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 The Voracious Resurgence |
 
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| Reforged Armor Artifact: +1 • iL109 • iL119/+2/+3 Relic: +1/+2 • iL109 • iL119/+2/+3 Empyrean: +1/+2 • iL109 • iL119/+2/+3 |
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User:Prismfang/Sandbox
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Preface
Greetings. This is a short primer on utilizing and gearing SMN for endgame, intended primarily for novices and fellow LS members interested in my experiences.
I have no intents on publishing this article as a guide, and given the lack of HQ SMN items available on our server, most of the gear choices herein will be of the budget
and accessible variety, rather than best-in-slot choices.
For more comprehensive and authoritative resources on being a better SMN, try here.
NOTE: This article assumes the reader is comfortable with using Gearswap. I personally use a modified version of Pergatory's SMN Lua.
Getting Started
As a new level 99 SMN, I recommend focusing your efforts on the following:
- Obtain an Arasy Sachet or Seraphicaller and work towards your 100 JP gift to equip a Sancus Sachet
- Create a perpetuation set to offset your avatar's constant MP drain/upkeep
- Create Blood Pact (BP) sets to improve your avatar's maximum damage per offensive ability
- Create a BP delay set to improve the frequency that you can perform Blood Pacts
- Obtain the 1200 JP Gift and eventually reach Master SMN
Perpetuation Set
Most gearswap files will have a separate set for idling with and without your avatar.
This set is for the former, and the goal here is to reach the perpetuation cost cap of -14 MP/tic first and foremost.
Once you have reached the cap, avatars will cost at most 1 MP/tic, even with Avatar's Favor up, so your Auto Refresh will easily cover that.
- Reach the cap of -14 avatar perpetuation cost in pet idle set
- Obtain a Caller's Pendant to grant your avatar free TP while standing around
- Fill the remaining slots on Refresh or defense stats afterward.
- Note that Avatar's Favor effects are tiered off based on total skill and Favor+ gear.
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Once you have the "Superior 2" Gift at 100 JP, you will want to switch to a Sancus Sachet as soon as possible.
I have purposely excluded augments from the items above in the event obtaining multiple Apogee pieces is out of the question for the sets below.
Most of the pieces listed above and hereafter are interchangeable with their NQ and HQ variants. Customize your set based on available gear.
Blood Pact Sets
Blood Pacts are generally categorized as either physical or magical damage, with the exception that Ifrit's Burning Strike and Flaming Crush are considered hybrid damage.In the event you have a Nirvana and HQ Apogee pieces at hand, see Pergatory's LUA file above on gear choices while Garland's Aftermath is up.
- For physical BPs, you will want stats such as BP Damage, Accuracy, Attack, and Pet: Double Attack.
- For magical BPs, you will want BP Damage, Magic Attack, and perhaps Pet: TP Bonus. Avatars seem to have naturally high magic accuracy for their associated element
- For hybrid BPs, there is usually a mixture of physical and magical BP stats, with a heavy emphasis on the magical end.
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Other Notable Items
- Convo. Pigaches +2
- Apogee Dalmatica (Path B)
- Apogee Mitts (Path B)
- Kyrene's Earring
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Other Notable Items
- Apogee Slacks (Path A)
- Apogee Mitts (Path A)
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Other Notable Items
- Apogee Slacks (Path A)
- Apogee Mitts (Path A)
The budget path above is primarily designed around a single JSE cape and Apogee set.
It takes a well-augmented Grioavolr to pull ahead of a Path A Espiritus, so consider skipping this step if Oseem augments are a problem.
Do not fret if you are missing the Omen/Vagary accessories; the bulk of your avatar's damage comes from your armor and weapon choices.
BP Delay Reduction Gear
Blood Pact delays have a combined cap of -30 seconds from player gear and gifts, and no more than -15 seconds can be applied per delay tier.
Once you have obtained the 500 JP (Superior 3) gift, the HQ Sancus Sachet and Baayami Attire Set can help you reach the BP delay cap while providing copious amounts of Summoning Magic Skill.
An Espiritus can provide additional BP delay II if you do not mind potentially losing TP on swapping weapons.
- Reach the cap of -30 seconds through gear and JP gifts
- Fill remaining slots with Summoning Skill and Favor+ gear to improve Avatar's Favor tier
NOTE: Depending on your gearswap file, your BP delay set may be listed as a precast or midcast set.
The delay set should equip as soon as a BP command is sent, and similarly, your BP damage sets should equip once your avatar begins its BP animation.
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SMN at a Glance
Here is where I attempt to answer questions and grossly generalize SMN at the same time:
Skillchains and Magic Bursts
Physical and Hybrid BPs are analogous to player WSs and each have their own skillchain properties.
Magic BPs are analogous to player spells and can be used in a magic burst.
