Gaea's Nyzul Isle Guide

GUIDE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, DONT SCREW WITH IT!

All this talk about fancy new weaponskills has generated a lot of new interest in Nyzul Isle assaults. However, many people are unsure of how to get started, and those who think they have an idea are running into major hurdles in completing five floors within the 30 minute time limit. That's because most people that have tried to dig up information about this event have turned up little or nothing other than the main wiki page. Due to this lack of instruction and direction, Gaea is going to bring you a guide!

Who the hell is Gaea? Who cares, she's got plenty of experience of scaling Runic Discs from 1F to 100F and she's even managed to scale up to 9 floors on a single tag. Let's listen to her she seems to know what she's doing!

= Establishing a Party = You'll want to form a 6 member party that can really get things done quickly in Nyzul Isle. In this assault it isn't just about raw DPS it's also about diversity of resources. A static group that occasionally makes substitutions when a member isn't available for a run will is generally more successful than a random pick-up party. However, well-balanced, pick-up parties with experienced players can be just as successful at completing at least 5 floors.

Balancing your Group
Nyzul Isle isn't a straight forward assault and can throw a lot of different things at you. It's important that you have a balanced party that's prepared for many different scenarios. Having the following will help cover all of your bases.

Provoke (with optional Ranged Attack weapon)
Two things you should have are someone with Provoke, and someone with a ranged attack such as a crossbow, or chakram. There are specific enemies in Nyzul Isle you'll have to grab without using magic or a job ability if you plan to win within a reasonable amount of time. Only one person really needs to have this ability and it can even be a Red Mage with a Lamiabane if necessary, however, a front line job with Utsusemi would be a better choice. Instances where you'll actually need a Ranged Attack option are somewhat uncommon, but you'll be glad you have it when the time comes.

Healing
You also need at least two people capable of healing magic, and one of them should have Haste. I also strongly suggest that one of them has Refresh. Personally, I use the combination of Scholar and Red Mage, but I've used combinations such as Red Mage & Whitemage, White Mage & Scholar, and just plain two Red Mages with great success. The only person that the Red Mage should really have to Refresh is the Blue Mage. Anyone that can cast Haste should try to keep it on the party's primary damage dealers, particularly on "enemy leader" or "specific enemies" objectives.

I'd also like to point out that I've experienced success with BLU/WHM and BLU/SCH as one of the healers and as the Stunner when its needed.

Stun! (with optional Ranged Attack weapon)
There will be runs where you'll feel you didn't need Stun at all, but when you do you'll thank sweet baby Jesus that you do. Poroggos, flans, soulflayers, and cerberuses can be dangerous things without any form of Stun. It's also useful on Chariots! I've had the greatest success with Blue Mage. While under the influence of cheap accuracy food, your Blue Mage's Head Butt will stun just about anything. Temporal Shift is also more than sufficient enough to stun Gates of Hades. A Dark Knight can work just fine, but make sure they are aware that Stun comes before damage. Unfortunately, in the rare event that White Magic is restricted, you'll have no way to heal your group without a Blue Mage.

Either way, since the BLU is never really tanking, it also can opt for a support job other than Ninjutsu. I would suggest BLM/WHM or BLU/SCH so that they can assist in removing bad status effects while at the same time retain the ability to cast Sneak and Invisible. Because there aren't a whole lot of instances where you'll need a stunner, this allows you to combined two roles into one job and give yourself an extra damage dealer. If the Blue Mage should still eat food that boosts accuracy to ensure effective stunning.

Damage Dealers (with optional Ranged Attack weapon)
Well, it's likely you've already filled one of these spots with a NIN/WAR or WAR/NIN because if you didn't get yourself a Provoke then get the hell out of my guide. Seriously, though, let's fill these last two positions. If your "Provoker" or your "Stunner" doesn't have a Ranged Attack option, make sure you fill that role with one of your damage dealers. Personally, I tend to use MNK/NIN, SAM/NIN, and on some occasions one of those is substituted for another WAR/NIN. I would strongly suggest merits, and above average gear for these people, however it is possible to "get by" with members who don't care of their job. Regardless, all three of these people should have level 37 NIN sub job with both forms of Utsusemi. This is not just important for damage mitigation and the elimination of down time but also for navigating Nyzul Isle in the first place.

