AquariusFollow

I hope I spelt that correctly. Anyway.
Now that I have Fan Dance. I'm thinking that it might be quite possible to solo Aquarius. What do you folks think? Here is what I'm currently geared up with.
75Dancer/Ninja
W:Azoth/Jambiya
Head:Walahra Turban/Panther Mask(ws)
Neck: Chiv. Chain
Body:Rapparee/SH(ws)/AF(waltz)
Hands:Dusk/Cobra(ws)/AF(steps)
Legs:Cobra/AF(ws)
Feet:Dusk/AF(jigs)/Cobra(optional for ws)
Waist:Life/Warwolf
Earrings:Spikex2
Rings:Woodsmanx2

Merits:(so far)
Dagger x2
Crit% x1
Reverse Flourish x3
Haste Samba x2
Saber Dance x1
Fan Dance x1

Think I can do it?

Aquarius is a very easy solo for NIN/DNC in evasion gear. DNC/NIN should easily be capable of soloing it, but I'd second that you should use evasion gear.

Any suggestions on what to change out for an EVA build?

Also earring shouldn't be spike.

I'd use SH only using raparee for ustusemi

as for head OH if you have and turban for utsusemi

I call that.....cheating XD

As I've stated several times before, Aquarius has horrible acc so even a modest eva build with some skill in casting shadows and using Violent flourish (which I have yet to see fail) you can take him down pretty easily. I've even fought him in full haste gear and saber dance full time, and most recently with no shihei (stupid me forgot to bring any XD)

Now if this is your first time going after him, I STRONGLY suggest attack food or else it will take you quite a while to take him down.

As for the build you posted....earrings are fine if you dont have brutal/suppa (would never take these off even for eva build) Neck I would probably go with eva torque, fulltime SH for the fight, get rid of woodsman rings (they have -eva right? I cant remember atm) and fulltime your AF feet for eva and att. Other than that, just leave the rest up to your skill.

And just in case you're wondering here are my builds...

TP:
Azoth/BK+1
W turban
eva torque
rapparee
dusk hands
etoile tights
dusk feet
swift belt
brutal/suppa
amemet +1
bibiki seashell

Eva:
body > SH+1
back > boxer's mantle
feet > Dancer's shoes
ammo > goblin cracker

That's all I like to afford in eva which still gives me 15% haste for utsu recasts. I also have full closed position merits and 3/4 evasion merits (which I didn't have when I started soloing Aquarius and still did it pretty easily).

I tried to find a post I made regarding exactly that, but I can't seem to find it...
Anyway, I'm assuming you have ~350 ATK, maybe a bit more or less. At 350, 10 ATK is a straight 2.857% increase vs an EM or lower target. Against something T or higher, it'll be a stronger increase, but you'll generally have some buffs anyway.
Two examples:
Lolbri as they're affectionately called on these forums:
Increase can be calced this way:
(((360/327)-.35)/((350/327)-.35)))= 4.306% increase.
With min IV Dia II:
(((421/295)-.35)/((411/295)-.35)))= 3.260% increase.

On a tougher enemy(Abraxas, who no one ever fights anymore):
(((360/367)-.40)/((350/367)-.40)))= 8.818% increase.
With Min IV Dia II:
(((421/330)-.40)/((411/330)-.40)))= 3.550% increase.

As you can see, the higher defense and level the target is, the more ATK helps you. As opposed to Jambiya, the base damage on Jambiya is ~ 1.449% total increase for DoT, and less on WS since it's only 1 hit. The 10 ATK from BK+1, however, will apply on WS as well, making it the better choice in general.

Drop some Master Caster's Mitts on for a ridiculous +10 evasion skill.

I'm not going to number crunch, but I decided a while back that I would go with Jambiya/BK+1 for my dagger setup, because I can't afford Azoth yet. If I had Azoth I would go Azoth/BK+1. The extra attack should help your WSs more than 1 base D on your off-hand (also white box ftw).



