Brenner Guide by Askura

Askura’s short and simple Brenner guide. Helping you pwn more.

This is just my overly biased guide to Brenner. I’m a SAM/THF or a SAM/RNG for the most part. This is just based out of my own experiences. I’m not that good, I’m just your average hit hard and run kinda guy. A lot of Asura knows this I’m sure. I’d like to mention I’ll refer to most examples as guys in the sense that I’m too lazy to give sexless examples and because I’m thinking of specific people in mind. (Edit: I'd just to add this was for my Linkshell as we are very fond of PVP, and is not completed yet. But there is a few guides up that are pretty horrific, so I thought I'd try and change that. I've got a Diorama and a Ballista guide in the making too, and I'll work on them when I can)

=What is Brenner?=

Located in upper Jeuno, Brenner is a player vs. player activity which involves taking the other teams flamme, and taking it back to one of your empty Brenners. The team with the most flammes at the end of the match win, alternatively if one team acquires all of the flammes, they win when the allotted time counts down to zero. This is basically capture the flag FFXI style. Hell it IS capture the flag.

What are the requirements for Brenner?
Apart from the Rise of the Zilart expansion, nothing. Depending on the match specs really, great eh? If the match is uncapped anyone, any level can take part. If the match is 60 cap anyone over the level will be restricted to 60 for the duration of the match. If you are below level 60, say level 52, your level will remain 52. In short, you need no licenses of any kind.

What job should I take?
Whichever you want, each has it’s pro’s and con’s which can be further enhanced by the sub job you choose. A WHMNK in Brenner is my favourite toy. It can take down a BLU/NIN or RNG/NIN pretty well, but it’s not for anything more than messing around. Your job choice is your own, however at different caps you will find it pretty unbalanced. At level 10 cap, RNG will eat all, as will DRK. The most “Balanced” in my view is 30, 60 and uncapped. Gear means a lot, and If I catch anyone in a haub though they deserve to die. Exp tactics don’t work in here, it’s a different way of fighting altogether.

I’ve had a DRK/WAR shout in Jeuno that he’s the hardest player on the server. Naming no names I challenged him as I was pretty bored to the point where I was recruiting for my LS, and he accepted. Gloating in /sh that he’d eat the SAM/THF. The first fight went quickly. We agreed to meet on the beach, as we did. We engaged, he took my Third eye down, and as soon as he had TP I saw a nice Berserk, Last Resort, Soul eater, so I popped Third eye. Which ate his guillotine quite nicely. “Cheap” he cried, no just stupid on your part. At this point his health was a bit shaky, so he popped drain on me, which at that point I span round him and hit him with a SA Tachi:Gekko. He died. He then swapped to /NIN his “True” main. Similar results ensued. (Good job he had no K-club though) his end comment was “This sucks, items are unfair” and left.

I recommend that you take it given that when you first start no matter how good in EXP, Sky, Dyna or Sea you are. You’re going to die in here. This is the true endgame, people can always be smarter, or more tricky than the NPC mobs you fight. Once you get past the fact that’s going to happen you can begin learn. We all start at the bottom of the food chain when we begin. In time that’ll change.

What are official matches by the way? You’ve mentioned them a few times.
Official matches are very similar to the official matches for Ballista (See my Ballista guide) they do not reward ballista points, but they do award EXP. Depending on what cap, and how well your team does, it varies on how much. The selection progress is auto, so you cannot choose teams. It’s a good way to level up those jobs that you hate to party with if you have the patience to wait it out that long… Each OM consists of 3 rounds, each will award EXP win or lose. The settings of a match can be changed by paying the npc herald on the beach. If you turn off support jobs expect to lose friends, and make enemies though.

