Bubble Trouble: A Geomancer Guide

Youre right
I dont understand

I dont understand what the *** problem with FFXIs Geo implementation is that youre all butthurt for the last two pages over it.

“Its not historically accurate”
How the *** do you implement “historically accurate” within the confines of FFXIs architecture??

Correction, we freely suggested, for fun, some adjustments to geo that would make it closer to Geos in other games.

Somehow this triggered you and got you burtthurt.

there's something about this post i instinctively want to disagree.

You guys know in Japanese that FFXI's Geomancer isn't actually even Geomancer, right?

It's Feng-shui Mage.

This is slightly a troll post, because Geomancy is the Western equivalent, more or less, of Feng-shui which has been known in the past as, "Chinese Geomancy."

In Feng-shui directions and the facing of directions for buildings/mountains/trees/people/monsters/bodies of water etc. all hold a spiritual meaning, and control the ebb and flow of Qi which is like the unseen, interdimensional force or weave that holds the cosmos together. The life force inherent in existence, more or less, or at least in all living things.

The older renditions of Geomancer had it essentially be a nature mage, because gameplay needed to be quick, snappy, and unique for each different job. On a 2-D battlefield, there's no way to incorporate things like facing and cardinal directions. So it was grossly oversimplified to being you can cast a spell that reflects your surroundings.

FFXI gave you the actual whole concept. Do you know what a Luopan actually is? It's an early magnetic compass that orients by South, and they typically have 40 concentric rings upon them divided into a heaven and earth plate. They're used by Feng Shui practitioners to determine the orientation of buildings and their relation to the energy around them. They are divided into 24 directions.

There are 24 types of Geomancy spells in FFXI. These represent all of the directions on a Luopan. You gain the GEO versions of them that you can channel through your Luopan by visiting the locations where the Lifestream courses up with Ergon energy or whatever XI calls it, but these are essentially Qi points, and I guess the idea is that you're casting the spells by knowing the direction from which to draw that energy from.

The goal of Feng Shui is to orient yourself into the perfect position to attain Shu Fu (Harmony (with existence)).

Despite what I said at the start, Feng Shui isn't like "real" Geomancy at all, because Geomancy as it actually is in most other places is more similar to occult divination rituals. Often where people poke dots or make marks in sand or loose soil, and then observe how it changes when picked up and thrown or finding meaning in letting a clump of dirt fall around a fire.

Feng Shui itself was lumped into Geomancy by Christian Missionaries who didn't understand the sophisticated and mathematical approach of it.

TL;DR - Earlier renditions of Feng Shui Mage were the way they were because of graphical and systematic limitations. FFXI's Feng Shui Mage is the intended vision.

It also doesn't translate well to real life to feng shui your room by ringing a bell and running around with a bubble machine

This is a wild speculation. FF Tactics, in my opinion, had the best Geomancer and worked really well with terrain.

I think it's actually the exact opposite of what you are saying. Geomancer in FFXI is limited to a game with a world that was already established and to play with jobs that already existed. That's why geomancer feels generic.

In Tactics, geomancer was created alongside the world design and other classes. It blends in very well.

Actually it's easily observable fact. You're full of it, Godfry.

FFT's Geomancer is actually one of the worst renditions of the job, particularly because they could have done a more accurate rendition of it within FFT's bounds.

Instead, they gave us a truly generic sword and board style unit with some very niche use spell-like abilities. Several of which do not work as their associated land tiles were dummied out of the game. And sadly, most of the terrain it has to work with only triggers the Hell Ivy spell. All of its spells deal nearly identical low damage and have a poor chance at inflicting their associated status ailment, which only sees niche utility.

The main reason you level one is to unlock Ninja, and to get the Attack Up sub trait. Its walk on water/walk on lava skills also only see limited use, as there are only a few maps where water walking is relevant, and only one single map in the whole game where lava walking is relevant.

Not too mention its appearance is like colonial settler tries to blend in with the natives chic. Doofy and overtly sexual, particularly for the pantsless lady variant.

It also doesn't really fit into Ivalice's medieval rediscovered steampunk sort of world. It actually sticks out like a sore thumb, like some sorta hippie class without any backstory.

-------------------

FFXI's Geomancer on the other hand is one of the most robustly flavorful jobs we've ever been given. Its AF sets are unique, or are references to the old version of the job from FFV/FFIII. They make it pop, and you always know when you're with a GEO (unless they've lockstyled into like some sorta dillweed outfit).

And FFXI's Geomancer brings back the bell. And the bell is a prominent thing in Feng-Shui, as ringing a bell is believed to clear the environment of negative or stagnant Qi.

FFT's has no bell, at all, and is more or less, "Random *** go!" And by random I mean Hell Ivy.

Proceeds to provide zero facts and 2 books worth of speculations.

Your previous post you provide the essence of the contradiction to the current post. If feng shui is about orienting oneself with the environment, cardinal directions, and Qi flow (as the post describes), FFXI’s Geomancer falls short:

• No Directional Mechanics: The luopan doesn’t use directional orientation (north/south), despite feng shui’s reliance on the direction compass.

