Fellow adjustements.

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

Equipment
__________

As of 2008,
we have seen a new job, Puppetmaster. And we noticed that the puppet can use 16 slots. Thus not for Equipment but for attachments.

I was thinking that the New equipment adjustements would be for our Fellow NPC. So
we could give him or her the stats she deserves. The Attributes given to your new non-playing friend would be cut in half at the level given, I.e: You give a scorpion Harness at Level 57. your fellow would have "HP+8 ice res: -10 Evasion +5 Acc +5" and at Level 85 the normal atributtes. Rare/ex Item, or augmented item would not be possible to equip on you NPC Because it is still considered as another player.

Behavior
_________

To be able to control your NPC with text command.
-Go Behind, infront, Right side, Left side. (Many types of mobs you can't fight from a side or behind i.e Fafnir...
-we need more healing, focus on fighting, save your mp, stop attacking, stay at 20 yalms from the monster and heal only. Focus on enfeebling ( i don't know how many times... she debuffed and said i am running out of MP while i was dying a terrible death).

Jobs
__________
All begining jobs
BLM WHM WAR THF MNK RDM

BLM able to cast Elemental and Enfeebling Some traits -no job abilities
WHM Cure and divine magic Some traits -no job abilities
WAR Good DD or Tank Provoke Berserk or defender depending on assigned job.
THF Treasure hunter 1 and 2 only.
MNK Good DD or Tank Focus or Dodge depending on assigned job
RDM Cure Debuff elemental would be allowed to have Refresh or convert only.
______________________

I have more ideas, but first i wanna know what everyone else thinks.
let me know if you have ideas aswell.

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

Forgot to mention THF would be able to use Shortbow and Crossbow.

[Karbuncle]

There's a Plethora of Adventuring Fellow threads, as well as quite a many few I've added suggestions too. The thing with Adventuring Fellows is that they follow a job "Suggestion" system, So it'd have to be something like.

Assailer - Ranged DD. (RNG)
Sharp Assailer - Ranged DD +1 (Faster Attack Speed, RNG/SAM, high Store TP, etc)

Elementalist - Magical DD
Destructive Elementalist - Magical DD +1 (Lower Recast Timers, Higher Magic Accuracy and Attack)

This covers two Job "Archetypes" That aren't covered already. a MNK or RDM job would be redundant, Since the only unique thing to it would be Focus or Dodge, and for RDM, I guess Phalanx? - But I like the general idea... our NPC could use some more jobs.

--------- That aside.

I Really wish they'd let us equip our NPC's, Not full on Earrings/Rings... But even just "Visible" Slots like a Mannequin would be really nice of them. Make it a quest. Right now, NPC's are drastically underpowered. The fact that they take up a party slot is an insult considering their underwhelming weakness... Even a Fierce Attack with a Great Katana has less DPS Than a Melee SMN using a Fire Staff. Its downright pathetic. That being said, I really want to draw the attention to an idea i had in a previous thread...

Instead of buffing the NPC through allowing us to equip it, How about simply giving us Better Equipment that improves our NPC (Think Hydra Armor)? - Each one attuning to a Certain Job Type for the NPC. It could all be level 95.

Examples: Mage Set.



"Stalwart Shield" Set



"Fierce Attacker" Set



As with Hydra Armor, Effects are applied if you're wearing the Armor, When you summon your NPC, So you can Mix-and-Match sets, but only 1 set per Summon obviously. Armor does not need to remain equipped for the NPC to get the buff.

*Weapon Base Damage +50% -

I.E, at current time, a NPC's weapon is about as strong as something a real player would be using at level ... 70, Ish. So for example, say their Dagger is base Damage of 30, +50% Damage would boost it to 45, About on par with current daggers. their GK is say, 70, +50% would be 105, Which is lower than most all Level 90+ GK, But still a solid Damage. The reason this is better than say, Straight "Weapon Base Damage +20" would be that for Daggers or h2h, This would be epic, but for GK or GS, it would suck.

So remember, While that sounds powerful, at current, our NPC's base damage is pitiful, saddly pitiful. Our NPC's as a whole are pitiful. The above stats, While seemingly overpowered, Would actually still make them, on Average, Weaker than a Level 80 Player in Full Perle... I think if our NPC should be anything, It should at least be as strong as a level 80 Perle BST...

