Alluvion Skirmishes

[Camate]

Hello, everyone!

If you haven’t seen the latest announcement about alluvion skirmishes (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/43436), you’re definitely going to want to check it out!

If you’ve read over the information already, I just wanted to share a bit more supplemental information about this content coming in the August version update.


Concerns about congestion
Coinciding with the adjustments we made in the June version update where we reduced the required number of participants from three to one, there was the possibility for high congestion when accessing skirmishes. We’ve been keeping a close eye on this, but we haven’t been noticing any outstanding congestion lately. However, we will continue to monitor the situation and address it as needed.


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 rewards
As mentioned in the announcement, you can obtain weapons and shields in alluvion skirmishes. We’ve seen requests for accessories from skirmish, but right now we do not have any plans to add them. However, we will be introducing armor in future additions to alluvion skirmish to go along with the new weapons and shields.

Additionally, in the August version update you will be able to add up to two Arcane Glyptics to your weapons and shields, and in a future expansion to this content we will be making it possible to increase the number of stats you can augment you reward with.

[Crevox]

Not sure we are really in dire need of a new option for weapons or shields, but okay, I guess. I was hoping for some armor since that can usually have a lot more variety.

It all really comes down to what is on them, but seems kinda redundant when we already have a skirmish weapon and shield.

[WoW]

Well, skirmishes allow more job diversity; most jobs can do skirmish (Or invited to). Personally, I am ok with it. Sounds promising.

[Louispv]

We absolutely need shields. There damned well better be a mage shield with magic damage+80 magic attack bonus +15 or so, or clubs will never be useful compared to staves. And there is absolutely never a reason for 1 handed weapon jobs to not be dual wielding because shields are so worthless. A Double atatck +30% shield or weapon delay -25% shield might actually make Fencer useful.

Too bad it'll just be another PLD shield.

[Babekeke]

Not sure we are really in dire need of a new option for weapons or shields, but okay, I guess. I was hoping for some armor since that can usually have a lot more variety.

It all really comes down to what is on them, but seems kinda redundant when we already have a skirmish weapon and shield.

I'd like to see more weapons that more jobs can use. They don't have to be top-notch weapons, but with an option to stick a lot of acc on them, it will make a brilliant option for jobs with lower than A skill that wish to use a different weapon type for utility purposes, or for on mobs with damage resistance vs a certain type of damage.

Edit: not to mention that it's easier to get the augments that you want on these by using the correct item to augment them, instead of wasting millions of gil trying to get even a sniff of the right attribute!

[Panda2013]

Can we please please please get a decent ilvl crossbow for thief this time around? We do get last stand after all and the acid bolt utility would be amazing!

[Raydeus]

Not sure we are really in dire need of a new option for weapons or shields, but okay, I guess.

It doesn't make much sense because that approach is more XIV-ish with the tiered gear and all that vertical progression nonsense. So at least right now this seems to be geared towards people interested in a gear treadmill style of end game content.

But it really depends on what stats the gear has, if it has different stats and allows for alternative gameplay that could be interesting, but if it's just stronger versions of past gear then it's 100% vertical bs.

[Catmato]

Fewer weapons, more WHM DD gear!

[Olor]

I'd like some 119 skirmish gear that's a little more obviously stronger than the 117 bayld gear... seriously. Most of my 119 stuff (after pouring millions in stones on it) is not much better than 119 bayld gear...

[Glamdring]

Edit: not to mention that it's easier to get the augments that you want on these by using the correct item to augment them, instead of wasting millions of gil trying to get even a sniff of the right attribute!

except that as described you will need to have already obtained 119 gear, possibly augmented as you are putting down if not obtained from another battlefield or some other content system than skirmish, since Camate's statement implies that this needs 119 to beat, AND SE said the 119 cap was staying in place for the foreseeable future.

[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 :D (Sorry Demonjustin, I can't help it :D)

[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.

[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.)

[Draylo]

The content was not made for alliances, Delve 2 had 6 man in mind lol.

[Karbuncle]

Did SE state that or are you speculating?

honest question, I thought it was a continuation, but I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to make that a 6-man oriented thing.

[Malithar]

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.

If you're going off of a parse for that accuracy %, you'll need to check another similar mob. Wopket's Firefly Fandango gives a flash effect and he tends to use it fairly often, baring something like a trio of him with a single Sam. Ouryu is similar with his flying, really skews accuracy results.

[Afania]

If you're going off of a parse for that accuracy %, you'll need to check another similar mob. Wopket's Firefly Fandango gives a flash effect and he tends to use it fairly often, baring something like a trio of him with a single Sam. Ouryu is similar with his flying, really skews accuracy results.

Wouldn't screw the result that much with a max tier acc set when flash effect on.

Also it can be his pt used wrong buff for tree.

[Grekumah]

We absolutely need shields. There damned well better be a mage shield with magic damage+80 magic attack bonus +15 or so, or clubs will never be useful compared to staves. And there is absolutely never a reason for 1 handed weapon jobs to not be dual wielding because shields are so worthless. A Double atatck +30% shield or weapon delay -25% shield might actually make Fencer useful.

Too bad it'll just be another PLD shield.

Greetings,

While it won’t be from alluvion skirmishes, in the next version update we will be adding shields that can be used by jobs other than paladin, and we’ll be looking into adding shields that will be useful for back line jobs.

[Karbuncle]

Thank ya, Clubs with Magic Damage+ are a novel idea, but they have buffs that seem to think a mage is going to be dual wielding them... and they're not lol.

So a shield that adds what buff should be on the club would be really sweet. Also a Gun and crossbow for THF along with new ammo would be pretty nice...

Also... Alluvian Skirmishes are actually quite fun, maybe its because its Nyzul Isle nostalgia but I quite enjoy them. I wish they were a little less complicated (I can't find the Dagger to save my life), but overall it just adds to the enjoyment in my eyes.

[Camate]

Greetings,

I hope everyone is enjoying alluvion skirmishes. We’d definitely like to hear your feedback on this new battle content! In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know about a couple of things the team will be looking into doing for this content.

Since the HP for the regular monsters found in alluvion skirmishes has been set quite low, we’ve currently made it so experience points and capacity points cannot be earned off of them (the bosses and special monsters, however, do yield experience points and capacity points). It was created in this way to prevent alluvion skirmishes from becoming the primary way of easily earning these points in comparison to other content and field areas. However, as we would like to have multiple avenues available for players to earn capacity points, we will be looking into adjustments for after the October version update. With the adjustments, the regular monsters in alluvion skirmishes will yield both experience points and capacity points, and we will balance it appropriately with the low amount of HP they have.

Additionally, with alluvion skirmishes there are a lot of different stones that are used for adding arcane glyptics, and there is a possibility that collecting a lot may fill up your inventory, so we are looking into adding an NPC that will hold them for you. We’ll need a bit of time to confirm whether or not we can make this happen, but we’ll keep you updated on the progress.

[Selindrile]

Well, if you're looking for feedback, I'd say Alluvion Skirmishes are altogether an improvement over their predecessors, I definitely enjoy the tier up and objective system (thank god there was no order objective), the spikes of difficulty on certain NMs, this content that lets less-geared players still succeed (though not clear as much on any given run). I'm alright with the entry conditions, I suppose, though having to do oldskirmish for the pop does seem like an annoyingly unrelated timesink.

As to the weapons themselves, the graphics are cool as all heck. We enjoy the high damages, to be sure, and the augmenting system is an improvement (in my mind) than the previous skirmish ones, but the elements of randomization (though less) are still a pain, though less of a pain than fully random ones. And for most weapons, the high damage won't make up for the high delay and altogether weaker additional effects (from the augments, even at their best) as compared to what we currently have access to. The majority of players wish there were no element of randomization to the augments, that we could just pick a path and then turn in stones until we reached our goal, etc.

I'm a fan of the flute, and the shield, though I'm not quite sure how the shield stacks up mathematically, but it seems to have promise with the block% aug.

[Karbuncle]

I have the shield, so far my Augments have been Double Attack, Magic Accuracy, and Magic Attack... I'll throw more stones at it (tried DD stones and got Macc/Mab >_>), Only +1's though... Hopefully I can see some unique stuff when I start with the +2s

[L30x]

Battle content was alright, nothign really special but didn't expect much. What I probably should of expected but did not is the absolute spit in the face you guys have made here to people who own a Gjallarhorn with this new flute. You guys have gone way too far with your newbie catering this time. This flute should be in comparison to Ghorn as Priwen is to Ochain and it certainly is not, you should do either...

A. decrease the +3 augment to +2 and the +2 augment to +1

or

B. new version of Gjallarhorn and definitely don't make us wait like you did for the 119 RMEs.

I vote A, also Unacceptable and completely disrespectful.

Regards,
Person who has funded your salary for years(like many you seem to often disappoint)

[Balloon]

I want you to keep the +3 augment. Stop crying. Ghorn is still better. Probably as close as most 119 weapons are to relics.

Regards,
Someone who pays the same as L30x.

[newmonkey]

Honestly i think the +3 was a photoshop, the guy deleted his forum account and the 3 didn't even look like it lined up correctly i could be wrong but until someone else sees it im guessing it's a photoshop, giveing the new horn +2 so it was total +3 was fine, making it +4 would be a kick in the balls but again im sure it's just shopped.

[L30x]

I want you to keep the +3 augment. Stop crying. Ghorn is still better. Probably as close as most 119 weapons are to relics.

Regards,
Someone who pays the same as L30x.

Really? how many accounts do you have? Also let me guess, you don't own a Ghorn right? the +25 wind and singing is not enough to merit even considering a Ghorn now.

Also someone on mt server has said he got the +3 aug but I havent seen it for myself.

