All new, bright and shiney...

Ok, a little macro work. My SAM has now had a very large change compared to my MNK. I am not even thinking about my NIN yet, because that is almost exclusively a tank job now, and honestly, even though Versus has gotten a lot smaller recently because of some questionable defections, we have been doing much better in general with smaller numbers, so I haven't been losing much XP on NIN and don't really need to get much buffer back. We did 3 Byakko's this past weekend with around 12 people, which was a lot smaller numbers than we normally try it with, and it ended up going far better than many of our other Byakko's in the past. It seems that in the purge we may have lost some chaff and that operations have improved with fewer people. We didn't get any Byakko's Haidate but we did get some Neptunal Hands for Illius and a couple of pretty unwanted Dryadic Legs. Also got some money items, which when split between fewer people leaves a much better pay check. Anyway, off the point a little bit but I have reworked my SAM and MNK macros, so lets go over those for a little bit.

SAM TP macro:

input /equip main "Hagun";
input /equip sub "Pole Grip";
input /equip ammo "Tiphia Sting";
input /equip ear1 "Bushinomimi";
input /equip head "Usukane Somen";
input /equip ear2 "Brutal Earring";
input /equip neck "Justice Torque";
input /equip ring1 "Rajas Ring";
input /equip body "Usukane Haramaki";
input /equip ring2 "Ulthalam's Ring";
input /equip hands "Usukane Gote";
input /equip back "Amemet Mantle +1";
input /equip waist "Swift Belt";
input /equip legs "Usukane Hizayoroi";
input /equip feet "Usukane Sune-ate";

Ok, that is pretty simple. Right now, I am thinking about making a few changes, including going from Tiphia Sting to Goblin Cracker until I get a Black Tathlum because the Goblin Cracker has the same accuracy, less attack but less lost evasion and HP. I am also considering switching to Sword Strap depending on if I have enough Store TP to support it. The calculations pretty clearly support Sword Strap if you do not lose your 6-hit set-up. Finally, I need to get a Forager's Mantle to replace my Amemet Mantle +1. Hell, I am going to do the calculations for the Sword Strap now, to see if it is even an option.

Hagun Delay: 450
Post Sword Strap Delay: 436.5
Base TP: 11.1
Total Store TP: +54
Adjusted TP gain: 17.0

So, yes, I will be switching to Sword Strap. And just to be clear, on WS I will still get enough for this to work. And that's that. I wouldn't suggest using Sword Strap if you have to give up any Haste at all, because the delay reduction is worse than Haste. This is because there is only one source of delay reduction compared to Haste sources which are by comparison plentiful.

SAM WS macro:

input /equip main "Hagun";
input /equip sub "Pole Grip";
input /equip ammo "Olibanum Sachet";
input /equip ear1 "Bushinomimi";
input /equip head "Shura Zunari Kabuto";
input /equip ear2 "Brutal Earring";
input /equip neck "(Appropriate Sea Gorget)";
input /equip ring1 "Rajas Ring";
input /equip body "Kirin's Osode";
input /equip ring2 "Flame Ring";
input /equip hands "Myochin Kote +1";
input /equip back "Amemet Mantle +1";
input /equip waist "Warwolf Belt";
input /equip legs "Usukane Hizayoroi";
input /equip feet "Rutter Sabatons";

This hasn't changed at all because I had all this gear already. I have been considering using Usukane Haramaki over Kirin's Osode because it would have a gain of about 10~11 accuracy for a loss of 2 STR, ~1 attack and 2 DEX for whatever amount of crits that is worth. The problem is that I think I am generally very close to the accuracy cap on WS on merit mobs, but it would definitely be better for end-game mobs that require more accuracy.

SAM Meditate macro:

input /equip head "Myochin Kabuto";
input /equip hands "Saotome Kote";
input /ja "Meditate" {me};
pause 2;
input /equip head "Usukane Somen";
input /equip hands "Usukane Gote";

Simple and effective, but I still have mine in an in-game macro and I want to switch it over to a Windower macro.

The only other macros I have don't require more than one or two lines and no gear switching. Yes, I know I am leaving out a defense macro. Honestly, I have never found a situation where I have really needed it or that it would make a huge difference. I am not Rukenshin that can tank stuff solo on SAM that I would need to duo tank on NIN. XD For places that I use my SAM (which will increase with Usukane, but I will get to that in a minute) I have not found carrying all that extra gear that important. Seigan and Third Eye do most of the work, or I am on MNK and have shadows. Salvage is a perfect example. With good mages (which we have in relative abundance) we can put three melees on a chariot boss with just a WHM, RDM and BRD. We sometimes limit it based on TP given to the boss, but really, they just go all out. The three DD's are usually WAR/NIN, MNK/NIN and DRG/SAM right now, but it does include other /SAM jobs from time to time. Our DRG/SAM has a relic so it's not like he isn't taking direct damage either. The point is that effective mages are more important to us than damage reduction. If I find something that needs the defensive gear, I will make one, until that time... meh.

I will probably go over the changes I have made to MNK and make some more macros for MNK tomorrow.