The Final Fantasy XIV Thread [Dawntrail - 7.00]

[Jason Tandro]

They had to shorten BOTD because it's absolutely trivial to remain in BOTD / LOTD as it is right now. That annoys me but I get it.

Edit: Probably still won't be that hard if you're able to hit your target and you skill speed is high enough. Some fights I can see being a problem are the ones that were tricky anyways like O3 (so much moving around).

No... They lengthened BOTD. It's currently 15sec and it will be changed to 20sec.

Wait. BOTD starts giving you 15 seconds but the max meter is 30 seconds. Is it the initial trigger going up to 20 or the max meter going down to 20?

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Initial trigger from what it sounds like.

 

[Carlie]

I missed the fucking wedding, for some reason my stupid brain thought it was today. I'm so sorry JT, it looks like it was awesome.

 

[Joker]

Just watched a video of a summoner pumping out 4556 dps for a SSS finish on SusanEx. Then a black mage (4710). The best red mage I could find was 4458. I then watched a video of a samurai doing 4837 for same. A difference of 379 dps (8.5%) seems like a fair tradeoff from highest to lowest here.

Sadly, the best dragoon I could find was 4135, which was lower (somewhat) than ninja and (a lot more than) monk, and not much higher than bard and machinist.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

The current highest SMN DPS in SSS on SusanEx is 4653. The player in question is also the author of what is the current how-to manual on 4.0 SMN. But everyone knows SMN never gets that high...

Once you start adding actual boss mechanics though... the 90th percentile of SMN are doing the same DPS as 75th percentile of RDM on Susano (both are around 3425 dps). On Lakshmi it's even worse with 90th percentile of of SMN doing the same DPS as 70th percentile of RDM (3280 DPS). 75th percentile of SMN do 3220 dps on Susano and 3050 dps on Lakshmi...

SMN is like the Dragoon of casters (guess which job it's number's are closest to?). Both have ridiculously long build up and not enough damage to justify that build up. Once your CDs get knocked out of alignment your whole rotation falls apart and it takes at least 60 seconds to get back to some semblance of the normal rotation and that usually means you've set Bahamut back 60 sec and he's a full 10%-15% of your DPS... It just has a really, really different mentality then most other jobs do as the majority of it's damage is locked behind oGCDs and you can only "reset" those oGCDs every 60 sec. So it's got very little leeway if something goes wrong. It's even lost some of it's mobility as Bahamut's AI prioritizes staying close to the Summoner over damage, so in order to get the most out of Bahumt (2x Ahk Morn, 11-12x Wyrmwave) it has to be done where there's 20sec the SMN won't have to be moving.

All that to say, finding out that the potency rewards for your two minute build up is around 2496 potency (11 x 128 potency for Wyrmwave and 2 x 544 potency for Ahk Morn with them adjusted for the pet damage decrease) and that it's around 10-15% of your overall DPS is a tad annoying. Especially when one mistake extends the build-up to three minutes... It only gets worse when compared to BLM's 650 potency every 30sec (Foul) or RDM 550 potency every time they get 80 Black and Red mana... forget them doing comparable/higher potency compared to SMN when SMN has it's optimal rotation... when something throws players out of their optimal rotation, they have a lot less work to do to get their "average" DPS back.

Of course, none of that matters when I join farming groups and find out that I'm out-damaging the Samurai because their rotations aren't even average. And Susano and Lakshmi aren't primals that need high DPS so much as they are primals that need everyone to not screw up the mechanics...

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Patch notes out: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/782e44043959ae82ead5c6745dac3297a0083b69

Job changes (quick and dirty edition):

Tanks: Accessories iLvl 290 and up now have STR! Stance changes do not consume gauge anymore.

Paladin: Holy Spirit gets a potency nerf.

Marauder: Unchained/Inner Release do not cost Beat Gauge anymore. Storm's Path got a potency buff. Steel Cyclone now absorbs HP.