=Booking a match=

How do I book a match?
Well you’ll have to book a private match by talking with Afadeen in upper Jeuno, by speaking to him you will learn about the history of Brenner, and then be able to book. Once you have booked your match at the set time, you will receive a Brenner black/blue book. You can use this to gain entry to the isle by trading him the book, or produce pages so others can enter. The only time this isn’t needed is when participating in OM (Official matches) these pages can be used to produce pages for other people to join, or to gain entry in a similar fashion. There will be charge to enter the isle. It will be 100g for 10 cap, 200g for 20cap, 300g for 30cap, 400g for 40cap, 500g for 50cap, 600g for 60cap and 750g for uncapped. If there is an official match during the time you want to book it, tough luck, you’ll have to wait. In the same way that if someone else has booked before you, you’ll have to wait. Try and book well in advance to prevent this from happening. Another note is that if you lose the original book used to book the match with, you will lose your booking, and will have to rebook it.

How do I start the match? What are the teams? There are so many settings!
Chill, first off you really shouldn’t have become MC (Master of ceremonies) in this case then, but if you’re all equally clueless listen up. The teams are either Griffons or Wyverns, and neither has an advantage over the other. So it doesn’t matter what team you’re on in that respect. The other settings are entry type, which allow you to choose between LS liga, free entry or auto. You can also change the amount of flammes that there are, or how many items you start off with, and whether there are some /quarry holes that will yield nothing. Once you have prepared the settings you can finish and commence entry. At this point everyone will trade their page to the marshal so that they can either choose a team (If on free entry) or be automatically placed. (If on auto) The time settings can change matches from 20 minutes to 10 or 30 too.

Once everyone is on a team, the MC can now start the match, and you will be transported to the middle of the beach. Depending on the preparation time you will remain there until the match starts. Do not buff up here as they will not carry over. Anyone not in a team will not be able to interfere with the match, and will see events several seconds behind when they actually happen to minimize cheating from outsiders. Once the match has begun you can buff up and fight.

=Strange new icons are everywhere!=

What’s that blue/green icon above my head?
That icon shows you and everyone else which team you are on. If you have a green icon, you are part of the Griffon team. If you have a blue icon you are part of the Wyvern team. You cannot heal people on the other team, but you can hurt them. So make sure you do.

So what do the blue/green icons in the top left mean?
That’s the score. The way it works is that you need to light the Brenner by taking the flamme from the enemy. You can tell how many flammes each team have by the red dots. If you have 1 red dot you have 1 flamme, and if they have 3 red dots they have 3 flamme. If your team have no dots you’re about to lose quite soon if you don’t do something.

What's that grey ball thing that current says: " :x0 " then?
That's how many Petra you have, at the moment you don't have any. When you /quarry you'll get some!

=In the fray! (Basics)=

Where am I???
OK I forgot to mention when the match starts you are teleported to your base. Your base has a perseverant who will exchange Petra for HP and MP to be restored. The more Petra you give, the more that will be restored. From your base if you head north you will come to the beach, where you will find your flamme holders. The Benner themselves. You’ll notice your linkshell is missing once you begin the preparation period. This is to allow you to use /l as a team only chat channel. During the preparation time you are meant to plan or explain a plan to your team. Most people use it to /salute /point /laugh or whatever to the enemy.

No one will party with me!!!
/sea the area. Once the match has begun you cannot use /anon so everyone’s jobs are revealed. If there are any BLM around if you party up you’ll cause death for your team. Aga spells only work if you are partied up. The only time advise it is at the start if you have a WHM who can buff then disband party. You will miss the benefit of healing powder and mana powder respectively, so if it’s all WAR you’re going against party up.

Why’s everyone so much faster than me?
With any form of conflict, you have the ability to sprint using /sprint. This is essentially a flee which lasts 6-7 seconds and allows you to shake off gravity if you are stuck with it. Use this to persue those pesky flamme carriers, or to get out of possible ambush situations.

Why’s everyone kneeling all over the place?
Too much red curry powder maybe? No. /quarry is he reason, and this is going to be your best fried as you’ll learn that this is how you gain more (If the settings allowed you to start with some basic items) or new temporary items. These items range from TP wings to Hi-potions. Use them well. If you’re unsure what an item does, don’t worry there is a description that lets you know. Revitalizers do exactly what’s on the tin.