That being said - The Armor could come from rewards specific to Fellow Events... The suggestion in another thread was Fellow BCNMs. You can purchase these BCNM orbs with Fellowship Points. Level 99 Uncapped battles. 1+NPC v 1. You and your NPC versus a monster. Fun little battles with the Armor as a nice reward. Maybe throw in about 5k Exp for your NPC or something.

[Mirage]

I actually like the fact that the fellow's visual gear doesn't have an impact on battle performance (except the weapon). I do however definitely see the need for them to be able to equip gear with actual stats, but I would suggest that instead of letting this be done with visual gear, we'd do it via accessories.

We could get some really powerful fellow-only rings, earrings, ammo, belts and capes.
Something like 30 str in one ring, or 40 acc in one earring, 15% haste in one belt, 7% DA+4% TA in one cape. Stuff like that.

Additionally, there really should be some AI options such as "keep in the back row" to make them try their best to stay in casting range, but keep outside of most AoEs, and perhaps also "stay on the same side as me", and "stay on the right/left/back of the monsters". We should also give them behavior patterns such as "conserve your MP", "go all-out" and maybe "take care of yourself" (would make the NPC focus on themselves not dying,and wouldn't cure you until you got into 15% hp).

The NPC should also definitely be able to /heal during combat. Maybe this could be part of the "conserve your MP" AI pattern.

-edit-
Wow, I didn't realize until the day after how many broken sentences and stuff there were in my post.

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

AI pattern at this this time will get her/him owned.
Or even be able to set some spells we want them to use. for WHM Cure 2~4 Debuff spell. Enhancing only if asked to.

We want a real companion that we can understand, and they can understand.

[Mirage]

What do you mean by "it will get her/him owned"?

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

How many times does your NPC depletes his/her MP without having a brain (silence on NM mob not using mp)
Casting dia repeatly because the mob won't get Dia stick on it. Would actually be nice to have a NPC Self-Aware.
you only have 1 charge a day, and you or companion dies cause didn't a good comon sense decision.

but it would actually be nice to gear your companion or even have new jobs to you Companion.

[Mirage]

Oh, you mean the current AI pattern. I thought you were saying something else.

[Okipuit]

Greetings!

Adventuring fellows have been made to give a slight advantage in combat. Allowing equipment to give considerable status boosts could result in exceeding the amount of assistance that we had envisioned. However, we do agree that adventuring fellows should act more precisely depending on the combat scenario. We will be looking into ways to control adventuring fellows' reactions, but please note that the mechanics of this system are quite complicated, so it may take some time.

[Cowardlybabooon]

They're not used that much. I wouldn't put too much time into it.

[Zhronne]

They're not used that much. I wouldn't put too much time into it.
Can't even use them in so many areas, really, I wouldn't fix this before other more important things.
It's not "broken" actually, nothing to "fix", just to improve maybe.

[Raucent]

big thing i'd love to see in an AI update prioritize WS's, what is the point of a 76 NPC using fast Blade vs Vorpal or Savage blade?

[Tamarsamar]

I find that my Fellow enhances my personal FFXI experience, though I agree, if only I could tell her to stop using Gale Axe and Smash Axe when she has Rampage . . .

[Istabpeople]

Honestly, I'd just be happy if you gave soothing healer the ability to cast erase.

[Minikom]

I'd like to see our fellow use Relic/empy/mythic weapon, even if they dont get to use the weapons skill, should be cool looking!

[Luvbunny]

Uhm hello, I am very surprised that they never heard of the GAMBIT system that is you know, very popular for FF12.... and the paradigm system that is also extremely popular for FF13 + FF13-1.... I mean, how is it that this team not even looking at the existing FF offline that offer so many inspiration on how to make FF11 much better and offer more enjoyable content. Stop trying to put us on nonsensical time sink, make our play time more meaningful and enough with the idiotic grind for impossible result (flame geode anyone...).

[Karbuncle]

Greetings!

Adventuring fellows have been made to give a slight advantage in combat. Allowing equipment to give considerable status boosts could result in exceeding the amount of assistance that we had envisioned. However, we do agree that adventuring fellows should act more precisely depending on the combat scenario. We will be looking into ways to control adventuring fellows' reactions, but please note that the mechanics of this system are quite complicated, so it may take some time.

I don't honestly think it would matter how weak they are if they didn't take up a party slot... I can't even go level them with my friends without throwing on an Alliance between us because they count as party slots.

If they're going to remain as weak and useless as a level 70 player fighting Arch Dynamis Lord, Could they at least not be counted as a party member that takes up one of the 6 man slots?

