[Bean]

I know some of the players here are experienced with BCNM, so I was wonderinging if you could provide any information about it.

My party that will be attempting the 40 cap BCNM in Giddeus will consist of:
Whm/Blm(Taru 600+ mp)
Brd/Whm(Taru, Has horn, no Signa)
Drk/Thf(Galka)
Drk/Thf(Elvaan)
Pld/War(Elvaan)
Blm/Whm(Taru)

We may replace the blm with another job but we do not know which. Do you think that this combo will work? We will all be using juices/food as needed. It will be all of our first time playing the BCNM.

[Cire]

I'd say lose the whm. A rdm can do all a whm can do (except haste, but you get refresh) and the best aspect is that a rdm can convert. A typical BCNM for me is around 11-15 minutes, depending on how hard my melees hit. During this time span, all mages should be drinking juices and with juice + ballads (whenever possible), the main healer will still be losing quite a bit of mp. You'd be surprised how fast the mp drains when curagas and cure II's are spammed on the party and brd, respectively. This is where the rdm dominates over the whm. With convert, the rdm gets full mp instantaneously. This ensures that your main healer will have enough mp to last the entire battle (assuming your party and rdm are experienced). This is of course only my opinion and what I've learned from past experiences. I've heard of many that did just as well, if not better, with a whm.
Also, I'd even recommend losing the paladin for another damage dealer. In all cases where I've failed BCNM, it's because the battles lasted too long and all mages ran out of mp. The lack of mp results in the bard dying which results in a loss. You dont really need to have a tank because they're only mandragoras and after the bard sings lullaby a couple of times, the mandragoras will never hit the tank again (except for the one you're pulling that is.) Hopefully your taru bard can take hits or has some HP+ equipment because he really will be taking a lot of damage.
Do not replace the blm because he's useful for 1) Elemental seal + Silence for Flood, 2) back up healing whenever the rdm or whm needs to heal, 3) Nuking the black mandragora to death first (i've been in cases where the black mandragora casted flood twice), and 4) waking the rdm up shuld he get slept.
In my honest opinion, I believe that a good and efficient party for BCNM 40 in giddeus would be:

RDM/WHM
BRD/WHM (horn and/or signa)
BLM/WHM
DRK/WAR (to be tank)
+ 2 of DRK or RNG or DRG (doesn't matter which specific ones, they all do great dmg)

[Pizoi]

Having a RDM/BLM kills 2 birds with 1 stone. He can Elemental seal + Silence at the beginning of the fight, and focus his MP on keeping the tank alive. That way the WHM only needs to look after the BRD, which isn't that hard to do. Having a THF main is handy as well. That way you can trick attack aggro on to the tank right away when peeling mandys away from the BRD. The BRD takes a good deal of damage in the time it takes for a normal tank to get aggro, and in that time the mandy you're pulling could shoot off an AE sleep and really screw things up for you.

My idea Giddeus party is:

RDM/BLM
WHM/whatever
PLD/WAR
THF/whatever
+ DRK, DRG, RNG, BLM, whatever. The last 2 spots are pretty flexable.

The only reason I've ever failed is because the black mandy managed to land a Flood on the PLD. Shield bash, weapon bash, stun, flat blade, shoulder tackle, anything that will interrupt the mob, that is your best friend. Have at least 2 of those.

[Nohmaan]

You need a healer assigned to the bard directly.

[mmm mahi mahi]

Not meaning to disc. you Pizoi, but i've never run across a PT like that O_o for bcnm...rdm AND whm?!? ur taking up a spot for a dmg dealer...the pure out line up to win this needs to be pld/whm/brd/dmg/dmg/dmg....now the thf can prollly be ok...i'm still not even sure if that will be enough.

http://vnboards.ign.com/The_Bard/b22532/64512722/p1/

Go to that and in the First post by Faranim, click on "right here" link...it shows exactly what type of lineup is needed for the bcnm x_x

mine personally when we do it again will be pld/whm/brd/blm/rng/drk....u need some blm/rng as much as possible, our 3rd dmg dealer (the drk) will do tho^^

[mmm mahi mahi]

i also might add that the guys that did that bcnm a VERY good at it lol and broke the record clearing time.

[Tamashii]

he said help with bcnm 40. refresh is 41.

so i'm guessing this is Giddeus (easier of the 3 but still terribly hard)


from my experience...

BRD,BLM,WHM,WHM, Damage Dealer, Tank


kill black one first. 2 whm to heal brd and blm respectively. throw occasional cure to the tank. the thing is, those domovoi really don't do that much damage. its the fact that there are 8 of them smacking you that downs a party fast.

[Orage]

mahi mahi? you're recommending only one mage? This seems like too much of a risk. With a whm/whm/brd/war/rng/rng type party or something (do whatever w/ the mages, actually a rdm for a whm is very nice since their silence will stick.. plus you can cast refresh before you enter the arena and get level capped), i've still beat the thing in 11 or so mins easy. It's not like time is an issue if your melee slots are reasonable.

