Transformations - BLU AF3  

My man needed this fight for the Magus Keffiyeh, so we tried to duo it as PLD75/WAR37 (him) & RDM60/WHM30 (me). Yeah, I know. FAIL. All of you reading this knew we'd get pwned as soon as you read the duo setup, but we'll try to duo anything once just for the adventure of it. Usually we're golden, but this thing was ridiculous. We were beaten so badly that it was hilarious. Anyway, we went back in and sat watching the awesome jellyfish outside the giant glass windows and thought of people we could ask for help next time. Then we remembered that a 75 SMN is supposed to be able to rule this thing. Enter Worldslost of Caitsith. We didn't even know he had a 75 SMN but were joyously surprised to find out that he did. He graciously came and whipped this guy's rear for us while we stood by feeling useless, haha! Yeah, SMN definitely pwns. Thanks, Worldslost! We owe ya!

[edit, years later] I just ran across this post again. Damn, that was an impressive fight to watch. Thanks again, Worldslost! ^^

Edited, Jul 16th 2011 3:17am by EurydiceKitty

Ok, first off remember to allow a Japan midnight to pass between finishing AF2 and trying to start the quest, if you don't you will spend 1000 gil for nothing.

Next, anyone who tells you this quest is easy is probably trying to make themselves look good; good luck to them, but don't be fooled. If you go in thinking this one is easy you will get hammered real quick. This is a hard quest, but it can be solo'd by the right job(s).

If I wanted to look like I hero I would just tell you I solo'd this quest and leave it at that, but there is so much more to tell. Knowledge is power and us BLU's need to stick together.

I went as a 75 SMN and tried the usual kite tactic (for those of you who don't have a SMN the trick is to summon your avatar, point it at the monster and get a safe distance away ready to re-summon when the monster kills your pet). Usually when the mob kills your pet it will make a run at you, this one was a bit different he waited for me to approach him. This means that he casts as you approach, one waterga III and a nuke I didn't identify (about 2k damage total) and I was toast.

The 5 minutes waiting for my weakened state to pass gave me a chance to think about my tactics, he had used manafont almost at the start of the fight and while he does not chain spell he did cast major damage doing spells quickly and repeatedly.

My winning tactic (as it happens) was to summon, point and run. The NM starts to nuke but because you run out of range it fails to land. During this time your avatar is doing (all be it a small amount of) physical damage to the NM. Once you have left enough time for the nuke to fail run back, use a major blood pact attack (I used predator claws from my favorite parrot woman) then run as far away as you can (there is not much space in the room, but you can get out of range).

Once your avatar dies, re-summon, rinse and repeat. I used a hi-ether each cycle when I was at safe distance and was using a yag drink all the time, just to be sure. Despite having the HQ staff I was using a lot of MP.

The key to the fight for me was that the NM would always try and nuke when he saw me come in to range, even if the avatar had the hate. This is unusual and lead to my first loss. By letting him start to cast and then running out of range it wasted a lot of his time (big nukes take a while to kick off). If I had stopped to kick off a predator claws as I approached he would have landed his nuke so breaking this in to two phases each cycle is key to surviving.

Only once did he run at me when my avatar died and that was the last time, he was down to less than 20% so a final blood pact was enough to finish him and because he was moving he had no chance to launch a nuke.

It is my opinion that a full party of mid 60's would be just as dead just as quickly as going with just a couple of players. Magic attacks are worthless so don't bother with a BLM, you may not be able to get close enough with a WHM to heal a party (he is very capable of picking the soft target at the edge of his nuke range) and his 'ga IIIs are devastating at close range.

I take my hat off to the RDM/NIN who was able to solo this NM, good work. A SMN at level 70+ or a BST should also be able to solo it, if a level 75 friend tells you he can solo this NM its worth going along just for the laugh. Neither brute force nor numbers are going to win, you need a tactic that allows you to fight at a distance.

Finally is it worth it for this piece of AF? well the answer has to be yes, IHMO the BLU AF looks as cool as any other and better than most. Good luck to all BLUs out there who need this, don't be put off by the reports of all the party wipes you will read here, as a BLU you need to be cunning, turn up with a solid tactic and you will win (and yes the irony of winning as a SMN has not escaped me).


