4 Summoners

[Mokoi]

Hi all, I h\played for a few days on a server I didnt want to play on, since the EA servers were totally full, and I couldnt go where I wanted.

I ran 4 Arcanist, and the summon pets are pretty cool. The tank peta are particularly good, and I am finding the content easy enough so far.

I am lvl 20 though, and even though I could kill Ifrit after learning the mechanics a bit, it was pretty tough, and at about the limit of what my characters could DPS through and heal through. It was pretty fun, and really gave me the sense I was working towards a goal, and then succeeding.

I find the solo-duty quests pretty easy, I just start them all at the same time, broadcast mouse and keys with ISboxer, and tab target to win. Also, sometimes my guys fail, they die or an NPC dies, but so far that's only happened on one duty i had an issue with, and I figured out the gimmick after paying attention to one screen, and then did the other 3 at the same time afterwards.

Has anyone else gone the 4 summmoner route? what have you done?

Who else? share EA and first day experiences!

[Meeo]

while i was getting 3102 the last few days, i setup a 4 Arcanist group to test my macros and get situated for when i start boxing on my main server. Since my main toon is almost 38, i will probably start boxing a new 4 team, once i get my main to 50.

Its interesting indeed, the exp bonus is great, major plus for grouping. It fairly easy to do the first few dungeons. Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak may be problematic for multi-boxers as there is a lot of movement and killing adds (usually have 1 off-dps do this), not to mention cleansing everyone's poison. With a lot of practice it should be do-able though. Its not impossible.

I tried testing the in-isboxer assist and broadcast setup for FTL, its very clunky in the game, so i switched over to in-game /assist /ac macros for my abilities. Is this the route most are taking?

[keteran]

I have been running 4 arcanists for the past couple days, loving it so far. I still have to set up healing but mashing heal on everyone at the same time has worked so far .

At first I was using an in game assist macro but I put it in isboxer so when my main guy died (seems to happen alot for me) I can swap to one of the others. Its a bit clunky like Meeo says but most of the time it works fine. My dps key does an assist for whichever slot I am currently on then sends the dps key to all windows.

On another note is anyone having problems with screens going black when swapping? the game shows up fine until I swap to it then its black. Seems to happen after leaving the game open for a bit.

[Meeo]

I got that black screen a few times, i figured it was me doing something wrong but to hear you say something about means i need to keep track of the situation and details around when it happens more.

Yeah i have not died so much yet with my main arcanist yet. Are you using the assist hotkey or you using a /assist macro hotkey inside isboxer also are you using any step-delay to the target slot+assist? My only issue with it is the target flipping when i press the assist/broadcast key. It probably be a lot smoother if i made a seperate assist off my keys that way i can also kill a few things at once.

[Baltyre]

For heal, i use something like this :

And my assist target only work for "all others in AssistActif Group"

[Meeo]

I'm curious, what does your assist setup look like as well, the isboxer assist i seem to have a timing issue with my arcanists that they don't always target the mobs right. Could be a timing issue on my part. When i use in-game assist, then its really not an issue.

[Mokoi]

Well, as a quick update, I just hit lvl 30, and finished my Summoner quest line, and I started playing them. They are beastly for single-targets, and as long as you can keep one tank pet up and alive, you can solo almost any boss level fate, and shouldnt have any problems with other fates. The only issue is AOE. Currently SMN AoE sucks. You can spread your diseases to all targets, but the range is quite small, and in most situations, its hard to get adds in an instance so close to the boss without getting AOE'd by the boss etc.

I have had a lot of fun with this team though, and I am not about to quit. But the thing is, they are SO MUCH FUN!

That's what the game is about.

im going to be trying for a gladiator and 3x THM now... see how that goes.

[Lyonheart]

im going to be trying for a gladiator and 3x THM now... see how that goes.

I have not got a fix on the best team make up yet.. but i having been leveling my future warrior. I think i will get his warrior job opened up.. then start his pre-reqs for Paladin ( he is 27 maur/15 glad atm, so 3 levels to first job ).. i would like to play both tanks and see what works best. But im thinking, for simplicity sake, of doing War/Pal white mage and two black mages..but might just do the whole mixed class thing and add an archer or summoner in place of one black mage. ( i think 2 ranged dps will work better.. the melee dps have too much positional abilities )

I am having a lot of fun playing one toon atm.. i am enjoying this game way more than i expected. Not sure why either! Its just that good i guess 8)

[Mokoi]

Yeah, I agree. The game is just... fun.

I love PvP and thats about the only reason I usually play a game. Even though there have been promises of PvP for ARR in the future, honestly it doesn't even bother me if it sucks like in FFXI. I really have been enjoying the gameplay, and the quests, the FATEs.

It's really clunky, and so hard to control sometimes, but if you can get past that, it's enjoyable.

[Meeo]

After running several of the Hardmodes(Ifrit and Garuda), I've come to see that Dragoons will definitely be the OP damage class, however they require to be up close and require to 2 skill chains (which is easily be macro'd), however a lot of the last several dungeon's bosses do some sort of aoe knock back combo where they aoe knock back, and aoe your ranged people and require you to reposition of your melee and your ranged, which may or may not be an issue to some.

I personally will be running Paladin/Warrior, Black Mage, Bard, and White Mage/Scholar.

Both Paladin and Warrior play specific roles in the end-game based of damage type being received. Warrior is a large HP/Decent DPS Output, while paladin has a lower hp pool but has damage mitigation.

Both WHM and Scholar have specialized healing roles in the end-game. Scholars have great group buffs not to mention the healing faerie helps out a ton because you don't always have to focus heal all the time as your faerie will help you out. White Mage (being my main class) is still the all around large heals healer.

Black Mage because its pure dps a ranged, more so then summoner. Summoner may be something to look at but i dont see many summoners in the hardmodes right now so i cant gauge their capabilities yet.

Bard all around is amazing ranged dps not to mention has the ability to mana song at reduced damage for a period up to the max amount of mana they have. This has saved me many times in the hardmodes because it allowed me to generate mana much faster.

Also a note for those who havnt not finished the main story line. You are required to 8 man several parts of the last pieces of the storyline this may or may not be problematic for multi-boxers if you do it with friends or do it solo. There are several fights where you must tank the boss, kite kill the adds with dps, while maintaining heals on the kiters and tank. May be a lot of work for a 4 boxer or 8 boxer. Its not impossible, but would definitely take some setup.