During the original tests, I distinctly remember a number of instances, where there seemed to be a state beyond ‘hyper’.  At that time, I had thought that it was merely luck, but after further testing, it appears that getting those dozens of Revitalizers was far from a fluke.  There’s actually a methodology to it.  These tests suggest that there are only two requirements to achieve this extreme form of ‘hyper’—or perhaps to achieve ‘hyper’ at all: (1) receive one death and (2) expend applicable job abilities.  The difference between the ‘regular hyper’ and the ‘extreme hyper’ is that in order to achieve the latter, job abilities must immediately be expended after the use of a Revitalizer.  I’ve recently uploaded a video that portrays the reality, authenticity, and existence of this so-called ‘extreme hyper’, dubbed ‘x-hyper’:

Revitalizers were quarried at the following relative time stamps of the video: 1:39, 2:38, 5:58, 6:48, 7:40, 8:28, 9:15, 10:41, 11:01, 12:15, 13:00, 13:23, 13:59, 16:42, 17:06, 17:39.  Of course, it is easier to view these on the actual Youtube page, as the website allows for instant and exact snapping to the desired time stamps.  In this test, a total of 16 Revitalizers were quarried in a 20 minute game.  The ‘x-hyper’ seemed to be triggered by the immediate expenditure of applicable job abilities after each Revitalizer use.  By doing this, Revitalizers can be quarried in approximate succession—usually one to three quarries after the initial Revitalizer.  Such an overwhelming Revitalizer count in a short duration is rarely seen in actual play because most people tend to save their 2 hour ability and Revitalizer for a potentially significant moment later in the match.  In other words, it seems illogical and absurd to blast away a job’s strongest abilities for no apparent reason.  The intuition of preserving those abilities and making ‘better’ [apparent] use of them is the more realistic reason why almost all players do not achieve the ‘x-hyper’ status.

The other reason is that the ‘x-hyper’ technique is seemingly applicable to a low selection of jobs.  The jobs that are more likely to achieve ‘x-hyper’ are those which have instantaneous [and useful] abilities, including the 2 hour.  One example of a job that can make full use of this technique is RNG, as it has infamously powerful job abilities, as well as the capability of attacking and quarrying simultaneously.  Essentially, a RNG would be quarrying much more frequently than other DD jobs—which gives it more chances to quarry Revitalizers and consequently a higher likelihood of achieving ‘hyper’ or even ‘x-hyper’.  The RNG could simply waste away his job abilities after using a Revitalizer and continuing quarrying, hoping to get hold of a replacement Revitalizer.

Other jobs, such as MNK, are less subject to achieving ‘x-hyper’ because the functionality of their 2 hour abilities.  Unlike Eagle Eye Shot, Hundred Fists is not instantaneous.  It would probably be too much of a waste to use Hundreds Fists and immediately returning to quarrying.  Besides, it is more likely that the MNK is already engaged with an enemy during the time Hundred Fists is activated, making it less convenient for the MNK to quarry.

Anyway, the bottom line is that achieving ‘x-hyper’, the technique that allows quarrying Revitalizers in succession, is no longer a mystery.  The greatest concern is that this technique requires little to no skill while providing the one user the strength of an army.  If they have knowledge of this, newer and less skilled players would most likely attempt to rely on this strategy rather than focusing on the fundamentals of Ballista simply because ‘x-hyper’ or even ‘hyper’ is easy to learn.  Although some of the many Ballista mysteries have been defogged, instead of improving, players seem to be ‘devolving’ in skill, relying too heavily on a simple, but powerful, tactic that any amateur player can pick up in a matter of moments.  Originally, dying has always had negative connotations; however, these days, it has been increasingly more acceptable because, after all, it’s a requirement to achieve ‘hyper’.  Many players hardly attempt to dodge or Third Eye WSs anymore, and in many cases, they ask not to be cured for a certain duration of the game—all this for the sole purpose of having a shot at ‘hyper’.  In a nutshell, the Ballista today is almost completely centered around the concept of ‘hyper’.

Well, the cat’s out of the bag now.  The ‘hyper’ case has finally been cracked [in English], so go ahead and enjoy the power of ‘x-hyper’ [without forgetting the fundamentals of Ballista, of course].

I hate the 15 minute video limit that Youtube enforces.  Since I have to separate my Ballista videos into parts, I’m usually reluctant to record and upload any.  However, the other night, a series of 3:3 Ballista was played within our community, and 3:3 games are set at 15 minutes in game length.  So, I decided to record and upload a match for the shits and giggles.  Again, mostly for the shits.

There were a couple of mistakes that I made during this game, but whatev.  My Ballista reflexes wither after midnight, and since we almost always play late night games, my reaction speed takes a toll.

But anyway, the video gives off a strange feeling probably because the match starts and ends so abruptly.  Besides separating the video into two individual parts, there’s not much else I can do about it.  Strangely enough, though, despite that my video’s duration  is actually 15:01 and not 15:00 flat (failed to crop it to exactly 15 minutes), Youtube didn’t reject it.  It must have been because I requested Youtube for some love in my video comment.

The best part was that Youtube heeded my plead.  The love was shared.  When I checked my upload option again, I flipped out when I saw this:

Boom-headshot.  I celebrated with a shot of gin.

Anyway, since I can finally upload Ballista videos without separating them into parts, I’m much more inclined to upload more in the near future.  So, stay tuned, my readers, viewers, lovers, haters, and masturbaters, and remember to rate, like, comment, favorite, subscribe, and all that jazz.  Or dislike if you’re a bitch.  Whatev.

And to answer the Black Eyed Peas, the love is right here, baby.  Right here.

By now, it’s clear that these conjectures are most likely true.  However, exactly how many deaths are required?  The difference between one and three deaths is quite significant, so is it one, two, or three?  Furthermore, is there a certain ‘window of opportunity’ before this ‘hyper’ state ‘wears off’?  Does acquiring kills affect anything?