[Karbuncle]

50 Magic accuracy is kinda worth it.

And for serious though, most Relic weapons aren't even that far ahead of other 119 weapons, now that almost all relic weaponskills suck in comparison... the only thing relics have going for them these days is the 40 acc or attack and the ODD/ODT, which isn't terrible, but I mean, they're not that far ahead, and I believe in some cases worse (Amano for instance, loses to Tsuru in most situations in Adoulin).

My Mandau is significantly less valuable than it used to be, and Mercy stroke is laughable at best now making it a sad shadow of its former self. Soooo, I have no sympathy for Ghorn being "Almost worst", its in line with all other relics now. We can stop with the wounded epeen talk. Square, while updating relics, has clearly been making them less and less valuable to their counterparts, if anyone expected Ghorn to somehow be different you're pretty naive to begin with.

We all knew this was coming.

Only thing they seem to be keeping at the top of the power scale is Mythics, and I'm not entirely convinced that will last forever.

[Malithar]

Only thing they seem to be keeping at the top of the power scale is Mythics, and I'm not entirely convinced that will last forever.

I think it will, simply because most mythics take a certain degree of skill to actually keep the edge they carry. Losing AM3, letting AM3 rot while you run around a zone, and the build up to 3000 TP are all factors that if mismanaged or ignored will cause you to be doing less DPS than if you're using a regular 119, or even a different relic or Empy.

Mage mythics are in a tier of their own, and are difficult to really nail down how to edge closer to them while keeping them desired. Geomancy +7 or 8 maybe for non-Idris Geo, maybe allowing non-Yagrush Whm to get up to a 60%ish Divine Veil proc, adding +30%ish base duration to a Brd weapon, etc, those are all things they could do to edge closer to them.

[Selindrile]

+3 Augment on the Flute is the biggest argument for why to do that content at all right now, number 2 is the staff, the rest of the items aren't really better than our other options. I definitely say keep the flute as is, I love it.

[Olor]

Person who has funded your salary for years(like many you seem to often disappoint)


Um, how about the rest of us who have funded their salaries - there should be paths for us to get high potency songs. Ghorn is still better, even if that +3 is not a photoshop (has anyone seen an actual player with that augment?) There are different paths to get similar items. Deal with it.

[newmonkey]

As i said yesterday im pretty sure this is a fake, and if not ghorn brds have the right to be pissed off, if it was just left at +3 fine then no issue but to step on ghorns toes with +4 and dumb people say it closes the gap, hell no why should the gap be closed to that degree soemone can get 99 go do skirmish and have a horn whats on par with a relic which took at a the very least two weeks if someone had the gil ready and 3 months if they did it solo.

Farming 100 + mil and then doing the trials or just logging on doing a easy event and getting a horn what is on par with ghorn in most situations apart from vd fights, yeah right give me a break and some people think thats fair lol.

However im sure its just a photoshopped picture as i stated yesterday and no one has came forward with any evidence to prove it's not.

[Balloon]

Getting a ghorn is.. logging on and doing an easy event. Let's not pretend that gil is not the easiest thing possible. I bet selling those stones you could make the 100mil before you actually got that luck based augment.

As others have pointed out, some 119 weapons are better than their counterparts. Ghorn still remains the best. Having an alternate +4 weapon isn't broken.

Chances are though that it's fake, and in which case.. fantastic. No real reason to do Skirmish3.

[Karbuncle]

Here's some feedback


Entering an alluvion skirmish via an Augural Conveyor will transport the player’s party into this otherworldly realm, immediately after which the clock will start ticking down.

Time limits for these skirmishes vary between fifteen and fifty-five minutes, and are determined by the rank of the torso used to construct the corresponding Eudaemon. The torso also affects how many floors you are able to attempt.

Limiting the floors based on your Body number is stupid. It goes from being a fun Neo-Nzyul type event to another "YOU'LL STOP WHEN WE TELL YOU TO STOP" event. Please remove that. Body effecting time is good enough, no need to limit the floors right of the bat. The idea of this event should be getting as many floors as you can based entirely on how good your group is, not how good your Body is.

Jesus titties who thought that design was a good idea.

[L30x]

Um, how about the rest of us who have funded their salaries - there should be paths for us to get high potency songs. Ghorn is still better, even if that +3 is not a photoshop (has anyone seen an actual player with that augment?) There are different paths to get similar items. Deal with it.

There has been no other path to get a total +4 all songs other than ghorn. Now there is this new flute with a +3 aug on top of a flute that alrdy has +1. +4


Getting a ghorn is.. logging on and doing an easy event. Let's not pretend that gil is not the easiest thing possible. I bet selling those stones you could make the 100mil before you actually got that luck based augment.

As others have pointed out, some 119 weapons are better than their counterparts. Ghorn still remains the best. Having an alternate +4 weapon isn't broken.

Chances are though that it's fake, and in which case.. fantastic. No real reason to do Skirmish3.

Gil is the easiest thing to get? Coming from a guy who only has an 85 and a 90 empy... Yeah im sure if you had np getting gil youd have some relics. please... Btw good luck making any gil at all on those new stones if your someone who actually funds runs, isnt selfish and isnt a leech... I've put 8m in the last 3 days and have not seen half in return, but its all for something new to do, cause there is nothing to do in this game and there is literally no reward in this new event unless this flute is +4 total.

[Balloon]

There has been no other path to get a total +4 all songs other than ghorn. Now there is this new flute with a +3 aug on top of a flute that alrdy has +1. +4



Gil is the easiest thing to get? Coming from a guy who only has an 85 and a 90 empy... Yeah im sure if you had np getting gil youd have some relics. please... Btw good luck making any gil at all on those new stones if your someone who actually funds runs, isnt selfish and isnt a leech... I've put 8m in the last 3 days and have not seen half in return

Mmm. Ad Hominems smell sweet in the morning. Not that it matters, but I play very infrequently.Yet I still make gil very easily. When I play I play WHM COR and PUP. Barely jobs to get a relic on. If I had the patience, I would have funded a mythic, but I don't have the patience for it.

Just because I don't have something doesn't mean making gil is hard.

Stop being so buttdevestated.

[L30x]

Completely relevant to the fact that your full of it.

[Balloon]

buttdevestated.

[L30x]

Delusional. Your words arn't worth much.

[Olor]

There has been no other path to get a total +4 all songs other than ghorn. Now there is this new flute with a +3 aug on top of a flute that alrdy has +1. +4


I'm aware of that. Like I said, if that isn't shopped there is now an alternate path to getting a +4 potency "all songs" instrument - just like for damage dealers there are multiple paths to get a 119 weapon to deal damage. One of those options may or may not be better - just like Ghorn is still better than this flute - but the gap is now very narrow. BRAVO to SE if they have done the same thing for BRDs. That's the way to keep subscribers - by ensuring most of the playerbase can actually play with each other by narrowing the gap between "very best" and "good"

Go talk to people with a relic that isn't horn or shield - pretty sure most of those folks' weapons have been outclassed COMPLETELY by easier to get 119s not just had their lead narrowed.

Crikes this is a game where people will pay millions and millions extra for an item with +1 stat on it... Ghorn is still best, chill out.

[newmonkey]

buttdevestated.

Posting stuff like this just proves how much of an idiot you are, regardless you claim getting 100 + mil is easy lets be hoenst you can#t make it in one day but you sure can make that new horn in about 1 hour, there is no need for it to be +4, +3 is more than enough and why should a casual player who can't or won't devote the time to farm 100 mil gil then do trials and what not be handed a horn which is on par with ghorn anyway in about 90% of content the only time you would need the macc on ghorn is vd fights so yeah.

Eitherway though i think it is a photoshop as i stated earlier, no one else has managed to get the +3 agument that im aware.

[Karbuncle]

If anyone is truly upset/angry about this, I'd personally have to say buttdevestated. As much as I was when Adoulin first came out TBH

Every relic has lost its high-ranking power since Adoulin, some are still good, but a lot of them are significantly less "awesome" than they used to be. Should have seen this coming, and I am a relic owner who has one of these less-than-awesome weapons now (Especially post update with all relic WS kinda sucking)

[FrankReynolds]

There has been no other path to get a total +4 all songs other than ghorn. Now there is this new flute with a +3 aug on top of a flute that alrdy has +1. +4



Gil is the easiest thing to get? Coming from a guy who only has an 85 and a 90 empy... Yeah im sure if you had np getting gil youd have some relics. please... Btw good luck making any gil at all on those new stones if your someone who actually funds runs, isnt selfish and isnt a leech... I've put 8m in the last 3 days and have not seen half in return, but its all for something new to do, cause there is nothing to do in this game and there is literally no reward in this new event unless this flute is +4 total.

I spent 100+ mil on my spharai and then got tinhaspa in 5 minutes. Not a single tear was shed. The game is still just as fun. If this means I get better songs when I'm hitting things then I'm all for it.

[Afania]

I spent 100+ mil on my spharai and then got tinhaspa in 5 minutes. Not a single tear was shed. The game is still just as fun. If this means I get better songs when I'm hitting things then I'm all for it.


Spharai can't compare with Tinhaspa though. It still has lolcounter.

[L30x]

Posting stuff like this just proves how much of an idiot you are, regardless you claim getting 100 + mil is easy lets be hoenst you can#t make it in one day but you sure can make that new horn in about 1 hour, there is no need for it to be +4, +3 is more than enough and why should a casual player who can't or won't devote the time to farm 100 mil gil then do trials and what not be handed a horn which is on par with ghorn anyway in about 90% of content the only time you would need the macc on ghorn is vd fights so yeah.

^This is so true and though he might not agree with what im gonna say...

