So, I'm an idiot

I head up to visit friends Brian and Camille for a couple of weeks, and lo and behold, what do I manage to do but forget the AC adapter for my fucking laptop. As my laptop is a monster (an Alienware Aurora m9700) that requires a beastly 19V 150W load of juice, Brian's iGo couldn't handle it, and I was stuck with no computer.

The good news is I have managed to get SCH all the way up to 48, not far all all from 50 and my sexy 3rd stratagem charge (more importantly, a new stratagem charge every 1:20). I ordered a new power cable and am again up and running.

I've been reading on some of the forums about some of the mage jobs bitching about ... well, pretty much just Scholar's existence. I think this is somewhat shortsighted and kind of pathetic, and this is coming from a BLM75. BLM's have had a monopoly on nuking jobs for the entirety of FFXI's history and I think there's just a little bit of bitterness that SCH is invading on "their turf."

Never mind that every melee damage dealer's job has invaded upon every other melee damage dealer's job since the start of the game, with the same sort of differences that exist between SCH and BLM, WHM, SMN, and RDM. DRKs specialize in spike damage with weapon skills, souleater, and have limited magic. SAMs crank out a high volume of WS's. WARs deliver steady damage with harsh WS's and have access to good gear. THFs deal spike damage, have ridiculous evasion, and manage hate better than any other job in the game. DRGs rely on a wyvern and have hate-reduction abilities, as well as surprising healing ability with a WHM sub. MNKs fill a similar role to WARs with a vastly different gear set and interesting abilities led by Chi Blast, and its specialized role as MNK/WHM in big long fights.

So, in the same sense that SCH invades the turf of BLMs in that they are capable of nuking, have access to Tier IV elemental magic, and have several bonuses that BLMs don't get, there should be no reason for BLMs to feel threatened.

The main complaint has been that a few BLMs calculated out that SCHs are more mp-efficient in their nuking, which quickly gets translated into "are better at nuking". This is true so long as the SCH is not being resisted. The problem with this theory is, however, several-fold:

1) It only really applies to mobs that don't have super-high magic resistance. BLM still gets access to much more +elemental magic gear and have a higher base skill. Thus they are less likely to get those critical 50% (or higher) resists on tough-to-nuke mobs like Kirin.

2) It assumes, really, that the SCH is using all his Stratagems on Parsimony 100% of the time. Having a 1/2 mp big nuke once per minute is indeed very powerful, but in practice, a SCH has to be in a specialized all-nuking-all-the-time role for that to be feasible. SCHs are often going to be asked to keep a weather effect up on the party, which means all their stratagem charges are being blown between Accession (the Light Arts AOE Stratagem, for the weather effect spells) and Addendum: Black, to give them access to the Tier IV nukes. In fact, if the SCH wants to cast any white magic spells at all, he must either eat a 10% mp cost for the spell, longer cast time, and low skill in the spell being cast, or swap to Light Arts and blow a charge coming back to Addendum: Black. Whereas a BLM can cast all their WHM spells (assuming WHM sub) without any penalty.

3) MP efficiency is not the be-all-end-all of nuking capability. BLMs are still the unrivaled kings of spike nuking damage, and in many fights, that is much more useful than whether or not you might run out of mp.

4) Access to -agas without having to blow a stratagem charge for them is very useful in a lot of situations: Dynamis being the key example. A SCH will never be seen as more useful than a BLM for Dynamis, though they might make wonderful healers due to their ability to target people even outside their party with cure spells and status removal spells with Accession.

So, much like the dynamic that exists between the various melee damage dealing jobs, I look forward to SCH taking a little chunk out of BLM's nuking monopoly. That being said, I think pretty surely that the early reports of the demise of the BLM have been sorely exaggerated.

