The Vent Tent - Poor PuGs and Other Terrible Tales

[Aaron]

Can't we just all get along or is that a concept harder to understand than quantum physics?

[Koti Nexus]

Can't we just all get along or is that a concept harder to understand than quantum physics?

 

In the words of an old song: "Why can't we be friends~".

 

Sadly, I have concluded somewhere that human nature seem to be always at odds with itself and thus is naturally drawn to conflict. Even when we try to avoid it, we sometimes, somehow, find ourselves in it.

 

In this, the differences of opinion and beliefs is what causes these conflicts and thus-- getting people to get along, takes a community effort. Mostly of like minded individuals, such as us roleplayers-- and even then, we slam heads sometimes on points of views!

 

Really, I suppose, it comes down to how one handles the opposition in the end. Do you strike back-- or do you turn the other cheek. I tend to chose the other cheek method, mostly because people on the internet believe they don't have to hold to any moral or ethical ground, thus-- are jerks. Outside of us few who believe in keeping to our moral and ethics.

 

And now I leave you all with cupcakes cause good lord, that got philosophical.

[Gegenji]

Really, I suppose, it comes down to how one handles the opposition in the end. Do you strike back-- or do you turn the other cheek. I tend to chose the other cheek method, mostly because people on the internet believe they don't have to hold to any moral or ethical ground, thus-- are jerks. Outside of us few who believe in keeping to our moral and ethics.

 

That's my usual approach to it. Not only is it usually the vocal minority making a fuss, it's easily ignored or blocked by turning off /shout chat. Beyond that, there's also a very low likelihood I'll even end up bumping into or RPing with these people anyway... and even if I do it's not like I'm going to openly announce "OHEY MY MAIN'S ON BALMUNG" or "I GOTTA ALT ON MATEUS." That sort of stuff will likely only come up if we hit it off and want to schedule another meeting for RP.

 

... And if finding out the fact that I have characters on one, the other, or both is enough to set them off, then I might not really want that next RP interaction anyway.

[Koti Nexus]

Really, I suppose, it comes down to how one handles the opposition in the end. Do you strike back-- or do you turn the other cheek. I tend to chose the other cheek method, mostly because people on the internet believe they don't have to hold to any moral or ethical ground, thus-- are jerks. Outside of us few who believe in keeping to our moral and ethics.

 

That's my usual approach to it. Not only is it usually the vocal minority making a fuss, it's easily ignored or blocked by turning off /shout chat. Beyond that, there's also a very low likelihood I'll even end up bumping into or RPing with these people anyway... and even if I do it's not like I'm going to openly announce "OHEY MY MAIN'S ON BALMUNG" or "I GOTTA ALT ON MATEUS." That sort of stuff will likely only come up if we hit it off and want to schedule another meeting for RP.

 

... And if finding out the fact that I have characters on one, the other, or both is enough to set them off, then I might not really want that next RP interaction anyway.

 

Exactly~.

[Drej]

Um.

 

What the hell was done this expansion to you poor SCH mains? Seems like just about every party's out for your blood.

[Gegenji]

Um.

 

What the hell was done this expansion to you poor SCH mains? Seems like just about every party's out for your blood.

 

In the meta-view, SCH is the "weakest" healer.

 

Also, with SB, SCH lost three DoTs (Bio, Miasma II, and Aero - though the last one couldn't be spread to other targets) and access to Stoneskin. So a lot of their "passive" damage potential was lost, and AST can bubble basically as good as they can and they have their cards to further bolster the party along with their heals.

 

... Something to that effect, anyway.

[Enla]

Um.

 

What the hell was done this expansion to you poor SCH mains? Seems like just about every party's out for your blood.

 

In the meta-view, SCH is the "weakest" healer.

 

Also, with SB, SCH lost three DoTs (Bio, Miasma II, and Aero - though the last one couldn't be spread to other targets) and access to Stoneskin. So a lot of their "passive" damage potential was lost, and AST can bubble basically as good as they can and they have their cards to further bolster the party along with their heals.

 

... Something to that effect, anyway.

