Mahiko San Log: The year that was, and will be (003)

Just random thoughts about the year that was… and moving into the new astral era, 2016!

Hello guys it’s been a while hasn’t it! Although I promised at least a bi-monthly MSL, the latter part of 2015 was pretty brutal administration-wise. So let’s see..

Our staff has increased by 33.3%!!!!

Whoa! 33% is a huge growth!!!! Yes, it’s all true!!!! Amazing!! We have increased from TWO members to a whole THREE! You know what they say, “There’s strength in prime numbers!”. While I may have made up that quote, yes, we have a new helper – Welcome her in, my girlfriend Princess!!!!

So since around November last year – our organizational structure looks like this

  • Mahiko San: God.
  • Maruko San: Corporate communications, Planning & Strategy, attempts to apply business-like structure to fansite management (much needed improvement)
  • Princess: Slave

Princess, while not an expert in FF, has played the game and levelled up and is familiar with a lot of the chumpy aspects of FF. Her real purpose? To help me with the gruntwork which involves brainless copy/pasting, format checking, image uploading, spellchecking and other mundane activities. Which is good, since it frees up ‘god’ to make more meaningful updates!

Her motives are actually selfish – so I may ultimately have more free-time which SHE THINKS I’ll spend with her! What a value move!!! Here’s hoping she never reads this!

 

Mahiko San, if you are god – why have you forgotten us!

HAH! Divinity works in mysterious ways, scrub! The site is constantly being improved, even when the changes aren’t obvious. For example, my current goal is to refine all crafting guides to a modern standard. This little “bubble” of guides has 27 specific items in it.

2/8 leveling guides have been COMPLETELY REWORKED (ALC, ARM)
8/8 levequest list guides have been re-checked and fixed!
8/8 DoH class guides have been “princess fixed” but needs Gods Work

Are these new guides? No. Do you see them in the feed? The leveling guides, maybe. Again – you might NOT see these things, but a lot is happening behind the scenes. (for example, the linking to all levequest fish and ff14angler more-info links in the FSH leveling guide)

There’s a ton of little things going on. I haven’t forgotten about you guys or the site. FAITH is the framework in which gods operate. Have it, and I will come!

2015 – the Umbral Era

Ho boy, so where do I start here? What happened in 2015? Well, a couple things.

Heavensward Released

This one. This. Not like this… not like this… So basically my process follows a priority system like this:

  • Make patch specific guides (BiS, new content)
  • Any easy quick fixes to typos or info? Patch.
  • Any “eternally useful” guides missing? Create.
  • Any older guides need a major rehaul? Rework.

The last two share priority as “low”, but I’ve been focusing on that recently. So how did Heavensward break this pattern, and subsequently nearly break ME? See now, at the top of the list you get something like…

  • Create every 3.0 specific guide (Leveling guides to 60, new skills? scrip? gathering rotations? try. to. remember. just. how. much. heavensward. added.)

So everything else quickly ground to a halt. Not only did I have to play double-time to actually experience the new content, the more time-consuming part is actually CREATING these new guides!

So I remember getting a comment “You guys used to update so fast! Whats up?”, well, heavensward was like a nuclear bomb. I remember listing down all the updates I needed & guides that need creation – and the number was above TWO HUNDRED. Needless to say, I suffered burnout.

Alex Savage tore me a new one

To top it all off, we have the now infamous Alex Savage. This… so much this… Imagine doing this while tackling that beast? Our static was still within the first handful of people to clear, and lemme tell you… That just ripped into any soul I had left. Again, burnout. Which ultimately affected my site-work.

The administrative side

Ohhhh now here’s the one. I can go on a long rant about security issues but that would suck. So lemme just say that “We learned a lot” and did a lot of things to prevent this kinda stuff from happening.

  • We have a paid firewall and security service
  • We migrated to a more secure web host.
  • We improved our security protocols

Don’t wanna waste your time with all the details but things have been looking up since. The security issues were a huge toll on my mind and a hassle to you guys so it was our top priority for some time.

Lessons Learned

It’s hard to explain it here, but needless to say I learned a lot. When the next major patch hits – I will definitely be more prepared! So now im going back to the old flowchart of “Patch, Create, Rework”, because I want every guide to be up to my new standards. It wont happen overnight, but It’s something I want to give to the community.

2015 was tough, but my vitality increased by at least 17 points, coupled with about 30 DEF and MDEF so I’d say worth.

Visual Update – new theme

This one is a bit tricky! We’re currently looking at a few themes and testing them on our duplicate test site. We have a few issues with each theme we try, but please know we’re working hard on it. The main problem with FFXIVGuild is the content is SO WIDE. And most themes these days are quite thin.

It’s an interesting process, but in the meantime we can refine our current theme to be “usable”. It’s a move that we want to stick to for at LEAST 2 years so we wanna make it solid before doing so. Thanks for your patience!

Looking back, going forward

Honestly, there’s still so much more to say. But to summarize it, I’ll strive to make the site better for you guys. Simple as that, I guess!

You know, each time I write one of these I feel a little more relaxed. I don’t know if I can commit to scheduled posts, but I’ll try to write when I think it’s needed. It’s fun, but I honestly don’t know what’s holding me back in regards to this. Let’s see huh?

My to-do list grows and grows and 2015 seemed like it grew faster than it was getting chunked, but I’m getting more and more efficient at doing this, so I hope you all will continue to grow with me and FFXIVGuild.

Cheers,
Mahiko “God” San.

See Mahiko San Log Archive

FFXIV Heavensward 3.0 Information!

All YOU need to know about Heavenward HERE! The first expansion of FFXIV: Come see what ‘3.0’ has to offer!

Hi guys! Get HYPED for HEAVENSWARD, the first official expansion of FFXIV! Heavensward (or FFXIV 3.0 Patch) has a veritable CHUNK of content. Let’s see what’s goin on in Heavensward! Forgive me for the long load time, there’s a chunky amount of info and images here! (will be constantly updated until launch)

Heavensward (FFXIV 3.0)

Trailer & Basic Info | Level 60 | New Areas |
New Jobs | New Race | Airships & Flying Mounts |
| Trials: Alexander, primals | DoH & DoL | Useful Resources

Official Heavensward Trailers(s)

Heavensward: Basic Information

FFXIV Patch 3.0 “Heavensward” will be released in June 23 2015.
If you pre-ordered Heavensward, you will be able to play in Heavensward Early Access: June 19 2015
Level cap raised to 60. Meaning new skills and traits for all classes and jobs
Being an expsansion pack, it must be purchased. Where to buy Heavensward?

Pre Order Heavensward! – NA Version (compatible with NA accounts)

You can test how you run Heavensward with the: Heavensward Benchmark Tool.

 

Level Cap Raised to 60! And everything that goes with it!

FFXIV’s level cap is raised to 60 from 50. What does this mean for us?

  • New gear (as seen here in this 3.0 gear preview)
  • New skills and traits! and cross-class skills too!
  • A new RELIC WEAPON! (yey? ugh?)
    • Yoshida mentions that our 2.0 relic will be relevant (at least in the early phase I speculate)

If you’re late to the party, or worrying to much about gearing for 3.0 – don’t sweat it. Gear obtained in 2.5+ will likely be of no real use come 3.0! ((Back to Top))

Massive New areas, and all things that entail!

