Ancient Vows/Strategies

Tips

 * Its important to emphasize that this mission can be ridiculously easy or ridiculously hard. If your strategy involves kiting then your focus must be killing the first mammet as fast as you can leaving you with only 2 which is alot easier.


 * Note for Ninjas: Elemental Ninjutsu spells in combination with eating melon pies and some decent INT gear will inflict 4x more damage per spell then 2 hits of your Katana's. Avg. Katana damage hit with meat is approx.40 per Mammet. However avg. damage per spell was over 70! and with full INT set up close to 80 damage ~ Ninja's can dish out almost 480 damage per wheel round.

Kite Method
Strategy:


 * This method is used the most often for this battle is to send two party members to kite one Mammet each from either side of the battlefield at the start of the fight&mdash;running them around the periphery of the battlefield&mdash;while the tank Provokes the center Mammet and draws it into the entry tunnel for the remaining members to attack. When the center Mammet is defeated, one kiter will bring the next Mammet into the tunnel for the party to fight, and so on with the last Mammet. This can be one of the trickiest methods to pull off.
 * NINs, BSTs, or SMNs (avatar) are favorites for kiting the Mammets. BSTs (using Jug Pets and Charm Bind) and SMNs (using Avatars) are also known to be very effective Mammet kiters.
 * BST is very good at kiting a Mammet. Meat Broth is the fast pet Tiger Familiar.  Have pet Fight and run towards the entrance.  When you are getting close, Heel and when Mammet arrives have pet Fight again.  Run to the other end of the battlefield and keep repeating.  Reward preferably with Pet Food Zeta Biscuit.
 * RDM/NIN can be used, but at the level cap can be tricky as spells can be resisted. They should use Bind and Stoneskin/Phalanx as backup for Utsusemi: Ichi. Chainspell can be used with Utsusemi in emergency situations, or to expedite recovery from Convert. Note: Gravity has sticking issues being a Wind spell vs. Wind-based monsters. Elemental Seal is not even enough to make it stick reliably. A method for RDM is to gather the monster's attention, take it to a far corner, and Bind it. Successful Binding requires every slot devoted to INT when casting. Once bound, run to the deepest part of the cavern. Redo Stoneskin and Utsusemi. It will come back to you, so Bind it again. Then run to the far part of the meadow. Rinse repeat. It usually takes 2 to 4 cycles of this before your team will be able to help you. This is a safe and easy way for RDM to kite this fight. Note that Silencing the mage form is important as -ga spells will delete Copy Image. Being hit by a spell here and there won't cause a loss, but it will cause stress. Note that due to Bind's cumulative resistance build, it may not be possible to have two RDM's kiting for this as it would take 4 to 8 casts of Bind (for the second RDM) to last the entire fight.
 * By the time the final Mammet is being fought, your reserves may be close to exhausted. (Most likely there will be little time for rest; many kiters may not be able to last for prolonged periods against a Mammet, particularly without Yellow Liquid.) Don't be afraid to use your two-hour abilities at this point. Alternatively, you may wish to use your 2hrs on the first mammet to ensure a better survival rate for your kiters.

Strategy Cons:
 * You will need good kiters and preferably use NINs, BSTs, or SMNs. If one goes down before the fist Mammet is killed, you're looking at a loss.

Astral Flow Method:
Strategy:


 * Another tactic used is to send a PLD in to Provoke one of the Mammets. 4 Summoners then Astral Flow with the Avatar that's strongest on that particular Vana'diel Day on the Mammet the Paladin Provoked and leave their avatars out until the Mammets kill them, then use a Hi-Ethers(if you're summoning avatars in a time senstive situation I would not recommend using Hi-ethers due to the delay they cause in spell casting), Ethers or Mulsum and do a second Astral Flow to wipe out the Mammets.  This is a very fast strategy.  One or two of the Summoners can be replaced with Black Mages chain-nuking -ga spells after the first Astral Flow.  In this case, the Paladin will need to Invincible to get hate off the BLMs once the Avatars are gone, and should use Yellow Liquid to avoid Staff Form using Mind Wall to block nuke damage.  The 6th member of the party is often a healer.

