Astral Burn Moans n' Groans

[Radagast]

Where is the pride in skipping all those levels...how could you feel like you earned anything?

yeah parties are hard to get on some jobs...but it's worth working for it.

I don't think the point of the game is to get to 75 as fast as you can and end game...it's the journey.

after lvl 65 on BLU it was near impossible to get a party unless i made one myself. mostly because there are so many bad BLU's on asura they don't know what a good one would do for their party. Point being...even if SMN burn was available at the time or some other way to gain whole levels in one shot i still would have gone 68-75 in campaign.

i know how to play my job very well but the journey of leveling is the part i would have missed...yeah campaign was boring at times and i'd have to drag nkai out to help me skill up after every lvl but we had fun.

it took me 3 years to get my first job to 75 and i wouldn't trade it for anything cause of the awesome ride i had along the way.
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[Seliphan]

It's really easy, actually. xD As has been previously pointed out, SMNs are well loved in some endgame and CoP for one reason: Astral Flow. You never hear this great new strategy that implements a RDM, NIN Tank, SAM DNC SMN and a BLM.

And I know exactly where yer coming form Rad, I duo'd my DRG to 72 before I quit Brat. But, think about it this way.
What if you were only invited to pts on BLU to /WHM and main heal?
That was it. You couldn't melee or use your blue magic, you could only use WHM spells. It would become frustrating, yeah? You'd have to skillup sword and Blue Magic every level even if you didn't level sync. You could say 'Well Magic Fruit works too' but pts would kick you if you used it. What if even in endgame once you hit 75 and spent months capping your skills and getting gear, you were still expected to /WHM and heal on BLU. It'd make you tear your hair out, right? Oh, and then you spend hours, sometimes days getting the latest spells after you've capped your Blue Magic, just to watch them gather dust.

I have absolutely no question whatsoever that SMN Burns are cheap, and create noob SMNs. I am a firm believer in that. However, with all the frustration, and being unable to play your job even once you've mastered it... We get more pride being cheap, and hiring outside help, than being 2nd rate healers who get undermined and kicked for doing exactly what we are supposed to do.

It isn't all about pride and accomplishments... But personally I feel much more pride when I'm doing something my job was designed to do.
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SMN75|RDM70|SAM66|DRG47

[Radagast]

You example doesn't hold up. Why level smn if at endgame they still make you do the same thing? I understand for the love of the job...but is it worth it? There are other ways to level. Without level sync there is FoV and campaign and you could also make your own parties. I know of a smn who refused to heal pre-lvl sync and still made it to 75. Astral burn is just the easy way out.
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[Seliphan]

My example is perfectly valid, I still take more pride in doing what my job is supposed to do, cheap or not. SMNs are expected to heal endgame only by noobs, and only if you allow it to happen. Pop a 1.5k Pred Claws people will be happy to let you DD lol. Send them the wiki page that shows how effective buffs are n you'll be allowed to buff... Trick is finding endgame leaders who don't condemn you before you start.


But your examples are valid, too.

Campaign, no. SMNs cannot sustain DoT without refresh and some nice perp down gear, which is only at higher levels. The only way to really get exp in campaign nowadays is to either get the killshot, which is only available 70+, or um... Heal. Same thing as pting with less exp. At 75 with all of that I still only get maybe 800 exp per battle. I get that on my 67SAM, too.

FoV is an option, yes. Absolutely nothing wrong with it if you can stand EP Experience for half your MP from 51->75. SMN is spike damage and support, regular mob soloing is very difficult as perp costs run our MP down. DC mobs commonly defeat celestial avatars without dying, so you have to resummon mid-fight and hope that the avatr lands that first hit, otherwise the mob beats on you for a while. lol

Last solo option is Bomb Soloing, which is decent exp, and it's all very chancy. Not to mention you'll probably die more times otw there, and there's no guarentee the bomb will self-destruct in an hour, two hours, or even three. Very recently I've died several times otw, while up there, and only 2 kills. I exhausted my entire MP store casting on CARBY and he eventually DoT'd the bomb dead. This was over a timespan of 4 hours, I lost 1.5k exp. You also run into avatar vs. your emnity issues here.

Making your own pts works until the ass RDM (or other pt members) decides that the exp isn't good enough and disbands. Course you could always just pay him to stay, but that's cheating.

So yeah you're right, AF Burning is just another way out. By no means is it easy, though. Finding competent pullers, having a holder, finding the SMNs who know how, hoping that the camp is open, and praying that the holders buffs don't wear at the same time (spells near-instant death)... AF Burning is anything but easy, it's very difficult to setup and do properly.
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SMN75|RDM70|SAM66|DRG47

[Radagast]

I think you are missing the point...you still don't get to play the job the way it's suppose to be played. Yes, Astral Flow is an ability, but you've said goodbye to everything else a smn is capable of. Don't sell yourself short. It can be done without missing the enjoyment of the game and job.

or is the real issue..you like the instant levels that no one else can get and try to justify it?
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[Seliphan]

True, very true. Still, one ability > None. lol

Who DOESN'T love 60k/hour. But I've also been in a 40k/hour party on DRG. I don't use AF Burns to just level everything, even though I could. It takes too much enjoyment outta the game

But then you also gotta ask yourself, do you just not like em cause you can't get the same xp?
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SMN75|RDM70|SAM66|DRG47

[Radagast]

I could if i wanted to


i don't like them for obviously stated reasons and that's for realz yo
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[Moogleaura]

I remember the long road my SMN had to 75. Many of us sick of the crappy role we had in EXP parties would go to Ulegurand Range and fight the Snolls there to level up.
Basically just sent 6x Carbuncles out and wail on the mob until it uses self-destruct. It was slow at times but the fun we all had up in that evil mountain.
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|SMN75|BLM75|COR75|BLU75|WHM68|
http://www.ffxiah.com/player.php?id=17414&ig=1

[Sorvina]

I was playing on my husbands WHM yesterday, since Sorvina is currently not activated coz SE's servers hate me and are always busy. He HATES WHM and refuses to lvl it. So I was doing it for him while he was at work. I was invited at lvl 13 to an AF party. Was only the second time I'd ever even heard of it, and of course, my 1st experience in it. I didn't even know what I was getting into lol. The party lead told me simply, just stand there and don't cast. I was thinking "wtf am I hear for then?" LOL
It took about an hour to set up, and when it started, I don't think I could have helped if they wanted me too. I was starin the screen like O.O!!!

I went from lvl 13 to 23 in less than 8 minutes.

Now...had I known what it was before hand....and been on my own name, I would have declined the invite. I actually enjoy WHM, and soloed my own from 1-24 before I ever even got a party invite. Had I known before hand on hubby's, I still would've gone since he has no interest in lvling it at all and it will only ever be used as /WHM. I figure that's one exception I approve of.

For the most part, I agree with Rad....you xp like that, and your missing out on the journey. And the journey, after all, is the fun part.!

/tackles Rad and gives him snuggles
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