So what are these items I /quarry going to do for me then?
Anything, poison pots can stop sleep from taking effect, an enemy taking an elixer is an enemy not moving for 5 seconds, thus a target for any THF or /THF Revitalizers are king for laying the hurt. A SAM with a few revits under his belt is a pretty deadly killing machine, as are a lot of other jobs. Max potions/ethers/elixers are a last resort bid to save yourself, as they cause you to be medicated and stop you using any other healing potions for a long period of time. I.e up to 20 minutes.

All items have a use, and if they don’t seem that useful at first think outside the box. Use a body boost then get healed up to 75% of your max HP so that the enemy think that you’re injured and push to attack you. Using the items correctly and do your own gain is a good part of what makes you good at PVP. Think about their uses more.

Are Petra handy in Brenner? They just slow me down.
Yes they are, not only to get HP & MP recovered depending on the amount that you gave the marshal, but to wake you up from sleep effects if you are stood close to your own flamme holder, or to restore the health of a damaged Brenner. Although when holding them you cannot sprint, they have many uses which can be vital to defending. If your team know they are defending make sure you remind others to hold their Petra. You can easily get rid of them by using a Petra eater. Keep that in mind.

How do I take the flamme?
Simply destroy the flamme-Brenner (The flame holder) by targeting it like a normal monster, and attack it till the HP gauge reaches zero. Once the HP reaches zero the Brenner will open and you can select the flamme. My advise is to either let a more suitable person or someone on higher HP than yourself take it. If you die while carrying the flamme you will find that you lose the flamme.

Sounds easy, what’s so hard about it?
Well other than the other team trying to kill you postens will also try and interfere by attacking you with spells depending on the cap. Expect a Burst for uncapped while expecting Fire in 10 cap. The posten’s can hit hard, and will agro you if you get too close to the Brenner. Once agro’d these will attack your whole team. It’s always best to have your melee deal with these as they can deal with them faster than the mages can due to their low defence and high magical resistance. Once killed these will respawn after a short amount of time, and if you’re close agro and do some damage all over again. Get rid of them quick before moving onto the enemy.

=What you’ll need to do (Starting strategies)=

Well what’s the best way to do this? I’m kinda new at it.
Well for one work as a team, Brenner isn’t about the kills. Kills don’t matter. If you kill someone they respawn at their base with full HP and MP. The flamme matters, so focus on that. The best thing to do is organise your team, and organise a strike as a team. If you wander off looking for kills you’re going to get killed, and if you’re in a 4v4 match you’re 25% of that teams capabilities going to waste. Brenner needs team players, not wannabe heroes or “Lone wolves” Work well, or lose hard. You’ll have no-one to blame but yourself.

What do we do at the start? My team always gets confused. As do I...
Well at the start there’s always a set amount of panic, I always encourage my team to sprint to the sweet spot on the beach between your Brenners. (depends on your layout) If you have only one Brenner sit in front of it. Once there you can quarry for items which will be of great use. The reason why I want my team there in one big go Is because it deters the other team from attacking straight away. Once there you can either keep quarrying and prepare to defend from the enemy, or pull the posten, deal with it, and prepare to attack. If you waste time quarrying every damn step at the start, the enemy are more likely to risk an attack. The reason why you get there straight away is to act as a deterrent to the other team. If they see one guy sat quarrying while four of them are there, they’ll pour in and slaughter him, rape the posten and pillage the flamme. Once they have one secured flamme they can defend (Easily now) their flammes for points for the rest of the match. Don’t be an item whore, they are nice, but smart tactics is always king. Keep in mind once again that your linkshell is removed and /l becomes team chat. It’s a good idea to listen to someone who is trying to organise you as, any kind of plan beats sitting about trying to get kills.

=On the defensive=

They’re attacking! Who do I kill?
This differs based on job, the players skill, if you work well with the team and what the enemy team is doing. In short, it’s specific to the situation you’re in.