Reraise Method:
Strategy:


 * A third tactic is for the entire party to use Reraise items (or just for the White Mage to Reraise him/herself). When entering, all members ignore their food and meds and immediately focus on attacking one Mammet&mdash;ignoring the other two as they do damage&mdash;then run back into the tunnel when the first Mammet is defeated, meleeing the remaining Mammets at the BC exit until the party is wiped. When the Mammets leave and return to their positions, members Reraise (or are Raised). After Weakness wears on all members, they eat their food, rebuff, and engage the remaining two as if the battle was a normal EXP fight (though still watching for Transmogrification). You won't exactly set any server records, but it seems to be the easiest and most reliable method for finishing this battle, though also the least challenging.

Strategy Cons:
 * BE WARNED, AS THIS STRATEGY IS VERY RISKY AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR THOSE WHOM HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH THE MAMMET FIGHT.

Ninja and Healer Method:
Strategy:


 * Probably the most effective method, but least done is to take 3 Ninjas and 3 Healers (at least one should be White Mage for Haste). The Ninjas each pull one Mammet to different sides of the battlefield to avoid overlapping AOE, while the healers stand in the middle so they can each heal all of the Ninjas.  The Ninjas then proceed to solo their Mammets. Although slow, this tactic is extremely effective if the NINs use yellow liquids to stick the Mammets in polearm mode. Their attacks are extremely slow in this form, and they become very easy to tank. Best version is for all healers to be White Mage, so you have one dedicated healer for each Ninja. The fight takes about 15 minutes that way, but is very safe. Watch out for Sonic Blade in the Sword form though, it really hurts the Ninja.

Strategy Pros:
 * A reliable method and not a mad dash to the end like some other fights (causing people to panic, etc.)

Strategy Cons
 * This is a slow and steady fight so requires dedication and patience to make work.
 * Requires a very specific setup to work so forming the party could be difficult.

Super Kite Method:
Strategy:


 * One tactic is for one player (usually a tank or Thief, though I've heard of a party doing this with a DRG/NIN) to run in and get sight aggro from all three Mammets, but do nothing that would "claim" them, or turn their name red (Provoke, use of Yellow Liquid, etc.). Since the super-kite hasn't done anything aggressive to the Mammets, they have no hate, only aggro, so mages healing them will not receive hate, either.  One dedicated healer should focus on keeping the kiter alive, while the rest of the party pulls one Mammet at a time off of the train and kills it.
 * Note that anyone resting where the unclaimed Mammets can see them will draw aggro, as will a Summoner or Beastmaster releasing a pet anywhere in the BC (the act of summoning, however, will not cause aggro).
 * Employed a modified version of this. PLD/NIN Got sight agro, NIN/WAR peeled one, while 2 Monks hundred fisted the third then had the Paladin bring his sight agro to Monks. WHM/BLMx2, PLD/NIN, NIN/WAR, MNK/NIN, MNK/WAR: Locked BLM or DRG form, using silence for BLM.
 * Similarly, a group of WAR/NIN, PLD/WAR, PLD/NIN, RNG/???, DRG/WAR, THF/NIN and WHM/BLM attempted this tactic. PLD/NIN got sight aggro, used powder boots for Flee and Invincible when in trouble, WHM/BLM focused cures on this PLD (when no cures necessary, muslim was used to recover mp aswell as yagudo drinks), other melees used Hi-Pots or PLD/WAR's cures to survive. PLD/WAR took one Mammet away from kiter to be killed, yellow liquid used on the Mammet when it was in a form other than hand to hand (to avoid Transmog mid killing!) and then melees 2 houred, Mammet killed quickly. 2nd Mammet then peeled away, taken down slightly more slowly. Then, finally all focus on final Mammet, WHM Benedicition to ensure final fight goes smoothly. Record was beaten by 12 mins. It is very important that the kiter remains alive, if they are to fall, the Mammets will easily finish the rest of the party. If this does happen, remain calm, get secondary tank to continue to kite the mobs whilst melees remain on the Mammet killing.

Strategy Cons:


 * You WILL need a very good kiter otherwise this method could go downhill very quickly.

Samurai and Summoner Method:
Strategy:


 * Another strategy, though risky, that can work really fast is 1 SAM and 5 SMNs. 3 of the 5 Summoners enter and put their avatars agains a mammet. The sam uses a Icarus Wing (100TP bonus) do a WS then meditate and do another so that it forms a SC from the element of the day. 5 Magic Bursts Astral Flows kill them. If not just get another AF ready to finish them.

