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

Ok, buckle down, this is going to be a lenghty one.

Taking Verda's Set (56% BPD, 321 pet Mab) (ignoring Job Points!!)My set (but Espi Path C): (56% BPD, 298 Pet: Mab) (ignoring Job Points!!)So for the multiplier we get from pet mab and bpd, between our two sets, we have same bdp, but a difference of 23 Pet: Mab. That results in a ~1% difference (54.41/56.57) for that part of the equation.

For shits and giggles, if Verda swapped his/her Espi to a Nirvana: (96% BPD, 181 pet Mab)The bonus of nirvana however comes to more than that.. And so we move to pDIF.

So pDIF will end up between 0.5 and 4.2. If you are attack starved as we can assume you will be on higher level content:

Basically, if you have a pDIF of 1.0, a crit will bump it to 2.0 doubling the dmg. If you were floored at 0.5, a crit will bump it to 1.5, tripling the dmg in comparison. AKA, the more attack starved you are, the better crit is.

This is why Kusamochi (pet: atk ~113) give much better result than grape daifuku (pet: mab+14) As you saw above, the return of 23 pet Mab was accounting for ~1% change. But if for example your avatar has 1000 atk, and the monster has 1500 def.. you have a 0.66 pDIF however, raising atk to 1113 brings your pDIF to 0.742, a 8.2% increase. This is also why dia2 (or 3) and Crimson Howl are very good / important.

Now that isn't happening like that actually.. That would be the case if your avatar was the same level as the monster. Which it is not. And that's where the Nirvana comes back in since we have to account for the level correction.

So if you are fighting something iLvl 130 and your pDIF is something like 1.0. (Again, not accounting for Job Points) Not sure if with verda's set the pDIF would actually be 1.0, before level correction, but just using that number to keep it simple.

pDIF Corrected Espi = 1.0 - 0.05*(130-119) = 0.45 (floored to 0.5)
pDIF Corrected Nirv = 1.0 - 0.05*(130-121) = 0.55

So we end up with:
And that's why you see the Nirvana starting to pull ahead with a higher multiplier on higher level monster. And I'm not even accounting for the fact that the 1.0 pDIF(not corrected) would not be the same in both cases since the lvl 121 avatar would have more STR, thus getting more atk, and haveing a slightly higher pDIF before the correction.

BaseDmg can be estimated roughly like this:

BASE DAMAGE = (AVATARS LEVEL * 0.74) - MONSTER VIT/4**

**not sure if this part is right anymore

Assuming you have the acc to land all hits.

References:
* http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Calculating_Blood_Pact_Damage
* http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Level_Correction_Function_and_pDIF
* http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Calculating_Weapon_Skill_Damage
* http://ffxiclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/FSTR
* https://www.bluegartr.com/threads/114636-Monster-Avatar-Pet-damage?p=5584624&viewfull=1#post5584624

FC has fTP of 14:
* https://www.bluegartr.com/threads/114636-Monster-Avatar-Pet-damage?p=6013850&viewfull=1#post6013850

And back then Byrth's question of "The question is now "why was Flaming Crush worse than Predator Claws ever?" It's probably related to the MACC part that was lacking a lot back then. I am not sure where the MACC/MEVA scaler comes in the function but since its all multiplications it could probably be tacked on the end of the magic part of the formula and should be in the ball park.


That's really simplifying it but still somewhat right. Since the magic portion gets scaled by the pDIF (formula above) and the pDIF is determined purely on the physical hits's attributes then one can say its scaled by the physical hits, however, missing hits is like putting the pDIF to 0 (for that hit, multiplying by 0 = no dmg for that hit) which is different that landing a hit on an invincible target.

If target is invincible, pDIF is still calculated normally, then it mults the magic dmg(see above formula), however you are not adding in the physical hits number in the calculation since they are zero'd out. FC is 2 phys hits, followed by a magical one (easy to test, FC gives avatar 2hits worth of TP.)

So to summarize, phys. hits are ADDED to the total dmg, but the amount of attack and str and all that physical stuff will determine the pDIF scaler for the magical part. Even if the phys. land on physical invincible for 0 dmg, the pDIF is calculated and at worse, floored to 0.5 (its non-zero) so you'll always have a bit of dmg from the magical part on invincible target.