So with the level cap increased, that means we will be having new areas to come along with it! This means a lot more than you might first think:

  • Specifically mentioned “Exploration on the scale of launch” meaning HUGE new areas!
  • New FATES, enemies, levequests, hunting logs, side quests…
  • Multiple new dungeons (more than 4 estimated)

The Foundation | The Pillars

heavensward new areas the foundation the pillars

Dravinian Forelands | Dravinian Hinterlands

heavensward ffxiv new areas dravinian forelands dravinian hinterlands

Coerthas Western Highlands

ffxiv heavensward new areas coerthas western highlands

The Churning Mists | The Sea of Clouds

heavensward ffxiv new areas the churning mists the sea of clouds

And yes, some of those picstures do indeed have FLYING MOUNTS. These areas can be seen thru video @ Heavensward: Tour of the North. Again they say the new areas will be MASSIVE! And judging from these screens and vid, they look great. ((Back to Top))

3 New jobs in Heavensward

heavensward new classes dark knight astrologer machinist ffxiv

Dark Knight – Tank class that uses a 2-handed greatsword, supposedly does magical damage.
Vids & other previews:

Astrologer – Healer that uses a ‘celestial deck’, not much is known about this class but they seem awesome.
Vids & other previews:

Machinist – Ranged DPS that has little machine summons.
Vids & other previews:

Supposedly you only need level 30 of any base class to unlock these. My guess is they start at level 50 (purely speculation on the latter). ((Back to Top))

New race: The Au Ra

ffxiv heavensward new race au ra preview

The Au Ra are horned humanoids that we can assume have some relation to dragons (purely speculation). As I learn more about the lore about these guys, I’ll update! Please comment if you know anything. ((Back to Top))

Free Company Airships

Airships can now be built and used by Free Companies! What does this mean? Well the team has a bunch of stuff planned for Airships in 3.0, but not all of it might be implemented ASAP. Here are some of the features regarding FC(personal?) Airships:

  • Airships are built and or improved via Free Company Crafting. (Yeahp)
  • Each FC may own up to four Airships (Each consisting of 4 parts that make up its visual design and function)
  • On release Airships can be sent on ‘ventures’ to explore the vast Sky Islands. They increase in rank as you do this.
  • Airships can bring back rare items from these ventures.
  • In a later update: players may join these ‘air raids’ to find various islands with random properties.
    • Islands containing ‘Notorious monsters’
    • Islands containing rare gathering nodes
    • and, quoting SE, “We have a lot of ideas for these”.

Flying mounts are also coming if in case you missed that by now, haha. Aside from personal travel, not much else is known for their uses. ((Back to Top))

New Raid: Alexander! New (and Old?) Primals!

Primals in Heavensward

heavensward ffxiv new primals ravana bismarck

Many Primals will be part of the 3.0 storyline, and our trials. Older players would recognize Bismarck. An all new primal making it’s debut in FFXIV is also coming: Ravana. Of course, what are primals without BEAST TRIBES? Of course, 2 new beast tribes will be making their debut here in Heavensward as well. The Gnath and the Vanu Vanu.

ffxiv heavensward new beast tribes gnath vanu vanu

While they say Beastman quests might not be out for 3.0 straight away, they will definitely show up sooner or later. Of course, 3.0’s Primals and Beastmen are not limited by the two above, and we will likely see many old faces. ((Back to Top))

Alexander: Heavensward Raid

ffxiv heavensward alexander raid

Much like the Binding Coils of Bahamut, we assume 3.0’s entirety of raiding will take place in and around Alexander. Older players will recognize Alexander as a “primal”. He’s most known for his recent appearance in FFXIII series as the ‘summon’ of Hope Estheim. His elemental affinity in most FF games is Holy – and for the old school guys – would remember his epic battle versus Bahamut in FF9. His appearance in every FF aside from 13 is that of a FULL SIZED CASTLE.

3.0 will be the first patch wherein raiding is split into EASY and HARD mode. Easy mode is meant for more casual players to traverse through coil, while Hard Mode will yield the highest item level, and will be the main focus of progression raiding. How the loot/lockout/unlocking of these modes is still a mystery to us.

Well, what exactly his significance is in 3.0 is yet to be known, but surely I’ll be spending a lot of time in there. While many hardcore raiders like me are left with a ton of unanswered questions about progression, we are definitely happy nonetheless! ((Back to Top))

Changes in Crafting / Gathering?

Crafting in Heavensward

Crafting is getting new recipes, obviously. Mentioned above, there will be “company crafting” which caters to Airships and Housing Items. They said that houses can now be “Glamoured”. In any case the biggest news in crafting will be the introduction of specializations. Specializations will make it such that no one guy can craft everything. 

Oh, and crafters will be getting a brand new “AF” look, check out how DoH AF looks like in 3.0.

Gathering in Heavensward

Of course, new nodes will be appearing in 3.0+, but aside from that there seems to be no news regarding any major changes to gathering. If anything at least (like crafters) Gatherers get a brand new AF look in Heavensward.

I’m a a fan of crafting and hope they really expand on it. Gathering on the other hand…. well I hope they have some great plans for it come 3.0 :)
((Back to Top))

New player? Need help? Old player, need advice?

For new players: I specifically created a leveling up guide that will serve your needs till the foreseeable future: Leveling general guide. I would suggest any vet to read this too, you might learn something.

For old players: You can check out my ever-growing compilation of ways to prepare for Heavensward. Newer players should also check this out just in case.

((Back to Top))

Heavensward Resources

Heavensward: Official Trailer: SE’s first 3.0 trailer.
Heavesnward – Tour of the North:
 Official SE vid showing various maps. Seriously.. the soundtrack…
Reddit post detailing 3.0 in PAX East: translated ‘notes’ regarding 3.0
Heavensward Benchmark Tool: see how your rig runs 3.0
Preparing for Heavensward: Our little guide on what you can do NOW to affect your gameplay in 3.0

and again in case you haven’t already:

Pre Order Heavensward! – NA Version (compatible with NA accounts)

Please comment or add whatever else you may find out about Heavensward! Good luck for 3.0 and beyond!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

FFXIV Triple Triad ULTRA Guide (Card & NPC list, etc…)

All you need to know about Triple Triad! Card list, NPC challenge list, where to get cards, Progression… basically, CARDS.

Hey fellow Triple Triad fanatics! In page 1 of our Triple Triad Guide, I’ll be putting what most people are here for: NPC list, Card checklist and Pack checklist. I will be adding a page 2 to this, which will likely contain explanation to Triple Triad Basics, Rules explanation and Progression. (Confused about plus/same?)

But lemme just answer the basic of the basics: How do I unlock/play Triple Triad? Unlock Gold Saucer from Ul’dah (Questname to follow), from there just take the introductory tour. but most of you are here for these:

Navigation
P1: Triple Triad NPC | Triple Triad Card list | Triple Triad Packs
Page 2: Rules, strategy & progression

List Triple Triad Challengeable NPC’s

ZoneXYLocationRule ARule BFeePrizeOther Prizes (Chance)
GS47Gold SaucerTriple Triad MasterAll Open-510Spriggan, Chocobo
GS47Gold SaucerJonas of the Three SpadesOpenSame1022Ixal, Moogle
GS47Gold SaucerGuhtwint of the Three DiamondsThree OpenPlus1532Chocobo, Scarface Bugaal Ja
GS47Gold SaucerAurifort of the Three ClubsThree RandomOpen2050Goobue, Scarface Bugaal Ja
GS37Gold SaucerRuhtwyda of the Three HeartsAscension-2559Godbert Manderville, Urianger
GS37Gold SaucerKing Elmer IIIPlus-30117Godbert Manderville, Bahamut
LIMSA1111Upper Decks (Adventurers Guild)BaderonThree Open-2049Baderon Tenfingers
LIMSA1312Upper Decks (Maelstrom base)R'ashaht RhikiSamePlus30117Y'shtola, Leviathan, Merlwyb2PM to 7PM Eorzea time
ELN3530Costa Del SolGegejuruSudden DeathSwap30117Y'shtola, Minfillia
LLN2535Moraby DrydocksMimidoaThree Open-2049Biggs & Wedge-
LLN3515The Grey Fleet (N of Mist)TratchoumThree Open-2047Moogle, Titan8PM to 8AM Eorzea time
ULN1424Memeroons Trading Post (W)MemeroonAll Open-1023Amalj'aa, Memeroon-
ULDAH119Steps of Nald (Adventurers Guild)MomodiThree Open-1533Momodi
ULDAH98Steps of Nald (Near Aetheryte)WymondThree Open-1533Coblyn
ULDAH88Steps of Nald (Flames base)SwiftChaos-30110Ifrit, Raubahn6AM to11AM Eorzea time
WTH2217HorizonFufulupaThree Open-2048Thancred
CTH1930The Coffer & CoffinRogerAll Open-1022Pudding, Morbol
CTH2313The Bonfire (Materia place)F'hobhasThree Open-1533Mutamix
ETH2021HighbridgeHelmhartThree Open-2021Ultros & Typhon, Gerolt10AM to 8PM Eorzea Time
STH2440Sagolii Desert (Southmost)HabDescencion-30104Godbert, Thancred, Hildibrand & NashuComplete "Zombies are people too"
CCH1315Whitebrim FrontJoellautThree Open-2048Ixal, Alphinaud & Alisaie
CCH622near SnowcloakOurdilicOrder-2560Blue Dragon, Behemoth
GRID1111New Gridania (W of Aetheryte)MaisentaAll Open-1022Sylph, Coblyn
GRID1113New Gridania (Adventurers Guild)Mother MiounneThree Open-1532Gobbue, Mother Miounne
GRID911New Gridania (Twin Adder base)Vorsaile HeuloixAscension-30117Papalymo & Yda, Ramuh10PM to 3AM Eorzea time
CSH1618Above the 'ramp tree'MarcetteChaos-2560Frixio, Garuda4PM to 8AM Eorzea time
ESH1726Hawthorne HutPiralnautThree Open-2050Succubus, Frixio
SSH1720Buscarrons DruthersBuscarronOrder-2559Raya-O-Senna & A-Ruhn-Senna, Papalymo & Yda
SSH1628Camp TranquilLandenelFallen AceRandom2553Odin, Titan
NSH2423Ixal beastmen campSezul TotolocSamePlus2552Biggs & Wedge, Behemoth, CidMax rank Ixal Reputation
MD215Revenants TollRowenaRandom-30118Gerolt, Louisoix
MD1117Castrum area (Fogfens)Indolent ImperialAscension-30120Livia, Rhitahtyn, Nero

