This'll be very lengthy but hopefully helpful. It's copied from something I wrote on alla. Please note the original article is specifically geared towards the WHM, and may not work for you. Nevertheless, many of the principles should work for other mage jobs that sub whm, or to melee jobs if you can sub whm and keep yourself cured. No guarantees tho.
Hope it helps!
All the best,
Fire
Text: Skilling Up Shield Fast as a High Level White Mage.
With the availability of the Templar Mace comes the increased flexibility of being able to equip a shield for additional stats that are best suited to given situations, or possibly to sub /nin and equip a second club. Most often, I have used different shields with the Templar.
One consequence is that your shield selection becomes more important in the overall scheme of things - and so does your shield skill. For myself, I noticed I'd occasionally get a shield skillup when I wasn't as successful as I'd like to be in not generating hate.
So I looked at my skill level for shield, and found it to be a pathetic 64, when the shield skill cap for a 75 whm is 210. And I decided to do something about it.
Net result - If you know what you're doing, as a White Mage you can skill shield up from the 60s to its cap at 210 in just three or four days. I'ma share my thoughts and experiences with you. Here goes!
First - shield skillups depend upon:
- The number of hits you take (low evasion)
- Whether you can get your shield into play (small shield, good agility)
- The level of the mob hitting you, IN RELATION TO the current shield skill level.
So, lets talk about these one at a time.
First, the number of hits you get depends on the mob and on the level of your EVA. Sadly, if you are like me, EVA was the very first skill you capped at 75 WHM. What it means is, if you can get armor that has -EVA, everything else being equal, you will be hit more often.
Second, how well you use your shield depends on + AGI and the type of shield you use (a small buckler-type shield is best) as well as your current Shield Skill and whether you have any + Shield Skill gear.
The implications of these first two considerations are almost all in equipment and food selection. As a 75 whm, I made only the following changes to my normal equipment:
Main: No weapon at all
Sub: Light Buckler
Earrings: Drone Earrings (they are AGI +3 - I found them to get better results than Beetle Earrings +1 (+ AGI, -EVA)
Rings: Reflex Rings
Neck: Shield Torque
Belt: Mercenary Captain's Belt
Food: Squid Sushi +1
The idea was to increase AGI and Shield Skill as much as possible. I found over time that +AGI was better than an equivalent -EVA.
But now for the third, and overall the most significant, implication - the type and level of the mob hitting you. With regard to the appropriate level of the mob, what follows is a "seat of the pants" formula for calculating the level of the mob you're looking for, at least through skill level 150:
[(SSL-3)/3]+ (3 to 6) = DML, where:
SSL = Your current Shield Skill Level
DML = Desired Mob Level
To explain: Assume your shield skill is an "A" or "A+" skill. For purposes of this example, let's assume it's currently at 123. Under the formula, the experience level it would ordinarily be capped at (at least when your experience level is 50 or less) is typically (SSL-3)/3. In this case, it would be (123-3)/3 = 40. To skill up at that level, the ideal mob would be VT to IT for you - or about 3-6 levels higher than you are. So, in this case, to skill up a 123 shield skill, you'd be looking for a level 43-46 mob.
But in addition to the level of the mob, the type of mob is important. In essence, you want a mob that hits a LOT, but for little damage per hit (DPH), while still being at the appropriate level.
You also want a mob that doesn't throw a lot of other effects at you - or at least, a mob that doesn't throw effects at you that you can't handle easily or don't want.
Given this, my favorite mob types have been:
1. Chigoes. These little beasties hit a LOT, and for little damage. If you can sub RDM and use Phalanx, you can fight them near a zone and get a lot of skillups in a short time. The one negative effect they throw, disease, is actually not a problem, and you shouldn't waste mp removing it prior to zoning and resting, as it only really affects hmp recovery.
2. Mandagoras (or mandy-like mobs). Hit almost as often as Chigoes, for slightly more DPH. Dream Flower now becomes a joke, as the first hit you take after it's cast wakes you up again.
3. Beetles. Don't hit as often, but their attacks are mostly physical, and they hit often enough. It'll be the only time you ever say "Thanks!" under your breath, and actually mean it, when a beetle sticks an EVA DOWN move on you.
4. Bees. Hit reasonably often, not too much damage, don't remember if they threw any effects. If they did, they must not have been anything significant or I'd remember them.
5. Crabs. These hit pretty fast, and with Barwatera up you should be mostly ok. It's harder to find a crab at the right level that will hit a lot without making you have to zone frequently to recover. These I think of as a last resort over the other four mob types.
So, the plan is as follows, for a high level whm. First, get the right equipment on. Put on Reraise III, Protect IV or V, and anything else that's appropriate. Eat your +AGI food.
