69(72)-75 King Ranperre's Tomb

Requirements/Notes:
* Supports 2 parties.
* BLM party or MNK party highly recommended.

General Commentarus:
When I say "highly recommended", I mean "practically compulsory", mostly because most standard setups won't even think of coming here without either a manaburn party, or a Monk party.

Monk parties go from around 72-75, with much less level pressure on RDMs and BRDs.
Manaburn parties generally go from 69-75, when BLMs learn Firaga III.

Your targets are as follows, from strongest to weakest:
Lemure (Ghost)
Spartoi Sorcerer (Skeleton, BLM)
Spartoi Warrior (Skeleton, WAR)
Hati (Hound)

Target mobs:
Primary: Spartoi Skeletons
* Skeleton
* Aggro to Sound
* Aggro to Low HP
* Not Linking
* Weak to Blunt weapons
* Strong against Slashing weapons
* Very Strong against Piercing weapons
* Weak to Fire
* Weak to Light
* Strong against Ice
* Very Strong against Darkness

Spartoi Warrior (WAR)
Spartoi Sorcerer (BLM)

Primary: Lemure
* Ghost
* Aggro to Sound
* Aggro to Low HP
* Not Linking
* Strong against Slashing weapons
* Strong against Piercing weapons
* Very Strong against Blunt weapons
* Weak to Fire
* Weak to Light
* Very Strong against Ice
* Very Strong against Darkness

Secondary: Hati
* Hound
* Aggro to Sound
* Aggro to Low HP
* Not Linking
* Weak to Fire
* Weak to Light
* Strong against Ice
* Strong against Darkness


Monk party Commentarus:


Monk party Requirements/Notes:
* BRD required.
* All (non-WHM) mages sub /WHM required.
* Mages prepare to Paralyna, Blindna, and Erase.



Monk parties are moving parties, with a typical setup of MNK MNK MNK RDM WHM BRD. This isn't terribly flexible, although sometimes you can replace either the WHM or RDM with a fourth MNK if so desired. Bear in mind the consequences though- if you don't have a RDM, Juices/Yagudo Drinks are practically required.

Pulling is a little strange. One way is to play things safe, and actually have the RDM or BRD go out and "pull" the mob. The more abusive way of pulling uses the Undead's aggro traits (aggro to low HP) to actually bring nearby undead to where the fighting is, before the BRD sleeps them with Lullaby. Note that it would be practically impossible to sleep the undead via a BLM's or RDM's Sleep spell.

Strange as it may sound, mana is your #1 enemy here, in particular, your White Mage's mana. Even with Ballad I, Ballad II, and Refresh, a WHM's mana pool shrinks very quickly, so all forms of mana conservation are key here. I preferred having the Red Mage handle the Hastes and Refreshes, leaving the WHM free to focus on healing.

If you have a Red Mage, pulling Lemures and Spartoi Sorcerers with Silence isn't too bad an idea, especially on the higher chains when you can't really afford to waste time waiting for the mob's spell to be interrupted before it comes running towards you. Be careful of Sleepga II from the Lemures and Spartoi Sorcerers though.

Lemures don't share the same damage weakness traits towards Blunt weapons as the other Undead do, so if not handled properly, really can put the brakes on a MNK party's chain. Fortunately, a WHM's Banish spell temporarily strips this weapon resistance away, letting the MNKs do full damage to the Lemure for a few seconds. Thus, when encountering a Lemure, have your WHM Banish II or Banish III, letting the MNKs go on {Full attack!} for a few seconds.

There are two main "routes" which MNK parties rampage through King Ranperre's Tomb. The western route (ala "The Loop") is good for people who need to get the hang of things. You won't get the ridiculous 30+ chains you hear of but it's still solid xp, fetching around Chain 20 on a good run. If you're particularly good though, you might find yourself completing the loop before the repops, in which case you might want to consider the other route.

The second route heads towards Vrtra, starting from the left, and ending inside the Vrtra room. For obvious reasons, this is cut short if Vrtra is actually up and about, but hopefully your server has an HNM LS that clears Vrtra with some regularity. ^^ However, this this isn't a loop, you might have to sneak up and run back to the beginning again to restart the run without messing with the pops.

The Vrtra route lets you make the larger chains, although such chains are almost completely dependant on the skill of your Bard. The trick is to pull the undead using their "aggro-to-low-HP" trait, and then Lullaby them on the way back, thus creating a path of sorts to lead the party on.



The hard part is knowing where the large gaps are, since that's the more taxing part of being a Bard puller, but an experience Bard puller will be able to chain all the undead from the start to the finish.

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Manaburn party Commentarus:


Manaburn party Requirements/Notes:
* All BLMs Level 69+ recommended.



Black Mage manaburn parties can start here as early as level 69, making sure all BLMs are at least level 69 for Firaga III. As you progress in levels, upgrade to Fire IV, then to Thunder IV. BLM parties generally start the chain with Spartoi Warriors and build up to Lemures- rarely do they engage the Hati.

You can typically get by with just four BLMs, although five is really preferable. Bards are preferred to RDMs because Bards can actually sleep the undead, while a Red Mage's Sleep II spell will more likely than not, be resisted.

This is different from your typical earlier manaburn style, when someone would pull the mob, and the BLMs would Sleep the mob before co-ordinating a barrage of Ancient Magic. Here, just cast Firaga III (or whatever the spell of choice is) as soon as the mob is within range. Use Lullaby or Stun to buy some time for the spells to go off.