Blue Mage Guide to AOE Farming or blue POWER

By Valefor.Prothescar 2011-04-15 17:27:53
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Hello,

I see countless BLUs wondering how to farm for time and other things within abyssea at the astounding rates of others. There are so many, in fact, that I feel compelled to write a guide expressing how exactly to perform this act. You may AoE burn alone or with others, having a healer helps but is not necessary if you have the gear and atma required. Usually, someone who is at the baseline of Blue Mage equipment will need outside help from a White or Red Mage.

Sub jobs are a matter of preference and what you'd be doing later on in the night. Essentially, /NIN offers nothing but a little bit of INT. /RDM, however, lends a variety of tools to your arsenal. Phalanx, Stoneskin and Aquaveil are incredibly useful tools, causing most monsters to hit for 0-20 damage each. Aquaveil protects you from being interrupted, which is also very useful. The choice is yours, but /RDM is better for this specific activity.

Things you will need to make this as efficient as possible:
Blue Mage
STR gear
INT gear
PDT- gear
Movement speed+ gear
Atma of the Lion/Atma of the Blinding Horn/Atma of the Smoldering Sky/Atma of the Minikin Monstrosity/Atma of the Beyond/Atma of the Baying Moon/Atma of the Ultimate/Atma of Hell's Guiardian/Atma of the Razed Ruin

Atma choices are rarely situational. The best set for most monsters would be Lion + Blinding Horn + Ultimate. For bombs or other lightning resistant monsters, you would want to switch Lion and Blinding Horn for Smoldering Sky and a second Magic Attack Bonus atma. Generally speaking, if you do not have one or either of the lightning damage+ atmas, magic attack bonus atmas make for the best substitute you can have. Atma of the Razed Ruin is also an acceptable atma to use as the 50 dexterity bonus that it grants adds plenty to your Charged Whisker when used in conjunction with Burst Affinity, which you should always have available on pulls anyways.


It is a very simply procedure. Based on zone, the first thing you will want to do is farm up some Azure, Pearlescent and/or Amber, depending on what you want to farm. If you only want time and cruor, Azure+Pearlescent is the way to go, but if you want some augmented items, key items or empyrean foot armor/synthesis materials, then you'll want some Amber as well. The exact values of Amber depend on what item you're going for. Generally, high quality augmented items and key items only drop from upper tier large sized gold chests and everything else has a chance to drop from smaller ones. Further within this guide are a series of general guidelines of what to farm lights on based on zone.

Once you have lights, you get to the crux of the situation. You'll want to locate a suitable type of monster to pull multiples of and AoE down using specific spells for the greatest effect. Generally you'll want to find monsters that aggro and link, but sometimes this is not possible. As long as they do one or the other, you will do fine. You will also want to make sure that these monsters do not cast magic, as it will make the pulls more difficult and sometimes more dangerous. Depending on whether or not other people have been killing the monsters that you're targeting, (be respectful, don't pull over people if they are still there), then you may have to delevel them. I don't know how it works exactly, but after a couple of pulls the monsters will go from higher levels to Decent Challenge/Easy Prey. Keep pulls small until then.

You should also make sure you have the proper spells set for the job, the best spell set I've found includes:

Whirl of Rage
Charged Whisker
Thermal Pulse
Memento Mori
Dream Flower
Cocoon
Occultation
Battery Charge (If you're /NIN)
Magic Fruit
Actinic Burst
Winds of Promyvion
Auroral Drape
Sub-zero Smash

With the rest of your points being allocated to stats or other enhancing spells of your choosing. Some may choose to put in more AoE spells such as Body Slam, Battle Dance and Grand Slam. I find these unnecessary, as most of the time monsters will die in two spells, but for some it may be preferred.

The method for taking down your marks will vary slightly based on monster type, but for 95% of monsters, the cycle should look like this:

Pre-pull: Cast cocoon, occultation and haste then make sure you have a sword equipped. If you're subbing RDM, Phalanx, Stoneskin and Aquaveil are also very good to put up. Put on PDT and movement speed and prepare to pull.

Pull: Based on monster, you will have to do different things to pull. If you're new to AoE burning or the monster is particularly fierce, I would suggest keeping pulls down to 5-10. If you're advanced or the monsters hits are weak, 15-20 monsters may be possible. If you have support, you may always try to pull more than 10. If the monsters aggro to sound, then it's an easy situation: just run around in PDT and movement speed gathering up however many monsters you feel comfortable with then return to a safe spot to kill them. If they aggro sight, you can still do this however it will require more work on your part. Magic aggro monsters are easier than either to get en masse, just start casting a spell like Occultation or Memento Mori in the middle of them and you'll have yourself a few at a time. When pulling, it's always important to make sure you aren't running too far ahead of the monsters or they will deaggro. Try to find the sweet spot in between or let them catch up every now and then.