How to grind like a pro

So, here's how one goes from level 37 to level 43 in the course of a single day:

I spent about 40 minuts LFP as SCH37, with FFXI minimized and several poker windows open in the foreground (thank goodness for the /tell detector windower plugin). Finally getting an invite, the party was a standard Crawler's Nest beetle party, level range of 39-41, that looked as follows:

SCH/WHM <--- Me, main healing
BRD/WHM <--- Good player, member of Tribe (a top endgame LS)
BLM/WHM <--- Party leader
WAR/THF <--- Good damage dealer, part time tank as a result
WAR/NIN <--- Passable tank, good damage dealer
MNK/WAR <--- Damage dealer

By far, I'm learning, the sexiest thing about SCH is the fact that we get Regen II at level 37 (WHM's don't get it until 44). By far the biggest flaw in most main healer's games is an underuse of Regen spells. Unless a party member is in potential danger of dying, there's no reason to spam them with the highest level cure spells. Regen II costs 36 mp, heals 12/tick for about 240 total hp gained, and generates basically no enmity. Compare that with Cure III, which costs 46mp, heals ~190hp, and generates enmity equal to its damage healed (same as, say, a 190hp weapon skill).

Anyway, between the main tank's shadows, Ballad + Sublimation, liberal usage of Regen II and aggressive use of Drain and Aspir, MP was never an issue and we were able to chain pull the beetles for a consistent Chain 5. Our only limiting factor was mob availability.

All the while the BRD was mentioning that we should really be at the Altepa outpost, fighting goblins. I didn't disagree, and between us, when we had a party member (one of the WARs) ding 41, we persuaded the group to move. We gathered together at Altepa and began chain pulling gobs like crazy. It was there that I dinged 40 and gained my oh-so-sexy AOE Stratagem. The BLM left and replaced himself with a BLU, giving the BRD party lead, the WAR/THF left, replacing himself with a SAM, and the WAR/NIN left, replacing himself with a JP PLD that really knew his business. Wonderful with Shield Bash and Flat Blade for stunning gobbiebombs.

Our PLD was a bit higher in level, and when he dinged 42 the xp from gobbies dried up a bit, so we decided to make another move over to the Western Altepa Desert beetles. There was a party there, but there are 2 good campsites there, so we took the second. Before we know it, xp is flowing like crazy again and we get quite a few dings.

The BRD left there, replacing himself with a DNC (and giving me pt lead), the SAM replaced himself with another SAM, and the BLU replaced himself with a RDM. We also had a bit of a dramabomb when the PLD had to go, and a 44 PLD showed up to replace him. 44 was a bit high for us, but I was prepared to let him in anyway, but when our PLD left, his replacement was just standing there with his LFP marker set. I invited him several times, to no result, while the party is just standing around wondering wtf is going on.

Eventually we notice there's a 43 PLD LFP and after 10 minutes of waiting or so, I go ahead and invite him. He's most of the way out to the desert when finally, the 44 PLD announces "I'm back!". We're all, um, wtf, where were you, he said I went AFK. I break the news that we already repped him because he was AFK with no explanation and he left. On his way out he sent me a few tells basically telling me "shame on you." I respond with, "Dude, you don't show up as a replacement and go afk for 10 minutes without saying a damn word. All it would have taken was a quick 'hey guys, gotta afk for 10min or so, sorry'." I have no regrets on repping him, though, which is no doubt helped out by the fact that his replacement PLD was very good and of a level more appropriate for our party.

Our replacement PLD dings 44 about the same time I ding 42, and most of the party is 43. By this time we're PLD, DNC, SAM, MNK, RDM, SCH and the exp has dried up substantially. We decide to move to Quicksand caves, but find the camp site occupied (I for one was not exactly heartbroken; I *hate* QSC), so instead I persuade the party to head out to Yhoator Jungle, the camp at the eastern Ifrit's Cauldron zone, to fight the gobbies there. That's like my favorite camp site in the game, probably because basically nobody has ever heard of it. Only one other person in my party even knew you could get exp at our level in Yhoator, and none had actually exp'd out there. I think I've now exp'd out there with 3 of my 4 jobs that have gotten to that level.

(Side-note: my second-favorite camp site in the game is Purgonogo Isle as the perfect remedy to late Yhoator Jungle / early East Altepa. Fighting the mandies there is an awesome alternative to the other common camps available at that level).

The party flowed smoothly from there and within an hour or so we'd gained some 7k xp. However, by then it was 4 in the morning and we had like three people that had to leave at the same time (including myself), so we decided to disband, to everyone's disappointment.

This still doesn't match the binge that saw me go from BLM72-BLM75 in a single night, though it gets special marks for being a party that survived no fewer than four separate campsites. Not many parties survive that many transitions. Was a hell of a night.

