[Kletian999]

Smn's value is mainly from the Promvion Dem boss when he spawns those little things, we beat it however with just a War/Nin, Thf/rng(that's me, and it actually worked pretty well), Rng/war, Bard/whm, Whm/blm, and Blm/whm.
I originally thought SATA was impossible in these fights as the monster was so big, but two of my IRL friends in a different PT from me showed that the trick buddy just needs to get REALLY close to the back of the monster to do it.

The general theme of the Dem boss is you need to kill it fast because it regens,spams life drain (single target, goes through invincible), and creates a swarm, the other bosses strategies seem to be more focused on survival than fast damage so with proper support most jobs could contribute I think (I'll need to actually fight them to know for sure)

[Kletian999]

I'd like to add- Monk's 2hrs are great for BCNMs, and since Emptys have no particular resistance to hand to hand (nor do they have especially high defense, just a bunch of life), so I cannot see why the main poster wouldn't want a monk.

I would also add that all players can bring their own healing items to help mitigate the fact that their job doesn't have blink, let the whms focus on the tank, drink an "au lait" (which stacks Regen over normal food) and a couple of X-potions (most cost effective potion on my server) and you'll be fine.

Lastly, it's been mentioned before, but the anti-boss animas can be very helpful as well. In order to get the quest, you need to enter emptiness and NOT erase your memory (you can erase it after you get the quest or if you won a promyvion you can both get the quest and not have to erase). The Npc is to you left when you enter the house behind the Dukes Palace (behind Maat and his Merit Point Moogle too). His name is Harith, if he mumbles about the weakness of the Emptys you've found the guy but you don't qualify for the quest (hopefully no fame is needed, just being on the mission). The Rare/EX recollections drop off ANY enemy in Emptiness (we got one off the second Wanderer by the entrance of Dem) and the enemies should be soloable with a well equipped level 30/15 job. Bring a small party of friends that includes at least 1 thf or thf sub for best results, and if you know anyone that can turn memory fragments into Anima then he'll be a happy crafter.

[Sturme]

The information that some classes are virtually useless in Promyvion is accurate... But don't stand up here claiming that levelling up RNG and NIN to clear this is somehow a challenge, that's the pussy easy way out quite frankly... A challenge would be completing it (heh almost no doubt after a couple wipes) with a less than ideal class mix and researching and collecting which animas to use...

It's entirely possible that you will never be able to clear it this way, but that's because it would be very very difficult... Evidently someone added a definition to the word challenge to include "Timesinking in order to bypass difficulty through slowly forming an ideal environment for an easier victory"...

Seriously, if you realistically want to clear this with the idiots most of us have to deal with on every server, level up RNG and NIN and give yourself half a chance... But don't come around here talking crap that that's "the hard way"...

[Divine]

Cavill :
What would a summoner do before the BC fight? just be a WHM?

When you get to the receptacles (the teleport thing you have to beat to move up to the next level) Blm nukes, the SMN uses an avatar to fight it while those with ranged weapons take shots at it even wars cause I was war/nin and owning things with my bow (but then again I have capped archery and range acc rings macroed). The whm worry about healing the melee who are killing the strays.

[Lordwafik]

My LS buddies are getting expansion back, slowly each one getting it, i'm taking my Sam/war & thf/nin friends & all the "odd" classes But i'm gonna make them get shade armour, i'm sure thatl'l make it easier.

And thanks Kletian for saying you did it *without* ninja sub! and as a thf! that just gives me more hope that anyone can do these.

Gonna try it with a pld tank too

might be a deathtrip, might not, we'll see.

[Indiana]

Over the weekend, due to people due to mission taking too long. We had a 5 person party go into Promyvion-Dem with a WAR/MNK as a tank. They won.

We took a monk/war into Dem also, and won.

We take BLMs too, but yes, we do use them mainly to heal and debuff except near the end when we go all out damage.

We took a THF/NIN into a Promyvion-Mea and guess what, we WON on first attempt. Of course, everyone was dead at the end BUT the thief because he used Perfect Dodge and kill the with mob with a 4 point attack with 1 HP left. FUCKING HILARIOUS.

What I'm trying to point out is, there are MULTIPLE ways to win these battles, but most people are not trying them out and going with only parties that have won. If you farm the animas, I think tons of of different party types could win. There are options, you just have to seek them out.

