[dev1039] How does this work?

[tragic]

[dev1039] When the three below conditions are met in regards to the grade and difficulty of a gathering attempt, the "sweet spot" of the approach phase will be in a fixed location.

1. Class rank
2. Values of VIT for miners, STR for botanists, and DEX for fishers
3. Bait and lures (for fishing only)

ex.) At a certain grade and difficulty, having the appropriate rank, DEX value, and bait/lure will ensure that jigging the rod precisely in the middle will result in a black eel hit.

I am not even sure what the approach phase is suppose to mean.

I can't figure out what has been changed. Here is what my experience has been so far. With botany my strike point, the point at which you successfully gather a item, is constant. However, with mining it would seem that my strike point is constant based on what item you are about to dig up. With botany the strike point seems to be constant based on the tree. I am just am ultra confused right now and I would appreciate someone trying to figure out what changes have been made.

The example they give in the patch notes make it sound like you can choose which items you are obtaining while gathering. So far with my testing this does not seem to be the case.

[TirionCrey]

All I can say is what has changed for me since the patch, and that is Mining on my current Rank became a random calculated luck game again, which makes me completely furious.

I'm 31MIN, I mine on Grade 4 since 28, mostly Silver for my BSM grind and GSM later on. I know all the Nodes at Humblehearth which have Silver in it. Going by the Remainder Bar I was able to determine which item I'll dig up(at least 90% of the time, since Silver shares the same Remainder Bar with Obsidian). Silver Ore/Sand was usually in between the Center and Middle Circle of the Mini-Game(90% of the time at least). It was consistant and made Gathering "enjoyable" cause it was my "own" skill that made it easier for me to gather, not something that was "calculated" by the game.

Now, since the patch the situation is completely different. Silver Ore/Sand is just at any Circle Area and it changes almost any gathering attempt. This is me on MIN31 on Grade 4 Nodes with capped VIT...so which Rank does SE want me to get to to have Silver Ore/Sand at a fixed location...before the patch it took me 2 hits max to get my Silver...now it can take me up to 4 damn hits because Silver is just anywhere.

Conclusion: Why does SE have to get a really good patch ready and then change something, that was all fine and worked for everybodey(Disciples of the Land will have fun changing/theorycrafting all the information again...) into a stupid Random BS...cause that's what is right now for me. If R31 is not enough to get me a fixed location for Silver...what Rank am I supposed to get to for something as common as Silver?????

All I can say now is, Mining became annoying for me(and I really liked Mining before the patch)...cause before it had a pattern that I could follow, now its just stupid Random nonsense. And if there is anything FFXIV needs right now, its not RANDOM calculated nonsense.

[Betelgeuzah]

There is still a pattern, now it's simply a matter of knowledge. In what you describe there is no "skill" at all. Same applies for the new system, but now with proper knowledge you can make a fortune still.

[TirionCrey]

There is still a pattern, now it's simply a matter of knowledge. In what you describe there is no "skill" at all. Same applies for the new system, but now with proper knowledge you can make a fortune still.

And what pattern is that? On R31(Grade 4) there is no pattern at all for Silver anymore. What Rank am I supposed to hit to get that pattern again? On one and the same mining node Silver Ore was at 3 different locations, and Silver Sand at 2 different...thats ALL on one and the same node. If simply my Rank is the only thing that keeps that pattern away from me atm...then how long am I supposed to grind on something thats random, before it actually has a pattern again? Cause right now all items are just spread between all circles...and I'm seriously not in the mood to hit 4 times for each damn item.

[tragic]

Tirion I do agree the rank requirement will be quite annoying. It would seem that they made it easier for gathering below your rank to one shot items. I am just finding it strange that it appears to be different between mining and logging. With logging depending on the tree determined the gather point. While I went mining it seemed what determined the gather point was the location of the remainder bar. However, I am not quite sure. I am too frustrated at the moment to go out and try it again.

I am quite annoyed. I love gathering silver at humble at R24 with 2 swings. Now it does take 4 swings most of the time. It would seem to me I am obviously under ranked for that grade, but I find it strange you are not meeting the magical requirements to one shot those nodes.

[Reika]

I dont know, but what i think what they were trying to say is if you meet those requirements and you're aiming at the sweetspot for an item, you are more likely to get that item. however I haven't noticed any change since the patch. i am R25 miner mining in GR3 area Bloodshore. I Aim at the limonite spot, and still get pyrite, copper ore, etc, and occasionally a limonite. 160+ Vit, R25, GR3, and All gathering clothes with proper rank tool. I don't sense much of a change here.

[Reika]

My thoughts is it needs a bug report.

[tragic]

So from what I can tell each item has a specific strike/chop/jig point that will stay constant. So if walnut logs will have the same chop point on any walnut tree I am not sure. So far I know at least all grade 4 walnut trees have the same chop point for walnut logs.

What I am confused about now is that the example given in the patch notes makes it seem like you can force a specific item to drop while gathering if you have the right rank and stats. Is this not the case?

[Reika]

Correct. Like aiming for copper ore is always a love tap, while aiming for iron ore is always a semi-heavy heavy strike. HOWEVER, the update is still ignoring the real 'sweet spot'. the spot we pick before beginning our strike/chip/jig phase. You can still select anywhere and, striking in the right places above, still obtain a completely different item. It wont always be Iron ore in the iron ore sweet spot is where I am getting at. I think the devs confused Sweet spot with Strength of the chop/strike or direction of the jiggle.

[quilicksilverfang]

Well I just tried fishing at r30 in grade 4. So far it has been so much worse than before the patch. I used to be able to catch about 80-90% of my hooked fish, now it is around 60%. I have good gear for my level and the r32 rod. I am not able to get what I am aiming for (hammerhead sharks with spoon lure) out of my 60 fish caught I caught 3 hammerhead sharks.

I know DoL was tedious to level before, but now it is almost unbearable. Is it to much to ask to be able to somewhat catch a fish you have a favoured bait for and in a rank appropriate grade? It seems like this patch only made it harder to level and didn't change anything for the r50s.

A major step backwards!