As you probably know, beside the usual events of missions and quests that the Rpgdreamers Alliance like to do with it's normal regular members, we like to take some time to do some HNM and Sky HNM events. As such, for these events we like to invite outside members that aren't regular members of the LS to come and take part in. To balance the regular members and the members who are using the Alliance as their Sky HNM/HNM LS events, some rules and regulations are needed to be set in place to give fairness to everyone. Before we get to that, let's go over some things.

HNM by definition is short for Hyper Notorious Monsters that are high level mobs (level 80+) or at the very least a mob that is so strong that is acts like a very high level mob that requires usually an alliance of 70+ players to take down. These are usually broken up into two category, Sky HNM and ground HNM. A Sky HNM is a HNM that is located in the Tu'Lia region which requires you to have sky access and is usually a force pop HNM where you are require to get a key item to pop it. A ground HNM is a HNM that is located in regular regions and is a time base pop of 21-24 hours within the last time of its death. Both types of HNM usually drop good items that players can use or sell for millions of gils. The Rpgdreamers Alliance like to mix things up between the both. If we know the time of death of a HNM and if it's pop window is open at a good time where many of us can hunt it then we just might go camp it. But for now we currently like to focus on Sky HNM.

Information and Misconceptions

1. We do not hunt Sky HNM or HNM every single day. It's mostly a weekly event. There are much better things to do in the game then to spend every single day camping and fighting a HNM. If you're looking for a pure HNM LS that camp HNM every single day then this LS isn't for you. But if you're looking to join a HNM LS that does HNM on a weekly basis as a fun activity event then you might want to try us out as your HNM LS.

2. Camping a HNM is boring and fun. The fun of course is claiming a HNM and getting a chance to battle and kill it with other players within the LS. It's one of the most fun things to do around in this game. The boring part of course is having to spend 2-3 hours within the open pop window waiting for the HNM to pop and watching another LS claim it. That's like just wasting 2-3 hours of just sitting around staring at the TV or PC monitor. Of course with Sky HNM you have to spend hours of farming mobs in hopes of getting the key item that will pop the HNM to drop. So you have to be aware of both the good and bad of doing HNM events if this is something you want to do.

3. The Rpgdreamers Alliance does Sky HNM/HNM for fun, experience of things, and even for a reputation of killing a HNM. We do not do this for money. If you're someone that think that doing HNM event is a quick way to make gil in this game, you're going to be in for a shock of your life. Yes, some of the items that these HNM drops are worth millions, that is assuming that they drop, but if an item that drop is worth millions, you have to have at least a minimum amout of points to cast lot and even then you have to beat others at lotting. There are better ways to make gil than coming to a HNM events in hopes of making a quick buck. Always do HNM for fun and experience of killing a HNM.

4. Remember this is a game, so have fun first and don't get upset because things don't go your way on a lot or you didn't get an item. There are more important things in real life than having some upper gear or lots of gil.

Regular HNM Rules & Regulations

In terms of how drops are handle with HNM, it's pretty easy. If we win claim of a HNM and defeat it, all members who came to camp and help kill the HNM can lot for the crappy drops. Anything that is worth under a million, we all just lot for it and whomever wins lot will keep it. Before lotting always ask first or wait to see if it's ok to lot. Do not simply just lot as you wish. If an items that is worth millions drops then all members will pass and the leader of the LS or a sackholder will lot for the item depending who's there. This item will then be sold to the market. The profit from the item will be evenly divided with all the members that came to camp and help kill the HNM. The amount evenly divided is the amount left after the LS member who put the item on AH or bazaar get compenstated for the taxes that was needed to put the item up for sale. In a rare case that a LS member see an item they like to use for their main job, they can buy the item at 50% discount from the current market rate from the LS. The amount the LS member paid to the LS will be divided evenly amount the members that camp and battle the HNM. Remember that this is a game and helping another player or member out is more important than money and greed. In short the way drops are handle when camping HNM is fairly simple. You come to help camp and battle the HNM, then you get an evenly divided share among everyone else.

SKY HNM Rules & Regulations

In the case of Sky HNM, things are a bit more complicated than the ground HNM due to the process of getting to the point where you fight a Sky God. It's not a simple matter of just camping and waiting for a HNM to pop and hope to get claim. There's a 1-3 step process before you get to the point where you fight a Sky God HNM. Due to this process, for SKY HNM, a point or reward system has been placed to ensure fairness to all members that participate in this event. But before we go over this point/reward system, let's review the process on how to get to the point where you spawn the HNM.

