Speed Run Help - Stand still or run back and forth/around?

[Luna-Elysia]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone can give an insight to this as it's something I haven't come across before since I started Speed Running Brayflox HM.

So, when pulling a group of monsters to be DPS'd down, I usually run back and forth or around the general AOE/DPS radius to "delay" some of the mob's hits to stay alive.

One of the runs I was in a party member had asked me to "stay put" and that "if we stack you won't take as much damage". At the time I wasn't sure but decided to just go with it, and it seemed to work.

My questions are 1. I'm still not quite sure what he meant about the stacking and 2., is it generally better to "try to avoid hits" within a group of mobs (basically the only way I've ever done it lol), or stand still and take the hits?

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Muzy]

Depends on the group, generally speaking though, from my own experience, it's a lot better to avoid as much of the AoEs as possible, as they hit significantly harder than the basic attacks from the mobs, just try to keep the mobs in the same spot if you can. The DPS and the Healer really shouldn't be getting hit, except by gliders in BL, which would be the point of stacking in order to let the healer if they are WHM use Cure III.

[Ooshima]

The first pull of mobs you should circle and kite the pack around a little, delaying their auto attacks and of course, get yourself out of the cone AoE attacks the raptors employ.

Not sure when your healer asked you to stay put, probably it's the pull after the first boss, which are all the goblins. They hit generally lighter, so it's okay to stay put. And the reason to stack is because like previously mention, they don't hit that hard, and secondly, the gliders just hit random party member all the time, so your other membres get damaged as well. Stacking will allow your healer, presumably a WHM, to cast Cure 3 effectively.

[Titans]

It depends on the group. If there's a monk or dragoon in the party. You want to try and keep the mobs grouped, but still try to avoid aoe damage by moving behind the group, that way the mobs are still stack and in position that it doesn't effect monk or drag. So if you had either in the group you were asked to stand still so monk and drag could dps the mob.

[sheepysheepy]

cure3 on gliders is nice but the radius is big enough that you can still run around a bit anyway

only reason to stand still would be a PLD trying to get the most out of his shield

[Synestr]

It has been my experience to avoid the AoE's and specials (cones, radials, etc) when speedrunning. Makes heals happy, happy heals = smooth run imo. For first pull in bray HM, I grab everything and run to the log just past the bridge, staying outside range of dirty bush and monkey. Going there eliminates the big bomb from the gobbie tank, then I'll position my camera overhead and zoomed out so i can see all those lovely special indicators, move as needed, but stay as tight as you can. The better the mobs are grouped the faster the DPS can burn them down. After that first pull, the rest of the trash pulls are just standing there, no moving.

If you don't stay out of AoE's and get an unfortunate chain of crits and fall, well we all know what happens next. WHAAAA! So the DPS can suck it up for one pull so you all can proceed.

Just how I do it and my thoughts on it.

Syn

[Lord_Zlatan]

First Pull: with the AoE from the Eoraptors and the Gobbie Machine, the little patch of grass before the ramp is a nice spot to hunker down. I usually stay targeted on an Eoraptor and stun his AoE. Probably a pointless detail, but I've found that if I rotate my targets on the Eoraptors, I an stun their cone and ultimately move around a lot less. Also. Don't be afraid to cast hallowed ground there; it can be a pretty intense pull.

Goblins after boss: So easy as a PLD. Grab them up and move into the alleyway. Bulwark + /laugh FTW. You SHOULD stay still for this pull (imo). Bulwark will block a lot of the damage coming in. They can't interrupt ur attacks so after u flash enough hate on them, stoneskin and riot blade them. Also, Foresight + Convalescence works really well here. i have seen a lot of PLDs fail this pull also because they forget to turn Shield Oath back on after switching to Sword Oath for the boss.

Coeurl + 2 Gobs: Simple, just tank them.

Coeurl + 6 Goblins + Gobbie Beak: Pull the Deep jungle coeurl with whatever u like. I shield lob the coeurl, then the first three goblins going up the ramp. Flash the 2 goblin soldiers, shield lob the sniper, and use CoS once the gobbie beak comes into play. Then, if you used Hallowed Ground on the first pull, it should be up again now. Use it. This can be tricky depending on party composition. If you have a melee, the Coeurls circle AoE is going to be a massive PITA. Focus them down. There shouldn't be any other AoE to deal with beside the gobbie beak.

Really the only time where moving around is an issue is the first pull. U will have 4(?) Eoraptors with the cone AoE and the Gobbiemachine attack. If you don't lock onto your targets, running backwards can be the best way out of AoE range. If you cluster all of them up, just run through them. The gobbiemachine attack only does about 600 damage I think so if you eat one or 2 to the face it will be ok.

[Lord_Zlatan]

It has been my experience to avoid the AoE's and specials (cones, radials, etc) when speedrunning. Makes heals happy, happy heals = smooth run imo. For first pull in bray HM, I grab everything and run to the log just past the bridge, staying outside range of dirty bush and monkey. Going there eliminates the big bomb from the gobbie tank, then I'll position my camera overhead and zoomed out so i can see all those lovely special indicators, move as needed, but stay as tight as you can. The better the mobs are grouped the faster the DPS can burn them down.

Syn

I have gone up to the top of the ramp and the gobbiemachine still attacks, does it really not attack if you go to that log? Thats really good to know.

[Synestr]

That is correct. Go past where your going just a bit, not far enough to aggro those two, just in the space past the gate and before the log. No gobbie boom boom.

Also you don't have to pull that last courel if you don't want. If you have everyone gather to the left of the boss door and tank every thing there the courel will not aggro anyone. Excuse the crude diagram:

CLICKY

The courel will come up to just outside the gate, so if your not near it set up like this he won't aggro. That's only if you don't wanna hill him ^^

[Vaala]

There's a little offshoot next to the creek and opposite from the colibri patch that gives you a little room to move, not aggro the last 2, nor aggro the colibri that I make my home. Avoids bombs, gives you a LITTLE space...and keeps mobs fairly grouped.

And Synestr is 100% right on that last Couerl...I've tried both corners of that area and where he pointed out is absolutely safe as long as you don't have mages standing in the middle of the area.