In order to answer my curiosity, further investigation of ‘hyper’ was done with Aya’s help.  Throughout the experimentation, job abilities were kept expended with the exception of low reset duration abilities, such as Provoke, Third Eye, and Hasso.  Quarrying for items was done near the Rook with changing the quarrying location every so often.  The quarrying results are as follows:

Match: #1
Trial: #1
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Nothing
Remedy
Baraero Ointment
X-Potion
Barstone Ointment
Carnal Incense
X-Potion
Barblizzard Ointment
Carnal Incense

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #2
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Nothing
Poison Potion
Prism Powder
Eye Drops
Carnal Icense
Demoralizer
Daedalus Wing
Hi-Potion
Hi-Potion
Prism Powder

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #3
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 1 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Hi-Potion
Lethe Water
Hi-Potion
Catholicon
X-Potion
Barstone Ointment
Poison Potion
Catholicon +1
Pear au Lait
Hi-Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #4
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 2 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Nothing
Pamama au Lait
Catholicon +1
Poison Potion
Eye Drops
Spiritual Incense
Barblizzard Ointment
Eye Drops
Prism Powder
Demoralizer

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #5
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 3 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Barwater
Body Boost
Megalixir
Nothing
Elixir
Hi-Potion
Hi-Elixir
Catholicon +1
Daedalus Wing
Poison Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #6
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 4 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Nothing
Petra
Celestial Incense
Body Boost
Baraero Ointment
Pamama au Lait
Poison Potion
Celestial Incense
Max-Potion
Barwater Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #7
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 5 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Healing Powder
Pear au Lait
X-Potion
Eye Drops
Catholicon
Nothing
Prism Powder
Prism Powder
Spiritual Incense
Poison Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #8
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 1 Kill(s)

Pearl au Lait
Catholicon +1
X-Potion
Pear au Lait
Pamama au Lait
Nothing
Demoralizer +1
Max-Potion
Demoralizer
Catholicon +1

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #9
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 2 Kill(s)

Elixir
Max-Potion
Barfire Ointment
X-Potion
Remedy
Pamama au Lait
X-Potion
Lethe Water +1
Poison Potion
Barblizzard Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #10
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 3 Kill(s)

Hi-Elixir
Daedalus Wing
Petra
X-Potion
Celestial Incense
Hi-Potion
Hi-Potion
Pamama au Lait
Barwater Ointment
Spiritual Incense

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #11
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 4 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Elxiir
X-Potion
Hi-Potion
Elixir
Nothing
Eye Drop
Daedalus Wing
Poison Potion
Nothing

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #1
Trial: #12
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 5 Kill(s)

Lethe Water
Catholicon
Daedalus Wing
Pear au Lait
Nothing
Hi-Potion
Nothing
Pamama au Lait
Nothing
Lethe Water +1

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #13
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Carnal Incense
Nothing
Catholicon +1
Catholicon
Nothing
Pamama au Lait
Lethe Water
X-Potion
Hi-Elixir

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #14
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Petra Water
Poison POtion
Hi-Potion
Demoralizer
X-Potion
Baraero Ointment
Nothing
X-Potion
Barstone Ointment
Lethe Water

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #15
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 1 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Baraero
Petra Water
Carnal Incense
Carnal Incense
Remedy
Spiritual Incense
Nothing
Barblizzard Ointment
Nothing
Daedalus Wing

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #16
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 2 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Healing Powder
Barthunder Ointment
Hi-Potion
Barwater Ointment
Nothing
Lethe Water
Barthunder Ointment
Petra Eater
Elixir
Pamama au Lait

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #17
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 3 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Nothing
Pamama au Lait
Revitalizer
Catholicon
Catholicon +1
Pamama au Lait
Catholicon +1
Poison Potion
Hi-Potion
Daedalus Wing

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #18
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 4 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Demoralizer +1
Nothing
Nothing
Hi-Potion
Petra Water
Eye Drops
Spiritual Incense
Remedy
X-Potion
Baraero Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #19
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 5 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Remedy
X-Potion
Body Boost
Lethe Water
Nothing
Baraero Ointment
Max-Potion
Demoralizer
Poison Potion
Poison Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #20
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 6 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

X-Potion
Demoralizer
Nothing
Eye Drops
Barblizzard Ointment
Barstone Ointment
Healing Powder
Pear au Lait
Remedy
Elixir

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #21
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 7 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
X-Potion
Body Boost
Remedy
Catholicon
Nothing
Celestial Incense
Poison Potion
Hi-Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #22
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 8 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Hi-Potion
Body Boost
Giant’s Drink
Poison Potion
Max-Potion
X-Potion
Nothing
Catholicon
Max-Potion
Remedy

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #23
Score: 0 – 4 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 9 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Remedy
Body Boost
Poison Potion
Lethe Water
Nothing
Barstone Ointment
Remedy
Nothing
Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
Daedalus Wing
Celestial Incense
Daedalus Wing

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #24
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 1 Kill(s)

Remedy
Nothing
Lethe Water
Hi-Potion
Petra
X-Potion
Pamama au Lait
Eey Drops
Barwater Ointment
Baraero Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #25
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 2 Kill(s)

Hi-Potion
Petra
Poison Potion
Barblizzard
X-Potion
Hi-Potion
Nothing
Celestial Incense
Elixir
Barfire Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #26
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 3 Kill(s)

Pamama au Lait
Carnal Incense
Lethe Water
Pear au Lait
Petra Eater
Prism Powder
Nothing
X-Potion
Hi-Potion
Barthunder Ointment
Barstone Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #27
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 4 Kill(s)

Demoralizer
Barblizzard
Pear au Lait
Pear au Lait
Remedy
Elixir
Hi-Potion
Petra Eater
Nothing
Barwater

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #28
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 5 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Baraero Ointment
Lethe Water
Barwater Ointment
Hi-Potion
Barfire Ointment
Hi-Potion
Spiritual Incense
Nothing
Pamama au Lait

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #29
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 6 Kill(s)

Lethe Water +1
Nothing
Prism Powder
Demoralizer
Eye Drops
Spiritual Incense
Max-Potion
Demoralizer
Nothing
Pamama au Lait