Dark Knight: Souleater got a potency buff. Quietus now restores MP!

Dragoon: BotD initial duration is now 20 sec. Sonic Thrust now increases BotD duration by 10 sec. Dragon Sight's range was doubled. Elusive Jump has 30 sec CD. Lance Mastery potency increased to 100. Mirage Dive's animation lock is shorter.

Ninja: Gust Slash gets a potency nerf.

Machinist: All moves now only raise the Heat Gauge by 5. Quick Reload does not reduce Heat Gauge. Barrel Stabilizer has 60 sec CD. Rook/Bishop Overload potency is doubled.

Black Mage: Fire MP cost reduced. Fire/Blizzard cast time is 2.8 sec. Foul has no MP cost. Triplecast has 60 sec CD.

Summoner: Aethertrail Attunement is always gained when Aetherflow actions are used even if there is no effect. (Yes, really, that's the only change).

White Mage: Cure now adds a Lily 100% of the time. Plenary Indulgence has 150 potency per Confession stack and has 60 sec CD. Confession Stacks now only applied with Medica, Medica II or Cure III 100% of the time. Confession Stack duration is now 10 sec. Confession Stacks apply to player casting Medica, Medica II or Cure III.

Scholar: Emergency Tatctics has 20 sec CD. Indomitability potency buffed. Excogitation potency and duration buffed with CD of 45 sec. Fey Union has increased range. Faerie Gauge increased even if Aetherflow actions have no effect. Aetherflow CD reduced 5 sec every time an Aetherflow ability is used. Miasma II has been added.

Astrologian: The Balance was nerffed to 10% damage boost (5% if AOE). The Spear now raises Critical hit rate by 10% (5% if AOE)! Lightspeed's CD is reduced by 10 sec every time Essential Dignity is cast. The Royal Road effect and Spread card affect can now be removed.

 

[Flintlock]

Balance nerf... I never thought they'd do it. But I'm glad they did. Astro mains are going to be mad but it was totally needed.

Edit: actually I doubt they're even gonna be mad. The Spear is now a useful card and the other changes are good for them too.

 

[Joker]

All they did was revert a buff they made to Balance three or four major patches ago. They can cry me a river.

 

[Lex]

DRG is fixed-ish, huzzah!

Also, O1S Clear, huzzah! Tank and healer accessories dropped but I got my weekly token . Decently challenging IMO. O2S looks to be a buzz too, will be attacking that tomorrow properly but popped in to see it with the group and got the first couple of mechanics down :3

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Spoiler: Bit of a rant... 'cause I'm really tired of people complaining that 4.x Summoner doesn't play like 3.x Summoner did (they're a lot more similar then they are different)...

So I've been doing quite a bit of O1S today (got it down to 5% at enrage). And trying to figure out where to stick Dreadwrym Trance (DWT) and Bahamut (DB) in it got me thinking about why my damage as a 4.x SMN feels so much more lackluster then my damage as a 3.x SMN even though most of the playstyle is similar. And I think it has to do with SMN's rotation length and the location of the high DPS in that rotations vs most other jobs rotation length (except DRG) and how that interacts with most bosses mechanics rotation length. Also, I'm not counting opener's in this, but how most jobs play after the opener is over...

Back in 3.x, SMN's complete rotation length was 60 seconds. The last 15 seconds of which was the high burst phase (DWT). Looking over other job's rotations reveals that most of them were shorter then 60 sec, but they weren't that much shorter either. So every minute, SMN had to find a "safe spot" to deal their burst damage from and even then they could move around pretty easily. And most raid bosses had one major mechanic to deal with every 60 sec as well. So it wasn't that difficult to fit the SMN rotation around the boss mechanics in such a way that DWT didn't happen at the same time the boss mechanic did. It also meant that you could get a feel for what a SMN's average damage over the course of the fight was going to be in 60 sec and could compare that to how much all the other classes did in that same amount of time. It also meant that getting back to doing average damage "only" took 60 seconds.