Say you have a team of a SAM/THF, WHM/NIN PLD/BLU, WAR/NIN and they have a PLD/NIN, THF/NIN BLU/THF BLM/RDM.

My advise would be that the SAM/THF engages the BLM if he isn‘t under posten cover, as he’ll be more likely to silence with Tachi:Gekko than the WHM as he’ll be able to get closer. Not only that but your WHM should focus on healing your team and buffing them too. That should do some nice damage though if landed correctly. With 100% TP with my hagun I can one-shot most Tarutaru BLM quite nicely, just keep an eye out for shadows. While he rushes to do that the PLD/BLU should rush out and engage the BLU/THF as he’s the hardest hitter, with the WAR/NIN assisting. Why? Because they can kill this job faster than the THF/NIN or the PLD/BLU. Yes, the BLU can heal and the THF can’t but the eva+shadows will cause this to take too much time. The SAM/THF will be assisting soon as once he’s landed that tachi:Gekko he should help finish off that BLU as they move onto the THF/NIN. The WHM at this point will have silenced the PLD restricting it to simply swinging that low damage sword of his. Once he’s been thrown a few hard hits the WHM should focus on keeping the BLM silenced and from laying some hurt if he survived. While this is happening the THF/NIN should have been downed, leaving the PLD/NIN to be dealt with. Eat him. Although they have great def, some offensive spells, shadows and healing magic, they should drop as you can easily break the shadows with the WAR/NIN and the SAM/THF alone. Once dead, that’s the flammes defended A job well done, Grats guys!

That’s just a hypothetical situation, and obviously a lot of other results could have happened like the BLU using sleep song and catching everyone unaware with it as they set to work on nailing the flamme, the BLM could have kited the SAM/THF to the posten and got him shot with stunbolt then opened up with some ancient magic. I don’t care if “I play that job and I’d have so won that on my own” or whatever. It’s just an example. It’s ok, let it go.

/THF is very handy for defending because when they attack the Brenner or others the /THF can come say hello with painful results. Do not however try and use EXP tactics. A SAWS can work as it can be quite fast. A soul eater, last resort, sneak attack WS however normally doesn’t due to the length of time it takes. People usually catch on by the last resort they don’t want to be there and have long since ran off. I’ve made good use of /sprint when I’ve seen something like that coming my way.

For the love of god though, the next person who heals my poison status or uses a DOT on the enemy such as Dia, Poison or Bio…I will swap teams (Always make sure re-entry is on) and hunt you down. There is nothing worse than having a WHM poisona you because you’re unsure of what they’re doing. Why do I want to be poisoned? Well it’s going to stop sleep taking a hold of me that’s all.

=On the offensive=

We’re attacking! Who do I kill?
The best idea is to have the DD’s focus on killing off those attacking your Tanks, as those who attack the flamme will have to tank pretty well. The attack has to go quickly otherwise if you spend too much time those you kill will already be back and on their feet at full HP & MP. Deal with the posten first, don’t underestimate how powerful they are. Do this by using a RNG attack or spell from the safety of your side. This will obviously allow the enemy time to prepare, but it’ll mean you can go in safer than if it was there. Any stat effects you want pop them now then charge into them. I’ll use the previous team set up for an example:

The PLD/BLU should lead, he’s most likely to get attacked that way, which you want. He should go straight for the flamme, and start attacking it. The WHM should focus on cure bombing him as soon as possible because he’s about to land a lot of hate. At this point it’s not the damage that matters but keeping him on the flame so the enemy attack him. Why? Because then you can take them apart quickly. The SAM/THF and WAR/NIN should start of nailing the enemy team as quickly as possible, in the same order as before. Once the enemy start dropping at this point, ideally you just have the BLM (Most likely sat near another posten casting away) and their PLD/NIN. Ignore them, hit hard, and bust open that flamme Brenner. If the SAM is untouched great, he should take the flamme as he/she could pop seigan, third eye, flee, take the flamme and move slightly faster back to your side. At this point all your team wants to do is attack whoever is remaining while allowing the carrier to escape. The WAR/NIN could have taking it back too, as shadows (If up) would have been handy.

