The 6th Ministry's Secret: A Summoner's Guide (v2)

I just picked up Indomitable Gloves (HQ2), it's going to take me a while to augment them but I did some napkin math and it looks like with BIS gear, it should surpass Merlinic Gloves for multi-hit physical pacts when the augment hits +6 BP Damage. With Nirvana AM3 up, that value shifts to +10 BP Damage, with 11 being the max.

If you get the HQ1 gloves, they would need +7 BP Damage instead of +6 to beat Merlinic, and the full +11 to beat it with Nirvana AM3.

Edit: I'll add the augment stages as I unlock them for posterity.

R01 -> MAcc+1, Pet: Acc+1 MAcc+1
R02 -> MAcc+2, Pet: Acc+2 MAcc+2
R03 -> MAcc+3, Pet: Acc+3 MAcc+3
R04 -> MAcc+4, Pet: Acc+4 MAcc+4
R05 -> MAcc+5, Pet: Acc+5 MAcc+5
R06 -> MAcc+6, Pet: Acc+6 MAcc+6
R07 -> MAcc+7, Pet: Acc+7 MAcc+7
R08 -> MAcc+8, Pet: Acc+8 MAcc+8
R09 -> MAcc+9, Pet: Acc+9 MAcc+9
R10 -> MAcc+10, Pet: Acc+10 MAcc+10
R11 -> MAcc+11, Pet: Acc+11, MAcc+11
R12 -> MAcc+12, Pet: Acc+12, MAcc+12
R13 -> MAcc+13, Pet: Acc+13, MAcc+13
R14 -> MAcc+14, Pet: Acc+14, MAcc+14
R15 -> MAcc+15, MAB+2, BloodPact+1, Pet: Acc+15, MAcc+15
R16 -> MAcc+16, MAB+4, BloodPact+2, Pet: Acc+16, MAcc+16
R17 -> MAcc+17, MAB+6, BloodPact+3, Pet: Acc+17, MAcc+17
...
R20 -> MAcc+20, MAB+12, BloodPact+6, Pet: Acc+20, MAcc+20 <- Target for matching good Merlinic on phys pacts
R21 -> MAcc+21, MAB+14, BloodPact+6, Pet: Acc+21, MAcc+21
R22 -> MAcc+22, MAB+16, BloodPact+7, Pet: Acc+22, MAcc+22
...
R25 -> MAcc+25, MAB+22, BloodPact+8, Pet: Acc+25, MAcc+25
R26 -> MAcc+26, MAB+24, BloodPact+8, Pet: Acc+26, MAcc+26
R27 -> MAcc+27, MAB+25, BloodPact+9, Pet: Acc+27, MAcc+27

Would you mind sharing your math and which Merlinic augments you were basing this off of?

I was using the calculator I have posted on my Pastebin. It's nothing fancy, it's just for comparing BP Damage against Pet:DA. These two stats are the direct multipliers so they're what I focus on. There are some other pet stats on both pieces but I feel they're comparable.

Here's the set I used to compare, which I believe to be BIS without doing pet path augments on Nyame:

ItemSet 94450

Merlinic augment is BP Dmg +10, for +15 total on the piece. Helios are both 7 BP Dmg and 8 Double Attack.

I also checked the numbers with Beckoner's Earring +2 instead of Sroda, and it didn't change the result.

Sroda Earring (DMG+10) and Beckoner's Earring +2 (DMG+1, all BP+7~8, BPD+5) have always been extremely close.

Volt Strike with ML50 and the set posted above, for instance:

Sroda Earring
342 STR / 325 INT
(143 + 24 + 113 + 60) x 5 x 4 x 2.41 x 1.1 = 18026

Beckoner's Earring +2
349 STR / 332 INT
(134 + 24 + 115 + 60) x 5 x 4 x 2.46 x 1.1 = 18021

This assumes the Indomitable Gloves provide BPD+10 once fully augmented.

I am missing something on Blood pact recast. I have over 670 summoning skill, -20 BPD (mastered), and +3 horn on, but when I do the first blood pact right after summoning, I am getting 25 sec recast. As the avatar is out, the recast will go down to 20 after a few second so it has to be skill or favor related.

"Avatar's Favor decreases Blood Pact Ability Delay up to 10 seconds, scaling with the current potency.

