[X] My Assistant

I have been wondering for a while, but why do people prefer pfudor to IWBHT O xO ?
Except for exp the increase is kind of minimal compare to how much harder it would be compare to IWBHT O AO

And how do people finish 1000 pfudor round in 1 hour Q xQ ? Isn't that like, 3 4 seconds per round Q xQ ?

I think pf gives better gold/gear. And yea, it is. Non-imperil mages can do even faster, Imperil mage just cast 2-5-8 (add also if someone resisted) and finish em all in few hits with 1-6 (add if someone other survive). Also cures if needed. You can see its not rly hard, because its always more or less same 2 rotations for 3-5 turns each. Usually 1000 pf turns/hour is very good mage, so he has good counter-resist for imperil and closer to 2-3 battle spells.

I have been wondering for a while, but why do people prefer pfudor to IWBHT O xO ?
Except for exp the increase is kind of minimal compare to how much harder it would be compare to IWBHT O AO

in theory you should unlock a multiplier for quality rolls that depends on the difficulty you play.
however you have a point. personally i could understand doing relatively easy arenas like T&T on PF, but i don't really see a point in doing - just saying - IW runs at PF rather than IWTBH, when credit drops/EXP are biased and PXP (the main goal) are exactly the same (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

And how do people finish 1000 pfudor round in 1 hour Q xQ ? Isn't that like, 3 4 seconds per round Q xQ ?

probably, but usually we're speaking about top-level mages, with uberforged/optimal IWed gears, damage perks, a good bunch of infusions and probably even scrolls and other powerups like bubblegums and flower vases. melee could do it as well, maybe slightly less optimally, but not that it changes so much, again uberforged gears, blah blah blah

long story short, those kind of people are on a whole other league if compared with your current level - well, even mine tbh (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/heh.gif)

in theory you should unlock a multiplier for quality rolls that depends on the difficulty you play.

however you have a point. personally i could understand doing relatively easy arenas like T&T on PF, but i don't really see a point in doing - just saying - IW runs at PF rather than IWTBH, when credit drops/EXP are biased and PXP (the main goal) are exactly the same (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

The only self-found upgrade I've ever found was a result of PF IW, and I'm pretty sure Leg chance is significantly higher on PF than on IWBTH. (Sure, quality isn't amazing, but it saved me ~1.5m back then) Would I have gotten it otherwise? Maybe, maybe not, but I wouldn't bet on it.

With 1h, I always play on PF rather than on IWBTH, even in IW. With my setup, damage taken is just so low that it doesn't matter. Maybe it means one more Full-cure every 15 rounds? But PF instead of IWBTH also means a noticeable increase in OC when fighting the last monster or two. I'm pretty sure PF clear speed is higher than IWBTH clear speed.

Better drops, better XP, better crystals, better credits, better speed... (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Why not

don't make me think about self-found upgrades. the only decent ones that i own(ed) and didn't buy at WTS came from bazaar (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/anime_cry.gif)

The only self-found upgrade I've ever found was a result of PF IW, and I'm pretty sure Leg chance is significantly higher on PF than on IWBTH. (Sure, quality isn't amazing, but it saved me ~1.5m back then) Would I have gotten it otherwise? Maybe, maybe not, but I wouldn't bet on it.

With 1h, I always play on PF rather than on IWBTH, even in IW. With my setup, damage taken is just so low that it doesn't matter. Maybe it means one more Full-cure every 15 rounds? But PF instead of IWBTH also means a noticeable increase in OC when fighting the last monster or two. I'm pretty sure PF clear speed is higher than IWBTH clear speed.

Better drops, better XP, better crystals, better credits, better speed... (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Why not

I usually do my IW runs on nintendo (can do them blindly) and the other day i got in the legendary drop IW on PF by mistake.
Had an insanely hard time to clear 79 rounds. I was healing all the time and even had to use items.
Just to compare it i tried it at IWBTH next and it felt SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.
But then again... my 1H/heavy equipment sucks... (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Had an insanely hard time to clear 79 rounds. I was healing all the time and even had to use items.
Just to compare it i tried it at IWBTH next and it felt SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.
But then again... my 1H/heavy equipment sucks... (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

I know the feeling. I'm IWing an 84-round equip as mage, and even IWBTH feels barely doable, since I'm Sparking and using spirit potion after spirit potion constantly past round 70. The good news is I'm finally in a situation when it feels justified to occasionally use a Last Elixer (which would otherwise just rot away in inventory). Or is that good news? I'm not sure...

More or less same problem for me. But i think charged gear should fix it a bit. Actually when i got 14->20 cast speed increase i noticed difference. It wasnt very big, but it was noticeable. 30 should be even better. As mage we cant rly increase much our defense. Even forge wont give much, so our main reduction is speed. Its our damage which means lower overall income (and specially powerful mp attacks) and also our casting speed which means lower per turn (and also lower overall).

Does anyone know the relationship between bazaar value and gear condition? Each equip is different, and the equation isn't immediately obvious.

If no one knows I'll blow a bunch of my scrap and do some spreadsheet work.

