Solo Vs Duo

exodusamphi

exodusamphi

Iquit
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FFXIV
Exodusamphi
In my past few weeks of leveling BST, I have been exclusively duoing with Timwakefield.

Thanks to wiki, the spots are easy to find, and with enough consideration we can get great camps ~80% of the time. During this week we have gone from 40-50 (Low level, I know). It is easy, kills are fast, and we enjoy ourselves.

Now, the other day I got frisky and went on to solo some XP. Went to Gustav @ 48 and was taking DC vs EM/T and It just seemed to drag on forever! 3k / hr was what I averaged, no ring, it seems my pet could never keep hate, and it was just frustrating me to no end.

Ive noticed this with alot of solo camps, if you dont get the stronger pet, kills will be slow and you risk getting too much hate when (if) a pet swap is needed mid fight.

So I ask you fellow BSTs and solo-ers alike, whats your way to keep fast kills without getting killed yourself (not mischarms, not links, just during actual fighting)?

As of right now Id rather duo to 75, but I feel I wont get the jist of how soloing as well, especially when NM time comes around and I cant solo a NM most BST can because I duod my way to the top.
 
My bst is 45 solo'd most of the way... (got a party lv 32-35 lol). I charm DC-EM and pit them against EM-T and I engage with them. I dont engage till about 10% of the mob I am fighting is gone so my pet keeps hate.

If for what ever reason my pet looks like its going to die before the mob I run out of range. (When the battle music stops playing) and either release my pet and charm another or let it die and charm another.

I get around 4-5k an hour at a good camp with decent pets
 
Gimp your weapon.

Gustav is actually a slightly horrible camp, but I use it all the time for all my other jobs. 3k/hour is actually good for that area, and most areas won't yield you that much either. What pets are you using? If you're using bats they will never keep hate. Flies fair quite good but still suck, leeches are by far the best.

This is where the delicate balance of gear/weapon vs playstyle comes in. One can forever pimp your char at X level ranges but you'll forever try to hold back.

My playstyle has changed from having top gear at X level and playing reactive to having medium gear and playing aggressive. Due to how I don't play BST anymore but use /BST instead, I always aim to have my pet near to death or dead by the time my prey is dead. To achieve that, I noticed having good gear will give me hate more due to myself and I end up tanking, which is no problem on PLD or NIN, or even THF and RDM. But the end problem I get is a semi healthy pet. So to offset such annoyances due to not having Leave (until level 70) I opted to go for weaker weapons especially on jobs where melee is their strong point.

On DRK at 37 I used the "Webcutter" until Level 52 where I switched to the Multilator (Level 40) until Level 70. Refer to my DRK/BST demo thread and download the video if you wish:

http://www.qcdn.org/ffxi/showthread.php?t=65975

Although level 40~ is roughly where I classify the "power surge" that mobs get it can be a bit sometime before this kicks into full.

Also, what axe are you using?

At level 50 you can wear Crow Gear, but in my personal opinion that gear is for those who are absolutely hopeless at controlling hate (I mean, to the point of being blind to the hate system, i.e. Opening with a WS at the beginning of the fight). Use a few pieces to help you out but I seriously stress you do not need it at all if you play a bit clever.

Also, let your pet land 2-3 attack rounds before joining in, if your pet is weak and you have a strong weapon.






Just a thought, if you were doing Goblin Leeches your pets cannot keep hate there. Any hate generated is neutralised by the Goblin Leech landing 1 hit on it.

EDIT: If you have any question feel free to ask.
 
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exodusamphi said:
As of right now Id rather duo to 75, but I feel I wont get the jist of how soloing as well, especially when NM time comes around and I cant solo a NM most BST can because I duod my way to the top.
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Duo to 75 and then teach yourself to solo.
 
I duo'd BST from around level 12 to 75 and I've never had any major issues soloing vs. NMs or regular mobs. It's really just a matter of hate management, knowing the terrain and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of both your pet and your prey.

To be fair though, I was already a level 75 RDM before I really did anything with BST and I'd already spent a lot of time alone, soloing and learning mob behavior. If you tossed my duo partner in some of the same situations you could probably time his death with a stopwatch.

Soloing BST isn't that difficult, but it does take a different way of thinking and a complete willingness to die without getting upset.
 