When NPC's were first released, It seemed like they were intended to be used as an extra party member, since they took up a party slot...

Either way... Can we at least unlock more areas for them?


They're not used that much. I wouldn't put too much time into it.

When your computers battery dies, Do you just go buy a new computer because it isn't worth charging the old one? I mean really man!

They're used so little because of their overall uselessness due to being weak and pitiful... If they were to fix that, However, Would actually be useful, thus, used more. Its a problem that can be fixed, and thus, should. Like Evolith, Chocobo Racing/Raising, and Pankration, They're all systems that had some form of potential left to rot. All this outdated unused content could easily become entertaining or useful if they would take the proper time to make it such.

Instead pouring out hoards of "new" content, they could fix a lot of old problems and probably add a bit more depth to the game.

[Babekeke]

Let us tell them which WS we want them to use. It might not always be the most powerful, sometimes just having them open up a light or darkness skillcahin is more useful, since our own WS will do much more damage and the SC damage will outweigh the difference in their ws.

[Kraggy]

They're not used that much. I wouldn't put too much time into it.
Because anything you don't do yourself isn't important, right? Stop thinking only your needs matter.

[deces]

All of the above, please also make it to where the NPC dose not stand at maximum distance when engaging an opponent!

[deces]

PS: Please allow the Adventure Fellow to equip Hydra Jupon Set via trade, rather than us having to luge its gear for him
same with the fellow + weapons for bonuses.

[Kysaiana]

As others have said, I'd like to be able to choose which ws my fellow can or cannot use. Similar to locking/unlocking AoE ws. It would also be cool if we could use fellow points to raise the fellow's stats similar to merits. Failing that, it'd be nice if we could do quests or something to unlock gear that the fellow wears which has stats on it. At this point, the only real reason to use a fellow is to get them exp, or to help with solo exping a mage job or something.

One thing I'd like to know is if the fellow level cap will be raised to 99 like was shown in the old timeline or if that was just an idea the devs were toying around with.

[Mirage]

Fellow points to "merit" our NPCs sounds cool. Doesn't have to be exacly the same merit categories as player characters have, but something like it.

[Okipuit]

Can't even use them in so many areas, really, I wouldn't fix this before other more important things.

Hey!

Just a reminder, we mentioned previously that the Development Team is actually looking into expanding the locations that adventuring fellows can be summoned.

[deces]

Hey!

Just a reminder, we mentioned previously that the Development Team is actually looking into expanding the locations that adventuring fellows can be summoned.
Where are you looking?

[Mirabelle]

I hate the term "looking into". Really how much "looking into" does that decision take. Is it too hard to say "we are thinking about" which is really what they doing. You can upgrade that to "planning to" and then "going to", as the decision process evolves.

But "looking into" is just political speak to say we may or may not be doing anything.

[Bulrogg]

Hey!

Just a reminder, we mentioned previously that the Development Team is actually looking into expanding the locations that adventuring fellows can be summoned.

Perhaps Sky, Sea and Dynamis would be some nice areas for NPC_fellows to go on an adventure with. Since my fellow likes to spam spells so much, at least in dynamis she'd be handy for procs. :D

[Camiie]

But "looking into" is just political speak to say we may or may not be doing anything.

But they must consider the possible gamebreaker of allowing NPCs in areas where mobs are already soloable!

[Kari]

Hey!

Just a reminder, we mentioned previously that the Development Team is actually looking into expanding the locations that adventuring fellows can be summoned.

Just like the other 500 things you're "looking into", we don't really care until you make proper plans for it.

[Glamdring]

I hate the term "looking into". Really how much "looking into" does that decision take. Is it too hard to say "we are thinking about" which is really what they doing. You can upgrade that to "planning to" and then "going to", as the decision process evolves.

But "looking into" is just political speak to say we may or may not be doing anything.

you mean like the beastmaster gear we would have to earn to get our thief pets the TH that a thf with no gear of that same level would have? THAT looking into?

Perish the thought, that would mean they were just saying something to shut us up about a permanent change they had already decided upon and had no real plans of EVER implementing, but were instead hoping we would get used to the nerf and just accept it as "good enough" and not pull our subscription fees from the company's income stream. Kinda like increasing gasoline to $5.10/gallon so that we'll all be ok with it dropping down to $3.50/gallon, even when it was steady at about $3.20 just a month before.

Nah, they couldn't mean that.

[KigenAngelios]

Hey!

Just a reminder, we mentioned previously that the Development Team is actually looking into expanding the locations that adventuring fellows can be summoned.