Here's the thing, gonna spit it out on the official forums. Square-Enix doesnt care about YOU! They care about their subscription base. They care about money. They do not care about the players who worked hard to get something that is suppose to be THE BEST. Because now they are hurting and even though trying their hardest they cant do anything to impress US(not USA but "us") who truly understand and play their game well, there's just simply not enough of us. So they have to kiss the butts of the players who don't amount to nothing and have to have things handed to them. THE END. This is also why HACKS and MODs and the whole rainbow is painfully prevailed in this game now. I see ppl speed hackign through town, I report people for obscene actions, I hear of people reporting others for various violations that got people absolutely banned in a heart beat 3 years ago and now, they walk free(most the time a GM is never heard from). This game is a dying cow and SE is milking every last drop. Please SE do ban me! So I don't give you anymore of my money to be disappointed and insulted by you any longer. And if your gonna do anythign to improve this game from here why dont you just finally drop the dang PS2 support. I swear its because you guys are just too lazy and don't want to pay/make effort in repairing all the things that PS2 support holds this game back on. For real just so I dont have to wait 10 hours for my items to load EVERY TIME I ZONE! So I can post more than 7 things on AH!! Friggen fix this bologna... Keep boasting your fake numbers on ff14 when you know it aint doing much better than 11. Keep acting like your company is one of the leading in the game world when you know SQUARE has been crap ever since its merge with ENIX... I bet "Call of Duty" earns more revenue annually than your entire company... The only reason why your game is tolerable to the majority of the player base is because of people who are not a part of your company and who improve your game for no profit. THERE I said it your welcome (you know who you are)

[Selindrile]

Lol he mad.

I like a lot of directions this game has taken, and am a fan of the new +4 Instrument, I like the idea of keeping REMs on top, but by a very small percentage, it's wonderful that someone wants to spend weeks/months of your time on one item slot for one job, but I don't think it should be a requirement for anyone to play that job (Aegis/Ochain/Daur/Gjaller) and the community makes that the case whenever the difference is too wide.

I don't really care about 3rd party programs except for to wish that certain one that shall remain nameless that like 60% of the population uses was officially acceptable, and Heck, supported, I wish they'd higher it's dev team to work on the New UI.

I do wish they'd drop PS2 support, too at least partially, it's really holding us back from a lot of things that would be wonderful to do for the game.

[FrankReynolds]

Spharai can't compare with Tinhaspa though. It still has lolcounter.

That was sorta my point.

[Creelo]

I've only skimmed the thread so hopefully I don't repeat too much of what other people are saying. Anyways here are my pros/cons from my personal experiences with Alluvion Skirmishes.

Pros:

-Fast paced content, very similar to Neo Nyzul Isle

-Awesome new weapon models

-Interesting and flexible augmenting system

-Neat floor gimmicks (Pink Acuex wooooo!)



Cons:

-Augments are still horribly random

-The community seems to have garnered that each stone corresponds to a type of stat associated with it (-slit = DD, -dim = Mage, -tip = Ranged DD, and -orb = Pet jobs). The problem though is that, for example, there is still a chance to use a -slit type stone and receive a Mage augment like Macc or Mab. Perhaps the dev team was thinking that they didn't want certain stones to be absolutely useless to people who don't have the type of jobs that the stone would be useful for (Pet jobs for example) so they wanted to include a random chance to receive a different type of augment associated with a different type of stone. This is horribly problematic because it undermines the entire augment system to begin with.

-No way to exchange stones. Whether you want fragments for worthless NQ stones or perhaps to trade a +2 stone for a certain +2 stone you actually want, there's no exchange system at all with these stones, which sucks.

-Individual spoils are still horribly random. 5/5/5 runs should not be giving people an individual loot pool full of nothing but NQ stones.

-Lack of job diversity on the weapons. For every job except for Rdm, there's pretty horrible job diversity on these weapons. I know many Cors, for example, would have loved to be on the dagger.

-No Geo Bell!

-With the ilvl cap being raised in the somewhat foreseeable future, we have to ask ourselves... What's the point of breaking our backs trying to augment some of these weapons when they'll more than likely be outclassed by other weapons in upcoming updates? This is mostly concerned with DD weapons, as opposed to mage weapons.

[Malithar]

-No Geo Bell!

Hope this comes eventually, would really love to be able to make that a very useful slot for meleeing/nuking/FC/-DT. Dunno how I'd feel if Geomancy +10 was available through it since Idris is still relatively very new, but +7 or 8 would be cool.

[Balloon]

Speaking of, it would have been nice to see some additive +Phantom Roll gear on the gun. Well, actually, I would have preferred it to be on a cor equippable Sword/Dagger, but I digress.

They can always add some upper caps on some effects, as it stands Chaos would get bumped to +72% attack with another +3, which is a little high. But Rogues would only get bumped to 27% and Fighters only 31% (All with job bonuses). Misers would cap out too, which who knows, that might be a cool change.

The gun has some utility as a melee/WS gun, but not as a shooty shooty gun.

I hope we get more +Phantom Roll soon, and I hope they haven't precluded the ability for items with +x on them stacking. (Ala Idris and Dunna)

[Balloon]

Hope this comes eventually, would really love to be able to make that a very useful slot for meleeing/nuking/FC/-DT. Dunno how I'd feel if Geomancy +10 was available through it since Idris is still relatively very new, but +7 or 8 would be cool.

I'd love to see this. +59.2% vs +45.6% for the next best thing is a little silly as it stands. Both good, but it'd go a long way towards helping non-mythic geos being accepted in a range of content if you could get +7/8.

Edit: Thought I hit edit, hit quote. Derp

[Creelo]

Also!



Since the HP for the regular monsters found in alluvion skirmishes has been set quite low, we’ve currently made it so experience points and capacity points cannot be earned off of them (the bosses and special monsters, however, do yield experience points and capacity points). It was created in this way to prevent alluvion skirmishes from becoming the primary way of easily earning these points in comparison to other content and field areas. However, as we would like to have multiple avenues available for players to earn capacity points, we will be looking into adjustments for after the October version update. With the adjustments, the regular monsters in alluvion skirmishes will yield both experience points and capacity points, and we will balance it appropriately with the low amount of HP they have.


I feel like this is such bs. Cirdas Skirmish mobs are so much weaker than these Alluvion skirmish mobs and give pretty decent Exp/CP. The regular Alluvion skirmish mobs are no joke too. If you don't come prepared with PDT gear and such, they really can hit very hard, and against large groups things can get pretty dicey if you don't have some form of AoE sleep. It's nice that it seems Alluvion skirmish will eventually be adjusted, but... October???? Maybe could this be... bumped up a little bit? :/

[Karbuncle]

Yah, I have to agree with Creelo.

Delve mobs, which I consider either "as fodder" or easier than Alluvian skirmish enemies give loads of exp/JP, LOADS... I think the dev team kinda derped on this one point lol

[Afania]

Speaking of, it would have been nice to see some additive +Phantom Roll gear on the gun. Well, actually, I would have preferred it to be on a cor equippable Sword/Dagger, but I digress.

They can always add some upper caps on some effects, as it stands Chaos would get bumped to +72% attack with another +3, which is a little high. But Rogues would only get bumped to 27% and Fighters only 31% (All with job bonuses). Misers would cap out too, which who knows, that might be a cool change.

The gun has some utility as a melee/WS gun, but not as a shooty shooty gun.

I hope we get more +Phantom Roll soon, and I hope they haven't precluded the ability for items with +x on them stacking. (Ala Idris and Dunna)

While a roll enhancement augment can give bigger boost to the job, IMO it's against the design direction of this job. You'd need to swap it out and lose TP EVERY TIME before buff, that's quite a lot of TP lose.

COR needs 119 sword a lot more than dagger, atm it's pretty terrible on wopket without 119 swords.

[Afania]

Cons:

-Augments are still horribly random

-The community seems to have garnered that each stone corresponds to a type of stat associated with it (-slit = DD, -dim = Mage, -tip = Ranged DD, and -orb = Pet jobs). The problem though is that, for example, there is still a chance to use a -slit type stone and receive a Mage augment like Macc or Mab. Perhaps the dev team was thinking that they didn't want certain stones to be absolutely useless to people who don't have the type of jobs that the stone would be useful for (Pet jobs for example) so they wanted to include a random chance to receive a different type of augment associated with a different type of stone. This is horribly problematic because it undermines the entire augment system to begin with.


The augment pool is too huge, since there are tons of ilv119 options already, you need very specific augment for the new skirmish weapon to beat current ILV119 options. It's not that easy to get the augment you want.

[FrankReynolds]

The augment pool is too huge, since there are tons of ilv119 options already, you need very specific augment for the new skirmish weapon to beat current ILV119 options. It's not that easy to get the augment you want.

I haven't seen anything in there that warrants me spending time / money on this random augment crap and if I did, I would rather just not have it than feed SE's deranged obsession with annoying game mechanics.

[Demonjustin]

The fact the augment system seems to suck still(and someone told me it's even a bit worse) on top of the fact the weapons themselves looked fairly bad to begin with are why I've not even logged in more than a total of 4 hours since the update. Keep in mind I normally used to play this for more than 4~8 hours a day. The game and it's content is starting to bore me to say the least and the constant focus on augment systems like the ones used in Skirmish are a big reason why.

[Karbuncle]

Anyone who would say it was worse, or even "As bad" just sound like someone who expected to trade one of each stone and be capped on the best augment available, or forgot to breathe that day and was working on a dead brain. The Augment system accompanying Alluvian Skirmish is significantly better than old skirmish, and in ways some people might not realized. The chances of getting a magey augment off a DD stone or vice versa is really really low. This is from first had experience, not third hand accounts.