As for not needing as much evasion as I posted for Aquarius, that may be true, I've only fought the dude a couple of times, and it was on other jobs. That is just the gear I have available from my NIN, honestly I hardly ever play DNC :P But when I solo NIN, there are some circumstances when I want EVA in every single slot. OK I guess I'm not hard core enough for Wivre Rings yet... but I'm thinking about it.

Don't underestimate what adding another +8 or +10 to your evasion set will get you, it doesn't seem like a lot, but sometimes it can work wonders.



Good call on the Crow Hose, I forgot about those. I'm not sure extra +1 eva on Dance Shoes (versus Dancer's Toe Shoes) is enough to justify the inventory-1, but if you're hard core (or can get the HQ) go for it. Ideally you would probably want Emissary Boots (although I've seen some evidence posted in forums that indicate evasion may help more than evasion skill in many circumstances).



Nice in theory, but not being able to use then im ToAU or WotG areas is a pretty big turn-off for me. I don't think I would carry them around unless I knew they would work everywhere. I would prefer Etoile Bangles, I think, overall.

Edited, Mar 13th 2009 8:08pm by Lothiriel

Thanks everyone for all the advice etc. Just finished up with the evil crab. lol
So many people in game doubting me lol. It was quite easy, took a little while with a cautious approach. Here's what I used for my eva. setup.

Head: Emperor Hairpin (already had)
Neck: Evasion Torque
Earrings: Velocity/Dodge(not much on AH that I wanted to spend money on these were pretty cheap)
Ring: took off one woodsman and replaced other with Garrulous I had laying around)
only things i really changed
Worked better of course when I had SH on body
Fan Dance is a must I think for DNC. Maybe not.
Ran out of Shihei about half way thru fight. Lol used a bit more than I had thought earlier today lmao. Got a little bit more rough, but not that much.
It just meant I wouldnt be sitting on 250-300tp
Good fight

Any idea if the NM can be solo'ed by DNC/NIN or NIN/DNC?

Edited, Mar 16th 2009 2:43pm by Lothiriel

I just had a go at the big crab. Was a nice fight, mostly calm with a few Osh!t moments to spice it up. Fan dance was a big big help for when shadow timers were down. Eva build was also probably hugely helpful.

My steps of choice were DEF down and Mdef down (for stun). Violent Flourish was a must for ichi. And for the most part i was fine eva tanking when both utsu were down for 10 seconds. Also I got lucky that a fresh Fan Dance was up when he would start getting a lucky ACC streak on me a couple times. At the last few slivers of HP he seemed to get an ACC and crit streak, maybe bad luck but be on your toes, i got too comfortable and he almost got me there.

Dropped 18k and full drops list.

Eva build was Ohat, SH, Torque, AF shoes, Crow legs, Patrician's Cuffs.
Used Fan Dance and Jelly Ring for defense.
Used NPC for protect and shell, he died real quick lol.
Ate crab sushi to rub it in his face.
Fight was 30-45 minutes, never went under 200 TP.

Highly recommend this solo its great practice and good fun.


Edited, Mar 16th 2009 4:49pm by RattyBatty

I was doing it more as superstition because i did have a couple .5 second stun durations at first. Keeping that step on him seemed to eliminate that kind of resist.

Edited, Mar 16th 2009 6:02pm by RattyBatty

It does. About needing Signet, having that is what makes you see the increase in the combat skill menu that you won't see if you don't have Signet on.

Nice, I didn't know about Patrician's Cuffs.

Is Hundredfist a mob you have to wait on us to control area to get?

Make sure and report back any solo attempts, be it fail or win.

So far Ihave found no one that wants to venture out to Beadeux(s) with me. Anyone else on Bismarck want to come along?

Duo'd with a NIN/DNC friend. Even with two links the fight was a huge yawn-fest. I tanked it for a portion of the fight with little eva gear and subbing SAM with no problems. I can see this being an easy solo with an ok eva set up.