Charming Trio  

After reading through the posts, I noticed that there's no mentioning of a BLM trying to Sleep any of the leeches. Has anyone tried casting Sleep? It seems like an easy fight for two melee jobs and a BLM if that lovely Lvl 20 spell can actually work...

First attempt our setup was like this
PLD/WAR
SAM/WAR
BRD/WHM
we got wiped with this setup, I tried several times to do Foe Lullaby, and it DOES NOT WORK, 0/5 on trying to lullaby.

the BRD (me) changed to WHM/BLM and we did just fine.
PLD/WAR
SAM/WAR
WHM/BLM

PLD went in and provoked Phoedme, both PLD and SAM engaged Phoedme. Both melees had to end up 2hring, but we beat them. Paladin is a waste in this BCNM, with the MP drain the leeces do, the PLD didn't even get 1 cure off before his MP was gone. On our next run, the PLD is going to switch to WAR/MNK.

If you try the NIN, NIN, RDM setup, the best food for RDM is sweet rice cake. Gives bonus to INT, MND, Evasion, and I think a little MP. With food, I bound leeches 100% of the time. W/O, 75% or so.

I think this BCNM could be soloable by a Smn, if you're willing to spend enough gil on the required Hi-Pots and ethers/yag drinks.

First off I did this BCNM 2 times with a pt set-up of War/Mnk(me), Nin/War, and Whm/Blm. The Whm in both was too used to her Rdm job and didn't keep us alive for either one. We almost had the 2nd fight but died after Whm took too much hate, and couldn't cure me(for some odd reason). We had the last leech down to a sliver of life, but Nin was unwilling to 2 hour to finish him off.

The reason I think this is soloable is because my 3rd time trying this BCNM I went with the Smn/Whm(me), Smn/Whm, Sam/War tactic.

The strategy was simple the Sam was supposed to run up grab hate from all 3 leeches, the other Smn was going to come up behind him cast Ramuh and set Thunderspark on the leeches, then as soon as that happened I was supposed to open up with Ramuh's 2 hour.

Well it started off good when the Sam ran up grabbed all the hate, but then it went all wrong. The other Smn just stood there while the Sam got pounded on. And Im sitting there mashing "Cast Ramuh" on the party chat. Finally after I got sick of waiting for him to take Ramuh out, I just pulled Ramuh out and sic'd him on the leeches. Just as I set Ramuh on the leeches the other Smn finally decided to pull his avatar out, but he did something extremely dumb. He cast Ramuh and stood right behind the Sam, and finally did his Thunderspark after I had done my 2 hour and stood right behind the Sam curing him. So needless to say he died quite fast.

As soon as he died I left Ramuh and the Sam to melee the leeches and went to get mp back. But Ramuh didnt last long after the 2 hour, and the Sam was soon behind me. I finally got Ramuh out again right before the leeches got to me, and did my 2nd 2 hour, and with that one of the leeches was dead and the other 2 were almost dead. But for some strange reason Ramuh wasnt attacking the leeches. I have no clue what happened on that. But all I saw was the Sam running away as Ramuh died and the leeches began to pound on me. Now I only had 3 hi-pots on me due to being broke. Those 3 hi-pots went quick with the Sam jetting out of the arena and Ramuh not out. But I eventually got Carby out and as soon as Carby popped out I got dealt with.

Now, this woulda been won if the Sam hadnt of bailed, cuz he didnt want to delevel, and if the other Smn had done what he was supposed to do. That and if he hadnt of stood right behind the Sam when healing him.

But I know for a fact that 2 Smn's can easily win this BCNM with just 2 Thundersparks from one Smn, and the other Smn 2 houring with Ramuh. And the reason I say this is because I almost soloed this BCNM all on my lonesome because Sam and Smn werent really into doing this BCNM. And these leeches were almost dead after 1 thunderspark and 2 Judgement Bolts(1 was dead the other 2 had a sliver of life left)

But as far as soloing on this BCNM as a Smn, I'd say you'd better have at least 10 hi-pots and a buttload of Ethers and about 3-4 yag drinks. If you wanna try this.

I'd also like to say that, these ppl 2 houring with Shiva? I dont really understand that one when all these 20 BCNM's arent weak against Ice, and they are weak against Thunder. I just dont see why youd use an avatar that these guys arent weak to.