Until fellows can be used in abyssea AND can proc stuff, many players won't care.

[Teraniku]

Hey!

Just a reminder, we mentioned previously that the Development Team is actually looking into expanding the locations that adventuring fellows can be summoned.

Actually, I'd really like to be able to summon them in Abyssea and have them be able to equip an Empyrean armor set for their look.

[Kristal]

you mean like the beastmaster gear we would have to earn to get our thief pets the TH that a thf with no gear of that same level would have? THAT looking into?

Perish the thought, that would mean they were just saying something to shut us up about a permanent change they had already decided upon and had no real plans of EVER implementing, but were instead hoping we would get used to the nerf and just accept it as "good enough" and not pull our subscription fees from the company's income stream. Kinda like increasing gasoline to $5.10/gallon so that we'll all be ok with it dropping down to $3.50/gallon, even when it was steady at about $3.20 just a month before.

Nah, they couldn't mean that.

You should be glad they didn't change pet TH into pet gilfinder... it would be perfectly justified, considering it's an iconic trait of THF...
Gasoline is $8.34/gallon (€1.75/liter) in my neighbourhood...

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

Hey!

Just a reminder, we mentioned previously that the Development Team is actually looking into expanding the locations that adventuring fellows can be summoned.

Thanks Mr. Okipuit to look upon this matter.

- Area that NPC can walk the ground
- AI

But i have some Question, if the NPC is counted as a Party member. if we are RDM/NIN
or DRG/RDM would it be possible to put refresh on the NPC? Would it be possible to choose what Enfeebling we want our NPC to cast? and a lot of question/comments regarding choosing WS that your NPC can do for light and darkness. and one more and last Question. Is it possible to Put a HP MP TP Hui for the NPC. would be nice when the NPC is out of MP or almost ready to do WS.

On that note, thank you for your consideration. ^^

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

would be nice to have commands such as this one.
NPC tank
/npcma "Flash" <t>
/npcja "Provoke" <t>

Healer
/npcma "Paralyze" <t>
/npcma "Slow" <t>
/npcma "Cursna" <me>
etc

Attacker none

Attacker,Healer,Tank
/npcws "Dancing Edge" <t>
/npcws "Spirit Taker" <t>
/npcws "Mystic boon" <t>*

Also could had WS that are quested such as
Evisceration, Retribution, Savage Blade, etc...
as long as you did the Quest.
and the WS gain through Nyzul such as,
Mandalic thrust, Mystic Boon, Tachi: Rana, etc...
As long as you have Mythic weapon done.
Same with relic and Empyrean.

Some quest could be done, like repeating the quest of LV.71 WS with your NPC.
You would have to make 500 points with your NPC. and for Mythic WS. you would need to do 1000 points with your npc.
and those quest would give a certain amount of Bond between you and your NPC.

if anyone as any suggestion/comments about this idea, you are welcome to...

[Kristal]

Greetings!

Adventuring fellows have been made to give a slight advantage in combat. Allowing equipment to give considerable status boosts could result in exceeding the amount of assistance that we had envisioned. However, we do agree that adventuring fellows should act more precisely depending on the combat scenario. We will be looking into ways to control adventuring fellows' reactions, but please note that the mechanics of this system are quite complicated, so it may take some time.

Perhaps it's a bit too far out of whack, but would it be possible to give fellows costume effects? For example, I'm an avid PUP, so I'd love to have a second automaton (like Wordorbor the Artificer) instead of plain old Siegward. Even if it still acts like plain old Siegward.

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

Perhaps it's a bit too far out of whack, but would it be possible to give fellows costume effects? For example, I'm an avid PUP, so I'd love to have a second automaton (like Wordorbor the Artificer) instead of plain old Siegward. Even if it still acts like plain old Siegward.

Would be fun to have costume. But most costume either you can only wear in town, which for any reason your follower cannot follow you there or.... You can't fight with a costume or you lose costume effect as soon as you combat.

[Kristal]

Would be fun to have costume. But most costume either you can only wear in town, which for any reason your follower cannot follow you there or.... You can't fight with a costume or you lose costume effect as soon as you combat.

Actually, you CAN fight with a costume... although you tend to be charmed as well then ;D
For NPCs that rule doesn't apply. If they want to fight with a costume, they can, although it might affect the weaponskills they can use (animation-wise).

Ah, to heck with it.. give me a way to trade in the flesh-and-blood Siegward for a metal, cloth and oily Tragedie! (That way I can have two automatons, Comedie and Tragedie :D)

[CapriciousOne]

Greetings!