Final Party Distribution

BLM --> BLU --> RDM
WAR --> PLD --> PLD
WAR --> SAM --> SAM
BRD --> DNC --> DNC
MNK --> MNK
SCH!

Well, that's a few levels

So, what did I just say about how I can expect at least 1 level per day thru level 40?

How bout six, count'em, SIX levels in one friggin party? Nary a PL to be found, too. Just straight up sexiness.

I am officially loving SCH. Now that I've got my AOE Stratagem my abilities have really opened up. AOE Regen2 is basically sex on a stick. And the ability to give my party AOE sneak/invis is made of win.

I actually have to go pick up my storm spells from the appropriate npc. Didn't think I'd get to that point today, let alone the level where I'd get to use two of them. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

I has a subjob!

d-d-ding!

Three more levels today/tonight. Got into a nice Garliage party of BLU, DNC, DRK, MNK, WHM, SCH. I finally got around to making a Windower macro set for SCH, as, with the Addendum stratagems, the job practically begs for macro rearrangement depending on which art is active. I keep a baseline of spells (nukes and cures) on the ctrl+# row, and have the ctrl+alt+# row dynamically changing between the black magic spells that are active under Addendum: Dark (Dispel, Sleep, Sleep2, the tier IV nukes - hey, I'm thinking ahead) and those active under Addendum: Light (the esuna spells). The alt+# row handles abilities and stratagems (I also dynamically change the stratagems based on what art is active).

I can officially say that Sublimation is pretty pimp. What it does is give you a status effect that eats your hp at 2 hp/tick until 25% of your max hp is gone. Once that's done, it enters a "charged" state whereupon you can then reactivate the ability at any time in the next 2 hours to instantaneously recover as much mp as you had hp tick away. So if your max hp is 600, it will tick down 150hp, and then stop, fully charged. When you activate it again, you gain 150mp instantaneously.

Also, the Scholar AF head piece significantly enhances the effect, bumping it to a 3hp tick (so it will charge much faster) and increasing the amount of mp gained by 50%.

The only downside is that it's incompatible with Refresh effects (from the RDM spell or food) while both charging and charged. But if you don't have a RDM in your party it makes for a great self-refresh.

I'm still not 100% convinced of its endgame applicability, but I think the ability to keep a weather effect up on an entire party indefinitely should prove most useful in BLM parties, and combined with the Tier IV nukes, it should do just fine, if not quite having the blasty power of a BLM, at least being in the same ballpark.

Altepa: owned

Finished off the rest of 32 last night and went ahead and got 33 and halfway to 34. Very nice Altepa party, NIN, PUP, DNC, THF, SMN, SCH. Although NIN starts to become a very questionable tank in the mid-30's (until they hit 37 and get Utsusemi: Ni), we had a pretty good one, and with a THF stapling hate back and forth between him and the DNC, everything went pretty smoothly with no deaths and only one close call.

The March update was very good to SCH, giving them Addendum: White and Addendum: Black, giving them access to a bevy of spells they didn't get before. Additionally, the change made to the Strategem recharge time makes all the difference in the world. For a 75 SCH, being able to store up to 4 Strategem charges, when each one took 4 minutes to build up, was pretty much worthless. With it now taking 4 minutes to build up to your full complement, that means a 75 SCH is getting a fresh charge every minute.

Even at 30, with a Strategem complement of 2, this makes a big difference, as getting a fresh charge every 2 minutes instead of 4 vastly increases my output. It also has all sorts of potential applications for endgame. I'd imagine that most SCH's will be focusing on nuking/support from within BLM parties at endgame, with Addendum: Black up pretty much all the time (to have access to the Tier IV nukes, making them comparable to a BLM in nuking ability, minus the pimp gear that BLM's get). But, every two minutes, swapping over to Light Arts, popping off Accession/Thunderstorm (or whatever element is primarily being used to nuke), giving the whole party the relevant weather effect, and popping back to Black Arts/Addendum: Black. As two minutes happens to be the duration and recast time for the "Storm" spells, a good SCH should be able to maintain nearly perpetual weather for his party at 70+. That's huge.

