Caller's Set seals: smn solo?

[Texx-sylph]

Hi,
as i am starting my adventure as a SMN in Abyssea, i would like to know if there are any seals that i can solo by myself and, if yes, if i need some specific atma to solo 'em.

[Arcon]

I would say most of them, especially at 99. I'm too lazy to get SMN specific Atma, so I usually get what I have already stored: Razed Ruins, Sanguine Scythe and Apocalypse, and it works out just fine. If your gear is not too bad, you shouldn't run out of MP during a fight. Kharon or Antlion for head seals, Flame Skimmer or Apkallu for legs seals, Koios for body seals, Gary for feet seals (or Hrosshvalur, using Leviathan). Only hands may be a bit problematic. Maybe if you can kill Teekesselchen quickly, will probably involve some kiting and resummoning. Not sure how it will fare against the Mandragora, and I don't remember ever fighting the Imp, so cannot comment on that.

[Karbuncle]

Depends on your current gear. Knowing you don't have any Empyrean makes it a little rough. I mean, Relic+2 Armor offers a nice slash of Perp-, But... even with perfect perp-/refresh gear short of Magian Staves, Without Empyrean, Your avatars will be quite expensive.

Because even assuming you got stuff like Nashira Hands/Serpentes/A refresh head/Augur's Brais/AF+1 feet, or any of the other slightly more annoying gear to obtain for perp-1, He's still looking at a hefty Perp cost without Magian Staves at 99.

Minikin might be a good replacement for Apoc or Sanguine just for Upkeep of MP, Especially if you'll be farming pop items as i imagine you will eventually be. MP Upkeep will be a big part in not taking forever. Minikin Is definitely one to consider.

That aside... If i had to pick the easiest ones to do?

Head Seals: The Tree
Feet Seals: Gnawtooth Gary
Body: Koios
Hands: Chillwing Or Tek
Legs: Funureal Apkallu

All of them are pretty easy, straightforward fights.

[Babekeke]

In abyssea I usually use shiva with Beyond, Minikin and either Apoc or Ultimate, spamming Heavenly strikes.

Since you have no empy for -perp, as Karby said, you'll want to use Minikin for refresh, so this might be a better option. If you only recently started the game though, it's unlikely that you have apocalypse or ultimate atma yet, so Baying Moon isn't a bad option, or if you find your avatars are dying too fast, try Mounted Champion.

Teekeselchen is easy if you do the quest to prevent his spikes, but even without, he shouldn't be a problem if you use ramuh or Titan.

[Texx-sylph]

considering all you guys said, i think the first thing to do i to build up a good set of Atma's.
i'll start with the basic ones trying to get
Ducal
Minikin
Mounted Champion

i know this set is not the best as a dmg output but i think is the staerting point i can use to solo something in abyssea. Yesterday i started my dominion ops on Graub and as a 95 smn/sch i see all the mobs (also che #1 ops) as even or more... so i need desperately some atmas... and some abyssite (in particular Merit and Furtherance ones)

and yes, i re-started playing @the end of Feb with very short time to play (new type of exp and achieve goals make me return)...
i think with this 3 atma's i can start doing someting and start also trying to solo some other mobs that can grant me some other atmas (beyond? Apoc?)
as i miss all the caller's set... what's the first pieces (in order of importance) do you think i need to start for upgrading? i was thinking about doublet+1 ....

[Arcon]

considering all you guys said, i think the first thing to do i to build up a good set of Atma's.
i'll start with the basic ones trying to get
Ducal
Minikin
Mounted Champion

Very good Atma set for longevity. As your gear and skill gets better you can start switching them out one by one to DD Atma, but this will work for now.


i think with this 3 atma's i can start doing someting and start also trying to solo some other mobs that can grant me some other atmas (beyond? Apoc?)

SMN will have trouble soloing some of the tougher mobs, if they don't already have the Atma and lack some gear (which is the case for you). Especially since you'll want red !! on mobs to get an Atma, so you should consider teaming up with someone.


as i miss all the caller's set... what's the first pieces (in order of importance) do you think i need to start for upgrading? i was thinking about doublet+1 ....

