On Wednesday 08Oct2008 @ 10:49PM Pacific, Suquamish of Bahamut, a level 70 Paladin, faced off against Maat and emerged victorious.

It was on a whim I decided to give Maat a try.  I had planned on camping for a Jelly Ring, and farming up some Gil to get some new equipment… But I had this testimony burning a hole in my Mog Safe, so I geared up, and decided to give the old man a shot.  I went in with the following, fully expecting I’d need a second round:

Chemical assistance:

• 5 x Hi-Potion
• 5 x Hi-Potion +3
• 1 x Yagudo Drink
• 1 x Persikos au Lait
• 1 x Icarus Wing
• 1 x Rabbit Pie (thanks Lupellus!)

Gear Worn

• Weapon: Carnage Sword
• Shield: Iron Ram Shield
• Ammo: n/a
• Ranged: Lightning Bow +1
• Head: Iron Ram Sallet
• Neck: Parade Gorget > Shield Torque > Royal Guard’s Collar
• Ear1 & 2: Drone Earring
• Body: Gallant Surcoat
• Hands: Gallant Gauntlets > Fourth Gauntlets
• Ring1: Unyielding Ring
• Ring2: Echophoria Ring
• Back: Smilodon Mantle +1
• Waist: Potent Belt
• Legs: Gallant Breeches
• Feet: Gallant Leggings

That’s right.. I went in with almost full AF.  I eschewed my Haubergeon hoping to evade a few of his attacks with my Mithra’s Agility ( which, in hindsight, seemed to have worked out).  I also used my Smilodon Mantle over my beloved Amemet Mantle for the small defense boost.

My strategy for the fight was to use as little magic as possible for curing, saving my MP for the skill I feared most — Asuran Fists, and for using Flash against Maat every chance I could.  Likewise, I’d save Invicible for his TP move.

There’s a superstition that says Maat gets the same stats you do when you enter — including gear, so I went in nekkid.  Once I was in the BCNM, I used Protect IV, Shell III, and rested to full MP equipping my Parade Gorget.  Once I was at full MP, I geared up (swapping the Parade Gorget out for my Shield Torque), ate my Rabbit Pie, and started running toward Maat.

After my first swing, I Flashed, downed the Au Lait, the Yagudo Drink, and cast Reprisal.

While Reprisal was up, I concentrated on keeping my HP full using Hi-Potions, and using Flash as often as possible.

When Reprisal wore off, I popped Sentinel, and continued the Hi-Potions and Flashing.  If a Hi-Potion didn’t restore me to very-near full health, I’d use a low tier Cure (I or II).  As I used Sentinel I noticed my TP was over 100%, but Maat used Invicible, so I saved my TP.

Shortly after he used his Invicible, Maat had enough TP to use Howling Fist, which made a mess of me.  A Shield Bash and Cure IV got me out of trouble.  In the mean time, I just waited for Maat’s Invicible to wear off.

Once Maat started taking damage again, I returned Maat’s the favor of Howling Fist by using Vorpal Blade (swapping in/out the Fourth Gauntles and Royal Guards Collar) - which chewed up a decent amount of Maat’s HP, putting him below 50% HP.

I was at almost full HP.  By this time I was really happy I had gone in with my Carnage Sword instead of farming up Gil for an Espadon +1: The HP Drain had triggered several times was indeed a help.

I kept an eagle eye out for any message starting with “Maat readies…” With Sentinel gone I used Rampart and continued the application of Hi-Potions and Flash as needed.

About the time I ran out of Hi-Potions, and Rampart had worn off, I saw Maat’s HP was getting a bit low (35′ish percent?).  I was still at near full HP, but I popped Invicible on the intuation that Asuran Fists was coming.  I certainly didn’t want to get one-shotted having come this far.

I also had over 100% TP, so I Flashed, saw Maat use Asuran Fists as I unloaded another Vorpal Blade.  In reaction I used my Icarus Wing, and as I was mashing my Vorpal Blade macro I saw:

“Hm. That was a mighty fine display of skill there, Suquamish. You’ve come a long way…”

I put away my sword, got teleported to the BCNM exit, and sent the following message to my LS:

>>> I won?

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