The Burn: Now for the fun part. Start by using Chain affinity and Efflux, and follow that up with Whirl of Rage. Immediately use Dream Flower to sleep the hoard and heal up any damage you have taken. Proceed with Memento Mori, (replace this with Ascetic's Tonic when you start getting temporary item chests), and Burst Affinity followed by a Charged Whisker or a Thermal Pulse depending on the monster, (generally only bombs will require Thermal Pulse due to their resistance of other elements). If this does not kill every monster in the group, (probably due to lack of atma), then Whirl of Rage again and use Dream Flower and your second magical spell if required. It will take a pull or two before you know if you can take monsters out in two shots or not, so try smaller numbers at first.

If you follow those basic guidelines, you should be able to two shot most types of monsters.

Now, every zone will have different monsters that are preferable over others for AoE burning as well as different methods of acquiring lights, (although this is mostly based on which expansion that the zone derives from). Below are the monsters and methods that I have had experience with and found easiest to manage. Feel free to deviate from this and try your own types of monsters if you want to experiment.


Abyssea - La Theine
Visions of Abyssea zones are difficult to do this in, as the methods of farming lights are far more time intensive than in Heroes or Scars. Essentially, you'll want to buy a Clear Demilune Abyssite from the Cruor Prospector NPC (300 Cruor). VNMs, when killed, will supply you with 3-10x the potency of whatever light you obtain from them. Ephemerals also supply this based upon their level, however, due to their spread out and inconsistent nature in the Visions zones, these are best used as fillers. Your general plan of attack should be to kill multiple VNMs until you obtain top tier blue chests, (Intense Soothing Light, familiar stone fragment, princely amount of cruor, etc.), and gold chests if you're after those.

Generally, T1 VNMs in La Theine are found around the rabbits and the tigers in large quantities, though they can go as far as the corpselights.

Once you have your lights to an acceptable level, you will want to find a suitable type of monster to pull for AoE burning. In La Theine, you can try frogs, worms, birds, or puks for the easiest time. Frogs are on the top of the list with birds and puks in second, although puks can be difficult to pull due to them being somewhat spread out. Worms should be used as a last resort as you can not rely on pulling them, you must hope for them to clump together naturally and you must also contend with avoiding the Notorious Monster.

Abyssea - Tahrongi
T1 VNMs in Tahrongi tend to be found most often East of Conflux 1 in the Clionids and Northwest of Conflux 2 in the Hecteye and Scorpions. Take caution if you go for the ones near the Clionids as a Notorious Monster that detects by low HP and is invisible until it aggros wanders amongst them.

Tahrongi doesn't have many choices, in fact, the only good choice here would be the scorpions as they are the only decent aggroing and linking monsters in the zone that are easy to manage. Sandworms and Manticores may work, in theory, but I have never tried these as sandworms are fairly spread out and manticores aggro to sight and are not very numerous. Gnats may also be eligible, but contending with the Notorious Monster may make it hazardous. Corpselights follow the same line, except instead of a notorious monster, you have to deal with their frequent magic usage.

Coeurl and bats work as an alternative as well. Thanks to Nightfyre and Raenryong for the suggestions.

Gnats are also a good choice. Thanks to Helel for the suggestion.

Abyssea - Konschtat
T1 VNMs in Konschtat are often found near the leeches and in the empty places between confluxes 4, 5 and 7.

Konschtat is open to more options than Tahrongi, thankfully. Leeches and Tonberries are tried and true families, and slugs may also work. In a pinch, corpselights are also applicable choices, however their frequent casting and ability to bind and stun you while pulling make them unattractive.

Abyssea - Misareaux
For Scars zones, farming for lights becomes a lot easier. Killing Ephemeral Murex and Ameobans becomes a valid tactic as they are not nearly as rare as in the Visions zones. There is one ephemeral in every monster family. T1 VNMs are still useful for Pearlescent light, however.

T1 VNMs in Misareaux are frequently found around the bomb clusters and the orobons/crabs.

The king of all monsters in Misareaux is the mighty frog. Unfortunately, finding these uncontested will be nearly impossible. Between other AoE burners or people camping the frog NM for their empyrean weapon triggers, they are often overcrowded and impossible to pull in frequency or at a decent level. The best alternative would be detectors, as they're easy to pull and not incredibly strong. Alternatives also exist in the crabs, orobons and flies, although flies can be hazardous due to the Notorious Monster and orobons may be too high of a level due to farming for the orobon notorious monster's pop item.

Apkallu are also a good choice. Thanks to Helel for the suggestion.

Abyssea - Attowha
T1 VNMs in Attowha can be a pain to track. I find them most often within the Coeruls and Cockatrice, so I would start there.

As for burn monsters, chigoes are the best in the zone. They're weak and numerous, however they are also highly contested. The Notorious Monster may also complicate things if it isn't being farmed. Mandragoras are a good alternative, as are wamouracampa, however the campa move very slowly which can be annoying on pulls. Scorpions and eruca also make decent candidates.

Abyssea - Vunkerl
T1 VNMs in Vunkerl can be found with frequency around the rabbits and puks.