Out of all the stones I've traded, well into the 40's or 50's, only 2 have giving me an augment that would be considered not linked to their stone type. Outside of that, its been much easier getting the augments I want on my weapon. For instance I've been augmenting Gun/staff since I've got them, and even with NQ Leaf stones, I've seen Snapshot+2, Pet:Regen+3, Pet:Crit Rate+2, Pet: PDT-4% and a few more on the gun I cant quite recall. And with NQ/+1 stones my gun now has R.acc+17 and my staff Pet:MAB+17.

In all of these augments, save the two I mentioned before (Magic burst damage i think on shield, and fast cast on gun), all have been proper for their weapon type... and have lead to worthwhile augments on them.

Now, ideally I want a gun with R.acc/R.atk+17~20 and Snapshot+6 or WSdamage+6, and for my staff Pet Macc/Matk+17~20 and idk the secondary... this will take some time, but when I do achieve them, they will be the best weapons I can use for their situations... (gun is for COR btw).

the Dagger I have, with an NQ stone, has been Augmented with Waltz Potency +5%, meaning it probably goes to 15% or so with a +2, making it quite fun for Dancer at the least... If you people have see anything impressive with these weapons you're not looking hard enough.

The Greatsword with Acc/atk+17 Dbl Attack+6 is probably the best GS most of those jobs can use, especially on content that requires accuracy, and while the GS is the only confirmed DBL+6, other weapons have shown stuff like Snapshot+6, WS damage+6 and so on, theres a better than good chance these weapons can get +6 as a high end for their secondary augments save some special ones, making a lot of them real good fo DD purposes. I think the only ones that are significantly unlikely to replace whats already there are Shield and Great Katana, and probably Bow/Gun for RNG, other than that a lot of these weapons have high potential.

This isn't even mentioning the fact +2 stones, snow specifically, are much easier to get, and +2 Leaf stones are about as common as old skirmish +2's... also leaving out the awesomeness of the BRD instrument...

And those "Ways people may not realize" I mention about the augmenting? DD stats on a mage weapon like club/etc, or Cure POtency/Fast cast on Sword/Shield, something like that. Allowing us to pick which augments to use for which weapon opens up what type of weapon you may want to turn it into... Like making the club a DD club, or the dagger a Waltz Potency/Acc dagger, or the Sword a Fast Cast+Acc instead of Crit+acc... so on.

[Balloon]

Now, ideally I want a gun with R.acc/R.atk+17~20 and Snapshot+6 or WSdamage+6, and for my staff Pet Macc/Matk+17~20 and idk the secondary... this will take some time, but when I do achieve them, they will be the best weapons I can use for their situations... (gun is for COR btw).

Sincere question, would that gun be better than the alternatives? I've heard the delay is quite high for a shooty shooty gun, but that it's ideal for a melee/last stand build because of the high Damage and ability to slot DA, WS dmg and to a lesser degree accuracy. I also forget if you can hold two of the guns at a time.

How does it rank against R15 Delve and Vanir for shooty shooty.

With the gear we currently have and Flurry2/Coursers it seems we might already be able to cap snapshot (Not sure, heard on the grapevine, haven't been very active in the ffxiah thread). All I know is on release I was thrilled by the name, but dissapointed by the delay.

[Karbuncle]

Sincere question, would that gun be better than the alternatives? I've heard the delay is quite high for a shooty shooty gun, but that it's ideal for a melee/last stand build because of the high Damage and ability to slot DA, WS dmg and to a lesser degree accuracy. I also forget if you can hold two of the guns at a time.

Edit: Hold on, confusion on snapshot. give me a few moments...

Edit2: Okay, I assumed Snapshot worked like haste for ranger, and it essentially does, but according to the RNG guide in XIAH, "Snapshot +5" is essentially -10% delay? Its all very confusion. But, for the sake of argument lets assuming Snapshot+5 works like Haste+5, because even if its doubled you can convert it up later.

Basically, Delve/Vanir will be 10% quicker than Doomsday regardless of your Snapshot value, for instance with no Snapshot, its 600/660, with 50% Snapshot it would be 300/330, so the delay difference will change (from 60 to 30), but overall it will still be about a 10% difference.

HOWEVER, if the Snapshot+6 from the gun is included/bypass our imaginary 25% cap, at around ~50% Snapshot the Snapshot+6 on the gun will make Doomsday pass the 600 delay guns in delay reduction. Uh, if thats confusing, its basically saying the Snapshot+6 on the gun will be available only to that gun, so its extra snapshot you cant get otherwise. So if you tak the above calculation (600/660 + 50% Snapshot = 300/330) and add +6% more snapshot to the 660 gun, the 660 gun comes out to 291 Delay, 9 less than the 600 gun. To sum that up..

50% Snapshot
660 = 330
600 = 300

Adding +6% to 660 gun only
660 = 291
600 = 300

So with that additional 6% snapshot on Doomsday, it surpasses the delay reduction of the 600 delay guns (Vanir/Delve II), so its superior in both delay and damage. (Not calculating the 3% on Delve II yet but they'd be real close).

Again, this is assuming 1 Snapshot = 1% haste, but RNG Guide says 1 Snapshot = 2% Delay reduction for ranged weapons... either way its all very annoying with how little legitimate info there is on snapshot, its caps, its gear caps, and so on.

Conclusion: With Flurry II and good gear, the actual delay difference between a 600 and 660 is very low, and if what i mentioned above about gear is right, sometimes favors the 660 with right augment. What it boils down too is their secondary stats.

And for what its worth, I'm pretty sure you can get Macc/Matk Augments on the gun by using Dim stones.

Also, have to consider the delay and how it would benefit store-TP and such, IDK if its build changing but eh,

Edit: Also its 680 Delay, not 660.

[FrankReynolds]

So how many million would you have to spend to get a gun that might come close to or slightly surpass a gun that you can guaranteed get in a few runs of delve? I mean money / time wise it seems like you are probably going to spend an incredible amount in order to get something that may not even be better and if it is better, probably won;t be for very long. Or you may spend days / millions and end up with something that is inventory -1.

Even if the augments were twice as good, I would not condone this infuriating lottery system. It's bad enough that we have the lottery system that is the development team randomly out dating items by adding better items that are far easier to get every update. I don't need another layer of random statistics between me and the fruits of my labor.

[Karbuncle]

So how many million would you have to spend to get a gun that might come close to or slightly surpass a gun that you can guaranteed get in a few runs of delve? I mean money / time wise it seems like you are probably going to spend an incredible amount in order to get something that may not even be better and if it is better, probably won;t be for very long. Or you may spend days / millions and end up with something that is inventory -1.

no way to tell, I'm currently using a gun that has R.acc+17 Snapshot+2, and as far as bought stones go, I've spent under 400k or so... If i really wanted to blow gil I could probably have higher snapshot and some r.atk... the Delve II gun is probably better right now, but Doomsday isn't bad even with these lesser augments :o

And in reality, how much the best COR gun you can wield short of Mythic worth to you? I'd say a few million is pretty cheap comparatively :P

[FrankReynolds]

no way to tell, I'm currently using a gun that has R.acc+17 Snapshot+2, and as far as bought stones go, I've spent under 400k or so... If i really wanted to blow gil I could probably have higher snapshot and some r.atk... the Delve II gun is probably better right now, but Doomsday isn't bad even with these lesser augments :o

And in reality, how much the best COR gun you can wield short of Mythic worth to you? I'd say a few million is pretty cheap comparatively :P

Okay so, you said you used in the ballpark of 40-50 stones. On my server that is a substantial amount of gil to get upgrades that may or may not be any better than what you get in like 3 hours of delve runs. I know people on my server that are 20 mil deep and have't gotten the upgrade they want on the instrument.

I mean if it's fun to you, then it's not really gonna matter how crappy the augment system is. For me though, I was burned out on random augments on gear back when they put them on HNM / Sky armor. There's nothing in that random gear that is significant enough to make or break a run in any event right now, so I'm gonna opt out of the gil sink.

As I write this right now, my server has peaked at a weekly high of 800 people and the one guy who has shouted for alluvian skirmish today has been looking for a bard for 2 hours. Regardless of how much better this gear system sounds on paper than X event, it's still not good. If this is their long term plan for top tier weapons and armor, I'll probably just take another year off. I like having the best gear, but I'm not gonna encourage these guys to keep making annoying systems by popularizing them.

[Karbuncle]

Okay so, you said you used in the ballpark of 40-50 stones. On my server that is a substantial amount of gil to get upgrades that may or may not be any better than what you get in like 3 hours of delve runs. I know people on my server that are 20 mil deep and have't gotten the upgrade they want on the instrument.

I mean if it's fun to you, then it's not really gonna matter how crappy the augment system is. For me though, I was burned out on random augments on gear back when they put them on HNM / Sky armor. There's nothing in that random gear that is significant enough to make or break a run in any event right now, so I'm gonna opt out of the gil sink.

cut out a spot there i think. Anywho!

It is fun, the event itself is fun. Its like Nyzul for Skirmishes, the bosses are fun, the coordinating is fun, and its a good mix of easy and difficult to where you dont need 119 Mythic SAMs, but you need competency and cooperation to win... I did a 3 body run with a RUN, BST, and NIN as my DD... and we won with little problems (except f**k the Uragnite, thats all). At the end of the day, this weapon can and will be the best gun you can get for COR with the right augments, what I guess I should have clarified is that of those 40-50 stones, most were NQ/+1 that I got from actually doing the event (on a good 3 Body run, You can get 6-7 or more Stones in a single run, alot of them +1 or +2... 40-50 is not a lot of stones, and +2's aren't as rare as old skirmish (Save leaves, which are still not super rare).

The event itself is where I get the joy from, the weapons are a nice side reward and some of them can be quite good for the jobs on them.... plus I have no reason not to believe these weapons will be upgraded to +1 or +2 with the next installments of delve, making them even more valuable.

