Mirror Images/Blue Mage

Category:GuidesCategory:Strategies
== Blue Mage Mirror Images ==
 I went through the npc quest Mirror Images today as Blue Mage and thought the job performed exceedingly well (having also given this a shot on blm when my npc was 40, I failed miserabley). The big debate for me pre fight was whether to go /nin and tank Vassago, or to go /whm and have my NPC tank him (as PLD). The latter strategy won out and I ended up winning fairly easily. I had a great time with this fight because I felt I could be very versatile and enjoy the fight the way I wanted to. 
== Gear ==
For this fight, your main goal if you sub whm should be to balance all of your stats so that you don't take hate from your NPC, still deal damage and have enough mp to be able to cure your NPC. This makes the crow Body and Legs at the very least ideal for the evasion and the minus enmity. For the head you'll want a hairpin for the extra MP. You should use two electrum rings regardless of your sub job. For the rest of your gear you should balance Strength, Attack, and Accuracy, your normal party gear will probably work here. 
== Recommended Spells (30 points 12 slots at level 50)==
1) Wild Oats (3) Debuff
2) Sprout Smack (2) Debuff
3) Battle Dance (3) Debuff + Attack Bonus
4) Head Butt (3) Stun
5) Uppercut (3) Attack Bonus + Finishing spell
6) Sickle Slash (4) MP +15 + Finishing spell
7) Mettalic Body (1) Stoneskin
8) Geist Wall (3) MP +10
9) Jettatura (4) MP +15
10) Refueling (4) Haste
== Taru blu/nin ==
spells: oats, smack, dance, butt, feather storm, jet stream, refuel, frightful roar, m.body, cocoon, wild carrot
started fight with all debuffs (didn't use cocoon or m.body)
npc was stalwart shield and tanked 90% of the fight
jet stream was main dmg source doing 230-300 ideal would be to self-sc with it~
kabob and no meds brought...RR earring incase i went splat
700~hp 519mp at 50 with synced gear
ate 1/3 blighted gloom for 445dmg around 20% mob hp since i was mid cast on frightful roar
notes: crow beret used only due to having a signed one lying around. recast ichi once. all-around easy fight imo
== Recommended Meds ==
Hi Potions (not essential)
Hi Ethers (not essential)
Yagudo Drinks
Regen Drinks (for non /whm)
== Strategy ==
 Buffed up using Protect, Shell, Blink, Mettalic Body ate food (Sole Sushi) rested to full mp and approached battlefield. When in ranged I cast protect and shell on my npc, and Refueling on me and popped my yag Drink. I rushed vassago and his first swing at me missed my blink and hit me for 74 damage (with stoneskin up!). I had planned on waiting for my npc to establish hate before applying buffs, but when I saw the slow (very) attack speed of vassago, I decided to hit him with wild oats, sprout smack, and battle dance. This was a poor decision as he turned and hit me with Blighted Gloom for 400 damage, thankfully my npc quickly reestablished hate (this was my reasoning behind the two pieces of Crow Gear) and I was able to Regen and Cure II myself without any problems. If you are /whm and your npc is Stalwart Shield allow him to cure IV himself before you help out. Continue to chip away at Vassago's health, reapplying debuffs where necessary. Blighted Gloom will NOT hurt your NPC, and(s)he will counter with Blessed radiance which will do 200 damage or so. At about 20% I hit my two hour and spammed all my physical spells, and he was dead within 30 seconds. 
== Key Notes ==
1) Vassago is a Demon, and uses demon abilities and an ability called Blighted Gloom, which will do around 400 damage to you.
2) Your NPC can not take damage from Blighted Gloom, and will counter with Blessed Radiance, which will do around 200 damage. which is why I suggest your NPC be set to Stalwart Shield.
3) Vassago hits hard but has a very high delay weapon. Sprout Smack + Battle Dance (and maybe Sandspin) are superb spells for this fight.
4) Crow Gear is excellent, the -enmity allows you to keep good damage on Vassago, while keeping hate on your NPC.
5) Meds are recommended, although not essential.
6) I'm sure it is entirely possible to tank Vassago with your NPC as a Healer, a few more meds will probably be required, however.
7) Enjoy this fight, this is one where Blue Mage Versatility really shines!
8) With the adition of Wild Carrot, using /nin on this fight should be fairly easy.
 
--Graev 17:00, 24 November 2006 (EST)
== Support Job Ninja ==
Defeating Vassago is dead easy with ninja support job. He has extremely slow attack speed and no area attacks, making shadows extremely effective.
A Tarutaru Blue Mage with no more gear than RSE and no attack food defeated him in record time.(Planned to tank with defense food and cocoon, however managed to keep shadows up the whole fight.)
NPC was set as soothing healer.
== Items ==
Exp party gear at level 50 is more than sufficient.
Yagudo Drink is optional. I finished the fight with an MP usage of 200.
Use offensive food (meat works well)
== Spells ==
Go as offensive as possible, the main killers are:
1. Sickle Slash
2. Uppercut
3. Headbutt
The reason these spells are better than others which would normally be used, Jet Stream, Bludgeon, etc, is because there is a long cast animation after using the said spells, and although Bludgeon and Jet Stream both out damage Uppercut in raw damage, it may render you unable to escape Blighted Gloom.
== Strategy ==
Aftering entering the Burning Circle, use Utsusemi: Ichi immediately.
Walk Through the tunnel, and use Metallic Skin and Cocoon at the edge of the circular arena.
Engage Vassago and approach him, the trick to using his extremely slow attack speed even more so against him as a blink tanker is by using Headbutt as often as possible.
Hint: When using Utsusemi: Ichi for monsters with normal delay, most people agree to cast as he takes away your second last shadow so you have the last shadow to back you up to get the next lot of shadows up.
However, with the speed that Vassago attacks you at, you will waste the third shadow if you do this. Count 2-3 seconds after he takes off your second last shadow before casting and that should fix it right up.
Do not lock on Vassago, Blighted Gloom is a very powerful move when used against you.
When you see him say the string before using Blighted Gloom, move as quickly possible (even if you are in the middle of casting Utsusemi: Ichi) back to the tunnel where you came from before the battle started. Then run back at him when you see
Vassago Readies Blighted Gloom!
10/10 times it will land on your NPC. It will still be a very powerful move, but not against you as the NPC relfects it with Blessed Radiance.
You must then quickly use Headbutt, and other damage spells if necessary, to prevent it from continuing it's attack on your NPC, and go back to killing him. 
Do not bother healing your NPC, it will fix itself up, my NPC was level 40 when I did this fight and it managed to just have enough MP to heal itself up, although I never once had to let my NPC heal me.
If you do not eat a Blighted Gloom, this fight should be totally easy!
The Biggest problem is Vassago unleashing on your NPC after it fails to do a Blighted Gloom on your NPC. Just keep that in mind but it should be no problem if your NPC is higher than mine when I did this fight (40).