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #30
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 7 Kill(s)

Lethe Water
Barfire
Petra
Nothing
Carnal Incense
Nothing
Catholicon
Nothing
Celestial Incense
Remedy

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #31
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 8 Kill(s)

Celestial Incense
Nothing
Hi-Potion
Carnal Incense
Hi-Elixir
Poison Potion
Nothing
Carnal Incense
Remedy
Baraero Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #2
Trial: #32
Score: 1 – 0 (Winning)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 0 Death(s), 9 Kill(s)

Eye Drop
X-Potion
Barthunder Ointment
Catholicon
Barblizzard Ointment
Eye Drops
Demoralizer
Spiritual Incense
Poison Potion
Daedalus Wing
X-Potion
Spiritual Incense
Catholicon +1

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #3
Trial: #33
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 1 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Barthunder Ointment
Petra Eater
Poison Potion
Barstone Ointment
Nothing
Hi-Potion
Poison Potion
Max-Potion
Prism Powder
Lethe Water +1
Pamama au Lait
Barblizzard Ointment
Body Boost
Lethe Water
Barthunder Ointment
Poison Potion
X-Potion
Remedy
Lethe Water +1
Nothing
X-Potion
Hi-Elixir
Carnal Incense
Spiritual Incense
Hi-Potion
Spiritual Incense
X-Potion
Celestial Incense
Catholicon
Hi-Elixir
Petra
Pear au Lait
X-Potion
Demoralizer
Poison Potion
Hi-Potion
Nothing
X-Potion
Nothing
Nothing
Max-Potion
X-Potion
Barstone Ointment

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #3
Trial: #34
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 2 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Nothing
Hi-Potion
Nothing
X-Potion
Lethe Water
Pamama au Lait
Barthunder Ointment
Nothing
Hi-Potion
X-Potion
Celestial Incense
Nothing
Petra
Catholicon
Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
Nothing
Carnal Incense
Baraero Ointment
Barblizzard Ointment
Daedalus Wing
Pamana au Lait
Poison Potion
Barstone Ointment
Barfire Ointment
Demoralizer
Remedy
Nothing
Hi-Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #4
Trial: #35
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 1 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Hi-Potion
Barwater Ointment
Nothing
X-Potion
Nothing
Barblizzard Ointment
Barfire Ointment
Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
Pamama au Lait
Daedalus Wing
Catholicon +1
Remedy
Barthunder Ointment
Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
Barthunder Ointment
Poison Potion
Elixir
Max-Potion
Hi-Elixir
Remedy
Daedalus Wing
Poison Potion
Barfire Ointment
Baraero Ointment
Catholicon
Lethe Water
Max-Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #4
Trial: #36
Score: 0 – 0 (Draw)
Job: DRG/SAM
2hr: Up
Status: 1 Death(s), 1 Kill(s)

Elixir
Petra Eater
Demoralizer +1
Catholicon
Petra Eater
Eye Drops
Baraero ointment
Nothing
Elixir
Drachenessence
X-Potion
Remedy
Nothing
Healing Powder
Celestial Incense
Carnal Incense
Celestial Incense
Max-Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #4
Trial: #37
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: WAR/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 2 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Hi-Potion
Poison Potion
Barwater Ointment
Prism Powder
Catholicon
Poison Potion
Giant’s Drink
Catholicon
Healing Powder
Barstone Ointment
Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
Barstone Ointment
Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
Barstone Ointment
Nothing
Nothing
Catholicon +1
Barfire Ointment
Barstone Ointment
Giant’s Drink
Healing Powder
Pear au Lait
Poison Potion
X-Potion
Barblizzard Ointment
Barfire Ointment
Pamama au Lait
Pear au Lait

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #4
Trial: #38
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: DRG/SAM
2hr: Up
Status: 2 Death(s), 1 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Hi-Elixir
Catholicon +1
Nothing
Max-Potion
X-Potion
Max-Potion
Petra Eater
Body Boost
Nothing
Giant’s Drink
Smelling Salts
Prism Powder
Poison Potion
Nothing
Celestial Incense
Revitalizer
Prism Powder
Body Boost
Daedalus Wing
Daedalus Wing
Drachenessence
Celestial Incense
Daeadlous Wing
Poison Potion
Nothing
Catholicon
Body Boost

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #5
Trial: #39
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: SAM/WAR
2hr: Down
Status: 1 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Prism Powder
Remedy
Poison Potion
Eye Drops
Daedalus Wing
Max-Potion
Nothing
Barstone Ointment
Barstone Ointment
Lethe Water +1
Catholicon +1
Remedy
Nothing
Petra

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #5
Trial: #40
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: DRG/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 1 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Poison Potion
Prism Powder
Remedy
Petra
Celestial Incense
Nothing
Lethe +1
Elixir
Poison Potion
Catholicon
Barwater Ointment
Nothing
Catholicon
Smelling Salts
Remedy
Daedalus Wing

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #5
Trial: #41
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: SAM/WAR
2hr: Down
Status: 2 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Hi-Potion
Poison Potion
Barstone Ointment
Revitalizer
Poison Potion
Celestial Incense
Nothing
Barwater Ointment
Celestial Incense
Petra

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #5
Trial: #42
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: DRG/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 2 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Celestial Incense
Poison Potion
X-Potion
Hi-Elixir
Elixir
Hi-Elixir
Poison Potion
Pear au Lait
Daedalus WIng
Pear au Lait
Barblizzard Ointment
Barblizzard Ointment
Eye Drop
Nothing
Hi-Potion
Poison Potion
Drachenessence
Petra Eater
Nothing
Barthunder Ointment
Barfire Ointment
Poison Potion
Nothing
X-Potion