This sounds for me Wierd, is there any BCNM what can be done with a PLD, because i realize that noone calls a PLD for a BCNM Fight. Why is that so?

Because PLD can,t make big DMG, can't Tank not enough, to low MP. SE should give us a Helping Hand, more DD would be ok. NIN can DD and Tank, why not PLD too.

Trial 1 (Lightsday/Darksday)-We entered this during last 5 minutes (real time) of Lightsday. I'm not sure if the leeches became stronger during the transition to Darksday.

Food/Drinks/Medicines (per fight):
Whm/Blm - Rolanberry Pie, 2 Hi-Ethers, 2 Yagudo Drinks
War/Mnk- Boiled crab, 2 Pamama-au-laits, 2 Hi-Potions
Sam/War- Same as above

Macros-
Whm - Buffs, Blink, Aquaveil, food, drinks
War- Provoke/in 15/Ready- use STNPC !!!!, drinks, food, acid bolts (marksmanship capped- a war with poor marksmanship might not be able to hit)
Sam- Same as above

Whm (me)/Rng (Anza)/War (Midnitdragoon)
Rng used sharp shot/eagle eye shot to left leech for damage. Whm (me) took too long to get to the party on time and Rng died too fast. Fight was over in less than 2 minutes. Anza- it was my fault, ok?

Trial 2 -Firesday
Whm/War/Sam
We were still getting some voking issues worked out. Didn't last long either.

Trial 3 - Iceday
In order to get voking issues worked out, we went to Tahrongi Canyon to practice keeping hate off the mage.
Strategy this time:
Fight Phoedme. Provoke the two other leeches.
War used acid bolts but in hindsight, said he was being lazy about their use as they were VERY effective in Trial 4.
War died, but Whm (barely) kept Sam alive.
Everyone 2 houred- kinda sad, huh?

Loot of note: Platoon Pole, Mannequin Hands

Trial 4 - Earthsday
This was the most successful of all fights. Barely in the red for anyone when we finished. No one 2-houred.
Exactly what we did:
Whm- take Yag drink immediately before first provoke
Sam and War- took boiled crab, pamama-au-lait before first provoke

War provoked Phoedme and Sam voked Prune.
Both War and Sam engage Pepper. War sent out acid bolts to leech they were battling.
Whm would warn when Sam and War should take Hi-Potions in order to cure herself (probably not useful but didn't hurt either).
Whm checked to make sure there was 15 seconds until next provoke to do Divine Seal + Curaga.
Took 11 min, 25 sec.

Loot of note: Mannequin Hands, Toad Oil, Ganko (lvl. 20 Nin Katana)


Notes for next time:
Puppetmaster/War with valor edge (melee puppet)? Send puppet out to weak leech (Prune), Puppetmaster engage on another (Phoedme?) a third person (tank melee) and whm. How long would the puppet last?

I was wondering if a whm/blm a sam/war and a mnk/war would be able to do this?

We went to do this 4 times with some LS members. First time we went our set up was
drg/war<-Fuscina, lizard Gear (not sure what else i was the war/sam)
war/sam<-Lizard Gear, Bomb ring, STR +1 ring, Fire Sword, War Belt +1, Dhamel Mantle
whm/blm <- Silver Hairpin, Justice Badge, 2x Energy Earring, Trader's Saio, White Mitts, 2x Saintly Ring, Cotton Cape, Friar's Rope, Black Slacks, Sandals, Yew Wand
We won time 8min 0 sec
Next the drg was subbed for thf
thf/war mostly Fine Jerkin gear, some federation gear
war/sam same gear
whm/blm same gear
Didn't go so well but we still won Clear Time 10 min 31 sec
The Drg came back
drg/war
war/sam
whm/blm
Little Problems nothing major
Clear Time 7 min 11 sec
Last battle
same setup as before
Once I (war/sam) hit 100 tp i used Beserk + Mighty Strikes + Fast Blade hit pretty well then the dragoon used 2hr and one leech down quick then the other one pretty quick, and the last one faily quick Clear time 4 min 51 sec old record 6min ??sec
Stratgey was kill Pepper> Phoedme> Prune. War provoked pepper, got hate, if one of the other leeches went for whm drg would provoke it easy plan easy win
War/sam used 3-4 Hi Potions +3 each time, Fish Chiefkabob and Pear Au Lait
whm/blm used Hi Ethers and Rolanberry Pie and Melon Juice
drg/war used 2 hi potions total and eat some attk+ food
we all got hands
2 platoon guns
2 Platoon Poles
1 Platton edge
1 air spirit pact
1 Mythril Beastcoin
2 Potion +1
1 Gunromaru (along with other things)
1 cotton cloth

I looked down the page and found someone that did not solo but was getting close. So I was wondering if anyone has been able to solo this yet and if so what did you do?

