[Icemage]

WARNING: VERY LONG POST

I'm not sure if this is pertinent, but I have some first-hand experience with limited testing conditions that may shed some light on this discussion: i.e. How does enmity get assigned, how does it fade, and how long does it last?

I'm a WHM54/BLM28 so I do (on rare occasions) spend some time helping friends by powerlevelling their lower jobs past the "ugly" phase (10-15). Here are the results of what I find:

I can definitively tell you that the enmity generated by healing spells is NOT a direct relation to the amount of HP healed. Instead, there seems to be something like this happening:

One sample situation (which I actually did about a while ago at level ~40WHM):

Level 13 Galka Thief has 150 points of damage on him.

Situation A: I cast Cure, Cure, Cure, Cure, Cure while he continues to pull aggro, despite me being many levels higher. In almost all cases, I will not pull aggro until at least the 4th or 5th cure, and in fact may not pull aggro at all. Even a short amount of time where I do not cast any spells will make aggro revert to the THF.

Situation B: I cast Cure II, Cure II. If the fight has been going on for a while, I would only occasionally pull aggro away from the THF with the first Cure II. Usually the second Cure II will pull aggro onto me. Aggro will then stay on me for at least a 2-4 rounds, unless the THF pulls multiple criticals or gets a good result on a WS.

Situation C: I cast Cure III. 99% chance that I pull aggro. Even if the THF uses a good WS, and/or gets critical attacks, the monster will STAY on me even if I don't do anything but dodge attacks (with my relatively high Evasion). Even under repeated successful attacks from the THF, the monster will continue to attack me for at least 5-10 rounds.

More information:

When I use Cure III, I see this happening - it is VERY distinctive if you are looking for it.

Monster is attacking THF.
THF has lots of damage.
I cast Cure III. THF is now at max HP.
Monster turns towards me.
THF hits monster.
THF hits monster.
THF hits monster.
THF uses WS on monster. Monster TURNS towards THF for a SPLIT SECOND, then turns BACK to me and attacks me.
THF hits monster. No turn.
THF hits monster. Monster again TURNS towards THF for a slightly longer period, then turns back to me and attacks me.
THF hits monster. Monster turns again, slightly longer duration, and again attacks me.
THF hits monster, Monster turns and hits THF, then turns back to me.
THF hits monster. Monster turns and now continues to attack THF.

This is an interesting result, because it tells us several things (some of which we all know from experience, but I will expand on this):

- Enmity generated from damage is related to the amount of damage. The larger the amount of damage, the higher the amount of enmity. Witness the effect of the WS from the thief above.

- Enmity generated from healing is similarly related to the amount healed. The larger the amount healed, the higher the amount of enmity. Witness the effect of my Cure III spell.

- Performing any action which generates enmity produces a "spike" in the enemy's enmity towards you. Self-explanatory given above situation.

- Enmity stacks, and also fades. Notice how the THF can eventually gain the aggro from me because I do nothing else that generates enmity after casting Cure III.

- The fade rate for enmity is not linear. If it were, the monster would just switch from me back to the THF and stay there.

So the question becomes, how do we come up with a reasonable model for what the game is doing, numbers-wise, to explain why this is happening.

My current theory (still a theory, it's hard to prove conclusively), is that there are actually TWO elements to enmity: Immediate Enmity, and Residual Enmity, and that both elements stack and fade at different rates.

Icemage's Hypothetical Model of FFXI Enmity:

Total player hate for each monster = Immediate + Residual

Immediate enmity is what generates the large "spike" of actions like Provoke, Cure IV, Sentinel, Shield Bash, Ancient Magic, Benediction, Invincible, etc. My hypothesis is that Immediate enmity fades at a very fast rate (guesstimate, perhaps -20% of total each round, with perhaps a 10% further decrease for the "current aggro target").

Residual enmity is the amount of enmity which "persists" from that same action. This value seems to decrease at a much slower rate than Immediate enmity, perhaps -10% of the total each round, with again a 5% further decrease for the "current aggro target")

HYPOTHETICAL MODEL:

Using my above example with the Galka THF13 (using arbitrary numbers - I do NOT know what the actual values are, or even if I am right. I am using these percentages and numbers to illustrate my point):

THF has been fighting monster for a while while I do nothing but watch. Let's arbitrarily give him a "current value" of 30 Immediate, and 20 Residual enmity, for a total of 120 "enmity points."

I now cast Cure III. Let's say my 150-point Cure III generates 150 Immediate and 100 Residual enmity. My total enmity is now 250. The monster now turns to me, since I am higher on the total enmity list.

Monster attacks me. THF hits for 10, and gains 10 Immediate and 7 Residual enmity.

Recalculating our totals, we see the THF now has 40 Immediate + 27 residual (67 total). I am still at 150 + 100 (250 total).
If I lose 30%/15% and the THF loses 20%/10%:

Icemage: 190 total
-45 Immediate = 105
-15 Residual = 85

THF: 54 total
-8 Immediate = 32
-3 Residual = 24.

Monster targets: Icemage

--- Next round

THF misses:
+1 Immediate(33)
+1 Residual(25).

Icemage: 144 total
-32 Immediate = 72
-13 Residual = 72

THF: 48 total
-7 Immediate = 26
-3 Residual = 22.

Monster targets: Icemage

--- Next round

THF uses WS (Combo) for 25.
+25 Immediate (51)
+18 Residual (40).

Icemage: 111 total
-22 Immediate = 50
-11 Residual = 61

THF: 77 total
-10 Immediate = 41
-4 Residual = 36

Monster targets: Icemage

--- Next round

THF hits for 10.
+10 Immediate(51)
+7 Residual(43).

Icemage: 87 total
-15 Immediate = 35
-9 Residual = 52

THF: 80 total
-10 Immediate = 41
-4 Residual = 39
Monster targets: Icemage

--- Next round
THF hits for 10.
+10 Immediate (51)
+7 residual (46).

Icemage: 66 total
-11 Immediate = 24
-8 Residual = 44

THF: 82 total
-10 Immediate = 41
-5 Residual = 41
Monster targets: THF

---Next round
THF misses
+1 Immediate(42)
+1 Residual (42).

Icemage: 59 total
-5 Immediate = 19,
-4 Residual = 40

THF: 65 total
-13 Immediate = 29
-6 Residual= 36
Monster targets: THF

---Next round
THF misses
+1 Immediate(30)
+1 Residual (37).

Icemage: 51
-4 Immediate = 15
-4 Residual = 36

THF: 52
-9 Immediate = 21
-6 Residual= 31
Monster targets: THF

---Next round
THF misses
+1 Immediate(22)
+1 Residual (32).

Icemage: 44
-3 Immediate = 12
-4 Residual = 32

THF: 42
-7 Immediate = 15
-5 Residual = 27
Monster targets: Icemage

Bear in mind, this is not a perfect model(even in the unlikely event that I am correct about the method, I am sure my percentages in this example are off), but I think its certainly closer to what is actually happening than can be explained by the straight point/deduct everyone seems to think is happening.

Comments and discussion are welcome.


Icemage