FC is actually 3 physical hits, even though it only gives TP for 2. Byrth mentioned this in the thread about fTP of 14. I suspect the game may be rolling the last hit in with the magic hit when calculating TP return, and maybe that's why it doesn't give TP.

Also, I'm curious where you got the Flaming Crush formula as well. Sorry if I missed that in your sources, but I didn't see it.

If I'm reading correctly, you're saying only the first hit of FC has any affect on the magic hit's damage? I feel fairly certain there's more to it than that. I believe critting all 3 hits is essential to a high damage magic hit, not just critting the first hit. I don't have any math to back it up, just 12 years of Summoner intuition. :)

Nonetheless, I'm tickled to see discussion on stuff like this, thanks Elizabet!

http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/45010/best-flaming-crush-gearset/#2754185

Missed a link. And Verda, the constant 6 and 8 in the above formula are where the individual hits are registered, see page 5 of the monster/avatar/pet dmg thread. IE: 6parts first hit, 1 part 2nd hit, 1 part 3rd hit, 6 parts magical.

I don't have much to offer this Flaming Crush discussion except that FC only takes away 2 Utsusemi shadows. Might mean nothing but I figured I'd mention it.

Hello guys

i just my Espiritus staff fo smn and i wonder what path do i need to do to bet my current Keruanos "BP DMG +9", "Pet:DA+2 and crit hit rate+2", "pet:mab +21".

Regarding Malboro NM in Reis. Tried solo'ng it a few times for the head and ammo as suggested on here.

Total tries were around 7. Failed on all of them.

Trusts used were IrohaII, King of Hearts, Gessho, churekiki, and Apupu(UC)

Sometimes as soon as I pop it and try to engage it.It would 2-3shot and boom dead. I would later RR and wait until unweak and do it again, dropping it to 90%, 60%, and sometimes 40%. Only once did I drop it to 9%.

I noticed that it gets rather messy after the first AF+AC were the NM stuns/terrors the mages and Gessho is left there with no healing. As soon as I pop revitalizer to use AF+AC again, my trusts would be dead and it would 1 shot me.

I position myself behind it with Ifrit and the trusts infront of it.

Any suggestions?

People will say different things, but with such a nice Keraunos I'd go path B on espiritus.
That way you're gonna use Keraunos for both Phys and Magical BPs, and Espiritus for Wards and debuff BPs.

What do you use smn for? How many Job Points do you have? MACC is getting very important these days on anything 129+ ... Especially if you are trying to solo thing / don't have a geo and even then on some stuff the extra MACC on Path C can give you better returns...

We've already established that 1BPD roughly equals 1 pet:MAB for magic BP. So in that case you are looking at 6 BPD vs 19Mab and 20 Macc. So there is no contest there.

For Flaming Crush, your Keraunos and a Path C Espi should be much closer... I'd probably still use the Espi though.

No we haven't? I think... °_°'''
I mean, it kinda depends a lot on how much BP dmg and how much pet:Mab you have in the rest of your gear.
Sure there's a threshold where it's exactely 1:1, but above that threshold 1 BPD is worth more than 1pet:mab, and pretty confident below that threshold is the other way around.

For instance, ruling macc out for a second, I'm getting noticeably better numbers from an 8BPD/19mab/6CritDA Keraunos than a Path A Espiritus (or was it Path C? I forgot... sorry)
Rest of my gear is nothing special though.
Using Enticer's (perf augs) on legs slot, 119 af3 in body slot, and averagely augmented Helios in Feet, Hands and Head slot.
Plus the 2 BPD earrings and a 3-4 BPD cape.

Not that much actually, its a few pages back in this very thread...

Which is why my stance is that its worth sacrificing 6 BPD for 20 MACC and 19 MAB (in his staff dilema) for any Magic BP, and FC even if in the case of FC it would be a close match.

