Restoring your faith in the dunes

[Losfuin]

Or, a thread reminding you that, for every awful party with a meleeing white mage you have, there's one out there where *everything* is perfect.

Yesterday, I took my rdm to the dunes, hoping to start on the road from 17 to 20 in order for BCNMs. Wait about ten minutes, get an invite. Woo! Set-up was thf, thf, pld, rng, whm, rdm.
After one hour, I had as much exp as when I started.
After several changes, I finally hit 18, and not long after, we disband. Seemed to take about three hours to get over 1000 exp.

Today I go along, and end up forming my own party, as no invite came after a half hour. Eventual set-up was whm, blm, nin, nin, mnk, rdm.
After one hour, we'd earned roughly 4000 exp each.
The only discussion we needed was over which nin would tank, and who would pull. We never had to stop because of low MP, which is a first for any party I've been in. The only thing stopping us getting chains beyond 5 were the lack of monsters on the beach. Absolutely awesome.

Sadly, we disbanded not long after the hour, as most members had hit 20, and some had to log, leaving only me behind at 19. I was very sad to let that party go. I've had some awesome parties, but they've all been based on the LS. For a pick-up party... 4k an exp in the dunes? I've never heard of that much before.

So, not every dunes party makes you pull your hair out and cry.

Anyone else got any stories they wish to share?

[Gospel]

The best party i've ever been in was a 57-59 party. (when i say 57-59 that means I got 2 levels in this party and not that the party was 57-59)

We all started out at level 57 in the Valley of Sorrows. setup was War, War, War, Nin, Brd and Me(whm). It was an axe burn/rampage party. Nin tanked of course and did a bloody awesome job of holding hate. Very little down time coz of utsusemi. We were getting constant chains of 7. We ended up averaging 10k exp per hour. Party lasted 3 hours and we all came out 2 levels stronger. First time i've ever been in a high level party with 3 warriors and now i can fully appreciate just how powerful warriors are with how fast we were killing the raptors. Yay for rampage =3

[Keavy]

Only good Dunes experiences i've had have been with Japanese parties.

Like the one that took me from WHM 14 with 300 exp to 20 in a little over 8 hours (Would have been less but we had trouble replacing members.)

[JediKitsune]

I just can't think of the Dunes being a good place after what happened today.

I've bene playing for a year, but today was nothing but some of the absolute WORST parties I have EVER had in the Dunes. The ONLY parties that got decent EXP had PLs. I had multiple parties that couldn't even take on a freakin' Snipper when I'd never had problem at that level. They liked randomly disbanding as well, particularly when the mob we were zoning had aggro on me.

[Nobodyreal]

Dunes has the distinction of not only being the worst party I've ever been in, but the worst party I've ever heard of.

The most XP we got from any single kill was 50. Both(!) of the WHMs were blowing through all of their MP in every single fight and somehow still leaving the tank (me) needing to rest and recover. I died several times and should have left but there was nobody else in the dunes, it was literally our one party and a few people camping the emperor. So the idiots get me killed so many times I delevel. After I go back to my homepoint and run out to the party again, I get kicked from the party and told that it was because the level gap was too big. I was a level 11 (after the delevel) WAR and everyone else was level 12 or 13.

And it wasn't just a random party of noobs. Everyone was rank 5 or higher and half of them had "advanced" jobs. Because of this and the other horrible parties I've had there, I will never again XP in Valkrum.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

I have had a few good parties in the Dunes, but the best I can remember was in Korokola Tunnel. I was leveling BLM, and fell in with a group who all were in the same LS, often leveled together, and all had level 60+ jobs.

It was like the Japanese parties you only hear of. The action never stopped. All the mages could be down for MPs and the Elvaan RNG would just keep shooting at a worm. At one point I killed a worm that he had taken way down by using Posion, Bio, and every last MP I had recovered while he was shooting. Ran out of range and watched it die. Four levels in as many hours.

But the best part is I learned SO MUCH in that party.

[Jadus]

Well I remember being BLM lvl 10 in dunes....
took along time until dun dun dun
i get this invite and i show up at camp and
... a lv 75 RDM and a 75 WHM and...
a 60 BLM are sitting there next to my party and
to make a long story short
lvls 10-16 in a few hours

[ScarlettPheonix]

I've completely given up on the dunes all together.

I took RDM, SMN and WHM through the dunes and hated it. Especially with SMN and WHM. Even half-way experienced players seem to revert to know-nothing half-wits when they cross over into that Sandy Hell.

After escaping with my sanity while lvling WHM I decided that I'd just solo my other baby jobs to 15 and then go experience the joy that is Valkurm.
Well, I have 3 jobs that are now where I could take them to Hell Beach, but I'm just not going to do that too myself.

20 sounds like a good start-to-party level to me.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

ScarlettPheonix, at this point I would rather spend 3 days in Windurst trying to get a Maze party together than spend 1 hour leveling in the Dunes 10 - 15.

