[sdillon]

Let's build a list of 'to-do' that everyone new to Besieged can refer to. I know there are the official ones, but as we keep learning more and more about each besiege, I'm sure the vets have something they want to share.

To start us off:

Very very Important aspects of besieged:
1. Generals are 'seals' to the hall of binding which in turn protects the Astral Candescense.

2. If generals fall, it means there is one less seal to protect the Hall of Binding.

3. If all 5 generals fall, you have limited time to defeat the enemies at the Hall of Binding before they take it with them and thus Al Zahbi will loose.

4. Defeating Notorious Monsters can aid in besiege ending faster.

5. However, concentrating on NMs at the cost of all the generals is a sure fire way to loose, therefore use your judgement and pay attention to /shouts for request to help rescue/protect a General.

6. VERY IMPORTANT, if there are consecutive besieges, any generals lost/captured in the previous fight will remain down, so there will be less seals on the Hall of Binding.

What can I do to be more involved in the fight?

1. It's always a good idea to check on how many seals are left on the Hall of Binding before the start of a besiege (It will show this in the starting cutscene of every besiege)

2. If there are less than 3 Generals standing, hurry to the closest General and attempt to rally others to protect these generals. Be courteous in your shout and be helpful with messages such as <pos> Target the General is fighting, the HP level of the General, what type of help is needed (for example: provoke, cure the general etc.)

3. Generals are located in 'all' the squares that is not the bastion. Here is a list of locations for all Generals during Besieged mode:
General Mihli - Flame Serpent Square - Where Ghajd usually stands
General Rughadjeen - Ulthalam Parade - In between J7 and J8
General Narjelith - Galeserpent Square - Up the stairs between I-9 and J-9
General Zazarg - Chocobo Alley - Up the Stairs right dead center of the square
General Galadar - Springserpent Square - In the center.

4. Generals do 'move around' a lot. They target the first thing that breaches their defense line (the square they're protecting) and will follow their target (or targets because they switch mid fight sometimes) and will move around from one square to another if their target is being kited far.

5. Haste the generals, keep their hp up and try to rally tanks/meelee to kite mobs away from the Generals. Sometimes a General can tank up to 10 things and still be standing! But not for long if they do not receive heals.

6. Useful Tip from Caspian: Do a /sea early in the Besieged. If you are very low for the beastmen's level, you'll want to send someone to Whitegate to shout for help.

Well here are just a few to start!


FAQ:

>>What determines what prisoners are taken? And how do I rescue them?
Everytime a Volunteer falls in battle, there is a random chance an NPC will be taken prisoner. (credit sevenpointflaw)

>>How does hate work in Besieged?
It seems to be general consensus that it's random. A 'yellow' mob can agro anyone and anything that crosses it's path. Tanks have voked over and over and while kiting, the NMs can also agro anyone within it's running path but still go after the tank.

[Susurrus]

What determines what prisoners are taken? And how do I rescue them?

[sevenpointflaw]

Everytime a Volunteer falls in battle, there is a random chance an NPC will be taken prisoner.

[Susurrus]

How does hate work in Besieged? It is to my understanding that it is completely random. Not only did I get full hate from using Assault, but Shiva got hate before even doing anything besides being out (no attacks, nothing, no commands sent AT ALL)

[Caspian]

Originally Posted by Susurrus

How does hate work in Besieged? It is to my understanding that it is completely random. Not only did I get full hate from using Assault, but Shiva got hate before even doing anything besides being out (no attacks, nothing, no commands sent AT ALL)

Yeah, that seems to be my understanding as well. I don't do a whole lot of damage at 61, but I'll still occasionally pull hate. I don't know that its entirely random, but it definately seems to be a different system than the regular xp or hnm setup.

Kinda a half joke, but relevant point. Do a /sea early in the Besieged. If you are very low for the beastmen's level, you'll want to send someone to Whitegate to shout for help. We're always incredibly short for all Besieges on Fairy. Usually start at around 250 people for a lvl 5 Besieged. If we're lucky we'll get people as it continues. If we hold out long enough we'll end up with 550+ people before its all over and can usually win it.

[sdillon]

Going add all the new points to the original post as well.