Now in 4.x.... SMN's complete rotation length is 120 seconds. And the main burst phase is the last 20 seconds of it (DB). There's also two smaller burst phases that happen approximately 45-60 into it and 85-100 seconds into it (DWT). Also, due to DB's AI problems, SMN can't move for that. So every 120 sec, SMN needs to find a time gap in the bosses mechanics to do 20 sec worth of damage in addition to the other gaps they need to find for DWT. And meanwhile, all the other DPS have way shorter rotations and most of their burst phases happen at the start of their rotations rather then the end.
The bosses mechanics rotations haven't changed that much either, but SMN has a lot less leeway to dodge mechanics with then they used to. So in order to compare damage rotations, one SMN rotation is the same length as multiple rotations of the other classes. Also, most of SMNs damage comes from oGCDs, and DOTs, so measuring their rotation is GCDs doesn't work that well.

As for how much the burst does for SMN on a boss... well... on my last set of Lakshmi kills (not counting my damage to the adds), I did 65-70% of my own damage, Garuda did 20-25% and Bahamut did 7-12%. And Bahamut is the so called, burst damage...

As for why this is... anyone who thinks that SMN isn't a DOT or pet class hasn't been looking at where the majority of SMNs damage comes from. From what I've parsed on myself, my pet's auto attacks are around 20% of my total damage and Bio/Miasma III are nearly 10% each, so 40% of my damage is damage that really doesn't depend on me doing anything except casting two spells every 60sec (Tri-Disaster is part of this).

Then you've got Aetherflow skills and the Ruin spells all of which is damage you do... Fester alone is roughly 10% of my damage and Ruin II is 10-15%. As for why Ruin II is used so much... it got a potency buff and Ruin III got a potency nerf and Ruin II is instant cast. It lets us pull the meele trick of single/double weaving all the oGCDs we have, most of which are damaging abilities. The other Ruin spells do contribute, if at a much lower percentage then Ruin II. We're talking 5-7% for Ruin III and 5-7% for Ruin IV. Then finally, there's Deathflare. Deathflare is around 5% of my damage. There's some other skills that get used, but their percentages are much smaller. So much for SMN being a Ruin spamming class!

Bahamut... well, Wrymwave contributes around 5-7% of damage and Ahk Morn is 4-6% damage. So around the same as Ruin III and Deathflare. Yeah. The reason DWT and DB burst have similar numbers is that DWT burst has very different source of damage then DB burst has.

DWT is still alive and well and unnerfed from it's 3.x self, in fact, it's even buffed. It still gives us (and our pets) a 10% damage boost on all the actions we use in it and it still decreases Ruin III's MP cost. It now resets Ti-Disaster's CD and it still ends when Deathflare is used. And this is important when comparing the effect DWT has vs the effect DB has. Bio III and Miasma III snapshot that 10% damage increase so they're now 440 potency spells when cast in DWT with Tri-Disaster. Ruin III is now 165 potency, Ruin II is 110 and Ruin IV is now 220 (add 20 to all the Ruin spells if Runiation is up). Most importantly though, Deathflare itself is really a 440 potency spell and not the 400 potency one it's tooltip says it is. So, SMN is all but guarantied a 440 spell every 60 sec.

Demi-Bahamut works very differently. Instead of boosting the SMNs damage directly, Demi-Bahamut replaces their pet with a higher damaging one that attacks with Wyrmwave when the SMN attacks with single-target damage abilities or oGCDs. With one caviat. Wyrmwave has a 1.5 sec CD. And something as simple as casting Ruin II after Ruin III usually takes less then 1.5 sec. So this leads to single-weaving oGCDs with Ruin II while DB is out. DB also has it's version of Deathflare, only it can be cast twice while DB is out. DB is out for 20 sec, however, he's got a slight de-summon ghosting issue so it's actually a little less then that. With current SS, it's possible to squeeze in around 11-12 Wyrmwaves and 2 Ahk Morns into the DB window and that's if you time everything right (aka, don't move due to Bahamut AI issues).

