Leviathan.Celebrindal said:
»If you wanted to do a PUG Zerde, do it ranged style. ZERO coordination compared to other strats and these days finding CORs is like finding advertisements in your mail.
Can post a strat if not already known (its around in several places), but with a few key people it scales from 6 to 18 easily and drops with less coordination than any SMN or BLM bursting strat.
Could you post the Zerde ranged strat with cors, please and thank you.
Rule #1 for applying any posted HELM strat for your people: scaling. You might have 12 people, and that's plenty, but a strat posted may be for 18. Knowing how and where to cut back, and what must stay in place is the key.
tank party
RUN
GEO
BRD
WHM
RDM/blm
DD party-this party can be doubled for a full 18 man setup
SCH
BRD
GEO
COR
COR
RNG
1. I suggest the pop West of warp #4, running past the Porxies and Hippogryphs then turning right into the pop area behind the ruins of the colossus.
2. Only the RUN will be at the bottom of the hill. ALL other jobs will seek safety at the top using elevation and distance.
3. Scaling happens by removing DDs. 3 is likely enough for up to 12 party members, beyond that you will need 5 or 6. The GEOs, BRDs, SCHs and RDM are absolute musts, and only vary if you go from 3 parties down to 2.
GEO bubbles:
Tank GEO(again, stsanding at top of hill)- Focus/Vex, entrust Attunement on RUN
Ranged PT #1 GEO- Acumen/Malaise, entrust AGI
Ranged PT #2 GEO- Acumen/Languor, entrust AGI
BRD songs:
Tank PT BRD-Honor March, Lightning Carol 2, Dark Carol 2, Scherzo, Ballad 3
Ranged PT BRDs- HM, Archer's Prelude, Swift Etude, Quick Etude, Dirge
COR rolls:
COR#1- crooked SAM, hunter's
COR#2- crooked WIZ, miser's
Support Mages:
RDM/blm- Haste2 RUN, Flurry2 all shooters pre fight. Needs /blm
SCHs- Firestorm CORs, Aurorastorm RNGs, Adloquim, Animus Mineo, Embrava. 1 SCH should /blm (see below in "order of operations")
WHM-barthundra/baramnesra, standard WHM duties.
Order of Operations:
pre-fight all shooters build 3k TP, in particular if using Armageddon or Gastraphetes for Aftermath. Its not much because this fight is 95% WS/SC dmg, but it never hurts in my book.
all buffing happens pre-fight. Get Songs/Rolls set, have RDM do their cycle of Haste2 on themselves and RUN, and Flurry2 on the shooters. Others won't need capped haste.
SCH and RDM use a high macc food like Tropical Crepe. Yes, you'll have Bolstered Languor, but not for the first 3-5 seconds...the most crucial time. Shooters may want to consider a food option like Rolanberry Daifuku that gives both ranged accuracy AND magic accuracy.
When all buffing is done, TWO people head down the hill- RUN to the pop ???, and the SCH/BLM about halfway down. Seconds before the pop, SCH uses "Elemental Seal", and be ready to stun Zerde's opening "Just Desserts" that he uses on pop.
If this isn't successfully stunned, the attempt is almost certainly a failure. I typically use ES, then pre-select Stun from the menu so all I need to do is spam the Enter key as the RUN is popping Zerde. Two enters and it will a)confirm spell and b)use spell instantly on the only target available in view: Zerde.
After the first stun, the group has about 5-7 seconds to get everything in position.
1.RUN blows all its toys- in particular Odyllic Subterfuge and massive hate tools. Gambit/Rayke Ignis Runes. Use your stored 3 Ignis Runes set up pre fight for Gambit, then quickly get 1 rune back up for Rayke. Its better to get it up fast than worry about the 12 seconds it would take to put up 3 runes AND use Rayke.
2.GEOs dropped Bolstered/Dematerialized Enfeebling Bubbles (assignments above). Easiest way to ensure they're procced is to cure1 your RUN after he performs an action on Zerde. They also get up the support bubbles, but those Bolstered/Demat'ed Malaise and Languor are what will allow a win damage wise.
3.Since the SCH/BLM drops the opening Elemental Seal/Stun, the RDM has a small window to do the following- Stymie Frazzle3, Chainspell, begin Stun spam. I
HIGHLY suggest being able to see in your chatlog as the RDM when stun lands/wears. The duration will not be uniform in how long it lasts...I've had it wear almost immediately even when enfeebled, and I've had it last 5 seconds. Trying to just blindly spam it may result in a "no effect" stun and then leave Zerde enough time for a ***-you-move.
Money Time:
As the opening bubbles and enfeebling moves are being done by tank and suppport, the shooters begin their work. The goal is for no matter the alliance size/mob HP, this fight should last no longer than 1 minute. All Shooters use Double/Triple Shot, and one COR per party immediately use Random Deal after. Then rain down hell. Complete and CONSTANT spam of Wildfire/Trueflight.
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TP SCALING, SPAM ASAP.. CORs mix in Fire Shot for TP gain and using Empy+1 boots in that QD set. RNGs can close off of Wildfire with Trueflight for Fragmentation damage- not necessary but extra damage sure helps.
If all buffs/debuffs happen fast enough, you will see capped to almost capped damage from every WS, assuming your shooters have high end (not perfect) sets. But make no mistake- this fight is not won by your shooters, its won by having all the other stuff happen within that 7 second window at the start. If all that happens, the damage is the easy part.
