Halatali with a squadron: Tangata

[LuSnow]

Hello All

I wanted to give a try to a dungeon with a squadron. The lowest available level is Halatali. It's very much OK up to the last boss Tangata. There, I keep failing, always for the same two reasons:

1. When the wave of adds spawn, I don't achieve to keep the squadron at them, because when one add dies, the squadron doesn't respect my call on next add and instead return to the boss. So, it forced me for each add to first disengage them from boss and re-engage them on next add. I can't re-engage them straight from one killed add to the next one. It's just too much for me. I'm not fast enough and there are always 1 or 2 adds, if not more, who survive and reach boss.

2. Squadron remains standing inside the AOE markers. At previous boss electrifying the water pond, it was no problem because it's only one AOE and I just called them back to me out of water. But Tangata is casting different AOEs, in a row, and it's just hopeless for me to keep the squadron out of the markers at each change.

My question: Any tricks that would help me with those two specific problems?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Frizze]

So the squadron ai is... interesting. It was their first attempt at what would eventually become the duty support/trust system. They hadnt figured out everything yet. This results in a few mechs where the team just doesnt contribute, along with almost all targetable attacks choosing the player rather then their normal spread. The dev solution was to increase the damage the NPCs can do, and to make them immune to many attacks(especially aoes since as youve observed they dont really dodge). Every squadron dungeon can be completed, and with you playing any role. Some are MUCH easier then others. So, on to the specifics.

1. So you shouldnt need to disengage/reengage. Just sending them to the next target should work. They may rubber-band to the boss and back, but it should still be ok. You could also try sending them to the next target 1 or 2 hits before the current one dies and finish it yourself. Depending on which class you bring in, adding extra heals or defensive skills might help too.

2. Dont worry about them too much. They are immune to some AoEs, and take reduced damage from others. Just be sure to spread out for any targetted AoEs, because the stacking damage can be trouble for you.

Good luck!

[Shistar]

Here to echo Frizze's explanation and add my nugget of experience: Don't worry about them unless they're either dead or a hair away from death. Bark orders at them like a tyrant, but also be aware that they have an internal "queue" of things they have to do. So your order is going to the back of the list most of the time, which means they might walk up to an enemy, then realize you ordered them to go somewhere else, and then do that. Ditto on the telling them to attack something else before their current target dies, since it somewhat alleviates this rubberbanding effect.
Unless you need the squadron specifically such as the achievements that award you emotes, I would recommend you go with other players or with the Trusts/NPC Support, which are a slightly smarter version of our squadron buddies.


I personally visit my squadron every week for their personal weekly missions though. What you can get from there are the equivalent of Rank-III buffs you'd otherwise only be able to get your hands on by being in an FC, having a workshop in said FC, crafting a bunch of stuff and waiting a bunch of hours for the same thing you can get in bulk every week.
... Well, here's the catch: The FC buffs last 24hrs, while the ones you can get yourself only last 1hr. But you can get up to 10 per week, which should last you enough if you're smart about using them (doing most of your teleporting around during 1hr, or only using XP boosts when you're actively leveling up)

[LuSnow]

Here to echo Frizze's explanation and add my nugget of experience: Don't worry about them unless they're either dead or a hair away from death. Bark orders at them like a tyrant, but also be aware that they have an internal "queue" of things they have to do. So your order is going to the back of the list most of the time, which means they might walk up to an enemy, then realize you ordered them to go somewhere else, and then do that. Ditto on the telling them to attack something else before their current target dies, since it somewhat alleviates this rubberbanding effect.
Unless you need the squadron specifically such as the achievements that award you emotes, I would recommend you go with other players or with the Trusts/NPC Support, which are a slightly smarter version of our squadron buddies.


I personally visit my squadron every week for their personal weekly missions though. What you can get from there are the equivalent of Rank-III buffs you'd otherwise only be able to get your hands on by being in an FC, having a workshop in said FC, crafting a bunch of stuff and waiting a bunch of hours for the same thing you can get in bulk every week.
... Well, here's the catch: The FC buffs last 24hrs, while the ones you can get yourself only last 1hr. But you can get up to 10 per week, which should last you enough if you're smart about using them (doing most of your teleporting around during 1hr, or only using XP boosts when you're actively leveling up)

I know by experience that dungeon NPCs are good and real players even better (I use duty finder every day and dugeon NPCs - when they exist - regularly).

I didn't know much about squadron, but my initial objective was to build up a "strong" team that I could take for nearly everything. However, based on my recent experience + the posts here, I realized that:
- The list of dungeons we can do with our squadron is limited.
- The dungeon NPCs are muuuuuuch stronger and for what I know, available for more dungeons.
- It's too much for me to manage them at same time than playing my own toon.
- I get limited fun out of the exercise.

So, the outcome is logic: I prefer to give up on that, at least for now. I'm still very busy progressing Endwalker (no fun) and levelling up a new toon that I created 2 days ago (big fun). I will keep going with that first.

Thank you All for your usual nice support.

[Shistar]

Yeah, unless you're running ARR-HW dungeons obsessively, they won't be better than your readily available NPC Support group, unfortunately...
An interesting bit about them: When you complete a dungeon, they can learn what is the equivalent of a "personality" which can be offensive/neutral/defensive, and it affects their AI a little bit. An offensive type arcanist would stop casting physick and would focus on DPSing, while a defensive healer might actually not DPS at all and just focus on healing for once (which can be good because I'm sure you've seen how these people heal! lol)


It's something I really like, because a well set-up and trained squadron can blitz through any dungeon. Sadly, it's not worth much when they can't go past HW. If you'd like to grind something similar, level up your Trusts from ShB and onwards. You unlock extra outfits for them, and when you get them all leveled up you get an achievement title:
lvl80 Trusts: Trusted Friend
lvl90 Trusts: The Seventh Dawn
lvl100 Trusts: Goldheart
It's a grind, but if you like this type of thing or you really want one of these titles, you'll have an easier time with Trusts than your squadron. It's also good practice if you're testing out a new job!


I hope you have a great time with your new character!