Edited, Feb 11th 2008 8:06am by DHoffrynOfTitan

Useless posts FTL.... /congratulations to all those who managed to take down this mob with a full group of level 75's >.> pat yourself on the back.

Now, does anyone have any real information for someone who isn't level 75?
How hard is this mob for a group of level 60's? Is it even possible to do it?

After 10 tries, I managed to successfully solo the Nepionic Soulflayer with RDM/NIN, kiting strategy. This is a 2-2.5 hour fight and is quite difficult. Because the mob's abilities are stronger and more frequent after 50%, the failures usually occur at around the 90-minute mark. My gear's only above average, so people with abjurations and the better AF2 may have an easier time. I'll write this strat assuming someone with similar gear to myself and the main categories merited.

To win this fight, you have to kite in circles around the rectangular room, but Bind the mob twice per circuit: once at the far left end, then again at the far right end. Using the major supporting items for Bind (HQ ice staff, enfeebling torque, AF1 chest, enfeebling merits), I had a single Bind resisted the entire fight, and only a couple Binds ended instantly. The Gravity spell needs to be reserved for any problems with Bind, as well as situations where Bind ended too soon for you to recover, because the mob will build up Gravity resistence over the course of the fight.

Preparations:
If you bring food, bring at least a full stack, maybe 2 stacks. You can be hit with buff removal 12 times pretty easily, but 24 is a bit much. If you have the cash for good defense food, you will have time to reapply it during some long-lasting Bind spells. I ran out of food during the last part of the fight, so this is not a requirement by any means. Remedies are not a requirement either. They may help for the rare Para/Gravity, but I've never had the cash to try them out. I'd be surprised if you could even use an item during Paralyze. These are requirements though: Get Sanction with Refresh directly before going to the fight. Bring an Imperial Silver piece so that you can get in the door. Bring some Holy Water, shouldn't need more than half a stack. For gear, you won't really have a chance to use melee and defense gear, because you will always be casting or running out of range, and while casting you want the optimal casting gear. 2 suggestions... bring a Lamia Mantle +1 instead of a Rainbow/Prism Cape, and bring the RDM AF2 gloves if you have them. You WILL get nuked. :)

The great thing about the fight is how many options the NM has. Sleep and Sleep II, Sleepga and Sleepga II. Multiple Aga2s and Aga3s. Some tier 3 nukes. Some elemental DoTs, Bind, Gravity, and 2 rarely used WSs that have dangerous effects on kiters, one that Paralyzes (Mind Blast) and one that Curses (Anathema). The other WSs are bad news as well... 2 WSs that remove all of your buffs including reraise and food (Mind Purge is rarely used in the first half of the fight, while the later one, Reprobation, is used frequently and has a much longer range). There's 1 WS that increases spell damage (Immortal something or other), which can be a good thing if you need a breather while kiting. Finally, the Tribulation WS is a nasty Bio spell that's guaranteed to eat at least 1 Stoneskin.

The way the fight plays out, it's like you fight a mini magic duel twice per trip around the room. At least, the second 50% is like that. The first 50% can be boring (hopefully). If you get in a lot of trouble on the first 50%, you will be screwed later on.

The rest of the strategy is mostly a rundown of situational decision making, which this fight is a great test of. Here's what I ran into that I can remember:

- Because none of the WSs can kill you immediately, the spells are more dangerous. When nearing the end of the room where the Bind spell will be cast, it's best to pause like 10 steps from the wall to give the mob a chance to throw a spell if it's been holding one. If it throws an aga2-3 from midscreen, you can run outside of the range. If you are already at the end of the room, you will have to plan to eat the damage. In the late match, this strat helps avoid being hit with Reprobation also.

- The Nepionic Soulflayer only uses Manafont once per fight, and this is the only situation where it will cast 2 spells in a row without a wait in between. It usually uses Manafont early, and it's very easy to survive because once you are out of range, the mob spams magic even with nothing to hit and Manafont acts like a 30-second Bind spell because the mob won't be moving at all. If you are in range when it starts, don't worry about Bind or Gravity, and don't renew your buffs if you can help it, just get out of range.

