RUN Empyrean Armor Quest

I think Taeon could be augmented with better stats, except Accuracy being slightly less. With a base of 22 STR, you could go for STR+10, or STR and DEX +7. Adding the +20 Accuracy/Attack and +2% Triple Attack seals the deal. Of course, this is assuming ideal luck with augments.

In case it got buried at the end of page 1 when I went back and edited my previous post, note that you can cap PDT now without body. Or even if you're lacking perfect augments on cape or a dark ring, you can get damn close with no body.

So that makes Erilaz a lot more appealing for tanking situations. Really comes down to shooting for max offense (Taeon) or a lot of quirky utility (Erilaz) - enmity decay reduction, DT to MP, solid offensive stats.

Updated the quest info on page 1 with all of your notes, thanks everyone for sharing experiences and findings!

Made it against 135 on second attempt, with like 20hp left, and I used Elemental Sforzo.
Tough fight, but I kinda panicked multiple times, did lot of errors I could've avoided.

Thanks Jeanpaul for the awesome guide and tips.

Anyone know the criteria to +1 the empy gear?

I might disagree on this. If you have the correct gear to compensate for the loss of Futhark's -7% DT you can work this coat into your tanking build and;
~ Still be at the PdT/MdT/DT cap.
~ Get some offensive stats to help TP gain and keep hate.
~ Never have MP worries due to the coat's effect.
~ Have better Enmity retention due to the coat's effect.
~ Be 4/5 on the set bonus activation rate while tanking.

The lack of native PdT-% or DT-% on the Erilaz Surcoat is deceiving if you ask me. If you can gear around its shortcomings it should be quite something.

I'm not sure if it's a glitch of if it's because I have an Epeolatry, but so far I've gotten 3 of the armor pieces by only trading 1 heart and no h-p bayld to Octavernost.

And keep in mind that's an "or."

Stay in school kids! Rofl wish I noticed that >.<

Agreed body looks amazing if you can fit it in.
Personally looking at builds my max tanking build would be
4% head
5% twilight
2x 2% dark earrings
Empy body
4% Umuthi
10% defending
7% SOA ring
Shadow mantle
4% flume
7% empty legs
5% empty feet
And never run out of mp with 6% conversion rate.
Also added benifit of enmity /blu
Can swap SOA ring with dark ring then neck with wiglen if different ring. Or depending on how much 1 extra empy armour adds to the absorb compared to the proc rate of shadow mantle can swap in empy hands and rune cape max augs then swap ears to DA ears.
Lots of possabilities.

I'd question passing up 3-8% PDT on the back for Shadow Mantle, since that amount can spare some of your other slots, such as not needing the Vocane Ring. I personally like using Hearty/Ethereal Earring in my full PDT sets.

Anyway, has anyone tested the proc rate on the set bonus?

If it's as similar as the Creed (Paladin) set bonus as the naming implies then 5/5 will be 5%. Could be that the 119 set has a higher activation rate however.

I have found myself storing the twilight torque and using something else like a wiglen gorget for the extra pdt (mdt won't matter much, unless for magical fights), or even something like a warders charm +1 for the occasional absorb. Haven't tried this fight yet, but I'll probably use twilight, since no shell. But just a thought for those looking to bridge a more hybrid set for some occasional absorb. Especially with the empy pdt pieces being so high

Dunno if its been mentioned but you can clear the quest on 109 and still have the option to challenge yourself on the higher levels. Same with geo quest.

I feel I've either misunderstood or been misinformed on pieces like Flume (2% Dmg > MP), Ethereal Earring (3% Dmg > MP) and now this new body (6% Dmg > MP). As I understand it these function as PDT pieces since the damage isn't taken but converted. Am I misunderstanding this concept?

If I'm not wouldn't the body be the more optimal piece for tanking? We're looking at 11% Dmg > MP with those 3 pieces.

Ok tried a few quick fights on 135 before just dropping to the 109 just to get it done. But I learnt a few things.
Damage is your biggest worry in this fight.
I noticed it takes extra damage while casting.
Always keep 2 runes up of the current day and 1 rune up for the next day, so when day changes you can put 1 rune up and have 2 prepped for next day. Then also prep for next day again.
To beat this tou absolutely need to pull off a skillchain then burst. Have a vile and vile +1 and a tp wing
Gear your MDT set for full mdt% as you won't have shell up.
Strat is so far. Sushi full out dd equip

Pop > rune > validation > battua > rune > be in MDT for nuke> hasso > med > swordplay > next day rune > /change day/ rune > pop "all for 1" eat nuke > rune > next day rune > /change day/ rune > eat nuke in mdt > V pulse > next day rune > /change day/quickly > rune > rune(by this point you should have over 2000 tp) pop magic invincible start your dim > dim skillchain( try to do it before the nuke starts so your closing as its casting) > lunge burst > 2 hour should cover next day so start popping runes for day after > /change day/ tp rune> rune /change day / pop 2nd 2 hour > rune > dim > tp wing > dim (try and time this on the spell cast) > swipe. This should finish it.

