Retalliation for Skillups / Latent Breaking Madness

[Crisco]

This may be common knowledge already, but based on feedback from LS friends and others, I felt inclined to post here.

While being warrior in Abyssea can be extremely fun with a GA, in most cases you'll be required to use just about everything else available to you for misc red/blue procs. So for anyone either new to warrior (was my case) or procrastinated on weapon skillups and breaking WSNM latents, meeting those red/blue proc requirements can be both difficult and time-consuming. Luckily, there's a solution.

If you're 90, this strategy works semi-effectively solo within Abyssea, and is utterly mind-blowing if you have a RDM (alt or otherwise) with good Enhancing skill to cast Phalanx2 on you.

Effective Target Areas

• Abyssea - Altepa
• Abyssea - Attohwa

* there's probably tons more to choose from, but this is where I've gone

Target Mobs

• Mandies
• Chigoes

* essentially, anything that hits for moderate-low damage and fast

General requirements

• Retalliation (duh)
• Defender (optional, but helps)
• Aggressor (for more frequent retalliation)
• /SAM - Significantly increases TP gain and almost required to make latent breaking work while solo.
• /DNC - Effective for solo skillup.

What you need when solo inside Abyssea

• Atma - Mounted Champion
• Atma - Razed Ruins
• Atma - Ducal Guard

* This atma set is by far not set in stone, but it's been the most effective for me. When solo, Ducal Guard is a MUST if you plan to pull more than a couple mobs.

What you need with RDM PL inside Abyssea

• RDM must have a good amount of merits (3-5) into Phalanx2 -OR- /SCH, and Moderate-High Enhancing skill.
• Atma - Mounted Champion
• Atma - Razed Ruins
• Atma - Various. Just pick this based on the strength of the mob (another regen or -PDT for T+ mobs) or what you're doing (I preferred Sea Daughter for breaking latents and Haste/-PDT for skillups)

What you need to do
This process is very simple.

1. You go to a target area.
2. Find a target mob that is EP-DC.
3. Pull as many of them as you can, while maintaining a stable HP level.
4. Pop Retaliation and Aggressor as soon as they're up (& Defender if solo) and ensure most, if not all, mobs are in front of you.
5. If you're going for skillup, just idle and watch the points roll in. If you're going for latents, find a WS combination to get you at least to level 2. Most, if not all, weapons WAR can break can self-level2.

-- Using this strategy, I've been able to take almost every weapon from ~180-300+. You could probably attempt to start at a lower skill (maybe 150) but the skillups would be significantly slowing, since retaliation is directly dependent on accuracy. Perhaps accuracy food might help? I just followed this same pattern on mobs in the Boyhada Tree; taking my RDM PL, just pulling 5-10 robber crabs at a time, and migrating back to abyssea around 180.

Known combons for level 2 skillchains
These are just the once I used to break latents. The rest, either I've yet to do or already had em done; you can easily find a skillchain chart to look up those.

• Great Axe: Raging Rush -> Raging Rush
• Staff: Full Swing -> Full Swing
• Club: Skullbreaker -> Skullbreaker

Good luck, and happy swinging!

[Byrth]

If you're solo, it's much less work to just stack Regen Atmas and afk on high defense monsters.

Stronghold/Vicissitude/Mounted Champion, Haste gear, Hasso, Retaliation, Defender, come back every 3 minutes and reuse the three JAs. I personally used Turtles in Tahrongi because they're really high defense, have a lot of HP, and go up to EM. I got 40 levels of Scythe in a night (no Bahamut's Zaghnal) this way while watching a movie with the girlfriend.

Even if you didn't before, we're all going to have infinite stones when we return anyway. I would be over 150 even if they lifted the maintenance today.

[hiko]

your rdm doesnt need any merit in phalanx2 (/sch aoe phalanx)
pop agressor too for higher acc and lower eva(more retalliation)

[Crisco]

Yes aggressor helps, I forgot to add that. And sure, 1 mob at a time with tons of HP will be 'easier', but with this method I can do 180-260 skill on any weapon in less than an hour. I can also break latents in 20 min flat with RDM PL.

[Mojo]

I was able to take staff from 150 > 300 while also unlocking Retribution. Total time about 90 minutes in Abyssea. Solo I think it's best to do Tahrongi Canyon on WAR/RDM. With a full PDT set you can still get the damage down really low, so much that Atma of the Mounted Champion will keep you alive.

[Crisco]

Only problem with WAR/RDM is reapplying phalanx. I was never able to make it work consistently, so I gave up on it.

[Byrth]

I was able to take staff from 150 > 300 while also unlocking Retribution. Total time about 90 minutes in Abyssea. Solo I think it's best to do Tahrongi Canyon on WAR/RDM. With a full PDT set you can still get the damage down really low, so much that Atma of the Mounted Champion will keep you alive.

For skilling up, what is the benefit of /RDM over /SAM and Hasso? I could see making an argument for /WHM (if you're patient enough to cast Haste on yourself), but not /RDM.

[Mojo]

I said for solo, in which case Phalanx is essential of you want to do it fast.

[Byrth]

I said for solo, in which case Phalanx is essential of you want to do it fast.

Why? I put on 50 HP/tick and afk on turtles in full Haste gear with Hasso.

Edit: ooooh, you mean for mass skilling up with multiple weak monsters. I'm past the point where I could survive a crowd of that size that still gives skillup even with Phalanx and PDT gear.

[Mojo]

That's not true. You can get the damage dealt from Fear Dearg down to 0 per hit.