- Your 1 offensive spell is Bio II, and your 1 useful debuff is Paralyze. For most of the fight, the mob will have a shield up that blocks all nukes, but Bio II DoT damage is never blocked. (The earlier post that says the shield goes up at 25% is incorrect. The shield goes up a couple minutes into the fight, and stays up the entire rest of the fight.) I avoided using Paralyze for the first 50% so that it wouldn't build too much resistence, but it didn't seem to help much. Then again, that was the fight I finally won. For either spell, you want to cast only after landing Bind, and only if the mob has recently cast. If not, go just outside max range and wait to see what the next spell is. Casting while the mob is approaching you then Binding it works early on, but will get you killed late in the fight.

- The mob needs to be as close as possible to you and to the end of the room when Bind lands. Even if you lose a shadow from a melee hit. Having the mob all the way at the end of the room makes it much easier to re-Bind on the other side if you get a Bind that only lasts a few sceonds. Don't use Gravity if you can help it.

- After landing a long-lasting Bind, stand just a little bit outside max range so that you can tell if Bio II or Paralyze wear off (sometimes you won't get the message and will have to guess they are gone.) Paralyze can't be renewed until it wears, and Bio II can be recast, but will then wear off at the endtime of the original cast. Fortunately, this works in reverse, so if the NM lands 2x Bio II or 2x Tribulation on you, it will wear off at the time the first would have anyway.

- You may avoid most or all of the early buff-removal WSs (Mind Purge I think), but you will be hit by the later one Reprobation, repeatedly. The only 4 things you really need to be concerned with maintaining are Utsusemi, Stoneskin, Refresh, and hitpoints near maximum. The strategy for re-buffing is as follows:
--- If the mob is not bound and is at max range or farther, Bind first unless you have time for Utsusemi before it gets in range.
--- If the mob is not bound and is at point blank range, time Utsusemi Ni so that it is not interrupted, even if you have to take a hit. Then Bind, then run slightly out of range, Cure IV if MP critical, then run to max range, other buffs.
--- If the mob is bound and has cast a spell recently, Utsusemi Ni, then run to max range, other buffs.
--- If the mob is bound nearby and has not cast recently, Cure IV if MP is critical, then try to run out of range. Use Utsusemi only on reaction. While you can end up with Bind or Gravity or Sleep on you doing this, that's a better tradeoff in the long run than being hit with an Aga2 or Aga3 right after using Utsusemi Ni, then being on the run with only Ichi available. The reason Cure IV outprioritizes Utsusemi if the mob is bound is because it can kill you with an Aga2 or Aga3 in that case, but anything that shadows stop is either not a direct threat or can be stopped on reaction.

- Getting slept is kind of like the situation above. You want to rebind the mob ASAP because if you're asleep your shadows are gone, and you may have to drop Stoneskin. Lots of possible setups choices here, but the main 2 are:
--- If the mob is bound nearby, wait to see what it is casting before dropping Stoneskin. Drop for DoT and tier 3 nuke, Keep up for Aga, of course.
--- If the mob is not bound nearby, wait to make sure it's going to melee you and not cast, then drop Stoneskin before it reaches you, and use Utsusemi Ni the instant that the first hit lands. If Ni is recharging, then use Bind instead, don't try to land Utsusemi Ichi at point blank range. After doing Utsusemi Ni, use Bind, then run. After doing Bind, run until you're out of range or you're sure that the next spell isn't an Aga. If there's an Aga2-3 on the way and Stoneskin is down, curing HP to max is the smarter option unless you are absolutely certain you can get out of range.

- If too many things go wrong (low HP, no shadows, no stoneskin), then it's time to use Gravity (or Chainspell). For Gravity, try to catch the mob near the end of the room, because if you Gravity in the middle of the room it will be difficult to Bind out of the way. You want to get Bind as soon as possible even when Gravity is on the mob because it's much harder to pull the mob out of the center when it has Gravity on it. You want to give yourself a long rest and make the spell count if you had to use it. Remember that the second 50% of the fight is harder, so if you can run an extra 10 steps between pillars for Bind to recharge, it may be worth the risk early on.

