Hrng

Sorry for being away this last month or so.

New work/school stuff just came out of nowhere and kicked my ass,
and then I had a big part in organizing my sister's wedding..
and when I came back home after the craziness, somehow my graphics card just pooped the bed and doesn't work anymore..

So it'll be a bit longer before I can come back.  I need to buy a new card and finish up some other things I'm behind on ... but then I am definitely on my way back.  Can't wait to play with you guys again @_@ Sorry
 

 One day I'll play ballista again...

 

P.S  there you go Dre:) Hope you join us soon buddy

Hako job setups (WIP)

Absolute ban:  BST

Needs testing:  PUP, SMN, BLM, RUN, GEO

JP-EN translation of jobs:

ナ PLD "naito"

白WHM "shiro" "shiromadoushi"

暗 DRK "an" "ankoku"

狩 RNG "kari" "kariudo"

踊 DNC "odori"

竜 DRG "ryu"

青 BLU "ao" "aomadoushi"

シ THF "shi"

モ MNK "mo"

戦 WAR "sen"

赤 RDM "aka"

侍 SAM "sam"

忍 NIN "nin"

コ COR "cor"

学 SCH

黒 BLM "kuro" "kuromadoushi"

か PUP

獣 BST

所 SMN

剣 RUN

風 GEO

2v2

Available jobs: MNK DRG DRK PLD SAM RNG BLU NIN

BAN:

WAR - provoke likely too strong, renders rook guarding mostly useless in 2v2

WHM - probably never kill the whm, not enough damage

THF - whoever misses mug loses, probably (too random)  also, low damage
DNC - may never kill anyone with dancer's endless healing

needs testing: 
RUN

Setups:

The general reasoning behind a fun 2v2 setup is enough damage to actually kill opponents, no/few enfeebling techniques, and the potential for rook guarding.  Provoke/Enfeebling/Mug/Healing forever would drain the fun out of a small 2v2 game.  NIN is questionable here but might work in certain situations.

MNK-DRG (classic, proven to be fun)

MNK DRK ok

MNK SAM ok

MNK RNG ok?

MNK NIN ok? enfeebling brutal? MNK can't deal?

MNK BLU too low damage?

MNK PLD too low damage?

DRK-PLD ok

DRK DRG ok

DRK MNK ok

DRK SAM ok

DRK RNG ok

DRK BLU ok

DRK NIN ok

DRG PLD ok?

DRG SAM ok

DRG RNG ok

DRG BLU ok

DRG NIN ok? enfeebling brutal? DRG can't deal?

PLD SAM ok?

PLD RNG ok?

PLD BLU ok

PLD NIN ok?

SAM RNG ok

SAM BLU ok

SAM NIN ok (soboro?)

RNG BLU ok (both stop to use abilities)

BLU NIN ok (could be interesting)

3v3

This setup is much different from 2v2 - it uses 1 "back line job" and 2 "front line jobs".  

Back line jobs: WHM, PLD, RDM**, SCH**

Front line jobs (Strong): DRG, SAM, RNG, WAR

Somewhere in between: DRK

Front line jobs (Weak): MNK, NIN, BLU, THF*

Special cases: DNC, RUN(?)

*Possible when coupled with a strong DD

**Possible with Elemental Magic ban

Front line job strength depends on their ability to deal high damage weaponskills, good damage over time, but most importantly, have a strong 2h ability.

Setups:

WHM back line:

WHM + MNK DRG  (proven good)

WHM + MNK SAM ok

WHM + MNK DRK ok?

WHM + MNK RNG ok?

WHM + MNK BLU too low damage?

WHM + MNK NIN too low damage

WHM + MNK WAR ok?

WHM + DRG DRK ok

WHM + DRG SAM ok

WHM + DRG RNG ok

WHM + DRG BLU ok?

WHM + DRG NIN ok

WHM + DRG WAR ok

WHM + DRK SAM ok

WHM + DRK RNG ok

WHM + DRK BLU ok?

WHM + DRK NIN ok?

WHM + DRK WAR ok

WHM + SAM RNG ok

WHM + SAM BLU ok

WHM + SAM NIN ok

WHM + SAM WAR ok

WHM + RNG BLU ok

WHM + RNG NIN ok

WHM + RNG WAR ok

WHM + BLU NIN too low damage?

WHM + BLU WAR ok? acid bolt

PLD back line:

PLD + MNK DRG  (proven good)

PLD + MNK SAM ok

PLD + MNK DRK ok?

PLD + MNK RNG ok?

PLD + MNK BLU too low damage? (vorpal makes it ok?)

PLD + MNK NIN too low damage (vorpal makes it ok?)