Mixing strategies
Don't feel hemmed in by one specific strategy - it's more than possible to mix strategies. Here is a specific case in point:

EXAMPLE: Mixing Ninja/Healer and Kite/Fight Methods


 * Setup: SMN/WHM, DRK/WAR, PLD/WAR, BLU/WHM, NIN/WAR, WHM/BLM. This group divides into three teams: NIN and WHM deal with one Mammet, DRK, PLD and BLU deal with the second while SMN kites the remaining Mammet.
 * At the beginning, NIN goes in and receives aggro from all three Mammets as per the Super Kite strategy. PLD and SMN each peel off one Mammet from NIN.
 * NIN and WHM stand on one side of the outdoor area, while PLD, DRK and BLU stand on the other, so that a large gap is created in the middle.
 * NIN holds off its Mammet exactly as per NIN & healer method outlined further up the page.
 * SMN kites from the entrance, along the tunnel, and back along the artificial corridor created outside by other team members' placement. A variation on the traditional kiting technique, but with one SMN-kite it worked brilliantly. Adding more kites would have resulted in crossed paths.
 * The DRK-team take down their Mammet quickly, making use of DRK's Job Abilities. As soon as the Mammet is locked in a safe form with DRK at 100% TP, DRK uses Meat + Souleater + Berserk + Last Resort + Blood Weapon; at the same time, PLD uses Invincible to keep hate. In this team the BLU fills melee/backup healer role, so equip appropriate spells. Using Invincible also helps to cut down on curing.
 * The DRK-team's Mammet will fall fast. They should then evaluate the situation of NIN and SMN, choosing their next target accordingly.


 * Personal note: With two test runs (not using Food, Yellow Liquid or Two-Hour Abilities), we won on our first real try with this setup - no deaths at all.

Strategy Pros


 * Can be attempted if specific jobs for above strategies are unavailable.
 * Quickly eliminates the first Mammet.

Strategy Cons


 * May require a large medicine chest.
 * If problems arise they WILL escalate very quickly.

Speculative adjustments to the above mix
 * I imagine you could use a BST with Fish Oil Broth as a kite if a SMN is unavailable; however, given the recharge timer on Call Beast, it may be wise to prioritise the kited Mammet once the first one falls (or to at least wait for Call Beast to cool down before engaging)
 * It should be possible to replace the PLD, DRK and BLU with whichever combination of tank, DD and healer are available. It would be interesting to see - for example - a DRG undergo a Jump frenzy using Spirit Surge, or a SAM making multiple self-Skillchains with Meikyo Shisui in order to eliminate the first Mammet.

PUP and PLD, NIN, or DNC
Strategy

Basically the same as the nin, whm one, except the pup comes in to help melee the mammet with the paladin, ninja, or dancer while the pup's automaton in soulsoother frame cures the party. Mana converter attachment is required for the automaton to help it not run out of mp ever. Same strategy, 3 PUPs, 3 NINs, 3 PLDS, or 3 DNCs. Each tank takes a mammet, seperates them, the PUPs come in to melee, better to deploy automaton away from mammet for their form to absorb melee damage to HP, but far enough from the other mammet to not take double damage from aoes. The automaton can easily silence the mammet without fail, if it goes to BLM form. Flashbulb attachment will help the tanks, casting flash on the mammet. The Automatons will use Regen and Cures on the tanks and occasionally cast debuffs on the mammets.

Strategy Pros

Automatons, being more efficient at this mission than whms, if mana converter is equipped, so they won't run out of mp, unlike whms.

The PUP, helping melee the mammet to bring it down quicker than with only one person fighting it.

This strategy can be mixed and matched with the WHM+NIN strategy. DNC+PUP can be done with no Yellow Liquids when both are /NIN.

Strategy Cons

Automaton overload. Just use Overdrive if the party happens to be dying, which has a 5% chance of happening, all depends on your tanks, and then spam Light maneuvers.

After the Battle

 * When you beat BCNM for the first time, you will get transported to South Gustaberg. If you have beaten it before you will return to Riverne - Site #A01. This is something to remember if you have people waiting at Monarch Linn.