A Paladin's Guide To MaatFollow

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Quite a few of our younger Paladin forum members have been asking about Maat lately, so here is a general guide I whipped up.

This is by no means a finished work, if you have comments or additions for consideration, please let me know and I will update the initial post.

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A Paladin's Guide To Maat

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1)Getting Started
2)Finding The Testimont
3)Preparation For Maat
4)Fighting Maat

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1) Getting Started
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As with the previous genkais, the quest is initiated by Maat (H-5, Jeuno - Ru' Lude Gardens), as early as level 66. He will remark on your progress to this point. Deeming that you are now ready for your final test, he will ask you to find and present to him a Paladin's Testimony.

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2) Finding The Testimony
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The testimony is a Rare/Exclusive paper item. You must have a single inventory slot empty to obtain it.

The testimony drops in - from:
- Quicksand Caves - Antican Antesignanus(Level: 62 - 69)
Antican Legatus (Level: 72 - 74)
- Beadeaux - Darksteel Quadav (Level: 69 - 71)
- Monastic Cavern - Orcish Protector (Level: 69 - 72)

You may, of course carry only one Paladin's Testimony at a time, whether used or unused, in your immediate inventory or in your Mog House Storage.

The easiest place, by far, to find your Testimony is in Beadeaux while you are farming your AF coffer key.

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3) Preparation For Maat
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The Maat fight for many is a big time / gil stealing period of their gaming career. It can also be very stressful if you are trying to adhere to a leveling / exp schedule and are constantly being defeated by Maat in the arena. The best advice is to take your time and prepare adequately. You do not want to loose and have to begin the process again because you decided to go cheap on a couple of items. With the new updates, fighting Maat has become even easier! That said, even the best equipped can still loose if they don't keep a cool head.

- Skills -
For best results during your Maat fight, do your best to cap all major skills. This means Healing and Divine Magic, also Sword, Shield, Evasion, and Parrying. Every little bit does help. If you are eager or pressed for time though, focus on Sword (to help you land as many hits as possible) and Shield (to help you block as much damage as possible and boost TP at the same time). For the most part, one or two good skill parties should cap you if you haven't been negligent in your exp parties.

- Medicines -
I have heard it claimed that some Paladins have bested Maat with only a few Hi-Potions and Yagudo Drinks. While it may be true, it leaves you with a very small allowable error margin, and nothing to fall back on. Here is a list of the most commonly used items:

Hi-Potion / +2 (carry x5-x10) - HP Recovery
Ether / +2 (carry x5-10) - MP Recovery
Vile Elixer / +1 (carry x1) - HP and MP Recovery
Yagudo Drink (carry x1-x3) - MP Recovery
Icarus Wing (carry x1) - 100% TP Gain
Sleeping Potions (carry x4) - When used with Opo-opo Necklace, 25% TP Gain each

- Foods -
The food you use for the Maat fight depends largely on your planned gear set-up. It is highly recommended by most, however, that you used either a +Accuracy or +Attack food. Paladins often loose a battle of time to Maat because they are not producing enough damage. This largely means either a type of meat or a type of sushi. There are many to choose from, and I have heard success stories with most any type. Choose one which will fit your budget and augment your equipment choices. For instance, if your gear is largely IT tanking or +Strength gear, sushi will be your best choice. If your gear is mostly +Accuracy, meat will be your best choice.

- Usual Food Options -
Carbonara : Effect Length – 30 min : Hp +14% (Cap175), Mp +10, Str +4, Vit +2, Int -3, Atk +17% (Cap 65), Store Tp +5
Tav. Tacos : Effect Length – 30 min : hHp +1, hMp +1, Hp +20, Mp +20, Dex +4, Vit +6, Agi +4, Chr +4, Def +25% (Cap 150)
Sole Sushi : Effect Length – 30 min : Hp +20, Str +5, Dex +6, Acc +15%, Rng Acc +15%, Resist Sleep
Dorado Sushi : Effect Length – 30 min : Dex +5, Acc +15%, Rng Accu +15%, Resist Sleep, Enm +3
Coeurl Subs : Effect Length – 30 min : hHp +1, Mp +10, Str +5, Agi +1, Int -2, Atk +20% (Cap 75), Rng Atk +20% (Cap 75), Resist Stun, Resist Sleep