Additionally, the SCH artifact pieces are pretty pimp; they give +73mp total, I think, and with the two pieces that enhance Light Arts and Dark Arts, you get a total of +15 skill on *every* magic skill type. Then there's the piece that enhances Sublimation, which might prove to be a very useful self-Refresh. I can't wait to play around with it in a couple of levels.

One more level

Only a few hundred xp from 32 as well. Nice Altepa party last night. 32 is a good level for SCH, with good new gear (Solid Wand and Black Cape +1) and access to Dispel, now with the March update.

The levels are coming a bit slower now, but they're still coming, and at least a level per party is still within the realm of possibility until about 40 or so.

Ooh ooh!

Look what I found!

Still truckin' on SCH

On to the second jungle tonight, with a pair of successful parties. Ding 30!

Interesting party setup today. NIN, DRK, BRD, DNC, DNC, SCH. With both DNC's subbed NIN, they and the NIN were taking turns sharing hate, and what little healing that was necessary was handled by the DNC's. I almost never cured as SCH, and got to do what I do best, nuke like a mofo. Those elemental magic merits are just awesome for SCH. We were taking down 200 base xp mobs fast enough to get chain 3-4, which is damn good for a lowbie pt.

In other news, the nuggets from my harvest are selling like friggin hotcakes, and their price has jumped up to 30k/stack. In fact they're pretty much already sold. I haven't replanted yet, but not enough cuttings have stayed up on the AH. I may have to buy in piecemeal, which I hate doing, but may be necessary. After the ~440k for replanting is gone, I should still be north of 1M on Magi, and will definitely be buying at least one more HQ staff, which will bring me to 6/8. Maybe one more harvest and I can start thinking about sinking some of that hard-earned $$ into goldsmithing.

One more job through Qufim

What was it that I said about Qufim being able to go either way? I managed to get into a very nice party with a PL during non-peak hours, and literally within a couple of hours found myself at level 25. Being able to grind out 10k/hr at the low levels means those suckers just fly right by. Not nearly as impressive an achievement as the night where I dinged BLM75 (where I dinged 73, 74, and 75 all in the same damn party), but definitely up there among my top 5 xp binges of all time.

Just for fun, I rode out to Kazham and was able to ding SCH26 before the party broke and it didn't look like there'd be much to replace it with.

The only problem with this binging on xp is keeping my damn gear up to date. I'd forgotten how expensive some of this low-level shit can really be.

I'm still unsure as to whether I'm going to take SCH to 37 only or take it up all the way. I can definitely see its uses as a subjob for my BLM, but I don't think it will be particularly useful in endgame activities. Its jack-of-all-trades status is of limited usefulness when you're always in a large group with every specialty covered, and its use as pure support seems quite limited. There are a couple of jobs that I still need to get to 37 (RDM being most critical among them by far) but really, my primary priority should be un-gimping my gear and getting sea. That should allow me to get into Remedy, and that should give me quite a bit more to do at endgame.

Harvest

Also, my latest harvest came through today. 511 nuggets total, a little over 42 stacks. A nice 1.1M gross, maybe 800k net. My last harvest still hasn't completely sold, though, as I was a bit lazy.

One more job through Valkurm

Three hard-earned levels of SCH today and tonight, 2 separate sessions. Valkurm levels are always so painful, and Qufim is never much better, although the good news is that SCH shouldn't hurt for invites. They're almost as good a nuker as BLMs, and much better healers. Qufim can really go either way; I've had jobs take weeks to crank through 20-25 trying most every night, and I've had jobs make it through in 1-2 sessions. Crossing fingers.

Coming back slow

Since coming back I haven't had that strong of a motivation to play, as I've been killing a lot of time with Rock Band and Civ IV. At the same time, I've kept my gardening active and should have an additional harvest ready tomorrow. That's good news, as my last harvest is only just beginning to sell. One of my goals for March is to finish CoP at least to the point of having Sea access, and then likely apply to Eminence, a prominent linkshell on the server where I have some friends, both IRL and online.

Less time spent on poker recently is giving me a bit more time to play, and I'm hoping to get SCH up to a respectable level in the coming weeks, at least pushing it through the Dunes and Qufim, hopefully getting through the Kazham levels as well. I'm out to the Dunes even as I write this. Hopefully I can find a party that doesn't suck.