As always, new discoveries or other notes – comment or let us know!

 

Triple Triad Card Checklist (and source)

Card NameRarityUpRightDownLeftObtained fromType
Dodo CardCommon*4234Free-
Tonberry CardCommon*2272Wanderers Palace (Normal or Hard)-
Sabotender CardCommon*2344Free-
Spriggan CardCommon*2435Bronze Triad Card (520 MGP), Triple Triad Master (GS)-
Pudding CardCommon*2435Bronze Triad Card (520 MGP), Roger (CTH)-
Bomb CardCommon*3433Free-
Mandragora CardCommon*4253Free-
Coblyn CardCommon*3334Bronze Triad Card (520 MGP), Maisenta (NGRID)-
Morbol CardCommon*5252Roger (CTH), Aurum Vale-
Coeurl CardCommon*2525Free-
Ahriman CardCommon*5522Dzmael Darkhold-
Goobbue CardCommon*2552Bronze Triad Card (520 MGP), Mother Miounne (NGRID), Aurifort (GS)-
Chocobo CardCommon*3721600 MGP, Jonas (GS), Guhtwint (GS)-
Amalj'aa CardCommon*1471Silver Triad Card (1152 MGP), Memeroon (ULN)-
Ixal CardCommon*6134Jonas (GS), Joellaut (CCH)Beastmen
Sylph CardCommon*2454Maisenta (NGRID), Silver Triad Card (1152 MGP)Beastmen
Kobold CardCommon*2246Silver Triad Card (1152 MGP)Beastmen
Sahagin CardCommon*4533Sastasha (Normal of Hard)Beastmen
Tataru Taru CardCommon*7232Silver Triad Card (1152 MGP)-
Moogle CardCommon*2137Jonas (GS), 840 MGP-
Siren CardUncommon**3672Pharos Sirius-
Ultros & Typhon CardUncommon**2367Helmhart (ETH), Dragons Neck-
Demon Wall CardUncommon**6723Amdapor Keep (Normal of Hard)-
Succubus CardUncommon**7326Haukke Manor (Normal or Hard), Piralnaut (ESH)-
Chimera CardUncommon**7722Cutter's Cry-
Blue Dragon CardUncommon**2277Ourdillic (CCH), Stone Vigil (Normal of Hard)-
Scarface Bugaal Ja CardUncommon**6662Guhtwint (GS), Bronze Triad Card (520 MGP)Beastmen
Momodi ModiUncommon**7553Momodi (ULDAH), Gold Triad Card (2160 MGP)-
Baderon Tenfingers CardUncommon**3755Baderon (LIMSA), Gold Triad Card (2160 MGP)-
Mother Miounne CardUncommon**5537Mother Miounne (NGRID), Gold Triad Card (2160 MGP)-
Livia sas Junius CardUncommon**3771Indolent Imperial (MD), Castrum Meridiuanum-
Rhitahtyn sas Arvina CardUncommon**7137Indolent Imperial (MD), Cape Westwind-
Biggs & Wedge CardUncommon**7317Sezul Totoloc (NSH), Mimidoa (LLN)-
Gerolt CardUncommon**5375Helmhart (ETH), Rowena (MD), Gold Triad Card (2160 MGP)-
Frixio CardUncommon**1773Piralnaut (ESH), Marcette (CSH)-
Mutamix Bubblypots CardUncommon**6266F'hobhas (CTH)-
Memeroon CardUncommon**2666Memeroon (ULN)-
Behemoth CardRare***6662Bronze Triad Card (520 MGP), Sezul Totoloc (NSH), Ourdilic (CCH)-
Gilgamesh & Enkidu CardRare***8373Battle on the Big Bridge (Gilga)-
Ifrit CardRare***7167Ifrit HM/EX, Swift (ULDAH)-
Titan CardRare***1776Titan HM/EX, Trachtoum (LLN), Landenel (SSH)-
Garuda CardRare***7617Gaurda HM/EX, Marcette (CSH)-
Good King Moggle Mog XII CardRare***7671Mog HM/EX-
Raya-O-Senna & A-Ruhn-Senna CardRare***5666Buscarron (SSH), Landenel (SSH), 4800 MGP-
Godbert Manderville CardRare***6656Ruthwyda (GS), King Elmer III (GS), 9600 MGP-
Thancred CardRare***2387Hab (STH), Fufulupa (WTH)-
Nero tol Scaeva CardRare***4187Indolent Imperial (MD)-
Papalymo & Yda CardRare***3782Vorsaile Heuloix (NGRID)-
Y'shtola CardRare***7814Gegejuru (ELN), R'ashaht Rhiki (LIMSA)-
Urianger CardEpic****8147Ruthwyda (GS), Silver Triad Card (1152 MGP)-
Ultima Weapon CardEpic****7891Ultima HM, Gold Triad Card (2160 MGP)-
Odin CardEpic****8818Odin, Landenel (SSH)
Ramuh CardEpic****8188Ramuh HM/EX, Vorsaile Heuloix (NGIRD)-
Leviathan CardEpic****8881Leviathan HM/EX,-
Shiva CardEpic****1888Shiva HM/EX,-
Minfilia CardEpic****9835Minfilia Silver Triad Card, Gegejuru (ELN)-
Lahabrea CardEpic****4948Silver Triad Card (1152 MGP)-
Cid Garlond CardEpic****5992Gold Triad Card (2160 MGP), Sezul Totoloc (NSH)-
Alphinaud & Alisaie CardEpic****9339Swift (ULDAH), Joellaut (CCH)-
Louisoix Leveilleur CardLegendary*****9493Rowena (MD)-
Bahamut CardLegendary*****9596King Elmer III (GS)-
Hildibrand & Nashu Mhakaracca CardLegendary*****18A8Helmhart (ETH), Hab (STH)-
Nanamo Ul Namo CardLegendary*****A648400,000 MGP-
Gaius van Baelsar CardLegendary*****4A59Indolent Imperial (MD), Praetorium-
Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn CardLegendary*****59A3R'ashaht Rhiki (LIMSA)-
Kan-E-Senna CardLegendary*****9A17Vorsaile Heuloix (NGRID)-
Rhauban Aldynn CardLegendary*****629ASwift-
Warrior of Light CardLegendary*****A25AGold Triad Card (2160 MGP)-
FirionLegendary*****A5A1???-
Onion KnightLegendary*****828AWorld of Darkness-
Cecil HarveyLegendary*****4A4A???-
Bartz KlauserLegendary*****44AABattle in the Big Keep (Gilga)-
Terra BranfordLegendary*****AA52The Dragons Neck (Ultros)-
Cloud StrifeLegendary*****93981,000,000 MGP-
Squall Leonhart CardLegendary*****6AA1Achievement: Defeat 30 NPCs at Triple Triad-
Zidane Tribal CardLegendary*****5A68Gold Triad Card (2160 MGP)-
Tidus CardLegendary*****A971???-
ShantottoLegendary*****4979Achievement: Win 30 Triple Triad tournament matches-
Vaan CardLegendary*****17A9Achievement: Win 300 Triple Triad roulette matches.-
Lightning CardLegendary*****917A???-

Please lemme know thru comments/whatever of the Card Types.