 

Our mana regen also got nerfed to hell. I was in a Susano EX party and my fellow co-healer, a WHM, had more MP than I did in spite of spamming Lucid and Aetherflow when I could. We lost a LOT of our utility and frankly I'm not entirely sure the people at SE know what to do with SCH or how it even works. If they made our bubbles better and return our mana generation along with one dot, we'd be in a pretty good spot. As it stands we're legitimately the worst healer in the game right now as opposed to having our own niche.

 

Hell, just make Aetherflow GOOD again. 10% mana regeneration is only /tolerable/ for dungeons, not at ilvl EX parties. SCH should not need to have Lucid Dreaming on their bar, yet without it we're hamstrung. I appreciate how proud they are of their new Role system, but we never received the balancing that both AST and WHM had in particular to their mana problems. We never HAD mana problems until this expansion.

[Charity322]

That makes no sense at all. Bio and Miasma are Arcanist skills, not cross class. Why would they remove them for Scholar and not for Summoner ...

[Unnamed Mercenary]

That makes no sense at all. Bio and Miasma are Arcanist skills, not cross class. Why would they remove them for Scholar and not for Summoner ...

 

Similar skills were merged.

 

So Bio automatically becomes Bio II on your hotbar. SCH still has Miasma, but Miasma II is gone from SMN too.

[Charity322]

That makes no sense at all. Bio and Miasma are Arcanist skills, not cross class. Why would they remove them for Scholar and not for Summoner ...

 

Similar skills were merged.

 

So Bio automatically becomes Bio II on your hotbar. SCH still has Miasma, but Miasma II is gone from SMN too.

 

Ah yeah I knew that. They made it sound as if Scholars had Bio and Miasma removed totally. I play a Summoner and I actually find it easier not to have an extra DoT to remember to put on before you cast Bane or Fester. I never used Miasma II either.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

That makes no sense at all. Bio and Miasma are Arcanist skills, not cross class. Why would they remove them for Scholar and not for Summoner ...

 

Similar skills were merged.

 

So Bio automatically becomes Bio II on your hotbar. SCH still has Miasma, but Miasma II is gone from SMN too.

 

Ah yeah I knew that. They made it sound as if Scholars had Bio and Miasma removed totally. I play a Summoner and I actually find it easier not to have an extra DoT to remember to put on before you cast Bane or Fester. I never used Miasma II either.

 

From what I've seen, healers basically get ~3 DPS spells at 60

 

AST: a DoT, a single-target, an AoE

SCH: a single target, a DoT, another DoT, a more expensive single-target, an AoE effect

WHM: a single target, a Dot, an AoE DoT

 

Which...makes DPSing and solo content pretty boring. On AST, I've been tempted to just make "single DPS" and "multi DPS" macros to cast the DoT, and then spam the particular skill. I can understand the reasons why they were simplified, but I don't think it was really an issue beforehand. It is nice that they'll automatically adjust by level on the hotbar though. That does save space. ...especially since I no longer need a cleric stance macro to swap controller layouts.

[Charity322]

Removing Cleric Stance was the best thing they ever did lol. I hated it with the burning fire of a thousand suns.

 

But, as this is a rant thread, why did they take away flame arrow from Bards? I liked that spell. It helped you get all the enemies up on your screen. Plus, shooting flaming arrows is cool.

 

And if they simplified things then why does my Paladin still have three hotbars of crap? I'd really have liked to see more Paladin stuff cut down; I never know what to click when. /endwhinge

 

I wonder if they're taking feedback on the new stuff and might change it if it doesn't work? That's probably just wishful thinking.

[Kilieit]

Oh oh oh are we ranting about new ability balancing?

 

Fuck Doom Spike. It has the shittiest catchment range of any AoE I've ever used. I've literally never caught more than one mob with it, even after lining them up meticulously. And fuck you too, Sonic Thrust. You're not making it better.

 

RIP Ring of Thorns. :'(

[Jana]

You shoulda learned yer Doom Spike in 2.x, it was always the better of the two DRG AoEs for DPS! Ring of Thorns was only better after comboing into it from Heavy Thrust.