- Equipment -
The majority of your equipment accumulation to this point is, of course, reliant completely on your gil income. Hopefully by now you at least have a full set of Paladin AF, which are the main components of most set-ups. If you haven't been much of a spender to this point, you may want to re-assess your gear and upgrade a few things. Don't worry though, much of what you can buy and use as upgrades will be relevant in your future exp parties. If you are still hesitant to purchase or unable to obtain big ticket items, consider asking a good friend or linkshell member, who has what item you want, for a loan. Gear you may wish to use will largely fall under 3 catergories - Neutral/Tanking Gear, +Attack, and +Accuracy. Any of these, really, may be mixed or matched to your preference. The best set-up will be one with Accuracy and plenty of Attack for TP gain - then for the actual weapon skill, Accuracy and usually Strength.

- Neutral/Tanking Gear -
Gallant Coronet
Gallant Surcoat
Gallant Gauntlets
Gallant Breeches
Gallent Leggings
Blink Band : Lvl 36 : Eva +4, Enchantment - Blink
Jelly Ring : Lvl 63 : Magic Damage Taken +5%, Physical Damage Taken -5%
Verve Ring/ +1 : Lvl 36 : Vit +3, Vs. Earth +6 / Def +2, Vit +3, Vs. Earth +7
Chrysoberyl Ring / Vigor / +1 : Lvl 54 : Vit +3, Vs. Earth +7 / Vit +4, Vs. Earth +8 / Def +3, Vit +4, Vs. Earth +9
Buckler Earring : Lvl 35 : Shield Skill +3
Drone Earring : Lvl 35 : Agi +3, Vs. Wind +6
Hospitaler's Earring : Lvl 54 : Def +3, Cure Potency +5%
Mercenaries Earring : Lvl 30 : Latent Effect – Vit +2
Titanis Earring : Lvl 61 : Vit +1, Agi +1, With Minuet – Enmity +4
Warriors Belt +1 : Lvl 15 : Def +2, Hp +4, Vit +3
Shield Torque : Lvl 65 : Hp +7, Shield Skill +7
Medieval Collar : Lvl 35 : Def +3, Vit +2
Opo-opo Necklace : Lvl 61 : Dex +1, Vs. Lightning +3, While Asleep – Raises TP
I.M. Gorget : Lvl 55 : Def +7, Hp +15, Vit +1
Gluttony Sword : Lvl 57 : Dmg – 44, Dly – 295, Str -1, Dex -1, Vit +7, Agi -1, Int -1, Mnd -1, Chr -1
Dragvandil : Lvl 59 : Dmg - 40, Dly - 264, MND +1, Additional Effect: Paralysis
Company Sword : Lvl 70 : Dmg - 46, Dly - 264
Hrotti : Lvl 70 : Dmg - 48, Dly - 277, Vs. Fire +15, Vs. Water -15, Enhances Dragon Killer Effect, Breath Damage Taken -10%
Dark Staff : Lvl 51 : Dmg – 30, Dly – 366, Str +1, Dex +1, Vit +1, Agi +1, Int +1, Mnd +1, Chr +1, Vs. Light +15, Additional Effect: Darkness Damage, MP Regeneration While Healing: +10
General's Shield : Lvl 69 : Def +15, Chr +3, Enm +2, Enhances Beast Killer Effect
Diamond Shield / +1 : Lvl 66 : Def +18, Vit +2, VS. Lightning +10 / Def +19, Vit +3, VS. Lightning +12
Spartan Hoplon : Lvl 55 : Def +11, Enchantment: Phalanx

