Steady Wing

[Reiterpallasch]

Well, now that the test server is up and running, time to see what we can learn about it in its (current) state.

Things we know:


It has a 5 minute recast timer
It lasts for 3 minutes

Things untested:

Does wyvern HP+ affect it?
If so, does it just affect the overall base effect?
Does the missing HP get added to the equation for some sort of macroable mega stoneskin?

See next post for additional info~

[Xanthe]

From my post on BG:

Steady Wing and misc wyvern findings:


Wyvern HP at level 95 is 1290. Equipping Drachen Brais +1 at 100% HP and using Spirit Link Restores 193 HP. 15% of 1290 is 193.
Confirmed 40% damage reduction for wyverns. Split 1000 Needles deals 300 damage to wyvern and 500 to myself.
As previously stated Steady Wing has a duration of 3 minutes and a recast of 5 minutes.
Steady Wing is a Stoneskin effect. Easily confirmed by the wear off message after 3 minutes.
Wyvern took 42 damage from split 1000 Needles with Steady Wing activated at full HP. 300 - 42 = 258 damage nullified. 258 is 20% of 1290. That confirms the nullification of 20% of max wyvern HP when at 100%.
Wyvern +HP gear affects amount of damage nullified. See next line for proof.
Wyvern took 6 damage from split 1000 Needles with Steady Wing activated and Lancer's Pelerine (wyvern HP +30) equipped. Max HP = 1320, current HP = 1290, damage nullified = 294. Damage nullified was as described on the official forum: 20% of max HP plus max HP - current HP. 300 - ((1320 * 0.2) + (1320 - 1290)) = 300 - (264 + 30) = 300 - 294 = 6.


I haven't tested whether it matters when wyvern +HP gear is equipped yet. I'll edit my post when I have a chance to test some more.

[Reiterpallasch]

Wyvern took 6 damage from split 1000 Needles with Steady Wing activated and Lancer's Pelerine (wyvern HP +30) equipped. Max HP = 1320, current HP = 1290, damage nullified = 294. Damage nullified was as described on the official forum: 20% of max HP plus max HP - current HP. 300 - ((1320 * 0.2) + (1320 - 1290)) = 300 - (264 + 30) = 300 - 294 = 6.


This line here is exactly what I was hoping to see. So we know then that we can essentially swap in wyvern HP+ gear to slap a rather large stoneskin effect onto it.

[noodles355]

Tell you what, people can QQ about not getting DD buffs all they want. This is a very welcome addition and means much more to me than a DD buff at present. It's awesome to see that it's a very significant buff.

Also am I right in thinking that if you had 1320 max HP and 200 current HP (IE big aoe rape fest) that steady wing would give 1384 stoneskin?? That is awesome.

[Reiterpallasch]

Seems that way, and that's before you actually macro in any gear. You could probably hit 1700+ at that point.

Added to the -40% damage reduction, and you're looking at needing to take roughly 3000 damage to actually break the stoneskin effect.

Edit: I suppose it's sort of an indirect DD buff, in that a living wyvern means AF3+2 set bonus procs, 100% crit jumps + TP, as well as breath damage. ;)

[Xanthe]

Also am I right in thinking that if you had 1320 max HP and 200 current HP (IE big aoe rape fest) that steady wing would give 1384 stoneskin?? That is awesome.

Assuming that there is no cap you would be correct.


Added to the -40% damage reduction, and you're looking at needing to take roughly 3000 damage to actually break the stoneskin effect.

I don't think that that is the best way to look at it. A baseline 40% damage reduction means an entirely different damage threshold. Since the amount nullified by Steady Wing depends solely on current and max HP values it wouldn't be good statistics to combine the two independent enhancements. It would block the same amount if wyverns received a 10% base damage reduction or a 90% base damage reduction. Steady Wing and the base damage reduction were certainly balanced with each other in mind though.

Overall, yes, wyverns received a great increase in durability. The ideal usage would be low wyvern HP > equip wyvern HP equipment > Steady Wing > equip Spirit Link equipment > Spirit Link. Now you have a large damage buffer and [partially] recovered wyvern HP.

[Reiterpallasch]

A rough guess at a cap shouldn't be too tough to figure out. I was thinking I'd get my wyvern near death, equip all HP+ gear, use steady wing, then fling it at Long-Barreled Chariot which will immediately homing missile for (afaik) ~90% of your HP pre buffs.

[Xanthe]

After working things through with Byrthnoth on BG the formula for Steady Wing can be simplified as (Max Wyvern HP * 1.2) - Current Wyvern HP.

[Kihrre]

Just want to confirm.. is it an DT- or and actual Stoneskin, where it will wear off before 3 mins if taken enough damage?

[Reiterpallasch]

Just want to confirm.. is it an DT- or and actual Stoneskin, where it will wear off before 3 mins if taken enough damage?
Steady wing grants a stoneskin effect that will wear off after 3 mins if not enough damage is taken (don't know if it's actual "stoneskin", despite it saying stoneskin wears off). On top of that, our wyverns also have a native -40% DT trait.

They're pretty much strong enough now that anything that can kill them is very likely to kill you as well.

[Ophannus]

This helps our damage in the long run as it lets us benefit from our Set Effect longer.

[Bayohne]

Based on player feedback, we increased the damage nullified by Steady Wing from 20% of the wyvern's max HP to 30%.