Without using Blood Pacts to speed up charging, -1 Blood Pact Delay is granted after each 18 seconds until reaching a summoning skill cap tier."
https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Avatar%27s_Favor

So if I am summoning buffing and then releasing it will never be below 25 sec?

That's right

Lemme help out!

There was a disconnect between the JP and NA side for the augments, some JP sites had magic dmg+ instead of mab and there's zero information that I can find of anyone augmenting. But I was able to snag the hq2 and was saving up matters from the month before and it bothered me so I caved and upgraded smn hands instead of saving for my mnk :(

Rank 1-14 are just acc, rank 15 it gets both +2 mab and +1 bpd.



So far I'm at rank 17 and the trend has been consistent, +2mab/+1bpd. I'll probably be able to get to rank 18 this week and 20 after next weeks runs, once I can hit rank 21 I will report back if there's any change in pattern.

I've been looking at this set a lot compared to what bp pieces we have now, this would also apply to the limbus boots' lv+1 right?

While it's not the most appealing set to upgrade, I think indomitable boots might be best now for single hit bps like spinning dive? Augment is said to be +11bpd.

ItemSet 402005

Empy+3 is 12bpd
Apogee +1 boots are +10bpd(+12 with setbonus) +35 atk. A quick test of avatar level+1 gave terrestrial avatars +30 atk which would put it on par with apogee's atk augment.

Would the DMG+1 and all BP+7~8 from lv+1 be worth 1bpd loss? (Obvious not a practical suggestion to a non-hardcore smn)

I'm also wondering, would 8% crit rate be worth to lose 4bpd from convokers doublet to indomitable cloak (12bpd) we have so little crit rate gear, I have no idea how it weighs into our dmg.

Thoughts?

That’s what I would go with for single hit BPs, it’s more defensive over apogee feet also, the downside is the time it takes to max it

Are you SURE it gives +30?

https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Nirvana_(Level_119_III)

On the Nirvana page it says the following:

My understanding was that + avatar level was diminishing returns. I think we need more testing.

Yes, it's a real easy test, did /checkparam pet ifrit at 123 had 1201 atk and then unequip the lv+1 from smn earring and checkparam again hes at 1171. For ifrit going from 119 tp 120 gave +28 atk, 120 to 121 was 29 and then 122 and 123 both gave +30. Granted I never wasted the gil to buy bunzi boots to confirm 124 and I only have stage 4 opashoro so can't check 125, but I see no reason for it to be different.

My smn is also ml30. I did do a quick test lvl syncing to ml3 and lv99 and it does act slightly different. Carby, cait and fenrir also received different values and unless someone has some other insight it suggests the atk increase is % based as fenrir who had 1500 atk gained around +45 from 123 and carby cait who have 100 less atk than the others gained 28 atk instead of 30 at the same 123 ilvl.

I honestly thought about asking if someone has already made a stat chart before I spent the time to get all the numbers. Is there any reasonable way to test any of the stats, str vit etc?

Tbh tho this is the only piece of gear that has pet lvl that exists outside of our standard BP gear. Could have been bunzi if the BPD didn't go to the legs instead;(

Edit: after thought, would mnd be the easiest to test? Seeing the cure value from carby or levi? Do we know if they use the same formula as players?

This happened at rank20, I didn't think to take a pic in english


Rank 15-20 stayed mab+2 bpd+1 but at rank21 is the first change in the augments, bpd stayed at 6 while the mab gained its +2

Nice grats Garfield, those should be good enough to be usable at least when Nirvana AM3 is not up!

We know they can't get 1 BP damage every rank until 30 cuz they apparently max at +11 not +15, so that's not surprising.

I'd expect something like this:

22-23: +7
24-25: +8
26-27: +9
28-29: +10
30: +11

you're wrong, it's opposite. The higher the level the more it gives.

I thought that Pet Level+1 was an "irregular" stat, and not all items with Lv+1 give exactly the same amount of +X stats for each +1 level. They probably use different ways to implement that, under the same description, and this goes for all gear with that stat, not just for SMN and Avatar.

Was this wrong?

No need to be so harsh

Just slightly wrong, all +1 levels give the same stats, but the level it becomes there is a slight variance as I slightly posted about in my last post.

I'll be working on a long write up here tonight that I've just gotten off work, I found some really good info on the jp wiki and want to double check the entirety of bg wiki to make sure I just didn't overlook it somewhere

Huh. Good to know.