- +Attack -
Sun Ring / Victory / +1 : Lvl 54 : Str +3, Vs. Fire +7 / Str +4, Vs. Fire +8 / Def +3, Str +4, Vs. Fire +9
Haubergon / +1 : Lvl 59 : Def +45, Str +5, Dex +5, Agi -5, Acc +10, Atk +10, Eva -20 / Def +46, Str +6, Dex +6, AGI -5, Eva -20, Atk +12, Acc +12
Byrnie / +1 : Lvl 60 : Def +46, Hp +25, Str +3, Dex -3, VIT 3, Agi -3, Int -3, Mnd -3, Chr -3, Atk +20 / Def +47, Hp +30, Str +5, Dex -3, Vit +5, Agi -3, Mnd -3, Chr -3, Atk +25
Sipahi Jawshan / Abtal Jawshan : Lvl 59 : Def +43, HP +16, STR +5, AGI +5, Increases Rate of Critical Hits / Def +44, Hp +18, Str +6, Agi +6, Increases Rate of Critical Hits
Espadon +1 : Dmg 44, Dly 257, Vit +3, Mnd +3, Atk +7
Macuahuitl +1 : Lvl 65 : Dmg - 37, Dly - 227, Enm +4, Atk +11, Acc -4
Joyeuse : Lvl 70 : Dmg - 35, Dly - 224, Vs. Dark +14, Occasionally Attacks Twice

- +Accuracy -
Scorpion Harness / +1 : Lvl 67 : Def +40, Hp +15, Vs. Ice -20, Vs. Water +15, Vs. Dark +15, Eva +10, Acc +10 / Def +41, Hp +20, Vs. Ice -20, Vs. Water +20, Vs. Dark +20, Acc +12, Eva +12
Jaridah Peti / Akinji Peti : Lvl 55 : Def +42, HP -25, Rng Acc +5, Atk +5, Acc +5 / Def +43, HP -25, Acc +6, Atk +6, Rng Acc +6
Snipers Rings / +1 : Lvl 40 : Def -10, Vs. Dark -20, Acc +5, Rng Acc +5 / Def -12, Vs. Dark -25, Rng Acc +7, Acc +7
Life Belt : Lvl 48 : Acc +10
Potent Belt : Lvl 60 : Def +5, Str +3, Acc +8
R.G. Collar : Lvl 55 : Def +6, Atk +4, Acc +4
Chivalrous Chain : Lvl 60 : Def +4, Str +3, Acc +5, Store TP +1

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4) Fighting Maat
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Before trading Maat your Testimony, consider carefully your tactics, you will have only 10 minutes to win once inside.

Most recommend unequipping all gear and wearing off all buffs before speaking to Maat. Some also recommend wearing any major -stat gear before starting as well. It is strongly believed, but unconfirmed, that Maat will be given identical stats to those which you have upon entering the arena.

Once you have obtained your Testimony, gear, medicines, and food, you can now return to Maat and trade him the Testimony to enter the Shattering The Stars (PLD) BCNM arena.

There are many different strategies to use based on your choices in gear, medicines, and food. The main goal though in most cases is to get off around 4 adiquate damage weapons skills as quickly as possible. It is generally accepted that you only use Vorpal Blade (if you have a adequate set of Strength gear) or Swift Blade, anything else usually provides too little damage. "Good" damage is 250+ per weapon skill.

Remember that you will not have the benefit of whatever sub-job you entered with. Meaning Job Abilites, Job Attributes, or Spells. For Paladins that normally means no: Double Attack (unless you have Joyeuse), Berserk, Defender, Warcry, Resist Virus, Attack Bonus, and most especially......no Provoke (I know you are all bummed out about that).

For even better timing it may help to set up Macros for any equipment swapping your strategy calls for, and especially ones for Hi-Potion and Ether spams you may do.

Code for Equipment swap (can a make swap for each line of a macro): /equip insert_slot_name_here (ie - Head, Body, Main) "insert_equipment_piece_name_here (ie - Dark Staff, Hospitaler's Earring)"

Code for Item spam (Macro must be continually hit as it only uses one item per use): /item "insert_item_name_here (ie - Hi-Potion, Ether) " <me>

I will relate a general strategy, based on my own Maat fight.

