A Thief's Guide to Maat

'''If you have any concerns, comments, suggestions, etc. for this guide, please post on the talk page for this guide. I have set up the talk page and any suggestions are welcome on that page. Please do not edit this guide without my permission and post it instead on the talk page. Thank you! --Nelka 14:03, January 5, 2014 (UTC)'''

I am Nelka on Cerberus. I am currently a level 99 Mithran Red Mage, 99 Mithran Dancer, and 99 Corsair. I have been playing as a Mithran Red Mage since I started the game back in Summer 2009 and it is currently my main job. I have done Red Mage Maat and was 1/10 on him before I won successfully. I also want to make a note that this fight was done after the addition of the Seekers of Adoulin expansion and hence why I will add a few extras pertaining to those whom have come into things after the expansion.

I have recently taken up Thief as a help with the new expansion

I do realize that there is a compiled guide for this particular fight as well as an individual one already written. As I have said before, I am writing this one in honor of other dancers and giving suggestions that might help anyone who is stuck or needs encouragement to keep trying this fight.

I will say to those who are thinking about giving up because of losing, please know that it can sometimes take time and persistence to get through the fight. I am 1/10 on Red Mage Maat myself and Red Mage Maat resists magic spells even more than Laila resists Quickstep. At least, you have a lot of chances to land steps on Laila without having to worry about getting Asuran Fists to death. :) All I am trying to say is DON'T Give Up!

Notes about Dancer:
Dancer is not a difficult job to solo on and has a high survivability as far as jobs go. If you need guides on Dancer as a job, please look up the main Dancer job page.

If you are in need of other guides for this same fight, please look on the bottom of A Furious Finale.

Assumptions to be made about this Guide
This guide is being written as a guide strictly for the Laila fight, otherwise known as A Furious Finale. I am also including the updates that were made, which gave Dancer Dual Wield and none of the current guides seem to reflect this change much. I will say that Dual Wield really does help speed up the fight a bit by getting in a bit more damage per hit, but dual wield alone cannot win this fight.

'''I specifically chose not to wait until level 75 to attempt this fight, since this was my sister's first G5 and to honor my word to her. I also chose to honor her because she completed her Dancer G5 after a major injury and won within the same hour that I won mine. I felt for her courage and support that she's helped me with for years that she deserved to be honored on here. I also personally felt that doing this fight at 75 or higher would not prove to me that I know Dancer well enough to finish taking it up to 99.'''

'''I am also writing this guide based on what strategy I used for the fight and am 1/1 on level 70 Dancer on March 22, 2012 with a time of 5 minutes 28 seconds. I also have evasion fully capped for my level 70 Dancer plus fully capped Evasion Merits. By this time, Dancer has Dual Wield as a Native Job Trait, which I used to my advantage for this fight.'''

Assumptions about Laila

 * Laila has high evasion as a proper Dancer should.
 * Laila has near perfect accuracy, so take precaution when deciding how much consummable items to bring into the fight.
 * She can use Trance at any time during the battle that she feels like it, but she can only use it once. I will explain this later.
 * She can use any dagger weaponskill up to Shark Bite, but she will tend to gravitate to Dancing Edge most of the time.
 * She will start to tire of you around the 5 to 6 minute mark, so plan to make as fast a fight as you can handle.
 * Laila is impossible to fight at levels 66-69 because you will need Curing Waltz IV access to stand a chance at survival if you do need to use Trance.
 * Laila is impossible to fight without having access to Dancing Edge, which is level 200 Dagger skill. At level 70, Dancing Edge is your best damage weaponskill to use against her.