The doublet is very nice indeed, as are the feet. Those two would probably be your best option for now. Then I'd say head, especially the +2 one, is very useful (you can team up with some people doing Ulhuadshi for the coins for the head +2). I'd say legs next and finally hands (which aren't all that useful for you at this point).

[Texx-sylph]

Yes,
luckly i have a LS that can help me having all this stuffs... my thinking is only related to the fact that as i am quite "new" again in this game (my old char was lost in 2009) i am in general trying to disturb as less as possible the other guys for "easy" things...
thanks for the reply and sorry if my questions seems a bit "silly" but as i want to be as best as i can as a summoner i try to learn from you that know the job better than me! :)

[Babekeke]

Look up Karura Hachigane too. I'd say it's still the best piece for garuda meleeing and predator claws. I imagine that the mob is probably soloable at 99 now too, Though you probably want to duo with a THF as drop is affected by TH.

[Texx-sylph]

I will check for it, that's in my wishlist from a long time :). Just a question... how long and boring is the "photoshooting"?
i mean... does i need to shoot 2?5?10?100 mobs? or is something easier? i cannot find anywhere a table to understand more or less the number of shoots i need to take...

[Arcon]

Just a question... how long and boring is the "photoshooting"?

I haven't done it in a while, but I understand they increased zeni rewards significantly. I don't know how much exactly it is either, but it should not take long at all, even to get several trigs. It didn't take too lang back in the day either.

[Karbuncle]

You'll probably need no more than 1-2 Photos of Naul's to be honest.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Hi,
as i am starting my adventure as a SMN in Abyssea, i would like to know if there are any seals that i can solo by myself and, if yes, if i need some specific atma to solo 'em.You can quest all seals.

[Texx-sylph]

Yesterday i start making the zeni quest.
i shooted only Lesser Colibri outside Al Zhabi.
as a comment i receive the worste one ... but have back 360 zeni each o_O
so seems that zeni points are 10x than prevoius. i took the item to pop Vulpangue @1k zeni and so i have still other pops ready. hope they do not need and have some luck on the first ^^

just to give a small advice if you look @ the wiki....
vulpangue do not seems to my experience so "easily tankable by garuda".
my garuda died in less than 1 minute (my skill is, considering equip and merit 417) and i died twice. i dunno if i popped an angry one but... i don't think i can solo him. hits too hard for an avatar (tried both garuda and shiva). i'll re-try with a friend (bst or nin or thf i think).. or an evergreen pld as tank.. but is not soloable from a smn for my experience (2 pops)

update: got my band. 1/3 (1 death, 1 no drop, then drop).
funny thing. 2nd fight. me and a thf with th10. no drop
3rd. me and a nini/dnc. th0. drop.

[Texx-sylph]

Teekeselchen is easy if you do the quest to prevent his spikes, but even without, he shouldn't be a problem if you use ramuh or Titan.

there's something that i miss.
you say Tess it's quite easy.
i tried with Ramuh as suggest and
caller's body+1
caller's head+1
HQ staff
caller's pendand
Tiresia's cap
rest of my equip is quite basic (austere gloves / feet, af1 legs, bifrost+astral, gairai + gifted)
full buffs (i've not the whole so my hp/mp are 1500ish)
3 atma - MM, ducal, VV
lev 1 Thunderspark
/sch
summoning magic 460
item to take out spikes used
my ramuh died so fast, i think less than 8% dmg dealt and is dead... i need only to understand if this wil be a long fight and so i had a wrong approach (i think in a quick and easy win but need a long fight with a lot of resummoning) or i miss something (i mean, atmas or something else).

i started wiping a lot from aggressor antilon then learned the tech and do it without any problem... my next step will be Gnawtooth Gary (i rthink with Leviathan) but i need to understand what's the best strategy because i have to understand better if i'm quite noob as a smn or there is something missing in my strat (let me say, some atma e.g. the mounted champion)

thanks a lot and sry for the n00bish questions

[Babekeke]

It's always well worth using a regen atma when soloing. For Ramuh you should evenly spread out Chaotic strike and Shock squall, or hold them for stunning non thunder/water spells. Start the fight with lightning armour up for extra stunning and thus time with your avatar out.
You'll need to re-summon, particularly if your avatar gets hit with a nasty ~aga 4 spell that it is weak to, so it's a good idea to keep some distance when not re-using BPs.
With regen atmas on, you can also retreat pet when Teek starts casting and start kiting to regain HP.