That's all well and good and from the tooltips, Wyrmwave is 160 potency and Ahk Morn is 680. So you'd think Demi-Bahamut would give around... (11x160) + (2x680) = 3,120 potency.. Only it doesn't. Demi-Bahamut is a pet and like all SMN pets the potencies of his abilities are based off his stats and not yours (which are always lower, current percentage of stats seems to be around 80% of yours). Which on the other pets really isn't a problem. Garuda's auto attacks really do not need to be any higher then the 20% of my damage they already are. But it means that Wyrmwave is probably around 128 potency and Ahk Morn is somewhere around 544 potency. Also, my damage numbers back that up. At 128 potency, Wrymwave is between Ruin II (100 potency) and Ruin III (150 potency) and the average actual damage (non-crit/direct hit)of those is 2,900 (Wrymwave), 2,500 (Ruin II) and 3,700 (Ruin III). If Ahk Morn is 544 potency vs Deathflare's 440 potency then the averages of 11,500 (Ahk Morn) and 10,000 (Deathflare) feel pretty correct. So DB is more like an increase of 2,500 potency.

The Deathflare vs. Ahk Morn potency difference (or lack of) is really the one that gets to me. I've had it happen several times where my Crit's and Direct Hits have heavily favored Deathflare as opposed to Ahk Morn and well... a Direct Hit Deathflare hits like a normal Ahk Morn and a Critical Hit Deathflare hits like a Direct Hit Ahk Morn. And a Direct Critical Hit Deathflare... yup, hits more then a Critical Hit Ahk Morn. Heck, oftentimes Wavewrym contributes more then Ahk Morn does because the crits/direct hits favored it.

So yeah, if it turns out that DWT (as a whole) ends up contributing more damage then DB does, I will not be surprised. Currently, Deathflare and Ahk Morn are about even in how much damage they contribute and Wrymwave is even or higher than them in terms of damage percentage.

Currently, I think the biggest advantage of DB isn't that it's DB, but that it gives more damage to every other DWT build-up. But I kinda feel like what SMN gets for the effort that goes into optimizing the DB window could be better used elsewhere.

Anyway, all that to say that calculating SMN damage to other classes is really weird as their damage spikes so late in a very long rotation. For BLM, they're damage spikes (Foul and Triplecast) are on 30 and 60 sec timers, and for RDM, they're damage spike happens whenever they get to a little over 80 Black/White mana which certainly happens within 60 sec. So trying to compare the mages over a minute for damage output doesn't really work. Also, SMN has a harder time fitting into boss rotations then they used to.

All that said, I still like how SMN plays. It's still got the priority system, it's the class that looses the least DPS when it avoids boss mechanics, the way the phases flow into each other feels very nice once you get the hang of it, Bio/Miasma III finally get sick SFX (literally), both Ifrit and Garuda are now viable, :Lucid Dreaming means we can finally leave Ruin I only for MP emergencies and just use Ruin III most of the time, Atunemnet stacks don't fall off, Atherflow now always procs Atunement, and once you get the boss's rotation down, it's really fun to watch all those Deathflare/Ahk Morns drop down.

Part of it I think, is that I thought the whole "use Atherflow stacks in DWT" SMN meta was way too crazy to deal with and so I never did it. It made getting into the 60 sec rotation harder. Instead I used Atherflow stacks out of DWT which is exactly what we're doing now. So getting the hang of 4.x SMN was mostly just about retraining myself when to refresh Aetherflow in my rotation. Also, I don't feel the loss of Sustain that badly. I wasn't in the habit of using Titian for solo content though so... maybe there's something I'm missing? Ice II on the other hand... yup... never playing any content below Lvl 52 (level you get Painflare) as a SMN if I can help it.

