E2C3 - Mericol question

[Sitka]

I noticed something on a 2c3 run this weekend and wondered if anyone else had an idea on it.

We raced to the Mericol as usual and I was casting zonde while the other fo casted barta as we usually do. When Mericol gets near death, he/she charges whoever he/she is facing and 99% of the time, we can dodge the charge, the finishing swipe and finish the plant off.

This time I noticed that I paused on casting when the plant stuck his head up which usually indicated the charge, then the plant did not charge and I easily finished him off.

Anyone else notice this? Is it random, or is there a trick to not triggering the charge?

15:06 - not THE run, but not a bad one either. Still looking for that magic 12 minute run.

[SLON]

What you said about pausing to prevent a charge is true most of the time, but when there are 2 of you attacking it , I think its behaviour is too unpredictable.

[Sitka]

Thanks Slon - kind of what I figured. We've got the Gibbles stun down about 99% of the time - was just trying to get an edge on that plant.

I missed out on it, but CCL, Chiyo, Shar and Charlie did get in a 14:49 run this weekend.

On another note, CCL, Shigecki, Charlie and I were set up for a terrific e2c4 the other day, getting to Flow in 37 minutes, but Charlie dc'd right before the boss with all the HP mats and scapes on him and my poor fonewearl took a real beating from Flow's first form. We were hoping to post a 42 - oh well, another time.

[SLON]

The savings you make before Gal Gryph are not going to make too much difference to your overall time. The Japanese I played with on Cube were not getting to Gal that much quicker than us; it's the speed that they kill Gal that makes all the difference.
My best C3 time of 13 mins came when I was a complete novice - I had never done the stage as a Fo before, and even then I had done it only a couple of times with my Hucaseal. If I had had the experience, we could probably have done it in maybe 10 minutes. I don't see why it can't be done by you guys. Gal is the key!!!



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SLON on 2006-06-06 04:43 ]</font>

[Charlie-CM]

I agree with Slon that it's all in the fight, even if you nub the pre-gal run really badly you lose 1 min max. Given our best times are just under 15 mins and it's possible to get about 10 there is clearly lots of room for improvement.

One major factor I think is positioning after Gal charges. The FOs need to be in position to start Bartaing as soon as he settles (or even just before!) which requires very exact knowledge of how he moves - most of the time once he's charged everyone has to waste so much time running towards him that by the time they get into barta range in he's about to shockwave or take off again!

[SLON]

When I played with the JP, they were using all their fluids and then TP dying in order to get as many hits in as possible. They were hitting Gal with Barta while he was beginning his swoop and again when he was about to land. They also tried to be halfway to the centre so that if he landed short they could start hitting him immediately, rather than having to run toward him.
Yes, running after Gal and doing only the odd hit really does waste a lot of time. I wish I could have played with them more and learnt how to do it properly.

[Sitka]

On 2006-06-12 04:55, SLON wrote:
When I played with the JP, they were using all their fluids and then TP dying in order to get as many hits in as possible. They were hitting Gal with Barta while he was beginning his swoop and again when he was about to land. They also tried to be halfway to the centre so that if he landed short they could start hitting him immediately, rather than having to run toward him.
Yes, running after Gal and doing only the odd hit really does waste a lot of time. I wish I could have played with them more and learnt how to do it properly.



This I agree with. TP dying has to be the key to finishing off the gryph quickly. I don't neccessarily like the zonde in the air as much as it does so little damage while depleting fluids. On the other hand, if you calculate your tp correctly, you should be able to get one or two zondes, barta like a madman and hit 0 tp when he stomps you into full tp again.

If we can get a regular four going ANYTIME (nothing lately http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif), perhaps we can spend a day or two really focusing on this stage. Personally, I TA much better when I can focus on a specific char, that char's routes and perfecting that char's runs. Bouncing back and forth between chars and spending run after run after run teaching novice players how to successfully complete a run detracts from good TA times.

Not that I don't mind helping others - I've been doing an awful lot of it lately - but I would like to get some true TA runs in once in a while.

p.s. Shigecki, where did you go?

[Charlie-CM]

Yes indeed you tpdie a lot but I don't think fluid conservation by not Zonding etc is important. Whenever I've had a decent 3-4 FO crack at the stage we've had plenty of TP. Like I said our main weakness is doing much useful post-charge due to spending time running after him, which runs the time right up.

[Pob]

I managed 11 mins with a 4 FOnl team, but one of the others had 9. It was my first 4 FO game, so I probably slowed them down http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[SLON]

Then you are very lucky! Congrats.