Hearing Voices

So... the "Hearing Voices" quest. Just for my own amusement, I've run it a couple of times solo. I knew going in that it wasn't meant to be soloable, and had that confirmed rather more dramatically than I anticipated. At level 35, casting Fire on the bugs produced mere 200 and change points of damage on each bug, and appeared to move their health bars less than 10% each. I'd read up enough beforehand to understand that SE's intent was that we bring a party, but the fact that I barely scratched the bugs is a matter of some concern. Even if the bugs didn't wear me down over time (a very *short* time, mind you; they do a considerable amount of damage with their attacks), I wouldn't be completely surprised if I ran out of MP before I managed to kill a single bug using just single target Thunder and Thundara (as opposed to the more expensive Fire and Fira).

Are they ever solable as a THM? If so, at what level?

And assuming that they are soloable, what about the follow-up quests? Are any of them soloable as well (aside from, obviously, "Gearing Up")?

Melina there is a monstrous modifier in this game called dLVL, shorthand for "Level Difference". I'm presuming Hearing Voices is the Level 30 Black Mage quest, so- Level 40 or so, you're most probably going to annihilate them all in one hit, since you should be 5~ levels above the enemies.

Also, at level 50 all the quests aside from the L45 ones are soloable. The L45 ones are just plain impossible solo, though.

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Originally Posted by Skies

Melina there is a monstrous modifier in this game called dLVL, shorthand for "Level Difference". I'm presuming Hearing Voices is the Level 30 Black Mage quest, so- Level 40 or so, you're most probably going to annihilate them all in one hit, since you should be 5~ levels above the enemies.

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It's not just level difference that's going to matter. The amount of raw damage that a THM does will also need to dramatically increase in order to pull off a one-shot, given that my estimate is that each gnat has thousands of hp. Given the way that the game works with the amount of damage that spells cause increasing as you level up, it wouldn't surprise me if, say, Thunder does over 1000 damage at level 50. But at level 35 it's still got quite a ways to go even against grossly under-leveled opponents.

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Originally Posted by Melinia

It's not just level difference that's going to matter. The amount of raw damage that a THM does will also need to dramatically increase in order to pull off a one-shot, given that my estimate is that each gnat has thousands of hp. Given the way that the game works with the amount of damage that spells cause increasing as you level up, it wouldn't surprise me if, say, Thunder does over 1000 damage at level 50. But at level 35 it's still got quite a ways to go even against grossly under-leveled opponents.

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Okay, I will have to apologize myself. I was at work when I wrote that and now after getting some counsel with friends who have, in fact, played Thaumatuge. It appears that the quest can require an amount of tactical thinking regardless, although it is definitely still soloable at some stage, most probably level 40, although the information I acquired came from people who did it at 50 solo. And had a slight bit of trouble.

I reached level 40, so I went back for another couple of rounds. I got the following out of the fight, which might be useful for anyone who wants to get an idea of what a solo THM is looking at (and why they shouldn't try this solo at level 40).

Each of the gnats has approximately 4000 hp. They only hit for slightly less against a level 40 than they do against a level 35 (approximately 150 vs approximately 130, iirc; that's with Protect up, btw). That's based off of their regular ranged attack, and not off of their various lightning-based spells (which they also cast). Thunder does around 250 points of damage. Thundara does around 550 points of damage. Fire does a little less than 350 points of damage. And Fira does around 550 points of damage. Blizzara only does around 350 points of damage (o.O).

For comparison purposes, on mobs that range from 40-42, my Thunder spells are doing roughly double that amount of damage.

Some of the reduced Thunder damage is no doubt due to the fact that these are clearly lightning-element mobs (based on their spells). But the fact that even my Fire spells are hitting for so little (particularly against mobs that are 6 levels lower than I am - they're level 34) indicates that these mobs have some pretty extreme levels of magic resistance.

I'll take another crack at it in a few levels to see how things have changed. Probably take another shot at 45 to get numbers, and then maybe try out Thundaga combos at level 46.

And done! At level 42. Sleep was the key. The fight was still a handful, and required the use of a Hi-Ether before it was done, but it's definitely soloable as a THM once you get Sleep. In comparison, the fight for the next quest was a walk in the park. Unfortunately, the Hippocerfs are going to require at least a little more leveling before taking them on.

I assume they, like other gnats, are very vulnerable to earth magic. Equipping Stone from CNJ may help anyone trying to do this.

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Originally Posted by Frein

I assume they, like other gnats, are very vulnerable to earth magic. Equipping Stone from CNJ may help anyone trying to do this.

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Damage from the CNJ spells is heavily reduced while you're on THM, so the benefits are effectively counter-balanced by the drawbacks. It might be possible to solo with an equivalent level CNJ (change classes once you're inside the instance), but it's questionable because the class is so fragile and the bugs have a lot of hp. Sleep really seems to be the key to soloing this fight as a spellcaster.

Keep in mind that if you have another higher level DoW/DoM, you can switch to it right after you enter the instance and still get quest completion. It's cheesy, but effective

Just the Info I've been looking for. Thanks!