This is directed more to the audience reading here, and not you... but If you want instant gratification and (as you described) "3 hours" to cap out on the weapon you want... do Delve, and then find a corner to afk in and wait for next patch complaining about no content... personally I'll take a slightly random augmenting system over 1 week lock outs or 1% drop rate any day.

There are only so many ways you can make an event last longer than launch day... Delve is nice, I don't deny that, Airlixirs are a nice system too, but I don't want everything in this game to be "Spend 3 hours at x event and be done until next update". They haven't hit "perfection" with Alluvian Skirmishes augment system, but its getting better.... I just hope they continue to learn and refine it, but as it stands now its a fun event with decent rewards for some jobs.

Perfect? no, but far from the terrible end of FFXI some people make it out to be.

[FrankReynolds]

cut out a spot there i think. Anywho!

It is fun, the event itself is fun. Its like Nyzul for Skirmishes, the bosses are fun, the coordinating is fun, and its a good mix of easy and difficult to where you dont need 119 Mythic SAMs, but you need competency and cooperation to win... I did a 3 body run with a RUN, BST, and NIN as my DD... and we won with little problems (except f**k the Uragnite, thats all). At the end of the day, this weapon can and will be the best gun you can get for COR with the right augments, what I guess I should have clarified is that of those 40-50 stones, most were NQ/+1 that I got from actually doing the event (on a good 3 Body run, You can get 6-7 or more Stones in a single run, alot of them +1 or +2... 40-50 is not a lot of stones, and +2's aren't as rare as old skirmish (Save leaves, which are still not super rare).

The event itself is where I get the joy from, the weapons are a nice side reward and some of them can be quite good for the jobs on them.... plus I have no reason not to believe these weapons will be upgraded to +1 or +2 with the next installments of delve, making them even more valuable.

This is directed more to the audience reading here, and not you... but If you want instant gratification and (as you described) "3 hours" to cap out on the weapon you want... do Delve, and then find a corner to afk in and wait for next patch complaining about no content... personally I'll take a slightly random augmenting system over 1 week lock outs or 1% drop rate any day.

There are only so many ways you can make an event last longer than launch day... Delve is nice, I don't deny that, Airlixirs are a nice system too, but I don't want everything in this game to be "Spend 3 hours at x event and be done until next update". They haven't hit "perfection" with Alluvian Skirmishes augment system, but its getting better.... I just hope they continue to learn and refine it, but as it stands now its a fun event with decent rewards for some jobs.

Perfect? no, but far from the terrible end of FFXI some people make it out to be.



I don't care if it's instant gratification. I just want it to be guaranteed gratification. It doesn't have to take a day or two, but lets be realistic. If it's probably gonna get outclassed by something else in a month or two, it shouldn't cost a butt load of money and or time. Making an event take 3 hours and you're done or making an event where you do it forever and never get what you want are not the only options for keeping people interested.

Let's be honest here. Those 8~ million worth of stones you spent are probably gonna be wasted when they release the +1 version that wipes all your augments in September.

I mean if it was the ONLY thing out there for the job and you NEEDED it to get things done, sure. Waste the money. But it's not either of those things.


If I choose not to do it because it's too easy and I finish in a week or I choose not to do it because the reward system is torture, the outcome is the same. I'm still bored and uninterested in the game.

[Karbuncle]

If I choose not to do it because it's too easy and I finish in a week or I choose not to do it because the reward system is torture, the outcome is the same. I'm still bored and uninterested in the game.

Not that I disagree with the entirety of your post, but this here, there is a difference regardless of it the outcome is the same or not. In instance A) You finish the event because its easy and you can blow through it, in instance B) you actively chose to ignore it because you've given yourself the "why bother" mentality. In situation B, you have only yourself to blame for not wanting to do the event.

More so, you're approaching this event like once you got your weapon you quit the event and spend the rest of the time investing gil into it instead. The stones come from the event, and you get a good deal of them from doing the event... Its not wrong to want the end result now, but I'll personally take farming an event that can be fun for stones to upgrade my weapon in this situation. I can't think of many more ways to make this event better. Yes, Random augmenting is annoying sometimes, but a long time ago in a thread much like this, Square enix asked the player base if they wanted Random Augments, or Static augments when it came to upgrading old gear (byakkos, etc).

Guess what the majority picked? You guessed it, the system thats in the game now. Random augments. Also, I haven't even so much as invested ~1mil or so into these stones(I think >_>)... and I'm already in possession of an above average weapon, and this is only when no ones online to do a run.

So yah, this isn't about a gil sink like you keep making it out to be, and its not as random or bad as you make it out to be, have you even tried augmenting a weapon? Do you even own one of the weapons? Its not like you have a random pool of 500 augments with 80 values to pull from, its a lot more focused and easier to get the proper augment than old Skirmishes.

Its not that bad.

As far as it being replaced soon... yah... thats par for the course for MMOs. FFXI didn't used to be like that, but it is now...

[Balloon]

I must say, I think their item level treadmill and weapon treadmill made a lot more sense before the 119 update the REM. They said they wanted weapons to be situationally useful and exchangeable depending on the content earlier in Adoulins life cycle, but by 119ing REMs you've basically said "If you have these weapons you will be set."

I wish that the augment part of this system was less convoluted. The weapons are... well, marginal upgrades in some situations, marginal downgrades in others. What ever happened to slotting? Could you ever trade Evoliths? They certainly weren't AHable, but they did a better job of representing what you could get than hundreds of thousands of random stones. I was really excited for this update, the weapons look incredible (seriously, damn site prettier than relics, some look better than mythics. All look better than Empys) and they alluded to the fact it was a lot less random. There is a system there, but it's... horrible.

As for the evolith, I don't think they were tradable, so it's obviously not a solution - But a system where the augment appeared on the stone itself (Possible, evoliths do show augments on them) would have been a little less frustrating. Part of me still wishes there was a point to that system... One without the complicated symbols and sizes.

[FrankReynolds]

Not that I disagree with the entirety of your post, but this here, there is a difference regardless of it the outcome is the same or not. In instance A) You finish the event because its easy and you can blow through it, in instance B) you actively chose to ignore it because you've given yourself the "why bother" mentality. In situation B, you have only yourself to blame for not wanting to do the event.

Just like I have only myself to blame for not liking country music or becoming an astronaut. No. The drop system sucks and I don't like it. The communities distaste for random augments has been widely expressed on this site and in the game. You can easily discern that people hate it by walking around town and seeing how many people are walking around with non-augmented and or poorly augmented gear. I mean at this point yorcia skirmish is a snooze fest where two people kill things and the erst just hang out and yet I see RME weapons on every other character these days and I've never seen a single person ever with perfectly augmented skirmish gear. hell, I don't think I've even seen perfect augments on one full set in screen shots. Let alone on one person in game.

This tells me that while some people may have varying degrees of tolerance for it, nobody likes it enough to finish it. I see a hundred shouts a day for year old delve content that everyone SHOULD be finished with because it lacks the staying power of random augments and maybe 3-4 for new skirm. Think about that. People are still doing the old crappy delve even though it's very job exclusive and not as fun as the new skirmish game play wise.

Why? The drops. The skirmish drop / augment system sucks.


More so, you're approaching this event like once you got your weapon you quit the event and spend the rest of the time investing gil into it instead. The stones come from the event, and you get a good deal of them from doing the event... Its not wrong to want the end result now, but I'll personally take farming an event that can be fun for stones to upgrade my weapon in this situation. I can't think of many more ways to make this event better. Yes, Random augmenting is annoying sometimes, but a long time ago in a thread much like this, Square enix asked the player base if they wanted Random Augments, or Static augments when it came to upgrading old gear (byakkos, etc).

Guess what the majority picked? You guessed it, the system thats in the game now. Random augments. Also, I haven't even so much as invested ~1mil or so into these stones(I think >_>)... and I'm already in possession of an above average weapon, and this is only when no ones online to do a run.

I vaguely remember that discussion. I don't however remember the majority asking for this crap. I remember a few people who have since quit the game to play FFXIV saying that they liked the sky augment system and the vast majority saying they hated it. I searched for the thread, but all I found were hundreds of threads of people complaining about bad random augments and begging to have some better way to get rid of / change them. I don't think this is it.


So yah, this isn't about a gil sink like you keep making it out to be, and its not as random or bad as you make it out to be, have you even tried augmenting a weapon? Do you even own one of the weapons? Its not like you have a random pool of 500 augments with 80 values to pull from, its a lot more focused and easier to get the proper augment than old Skirmishes.

Getting a weapon that has 3 less MAB than the one you have 5000 times and getting a weapon that has pet evasion on it 5000 times is exactly the same thing. Either way you have lost an inventory slot. It doesn't matter if they make it so specific that you can only get the stat you want. If it almost never gives enough of that stat to make it better than the weapon you already have, then it's worthless.



As far as it being replaced soon... yah... thats par for the course for MMOs. FFXI didn't used to be like that, but it is now...

This is exactly why I don't care about this event. The only reason I could see myself doing this is to sell the drops and fund a weapon from a more reliable source. Even then, It's not a reliable source of income because the stones that actually give the good augments are just as random as the augments.

[Karbuncle]

I think that, you want to hate the system, and you'll find ways to hate it regardless of my input on the topic, so in this effort my attempts to describe the improvements this augmenting system has over its predecessors is in vain.

The augmenting for Alluvian skirmish is not nearly as random and bad as you dramatize it to be and you'd know that if you gave it a chance... You may not like it and thats okay, everyone has different tastes... but its come a long way since Skygod/Abjuration gear.