Dungeon running at lvl 70 is really fun as SMN. You pretty much treat the whole dungeon as one long boss fight and replace all the Fester casts with Painflare. Unless your tank likes huge pulls which then Bane is actually worth it. Also, since mob HP has been increased, Deathflare gets pulled out at least once a pull, so that makes up for the Bane nerf. Also, Ifrit is now really good in dungeons especially if you're with a physical DPS. Actually, I'll even pull out Ifrit on trials/raids if I"m the only magical DPS. Unlike Garuda who has to be micro-manged, Ifrit can be put on Sic with little DPS loss. So less oGCDs for me to watch and he's near the meele DPS which makes Devotion actually hit them.

As far as changes I do want to see...

Fixing Bhamut's AI is the biggest one. Currently, it prioritizing following the SMN over damage and both of it's attacks have a 100 yalm range which is bigger then most boss arenas. It's also the only part of the SMN kit that forces them to stay in one location. So fixing it would give SMN back their mobility as well as giving them more reasons to get DB out even when mechanics are going on. What does have a range is Ahk Morn, but even that is 25 yalms, the same range as Rouse, and it's only in the huge areas of 24-man raids that I've ever run into any issues with Rouse's range.

Speaking of pet AIs... the reason the current one feels so annoying is that pets' "auto attacks" are like Ruin I and not Ruin II. In other words, pet's can't single-weave oGCDs, they have to wait for the cast to finish before using an oGCD. In other words, they're like Black Mages before they get Firestarter.

Spoiler: Then there's the damage that comes with Bahamut...

to put it simply, I really don't think it's worth a two minute build-up for the damage it gives us. What really makes it worth it, is that it's not an "extra phase" so much as it's a tool to used along side building up for the next DWT and it's up every other DWT.

What makes DWT so good is how it synergies with Tri-Disaster (takes it off CD), Rouse, Contagion, and Shadow Flare (same CD length), and Enkindle (up every other DWT). So there's a lot of natural alignment there. Oh, and it's our own personal 15 sec Balance that's on a 60 sec cd... on a class that gets 20% of their Damage from DOTs.

DB is awkward because it replaces our pet and makes it so we can't use any of it's abilites, which on the one hand is one more thing to optimize, but on the other... do we really need to wait 2 Minutes for 10% of our damage? Deathflare gives us half of that and it's up every minute. As for how problematic this is, finishing a trial before DB ends robs us of a significant portion of our rotations' damage (example: Lakshmi takes an average of 9 min to kill and I only get to summon Bahamut 4 times, but DWT gets used 9 times). I'd honestly be okay with Bahamut losing damage and DWT getting more (2 Deathflares instead of 1?) since that would mean my rotation isn't as lopsided as far as the DPS go.

Realistically speaking... DB is a buff that gives us flat damage when we do an action that does damage for the next 11 actions that is up every 120 seconds. And it'd be as if we had Verholy and Verflare on 120sec CDs and they were always synced up to be 13 seconds apart from each other. And this is the biggest source of burst damage the class has. If there's any other class that has to wait 2 minutes to get 10% of their damage off, I'd like to know.

Let's just say I want to see the DB phase do more then just reward single-oGCD weaving with 10% of your overall damage every 2 minutes. Or if it's going to remain that, then at least move some of the damage somewhere else in the rotation so SMN can at least pick when they want their burst phase to be. 'Cause currently you're getting the burst phase every 2 min whether you like it or not and that's long enough to skip whole boss phases (like not getting DB out in the first phase of Susano).

Devotion... The funniest thing I find about this ability is that Dragoon's hate having to target people (hy healer's mouse-over macro's think they know how to solve this) with a similar abiltiy (okay, it's more serious then that, they get their own personal Balance too) while Summoner's really want to be able to aim it. Or at the very least, limit it to the closest DPS role in the party first? This really isn't that hard to make miles better then it currently is without making it unbalanced either. 'Nough said.