Triple Triad Pack checklist

Packs
Bronze Triad CardPuddingSprigganGobbueCoblynScarface Bugaal JaBehemothNONENONE
Silver Triad CardKoboldAmaljaaIxalSylphTataruUriangerMinfiliaLahabrea
Gold Triad CardMiounneMomodiBaderonGeroltCidUltimaZidaneWarrior of Light

Obviously, don’t buy these if you’ve gotten all possible prizes.

Navigation
Page 1: Triple Triad NPC | Triple Triad Card list | Triple Triad Packs
Page 2: Rules, strategy & progression

I will be adding a nice progression guide and other things to this, but for now this is the most important stuff you need to know. Here are other Triple Triad resources from outside the site. Good luck flippin’ up those cards and praying to the 12 for ‘Plus’ regional – you’ll need all the divine intervention to win versus these cheaters.

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

FFXIV Ramuh Extreme Mode (The Striking Tree)

How to beat Ramuh EX! Strategy Guide & Loot list! Find out all about thunderstorms, rolling thunder, overcharge and BALLS!

So you’ve gotten to Ramuh Extreme Mode? Don’t be shocked by this electrifying fight! Learn all you need to learn about this encounter – so you can beat up old men – get those i100 rings! This fight isn’t very confusing mechanics wise – It’s all in the Execution, or Electrocution! Defeat the Lord of Levin EXTREME in no time with our strategy guide!

“Those balls are mine! Don’t touch them!” – Common Ramuh party chat

Ramuh EX Mechanics

Ramuh EX has alot of mechanics that persist throughout the whole fight. Don’t be a chump and take these to heart!

Thunderstorm – is basically like Weight of The Land (Plumes). Except they FOLLOW whoever was chosen to get hit by it. There are also “Neutral” thunders that just stay on the ground wherever they spawned. The more BALLS present in the map, the more painful Thunderstorm gets. Do not stay in the water when Thunderstorm hits (or you die). Like plumes, Thunderstorm may hit you multiple times. Thunderstorm also has the benefit of removing Chaos. Speaking of Chaos…

Chaotic Strike – chooses 2 random party members. This happens after every other Thunderstorm. This is marked by a cross-hair. After a short delay, these guys will be “stunned” (Charmed). And start walking towards Ramuh. This is bad, because the next PBAoE attack Ramuh does will INSTANTLY KILL any charmed players. As mentioned earlier a Thunderstorm hit removes the “Charmed” status. (For initial position, see diagram below)

Strategy for Chaotic / Thunder: Use a waymark right behind Ramuh to signify WHERE CHAOTIC affected guys stack. From here we use a numbering system to “save” them. usually from 1-4.

  • If a Black Mage is around usually they are 1. Why? to minimize movement. They stay on the stacking waymark always.
  • Bard & Summoner make the second best savers because they don’t lose much DPS by moving.
  • Healers are the next choice. But they should be lower in the list, since they need to heal.
  • Melee DPS probably make the worst savers.
  • Of course, move out of venn diagrams and unnecessary thunders.

When “saving” people from chaos – do not create a Venn Diagram of Clusterf*ckery. There is alot of space to spread out Thunder from hitting one another.

In his mind, he is the Venn Diagram. It’s him. – Mahiko “Charles Barkley” San.

The “Balls” – after each thunderstorm, balls spawn on the ground. Picking up 1 or 2 balls does nothing. Picking up 3 gives you a buff that protects you from Ramuhs “Cleave”. If you do not have this buff you will die. This is basically a tank-swap mechanic. Picking up a fourth ball results in “Overcharge”. You will still be protected but take significantly reduced healing. Overcharge can have 3 stacks. 3 Stacks means you will get little to no healing. Ideally you will never overcharge, but practically, you will need to OC on every phase change. Random balls lying around will increase damage of Thunderstorm significantly. It should go something like this

Thunderstorm > OT picks up  3 > Provoke > Thunderstorm > Random ball “cleanup” > Repeat. a good reminder is around 20s left on immunity – find them balls, son.

 

Ramuh EX Phase 2: Adds

Six adds spawn in a circle around Ramuh. They don’t really have any remarkable attacks. However, they must be killed before Judgment Bolt is cast. Or else, you guessed it, it’s a wipe.

All of the previous mechanics are still happening in this phase. The largest problem most groups have during this phase is position. People getting cleaved, Chaotic Stack too far… stuff like this. So we decided – “Why not have the position remain the ‘same’…?”

ffxiv ramuh extreme mode chaotic strike thunderstorm safezone phase 2

Key: Red Square (Adds), Blue Circle (Chaotic Stack), Paladin Shield (Tank).

SO WHAT DOES THIS DIAGRAM MEAN? The best way to deal with this phase is to “shift” your whole teams position as each add dies. It’s practical because whatever your position in P1 was, it’s the same starting position for P2. Here’s the rundown of what needs to happen:

  • Position only shifts after each add dies.
  • Waymark should be moved (preferably).
  • Otherwise, “Chaotic Stack” is always to be between Ramuh and an Add.
  • Tank should always be looking at an add (positional reminder)

Upon entering P2, the current tank should overcharge to prevent random BS.

This way people always know where to go for Chaotic, DPS wont be randomly cleaved and killed, and tanks wont bother the whole process of killing adds and saving people. Before this phase ends (Judgment Bolt is cast) make sure there arent too many random balls lying around.

Ramuh EX Phase 3: Rolling Thunder

Again to prevent BS, you may have the current MT overcharge. All of Phase 1’s mechanics still persist into the final phase The only addition is…

Rolling Thunder: Creates a tether between two people. If either of these two people do any action, they take damage. The more actions you take, the more shocking the damage gets. Picking up 3 balls removes the tether.

Basically, instead of the  “ball cleanup” phase – it becomes a “Rolling Thunder removal” phase. Here are some reminders regarding Rolling Thunder:

  • A person afflicted by Chaotic Strike may be tethered.
  • DPS should STOP COMPLETELY until tethers are broken.
  • Healer should only use LARGE HEALS when absolutely NECESSARY.
  • Be smart about who should clean the tether…
    • OT>DPS>Healer

OFFTANK should have tether cleaning priority since they need the insulation anyway. DPS should be next in line not to bother healing. Healers should stay still (unless tethered to each other). Healers who aren’t tethered should put up shields/regen on those who are, to be safe.

Nothing much else happens in P3. The adds spawn again but they cannot be targetted. They only do random lightning lasers which should be avoided!

 

Ramuh EX loot list

Ramuh drops i100 rings and i100 weapons. A ring drops every time, but the weapon is quite rare.

Ramuh EXRingWeapon
TankJudgment Ring of FendingThunderstrike (PLD)
Thunderstorm (WAR)
HealerJudgment Ring of HealingAdjudicators Gavel (WHM)
The Law of Levin (SCH)
MeleeJudgment Ring of SlayingThundercrack (MNK)
Thunderbolt (DRG)
CasterJudgment Ring of CastingAdjudicators Staff (BLM)
Ona Ramuhda (SMN)
BardJudgment Ring of AimingThunderdart (BRD)

Again, this is our in-house strategy, and what we used in our first kill. If you have any suggestions or something to say – hit the comments below!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

FFXIV Syrcus Tower (ST,CT2) Loot List & Boss Guide

Syrcus Tower Loot List by class and by boss! A short Guide on each boss so you won’t be a chump in front of 24 people.

