1
Forum Settings
       
Reply To Thread

What to do? Start SMN or Diabolos first?Follow

#1 Oct 30 2008 at 8:00 PM Rating: Good
Scholar
**
386 posts
Hey guys. Want to get some opinions from the people here who have Diabolos and know what it's capable of.

To try and keep it short, I used to be a level 75 SMN did alot of fun things, blah blah. But work, college, and a few other things forced me to break from FFXI. Having recently returned I found alot of things have changed, and Diabolos is an available Avatar. Before I left I had defeated him in the CoP missions but he was not available to use at the time.

Having come back from such a long break I've also found that my character was deleted and I've started over from scratch.

Through contact with friends here and there who still play, random luck, and the kindness of others, I'm a level 51 Whitemage, and I've obtained all Avatars except Diabolos.

I don't know much of Diabolos except that he apparently has a magic attack past level 65 that people like for endgame use. But is there anything people would say is worth to have from the get go, or would you simply level up Summoner, and obtain him later on after leveling up to 70+ SMN?
#2 Oct 30 2008 at 9:42 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
***
3,816 posts
My vote goes to no.
He's useless until 65, and even then, and at 75 I still consider him useless, due to Merit Blood Pacts. But, that's just my personal opinion...
____________________________
UNMUTED
#3 Oct 31 2008 at 1:31 AM Rating: Decent
Avatard
*****
11,630 posts
From get go?

Not really. You get phalanx at some higher level, which is not only -15 damage, it only helps the tank. So most people do not use them that much during leveling.

Nether blast is probably the best attack you have 65-70 so then it would be good to have. Same cost as Eclipse bite, but no chance at missing.

I doubt you'll use him much at all before endgame, so do not feel pressured to get it.

Best reason to get him before 65 is that you can use him in ballista and never get him slept (then again, you'll never deal above 200 damage below 65 with BP:Rages)
#4 Oct 31 2008 at 6:34 AM Rating: Decent
Honestly, I can scarcely even remember the last time I called Diabolos. Phalanxga is nice, but often I find im more called on to use Ecliptic Growl or Earthen Ward thanks to the heavy NIN-subbing shadow-users I team with. In instances where you use Utsusemi (which account for a good portion of higher level parties) Stoneskin beats Phalanx beacuse it lets you recast while being hit.

He has one attack worth mentioning, and even then it's pretty unmentionable. Nether Blast is a fairly consistent attack regardless of what level you use it, but the low-end damage on it makes it a poor choice over your far beefier level 70 physical blood pacts on anything which doesn't have high defense or evasion. It's an ability you save for the physically resistant mobs rather than a catch-all winner.

Once you get level 75 and access to the even more powerful merit magics you'll probably never touch that Nether Blast. Especially when you can blast out a nice 1.5k on a magic burst (Yeah, I realise no one really chains any more, but it's still a Diabolos-beater).

He does have one use though. His unique 2-hour skill, Ominous Ruin, can very occasionally hit for incredible damage. I would like to stress, however, that as it's a HP-percentage based attack it often hits for a very small percentage. Still, one out of every few hundred is still a chance, right?
____________________________
R.I.P. Crystan FFXI
75WHM 75SCH 75RDM 75SMN
#5 Oct 31 2008 at 6:49 AM Rating: Good
***
1,945 posts
I really only used him to skill up summoning magic in besieged.

You won't be gimp without him if you level all the way to 75 without him.
____________________________
In Memory of Kyrin (Grianne, Bahamut) 1972-2009 RIP
It's better to be hated for what you are then to be liked for what you are not.

Signature Image
Lisette - 80 Blood Elf Mage - Exodar
Veteran of Dead of Winter
Tailor: 450 Engineer: 450 Cooking: 450 Fishing: 450 First Aid: 450
Mounts: 63 Pets: 63






#6 Oct 31 2008 at 8:13 AM Rating: Decent
Sage
**
474 posts
What everyone else here has said. You can afford to wait later, much later, heck wait until your SMN is 75 before you go for Diabolos. I doubt anyone is gonna care that you leveled without him.

He's still a good avatar to have around though once you get into endgame, mainly due to Nether Blast. I had a lot of fun Wednesday night chasing down Kirin and blasting him like there was no tomorrow. *evil laugh*

Still working towards my merit BPs though. Must...reach...level 5...Wind Blade. (Hey, merits come only at a decent pace when you campaign for them.)
#7 Nov 04 2008 at 7:09 AM Rating: Decent
Scholar
**
409 posts
Quote:
What everyone else here has said. You can afford to wait later, much later, heck wait until your SMN is 75 before you go for Diabolos. I doubt anyone is gonna care that you leveled without him.


My Smn is only lv 30, but in my opinion (1-30 Smn career), no one care if you have Diabolos, or even other avatars, parties just want you for heal, parties dont want you to waste mp on them.

So if you can get him, go a head, just because you want him.

