[Nazo]

Hi all, new to the site. I finally got my first job (whm) to lvl 70. From what I gather this is about the level that I can start thinking about dynamis. I know there are specialist LS's that organise dynamis runs with loads of people but I had a look at the website for one on my server and its list of rules to me could be summarized in one sentence: You will commit yourself to us completely and never enjoy playing FFXI again. Not really what I'm looking for from my FFXI experience.

So the question I want to ask is: is it possible to do anything worthwhile in dynamis with a smaller group? My LS could probably get 10-12 together on a good day (maybe a full alliance with another ls we're friendly with). Or should I just forget it?

[Kirsteena]

With 10-12 you could farm some of the cities with little trouble if your players were skilled enough to deal with links. When my linkshell started Dynamis we had 15, and farmed Sandy and Bastok fairly well for a few to get people used to it. However, we didn't get many of the time extenders, so our time was kind of limited, and with a 1 million gil fee to enter, you do kinda want to make good use of your time (we justified it by getting a silverpiece off our first statue ).

Yes it is possible to have fun, but after a while it may become a chore - dying with no reward is difficult to continue to do on a regular basis.

Not all Dynamis linkshells are like that - look around, see if there is any your friends are in that they can recommend etc. One thing I have learned is keep your friends close - it makes for happier endgame.

[Nazo]

Thanks for the advice, I'm glad to hear not all Dynamis LS's are like that, I'll look out for some more relaxed ones. There's plenty of other things to do while I wait for my LS to level up a bit anyway.

[S.SubZero]

How did the rules appear to be that vicious to you?

Dynamis can only be done once every three days, and each run can only run to an absolute maximum of four hours (if you get all of the time extensions). This amounts to eight hours per week, plus prep time which is typically about 30 minutes before the run. How exactly is nine hours a week "You will commit yourself to us completely and never enjoy playing FFXI again"? Can you give us a link to their site so we can judge their rules?

As far as 10-12 people, I wouldn't bet on it. Dynamis is brutal. I mean VERY brutal. If you are going into any zone with 12 people you (a)aren't going to clear, and (b)aren't going to get far in the time allotted. I prefer a large skilled group (my LS fields 45-55 people a run) that can get the clear and farm out to the maximum time for the most AF2 and coin drops. My LS has *completely* cleared Bastok and San d'Oria down to the very last mob. Maximum AF2 and dynamis currency achieved. 12 people won't do this, and won't do 25% of this.

I'd also strive for 75. One point is that you want as much ability as you can muster, as you will be in situations far beyond anything you've known before. Also, you will die. You will probably die alot. You don't get EXP in Dynamis ya know.. But you still lose it at the normal rate. Dying is a normal part of Dynamis. May as well get as much levelling as you can. Having a 43999/44000 buffer at L75 is very reassuring.

[Kirsteena]

Originally Posted by S.SubZero

Having a 43999/44000 buffer at L75 is very reassuring.

Dynamis destroyed my 43999/44000 buffer to about 17k... in a very short time. That gives you an indicator of how much death you can expect.

[Nazo]

Originally Posted by S.SubZero

How did the rules appear to be that vicious to you?

Looking at their site again I see that they also do HNMs and other things in addition to Dynamis so maybe that's why, but their rules stated you can only be a member of one such LS, must spend 70% of your game time logged into that LS, must report if you are going to be away for a while, etc etc.

I'm not criticizing in any way, I'm sure a lot of people would be happy to do that. But having been in the same LS since I was about lvl 5 I don't want to just abandon them to do other things.

[Tirrock]

70 WHM vs 75 WHM isn't a big difference. A bit of hMP lost from missing errant body, and about 600 exp lost a death instead of 240 a death. WHM buffers don't go down fast. I used to hover around 5k exp as my WHM at 75, only using the occasional exp scroll to rebuild my buffer until the day I accidentally forgot to switch back to merit points in a party and ended up with an 18k buffer on WHM. (Which is now at 15k, months later and 5 deaths in one lebros rank 2 assault later...)

On most servers I've heard of linkshells that are purely dynamis. They show up twice a week to dynamis and go back to their social shells/mini-HNM shell/crafting shell/whatever the rest of the time. It's a pretty good deal if they don't screw you out of drops. Like the leader making it so all the jobs he wants to level goes to him first, then his friends, then the people that suck up the most, then maybe when it's freelot material you'll get it. (No, that didn't happen to me...but I've heard horror stories of some dynamis shells.)

Anyway. If you can find one of those, that'd probably be best. They just require some gil to cover the 1m entrance cost. The only downside there is that your chances of getting northland AF2 is pretty slim (moreso than usual) and you have no chance at a relic weapon.

[Kirsteena]

Other option is to find a linkshell that would be willing to take all your friends along solely for Dynamis - if you find a small enough one, the addition of 10-12 people would be welcome and could push them from closely clearing to comfortably clearing - you and your friends would all be together, and both the original linkshell and yourselves would benefit.

[sevenpointflaw]

As for end game as a WHM, i'm in the same exact position as you. White Mage. Just nearing 70. Last Sunday was my first dynamis run.

As for Dynamis specificly, its just like any other part of the game. Everyone bitches about how much you die, but the truth of the mater is that if everyone does thier job and doesn't get lazy about it, then no one will die. Complacency breeds stupidity, and stupidity breeds death. Don't be stupid, people won't die. No stupid. No die.

For the rest of it, I'm also looking at HNM/Sky, etc, and flat out refuse to go to any LS that requires me to marry the LS itself. One on my server I know expects five times a week, four hours a day. Sixth day a week is expected, but you can skip for dynamis/xp parties if you want. I say screw that. I'll go without an HNM/Sky LS until I find out that suits me better.