If you managed to combine the roles of "Stun" and "Secondary Healer" into a single, skilled Blue Mage, you'll have the option to fill the extra slot with another damage dealer, or you can even waste the slot on a Bard.

What? No bard?
Absolute not! After trying to make this work several times when I first started Nyzul Isle, and joining groups that made similar attempts, I've observed that Bard increases your chance of failing the run between 33.3% and 42.5%. If you are a newer group, I guarantee you that you will fail at least half of the time if not more. Nyzul Isle is a very unforgiving, time-restricted event. It doesn't have time for players to pay attention to where they are standing, and it doesn't have time to wait on songs. You'll notice a Bard's performance to be very sub par than it would be in a more controlled environment that involves an actual party camp. Do not take Bard, do not take Bard, do not take a Bard, do not take a Bard. Also, make sure you do not take a Bard or a Bard.

Before I get annoying emails there are numerous reasons why I don't suggest bards for new groups:
 * Because of all the constant moving around they are rendered virtually useless on many floors. Sometimes the floors they can function as pullers are few and far between.
 * They can be pretty useful on mega-boss runs because there's at least one guaranteed, preconstructed battle. Unfortunately, this occurs only once every twenty floors.
 * Many of them are idiots that try to do really stupid things like use Minstrel's Ring. (Trust me this happens more often than you might think!)  Hey stupid, many of these floors are teeming with undead.
 * They also tend to do stupid things like spam songs in the lobby and prevent a Runic Disc holder from accessing the lamp.
 * An extra damage dealer can be useful on any floor that has SOMETHING to kill. A bard, however, will encounter many floors where they are better off just sitting at the Rune of Transfer and waiting for the real jobs to get things done.
 * Finally, whenever you come across a floor where songs are restricted, (which seems to the most common restriction I've come across), the worthlessness of your Bard is just further emphasized.

Examples of Balanced Parties
All of your party members should be level 75 and merited to some degree. You will seriously see a difference in performance between a group with merits and without merits. I'm not trying to say that means you should simply exclude people, I'm just saying you should try to put together a group that utilizes a person's "main" 75 job, or close to it. Using someone just because they have a specific job at 75 can turn around to bite you in the ass when they are wearing mediocre equipment, have no merits, and are out of practice in playing the job correctly.

=Vital Preparations=

Medicines, Items, & Ninjutsu to take with you
Sneak & Invisible Everyone should have some form of it. Whoever doesn't or can't should be replaced with someone who can. This is not negotiable and not an option. Furthermore, it is also not negotiable and not an option. Finally, at the risk of sounding repetitive, it is not negotiable, and not an option. Typically, your back line jobs will have the spells "Sneak" and "Invisible" and your front line jobs will have Tonko and Monomi. One of the main reasons why pick-up parties fail is due the waste of time caused by the lack of Sneak & Invisible for all party members.

While it's very rare, you'll sometimes encounter restrictions on one of these types of magic. In those cases it is nice to have back up items such as Silent Oil and Prism Powder, though this very rarely happens. Because it can spoil a run, I would suggest that back line jobs bring sneak and invisible as it impacts them the most. If Ninjutsu is restricted, the back line jobs can still Sneak and Invisible these people, but if White Magic is restricted, it is not possible for the front line jobs to cast Tonko or Monomi on the back line jobs. So, if you are a back line job, consider coming prepared with at least 3 oils and 3 powders. Again, this is a very rare occurrence, but it has happened to me a few times.

Echo Drops Everyone should have them. You can buy them from Gavrie at (F-8) in Aht Urghan Whitegate for 800g a pop so there's no reason for everyone to at least have a few. Sure, you might not need them, but everyone should have them. Anyone that will not bring Echo Drops should be replaced. In the event you do need them, this person will likely be the reason why you lose several minutes of valuable time that could be used to complete your objectives. I'm not going to go and repeat myself this time, but this not negotiable and not an option and it is one of the other main reasons why pick-up parties fail.

