Soloing BLM to 75: Ten Tips for Triumph

Sure, there are already guides out there for soloing pets as BLM and gearing the job properly. But there are just a few tidbit of tips and common sense that wasn't really mentioned to me anywhere (as far as where I was looking).

All of my past jobs I got to 75 were melee so leveling BLM is my first true mage job. Although exp parties are stellar, it was a nice break to solo beastmen pets and fight something other than a colibri.

So if you're thinking leveling BLM as well, here are some tips I can offer. I know some are tried and true as well as common sense, but it doesn't hurt to mention them again!

1. Refresh is your BLM drug. So long as you aren't gonna unsync/sync constantly with a duo partner or party, Field of Valor buffs are great! Hope you saved all those tabs from doing Field of Valor pages. I always grab the Refresh option as well as Reraise if needed. On that note, also don't forget the refresh options with Allied Sigil and Sanction. It's expensive, but buy the Vermillion Cloak ASAP and then sell it back once you can start wearing the Black Cloak.

2. Reraise! Reraise scrolls, reraise earrings and reraise hairpins really help with downtime as well as keep your spirits from dropping too low. Because, yes, you WILL die a lot during certain stages or your BLM career.

3. Keep your magic skills capped! This really helps with your nukes hitting harder, your sleeps, binds and stuns landing as well as the effectiveness of drain and aspir (the best spells evar!). Depending on your level, find some T-IT worms to bully around. In your 60s, the Mold Eaters in Aydeewa Subterraen work great. Just keep an eye out for Stonega III and GTFO. When Besieged is up, sub WHM or RDM and get ready to dia/bio spam some beastmen. If you have access to sea (Al'Taieu), try torturing some goldfish (hpmende) with all your non damaging debuffs.

4. Elemental Obis go great with your elemental staves and grips! I got my first one when hitting 74. I wish I had a few at 71. Soloing Gigas Tigers in Vunker Inlet? Thunder weather comes up often. Tearing up tigers in Xarcabard [S]? Ice weather and Dark weather come up often. On Ice Day and weather, my Blizzard 3s were hitting as hard as some of my tier 4s!

5. Gear updates! The better the gear, the harder your nukes hit. Duh! Don't forget about the gear available from NPCs that give out Allied Sigil. Windurst's Ariesian Grip gives +1 hMP. During campaign, +20 hMP. Having resist issues, throw Sturm's Report in your ammo slot from the Bastok vendor.

6. Desserts! Know when to use cookies (hMP+) and puffs/pies (INT+). When I'm soloing pets that con Tough to me, I'll eat cookies to reduce downtime. I sometimes use them versus VT pets if and only if my magic skills are capped and my gear is up to par with my level. For IT pets or if I just leveled recently, I typically stick to my Cream Puffs.

7. If you've arrived to a brand new camp that you've never tried before. Take your time! Familiarize yourself with nearby aggro radiuses of other monsters. Check if the undead come out at night in/around your camp. What about elementals? Learn the pathing habits of the beastmen and their pets. If they stop for long periods, Ancient Magic go go go! If not, pull with a small/fast spell. Know your angles of where you can nuke pets too.

8. Get crackin' on creating your Oh Shit! Macros! Elemental Seal + Sleepga II, Retrace/Warp-ing yourself. Don't forget about Manafont. Your spells can't be interrupted while active. Don't forget equip macros. A good set of emergency gear set filled with -Spell Interuption rate, evasion skill, VIT, etc.

9. Keep the chain 4s or 5s coming! Once everything starts coming into a good rhythm, keep fine tuning your strategy to maximize your exp chain bonuses. Know how chains work and find a good way to maintain a balance with nuking and resting for MP along with Beastmen Pet respawns. A good chain timer comes with Windower's Exp Bar plugin.

10. Know when to stop. There are gonna be days when things aren't going your way. Death after constant death, unlucky pulls/links/aggro and resists are all part of the game. If you find yourself in a ton of bad luck, reassess what your doing, adjust and adapt. If Lady Luck still doesn't respond, it's time to log off and take your mind off the game.

Magically Enhancing Your Skillups of your Enhancing Magic Skill

If you've played through missions of any home nation, then you're familiar with the above scene. You know why this galka was being emo? Because he didn't level his enhancing magic, that's why!

Is YOUR enhancing magic skill under par like this melancholy galka? Was it too much level syncing? Didn't your parents warn you about that! Too lazy for casting Shell and Barstonra on your party members? Bah! Well, your bus pass to easy street is finally here.