The reasons, however, are understandable. Comitment. Simple fact is you -need- a certain number of a certain type of jobs to succede at certain things. If people just come and go when they want, then it doesn't work. My solution, when I join, I will tell them flat out I can -commit- to two days a week, and it can't be sunday (dynamis). If they can't accept that, then I'll find another HNM/Sky LS. I'm patient. I don't mind.

My advice: Do that same. Draw the line for yourself so you know exactly how much you willing to garuntee your HNM/Sky LS if you pick one, and pick one that will work with your schedule. As long as you are up front about when you can go -AND- you live up to it, most will work with you. Then, if you show up more than you are personally required, it looks good for you.

Enjoy!

[TheGrandMom]

Dynamis can be done in smaller groups. My HNM ls has beaten the cities with an alliance or a few less than a full alliance. The way you do this is to know your partners. If you are lsmates and you hunt together a lot you know how well they can tank (/bow Nace), if they get hit hard and have to watch their hps (Ryne...Limbus... >.<), how fast they pull (Edge /slap), just how gosh darn crazy they are (ya that is for you Hutch Norris!), etc. A tight knit group does well, one thats just thrown together occasionally does not. And that is one of the reasons they are so strict on membership.

Loose links in the chain can ruin a run. A run will cost 1 million gil and time spent. It will also cost exp, which some people seem allergic to loosing. You go in to farm to the extreme or you go in to clear.

AF2 drops are sporatic at best. Did Bastok a week ago and got 5 pairs of melee gaiters.........OY! Did Windy on Sunday and got 3 Nin Koga Facethingies, except all our nin have it already! (Our brd got one! Good luck lvling nin Mazu God!) We have a smn in full AF2 and another nearly there but our plds have had to fight over only one Valor Surcoat. Whm af.......HAH! 3 pieces have dropped! ; ; You don't get what you want 3/4's of the time but when you do it is SWEET!

[Windlorn]

Definitely don't get your hopes up for AF2 drops. I'm currently up to and just completed the Glacier and have yet to get a piece of AF2 for myself I have probably done about 15 total and have only seen a Paladin AF2 piece drop maybe 5 times and never got the lot. We have cleared the zone several times so it's not that we haven't killed enough mobs either, just SE's stingy drop rates imo.

Hope your luck is better

[Icemage]

The problem with a small group in Dynamis that does not have experience is that you're going to end up dead more than you'll care to. All these reports about small less-than-18 groups doing well are long-standing Dynamis veterans who know the ropes, know how to handle themselves - and even then you usually get your nose a bit bloody trying.

For an inexperienced group of 12, you have almost no chance of surviving any Dynamis encounter effectively enough to justify the 1,000,000 gil spent.


Icemage

[S.SubZero]

Originally Posted by Nazo

Looking at their site again I see that they also do HNMs and other things in addition to Dynamis so maybe that's why, but their rules stated you can only be a member of one such LS, must spend 70% of your game time logged into that LS, must report if you are going to be away for a while, etc etc.

I'm not criticizing in any way, I'm sure a lot of people would be happy to do that. But having been in the same LS since I was about lvl 5 I don't want to just abandon them to do other things.

Well for an HNMLS this is not so unusual. HNMLS's tend to have spontaneous "Whatever NM is gonna spawn soon let's go get it" type of events. You're "on-call" so to speak. HNMLS's separate the wheat from the chaff; very dedicated HNMLS people are hardcore players that want to go for the best items and defeat the strongest mobs. It's very top-tier, and to some people THAT is fun. When I was in HNMLS's I considered that aspect of it to be very enjoyable.

Dynamis-only LS's are different tho. Like I said, you can only enter Dynamis every three days. As such, the day right after a run, who cares what LS you are in? The idea is that on Dynamis day, at Dynamis time, you pop on the pearl, do the run, pop off the pearl. It's not a massive responsibility. My Dynamis LS couldn't care less where we are except for the hours we are expected to be at Dynamis.

If the LS you were thinking of applying to is a HNMLS that just happens to do Dynamis (which some do) then you should understand that and not misunderstand what they expect from you.

[TheGrandMom]

The only thing with a large Dynamis shell is that getting your AF2 can take a long time. It all depends on how they set up the drop system and that is something you should investigate thoroughly if you do decide to join one. The best time to get in a Dynamis shell is when they are first forming. You could even consider starting up one of your own. If you do its best to look around at other Dynamis shells on your server and see how they do things. Then choose what works for you and implement it into your shell. I would also limit the number of people in the shell so that people have a better chance at drops. We've cleared Bastok/Windy/San with less than an alliance and Beaucidine with 24, so smaller numbers of tight good players can do a lot. You don't need scads of people to do Dynamis, just smart people.

[Kutu]

Originally Posted by Windlorn

Definitely don't get your hopes up for AF2 drops. I'm currently up to and just completed the Glacier and have yet to get a piece of AF2 for myself I have probably done about 15 total and have only seen a Paladin AF2 piece drop maybe 5 times and never got the lot. We have cleared the zone several times so it's not that we haven't killed enough mobs either, just SE's stingy drop rates imo.

Hope your luck is better

Took me 15 runs to see my first bit of blm af, and took another 10 or something before i managed to win a lot (against something like 9 blms too) In my total dynamis experience since last october/november time ive seen maybe 5 pieces of blm af total drop. Drop rates blow for everything you want, when you have no monks, behold youl get those 5 pairs of melee gaitors :D