Eyedrops Yeah, I said it. Eyedrops! Very useful for minimizing the demand on your backline jobs when dealing with more intense enemies like soulflayers. It's bad enough that Tribulation inflicts that horrible 40hp/tic Bio and your back line jobs have to prompty erase it, but it's even more bothersome that they'll have to get rid of that blindness too. Since the Bio needs to be removed first, you might remain blind for a whole minute and prolong the fight unecessarily. While these aren't necessary for even an average group to have a great success rate in Nyzul Isle, they sure do help a lot when they really are needed. If you are worried about space, just get Remedy Ointments.

Remedy Ointments An optional item for people that don't want waste inventory space carrying Echo Drops and Eyedrops. These babies stack to 12 and remove Paralysis, Silence, Blind, Poison and Plague.

Food
In my experience, this really isn't as important for back line jobs as it is front line jobs. However, if you do insist, I would find Refresh drinks to be more useful than actual food. If you do want to use food, focus on things that will help you raise MP or land your enfeebles, because you'll rarely have time to rest and utilize hMP food.

The Blue Mage should use sushi for any given run because of the accuracy to Head Butt. Cheap sushi will suffice, but feel free to use the more expensive stuff.

Front line jobs, will find themselves generally dealing with "Easy Prey" and "Decent Challenge" monsters. Enemy Leaders are only around level 79, so decent accuracy gear will suffice even against them. Because of this, I strongly suggest really great Attack foods that also boost HP such as Carbonara or Coeurl Subs. However, if you don't want to buy these foods for Nyzul Isle, at least make sure you are hitting the 95% accuracy cap while fighting enemy leaders and eat some cheap sushi. The only time you'll really deal with enemies that will put your accuracy to the test is if you have to fight one of two qiqirn leaders, Gem Heister Roorooroon or Stealth Bomber Gagaroon, and they happen to be thieves. For these rare occasions, a Blue Mage's Infrasonics will generally suffice. You can couple this with Gravity (if you can land it), if you like, but you should be fine even if you have neither of these spells.

Sanction with an appropriate Bonus
This should be self-explanatory. If you are using an expensive food, then I would suggest the food duration bonus if you need more justification for doling out the gil. Otherwise, get the Regen bonus for your front line jobs and the Refresh bonus for your back line jobs. The primary "Stunner" should get the Refresh bonus.

(SAFETY SAVE) Bold text

= Nyzul Isle Floor Objectives & Communication Tips = As you may or may not know, you'll need to complete a series of up to 5 objectives (rarely, you'll get a free floor and only need to complete 4) for the Runic Disc(s) that you are using to be able to start at a higher level than you previously started at. The trick to Nyzul Isle is knowing when to split up, when to stay together, and how to communicate to complete more complex objectives.

Hand Raising is the key! I'll go over each objective and explain what I've had the best success with, but first I want to touch up on "hand raising". Expressed as a simple forward slash, or "/", in party chat, this is an extremely effective way to communicate within your group. You should not even enter a Nyzul Isle assault without asking if everyone is ready and waiting for them all to raise their hand. If they are incapable of raising their hand, they should be immediately replaced as you will likely do nothing but incessantly fail these assaults if you do them with this player.

Eliminating Enemies or their Leader
In this section we'll discuss the objectives that insist that you go on murderous rampages. Pay attention to the part where I explain whether or not you should stick together or not.

Eliminate specified enemy. This is, by far, one of the easiest objectives. This is only instance where I suggest your party TRULY split up. That means all six members can go in different directions if necessary, though it is nice if you pair up with your two healers pairing up with two of the front line jobs and your Blue Mage pairing up with the third, preferebly the one that's best at not getting hit. The correct enemy will not be the Archaic Rampart, and will not be a Notorious Monster however it will check Impossible to Gauge.