- Maat Fight -
- Unequip all gear, wear all buffs
- Equip all negative stat gear
- Trade Testimony to Maat
- Trade Testimony to Burning Circle

~ 10 Minute Timer Begins ~

- Equip Blink Band
- Equip gear according to planned set-up
- Consume food
- Buff and cure HP
- Consume MP-over-time drink
- Use Blink Band
- Equip Opo-opo Necklace
- Be absolutely sure correct weapon and shield are equipped
- Consume Sleep Potion (x4)
- Equip planned neck-piece
- Head into center Arena
- Target Maat when in range
- Flash at maximum distance
- Engage Maat - immediate WS once in range, if I am not Flashed or stunned
- Immediately consume Icarus Wing
- Immediate WS, if I am not Flashed or stunned
- Fight Maat as if EM exp mob
= Well-timed Cures
= MP Restores as needed - keep Yagudo Drinks on full-time
= Constant use of Flash unless under the effects of Invincible or Sentinel
= Defensive JAs Especially Sentinel since update, the sooner you use it when engaged the better chance you may be able to use it a second time!
= Keep health above 50%
= If in red health Invincible & spam HP Restores (Hi-potions)
= At 100% TP immediate WS once in range, if I am not Flashed or stunned
= When Maat 2 hours (Invincible), Flash, kite, and re-engage when wears
= Do not break lock / run away otherwise
= Do not keep Parade Gorget on if used, your HP will not be consistently adequate to keep the latent active

The fight is over only when:

1) You die
2) BCNM Timer runs out (10 min)
3) Maat Timer runs out *NOTE: If you have not dealt Maat a significant amount of damage within a certain period of time, even if the BCNM timer is not up yet, Maat is known to spam weapon skills, especially Asuran Fists, until you die*
4) You win

If you lose by death, your body will be removed to outside the Arena and you must Home Point.

If you lose by BCNM Timer, you will be removed to the outside of the Arena and you must use a Warp / Scroll / Cudgel, Teleport, or walk to get back.

If you win, you will be removed out of the Arena and given a Warp Scroll (if you do not already have one).

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5) Finishing Up
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*NOTE: Until the first time you beat Maat, you may fight him an infinite number of times and lose without loss of experience points*

You will notice that the used Testimony (whether you win or lose) is still in your inventory. It is now nothing more than a memento and can not be used again. It must be thrown away to obtain another.

If you lose you must throw away the used Testimony in your inventory and begin the process again. Find Testimony -> Gather Equipment and Items -> Fight.

If you win you will be given the title "Maat Masher". You must go and speak with Maat one last time to finish the quest and obtain the final GK title.

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I hope this little guide helped give you some idea and guidance on what to expect for your final Genkai.

If you have any questions, comments, or additions - please post them here and I will try to answer the question or reformat the guide to fit the new information and keep our forums clean of "What do I do for Maat" posts.

Good Luck! :)

Edited, May 7th 2007 1:41pm by cometrider

Few things that I'd like to suggest too:

1. Refresh Musk. PLD JSE ammo obtainable from ENM Pulling The Strings. Very good equipment as it gives refresh as if it's RDM's Refresh spell.

2. When we use our Invincible, take a look of our MP. If plenty, use Cure IV's to use them up and let them refresh during the 30 seconds of Invincible being active. If few MP, pop the hi-potions as many as you needed while letting refresh works during the 30 seconds. It is preferable to be (near) full HP once Invincible wears off.

3. Maybe just me, but I prefer to use JA's as early as I can. Shield Bash for Maat's first Banish II. Sentinel, then Rampart as Sentinel wears off. If fight took longer than 5 minutes, you'd get second use out of those JA's.

4. Regarding food, I think Carbonara works really good. I know it can be expensive for 1 food item, but I think it's worth the price to pay. You'd end up losing more gil if you opt for cheaper food but ended up losing by small margin. Carbonara gives HP +14% (Cap: 175@1249 Base HP) MP +10 Strength +4 Vitality +2 Intelligence -3 Attack +17% (Cap: 65@382 Base Attack) Store TP +6 which all would be helpful for Maat fight. HP,MP, VIT add survivability, while STR, Attack, and Store TP add to our offensive capability.