I would think carby would work for this since it says the leeches are weak to light but since I have not tried I don't know. I just need to do this for the Mannequin Hands to finish my mannequin and since I don't know anyone to help I am stuck doing it solo.

Here's one setup you can try, it's pretty generic.

I've done this about 20 times, and I'm about 15/20, but closer to 18/20 with my static ppl, and this set up.

We go as War/Mnk to tank. Rng/war for DD and back up voke and Whm.

War vokes middle leach. Whm cures sparingly to not get too much hate.

It's pretty simple. You may need potions for the tank and pseudo tank, but not much else.

It's pretty ez.

Mannequin head drops about 1/12. But, if you do Shooting fish, it's 100% there.

are the leeches charmable? if so this should be a paice of cake for a group of bsts

Edited, Mon Feb 6 17:23:37 2006

All you have to do is go with this.
RDM/NINx2 MNK/WAR.

The RDM should Bind/Slow 2 of the Leeches, while the MNK tanks 1. The RDM should Enthunder, and be DDs on the Leech that the MNK tanks. When the leeches unbind, bind then again, repeatedly if needed. Do this over and over, when the first 1 dies.

Food: RDM Yagudo Drinks/Rolanberry Pies
MNK Pear Aur Liat/Steamed Crab

>< ><

All you have to do is go with this.
RDM/NINx2 MNK/WAR.

The RDM should Bind/Slow 2 of the Leeches, while the MNK tanks 1. The RDM should Enthunder, and be DDs on the Leech that the MNK tanks. When the leeches unbind, bind then again, repeatedly if needed. Do this over and over, when the first 1 dies.

Food: RDM Yagudo Drinks/Rolanberry Pies
MNK Pear Aur Liat/Steamed Crab

>< ><

Is this be soloable by one SMN? Ramuh Astral Flow x 3? Drinks and ethers and so on...

Ok the strategy for this BCNM is real simple. I so far haven't lost on this BCNM, and it's 100% Mannequin Hands drop.

I went with WAR/MNK, DRG/WAR, WHM/BlM.

I wanna start off saying the I (WAR) had really good equipment, it helps (and will save you money) but is not needed. The DRG and WHM had decent equips. Make sure when you go your WAR has decent tanking equips.

The WAR should buy 3 Hi-Pots (safe) per fight, and a Pamama au Lait per fight. On a good run all you need is 1-2 Hi-Pots, on a bad run, you need 2-3. DRG bought same thing. WHM just buys YAG drink per fight. WHM uses Rolanberry Pie (for MP), and WAR and DRG use Meat Mithkabobs.

Enter the BC, WHM buffs, everyone eats food. Go forward, having WAR go first, and have the WAR get hate from all 3 mobs. At this point both WAR and DRG uses Pamama au Lait. The WHM stands back, and WAR vokes Pepper and WAR and DRG bash Pepper while WHM heals. Voke when necessary so WHM doesn't get hit. Incase life gets low use your hi-pots. After Pepper is defeated, voke and begin to fight Prune. Use same process and then do the same thing with Phoebe after Prune is defeated.

Real simple BCNM and 100% Mannequin Hands drop. Just did it the other day, 2 runs. All together we got, 2 Mannequin hands, Grass Cloth, Mythral Beastcoin, Platoon Edge, Air Spirit Pact, and a potion.

Was fun all and all, gonna sell my Mannequin hands and do it some other time. Highly recommended.

I'm yet to do this...but alot of posts are saying war/mnk to tank.... mnk/war actually would make a better tank? higher vit, more hp, more def (can wear same armour as a war at that level, and has def bonus from war sub as war does at lv 10) dodge and is a better dd (though that lv 20 uber axe makes war frickin awesome if one can afford it and counter a hit with that baby is awesome) and if you get in trouble mnk 2hr gonna pwn the mob.