DO NOT TAKE THE FLAMME THEN CAST SHADOWS. That’s time wasting and very stupid as it allows the other team to gain on you.

=I’m on fire!(Carrying the flamme)=

I have the flamme what do I do?!!??
If you took this and you’re on low HP, well done you just screwed up a good run. However all is not lost I you can make it past your flamme Brenner well done. Try and get it to the holder all the way in the back of your base. Why? It means that they have to agro every posten you have to get to it. Even if you die in the effort the posten that agro can buy you time as you attack again.

=He’s on fire! (Assisting the flamme carrier)=

My team-mate has the flamme! What do I do now?
Stay out of his way, and stay in the way of the enemy, at this point as long as you can buy a few seconds for the carrier that’s enough. Don’t cure bomb the poor guy as that means that your enemies will have time to gain on you. Cure I or II fine, but when it’s above cure III you end up unable to move for a few moments. I’ve heard some people tell me they learnt it in a guide, but trust me that’s something you really want to not be doing. Bind/Sleep/Stun/Gravity/Paralyze/kill the enemy. Just don’t get in the damn way of the carrier. I’ve had someone step in front of me and slow me for 2 seconds as I had to pass through him. In that time a RNG had enough time to gain and EES me. For anyone who isn’t familiar with RNG, EES is the Eagle Eye Shot 2hour ability. You’ll learn to fear that.

=They’re on fire :3 (Dealing with their flamme carrier)=

Oh noes! They have the flame!
If you are able to quickly bind/gravity the carrier do so, if you have nothing for you to attempt to do so, ignore him and take a few of you to their furthest away flamme, and start hitting away on it. The reason for this is they won’t be able to organise a good defensive if they are stealing your flamme. So in effect you’ll both be swapping flammes, and hopefully you’ll have the sense to put one further back than the other team. Don’t whatever you do, follow them all the way into their base and agro their posten, as this will wreak havoc on your team. If you do this you have just pretty much handed the win to the enemy. Keep in mind that if they use /sprint or flee it will negate gravity.

=Beyond the grave(Dieing)=

I’m going to die!
Well we all gotta go when I time comes, but in Brenner it really doesn’t mean the end of the world. Within a few seconds you’ll be respawned in your base, with full hp and mp. The only downside is that your team are now missing you’re presence as it’s more than likely if you died you were defending or attacking. If you're a mage and you've no MP and no items that will restore your MP you may as well die, by the time you run from base you'll be able to join the fray afresh.

He’s on low HP I’ll risk trying to kill him!
Why? Unless he’s defending and your attacking why bother? Yes it’s to kill your friend, but you’re doing that guy a favour if you do. Chances are he’s tempting you out so he can Kite you away from the battle. Alternatively don’t think you’re kiting them when they’re chasing you down, some people know that they’ll die but it’ll be worth it. I don’t know why they would, as it’s a stupid thing to do. And could cause the win or the loss of the match. I just thought I'd add that as nothing makes me /sigh more than seeing a /sh saying "I'm kiting him! ROFL" before getting owned.

=Random stuff (Miscellaneous strategies)=

I can’t get any kills! This sucks!
Brenner is about the overall win, not the kills. In no way, shape or form is it about having fun, it’s about the win damn it!

I keep getting killed this sucks!
Check your gear, if you’re a melee you’re going to be wanting rid of those -EVA haubs and what not. People question why I use a SH in PVP. After I beat them down they know why. /THF +SH + Empress hairpin is a great boost to your EVA, and well worth the lower damage output. Seriously, think on what you’re equipping, this isn’t EXPing you know…Some guy kept hassling me in Jeuno about why I was wearing it, and that I should have a haub. A) I have a Kirin’s Osode if I want to hit hard, and B) the EVA+ ACC is god like. Landing more hits and dodging their hits means more to me than damage.

Keep in mind too your position on the field, are you leaving your team too much? Are you agroing the posten? Are you 40 levels lower than the other jobs? Are you leaving yourself exposed? Keep those questions in mind when you step out into combat.