[Kletian999]

When I fought the 3rd recepticle, we almost didn't make it. One of the party leaders thought there were too many Strays to deal with and encouraged at least half the alliance to run through. However, the rest of us Valiantly stayed behind, and just tried to kill them as fast as possible (300% TP, Sharpshoot, Blm -Ga spamming). We did it and everyone dived for the portal- I almost had trouble believing the portal stayed open as long as it did. So in other words, just keeping fighting- if the portal closes before you all get through, then just rest up and try again- it's much easier than leaving people behind.

Only one of the bosses had buff drain- where whatever food and dispellable Status become the boss's (I read somewhere he absorbs 3 buffs at a time) If you don't have any good buffs, he drains life like the Dem boss does, so the best way to deal with it is to have the only buffs be things like bar-spells that you won't mind losing/giving. Since that means no Utstsusemi, you probably want a paladin tank for it.

[Lordwafik]

I decided to go for a ginea pig run before i go with my LS.

My nukes were super resisted by the recepticle, yet i was super effective vs the strays, i could solo them if they couldnt interrupt my spells. And they're very aspir/drainable.
The MR was resistant to my nukes soo bad, so i did my part by using Damage Over Time nukes instead, so i let bio/burn/shock on hiim so it can slowly take out his MP, while ranger + summoner took our the thing.

I think a thf would be great here if they levelled up their marksmanship.

We got through to the second stage, but then we killed the MR, we told the summoner to use thunderspark (AOE) so he can take all the hate while everyone goes through. What ended up happening is the summoner stood right inside the telepad (that's the wrong part) & got raped by the strays. The plan was he should AOE, get ramuh to tank it all, by the time he's killed we should all teleport, but we couldnt.

After everyone in my PT besides me + whm died, we decided not to bother since they were all tired (although i wouldnt mind trying again).

even though i only got up to floor 2, i think it's doable by a PT. The strays we killed didnt respawn right away, they took their time to repop. So i'm thinking next time, we get MR to a drop of health, then kill all the strays, then quickly kill MR & hop in with the possible hope that it is the one with a teleport in it.

We got up to floor 3 before the PT got killed by strays & i had to use escape.

[Someonher]

AlthornCS :
Reread my post one more time. Paladin does not work. Period. End of story.

well maybe your group sucked cuz we raped dem with a pld tank. however, in holla i would say a pld tank does not work. you need blink tankers in holla. we made it up last night and my pt was the only one to beat the BC because our pt set up was whm blm war/nin war/nin rng/nin rng/nin.
the rng 2hrs saved us too. took off sooo much hp lol. but in dem a pld tank worked fine for my pt. dem was (easy prey).

oh some more info... in dem we used 2 terroanima which helped alot because those cause the boss to run around all drunk and crazy like. we used them at 75% and 50% and i guess those prevented the offspring from spawning cuz we never had any offspring pop on us. so i would recommend terroanima for dem.

and in holla i dont know about anima. our party won with no anima and one of the other parties with us had 4 anima and lost because their tank was pld. he even had 27 hi-potions. still no luck. so in holla definatly try to get some blink tankers.

[AlthornCS]

Pallidamors :
1. How do you handle the strays after the MR is killed. You can't kill them before goin in because it respawns immediately after it's killed, until the MR is killed. We tried sleeping, we tried suicide decoys, we tried sending avatar decoys. Still, we can't get everyone through. Any GOOD advice on getting 18 people through a tiny portal in time and without aggro?

They don't respawn immediately. They respawn very quickly, but my best guess is that there's a certain amount of time that has to pass between each stray spawning. What that means is that if you can kill the strays fast enough, then the spawn rate can't keep up with the speed that you're killing them at. Alliances with at least half a dozen rangers typically clean up most of the strays before the receptacle is killed, and keep them dead.

Also note that there's another thread that I started on this specific issue. Look there for some ideas.

[DarkChronus]

Kel :
Sorry, LS pearl color and equipment match.

AFK before you go in, not after.

I'm confused, was that supposed to be an apology, or insisting that I was indeed the whm that went AFK?

=

[Tarutaru-Zeig]

My first two times in Promyvion Dem and Holla I never even made to the BC, myself I go as WAR/NIN and I understand why this is needed, with dual wield its very effective to use because these things have low defense, a Centurion Sword + Military Axe = godsend in damage, plus Raging Axe did over 300 damage at 130 TP. but always my pts failed on the third floor.