Yes Mannequin Hands are a 100% drop on this BCNM. And yes WAR/MNK is great to do this BCNM with. Have Fun! :)

As far as the last post you can't go in there with a BRD and do any of the things that were said. They are immune to all stats. The best set up for this is as my friend Eugenius has posted. SAM/WAR WAR/MNK WHM/BLM. Best set up I have gone with yet. Also he has found out that you can do this with 2 SAM/WAR's very easy increasing your profits from the drops you get.

I saw nothing indicating either way that these three Leeches were immune to Lullaby or not. I'm curious if, I go on Lightsday, with Monster Signa, Mary's Horn, various CHR equip, CHR food, if I should count on being able to consistantly land Foe Lullaby on one of the leeches. I plan on (trying) to stick Light Threnody first, and it also seems that these leeches are weak to light.

I've found no reference either way that the leeches in this BCNM are immune to Lullaby. If anyone has been in this BCNM as a Bard and tried to land Lullaby on these leeches. Are these things normal difficulty to sleep, or difficult, or Immune?

We did this 6x last night. Drg/war x 2 and a whm. DD's used 2 hi potions per fight, 1 meat kabob, 1 orange au lait ..mage used melon juice 2x per battle and 1 pie per battle.
It was cake.
One DD runs in and gets all the leeches to aggro him, the other DD vokes the middle leech and the 2 drgs pummel it till it dies. Once it dies both attack the same leech then move to the 3rd when the 2nd is dead. By having one person run in and get aggro the leeches that weren't voked/engaged will NOT go after the whm and make your life easy :)

*edit Did this last night again, drg, war, rdm. Same strat except the war had tank gear on and ran in 1st and took the bulk of the beating. Rdm melee'd with us and we had no problems at all. 3/3

Edited, Sat Aug 13 09:53:34 2005

I'll offer a bit of advice on this BCNM I hope it helps someone. I've been beating Charming Trio for about a year now and I have taught alot of others how to do it safely and successfully. However, I wont spell out my exact strategy and sub jobs here because honestly IMHO most if not all of the fun is doing it your own way and also learning and discussing what to do and not to do with your friends for the next time you go. And please, just because this advice is centered around a Sam a second heavy 2hr DD and a Whm as the party configuration, don't think its not something you can with your job. So long as you try hard to make it work and bring the right people and jobs with you, you can do it. I have won this battle with a variety of other setups including every job aside from a thf, a nin, brd, and bst. And I'm sure those could be worked in in some way I just haven't yet had the pleasure of doing this BCNM with people using those jobs. If you dont have a job that anyone says you can beat this with, learn all you can about the fight, perhaps die in it once or twice, and then get creative with your party and eqp setup and the items you're using. And try try again until you conquer it.


ADVICE

~~1)

For an easier time: Go on lightsday. Your healing magic will be more mp efficient and you're less likely to experience the worst the drain/aspir spells can do. Also most of your best ws's at a 20 cap are light element. In my experience, the fight is hardest on Dark and Watersdays. Watersday increases the leeches' physical stats and Darksday make thier magic and some abilities (IE the drain and aspir ones) more powerful. I havent really come to any final conclusion yet about the drop rate for non mannequin hand items being affected by different days. And on my server at least SE tweaks it the more i beat it. Again this is based on what I have seen and experienced, it could be I'm imagining things. Then again you could be imagining this thread.

~~2)

For setup I prefer a sam/war, a 2nd DD with good DD 2hr, and a good old fashioned whm. If your going with no smn like I do, your best bet is to take out one leech as fast as you possibly can and then each melee tanks and slowly kills one afterwards. If you're very comfortable with your melee partner or you've done this a few times already I reccomend you try fighting the same leech while each person tanks one of the remaining leeches. The person with the highest def/vit/hp or the most experienced should tank his leech and help the other melee with theirs.
This way if one melee has to briefly endure the attacks of both leeches, it's the melee who can best handle it. In order to do this properly, understanding the use of <stnpc> macros for provoke or being able to switch target while fighting and switch back quickly is a must. I suggest practicing on a few yags outside the zone to Balga's Dias until you are comfortable with quickly switching and voking and quickly switching back.

~~3)

White magic debuffs seem to stick very often and last rather long on almost any day of the week, however black magic debuffs do not. I reccomend dia before any 2hrs for max dmg effect and paralyze to keep those nasty tp drain, all stats down, and assorted other "Kiss" abilities at bay.

