Endeavoring To Awaken --A Guide To Rune Fencer

Run haz A in sword, 7acc less acc than gsword which is like...nothing, i see no reason not to DW unless you have epeolatry.

Ooooh for some reason I thought it was like B something.
That's nice! Altough it's not like getting those 2 swords will be particularly easy, most likely.
Those UNMs will be 145, 10 levels higher than the 135 kings, which by themselves are already particularly annoying, especially the behemoth.

It's not the kind of content you can easily do with shouts or PUGs. If these ToAU UNMs are even worse than that... it might take some time before those swords become easily accessible for all of us.


Anyway, let's think about a set involving these 2 swords.
The main advantage is the additional accuracy that you gain from the swords themselves, and from using other slots where you previously used PDT gear (for even more accuracy or other stuff).
Let's see what set can people come up with using those 2 swords and capping MDT at the same time (considering Shell5, of course)

The PUG community still try to get vagary clears, the game moved on a while ago, small group of friends clear everything and fast, those left behind..oh well.

That's true geigei but a big generalization as well.
Within the generic "PUG community" we can find several different level of skill/dedication.

If you take into consideration the lowest possible level I absolutely agree with you.
But the "PUG community" isn't only that.


I mean, if I have no friends online and I want a certain UNM done because I wanna farm some item/mats, I can just shout and get some PUGs with the specific jobs I want for the strategy I have in mind.
And guess what? Aside a couple of exceptions maybe, I can get them all done without too many issues, and without requiring my super cool friends.

Can I say the same about Sovereign Behemoth? Sadly, not.
I've done it with a PUG, once, and failed countless many other times.
Now I have no clue where these new UNMs will place themselves because the ilevel doesn't always tell everything, but if they're gonna be much harder than the previous ones... well... that's not gonna be something particularly easy to get down.


The goal of UNM is mostly fighting them a gazilion of times to get the NQ item and then farm the mats. You mostly want quick fights so you can spam them.
If it takes you 10+ mins for each fight (either because the fight takes long or because you have to reset SP abilities in between) it's not gonna be particularly "efficient" to farm them.
Which is why I said those swords might take a while before they become easily obtainable by a consistant number of players.

But I guess time will tell! Maybe ilevel 145 Khimaira will be a joke, who knows.
135 Nidhogg is not THAT bad for instance.

IL 145 anything is going to be a nightmare. We're way into the territory of requiring 2 Idris GEO's bolstering and hoping you can still land MB nukes and kill it before bolster wears off. Magic evasion skyrocketing into the stratosphere.

Setups like this.

PLD
healer
Idris GEO
Idris GEO
SCH
1200JP+ BLM

I'm afraid it's quite likely it's gonna go that way.... but we'll see.
Getting back to the matter of sets with double swords now.
This is my favourite all purpose tanking set, so I tried to create some variations starting from here:

ItemSet 336577

Possible variations:
Ammo: I guess one of the ammos with +enmity, but honestly I'd just keep Seething.
Head: Dampening Tam. Skormoth Mask second option. Gives +acc, Multiattack, if you plan on fighting something where hitting is gonna be meaningful (which kinda is the whole purpose of going with this DW set, otherwise you might as well stay with Aettir and get 55%PDT...) is gonna be really nice.
Neck: No variation and I don't think it's gonna be beneficial losing the DT+Def on this slot, kinda necessary to hit MDT cap without too many sacrifices, assuming unaugmented Shell5
Earrings: Personally I still like this combination. Accuracy and MP convert from all sources (not just physical damage)
Body: No variation, I don't think any tanking set can disregard Erilaz body.
Hands: If you can cap DT with them, why not? More status resistance, more acc/att and set bonus. Win!
Rings: Defending Ring + either a multihit or an accuracy ring (Etana? Ramuh+1?)
Back: No variation.
Waist: Could stick one of the many acc belts available, or a Windbuffet Belt+1 I guess.
Legs: Not sure I'd want to lose the Inquartata bonus... but HQ carmine path D could be a viable option I guess.
Feet: If we keep Erilaz in the legs slot, we can swap this one out with either Futark+1 for additional parry and accuracy, or Carmine Path B for some DD stats and acc... but I'd rather use Futhark honestly.


