How are players supposed to beat maat these days?

[Lambtor]

What job is this person trying to beat Maat on? It might take some time, but on PLD I was a fan of multiple ring; that's 50hp, 20mp in a ring slot while your lvl is a multiple of 10.

[Poo]

Despite the fact that I should know better--since my response will likely be buried under many posts--I am going to try to provide some constructive information.

I personally do not see any issue with the current state of the Maat fight or any of the limit breaks before it.

My short answer is thus:

Conquest gear + Artifact quests + Gil from RoE quests (to buy vendor-sold spells) + Time spent skilling up = Success

This is a viable formula for most jobs.

It is either disingenuity, laziness, or simply ignorance--which is ok for new players--to suggest there is any issue to the contrary.

A player capped at level 70 should make their sole drive breaking through this barrier.

There are MANY ways to do so with ANY job (see the 4 part plan I posted above).

However, since I consider that amount of work impractical for the average new player, let me propose a few alternatives.

1) Burn BST to 70 in Abyssea (approximately 5 hours of work) or simply level it with trusts.

Many persons in my linkshell have recently used this strategy to beat Maat without wearing any gear, doing any skillups, or investing in strategy at all.

You literally send your pet in and wait for a victory. If you fail, try again.

2) Burn WHM to 70 and purchase the Repose spell.

I have done this fight naked with no skilling up at 70. Maat will be asleep for half the fight, this is an ultra-easy win.

3) Burn THF to 70 and use the steal method.

Game over.

4) Burn PLD to 70 and skill up swords.

This one will take a little bit longer, but the job is so resilient it is a very easy fight.


-


That is 4 great jobs, each with their own usefulness in a number of events.

BST is great for soloing and catching up on missions.

WHM ... everybody should level WHM.

THF has a lot of utility in a number of events where TH is useful.

PLD is a great job if you'd eventually like to try tanking.



2 nights of work is probably enough to get any of the first 3 jobs into shape to fight Maat.

Once you are done with this fight you can move on with whatever other pursuits interest you.

This is really a no brainer, just beat the fight with a cakewalk job and let's all pretend this thread was never created.

If you can't be bothered to take 2 nights off from your main pursuit in order to get this barrier out of the way, it will be very hard for people to take you seriously in the current state of this game.

Source: my account is less than 1 month old and I solo'd every single LB except for the last one, which I duo'd.

[Ris]

I'm a bit late to this thread but I thought I would chime in...

I'm just getting into the upper half of levels, not at the maat fight yet, but gearing up is getting to be a problem. Even before reading this thread, though, I noticed through wiki research that my best bet is probably to overlevel for the AF fights and take those down when I can solo them.

SMN AF kind of... isn't that great though x.x But I guess on a pet job it probably doesn't matter much.

Anyway, I just mention this because I think gearing up is a larger problem than just the Maat fight. I've been watching all week and I haven't seen a single austere robe on the market, and there's lots of things that just aren't available or are kind of crazy expensive.

It would be nice if Sparks vendors had armor in their level tiers, instead of just at 99...

[Alhanelem]

I think all the Sparks armor is level 99, but anyone fighting Maat for the first time is capped at level 70.

No. In fact, sparks of eminence was designed to help new people as much as old. There is equipment for all (most) levels.

[Ris]

No. In fact, sparks of eminence was designed to help new people as much as old. There is equipment for all (most) levels.

Most of the time it's only weapons.

[Kraggy]

Well you can do the AF quests. I was in mostly AF when I did Maat as MNK back in 2005.

While that's true, soloing some of the AH keys is still not child's play even today.

A worse problem though is lack of weapons for some jobs.

No. In fact, sparks of eminence was designed to help new people as much as old. There is equipment for all (most) levels.

There is NO armour till level 99, only a couple of selected weapons per job per 10 levels until 51-70 and 71-98 ranges when you get 3 weapons per job for that 20 level range.

Crucially, for Maat there are no level 70 weapons and only 1 (or maybe 2) level 69 ones for one or two jobs, for the majority of jobs they're several levels lower with hugely inferior damage than the level 70 ones people used 'back in the day' for Maat.

Take THF or DNC, they need daggers and the highest dagger available from Sparks is IIRC (Darksteel dagger maybe), level 64 with a DMG of around 24 I think. Pretty much everyone who beats Maat on those jobs used Behemoth weapons with 31 DMG and some + (forget the stats). The difference between the sparks weapon and that is huge when it comes to Maat but they appear once in a blue moon on the AH on Phoenix or Siren where I now play.

[Economizer]

I'm just getting into the upper half of levels, not at the maat fight yet, but gearing up is getting to be a problem. Even before reading this thread, though, I noticed through wiki research that my best bet is probably to overlevel for the AF fights and take those down when I can solo them.

