Question from a rookie Dynamis Bard.

[Scytale]

I hate doing things un-prepared so I would like to direct these questions to the Experienced Bards here and the players who have done Dynamis Runs with Bards. What are some things I should expect/anticipate if and when I make a Dynamis Run here? (slot availabilty still in question). Do lower lvl bards (71 now) act solely as Ballad-er's for mage pt's or...?

Please whom-ever can fill me in on the skinny so I can make sure I don't let anyone down when I get the opprotunity to run with you all :)

[Radav]

Well I think I might be able to answer this for ya. Lvl. 75 BRD who's LS leader as well as been on 30 dynamis runs.

There are 2 positions you can hold in the alliance as a BRD. One is being part of the BLM alliance. This is where I have been ever since I started doing dynamis runs. Your job is pretty straight forward. You will either be in a party made of just you and a bunch of BLMs or you will be part of the pulling party. In the BLM party you give out double ballad, give out buffs, and cure them when they get in trouble. You also will be Lullabying and Horde Lullabying adds ALOT. I am constantly running around debuffing (Elegy + Finale) mobs being fought by the melee alliances as well as taking care of sleeping things the BLMs deal with. Which are usually BST pets.

In the pulling party you will be playing 2 x Ballad helping keep the PLD alive and mostly you should be concerned with sleeping adds. Avatars, BLM mobs, and NIN mobs are of high concern. If you see them running free sleep them asap.

The second spot a BRD can get is a spot in the melee alliance. Your job here is to provide 2 x Ballad for the WHM in the party and to buff the melee with Minuet Madrigal and Archer's Prelude if need be. Also like usual you should be sleeping adds as much as you can.

If you have any more questions lets hear em. I'm like you I like to be fully prepared and know exactly what's going on. So if you need more help I have no problems giving it.

[Scytale]

ok let's talk gear then. I'm pre-lvl 72 which means none of the sweet CHR from Errant/Dance/JSE. Should I be concerned with not being able to land de-buffs and/or sleep??

Current Gear:
Terra's Staff
Light Staff
Dark Staff
Opo-opo Crown
Star Necklace
String Torque
Wind Torque
Melody Ear-rings x2
Joustacorps +1
AF hands/legs/feet.
Moon Rings x2
Jester's Cape +1
Corsette +1
Military Harp (finale)
Horn +1 (Elegy)
Hamelin flute (requiem) (note: should I even use this do we avoid DoT attacks?)
Mary's Horn (lullaby)
Other assorted +1 instruments.

I think my over-all CHR when eatin pamamas is 66+42-44 (crap can't remember).

should this be alright?? I've already got the Errant I need once I ding 72, still need to purchace the 72 Rings (none for sale) and considering Sha'ir when I make more money.

[Radav]

Your gear's better then mine. I have been messing around alot with what I wear to dynamis runs cause you will see me dying alot. l would shy away from errants because of the -VIT. You do get hit some and these mobs can knock you out in like 2 hits. Everything you have is great.

[Scytale]

Alright cool, I may even just use AF body to avoid the minus VIT from Joustacorps, use Terra's as main staff, and Minstrall's Ear-ring for the extra -%dam cushon. Guess I'll just have to get smacked around a few times to see what happens :P Thanks for the help! ^^ if you can think of anything else I should know please let me know. Last thing I want to see is me walking in there "Hey guys I'm the new bard how is everyone toda......hey why's my pt dead?"

[Wrish]

I'm no bard so I'll leave the vast majority of job questions to bards, but as far as taking hits after monsters wake up in bunches running after you, I'd have to say as a mage that errant's set isn't so bad. That's because when monsters are hitting you for 180-250 a hit, one point of vitality is probably going to change that by 2-3 damage whereas 10 more defense could save you 5-20 damage.

Errants set is known among blms and whms for its high defense but negative vitality. Perhaps bards have better defense-boosting choices, but don't forget that when you're facing such strong monsters, it often pays to sacrifice vitality for a raw defense boost.

I haven't tested this much, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if a low-vit bard wearing +HP/defense gear and using fishkabob (+24% defense), swapping out to charisma gear only to cast lullabies, ends up surviving 2-4 more hits in Dynamis. Couple this with the 2 hits blink can absorb, plus the ability to outrun most monsters in Dynamis, and you or your party won't lose much exp in a typical run.

[Fatman]

Use the Tarutaru RSE pants and dont bother trying to sleep the mobs, just tank em straight up, If your not Tarutaru I guess your screwed.:(

[Manatra]

Vitality decreases a mobs attack by a set %age, defense only decreases it by a set amount and only goes so far. That's why as levels go up, Vit gear starts becoming more and more attractive as monsters get higher attack, and thus, VIT starts doing more than def.

[Laess]

From what I've read, this isn't exactly how it works. VIT is compared to STR on a linear scale, and def is compared to atk via a ratio. Once you have a high enough defense compared to the mob's attack, adding extra defense doesn't affect your damage taken as much as adding extra VIT (because each point of VIT decrease the damage you take by a point, according to the damage formula). So, at higher levels when you have crazy defense, adding 20 def is almost insignificant compared to adding a few points of VIT (which will decrease the damage done to you by every hit the mob lands).

