Hello! and welcome back for another installment on what is Dynamis. Below I plan to cover the basic strategies we will use for all Dynamis zones. Please note that your job function here will often not be the normal function in an EXP PT, so be prepared to adapt as needed.
Communication
The majority of necessary communication will be conduction through the LS chat. Because of this, we ask that any side-chatter be kept strictly to the /p, /s and /sh channels. This is to keep the messages of the puller, targeter and Leaders clear and uncluttered. So please only use /l unless it is a necessity (this is obviously once we are in zone).
/assist
I have made this its own category because I simply cannot overstate its importance. ALL melee and DD MUST have /assist "Targeter's Name" macroed. This is to ensure that ALL DD are attacking the SAME mob at the same time. Attacking the wrong mob will wake it up, and it will beeline for the BLM that slept it, most likely killing him in 2 hits. This will cause serious chaos and downtime.
Also on some zones we may use dual targets, make sure you know which targeter your alliance is assisting.
If you purposefully wake a sleeping mob you will be warned. Do it again and you will be removed from the zone. This may seem harsh, but failure to use {/assist} is the #1 cause for a zone failure.
Note: if you are unfamiliar with /assist allow me to explain how it works. The command will make you lock-on to the same locked target of the person you are assisting. You may need to hit the macro a couple times as it will only lock you on when the assist target is also locked. Make certain what you lock on to the same mob called out in LS chat.
Food!
Do not underestimate the effectiveness of food in Dynamis. I suggest that everyone try and bring something to use in zone. Now, I know: we die...sometimes a LOT. So I am not asking everyone bring HQ food, or 3 hour food etc, so I don't expect to see Sole Sushi+1 from the melee, but I am hoping people bring something to help their efficacy. I'll list some suggestions:
Mages: cookies are a great way to go for the needed HMP bonuses. 1 stack of wizard cookies (30k) will last you 4-5 Dynamis runs, so it is not a bad investment.
Melee: I like to use Bream Sushi. The ACC is VERY welcome on lvl 90ish mobs, and the extra VIT helps keep me alive from nasty AOEs.
Tanks: Hmm... tacos? I'm not sure what would be the most cost-balanced food here, I'm open to suggestions.
Pullers: Navarrin? the added evasion cant hurt. Also I will offer my Wind Staff to any puller that wants to borrow it.
Items!
Make sure you have brought the proper items to a particular zone. Items can include:
- Echo Drops
- Holy Water (Tanks)
- Reraise Item
- Poison Potions
Now of course, we will not ask you to spend your own money on these items: we're not cruel. To get our required meds, you can get them from our medicine mule by request, or you can purchase your own and then post for a Reimbursement in the Forums here.
The Basic Positions
1. Puller
2. Targeter
3. Primary Tank
4. Spotter
5. Spec Ops
Puller : The puller has the path the alliance will take memorized. His job is to go out and bring the appropriate statues back to our current camp. He will announce the pull in the /l channel.
Targeter : The targeter will select the order in which we attack and kill mobs first. He will select a target, lock and engage, announcing this on the /l channel. All melee/DD should have /assist "Targeter's Name" macroed.
Primary Tank : This tank will hold the hate of the targeted mob. Ideally a normal mob fight will last 30sec or less. He will make sure any mob that needs to be separated from the main alliance will be.
Spotter : Spotters are co-pullers and will announce the size and contents of each pull.
Spec Ops: The jobs for this team of people will vary with zone. Typically they are tasked with moving Avatars, holding Slimes, kiting Statues, etc.
For the other Sixty people in zone
Now most people in the zone will not fall into one of these 5 positions noted above. So what do you do? Well look below, I have split the details up into either a particular Job, or a particular responsibility.
Tank Jobs (PLD, NIN, WAR) : This is mostly for the PLD and NIN, WAR should follow this path if we are low on the other 2 jobs. Within Dynamis, these jobs are on hate control duty as priority #1. At any point in time we will be dealing with a minimum of 5 mobs... 5 mobs that were slept by the BLMs are when awake will want nothing more than to eat them. It will be your duty to voke, flash, kurayami, etc these mobs without engaging. We want them to stay asleep, but when they are awake we dont want them bee-lining for the BLMs first thing. This way they will go for the tanks until they can be tucked in for bedtime again.
It may also become important to kite statues for the BLMs to nuke. If we know there will be a lare number of statues from a particular spawn we will designate 1-2 PLD or NIN to kite the excess statues until the BLMs are ready to nuke them into oblivion.
