Pirate A Buccaneer's Field Guide (2021 Update+Pink Bean)

2021 Update Bump:

-Revised some previous text to update to 2021
-Added initial Pink Bean information (other bossing content still coming soon... probably)
-Added a meme build to max Double Shot and finally replace sins for good in LPQ

Been asked a fair few times about Pink Bean on bucc, so figured I'd info dump what I know here. It's a fairly rough draft, but better than nothing. It's not intended to be a guide on Bean in general, it already got too long.

 

Yep, I think that if you dont have enough MP before casting a skill it wont activate, but if you pass the initial check, the game will put the skill on cooldown and then attempt to activate the skill. Of course this fails because you've been 1/1d or MP drained between those 2 points. I've lost a couple TLs to it and a couple STs. I even know a shad that somehow managed to get hit and lose a smokescreen.

There used to be an old res bug, but that should be fixed now afaik. Any current cases of res bug are likely an extension of this same effect.

 

It's not a story I put down as I didn't want the numbers quoted and misused. I had 400 base int at my peak, which is way more than you truly need.

I don't recall the exact numbers I used at low levels, but I was not initially going for 30k clean, so i had less int. I dont remember for sure, but I believe it was somewhere between 100-150 base. Mind you, this was years ago, when it was commonly believed wash was optional for brawlers, so I was aiming much lower.

I did quests and a bit of pq (the usual nostalgia stuff) without being too hindered, until it came time for gs2 levels, where I stayed until 3rd job when I pivoted to mannies-now there's a throwback. In my late gs2 time, I remember learning about mp wash and how impactful it truly is. I fell into the thought of "10 more base int gets me this much more hp at this price", and proceeded to make my spreadsheet to accommodate much higher goals. Dunno how high for certain, but I was probably low-mid 200 base at this point. I could kill mannies, though they took a bit longer than a non-washer I could kill them-and did until level 85.

With how much 3rd job sucked anyways, I'd decided I was going to funnel my money into buying leech from 85-120. I came to play bucc not marauder and I had the funds set aside to do it. At that point base int no longer mattered, so I pumped up farther to 400 base and set my sights for 30k (and then some). The leveling speed even on solo grind was never the issue, but rather nx/ap resets. Other than event farming, we didnt have niceties like double vote or nx drops to depend on. Even if I didn't buy leech and just grinded away at mannies slowly until 120, I wouldn't have nx to wash out the int. So I spent some time playing a bishop on my buccs account to harvest event drops quicker healing in gs2, generating so much bait to funnel resets for the marauder. This character was more of a way to pass time until I pooled together enough nx to get a decent jump on the marauder, basically enough to finish his mp washing. I've yet to sell a minute of leech or self-leech the marauder, it was basically an event farming gs2 bishop and a character that I didn't have weighed down with int if plans called for it.

I made my calcs so I could achieve 30k hp at the end (I didnt start early so I needed every ap until 200), and so I couldve dropped to 4 base after 120 and not need int gears, though I could still hardly afford the nx to do it right at 120. I actually have a tidy pool of about 900 excess mp still because I was still outleveling my base int.

As far as using the character went, as soon as I hit 4th job, I started my card hunt. Luckily it doesn't require much damage, as my barrage lines were like 2k at this point, and I was playing the character. Between the exp of card hunting and getting lucky with connections into boss runs, I was shooting fast in levels. This was even before dexbucc took off, so simply being the only available source of si back in the day was enough to somewhat meaningfully contribute with my 400 base and dropping by the day. I believe around my 16x I had finally removed all the int, but I felt useful enough as soon as I was below the 200 base mark, personally.

Idk if this unedited story was what you wanted in terms of "how" I washed, but hopefully it can be useful to you or somebody else. I hadn't included the 400 number before because I believe it is hardly necessary, and I dont want folks blindly raising that high. Even if you raise up base int in chunks to have more early game power, it should be doable with far less if you hp wash early while raising int.

And of course, the biggest takeaway should be the nx/time gate, rather than a strength gate. You'd be surprised what a player can do even with low stats if you just play it. Even if it's not the fastest, you're locked by nx rate, not eph rate.

 

And while this post is fresh, might as well tease that I plan to refresh/update some guide details during patch time, as is traditon. I kinda overwhelmed myself thinking I needed to heavily outline how to do all the bosses in the DLC guide. I think simply adding a few tips, tricks, or things you'd not immediately think better fits the Field Guide way. Little "did you knows" like: you can hit dunas from the platform below him with demolition, safely outside of dispel range due to demo's massive vertical reach.

 

Uhh... now I keep booster on my 'n' key right next to si. Most players simply macro'd the two, but I wanted the flexibility to jump between si/boost as well as not wanting to waste a precious macro slot on two buffs pressed once between st cycles (or after dp). They our only two non-mw buffs as well, so buffing is far from a burden compared to other classes.

Once I stop being lazy I'll update some guide stuff. There's a few new details to mention, but patches are too short now to do it during downtime, but soon(tm)