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #5
Trial: #43
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: SAM/WAR
2hr: Down
Status: 3 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Petra Eater
X-Potion
Petra
Nothing
X-Potion
Body Boost
Celestial Incense
Petra
Body Boost
Eye Drop
Poison Potion
Revitalizer
Elixir
Spiritual Incense
Remedy
Nothing
Celestial Incense
Nothing
Poison Potion
Spiritual Incense
Giant’s Drink
Nothing
Petra
Eye Drop
Eye Drop
Pamama au Lait
Hi-Elixir
Petra
Poison Potion
Prism Powder
Demoralizer
Elixir
Megalixir
Body Boost
Elixir
Elixir
Revitalizer
Poison Potion
Lethe Water +1
Barthunder Ointment
Barblizzard Ointment
Petra
Revitalizer
Revitalizer
Petra Eater

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

Match: #5
Trial: #44
Score: 0 – 1 (Losing)
Job: DRG/SAM
2hr: Down
Status: 3 Death(s), 0 Kill(s)

Lethe Water
Poison Potion
Spiritual Incense
Elixir
Demoralizer
Revitalizer
Poison Potion
Revitalizer
Lethe Water
Barwater Ointment
Body Boost
Celestial Incense
Demoralizer
Revitalizer
X-Potion
Revitalizer
Barthunder Ointment
Pamama au Lait
Hi-Potion
Baraero Ointment
Poison Potion
X-Potion
Hi-Elixir
Eye Drop
Revitalizer
Nothing
Hi-Elixir
Drachenessence
Elixir
Petra Eater
Lethe Water
Nothing
Carnal Incense
Poison Potion
Nothing
Eye Drop
Barblizzard Ointment
Nothing
Drachenessence
Body Boost
Nothing

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

The key to the experiment is consistency.  From the data, what struck me the most was how common Daedalus Wings and Carnal Incenses were.  Although they’re both useful items, they can be obtained even without a single death.  Another interesting find was that it seems as though a player must acquire at least one death before having access to Body Boosts.  The player who didn’t die was never able to quarry a single Body Boost; however, as seen in trials 5, 6, 19, 22, and 23, a player who has died will have a decent chance of quarrying a Body Boost within the first 10 attempts.  Revitalizers don’t seem to come at a steady rate until the third death.  Although it’s still possible, it’s unlikely to quarry a Revitalizer with only one or two deaths.  Three deaths appear to be the minimum amount in order to achieve ‘hyper’, as depicted in trials 43 and 44.  Trials 39 to 42 had nowhere near the quarrying power as 43 and 44.

The amount of kills doesn’t seem affect anything.  The ‘killer’ in this experiment received no deaths and was mostly only able to quarry low tier items.

There doesn’t appear to be some sort of ‘duration’ for ‘hyper’.  From trial 43, the true ‘hyper’ didn’t ‘activate’ until much later on—which suggests that as soon as the mode ‘hyper’ is achieved, it should last the duration of the game.

Score doesn’t seem to matter too much.  As trial 5 shows, a player can still obtain several good items with both teams having the same score.  The next course of testing would have to include achieving ‘hyper’ while on the winning team—which is quite possible, as it has been several times already.  Of course, word is much more credible with concrete evidence rather than hearsay.

From the analysis, the two dominant factors that affect hyper are (1) the accumulation of three* deaths and (2) expended job abilities.

As a side note, I also wonder if using items, such as ointments, instead of tossing them away affect quarry results.  That will probably be difficult and tedious to test, though.

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

These quarry results remind me of a few recent 2:2 hako games that we had.  It was Evv and Loblolly against Aya and me.  Hey, don’t blame me.  Evv insisted.  Anyway, since Loblolly lacked experience, sufficient gear, and SAM subjob (DRK/SCH), the only way for Evv (SAM) to win was to achieve ‘hyper’.  Based on this fact, Aya (DRG) and I (DRK) decided to avoiding killing Evv and leave him hanging with roughly 25% HP as much as possible.  Despite that Aya and I were winning, we ended up getting much better items than Evv.  In fact, as memory serves, I believe Aya was able to quarry a few Revitalizers and Megalixirs.  Evv, on the other hand, wasn’t able to quarry powerful items of any sort, as he only died once or twice more than half way through the game.

Furthermore, looking back at my most recent video of a hako match posted on my Youtube channel, I achieved four deaths before being able to quarry Revitalizers consistently (total 3).  However, there are some cases in which a player does not die three times and yet is still able to quarry Revitalizers consistently—such as in the case of Elegy in this match.  Despite that he only died once, he was able to use Benediction three or four times.  In that case, luck was probably on his side, as three deaths is definitely the spot-on number.

Oh yes, you know who I’m talking to. Yes you, the puny worthless insignificant piece of shit tarutaru referred to as “Clubark”. This isn’t going to be just another one of my rants. I intend to inform and educate but at the same time rip you apart. I don’t know why you think you have any right to believe that you are in any way better than me. Never did you clarify with evidence the time we supposedly did fight each other 1v1 or explain why exactly you think you’re better. But not only that, I find it REALLY hilarious that you think I “envy you”. Oh my god I was really laughing when I read that dumb shit. Also you speak of me being a {Child}? What do you think it takes to be a child? Hmm, well, from my knowledge, it’s something called immaturity, and bitch… you emanate that in its wholesome form. Yea, I can be immature at times, but I know in the end that’s not how I really act, and that whatever you believe is making you more superior and mature than me is really just a clouded façade.

First of all – I AM RIGHT when I say that no one likes you, except that one fatass dickriding fucker that you always hang out with. What’s his name? Oh yea, Garikk. Now don’t get me wrong. I actually respect Garikk because he’s a pretty good player and semi-nice guy. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that he’s that respectable of a player because his job selection consists of two things that require little to no skill to play. But regardless it beats you by a long-shot. All I have ever seen you play is one thing, and one thing only: SAM/RNG (No, I do not count your gimp ass, Justaucorps-wearing RDM or your fucking ROFLWHM). This is a great job combination but is completely overpowered as you SHOULD probably know. I really don’t care that you go it, nor does it bother me that you can actually play the job well (LOL). What bothers me is that you have the nerve to actually talk shit, act tough, and pretend to be something that you are not. Anyone can be good with SAM/RNG. Anyone. Period.