[Gegenji]

Hell, just make Aetherflow GOOD again. 10% mana regeneration is only /tolerable/ for dungeons, not at ilvl EX parties. SCH should not need to have Lucid Dreaming on their bar, yet without it we're hamstrung. I appreciate how proud they are of their new Role system, but we never received the balancing that both AST and WHM had in particular to their mana problems. We never HAD mana problems until this expansion.

 

Is that what it is? I had a feeling I was running dry on MP so much easier lately, but I had assumed it was just because I was spending more time spamming spells without having to Cleric Stance dance or something. It definitely feels weird having to hit Lucid Dreaming or detonating my Fairy just to keep my MP up.

[Kilieit]

You shoulda learned yer Doom Spike in 2.x, it was always the better of the two DRG AoEs for DPS! Ring of Thorns was only better after comboing into it from Heavy Thrust.

 

Only if you can hit stuff with it, and tanks don't know how to position for linear AoEs, let alone one as tight as Doom Spike! In practice, Ring of Thorns always worked out better because of its more generous area. Doom Spike didn't just put pressure on me to position myself relative to my target, it put pressure on the tank to line mobs up properly, and they almost never bothered because linear AoEs like that are rare.

 

Now, even with - as I say - meticulous positioning and no one else to mess things up, I've literally never hit more than one mob with Doom Spike. Ever. Geirskogul is just fine, on the other hand - as long as things are vaguely in line with a tangent between me and my target, I can hit them. But Doom Spike? Forget it.

 

I'm beginning to be skeptical that Doom Spike is an AoE at all, to be honest.

[Blythe]

Hell, just make Aetherflow GOOD again. 10% mana regeneration is only /tolerable/ for dungeons, not at ilvl EX parties. SCH should not need to have Lucid Dreaming on their bar, yet without it we're hamstrung. I appreciate how proud they are of their new Role system, but we never received the balancing that both AST and WHM had in particular to their mana problems. We never HAD mana problems until this expansion.

 

Is that what it is? I had a feeling I was running dry on MP so much easier lately, but I had assumed it was just because I was spending more time spamming spells without having to Cleric Stance dance or something. It definitely feels weird having to hit Lucid Dreaming or detonating my Fairy just to keep my MP up.

 SMN Would like to have a word with you about Aetherflow. And we share your pain on how much BANE INFURIATINGLY MAKES ME WANT TO PUNCH SQUARE ENIX. Anyway...

 

Curious, is the MP issue because the shielding takes more MP now? I know I heard something about that being a case. I don't really play SCH so I don't really know.

[Jana]

-snip-

-snip-

 

At the risk of giving a "Works on my machine!" reply, I never had any issues with it when I mained DRG during 2.x. I always targeted the most distant mob, moved myself to place everything else between, and let it rip. Excepting ranged mobs that sit in one place, no fancy positioning was needed by the tanks or myself.

 

I dunno if maybe it doesn't work so well with a controller vs mouse+keyboard or if latency can affect it since you need to keep moving as the mobs crowd the tank, but I doubt the AoE was made more narrow or anything... Hmm.

[Delilah Scythewood]

-grumbles about the lack of spell speed and potency on SCH now-

[Enla]

Hell, just make Aetherflow GOOD again. 10% mana regeneration is only /tolerable/ for dungeons, not at ilvl EX parties. SCH should not need to have Lucid Dreaming on their bar, yet without it we're hamstrung. I appreciate how proud they are of their new Role system, but we never received the balancing that both AST and WHM had in particular to their mana problems. We never HAD mana problems until this expansion.

 

Is that what it is? I had a feeling I was running dry on MP so much easier lately, but I had assumed it was just because I was spending more time spamming spells without having to Cleric Stance dance or something. It definitely feels weird having to hit Lucid Dreaming or detonating my Fairy just to keep my MP up.

 SMN Would like to have a word with you about Aetherflow. And we share your pain on how much BANE INFURIATINGLY MAKES ME WANT TO PUNCH SQUARE ENIX. Anyway...