• 
  No Environmental Harmony: Spells and luopan effects ignore terrain, weather, or landscape features, unlike feng shui’s emphasis on environmental alignment.
  

• 
  Simplified Placement: Luopan placement is tactical but not philosophical - it’s about AoE coverage, not harmonizing with Qi or achieving “Shu Fu” (harmony, as your post claims).
  

In FFT, unlike FF11, is not random bs. It's a step in the Qi direction where the environment is indeed used harbor power. FXI’s Geomancer doesn’t take the environment into account. Unlike earlier Final Fantasy games (e.g., FFIII, FFV, FFT), where Geomancer abilities explicitly changed based on terrain (Sinkhole on sand in FFT or Wind Slash in forests in FFV), FFXI’s Geomancer spells function the same regardless of the surroundings.



This is your giveaway. You either suck at the game or never played it. Geomancers will destroy the mob before they get close, and absolutely obliterate them once they get near. Geomancers don't need mp (BECAUSE THEY DRAW STRENGTH FROM ENVIRONMENT, RIGHT? RIGHT?) spells are instant and the AoE doesn't hit the caster. I hope you understand why this is important.

You don't know what words mean. I'm starting to suspect that you have a mental handicap.

Cardinal Chant literally relates to the direction the Geomancer faces in order to buff casting damage with a different effect for each direction.

FFXI's Geomancer is about positioning your buffing bubbles which goes into an idea in Feng-shui about its relation to Taoist principles with Yin-Yang "force fields." or auras. I gave you cliff notes facts, and you're trying to assert that they are all that there is. It doesn't adhere to strict Feng-shui ideals because it's a game, go figure.

Shu Fu is harmony with existence. There's a distinction from merely being environment. It's like altering/rebuffing your fate. It's why it's giving buffs and debuffs. It's like playing to how COR gives buff through Lady Luck. You don't have the mental capacity to understand the concept, and it's glaringly obvious.

No, FFTs only structure is Tile = Geomancy you can cast. That's it. And you have no control over that. And as I already said, older versions of Geomancer relied on that, because of system limitations. They couldn't have Geomancer do something different, because there wasn't a way(or want) for them to make it do something different.

I've likely played FFT more than you. Geomancy isn't strong in FFT. Nobody talks about FFT and thinks, "Oh and then I made a BLM take Geomancy, and they were a god!" It's all about Calculator and other, more interesting and better made jobs. You don't walk up to the Wiegraf 1v1 and one shot him with Geomancy. Ain't happening. Now a Geomancer with atk up and dual wield from Ninja hitting him in the back with swords, sure, but that's not supposed to be the highlight of the class (and Monk does that better anyway).

Anyway, I'm done engaging with you. Feel free to continue to disagree, but the facts aren't with you.

I like to give the benefit of the doubt to people. But now that you have proven that you don't know anything about Geomancer, or Feng Shui, allow me to educate you why you are completely wrong:

Feng shui is inherently tied to the environment: practitioners *** terrain, water flow, and landforms to channel Qi. The luopan is used to evaluate how a location’s geography influences energy.

Cardinal Chant ignores the environment completely. The trait’s effects depend solely on the relative position of the caster and target (e.g., target north of caster), not on the battlefield’s terrain, weather, or zone features (casting in a forest vs. a desert). For example, casting a fire spell with Cardinal Chant in a watery zone like La Theine Plateau yields the same north-based Magic Attack bonus as in a fiery zone like Ifrit’s Cauldron, with no environmental consideration.

I think you might be confusing Feng Shui with Kama Sutra. In Kama Sutra, your position relative to the target you are screwing actually matters.


This demonstrates how absolutely blunt you are. A job not being able to one-shoot Wiegraf is not at all relevant to the discussion since that's not how the job is supposed to work. The game is called Final Fantasy Tactics. Maybe not meant for you.

An IT guy I used to work with had a zen garden on his desk. Couldn't tell ya the number of times I took the little rake and drew *** or wrote swears in the sand.

Upgrading a Lorg Mor for Geomancer. Any suggestions on what might improve Dagda vs. Aminon?

ItemSet 399230

Ammurapi Shield, Grunfeld rope might be better.

What kind of numbers are you seeing with this vs say Maxentius/Black Halo or Magesmasher +1/Judgment?

Got an Idris over the weekend, want to make sure I set up my gearswaps up correctly.

The Geomancy+ just needs to be in midcast correct? (indi and geo spells)?

Since potency would likely always trump duration Solstice likely useless (bg community guide says use it for entrust)? (I assume the indi duration+ is midcast as well)

If I swap to a staff to nuke in, all I lose is the 25% damage taken on the loupan while i'm casting? (swapping back to idris puts it back on)

Idle set with luopan should be Idris + AF+3 hands and as much regen as possible?

If I were to melee in sortie as /drk or /dnc I presume its going to basically be the pet idle set with ACC in the extra slots?

Thanks

1, Midcast, yes.