Three Step Process

1. Sky Farming: This is the most boring part of the process. You have to kill mobs to get a key item to pop the NM that drop the key item that pop the Sky God HNM. This is like trying to farm for coffer key or ancient papy for Genkia 1. The time varies, the drop can be quick or it can take hours without any drop. Nobody like to do this part but it needs to be done.
2. Sky NM Fight: In this second process, you're require to basically kill a few NMs that drop the key items that pop the Sky God HNM. This part is a lot shorter and more fun than the first part.
3. Sky God Fight: This last process is what your goal is. The thrill of getting a chance to fight a Sky God as well as getting possibly some good drops from the fight. This is what most members like to do.

Point and Reward System

Now that we understand the three processes to get to the Sky God fight. We need to understand the point system and why we need a point system. First, the reason why you need a point system is to be fair to the members who participate in all three process. If members can just lot on anything they want to after the Sky God Fight then some members aren't going to bother to show up for Step 1-2 at all. Why bother to show up for Step 1-2 if you can just get the good drops by showing up at Step 3? By having a point and reward system, members that are willing to take the time to help with Step1-2 (mostly Step 1) can feel they have a better chance at lotting as well as being rewarded for actually taking some of their game time to help the LS out with getting to the point of Step 3. We cannot get to the fun and exciting part of fighting a Sky God HNM if no one is willing to take the time to do the boring Step 1-2. Hence you need to give people a better incentive for showing up for Step 1 - 2. "How would you feel if you spend hours and hours helping the LS get Step 1 - 2 done and then seeing a guy that just show up for Step 3 get a better lot than you on an item that you like to have?" Not very good I bet. You be saying to yourself, "If he/she can do that then I'm just going to show up for Step 3 too and not bother with helping on Step 1 - 2." Hence you have disorder and chaos if people start to think like that. This is why a point and reward system will be in place for casting lot on items after a Sky God fight to ensure those that are willing to put the time in helping LS get all 3 steps done have a better chance of getting things. Now let's look at the point system and how it works.

1. Sky Farming Points: For each hour you stay for Sky Farming, you get 5 pts. This sky farming hour begins at the point where we actually start killing a mob, not when you log into the game and LS. The maximum points for a Sky Farming is 15 pts which equals to 3 hours of actual Sky Farming. If after 3 hours and the key items still haven't dropped then the Sky Farming may be postpone till next time. 3 hours is good enough time before people start getting discourage and bored. If you stay during the duration from beginning to end of the Sky Farming session regardless of how many hours it take to get the key item, you will be rewarded with 15 pts due to the fact you stayed during the whole process. In a sense you gain 15 pts for each full Sky Farming session even if the key items may dropped within just 2 hours.
To sum it up, 5 pts for each hour to a maximum of 15 pts.

2. Sky NM Fight Points: In this process which is basically just gathering together to kill the NM that drop the key items that is needed to pop the Sky HNM God. The process is actually a bit shorter and more fun than the first process of Sky Farming. The number of Sky NM we have to fight varies depending on which Sky God HNM we are targetting. You get 10 pts for each fight that you show up and participate in.
To sum it up, 10 pts for each NM fight.

3. Sky God Fight Points: This is the process that is the most fun and where most members will show up for. In this process, you are awarded 5 pts to take part in the Sky God fight. You also need to show up for this part if you have enough points so you can cast lot. To sum it up, 5 pts for Sky God fight.

Casting Lot Base on Your Points

Now that we know how points are handed out in each Steps, let's look at how Points are worked into casting lot after each Sky God fight. Casting Lot is base on members that has at least 100 points minimum in total so far. Members can cast lot on the rare/ex item of their choice base on their main job only. If they win the item then 100 points will be deducted from their total point value. If you cast lot and you don't win then 50 points will be deducted instead. Why do 50 points get deducted by members who didn't win when casting lot? Simple really. It's to prevent people from just sitting on their butt with a minimum of 100 points total. By having a minimum total points of 100 points to be able to cast lot, it allows more members to be able to cast lot and give more reasons for members to want to come and do a Sky God run. By deducting 100 points from those that win casting lot and deducting 50 points from those that didn't win casting lot, it forces those members who cast lot to have to come back and earn their points again for doing Sky Farming. As long as a member has over 100 points accumulative, he or she can cast lot as many times as they wish until they no longer have the 100 point minimum require to cast lot.

Example #1: Let's say Earthen Abjuration Rare/Ex drops. There are three Warriors that like to cast lot on this. One Warrior has 400 points total, the second Warrior has 120 points total, and the third warrior has 100 points. All three Warriors cast lot. The second Warrior lot the casting of lot. He/she will have their point total deducted by 100 points being the person down to only 20 points. Now he/she will have to earn points again if they wish to cast lot next time. The third Warrior didn't win casting of lot but loses 50 points instead. He/she will have to come back and earn points again to be able to get the 100 points minimum to cast lot again because his/her point total is now 50 points. The first Warrior with 400 points will lose 50 points from their total because they chose to cast lot even though they didn't win. But since he/she will have 350 points total, they can cast lot again without having to farm because their total points is still above the 100 points minimum. So in short, as long as you do a lot of Sky Farming and have a lot of points, you can cast lot as many times as you wish and you can even skip some Sky Farming session because of it.