Most of the time I try to do the djinns in this zone. They're easy to pull and aren't very strong. Unlike normal bombs, they do not resist Charged Whisker. In the event that they're taken, however, Vunkerl does not lend very many alternatives. Puks can work, as can spiders. As a last resort, corpselights are also viable but present the same issues as those in Konschtat and Tahrongi.

Tauri are also a good choice. Thanks to Helel for the suggestion.

Abyssea - Uleguerand
The Heroes zones are the easiest to farm lights in -- in fact, most of the time, you don't even have to. Due to morale buffs in these zones, you get a bonus to your lights just by obtaining visitant status. Normally I just pull like I would if I had already farmed lights and cap azure in a couple of rounds. Pearlescent will be capped through red chests soon after beginning as well. For these reasons, I will not bother outlining T1 VNMs in these zones.

For burn mobs, I would suggest snolls as being the easiest to pull and to deal with. Even if you get the elemental in their ranks, thermal pulse and charged whisker will easily deal with it just like the snolls themselves. Detectors present a wonderful alternative, and if both of those are occupied then so do gears.

Abyssea - Altep
Altep's creme de la creme would be the mandragoras. They're very easy to pull and are incredibly weak. Two problems do exist, however: one, they are often contested and two, the Notorious Monster cactuar that spawns amongst them can be an annoyance. It isn't difficult to avoid, just make sure you're paying attention when pulling. Alternatives are all relatively unattractive, however often they are the only option. Detectors work, however the two elementals that roam within them may be annoying. You seldom have to worry about the chariot being alive long enough for you to have to worry about it, but do take caution. Puks are very spread out, but otherwise they work well enough. You may not want to pull many if you're alone just because of their distribution and how you'll be taking a bit of damage on the pulls. Bombs also work, but they tend to hit rather hard and pulling too many is not preferable.

Abyssea - Grauberg
Grauberg is very similar to Uleguerand in the types of monsters that work well. Djinns and Detectors are on the top of the list, and are often uncontested. In the event that they are, however, you will have to deal with much less suitable conditions. Goblins work, however they tend to be very spread out and deaggro easily. Puks are acceptable, but the Notorious Monster can complicate things.



That covers every zone, and pretty much wraps up this guide. Comments, suggestions and other such responses are welcome below or via PM. Additional options for monster types to farm are welcome and will be added if they are applicable. Aside from that, thanks for reading, and I hope this helps those of you that are new to AoE burning on Blue Mage.

i've become the official te bitch for the ls during events doing this. a puller and i (usually my pld friend corv) have this down to a science now.

the method we use is pretty much as described above. he pulls around 20 mobs (we try to use detectors whenever possible). while he is pulling i pop my ascetics tonic and use amplification, stoneskin, occultation, haste, phalanx, aquaveil. once they are all bunched around him it goes:

dream flower--> sound blast-->enervation-->BA-->CW-->they dead.

i usually do 5400-5700 damage to them. the last time i did this i had a smn with us who dream shrouded me, then left shiva out for the + int and i was doing 6445 to them all, it was sick.

if on the odd chance some live cause of resist, i follow up with thermal pulse.

always use lion/blinding horn/ultima atmas, just get mp out of chests.

and since BA is always up for by next pull i stack dex over int where there is more dex in a gear slot than int
Item Set


still working on hands and feet +2, and there is a +3 dex grip id like to get, but never any on ah.

anyway, its alot of fun

By Fenrir.Nightfyre 2011-05-23 17:05:33
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Bump~

Couple things that are easy to overlook, but will make pulls easier and potentially allow you to manage bigger pulls as well if you're operating alone:

-Stoneskin enhancing gear. There are four pieces of gear that add to your Stoneskin's damage absorption: Stone Gorget (30 HP), Stone Mufflers (30 HP), Haven Hose (20 HP), and Siegel Sash (20 HP). Stone Mufflers are kind of a hassle to get as they come from The Buried God SCNM, but the others are fairly easy to obtain. Combined with cruor buffs (allowing you to easily cap your base Stoneskin due to high MND), you can get a 430-450 HP Stoneskin. When mobs are hitting you for minimal damage, that really goes a long way. Depending on the mob family, I can often complete the entire pull + kill process without ever breaking Stoneskin.

-Enhancing Magic Skill+ gear. Phalanx really helps with getting damage taken down to those single-digit values. BLU/RDM has a base value of 132 enhancing skill, which gives an 11 damage Phalanx. With full merits, Enhancing Torque (or Colossus), and Portent Pants, you can raise that to 170 skill for a 15 damage Phalanx. Merciful Cape, Cascade Belt, and Augmenting Earring will get you a 16 damage Phalanx if you want to go the extra mile. When you're taking damage in the single- and low double-digit values, 4-5 less damage/hit is a huge reduction in damage taken. When I was killing Attohwa mandies last night to farm feet, I was taking 0-9 damage/hit with Cocoon down, even less with it up. That extra damage reduction cut my damage taken by at least a third and probably closer to half, since Cocoon usually dropped about the time I finish pulling.