fhok wrote:
I'm sorry, but you are totally wrong on this.
You farm Castrum Meridianum, The Praetorium and Wanderer's Palace for tomes of Philosophy.
Using philosophy tomes, you buy darklight gear. (and for your relic weapon quest)
Once you have at least your 4 standard body parts in darklight gear (Head/Body/Legs/Shoes),
you then start doing Amdapor Keep, which gives tomes of Philosophy and Tomes of Mythology.
Tomes of Mythology you get are used to upgrade your AF1 gear to AF2. (and for your relic +1 quest)
You don't start doing AK off the bat, because the dungeon requires both skill/strategy know-how as well as decent gear.
If you go in with anything less than a 1/2 set of DL gear, you're only hindering the group.
A healer might be able to get away with non-DL gear, but the DPS will definitely need to be properly geared up to clear the dungeon.
ESPECIALLY at the wall.
I should know, i was a blm who went into AK with underlevelled gear, and the group couldnt get past the wall
It was only after i ran CM numerous times to get @ least my body and shoes up to par was my group able to clear it.
Absolutely incorrect.
It's easy to dismiss your argument.
What gear does AK drop? ilevel 60
How does this compare to DL gear? It's worse. Therefore, AK drops < DL gear.
This means that there are no actual pre-requisities before going into AK. The only one people have REALLY considered is Ifrit's weapon or a GC equivalent. The GC equivalent even requires an AK run and is outshined by Ifrit's. Even then, my first AK run was with mostly AF, all level 45+ trinkets, and some random level 48 weapon.
Now, of course you'll quip, "Well, you were just carried."
I have extensive parses over the course of time I've spent at 50 from start to where I am now. Not once have I ever parsed below 5% of the top DPS. All that is required for AK is a TINY gear check on Demon Wall.
He has 50k HP. He moves to the final square in around 2 minutes and 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Can you do the math?
This means you need a combined total of 333.33 DPS to kill him assuming the wall is at the final stage at 2:30 and not 3. I have never had the opportunity to see him get to the final so I am not sure about his final time.
Most fresh 50s,
IF played correctly, can easily achieve 120-150 DPS on their own. On that fight, the tank usually contributes around 10% of the damage. You have two DPS that can do 150 DPS and some damage from the tank? Then you're good to go.
None of the fights require gear. What requires gear is
speed running which is where DPS comes into play in AK.
I would not even recommend getting DL main parts first: I'd go with accessories unless you are planning to run coils right away. Coils are where accuracy comes into play. Outside of coils, your accuracy will always be capped at 100%. Demagogue gear favors spell speed over accuracy which is a nice benefit for running AK.
The underlined is also pretty sad. I was in the same condition as you yet we easily managed to get past demon wall. BLM DPS is almost irrelevant when you get to a certain gear level. You'll always see your parse 5% above any of the other classes besides summoner and will always be within 2% of another BLM with equal gear and skill.
This is where the 'skill' factor comes in. If you are a studious mage, you will have done your research on your way to 50. Knowing how to squeeze every cast you can out of your mana pool is going to be a problem you'll be experiencing from here on out. I've met many BLMs who have idea what I mean by AM or don't know how to use flare properly.
I will grant you one point. It is true that skill >>>> gear
However, many people do not have the skill to compensate for their gear. Yes, in this case they do need to do some prior footwork before stepping inside harder instances unless they are on the ball and know their class/job inside and out.
But, to say AK is impossible for a fresh 50 (especially BLM) is inaccurate in itself.
Edited, Sep 23rd 2013 4:48am by HitomeOfBismarck