Unintended limit break generation

[acediafi]

Date of issue: 10/30/23
Time of issue: N/A
Frequency: Always
World name: Malboro
Character name: Acedia Filianore
Retainer name: N/A
NPC name: N/A
Monster name: N/A
Class/Level: Healers, any level or synced down to a duty
Party or solo: Party
In-game time: N/A
Area and coordinates: Any duty where limit break can be generated
Housing: N/A

The following steps assume the party has AST and SCH. It can work with any healer using similar healing abilities.

Steps:
1. Go into a raid duty with a Full Party.
2. Have everyone create a gear set with nothing on but their Main Hand that they can swap to.
3. Have everyone create a gear set with all of their normal gear on.
4. Have everyone equip their empty gear set.
5. Start a countdown with the intent to draw enmity of the boss at 0.
6. SCH use Emergency Tactics at 12 seconds remaining on the countdown.
7. AST use Horoscope at 4 seconds remaining on the countdown, applying the status “Horoscope” on the party.
8. With 2 seconds remaining on the countdown, AST use Helios and then Horoscope, activating the Horoscope status, and then swap to normal gear set.
9. With 2 seconds remaining on the countdown, SCH use Succor then swap to normal gear set.
10. Everyone else swap to normal gear set right before 0
11. Within the first 2 seconds of combat, the heals resolve while everyone is at <10% of their max hp and approximately 1 bar of limit break is be generated

Please see this video clip in Anabaseios: The Eleventh Circle (Savage).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTYTH7CS3Ss

I think that the strength and advantage gained by this interaction in progression is clear. An extra bar of the limit gauge would be massively beneficial. You could use healer Limit Break with 3 bars almost 2 minutes earlier than without it, or more consistently beat the enrage in a phase of an Ultimate raid with a stronger melee Limit Break than intended.

I am not sure if this is a bug, but I would like to bring this to the attention of the developers. It does not seem to be the intent of the game design to virtually begin combat with a full bar of limit break.

[Jeeqbit]

It doesn't seem like a bug, but rather just something that is obviously not intended.

It is using a known and intended way to generate the LB bar (by saving people when they are low) by taking advantage of a lack of a gear prior to pulling so that they are all low when the fight begins, which is a fairly logical train of thought someone could have if they were trying to exploit it and probably why it was discovered.

It is difficult to see what the solution should be. Perhaps we should just not be allowed to change gear in duties. Gear switching was an issue causing "item level cheese" in the alliance raid roulette and now that is resolved, it's being abused yet again. Maybe if we get loot in duties we should just have to upgrade after the duty is over. Or dungeons could be exempt.

[Astrahime]

Perhaps we should just not be allowed to change gear in duties.

There's one duty in which you can't change your gear, it's A Relic Reborn: The Hydra.
Why is it only that one?

[acediafi]

I think that the strength and advantage gained by this interaction in progression is clear. An extra bar of the limit gauge would be massively beneficial. You could use healer Limit Break with 3 bars almost 2 minutes earlier than without it, or more consistently beat the enrage in a phase of an Ultimate raid with a stronger melee Limit Break than intended.

[ICountFrom0]

There's one duty in which you can't change your gear, it's A Relic Reborn: The Hydra.
Why is it only that one?

Because in order to get one of the rewards, you have to have the relic equiped. This prevents you from having soemthing else equipped, and then changing to the relic at the last moment.

It don't matter anymore as it's a trivial clear, but it mattered THEN.

[Astrahime]

Because in order to get one of the rewards, you have to have the relic equiped. This prevents you from having soemthing else equipped, and then changing to the relic at the last moment.

It don't matter anymore as it's a trivial clear, but it mattered THEN.

It's a problem if you were doing things as another job, swap back to the one you're doing the relic for, and you forgot to equip the relic on that job's gearset and didn't remember to re-equip it, you can't swap it inside.

Imo you shouldn't be able to switch gear inside a duty, and you should also be forced to queue up for the duty with the exact same gear you had on when you queued up. Did you throw away some of the gear you had equipped earlier? Sorry, penalty for you!