You’re in Syrcus Tower, ey? If you’re here, you’re probably here for one of two things:
Syrcus Tower Loot Lists | Syrcus Tower Boss Guides

Syrcus Tower Loot List By Boss

Scylla (1)Glasya Labolas (2)Amon (3)Xande (4)
TankTank Hands
Tank Belt
Tank Boots
Tank BodyTank Head
Tank Legs
HealerHealer Hand
Healer Belt
Healer BootHealer Body
Healer Head
Healer Legs
CasterCaster BootCaster Hand
Caster Belt
Caster Head
Caster Legs
Caster Body
MNKMNK Hand
MNK Belt
MNK BootMNK Head
MNK Legs
MNK Body
DRGDRG BootDRG Hand
DRG Belt
DRG Head
DRG Legs
DRG Body
BRDBard BootBRD Belt
BRD Hand
BRD BodyBRD Head
BRD Legs
MiscOil of Time
Unidentified Allagan Tomestone

Final Boss has a chance to spawn a fourth chest which can drop:
Throne Gem | Wind-up Onion Knight < These items do not count towards the 1 item weekly limit.

Syrcus Tower Loot List By Class

HeadBodyHandsBeltLegsBoot
Tank431142
Healer431142
Caster342231
MNK341132
DRG342231
BRD432241

The number respresents the boss. 1 = Scylla, 2 = Glasya Labolas, 3 = Amon, 4 = Xande. Links to be added.

Scylla (Boss 1)

Phase 1: Spawns orbs that follow random people. There are light pillars (3) which mark the spots where you can break the tether. These “generators” light up and gain an elemental charge for each type of orb it abosrbs.

  • Fire (RED): Does single target damage and MELTS ICE.
  • Ice (GREEN): Freezes a guy. Use fire to melt
  • Lightning (GREEN): Small AoE damage.

Melting frozen guys is key here. Having people stunned sucks – obviously. It also leaves a water pool on the ground which gives a huge fire defense buff for Ancient Flare. If you dont have a pool to stand on don’t worry – it’s not THAT strong.

Eldering Staff is a rodlike add doesn’t seem to have aggro. Just kill them. They periodicaly do a ring AoE.

So you have a few goals for the first phase. Make sure each generator has 1 of each elemental charge. Else, “Daybreak” will stun EVERYONE for like 30 seconds.

For the remainder of the fight (Phase 2), some random adds spawn which aren’t notable. Just keep melting frozen guys, and it should be smooth sailing. Otherwise the fight is just a rinse/repeat of Phase 2.

 

Glasya Labolas (Boss 2)

The #1 rule of CT applies to this guy most: Dodge the colorful AoE. This guy’s pretty funny…. he charges a massive attack that does chumpy damage. Then he does it again and kills you… how to prevent this?

The robots – make them block the lasers that give him power. Note that sometime during this charging process, if this whole robot laser blocking ordeal is done properly, Teleporters to other platforms light up. Fight and preferably kill the Spanner Rooks in these platforms – when they do their skill just jump to the next platform.

Once you can go back to the main platform, do so. The rest of the fight is pretty much brainless.

Amon (Boss 3)

Orb following you? Will shrink you if you get hit. You can land it on the add “Kumkum” to make them smaller.

Experiment slimes? Should be killed before reaching the boss. (AoE damage otherwise)

You turned into a frog? Just deal with it, lol. You can continue to do damage while in this form.

Curtain Call is just like Behemoths Meteor. Hide behind iced players! Overall, nothing that special with Amons Mechanics.

There will be a smattering of Adds that spawn, just kill them. As far as I know only Kumkum can be shrunk.

Xande (Boss 4)

Yellow circles will spawn on the ground – step on them to activate it. ALL of the yellow circles must have at least 1 person in it.

at 70% and 30%, Xande goes away from the stage and a mini DPS check begins. B Alliance (usuall) kills middle orb while A & C kill the side objectives. These side objectives attract a meteor. I’ve never seen it fall but I assume it’s not good. Once the sides are clean A & C can help the middle.

The blue circle that appears on a random player IS NOT DANGEROUS. It spawns a tornado that everyone should stand on to avoid getting killed by Quaga. If you’re in the main tanks Alliance, it would be nice to go to him and drop the levitation circle there.

Navigation:
Syrcus Tower Loot Lists | Syrcus Tower Boss Guides

That’s about it for Syrcus Tower! I decided to go for a TL;DR approach for the boss guides since they’re not so complex. Have fun getting your loot!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

FFXIV Twintania (Turn 5) Guide

How to beat Twintania! Learn all about Death Sentence, Divebombs, Twisters and Dreadknights in this super epic fight!

The infamous boss of the Binding Coils of Bahamut Turn 5: Twintania. The cause of many sleepless nights, and waking nightmares.

“What!? The DPS race doesn’t start once the snakes spawn. It starts the very second you pull Twintania.
That’s the BASAGULERO way.” -Kharas Dorian. FFXIVGuild.

Navigation

Twintania Phase 1: Adds (to 85%)

ffxiv-twintania-turn-5-guide-binding-coils-of-bahamut-ads

The fight begins with Twintania surrounded by 3 mini-dragons. The phase ends when Twintanias HP reaches 85%, wether or not the adds remain alive.

Abilities

Plummet – A frontal cleave with a huge cone, and huge damage. Comes around every 10s. *Continues throughout the fight.

Liquid Hell – A fire spit that randomly targets a raid member. It does medium initial damage, and an extremely heavy fire DoT when standing on it afterwards.

DEATH SENTENCE – Arguably one of the key mechanics of Twintania. Surviving Death Sentence is a grim reminder that you have to remain focused to beat T5, on around a 30-35 second cooldown. “DS” must be treated with respect, the earlier your raid drills it into their mind that “Every DS can potentially kill your tank in 1 hit”, the earlier you guys will adjust your strategy to reduce it’s damage. DS is notorious for having auto-attacks weaved into its damage, and have a Plummet come right after (most of the time, the Plummet comes before it). Here are the main Checkpoints

  • Virus – If Twintania isn’t immune – tag her with Virus.
  • Storms Path – Should always be up. If there’s a time it can be down – make sure it isn’t DS!
  • Defensive Cooldowns – Should ONLY be used by the MT on Death Sentences.
  • Stoneskin / Adloquium – A shield definitely helps with the more painful Death Sentences.
  • Sacred Soil – in a pinch, or to use up Aetherflow.

A note on mitigating Death Sentence: Virus and Defensive Cooldowns (from what I’ve noticed) need a time to “settle in” before DS hits. Casting virus extremely close to DS full cast timer will sometimes cause it not to take effect. The same goes for Defensive Cooldowns. It’s better and safer to do these things BEFORE DS. Doing so you can mitigate the hits leading up to it, and right after it, of course catching the huge nuke itself.

Stoneskin can land right before or right after DS hits. Adloquium should be cast before DS, as it loses much of it’s effect after. (But still not bad).

ffxiv-twintania-turn-5-guide-binding-coils-of-bahamut-neurolinkThe completion of this Phase (HP reaches 85%) is marked by her dropping the first “Neurolink“. Your positioning should already be “set” for the next phase by this point. Details discussed below.

 

 

 

Twintania Phase 2: Conflagration / Fireball (to 55%)

Death Sentence gains an additional effect: Infirmity (Reduces healing by a large amount). This additional effect modifies Death Sentence for the entirety of the fight.

Phase Specific Abilities

Fireball – Targets a random raid member (Red Triangle). After a short time, an AoE which does around 16k damage falls on the target. This damage is SHARED between all raid members in the AoE. You need (a safe number) 4 victims to survive fireball consistently.

 

ffxiv-twintania-turn-5-guide-binding-coils-of-bahamut-fireball

Conflagration – Targets a random raid member (Blue circle). After a short time, a “Conflagration” will spawn right on top of the target, rendering the target unable to do ANYTHING. Anyone caught for too long inside this “Conflag” will be “Stunned”. Anyone may enter a Conflagration, to willingly stun themselves (and be immune to all damage while inside).

 

ffxiv-twintania-turn-5-guide-binding-coils-of-bahamut-conflag

Fireball and Conflagration are linked. The more people hit by fireball, the faster the next conflag will be. If the tank has a good amount of HP, he can willingly enter conflags to ease the strain on healers. Death Sentence should ALWAYS be dodged in this way, if possible.

Positioning – There are two popular positioning strategies for this phase. 4×4 and Soak Team.

4×4 – Scholar, Pet, and 2 members on one side. Healer and 3 members on the other side. With MT up front, forming a triangle.

  • Pros: Little movement required, Less coordination required.
  • Cons: More Healing intensive, more heals interrupted.