Are you buffing your trusts with earthen armor before fight? This helps alot and i also give them haste II and soothing current. For tank i like using August and i wouldn't use king of hearts he does do dia 3 but i dont think he does distract like koro moro for evasion down on enemy which is very important in case the malboro levels up. On bgwiki says he seems to agro shift to anyone doing magic damage which would explain why after i do my double sc on it that involves x2 flaming crush ifrit would take hate and die sometimes before my astral conduit is done forcing me to resummon him and reapply warcry on before doing next conduit. I have soloed 8/12 of the nm's so far and on some of them i prefer using ramuh over ifrit. I will list the nm's i have soloed and which avatar i liked using for it. Also depending on the nm i either open up with shattersoul to setup double sc with ifrit or i use garland of bliss if i plan on using ramuh.

Belphegor - I prefer using ramuh on him. Flaming crush for me does not do that much better than volt strike on this guy. I rather keep this guy in stun lock to keep my tank alive long as possible.

Crom Dubh - I use ifrit. Again earthen armor very important on this guy but i cast it for every nm i do. Make sure to posistion ifrit behind him as putting him infront will cause you to do very little damage from him blocking hits of fc with shield. My ifrit always takes agro on this guy during astral conduit so i am forced to use meteor strike till ifrit dies or trust tank takes agro back. Its hard for me to land shattersoul at the start for double sc on this nm even with acc gear and fighters drink so i just stick with garland of bliss to give him the defense down.

Golden kist - Have not tried solo but dont think i would be able to. Did him with group and fenrir impact seems best on him if you are on smn. But i prefer being on sch for this nm.

Kabandha - Only soloed once but is very difficult solo as trusts die early on due to the death gaze. I use x2 trust tanks on this to try and buy me some time. The gaze is not single target all trusts looking at him will die so i try to posistion one tank infront and one behind it to allow me more time to fight before have to start kiting it. I didn't find flaming crush that effective compared to the other nm's i use ifrit on. I needed to kite him for couple mins before finally defeating him. Having precast gear for stoneskin and blink during kiting is very helpful.

Mauve-wristed Gomberry - have not tried solo yet i have only killed with group but im going to try and solo this with bst before i try smn. As a smn ramuh is best choice on him. Shock squall to stun adds is helpfull. If astral conduit is up while adds out you can spam thunderspark to help deal damage on adds. Although thunderspark is a low level bp it can still do some decent damage with enough gear. If you are lucky you can take him to around 50% hp before adds come out. Him summoning adds counters astral conduit since you cant deal damage to him while adds are out. Ritual bind will paralyze you which can also can screw up astral.

Oryx - I have killed on both my smn and bst but i prefer using bst on this one. As smn i tried putting ramuh infront to break horn as bgwiki says crit ws will break horn and cause him to lose his 50% pdt so i thought maybe a crit bp would break horn but i was not successful. Putting your pet infront will also cause pet to get amnesia. Possible to do on smn even if dont break horn but astral conduit x2 will not kill this nm unless you manage to break his horn first i guess. On smn i almost timed out since couldnt break horn. At the moment i just kill this much faster on my bst. Coming /whm or /sch is better so you can fix paralyze and silence status on npc's.

Sabotender Royal - Have not tried yet as solo but i think it would be easy kill since takes nice damage from fire damage. Ifrit would be my choice of avatar on this. Shattersoul + flaming crush for fragmentation + another flaming crush for light skillchain will destroy this nm.

Sang Buaya - Have not tried solo yet and i cant recall how well flaming crush did on him. This nm spams stun so would counter astral conduit easily. With a group i didnt seem to stun him with volt strike i would have to test and see if its possible to stun lock him with ramuh for astral conduit.

Selkit - Have soloed with Ramuh. Ramuh will keep him stun lock with volt strike. He will rarely get a tp move off.

Taelmoth the Diremaw - Easy kill with ifrit. Need to do magic damage to break shield which flaming crush will easily do. This is currently my go to nm for stone farming have killed him so many times.

Zduhac - Have soloed with ramuh. This nm like selkit you want to keep in stun lock which is very easy with volt strike. If he does get a dread wind off it will terror you and counter your astral conduit so make sure you time your bp's during astral conduit well. But its easy nm other than that.