Adventuring fellows have been made to give a slight advantage in combat. Allowing equipment to give considerable status boosts could result in exceeding the amount of assistance that we had envisioned. However, we do agree that adventuring fellows should act more precisely depending on the combat scenario. We will be looking into ways to control adventuring fellows' reactions, but please note that the mechanics of this system are quite complicated, so it may take some time.

Well this much I figured and from reading some of the post thus far I think people have the idea of Fellows misinterpreted. For one I tend to make my fellow job based upon mine so if i'm a non mage job like Dancer she will be a soothing healer or if i'm a Mage job like RDM she is a fierce attacker. Using this dynamic I usually feed off of her and vice versa. For instance, as dancer most of her mp goes to enfeebling, keeping me buffed with Protect/Shell V/Haste and healing me. while i use most of my tp for damage dealing. Only when she gives me the "Almost out of MP" message do I use my tp for heals for ME AND HER.

Sometimes I will go DNC/RDM so that I can at least use low level Refresh to help keep her with a little more mp during battle but i would be lying if i said i didnt have to still /heal between battles or after she just fully buffed the both of us with Protect/Shell V as those eat up alot of mp. As a mage job I obviously switch her to fierce attacker and make keeping us alive my responsibility doing what i can to take hate off her if she manages to get any at all, and improver her damage output with defense debuffs or if needed reduce her damage by using bio on the mob.

Only thing I am not aware of is the whole Alliance thing because me and my old buddies did a 6 man party 3 of us and our 3 fellows and I would assume you could each for 3 separte 3 man parties with your fellows out then alliance up but I have never actually tried doing that before.

The behavior I admit could use some refinement and personally I would love it if we could dictate priorities to our fellows. I suppose we could use text commands or add "Fellow" button like "Job Abilities" on the battle command menu that also had a text command /fellow and the commands would look like:

/fellow heal <me/ft>
/fellow buff <me/ft>
/fellow enfeeble <t/st>
/fellow nuke <t/st>

Of course this menu would only appear when the fellow is called into action. Oh and for clarity sake I mean on our battle menu like pets and their pet commands.

For the heal/buff actions if you dont specify a <> target it will act on both you and itself by default and for the enfeeble/nuke command you can tell it to target the current mob or begin to pull the nearest available mob to keep the killing going or if you doing lower level farming to attack another target. To prevent abuse of the <St> though I would make it where it can only be issued once either when the mob is 100% health or below 25% health if possible. Also the <ft> target would indicate the fellow just needs to worry about him/herself in the case you have her as soothing healer and you are main jobbing as a mage/support type of job.

As far as armor/stats go I have been satisfied overall with my fellow damage intake but I have also switched my fellow armor style type to a more heavy armor style and have also glamourized the body head and legs a great deal as well though not to the max as of yet. I also have to call into question your choice of targets as well. Remember our fellows level up according to their job level and not ours so if your 99 and your fellow is only like level 80 then yea it is going to take a beating if you're fighting mobs level 95 and up and it is best to fight mobs 75-80 and just accept the xp hit you will take if your not in a party.

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

I must agree with you Capriciousone, but at the same time, i disagree. You see, even if you have a fierce attacker, that has a great sword, if you have a dagger, you might do as much Damage as ur NPC, and you will. But at the same time if you gave a dagger to your NPC it does little dmg and give too much tp to mobs.

[CapriciousOne]

I must agree with you Capriciousone, but at the same time, i disagree. You see, even if you have a fierce attacker, that has a great sword, if you have a dagger, you might do as much Damage as ur NPC, and you will. But at the same time if you gave a dagger to your NPC it does little dmg and give too much tp to mobs.

In that case I would switch my fellow to Soothing healer as it will spend most it time healing you and maybe bebuffing the mob to reduce the tp feed. Also unless the mob is NM why are you worried about tp anyway as most regular mobs I never worry about anyway. Sometimes I think people worry too much about stuff like tp against mobs bc no matter what you do you're feeding it tp and every hit that it lands on you is gaining tp as well. If i remember correctly reading an article on FFXIcylopedia.org about TP and Magic attacks give even more tp than regular attacks. In addition when you factor in the base damage of the weapon and the delay all weapons give about the same amount tp to mobs anyway. A Great Sword with a 444 delay with a base dame of 82 gives about the same tp to the mob as a sword with a 224 delay and dmg of 39-41. The only real differnce is that you would get more tp at once with a Great Sword than you would with a normal Sword.