Soak Team – What we use, OT + Ranged DPS + Pet(or human) at south. This group is known as the Soak Team. Remaining members at either side. MT up front. Fireball target runs to Soak Team. If Soak Team is targetted, Designated “joiner” helps.

  • Pros: Minimal Healing needed. Saves a ton of mana, much safer.
  • Cons: Much more movement/coordination needed.

ffxiv-twintania-turn-5-guide-binding-coils-of-bahamut-soak

Conflag / Fireball Timers

  • First Conflag (Slow, easy to kill). Will have fireball – target enters conflag.
  • Second Conflag (Fast, DPS hard!).
  • Third Conflag (Slow, easy to kill) Will have fireball – target enters conflag.
  • Fourth Conflag (Fast, DPS hard!).
  •  – This is the ideal time for Twintania to switch Phases.
  • Fifth Conflag (Slow, easy to kill) Will have fireball – target enters conflag.
  • So on, so forth.

Dealing with 2nd and 4th (Fast Conflags)

DPS Use a short cooldown if needed. The MT can also stay outside the Conflag to help kill it. Off-GCD skills should be saved for these specific conflags!

  • Bard – Use Venomous Bite, instead of Windbite. Not both. Save Blootletter procs.
  • Summoner – A tough call… While Bane + Fester is most ideal, this is pretty harsh on Aetherflows. Bane + Ruins is okay.
  • Black Mage – Save firestarters / Thunderclouds for these! Don’t bother using Thunder.
  • Monk / Dragoon – Don’t bother with DoT’s.

The completion of this Phase (HP reaches 55%) is marked by her dropping the second “Neurolink“.

Why Not 3 man Conflags to increase the timer?

“If you don’t have the DPS for 4 man conflags, you shouldn’t even be here”Kimi Ruyifang, FFXIVGuild.

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

Navigation

Ask FFXIVGuild 002: All about RAIDING!

Our second issue of Ask FFXIVGuild is all about Raiding! What composition did we use? Our thoughts on Melee? How did we find BCoB 1-5?

ffxiv arr weekly editorial banner ask ffxivguild 002

Hello guys and welcome to Ask FFXIVGuild.com #002. This weeks topic is all about RAIDING!

for those who might be wondering, what is this column all about? Any and all questions you might ask us, through Facebook, twitter, email or comments might appear in this column!

What Raiding composition did you guys use to progress and finally beat T1-T5?

Here was our main Lineup:

PLD: Maruko San
WAR: Mitlet Gyles
WHM: Mahiko San
SCH: Alexander Luthor
MNK: Kimi Ruyifang
MNK: Kharas Dorian
BRD: Weewooweewoo / Rylai Ariamis
MDPS: Mamasita Golddigger (SMN) /  Poipoi (BLM)

2 Melee? Did you guys plan this specific lineup? Why?

We just formed our very first team with whoever was coil ready at the time (Early October). We do enjoy the fact we have two melee because many people like having zero or 1 melee for “learning” fights. Simply because ranged is easier to position. Two melee, however, makes us feel like we’re studying the fight without bias. As if you pugged it and gave equal chances to ranged/melee.

How did you find FFXIV’s first tier of raiding – Bahamuts Coil Turn 1-5?

We had a bunch of fun, to be honest. Around half our guys were new to raiding. We started a bit late, but managed to down T5 in a timely enough manner.

Turn 1:  We had a bunch of fun here. Back when Burn Strategy wasn’t possible, the fight is actually pretty damn hard. It tested Individual Skill most of all!
Turn 2: A bit confusing at first (Not Enrage Strategy). This turn tested Group Communication and strategy.
Turn 4: We oddly got stuck here for around 3 weeks. It was super fun during the early days. I think it tested Strategy / Refinement.
Turn 5: Nothing prepared us for this. The learning curve for Twintania is super steep. While RNG plays a huge part in this fight – it’s pretty damn fun! Killing TT for the first time was the most rewarding thing i’ve felt in a while! I really hope T10 will have a boss as memorable is Twintania.

 

What’s your thoughts and hopes for Turn 6 – Turn 10 and Leviathan?

For Leviathan, we’ve heard he’s going to be one of the hardest bosses of all time. Let’s hope it’s true!

For T6-T10, we hope they do something about certain “enrage” timers and such. For example:
Turn 1: The feeding mechanic can totally be skipped if you’re even a bit over geared.
Turn 2: The enrage timer should insta-kill.

Why? Isn’t this kind of an elitist attitude?

Well, no we don’t think so. We feel that skipping these intended mechanics makes for a less than fulfilling encounter. Finding a raid group to enjoy the game with, and progress with, is a more fulfilling and permanent solution instead of these semi-roundabout methods for “easy loots”.

What’s your lineup for T6-T10? What do you think the ultimate composition is?

For T6-10:

PLD: Maruko San
WAR: Mitlet Gyles
WHM: Mahiko San
SCH: Alexander Luthor
Melee1: Kimi Ruyifang
Melee2: Kharas Dorian
BRD: Rylai Ariamis
BLM: Cassandra Valentine

We don’t currently know if either of our Monks will go DRG for the next patch.

As for the ultimate composition… I personally think the above, with 1 MNK / 1 DRG is pretty close (If you choose not to “stack”). Another would be to have the DPS look like DRG BRD BLM BLM. But this is a pretty irrelevant question since it revolves more around the actual fight mechanics, not your team lineup.

Well that’s about it for today! Next week we will be answering some other questions, but we’re leaning on the theme for next weeks article to be about FFXIVGuild.com and Crafting! But of course any questions are welcomed!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

[ Ask FFXIVGuild.com Archives ]

Ask FFXIVGuild 001: Welcome the Weekly Columns!

Our first issue of Ask FFXIVGuild.com! Topic this week: About content and updates!

ffxiv arr weekly editorial banner ask ffxivguild 001

Hello guys and welcome to our very first issue of Ask FFXIVGuild.com. First off, for those who might be wondering, what is this column all about? Any and all questions you might ask us, through Facebook, twitter, email or comments might appear in this column!

The topic for this week will be all about FFXIVGuild content updates!

Have you guys thought about Editorial content or weekly columns?

We get this one alot. The quick answer is – YES! Why haven’t we done it sooner? Well, our small team wants the site to be more of like an old-school gaming site, versus the “norm” nowadays which are more Wiki-ish. Chunking down “MOST” of the games basic info and setting the pavement for future updates was our first goal. We’re getting close enough to that goal that we think it could be the time to write more entertaining, community engaging stuff like weekly columns. What do we have in store? Here’s what we will reveal for now:

Planned for every Monday – Ask FFXIVGuild.com (Stuff like this article you’re reading right now)
Planned for every Wednesday – FFXIVGuild: Into the Aether (What’s it about – You’ll find out tomorrow!)
Planned for every FridayWe’re unsure of the name of this, but somethings in the works!
Planned for every Sunday – The Week that Was (Revived!!!!)

I guess we wanted to put down a good foundation first. This foray into a gaming fansite is a first for us, so forgive us if we’re not so perfect yet!

If all goes well, we will be publishing at least the planned Monday and Sunday articles this week! HOPEFULLY the others can be done within this week! Obviously, this one was late one day. Big plans ahead for the site!

Why do updates take so long sometimes!?

It’s true, updates CAN take a while. It may seem like “ages” before “new” content comes around, but trust us, we are working on it everyday. A lot of times we make small edits and refinements to our older guides, fixing small errors and adding new-found knowledge to existing guides.

Very often, we do not put up the pages in our front-page (News or Featured). An example of this is – You may or may not have noticed the inclusion of Gear Guides for all battle jobs. Another guide we didn’t put up on the frontpage was our Definitive Twintania Guide (since it’s, at least in our opinion, not yet fully fleshed out). If you’re curious about the Gear guides, they can be found in the main menu under the jobs!

I guess it’s our job to inform people BETTER on new stuff. The Sunday column will help us with this, as well as some design improvements we have planned. While new content may not be obvious, it’s there! We’re open to suggestions as to HOW you can recieve updates. A weekly newsletter perhaps?

How about juicing up the forums!?