Then I went on Dem on my third try my pt set up was
war/nin
war/nin
blm/whm
whm/blm
brd/whm
smn/whm

and it was a 3 Party Alliance. We ran into no Fake MRs and everyone did a good job on MRs, You SAVE your TP until MR is dea then all melee oblivorate any Strays left with speed and let mages in first. no one got left behind once. We got to the Spire and mine and one of the others went in, one stayed to raise us just incase. At first my pt got raped....

The SMN didnt use Astral Flow quick enough and offsprings really messed up me and the other war, so we ended fairly quickly. the other pt failed as well. we got kicked out of the BC and got raised and went afk for 2hs to recharge our 2hs. while the third pt died as well, but they gave up. on our second try we won(very close one though).

Then once I reach jeuno some people were doin holla so I join. Luckly i got into the good group
war/nin
war/nin
rng/nin
rng/nin
whm/blm
blm/whm

While we wait for the second pt to set up there was some mix up and we needed three pts.

The second pt had finished about an hour after I join but with a poor structure.
drk/war
pld/war
whm/blm
rng/nin
rdm/whm
brd/whm

let me say ahead of time they didnt win. and the third pt....well dissolved at the first floor so we went through with 2 PTs only. when my pt got to the spire we got record time, no animas and only rngs 2hed.

So you CAN do it with 2 PTs, you CAN beat the bosses without Animas, and I personally Say Dems boss was much much harder, my holla set up was godsend and untouchable, plan to do mea tonight or tomrorrow

[Arliman]

I've lead seven runs through all of the Promyvions with my LS and quite a few of what has been said is correct, and alot of it isn't true.

While there have been reports of single parties going into Promyvion and making it to the BC, an alliance makes it easier. Now, 18 people are not required. Actually, in my experience - 18 people are too many to move through the last few floors of Promyvion, and the lag is ungodly. 2 PTs, a total of 12 people are sufficient, provided you have the correct PT composition.

Ideally, you want to go into Promyvion with all parties being capable of taking down the boss without shuffling people around. I cannot stress enough how much RNGs make this thing cake. Not only for the bosses, but for the Memory Recepticles also.

Anyway, getting through each MR *can* be done with a party of combat mages, but time is of the essence, because of the rapid respawn rate of the MR Strays. If you have 2 RNGs per team, 4 RNGs total for the 12 person alliance, you won't have a problem getting through the MRs.

Now about the boss fights. We've tried it with both WAR/NIN and PLD/WAR. I have to say the PLD/WAR has always been more useful. The reason being is that you require 2 WAR/NINs to successfully blink tank the mobs at this level - not to mention the Mea boss rips off all 3 shadows with a single blow. Essentially, you're robbing yourself of a DPS spot on the team for another blink tank. "Mighty Misses" did not contribute significantly to the defeat of any of the Promyvion bosses we fought. A single PLD can tank these mobs when needed, can assist in cures and can Invincible in the end of a near wipe. Those 30 seconds can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

In any case, these fights are about maximum damage as quicky as possible. Regardless of the *challenge* of doing them differently, getting up to the Spire in every Promyvion is a PIA, why on EARTH would you want to make that kind of effort if you weren't prepared to win the battle outright?

Anyway, our PT composition was as follows:

PLD/WAR
RNG/NIN
RNG/NIN
SMN/WHM
WHM/BLM
BLM/WHM

This combo has won every Promyvion, every time. Other DPS classes cannot compare with a RNG at this level, end of story. Between 2 RNGs, a SMN's Astral Flow and the BLMs Manafont - these bosses are cake if used at the right time, without the need for farming animas. Any other combination will require more work and effort than is really needed to win.

I do agree that it is very unfair that SE has designed these bosses to be particular for certain jobs, but thats how all the BCNMs are - the same with HNM mobs. The fact is, if you want to get through these zones and experience the Tavnazian areas (which are breathtaking), you'll take the time to prepare adequately for these challenges. You cannot bulldoze these, great care must be taken in order to succeed. If people aren't willing to make the effort, then they don't deserve to experience the new areas.

This is not a gimmeh expansion - it takes alot of work, and is rewarding in the extreme when you emerge victorious. Anyway, my 2 cents. I do applaud those of you who managed to win with less than optimal jobs for the experience - I just don't advise it.

[Cavill]

Arliman :If people aren't willing to make the effort, then they don't deserve to experience the new areas.