I'd at least suggest getting a weapon and throwing some NQ stones at it to realize its improvements over the old system before damning it as you have. I for one would hate FFXI if every system for acquiring gear was the same, static augment, point based acquisition that is Delve, I like a little bit of variety in how I get and enhance my endgame gear. They still have a little ways to go on perfecting reward/effort ratio of a random augment system, but Its improving with time at least. For those who don't want to bother with lady luck, go buy a Delve II weapon and upgrade it... but I enjoy the fact SE still adds in these niche weapons that can be improved to be better than those weapons if people put enough time into it, rather it be from the direct event or farming gil to buy stones, at least you have the option to buy them and they're not ex.

[detlef]

He's not the only one. I'm not even going to bother pouring massive amounts of gil and/or effort into random augments when the gear is likely be replaced, possibly as soon as the next round of Alluvian Skirmish is introduced. Maybe it's worthwhile for you but for a lot of people it isn't.

[Karbuncle]

i'm spending a part of my adult life playing an MMO, "worthwhile" isn't in the equation. I go on a scale of "Is it fun" to "is it boring".

Its fun, therefor I play, and if its not fun for others, thats okay :)

My argument is merely an attempt to show other people that the augmenting system, while still needing improvements, has come a long way. I guess thats pretty much it.

[Afania]

The augmenting for Alluvian skirmish is not nearly as random and bad as you dramatize it to be and you'd know that if you gave it a chance... You may not like it and thats okay, everyone has different tastes... but its come a long way since Skygod/Abjuration gear.


I don't agree, IMO the augment system for Alluvian skirmish is slightly worse than WKR and skirmish3. The weapons are mostly sidegrade to current RME, unless you get very specific augment to give it a niche use.

In order for Doomsday to beat skirmish+2/delve2 R15 for melee you need specific augment like racc+rattk AND WSD or high haste. I was playing with spreadsheet, a doomsday without proper augment doesn't always beat delve2 R15 A due to the lack of STR.

In order for Doomsday to beat DP for /ra you also need specific augment like snapshot+6 AND racc+rattk or something similar, even then that's probably for none aftermath situation only when QD isn't doing high dmg.

If you fail to get the max number on any of those, the alternative option beats it, you do need to toss quite a large amount of gil to get the right number, so far I've got some real shit augment like elemental siphon on doomsday from HQ melee stone....I mean, serious? I don't think I can get augment like this on skirmish +2 gun?

No, I did not use mage stone on the gun and.....elemental siphon! D: Even fast cast or cure potency is more useful than this.

With ILV pushing beyond 119 soon, or maybe new tier of A.skirmish soon, IMO it's just a waste of gil to get the perfect augment on it.

The gil I can spend on another RME, or save for 119+ RME upgrade. Even an afterglow is better investment than this IMO.

WKR augment is the one that's done right IMO. A lot of the good choices you can make, since you can only get one weapon you really have to pick carefully. Certain augment on the weapons like OAT could make the weapon best in slot for certain situations, but inferior to 119 alternatives when you need acc, armor augments also opens up different build depending on the augment IMO it's perfect system.

Can't compare this with sky abj gears either. Some of the sky gears with augment are still being used, I still use bloodmask for example.

I don't see how I'd use Doomsday NQ when next tier of ILV come, I'm probably going to upgrade my DP and arma instead, screw current 119 options.

[Afania]

I'd at least suggest getting a weapon and throwing some NQ stones at it to realize its improvements over the old system before damning it as you have. I for one would hate FFXI if every system for acquiring gear was the same, static augment, point based acquisition that is Delve, I like a little bit of variety in how I get and enhance my endgame gear.

FYI I don't mind a random augment system for niche situations as long as I can get augment I want in IF I'm following the specific direction. If I want cure potency augment for my COR/WHM, I should be able to get it after a few tries by feeding it mage stones. If I want melee stat I should be able to get DA/haste/STP or something if I toss melee stones.

Getting elemental siphon or snapshot from melee stones isn't acceptable though.

[Karbuncle]

I don't agree, IMO the augment system for Alluvian skirmish is slightly worse than WKR and skirmish3. The weapons are mostly sidegrade to current RME, unless you get very specific augment to give it a niche use.

In order for Doomsday to beat skirmish+2/delve2 R15 for melee you need specific augment like racc+rattk AND WSD or high haste. I was playing with spreadsheet, a doomsday without proper augment doesn't always beat delve2 R15 A due to the lack of STR.

In order for Doomsday to beat DP for /ra you also need specific augment like snapshot+6 AND racc+rattk or something similar, even then that's probably for none aftermath situation only when QD isn't doing high dmg.

If you fail to get the max number on any of those, the alternative option beats it, you do need to toss quite a large amount of gil to get the right number, so far I've got some real shit augment like elemental siphon on doomsday from HQ melee stone....I mean, serious? I don't think I can get augment like this on skirmish +2 gun?

No, I did not use mage stone on the gun and.....elemental siphon! D: Even fast cast or cure potency is more useful than this.

With ILV pushing beyond 119 soon, or maybe new tier of A.skirmish soon, IMO it's just a waste of gil to get the perfect augment on it.

The gil I can spend on another RME, or save for 119+ RME upgrade. Even an afterglow is better investment than this IMO.

WKR augment is the one that's done right IMO. A lot of the good choices you can make, since you can only get one weapon you really have to pick carefully. Certain augment on the weapons like OAT could make the weapon best in slot for certain situations, but inferior to 119 alternatives when you need acc, armor augments also opens up different build depending on the augment IMO it's perfect system.

Can't compare this with sky abj gears either. Some of the sky gears with augment are still being used, I still use bloodmask for example.

I don't see how I'd use Doomsday NQ when next tier of ILV come, I'm probably going to upgrade my DP and arma instead, screw current 119 options.

You know, =.=a I did mention somewhere in the beginning of this conversation that this is comparing to Non RME alternatives. throwing RME into the equation is an obvious no brainer what will win, which is why i left them out of it all :I

Not to mention, considering how unique and detailed these new weapons are, I'd like to imagine they'll eventually be +1 and maybe +2'd, who knows, they could lead to a new tier of ultimate Adoulin weapons... they have the look going for them. This is just speculation...

Also, in terms of WKR Augments, I could see how those would work on Skirmish weapons and how this new system would be a step down from that... each stone could have covered one of the 4 elements instead of how they are now, and each one could have buffs based on that. But f that were the case theres a solid probability that we'd be limited to simply 2 augments like those weapons are, not the 3 we can get now... and the combination of Both acc/atk is what makes half these weapons worthwhile.

Would I have objected if the system was "Pick 1 Stone, turn it in for Acc/Atk+20, pick another stone, turn it in for WS DMG+6"? No, I probably wouldn't mind it... but I also think thats unrealistic even for SE. The only reason WKR Augments got such static and decent augments is because they're 115 weapons, already out of date and most of them still useless even with those augments... (save for fodder content).

Anyway, you make good points without it being a "FUFUURRGGRGLRGLRLGLR AUGMENTS", they could have done better, and I find it as stupid as you do that you can use a Melee stone and get a mage augment, it is wholely unnacceptable and an idiotic addition... but I see what they were trying to do... making it so each stone could still have that "well it could happen" use, or more cynically they could have just been like "This augmenting is too static, give them a 5% chance to be f**ked and get a non-stone augment". Either way, I dislike the concept of that part.

As i mentioned a few posts ago... I traded a +2 Ranged stone to my gun and got Fast Cast +3, was I furious? Yup... yup i was.

[Afania]

You know, =.=a I did mention somewhere in the beginning of this conversation that this is comparing to Non RME alternatives. throwing RME into the equation is an obvious no brainer what will win, which is why i left them out of it all :I


The point isn't new skirmish weapon can't compete with RME though, it CAN have niche situation with unique augment, even for RME owners. The point is that the augment range is so huge that the chance of getting them is so small....I don't mind a cure potency gun for COR/WHM, but idk how to get them.

If SE said we're gonna stay on ilv119 for another 3 years, or the augment I get can stay for next tier, I'd toss gil on it.

With next tier coming anytime soon, and R/M/E confirmed to get an upgrade, it's pretty silly to release an augment system with such huge range.

[Angrykitty]

I'm going to play the devil's advocate in response to this update. I haven't tried any of the new content since the last skirmish content that was released because all this new stuff seems like complete crap.

First off, 99% of the time players are going to exploit it with the same job combinations (MNK, PLD, WHM, SCH, COR, BRD), which bottlenecks game play for everyone. I would like to see a game where you can invite any job combination and apply them usefully in a scenario or battlefield. I'm certain that I am not alone in this opinion.

I would like to see old jobs branch off into new roles for damage dealing, tanking, and support.
I would like to see old equipment become upgradable to be functional at level 119, to include all of the magian trial weapons and equipment.
I would like to see more customization in character building than just equipment. Equipment should only be ornate and help to some degree. Job points and merits need a severe overhaul, not a patch.
Players should be invited based on skill and not on what equipment they have in possession.
Most of all, I would like to see the ffxi community play together to accomplish missions and battlefields than compete for equipment and squabble for content.

When are you planning to update any content so that every job can participate in it?

I'm not making demands, but until this game becomes more enjoyable for everyone, my wife and I are breaking from it. It's $25 a month that we can save up to try other games.

v/r

AK

[Karbuncle]

The point isn't new skirmish weapon can't compete with RME though, it CAN have niche situation with unique augment, even for RME owners. The point is that the augment range is so huge that the chance of getting them is so small....I don't mind a cure potency gun for COR/WHM, but idk how to get them.

If SE said we're gonna stay on ilv119 for another 3 years, or the augment I get can stay for next tier, I'd toss gil on it.