5. Spartan Hoplon. I didn't use it for my own fight, but I have heard that the Phalanx enhancement made it really worthwhile. So if you're comfortable with it, I think it could be a good option for shield.

6. Swordbelt+1. Good belt for offensive setup too. +12 attack is very nice if you have no accuracy problem. If not, do opt to wear Life Belt. 2x Snipers/Woodsman Ring and Swordbelt+1 would be more beneficial than Life Belt and 2x STR Ring for offensive setup. Do keep that in mind.

7. Maat's Flash. Really really really pay attention to this. It could prove your downfall if you made a mistake and ended up using WS while flashed.

8. Check your macros. If you make new macro set specifically for Maat fight, make sure that everything works. Make sure that there is no typo in there. Personally, I use my normal exp macro since I have Cure macro ready with Hospitaler Earring swapped in there, and also JA's. Item usage can be done manually from menu easily since your cursor would only need to be on "Item" as JA's and magic (cure spells) are done by macro.

9. Last but not least, stay calm and be patient. Do not panic. PLD Maat fight is not something that you should win within 1 minute. Take your time, but do ensure that you have everything planned on how to win. Remember that we are paladins and we can survive if we make small mistakes here and there. I totally forgot to swap out my Blink Band and ended up still winning very comfortably by wearing Blink Band for the whole fight. So there is room for error, as long as you are able to recover, you are going to win.

Hope this helps. Not as detailed as cometrider's but maybe useful to some people too. Rate up for cometrider for sure. Useful guide, and with colored fonts too. That takes dedication. ^^

Edited, Jun 21st 2006 at 12:54pm EDT by Vaagan

i fought maat recently, and wanted to add my advice.

-strength potions work, but they medicate you, so use an icarus wing first. Vile elixers work with the medicated effect on though.

-dont sleep yourself. its a choice between gaining tp through damage, or gaining it without inflicting damage. we really dont have time in this so we need to make every second count.

-Maat doesnt seem to cure himself in my experience. As a 69 pld, he cast Banish II on me, flash, his own form of a shield bash, and mnk ws. He hits only once, and very slowly.

-mostly just ensure you have mp, and use str and acc gear. youve tanked tougher up to this point, now kick back and enjoy yourself :)

I realize i might also have been lucky..asuran fists were never used, so take what i say with a grain of salt.

sorry double post

Edited, Jun 23rd 2006 at 7:46am EDT by Vaagan

First of all, I'd like to make it clear that I'm not saying that you must sleep self and get TP that way to win. Obviously, by your own achievement, it can be done without sleeping self. However, I still believe that sleeping self is a safer way to beat Maat.


It's okay, we're going to use your number. You are right that in 1 minute that I sleep, you'll be able to deal 270 damage by then. But at the same time, you also have to look at the damage that you have taken, and the MP usage too. In that 1 minute, you surely have taken some damage and used some of your MP too. Not to mention the TP you gave to Maat.

On the other hand, I have done nothing but gain 100 TP in that 1 minute. I started fighting and have full HP, full MP, 100 TP. I would WS (say for 200 damage), slightly lower than your damage output on that 1 minute, but in a much safer situation when it comes to survivability unless you pop many potions and ethers to compensate your loss during that 1 minute of fighting. Plus, I would give minimum TP to Maat. This is also why Icarus Wing is a great item for this fight. Icarus Wing would give you TP to do WS, but it wouldn't give Maat TP in process.

Once again, I'm not saying that you must sleep yourself. I'm simply saying that it's the safer way to fight Maat. Fighting Maat as a PLD is not a quickie fight where you have to kill him ASAP. It's also about survivability. You were lucky that he did not use Asuran Fists, and he did not cure himself. But if he did, the extra TP you gave him at the beginning could be the difference between getting killed by Asuran Fists and winning the fight.