Oh god… we’ve been researching on the best ways to integrate a more familiar forum software into the site. I DO NOT WANT people to register twice (once for forums, once for site comments) Maruko has been checking things out. We want to use PHPBB. Once we have that main concern sorted out about account registrations, we will be PUSHING HEAVILY for a more active forum community! Please bear with us in the meantime!

I cannot verify my Account here! I’m locked out of the site for no apparent reason!

Another sucky side-effect from the unexpected growth we’ve had. Apparently having a high-traffic website leads to ALOT… and I mean ALOT of spammers. So we researched the best ways to stop these guys. Sadly, none are full proof. We have to manually fix these anomalies as they come, stretching our ever so stretched time to work on the site. You cannot imagine the stuff we went through each step of the way! We simply wanna give information out, but apparently the net is filled with more bots than we ever could have imagined.

It’s a pain, but this is something we’re actively juggling in our schedule. Again, we want to have great foundation… one step at a time.

Well that’s about it for today! Next week we will be answering some other questions, but we’re leaning on the theme for next weeks article to be about FFXIVGuild.com FC and Raiding. But of course any questions are welcomed! Feel free to comment below, ask us anything on Facebook or Twitter, or give us Feedback! The next question here might be yours! Thanks!

[ Ask FFXIVGuild.com Archives ]

Binding Coils of Bahamut Turn 2 – ADS Guide & Strategy

All you need to know about deez d*mn ballz… our Coils Turn 2 Guide!

Coils Turn 2 isn’t exactly just one Boss – it’s a series of mini-bosses leading up to the final boss. The stage itself has certain mechanics you should be aware of.

Coils Turn 2 Stage Mechanics

You have a time limit of 12 minutes to complete Turn 2. If the 12 minute mark is reached, and players still remain inside – a pulse doing heavy damage will continually affect players, inevitably causing a wipe.

There are 6 mini-bosses and 1 main boss. Killing a mini-boss does 2 things:

  • REMOVES that mini-bosses unique ability from the main boss.
  • GIVES that mini-bosses unique passive BUFF to the main boss.

Here’s the Turn 2 Map showing the various nodes abilities and buffs:

bcob coils turn 2 map node abilities and buffs ffxiv arr

It’s currently impossible to kill all mini-bosses within the time limit, so you must choose a certain course to follow. While there are many different ways to do Turn 2, these two routes are how we do it. We consider the alternative routes IMPOSSIBLE or HIGHLY IMPRACTICAL. First, we discuss the skills shared across all mini-bosses…

Shared Turn 2 Node skills

ALL NODES share certain abilities, up to the final boss.

Frontal Cleave – no surprise here… However, his basic cleave leaves a really bad…

Stacking debuff – Which increases damage taken. Stacks infinitely and refreshed upon every cleave. Drops after 30 seconds.

High Voltage – Remember from turn 1 ADS? It’s back. But this time a hundred times more fatal if it lands…

Repelling Cannons – Same ability from turn 1 ADS. But tanks with the debuff also take bonus damage!

So as usual, have your melee avoid cleave and cannons, and setup a silence rotation for High Voltage. As for the stacking debuff…

Dealing with the Turn 2 stacking debuff – Tank Swap

bcob turn 2 tank and melee positioning tank swap cleave avoidanceTank positioning is extremely sensitive for Turn 2. Here’s how we position our tanks (and melee dps). Your first goal in positioning should be to minimize or eliminate unnecessary cleaves – since the debuff wont fall off if your tanks get tagged!

Of course, with the shown, the melee dps have zero chance to get cleaved. The tanks also won’t get hit by each others cleave, when it’s not their turn to tank.

There’s many ways to swap… the method that worked for us is to have your current offtank do his enmity combo and WAIT on the last one (Rage of Halone or Butchers Block). Once the main-tank wants to switch (which we signal by jumping), simply Provoke and finish the combo!

 

Best Routes to take in Turn 2

As we mentioned above, the “South Eastern” Route is not really practical to do as of now… so here are the paths we use:

bcob coils turn 2 paths routes ffxiv arr

Route 1: Not Killing ‘Ballast’
Route one is the basic route.

Route 2: Killing ‘Ballast’.
As our gear progressed, we were able to kill an extra node on our way to the last boss. Eliminating ballast makes the final boss a little easier.

Using either of the two routes, you eliminate these abilities from the last boss:

  • Vacuum Wave – An AoE attack that pulls all players closer to ADS.

  • Chain Lightning – A generic arcing nuke that does medium damage.

  • Firestream – An omnidirectional AoE that does massive damage and leaves a huge burning DoT.

  • (If route 2…) Ballast – A massive cone AoE with a small safe-spot behind ADS. Getting hit pushes you back a significant distance.

The abilities remaining on the last boss: Allagan Rot and Gravity Well will be discussed in the final boss section.

Turn 2 Final Boss – ADS

High Voltage -> Piercing Laser -> Repelling Cannons cycle makes a comeback with the turn 2 final boss. You may remember the similar mechanic from T1 ADS. This happens throughout the fight!

He’s just like all of the other nodes until he reaches certain life percents:

at 75% Allagan Rot – The defining mechanic of turn 2. Managing Allagan Rot will determine 90% of your chances at beating turn 2! This will be discussed in the next section.

at 50% Gravity Well – This is a randomly targetted AoE ground effect which applies a 15 second Heavy Debuff. The ground effect lasts for 15 seconds, and is recast 10 seconds after is expires.

at 25% Ballast – if you didn’t kill the node earlier on. Like explained earlier, A massive cone push back with a safe spot behind him.

Limit Break (Melee DPS) should be used anytime under 50% or 25% HP to reduce the time he has more skills active. Healer LB is also a viable choice if things go awry.

Dealing with Allagan Rot

Allagan Rot is a debuff that lasts 15 seconds. If 15 seconds pass and it is not passed to another player, the current victim will explode, and deal AoE damage (unlivable) to the entire raid – resulting in a wipe.

Passing Allagan Rot is as simple as walking to another player. After you’ve passed Allagan Rot, you have an Immunity that lasts 45 seconds. You cannot have Allagan Rot again until Immunity expires.

So what does all this mean!? You need to keep passing Allagan Rot amongst your party until ADS is dead. Failing to do so will result in Allagan Rot blowing up and you guys wiping, like mentioned earlier. This sounds confusing? It is at first, but when you get the hang of it – it’s quite simple. Look at the table below

Sample of Allagan Rot being passed at 5 seconds remaining

(Immunity is italicized, Rot is bold)

Rot Passed at 5sPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5
Pass 115000
Pass 24515000
Pass 335451500
Pass 4253545150
Pass 51525354515

As you can see, passing rot at 5 seconds remaining will result in pass 6 failing. Immunity on #1 has 15s remaining, and so does Rot on #5. So judging by this chart, the ideal time to pass between 5 people is with 4 or less seconds remaining on Allagan Rot.

We Highly Recommend numbering your party beforehand, and simply follow the numbers wherever rot initially lands, to eliminate all confusion! Here’s a sample…

bcob coils turn 2 allagan rot numbering positioning example ffxiv arr

Passing of rot changes depending on the setup of your DPS:

Rot Passing (2 Melee 2 Ranged): [The DF setup]
Ranged (1) -> Healer (2) -> Ranged (3) -> Healer (4) -> Melee (5) -> Ranged (1) [Repeat]

Quite self-explanatory. If things go “wrong” simply have your extra melee (6) pass from (4) to (1). We always have 4 to 1 as a “Melee Assisted Pass”.

Rot Passing (1 Melee 3 Ranged): [Somewhat easier setup]
Ranged (1) -> Healer (2) -> Ranged (3) -> Healer (4) -> Ranged (5) -> Ranged (1) [Repeat]

Same as the setup above, but have your 3rd ranged “pretend” he’s melee by staying just outside Repelling Cannon Range. He can stay right above (1) in the picture above!

Rot Passing (4 Ranged) [“Stacking Method”]
Ranged (1) -> Healer (2) -> Ranged (3) -> Healer (4) -> Ranged (5) -> Ranged (1) [STACK UP]

While we never do this, If you have an all ranged party you can actually stack up after Ranged (5) gives it to Ranged (1). Rot will, amazingly, pass itself after that. If you do this method make sure you all DODGE IN THE SAME DIRECTION, when getting lasered or gravity welled.

