eLeMeNTaL DeBuFF : FFXI General Discussions

Hi guys ... i just wanna add some info about some spells and how and when to use them

Spells

Frost - Lowers AGI (melee hit more)

Burn - Lowers INT (more damage against the monster)

Rasp - Lowers DEX (lowers monsters accuracy and chance of critical)

Choke - Lowers VIT (melee do more damage)

Drown - Lowers STR (monster hits for less damage and damage is more variable)

Shock - Lowers MND (all magic against the monster is resisted less)

How to use them

Opposite elements do NOT stack e.g. if you cast Frost and then cast Burn Frost will wear off and Burn will hit.

Rule of thumb - Water > Fire > Ice > Wind > Earth > Lightning.

Here are some basic recommendations for how to use them. If you are fighting beetles or something else with high evasion and you are doing good damage with your nukes but melees are missing, this is when you cast Frost. After Frost you can also cast Rasp and Drown because these 3 WILL stack~

If you are fighting something that resists your spells a lot e.g. Anticans, cast Burn. After Burn you can cast Choke and Shock because these 3 will also stack~

Some more combos.
Frost & Shock (helps melee and debuffs/resists)
Drown & Rasp (helps the healer)

There are a bunch more combos that you can play with. These are just my suggestions.

In most parties I start off with Frost and Shock then recast these when they were off but it depends highly on my party config which ones I use. BTW all of the elemental debuffs stack with ANY other regular debuff (dia, bio, blind, etc etc...)

A good way to use spells like these to your advantage, with a pld tank. But you have to target specific mobs and use their weaknesses to your advantage. I have seen a few blm MB over 3k with thunder IV, consistantly on normal exp mobs

at the start of the fight, set up like normal to build up TP for a skillchain. After TP is ready, have the blm stand directly behind the pld. Make sure to have blink/stoneskin up if possible. Depending on mobs and which blm spell you have / like to use.

cast flood on the mob, and after the blm gets aggro, the pld uses cover. Blm runs away and if SATA is used, set up and skillchain. Flood causes lightning resistance to drop way down. Try to set up a skillchain like fragmentation or light and magicburst Thundaga III or Thunder IV.

We had chains going like this the other night and all the blm did was rest, flood, Thunder IV, rest, repeat. I dont remember exactly how long the effects of flood will last, but we normally did the SC/MB within about 5 seconds after the pld used cover.

Some mobs that have low resistance to a specific element, will loose much or any more resistance after using AM. Some will loose a lot.

Simply they are just like Bio and Dia. Most people know they can't stack cause there light <-> Dark. The same thing with those spells.

Bio and Dia dont stack? but.. Poison and Dia do because.. Poison is water right?

yes, poison is water not dark.

I only use burn these days. Burn lowers INT of the monster. Which is a counter modifier for your spell damage.

Try nuke without burn and compare. It's not that huge of a difference, but still noticeable.