Does anyone know the relationship between bazaar value and gear condition? Each equip is different, and the equation isn't immediately obvious.

If no one knows I'll blow a bunch of my scrap and do some spreadsheet work.

my wild guess - cost pretty much linear with condition, but i don't know the coefficient...

-snip-

Just to add to this, and to make this a short review of 1H+Shade fighting style compared to 1H+Power, here are some of my stats with Shade and Power:

Here are my weapon and shield too.
Of course it's a bit biased comparison with the low heavy armor proficiency, but it makes smaller difference than light armor because it's only HP and specific mitigation (compared to better accuracy, crit and speed) and I didn't face huge problems with cure use when trying out the Power set. The problem I faced with Power was the low resist, meaning that high damage is a must for Power to avoid monsters from unleashing all their skills on you. With Shade you are weak to piercing attacks, but I found that with Power is similarly weak to magical attacks, something that is less of a concern with Shade. Another problem with Power was the constant casting of spells (because of the lack of attack speed) combined with high mana consumption (smaller MP pool and higher ITR). I could still use both sets for PFUDOR arenas.

I would say Arcanist (better MP management and more PABs, adding to SP pool) and Negation (higher resist) gear has a place in this style, because low evade is actually desireable (note that I have not forged evade). In conclusion I would say that 1H and Shade armor is a decent budget option. Power is most likely the better option for fast clearing, but Shade works for carefree playing (tanky, low restoratives consumption and less spell casting).

-snip-

Had fun reading this sales pitch earlier (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/heh.gif)

Is RR not on that list before Thinking Cap? There seems to be no consensus about the practicality of RR at the moment. I think some players say it's not needed anymore because of the unlimited potions.

RR cost 500 hath, Thinking Cap cost 250 hath. That's why I didn't talk about RR.

RR is good, primarily for mages, mainly because of the HP regeneration bonus. For mages, any amount of increased defensive measurement is good. Melee, no matter what the armor and playstyle, already has plenty of defense. The effects from RR is barely noticeable if you're melee.

It takes 88x crystal packs for a monster to reach PL1017.
With Lv.45 Scavenger and Crystarium V, in x20 GF, at round 1000 = 6.1x crystal packs.
88/6.1 ~ 14.43 runs. Assumed that one run takes one hour, it takes 14.43 hours in total. 10 hours is insanely fast imo.

And how many ED will be required to get 88 packs? (Even with the ED Perk) (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Bubble gum and flower all the way, I have seen people do it in 43 min (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
Top mages with low ping shuold be even faster

That'll require a hell lot of attention. Even if I get 4 T/S as a Mage, I don't think I'll attempt PF-GF like that.

I know the feeling. I'm IWing an 84-round equip as mage, and even IWBTH feels barely doable, since I'm Sparking and using spirit potion after spirit potion constantly past round 70. The good news is I'm finally in a situation when it feels justified to occasionally use a Last Elixer (which would otherwise just rot away in inventory). Or is that good news? I'm not sure...

84 rounds of IWBTH IW feels "barely doable"?? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
You have to constantly use Last Elixir???? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)
Mate, you must be doing something very wrong!!! (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/faint.gif)

my wild guess - cost pretty much linear with condition, but i don't know the coefficient...

I thought so too, but it's not, at least for the couple of equipments I took into 1hp battle to break. Bazaar value was still 30c-80c or something at 1% condition.

Just to add to this, and to make this a short review of 1H+Shade fighting style compared to 1H+Power, here are some of my stats with Shade and Power:

i won't say anything because i didn't use 1H + shade very much. but still, it seems to me that your crit damage is quite low. if i were you, i'd try to grab a few savage pieces, if possible

I thought so too, but it's not, at least for the couple of equipments I took into 1hp battle to break. Bazaar value was still 30c-80c or something at 1% condition.

mind you, the equation of a straight line is

y = mx + q

don't know how much you're fond of math, but just in case this means the two variables x and y - respectively condition and cost - are related by both a certain pendence (the incremental coefficient m) and an Y-intercept, which is exactly the cost at condition 0: i'm too lazy to try, but if by salvaging the equipment at condition 0 you still earn something (1 scrap?) then it does make perfect sense that q =/= 0.

obviously, we still cannot be sure that relation is linear, but at this point you only have to take note of the cost of the item at various conditions (let's say every 10 points? this would be the easiest choice, since for every defeat you'll lose exactly 10 cond) and plot them into a graph. i suggest you a dispersion graph, or whatever is called in english (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

mind you, the equation of a straight line is

y = mx + q

don't know how much you're fond of math, but just in case this means the two variables x and y - respectively condition and cost - are related by both a certain pendence (the incremental coefficient m) and an Y-intercept, which is exactly the cost at condition 0: i'm too lazy to try, but if by salvaging the equipment at condition 0 you still earn something (1 scrap?) then it does make perfect sense that q =/= 0.

obviously, we still cannot be sure that relation is linear, but at this point you only have to take note of the cost of the item at various conditions (let's say every 10 points? this would be the easiest choice, since for every defeat you'll lose exactly 10 cond) and plot them into a graph. i suggest you a dispersion graph, or whatever is called in english (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

If I remember the numbers right, both the y-intercept and the +credits per condition% were different for each, and I didn't see an easy way to predict both values given only condition% and that condition%'s sell value. I'll need to use some scrap on a bunch of junk to figure it out (if it even can be predicted).

