Excavation Duty/Strategy

Category:GuidesCategory:Strategies
There are two strategies to choose from for this mission. One involves defeating the Brittle Rocks with DoT, and the other relies on defeating Qirirns to obtain Qiqirn Mines to detonate the rocks. Note: If using the DoT strategy, make sure that against the first Brittle Rock, anyone casting is right up against the rock to avoid the possibility of bomb aggro.
Note: This assault is a lot harder on uncapped when compared 60 capped as I have experienced for example 2 Doter(BLM or RDM/BLM or DRK/BLM) and 2 melee DD can win 60 cap with 5-6 mins to spare were as in uncapped they may struggle if you don't have the right melee DD.(imo this is because the melee DD the party does not increase (DoT is fixed as well) as the walls HP does in the different caps)
=== DoT Strategy ===
Recommended Setup: 4 person party: 2 Damage-dealers; 1 BLM, RDM/BLM, DRK/BLM, or SCH/BLM; 1 RDM/BLM (or Good WHM/BLM*). A 3 person party will run out of time (unless they have extremely good gear), a 4 person party should finish with 4-6 minutes to spare. A 5 person party with an additional DDer can be employed if one wishes to play it very safe or if only suboptimal DDers are available. Six is excessive no matter what.
* This approach is very MP-efficient and leads quickly to the win, without having to deal with the uncertainty of trying to obtain Qiqirn mines.
* 2 BLM + 1 melee is better than 3 BLM; once the walls are DoTed, a melee DD eating meat will do significantly more damage than an additional BLM's nukes.
* Keep Bio II, Choke, Burn, and Shock up at all times, and cast Drain whenever it is ready. Attack only with Blizzard, Thunder, and Stone II.
** Make sure anyone casting Elemental Debuffs can break 100INT to bring the damage up to 4HP a tick.
** 100 INT is technically possible in 50 cap, but requires extreme gear, food and possibly other support. (Taru BLM/SMN can make it w/o BRD support).
* Melee stay Hasted, eat meat, equip Haste, STR and Attack gear, and use Mighty Strikes or Hundred Fists on the first wall.
* After the first wall, the BLM goes north to solo the wall up there while the rest go east.
* The first wall should take approximately 4 minutes to defeat. The north wall should take about 6-8 minutes. The three east walls (which are being worked on at the same time as the north wall) should take approximately 5 minutes each. Your party should complete the mission in about 20-25 minutes.
* A DRK/BLM with some MP+ gear, a Parade Gorget (or Parade Gorget+ Vampire Cloak if lv70+ and at night) with a single Yagudo Drink can take out the northern wall much faster than a BLM/RDM can. Be certain not to use Souleater while slaying this wall unless you have some sort of Regen or Hi-Potions to keep the Parade Gorget active.
* It takes approximately 3:00 to run from the final wall at (I-7) to the Rune of Release without any +Movement Speed gear or Flee, so plan accordingly.
** One player can head for the Rune of Release when the last wall drops below 50% and reach the Rune at about the same time that the wall falls.
** Alternately, one can easily get around this issue by having the BLM run to the Rune's spawn point when he finishes his wall, as he'll typically be done before the melees are.
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(* A good WHM/BLM can also replace the RDM/BLM in this run though the WHM will have a harder time keeping up. Yagudo Drinks are recommended for any WHM doing this mission and Dia II can be used to replace Bio II in my experience. Sticking the elemental enfeebles may prove to be difficult as well.)
TIP: A RDM will get two chances to Convert in the course of this Assault. For best results, help with the small nukes only before the first Convert and after the second, in order to get your first Convert as soon as possible and try to stretch out your MP until your second.
TIP: A Scholar should be able to keep Bio and all three Elemental Debuffs on the walls while spamming a single tier 1 nuke without resting with use of a Vermillion Cloak, Sanction Refresh, and Sublimation.
TIP: DRK get to use Absorb-TP and soak up all that TP that isnt going anywhere.
=== Qiqirn Mine Strategy ===
Recommended Setup: Any well-balanced party of 6. Treasure Hunter is reported to help make the Qiqirn Mines drop.
* This strategy relies on Qiqirns dropping Qiqirn Mines for your party. Depending on your luck, you may finish quickly or fail the mission entirely.
* Break down the first wall with normal attacks using the strategy above. Invis past the Volcanic Bombs, as they don't drop anything you can use, and their Self-Destruct does as much damage as your melee attacks will do.
* If you are using 2hr's during your run, it is best to use them on the first wall because the first wall is the bottleneck preventing you from accessing the Qiqirns on the rest of the map.
* Once you've broken through, defeat the two Qiqirn you'll find at (G-9).
* Defeat the three Qiqirn to the North in (G-7) as well.
** Ignore the Brittle Rock at (G-6) for now; if you blow it up now, you risk running out of mines before you can get to all the Qiqirn.
* The remaining Qiqirn and Brittle Rocks are on the east side of the map. Continue attacking Qiqirns and detonating rocks until you have defeated all five Brittle Rocks. If you run out of Qiqirns and do not have any more Qiqirn Mines then you must defeat the remaining rocks by force.
* Once you have knocked down the first two walls on the east side, someone with a mine should go back to knock down the (G-6) wall.
=== Brute Force Strategy ===
Recommended Setup: 1 RDM/BLM or BLM and 3-5 melee 
* This strategy is possible after the July 24 update, as melee hits do more damage than before.
* Attack the first wall per DoT strategy above. The mage casts DoTs and hastes the melees.
* Mage goes to solo the north wall using DoTs. After this wall is defeated, the mage goes to the Rune of Release.(tested today, it is possible for a blue mage to solo the northern wall, with use of dot spells such as Cold Wave, keeping themselves hasted with refueling and sword dmg. Disseverment poison would also be very hand if you've got the spell)
* Melees fight the three eastern walls. A DRK is helpful for Bio II and Absorb-TP.
* 4-person setup may require the use of 2-HR abilities. 5- and 6-person strategy are very safe on time and do not need 2-HR.
* Dia II / Dia on the wall that the melees fight against may produce higher DoT than Bio II on the wall due to melee doing more damage.