Ruin IV... This procs often enough that I never find myself wondering when the next one will be coming. In fact, it almost procs too often. Summoner is an oGCD class and likes single/double weaving and Ruin IV has a cast time. Ruin II does not and most of the oGCDs SMN casts with Ruin II more then make up for the 100 potency difference between the two. I feel like removing the cast time of this and having it upgrade Ruin II instead of Ruin I and Ruin III would cause me to use it more and therefore clear the Ruin IV buff to get more Ruin IV procs. But compared to the other changes, this is more a QOL change then anything else.

Anyway... sorry for the rant/info dump... felt good to get it off my chest though...

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Got both O1S and O2S cleared!

 

[AvecAloes]

Nice! I'm still trying for my O2S clear! Had a great learning party earlier today, so tomorrow I'll be focusing on clear parties in the PF.

 

[Lex]

We got through O1S and O2S in half an hour today after starting, which was nice. O3S is a hoot.

Our MT got the 240 feet drop and bracelet drop from each, lucky swine. I managed to get an upgrade drop so I can buy the 230 ring and upgrade it to 240, which is also nice. I considered keeping it for the waist but the tome waist for DRG is fucking trash :/

Think I'll save my O1S clear tokens for the waist if it doesn't drop, idk. Depends. Decisions etc. The other piece of gear that dropped from O1S was the NIN headpiece, which is annoying because our static has no NIN. Ugh.

Anyway moar O3S tomorrow.

 

[Jason Tandro]

So I have always wanted to try out each race and a mix of genders as I mentioned earlier well today I decided to capitalize on that before the EXP bonus lets up. Here is my roster:

Spoiler: Ad Naseum Detail You Probably Don't Care About

JASON TANDRO
Function: My Main Character
World: Cerberus
Role: DRG / SAM but levelling all others as well.
Race: Hyur - Highlander
Sex: Male
Lodestone Page: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/10107861/

THIBAULT STORMRUNNER
Function: My Secondary / Simultaneous Levels
World: Omega
Role: SCH, but really any role since all are levelling at the same rate.
Race: Au Ra - Xaela
Sex: Male
Lodestone Page: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/18305021/

DENDE LITTLEGREEN
Function: Mr. Speedrun / The Lalafell Fun Guy
World: Omega
Role: PLD Only - Yes, I am going to force myself to learn to tank properly.
Race: Lalafell - Dunesfolk
Sex: Male
Lodestone Page: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/19015021/

T'SARI ALWORTH
Function: Loyalist Run - Only Will Learn Gridanian Jobs
World: Lousioux
Role: BRD, but eventually will learn other Gridanian Jobs.
Race: Elezen - Wildwood
Sex: Female
Lodestone Page: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/19018222/

GEMINI WASTERIDER
Function: Casual Run
World: Zodiark
Role: MNK and maybe a few others.
Race: Mi'qote, Keeper of the Moon
Sex: Female
Lodestone Page: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/19018338/

AULA NORTHWIND
Function: Troll Run
World: Lich
Role: WAR
Race: Roegadyn - Sea Wolf
Sex: Female
Lodestone Page: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/19018444/

To sum up my main character is Jason Tandro and he's the one I'll devote the most time to whenever new content comes out. My secondary is Thibault Stormrunner who I will be playing simultaneous levelling with while I wait for the next patch (and in between my weeklies with JT). With the EXP bonus, getting to Level 30 in a day in any given class is paltry. You can do it with crafting classes in about two hours if the have the materials. My tertiary character is Dende Littlegreen (yes DBZA reference) who I made to have a Lalafell on the Omega FC that I joined. He's going to be my speed run - I will play through the game solely as a PLD (for now anyways). I'm hoping this focus will force me to learn to be a solid tank, a role I've dreaded.

