Alluvion Skirmishes

[Rhonda]

Content level
Alluvion skirmishes will be content level 119. The battle balance has been set for players who have obtained item level 119 equipment from previous skirmishes.

The Content Level is somewhat worrying, it's equivalent to Delve 1 and Outer Ra'Kaznar Skirmish and actually lower than Delve 2. Are players with 119 equipment expected to breeze through it or are these new Skirmishes to provide more of a challenge?

[Demonjustin]

The Content Level is somewhat worrying, it's equivalent to Delve 1 and Outer Ra'Kaznar Skirmish and actually lower than Delve 2. Are players with 119 equipment expected to breeze through it or are these new Skirmishes to provide more of a challenge?

When I read it originally I was thinking along the lines of the gear expected to be had was 119, while the events themselves would be more along the lines of newer Delve content. For instance, Alluvion Rala/Cirdas would be 122, Yorcia would be 125, and Ra'Kaznar would be 128. That said, you've a good point, it is somewhat worrying that the content will be too easy for Rala/Cirdas/Yorcia, and at the same time if the levels are so high then Ra'Kaznar would be nearly impossible thanks to the NMs we're likely to face. Thanks to that screenshot we have so far I expect Gallu, Botulus, Harpia, Mantid, Caturae, the new Caturae looking NM, and more, which with high EVA & DEF like the bosses in Delve... yeah, we're screwed.

[Olor]

Didn't the devs say its aimed for people who have 119 gear from original skirmish? That says to me that its going to be easier than delve... otherwise it would be aimed at people who have delve 119 gear... especially since original skirmish gear is not actually very strong without excellent augments... which... I've spent millions in stones trying to get and frankly, I just don't even believe they exist anymore.

[mattkoko]

The only thing that worries me about the new skirmishes now that there are going to be mega bosses is that it is going to turn into shouts related to delve. It was bought up that the nice thing about skirmishes is that more jobs can go to them. With mega bosses being added, I am already starting to picture shouts. "{Alluvion Skirmish} {Do You Need It} Ochain/aegis pld, brd, whm, mnk. I just really don't want it to go back down to only 5 variety of jobs allowed to participate. I really hope I am wrong on this though. Because I have enjoyed all skirmishes for the most part.

[Rhonda]

When I read it originally I was thinking along the lines of the gear expected to be had was 119, while the events themselves would be more along the lines of newer Delve content. For instance, Alluvion Rala/Cirdas would be 122, Yorcia would be 125, and Ra'Kaznar would be 128. That said, you've a good point, it is somewhat worrying that the content will be too easy for Rala/Cirdas/Yorcia, and at the same time if the levels are so high then Ra'Kaznar would be nearly impossible thanks to the NMs we're likely to face. Thanks to that screenshot we have so far I expect Gallu, Botulus, Harpia, Mantid, Caturae, the new Caturae looking NM, and more, which with high EVA & DEF like the bosses in Delve... yeah, we're screwed.

Delve2 is already 128, featuring a variety of "tough" monster types, and is cleared regularly. I wouldn't consider their Evasion or Defense to be much of an impediment, either.

Didn't the devs say its aimed for people who have 119 gear from original skirmish? That says to me that its going to be easier than delve... otherwise it would be aimed at people who have delve 119 gear...

Good point. I hope they plan to make Alluvion Skirmishes at the 111 level harder than Delve1, at very least. Maybe that's a bit extreme but this game needs more challenges.

The only thing that worries me about the new skirmishes now that there are going to be mega bosses is that it is going to turn into shouts related to delve. It was bought up that the nice thing about skirmishes is that more jobs can go to them. With mega bosses being added, I am already starting to picture shouts. "{Alluvion Skirmish} {Do You Need It} Ochain/aegis pld, brd, whm, mnk. I just really don't want it to go back down to only 5 variety of jobs allowed to participate. I really hope I am wrong on this though. Because I have enjoyed all skirmishes for the most part.

What does adding bosses have to do with anything? Outer Ra'Kaznar shouts on Asura are typically MNK/SAM only. Unless the next patch changes job acceptance or these MB require a PLD tank, I'd consider Alluvion Skirmishes MNK/SAM only.

[Demonjustin]

Delve2 is already 128, featuring a variety of "tough" monster types, and is cleared regularly. I wouldn't consider their Evasion or Defense to be much of an impediment, either.

The reason I think it's worth worrying about is because looking at Delve II most of the NMs are quite tame. Given, Wopket has a Doom move, but it's not like Oblivion's Mantle where it dooms you and weakens you. My point being that they have some deadly TP moves and such but depending on what we see with this new content we could see something far more deadly than we have been thus far. The main reason I mention EVA & DEF specifically is that this is 6 man, not alliance, and moving around is much more common as Skirmish is much faster paced in general, which means GEO specifically won't be as useful as it is in Delve II. Add that with the fact BLMs won't be nearly as powerful thanks to the high INT & resists which at those levels become much more common, and you're looking at 128 mobs being in a different ballpark than the 119 and under we're looking at right now.