By shortening Steady Wing’s recast time, wyverns certainly will not be KO’d easily, but if players feel that wyverns are invincible if they continue to use Steady Wing, they might be a bit careless.

By having wyverns fight alongside them, dragoons are a much more useful job. To maintain the effectiveness of dragoons, it is important to pay attention to the wyvern’s HP. (The added bonuses based on the HP reduction of the wyvern is intended to help raise awareness of wyvern HP.)

[Ophannus]

Not sure why this was enhanced. Did players really give feedback saying the effect was too weak? After you account for the HP+% boost wyverns get from Experience Points(+25% HP) and Wyvern HP gear, Steady Wing already gave something like an 1600-1700 HP Stoneskin effect. Now it's gonna be like about 2k. It was already very potent, who complained? O_o

[FrankReynolds]

Not sure why this was enhanced. Did players really give feedback saying the effect was too weak? After you account for the HP+% boost wyverns get from Experience Points(+25% HP) and Wyvern HP gear, Steady Wing already gave something like an 1600-1700 HP Stoneskin effect. Now it's gonna be like about 2k. It was already very potent, who complained? O_o

I breezed over the JP forum with Google translate a little. They complained.

[Alhanelem]

Based on player feedback, we increased the damage nullified by Steady Wing from 20% of the wyvern's max HP to 30%.

By shortening Steady Wing’s recast time, wyverns certainly will not be KO’d easily, but if players feel that wyverns are invincible if they continue to use Steady Wing, they might be a bit careless.

By having wyverns fight alongside them, dragoons are a much more useful job. To maintain the effectiveness of dragoons, it is important to pay attention to the wyvern’s HP. (The added bonuses based on the HP reduction of the wyvern is intended to help raise awareness of wyvern HP.)
The challenge with dragoon is you can't control where your wyvern stands (except direction). If there are AoEs and you are engaged, the wyvern is going to take them, no matter what.

Wyverns dying doesn't have much to do with carelessness, because there isn't a whole lot you can do to get the wyvern to avoid attacks.

[Sekundes]

I approve. Wyverns get destroyed on anything that actually matters so anything we can do to keep them alive is great.
The wyvern makes a noticeable difference in a drg's dd output particularly with the added effects to higher level jumps.

I wonder if they are planning to add more status healing breaths ^^;

[Francisco]

Trio'd the KS99 Behemoth for fun with DRG, BLU and MNK @ 95... we all died... but the wyvern survived.

[Yugl]

Not sure why this was enhanced. Did players really give feedback saying the effect was too weak? After you account for the HP+% boost wyverns get from Experience Points(+25% HP) and Wyvern HP gear, Steady Wing already gave something like an 1600-1700 HP Stoneskin effect. Now it's gonna be like about 2k. It was already very potent, who complained? O_o

From a numbers perspective, consider a NM that would previously one-shot your wyvern. At minimum, their damage is 100% of your wyvern's HP. With DT trait, that same TP move will do damage that takes 60% of your wyvern's HP. Lets then be generous to the existing JA (Meaning I'll show that this argument stands if you use assumptions that favor the JA) and say that the NM puts your wyvern at 99% HP instead of one-hitting them. This is ideal for Steady Wing's purpose. From here, you can then do Steady wind for 20% of your wyvern's HP + 99% of the wyvern's HP for a total of 119% HP buffer. You can then Spirit Link to recover roughly 50-80% (Lets go with 70%) of your wyvern's HP.

Chronologically:
- NM's TP Move: 99% HP
- Steady Wing: 119% HP
- Spirit Link: 70%

Total: 288% of the wyvern's HP can be taken within a 3min duration

With the recent update, that becomes 298%, which is closer to the ideal 300%; hence, it makes sense for JPs to want that update.

That said, this over exaggerates the benefit of steady wing. Realistically, the DT trait is going to make one-hit moves put your wyvern at 40% HP. Any stronger, and the percent becomes worse. This ultimately means that you're likely to activate steady wing at a higher HP%, which reduces the total damage the wyvern can take by 39% (99-60=39). Hence, we're likely to see 259% of your wyvern's HP become the average damage your wyvern can handle within a 3min duration.

Overall (Percentage in terms of Wyvern's total HP):
Ideal prior: 288%
Ideal after: 298%
Realistically: 259%

[Anucris]

so how much is reduced when wyv is full HP? maybe thats why the complaint.

[Xanthe]

so how much is reduced when wyv is full HP? maybe thats why the complaint.

Previously it was 20% of max wyvern HP, now it is 30% of max wyvern HP. New formula is (1.3 * Max Wyvern HP) - Current Wyvern HP.

[mewgoat]

so how much is reduced when wyv is full HP? maybe thats why the complaint.

so basically at 90, (1.3*1200)-1200= a 360 damage ss on top of the 40% DT trait correct?

[Xanthe]

so basically at 90, (1.3*1200)-1200= a 360 damage ss on top of the 40% DT trait correct?

Steady Wing is a level 95 job ability. So at 95 with full wyvern HP (1295 base HP) and no additional wyvern HP equipment or enhancements it will negate 387 points of damage. Macroing in additional wyvern HP equipment before use, other HP-boosting enhancements (wyvern XP bonus, abyssite, atma, etc), and using the ability at low wyvern HP will substantially increase the amount negated.