When someone finds this enemy the first thing they should do is identify the enemy to their party with  and get a confirmation from any veterans in the party that they are not dealing with a Notorious Monster. Once the enemy is confirmed, it can be engaged. If the enemy can be safely pulled without aggroing (with magic), or linking it with other monsters, it can be immediately done so if it is an enemy that can be handled by the person or persons that located it. Afterwards, you should immediately Call for Help so the rest of your group can quickly find the enemy and assist if needed. Don't worry about CfHing the monster, you'll still get credit for the kill and in most cases it is just a worthless "decent challenge" anyways. If you are an unassisted back line job that discovers this enemy and it is sleepable, then simply sleep it and Call for Help.

Wyverns, Wamouras, and Dahaks are examples of enemies that should be taken by at least three people with one of them being a healer and at least two of the others should try to come to their aide while the third heads for the Rune of Transfer.

Eliminate Enemy Leader Don't split up. It's really not worth it. The Enemy Leader is rarely far enough to warrant splitting up, and the majority of the floors are pretty small with limited options for splitting up anyways. Stay together, locate the enemy, and kill it as a full group of 6 members. When the enemy is low on HP, have one of the healers begin working their way back to the Rune of Transfer if you can handle it without them.

Leaders from the Poroggo family, Uriri Samariri, Eriri Samariri, and Oriri Samariri can be as easy as you want them to be. The first thing you should do is Dispel its Blaze Spikes because you'll want to be able to Dispel Providence. If the Blaze Spikes are on, you'll likely Dispel that instead and have to wait for Dispel to be ready again while it wreaks havoc with spells like Breakga. Your Blue Mage should be paying extra attention on these monsters and be sure to Head Butt all of their AoE spells. It's also helpful to Stun their TP moves, especially Water Bomb. If you all do get hit with Water Bomb everyone who's afflicted should immediately use their Echo Drops. Back line jobs should try to avoid this entirely by keeping their distance. In the event someone is charmed, try to sleep them if you can. Follow these simple steps, and these bosses can be really simple.

Leaders from the Soulflayer family, Vile Wahdaha, Vile Ineef, and Vile Yabeewa are some of the most dangerous leaders you'll encounter. They take longer to kill and have very annoying TP moves that require your group to stay on their toes. I strongly suggest that you try to keep all 6 members of your group on them until they are dead. Bio should be removed immediately and Blind should be removed afterwards on anyone who didn't bring Echo Drops. The Blue Mage, should not actually engage because they'll immediately get paralyzed by the Ice Spikes. Instead, they should just stand next to the mob and Head Butt liberally. These mobs can be silenced.

Leaders from the Chariot family Shielded Chariot, Battledressed Chariot, Long-Gunned Chariot, and Long-Horned Chariot are all pretty easy and you'll rarely have to deal with them. Personally, I consider them a delight. Each of these chariots has a NERFed version of one of the boss specific abilities of their Salvage counterparts. This includes Brainjack, Homing Missile, Discoid, and Mortal Revolution. They are all weak and they seem to only do it when they are about to die and I think it may be possible they can only do it once, though it could just be because these are usually very quick fights. Brainjack will only charm one member, and does not wreak anything near the level of havoc it does when execute by Long-Armed Chariot in Salvage. Back line jobs should stay out of range, and Paralyna when Discharge goes off. The ability to AoE stoneskin (with Scholar or Blue Mage) is pretty useful on these. The Blue Mage should try to Head Butt as often as possible to minimize the number of shadows taken and the number of annoying TP moves used on the party.

The rest of the enemies are pretty straight forward. Custards are just NM puddings that may be healed by certain elemental damage and skillchains, so if you see that happen don't do it again. These mobs are pretty simple. Anything they buff themselves with should be dispelled and their AoE spells should be stunned. Qiqirns are qiqirns. If you can't kill a qiqirn, GTFO out of Nyzul Isle. The Imps are also pretty simple and require the same basic strategy needed to kill a MERIPO imp, though these have a little more HP. Blue Mage should try to stun their AoE spells.

Eliminate All Enemies. Kill everything and try to switch targets quickly. Back line jobs can try to gravity and sleep mobs and bring them closer to the main party. Red mages should try to assist with elemental magic on monsters resistant to physical damage such as mousse. These will all usually die quickly. You shouldn't split up, but it's ok for front line jobs to begin switching to another nearby target when the enemy you are currently fighting is near death. Because the HP of these mobs is usually lowered by a great amount, you'll see some of them almost die in a single weapon skill so try not to use two weaponskills on the same one unless its needed. The Notorious Monsters and the Archaic Rampart also need to die.