[asnaga]

there is a video in my thread of how to beat bcnm 40 gideus its under th asura server forum, btw shouldnt this be under the alaxander forum?

[Pizoi]

I've done that BCNM plenty of times with the party line up I mentioned, averaging around 14 minutes. The only time we lost was the first time, only because the mandy landed a Flood.

[Haxor]

obviously some people here who are talking about BCNM40 have never done it before... 40 means level 40 cap... i would reccomend everyone to be of level 40 and to carry food and highest/best equips for their job/level... strategy is everything.

[Sheng]

Did it often with a PT consisting in:

-BRD/WHM
-WHM/BLM
-BLM/WHM
-RNG/NIN
-RNG/NIN
-WAR/NIN (me)

Heavy buff after entering, food, songs.

Main tank runs in with Defender on, aggroes all goras. Bard sings Horde Lullaby. BLM use Elemental Seal+Silence on the black mandy. Tank and rangers move far from bard, ranger pulls black mandy, Tank vokes it and cancels Defender.

From then, it's easy. Kill the black, WHM keeps folks alive, BLM nukes very little and rests a lot, keeps Silence on black gora. When the black is dead, ranger pulls another one, and so on.

Edit: WAR/NIN is a must as it tanks really well at the beginning of the fight (Defender+Protect+Boiled Crab+Shield) and deals nasty damage when the black is dead (Defender cancelled and dual wield). With all damage dealers subbing nin, they can bounce aggro and save MP for the healers.

[Amarilis]

Cire :
I'd say lose the whm. A rdm can do all a whm can do (except haste, but you get refresh) and the best aspect is that a rdm can convert. A typical BCNM for me is around 11-15 minutes, depending on how hard my melees hit.

Hmm.. Refresh is a level41 Spell, it is impossible to use in BCNM40. Also RDM have no Protectra/Shellra or any other PT buff line spells which can lead to massive downtime in the begining of the BCNM because you have to Buff inside now.

[Kimball]

I suggest 3 rangers, 1 rdm, 1 brd, 1 whm. Whm heals rangers and raises if need, rdm heals bard. Bard sleeps all. Rangers take out mandys 1 at a time starting with black one. I rarely loose with this line up. Good luck...

[YnNeB]

need 2 healer for the bcnm40.

and you dont really need tank ... a drk or ranger can tank °O°/

[Damanexor]

From my experience (and doing this the other night)

Here's my favourite party setup

#1 Bard
#2 Dark Knight (Stun is that important -- 100% success in stopping Flood) -- and Silence doesn't always stick
#3 Paladin OR a Warrior/Ninja or Warrior/Monk (You can be a good dmg dealer with that Great Axe)
#4 Red Mage (Black Mage sub preferablly -- backup Elemental Seal + Silence in case Flood goes off before Stun can refresh)
#5 White Mage or Red Mage/WHM (Need Paralyna for BRD)
#6 Another heavy dmg dealer (DRK, THF, RNG)

Stun is very important in this fight -- guarantees the black mandragora won't one-shot the tank

2 Rangers is nice to have ... but a well-equipped Dark Knight has much more security / usefulness (very easy to hit 100+ regular hits on the mandragoras)

[Snuffles]

I defeated bcnm 40 Giddeus with a party consisting of
whm/blm (me) - assigned to bard
blm/whm - assigned to rest
pld/war
rng/nin
rng/nin
brd/whm

this party was amazing and btw you all suck
only once have we not been able to silence the black one and it used flood on the rng
I raised the rng and we still won

We beat the current time again and again. Even when I had to raise we beat the time.

[YnNeB]

Snuffles :
I defeated bcnm 40 Giddeus with a party consisting of
whm/blm (me) - assigned to bard
blm/whm - assigned to rest
pld/war
rng/nin
rng/nin
brd/whm

this party was amazing and btw you all suck
only once have we not been able to silence the black one and it used flood on the rng
I raised the rng and we still won

We beat the current time again and again. Even when I had to raise we beat the time.

What was the record ? 25min ? ^^;;;;




btw, rng/war > rng/nin there because mandra hit twice, so you have to kill them fast since utsusemi will not last a long time.

[Snuffles]

YnNeB :

Snuffles :
I defeated bcnm 40 Giddeus with a party consisting of
whm/blm (me) - assigned to bard
blm/whm - assigned to rest
pld/war
rng/nin
rng/nin
brd/whm

this party was amazing and btw you all suck
only once have we not been able to silence the black one and it used flood on the rng
I raised the rng and we still won

We beat the current time again and again. Even when I had to raise we beat the time.

What was the record ? 25min ? ^^;;;;




btw, rng/war > rng/nin there because mandra hit twice, so you have to kill them fast since utsusemi will not last a long time.

rng/nin for acc lol and the record was under 10 min ^^

[Jyneefur]

First of all... why does everyone insist on having a paladin? They don't do uber-damage and you don't need an orthodox "tank" for BC40.

Secondly.. from experience, a Taru Bard is NOT the best way to go, if possible. They have such little HP, VIT, and defense, which are all very important since the Bard is the one that tanks almost a dozen mandies.