I can try to dig up a link to the research people have done to figure out the damage formula.

[Cybaster]

Bard in dynamis is so insignificant, and nobody will even bother looking at you, this is because they need to handle alot of link, and busy doing their job, and your job is to buff them, so they think they can do whatever they want.

If you end up in blm pt, good, tell them to always gather together, and no matter how godly you are, your primary job is to ballad, and lullaby, but prepare to be overcasted by rdm or blm sleep, and your lullaby won't have any effect. I like to elegy alot when I'm in BLM PT, they have really weak resistance, so you don't need to worry about chr and that stuff, I prefer wind instrument+ anyway.

If you are in melee PT, I hope you don't die by stress. There's always some mages and melee that are running freely moving when you are singing etc, it's really damn hard, your primary concern is to ballad healer, but if their mp is high/full, LEAVE IT, just madrigal and minuet melee, it's really hard to do both, especially with a few ppl that have a habit of running around.

[Scytale]

wow getting a lot of imput now ^^ I guess the best test will be real experience. I'll learn quick for better or worse.

One thing I was wondering, is it helpful to sacrifice the additional bonus a +1 wind instrument will do by using a Harp for greater radius effect? Last thing I want is to see myself singing Minuet to see the text "Scytale casts Minuet, Scytale gains the effect of Minuet".....hey where'd everyone else go?? :P

This would probably serve better use in the blm pt, with 224 Stringed skill that damn harp's radius covers entire areas it seems (sucks with a I forget to switch and cast ballad, sorry RNG thought you needed mp ><)

edit: for spelling

[Fatman]

Our main purpose as BLM's in dynamis is to give Cybaster a nervous breakdown

If your in our alliance you will notice that when he says "Gather Together" we all <Run away!>

[Wrish]

Regarding Manatra's post about the vitality/defense, it's technically misguided. For what seems to be a fairly accurate summary of the effects of vitality versus defense, I'd look no further than the paladin guide at Allakazham (http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html?fjob=5&mid=1097856773561639925&num=41; search for the second instance of the phrase "Def and Vit").
There are no diminishing returns to additional VIT, but there certainly are for defense, as Manatra correctly indicates.

But turning up the defense does not lead to a linear reduction of damage. There is a critical range of defense for any given monster where increments of additional defense provide a substantial percentage resistance to physical damage. Below that range, further cutting your defense marginally worsens enemy attacks; above that range, further improving your defense does little to reduce damage.

In Dynamis, the defenses of most if not all the mages are below the critical range, unfortunately - they're not expected to tank. But the purpose of an RDM or BRD wearing high defense gear and eating fishkabob (or even going so far as to sub PLD) before sleeping mobs would be to try to hit somewhere in that critical range where mob attacks weaken substantially. It hardly matters that you have errants gear on if your defense reaches 550 - the monsters perhaps would be hitting for 110-130 each with the occasional 220-260, whereas with 270 defense and tons of vitality boosts, you'd usually take the full 200-240 every hit.

[Fatman]

If you come to Dynamis with PLD SJ wrish i sware I'll come to your trailer and eat your Oreos.:mad:

[Cybaster]

Oh noees my oreos~! (`3`)p
ROTFLBTCASTCIIHO!!~~1!!1!!~!~!!

(Rolling On The Floor Biting The Carpet And Scaring The Cat If I Had One) - taken from http://www.gaarde.org/acronyms/?lookup=R

[Scytale]

DOH!

Ok, well from the looks of it I'm gonna take some beatings in there, and as Much as I want to eat a lot of HQ Dynamis Dirt <Thanks for the offer, but I will have to pass>

Someone mentioned that the mobs don't carry a high resistance to sleep/enfeebles. With that, where does High CHR become "too much" CHR? Having 67 base CHR how much more on top of that should I bring? If I can get away with the minimum I could switch in VIT like those +3 VIT rings, some steamed crab (sorry opo crown, you're on the shelf tonight) etc.

lol I have a feeling I'm going to look so ghetto for this, but heck whatever it takes to get the job done! :P

[Manatra]

In other words, just go with the stuff mages want (MP gear for the most part).

In the end, as Russta said, if you're getting hit, and the monsters are through your stoneskin + blink, you're probably already dead.

[Cyrus]

Oh noees my oreos~! (`3`)p
ROTFLBTCASTCIIHO!!~~1!!1!!~!~!!

(Rolling On The Floor Biting The Carpet And Scaring The Cat If I Had One) - taken from http://www.gaarde.org/acronyms/?lookup=RWCUWTELANIGTKWTM .................................：）

[Scytale]

gonna have to see how it goes then, word is tonight is full. I'll show up and hope for the best though. If I don't make it in that's alright I can wait for another event. Good luck tonight

[Cybaster]

WCUWTELANIGTKWTM .................................：）



WCTYBTWHTKY....

[Cyrus]

/em slinks away with his "How to speak Cybaster in 3 weeks" book.

MSCEA :(