Leiment can be saved for a cure near end

Vile elixirs for it it double nukes on a certain day. It likes to do this on light and darksdays.
Try to time your first skillchain to happen on darks day if you can.
I'll go back and do this when I got some more time.

Yes, you're misunderstanding it. "Converts damage taken to MP" gear still causes you to take the damage, it just gives you MP based on how much you took. Doesn't mitigate the damage at all, but is really helpful for maintaining MP to use for spells.

That being said, Erilaz body is still probably the optimal piece for tanking if you can cap PDT without body slot (or even get very close to cap). Which is getting more and more likely these days, with stuff like Empy+1 7% legs and 5% feet.

The "converts damage to MP" effect does not affect the amount of damage you take. For example, if you were fighting a Cactuar and it used 1000 Needles, and you were wearing nothing but an Ethereal Earring, you would take 1000 damage and gain 30 MP.

If it helps, here's the log of my original win. I haven't gone for a rematch this week, but I was thinking I might record it.

Just to be certain, you popped on Darksday (lux), which is why it opened with Comet, right?

Also, am I to assume that it does one spell, and then moves onto the next elemental day of the week? I ask this because I haven't started, but NM used Comet > Fire (skipped Holy). Or is Comet/Holy just a one-off nuke that can be casted at any time?

I think based on your screenshots, entering on darksday is probably best so that your lunge will effectively MB.

Days are
Dark (comet)> fire > earth > water > wind > ice > thunder > light (holy2) > repeat

Yeah, popped it on Darksday. It changed elements when using Dire Whorl, and I would anticipate it by having the next rune ready to use as soon as I saw the WS go off. If it doesn't use Dire Whorl, it'll go up a tier with its nukes: notice in the log, he goes from IV > V > VI with Stone before using Whorl again.

Darksday was a good day to go on, since I could use Lux Battuta and not worry about spikes healing him since he'd never get through all 8 elements in time. Also, I lunged with Flabra since he was on Earth at the time. What you might not see in the log is that I had probably 2500% TP when I finally did my first two Dimidiations, since I wanted to make sure my Lunge would match the runes I needed while also magic bursting with Light, so I had to wait for his Fire phase to pass.

Days of the week are Light > Dark > Fire > Earth > Water > Wind > Ice > Thunder > repeat.

I had light and dark days mixed up. Sorry for the redundant questioning, im fully stocked with meds and rdy to go, just want to make sure.

So he changes element by using his TP move, and not time-based, correct? Or after he does 1-3 nukes he randomly changes? I'm kind of really bad with macros and stuff, and I think im gonna macro each rune consecutively in my bar so I know what to do next, but just want to get the timing down right.

Correct, it's the TP move that changes his elements.

I'm not sure if there's anything that affects when he uses his TP, but on average he'll use 2 nukes per element before switching. Never seen him stick longer than 3 nukes per element though.

thx a bunch

Hard fight.

Third attempt, I got it down to about 1/3 life before it timed me out and disappeared. I got a nice proc from Warder's Charm +1, 1500~ heal from Thunder V. Dimidation 1 - 1350~, Dimidation 2 - 2300~, Light 1400~. Sadly I missed the MB and only got 1400~.

One more minute I think I would have killed it. :(

Giving it another go tonight!

Do we know if the Empyrean head removes multiple ailments if you have different runes active? Like would Ignis/Sulpor/Gelus remove Paralyze/Poison/Silence?

My first fight was my "best" attempt. Started on Lightsday, and got a proc on the second Holy II that was performed, with no JAs used at this point (OFA, Liement, etc). Switched to dark element, and I should have popped OFA and stuff,, but I got lazy and died. NM was at around 85% at this point and I had a bunch of TP rdy to pounce him.

Just as a side note, fighting on lightsday is really a bad idea, as it makes MBing him at the point where you have 2000 tp really harder, since you have to wait for that specific element. I made the mistake of skillchaining him, but the MB cured him. I think, as Jean mentioned, on darksday si probably the best time to start this fight.

I also timed out on my most recent 135.

Once I figured out a reasonable strategy for 135, the issue was definitely the time limit. I had a few attempts before winning where I timed out despite having enough TP to finish him off. It really comes down to the wire for time, but it's definitely a good sign if you can survive the fight.

How do you deal with the stun effect of the Dire Whorl? The above screen shots show they all missed. But if you get hit, you're done.

Battuta, and luck.
Few fights I did, Whirl missed every time except maybe twice. The stun isn't too long, but Battuta + head probably can help you evade every one of them.