I've only low-manned this so far, but I'll give this a go next time I'm on and see if I can give you a solid strategy.

P.S. use Garuda for Gnawtooth Gary, I'd say.

[Texx-sylph]

ok... Gnawtooth Gary done .... long (damn carrots) but done with Garuda.
now i move in general on smn solo stuffs...

is it possible to solo the last BC of ACP - ACP11 - Ode of Life Bestowing ?
i'm thinking about it...

[Babekeke]

ACP, that was the first one?
I haven't tried it since 75, but SMN was certainly useful back then. PLD/RDM to hold it while SMN and RNG took it out. You'll want a few meds I'd imagine, and use levi or garuda so they can cure themselves.

[Texx-sylph]

@post before. yes was the last for the royal redingote body! :)
took yesterday as
2x smn
2x bst
1x nin
1x whm

made the body with this aug:
bp delay - 4
pet: magic attack bonus +7 , magic attack + 7

to be switched with my caller's +1 (for perp).

now...

here we are again...
the fatty smn and his questions :)
hope not to bore you ...

ok now i have all my caller's seals: feet and i start searching for my feets to upgrade.
is there any "magic number" for amber light to be used to drop these things?
my basic idea is to grow amber till (hmm.. 110? 150? 200?) and then cap my pearl so i can have (fortunately) 1 gold each mob or something similare...
i would like just to know if there is any specific number for amber to increase the possibility to have feets in the boxes and not other stuffs, as i understood the drop rate of this feets is terrible.

ty

[Luvbunny]

For feet you want low amber, 60 is more than enough. Then mostly pearl. Summoner can make pearl light easily with Garuda but not so much with amber, have to time it right with your low damage staff WS. Best to bring another job who can amber for you, and azure as well. I do manage to get random feet without building much lights at all, but it may not be caller feet and you may have to repeat over and over if you solo. My best advice is to join those cruor party shout - you most likely get it there, unless someone else in the party out lotting you.

[Luvbunny]

For hand, the mandy may be a better options. It does not cast at all, for the first 50% of its hp you want to Predator Claw and Whispering Wind since it will spam tp move that gives poison aura. Get ready to use healing salve and dawn mulsum for emergency. The last 40-30% of its hp, this NM will do a move that prevent Garuda for using its BP, so this can get dicey since you will rely on Garuda to critical hits, obviously Razed Ruin is your friend. Soloing is slow but maybe not as bad as the pot due to not casting. Leviathan could also works, since Spring Water removes poison but Spinning Dive does not do as big damage as Predator Claw. The best options is to bring a thief and blm.

[Babekeke]

The amount of amber required depends on how many abyssite of destiny you have. With all 3, it's ~30 needed to get items in gold chests, without any it's 70~90 from what I remember. Even if you just get the low amount, it means you get no KIs and useless augs on the aug items (though they all NPC for the same amount ^^) and loads of trash items. More amber = more KIs/better augs but fewer trash items.

My suggestion would be: Atmas of minikin monstrosity; Apocalypse/Alpha+Omega; An MAB one of your choice.
This gives you increased WS damage from Cataclysm, and increased frequency due to occasional triple attack. I'd also suggest using a Magic BP rage to pull hate on avatar.

BP rage an ephemeral or the ramuh mob (if you can find him! I've searched the entire zone before and not managed to find him), then retreat your pet and melee it until you get TP and mob is close to death. If it look slike it will take you a while to melee it down, assault pet again until mob is at lower health. Use cataclysm at ~5% and check your amber. If you have all 3 abyssites, you only need to do 2 of these as you should get 16 from each mob (maybe more if you found ramuh mob).

Once you have enough amber, swap atmas to your preferred DD atmas (so many people forget to swap atmas depending on what you're trying to achieve) then go all out to get pearl up (3/3 abyssite of fortune you should be capped by~150). Now, if you find you haven't seen any feet yet, go back and build a bit more amber. With 3/3 destiny, you will start to get KIs by 90 amber. These are good to have, even if you don't need the mobs, as people will pay a lot of money for a full pop set. Not to mention RR atma drops from Bukhis in this zone if you don't have it yet (staple atma for melee BP rage).