With next tier coming anytime soon, and R/M/E confirmed to get an upgrade, it's pretty silly to release an augment system with such huge range.

Frankly, and as less offensively as I can make it cause thats honestly not my intent, but I think its a stupid scapegoat to bring up RME and compare every weapon introduced to them. Yes, they aren't better than RME, but save for maybe a handful of people in XI, no one owns a 119 RME for all their jobs, which is why these sub-RME weapons are still useful to most players. I do agree that the range being so wide is a little annoying, and I agree that its also quite stupid that you can get off-stone augments, which I think should be removed in the next installment of Skirmish. But considering if you put your mind to it, you'd probably have a good-to-great augment in a couple days work, less if you put gil into it, it ain't superbly terrible.


First off, 99% of the time players are going to exploit it with the same job combinations (MNK, PLD, WHM, SCH, COR, BRD), which bottlenecks game play for everyone. I would like to see a game where you can invite any job combination and apply them usefully in a scenario or battlefield. I'm certain that I am not alone in this opinion.

Its not an exploit to use efficient jobs... The fastest way will be SAMs and other high tier DD... but its not impossible without them, I've personally beaten a 3 body run with BST, NIN, RUN, COR, WHM, GEO... You can win these things with just about any realistic job combination,(I.E DDsx3, Support, Healer) thats not the problem... Its that people will go for the most efficient and least "room for stupid" jobs. I.E if you're given the option for a SAM or PUP, you'll likely take the SAM since its more likely, even if they suck, that they'll be better than the PUP, since the PUP requires a great player to be done well.


I would like to see old jobs branch off into new roles for damage dealing, tanking, and support.

Like what XD? There aren't many rolls for an MMO outside of those 3... except Healing.


I would like to see more customization in character building than just equipment. Equipment should only be ornate and help to some degree. Job points and merits need a severe overhaul, not a patch.

I don't know if theres any MMO like this... Equipment is the foundation of MMOs, its the drive behind almost all of them, especially XI with its macro system. Merit adjustments would be nice though :D


Players should be invited based on skill and not on what equipment they have in possession.

This would be kinda nice... but you can't put skill into a game like XI without a complete rehaul of the battle system, and I mean ground up to the point it would be easier to make a new MMO. Also, theres no way to judge skill at face value so "skill" is an intangible asset in an MMO unless you're well known. So judging based on skill is impossible when all you have to go off of is a line of text saying "SAM, Do you need it?"


Most of all, I would like to see the ffxi community play together to accomplish missions and battlefields than compete for equipment and squabble for content.

I, I do agree... but like World peace, this won't happen... too many different types of people, too many different ideas of fun. You know, sometimes I wish people could get along, but I also enjoy the variety people bring to XI, even the asshats :|

[FrankReynolds]

Frankly, and as less offensively as I can make it cause thats honestly not my intent, but I think its a stupid scapegoat to bring up RME and compare every weapon introduced to them. Yes, they aren't better than RME, but save for maybe a handful of people in XI, no one owns a 119 RME for all their jobs, which is why these sub-RME weapons are still useful to most players. I do agree that the range being so wide is a little annoying, and I agree that its also quite stupid that you can get off-stone augments, which I think should be removed in the next installment of Skirmish. But considering if you put your mind to it, you'd probably have a good-to-great augment in a couple days work, less if you put gil into it, it ain't superbly terrible.|

The problem is that the people who can't get an RME weapon or a delve weapon or an AA weapon that is just as good / better are the same people who can't get these weapons with good augments because it takes too much time / money to get good augments.

[Karbuncle]

The problem is that the people who can't get an RME weapon or a delve weapon or an AA weapon that is just as good / better are the same people who can't get these weapons with good augments because it takes too much time / money to get good augments.

Mmmmmmm, Perhaps... but those people... IDK. You should be able to beat this content with Eminent weapons, its 119 content, and the NMs aren't really that hard, and if you still can't beat it with Skirmish things, then I hate to be that guy but there are some people you simply cannot help.

Still, I'm perfectly capable of making an RME, I have a relic actually, but it doesn't mean I want to build a Mythic or Relic for all of my jobs, so these work for me, as I'm sure they work for many others, or at least a good portion of others. Still, as far as 119 weapons go, aside from Delve II weapons, these are probably the easiest to get that aren't straight gil sinks (Like Oboro 119's), I mean, they're 100% drops from rather easy NMs. I truly think the only horrible NM is the Behemoth cause it levels up, but even that has a strategy now (tank from back/side to reduce howl usage).

... I ... Idk, you can't make everyone happy :I

[Grekumah]

For those of you who have been collecting stones from Alluvion skirmishes, here is a bit of information for you.

In the future we are planning to add more avenues for using the stones you can obtain from Alluvion skirmishes when we add armor with the continuation of Alluvion skirmish.

[Kaeviathan]

Oh no, when will this "random augment" phase ever end?

[Vasch]

For those of you who have been collecting stones from Alluvion skirmishes, here is a bit of information for you.

In the future we are planning to add more avenues for using the stones you can obtain from Alluvion skirmishes when we add armor with the continuation of Alluvion skirmish.

Ugh............ This post... It makes me hurt all over.

[Nightfox]

I'm actually excited to see what'll be added, I enjoy the new alluvion skirmishes and though augmenting can be a pain it is a little essier with stone types and storage. Just make sure there are nice new models for the gear :) like there were for weapons. Also, has there been any info on the 7th Naakual? Could've sworn along time ago someone said there were 7 of them. Just wondering for the wildkeeper reive and delve and what zone/element he will be located and have affinity with. Light or Dark? Or maybe both? O.o lol

[Kaeviathan]

I think the last boss from the adoulin mission was the 7th naakual. But not really sure since I tend to skip the cutscenes.

[Stompa]

I think Alluvion drop system on weapons, and random augments system, would be great. IF the gear was going to be useful in a years time. The reason it isn't so great, is because of the wider built-in-obsolescence problem in ilvl.

It would be worth it IF the weapons had a shelf-life of at least a year. But they don't either the weapons will not upgrade to 125, or the augments will be lost in the process. Either way its a monumental joykill. "Yay I got the weapon drop and uber augs finally! Unyay, my mannequin will be rocking this item in 6 months time."

Results on Gaxe, used around 35 stones, at average 33k gil each.

Svarga : Accuracy +18 Store TP +5. [I'm very happy with this gaxe.]

Alluvion is fun, the bosses are cool. Being able to play most jobs and have casual players in runs for tier 3~4, is cool. The problem isn't the bosses random weapons, or the random augments. The problem is what will happen in a few months time when ilvl lurches upwards, and your precious weapon is used for chopping firewood.

[Glamdring]

I think Alluvion drop system on weapons, and random augments system, would be great. IF the gear was going to be useful in a years time. The reason it isn't so great, is because of the wider built-in-obsolescence problem in ilvl.

It would be worth it IF the weapons had a shelf-life of at least a year. But they don't either the weapons will not upgrade to 125, or the augments will be lost in the process. Either way its a monumental joykill. "Yay I got the weapon drop and uber augs finally! Unyay, my mannequin will be rocking this item in 6 months time."

Results on Gaxe, used around 35 stones, at average 33k gil each.

Svarga : Accuracy +18 Store TP +5. [I'm very happy with this gaxe.]

Alluvion is fun, the bosses are cool. Being able to play most jobs and have casual players in runs for tier 3~4, is cool. The problem isn't the bosses random weapons, or the random augments. The problem is what will happen in a few months time when ilvl lurches upwards, and your precious weapon is used for chopping firewood.

this is basically the problem in a nutshell. If all rewards require us to grind to make them worthwhile only to be thrown away when about 1/3 of the playerbase have acquired them in favor of the next shiney item... well, eventually even the hamster on his wheel realizes that all the running in the world isn't going to get him anywhere, so they finally just get off, ignore the wheel, enjoy the food and just get fat and start to smell.

[Malithar]

I think Alluvion drop system on weapons, and random augments system, would be great. IF the gear was going to be useful in a years time. The reason it isn't so great, is because of the wider built-in-obsolescence problem in ilvl.

It would be worth it IF the weapons had a shelf-life of at least a year. But they don't either the weapons will not upgrade to 125, or the augments will be lost in the process. Either way its a monumental joykill.

Or the third option which they've already hinted at, the weapons will remain the same, but new stones will be added for more augments. I'm not going to dig for the post, but it was around the time Alluvion Rala and Cirdas was added. It said something along the lines of "moving forward, we will add ways to add additional augments to the weapons. We're also discussing adding helms and body armor to the next Skirmish." Or something along those lines. I'm pretty sure they learned from Skirmish 1's mistakes when it comes to wiping augments.

When ilvl first came around and the whole fear of things quickly being outdated popped up, I bit, I felt similarly. But for the most part, this has not been the case with FFXI. Skirmish 119 gear is still very useful, Delve 119s are still very useful, most 119 AF and relic is very useful (unless it sucked outta the gate, that's a different story ._.; ), etc. Most of these things are approaching their 1 year mark, or have long since past it such as Delve 1s 119s.

Not going to say things won't ever be outdated or anything, they surely will, the game steps forward. But carrying an irrational fear over losing out on your investment is only going to cause you to lose out on the benefits you'd have until something came along that was better, whether that's sooner or later.

And for some wild baseless speculation, this was posted in a .dat mining thread 6 months ago. My money's on it being the light armor set from Alluvion Skirmish. There's a similarly over-the-top styled concept art of heavy armor that was shown prior to SoA's release that I'd peg as the heavy Alluvion armor.

http://tehkrizz.net/FFXI/images/20140530_NewSet.png

And just cause I'm bored, here's the heavy armor mentioned.

http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/gallery/057825df89819f36a1a303eae38f7e2e.JPG

[Stompa]

Or the third option which they've already hinted at, the weapons will remain the same, but new stones will be added for more augments. I'm not going to dig for the post, but it was around the time Alluvion Rala and Cirdas was added. It said something along the lines of "moving forward, we will add ways to add additional augments to the weapons. We're also discussing adding helms and body armor to the next Skirmish." Or something along those lines. I'm pretty sure they learned from Skirmish 1's mistakes when it comes to wiping augments.