Second, since I know you are from Fenrir I can hold this against YOU and not my real Fenrir friends… Your extended stay there must have fried your already low amount of brain cells, but you really need to learn how to shut your fucking mouth. You’re already sorry as it is. There’s no need for you to say anything to boost your tiny ego. The more you talk shit, the more I will retaliate with words, may it bother you or not.

Now I can already predict most of the comebacks that you are going to say, something along the lines of:

1. “You must envy me.” LOL. Get off Garikk’s dick.
2. “If it doesn’t bother you, why are you writing this?” Well, I thought I should notify the world of how fail you are.
3. “If you say SAM/RNG is so good why don’t you play it?” Because I don’t feel the need to own people with an overpowered job. It’s called getting a cheap win, and a respectable win. I’ll take the latter for my own sake.
4. “You’re not on my level, etc etc.” If that’s so, let’s fucking 1v1 IN 60CAP YOU DUMB PIECE OF SHIT. No one 1v1’s in uncap you wanna know why? I won’t be an asshole in this part…

Basically because some jobs are a lot more overpowered than others. The difference is much greater than in 60cap even though we would be trying to go same jobs. For instance, it should be obvious to many that jobs like PLD and COR in uncap are beyond unreasonably unfair in any sort of pvp, let alone a 1v1. No amount of skill can overcome the push of a button for a macro or simple job traits/abilities/spells that can put you near unbeatable status without any effort. So no, I am not doing uncap because it’s unfair you dipshit. Have some common sense and think before you open your dick sucking mouth.

So yea, that’s what I have to say about you and your whole persona. I think that it’s just because you know deep down inside that you can’t play anything else effectively and that whenever someone like me criticizes, you become defensive. It’s a shame, though, because I honestly think you are a decent player. But like I’ve said before and what I’ve said about other people (Laz), the attitude needs to change. You fuck with the bull, you get the god damn horns.

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

In other news since I don’t want this post to be all about my disdain for stupid people, I’d like to talk about the matter of Strategy 005 posted by V. So for those not very versed in the game of Ballista or better yet Diorama, there has been some skeptically viewed ideas—mine included—about the rate of quarry and getting good items.

It was noted in this post that under the 3^rd point: “Using a petra shovel supposedly helps.” This made me think and wonder if this could really affect my own style of play, as I do not use a petra shovel. Why? Well, in my humble opinion when I quarry up a good item, say an elixir or hi-elixir, those items take a significant amount of time to use with some added downtime after use. I don’t use the shovel simply to avoid that downtime of healing when I obtain it. Well, apparently enough, it doesn’t help the fact that during most of my Diorama matches, I find it hard to even acquire these high tier items, let alone be able to use them.

*It should also be noted that if you are interrupted in any way like you are when you try to score a petra, you will just obtain the item like you would have with the shovel. In which case, your non-shoveling ass is at a disadvantage because you sit there not acting because you receive an “event interrupted” message. I’ve thought about it a lot recently because as of lately, I have a piss poor internet connection and lag immensely during large matches and sometimes even small ones. This handicap puts me so far back, and it doesn’t help to make myself go any slower…

So, this idea of using it had me to test it myself.

Now, this doesn’t show much, but that revit pickup was at around 21:20~. That’s not all, though. I got around 3 more earlier during the match. This doesn’t prove anything regarding the shovel, but I can honestly and truly say that I have never grabbed this many Revitalizers (4)—EVER—during a match, no matter how close my nuts hung on the rook. Yet, I find it really interesting that this drastically changes how much I was able to spam WS’s now or use my 2hr as freely as I please. It gives me more of a sense of freedom, and now I feel like I can act quicker since the shovel helps you do that in general.

Also, I have to consider that since I’m not providing an extensive amount of proof, this could all just be luck. But the evidence is there, and the data and research, thanks to V, backs this up. Hopefully, this stupid thing can actually help me acquire the items that I desperately need during those stressful times.

Well I was gonna ask Brandonn but, 1. I have no nickname for him, and 2. He’s incognitos. So I guess the rest would be like, necessary to do? But in reality I can’t think of questions to ask people anymore plus I don’t think anyone really cares. Instead of talking about other people or asking them questions, I figured that I’ll just keep doing regular ass random ballista posts.

So, the issue as of lately is just the quality of OM matches and the lack of fun Diorama matches. Why is this? Well in my instance it’s just a multitude of different factors; mainly because people are lazy/want to do their own thing. But my real question is: Why do OM instead of Dio? I mean, I’ll be really honest and straightforward… I think I’m terrible at Dio, I hardly win and I always fuck up at crucial moments. My peers can say otherwise but I know I’m not that great. Nevertheless I would rather do a relatively even balanced Dio match than an unbalanced rigged OM match. When one team has all the good melees/healers and there’s a single Cor in the game (Putio) I can’t really enjoy myself especially if I’m 1. Owning the other team or 2. Getting owned by the other team.

Like I said it’s pretty straightforward how I’ve been feeling lately. Ballista just isn’t the same anymore. The disparity between players is sometimes so great that it alone means victory or defeat. Not to mention the sorry players with egos that abuse items/food. I’m not complaining about Rabbit pies anymore because there’s nothing to really complain about it, other than I don’t respect its use. Lazurus told me “If it makes you better why not use it?” I had no true response to that other than “You become too dependent on it” in which case it still doesn’t beat the fact that it’s perfectly legal and acceptable to use as much as a kabob.

As far as augmenting goes, I’ve kinda been contemplating a theory on what acquires what. If anyone here is familiar with the synthesis clock as its element changes every 5-6 real life seconds (not too sure on that but around there) maybe that could dictate some type of stats that you acquire while trading, during the fight, and opening the chest. Since testing this theory would be so difficult I’m going to start timing my trades to certain elements to see if it has any correlation between the two. If not, fuck it. Back to randomly augmenting items.

