July 2026 Version Update

Call beast isn't necessarily useless, it's just clunky af how it operates on timers and you can't even maximize pet use during content unless you use unleash, or do bestial loyalty/call beast/Rd shenanigans. Nevermind you're using pet broth items to summon them. It's no wonder everything about BST is just "use the slug and DD", cuz pet swapping is terribly inefficient. We're still using acro/relic hands/armada feet*/mirke body to reduce CB timers, and it's still bad.

Perfect example is this months ambuscade. Can't use standard support buffs, so BST is incredibly useful with slug defense down and sheep rage for attack starved fight. But it requires two call beast uses (loyalty) to get both abilities up for capped attack. Just clunky to do

How about I take them into Odyssey and clear them there and then they are suddenly caught up in gear?

I swear an RNG drop HTBF that cause 30 merits(new players likely can only hold 30) is sure an *** way to get the caught up. If they are that worried about it then add ambu +3

at this point new gear introduced needs to be aimed at BiS players, there is PLENTY of gear for new people to obtain already, i barely log in lately because there's not really that much for me to work towards anymore, the new limbus weapons look *** and as a main SMN wtf was the limbus set even about? besides getting back into working on more premas its not worth subbing for me right now.

Is the new gear on par with unaugmented Odyssey gear, or augmented? Big difference if to be "caught up on gear" you need to also farm a bunch of segments and spend a ton of hours RPing.

Last few htbf stuff was kinda aimed at endgame players. Odin/Lilith/Shinryu/CoD very good utility and accuracy etc. Problem was then they started some BS with Selbina fights where drops weren't guaranteed on VD and it got frustratingly annoying spamming these fights for weeks in end until you got what you wanted. I Still haven't gotten cloak from Shinryu. But once you got what you wanted, you never touched that fight again (no replay value).

SE put out Malignance Box because they realized how amazing Malignance set was, but how miserable it was to get the pieces you wanted. This was the start of them prioritizing giving lower tier players stuff from htbf. They wanted it better gear more accessible to the general mass of players. Besieged etc.

I'm kind of okay with these fights dropping gear aimed at lower tier players. I don't have to frustrate myself or waste my time grinding Null Masque or Crep Cloak kind of gear anymore. Because I'll steamroll the ***and never bother again, and use the gear for a swap I'll use once every 5000 macro presses. Better that content goes to someone who will appreciate the gear and it's not just another stash in your cache of neverending situational gear.

That's not true for pet jobs. At least not SMN.
SMN is largely still in escha era and has seen virtually no meaningful growth. The closest thing is Nyame and honestly you're better off doing WSD path and meleeing which is sad

I don't have an issue with more mid-tier gear for new players to bridge the ambu to ody gap, but if that's what this is supposed to be, shouldn't it be easier for those players to obtain?

Even if you can only clear 2~3k seg runs in A or B, you're better off spending time doing that and working towards ody gear than farming low drop body pieces in a 30 merit htmb.

Same with the limbus weapons, really. They'd be fine if they weren't such a massive investment to create and augment.

The effort:reward is assbackwards

midtier gear should be 100% drop not shinryu level

Like whats the ladder now. DI/PK > Ambu +2/RSE+1 > ACP/AMK/ASA > Nyame R0

That's absolute nonsense. The grind for an ACP body is so far out of balance. Ambu+2 is cake. RSE is practically free. Nyame R0 is essentially free, and in the middle is grand your balls into mush for a 0% body drop. Moronic.

Kinda funny that DNC isn't on a weapon but is on the ammo. GL with your set bonus, dancers!

Does the fight drop any other items besides the equipment? Like tales or beitetsu?

Let's see... How could they have made this useful:
1. BP delay -15 instead of BPD+15% on the body, for cait sith /SMN strategies without dark matter augments.
2. Jump TP Bonus +30 on the heavy DD body
3. Fast Cast +15 on the light armor body
4. Include the original optional augments on the bodies
5. I'm fine with the weapons being weird trash, but assign the jobs better so noobs are more likely to get one they can use.

Do any of 1-4 and most people posting here would hunt at least one body.

I mean, use synergy to combine your old ACP reward with the new one by throwing both in the furnace.
Repeat for Shantotto pants, Kupo D'etat hat.

It WOULD be funny watching people rage because they need 70 Synergy in order to get call beast ability recast-30

Will have to see what the actual stats on the new head piece are first.

I get what you're saying and you're not wrong. At the same time, just because a sim spits out some gear doesn't mean you have to use it nor that it's bis.

I will forever laugh at people using sim tp sets, no matter what sim says or what excuses there are for it.

Yes, this HTBF drops all the regular stuff.

Yes, it seems to have the "common" drop pool for HTMB items. I've seen Rem's Tales from several different chapters, containers of Plutons / Beitetsu / Boulders and the usual assortment of random crafting mats (Durium Bars, etc).

VD HTBF was a joke btw. drk/drg/cor/brd/rdm/whm spent more time buffing than fighting.

ammo dropped on N, and two axes dropped on VD.

Super annoying it costs 60 merits just to farm a title for a friend lol.

Sounds like the easiest title to me

At least we finally got a paladin club

I've never worried about total kills, it was always the warp up -> sneak -> invis -> run to end -> pull / kill monsters -> warp -> repeat. Less running like that would be so much better.

It's fine bro. Just slap +Acc/Macc/Racc on everything. That's all pet jobs care about right? It's super good.

I want to die.


Wut? I... don't know why that would be at all useful. Hitting BP Delay is stupid easy, plus you cap out easy on tier I and need favor anyway. I... don't use any dark matter augments for my BP delay.

You did see the slash before SMN, right? As in subjob.

Though I will say that the /SMN mewing can be employed without any DM gear, so it's more of a convenience than a necessity.


My pair of pennies... we are not getting any content to validate any gear that would be considered better or 'BiS', so anything they add with these HTMBs is going to be meh unless you're excited about occupying that additional .03% of the total damage in the parse.

I can't imagine subbing /smn...

What's there to imagine?


Qutrub Ambuscade, lowman Erinys mew rotation, etc.

AH items updated: https://www.ffxiah.com/new-items/2026-07-09

We can die together! Maybe if we do the whole monks lighting themselves on fire protesting then SMN will actually get something.

I'm not asking to be #1 DPS but hell just let pets at least compete with support jobs for DPS in end game content like sortie. RDM/COR/BRD, the bar is that low for me

sorry but i gotta be smartass


Albeit this was done with 0 bp delay-. still was /smn ;P

ok but in all seriousness now. is anyone else getting their JA restored by Nihility Genesis (used by seed crystal. im on N difficulty.) (edit: this does not reset 1hrs sadly)

Ochain is very useful for countering the avatar perpetuation cost.



(posted from my iCope 17)

S-E doesn't know how to balance pet jobs/strats and haven't tried to, for years now. Expect nothing and you'll never be disappointed.