Manaburn party for the early levels

[ValkyrieBlue]

Ok this is the first time I'm posting and I've checked back and couldn't really find a thread about manaburn parties- in the early lvls. I know I should have a bard and I have one going to help myself and two other blms (a three one later). The problem is- I find guide for parties above 65- and we're 20. Anyone willing to help a party of blms' gain lvls?

[NicasinXS]

You gotta stop wasting time worrying about manaburn parties, they will hardly ever happen on the way to 75, especially before 65 ish. Get yourself a good pally and learn not to take hate. You could also learn the /sea all lvl ??-?? feature and make your own party. You gotta know that magic bursting is way more fun then manaburn anyways.

[Icemage]

The definition of a manaburn party is that you're burning through mana to inflict damage fast enough to kill something before it can kill one of your party members. As such, you need (not want - NEED) significant amounts of MP restoration. That means a Red Mage with Refresh, Corsair with Evoker's Roll + Healer's Roll, or Bard with Mage's Ballad I+II.

None of those are available until at least level 40 (Evoker's Roll), and thus it is impossible to produce a true manaburn party until that level.

However, it IS possible to nuke stationary targets like Worms without MP-restoration support. This is generally done in the level 14-20 range in places like Maze of Shakrami and Korroloka Tunnel. It's not very practical to do beyond that level, however.


Icemage

[Necropolis]

As Icemage said a true manaburn requires significant MP restoration available. At 75 a group of BLMs can get chain 6 or so without it, but still much easier with a brd, rdm, or corsair (or a combination of them).

At the early levels you'll find that mobs hit for quiet a bit, and you lower defense isn't going to allow for any screw-ups. You want someone that can take the hits for you, and probably someone that can cure you when you do take hate. A traditional party will most likely be the most effective exp/hr at this level, but there's still the problem of looking for members.

You can effectively duo/trio with friends on slightly weaker mobs, or look up where you can find beastmaster pets to kill at your level range. If you're party is primarily BLMs you'll most likely want to avoid mobs such as bats (rather resistant to sleep) or any mob with a particular resistance. Whm gobs for example can cast shell on themselves, not something you want if most of the damage is from a magical source.

You might try out a few mobs with friends while still seeking out more members to complete a party. At least giving you some exp gain while looking for a full party.

Magic bursting, while important at 75 if you do bigger mobs, doesn't really do squat to make a party more effective in most cases. If you consider the bonus damage from a MB vs what damage the melee could of done using a more powerful WS or burning thier TP as soon as they hit 100 as opposed to waiting for a skillchain partner, you'll find it's not necessarily best to skillchain. That bonus damage is also more likely to pull the hate off the tank and get you killed.

I'm not trying to put down MBs and such, but in all reality they just are as effective as people like to make them out to be. They truely shine in HNMs and such where they have so much magic resistance that you need the skillchain to weaken them to an element.

As for manaburn parties, it's true you don't typically see a full manaburn party till the 72-75 range, and even then, depending on server I suppose, they can be scarce. It's typically more exp/hr effective to duo/trio with LS BLMs/refreshers. I personally soloed/duoed from 40 to 75 doing this. I'd take a manaburn invite when I got one, or we'd make one if more BLMs showed up at camp, but it wasn't something we actively sought. Ebony puddings (the blm prey of choice) go down in two to three spells, fives blms is just over kill.

Hope this was somewhat helpful, have fun.

[Prons]

It's not THAT hard to find melee at level 20 is it?

[Necropolis]

It's not THAT hard to find melee at level 20 is it?

Well it really depends. It's been a while since I've played, but when I did I found it extremly hard to find anyone within acceptable level ranges to level with. If you're building a party as a BLM you're looking for 2 key spots (Tank and Healer) then an assortment of 3 Support/DD jobs. By the time you get all that together and start pulling, inevitably someone has to leave. You get a rep, someone else goes; so on and so forth.

I've not played the new expansion, but I'll assume that dunes and other lowbie areas are more populated, but once people get past that point, not a whole lot go back to level more jobs. Personally I just enjoyed soloing/duoing with friends on a more fixed schedule so that we can cut out a lot of the standing around time.

[Evion]

Ever since the introduction of the new jobs Dancer and Scholar recently, there have been many xp parties available at lower levels. So, not too much standing around... I haven't experienced mana-burn pts yet and I'm a lv 55 RDM.