Everyone has /NIN and I don’t!
Awww…poor you. Well don’t fret because any aga spell will drop their shadows in a heartbeat. That’s why there is a lot of preference for /WHM if you don’t have /NIN because of diaga, and not only that but you can cure. Now stop whining because that /NIN also has some nasty debuffs and the ability to drop invisible. You’ve got prism powder don’t you?

WTF! He 2houred and killed me! We said no 2hours!
Seriously, anything goes. If you play by restricted rules that way you’re never going to get better. Besides they don’t have to agree to this silly little rules, so don’t whinge if they don’t.

WTF!! He used items! I said 1v1 no items!
Items are a part of all the PVP in FFXI. Using them is just a part of it as is swinging your weapon or casting your spells. If you do /sh 1v1 make sure before hand when the match starts that everyone agrees with that. If you don’t like the terms of the 1v1 you don’t have to do so. Don’t get upset when that SAM/WAR comes against you as  THF/NIN and hits you with 6 Tachi: Jinpu because he popped a revitalizer. You asked for it for a 1v1, he didn’t have to do so under you terms.

I’m aware of the fact some people don’t like playing Brenner properly, but this a guide on how to do so. Not how to duel as those are classed as “Restricted” matches as they are to a set of player requirements and usually are unbalanced to the teeth.

I turned off support jobs in the official match!
You’re a dick, I hate you, I hope you find nothing but antidotes that match. Seriously the huge variety of what you can come across in Brenner is what makes it fun. PVP is the true endgame, as you’re always going to find someone better than you. Well it’s just my personal feeling that it over simplifies it too, and takes away the diversity of most jobs, and causes a lot of them to have a distinct disadvantage compared to other jobs. Usually if someone turns it off it’s because they are a job which isn’t /NIN and has just found out everyone else is. It takes very little skill to fight without support jobs, and even at 75 with the limited amount of job abilities and/or weapon skills not that fun or interesting. To quote a few of the PVP linkshells I fight with or against; “WHO LET THE NOOB IN?”

That SAM/RNG just fired 6 sidewinders at me! H4X!
Uhm no, he probably just had TP, fired one, 2houred, fired 2, used meditate fired another while the TP built up popped a TP wing, fired another then the last one. Or he just used his 2hour, used three sidewinders, then used a revitalizer then repeated. I must admit it can be suspect as I’ve felt this way before when I just started, but you’ll learn different. Besides after learning how to utilize this I’ve been able to drop 3 people as they charged at me, and finished the 4th off with a GK WS. Yummy.

My spells aren't working! He won't be slept/provoked/bound! or my shadows/haste/protect/whatever isn't working!
Fatally people have found out that abilities in Brener don't work either as effectively or as they usually do in EXP sitautions. Provoke does not have an 100% success rate in Brenner, but it is a handy toy if used correctly. If you use it on an emeny at it is successful you will force them to target you. However, this doesn't change their camera view or who they are locked onto. This means they can continue trying to attack something without any success, and not notice why if they are not very observant. As for sleep for most matches (Give or take settings) you are given a few basic items. Among them are poison potions which when used will poison you, which of cause negates sleep. As for them being bound, or you using haste, protect or whatever the other items that can come in handy is catholican (Name needs to be checked >.>) or lethe water. These can cure/dispell status effects when used. Deadly handy for someone using them well.

Brenner is cool!
Yeah, that it is. Go get more people to do it! =Dueling=

So what are 1v1’s?
These are basically duels that are more often than not held on the beach. This way there is little outside interference. (Bar the renegade opposition) 1v1’s tend to be either for fun or for e-peens. First to kill the other wins, simple.

You missed something that I wanted to know in this guide!
Tell me and I’ll add to it then. Email me at Askura@hotmail.co.uk

…or contact me in the http://brlinkshell.informe.com forums.

Hey even /tell me in game if you’re an Asuran and tell me what else I need to get up here.