Here's the easiest way to level your enhancing magic:

Get the latest version of Windower and download the latest version plugins for AutoExec and Cancel. If you don't know where/how to get this stuff, then shame on you!

Now create open up Notepad, copy/paste the following text below and save the file as skillup_enhance.xml in your \Windower\Plugins\AutoExec directory.

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<autoexec>
<register event="gainbuff_Barfire" >wait 4; input /ma "Barblizzara" <me></register>
<register event="gainbuff_Barblizzard">wait 4; input /ma "Baraera" <me></register>
<register event="gainbuff_Baraero" >wait 4; input /ma "Barstonra" <me></register>
<register event="gainbuff_Barstone" >wait 4; input /ma "Barthundra" <me></register>
<register event="gainbuff_Barthunder" >wait 4; input /ma "Barwatera" <me></register>
<register event="gainbuff_Barwater" >wait 4; input /ma "Barfira" <me></register>
<register event="mpp_100">wait 5; input /heal off; wait 5; input /ma "Barblizzara" <me></register>
<register event="criticalmp">cancel 100; cancel 101; cancel 102; cancel 103; cancel 104; cancel 105; cancel 107; input /heal on</register>
</autoexec>

Now start FFXI and jump on your WHM or a job high enough to sub WHM and cast most or all of the bar elemental spells. Now type //ae load skillup_enhance.xml to load up the skillup file. Now go to a remote corner of Vanadiel (don't you dare do this in Whitegate/Jeuno/any busy area because I'll slap you in the face with a fat slimy fish if you do). If you have the SpellCast plugin enabled, unload it and just equip all your healing MP gear that you can. Cast any bar elemental spell on yourself such as Barfira and don't move your character.

Now, watch in awe as your enhancing magic skill miraculously raise 112 levels in only 3 minutes. NOT. It's gonna take waaaaaay longer than that.

Done! Spellcast for Ranger

http://wiki.windower.net/plugins/spellcast/userxml/rng/leybot_rng

Click on the above link. I explain the inner workings and how to set up the macros used for this specific spellcast file for my latest job to exp!

Only one more level till 75. Woohoo!

WinControl! Three modes that come in handy...

I don't know how I've done it all the times before: Sitting in front of my computer desk in a semi-comfortable leather office chair while staring at my 19" LCD monitor two feet away. Retired are those jaded days as now I am a fully fledged couch potato while engaging in all my FFXI endeavors.

Before:
- 19" LCD Monitor from Newegg.com (1280 x 960)
- 2 Desktop Speakers that kept giving me problems from Best Buy
- Some cramped up desk I bought from Office Depot
- Leather office chair from Staples

After:
- 65" 1080P DLP TV (1920 x 1080)
- 5.1 surround sound (Yes, it's old school. Shut up.)
- My lap and a blanket (Yay, winter is coming!)
- Leather couch with the most comfy cushions ever


With the help of some long USB, HDMI, AV cables, watching YouTube vids...oops, I mean...playing FFXI has brought on a new level of fun! With the screen now bigger yet farther away, I find it best to play in full mode and always on top so that I can read the chat log. However, there are times when I need to resize and slightly nudge Windower/FFXI upwards so I can view my Windows taskbar to view/access other applications that I have running. And when using Ventrilo, I like seeing the list of connected users while they talk.

After downloading the WinControl plugin, add the following binds to your Windower init.txt file if you would like to mirror how I use this plugin. Then, tinker with the settings to fit your screen's resolution.

My Three Windowed Modes
Fullscreen and Always on Top (Alt+C)
This is how gaming should be done...free yourself from desk/chair mode!
bind !c wincontrol alwaysontop true; wincontrol move 0 -7; wincontrol resize reset

Fullscreen with Windows Taskbar (Alt+X)
Just because alt-tabbing is sometimes a pain.
bind !x wincontrol alwaysontop false; wincontrol move 0 -17; wincontrol resize reset

Windowed Mode with Partial View of Desktop (Alt+Z)
Moves FFXI to top/right corner while Ventrilo is in top/left corner
bind !z wincontrol alwaysontop false; wincontrol move 235 -7; wincontrol resize 1600 900

With a small motion of my left hand, I can switch modes rather easily and quickly. Enjoy!

Done! Spellcast for Corsair

After many revisions and some 'trial and error's, my spellcast file for my Corsair is finally complete!