Observations on the fight after the fight
at any point in the battle. In my fight, she used it around the 75% health mark. The best strategy is to use Trance right after she does or delay yours by 30 seconds if you can help it. This way your Trance will wear after hers does and it gives you a chance to fully heal with Curing Waltz IV and/or use Drain Samba III should you desire. it to build up Finishing Moves so you can Reverse Flourish after Trance wears. By the time Trance wears off, you should have been able to get off another Dancing Edge weaponskill. battle if you come prepared. While it is recommended to time that skillchain out, you can still win without pulling off that skillchain. if your regular hits get Laila into the area where she gives up. I won the fight at the end while I was doing regular hits on her before I could weaponskill again. the fight if you can help it. Parrying skill being capped is not necessary to the fight, even though if you can cap it-it would be an extra plus. which acts similar to a white mage's Divine Seal and increases your Waltz Potency for one dance or the range of a single Healing Waltz. If you need to during Trance, use Contradance to increase your Waltzes. It has a recast time of 5 minutes, so you'll only be able to use it once during the fight at most.
 * Laila can use Trance
 * It is critical to also take advantage of Trance when you do use
 * The successful timing of the skillchain is not crucial to this
 * You want to bring that Icarus Wing with you so you can get in an extra weaponskill.
 * You can get the win while you build up for that last weaponskill
 * Dagger skill needs to be high enough for you to use Dancing Edge, which is dagger skill level 200.
 * There is really no need to sleep for TP provided you have enough accuracy.
 * Making macros and macro'ing in your gear swaps (both in and back out again) really helps make this fight much faster.
 * Keep your health up above 600 to avoid getting killed by Dancing Edge.
 * Building Flourish which also shares the same timer as Reverse Flourish. Building Flourish is not necessary to doing weaponskill damage that will get you the win.  In this case, the Reverse Flourish is more important since some of your steps will miss no matter how much accuracy you have on.
 * You want to be capped in Evasion skill and Dagger skill before
 * Note: Dancer now gets an ability called Contradance,

DD Dancer
For this fight, you have to consider yourself a damage dealer for the entire fight. This means using Reverse Flourish every 4 Finishing Moves and using Dancing Edge every 1000TP. You also want to consider taking in a Regen item to help you keep up health as well as Hi-Potions, so that you can keep your TP strictly for weaponskills and for steps. The goal with this fight is to get in as many weaponskills as possible before Laila kills you while keeping yourself alive.

Gear
'''Note: You do not need to go with the HQ's in order to have a successful fight. You want to be reasonably well geared, but getting yourself broke just for this fight is not good. Here is the gear I used for mine and none of the items individually cost over 50k, except for the Scorpion Harness +1 (which on my server is 100k and the NQ is well below 50k) and the Dancer AF which can get pricey depending on your server's prices. I also had the Scorpion Harness +1 already from my Red Mage Melee, so I carry it over to my Dancer as well. The only gear you really do need is the Behemoth Knife because it is the highest damage dagger you can get for the fight for level 70; however, the NQ will work just as good as the HQ.'''

Main Hand: Behemoth Knife +1 (You can easily just use 2 Behemoth Knife if need be instead.) Off-hand: Behemoth Knife Neck: Peacock Charm (This is what I actually used, even though the optimal is a Chivalrous Chain because of the combination of stats on it.  However, all I had at the time was a Peacock Charm, so that's what I used.) Head (TPing/WS/Steps): Empress Hairpin Head (Swap in for Sambas only): Dancer's Tiara Body (TPing/WS/Steps): Scorpion Harness +1 Body (Swap in for Waltzes only): Dancer's Casaque Hands: Dancer's Bangles Legs: Dancer's Tights (I usually solo in Crow Hose, but for this fight the acc+3 from the AF legs really helps.) Feet: Dancer's Shoes Ranged: Junior Musketeer's Chakram but can use War Hoop just fine Ear1: Dodge Earring Ear2: Gold Earring Rings: 2 Sniper's Ring Back: Amemet Mantle +1 (which on my server dropped to 15k) Waist (TPing only): Headlong Belt Waist (WS/Steps): Virtuoso Belt (drops from Belladonna)

