Group Greatness - PUG Victories and Other Battle Stories

[Koro Dotharl]

Aside from the occasional bad pug I have found the FFXIV community to be more pleasant than WoW overall.

 

I often warn the group that I am new to the instance and never got flack for it. People actually explain the fights and help me learn so that I may teach the fight to others in turn. I also try to talk with the group a little bit and they usually chat back. It's amazing!

 

On WoW, that never happened to me.

[Nebbs]

Nidhogg pug, terrible, people dying, people walking in front of adds and being cleaved....  I have seen better groups quit.

 

Learning happens, improvements happen...

 

Several tries later, we down it. 

 

PuG life.. where you find the worst and the best.

[Dat Oni]

Had a wonderful little thing happen in a run of Hullbreaker HM last week, and I've decided to share it all with you. 

 

We had a group consisting of an AST, myself as a PLD, a MCH, and a BLM. We reached the last set of trash mobs before the final boss, specifically Low and High Tide, with myself and BLM getting there first, and as I approached the two, I stopped to let the rest of the group catch up. Before this can happen, though, BLM begins casting a Fire III. I stand there and watch as he pulls the two, and decide if this guy is gonna pull for me, he might as well tank it, and tank it he ends up doing, putting strain on our healer, all while I stand there and watch.

 

I cracked a joke to our BLM, telling him that if he wanted to tank for me, he should've just said so at the start and I would have let him. As I approach the next mob, the AST tries to get me votekicked for "Harassment".

 

The vote fails, however and the BLM retorts and DEFENDS ME against the AST, telling them that what I said was not only NOT HARASSMENT, but that he had thicker skin than that.

 

We proceed to finish the instance, and the BLM mocks the AST when the boss is down. AST leaves with a single "LOL", totally not salty, and the BLM and I are left together alone for a moment. He and I share a laugh at AST's expense, and I give him the commendation AST would have gotten had they not tried to get me votekicked.

 

Wherever you are, thick-skinned pug BLM, I hope you are blessed in the future with better ASTs than the one you and I had to put up with, you glorious bastard.

[Delilah Scythewood]

My greatest and most epic victory I ever witnessed and took part in was when I was trying to get my old EX mode clears and we were doing Leviathan. We had tried clearing it a few times but had wiped and were giving the group we were with one more shot before taking a break.

 

Eventually, we were all dead except the Lalafell paladin with only the tiniest sliver of health left on Titan's bar.

 

Soon the lalafell started going overboard. As he did, he used Shield Lob just as he was going over and died.

 

The shield hit Leviathan.

 

The shield killed Leviathan.

 

We got the clear and the Victory screen while literally everyone was dead.

[Charity322]

After a bad experience with Cutter's Cry in Roulette that never even got past the first room, I decided to try one more time. I waited for it to load and prayed that the game gods weren't cruel enough to give me CC again and ended up with Qarn. Which I'd also never tanked before. So, at the start I said again that I'd never tanked it before and to please point me in the right direction if I get lost, half expecting them to quit on me like the CC group.

 

Instead, someone actually said no problem! Then they actually helped me with the fight planning and were patient with me even when I died to just about every boss due to screwing up.

 

So, thank you people I will probably never meet again! You have restored my faith in Roulette and I'm only sad that I couldn't commend all three of you.

[Charity322]

Best out of context quote in the middle of a fight in Brayflox' Longstop.

 

 

[Charity322]

Am I the only one posting in this anymore lol?

 

You know it's been a tough battle when my Summoner ends up healing the tank in the last battle with Aiatar in Brayflox' Longstop. The healer ran out of MP and I was just mashing the Physick button and wishing I had Medica as everyone's HPs were looking unhealthy. I thought we'd all go down at any second, but we made it!

[Gegenji]

People just tend to remember the negatives more than the positives - especially with PUGs. I mean, there's been plenty of runs where we're in, out, and done with no problem at all - which are great for me, but they never stick in the mind as well as the people who make themselves into problems.

 

Though, if I'm gonna promote greatness, it's gotta be props for the healers who deal with me when I queue to tank on Gogon. If the DPS looks solid enough on AoE, I will go on a pulling spree to get the trash mobs over and done with as soon as possible. Keeping me up in all that certainly can't be easy (though I do pop cooldowns as much as possible), so there's definitely much love for them.

