Turn 6 LOS Strategy (Quoted from French Moderator)

[Ooshima]

Why's everyone so worked up over a Mod's comment that he would ask the dev? A mod isn't even someone that makes decisions in the game. They just read the forum, pass on whatever suggestion they find to the dev. And he wasn't even confirming that it's intended or not.

IDK, but my intention is clear. I started this thread not to start the same debate again. But to request that our EN reps probably keep us updated of the dev's response, if any.

It's the same thing on Turn 2. Some say soft enrage strat is an abuse and some is not. Some mod went to ask the devs and we got a black and white answer. Simple as that.

[Vaer]

I remember in an interview Yoshi said if players find a way to deal with a certain mechanic that the devs didn't think of, they'll allow it and not "change it to boost our ego."

Found it

About the Battle Strategies Assumed by the Development Team

--I've heard some rumors about the intended strategy for Divebomb in Turn 5, but most people just run into the pit all at once and run out when they see the green mark. A new player might think "what is that?" when they see it. Since there's really no description for it and players came up with a different solution, I was wondering what was originally envisioned.
Y: We don't have the responsibility to edit any strategy guides or magazine feedback. Divebomb is a straight dive from Twintania towards her target. The solution we thought of was that everyone would move to realign themselves based on the timing and target. However, the pit is a position that's obvious for everyone and the different level changes the hit detection. As a result, it's become easier to dodge than we were thinking. However, we didn't want to suddenly have everyone struggle with the strategies they came up with, so instead of modifying it to boost our ego, we left it alone.
--So you leave it alone even if the development team expected a completely different strategy?
Y: That's the plan.

Translated by Slycer

[TeaTimeBear]

IDK, but my intention is clear. I started this thread not to start the same debate again. But to request that our EN reps probably keep us updated of the dev's response, if any.

It's the same thing on Turn 2. Some say soft enrage strat is an abuse and some is not. Some mod went to ask the devs and we got a black and white answer. Simple as that.

Do you really need a response from them though? It's been weeks now I am certain they're fine with it. Those players in that FR topic are just made people are playing different from how they play. Both methods still require good execution. I think you know the answer here OP you're a bright poster (not sarcasm.) Keep doing LOS if you do it, or do it how they intended.

[Naunet]

Meh, it's a silly strategy anyway. Using the briars is safer.

[Anorex]

Meh, it's a silly strategy anyway. Using the briars is safer.

Not really, running through is quite frankly dummy proof.

[Destinova]

lol is all i have to say.

[Cyrus-Wallace]

To be fair, compared to the mindless T2 enrage strat, this tactic is still dangerous if it's poorly executed.

[Songi]

Running through is a lot easier on the healers.

[Nero]

Meh, it's a silly strategy anyway. Using the briars is safer.

Not really. Not only is using the briars more heal-intensive, it also slows you down on movement and dps ( if you are a melee ). Using LoS, which is basically the same like Divebombs, give you a 4 sec stun but beside that you can go all out. You can "fu*k" both methods up, some groups are used to the first, some are to the second.. does it really matter? Do you straight burn Raffle in the last phase, or do you use Superslug? Same thing.

Since you get a stun-lock for 4 secs, makes this "strategy" actually a legit way, otherwise there would not be a stun. So SE actually thought of this as a possible way, but put something else in, just in case people do it this way or the other. People comparing this to T2 is actually somewhat stupid. T2 is simply turning "off" the abilities, while T6 does not allow that. T6 and LoS does not change the whole Strat of the fight, it is simply dealing with a certain Mechanic. The same way some people eat hatches and some don't. The same way some people skip phases and some don't. Speaking of an possible exploit is making divebombs an exploit as well, like it has been said allready.

[LeonBlade]

Snip

The whole point of the stun is to prevent you from being able to move while you're being devoured, I don't see how stunning you means it's intended... it's just part of the mechanic of the devour to prevent you from moving while the devour goes off and while you're trapped inside before being spit out. It's not some added effect from avoiding the mechanic, more like an unintended side effect of avoiding one piece of the mechanic.

Healing in the briar isn't a big deal, and considering spit comes after the devour, your healers will be AOE healing anyways, so the player in the patch will be getting topped up anyways, or have an adloc or regen on anyways while in the patch.

Also, the divebombs aren't really related at all, the party just moves as a group to keep the divebombs 100% predictable, as the entire party is grouped together, while LOS method is all about completely avoiding a mechanic. You still get stunned, which means your DPS doesn't improve in any way, especially if you are ranged, because while waiting in the patch, you can be casting, this is the same for a healer.

Dodging the second divebombs grouped up for the snakes is a cut on your DPS time for casters unless you have an instant cast or swiftcast and melee can't do any positional attacks, but that's minor DPS time that isn't really significant. And for the rest of T5...? Well, dodging twisters and dealing with the dread is another DPS loss, especially for melee who ideally need to get out of range to prevent being locked into place too close to the dread when it spawns to prevent a death if DPS is too slow and stuns aren't as reliable.

This game is all about being able to handle mechanics while suffering DPS loss in the end game content, even things like EX primals have downtime, it's all about optimizing your time when you can't be attacking.

That being said, handling the mechanic the intended way easily outweighs the LOS method, as casters/bards/healers can perform while in the briar, and melee can snap back to Raf after the devour goes out keeping their DPS going as efficiently as possible, avoiding the 4 second stun all together.

The LOS method is favored by a lot of people because it ultimately requires less coordination with handling the mechanics with the briars, it cuts out one factor of the fight while trading it off for a loss in uptime by 4+ seconds for the marked player.

So, while I don't really put the LOS method relates at all with T2 soft enrage and T5 divebomb, I will say that it's just another way to handle the fight, and isn't so much of an exploit as you still have negative side effects. Players will do what is most comfortable to them, and if the LOS is what a group is happy with doing, that's what they should do.