Finally, as I’ve mentioned earlier about my hatred for OM here, it has come to my knowledge that Shiva server has some decent ballista. Now don’t quote me on anything but it has a “strong” NA following (lmao) and some decent size ballistas that happen regularly. I have seriously thought about leaving Lakshmi and going out to find better ballista, but honestly thinking about it, I believe it’s probably the same if not worse anywhere else I go. I’m just tired of the bullshit and lack of enthusiasm people display here. No one wants to try to win seriously during OMs, so why should I bother? 99% of the time JPs are bullshiting around not calling targets or whining to NAs, don’t heal NAs, NA’s don’t give a shit… just a bunch of nonsense.

Maybe it’s just me being emo talking or something but I’ve been wanting to quit this game for so long. The people I call friends are usually never around, have better things to do, or just simply let me down. Finding help is only gonna be from an endgame LS and I have no desire whatsoever to join one. Honestly I feel like no one would care if I left in the long run, but for as long as I’ve known these people I would have put everything on the line for them.

But like I said, maybe it’s just me being depressed talking here… who knows.

So I was trying to subscribe to another blog yesterday but couldn’t find a subscription link or button.  That’s when it hit me.  Where the hell did my subscription link go?  Well, shit, I must have accidentally removed it at one point, but it’s back now (at the bottom of the right side menu).  I was wondering why my subscriber count stopped increasing.  Anyway, I’m glad that I finally got this out of the way.

The next item on the list is the synchronization stats for Lv60 equipment.  I suppose I wasn’t being clear enough because I’ve gotten questions regarding how to read it several times.  The main problem has been the ‘ranks’ of jobs that determine the sync’ed defense stats.  To make it easier to understand, here’s a brief example:

Askar zucchetto has the following stats at Lv75:  DEF 23, STR+4, DEX+4, VIT+4, Haste+4%.

The maximum stats acquirable for Lv60 sync’ed head gear are: DEF A24 B21 C17, HP+10, MP+30, stat+2, Atk+3.

Therefore, Askar zucchetto at Lv60 would have the following stats: DEF A23 B21 C17, STR+2, DEX+2, VIT+2.

However, the defense value is dependent on job.  If it is equipped by a ‘rank A’ job, such as PLD, the defense on the helm would be 23.  On the other hand, equipping it with a ‘rank B’ job, such as DRG, would yield a defense of 21.

Capiche?  Capiche.

Finally, one last and probably the most important clarification.  I’m not gay—damn it.  My blog entry was titled “It May Be Gay, but I Like Twilight“, not “I May Be Gay…”

How can anyone misread that?  I was referring to the Twilight series being gay, not myself.  Fuckers better get that idea out of your heads.  God damn.

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

In the past week, I’ve been busy with mundane routines of the notorious phenomenon commonly known as ‘IRL’, but during my downtime from FFXI, I’ve been brainstorming a few notable thoughts and ideas in regards to—you’ve guessed it—Ballista.  Between the few NA players in my LS, two novel terms have been coined in order to describe and categorize Ballista aptitude more effectively: ‘battle skill’ and ‘technical skill’.

More or less, the term ‘battle skill’ is quite self-explanatory.  Battle skill, as the name implies, refers to the raw finesse of the user to maneuver and persist in combat.  This includes the ability to predict and evade enemy WSs, as well as executing job abilities—especially Third Eye—and WSs with precision.

Technical skill, on the other hand, is a term that was somewhat recently coined in order to better characterize the styles of certain players.  It would be best described as ‘quarrying technique’: when and where to quarry.  Since this ‘quarrying technique’ is definitive and explicit to Ballista, it’s usually overlooked.  When the general public—or anyone for that matter—thinks of ‘PvP’, fighting and killing other players to win is typically the first thought that comes to mind.  However, Ballista differs in that the objective is to score more petras (points) than the opposing team—much like a sport.  Because of this prevailing fact, technical skill should be taken more into consideration.  (As a side note, I believe it should also include the timing of items, such as using incenses—carnal, celestial, and spiritual.)

Aside from battle skill and technical skill, I would like to coin another term that includes communication and cooperativeness—or teamwork (for lack of better words).  This has been discussed several times already, but I don’t quite remember if a term was coined for this skill.  This skill entails notifying teammates of the enemies’ petra counts, the player’s own petra count and TP, calling targets, and executing WSs in unison with teammates to create spike damage or skillchains in order to cause an immediate drop in an enemy’s HP.  Those who have played the highest form of Ballista in Diorama should already have a strong understanding of the importance of spike damage.  To list a few reasons, spike damage (1) evokes panic and alert to both the target and the opposing team as a whole and (2) can prevent the target to escape or recover—either by items, cures, or job ability (Charka?).  A valid name for this skill could perhaps be communication skill, but it sounds too lame for my taste.  Vocal skill maybe?  Eh—no, that reminds me of American Idol.  If anyone has appropriate suggestions, please feel free to voice it, but for now, I’ll refer to this as ‘communication skill’.  (Another side note: communication skills also imply leadership.)

Although it’s less significant, a fourth relevant term would be dedication.  Within the black LS, Irvines and Lily would probably be the best examples of dedicated players.  Dedication includes devoting time and gil to Ballista, such as augmenting and attending Diorama events.  People may think that dedication may not directly affect the overall skill of a player, but it certainly drives one to improve, grow stronger, and even innovate new Ballista ideas.  Moreover, attending matches keeps a player in ‘good shape’.  It’s like hitting the gym to workout.  Sort of.  I don’t know about other people’s cases, but I get sloppy after a week without playing Ballista.  Both my movements and reaction speed become considerably impaired, and I usually end up looking like I’m still cruising in ’04.  In that aspect, I would acknowledge that dedication does indeed affect a Ballista player’s overall skill.

“Aight, V, I’ve been playing Ballista for years and already know this shit inside and out.  Why the hell are you bringing it up now?”

Very good question, my friend.  Overtime, I’ve noticed prominent differences in the play styles between the black LS and us, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has realized this either.  It’s evident that we concentrate our training on battle skill and communication skill.  Almost everything that we’ve discussed in terms of Ballista improvements involved dodging WSs, Third Eye, executing WSs, calling targets, notifying teammates of petra counts or Rook moves, and so forth.  Very little has been directed to technical skill.  In other words, our overall play style is rather raw for the most part.