I have half of a set BC40 party, which consists of:

WHM/SMN (me, hume)
RDM/BLM (hume)
BRD/WHM (elvaan)

We then recruit other people to be our melee. A few of our regulars are:
RNG/NIN
DRK/THF
THF/NIN
MNK/WAR

Things were extremely easy before the last patch. I could cast Protectra III/Shellra III and Aerial Armor before entering, along with a Haste or two. The Bard would cast Stoneskin, Blink, Ballads I and II. The Red Mage would cast Refresh. HOWEVER, the last update they decided to strip us of all our buffs (except food) when we enter the BC. As soon as I level my Black Mage to 20, I plan on going WHM/BLM for an added Elemental Seal + Silence.

I'll use my last BC40 party as my example. We had:

WHM/SMN (me, hume)
RDM/BLM (hume)
BRD/WHM (elvaan)
RNG/NIN (elvaan)
THF/NIN (hume, i think)
DRG/WAR (elvaan)

Once inside the BC, we buff up. Protectra II, Shellra II, Blink, Stoneskin, Phalanx, Haste, Regen. The melee get Barparalyzra, Madrigal and Minuet. Mages get Ballad.

The RDM is crucial. With Stoneskin/Blink/Phalanx/Minne, she can run up and Silence the black mandie, which aggros them all, and run them back to the BRD and WHM standing on the BC, without taking too much damage. One Cure II is all the RDM ever needs. As the RDM's running to the BC with a trail of little onions behind her, the melee (who are standing halfway down the "hallway") voke/hit the black one. If the AoE Paralyze attack from the black one hits the mages, you can almost kiss a win goodbye, unless a mage can Paralyna herself on the first attempt. It's crucial to keep the black mandie away from the mages for this reason.

The RDM uses Elemental Seal + Silence and re-Silences when necessary. You have quite a few seconds after the mandie starts casting Flood to stop it. Our DRG used Leg Sweep when he had the TP. (Our semi-static DRK does an excellent job of stopping Flood with Stun, however our RDM also does an excellent job of stopping it with Silence. Only four times in all of our BC40 runs has Flood hit. Once was on an Elvaan Monk, who lived after the mandie did one Flood right after the other and Stun wasn't ready. Another time nobody saw the Flood and it killed someone [a RNG, I think... it was awhile ago] who the RDM Raised [since she could convert afterwards]. The other two times our DRK disconnected mid-battle and two Floods hit the same Galka Warrior, who survived both.) It's a good idea for anyone with a stun WS to save TP on the black mandie just in case they have to stop a Flood.

After the black mandie is dead, the melee run back to the BC where the mages and mandies await. I cast Barsleepra and the BRD sings various songs... Ballad, Madrigal, Paeon, Minuet. The mandies are usually in a nice circle around the BRD, so the designated "picker" picks the first mandie and the rest of the melee assist... and they go around the circle, skipping over the BRD's "red one" that he targets to sleep. Thieves are awesome in BC40, contrary to popular belief, because Viper Bite owns the mandies, as do RNGs Distortion itself kills the mandies 50% of the time, but if not, the RDM's Water II MB will.

The AoE Sleep is a pain in the butt, however it's nothing more than a nuisance. We never use Poison Potions or anything. (Oh yah, we use food pre-battle.. just the usual kabobs, pies, and fish for the RDM and BRD.) I tend to resist Sleep about 25% of the time, so a quick Curaga wakes everyone up. If all the mages are slept, the BRD will wake up whenever the mandies awaken, so he'll Lullaby, and then Curaga if he has the MP (which he usually does) or Cure me and I'll Curaga. This is one advantage to having a WHM in the party. If you just have a BRD/WHM and a RDM/BLM like somebody suggested, I sure hope everyone's using Poison Potions to stay away... having to Cure four people is tedious when the AoE Sleep can happen 6+ times a fight.

Hm.. what else. Our BRD casts Blink on himself every once in awhile. I Haste the melee and keep Barsleepra and Regen up. We don't designate who heals who. For the black mandie, nobody rests. Usually right after the black is dead, I cast Barsleepra and then rest while the RDM Cures and MBs. When I'm full again, I'll take over Curing and the RDM will rest. The RDM never HAS to Convert, but sometimes she does for the heck of it. Another reason a WHM is nice for a BC is for Erase. The BRD will most likely get hit by the VIT Down attack a few times, and since he's the "tank", that's not an overly good thing. However it's not that big of a deal. Hm... I guess that's about it.

We've never ever lost.

The last time, we beat the record by almost 2 minutes. (Yes.. with a DRAGOON!)

On a slightly unrelated note... I haven't read too much about BCNMs, but my BCers and I are convinced that drops are given based upon BC performance. Is this true.. or has anyone else noticed it? When all the SCs are hit.. the time is low.. we get the money drops. Times when people just aren't doing things right, we get poop. Only exception was the last time we went and beat the record... we didn't get any money drops! ; ;