So these are the only 2 things listed in bg wiki regarding any sort of stats of the avatars, not saying they are wrong, just that's all there is. The Dashavatara sachet has a reference link that actually has testing.

Aside from that, I found 2 charts on the jp wiki that lists out stats, but they have no links for any sort of testing, so I'm unsure how they how or who did it, but I was able to confirm the acc/atk/def values are all accurate, I did have a discrepancy with evasion, but enough testing for today.
This first chart shows ilv119 pets, no gift/merits base values
The second chart shows the increase gains from a lv99 pet and a mastered smn per item level. It's showing 99 to 119, 99 to 120, 99 to 121 etc Such as going from 119 to 120 is only a BP+5, acc+34, atk+27 etc increase. Also the acc+/atk+ values do not include what would come from the str/dex they are kept separate such as, 119 would add an additional +51 acc/atk etc.The D+ column also shows that it is very likely that D+1 started at Lv100 which makes sense and lines up with Lv119 being D+20.

Now for my own testing. Test was done level sync'd to 99 to remove my MLs, but I still had all my job point/gift stats which are +20 acc/+40 atk in job points and gifts are +70 acc, +106 atk, +70 eva, +106 def. My Beckoner's earring is +11 acc and Bunzi Boots are +50 acc which were also used in the test for iLv123 with only the earring and iLv124 which included both. Ambu mantle had 0 pet stats and I used 119 seraphicaller which has no additional accuracy. The stats in the () are the ones that included the bonus from gear.

I only did checkparam stuff as I feel the jp wiki stats are robust enough to trust in so I went and got all of the stats from Lv99, iLv117 to 124 and iLv125 carbuncle. I started at 117 because I was curious if the 117 sachet would be the same as the 119 sachet if you added +2 levels in the gear, and it is. All the sachets are essentially +levels from 99. Another day I will go get Lv100-116 just to have a better spread of stat increases.

All of the 6 primary celestial avatars have identical stats, siren has a consistent +11 defense (is unknown at this time if its due to vit or pure def), fenrir has a +30% atk bonus, and diabolos has a +30% def bonus, those oddities I've bolded. Carbuncle and Cait sith have the exact same stats. And of the elementals only the Light has different stats than the other 7.
Using all of Ifrit's stats side by side, can see that before lv120 he was only getting around 15atk per level but at lv120 and above started to be +28(lv120) +29(Lv121) +30(Lv122) +30(Lv123) and then drops back down to +28 at Lv124. I don't have stage 5 prime so I can't test him at 125.


Additionally, removing my level sync, my smn is ML30 Ifrit gains +45 in all stats, str+30 atk+30(atk+45) etc.What's interesting about this, is back in Aug 2016 update Avatar(and others) VIT calculation was updated
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/51154-Aug.-3-2016-%28JST%29-Version-Update


JP wiki has this value listed as 1.5x and when I equip my rank22 Epitaph that has BP+7 I get +10 defense. But as you can see with MLs the defense is staying at +15 from the +30 vit for a +45 total increase. So it appears the calculation only affects gain conversion from gear not level, at least for avatars.

As additional notes from the JP wiki, it lists the D+ is both physical and ranged as well as there is no change in magic defense bonus between any iLv. Macc and Meva were not tested.

That's it for now, it is time to get back to some limbus, I will grab the numbers for 100-116 another day.

Another augment update, I got extra unlucky, only 1 murky matter this week. Rank 22 gave the next bpd for +7


I did find some twitter posts in the JP community that someone is upgrading the legs, up to rank 20 the augments were the same as the hands. They posted rank 20 and 25-27. Legs are expected to be mab+28 and bpd+10 at rank30. They didn't keep track of rank 21-24 but I presume that bpd+7 also came on his rank 22 and bpd+8 could be rank24 or 25 and mab became a +1 starting at 27.

Rank 25, mab+22 bpd+8


Rank 26, mab+24 bpd+8


Rank 27, mab+25 bpd+9

those still read to me like the mab is player and not pet, has that been checked?

Unless you're hoping for a hidden pet mab stat, that hasn't been physically checked. The augment is player mab

Unless the Player Mab, for this specific set and circumstance, also includes Pet Mab.
That would be... peculiar. I don't think there has ever been something like that before.
The only similar thing I can think of was Pet Attack on some items which also affected Pet Ranged Attack.

I wouldn't put my hopes on that, but I guess we'll find out soon.
In the remote hypothesys that it also applies to Pet, some of these pieces become interesting I suppose.

