Carbuncle and Bomb Tosses - A solo guide

[Akashimo]

Having not looking forward to exping as a main heal or a duo healer in parties I've decided to solo after picking smn up at 37 where i left it there for long time.

My soloing mob of choice, Goblins, why, they asplode with tp. Bombs I might look at later if I cannot find a goblin camp of choice.

Area of choice for 36-39:
Yuhtunga Jungle: Goblins at the OP.
There is a then stretch where you're able to effectively kite goblins right of the op if you were facing away from the structure.

Area of choice 39-46:
Gustav Tunnel: Goblin Poacher and Goblin Reaper at the zone first camp.
Check with /sea Gustav before planning on moving there. If you see any in the 38-44 range in a party, better not try there for a while.
Goblin poacher is the easy one to kite around being a ranger. And normally the easist of the two to die from bomb tossing. At 43ish til become safe/worth while to use Poison Nails BP or summon Fenrir for the first pull. The Goblin Reaper will be difficult. It loves to cast Bio II and come at you with Rush after re/summoning carbuncle. You'd want to max out your distance with these critters. As in, get to a range where carby's hp bar dissappears before casting on yourself. It'll also give you the best distance to resummon carbuncle with little difficulty. For your kitting path, take them into the tunnel on the way to the zone at the first bend going up. Then wait at the bottom near the opening to the Poacher spawn.

Alternative spot if Gustav is taken: Eastern Altepa Desert
You can hold your kiting camp at the OP. Here, you can go parallel of the op at any direction. For distance, go far to the point where you can't see carby or the goblin anymore. But if you can max out while targeting the Goblin, after practicing a while that's also good. Careful, 2 Lost Souls, one war type other mage spawns on the western side of the outpost. (Edited 11/19/07 1:31am EST)Also, there is a robber/poacher group where the dhamel wonders around. If you're kiting around that edge, I highly recommend you take out those two first to prevent any possible links after carby dies.

I'll update for other areas/levels as I try them.

[Rain_Blade]

I remember reading this about soloing Goblins.

II - Goblins

Unlike bombs, Goblins are of huge abundance across Vana'diel and available at probably every conceivable level. The pros about these guys is that Bomb Toss sometimes 1-shots the mob and gives you quick exp. The downside is that if the Bomb Toss doesnt kill the Gobby but does kill Carby, you have to be prepared. You don't want them to be too tough for Carby to handle because as their levels increase, Goblins tend to have pretty strong attack power.

Soloing Notes:

> Goblins have a variety of TP moves and spells, depending on their job, but all of them have the TP move you'll want them to do to kill themselves, which is called
Bomb Toss (AoE fire based damage). This TP move does NOT always kill the goblin off so it'll require a fair bit of luck.

> It is usually better to Carby-kite goblins. Their Bomb Toss can be fatal as it can trigger at any HP % on the Goblin. The amount of damage depend on the gobbies remaining HP.

> As Goblin are beastmen, they have many job types. Try to avoid mages that can negate damage through stoneskin and THF goblins which have such high accuracy that Carby has a problem hitting them. Also, do not choose gobbies that are too high above your level as they will not only kill Carby quickly but Carby will have problems holding hate with them.

> All Goblins aggro and link. There may be a need to Carby-pull the mob you wish to solo. Some Goblins (BST type) have pets which link to their master too, so exercise caution before pulling them.

Recommended Spots:

Altepa Desert Outpost
Goblins - Somepage listing (http://ffxi.somepage.com/mobdb/list.php?family=29&nm_only=2&level_min=10)

http://killingifrit.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=28803

Main reason I didn't want to solo them is because of the statement in big bold letters. Although, I'm not bashing you or anything. I'm still looking forward to hearing your experiences.

[Akashimo]

Hehe, i had some close calls, like when the goblin bomb toss on me before focusing on the resummoned carby. That and I had to zone once or twice on the Reapers due to the fact they aspir me when I was low on mp since they love being die hards. One even almost kill me from a sucide toss on second carbuncle bringing me down to 1 hp XD

[KingOfZeal]

I've been wanting to get back into Summoner as well (either as a second/third/fourth main job, or so I can sub it to whm at a later date). I think I'm going to look forward to reading what you have learned about this, but it looks a lot like a strategy you would use against the 20 cap avatar fights (run away, recast carby, and let him auto-tank what you're fighting), and outside carby meleeing them to death, hope for the off chance on a dropped bomb.

Out of curiosity, any suggestions for 34-36?

[Akashimo]

I've been wanting to get back into Summoner as well (either as a second/third/fourth main job, or so I can sub it to whm at a later date). I think I'm going to look forward to reading what you have learned about this, but it looks a lot like a strategy you would use against the 20 cap avatar fights (run away, recast carby, and let him auto-tank what you're fighting), and outside carby meleeing them to death, hope for the off chance on a dropped bomb.
Pretty much as a cut and dry back bone ^^;
Though <.<; I have to admit, I couldn't win a single 20 cap fight ; ;

Out of curiosity, any suggestions for 34-36?
Hmm, been awhile since I've done anything in those levels. I'd might try appling that strategy to either the Goblin Smithy's or the Goblins hiding around Z'Tah. But to be honest, I really wouldn't know. If you can get some info, please post your experiences on it.


Also, edited the Eastern Altepa Desert Section.

[Armando]

How quickly can you get gobs to kill themselves while doing this? Getting mobs to use a specific TP move is already a pain as it is.

