CoP Mission 2.3 Phomiuna Aqueducts

[Aelfwise]

I can probably do 2.3 any night this week (other than Wednesday, that is when some of us are getting our AF gloves).

A note on Promyvions:
If we're going to help people get through Promys then we REALLY need to do it one or two at a time. We've tried without success to do it with several people new to them and failed. Not to say that those attempting weren't doing their best, but there is a certain technique to beating them. Anyone needing them needs to put the effort into making sure they...

a) have decent gear
b) have farmed anima
c) have LOTS of potions/food/drinks
d) have jobs that will contribute well

PLD, while being great at holding hate most of the time, does not absorb the damage (due to lacking shadows) and can get severely injured by the ENM's specials if they are not neutralized by anima, so ideally NIN/WAR should be used to tank. Heck, let's bring 2 SMN along so that we can guarantee a victory, you wouldn't even need a WHM then.

[Claquesous]

At level 30, I would say WAR/NIN is vastly superior to NIN/WAR. WAR deals much more damage and you can actually use it's 2 hour. The perfect setup is:

WAR/NIN
WAR/NIN
RNG/NIN
SMN
BLM
WHM

If you take out WHM then you take the risk of RR wearing before someone dies and losing before you even get to fight. I'm much rather risk this with just the WHM than the whole party. Also you lose any healing power during the fight. SMN's MP is meant for 2 hour. They can't really be worried about healing too.

If you take out the RNG/NIN then you lose the ability to Widescan for Memory Receptacles and also one of the best DDs and 2 houring DDs in the game.

If you take out SMN then you lose the best 2 houring DD in the game.

If you take out BLM then you lose out on best DD in the game. Considering 2 hours though you could probably replace BLM with MNK or DRK/NIN with minimal worry.

If you take out WAR/NIN then you lose what I think is the best tank/DD at this level. PLD/WAR works ok if they have a couple Yag drinks and are spamming cure. NIN/WAR suffers from not being able to keep hate due to the somewhat pathetic DD at this level. WAR/Not ninja can't be considered one of the two requisite tanks in my opinion.

In our successful runs we were very close to the optimal setup. Each time we lost we were pretty far away. The further from optimal we were the worse off we were. Animas can help a non-optimal party, but I don't think they're enough unless they're really well organized and I don't really want to do this so many times that we will be experts on anima usage.

[Claquesous]

Tehya beat me to the post, but let's analyze her party setup:

2x optimal tanks, 1 healer, 3 DD.

1. They swapped out a SMN for BLM which is perfectly fine and maybe even better than my 'optimal' setup. My only worry is that if SMN 2 hour misses like it did for Piraya the other day, then you lose all advantage of SMN over BLM. BLM provides some insurance to MP pool.
2. They swapped out RNG for MNK. 2 houring MNK is very similar to 2 houring RNG so on the fight I'd say he's basically even. As I said, RNG helps for run up but it's not necessary.

[ziquan]

All I have to say is... i'm tired of losing to promy-mea.
So this week I'll take my 28WAR and turn it into 30WAR to add another war/nin to the shell. Seems like our main problem last time was not keeping the NM under control... we let it go wherever it wanted.

[Piraya]

Yes it missed but that was do to hate being tossed around the party and it moved towards Aelf right when I did it...I had at least 2 more shots on my 2 hour after that miss but unfortunately I died before that.

Concerning moving onto 2.3...I was thinking today tuesday when I get home around 6pst if you're up for it or want to do it. If not I'm fine as I'm pretty tired myself. My other thought was to do 2.3 friday and crunch 2.5 and beyond Saturday.

[Estarie]

as you all know My WAR/NIN is always avilable for you guys to call on, Eventhough i have competed the cregs and 2.3 i'm more than happy to tank for you guys ... just let me know when you need me

[Aelfwise]

Friday would work better for me regarding doing 2.3+ I'd like to concentrate on levelling, getting my AF gloves, etc during the week. Also, I'll actually be home at that point too.

[Aelfwise]

I wouldn't say the connection is bad (at least at the moment), just not as reliable as at home. That and the fact that I'd be able to spend more time online on a friday vs other days of the week in general.

[Aelfwise]

Yes, excellent performance by everyone involved. It went quickly and smoothly, with only 3 fights (aside from the Minotaur). This is a benchmark to measure all future 2.3 runs that we will need to do to help others catch up.