Utsusemi during battle

[Mitsukie]

Are there any tricks to getting off Utsusemi during a battle? I've been doing a lot of soloing in Giddeus recently for my necklaces, and casting Utsusemi is reminding me of when i was starting my leveling of blm or whm. It's been hard to pull off soloing, and I'd imagine it's difficult to pull off when you have hate on you during an experience party. I've been trying to cast it as I would when I was leveling my other mage jobs, hitting the macro right as the enemy attacks, but it's still frustrating, and often times not worth it. Just wondering if there are any words of wisdom for me out there?

[hongman]

Yeah. Its gets a lot easier when you get Ni line of spells, and other than timing it just right, not much else you can do about it

[Armando]

Utsusemi has a 4 second casting time. 99% of all non-MNK mobs in the game have a 4 second delay between attack rounds. Starting to cast after you see the enemy make his move isn't going to cut it. You have to anticipate the attack and start before the mob hits you, but not early that the mob would hit you after you're past 20% of your spellcasting bar. A daunting task? You bet. But it can be done.

[FatCharlie]

I've started levelling NIN for subjob purposes and I have the same problem with the timing. I go through the menu to recast Utsusemi and sit there with the purple cursor over my head waiting to press the X button right before the mob attacks. Unfortunately there seems to be a delay between when I press the X button and when the spell actually starts casting so usually the mob has already hit me by the time I start casting and subsequently hits me again before I'm finished, resulting in being interrupted. It would seem then I need to press the X button somewhere around 3 ~ 3 1/2 seconds after the mob attacks. Is this a correct assumption? Or am I better using a macro to recast. I've noticed that there is no delay when I use a macro.

[Celeal]

The trick of casting Utsusemi: Ichi during battle for pre-level 37 main tanking as NIN is to minimize the "chance" of being interrupted.

In an ideal situation, you want the mob to miss an attack or skip an attack while you are casting Utsusemi: Ichi. Although it depends on chance, a player can infuence it. For example:

1. Paralyze the mob. If the mob is paralyzed at the crucial moment when you are casting Utsusemi: Ichi, the spell will not be interrupted. At low level, the paralyze effect of katana WS Blade: Retsu is potent. White magic Paralyze from RDM proc more often at high level exp. parties (in general speaking, since RDM usually gear more on debuffing).

2. Evasion. If you can evade the mob's attack while casting Utsusemi: Ichi, bingo! Evasion/AGI gear or food, and Blind the mob are very effective pre-level 37.

3. Slow down the mob's attack. On slow hitting mob, cast Slow or Hojo to make it even slower. If the mob's attack delay is longer than the casting time of Utsusemi: Ichi, the risk of getting interrupt is very low. For example, a slowed Carb in Qufim, or even a slowed mandies, make a huge different for casting Utsusemi: Ichi during combat.

Other tactics:

1. Support from the party. Just make the mob focus on other party member at the moment of NIN casting Utsusemi: Ichi. When the NIN is casting Utsusemi: Ichi, backup tank Provoke the mob, or DD pulls hate with spike damage, etc, then NIN get the hate back after the casting of Utsusemi: Ichi is complete. Another support from the party is stun. At low level parties, we have Weapon Bash, Shoulder Tackle, etc.

2. Bounce hate between multiple Utsusemi tanks.

[dspeed]

Well this work for me when I lvl my nin.

What I usually do is wait until the mob attack me. Once I see the mob is starting to attack I just press my macro right away and it work for me a high percentage of the time. Unless I press it a bit slow. Usually I can finish casting w/o interruption before mob hit me again.

Another way will be like Celeal said, have a back up tank just tank for a few sec so you can get Utsusemi: Ichi up and then tank again. This will be the best choice if you don't want your spell to be interupted at all.

[Drive]

Normally I cast right after mob dies and during the next one I cast when I only have one shadow left. This lets me get the next set of shadows up without interuption.

[Aksannyi]

Celeal pretty much said everything I was going to say.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Normally I cast right after mob dies and during the next one I cast when I only have one shadow left. This lets me get the next set of shadows up without interuption.

This is the usual approach for the first 6 shadows of a fight. And until you get Ni, you will either want a) and second tank to share tanking duties with, b) reliable support from your mages to keep the mob enfeebled.

I dual/triple tanked most of the way through Valkurm, Qufim, Garlaige and Crawler's Nest on my way to level 37. Kazham was the only stretch where I can remember solo tanking most of the time. The double fisted Mandies might tear through shadows, but they're hits are rather weak. And MNK type mobs have greater delay between attack rounds, so it's very easy to recast between attacks. You'll still take hits against Mandies. But you shouldn't have any trouble surviving. And Ichi will mitigate enough damage to not hold back your party.

[Feba]

Yeah, mandies are very much overrated, I tanked them as my WHM once (When your PT can't get anything but four WHMs, you learn to deal)


Just make sure you have good mages backing you up, pretty much anything can tank mandies, shadows are just gravy.