Thank you all for your replies. Having just dinged 50 i have viking axe and I wear mostly ACC rings or ATK+ rings and belts, Now, having +30-40 acc against an EM isnt necessary so I switch out Atk + and thats where I find the hate management problem. I tend to let the pet drop the mob to ~80% before I engage, and usually that works, but often time I find myself turned around until I can get the mob established hate again before going at it.

I have been fortunate enough to find enough camps with strong pets (Funguar and the like) where it tends to not be an issue, Rolanberry Fields is a good example, I could engage after 2 hits and be fine the whole fight, but it usually isnt the case.

Another cause I know of is /nin. I have been dual wielding but I do think dropping to 1 axe and shield should help the problem, because with dual wield II now I know I just beefed up a bit.

I guess I have the problem Ladykiki did, I strive for perfection in my gear, thus having all this atk or str+ is making the problem worse, I do suppose gimping would help, its just hard to bring myself to that playstyle after leveling WAR to 75.

Besides using mob weaknesses to my advantage, around what level do EM pets become substantially stronger than myself?
 
I know I can vouch for the same problem (obviously). I can hardly bear to go out solo and watch 2.5/3k exp an hour, whereas we can usually double that in a duo much easier and with a far less chance of death. Using EM vs. T, especially in areas where I'm fighting the same mobs against themselves (Crawler vs. Crawler, Funguar vs. Funguar) the T will buttrape my EM.

Like Kiki said, I think at 51 now a few pieces of Crow gear might help the cause, and I never WS until the end of the fight, but it's becoming increasingly frustrating to even try to solo. When I do engage, I find myself leaving my charm set on just so I don't pull hate. I like the Viking + Life Belt combo, because it gives me enough accuracy (using Tuna Sushi) to build enough TP for a killshot at the end of the fight, but I continue to feel like I'm doing something wrong. At level 30, 3k/hour wasn't a big deal, at 50 however, I was hoping things would pick up.
 
Tim Wakefield said:
I know I can vouch for the same problem (obviously). I can hardly bear to go out solo and watch 2.5/3k exp an hour, whereas we can usually double that in a duo much easier and with a far less chance of death. Using EM vs. T, especially in areas where I'm fighting the same mobs against themselves (Crawler vs. Crawler, Funguar vs. Funguar) the T will buttrape my EM.

Like Kiki said, I think at 51 now a few pieces of Crow gear might help the cause, and I never WS until the end of the fight, but it's becoming increasingly frustrating to even try to solo. When I do engage, I find myself leaving my charm set on just so I don't pull hate. I like the Viking + Life Belt combo, because it gives me enough accuracy (using Tuna Sushi) to build enough TP for a killshot at the end of the fight, but I continue to feel like I'm doing something wrong. At level 30, 3k/hour wasn't a big deal, at 50 however, I was hoping things would pick up.
Click to expand...


Nope not really... XP ring is your friend
 
It will pick up if you manage to find a ToAU BST camp free, but you're pretty much seeing the average as is.
 
I solo'd almost all the way to the 50's then picked up a duo partner till 75.

You are right though... solo will almost always be slower than a duo or trio. Duo's are safer, faster, and more relaxing than solo. Solo I always saw for people who lacked the playtime online... or wanted the challenge without worrying about the XP.

The only times I noticed solo being more efficient was with self destructing mobs... or when the duo camps are hard to find.

PS. weapon skills will get ya mass hate spikes. Gimp yer gear and wait on that last sliver of life to use it.
 
Speaking of self destruct mobs, is there a list somewhere of bomb camps by level?

How bout just worm camps?
 
Around late 40's low 50's you can do Djinn in East Ronfuar and Battallia Downs

Just cast the element that corresponds to the day and it uses a TP move that could be its self destruct.

Not too reliable tho ><

Edit: Decided to test myself and through labrynth lizard after labrynth lizard at knight crawlers in CN for AF gloves key, didnt die, linked only twice and after about an hour got my key. Was great fun.

As of right now im looking for a good non bomb camp @50. Have checked the guides and am not sure what suits me atm ><
 
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I duo'd from 45-75. This was back in the day when all the exp ranges were not lowered and there weren't as many camps. The key is getting a good partner that you can have fun with.

Some areas yielded awesome XP while others were dragging. We kept ourselves busy though with jokes! I'd go for duoing over soloing anyday.
 
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