So in short, Sky Farming and Sky NM is a way to earn points to be able to cast lot on a Sky God run. So remember that if you cast lot and win an item, your points will be deducted by 100 pts. If you cast lot and you lose then 50 points will be deducted. So choose when to cast lot and when not to cast lot.

Casting Lot Base on Your Job

First rule is that enable for you to cast lot you need to have a require minimum 100 pts to lot simply because you lose 100 pts if you win that lot. Second rule is that if you qualify on the first rule of having a minimum points is that the lotting or whomever can lot that have at least a minimum of 100 pts is base on priority of the jobs first that can most benefit from the item. This is a logical rule. Just because you have a minimum amount of points doesn't mean you should lot. You should only lot if that item is something that your job really benefit that most. An example of this is Zenith Mittens (Magic Attack Bonus +5, Convert HP to MP 50). As you can see the stats is really gear toward a Black Mage job first as that job will benefit the most from the Zenith Mittens. There's no need for other mage jobs to have first priority over a Black Mage LS member that can use the Mittens first. If no Black Mage need it than the next job that can benefit the most from having Zenith Mittens will be able to lot next base on whomever has the points for it. In this case the second most job that can benefit the most from having Zenith Mittens is Red Mage. As you can see this is what we mean when we say lotting base on job priorities first.

Handling Drops that are None Rare/Ex

The first common rule is "DO NOT CAST LOT OR RANDOM ON ANY ITEMS" until it's decided and work out by LS leader and sackholders as well as those that take part in Sky God fight.

None Rare/Ex Item Worth 1 Million and Less

If a none rare/ex item that is worth 1 million or less drop from a Sky God fight, the LS leader or a sackholder will lot on this item. This item will be sold either by Bazaar or to Auction House. The money or gil gain from this item will go to the Linkshell Bank.

None Rare/Ex Item Worth More Than 1 million

If a none rare/ex item that is worth more than 1 million drops from a Sky God fight, the LS leader or a sackholder will lot on this item and hold onto this item temporary. Since none rare/ex can be traded, we don't have to quickly move people in and out of alliance so they can lot right away before an item is lost like a Rare/Ex item. This way the LS leader can hold onto the item and people can take a breather and get dead people their feet and those outside of alliance don't have to shout or panic about getting into the alliance right away so they can lot before their chance is up. With LS leader holding onto a none rare/ex item, everyone including those that are outside of alliance can take the time to decide if they have enough points to lot/random or can ask if they have enough points to lot. In this case where LS leader is holding onto a none rare/ex item that is worth gil, we will use a random system where anyone including those that are inside the alliance and outside alliance can decide to use their points to random for the item. This way there's no rush to making a decision. With points hard to come by now, we want to make sure every member has the time they need to decide if they want to lot or not. Especially if we are doing multiple god runs, where some members only have enough points to lot/random once, we want members to make sure if they decide to random, it's the right decision for them. It will cost you 50 points to cast random/lot on it. If you win that item then it will cost you 100 points instead. This way it gives some members a chance of getting rich. If a member win the item by having the highest random then the LS leader will hold onto the item and sell the item either by bazaar or on auction house. 80% of the proceeds of the item will go to the member that won the item due to having the highest random by using their points to random. 20% of the proceeds of that item will go to Linkshell bank.

None Rare/Ex Item Used For Members

Currently there are two item none rare/ex items that are worth a lot of money but will not be sold to the market for money. These items are Dragon Talon and Shining Cloth. Dragon Talon is an ingredient used to help make the Igqira Weskit for Black Mages and Shining Cloth is an ingredient used to help make Noble Tunic for White Mages. Both of these none rare/ex items will be lotted and held by the LS leader. The items will then be used to help make the armor that they were suppose to be made for and then the armor will be awarded to a loyal long time member of the Linkshell that is either a black mage or white mage. In some cases the items will be sold to the market and the money from the sale of the item will then be used to buy the armor that they were originally intended to be used to be made for. If the item is to be used to craft for the armor than it is expected that the LS member who will be awarded that armor will need to pay for the cost of the other materials. Even the cost of hiring an outside LS crafter.

Breakdown of Genbu Drops and Points

1. Sky Farming for Winterstone
Farm Aura Pots till Ro'Maeve Water drops and a quick fight with the Olla Pots afterwards for Winterstone. 5 pts for each hour, 15 pts for 3 hours maximum or from beginning to end of farming session. This is basically one session now as once the Water drops, we'll get the Winterstone right away.