Consummable Items
Dancer's Testimony 20 Hi-Potions (If individual potions cost more than 1k a pop, then try to get a Hi-Potion Tank and completely deplete the tank before the fight. Just remember to npc the empty tank to get some gil back.) for this fight instead of the Hi-Potions, but they are a bit harder to get even though they restore 250HP instantly instead of 100. Sole Sushi - I used this for the accuracy this food gives. Persikos au Lait - this is the Regen item and it will last you the whole fight so only one is necessary. 1 Icarus Wing - this is critical because it will instantly give you 1000TP. It also causes a medicated status effect that lasts at least 2 hours, so you will not be able to use any other medicated items in this fight. Instant Reraise Vile Elixir - this is the emergency last cure should you be dying and need a lot of health faster than spamming Hi-Potions can do
 * Side Note: You could also quest a lot of Soothing Potions
 * Side Note: Sole Sushi and other sushi does have a Resist Sleep trait attached, so if you are using 4 Sleeping Potion or 2 Mary's Milk and Opo-opo Necklace eat after you get the TP not before.

I chose not to use the optional items listed below to buff before the fight with, but these can be used if you so choose. You can win the fight without using any of the optional buffs.

Optional buff items to use: Blink Band and/or Stoneskin Torque

Note with optional items: The Seekers of Adoulin expansion added that you can now get buy certain consumable items with bayld at 1k a piece that can be useful for this fight. The consumable items that you can get that might help with this particular fight are: Scroll of Instant Stoneskin (which can be used instead of the stoneskin torque), Scroll of Protect, and Coalition Potions.

Strategy for the Fight
to sleep the TP or not as you gear up and prepare for the fight. This can determine any extra items to bring and will determine that you need to eat your food after you sleep for the TP. then weaponskill right away. You do not want your TP to ever be over 100 for this entire fight because you need to put out as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. successfully completed another G5/Limit Break fight in the past, when you choose "I'm ready" option after trading her the Dancer's Testimony.
 * Before you even go to the fight, decide on whether you want
 * If you do sleep for the extra TP, use a step successfully and
 * Laila will teleport you to the BC area, even if you have


 * In my case, I chose a fast fight and decided to skip sleeping the TP. Here is what I did during the fight:

Reverse Flourish every time you get to 4 finishing moves until you have Quickstep on Laila at level 5. Remember to weaponskill every 1000TP you get! yours until you are dying and need a high cure fast. During Trance, use Curing Waltz IV and Drain Samba III-this will help you get more health off Laila while keeping your heal up. Build up steps during this time and Weaponskill every 100TP. Waltz IV during Trance to keep yourself alive. Only use the Vile Elixir if you are in immediate danger of dying and Trance has been used up completely. easily get away from the BCNM area back to where you have your Home Point at.
 * 1) Farmed the Dancer's Testimony and traded it to Laila.
 * 2) Watched the CS after trading her the testimony.
 * 3) Chose the "I'm Ready" option and you will be teleported to the BC area.
 * 4) Entered the BCNM and watched the CS.
 * 5) Used Instant Reraise, Persikos au Lait, and Sole Sushi. Made sure I had on all of my TPing gear on.
 * 6) Walked up to Laila and attacked her first.
 * 7) At 100TP, use Quickstep.
 * 8) Wait 15 seconds and Quickstep again.  If it doesn't land, keep trying until it does.
 * 9) After 4 finishing moves, Reverse Flourish and use Quickstep again.
 * 10) Once you acquire 1000TP, use Dancing Edge with the accuracy gear on. Switch back to your normal TPing gear after the weaponskill goes off.
 * 11) Build up your finishing moves with Quickstep, remembering to
 * 1) After you have Quickstep on Laila at level 5, use Box Step as your step until Quickstep's effect wears off on Laila.
 * 2) Use Trance whenever Laila does or wait at least 30 seconds to use
 * 1) By now, you should have done at least 3 weaponskills.  After you weaponskill, use the Icarus Wing and Weaponskill again.
 * 2) Keep building up finishing moves then Reverse Flourish and weaponskill at 100TP until she gives up.
 * 3) Keep healing yourself with the Hi-Potions and only use Curing
 * 1) When you win the fight, you will obtain a Warp Scroll so you can

Conclusion
I found this fight much easier, at level 70, than Red Mage Maat was. I was never in a panic at any time during this fight. I had a much shorter time with this fight than Maat.