Eliminate Specific Enemies Don't split up. This will generally be a group of mobs that aren't Notorious Monsters that check as Impossible to Gauge. Sometimes these floors can be creative and you'll find several possibilities so you'll actually have to check the mobs. Don't just engage the first Psychflayer or qiqirn that you see. Poroggos and Psycheflayers will be the most annoying families you'll have to deal with. Use the information above in the "Enemy Leader" section, to get an idea of how to deal with them. Chariots, are pretty easy, but be sure that back line jobs stay away from front line jobs and don't forget to Paralyna when Discharge goes off.

Mega Bosses This is a dedicated "Enemy Leader" that guards every 20th floor. These runs are generally regarded as "boss runs" and are usually the only time anyone actually spends tokens on items from the lobby's Treasure Chest. One of the most important items is a Body Boost and everyone in the party should get one. Melee can opt to get additional drinks that compliment their jobs. Dusty Wing is great for Samurais, Champion's Drink is great for Monks, and Fanatic's Drink is great for any of your front line jobs that expect to have the majority of the enmity. There are other drinks that can boost stats and accuracy that may be worth getting, particularly for the version of the enemy leader that can guard the 100th floor.

Activating All Lamps
First of all, I suggest you always stick together. Sometimes, the lamp is only a single lamp that everyone has to click. Even when it is not, you should still stick together and drop people off at lamps that are safe to be at. Sight based aggro should be eliminated. If you can confirm that the floor is only occupied by sound-based aggro, and you are certain there aren't any sight detecting NMs, you may consider splitting up, particularly on larger floors. However, it is in your best interest to stay together at first, and try to drop people off at lamps starting with one of your healers, your blue mage, and then your damage dealers.

Make sure you confirm your process of activating lamps with all of your party members before you enter!

Activate at the same time This is really easy but it people still seem to screw it up because they can't agree on the best way to go about doing this. In my experience, it is not ideal to use the clock. The "Yes/No" prompt covers up the clock and bringing up this prompt seems to randomly lag for some people so it shouldn't be done. The best way is to first find the 3-5 lamps you need to activate and try to be sure you found them all. The leader should tell the group members to each bring up their "Yes/No" prompt and then ask them if they are "Ready?" When a member's Yes/No prompt is ready, they should raise their hand in the party chat with a simple "/". The leader will then count down from 3 to 1. Each number will have it's own of chat. After the 1, the leader will type GO!, and everyone will click on the "Yes" as soon as they see this "Go!" That means you go *ON* the "Go!" and not before or after. As long as everyone does this within a couple of seconds, the objective is complete.

Unless you have found 5 lamps, you should always have the remaining members looking for additional lamps, just in case. The lamp that's closest to the Rune of Transfer (which shouldn't be far) should be the person that can take care of this task when you complete the objective. If you do find 5 lamps, then the 6th can simply try to get back to the "Rune of Transfer".

Activate in a specific order This is really easy, and the great thing about it, is you'll know if you've found all the lamps (there will be 3-5 of them) when they all light up for a brief moment. You should use a similar method as the above one for getting people to the lamps, however, you should have them immediately light their lamp and this will be the "first order". I strongly suggest the person "leading" this activation process be one of the people lighting the lamps as it can greatly improve the speed in which this is done. When all the lamps are confirmed to be covered (because they will only all light up once they are found), at least one person should be headed back to the "Rune of Transfer".

Let's say there are only 4 lamps and Batman, Robin, Superman, and Spiderman were dropped off in that order and lit their lamps. When Spiderman lights his lamp, they'll all light up for a brief moment. The correct ones will stay lit, and the incorrect ones will go out. If only Robin's lamp stays on, then the other three lamps were incorrect and you simply, and quickly, call out a new order. If your lamp goes off, be sure to say "OFF!".