Go here for the actual spellcast code: http://windower.net/plugins/spellcast/userxml/cor/leybot_cor
(Spellcast 2.30 compliant! Last Major Update: 10/16/2009)

Covered Gearsets

• Quick Draw shots based on either MAB or AGI. This exludes elemental staves because I use two different sets of macros for shots based on what I'm doing (i.e. merit parties versus special events and ZNMs).
  
• WHM spells (cures, buffs and debuffs)
  
• Three types of ranged attack (based on accuracy, normal or STR)
  
• Weaponskills, melee combat and idle

Features

• When doing phantom rolls, it will also add the dice name and their lucky/unlucky numbers.
  
• Using variables, determine when to equip Luzaf's Ring for Phantom Rolls and Double-Ups. For Corsair's Roll, it will always equip it.
  
• Whether in melee combat or idle, it will switch gear accordingly after performing a ranged attack or Quick Draw shot.

If you fancy yourself a piret, give it a try and let me know how it works!

Spellcast Lesson 3, Dressing for the Occasion

When it comes to standing toe to toe with a monster, melee jobs may have a lot of setups in how they engage their enemy. Are they tanking? Soloing with an evasion setup? Or straight up bringing the pain?

This is where variables can play a part. So far, you're almost a master at setting up gear sets. You've dabbled in some rules. And now it's time to get wet in a hot tub of variables.

Let's use ninja for this example. There's a lot of gear sets a ninja can utilize. Elemental wheel, haste, accuracy, damage dealer, evasion, tanking, enmity, etc. But let's focus on when you're engaged to the enemy. You may be tanking exp/merit mobs, fighting/soloing an NM with an evasion setup or acting as a damage dealer where haste and/or accuracy is key.

Rather than manually changing to a particular gear set when you engage an enemy, we can use variables to predefine which set to use. Let's look at the xml file below.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE spellcast PUBLIC "spellcast" "spellcast.dtd">
<spellcast>
  <config debug="false" requireversion="2.17"/>
  <sets>
    <group name="Ninja|NIN" default="yes">

        <!-- Idle gear, Not Engaged, Not Casting -->
        <set name="idle">
          <head>Goblin coif</head>
          <body>Haubergeon</body>
          <hands>Enkidu's mittens</hands>
          <back>Amemet Mantle +1</back>
          <waist>Warwolf Belt</waist>
          <legs>Byakko's Haidate</legs>
          <feet>Ninja Kyahan</feet>
        </set>

        <!-- Melee Base Set -->
        <set name="melee">
          <head>Walahra turban</head>
          <neck>Spectacles</neck>
          <lear>Suppanomimi</lear>
          <rear>Minuet earring</rear>
          <body>Ninja chainmail</body>
          <hands>Enkidu's Mittens</hands>
          <lring>Blood ring</lring>
          <rring>Rajas ring</rring>
          <back>Amemet Mantle +1</back>
          <waist>Life Belt</waist>
          <legs>Byakko's Haidate</legs>
          <feet>Nobushi Kyahan</feet>
        </set>

        <!-- Accuracy Melee Gear -->
        <set name="acc" baseset="melee">
          <head>Optical Hat</head>
          <body>Haubergeon</body>
        </set>

        <!-- Evasion Melee Gear -->
        <set name="evasion" baseset="melee">
          <head>Optical Hat</head>
          <neck>Evasion torque</neck>
          <lear>Dodge earring</lear>
          <rear>Dodge earring</rear>
          <body>Scorpion harness</body>
          <hands>Rasetsu tekko</hands>
          <feet>Arhat's sune-ate +1</feet>
        </set>

        <!-- Haste Melee Gear -->
        <set name="haste" baseset="melee">
          <hands>Dusk gloves</hands>
          <feet>Fuma sune-ate</feet>
        </set>

        <!-- Enmity Melee Gear -->
        <set name="hate" baseset="melee">
          <lear>Eris' earring</lear>
          <rear>Eris' earring</rear>
          <body>Arhat's gi</body>
          <hands>Yasha tekko</hands>
          <waist>Warwolf Belt</waist>
          <feet>Arhat's Sune-ate +1</feet>
        </set>

    </group>
  </sets>

  <variables>
    <!-- Engaged Melee Gear -->
    <var name="meleeset">melee</var>
  </variables>

  <rules>
    <!-- Autoset and Gear Changes -->
    <action when="idle"    type="equip" set="idle"/>
    <action when="engaged" type="equip" set="$meleeset"/>
  </rules>

</spellcast>

You will see all the gear sets set up as usual. However, take a look at the rules section. See "$meleeset" that is used for the rule on engaging an enemy? There isn't actually a gear set called "$meleeset". That is a variable! Now look in the variables section. This is where you declare and set up the default value of your variable(s). You will see that "melee" is the current value of the variable. This means that each time you engage a target, it will use the "melee" gear set.