I got all avatars before start leveling Smn, just because i wanted.
____________________________
Reaven
Drg 75/Sam/Blu
Nin 75/Dnc/War/Drg/Sam
Smn 68/Blu/Dnc
Soloin in the Future
Nin75 Drg75 Smn68 Blu54 War37 Dnc37 Sam37 Bst35
#8 Nov 04 2008 at 7:16 AM Rating: Good
****
7,451 posts
I use Diabolos to buff BLMs.
____________________________
Before you ask a stupid crafting question, read this.
milich wrote:
Quote:
Everytime Arcturus sees this, he starts to die inside.......I know it D:
actually, i think every time Acturus is called Arcturus he dies inside.


Now THIS is PvP!

MNK ~ SMN ~ SCH
#9 Nov 04 2008 at 7:57 AM Rating: Decent
***
1,945 posts
All our BLM are too scattered to use Dream Shroud. :/

I got Diabolso around SMN50 and uring that time from 50-75, I used him to cap smn magic in Besieged and Campaign (no tags).
____________________________
In Memory of Kyrin (Grianne, Bahamut) 1972-2009 RIP
It's better to be hated for what you are then to be liked for what you are not.

Signature Image
Lisette - 80 Blood Elf Mage - Exodar
Veteran of Dead of Winter
Tailor: 450 Engineer: 450 Cooking: 450 Fishing: 450 First Aid: 450
Mounts: 63 Pets: 63






#10 Nov 05 2008 at 12:44 PM Rating: Good
Scholar
48 posts
Quote:
I really only used him to skill up summoning magic in besieged.


Out of curiosity, why Diabolos in particular vs the other summons?
#11 Nov 05 2008 at 3:43 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
***
3,816 posts
allsaints wrote:
Quote:
I really only used him to skill up summoning magic in besieged.


Out of curiosity, why Diabolos in particular vs the other summons?

He looks the coolest... DUH?!
Amirite!!!!
____________________________
UNMUTED
#12 Nov 05 2008 at 4:17 PM Rating: Decent
11 posts
Somnolence, despite being a Ward pact, is a direct damage nuke. As such, it will give the same chance at a skillup as, say, Fire II or Thunderspark, even if resisted. Other Ward pacts are hobbled either by the self-buff skillup calculation, or by needing to have an effect on your target to give a chance to skillup.

The addition of Nether Blast as a Rage nuke also helps in cases were you don't want/can't switch out Avatars.
#13 Nov 05 2008 at 4:31 PM Rating: Excellent
***
3,059 posts
Zaresa wrote:
Somnolence, despite being a Ward pact, is a direct damage nuke. As such, it will give the same chance at a skillup as, say, Fire II or Thunderspark, even if resisted. Other Ward pacts are hobbled either by the self-buff skillup calculation, or by needing to have an effect on your target to give a chance to skillup.

The addition of Nether Blast as a Rage nuke also helps in cases were you don't want/can't switch out Avatars.

You can use Fenrir, he's get 2 Wards that target mobs, and is cheaper.
____________________________
"And I'm prepared to passionately argue this point until nothing makes sense anymore. If that doesn't work, then the hours upon hours of whining will." -Red Mage Statscowski

Saggo of Garuda Lakshmi
#14 Nov 06 2008 at 12:25 PM Rating: Decent
1 post
You won't have many major problems if you wait until 75 to get him. Mostly the use for him relates to high level, situational uses.
#15 Nov 06 2008 at 4:58 PM Rating: Decent
11 posts
jlejeune wrote:
You can use Fenrir, he's get 2 Wards that target mobs, and is cheaper.


Actually, no you can't. At least not as well. Lunar Cry and Lunar Roar have to actually land on the mob (not get resisted) before they can skillup. In addition, Lunar Roar may well not work unless there's actually a buff to remove. I tried doing exactly that for a while around level 40, and the only time I got a skill, was when I removed a buff, though that's just personal experience. Landing either of those would be nigh impossible as, say, a level 40 in a Besieged.

Somnolence, however, works more like a nuke, and can give skill ups even if resisted down to 0 damage, making it entirely possible to skill up regardless of how high level/resistive the target is.

Though the only time this is going to really matter is when you're trying to skill up on things you otherwise wouldn't dream of touching, like in Besieged. If you're trying to skill up against something level appropriate, Fenrir's pacts work fine.
#17 Nov 10 2008 at 2:22 AM Rating: Excellent
***
1,302 posts
High level stuff does use Diabolos -for instance my petshell was fighting Gration yesterday and we tried using Ifrit and Titan first because of elemental weakness, then moved onto Garuda and Shiva just to try something else, and finally Diabolos and Fenrir. Now Diabolos' Netherblast did the most damage averaging about 300-400 per BP. Fenrir managed anything from 300-500 with Ecplipse Bite but wasnt as consistant, probably down to the fact that EB is a multi hit BP. Big difference between the two was that Diabolos is so much more MP expensive than Fenrir - and when you are fighting for 20-30 minutes, even with RDM in your party, MP does run very low.
____________________________
Esuna Forums

FFXIV Signature
Reply To Thread

Colors Smileys Quote OriginalQuote Checked Help

 

Recent Visitors: 26 All times are in CDT
djattracta, Anonymous Guests (25)