If the new order is Superman, Robin, Spiderman, Batman then you'll need a form of communication so that the next person knows that the previous person lit their lamp. That's where hand raising comes in again. After the leader has called out this order, Superman will light his lamp and type "/" in the party chat so Robin knows it is his turn. Then he'll light his lamp (even though it is already lit, it needs to be "activated" again. It only remained lit to show that it's position in the correct order was #2 in this scenario.  After he's activated his lamp, again, he'll raise his hand in the party with "/".  Spiderman will do the same to let Batman know it is his turn.

Now, let's illustrate a solution for five lamps. The correct order for this solution will be Superman, Robin, Namingway, Batman, and Spiderman.

You'll notice that as long as you don't repeat the incorrect positions, you'll quickly solve the order even when faced with 5 lamps. Three and Four lamps, carry fewer solutions. As long as the lamps aren't well guarded by sight detecting monsters, these can be really easy floors for experienced players with good communication skills.

Free Floor
It's free. GO GO GO GO! In all seriousness, you might not want to skip this floor right away. If this is a boss run and you have the extra time, consider scouting around the floor for random armory crates while one of your mages remains at the lamp to transfer you to the next floor. You can find some nice goodies to help you kill the guardian of your boss run.

I'd like to emphasize how rare these floors are and that many veterans have never even seen one. I've only seen a few but I've done quite a bit of these assaults in order to do so. The chance you'll encounter a free floor seems to be around 1 in 64 or just 1.5625%. If that value is entirely accurate, then there is a 98.4375% chance you'll never see a "free floor".

From my own personal experience and from those recounted by friends of mine, the chance to get this floor seems to be between 1% and 2% so the 1/64 ratio seems to be pretty accurate.

Extra Time?
If you've completed 5 floors and you find yourself having a lot of extra time, consider killing all the enemies on the last floor regardless of the objective, unless you have to screw with gears. You'll get more tokens, and you might score a Notorious Monster or two. If you still have a lot of extra time, 10 minutes or more, consider doing another floor. When attempting 6 or more floors, I suggest you only do this with an experienced static group. The first few floors may have just been easy flukes, and a hazardous 6th floor could end up failing what would have been a successful run.

Avoiding Common Mistakes
This section basically outlines common mistakes people make in Nyzul Isle and I suggest that you skim through it and go over the more hazardous mistakes with your group.


 * Wamouras, Puddings, and Soulflayers are aggressive to Job Abilities. If you use a Job Ability nearby any of these monsters they'll come bend you over and take away your innocence.  They also seem to have a pretty wide aggro range for this kind of thing that seems to be about the same range as blood aggro.
 * Wamoura and Soulflayers also detect magic at a similar range as their ability to detect job abilities.
 * Soulflayers, Wamouras, Poroggos, and Gears have true-hearing.
 * Greater birds are virtually impossible to sleep with dark-based sleep. Use Repose, or Sheep song.
 * Virtually everything in Nyzul Isle is aggressive to sight or sound (with the exception of pots which only seem to aggro magic). That means that even wamouracampas, colibris, Crabs, and Marsh Murres will aggro you.
 * Colibris are aggressive by sight. A lot of people are unfamiliar with colibris being aggressive, so this sometimes comes as a surprise.
 * Poroggo Gents will link. Sometimes they are grouped up and you have no choice but to handle two at a time.  They are sleepable and die pretty quickly, so this usually isn't a problem.
 * Soulflayers will link. Fortunately, they aren't usually too close together and you can pull them one at a time with a simple ranged attack.  Don't be afraid to have someone run up and use true-sound aggro to grab one of these if your "ranged attack".
 * Bombs, clusters, pots, and weapons detect spellcasting. While some of you may learn pretty early on that weapons are aggressive to sound, and bombs and clusters are aggressive to sight, some people seem to forget that all these arcana type mobs also detect spellcasting.
 * When you've completed the 5th floor, be sure to select the "Exit the Assault" option. The leader should be expressing this repeatedly in party chat just as you are finishing up your last objective.  When it's almost time for us to exit and I'm not the one that will be at the lamp, I'll repeatedly type, "Be sure to click the second option "Exit the Assault!"  I'll follow that with "Do not click the last option "Travel to the next floor!"  Sometimes, I'll even emphasize why by saying "We do not have time to complete another floor and if you do this incorrectly we will fail the mission!"
 * Pikachu is yellow.