Next, find a good camp. It should be near a zone you can duck into when you're low on hp and mp. (I forgot to say you are SOLOING these?? Poor me - why do I want some other dumb bastid to get hate and take the hits I WANT to take be able to skill up faster???) Ideally, your camp should also be near the mobs you want, so you don't have to pull them a long distance to be near a zone. The Den of Rancor camp for Pucks (level 190-210 skillups, discussed below) is a good example of what I mean here. If you try to pull a Puck all the way back to the zone to Yhoater, you will die a lot. If, on the other hand, you camp at the tunnel on the opposite (southeast) side of the Puck room from where you came in, the run to the Temple Ugly (Temple of Uggalepih) zone is much shorter, and you will die much less often.
Oh, one other note. Ideally, the camp will be one that is nowhere near a camp commonly used by Experience Parties. In one sense, some feel it's thoughtless, and is not good etiquette, to camp in a normal xp party area. I have reasons I might disagree with this as a matter of what's appropriate or not, but there are other practical considerations that make it better to find a spot that 's not well camped. First, others who come through may very well not know (or may at least pretend they don't know) what you are doing. If you are fighting multiple mobs for your skillups (which you will), they may draw the unclaimed mobs off you, or, worse still, cure you and get the hate from your claimed mob as well. Second, even if they do know, they may not care, and may pull any unclaimed mobs off you. If getting really good skillups means you're fighting multiple mobs, that can be highly annoying. So, rather than trade words about what's appropriate or not, its often best just to find an area where the problem is not likely to come up, if you can.
Third, go find one (or more) mobs, get into attack mode, aggro them, and sit there and watch yourself get hit a lot. At lower levels, you can let your hp get down low so you can use more efficient Cure V's fully - at later levels, taking a chance of getting spell interrupted and/or critted at the wrong time isn't worth it - use Cure IVs when your hp isn't quite so low (omg, Cure IVs??? - but.... but... I'll get HATE!!!)
A note on mob debuffs. You don't want to paralyze them, as it slows down the number of hits you take over time. Same thing with blind. Other debuffs, such as slow, should be fine to use. Same with Bio or Bio II, as I understand it doesn't slow the speed of attacks, just the damage from them. If I'm wrong, I'll welcome any correction people want to make.
Once you've got the mob(s) hitting you, keep going, till your mp is low and your hp is in the yellow, and then duck into the zone, rest up, recast any buffs, zone out and repeat! You will get wunnerful skillups with the right mobs.
And as to favorite mobs and camps? Here they are:
64-95 (maybe 100):
Mandies in Yhoater Jungle. Pull three of them with Diaga or some other method, and camp at the very southwest corner of F-7, at the entrance to the tunnel to the zone. If you sub summoner and have a Noble's, you can literally skillup continuously without having to zone, rest or replace your mobs, until you are done.
100-120 (or maybe 115):
Death Jackets in Crawler's Nest. Go to the far end of the fourth one you come across, attack it, and pull it back to the tunnel at the east side of the first room, where you zone in. The other three bees you passed will automatically link as you head back to the zone. Only problem with this camp is that others will come through who don't understand what you're doing and unintentionally mess you up, Beastmasters who know exactly what you're doing and want the same mobs, or parties with the same frame of mind as the Beastmasters. Ya just gotta live with it. I don't remember if these mobs threw anything special, but that must mean it wasn't a problem.
120 (or maybe 115)-140:
Helm Beetles in Quicksand Caves. Zone in from East Altepa K-7, and travel to where you can zone out again at E-5 on the first Quicksand Caves map. Sub summoner again and fight 2-3 Helm Beetles at a time. Zone out to the west if you get low on mp/hp or in trouble. Fantastic skillups at the 120-140 range.
140-160:
I did not find a really good camp for these levels. I started out fighting Helm Beetles at I-J 10 on the third Quicksand Caves map (zone in from West Altepa J-9), but had to compete with experience parties there. Another relatively good spot I found was fighting Bark Spiders and/or Mandies at L-5 of Boyahda Tree (zone in from Zi'Tah J-12, not the usual entrance at K-12). The Mandies, though, were a long pull from the main room, and the risk of getting critted and/or interrupted fighting Bark Spiders (they can and will link, even close to the zone) was pretty high. You can still fight two Mandies or two Bark Spiders at a time - it just wasn't as good as the skillups from 120-140 were.
160-190:
Sub RDM and fight Chigoes in the Mire. These little beasties are great for shield skillups (or at least the ones in the Mire are). They hit really fast, for not much damage per hit.
Go out the north Zone from Nashmau and head east until you come to the first open area (southwest corner of I-9 on the map). If you head east just a bit more, you will come to a spawn point for two Chigoes. I let them both aggro me and attacked one of them, and pulled them back west to where the passage to the zone started. I did not worry about disease, as I would always save at least 46 mp to use Viruna before resting, if needed. If you try to keep from being diseased while fighting Chigoes for combat defense skillups you will use a lot of mp to no real purpose.