Right now im using marquetry staff for debuffs Avatar: Magic Accuracy+35 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+110 "Blood Pact" damage +3
i need to check path B thanks i hope augments can bet that +35 magic acc

edit: Griovalor augments:
best tier of each augment i've seen is:
+10 bpd
+15 int
+30 MAB
+30 MACC

BPD is a rarer augment, good luck getting it and all the above in one roll, I've already dropped ~500 stones into it and my best is:

+4 BPD
+9 STR
+27 MACC
+26 MAB

Guess Espiritus would only be good enough for Guaranteed Augments. I put Summoning Skill +15 on mine. I see many people debating to themselves whether to go one path or another. I'm thinking that getting 2 staves may be a reasonable answer, especially for those who know how to use Gear Swap.

there's two options for +15 skill staves now, unfortunately exemplar doesn't have the macc of espiritus.

This is technically true but also a bit misleading. Both were created equal; The first point of each adds a straight 1% damage boost. However, their equality vanishes if you don't have equal amounts of each.

We're at a spot where we're able to get 5 times as much Pet:MAB as BPD. This makes BPD considerably more valuable than Pet:MAB. I think right now for magic BPs, 1 BPD is equal to roughly 3 Pet:MAB.

So the 6 BPD difference should be worth about 18 MAB. Going to Path A Espiritus you'd have a relative bonus of about +11 MAB but you'd lose 5 MAcc. Going for Path B Espiritus, you'd come out roughly equal on damage (6 BPD vs 19 MAB is a toss-up) but gain 15 MAcc. Either way I'd agree that Espiritus comes out on top.

I threw one dark matter at Merlinic Jubbah, got CHR+2 Attack+6 Magic Accuracy +3.

It didn't even let me specify pet stats, it just rolled it.

Don't waste your gil.

I had to add up all the JP+Gift things, And I didn't think I saw it listed anywhere. So I thought I'd share.

+100 Pet base stats *Astral Flow*
+20%Blood Pact Damage/Blood Pact WARD Duration *Astral Conduit*
-10 Blood Pact Timer II
+90 Pet Accuracy
+90 Pet Magic Accuracy
+126 Pet Attack
+100 Pet Magic Damage
+60 Blood Pact Damage
+36 Pet Magic Attack Bonus
+36 Pet Magic Defense Bonus
+106 Pet Defense
+70 Pet Evasion
+70 Pet Magic Evasion
+36 Summoning Magic Skill
**Master Job Gift** 45 min 1-hr Timers

Did anyone test yet if the Duration from Conduit would affect Perfect Defense? (would if I had the JP for it)

Hey guys

Help to decide which piece is better for flaming crush and which one for Magic BP

first i got Merlinic Dastanas

Augments #1 are name="Merlinic Dastanas", augments={'Pet: Int +4 Accuracy+16 Pet: Rng. Acc.+16','Pet: Crit.hit rate +4', ,'Pet: Mag. Acc.+15','Pet: "Mag.Atk.Bns."+14')

Im thinking about use this for my Flaming Crush set i had

Helios gloves with BP dmg+7, Pet: crit hit rate +4 and mab +26

but i got another gloves with : name="Merlinic Dastanas", augments={'Blood Pact Dmg.+10','Pet: Mag. Acc.+14','Pet: "Mag.Atk.Bns."+15',}}

i think first pair for flaming crush repplacing helios but im losing 2 bp dmg but getting 8 pet mab

third pair is very good too bp dmg +10

I'd use the 3rd pair:
name="Merlinic Dastanas", augments={'Blood Pact Dmg.+10','Pet: Mag. Acc.+14','Pet: "Mag.Atk.Bns."+15',}}

For just about any bloodpacts rage.

I have trouble finding the soure, but I am pretty sure I read somewhere from official sources that it doesn't.

Apart from that, for some peculiar reason, Perfect Defense is classified as Rage pact.
See: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Perfect_Defense

guys i dont know if this was disscused already but

is that new smn cape "Scintillating Cape" any good? im thinking about swap my back piece for this one on flaming crush to add 3% more crit hit.

Jury is still out, if you've got a BPD+5 Conveyance.

If you don't, then yeah it's worth using.

I was wondering about this too. I got this cape from the box a few weeks ago, but I have a 5% BP cape with max -BP2 on it, so Scintillating would have to be quite good to use up another inventory slot for.