In any case in general you should be dealing more damage to the mob than your PC regardless because it can only goto 95 and we can goto 99. So overall our base damge with/without weapon is higher than our npc. Also if you dual wield like I and give your npc a one handed weapon and a shield you will generally stay the priority on the mobs hate list unless you just really suck. As a result I generally am feeding more tp to the mob, damaging the mob harder and more often and ws more often than my npc to keep hate off it short of me being slept, paralyzed, stunned, or petrified.

[CapriciousOne]

They're not used that much. I wouldn't put too much time into it.

They are not used much because most people are selfish and lazy. Most people dont want to take an exp hit to help their fellow level up faster even with the fact that there are Gov pages that can increase the exp/page.


Can't even use them in so many areas, really, I wouldn't fix this before other more important things.
It's not "broken" actually, nothing to "fix", just to improve maybe.

There are plenty of areas where you can use them even now with the addition of GoV pages so WTF are you talking about other than "I can't use them in abyssea" most likely?
You can use fellows in a good portion of Campaign, Besieged, and Conquest areas. While yes It would be nice to be able to use them virtually anywhere, that isn't to say there arent enough places to use them in because that is how I got mine up to level 84 to help me skill up out Aydeewa against lv 84-88 Defoiler? Crawlers. I'm pretty sure I incorrectly spelled that crawlers name incorrectly but whatever it just target practice anyway LOL.

Many of the areas you can't take them too I rarely see people in anyway like most of the beastmen strongholds for instance. In any case I would love to be able to use them in/outside of beastman strongholds like Xarcabard[S], Beaucedine Glacier[S] for instance. I really like those areas wish people had more guts to do Campaign battles out there though.

[CapriciousOne]

would be nice to have commands such as this one.
NPC tank
/npcma "Flash" <t>
/npcja "Provoke" <t>

Healer
/npcma "Paralyze" <t>
/npcma "Slow" <t>
/npcma "Cursna" <me>
etc

Attacker none

Attacker,Healer,Tank
/npcws "Dancing Edge" <t>
/npcws "Spirit Taker" <t>
/npcws "Mystic boon" <t>*

Also could had WS that are quested such as
Evisceration, Retribution, Savage Blade, etc...
as long as you did the Quest.
and the WS gain through Nyzul such as,
Mandalic thrust, Mystic Boon, Tachi: Rana, etc...
As long as you have Mythic weapon done.
Same with relic and Empyrean.

Some quest could be done, like repeating the quest of LV.71 WS with your NPC.
You would have to make 500 points with your NPC. and for Mythic WS. you would need to do 1000 points with your npc.
and those quest would give a certain amount of Bond between you and your NPC.

if anyone as any suggestion/comments about this idea, you are welcome to...

I suppose those would be nice additoins as well to the list bc there are times where those would come in handy but usually those are lower priorities for me and how i play.

[hiko]

would be nice to have commands such as this one.

Healer
/npcma "haste <me>
/npcma "Paralyze" <t>
/npcdon't waste MP casting useless enfeeb
/npcma "Cursna" <me>
etc

if anyone as any suggestion/comments about this idea, you are welcome to...
FTFY

/npcheal (set him in /heal while you fight)
or give him refresh (self)

the main issue I have with my healer NPC is her not hasting me and runing OoM

my advice to increase NPC IA: implement a gambit system!

[Kristal]

FTFY

/npcheal (set him in /heal while you fight)
or give him refresh (self)

the main issue I have with my healer NPC is her not hasting me and runing OoM

my advice to increase NPC IA: implement a gambit system!

It should not be possible to tell a fellow what to cast, since then you essentially got a better automaton...
Fellows running out of MP could be fixed by giving them access to Auto-Refresh gear.

[Mirage]

Instead of specific spells, there should be a way to give them certain combat modes within the already selected style. For healer/soothing healer, it should be possible to request that they focus on buffing us, debuffing the enemy, conserve their MP, or pay extra close attention to our HP.

[CapriciousOne]

FTFY

/npcheal (set him in /heal while you fight)
or give him refresh (self)

the main issue I have with my healer NPC is her not hasting me and runing OoM

my advice to increase NPC IA: implement a gambit system!