190-210:
Boyahda Tree - Steelshells and Korrigans (190-205)
Go to the upper level (where all the Goobues are) and go south to the zone to Cloister of Storms. There is one Steelshell that spawns in the tunnel to the Cloister, right behind the waterfall. The whm skillup powers-that-be (I am not one of them) have named him Friend! I equipped main with Templar Mace - otherwise my equipment and food was the same as listed above. Subbed rdm, and tried to keep Barwatera and Phalanx up at all times, and to Dispel mob buffs. Used Hexastrike whenever I got tp over 100%, cured primarily with Cure Vs when my hp was between 100 and 200 (crabs hit slower than the other mobs listed above, so if you get the timing down there's little chance of being spell interrupted). I did not paralyze, blind, slow, etc. the mob, as I wanted the hits to skill up shield.
I found, using these tactics, that I could beat Friend as a whm, using purely physical attacks, about 1/4 of the time. It was nice, because if I beat him, I could then rest up and go out and pull at least one Korrigan to the zone before Friend respawned.
The Korrigan is a Mandagora type, and is basically a less tough and less dangerous version of the Den of Rancor Pucks (described below). I got relatively better shield skillups than I did fighting Friend, but I also did get some club skillups.
Den of Rancor - Pucks (190-210)
Zone into Den of Rancor from Yhoater J-7. The Pucks are found in a room at I-9 of that Den of Rancor map. Take the first right from the zone and go past the two holes in the floor (without falling in, thank you very much!) and stop short of the room, which has 5 Pucks in it. Sneak up and cross the room to the tunnel on the southeast side. A zone into Temple Ugly is a short way down that tunnel. From the southeast side of the Puck room, try to pull one Puck without linking, and fight him just short of the zone to Temple Ugly. Sub /rdm, Phalanx up and pull with Slow. My observations:
1. These guys link very easily (there are 5 normally in the room). If you get a link, just zone into the Temple and try again;
2. Don't wait for low hp to use Cure V's. Use Cure IV's whenever you're 450-500 short of your max hp. Doing it any other way is too risky, and death is NOT a good way to skill up efficiently!
3. Once your Shield Skill is 205, try to pull only T Pucks. The skillups from the other ones will drop off significantly at 205.
Skillups from 190-210 are a lot slower than those to that point, and they are slower still from 205-210. But you WILL make it! And you will be glad that you have!
Some Final Notes:
First - Past skill level 150, it appears you should target mobs that are T to T+ for the job you would have at that (capped) skill level, regardless of what class the weapon skill is for the job you're using. As an example, let's suppose we have a 75 PLD/WAR and a 75 WHM/RDM, each of whom wants to skill up shield. The PLD's shield skill is 203, the WHM's shield skill is at 183. At 203, the shield skill would be capped at level 60 for a PLD. At 183, the shield skill would be capped for a level 60 WHM. BOTH the PLD AND the WHM would want to fight a mob that's T to T+ for a level 60 job then. Chigoes in the Mire would be good for each of them, even though they have different skill levels at the time.
Second - The methods I've described here worked for me as a 75 whm with fully leveled smn and rdm subjobs. In this regard, WHM has an advantage because we can heal ourselves while we're skilling up, thus making for more lengthy skillups. It should work almost, but not quite, as well for any mage that can sub WHM and cure him or her self. It will probably also work, but not as well, for Pally types. I'm not sure how well these methods will work for straight melee types. If you brought a mage along to cure you, the mage would get hate, thus defeating the purpose. On the other hand, a melee subbing whm might do better.
Third - Turns out Chigoe is a FAMILY, and there are other Chigoe-type mobs that have different names in Aydeewa Subterrane! And they definitely appear to be a higher level than the ones in Caedreva Mire - so they could POSSIBLY be used for shield skillups past 190. That being said, I did not use them to skill up and tried to avoid the beasties as much as possible. There are a lot of them in the areas where they spawn, they're agressive, all of them aggro both sight and sound, they link, and some of them at least appear to have true sight - so more exploration is necessary (by someone else who didn't die so much getting this information, thank you very much!
). I'll list the areas I found them, and let others take it from there if they want to:
Map 2, in the big room at E/F-9/10. These appear to have true sight.
Map 2, in the big room at I/J-8/9. These appear to have true sight.
Map 2, in the big room at D/E-7/8 (I think). I'd already died about 4 times learning about true sight capabilities, so I didn't look in this room too closely and don't know whether any were true sight or not.
Map 3, F/G-7/8. These do NOT appear to have true sight.
Map 7, in the tunnels from H-8 to J-6. I didn't walk near them (I'd died too much already) so I don't know if they're true sight.
I actually believe there are two different Chigoe-type mobs and one may be true sight while one is not. But it was in the wee hours of the morning when I was doing this and I was actually there for other things, so I didn't check fully. It's possible I missed areas where these guys spawn too. Just be careful.
Conclusion:
Anyway, I hope whms and others out there find this useful. Like I said, it got me 126 skill levels in 4 days and capped a few days later - and I could beat that now. Hope it gets you where you want to be too.
Best regards,
Fire
P.S. Words you only hear in defensive skillups: "Damnit, my EVA DOWN wore! That just sucks! ;;"
although it makes tanking extremely easy with good gear, lol.
