loot declaration of all the raid members in party. Note that at (1) and (2) the table shows that there are 2 members who declared Caster’s Bracelet: Crotheon himself and Skyline.

At (3) Skyline asked, as direct question addressing Crotheon, whether they are going to need or greed.

(4) Crotheon answered “Let’s need it”

(5) Skyline said “kk”

(6) Crotheon rolled need and got the drop. Please note that Skyline DID NOT roll need. It must have been either greed or pass, because when someone “need” your greed roll won’t show up.

From (1) and (2), we know that Crotheon had all the rights to  loot the Caster’s Bracelet. Why Skyline didn’t “need” is, however, a mystery. But in this circumstance, it is not Crotheon’s fault, as he played by the rules, or agreement. It is also by no mean a “ninja looting.”

I assume that the Mor Dhona shout from Wistrol occurred right after this raid run. Yet, I heard nothing from or about Skyline. I’m going to assume, again, that Wistrol’s accusation was caused by some confusion or misunderstanding while being a bystander, because Wistrol didn’t even declare the Caster’s Bracelet, according to  the loot table.

Now if we look more closely, the line between (4) and (5) was Crotheon saying “carbon need.”  — A random person who saw my shout (linking to the screenshots uploaded by Lucius) in Mor Dhona sent me tells to discuss about it. He or she speculated that there might have been confusion about what to roll need, as the party was talking about 2 items at the same time.

Upon reading the chatlog thoroughly, I agree that someone might have midunderstood Crotheon’s answer about “need” and thus started saying he ninja looted something.

If you are the person who are spreading the words about Crotheon being a ninja looter, or if you have a friend who is doing so, I ask that you kindly (tell the friend to) stop, reconsider, revoke the accusation, and reconcile if possible. It is unfair to throw such accusation and discredit a person in such large scale (like shouting in Mor Dhona) without carefully reviewing what actually happened. No one likes to be accused of a crime they didn’t commit. Please be fair.

 

Breaking Dawn FATE in East Shroud

Today I camped a FATE in the East Shroud for several hours.

When it finally popped, I told the other person I bumped into during Breaching North Tidegate earlier (we were both there for the same book, Skyfall II) so that he or she could rush to East Shroud. Suddenly like 4 other persons were onto the FATE boss. XD What an ambush!! I thought there won’t be problem because, what? It was just 5 people (plus a Titan-Egi and a few chocobos).

However, the monster was weaker than anyone expected, so it went below 50% in like a blink. I rushed in and asked in /say for them to wait. Of course they waited!!!! That was a bunch of lovely people. I was afraid that someone would die from standing around letting the FATE boss beat on them without fighting back, so I made sure I Stoneskin and Regen everyone and kill any aggro for them.

FFXIV_BreakingDawnFATE

As you can see in the chatlog, everyone was nice. The only reason why I (and the other person who was originally there) had to repeat “Please wait” was because there was a DRG who arrived late and started attacking fiercely because he or she didn’t know that we were waiting. That DRG stopped immediately after we asked, so I was afraid they won’t get enough credit for the FATE and invited them to join my party too. Then I spammed Medica II and everyone killed it. (I noticed later that the DRG said “reset” for the sake of the person who hadn’t arrived. We didn’t reset and I didn’t see that message, but I really appreciate the effort.)

My screenshot only has names of 3 people who were originally there, the DRG who arrives late, and the person whom I notified about the pop, but I have a feeling there was one more person there in the first place. If anyone ever runs into these nice people who were kind enough and waited, please, please, please be extra nice to them. 

You may notice that I didn’t get credit for the kill, I had no idea why. I did attack. I hit it with Stone and then several Repose, and also spammed Medica II.

I noticed that after I tried to leave Sylphlands and had to go back to camping it again. I was in no way mad that I missed the kill for my Book. I was strangely happy. To know and to see that they were kind and tried to wait for someone to join FATE was really wonderful. And that was enough. Not getting the kill credit cannot ruin that.

That FATE popped again 2 hours and 10 minutes after the first one died, I camped it while browsing the Internet and reading some comic books at my desk, so it wasn’t too bad.

I’m just so happy to have witnessed such act of consideration and kindness from fellow players on Ragnarok. My deepest thanks to those people.