[Akashimo]

How quickly can you get gobs to kill themselves while doing this? Getting mobs to use a specific TP move is already a pain as it is.
Its really completely random. A few rare times its taken 1 carbuncle or fenrir. So about 2 minutes or less. Average takes 3 cabuncles ranging from 3-9 minutes. Extreme cases lasted where I had to astral flow once or twice, but not always, due to mp and carby ends up finishing the mob with no sucide bomb toss. The extreme ones took about 9-15 minutes, where one of the goblins respawned during a carbuncle resummon.

[Lunaryn]

20 cap avatar fights aren't that hard if you prepare well. Don't skimp on items, I recommend a second Yagudo Drink in case of timing difficulty, and you can't have too many Hi-Potions. Bring Ethers, not Hi-Ethers; you should only need two of them, though. Some people recommend a Hermes Quencher for emergencies, I brought one but never used it. Macro everything you're going to need. Above all, don't panic. Watch the BP: Rage recast, and make sure before you hit it again that: 1) Refresh is still up: if not, pop your second Yagudo Drink. 2) You have enough MP: If Refresh wore you might be slightly short, wait the extra couple seconds to get back up; it's also a common mistake to forget to pop the Ether; if your MP is way too low, you've probably failed to do this, just use it and hit the BP when you're done.

Also, don't forget to buff fully. If you have Light spirit you can get shell from it, if not, having a friend cast Shell before you go is extremely helpful, though not in my experience necessary. Use appropriate barspells if you can. Your buffs aren't stripped upon entry, so if you're slightly over level 20 this can be used to your advantage. Aquaveil is worth bothering with, and a Hermit's Wand and Heko Obi +1 won't hurt either. Bring good defensive gear, it doesn't have to be the best, but having level 20 gear like Trader's Saio and Bonze's Circlet can help.

That said, a lot of the prep for such a fight would probably be prohibitively expensive for soloing mobs, but since you're not trying to support Astral Flow BPs, it's not as demanding either. Definitely invest in def gear and buff as possible, and carrying around a couple Hi-Potions for emergencies wouldn't be a bad idea.

[Armando]

That's what I thought. In that case, I really feel the need to ask: why not just fight bombs? There's no luck involved in Self-destruct, and they still only have two Feral Skills.

[KingOfZeal]

I think the mini-guide on the 20-cap fights is kinda off-topic. I only brought it up since it shared similar strategies, and there are plenty of places one could find more detailed explanations on it.

As far as why gobbies instead of bombs, though, I think is because sometimes the bomb camps do get overcrowded (and, correct me if I'm wrong, but they generally don't happen until at least 40s). I think gobs are a fair alternative to them, though not as reliable as bombs would be.

While I'm on the subject of bombs, is there a guide for SMN soloing? I did a quick search for one, but I wasn't able to find one. Or, would it be similar to a blm solo guide with beastmen pets?

[Akashimo]

That's what I thought. In that case, I really feel the need to ask: why not just fight bombs? There's no luck involved in Self-destruct, and they still only have two Feral Skills.
Unless you take Moblins, Goblins have only 2 feral skills too. Rush and Toss. Bombs Self-Destruct and their beserk. But Bombs to Magic aggro and if any of the camps I've seen where there is bombs, its not gonna be as easy as Goblin Camps would. I'll try them as I can, but no guarentees on it.

KingOfZeal: I doubt there is any out there, most just takes what parties throw at them. I know a few manage in Ifrit's Cauldren and on Lesser Colibri in the higher levels, but thats about it.

[Solymir]

That's what I thought. In that case, I really feel the need to ask: why not just fight bombs? There's no luck involved in Self-destruct, and they still only have two Feral Skills.

Except for bombs in Garlaige Citadel which isn't a safe place to fight bombs at all, the next level of bombs are better done by a level 50+ smn. I agree soloing Goblins isn't very fruitful, but it is one of smn's options.

I chose to fight lower level mobs (often gobs) duoing with carby, also not very fruitful, but I had more fun doing that than letting carby solo. On a side note, skillchaining with your avatar is fun.

[Cyle]

Any ideas on where a 25 SMN could solo? I know it's going to be difficult but I don't mind resting, and with my food and equip I top out at 403 MP. I just play really late at night because of my work hours and it's hard to start a pt usually.

[Saren]

I tried this tack for kicks when I was around level 25 smn (I think) in Lower Delkfutt's Tower. The goblins were all high toughs so it will have been around there.

I think the worst one I remember going through 4-5 carbuncles on one goblin but I only did this for an hour or so plus any longer than that and I was zoning the mob because I ran out of mp (which happened a couple of times). It's not uber exp but it does work, though can't see it being reliable without a close zone line just because of the time limit imposed by your mp, goblins being unreliably suicidal.

[Akashimo]

Just an update on trying different camps.

Tried the bombs where most bsts solo in the GC, no dice, too high for a 46 Carbuncle.

Yhoator Jungle around Woodland Sage spawn area. Dangerous. Not recommended. Due to links and Master Courel and the possibility that nm might spawn.

Goblinsavior spawn area inside Gustav. To risky, only managable spot can cause aggro by a wondering robber. Poacher roams near a reaper which mishandled would cause a link there, worse case, after carby dies.

Right now, I'm just trying to get the last 1k of my level and campaign is looking real nice for that. <.< >.>; Yeah, might be a little necro bump.