With the nature of variables, this value can be changed at anytime. If you change the variable to "hate", you will now change into your enmity set up each time you engage an enemy. You can do this by setting up a macro or manually typing out the following: /sc var set meleeset hate

To change it to your evasion set up:
/sc var set meleeset evasion

To change it to your accuracy set up:
/sc var set meleeset acc

You get the idea now. This is just a basic use of variables and will hopefully give you an idea of how to build on it for use with more advanced rules and situations.

Spellcast Lesson Deux, Le Dressing Room Intermediate

I hope you have the basics down of gearsets and how to apply them to your statuses of being idle, engaged and healing.

But now you ask, "What about when I wanna do some actual useful stuff? Do I have to set up an entire new gear set for all 12-16 slots every single time?!" Nope! That's where the use of base sets come in. Think of it as layering a set of armor over another set of gear.


So let's get back to creating updating some XML! Okay, I know the above pic has Corsair gear shown, but I changed my mind for my following example. Suppose you played Samurai...

Take note of the gearsets "melee" and "ws". "Melee" has all 12 armor slots filled. "WS" only has 8 declared. However, "WS" is using "melee" as what is called a base set. In a way, Spellcast will know to use first equip the "melee" set and then equip gears noted in the "WS" accordingly.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE spellcast PUBLIC "spellcast" "spellcast.dtd">
<spellcast>
<config debug="false"/>
  <sets>
    <group name="Samurai|SAM" default="yes">
      <set name="idle">
        <head>No.3's Garland</head>
        <body>Kirin's Osode</body>
        <hands>Ochiudo's Kote</hands>
        <legs>Byakko's haidate</legs>
        <feet>Nobushi Kyahan</feet>
      </set>
      <set name="Melee">
        <head>Walahra Turban</head>
        <neck>Spectacles</neck>
        <lear>Fowling earring</lear>
        <rear>Merman's Earring</rear>
        <body>Haubergeon</body>
        <hands>Hachiman kote</hands>
        <lring>Blood Ring</lring>
        <rring>Rajas Ring</rring>
        <back>Amemet Mantle +1</back>
        <waist>Life belt</waist>
        <legs>Byakko's Haidate</legs>
        <feet>Nobushi Kyahan</feet>
      </set>
      <set name="WS" baseset="Melee">
        <head>Wyvern helm</head>
        <neck>Chivalrous chain</neck>
        <body>Kirin's Osode</body>
        <hands>Pallas's bracelets</hands>
        <lring>Flame Ring</lring>
        <waist>Warwolf belt</waist>
        <legs>Shura Haidate</legs>
        <feet>Creek F Clomps</feet>
      </set>
      <set name="WSmulti" baseset="WS">
        <hands>Enkidu's Mittens</hands>
      </set>
    </group>
  <sets>
  <rules>
    <action when="Idle"    type="equip" set="idle"/>
    <action when="Engaged" type="equip" set="melee"/>

    <if type="WeaponSkill" spell="Tachi:*">
      <action type="equip" when="PreCast" set="WS">
      <action type="equip" when="AfterCast" set="melee">
    </if>

    <if type="WeaponSkill" spell="Penta Thrust">
      <action type="equip" when="PreCast" set="WSmulti">
      <action type="equip" when="AfterCast" set="melee">
    </if>

  </rules>
</spellcast>

As for the rules section, it will equip the "WS" set before you perform any weaponskill that starts with "Tachi:". After you perform a tachi weaponskill, it will then equip your "melee" set.

And before you ask, the answer is yes. You can create a set that uses another gear set as a base set that's using another gear set that's using a base set. Take note of the gearset "WSmulti". It's using "WS" as a base set which is then using "melee" as its base set. Think of it like that one douchebag that likes to wear 3 polo shirts with all popped collars. Make sense? Okay, maybe not.

Setting up weaponskills (and spells) with different gear sets is quite useful since all situations don't always call for the same gear. In this situation, the "WSmulti" gear set can be used for multi-hit weaponskills like Penta Thrust where accuracy and DEX is moreso needed.

Our next lesson will delve into variables with the gear sets...so long as my ADD doesn't kick in. Otherwise, my next post will be about making tomato omelettes!