Breaking The HP Cap

So, its commonly assumed that 9,999 is the hit point cap in FFXI.
Turns out it is possible to break that cap.

I'm not sure exactly whats going on, but it seems like with ignominy gauntlets +3 opening a skillchain, and then magic bursting drain 3, I've been able to reach 10,174 max HP several times now.I haven't been focusing on it, but it has happened 5-7 times now. Usually its been while doing Omen, but as you can see in the first screenshot it has happened in Escha as well, that case was on Warder of Hope specifically.

What I have generally been doing is weapon bash in ignominy gauntlets +3 to Keen Edge with Lycurgos to a DS/NV Drain 3 magic burst. Its not limited to Lycurgos though, as I have also broken 9999 HP with Apoc and Nightmare Scythe.
Interestingly, in all cases I've maxed out at 10,174 HP, so my guess is that something funky is going on with Drain 3 in the same vein as Hot Shot breaking the 99,999 damage cap.

This is my drain gear: ItemSet 372190 The body has drain potency +6, back has potency +25, and heathen's flanchard +1 should be triggering on Nether Void. Yes I know I need to upgrade my helmet to +3, I've had the materials sitting in /locker for months and just haven't gotten around to trading them in.

I think whatever is happening is related to one or more of the "Skillchain Bonus"+10, "Weapon Bash"+16, or Augments "Weapon Bash" properties on ignominy gauntlets +3 as normally MB'd drains don't tend to break 9,999. I know its not a client display issue, as everyone in party or ally with me has been able to see and confirm the HP total. I also don't think its an issue related to day or weather procs, or tied to any specific monster family or weakness, as this has happened vs WoH in Escha as well as at least 4 separate Transcended monster species on Omen.

I know I should do more thorough testing, and I'm sure I will, but before I do, do any of you have similar experiences?

Pretty sure it's just your food or something. It use to happen all the time when people used primeval brews in abyssea back in the day. The HP gotten from food would break the HP cap.

This was all discussed many years ago. At the same time it's wierd it's not the same value and i don't know what food gives upto 175HP So there could be other facters effecting the food breaking the cap.

A DRK in our group hit 10,174 HP in Dyna D on Friday, and we commented on it, wondering if the cap had been lifted or something else broke it.

Thanks you for sharing. I was going to suggest this might be Vorseal related ( https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Category:Escha#Vorseals_2 ) ..but the numbers don't line up to +175 HP from 9,999 HP. And, it seems Sidiov is stating that this happens outside of Escha and even in Dynamis.

My Drain set is near identical as yours, and I do the Bash > Nightmare with Apoc and get 9999 HP quite often in Omen. I'll have to look and see tonight if I'm on DRK and see similar results.

I hit over 10000hp in abysea like 8 years ago (without brew) so you are kinda late :) Like other people pointing out, its food hp that breaks the cap. I would guess carbonara.

I remember that account, had no idea that was you

Yeah I had a 6 years break.

Okay, yeah.
I was confused because the higher HP value only seemed to occur in certain events. I thought it was related to what gear I was using in those situations, but those situations perfectly align with the time I use Carbonara the most. I'm not getting higher HP because of great axe, I'm using HP food because I'm fell cleaving.

I quit immediately after Abyssea came out and returned around 95-99 cap, so I would have totally missed this finding back in the day.

I feel kind of silly now.

You shouldnt. Its not really a common knowledge or common topic, so it wouldnt be easy to find.

Don't feel silly at all. I wish more people posted their findings for others to share and learn from. A lot of people are just complacent and don't do much of anything in-game. Thanks for not being like them.

I can hit over 20K HP without food or Drain III...

Drain III seems pretty potent, so I can certainly see this happening. Just messing around I was able to hit 50k HP in a bare bones drain set after landing on an Umbra.

50,000 hit points???

69,420 HP is the highest I've ever gotten.

right...

Not that folks seem to care, but Monstrosity has interesting max hp.

Yeah it's been possible for some time now.

One of my friends hit nearly 11k HP on DRK a few months back, I'll see if I can get his permission, or have him post the screen shot he took. I was also in party with him when he pulled it again. It's not consistent, there is a luck portion, but it's above 9,999.

As expected, it was 100% the carbonara I was eating.
As a test, I fought some Apex Jagils with no food. Did an umbra SC into a drain3 MB to hit 9999 HP, then ate a carbonara +1 to add 180 HP. That brought me to the expected 10179 HP value, then used an antacid which brought me back to 9999.
Interestingly, the drain3 magic burst did 7817 damage according to the chat log, which is exactly 9999 minus the HP in my precast set.
A little more testing shows that drain3 works like drain 1, in that while either can do more damage than the chatlog shows, the limiting factor is a set maximum value. For drain 1, that set maximum is your maximum HP, and for Drain 3 that maximum value seems to be 9999. To confirm this, I went into Abyssea, popped a brew to hit 9999 HP without drain, and proceeded to do a DS/NV Drain 3 for 0 listed damage that killed my target. While I believe it gave me a HP buff icon, HP gained did not exceed 9999. And no, I made very sure not to get the Abyssea HP cruor buff.

All that said, my guess is that Drain 3 itself caps out at 9999, where maximum HP does not. So the question then becomes what HP buffs stack with Drain 3 to push HP even higher? Food is confirmed, but what else works?

Im not sure if every food works. Maybe only that with +HP%. You can also check hp% gear like Ares set. I think I tried it already but forgot the result XD

I specifically tried Ares +1 body as I keep it around for regen + refresh, and I can confirm it does not increase HP beyond 9999.
HP% food working where flat HP food doesn't also makes sense, as I'm sure I'd see higher HP in Dynamis for instance.

Incoming Kyou strats where DRK eats bravado for all the damage! :D

The small problem here would be that you need to Drain enough HP to reach 9999HP and im not sure if that actually possible on Omen bosses, unless maybe with Umbra MB + Rayke and/or Gambit. You can also I guess buff on floor before and Drain some trash mob, then go up and zerg in 5 min :)

That's a big part of what got me on this topic in the first place, fell cleaving Omen and then aiming for a really big drain immediately before boss. More standard WS to WS SCs have a tendency to murder mobs too easily in Omen, leading to weapon bash + keen edge on transcended mobs while cleaving.
I think its pretty easy to see how I got on the wrong mental track, thinking that Lycurgos or Ig+3 hands were the culprit when it was just food the whole time.

umm, Mantra?

Mantra unfortunately does not stack with Drain 2/3. They are mutually exclusive, and Mantra will overwrite drain3, which has caused me problems on a number of occasions.

Oh that i didnt know, will remember that!:)

The culprit appears! You are the reason I know this, Seizan!

All kidding aside, you're great, and you're helping!