15 - 20 Korokola Tunnel gives so much faster EXP I don't see why people are still leveling in the Dunes at all.

Its not that the Dunes are SO bad, or the parties either, just that Worms are sooooo much better. I have had good parties in the Dunes and horrorshows too, but the best Dunes parties give 1/2 the EXP/hr that a good worm party will.

[Sheala]

I am finding the best parties are the one made of competent players. They have decent to uber gear, but the most important thing is they know how to get the most out of their jobs. I like Japanese parties. Not only do they experiment and learn what works and how, they teach you in a polite way what they find out. Some NA players can do this too. But so many NA player stay noobs way past the dunes. The competent players understand it is how they play and interact with the rest of the party. Where the party levels does not matter as much to the good party as how the players can work together to increase xp while reducing risk.

While it only lasted a few weeks, Our Mithra Pride Pheonix static was a great party :!: Dispite have 2 high level characters to help with adds and raises, I learned a lot in the few weeks. With my monk I figured out how to weapon skill chain with other players. As a theif, I figured out how to pull safely and avoid links, aggro, and deal with pops. It is too back the static ran its course. So it is the players who make the party great or lousy. That is why I want to become a better player.

[Cyndari]

My story is close to Jadus's the best pty I ever had in dunes was we had WAR, WAR, WAR, THF, BLM, BLM. The THF was ldr and had 2 friends PL us 65RDM, 71WHM. I went from 15 - 21 in a little under 4 hours.

[ScarlettPheonix]

Tsybil, oh I agree, Maze/Tunnel or even Peninsula parties are leaps and bounds above Hell Beach.

I enjoy soloing and testing my limits a lot. Must be the RDM in me, lol. So, for me, soloing my baby jobs up to lvl 20 works. I enjoy the time away from the exp party grind and since I craft its the perfect way to get crystals and low level crafting items^^

[Yukira]

Never lost my faith to dunes nor had much of it. Nice place to meet new players. ^^

[Tifachan]

Well I've been in the dunes too many times. I'm kinda tired of it, but I know I will return to lvl a few more jobs.

The only things that makes the dunes such a bad thing for me is:

1. Newbie Paradise (But hey, we were all once newbies, so you gotta feel for them)
2. Lack of job abilities and spells (10-20)
3. Long LFP Times

[Crispleaf]

The Dunes will always be rough for many reasons.

For one thing, most jobs lack the survival skills and equipment that are essential at higher levels. For another, most people are new at their job. They might not have worked out how exactly it's supposed to work yet... maybe they've seen other people play the job, but they haven't done it themselves.

And I also think if you've played a high level job exclusively for a long time and are just now getting around to leveling something else, you've completely forgotten how vulnerable you are at a low level. You might expect someone to sleep a link only to remember, too late, that no one knows how to cast a sleep spell yet.

Powerleveling might take some edge off this, but in the end, it only seems to produce tanks that don't know how to tank and healers that fall asleep instead of heal.

[Losfuin]

Powerleveling might take some edge off this, but in the end, it only seems to produce tanks that don't know how to tank and healers that fall asleep instead of heal.

Yes. To some extent, power-levelling came take some of the blame for parties in places such as Quifim that still have no idea what to do.

People heading to the Dunes is just what happens. People level there because it's where people wanting to level are most often found. How did it get this way? Dunno. Ask the people who started playing at release in Japan.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

People heading to the Dunes is just what happens. People level there because it's where people wanting to level are most often found. How did it get this way? Dunno. Ask the people who started playing at release in Japan.

Probably because of it being so convient to Sandy and Basty. The people from those cities would meet there making parties so much easier to find.

When I first started, right after the NA release, the pattern was Windy people would level in the Canyon, Maze, and Bubu, headding to the Dunes at 15 - 16 for the subjob quest. Now these areas are empty of leveling parties on all servers This may have a LOT to do with the reduced number of people leveling 10 - 20 nowadays.

I have put several Maze and Bubu parties together in the last year. People are always astonished at the EXPs/hr.

[Losfuin]

I have put several Maze and Bubu parties together in the last year. People are always astonished at the EXPs/hr.

The MP Phoenix static spent some time in Bubu from about 12-18. Was awesome, some of the best fun levelling ever. Aside from the great company ( ), the utter lack of competition made life easy.

I had two rather interesting parties tonight. First had a 3 level gap, with brd, mnk (no SJ), blm, drg, war, and rdm (me). The exp wasn't brilliant, we had to rest a lot slowing our chains, but we were never in any kind of danger, and it was pretty fun. Later on, our mnk left, so we replaced him with a thf/nin, leaving the party full of people lvl 18 to 19. We got very quick exp and skill-ups, but it felt like a real rush, with me never feeling I had quite enough MP to main heal, but too much healing to do to enfeeble and melee properly.

In the first party, it was clear the mnk was a relative newcomer to the game, not just in the lack of SJ, but in general understanding of game-terms and tactics. Whereas, the second version was much more professional, with the party chaining T and EM mobs to keep the chains up between Pugil re-spawns. Even so, it wasn't nearly as fun, and I kinda glad to leave.