My three ladies have unique functions as well though I will be spending the least amount of time on them - like a couple hours every month little. T'SARI ALWORTH is doing what I call a "Loyalist Run" where I only learn the jobs from the starting city-state of Gridania (so BRD, DRG, WHM, CRP, LTW and BOT). GEMINI WASTERIDER is doing a casual run where I won't join any FC, static or in any other way obligate myself to anything I don't feel like doing. Basically my chill character. AULA NORTHWIND is straight up a troll character who will run naked through the fields bringing her axe down on anything that looks at me funny and dancing around the streets of Limsa Lominsa for gil.

 

[Tennyo]

So I downloaded a free trial and made a cat girl black mage. :3

 

[Jason Tandro]

I started with a free 3-day trial and by the second one I told my wife "honey, i may have to get this". Been playing ever since. That was like... 3 years ago.

 

[Flare]

Thankfully the free trial lasts indefinitely now <3 Obviously with its limits but, I got almost a month of playtime I think before I had to buy the game and subscribe!

 

[AvecAloes]

My first character was a BLM, and I have my second character up to a level 60 BLM, so if you have any questions, I'm happy to help





ALMOST cleared O2S today. The group I was with was good, and we probably would hate cleared it with one or two more tries (seriously we saw 1% before we hit enrage), but I had to leave for a stupid workout

 

[Joker]

Flint, Lex, Jecht and I did some maps today and went to the Lost Canals of Uznair three (?) times. The last time, we actually made it to (and beat) the final room, which was a first for me, having barely done any Aquapolis

Spoiler: pic related

bigger pic

 

[Flare]

I said I'd write up my reaction/thoughts to the story events after The Vault dungeon. Sooo here I go. o.o

Spoiler

Well okay, it's largely all about Haurchefant

I'm not okay with him dying. Not one bit. ;-; Because I love Haurchefant. I feel like he's a true friend.
I thought he was a dork at first and even misread my character's expression at one point when chatting with him before HW even started (he was talking and walked behind her and she gives this 'oh no' or whatever expression, like she didn't want him so close?? IDKbut it gave me the wrong impression like she thought he was really crushing on her and didn't like it... >__>) But except for that one scene with my character's odd expression, Haurchefant slowly became... well, someone to rely on.

I always figured he was a genuine good guy. He just kinda gave that vibe and proved it as things got worse and worse for the Scions. The end of 2.x and the beginning of HW was amazing, and I absolutely loved how the Warrior of Light and Alphinaud go to Haurchefant in basically their darkest hour. And what does he do, he somehow keeps a smile and this warm glow when he's talking to them both and offers to use that very spot as their new base of operations (the Falling Snows awww).

And y'know when ya'll were talking about shipping your characters a while back, well I subtly started shipping mine with Haurchefant during and after those cutscenes. Was half-tempted to write a little something about it.

So like. Haurchefant is that trusted companion. He's reliable and loyal, he somehow finds a way to cheer you up when you're feeling like shit. He's the Warrior of Light's bro. I feel like he had a thing for my character almost the entire time, even though he fully looks to her as a dear friend. They had a bond that developed, at first it was more from him and his insistence (my WoL is usually more subtle and doesn't dive into friendships... and neither do I XD) but there was nothing I could do to stop from just thinking of Haurchefant as my bro.
And now he's dead. I'm going to sound mean here but I think I would've preferred for Nanamo to remain dead and Haurchefant to live more than the other way around (I really like Nanamo though and am happy she's alive, but I liked the darker aspect/idea of her having been killed that night instead, right in front of the WoL).
But idk Haurchefant's death suited him. Protecting his arguably closest friend from dying in the way he ends up dying.
I'm feeling sad about it all. I really loved his character. Now my WoL is all feeling vengeful and is gonna pay back the bastards that did it. >___>

And, as a last thing: His death was, sadly, not a surprise to me. I was actually spoiled by it a week or so ago. I got a group together from the Cerberus Discord to do a dungeon with me for my first time (it was later at night). They agreed and were really awesome, helped me out patiently even though my internet was shitty and disconnected me four times from the dungeon.
Anyhow I hung with them the next day for some PotD stuff, and before we started, went afk for a few minutes. Came back, and staring at me in the chatbox was one of them saying something like 'omg I just saw Haurchefant (a character that looked like him), he's back from the dead"
>___>
<___<
I don't like spoiling myself. I said something in the chatbox about "uhh please watch spoilers guys, I've only been to blah blah" Like hello you guys just helped me do a dungeon for the first time last night and this shit hasn't happened.
I guess that's what I get for playing with people I don't know extremely well.