I have returned as promised.

Lv99-107Lv108-116Lv117-125
There is no big difference between 99 and 119, each level granting give or take 20acc 16atk etc until 120 when it bumps up to 35~acc 28~30atk per level up to 125 as you can see in the ifrit/carbuncle chart. I couldn't get Ifrits 105/112/125 with not having stage 5 opashoro and 126 for carbuncle. I added copyable versions in the spoilers below the chart.

IfritCarbuncle
Edit: To reiterate the test was done level sync'd to 99 to remove my MLs, but I still had all my job point/gift stats which are +20 acc/+40 atk in job points and gifts are +70 acc, +106 atk, +70 eva, +106 def. My Beckoner's earring is +11 acc and Bunzi Boots are +50 acc which were also used in the levels that are labeled with them. Ambu mantle had 0 pet stats and I used 119 seraphicaller which has no additional accuracy. The stats in the () are the ones that included the bonus from gear.

I just ran out to saruta and did some water 4s with Leviathan to some bees

Merlinic no augment is 5bpd 20 pet mab
7452
7452
8015
7434
8248

My rank 22 indom gloves are 7bpd 16 player mab
6740
6962
6757
6962
6979

If there was pet mab the dmg should have been much closer.

I noticed it was waters day so some of those spikes are due to that, I did a couple shiva bliz 4s

Indom
6838
6714

Merlinic
7452

To be quite honest though, even if the mab applied to pet, they wouldn't be better than apogee+1. Path B is pet mab+35 bpd+8, legs and boots have bpd on the piece itself as well as the set bonus for 2 pieces starts at +4 effectively making each piece bpd+10.

Only thing Indom would have over apogee is pet macc and the boots having a pet lv+1. Head and legs are mab+28 and bpd+10 worse than apogee, hands and feet are mab+30 bpd+11 would have been a trade of 5mab for 1bpd in apogees favor. Only the body would be competitive with mab+32 bpd+12

So even if the mab on Indom applied to pets, not much really changes. There's still plenty of value to be found in the sets for smn though.

Hands are new best for phys multi hit pacts as stated by Pergatory.

Boots should be best for single target pacts with the pet lv+1 off setting the 1bpd loss from apogee+1(with set bonus).

Legs can change up some avatar favor sets to make it easier hitting some tiers being worth 60-100 smn magic skill. Edit: These can be NQ 0 augments, small cost of 2matters and 5 shards!

Also a less noticed part of Indom is smn now has more mab, being 68-72 per piece. Previously was Bunzi for +40mab and Nyame +30mab, none on our empy. It should replace quite a bit of nyame for magic ws, garland and cataclysm (this also applies to blm/sch/geo for seraph strike, shadow of death etc)

Now I wouldn't say it's worth it for the avg joe to go out of their way to upgrade Indom set over one of the other sets, but for those of us that are going to anyway, there's some decent usage imo.

I was able to get my gloves to rank 29 this week and the JP player I previously mentioned got legs to rank 30, so this will be the final post of augments.

For the hands the mab became +1 at rank 29 while the legs started +1 at rank 27 and both continuing all they way through to rank 30. Easy to assume the body would be +2mab for every rank 15-30 for a total of +32.

The BPD on the hands started every even# upgrade at rank 20 and ending the +11 at rank 30. The legs differ at rank 26 keeping BPD+8 for 3 upgrades rank24-26 and BPD+9 for 3 from rank 27-29 and finishing bpd+10 at rank 30.

Even though the player who posted the images for the legs just upgrade jumped from 20 to 25, it would appear the augments remain the same at 25 for both the hands and legs. Both getting the bpd+1 upgrade at rank 22 and 24.


Indom Hands Rank 15-29 (Minus 18.. idk and I guess I didn't take english pics of 19/20...)
Indom Legs Rank 20, 25-30
(When I finish my hands next week I will update this post)

If these are accurate, they match the base stat bonuses given to automatons which you can see on their equipment screen:

Level	Bonus	Delta
100	28	-
101	30	2
102	33	3
103	36	3
104	39	3
105	44	5
106	47	3
107	50	3
108	53	3
109	56	3
110	60	4
111	63	3
112	66	3
113	70	4
114	72	2
115	77	5
116	80	3
117	84	4
118	86	2
119	89	3
120	93	4
121	98	5
122	105	7
123	112	7
124	118	6
125	124	6