Players from the black LS, however, do quite the opposite.  They apply their technical skill to gather high tier items, such as Revitalizers, Giant’s Drinks, and Megalixirs, in order to win the game.  As previously mentioned, the term ‘technical skill’ is still relatively new.  The primary reason for coining this term was to be able to describe the black LS players better.  It is ‘their’ style after all.  Quarrying is usually seen as a method of acquiring petra and not necessarily items, and on top of that, it’s based on luck—or so people think.  It has come to Ballista community’s attention that it’s a technique—a skill.  How is it that they’re able to spam Eagle Eye Shots and Spirit Surges in multiple matches so consistently?  It’s a skill.  Their style of play allows them to win the game much more smoothly than those who have a weaker understanding of quarrying technique.  With an arsenal of powerful items, they’re able to survive longer which implies that they’re less susceptible to losing their TP due to death and have higher probabilities of finishing off their targets, acquiring gatebreach, and scoring.

“Dude, you’re boring the shit out of me.  What’s your point?”

Sally, calm yo ass down.  Looking back at past matches both with and against the black LS players, they show lower battle and communication skills but have technical skills that undoubtedly surpasses ours.  These differences in the variations of Ballista skills between the black LS and us have become gradually apparent.  Despite the significant differences, they tend to win more matches than us due to their ability to access higher tier items.  With that said, I recall a certain series of Diorama matches, where T and Apollon/Mrrng were both playing DRG.  He actually mentioned these games in his previous post.  T was able to Third Eye and evade Apo’s WSs but still lost to his consistent Revitalizer/Spirit Surge spam consecutive times.

I also recall games in which the black LS players failed to quarry higher tier items, and needless to say, it was like a walk in a park.  I remember one match in particular that abides to that claim.  It was a recent 3:3 game in which the jobs were WAR, DRG, and PLD.  The participants were initially Aya (WAR), Saraphy (WAR), T (DRG), Lily (DRG), Mami (PLD), and Yours Truly (PLD).  No offense (even though this is offensive), but we all know that Saraphy blows hard.  Aya raped his WAR every game.  Eventually, he gave up, and Varier (on his Galka—of course) substituted in.  It just so happened that the Herald shuffled the teams to Aya, T, and I vs Varier, Lily, and Mami.  At first, even I was a little worried because Varier’s WAR is quite skilled, as I’ve sparred with him before.  Unfortunately for Varier, Aya showed no mercy and ripped his penis off.  And his balls.  Neither teams were able to quarry game-changing items that match, so it was a raw fight of battle skill.  The final score ended up to be 16 – 3 (our way, of course).  Go team.  And yes, I do realize that Mami is part of our LS, but this example was just to show the differences in expertise.

“tl;dr afk”

Well, if you’ve stayed with me this far, you’re in luck because I’m going to provide brief overview on technical skill and the methodology of quarrying higher tier items.

Here’s an attempt to categorize the Ballista items into tiers.  High tier items would probably include Revitalizer, Giant’s/Wizard’s Drink, Megalixir, Max-Potion, and Hi-Elixir.  Daedalus Wing, Carnal Incense, Pro-Ether, Elixir, Healing/Mana Powder, and Body/Mana Boost would be considered mid tier while everything else is low tier.

The quarrying topic has already been discussed within the JP Ballista community, and certain players—namely Selt and Irvines, as T mentioned—have already cracked the code for quarrying high tier items.  Since this information spread like wildfire across the JP Ballista community, a number of players are close to mastering or have already mastered this technique.  It’s a phenomenon in which they call ‘hyper’.  Here are a few links to Selt’s and Irvines’ blog entries that concern this matter.  Apollon also wrote a blog entry regarding quarrying, but it was difficult to determine what he was saying through a mere online translator.

Irv: <<link 1>>
Selt: <<link 1>>, <<link 2>>, <<link 3>>
Apo: <<link 1>>

Moreover, Selt uploaded a video of 45 minutes of quarrying to test and provide proof of quarrying being more of a skill rather than a head-on gamble, as shown below.  Of course, I don’t expect anyone to watch more than a minute of it.  Well, actually, even a minute is a bit of a stretch.

So the technique is actually quite simple, but discovering it just took a while—somewhat like the discover of ‘F=ma’.  There are a few prominent factors that increase the odds of a player quarrying high tier items:

(1) The player must accumulate about one to three deaths.
(2) Expended job abilities.  Having job abilities used up, especially 2-hour, significantly increases the chances of quarrying a Revitalizer.  I believe Selt was able to quarry 10 Revitalizers in 9 minutes.
(3) Using a Petra Shovel supposedly helps.
(4) Being on the losing team helps but plays a lesser role compared to (1) and (2).  I suppose it’s comparable to a losing situation in a game of Mario Kart.  When you’re losing—like cruising in 8th place—you have a greater chance of obtaining the thunderbolt that turns everyone into munchkins.  Sweet item.  Sweet game.

Although many trials of testing have been conducted, these are still mere theories, but despite that, by applying these basic steps, a player can head near the Rook and receive consistent quarry results like such:

Players from the black LS have been practicing this strategy since we first met them.  With such consistent results from following the quarrying strategy, is it still a theory?  Is quarrying based on skill or luck?  Easy?  It surely sounds that way, but T makes a valid point from his previous blog entry: “Although this seems very easy, incorporating it into your usual match play is what makes the difference.”

Now that I think about it, I’ve always wondered why Apollo (DRG) asked me (PLD) not to cure him during the initial fight.  He intentionally died.  I suppose it was to return to the battlefield quicker, as he claimed, and acquire one death in order to improve his chances of quarrying high tier items.  However, just the thought of wanting to die in Ballista in such a manner seems counter-intuitive; people are caring much less whether they live or die.  It’s like saying, “If I die, I’ll just come back with a Revitalizer or Megalixir to make up for it.”  Needless to say, I’m not very fond of it.

