Realgame situations, skillchaining, and you

[Duffman]

I think a TIPS and TRICKS section would be nice in here. Because my
post below would definately go there.

post:
Reallife situations, skillchaining, and you

Intended Audience:
Chiefly samurai, but all can benefit from this.

Purpose:
Share ideas amongst sam, and inform others about this topic


There are situations in the game where moderate explanation is needed.
However, It is difficult to go into while in-game with a pick-up party.
THF's who need to explain SATA; that's one example of this idead.
There are some SAM issues with chaining that needs a little light. The
purpose of this is to share ideas with all of you and get some ideas and
feedback in return.

When I get into a party, I usually start checking the setup. I do this quickly
on straight-shots on a choco or auto running to the party. This gives me
an idea of the people I might get to chain with; plus wether-or-not a BLM
is present for bursting. Upon arriving, I usually do a visual check on the
character models for weapons and I start building my chains.

The chain calculator was a wonderful tool for this but the windower program
no longer works. So I use my printout and take quick notes. The party
usually has some downtime anyhow; before starting.

I usually set up something like #1 or #2 following:
#1 = two separate chains. sam > thf // drk > war
#2 = the "3-way" LOL sam > thf > drk

I've categorized differing types of chainging partners and other issues
below.



Damage Hounds:
Damage Hounds: just a cutesy name for all of the..."But Skill X
is pretty weak. I like to toss out Skill Y"
Sometimes one combo just deals more damage. Just because you
have a favorite skill to throw because it in itself does more damage,
you MIGHT be doing less damage overall by using it.

Things to consider: mob type(weakness)+
individual damage skill + MB damage...some deal more than others.
Expermiment a little.

Tachi: Jinpu is my highest skill so far and I
know that Tachi: Hobaku is REALLY weak and Tachi: Goten is
mediocre. However, if the ultimate burst and SC damage output
outweighs the individual skill in damage, then use it.

I'm not asking anybody to be human parsing machines. Just take
note on what seems to ultimately kill faster. That's the goal anyway
right?



Timing / & TP Reports:
Here is a loose example of this sort of problem:
(based off of a "3-way" chain)
---the SAM(Chain Partner 1) reports tp,
---Chain Partner 2 reports tp.
---Chain Partner 3 ???.... (HELLO! Chain Partner 3!!!!)

---the SAM(Chain Partner 1) reports tp, again
---Chain Partner 2 reports tp, again
---Chain Partner 3 ....>< ... Is he on auto-attack and making dinner?
(hmmm.)fine. we'll just go. sam fires, chainer#2 fires (SC!!)
---Chain Partner#3 waits until it's all over the FINALLY reports 150%.

somepeople who are in chains don't report tp enough that's why
I think a TP meter should be displayed in the party box lower right.
HINT: send suggestions to SE about adding the TP meter.



The NO chainers:
Despite your best and most polite valiant efforts. People sometimes
laze out on you and quit chaining. They will chain with you for a
few fights then sort of fade into firing skills whenever. Or you get
people who can't // won't // don't know how to skillchain with you.

This group is the "NO Chainers". For these guys, I just follow
them mentally trying to realize their favorite skills to throw.
I quickly makes some notes and save tp. When they fire off at
random, I chain off of them anyway.

That's it for now. Maybe we can add to it for bursting. I didn't at
this time because KUDOS TO ALL BLACKMAGES out there, I've
never had any problems with you bursting. You definitely can read
and can time your bursts well. Good job out there!



****possible updates only if anyone needs or wants them***

 

[alanon]

Nice. Just want to add from a Blm point of view. Please, Please, Please, respond to TP reports whether or not you actually have TP. Two reasons for this.

First, I dont want to be caught having just cast my burting spell, or in mid cast of another spell when the SC goes off.

Secondly, If you are going to be ready soon and skill + burst is probably going to finish the mob, Im not going to waste mp by casting further. If you report and you don't have TP, then I know that there isnt going to be an SC anytime soon and I can go about finishing the mob myself.

 

[Duffman]

Great Points!! I only wish that edit worked in here for a post like this.

I forgot to add a category.

The SkillChain Penetrator
This is part comedy, but the real reason to post is to be aware of this
situation. For an example, there is a simple two-person chain + burst
going on.
Chain Partner 1 fires > (someother guy fires) > Chainpartner+2 fires
> BLM fires. No chain and no burst. The chain was interupted
by the "someother guy"'s skill. This happens out of ignorance or just
an accident.

Antiflame definition time, Ignorance= basically means "uninformed".

So the guy was "uninformed" of the current chain in use, or "uninformed"
that his skill could interupt the chain.

 

[Sethala]

I'd just like to ad that any "outside" WS -anywhere- in the skillchain (including the MB) will mess it up.

So, you can't go Person 1 > Person 2 > Some other guy > Mage's MB. The SC will work, but the MB won't.

Also, I've noticed that any SC involving more than 2 people sometimes doesn't work like it should according to the SC charts. Finally, while it's a good idea to pick SCs based on elemental weaknesses and what makes a good chain, it's also important to not ignore the possible damage dealt by having everyone simply use their strongest WSs whenever ready. Sometimes simply unloading TP whenever it's ready will kill the mob even faster, as you can use your strongest WSs as opposed to using ones that do less damage alone.

 

[Phraust]

All Exceptionally good Points Duff.

When you hit 60ish, and Are fighting Toramas(Weak to Earth).. Trying to convince people that Scission is the best way to go is like preforming a root canal on a gorilla with nothing more than a pair of Twinkies as tools.

good jazz man..

 

[Duffman]

All Exceptionally good Points Duff.

When you hit 60ish, and Are fighting Toramas(Weak to Earth).. Trying to convince people that Scission is the best way to go is like preforming a root canal on a gorilla with nothing more than a pair of Twinkies as tools.

good jazz man..

Ahhh the mental image. Great!


Sethala - yes, I agree completely with that. If I expaned that section
any further then I would have to break out parsed logs and do a ton
of extra work. When you join a pick up party most won't put a lot of
work into that. So, for brevity, I'm using the "Experiment a little" phrase.

I've actually done what you have suggested multiple times. That happens
when I have a group of "No Chainers" or the guy who doesn't report
TP. That guy sort of migrates into the "No Chainer" category. With my
current gear, I can whip out about 3 skills a fight so in those cases I just
mostly enpi or jinpu my way through.

yeah, experiment. In some cases but not all, for the sake of the chain,
the weaker skill can be used if your stronger one isn't in that group.


The "3-way" chain is pretty rare. The only times I've used it exclusively
is in a static party; where all members are very familiar with eachother.
The "3-way" is tough to convince most people to try out in a pick up.


Thanks for the comments.