What I liked about the first party was that it felt constructive outside of the exping up; I think our mnk left being a bit more knowledgable about the game. The second one felt more like a grind, with everyone knowing their place and doing exactly what they should. We could have been on auto-pilot.

Sometimes, a bit of inexperience can make for fun times.

[Kistala]

Being lfp or gathering a pick-up party in Dunes is always a crapshoot. I've died four times in a row to crabs because the first three times the Black Mage didn't understand what "don't Bio" means and the fourth time he disbanded two blows into the battle because "you ned 2 lern respct". He was RANK SEVEN and was casting Bio on Crabs.

That was the worst. The best PT I have ever had was also in Dunes. I was the White Mage in a party with two Ninja. They had flawless timing. I practically debuffed more than I cured. I went from level 12 to 20 in one day, in a single party.

[Crispleaf]

Being lfp or gathering a pick-up party in Dunes is always a crapshoot. I've died four times in a row to crabs because the first three times the Black Mage didn't understand what "don't Bio" means and the fourth time he disbanded two blows into the battle because "you ned 2 lern respct". He was RANK SEVEN and was casting Bio on Crabs.

Ok, I'll bite... why is it so terrible to cast Bio on crabs to the point where it would cause you to die 3 times?

(I mean, I understand Dia reduces defense... but Bio would reduce the damage of Big Claw... it doesn't seem that bad to me)

[Yukira]

Yeah, I'd like to know too...O_o

[Eviticus]

Bio II > Dia II > Bio > Dia.

They are ranked in that order. Bio will cancel Dia when cast, Dia II will cancel Bio when cast, etc. Dia is perfered on Crabs because no matter how hard they hit and inconvienece one person, about 3-4 others are screwed cause it's Def is too high. So since you can't have both Dia and Bio on at the same time, Dia is perfered on high def mobs.

[Crispleaf]

Bio II > Dia II > Bio > Dia.

They are ranked in that order. Bio will cancel Dia when cast, Dia II will cancel Bio when cast, etc. Dia is perfered on Crabs because no matter how hard they hit and inconvienece one person, about 3-4 others are screwed cause it's Def is too high. So since you can't have both Dia and Bio on at the same time, Dia is perfered on high def mobs.

I get all that (I couldn't level so many mage jobs and not know this). I'm just wondering why Bio would cause 3 deaths though, even if it isn't prefered? Dia isn't THAT much better (it helps, but really...)

And besides, certain weapons work better on crabs than others... You being a dragoon should know this since a polearm is far better than a sword on crabs Hand-to-hand works well too, strangely enough.

You'd be better off being well equipped to hit crabs than casting Dia instead of Bio.

[Losfuin]

He was RANK SEVEN and was casting Bio on Crabs.

I've cast Bio on crabs, too. You just need to make sure someone follows it up with a Dia. As I understand it, while the enfeebles don't stack, the DoT effect does.

It seems to me that party had more problems than a BLM who didn't understand enfeeble stacking.

[Kistala]

it was a monk-heavy party. Bio meant we had three people swinging for 0s.

[ScarlettPheonix]

I've cast Bio on crabs, too. You just need to make sure someone follows it up with a Dia. As I understand it, while the enfeebles don't stack, the DoT effect does.

As Evictus already pointed out: Bio II>Dia II>Bio>Dia

Bio lowers the crabs attack. So only the person being hit gets the benefits from bio.

Dia lowers def, which means every single person in the party hitting the crab gets the benefit from dia. The tier II version work the same way. Dia II lowers def by a whopping 10%. Why do you even want to think about overwriting that? Or preventing it from taking effect until Bio wears?

Crabs have a very high def and without anyway to dispel their evasion boost ability you want to lower its def as much as possible. Which means you can have your crab boil that much quicker.

[Losfuin]

As Evictus already pointed out: Bio II>Dia II>Bio>Dia

Bio lowers the crabs attack. So only the person being hit gets the benefits from bio.

Actually, yeah, thinking about more about it, I totally mis-understood what I was trying to do >.> I've made myself look pretty silly, haven't I?

[Crispleaf]

it was a monk-heavy party. Bio meant we had three people swinging for 0s.

I think you'd only hit for 0 if it had stoneskin up. I remember leveling monk and stealing hate off of tanks just with regular attacks, nevermind boost or weaponskills... as a weak little mithra, at that

Then again, these are Dunes tanks we're talking about.

[Kistala]

it was a monk-heavy party. Bio meant we had three people swinging for 0s.

I think you'd only hit for 0 if it had stoneskin up. I remember leveling monk and stealing hate off of tanks just with regular attacks, nevermind boost or weaponskills... as a weak little mithra, at that

Then again, these are Dunes tanks we're talking about.

Yeah... my biggest mistake in that party, really, was not disbanding after the second death. :/

[xaresity]

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