~~4)

The leeches *will* remove your Food/Drink buffs as well as like magical buffs. Use this to your advantage, eat a def or vit boosting food for the fights early stages when theres 3 leeches pounding on 2 tanks and then use a good DD or DEX food during the latter stages when you want to finish them off. This is important since they can drain hp back pretty fast on occasion and the less leeches left the easier it is to control hate. Note: these are mainly if not completely single person directed ws attacks and not AoE so if your buffs are removed or you get a status effect don't assume your partners are experiencing the same thing.

~~5)

I have beaten this bcnm with 2 SAM and no 3rd person with the help of alot of hi potions(more powerful potions will get interrupted while trying to use due to long use time so its best to stick with hi and norm) and Au lait (HP regen) which I use in a 3 person setup as well. Yes the hi potions may run you 20k a person for 10 each but you in the end only have to split the spoils 2 ways if you plan to share said spoils like my friends and I do. I don't suggest you try this until you and your partner are very comfortable with one another and the battle itself.

~~6)

If you go once and die dont be afraid to go again, take the same people with you and spend a night or 2 discussing it and bouncing ideas back and forth. This is the part I enjoy most about BCNMing, the oppertunity to do some real thinking and experimentation. And especially sharing a good challenge with friends and the feeling of accomplishment upon overcoming it. And aside from said feeling it's also profitable, what could be better than that!

~~7)

The first time: If it's your first time with a BCNM you may want to turn the music down or even off. If you're already feeling a little nervous the music will only serve to make it worse, trust me. It's the dragon fight music and is very dramatic and exciting. Personally, I love it. I have seen people choke on their first time. Its nothing to be ashamed of but you should try to avoid anything that can contribute to it.

~~8)

As far as provisions go, dont skimp on items and eqp. If you dont use it you can sell it back afterwards or use it. I buy alot always and use it on the next bcnm or even when im exploring new areas of the game, you never know when an au lait or hi potion may make the difference beteween life and death, both within bcnm and without. Also something that you may handy is to have the whm drink BOTH au lait and yag drink, the regen and refresh effects do stack and will help keep the whm from having to heal themselves. This will avoid drawing hate and taking away time from which whm could be debuffing or healing another member.

~~9)

Note about hate and tricks you can use to control it during the 3 leeches/2 tanks phase and after: You may find it useful to use hi potions even when your not desperatly in need of them to help the whm out so they dont get as much hate. This is especially important early on when theres 3 leeches and only 2 tanks. Note about hate #2: Before I had this fight down pat our whm had to 2hr when there was 2 leeches left. A voke and a ws from each of us onto one leech each did get the hate off whm. On the topic of TP, the leeches will drain it so dont just let it build unless your SC partner (if you have one) is close to getting 100% as well or you dont have hate and are therefore in no danger of losing your TP.

~~10)

Macro everything! Except your 2hr unless your VERY sure you wont use it accidently. Also have your mage make a macro to tell the party if they're taking hate from a leech for more time than they are comfortable with, something with a <call> and a <t> is what my mages use and should be sufficient.

~~11)

Watch the log while your fighting and be sure to communicate! Communication is important during bcnm because things can change or you may need to coordinate something on the spur of the moment. As the saying goes; a battle plan only remains intact until the first shot is fired.

~~*)

Good friggen luck and godspeed. Observe and learn and tinker and experiment and you will always come out on top in the end, and that end will be a satisfying one and you'll be all the more knowledgeable for the experience.

~~**)

I hope these tips are helpful to someone in some way and that they be considered as constructive advice and an effort by someone who has made his fair share from this bcnm attempting to give something back, this is hard won knowledge and knowledge is priceless. As the priest in sandy says; "I can only light thy candle, thee must carry thine own." Let this light guide you towards good times and good fortunes. Or at the very least better times and better fortunes.

~~***)

If your thinking of flaming me, dont. Go take out your aggression on a pillow or something. If your thinking of flaming me in /tell, dont. I'll make a voodoo mannequin of you in my mog house and see how it likes being flamed, with fire.





~LONG LIVE THE LONG WINDED!!!

Eugenius<sylph> Huge(mule) Wanker(mule)

Edited, Sat Jun 25 18:43:44 2005