When to use Dia 2

[Tulerin]

I am bout 1k tnl to 31 and will be getting Dia II.

With the mp it costs to use it, will it be worth it to cast Dia II at lvl 31? Or would I wait till later when more MP is available to cast it?...or option 3 would I even want to get it in the first place? heh.

[Masaharu]

I never really felt comfortable casting it until I had access to Refresh and Convert. Before then, I felt it was too much of a mana drain to merit casting.

[jaby]

Ditto

[Icemage]

Dia II is VERY spendy (56MP) but lowers Defense by 10%. There are some enemies that have very high defense that you will always want to use it on (Crabs and Anticans, for instance).

In general, it's not always a good idea to cast it (especially if you're running low on MP), but it can save you a lot of time in battle.

A good indicator that you need to cast Dia II is if you see your front-line melee party members hitting for 0 damage (unless the monster just got a Stoneskin or Invincible effect).

Also, you should NEVER cast Dia or Dia II after someone has cast Bio II. Bio II takes precedence over Bio, Dia, and Dia II, so once it has been cast, the other 3 spells do absolutely nothing. Make sure you discuss which spell (Dia II or Bio II) will be cast with the other mages in your party before you start.


Icemage

[Vaberus]

On the whole bio/dia thing, did we ever confirm if the status effects for dia and bio stack? I thought at one time it was stated that a few people had both cast on them at one time.

Obviously the damage does not stack, but does the defence?

[Icemage]

Bio II overwrites all other Bio/Dia spells.
Dia II overwrites Bio and Dia.
Bio overwrites Dia.
Dia doesn't overwrite anything.

Bio II > Dia II > Bio > Dia.

Tried. Tested. Proven.


Icemage

[Vaberus]

How can you use a controled group for the test when the mobs are not controled? How can you tell if the defence accually dropped or went back up with the casting of a bio spell, or you just get lucky with your hits?

The problem is, there is no "control group" We need friggen PvP. I need to turn my friends into guiney pigs.

[Jei]

dia won't stick after bio but it will always hit and you can always gain enfeeble skill from that ^^v i spam dia sometimes when i want to max my skill quick

[Vaberus]

Feh. Im still gonna test it...IF THEY EVER PUT PVP IN OMGWTFBBQ!

:sweat:

[Arli]

You can prove it on yourself if you wish. Go to Beadeaux and pull a Garnet Quadav, almost every time they will cast Dia II on you, then agg a Zircon, who almost always casts Bio II. You will see Dia II fail to overwrite Bio II, even if the Garnet casts Dia II on you again. I have tested this also and confirmed it to be true.

If you're not high enough level, try it on some of the higher level Quadavs in Palborough. The two status effects simply do not exist together like most other enfeebles. There is also a hierarchy for elemental enfeebles also (Choke, Drown, Burn, Frost, Shock).

[riceburner4540]

hmm...i do remember seeing a thread about the elemental enfeebles, which one stacks and what not. as far as i know, burn and shock stack (they're my favorites ^_^). i'm pretty sure they stack because i always start a battle with shock (so whm and rdm can land their enfeebles) and then burn (so i can land my nukes). after a while, the effect of shock wears off...then shortly after, the effect of burn.

i wanna know what other elemental enfeebles stack? sometimes my party would have trouble hitting a monster or something and i wanna cast frost but would it interfere with my other spells?

[Vinen]

Drives me insane when my group is fighting a High Def monster like a crab and the BLM or DRK in the group casts Bio II after I casted Dia II.