That would be awesome and they could even give it to automatons so they dont start whining about it, but for me that would be perfect. I loved the gambit system in Final Fantasy 12 for my characters and they performed as I needed them to based on how I run my battles. Personally even as a RDM, I never shy away from getting up close and personal and getting damaged in the process but as I learn a mobs behavior, I hate being healed if my HP isnt below 50% period. Having a gambit rule that allow me to tell my felllow/automaton this would totally own and help to save their mp better than anything SE could ever do on their own with the current crap they have in place.

The biggest problem however is SE also focuses on what their "intent" for this and that is and not what "makes the customer happy" and interested in whatever crap they developed for us to enjoy so it do something more than just waste hard drive space on our PC/PS3/360 or whatever. While I am never saying give anybody everything they want because hell, I never do that myself but if enough people are clamoring/complaining about it they better take notice.

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

to be honest with you. i'd like to see. your NPC like in diablo 2. it follows you around until it dies. u can get him nice stuff, he/she can wear it. that would be nice.

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

Ok, But You can call Automaton every what? 15 min or so?
That is a NPC that you can only Use once a day or 11 times a week. It should be a good Companion, i hated the fact that if you teleported you would loose you companion. (i dunno if they fixed that but hey) You should be able to call it more than once per day, imo. He/she is your companion like Robin is to Batman, and like Watson is to Sherlock. An Hero needs an accomplice.

Right now i know it's not possible to have your NPC follow you in towns and what not. Because of towns like Jeuno Over flowing with players. but i seriously hope that once that "Seeker of aldoulin" comes out researcher and developpers from Playonline/FFXI will consider your NPC to roam where ever you go, mind the area where you can get items (sea, sky, apollyon etc..) cause zoning in a City and loosing you NPC sucks. at least give us a CS that our NPC says ok i'll meet you back here or something. as DRG or PUP when you zone in a town you dont have your wyvern or automaton. But when you go out it is still with you.

[Mirage]

The NPC follows you when you teleport now. I'm also pretty sure it follows you when you zone from one area to another. I think they wait for you outside of towns if you enter them, but I'm not entirely sure about this.

[Kristal]

Ok, But You can call Automaton every what? 15 min or so?
That is a NPC that you can only Use once a day or 11 times a week. It should be a good Companion, i hated the fact that if you teleported you would loose you companion. (i dunno if they fixed that but hey) You should be able to call it more than once per day, imo. He/she is your companion like Robin is to Batman, and like Watson is to Sherlock. An Hero needs an accomplice.

20 minutes with Activate, 1 minute with Deus Ex Automata (but at lvl/3 HP&MP). Fellows stay for 100 kills or 3 hours now, so unless you zone into a town or join parties, the standard pearl is enough for the entire week, with the quested one for backup.

A NPC that can cast whatever you want, whenever you want, is called a PC. You should be able to find a few of those lounging around in Jeuno.

[CapriciousOne]

20 minutes with Activate, 1 minute with Deus Ex Automata (but at lvl/3 HP&MP). Fellows stay for 100 kills or 3 hours now, so unless you zone into a town or join parties, the standard pearl is enough for the entire week, with the quested one for backup.

A NPC that can cast whatever you want, whenever you want, is called a PC. You should be able to find a few of those lounging around in Jeuno.

Most of those laying around Jeuno are called Bazaars. In addition there is a difference between finding a PC and a GOOD PC. Even still the fact is other PC are fickle and dont want to do stuff you want to do or not on when you want to do it, b and moan about what job you have when actually can do it and how you play the job. Personally the less I have to bother with other people the better my game play experience. Just do as your told, go where I go, and be quiet. If you can find me PCs that offer that simplicity send them my way. LOL

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

I don't think your NPC waits for you at the end of the zone. And as for PCs, not everyone wanna help out someone they barely know, everyone is busy with there own things now that you can basically solo or duo everything. Only reason i want a good companion is because i solo exp, solo nms. Since no one ever level in the Grounds tome area. all they want to do to level is Level to level 10~15 then go in Gusgen till 30~40 then go in abyssea PTs that RMT shouts about. Is that the New way of leveling? if so it's dull and it sucks, i am an old ffxi timer. i miss the valkurm dunes pt, the qufim pt and the kazham pts, but you don't see that anymore. Hence the reason to have a Better and improuved companion. i like moving from spot to spot to level up.

And also your NPC leaves leaves like a coward if you get K.Oed or if she gets K.Oed, wouldn't it be possible to get raise by it if she would be Soothing healer, or would get raise if you are whm/rdm/blm/smn etc...? cause seriously, it sucks to having to loose your NPC cause you get aggroed by something you didn't want to fight in the first place.