I also found that using Building Flourish is unnecessary for this fight. I did not attempt to use Building Flourish for this fight, opting to use Reverse Flourish to keep my TP up as much as possible to weaponskill quickly. Also, Laila never got me below 300HP either and spamming Hi-Pots really helped a lot.

Also, the other major change besides Dancer getting Dual Wield is that soon the Testimonies can be used up to 3 times before you must farm a new one. This should help for those who have not yet won a G5 fight as well.

I wish you all the best as you attempt this fight! If you need any visuals on the fight, please see the Video section.

Videos
'''Note: I did not make any of the following videos. I am posting their weblinks below with annotations, so that you can see how the fights go and get ideas for this fight. From my experience on Red Mage Maat, looking at other videos on the same fight helped me see what I needed to tweak. Here are the main videos I looked at before I did the fight and most of them were done before Dancer got Dual Wield as a native job trait, so keep that in mind as you are viewing. Enjoy!'''

FFXI - A Furious Finale (Dancer G5) - This was the first video I saw on the Dancer G5 fight when I was curious about how this fight was done to help out my sister. This particular video was done at level 75 and was also done with some excellent gear that nowadays is even harder to get because Assault access is required to get some of the items. This is a very good video though!

Dancer G5 - A Furious Finale - This video caught my attention because of the swaps for pieces and how it also occurred after the Dual Wield job trait was added. This is a good example of how the fight is supposed to go and what is usually used. It also shows how the skillchain failing to go off doesn't make that much of a difference with Dual Wield native to dancer now.

A Furious Finale - I saw this video more recently and it actually has my exact strategy in place with three major exceptions: I kept my Scorpion Harness on during my WS to ensure a higher accuracy on landing the WS against Laila's evasion, I would only swap out for the Dancer's Casaque when I needed to use Curing Waltz 4, and I did not sleep for the 100TP because I wanted it to be quicker since I already had Dex merits and was mostly capped. This video is worth watching for help too.

Dazzling Dance Diva - This was another early video I saw about this particular fight. This fight was done at level 70 and uses a strategy that is kind of unusual. Looking back on how I did the fight, I am surprised to see that this strategy worked as a whole. If you are planning on doing the sleeping for TP, then this is a video to consider looking into.

A Furious Finale - Nanayume of Alexander - I watched this video as I was preparing for the fight. This is also the video of the other strategy guide for this fight, which I found helpful when trying to formulate a strategy for the fight. This video does integrate both Reverse Flourish and Building Flourish if you want an idea of how to time them for this fight.

FFXI - Dancer - Limit Break 5. - This is another video that I had watched on this fight and had forgotten about. This one illustrates another tactic that I did not use with the using a blink band before going into the fight. This one also had a clean execution in how the fight is done with some of the better melee gear for Dancer. I do recommend watching this one to get an idea of how fast you want this fight to be done in before Laila starts weaponskill spamming on you. This video also uses Wild Flourish for a skillchain for extra damage, if you are considering using that as a potential tactic on Laila.

Shattering Stars ~ Dancer ~ A Furious Finale - I watched this video and it is close to the same general strategy that I used. The gear was a bit different than mine and same with using a different food. Great tutorial video for the fight post Dancer getting Dual Wield job trait.

FFXI - Dancer G5 - A Furious Finale - I found this video and this was actually close to how I did the fight, since my skillchain did not go off either. However, this is a much faster paced version and the person in the video used Curing Waltz 3 for healing, which is not something that I used in mine because during Trance Curing Waltz 4 heals for a lot more which makes a major difference in this fight. This is another nice example of another strategy that can work for this fight with a Dual Wielding Dancer.

Serenia's Dancer G5: A furious Finale - This is another good video, even thought it is done at 75. I probably would not have chosen to use the leg gear that was used in this particular fight. I also did not use Building Flourish, but this video does show how to integrate both Reverse Flourish and Building Flourish for this particular fight.

Lucielle's Furious Finale - Dancer G5 - I am listing this one last because it truly is the most beautiful Dancer fight video I have seen and the music pairs beautifully with the footage. :) This video kind of encompassed what I was trying to go with strategy-wise.