Its better to do step by step.

Take similar equip with different pxp and 100% condition. Look how much it gives.
Check same with different conditions.
Check different equip.

If I remember the numbers right, both the y-intercept and the +credits per condition% were different for each, and I didn't see an easy way to predict both values given only condition% and that condition%'s sell value.

it's for this very reason that i'm suggesting you to take note of a few conditions and plot a graph. an image may be very eloquent: could it be a straight ( y = mx + q ), an exponential ( y = a^x + b ), a logarithm ( y = loga(x) + b )... at least you'll be able to catch a glimpse of it. and if nothing else, excel can extract the equation of a desired trend function (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

This post has been edited by Scremaz: Nov 10 2015, 23:12

i won't say anything because i didn't use 1H + shade very much. but still, it seems to me that your crit damage is quite low. if i were you, i'd try to grab a few savage pieces, if possible

I agree it's a little low, but consider I have only paid maximum of 300k per piece so far, that isn't really the budget for Savage Shade (at least Legendary) most of the time. I do have another helmet that is Savage, but the Agile one just barely pushes my attack speed to the point where I can perma stun one enemy with Shield Bash (really nice for bosses like FSM for example). I'm also not going to reforge my rapier to try to IW it Fatality 5 instead of the 4 at the moment. You know, for light armor there are no other ways to increase crit damage than Savage prefix and Fatality on weapon. I am actually looking at every auction for upgrades that are in my price range, but there doesn't seem to be many Savage Shades in auctions lately that I found worth investing in.

I have to say I was a little surprised when I realized for the first time that Power armor gives both crit damage and crit chance in all variations, things I thought were the benefits of light armor (mainly crit chance, damage I can understand). In my opinion light armor crit chance should be higher than Power armor. I imagine that light armor would help landing critical strikes, and it already has lower damage so it would balance the difference. At least all the Shade variations should have increased crit chance instead of just Shadowdancer.

Well light armor also has the ability "light crit" to back it up so it's not that unfair.
I'm using balanced rapier/shortsword for my test runs and i see crits all the time.

I agree it's a little low, but consider I have only paid maximum of 300k per piece so far, that isn't really the budget for Savage Shade (at least Legendary) most of the time.

meh. just don't pick the bandwagon and let all higherups complete their sets (read: aim for leftovers if needed) and all will be good. you'll be eventually even surprised that you spent *even* 300k for piece. it's not even a matter of Mag or Leg range - and besides, it's not that in a whole build a single piece will make a big difference. the real question is, what can i find within my level range? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

I do have another helmet that is Savage, but the Agile one just barely pushes my attack speed to the point where I can perma stun one enemy with Shield Bash (really nice for bosses like FSM for example).

again, i won't say anything because i don't use Agile nor Shield Bash since i prefer respectively Savage and perma-Spirit Stance. not that FSM needs all those precautions though. still, it is a very particular case, you shouldn't base your main build on that alone. you should base it on all the other mobs and in case you have to go against FSM throw in what you need to end it

I'm also not going to reforge my rapier to try to IW it Fatality 5 instead of the 4 at the moment. You know, for light armor there are no other ways to increase crit damage than Savage prefix and Fatality on weapon. I am actually looking at every auction for upgrades that are in my price range, but there doesn't seem to be many Savage Shades in auctions lately that I found worth investing in.

for a 1H build good potencies are Fatality and Butcher, but no point in reforging a But5/Fat4 to go for Fat5/But4. not only difference is negligible, you may not even be able to reach such a result again (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

as for armors, my shade set gives me +11 crit damage, one piece isn't Savage at all and only one of the Savage ones is Legendary grade. now, how does it sound +13~14 crit damage? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

I have to say I was a little surprised when I realized for the first time that Power armor gives both crit damage and crit chance in all variations, things I thought were the benefits of light armor (mainly crit chance, damage I can understand).

as far as i noted until now, main feature of Light armors has always been the versatility: if you note it, once you unequip the shield it's the best armor set at high difficulties: evade, resist, crit, ACC... what else coould you want? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

At least all the Shade variations should have increased crit chance instead of just Shadowdancer.

now, don't overestimate crit chance on Shadowdancer pieces - while it's true it's the only Light armor that directly adds crit chance, you also have to consider that it's multiplicative and either STR and DEX boost it: tbh, i was quite surprised to note that switching from a SD (not the best, but still +3 crit) to a Negation (because of Savage prefix (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) ) made me lose only 1% crit, but added 6% Resist (and made me spare a handful of millions). absolutely worth it (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)
on the other hand, crit damage doesn't scale and it's not forgeable, so personally i prefer it boosting it over a bit of crit chance