I know the full potential of the NPC/Companion is not at it's full potential, and i would like to see it.
How many times have you been left out or couldn't duo stuff? Boosting in STR if attacker or in MND if healer or VIT as Tank for your NPC. But would it really make a difference that if your duoing with a friend? Like i said, most people dont like to bother LS mates or shout for help, cause most people can be greedy and ask for gils. And when that happens most people would give up. Is that what FFXI is now all about?

[savagelfwolf]

I kind thought cool if fellow could acaulty get advance job i love see fellow with dragoon armor and they own wyren

[OmnysValefor]

My suggestions for the soothing healer NPC and the Stalwart Shield NPC:

Protect, Shell, Blink, and Stoneskin should be free. She buffs both of us and whines about being out of mp.
Soothing Healer shouldn't debuff. She usually gets resisted and sometimes will spam trying to land it. It just wastes MP from the spells I want. (Cure, Haste, -nas).
Soothing Healer should have +2 Auto-Refresh. It's not like she's allowed to be used for anything hard. Can't even summon her in many outdated zones.

I love the idea of being able to trade her gear and have it used. I want to be able to trade her a noble's tunic and give her +1 refresh and 10% cure potency etc.

It would even be kind of neat if I could farm up and trade her Empy +1 gear. Soothing Healer with whm empy pants? Hot.

[Mirage]

Yeah. What we really need is more AI behaviour settings. If we aren't going to be allowed to customize the spell list freely, we should at least be able to set more predefined behaviors.

A soothing healer should be a soothing healer, not a debuffer. A fierce attacker should be fierce, not use tachi enpi when she has access to kasha and gekko which both skillchain a lot better with a lot more weapons.

We should also be able to tell them which treshold they should cure at. If we have some self-heal capabilities, it would be very good if we could tell the NPC (while at the rendervouz point) to not heal us until we go below 50% or 33% or any other percentage we feel is good for us. Personally, when I'm on drg/sam and have access to a 600-700 healing breath every minute, I never really need a cure unless I'm taking a lot of damage unusually fast. However, my NPC keeps topping me off all the time with cure 3 and cure 4 when I am just ~200 hp from 100%, and when the time comes that i get a link with 4+ mobs, she's suddenly out of MP.

I also remember the community reps saying that they couldn't let us add armor and such to NPCs because they "already were given a significant edge in combat", but I am struggling to see what kind of edge this is. Equipped with a great katana, my lv 80 NPC now does about 250-350 gekkos to mobs that are approximately VT to her. Now maybe I'm just remembering things incorrectly, but I am pretty sure I did a lot more than 350 damage gekkos when I was a lv75 sam fighting VTs, so where exactly is this "edge"?

They are both statistically inferior to an average player, and also not intelligent enough to get as much as possible out of the low stats they have. Had they performed smarter actions in battle, perhaps the low stats they have wouldn't have annoyed me as much.

What we need is either an NPC that pays attention to the WSes we use and attempt to pick their WSes so that we can SC with them, or the ability to set 2-3 "favourite WSes" at the rendervouz point, at least when we have set them to Fierce Attacker.

While on healer or soothing healer, I think the NPCs should greatly favor MP-recovery WSes instead of damage dealing WSes whenever they are equipped with weapons that give access to these.

Additionally, at level 95, I think it is about time they learned the mythic WSes, and when they finally are allowed to reach 99, the merit WSes. We could spend fellow points to purchase them.

Bottom line: The NPC is extremely unreliable as a healer, and statistically awful as an attacker. If the developers aren't interested in fixing this, then they shouldn't even have bothered to let us break their cap past lv 70.

Currently, I am leveling her for two reasons:
1. For my WHM to have a NPC target to spam enhancing on for skillups.
2. In the extremely tiny, but still existing hope that SE will eventually fix the problems with them. Ideally before Adoulin is released so I can use her there. And don't you dare disable calling her in that area.

Most of what I've said here is also basically the same complaints that I have written about in my other NPC rant thread recently. You might have seen it!

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

HAHAHA. Skill ups? really XD

And about tachi-gekko doing shitty damage. i use club and she can't even pass 200 with Hexastrike... Yet. against me @ level 70 she nearly kick my ass in the bcnm but can't kill a NPC Too weak by Herself,

[Fenrirs_Takumi]

At the very same moment we are speaking... she just did 18 of damage with Hexastrike.... on a Level 78 mobs. and she's level 75,....

[Mirage]

So that means you agree with me, right?