- If the Paralyze WS (Mind Blast) lands on you, chances are almost zero that you will be able to throw a spell while it's active, but it doesn't last long. If the mob is bound, great, move away. If not, kite and keep kiting, and weave between the pillars to lose the mob if you need to. It throws enough spells that chances are it will only get off 3 or 4 melee attacks while para is up. Once Paralyze is down, Utsusemi Ni can buy enough time to bind the mob then move away to rebuff.

- If the Curse WS (Anathema) lands, this is also short-lived, but your shadows may need to buy time for you to use a Holy Water. Utsuemi Ni and Bind outprioritize the Holy Water. If you are out of waters, then you are forced to immediately use Bind or Gravity to get away so you don't get beat down.

- Same thing if you are hit with the Gravity spell... use a Gravity of your own if you have no way to remove the Gravity effect. This will almost never happen because shadows will stop that. If you're hit with Bind, the mob will usually break the spell for you letting you put up Utsusemi, Bind it back, and run. If you are both bound, the mob gets a free spell, so feel free to renew Stoneskin or heal HP to max while you wait.

- If you are hit with Tribulation, then you need to take any opportunity possible to keep your hitpoints near max, because Stoneskin will either be down or unreliable while Tribulation is active. A Cure-IV or Cure-III timed while the mob is throwing a spell out of range or against shadows may keep you alive until you land a good Bind. With Tribulation on you, you need to run when in doubt, because Aga2s and Aga3s are bad news while Stoneskin is eroded or down completely. Don't worry about throwing Bio2 or Paralyze at the mob unless all of your buffs are up and hitpoints are good. You can't risk being hit with an unknown spell with Tribulation on you.

- Possible extra buffs: If you have a really long-lasting Bind, and if Refresh, Stoneskin, and Utsusemi are up, you can throw Barparalyze (which only seemed to help once) or maybe a top-off Cure II or Regen. Shell IV and/or Protect IV you can land early in the fight if your MP flow is good and Convert is up, but late in the fight you get hit with Reprobation often enough that Protect IV and Shell IV are a waste. Protect and Shell I may be an option if you get a long-lasting Bind late in the fight.

- Speaking of which, Converting: With Refresh and Sanction, it's possible to go forever without using a Convert, but nasty situations like Tribulation + Aga3 can eat half your MP instantly. For this fight, think of Converting when your MP is 200 or less. Letting your MP get below 100 is a bad idea, because there are several situations that you can't fix with just 100 MP. That, and you need a long-lasting Bind to Convert, and you have no control over when that will happen. So having the extra MP lets you go an extra lap or 2 around the room until you get the right Bind spell.

- I wasn't too far away from the mob when it died, so I can't say if being all the way across the room would cause a problem with getting the cutscene. After the mob fell over from Bio II damage, I was able to get the winning CS, so no problem if you don't finish with direct damage (not that you could).

Edited, Sep 28th 2007 10:10am by Neolirian

This is one tough fight. We first wanted to see if we could take him and how hard he was. The plan was to RDM/NIN fight him and have the RNG deal a little extra damage every once in a while. I'll even fill you in on the little "secret" we figured out to help win.

Battle #1

I popped the NM and started to fight. The fight was going rather well. His accuracy is pretty decent, for a RDM (suggest a lot of evasion gear for this), probably one of the reasons why we lost the first run. He was tearing through my shadows very quickly. Paralyze does stick very nice. After the first Stonega III my life quickly went from 1,000+ down to 523. The RNG then used Slug Shot to get hate off me to heal, unfortunatly the NM then cast Waterga III and one shotted him. Only had about 1,000 HP and Waterga hit for 1,100+. Granted, the Dispelga type attack he had removed the RNG's shell. I then hit him with Gravity and ran for the zone. We got 25% of his HP taken away.

His magic attacks are very strong! This is what makes him so difficult. So my idea was to take away his advantage. Advisory: This is based strickly on luck and may not be a sure fire way to win. It worked for us though on our first time, but we barley pulled it off.

