Grounds of Valor / Brown Casket Feedback

After spending quite a bit of time in Zeruhn, and seeing friends want to /wrist over having spent 4+ days straight in there, I have to say some adjustments are needed.

Prowess buffs are too random - rather than it being 100% random, how about giving us either a few choices at random, or give us a single point that we can then choose to spend on any new prowess or upgrade an existing one? This way we wouldn't have to spend days on end trying to get Casket Discovery to have a decent shot at getting a ring that's meant to reduce time spent skilling up but is ultimately negated by the obscene amount of time wasted farming said ring.

Sorry for the run-on sentence but this has been driving me up the wall lately. I don't feel like spending a week competing for mobs in small, overcrowded zone for something probably makes a marginal difference anyway - nor do I fancy putting it off until Mystery Boxes: Bastok shows up.

I don't have a problem with challenges - I do however have a raging, psychotic hatred of mindless, repetitive grinding with seemingly no end in sight.

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Originally Posted by Camate

As for being able to select the prowess enhancements manually and maintaining them when changing areas, we do not have any plans of changing or adjusting the current system right now.

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Although I don't want to PICK what prowesses I receive, I find it absolutely ridiculous that I get prowesses I can't use at all with my job combination all the time.
Getting tons of Cure Potency, Magic Acc/Atk, etc is helping me none when I'm leveling BST/NIN.
Considering Prowess effects are VERY SMALL even when you have a decent level of the prowess, it's very ridiculous.
Especially since there are so many of them, and there's a chance of not getting ANY prowess.
The system is a bit flawed.

Ok so upon returning to ffxi and discoverying the changes to the dungeons with grounds of valor. I think their need to be some tweaks that ffxi devs over looked when selecting the dungeons .

Hear me out. Since coming back I notices an influx of low levels, newbies and returning players starting over. This means people who need places to level and doing missions. I've come to notice that the Inner horutoto ruin tower by giddeus is no longer suited for solo by a player from 7-14. This was a great place to solo and a great place to farm wild onions.

Also another addition/tweak i discovered is the outer horutoto in the eastern part of east sarutabaruta. (the middle one) the cracked wall mobs are now easy pray to a level 90. This prevents a player from getting windurst mission 2-1 completed with out aid. And the quest "making headlines" Both of these require a visit to Nanaa Mihgo's secret hide out located with in this tower. The door is not blocked by all those 90+ level mobs.

Any chance this can be fixed?

Camate - any word on if we can get "undesirable rewards" removed from the brown caskets? Way too many worthless potions and ethers.

I'd keep the potions and ethers if they removed the Flint Stones, Rock Salts, insect wings, and pots of Honey -.-;

I try my best not to complain/act like whiny/ungrateful, But yah, Synth mats most people toss or don't bother picking up =/= Good filler rewards for brown caskets.

Higher level zones are pretty decent (Fei'Yin for instance has Orich ore, Hi-Elixirs, etc), but zones like Zeruhn and Horutoto which cater to slightly higher level players as well as lower level... just need the low junk removed.

Even new players toss insect wings and flint stones >_>

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Originally Posted by Karbuncle

I'd keep the potions and ethers if they removed the Flint Stones, Rock Salts, insect wings, and pots of Honey -.-;

I try my best not to complain/act like whiny/ungrateful, But yah, Synth mats most people toss or don't bother picking up =/= Good filler rewards for brown caskets just need the low junk removed.

Even new players toss insect wings and flint stones >_>

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this is mainly my point as well useless crap in chests... the drop rates i can handle and deal with even the random buffs even though a pain but to sit 3 days straight in there getting max buffs to open a chest with insect wings or flint stone is a little disheartening took me 43+ hours play time to get one item i needed was almost 5 days without leaving zone... merits capped all 20 jobs at lvl 90 and to sit in there for almost a week to get a neck piece or waist to enhance chocobo rope or torque for example is frustrating. its not like its a gamin breaking item but to make it so hard to get is asinine really.

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Originally Posted by ShadowHeart

this is mainly my point as well useless crap in chests... the drop rates i can handle and deal with even the random buffs even though a pain but to sit 3 days straight in there getting max buffs to open a chest with insect wings or flint stone is a little disheartening took me 43+ hours play time to get one item i needed was almost 5 days without leaving zone... merits capped all 20 jobs at lvl 90 and to sit in there for almost a week to get a neck piece or waist to enhance chocobo rope or torque for example is frustrating. its not like its a gamin breaking item but to make it so hard to get is asinine really.

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If I want to get anything in this game, I have to put in time. No one can get items easily because most of the drops are random. To make them drop easily would be great for everyone who wants to zone in, get it, zone out. But is that the point? These chests are bonuses for people who happen to be in those zones leveling or farming. You find out that an item you want drops there and suddenly it has to be handed to you on a plate? I don't think so. I spent 2 weeks solid trying to get an item that was not game-breaking. But I wanted it and I knew how hard it would be to get it because of the conditions needed to obtain it. If you can't hack the time you need to put in, surely you can do without the item. There are thousands of players who cannot get items even in Abyssea because of the time needed to do so. They don't sit and ask people to give them the items just by killing a mob a couple of times. I can see the problems with the stat bonuses causing ridicule, but come on, people, you can't expect to get something easily just because it's not endgame. If you don't want to put in the time, don't do it. If it won't affect your play that much, why bother? If after all that you still want it, you're going to have to put in the time to get it. End of story.

I'm like 99% sure they increased the rare item drop rate in these zones dramatically.

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Originally Posted by Byrth

I'm like 99% sure they increased the rare item drop rate in these zones dramatically.

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Which zones? Grounds of Valor in general?

perhaps, Spent a couple hours in Fei'Yin and got like, 3 Hi-Elixirs, and my brother got a Percolator... No Dagda's Shield but it was fun!

Check out the AH. Look at the sale rate of things like Melaco Mitts and Grapevine Capes before and after the last update. Waaaay up.