But, tl;dr, even though it wasn't a surprise... that doesn't make it any less sad.

Haurchefant </3

 

[Flintlock]

Spoiler: Response to Flare

I love Haurchefant.

That puts you in a very small group of people that includes you and just about everyone else who's ever played this game. Including me. The story has made me cry on I think four occasions now and that was one of them.

I absolutely loved how the Warrior of Light and Alphinaud go to Haurchefant in basically their darkest hour. And what does he do, he somehow keeps a smile and this warm glow when he's talking to them both and offers to use that very spot as their new base of operations (the Falling Snows awww).

That's also one of my favourite lines of the game.

And, as a last thing: His death was, sadly, not a surprise to me. I was actually spoiled by it a week or so ago. I got a group together from the Cerberus Discord to do a dungeon with me for my first time (it was later at night). They agreed and were really awesome, helped me out patiently even though my internet was shitty and disconnected me four times from the dungeon.
Anyhow I hung with them the next day for some PotD stuff, and before we started, went afk for a few minutes. Came back, and staring at me in the chatbox was one of them saying something like 'omg I just saw Haurchefant (a character that looked like him), he's back from the dead"
>___>
<___<
I don't like spoiling myself. I said something in the chatbox about "uhh please watch spoilers guys, I've only been to blah blah" Like hello you guys just helped me do a dungeon for the first time last night and this shit hasn't happened.
I guess that's what I get for playing with people I don't know extremely well.

That really sucks. Hopefully it was just an accident and they apologised for it. Just so you know, the spoiler policy on the Cerberus Discord only applies to the latest major patch, which is currently 4.0, Stormblood. That's not to say we're OK with people deliberately spoiling stuff for new players but you might want to watch out in #chitchat.

 

[Jason Tandro]

*Hug Flare.

My friend Raini told me there was a group of people waiting outside to give hugs on her server.

 

[AvecAloes]

Ugh, Flare, yeah. That part was rough.


In happier thoughts, I FINALLY GOT MY O2S CLEAR

 

[Flare]

@Flint

Spoiler

That puts you in a very small group of people that includes you and just about everyone else who's ever played this game. Including me. The story has made me cry on I think four occasions now and that was one of them.

;____;
Might have to do fanart of him.

That really sucks. Hopefully it was just an accident and they apologised for it. Just so you know, the spoiler policy on the Cerberus Discord only applies to the latest major patch, which is currently 4.0, Stormblood. That's not to say we're OK with people deliberately spoiling stuff for new players but you might want to watch out in #chitchat.

I really think it was just a slip up, players who've been around for years not even thinking of the newbie and spoilers as they chatted in party chat. As soon as I said 'no spoilers pls' they stopped that topic and did the kind of 'what spoilers, nope, no spoilers' cover up or whatever. they never said anything else about it so that's nice. I also think they're decent people in general, which helps. Just a mistake ._.

And yeah I've been thinking about that Cerberus Discord. Most the people in it have played all of SB and inadvertently they'll mention or chat or joke about previous story events. Thankfully (or not lol) the only thing I've been spoiled on has been the Haurchefant stuff. But I might have to limit my time in there, I hate it when I accidentally get spoiled, it seems to happen to me once per story I delve into

 

[Knuxson]

Having major FFXIV withdrawals. I moved at the end of last week and my ISP cannot have my service turned on at the new place until Friday still.