This is what i hate, i lvld my SMN to 30 mainly because i wanted to have a good job prepared for Promyvion, taking a job to lvl 30 isnt hard at all. I spend 40k or so per Promyvion run, and the rest of the group doesnt spend any money at all, and there excuse? "i'm too poor" i have done Promyvion-Holla 3 times now and failed due to people not keeping there poison potions up, and people not bringing correct medicines to win.

I refuse to do Promyvion-Holla again until my party has 2 rng's and 2 smn's, i mean the last time i did it, i had another SMN in my party, she had all the avatars but didnt even use her 2hr properly x3 to win, and didnt keep her poison potions up.

The big problem with Promyvion-Holla, is nobody seems to keep there poison potions up, i cant say it enough, i went through promy with 5 parties, and guess what! All 5 parties FAILED! Because why? They didnt keep there damn poison potions up, as soon as it wears off u better have your finger on the trigger to re-poison yourself because i didnt spend 40k to lose this damn fight!

End.

[Centorio]

I agree with cavill, me and my LS did a run of prom-dem and prom-mea in 1 night. It was cake and only took about 4hrs (30 mins of that was us sitting waiting for 2hrs to refresh) to do both. The next night I had my party of 6 and I joined up with another party of 6 people that I didn’t know. All I was concerned with was the BC fight. I just wanted to make sure my party knew there role and knew what to do, I really didn’t care what the other party's setup was and to be 100% honest I knew they were doomed just by listening to them and how they worked together. Once we got to holla spire the other party went first and died within 2 or 3 mins. It was a slaughter. My party consisted of

NIN/WAR (me)
RNG/NIN
RNG/NIN
SMN/WHM
SMN/WHM
BLM/WHM (our main healer)

At first the holla fight didn’t go so well. I ended up running out of x-potions when the mob was at about 1/2. No one panicked and kept going. A little later our smn went down and next our rng went down. At that point normal idiots would start the usual "OMGZ!!1 VOKE!!! IT’S ON ME!" "Cure ME" "Why did you let me die!" But not us. We stayed calm. Our SMN and RNG had reraise on. The reraised and SMN did 2hr then used ethers to fill MP and used 2hr again.. Then both rangers used 2hr. And the SMN used her 2hr a 3rd time. The end result was a win. Basically people need to stay focused and bring medicine. Having the right jobs will also make this allot easier!

[Cavill]

Finally finished Promyvion-Holla today, did it with this setup:

PLD/WAR
RNG/NIN
RNG/NIN
SMN/WHM (me)
SMN/WHM
WHM/BLM

Me and the SMN use carby to fight it, we also backup healed the party till our MP got to around 200 then we brought out Shiva, used 2hr on it, then by the time i could use my 2hr again it was already dead.

It was a very professional and smooth fight, we also used Animas i believe, so it turned out great!
Finally got holla done, now all i need to do is promy-mea

[nedra]

Just do your homework on what you will be facing in the BCNM, bring medicine, food, reraise scorll (the Holla BCNM boss may eat your Reraiser, I think).

Animas are great from what I read but we never use any in our BCNM and still won.

Yes it sucks that certain jobs work better in Prom.

[Samskeyti]

I did Prom-Dem with this PT:

WAR/NIN
BST/WAR
BST/WHM
BLM/WHM
WHM/BLM
SMN/WHM

And we were the only PT in the alliance to win. With two BST! Whoever posted this guide obviously doesn't understand what BST can do in a BC fight. Carrie for the win!

Prom-Mea and Prom-Holla:
WAR/NIN
WAR/NIN
SMN/WHM
RNG/NIN
BLM/WHM
WHM/BLM

Easy. Fights were finished in just over 2:30. I was the summoner and used Astral Flow at the onset. Both times I used the avatar that is the same element as the day. My three pacts did about 1300 damage total in both fights.

Playing as SMN this timeline works very well:

Drink Melon/Yag Juice.
Summon
Activate 2hr
Use first astral blood pact
Leave avatar out to tank until it is defeated.
Use 1 Hi-Ether
Resummon avatar
Drink second juice when necessary (make sure you have refresh when you use blood pact)
Use second astral blood pact
Leave Avatar out until defeated
Hi-ether
Resummon
Use third astral blood pact

The battles as a whole went like this:
Astral Flow 1 -> Mighty Strikes x2 -> Barrage -> Astral Flow 2 -> Eagle Eye Shot -> Astral Flow 3 -> Victory

[Cavill]

I finally finished Chapter 1, i explored all over Lufaise Meadows, and Tavnazian Safehold!
Definately worth doing those missions.