So our set could look something like this for instance:

ItemSet 339292

Total PDT: 53% (assuming 5% augment from cape)
Total MDT: 4%
Total DT: 21% (assuming 5% augment from cape)
Total DEX: 130
Total Acc: 209 (not counting DEX, this is >100 acc higher than the first set)

That's quite some difference. Looks like a really interesting tanking set which also allows you to freely WS whenever you want (Sanguine Blade) whereas on GSWD you often have to hold back either cause you're at 20% floored acc or because you don't want to interrupt SCs.
And if you wanna do real damage, I'm sure Savage Blade and Requiescat will deliver (can RUN even use Savage Blade? I guess Vorpal Blade otherwise?)

I ask again the question I asked on previous page though: is there a known difference in the base parrying rate of 1h weapons vs 2h weapons? In other games there is but I'm not sure about FFXI... has it even been tested ever?

Ungh! >< Didn't consider the enmity-2 on Reiki belt. Frankly I doubt -2 is gonna have a bigger negative impact that the additional enmity gained by the stronger/faster melee hits, but if you really want to pick a different belt there's Grunfeld Rope, Kentarch Belt +1 or even Anguinus Rope.

Also I kinda forgot to consider Taeon. It's a viable option for feet. Can stick +acc on there, plus you have DW etc.
But I was trying to make a full tanking set, not a hybrid one, so in light of this I'd still prefer Futhark +1 honestly.
Herculean Boots too could be an interesting option, depending on augments. Could allow you to equip something else in place of Patricius and still reach 50% PDT.

Swords have been a pretty great option for a while now; how you are just now noticing this is beyond me when it's been mentioned countless times.

Who said I never noticed it? And what's with the aggressive attitude? Did I step on your foot or something? o.O

...


I would say you did.

Provided it's something where RUN damage is non-negligible (i.e. you can get your accuracy above the floor, you're getting some melee buffs, and/or you can use shadows to negate most of the physical damage), swords have been the go-to since the WS changes, provided you didn't need one of great swords's skillchain options.

Yes, I said I forgot RUN's sword skill was A- and I remembered it being B-, and I asked a question about parrying rate with different weapons (which is how they usually get handled in many other games).
I also said that it still feels strange to me using any weapon that's not a Great Sword.

How is saying all of that the same that I never noticed that "Swords have been a pretty great option for a while now"
Please do articulate because I'm not quite getting it.

As a matter of fact most of the time whne I CP on RUN I dualwield my Vampirisms, hell I've cleaved stuff on RUN using Great Axe, it's not like I'm sticked to my GS like glue.
TANKING serious stuff with swords though? That's a different topic, and it's what people were talking about, contextualizing it to these 2 new swords, around which I built a tentative generic tanking set.
Dunno, you woke up from the wrong side of the bed today or what?

Looks similar to what I had in mind. I would personally go with this though.

ItemSet 339345

Physical Damage Taken -30%
Magic Damage Taken -4%
Damage Taken -23%
Enmity +25 (+45 with Crusade)
Accuracy +228

Where is the Reiki Yotai belt from?

It drops from Kouryu, it used to be called Reiki Koshiobi but was re-named in the recent update.

Great minds think alike! /highfive

Why the Kurys in place of Erilaz? That's a loss of 8acc/28att to gain a -2DT you don't need to reach cap, and +9 enmity which is surely cool but I'm not sure it's gonna be worth it.
Also those acc/att are going to, indirectly, produce enmity as well if you think about it. (it's even more if you factor conversion from STR and DEX, which are higher on Erilaz).
Last but not least, set bonus! Yeah ok...

Kurys give you +20 MEva (which might compensate the loss of +6 status resistance), +20 acc, +9 enmity and a DT you don't need.
Dunno, think I'd like Erilaz more honestly.