Battle #2

This time we knew we couldn't handle his magic attacks so we needed to remove that advantage. He doesn't hit too hard. Hit my RDM/NIN for about 100-150 with no protect or anything. First off, we wanted to hit him hard to get as much hp away as we could. RNG used Courel Sub for food. As soon as he popped Gravity was placed on him. RNG then nailed him with Slug Shot. (RNG had an Icarus Wing to get the 100% TP) There are no other mobs in the area so nothing to get TP on, make sure you have a way to get tp, whether it be necklace or item. Barrage/Sharpshot, then Eagle Eye Shot then Slug Shot. RDM keeps Gravity up this whole time. He then cast Poisonga II and removed his shadows, at this point we ran him to the zone. It may take a little work to get him there as he doesn't like to leave the room. Once you get him out then he will follow you to the zone.

Now this is the trick!

Both members must be very competent and very aware during the fight. You must fight right at the zone! Whoever has hate must pay very close attention and drop everything the are doing, and zone immediatly when you see the casting of -aga III spells. This will stop his casting. Also, this will reset hate giving the other person a little bit of a break from tanking. Doing this trick things worked out well for us. I the RDM died right at the end due to what I was talking about above. Luck. He was at about 15% HP and the RNG now had Barrage/Sharpshot up again. If he uses Sleepga you will not have time to zone. RNG now had hate due to Barrage/Sharshot connecting with the NM taking him down to 5% HP. Sleepga went off and he then cast Waterga III right after that. I died due to me focusing more on the RNG and then the RNG used Slug Shot to pull off the victory. RDM basically did melee and buffing if his dispelga move went off.

This was a very broken duo. If we can do it with this set-up, and even better set-up will destroy this guy. The trick is very effective and even with all the -aga spells he was casting we survived and won.

I hope this little trick helps everyone out and I wish everyone luck on getting this lovely headgear!!

Edited, Aug 1st 2007 7:00pm by AllisonRedMage

Edited, Aug 1st 2007 7:04pm by AllisonRedMage

I have not fought this NM yet. I am a 56 blu and I have all the other AF equipment. This is my highest job by far. I do, however, have a couple LS buddies that are 70+ blu's and I know a couple 70+ nin's and whm's. I would like some really good info on how to defeat this guy. I check here everyday, so plz assist in any way you can.


Blu56whm37mnk31
war15nin22sam22
thf6

I suck at leveling!!

I finished the AF2 as well. All I get out of him is something like "Why don't you try your hand at harvesting in Bhaflau or Waojam"

Never said anything about the gate and I've done it AT LEAST 6 times. Every time is the harvesting thing. Pissing me off.

I don't know how ppl say this is an easy fight, It's far beyond easy. Did this fight 6 times before I won. First set-up was 75 Rdm/Blm, 75 Blm/whm, and me 67 pld/war. Did horrible wiped me out 3 times blm and rdm were worthless, did about 10% dmg before everyone was almost wiped out with aoe spells. Second set-up was 75 Bst/war 75 whm/blm, 75 drg/war, and me. Still hard as **** everyone got wiped out 3 times before bst finally listened to me and just let his carrie fight it solo, I hate doing missions and quest with know it alls they make life alot more difficult. But got it done and i am hella happy. GL to all you future blues this is tough you will see.

By far the hardest AF NM i've ever encountered. me (75drg/whm) and a 75rdm/blm lost very fast to this. we are going a second time with a larger force. chainspell flood was our biggest threat

Did this last night with a 75 whm, 75 smn, and me as a 73 Ninja. At one point I dropped down to 100 hp (the GA spells after it's MAB ability makes his spells incredibly powerful, if it wasn't for Shell and Diablos's Magic Defense bonus I would have died).

Other then the one hit I rarely ever got hit, though he spams spells like a permanent ManaFont+Chainspell (almost no delay, and I was not able to interrupt any spell).

But finally have all my AF, and I am done with this evil part:).

i cant start this quest
i finished my af2 quest
y i cant start this one
did i miss something?