Judging from your own experience and mine (we both beaten Maat at around 7 minute mark), the fight itself seem to take 6 minutes (had you used Icarus Wing, and taking out 1 minute sleep time for my fight). Therefore it is quite reasonable to say that we have 4 minutes of 'room for error'. This is why I disagree when you said that every second counts and therefore we shouldn't sleep ourselves. While I agree that every second counts, there is still enough time to sleep oneself. Cheers. ^^

Yes Hoplon has already been added thanks!

As for the sleep-for-TP, I know it does not need to be done, I simply support it out of safety - its that small amount of time that instead of being in the ring with Maat, increasing error margin, you safely gained 100% TP w/o taking damage or needing to engage.

i would just like to add as well, for anyone who is getting ready now or in the future for this, that you can take it from people who have done it and won, this is not a hard fight. the OP said to stay cool, and that is very important.

maat will not be doing any amount of dmg to you that cannot be cured or potion'd back. this is a very easy fight, it is just a long one.

when you are done with him and back in jeuno, you will be saying to yourself "damn.. lol i got all worked up for that pathetic fight, if you could even call it a fight.."

oh and for the record, for anyone wondering what to expect as far as dmg from his ws's. if you do this fight wearing a haubergeon, AF, espadon+1 and diamond shield, expect howling fist to only do between 2 and 3 hundred, dragon kick the same. expect asuran fists to do about 500.

your biggest downfall could be going in there and thinking "jeez this is easy.. im just going to relax and attack him and not worry about curing so much." that is a big mistake and one that i almost made... he is easy, but dont forget you are there to WIN and win you shall... do everything you can to never let your hp go below 600.

i recommend only using cure4 nothing else, because you want to cure as much as you can with each cure so you are spending less time curing and more time attacking.


what does the OP think about adding haubergeon to teh accuracy gear section too? it might have been just me but i noticed it in the attack section but not accuracy, and it does give the same accuracy as the SH :P

-EDIT-

A few equips added.

More to come soon: More equip, equip stats, viable foods with effects!

well ive fought maat a total of 4 times so far... and well every time i get to that point where maat does Asuran spam... and on the 4th time i was ready and even used Invincible to stop it... i wasnt expecting 11 of them in a row till i died of coarse... well wish me luck for #5

Minor update - a few equip, foods, nifty colors, and stats

PLD is my first job I've taken through Maat. I'll have to admit I was very nervous about the fight. But... it was very easy. Just... time consuming.

1. Entered Naked
2. Equipped All Gear:
- Espadon +1
- General's Shield
- Lightning Bow
- All PLD AF
- Parade Gorget (after Opo-opo necklace usage)
- Hospitaler's/Titanis earrings
- Sun Ring x 2
- Amemet Mantle
- Life Belt
2.a Neck ~ Opo-opo Necklace (during buffing phase)
2.b Head ~ Blink Band (although I completely spaced using this and unequipping it as well.)
3. Buff'd (did at 70PLD for ProIV... not that it should make much of a difference)
4. Popped Yagudo + Carbonera + Sleep Potion x 4
5. Target'd Maat ~ Flash/Engage
6. Wait for Flash to wear - WS
7. Pop Icarus Wing - WS
8. Pop Yag after 1st Cure IV
9. Used POTs, Cure IV, and WS whenever necessary/available (watching out for flash)
10. Maat invincible - unlocked target, flash, when flash wears use sentinel to mitigate damage as much as possible while kiting Maat.
11. When Maat's invincible wore, I 2-hour'd, Cure IV'd, Yag drink, TP Gain, WS (watching for flash).
12. Popped POTs wherever needed, and didn't even get to 4th WS before Maat gave up.

Surprised me @ how easy this fight was, actually. After it was all said and done I said to myself, "Wow... wtf was I so worried for?" I actually did this with no cap on sword, shield, divine, healing, enhancing... only cap I had was eva at the time. Probably best if you do cap them before entering this event, but I don't think its necessary... just go in prepared and with a plan of attack and you'll do fine!

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, its what got me thru. ^^

Go get 'em PLD's!!!

Of course you don't have to use expensive items or equip. They were only suggestions that help the fight go more smoothly.

More items and info to be updated soon.

thank you your gide helped me as for my pld menteor