When ilvl first came around and the whole fear of things quickly being outdated popped up, I bit, I felt similarly. But for the most part, this has not been the case with FFXI. Skirmish 119 gear is still very useful, Delve 119s are still very useful, most 119 AF and relic is very useful (unless it sucked outta the gate, that's a different story ._.; ), etc. Most of these things are approaching their 1 year mark, or have long since past it such as Delve 1s 119s.

Not going to say things won't ever be outdated or anything, they surely will, the game steps forward. But carrying an irrational fear over losing out on your investment is only going to cause you to lose out on the benefits you'd have until something came along that was better, whether that's sooner or later.

And for some wild baseless speculation, this was posted in a .dat mining thread 6 months ago. My money's on it being the light armor set from Alluvion Skirmish. There's a similarly over-the-top styled concept art of heavy armor that was shown prior to SoA's release that I'd peg as the heavy Alluvion armor.




Re; Alluvion specifically, I do really love my h2h gaxe and twin axes. The actual weapons look stylish, I especially love the gaxe which is my favourite gaxe in FFXI for purely visual reasons, and it hits like a truck full of plump ppl, which is always nice. So I would be really happy to keep my Alluvion weapons for a long time and just scale them up the ilvl ladder.

I could live with having to get new augments, but I just don't want to keep getting new weapons all the time lol. Its not like the Knight Of Solamnia, where your Dad gives you a sword that his great-great-grandfather used, family weapon you will be holding in your hand when you fall. I'm not wanting a weapon for life, just one that has a few years of life in it.

[Glamdring]

my hamster wheel point-in addition to trying to be funny-was that things like the augmented gear still are generally not the best gear for the slot. Eventually, players get tired of endless grinding for an ALMOST piece and just spam fights for the dropped one with locked stats that generally IS the best piece in the slot. And as they seem to add a new piece like that with every MAJOR content addition even that piece changes. Working hard to get nowhere indeed...

[Kaeviathan]

I'm done with playing this game, random augment is very unappealing to me and many others. I haven't even bothered looking at what the base stats from the new skirmish equipment. February 2015 will become my last payment contribution to the game if there won't be any changes to the reward system.

Another note, obtaining 100 Job points for these new gifts are not worth the effort. I don't know what SE's market strategy on this game is, but it seems to me they are trying to get people to dislike the game so much,they want us to migrate to FFXIV.

[Raydeus]

I'm done with playing this game, random augment is very unappealing to me and many others. I haven't even bothered looking at what the base stats from the new skirmish equipment. February 2015 will become my last payment contribution to the game if there won't be any changes to the reward system.

Another note, obtaining 100 Job points for these new gifts are not worth the effort. I don't know what SE's market strategy on this game is, but it seems to me they are trying to get people to dislike the game so much,they want us to migrate to FFXIV.

Back when they destroyed the community by making Abyssea lvl 30 instead of 75 they just assumed everyone was going to leave XI and migrate to XIV anyway (lolololol) so I'm not sure if they would make the same mistake so soon after.

But then again we did get the ilvl BS in XI so...

/wait&see

[Malithar]

I'm done with playing this game, random augment is very unappealing to me and many others. I haven't even bothered looking at what the base stats from the new skirmish equipment. February 2015 will become my last payment contribution to the game if there won't be any changes to the reward system.

QQ

Seeing as though you haven't even looked at the armor, I'm to assume you haven't bothered to try and augment it. Many people are getting very good augments out of +1 stones, and it's even possible to get good augments from NQ stones. This isn't nearly as bad as the original set of Skirmish armor. I really recommend you give it a shot.

Quick cheat sheet for augments:

Snow: Augment 1 - + combat stats such as +Acc, +Att, +MAB, +Def, +RAtt, etc
Leaf: Augment 2 - + unique stats such as Fast Cast, DA, STP, Conserve MP, TA, Snapshot, -Perp, etc
Dusk: Augment 3 - + base stats such as Str, Dex, Mnd, etc, as well as some unique stats such as WSD, BP+ damage, Occult Omen, etc

Slit: Melee augs
Tip: Ranged augs
Dim: Magic augs
Orb: Pet augs

It's possible to get a stat outside of what you'd expect, say MAB from a Snowslit stone, though it seems to be much rarer than it was on the weapons.

[Kaeviathan]

I did try trade 2 Refractive Crystals for an augmented cape, but all i got was one with STR+3, and another with DEX+3 on Yokhaze Mantle. I wasn't amused by the results.

[Demonjustin]

The randomness is simply a way for them to draw out the limited content they release and make sure we keep dumping money each month to play the same content over and over again in hopes that RNGesus will grace us with better luck this time. It's this exact design methodology that helped drive me away from the game. After all, why put in time and money to experience the exact same frustration constantly?

In the time I've been gone, it seems like things have kept on the same way even. The only good content I've seen is Unity NMs, which seem to have fairly consistent rewards. But new Skirmish, Incursion Capes, it's still random. Even if my odds are seemingly better by narrowing the possibilities it doesn't help the fact that every bad augment I get as I make a vain effort to improve myself feels like little more than a kick to the groin. The best system they've had for augments since the game's inception was Delve's, it was a progression model as opposed to a random model. If they incorporated that into more events, I'd gladly put more time into the game and events like Skirmish. The fact I'm still playing with dice every time I try to make my gear suck less however? No thanks, it's not worth my time.

[detlef]

I'm seeing some really good augment with +1 and even NQ stones. But in addition to that, the event is actually pretty fun. It's definitely worth a try if you haven't given it a chance.

[Demonjustin]

I've tried the new Skirmish, it's not terrible but I still don't like random. To be honest, the entire time I played FFXI over the years it's been on a POS laptop that barely runs even it. In the new Skirmish I have issues on top of the general lag from the zone being overcrowded due to being so new. If I liked the reward system, I might suffer through it if for no other reason than RDM finally got some of the melee gear I've been dying for. After all, that's what I've done with this game for years. That said, I don't like the reward system, so it's just adding another problem for me on top of others I already had.

I will be updating my sets on AH.com if anyone's interested in checking them out. But until I get a new PC, I won't likely be playing this game. Even then, unless the randomness is insanely better than before, I won't be sticking around for long. My experience thus far hasn't been terribly promising with augments, but I've not given it a ton of time, so it's entirely possible I'm not being fair to it.

In the end however, none of this changes the fact Delve's system is still far superior and worked. If there were a new form of Airlixirs with Delve II it would've lasted much longer and since they do that with Skirmish already with stones, the same design would've worked just fine. The fact they've not done anything like that annoys me greatly, I as though they tossed away the best system they had for the second best, which is a very disappointing choice.

[detlef]

I always preferred the days when gear was gear, what you saw was what you got. That guy has an Armadaberk? Well you knew exactly what it was.

But I've come to a realization that there are just too many types of stats and boosts that each player and playstyle is looking for that you couldn't really satisfy people as easily. You want melee RDM gear but a lot of people would want the typical enfeebling gear. Or 5 pieces of nuking gear. Or a balance of matk and macc. Or WS gear. Or enhancing magic duration gear. It's hard to satisfy such a wide breadth of demands these days and it can't just be solved with JSE because not everybody plays the same way. So I can see how this augment system could help address this situation, especially if you can get worthwhile bonuses with NQ and +1 stones.

I do wonder what effect it'll have on the popularity of other events though.

[Demonjustin]

The thing is, while they solved these problems with this event, it's still random. Implementing a Delve like progression system for augments rather than the one they have now, allowing us to pick the augment path that we want and giving us a large number of them based on the different stones we use? It doesn't seem that hard, nor does it seem gamebreaking. In fact, it seems like it'd give this event the most longevity and make the best stats obtainable to everyone willing to invest, rather than being obtainable to only those lucky enough.

[detlef]

Yeah, that's definitely a good way to do it. I can't fault you for preferring that route, I'm on the fence myself.

[Kaeviathan]

I'm just typing to keep the post on the list of recent new posts.

[Selindrile]

There's no doubt that the random system and separate slots is a huge improvement over the predecessor, but, this new gear obsoleted so many things, and it's still such a pain to throw away millions in +2 stones and make no progress, them feeling like they were just wasted, I'd much prefer a building system, and finding a way to build in item longevity.

Someone said they learned from their augment-wiping mistakes but, that said, they may as well have wiped the last set of augments because the new augmenting system is so much better I doubt anyone is keeping their old, lower-cap augments on skirmish weapons.

Also the armor is all so frigging amazing that I want to have several sets of each... which is rather a painful way to feel about it, coupled with the random augments it's enough to make me pull my hair out.

That said, the actual process of doing the skirmish is SUPER FUN (to me) I love being the guy at the book spawning mobs and supporting them. But the gear, cool as it is, makes me feel bad in as many ways as it makes me feel good.

[Glamdring]

yeah, the play system is ok, hell I LIKE seeing mages getting some love again, but the reward system... not so much. better would be if the stones were a currency and you could use them to purchase the augments from the table, choosing the augments, and stack the stones, by that I mean use 2 +2 to buy higher in the range, etc. that satisfies the players who prefer to build towards a particular build, like the Trial of the Magians system we used to use to build your melee rdm mentioned above. just put in the time. of course, with SE wanting time sinks I guess having to spam it to get the random augment you actually want is better for SE.