Rot Passing (3 melee 1 Ranged): [“Not so bad!” setup]
Melee (1) -> Healer (2) ->  Melee (3) -> Healer (4) -> Melee (5) -> Melee (1) [Repeat]

This one isn’t so bad as many people think. It’s actually pretty Easy. Once “Melee (5)” goes back to DPS the boss, he will automatically pass it to Melee (1) once (1)’s immunity expired!

Rot Passing (4 melee): [“Extreme” mode]
We won’t be discussing this method. It’s possible, but ultimately unlikely that it’s going to happen to many people. The hassle isn’t worth it. Although it could make a pretty interesting video… (idea…)

Turn 2 Positioning Guide

And finally, our suggested positioning during the final encounter:

bcob turn 2 group positioning guide diagram ffxiv arr

ADS (Turn 2) Loot List

TankHealerCasterMNKDRGBRD
Weapon------
Off-Hand------
Head-Allagan Circlet of Healing---Allagan Visor of Aiming
Body--Allagan Tunic of Casting---
Hands--Allagan Gloves of CastingAllagan Gauntlets of StrikingAllagan Gloves of Maiming-
WaistAllagan Plate Belt-----
LegsHeavy Allagan Cuisses-----
Boots-Allagan Boots of HealingAllagan Boots of Casting---
Neck-Allagan Choker of Healing--Allagan Choker of Maiming
EarringsAllagan Earrings of Fending--Allagan Earrings of Striking-Allagan Earrings of Aiming
Bracelets--Allagan Bracelets of Casting---
RingAllagan Ring of Fending-----

Well, I guess that’s it! If you think we missed any tips, or anything you’d like to chime in on – let us know in the comments!

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!

FFXIV Gathering (DoL) Gear Guide

Don’t waste time worrying about your Gathering Gear – and get that DoL class to 50!

Confused about when or what DoL / Gathering gear you should get? When and what are the best gathering gear upgrades, and why? Find out all about that here – and save money on your road to a level 50 gatherer!

Why upgrade your Gathering gear?

Moreso than crafting, better gathering gear = faster levelling. We all know how “exciting” it is levelling a gathering class, ey?

The importance of high Gathering Stat:

Striking at a node and not getting anything means ZERO exp, BROKEN CHAINS and ultimately, wasted time (and money! since you could have gotten the item!) So first and foremost you’re going to want as much gathering as possible.

Gathering is insanely useful in maximizing Levequest EXP. more on this later…

The importance of high Perception Stat:

If you’re doing a lot of grinding, Perception becomes very useful in boosting you EXP gains. Why? At max, you have a 15% chance to gather HQ items without a buff. Let’s compare a gatherer with 0% HQ chance versus 15% HQ chance: 100+[(2*100)*0.15] (HQ percent chance) = 30% Average EXP Bonus.

If you aren’t a level 50 calculator, then it’s fine. All you need to know is that being capped in perception gives you quite a sizeable exp bonus. 30% is not a joke, and it stacks with chains, food and rested EXP.

Perception however, isn’t useful if you’re planning to use levequests… why?

Gathering gear, Levequests and You:

Since getting HQ items is impossible during leves, Perception is useless during a leve attempts. Gathering becomes the single most useful stat, with GP as a supporting stat.

If you’re planning on grinding, both Perception and Gathering are important. However, Gathering is still your most important stat. Why? Again, ENSURING exp gains and ENSURING chains is your first goal. Then once that’s fulfilled, modify it with Perception for massive exp gains.

So we can conclude, during leveling up, Gathering is the most important stat, whether you choose to grind or use leves. And if you’re planning to do a bit of both, getting Perception is a great bonus to grinding. So what does this mean in terms of gearing up?

GP – How useful is it?

Going to level 50, GP isn’t exactly a sustainable resource to rely on. It’s a welcome boost, but not exactly necessary. At 50 though, that’s a completely different discussion…

Gathering gear upgrade strategy

Okay so you want Gathering, no matter how you level up. In terms of gear slots that would be the: Main Hand, Off-hand, Chest (coincidentally they also give huge perception, and are considered critical upgrades). So you want these no matter what you’re going to do. Upgrade as often as possible.

Two more pieces give Gathering: Gloves and Pants. These are less critical, and you should upgrade if you can afford it. Gloves are more powerful than pants! Around 50% more gathering is found on gloves compared to pants! Keep this in mind when buying upgrades.

Now for Perception… The most important pieces were already mentioned above (MH, OH, Chest). The rest are: Helmets, Boots and Belts. Again when thinking of bang for buck – Helmets are the best investment, which are usually 100% more powerful than boots. And belts are the worst investment, as they’re only half as powerful as boots typically!!!

Overall, a cost-efficient upgrade path will be discussed in the end of this post, before that – tables of what level you get upgrades…

Gathering Critical Upgrades – What Level?

The table below represents the levels you get a new DoL chest, Miner main and off-hands, Botanist main and off-hands, and fishing main hand. (All possible critical upgrades)

LevelChestMIN MainMIN OffBTN MainBTN OffFSH Main
1xxxxxx
2
3
4
5
6x
7
8xxx
9x
10
11xxx
12xxx
13
14x
15xxxxx
16
17
18x
19xxx
20xx
21x
22xx
23x
24xx
25xxx
26x
27x
28xx
29xxx
30x
31xx
32xx
33x
34xx
35xx
36
37x
38xxx
39xx
40x
41x
42
43xxxxx
44x
45
46x
47xx
48xxxx
49
50xxxxxx

 

Disciple of Land (DoL) Body pieces

The table is sorted by (at least in my opinion) importance. The left side being more important and more worth the investment, and gets less important as you go right. Gear marked (G) gives gathering, and (P) gives perception. So ignore the Perception pieces if you’re primarily thinking of getting to 50 using Fieldcraft Leves.

LevelHands (G)Head (P)Legs (G)Feet (P)Waist (P)
1xxxxx
2
3
4
5xxx
6x
7
8
9x
10xx
11xx
12x
13x
14
15xxx
16x
17x
18
19xx
20xx
21
22x
23x
24
25xxx
26
27xxx
28
29
30xxx
31x
32
33
34
35xxxxx
36
37x
38x
39x
40xxxx
41
42x
43xxxx
44x
45xx
46x
47x
48xxxx
49
50xxxx

Disciple of Land (DoL) GP pieces (Accessories)

While not super important while leveling up… you cant really be “sad” to have more MAX GP.

LevelNecklaceEaringsBraceletRing
1
2
3
4
5x
6
7xx
8
9
10
11
12
13
14x
15
16
17xx
18
19
20x
21
22
23
24x
25
26
27xx
28
29
30
31
32
33
34x
35
36
37xx
38
39
40x
41
42
43
44x
45x
46
47xx
48
49
50x

Summary: DoL Cost-efficient upgrade path

First of all – Everything below level 15~ is negligible. and you don’t need to really think about your gear before then.

Main HandOff-Hand and Chest should be upgraded when you can afford it.

As a side upgrade to Gathering: updating your Gloves are a good idea every now and then. Legs are less imporant. Here’s our suggestion for a cost-efficient upgrade path:

  • Gloves: (16) (25) (35) (45)
  • Legs: (15) (27) (40). The level 27 ones are from ANY Grand Company, and are pretty worth it.

If you need more Perception, Helmets are the best investment. Helmets generally come from weavers or armorsmiths. The weaver ones are typically more expensive. So here’s a pretty cost-efficient path:

  • Head: (13) (19) (31) (35) (42) (47). Want something in the 20’s? (27).
  • Boots are okay, and you probably wont need more than: (15) (30) and (40).
  • Waist is even less important. (17) and (37) should be fine.

Of course feel free to pick anything up you can afford, and check the Market Board when you reach the levels in the tables above.

Be sure to check out our Mining Leveling Guide, and Botany Leveling Guide, which make great additional resources to this guide.
Also, Mining Node/Material Locations, and Botany Node/Material Locations [Mining is 1-50, BTN is in the proces of being updated…]

Whacking at nodes got you to 50, huh? Then it’s time to gear up. Check this out: Gathering End-Game Gear (+Max Melds) Guide.

Follow us on Facebook for more FFXIV updates!