 

Curious, is the MP issue because the shielding takes more MP now? I know I heard something about that being a case. I don't really play SCH so I don't really know.

Succor is currently our biggest MP drain, and they also nerfed aetherflow whilst boosting Energy Drain. You need to incorporate it as part of your rotation now more than ever because it gives back over 1k in MP each time at present.

[Perth]

Okay, no, if you can’t keep hate as a main tank, you should not be using Sword Oath and main tanking. Or failing an attempt at it. You’re not being cool for trying to DPS more, you’re losing aggro to healers and DPS because you’re either not AOEing enough, or just unable to keep hate off of DPS who are AOEing the 20+ mob pull. Go retake the tutorials in the inns if you need to understand your role, I’m not going to keep quiet because your edgelording is repeatedly killing people, jfc. *Facedesks* Worst part is when it’s a Mentor

[Yian Kutku]

Levelling Roulette put me as an Astrologian into Cutter's Cry. The others were a sprout Paladin, a sprout Dragoon, and a Combat Mentor Bard.

 

Throughout the dungeon, it felt like nobody knew where they were supposed to go. Which is fine, since Cutter's Cry is a rare dungeon to get in roulettes, and I can't throw any stones there.

 

What was odd was that after the first area, the Dragoon started pulling. Then the Paladin runs up and Shield Lobs, and then... nothing. Occasionally they'd do a single-target combo, then Flash once, then either idle or single-target. I don't think they were a bot, since they responded to my opening "Hallo" by saying "hi" in /say.

 

Meanwhile, the Mentor remains completely silent.

 

The Dragoon and Bard seem to be doing okay rotations and DPS, so I just let it be. I do end up healing the Dragoon a lot more than I needed to heal the Paladin.

 

Finally, we get to the final boss of the dungeon. I'd forgotten about it myself, but I managed to do a quick peek at a written dungeon guide on a wiki, and stated in party chat: "When the eyes glow violet, run into melee range. When blue, run out of melee range."

 

The Paladin /says "ok". Nobody else says anything.

 

The battle is joined, and the Chimera's eyes glow violet. Everyone runs into melee range, and avoids the AoE.

 

Then the Chimera's eyes glow blue. Nobody runs out of melee range. Not even the Mentor. I had a double-take when I saw everyone else's HP suddenly tank, when I'm conveniently out of range for a AoE heal, because I actually did the mechanics.

 

The Dragoon was the first to go down, followed quickly by the Bard. I Swiftcast-Raised the Dragoon, and Benedictioned him to full.

 

Then the Chimera's eyes glow blue again, and the Dragoon stayed in melee range. The resulting AoE killed the Paladin, and the Dragoon went down to one of the frontal cone AoEs.

 

So with the Chimera at 40% HP, I ended up pretty much soloing it. The Paladin almost immediately rezzed at the dungeon entrance. I tried Swiftcast-Raising the other two DPS, with the Bard first, only to see them go down again after eating avoidable AoEs.

 

Finally, several (Extended) Ewers and a few Lucid Dreamings later, I finished off the Chimera. Alone.

 

I raised the Bard again post-battle, and he said one word: "solid". Then he left the dungeon. The Paladin and Dragoon lingered in the dungeon, silently. I decided to leave.

 

On the one hand, I'm fairly forgiving of new players. On the other hand, I explained the primary mechanic, and even if they didn't understand, having the mechanic go off should make it very obvious what to do in this case.

 

As for the Mentor, I don't even know.

[Kieron Lohengrin]

i'm surprised no one here has mentioned the stormblood endboss yet

[Aaron]

Was gonna bitch about DRK again, but SE has pleased me with the adjustments from the patch.

 

In any case ima vent about the game uninstalling when I put the thing in rest mode. Fuck you man, now I gotta wait several hours to redownload it.

[Gegenji]

In any case ima vent about the game uninstalling when I put the thing in rest mode. Fuck you man, now I gotta wait several hours to redownload it.

 

... I... what? How did you manage that?