[Valence]

Did a Weeping City yersterday just fine, with no wipes. Most of the last weeks had very little if no wipes at all for me.

 

Not sure what is all the fuss about terrible experiences on that raid recently...

[Aedan Marceaux]

Did a Weeping City yersterday just fine, with no wipes. Most of the last weeks had very little if no wipes at all for me.

 

Not sure what is all the fuss about terrible experiences on that raid recently...

 

Just ran it again last night and it was vote abandoned at Ozma. Coming up on two weeks now where I haven't seen the end.

 

I would love to post a cheerful thing like you, but again... as Gegenji mentioned above, the positives aren't as salient as the fact that I've not found a group able to clear weeping city for two weeks.

 

Experts have been going fine beyond that.. nothing special, just fine.

[Charity322]

Titan is dead! And I am not.

 

After having three chars who were only able to defeat him for MSQ because their parties killed him while they lay at the bottom of the cliff, Tip finally broke the curse and survived to the end. I'd like to say that it was because of superior strategies and talent, but it was pretty much dumb luck.

 

I got hit by Landslide twice, but the tank had backed Titan into a corner and I didn't get pushed back far enough to fall off. Thank you, tank!

[Delilah Scythewood]

Did Void Ark a little while back where me and the other healer were synced with each other without saying a word. At this point in progression, you barely need to heal anymore (at least in the groups I'm in) so the healers just stick to Cleric unless needed. Me and a WHM were flowing through everything while taking turns healing and stance dancing without saying a word.

 

Soooo nice to have @_@

[GhostlyMaiden]

After seeing the Behemoth Queen body piece, I decided I was going to do a bunch of Feast PvP! (As Marigold))

 

I queue up for ALL Feast PvP match-ups (except the ones where you're already in a fixed party) and after about a 30 minutes wait, the queue pops. So there is someone explaining to me who to go after and other things to pay attention to. About 5 more seconds until the gates go down and they point out I'm still wearing 58 gear....Marigold is a new 60 >.<

 

At first, I think "no big deal, it's just PvP" and I even said that. Little did I know that I was in a RANKED match......It was then I knew why the tank was a bit frustrated. Yet even with my low ilvl, I was able to get 2 kills and we won the match.

 

I think it surprised all of us but afterwards, the guy credited me for actually doing really well, but just needing better gear. I had a good time (much better than PvP as a BLM) and when I get better gear, I might try ranked again.

[Ruran]

After seeing the Behemoth Queen body piece, I decided I was going to do a bunch of Feast PvP! (As Marigold))

 

I queue up for ALL Feast PvP match-ups (except the ones where you're already in a fixed party) and after about a 30 minutes wait, the queue pops. So there is someone explaining to me who to go after and other things to pay attention to. About 5 more seconds until the gates go down and they point out I'm still wearing 58 gear....Marigold is a new 60 >.<

 

At first, I think "no big deal, it's just PvP" and I even said that. Little did I know that I was in a RANKED match......It was then I knew why the tank was a bit frustrated. Yet even with my low ilvl, I was able to get 2 kills and we won the match.

 

I think it surprised all of us but afterwards, the guy credited me for actually doing really well, but just needing better gear. I had a good time (much better than PvP as a BLM) and when I get better gear, I might try ranked again.

That's awesome! I can think of a few PvP wins/comebacks that were epic stories. Last-minute points that resulted in fist-pumping with people that you've never met before. It's great!

 

And yeah, really, while ilevel does play a big part in PvP, knowing your skills and how to use them can go a very long way. Good on you! +_+

[GhostlyMaiden]

That's awesome! I can think of a few PvP wins/comebacks that were epic stories. Last-minute points that resulted in fist-pumping with people that you've never met before. It's great!

 

And yeah, really, while ilevel does play a big part in PvP, knowing your skills and how to use them can go a very long way. Good on you! +_+

 

I actually have little to no idea what I'm actually doing. Thanks, with her being a DRG, I'm still having to get used to Geirskogal and decreasing my Blood of the Dragon......I also just have to remember to use it in general.

[Charity322]

Can't let this slip all the way down the second page.