This might in fact be a problem for getting your AF gear, if say, getting someone to help you is somehow not an option. I'm reluctant to believe this though, finding a linkshell with someone helpful can't be too impossible even now. Worst case you could even shout and beg for help.

Still, this might not be ideal for you. So grabbing gear in other ways might be your priority until you can go back. I'll revisit this idea in a moment.

Anyway, I just mention this because I think gearing up is a larger problem than just the Maat fight. I've been watching all week and I haven't seen a single austere robe on the market, and there's lots of things that just aren't available or are kind of crazy expensive.

Whereas I'd just recommend you level THF once you get to 70 so you can do your fight with the Steal strategy, I'll give you some thoughts on gearing your Summoner at 70 for the fight.

You'll want to get a Chatoyant Staff. Assuming you're on Odin this is about half a million gil. This isn't change for a new player, but since it will last you until item level gear, and possibly longer if you're a Scholar, it is worth every gil.

Considering that most Summoners had to do this fight back in the day with NQ Elemental Staves, you won't need the extra Avatar Perp from the Austere Robe unless you really want it, since you'll have the same amount with just this one item. More ideal would be a Vermillion Cloak anyways, but these are hard to locate (although less hard than the Austere Robe). Consider shouting to either buy one, or failing this, get the materials to make one and shout for a crafter to maker you one, if you're so inclined.

You also might look into getting an Earth or Terra's Staff for the Physical Damage Taken reduction. The Earth Staff goes for about 40k on your server if FFXIAH is correct. Cheviot Capes are also typically available on the AH and aren't too pricy - if you get one mind the latent effect of doubling the cape's potency at night.

You might also consider Carbuncle's Mitts, from Crimson-toothed Pawberry. I don't know if you can, but at 70 you might be able to do this with Trusts. If you get the pop item and set yourself as party lead you might be able to ask for help for the fight instead - it gives a moderate amount of gil at least, with a shot at a Light Spirit Pact you can also offer lotting rights on for help if you're really desperate.

If you really want to go retro you can get an Astral Pot from the level cap 60 solo ENM, "Pulling Strings" for your fight.

A lot of gear in general is pretty terrible for actually affecting Summoner's outside of increased MP pools or augmenting your subjob before level 71, so you're going to want to just slap on whatever you can if you can't find something that helps, such as evasion or defense related gear such as the Battle Gloves, Martial Slacks, Vampire Boots, or the Empress Hairpin. These examples are all solo obtainable items.

Don't forget consumables for the fight. The Protect/Shell Scrolls are options older players didn't have, but items that give you Reraise, as well as Yagudo Drinks and Vile Elixirs are also great. Don't forget food - personally I'd suggest Tavnazian Tacos since they boost defense even more, and defense is super important, more than the 50 MP you might get from a pie.

Take THF or DNC, they need daggers and the highest dagger available from Sparks is IIRC (Darksteel dagger maybe), level 64 with a DMG of around 24 I think. Pretty much everyone who beats Maat on those jobs used Behemoth weapons with 31 DMG and some + (forget the stats). The difference between the sparks weapon and that is huge when it comes to Maat but they appear once in a blue moon on the AH on Phoenix or Siren where I now play.

If you're fighting Maat on THF, you should be doing the Steal method. Farming testimonies will be most of the work.

[Mizuno]

Here's a fun fact, limit break can actually be beaten in full af.

If you're a PLD, get a honey wine and go get a Hrotti for a free sword. A bomb Queen Ring, and a Jelly ring.

Twin wing/drone earrings, a Chivalrous Chain (to make sure your vorpal blade hits.), an Amemet Mantle (NQ or HQ) and finally I used a potent Belt

All you really need is a TP wing, maybe some hi potions, but definitely a tavnazian taco.

[Ris]

Snip!

TBH I'm not worried about the fight as SMN. From what it sounds like, it's just the level 20 avatar battles all over again, except I only need to use the astral flow attack twice to get Maat down and so gear basically doesn't matter. But slightly better gear would really help me if I accidentally pull aggro just out in the world, or leveling and stuff.

For now I'm just working through my AF quests until I can move to empyrean gear. But I definitely want those carby mitts when I can get them ：Ｄ

[Economizer]

For now I'm just working through my AF quests until I can move to empyrean gear. But I definitely want those carby mitts when I can get them ：Ｄ

You'll love the Evoker's Ring.

The Caller's Bracers +2 do much the same thing but based on Day/Weather instead (basically, you can /SCH for a limited selection of the weather spells if you really want to make them work).

Reforging your AF gear when you get to 99 should also be a priority if you're really into Summoner - and if you get lots of Sparks you can buy the chapters to do this too.