[Karbuncle]

The main reason I mention EVA & DEF specifically is that this is 6 man, not alliance

Not to be a poop, but I regularly breeze through Delve II with just 6 players... Usually SAM/SAM/COR/BRD/WHM/RDM, and usually neither SAM is a RME holder, just Tsu... When i say breeze i mean breeze. Their EVA/DEF is no problem and these are meant for Alliances, its just that their HP is decreased for less members, so I imagine with the right buffs and a similar set up of DD/DD/etc, we'll be fine. Also, I thought Outer Ra'K was 119 as well? They aren't very hard.

Still, As far as the enemies go... yah this could be messy, that Demon thing is probably my least favorite monster type. fuuuuuuu those.

[Afania]

Not to be a poop, but I regularly breeze through Delve II with just 6 players... Usually SAM/SAM/COR/BRD/WHM/RDM, and usually neither SAM is a RME holder, just Tsu... When i say breeze i mean breeze. Their EVA/DEF is no problem and these are meant for Alliances, its just that their HP is decreased for less members, so I imagine with the right buffs and a similar set up of DD/DD/etc, we'll be fine. Also, I thought Outer Ra'K was 119 as well? They aren't very hard.

Still, As far as the enemies go... yah this could be messy, that Demon thing is probably my least favorite monster type. fuuuuuuu those.

EVA/DEF of endgame mobs in this game is only an issue if you try to clear the content with melee RDM x3 (Sorry Demonjustin, I can't help it )

[Demonjustin]

While I do get what you're both saying I was more or less talking about what I believe to be the average player. The 122/125 Delve II NMs are easy enough on Accuracy(though some of the 125 can be a bit annoying like the Mandragora), but the 128 can get some high EVA for the average player from what I've seen. Mind you, the only information I have to go off of for this is watching people in my current LS fighting them. I have some SAMs who are around 50~70% Accuracy on the Tree for instance and only one or two DDs end up capping in most runs.

While I don't think this shell is filled to the brim with the most amazing people it's also no where near gimp in my opinion. For the most part I'm simply using them as the base for my assumption of what the average player is capable of. That said, I know people with high end Acc sets won't have an issue with hitting really, but as others have pointed out before Skirmish has been more casual content thus far so if it goes in a 122/125/128 direction it'd be different and possibly much more difficult for the average player.

Also, funny thing about meleeing as RDM. My Accuracy set is near perfect for my RDM and as a result my RDM actually has higher Accuracy than most people I know. If not for the whole lolmeleeRDM mentality I could probably DD in Delve II runs myself. SE has actually made all of RDM's best melee gear of recent have a ton of Accuracy, and Distract is more or less just a bonus which makes it all the sweeter! >:P

[Karbuncle]

I enjoy fiddling with RDM melee myself, with either Mandau or Buramenk'ah, but when it comes to WS output, its just not going to get close to the numbers a Fudo toting SAM will, especially with their Skillchains alone being capable of out-DD'ing some of the more bad melee. RDM, while capable of the accuracy to hit an enemy, can't supplement that accuracy with enough attack to deal meaningful melee dmg or WS damage, and this is a lot more because while we get decent melee gear on RDM, our WS options are painfully limited. Our best WS are probably Evisceration and Chant, both crit WS, and we have a painful lack of Crit+ Gear... making those WS less spectacular.

RDM Isn't a terrible melee, I've said that since these forums were brand new (look it up!), it's simply its not good enough for any real endgame content by itself... I mean if you went SAM/SAM/RDM/WHM/BRD/COR and the RDM was there for Haste II and Haste II alone, I see no harm in it meleeing if it can stay alive and not be an MP sink (so on certain mobs...), but if your job is important, being in melee range is a risk of you dying or getting debuffed or something equally ridiculous... and the ~3 seconds it takes to use a Remedy could mean a dead DD depending on how hard he's hit.

That said, on Delve II, and really Delve, most DD should still be eating Sushi or Pizza depending on their build, and when it comes to Delve II Tree, the SAMs I bring are ... uh... quite top tier lol... one in my shell even has 119 Mythic for his SAM and he could probably solo DD all the enemies np and we'd still clear with 10 minutes left lol.

Anyway, all said and done, your acc set is impressive... I didnt even know that Ammo existed. As for the belt, as far as I know the latent is still unknown, yah? You do make good use of Acc+, and a nice mix of PDT, I wish we were on the same server so I could see you in action against my THF or RDM (or even my SMN.)