[Feenicks]

Originally Posted by Susurrus

What determines what prisoners are taken? And how do I rescue them?

Prisoners are rescued by going to the beastman stronghold belonging to the force that captured them (Mamook for Mamool Ja, Arrapago Reef for Undead, Halvung for Trolls) and finding where they're locked up. You need a key to unlock their cell and let them out. The keys you use depend on where you're going to free people - Mamook Blackscale Key for Mamook, Halvung Brass Key for Halvung or Lamian Bone Key for Arrapago Reef), and are dropped from beastmen in the respective regions. Cell doors can also be picked by THF.

Upon freeing prisoners you get 100 Imperial Standing points, and when you go back to Al Zahbi, if you speak with the person you rescued you will get a ??? Item as well.

[Nakti]

Originally Posted by Susurrus

How does hate work in Besieged? It is to my understanding that it is completely random. Not only did I get full hate from using Assault, but Shiva got hate before even doing anything besides being out (no attacks, nothing, no commands sent AT ALL)

Hate isn't completely random. Almost any action builds up hate. "Assault" gets a lot of hate. And even if you had only a sliver of hate from a mob when you summoned Shiva, she would've immediately targeted the mob that was targeting you.

I have to be especially careful in the hate department. The mobs hit a lot harder than the players do. That's why I usually stick with Cure IIs and pass them around liberally. On a couple of occasions, mobs have hunted *me* down specifically (Reraise FTW) because I happened to be the main healer for someone that was beating on them. I've even drawn hate by casting Stoneskin on myself.

[Shirainu]

This may seem a universal question, but the search function isn't working for me for some reason, and I can't seem to find a good answer by browsing.

What's the suggested level for besieged?

I'm kind of freshfaced to Aht Urghan in general, but I've done one besieged in a Linkshell party. I'm 39 WAR/NIN for my job. Is that horribly gimped for something like Troll Mercenaries? I got eaten alive in the Undead Swarm so I'll hold off on that one for a bit yet.

Thanks.

[Skoal]

Melee jobs should at least be around 60+ to really even hit the mobs. I just run around on my drg with thf subbed so I can crank out some nice Sa+Wheeling Thrust numbers.

[Aksannyi]

As for level, anyone 50+ with Cure spells can be useful. You will always be needed for curing, raising, hasting (if you're in a party), refreshing (if you're RDM, of course), and several other things. Erase is also a great tool against Trolls (I think) because of those stupid bombs which spam a VERY nasty Burn effect. I almost always sub WHM for Besieged for Erase.

Melee, in general, are better off to wait until at least 60, as Skoal said. You won't be hitting worth much of a damn otherwise. And Besieged is always a great way to skill up weapons, magic skills, and other fun things. Just not crafting.

[Malevolent]

I usually go lvl up my Ninjitsu and throwing during Besieged if its not capped from gaining lvls. With my lvl 40 nin i can land maybe 5out of 12 hits with my rogetsurin and my Hojo, Kuyrami and Jubaku stick but not for very long. i can usually walk away from a besieged with 1k XP. lol also make sure you're skillin up on a claimed mob by either a lvl 75 nin or pld. wasn't watching one time and started landing hits and jitsus and got argo OOPS!! Another good tip is maybe corner yourself by a General...they will heal you also but i've only experienced that with the mithra generals.

[Shirainu]

And now for the guilty question. Bad etiquette though it maybe, if I find myself just throwing out a staggering number of misses and 0 dmg for the fight, will i still get xp if I tuck myself away somewhere and just try not to die? >_>

[eticket109]

Hate in Besieged does have its wacky moments. I pulled hate with a Bio cast once.

[eticket109]

Originally Posted by Shirainu

And now for the guilty question. Bad etiquette though it maybe, if I find myself just throwing out a staggering number of misses and 0 dmg for the fight, will i still get xp if I tuck myself away somewhere and just try not to die? >_>

I'm pretty sure you'll get zero or ~150. There are a lot of theories that exp/isp gained is proportionate to the damage/healing that you do. I think level and activity have something to do with it. I typically cap out on my 75 DRG. At the same time, I ran around once as a 25 BLM on a DoT and tier 1 nuke fest and came out with 180.