2. Kill Sky NM Zipacna for Gem of the North
Pop and kill Zipacna NM for Gem of the North Rare/Ex item. 10 pts for this fight.

3. Kill Sky God, Genbu
Pop and kill Genbu. 5 pts for this fight.

Drops From Genbu
Adaman Ingot, Adaman Ore, Adamantoise Shell, Aquarian Abjuration: Hands, Aquarian Abjuration: Head, Arctic Wind, Black Beetle Blood, Divine Log, Earth Crystal, Genbu's Kabuto, Genbu's Shield, Martial Abjuration: Hands, Oxblood, Seal of Genbu, Shining Cloth, Venomous Claw, Wyrmal Abjuration: Feet

Breakdown of Suzaku Drops and Points

1. Sky Farm for Curtana
Technically not really sky farming but you will be awarded 15 pts equivalent of Sky Farming for finding Curtana from one of the random ??? in Ve'Lugannon Palace. A member can solo this looking for the ??? and obtaining the Curtana on their own for LS. This way that member will be awarded 15 pts of doing all the hard work for the LS. The ??? to obtain the Curtana appears randomly in the small 8 underground basements inside the little rooms off in Ve'Lugannon Palace. Does not appear in the first map of Ve'Lugannon. Keep checking each of the underground rooms to find the ???. Examine it to get the knife. This is basically solo sky farming, however in the case of have a friend or partner to help you such as a sneak/invisible partner then the 15 pts will be divided evening among you and your partner.

2. Kill Sky NM Brigandish Blade for Gem of the South
Pop and kill Brigandish Blade NM for Gem of the South Rare/Ex item. 10 pts for this fight. In order to kill this NM, you need to steal Buccaneer's Knife from it then equip it and use it as a deathblow once it's HP reaches 1. It cannot be killed without using the knife as it will becomes invincible to death once it's HP reaches 1 unless the Buccaneer's Knife is stolen from it and equip by DRK, WAR, THF, NIN, or RNG.

3. Kill Sky NM Faust for Summerstone
Claim and kill NM Faust to recieve Summerstone. A minumum of 12 are needed to do this. 10 pts for this NM fight.

4. Kill Sky God, Suzaku
Pop and kill Suzaku. 5 pts for this fight.

Drops From Suzaku
Wind Crystal, Antarctic Wind, Aquarian Abjuration: Legs, Black Beetle Blood, Damascene Cloth, Divine Log, Dryadic Abjuration: Hands, Earthen Abjuration: Head, Giant Bird Feather, Neptunal Abjuration: Feet, Oxblood, Seal of Suzaku, Shining Cloth, Siren's Hair, Suzaku's Scythe, Suzaku's Sune-ate, Venomous Claw

Breakdown of Seiryu Drops and Points

1. Sky Farm for NM Steam Cleaner for Gem of the East

Kill Steam Cleaner NM for Gem of the East Rare/EX item. 5 pts per hour. 15 pts for full session. In this session, we are basically farming Detectors that summon Caretakers. As a lottery pop, Detectors will sometime summon Steam Cleaner instead of a Caretaker.

2. Kill Sky NM Mother Globe for Springstone
Kill Mother Globe NM for Springstone Rare item. 10 pts for this fight. Minimum of 12 people needed for this fight.

3. Kill Sky God, Seiryu
Pop and kill Seiryu. 5 pts for this fight.

Drops From Seiryu
Angel Skin, Aquarian Abjuration: Legs, Black Beetle Blood, Damascene Cloth, Divine Log, Dragon Heart, Dragon Meat, Dragon Talon, Dryadic Abjuration: Head, East Wind, Martial Abjuration: Head, Oxblood, Seal of Seiryu, Seiryu's Kote, Seiryu's Sword, Siren's Hair, Wind Crystal, Wyrmal Abjuration: Hands, Wyvern Scales, Wyvern Skin, Wyvern Wing

Breakdown of Byakko Drops and Points

1. Sky Farm for NM Despot for Gem of the West
Kill Despot NM for Gem of the West Rare/EX item. 5 pts per hour. 15 pts for full session. In this session, we are basically farming Groundskeeper until Despot popped since he's a lottery popped from them.

2. Kill Sky NM Ullikummi for Autumnstone
Kill Ullikummi NM for Autumnstone Rare item. 10 pts for this fight. Minimum of 6 people needed for this fight. Using kiting strategy. Best way to do this is to exp up there until Ullikummi popped or exp up there and let LS know and when he popped we'll come and kill him.

3. Kill Sky God, Byakko
Pop and kill Byakko. 5 pts for this fight.

Well we hope you understand the rules and regulation of how things work in our Sky HNM & HNM events. If you're not sure and need things to be more clarify then please feel free to respond in the forum.