2, Geomancy+ doesnt work on Entrust bubbles so duration+ Gada.

3, yes.

4, Below is my preferred set.

sets.idle.Pet = {
main="Idris",
sub="Genmei Shield",
range={ name="Dunna", augments={'MP+20','Mag. Acc.+10','"Fast Cast"+3',}},
head="Azimuth Hood +3",
body="Shamash Robe",
hands={ name="Telchine Gloves", augments={'Mag. Evasion+24','Pet: "Regen"+3','Pet: Damage taken -4%',}},
legs={ name="Telchine Braconi", augments={'Mag. Evasion+24','Pet: "Regen"+3','Pet: Damage taken -4%',}},
feet="Bagua Sandals +3",
neck="Bagua Charm +2",
waist="Isa Belt",
left_ear="Eabani Earring",
right_ear={ name="Azimuth Earring +1", augments={'System: 1 ID: 1676 Val: 0','Mag. Acc.+12','Damage taken-4%',}},
left_ring="Gelatinous Ring +1",
right_ring="Defending Ring",
back={ name="Nantosuelta's Cape", augments={'INT+20','Eva.+20 /Mag. Eva.+20','Mag. Evasion+10','Pet: "Regen"+10','Pet: "Regen"+5',}},}

5, No, typically you will be in 5/5 Nyame for meleeing and melee accessories.

A lot of people cast in other things, but I personally never swap out Dunna from the ranged slot. Nothing feels as bad as Dunna not swapping and getting half potency geo bubbles.

Because of the way I've set up my gear sets, I never have to worry about whether Dunna is equipped or not.

for the answer to #5, If I'm meleeing I do basically what the guy above me does, but I use the bagua charm +2 instead of a melee neck. Some passive chance to full heal the loupan is worth losing 15 club skill and 4 stp imo.

As an alternative to meleeing (which is quite slow on GEO), you can make an Occult Acumen set and cast for TP. One -ra III spell puts me over 1k TP with Samurai's roll; I usually melee for TP for the first WS, then fire several -ra spells for instant TP. You have access to various MP recovery methods if necessary: Aspir 1/2/3, Vile Elixir/+1, receive Refresh 3 or Entrusted Refresh, or Radial Arcna/Full Circle.

Set is something like this (can throw in some Subtle Blow, like Bathy Choker +1 if it's something like Aminon):
ItemSet 396608

Impact OA set is the same thing, just with Cloak in the body slot.
Also, Absorb-TP on C/G is great if you time your casts properly.

Please don't melee in a pet DT set. In fact I would recommend against using telchine pieces for pet idle as they have absolutely trash Meva and MDB and Geo is routinely in range of mob TP moves.

My idle pet set on Geo uses empy head and body (same refresh as Shamash, more meva/mdb) and nyame legs. AF hands and relic feet as standard for the last two slots.

Thank you for answers, very helpful.

For Sortie specifically, if you are not using Idris in the idle set for the pet DT, meaning you are WSing with a different weapon, you need to use telchine. Fortunately sortie is relatively harmless in terms of damage and you can get away with telchine. You have 3 other DDs that are actually wearing DT+ gear to get TP faster. You as a geo are not going to be the reason your group wipes using that gear in an idle set.

I would never in a hundred years advocate for using telchine pretty much anywhere else.

You say that they have trash Meva but Telchine legs have 132 max Meva which is only 18 less than Nyame, Telchine hands have 62 max Meva and AF+3 have 57 Meva so in the total over the two pieces you are behind by 13 Meva. Telchine are however behind in stat vomit.

All good points.

Ambu cape with pet DT is another option if you need to switch weapons for whatever reason.

It's -13 MEva, -2 MDB, -85 DEF, -94 HP and -32 VIT. Not counting the HP Def that Vit gives.

Um... do you mean DEF?

I did mean def.

Went geo for the first time since forever in Sortie.
I noticed that when meleeing with something else than Idris, I had issue keeping the bubble alive on the first few bosses we did (DHC), so I switched back to Idris after that to be safe.
Since it was a first, I probably didn't optimize the usage of life cycle/demat/...

So just to have an idea of what to improve, is it expected/normal to recast it once or twice while fighting these bosses ? Or should it not have any issue staying alive while we kill them ?

It might sound a stupid idea, but I found a noticeable difference by perma-staying with the JSE+2 neck.
Absorbing (and healing) the luopan for every damage it takes 10% of the times might seem too little of a difference but in my experience it's quite something.
Just Idris, Dunna and neck keeps you ~7,5% away from cap, but it's a very solid compromise that uses "only" 3 slots.

Main Slot: Idris is clearly inferior to other options in terms of damage output, but the QoL of never losing TP and constantly having 25% pet DT adds up, imho

Range Slot: it's a small loss because there's not many good options for the slot anyway

Neck Slot: There's some nice options here. Combatant used to be my choice, now there's Null Loop as well, and what used to be a pretty affordable loss, became a very big one because of that, but still, I consider this setup a nice compromise nonetheless.