Great idea with Suppanomimi though, dunno how I forgot about it.
On a side note, Papesse just posted some data about this new Khimaira on BG in the Unity thread. Of course it's the most annoying of the 3. /sigh
Hopefully not as annoying as Sovereign Behemoth, but that "klunky enmity during hundred fists" worries me a bit.
In general I apreciate what they've been doing with these UNMs of late, but I wonder if for these UNM versions of kings they might have gone a bit overboeard with the balancment...
Not saying they should've implemented them in a faceroll mode, but surely there could have been a better compromise somewhere in between?

Starting to wonder if a DD set for dual sword is would be actually better... For DD purposes and soloing.

Also,SE where is my JA that makes the next rune enhancement apply 3 runes of that type.... (Think presto)

Depends on what you're fighting Elizabet, but more often than not dualwielding swords for Solo is higher DPS than Greatsword.
Kinda depends on the gear you have and your targets, but more often than not DW Swords are gonna win.

Because the Erilaz Gauntlets +1 have Great Sword Skill on them and you're going to be Dual Wielding Swords.

...shoot me.
Make it painful please.
Oh well, guess they won't be a macro piece only anymore then.

After goodness knows how many fights, I think it took somewhere between 40 and 45, I got enough Sarama Hides and the NQ Great Sword to +1 it. I'll give a rundown of how the fight works for those attempting it in the near future.

The setup I found best to use was: Blu/Blu/Geo/Geo/Cor/Whm.
Geomancer One: Indi-Frailty / Geo-Vex (Entrust Attunement)
Geomancer Two: Indi-Precision / Geo-Torpor (Entrust Attunement)
Corsair: Hunter's Roll / Samurai Roll
Blue Mages: Blinding Fulgor set for Magic Evasion Bonus III, proper spells set for Accuracy Bonus V.
White Mage: Stands in range with Barfira and Barparalyzra up. Curaga III and Curaga IV are its friends.

You need proper DD's to bring this down reliably, DD's with good accuracy and defensive abilities, which is why I recommend two Blue Mages. Sarama seems to have two phases he can switch between, one where his melee attacks do more but he takes more melee damage and another where his magic attacks do more damage but he takes more magic damage (notably skillchain damage). His change is announced by a 1-hour cloud animation and I'm not really sure what triggers it. Something you'll want to watch out for is Chainspell, which also seems to give him the effect of Meikyo as well as he starts spamming Gates of Hades in tandem with Firaga V. This is why Curaga is your friend here. It's also a good idea to fight him on his tail to goad him into using Scorching Lash, which although it hurts is better than facing a Magma Hoplon spam. There is also a way you can stagger him by doing a large amount of damage or weapon skills during his 'howling' animation.

Sad to say that Rune Fencer is sort of not needed for this fight provided Vex and Attunement stay up.

Thanks for the help.
Did you test the sword? Do runes "overwrite" its native enfire, or is it the other way around?

Runes overwrite the native Enfire, which is not a 100% proc either.

Given how the original Algol didn't have enfire, I wish they could've used that stat slot for something more useful like, dunno, +15 acc or something.


Edit:
Tnx Loire

The original Algol had added effect fire Algol

Rest easy Highwing Helm, for your watch has ended.

Yours or seen around?
Seeing a lot of magey stats for Herculean...

Like this one?



And by the way, this one's mine.

i doubt I'm the first but if I'm wrong, just hit 2100 jp, the parry and MDB rock btw. now i got like 2 weeks to spam the hell outa WKR to make ergon lol

Herculean head and legs don't have as good base stats for melee options compared to the body, hands, and feet, especially when compared to other options like Adhemar, Lustratio, or SR gear. Not to say that a melee or WS oriented piece isn't worthwhile, just that you'd have to get some very high end augments to top some of those other pieces.

Best I've got on the head was +35 MAB, +20 M.Acc. Hoping to see something similar but with FC +3 to help out my other jobs and replace the AF head.

Is there anyway to get RUN AF again if you had misplaced it?