PLD + MNK WAR ok?

PLD + DRG DRK ok

PLD + DRG SAM ok

PLD + DRG RNG ok

PLD + DRG BLU ok?

PLD + DRG NIN ok

PLD + DRG WAR ok

PLD + DRK SAM ok

PLD + DRK RNG ok

PLD + DRK BLU ok?

PLD + DRK NIN ok?

PLD + DRK WAR ok

PLD + SAM RNG (too much dmg?)

PLD + SAM BLU ok

PLD + SAM NIN ok

PLD + SAM WAR ok

PLD + RNG BLU ok

PLD + RNG NIN ok

PLD + RNG WAR ok

PLD + BLU NIN too low damage? (maybe not now with the high dmg vorpals)

PLD + BLU WAR ok? acid bolt

RDM and SCH back line would be very similar to WHM back line.  

Problems with RDM:

1. Convert.  Convert → Poison = death.  Self-hyper.
2. Dispel.  Devastating.  Very cheap, low recast.
3. Elemental magic.  Too strong after the update.

Problems with SCH:

1. Embrava & Kaustra.  Needs testing.
2. Dispel.   Very cheap, low recast spell - HOWEVER, SCH needs careful management of JA to be successful.  It costs a charge to access Dispel, and a different charge to access Erase.  On top of this, Dark/Light arts are on a 1 minute recast timer.
3. Elemental magic.  Too strong after the update.

How can we deal with these problems?  

• Ban all elemental magic.  Even for rook guarding with Stone.  All or nothing.
• Dispelling long recast abilities like Velocity Shot, and HP Boosts is annoying, but so is Paralyze and we deal with that.. !
• Gentleman’s agreement for no Convert-death.  It sucks to have that grey area, but I don’t really see a solution to this.

DNC as “back line”:

Before the change to one-handed weaponskills, I could see DNC acting as the “back line job”.  It’s probably still possible now, but since DNC can deal great damage, it’s probably important to have the other two jobs weaker front line jobs.  

Something like DNC SAM RNG probably wouldn’t work well as everyone can dish out great damage.

Maybe something along the lines of DNC DRK MNK or DNC NIN BLU might work better.

4v4

Back line jobs: WHM, PLD, RDM, SCH

Front line jobs (Strong): DRG, SAM, RNG, WAR

Somewhere in between: DRK, DNC

Front line jobs (Weak): MNK, NIN, BLU, THF

This setup is a pain.  With 1 “back line job" and 3 "front line jobs", it usually means a horrible time for the healer as there is no way to really deal with all that damage coming your way.  2 healers and 2 damage dealers isn’t ideal either (for example a white mage and a scholar) as it’s quite a bit of healing to power through - unless you can deliver a solid skillchain (plus MB - holy or drain) on your target, it’s likely your team won’t get GB at all the entire game.

We did WHM PLD MNK DRK teams last week, and it wasn’t very good.  The damage overall was too low.  But something like WHM MNK DRK NIN might have worked a bit better.  More damage, but not outrageous to the point where the WHM just dies immediately (Although MNK NIN DRK sounds a bit like a WHM’s nightmare…).  I think 4v4 is where the weak front line jobs and back line jobs other than WHM and PLD can become staples.  RDM and SCH have more tools to deal with multiple attackers, and the the weaker hybrids like THF BLU NIN can be effective.

I think the setup could go something like:

RDM or SCH + PLD or DNC or BLU + Strong DD + Weak DD

Some examples just for thought:

RDM + PLD + SAM + THF [PLD needs refresh, RDM/THF might be unkillable buuuut THF can still steal/mug them/SAM could raiden thrust - damage might be a bit low if THF & PLD aren’t DDing hard - SAM would be target?]

SCH + BLU + DRK + MNK [SCH naturally resists BLU’s ridiculous amounts of sleep spells through sublimation, and there are several targets for SCH aspir - DRK would be main target as usual]

SCH + DNC + DRG + NIN [SCH & NIN can enfeeble, SCH & DNC can -na - DRG has the accuracy to take out DNC if necessary - DRG target? NIN target?]

RDM + BLU + WAR + DRK [with RDM/WHM?]

5v5

Back line jobs: WHM, PLD, RDM, SCH

Front line jobs (Strong): DRG, SAM, RNG, WAR

Somewhere in between: DRK, DNC

Front line jobs (Weak): MNK, NIN, BLU, THF

Classic setup; 2 support, 3 attackers.

WHM + RDM or SCH + Strong/DRK + Strong + Weak

Because of how strong vorpals are, maybe it’s best to keep this setup PLD-free and stick to 2 true support jobs.  Same goes for DNC, I think, unless DNC is used as one of the strong DD jobs.. ?  DNC/SAM might be better as DNC/WAR with berserk can do sooo much damage now.

