Took some time this evening to tackle II Torment again having gained and learned Maria En-Earth LMR (daily some weeks ago), Dualcast LMR +AOSB (11 pull on II banner 1), and Leon En-Dark LMR (II Banner 2 100 gems). I went from 53.96 to 35.73, then 32.13, then a tantalizingly close 30.34, and, after a number of tries, finally got my sub-30 at 29.40. Absolutely got lucky with Minwu triplecast at the very end, right after Ultimate Level Down (never did end up skipping it completely after all). Emperor was paralyzed too since I didn't cast Lakshmi!
Hilda (LM1+LM2): R3 Allegro Con Moto, R4 Enfeebling Jitterbug, Gathering Storm (USB), fire/ice/lightning resist accessory
Leon (LM1+EN-Dark LMR): R4 Memento MOri, R4 Necro COuntdown, Dark DMG+ RM (no SB), double dark boost, D.Odin accessory
Minwu (LM1+W-White LM2): R5 Holyja, R2 Hastega, Holy DMG+ RM (BSSB2/USB2), double holy boost, fire/ice/lightning resist accessory
Maria (En-Earth LMR+W-Earth LMR): R4 Chain Stoneja, R3 Shellga, Scholar's Boon (BSSB/AOSB), double earth boost, D.Odin accessory
Emperor (LM1+En-Earth LMR): R5 Meltdown, R3 Dispel, Earth DMG+ RM (USB1), double earth boost, ice/earth resist accessory
RW: Chain
Magicites: Lakshmi (MND/HP), Adamantoise (Empower Earth x2), Famfrit (HP/Dampen Fire), Madeen (Mag Boon x2), Madeen (HP/Fast Cast)
+100 magia on everyone (MAG for Leon, Maria, Emperor, MND for Minwu/Hilda). Leon is carrying a realm L50 magic bow artifact.
Approximate turn order:
Hilda: Enfeebling Jitterbug, chain, ACM, Enfeebling Jitterbug, ACM, USB, ACM, refresh chain, *magicite before P3 Ultimate Poison Cloud CXXVIII, ACM, Enfeebling Jitterbug, ACM, USB as necessary
Leon: MM, Necro Countdown spam
Minwu: Hastega, Holyja x2, BSSB2, Holyja x2, USB2, Holyja x3
Maria: Shellga, CHain Stoneja x2, BSSB, CHain Stoneja spam, AOSB
Emperor: Dispel, Meltdown x2, USB1, Meltdown spam, USB
*I should point out that the magicite calling is completely theoretical, since I intended to use it before P3 T4 Ultimate Blaze CXXVIII to block sap, but forgot about P3 T3 Ultimate Poison Cloud CXXVIII causing Sap+Paralysis. On my sub-30 run, I ended up not using Lakshmi at all.
That aside, aside from a healthy amount of RNG late in the fight being necessary, the key was to maximize DPS by using Hilda to handle re-freshing chain early and just let the DPSers attack relentlessly. Also, because Minwu kept running out of hones before the end, I started using his BSSB2 first, which allowed me to save USB2 and 3 turns of W-Holyja to blitz down the end along side Maria AOSB and (theoretically) Emperor USB1. On my sub-30 run, the last two Holyja uses were triplecast, giving me an extra 100,000 damage. CLutch.
With the realm artifact bow, Leon's MAG was over 800. With that and his En-Dark LMR, his damage was finally decent, unlike the last time I tried this back in late April. Also realised to ignore his useless USB1 and just keep blasting with Necro Countdown under QC. At high enough chain count at the end, after 25 seconds, his lack of En-Dark made little difference.
Poor Emperor didn't get to do much. I mean he definitely helped with those 9999x4 Meltdowns from the getgo, but no dualcast and his USB1, only used once, was kinda struggling at 8000x8, at best. As noted above, thanks to not using Lakshmi on my sub-30 run, he spent the last 3-4 turns paralyzed, but Minwu/Maria made up the slack, luckily.
That's 14 Torments sub-30'd. Only I, XII, and XIV left. I'm at 36 seconds for XIV, but my only addition since my last attempt is Papalymo Glint, which I doubt will be enough to make up the difference. I and XII are damn hopeless right now, and RoP has already failed me with a useless dupe for XII. Still have I RoP, but otherwise my only hope for those realms two is fest banners.