As previously mentioned, the black LS players have been practicing this strategy for a while now and have made it the ultimate theme for Ballista.  Since this strategy is open to the internet, “newer JP players to the Diorama scene seem to try to focus on the item strategy before even learning the original ways that have been honed for years,” says T.  “It’s a sad devolution of play.”  Despite their lesser battle skill, black LS players have been able to obtain consistent wins with the quarrying technique.  It’s definitely not an overwhelmingly difficult technique to master; battle skill is much harder to improve upon.  If we’re able to tap into ‘hyper’ mode more freely, readily, and naturally, it would be bad news for them.  While fighting near the Rook, take a bow (as Rihanna would say) and give quarrying a shot.  That Revitalizer just might pop.  Then, you’ll be like Chris Brown and destroy worlds.

Anyway, aside from the Fenrir style match between Chris Brown and Rihanna, let’s return to the Lakshmi scene.  Currently, the situation appears to be a high battle, low technical skill group against a low battle, high technical skill group, and the pros and cons of the styles regarding both groups are quite apparent.  In order to be a well-balanced player, all necessary skills need to be polished through practice and finding ways to improve.  There are also other important factors that constitute a skilled player.  One of which would include the versatility to play a variety of jobs [well]—especially being able to switch between front and back line jobs.  However, I’m aiming to describe a skill much rawer—more raw?—than that.  Rawr.  I’m looking to coin a final term that I would like to call ‘sharpness’.  This brings me to a Starcraft documentary by National Geographic that I watched way back in my days of youth.

“Fuck Starcraft.”

Bare with me; it’s relevant, I promise.  Professional gamers are typically referred to as ‘pro-gamers’.  No surprise.  In the documentary, scientists were startled upon the lightning fast reflexes of professional Starcraft players who have APMs (actions per minute) of 300-400 or above, whereas casual players could barely reach APMs of 100.  Scientists ran an experiment with two people playing Starcraft, a pro-gamer and a casual player—who we’ll call Bob and George respectively for convenience.  Here’s the broadcast word for word, besides the players’ names:

“[Bob's] superhuman abilities have aroused the interest of the medical community.  Doctors are curious to find out if it’s genetics that make a pro-gamer special.  With a casual player [George] as a control subject, they’re about to probe the secrets to [Bob's] brain.  What makes him so extraordinary?  The players are led into a room, where they play Starcraft against each other.  When the game starts to pick up, radioactive glucose is injected into their bloodstream.  The more active parts of their brains get more blood flow and hence more glucose.  Minutes later, the players undergo a brain scan.  The results could explain why some people play for hours everyday but never achieve the same level of skill as pro-gamers.

The results surprise the doctors.  The scan shows that two parts of [Bob's] brain were most active—the frontal lobe (responsible for reasoning and decision making), where huge amounts of stimuli were being processed, and the limbic area (responsible for memory and instinct)—which seems to suggest that his decisions were being made instinctively.  Playing Starcraft to [Bob] feels almost like typing to a secretary—the fingers instinctively finding the keys.  The amateur player [George], on the other hand, was using the part of his brain responsible for vision.  Like everyone else, he was consciously deciding his response to every movement he saw on the screen, but [Bob's] lightning reflexes will probably slow down by the age of 25.”

So we can see that you’re going to blow once you hit 25.  Just kidding.  Moving on.  From the study, the difference between the skill levels of Bob and George were determined by their brain functionality.  Bob’s decisions were primarily processed by his limbic system, whereas George’s were processed by his visual cortex.  Even if George dedicates himself to play day in and day out, he will never be able to reach the same level of skill as Bob due to the different functionality of their brains.

Relating this idea to Ballista, there are some players who seem naturally talented and skilled, whereas others never seem to improve, despite the amount of practice they receive.  Those naturally talented players possess a certain ‘sharpness’ that others lack, and such sharpness allows them to do extremes.  Some examples include (1) predicting enemy maneuvers with precision, (2) being alert of when an enemy is about to score (especially the famous invisible-hide-in-Rook scoring technique), (3) evading WSs one after another, (4) quarrying and using items at the most convenient and perfect times, and (5) being able to score petras with everyone and their mothers on their ass.  Somehow.  Those are only a few examples of the raw attribute that I call sharpness, and there are certainly countless situations where this sharpness can be applied.  Again, it’s a trait that only a few possess and many lack.  I’m not trying to discourage anyone from improving in Ballista, but it’s not certain whether it can be ‘learned’ or ‘acquired’ through mere practice; it almost seems innate.  With that said, this ‘sharpness’ could potentially be the prevailing factor—the gap—that distinguishes between the ‘really good’ and the ‘truly great’.

♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦

So overall, a Ballista player’s aptitude can be broken down into five categories of measurement: battle skill, technical skill, communication skill, dedication, and sharpness.  Without doubt, having exceptional and exceeding proficiency in these categories would make one an extremely talented, ‘truly great’ player.  In terms of the few of us improving as a group, we should direct most attention to technical skill, as we’re too ‘raw’ as a whole.  Communication still can also use a bit of work, too, but that’s an easier skill to improve upon. Other than that, I would say that we’re in good standings regarding overall aptitude.

I don’t really have much else to say here.  Everything that needed to be said has already been said unless I carelessly neglected something.  Some ideas may have been poorly phrased, so if anything is still unclear, let me know.

Well, folks, this blog entry is coming to an end.  Even though this is a traumatically long post, I hope that you took the time to read it because I took the time to write it—durh.  Anyway, thanks for tuning in, and I hope that you gained something from reading this entry.  May the product of mass times acceleration be with you.

“HOLY SHIT TOO LONG DIDNT READ AND WHO THE FUCK IS SALLY”

Reread the very first sentence.

I found these videos probably half a year ago and liked them so much that I immediately subscribed to the guy’s channel.  Leaving me in tears, I don’t recall laughing so hard about Ballista before watching these, and after watching them again just a moment ago, I still find them hilarious.  I hope ya’ll enjoy them as much as I do.  It’s just a whole bunch of fail.  We totally should consider hiring the guy—Zirk or whatever—to commentate our videos.  Shit’s grand.