>> It is reccomended that if you have an earth staff to use it for these purposes.
Ranged DD (RNG) : RNG should try and keep their distance as best they can to stay alive. Also if you see a BLM getting ravaged by something mean, remeber you have Shadowbind: use it.
Melee DD (DRK, MNK, WAR, THF, SAM, DRG) : First off you will want to sub NIN if you can. If not, try WHM or RDM and if neither of those, go THF sub. NIN will give you shadows and limit healing needed, WHM and RDM give you blink and stoneskin and allow you to help heal if needed and THF gives you the {Evasion Bonus} trait. WAR sub is ok if nothing else is available to sub. Feel free to dual wield or use your main weapon with NIN sub. Your choice of subjob should consider survivability first and foremost, this is not an EXP PT configuration by any means.
The absolute most important thing to understand as a melee DD is to use /assist. You absolutely should only be fighting the same, pre-chosen target. Even if you end up standing around for 30s trying to find the right target, or waiting for /assist to work, that is fine. it is better than you waking up the wrong mob.
>> DRKs will need to be ready to Stun, and not only the mob that we are fighting. Have stun queded on your magic menu so you can switch-target cast on a rogue BLM or statue that is getting -aga happy.
>> MNKs might want to consider subbing WHM for full versatility. This will let you Boost+Chi Blast Mega Bosses, melee the normal Beastmen, and support heal. However, NIN, WAR, THF subs are still always acceptible.
>> THF please try to SATAWS only onto yourself, another THF, a WAR or a PLD, unless it will kill the mob.
>> DRG please have {Spirit Link} reported in /p so healer knows why you just lost a lot of your HP.
Red Mages : There are a lot of you, so you get your own category. Within Dynamis you will wear your "everyjob hat." You will need to keep the mages in your PT refreshed (of course), and will sometimes be sharing main healing duties with another RDM in your PT. Aside from this, you will need bind, silence, sleepga, sleep2 all macroed. The targeter will often mention the job class of a chosen target Beastman, so watch if silence is to be a priority. Some Beastmen will need to be bound if they wake up and beeline for the BLMs. And you will often have to sleep an uppity mob. Dynamis will test your ability to do everything.
For subjobs, consider SMN for max MP. You should not have a problem with resists on bind, sleep, silence etc but will find your MP pool stretched at times. This will also allow you to Blinkga your PT as needed. Depending on your assigned PT you might also want to consider BRD or WHM sub for ballad and AOE healing.
White Mages and Bards : The jobs of both WHMs and BRDs are largely the same inside Dynamis as they are outside. BRDs that are assigned to a melee PT might want to consider subbing SMN for Blinkga. Also certain bar- spells and songs not commonly used can become important (i.e. Cappricio, Gavortte, etc)
Black Mages : BLMs will make or break a Dynamis run. You are the forefront of crowd control and are the only job able to take out the statues. Often all of the Alliances' BLMs will be located in 1 or 2 PTs and MUST communicate to be successful.
BLMs should usually sub WHM or RDM for Stoneskin and Blink. The Statues you will be fighting will often not be tanked by a PLD and you will end up kiting them briefly. NIN is also an acceptable sub, but make sure someone in your PT can and will Erase you as needed.
Dynamis Specific Strategies
Because Dynamis is such a unique zone, it will often require unique tactics. The most notable of these techniques are denoted below.
Suicide Pulling (Sac Pull): There will be occasions where the only way to access a mob (most often the {Mega Boss}) apart from a large number of links is to suicide pull. In preparation for a suicide pull, the LS will be warned over the /l channel.
The sac puller will then go out and purposefully aggro all mobs surrounding our target. A tank will run in and pick off our target and pull it back to the camp while the puller goes off to a predetermined location to die. The puller should have RR up or get a R3 if safe and accesible.
Nobody is to be /healing during a suicide pull. This is very important as all the mobs that were going after the puller will then come ACROSS the zone and aggro a person resting.
Total Alliance Wipe : Sometimes starting fresh is best. It might happen that we will lose total control over a situation. In this case, one of the event leaders will call for a total wipe. In this situation, die where you stand. We will then reraise up and continue on. It will not accomplish anything at all to run around screaming and it will accomplish less to train mobs back the way we came. If you are found to train the mobs back to the entrance when told not to (where they will then take 20 minutes to path back) you will endanger any future runs with Crusade LS.
What else?
Obviously this is not everything we could cover. It is however a good start that wont overwhelm you. Practice is the best teacher and always be willing to ask questions and learn techniques.
Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:10 pm