=Tips & Tricks=
 * If you are allowed to destroy Archaic Gears, do it. For the sake of baby Jesus just kill the damn things.  KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL!
 * Blue Mage should have Magic Fruit equipped in case White Magic is restricted. One time, I had to deal with an Adamantoise with White Magic restricted.  However, our awesome Blue Mage was able to answer the call and keep us alive.
 * Clear all the monsters around the lamps. Sneaking around the sound aggressive ones is fine if you really want to save time, but at least eliminate the sight aggressive monsters.  Personally, I just prefer to kill them all.  It helps us burn up some of the extra time we have and get extra tokens.
 * If you've completed your objective and all of the party members are away from the lamp, kill a nearby Notorious Monster if possible while one or two of your party members run back to the lamp.
 * If an objective is really simple, or you are almost done with an objective, try to have someone at the lamp or heading back to it. It's also a good idea for you to personally try to keep track which direction the lamp is in relation to your current position and you can remind the person going back to the lamp which direction this is.
 * Cheat. Do it.  Everyone else is.  DO IT DO IT!.  No, seriously, you shouldn't cheat.  But man if you do, you will be a stuffed, dripping sack of AWESOME!

=How people cheat in Nyzul Isle (Do not Attempt!)= This section is designed to explain a common experience when doing Nyzul Isle. That means that this is for educational purposes only to explain to you why some people in your group may seem to be exceptionally good at navigating this assault. Knowing how they are doing this helps prevent you from asking stupid questions that might incriminate one of your party members. I suggest you refrain from doing these things yourself because you'll be risking your own account if you are caught. If others want to risk theirs while you benefit from successful Nyzul Isle completions, let them! If you insist on doing any of the following, I'd insist you don't admit it any way, shape, or form in FFXI.

During a Nyzul Isle assault, you may notice that some players seem to have a "sixth sense" of where your group needs to go. You'll find your group always seems to be ahead of the game and it will be a common occurrence that you have 10 minutes or more remaining after you've completed your first five floors. They might just be really lucky, but it's probably because they have a little help.

Windower
One of the most basic methods of "cheating" in Nyzul Isle is the use of Aikar's Windower. Windower is a very common utility in the FFXI community, so its very unlikely that there isn't at least one person in your group with it. Windower users have access to a command that can affect whether or not textures are filled in over he polygons in your game. This command is accessed either by "/console fillmode x" or just plain "//fillmode x" whereas the value of x is 0, 1 or 2. The default is 0, and this fills the polygons as normal. The polygons are unfilled and connected by a series of lines under mode 1, and mode 2 simply removes the lines and all you see is the points. All of this is done exclusively on the client-side so it is impossible to detect which is why it is so commonly used. The advantage is that without any textures filled in, you can see through all of the walls and sometimes there are a lot of walls. This command can even easily be macroed and/or bound to specific keys so it can be toggled on and off very quickly.

Monster Radar (Third Party Widescans)
Another, less commonly used method that may or may not be used in conjunction with windower's fillmode are third party applications like "Ap Radar" which is featured on the Windower website. It basically displays a little radar of where all the monsters in range are located. Since you can see the names of monsters through walls using Windower's "fillmode" and the range at which Ap Radar can pick up the names of monsters seems to have the same limitation at which you can see them, usage of this application is less common. It can also be pretty difficult to tell if a person is using this or simply Windower's fillmode.

B& B& B&!
I'd like to emphasize that if you are caught, in any way, using Windower, its plugins, or any other third-party applications, you'll likely be banned. Because of that, I'd strongly suggest not doing these things. Windower's fillmode is entirely conducted client-side and would require you to admit that you are using a third-party application. So if you are risking it, make sure you can shut the hell up. It is even possible to use third party applications unaffiliated with Windower to get the same effect as all you are doing is removing textures from a 3D rendered environment.