 

Thank you, group I just did Qarn with. You have restored my hope.

 

I was just about ready to give up on tanking, because of negative reactions and the feeling that I just couldn't do it properly. I'd even been avoiding dungeon/guildhest roulette after I got bawled out at the end of the last one I did. I decided to just try dungeon roulette again; after all the worst thing that could happen was people quitting on me like they did in Cutter's Cry, but another screw up would have probably ensured that Ylva turned in her sword and shield.

 

But the group was not only helpful, but when I screwed up by pointing the boss at them they didn't get mad, just said that everyone has to learn. Then the healer stayed at the end to give me some words of encouragement.

 

Thank you!

[Charity322]

I feel naughty. Double posting again.

 

Just did Tam Tara hard for the first time. I was in a group of total newbies; it was the first time for everyone and we had no idea what we were doing.

 

We wiped and we wiped again (and this was just on Liavinne). But noone got fed up, noone was in a rush, we just got back in there and tried again (while getting emergency help from the Novice Network ).

 

Everyone took time to read the folio pages and point them out if someone missed them. By the end we were all making terrible jokes about weddings and something about Edda wanting the tank's body lol. Ironically, considering how hard she is in POTD, Edda turned out to be the easiest fight.

 

By the end we had decided that SE had made this storyline as a warning to parties that were horrible to each other. Beware, you too could be invited to a zombie wedding by the girl you made fun of (and your soul is the wedding gift; they wouldn't take a blender ).

[Kilieit]

Halatali normal. Very small young early tank. Me as 35-ish BLM, other DPS is horrendously overgeared DRG, healer (mentor, 100% silent throughout) is Helios-happy AST. Hi Jeffrey I am afraid.

 

After I tank most of the first boss - despite the tank being appropriately geared for the instance - I tentatively test the waters by asking the tank to use Flash more. Half the time this results in me being cussed out or just straight up ignored. The tank doesn't reply to me, but I see him starting to use Flash more... so I think... maybe there's hope?

 

I notice he's using Riot Blade a lot and considering he's not holding aggro, I slightly less tentatively suggest he switch to Savage Blade.

 

And he actually does!

 

At some point he actually speaks and admits he's brand new to tanking, so I start to give a bit more advice. I run through a standard Tanking For Newbies pull - suggest he uses Shield Lob instead of Provoke to open, then Flash basically until his mana bar is empty, then cycle through mobs doing Fast Blade > Savage Blade on each of them in turn. He follows my advice and becomes noticeably better at holding aggro as we go through the dungeon. Like... pulls went from being a total mess where I + the healer were tanking 90% to being about what you'd expect from a low level dungeon where the tanks don't have stance yet.

 

We lost the healer after the second boss (she ninjAFK'd and we had to kick her... some mentor, lol) but the new healer was a cool WHM who didn't spam Medica, so the last boss actually went without any hitches at all. And guess who walked away with 3/3 comms? As BLM? This cool cat. ✌

 

The tank got my comm, despite the rocky start. The other two we finished the dungeon with were cool too, and I would've comm'd all three if I could - but the tank's can-do attitude won me over, even if his skills were initially lacking.

[Kilieit]

My turn to double-post!

 

Just Sastasha normal, I am in a 3/4 premade (AST/BRD/BRD) and the 1 is the tank (DRK). He comments on how high our DPS is and the healer encourages him to pull more. We end up pulling like half the room at once in most of them.

 

We get to the last room and the healer is like,

 

"Let's just pull the whole thing and ranged LB it."

 

The tank is like hey if you're down! And me and my friend DPS are like HELL YEAH LET'S DO IT.

 

So we do it.

 

About half way through everything's HP pool I realise that I have an awful lot of aggro! At first I think it's just because I've been quicknocking too much but then I glance over at the aggro table to see how far ahead I am and I see the tank is dead. So is the other bard. (Not sure how I managed to miss that!)

 

So, because I played WoW for ten years, I start kiting.

 

I hit anything I lose aggro on to the healer until it's attacking me again, and I keep kiting... and I keep kiting... all the way to when the tank and other bard rejoin us.

 

It was so fun. I don't think I've had that much fun clearing Sastasha synced in ever.

And I got the tank's comm.