In general, there is a short delay between using a BP command when the BP is executed, so time your BPs accordingly.
| Solo Skillchains (2-Step) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening WS | Closing WS | Skillchain | Magic Burst1 |
 / Shattersoul Merit
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 / Flaming Crush 
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 Fragmentation
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| / Garland of Bliss Mythic
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/ Mountain Buster 
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Gravitation
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 Crag Throw Merit
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 / Full Swing
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Burning Strike
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Fusion
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 Conflag Strike
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| / Garland of Bliss Mythic
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/ Predator Claws 
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 Light
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 Wind Blade Merit
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| / Garland of Bliss Mythic
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/ Volt Strike 
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Light
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 Thunderstorm Merit
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| / Shattersoul Merit
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 / Spinning Dive 
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 Darkness
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 Grand Fall Merit
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| / Shattersoul Merit
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/ Rush 
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Darkness
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 Heavenly Strike Merit
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| Solo Skillchain (3-step) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon Skill #1 | Weapon Skill #2 | Skillchain #1 | Weapon Skill #3 | Skillchain #2 |
| / Shattersoul Merit
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/ Flaming Crush
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Fragmentation
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/ Flaming Crush1
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Light
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1 Requires Apogee to BP twice in a row | ||||
| Multi-SMN Skillchains | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening WS | Closing WS | Skillchain | Magic Burst |
| / Volt Strike
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/ Flaming Crush
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Light
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Thunderstorm Merit
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| / Spinning Dive
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/ Eclipse Bite 
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Darkness
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Grand Fall Merit
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BP Reference
A summary of useful BPs I have encountered for solo and group play. This list is not exhaustive.
| I really need to... | |||
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| Blood Pact: Rage | Blood Pact: Ward | Potential Uses | |
| Cleave targets | |||
| Curb enemy offense |
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| Buff party's offense |
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| Buff party's defense |
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| Dispel enemy buffs | |||
| Sleep nearby enemies | |||
| Stun the enemy | Shock Squall
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Helps Gessho tank CP mobs. Dynamis - Divergence | |
| Heal my party |
Self-explanatory. | ||
| Remove status ailments |
Self-explanatory. | ||
| Run really fast |
Self-explanatory. | ||
| Give party member Reraise |
Self-explanatory.
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2 Requires Astral Flow to activate BP | |||
2 
Conduit Zerg
Given the large amount of pet stats gained from SMN gifts and JP categories, I highly recommend maxing the Astral Flow/Astral Conduit effects and acquiring all the physical BP related stats (1710+ JP) prior to attempting a conduit zerg.
Secondly, if you are using Gearswap, ensure that you are not accidentally swapping into a precast or aftercast set during Astral Conduit.
At the time of this writing, Pergatory's LUA will equip an idle set following conduit BPs and assumes the user will stagger BPs approximately 1.25 seconds apart.
If this proves inconvenient, you may opt to equip your BP set and //gs disable all during Astral Conduit [or] add code to disable his idle() function calls while conduit is up.
Generic Conduit Zerg Algorithm
- Receive pre-fight buffs
- Activate Avatar's Favor
- If using 119 Nirvana, build 3000 TP and gain AM3 on fodder
- Pop NM
- Wait for GEO bubbles and offensive spells/JAs
- Hit Astral Flow
- Apogee, then BP (x2)
- Reset Apogee via COR JAs and/or Super Revitalizer if in Escha zone
- Repeat Apogee step
- Hit Astral Conduit
- Spam BPs
- Receive Mana Powder / Mana Mist during Astral Conduit from back line jobs if in Escha zone
| Job Summary | |||||||||
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| Blood Pact | SMN Food | Indi-Spell | Geo-Spell | Entrust | Offensive spells | COR Roll #1 | COR Roll #2 | RUN JAs | BRD Songs |
 , or 
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Indi-Torpor | Geo-Frailty | Defensive spell or Indi-Refresh | Dia II + Impact | Beast Roll | Drachen Roll | Odyllic Subterfuge | Ballads | |
| Flaming Crush |
 , , or
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Indi-Frailty | Geo-Malaise | Indi-Torpor or Indi-Languor | Dia II + Impact | Beast Roll | Puppet Roll | Ballads + Fire Threnody | |
,  , or  ,
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Indi-Languor | Geo-Malaise | Defensive spell or Indi-Refresh | Impact | Puppet Roll | Companion's Roll | Ballads + Fire Threnody | ||
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Impact, Odyllic Subterfuge, and Refresh effects may be omitted based on NM and groups' comfort zone. | |||||||||
Final Notes
In general, I would avoid using Convert during Astral Conduit if possible. Meteor Strike can be used from approximately 15 yalms away.
Some NMs may require additional jobs and deviance from what I have listed above (e.g. skip Impact for Vinipata if using physical BPs).
Ultimately, tailor your strategy based on your enemy and party members.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Pergatory of Asura for providing constructive feedback and all the SMNs on the FFXIAH.com forums for sharing their knowledge.
Also thanks to the following BG mods for having nice guides and user pages to learn (read: steal) wiki markup from:
- Spicyryan
- Funkworkz
- FaeQueenCory
Other Stuff
So you are probably wondering where the other stuff is.
Well, it is on the back burner as I collect suggestions from my LS.
I am going back to lurking now.
Hi, Mittens! (◕ᴥ◕)