Eg;

WHM/sch RDM/blm WAR/sam SAM/war THF/nin

WHM SCH/rdm RNG/sam DRK/sam NIN/war

WHM RDM DNC/sam DRG/sam BLU/pld

//work in progress

Random update

So, yeah.  I've been busy .... playing Ballista all the damn time!  Not only does Balli never die, but it's going stronger than ever.

Quetz has grown massively in the last month.  Players are flooding in.  Official matches, although still in JP primetime, are reaching sizes last seen at Lakshmi.

And of course, hako is happening daily, with several reservations on weekends (Friday, Saturday for western players). 

Most important to mention is that Evv and Aya are back!!  Three NA players baby! 
That almost sounds like we could do some NA vs JP..

Well, we did. 




Aya managed to make a completely new character (Yeira) within about a week, and it's nearly perfectly geared and merited.  It's that easy.


There couldn't be a better time to come back and play.




Will post at length about some NA v JP stuff, and other hako specifics later.

PS.  Ballistars have taken to twitter.  We've been organizing games using it.  @dwl0




 

Mirupo's youtube channel

Mirupo/Millefeuille posts videos of Hako almost every day, check them out if you're interested! 

Ballista never dies

In November of last year, I was chatting with some old Japanese ballista crew members on twitter, and someone mentioned getting some games going again (let's be real, it was probably me).  They said Quetz server already had some players there and they were maintaining a small ballista LS.

Fast forward to January, and we're running a huge linkshell that plays hako every day.  Some days, there are too many players.  Ballista never dies.





Some things have changed though.  At some point after I stopped playing, SE decided it would be a good idea to make changes to some weaponskills.  And these aren't some small adjustments.  They're completely game-changing for ballista.

First, the most ridiculous.. hey, do you remember that axe weaponskill "Calamity"?  No, of course you don't.  Because it was terrible, and nobody ever used it.  Well, say hello to the new king of damage.  Yeah, it's better than Sidewinder.  Yeah, it's.. well, it's more consistent than Jinpu, anyway.  A base 100TP Calamity is going to be at minimum 450 damage, up to something like 600.  You saved up 200TP? 800, easy.  300TP? 1000+ damage, not exaggerating.  I have dealt over 1500 personally (<300TP, +MightyStrikes), and I've taken a 2200 Calamity to the face (I have to assume 300TP, +MightyStrikes)!!!  Seriously.  Calamity, guys.

Vorpal Blade, the cool looking Paladin staple, now deals what must be at least double damage compared to before this change.  In our regular hako games, Dark Knights sub ninja, and play the super weenie style of sword/Mercurial Kris.  I've seen ~800 damage from DRKs with this setup (no souleater) and plenty of 650~ damage Vorpals from PLDs.  It's interesting seeing Paladins be a bit of a threat.

Howling Fist does a bit more damage from what I've seen.  Raging Fists, Blade: Jin, Dancing Edge, and Rampage have all benefitted from the update as well.  I think it was a 1-handed weaponskills buff patch, or something along those lines.  The hako staples like Penta Thrust, Guillotine, and Raging Rush have become overshadowed by these other weaponskills.  Penta, of course, stays alive by virtue of Dragoon not having any other choice.  Skewer is still bad.

Elemental weaponskills deal much more damage, but are only truly useful above 200TP, and especially intense at 300TP.  For example, a Raiden Thrust at 300TP deals around 750 damage.  And that passes through physical shields!

And hey, remember the janky Dark Knight build?  With the addition of some lv99 synced equipment, it hits even harder than before.  Leban runs this build while dual wielding swords that have MAB+10 and INT+5, and he drops 350~ tier2 nukes.  It's awesome, and broken, and we try to avoid having him on DRK (mostly because nobody else has that equipment - I'm trying to get it myself).




These things aside, it's still really fun.  The group is very relaxed and doesn't mind me taking over job assignment (well, more like they're all too shy/lazy.. ).  Leban usually runs the show though, and he's very good at it.  When he's not around, it defaults to me.  I haven't been taking records down this time, maybe I'll start doing that soon.

For those from the NA LS around 2010, remember our small hako games where we included some Japanese players? Remember Fuuring?  Well, he's a beast.  Easily one of the best players in the group.  Just like Teska, we saw them at their learning phase and then, oh - shit - beastmode enabled.  I love it.


New videos will be coming soon.




PS; if you image search "ffxi ballista" on google, my face is on like, the 4th row. LOLLLL
Guess I shouldn't have my real pic on my youtube account?  Hahaha