It has come to my attention that there are several viable options for 5-hit builds with several of the Magian Great Katanas. In general, these are only possible with a few requirements. The Great Katana needs to be of at least 464 delay and you are going to make some new trade offs to get to the Store TP required. Assuming you have all of the necessary merits, you will require an additional 29 in Store TP. The problem for doing this is not that the gear doesn't exist, but that there are a lot of ways to get to the goal of +29 Store TP and almost all of them require giving up additional gear.
Now, I know the knee jerk reaction to this statement is why would I ever want to give up good stats for Store TP? The answer is simple, you don't UNLESS you can save a swing in getting to the next WS. For SAM (and for almost all jobs) a WS is always to going to be the most damaging attack you can do. This means that the more WS you get the more damage you will do. The reason people use Haste is to do the same exact thing. If you swing faster, you will get to the next WS faster. The problem is that people don't think of Store TP as Haste, but they should. It just comes in huge big chunks of Haste, rather than small slivers of Haste. Everyone should know the value of Haste by now. It has a multiplicative effect on your damage, which means that every bit of Haste you can get and use effectively will be of more and more value.
The options that I have found so far the Kokushitsunotachi and the Keitonotachi. There are obviously different approaches for each considering the Keitonotachi has +5 Store TP of it's own, making it easier, but still requiring trade offs. In general, you are going to need to keep your normal Store TP gear that you are currently using. Things like Rajas Ring, Usukane Sune-ate and a Store TP body like Usukane Haramaki or even Askar body are acceptable options. After that the trade off's start coming. Rose Strap is an obvious first pick because it replaces a relatively unimportant slot and has a big chunk of Store TP on it. The new Unkai Nodowa is a good option for the neck piece because the next closest option is Chivalrous Chain and it doesn't give nearly as much. White Tathlum is another option, it makes me cringe because it doesn't do much at all to help out with anything else besides the Store TP. After this point you need to start thinking about big sacrifices. Hachiman gear has a lot of Store TP on it. The hands can be used for TP and the feet can be used for WS. These should be your last resort options, but they may be necessary depending on your gearing.
The one shining light out there is the Goading Belt. While this may not seem like the best possible option compared to the Bullwhip Belt, you need to look at the differences in terms of total Haste. A Bullwhip Belt has 2% more Haste, but if a Goading Belt helps you keep other gear you want to be using like say Dusk Gloves or a good WS piece then you could actually gain more from using the Goading Belt than from the Bullwhip Belt. It's a tough balancing act that requires a complete look at all of your gear and options, but it is worth the effort because the difference between a 6 hit build and a 5 hit build is about 17% haste. There is no piece of gear that gives you that much haste.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Samurai in the New Abyssea Order.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Sub-Routine: White Mage.
My general thought on White Mage is that it is still going to be a core subjob for all mage jobs. Now, you might think that I am retarded because I just made a post praising RDM as the new sub job that all mages are going to use. I still think that is the case for some mage jobs, like BLM and SCH because they either have access to the specific spells that /WHM brings to the table (SCH) or they don't give a fuck about those spells (BLM). The problem is that several mage and support jobs will still be called upon do perform the roll of a WHM main. For example, in Salvage many RDM are required to be able to fill the roll of a main healer also (and there is also the fact that a RDM can't sub RDM, LOL). This requires access to a full compliment of -na spells and Erase which are best available through /WHM. In the end, offensive mages are almost definitely going to want to use /RDM but healing mages are going to want to use /WHM, and support jobs are going to have to pick what they need on a case by case basis.
Afflatus Solace @40 (maybe?).
Of course people are going to say this is the reason that /WHM shouldn't get access to the WHM main stances, but are they really thinking about it that deeply? SE actually put this ability together pretty well when they made it, and that is why I am not really worried about it. The real benefit of Afflatus Solace is the "cureskin" effect, or the bonus Stoneskin that is given to the recipient of the Cure. This would be a problem if everyone was walking around with a full strength "cureskin" effect, but that is not the case. The cap on the amount of "cureskin" you can give is based on the level of your WHM, so subbing it will mean that you will have a lower cap. If the "cureskin" is too strong while subbed then SE may have to do some tweaking down either by decreasing the "cureskin" effect at lower levels, or by nerfing it while subbed. But if you consider the fact that SCH gives their healing and cast bonus at full effect, I don't see why WHM can't give out at least a nerfed "cureskin" to other mages.
"Cureskin" isn't the only benefit to Solace, but the other benefits either have limited use or can't be accessed. Here is a quick run down.
*Sacrifice - Higher than the 49 level-cap.
*Bar-Element Effect - Ok, this one might need to be nerfed a little bit. RDM is already able to hand out a decent Bar-Element but a good WHM is going to have a much higher -ra effect. It's not that big of an effect, but it's definitely something WHM need to do well and RDM don't really need. I would say that this shouldn't be available when subbed or it should only be +1 or +2 MDB at best.
*Holy - Only other job with access to this is PLD, and while they might be able to drop a big Holy because of this, I just don't see it as all that game breaking.
And that is about it. I still can't see why /WHM should get Afflatus Solace.
Afflatus Misery @40 (Maybe?)
If I think that /WHM should get Solace, there is no reason they shouldn't get Misery. Like Solace the amount of damage you can take to increase it's effect is limited by your level, so you would only be getting the subjob level of effect. Unlike Solace though, Misery doesn't really have a permanently beneficial effect, but it all spell specific, so lets look over those.
*Cura - Incredibly efficient but never really used because if you are a good WHM for the most part you aren't going to take much damage. /WHM is going to have access to this anyway, and the level correction on Misery is going to limit the additional potency.
*Esuna - Higher than the 49 level-cap.
*Auspice - Higher than the 49 level-cap.
*Banish - Like Holy this could be used to increase their damage, but again it is limited by the level correction on the damage absorbed effect. And really... who is going to be spamming Banish anyway?
I will say it again, there is no reason /WHM shouldn't get these abilities, there is nothing game breaking. A limited Solace effect is not really that much better than what you can get from /SCH, and come on, /WAR is going to give freaking Aggressor. It's time to throw /WHM a bone.
Now onto the spells. I am only going to go over the critical ones here, I don't think we really need to worry about every little random Bar-spell that /WHM is going to get.
Teleport-Altep and Yhoat @ 38 and Teleport-Vahzl @ 42.
These spells would have meant a whole lot more a couple of years ago, but today those Teleports just aren't that important because there isn't much reason to go to those places. Even if you are leveling in those areas, most parties are going to have at least one WHM main in it that can teleport then change jobs. Besides, there are tons of alternative ways to get around the game anyway, and that cuts into the relevance of these teleports most fundamentally.
Stona @ 39.
This is the last -na spell that WHM had uniquely. Honestly, I am more concerned that SE is giving this up as a subjob spell than I am about the WHM stances. A good spell to have and it will let the WHM not have to worrying about exclusively covering this from now on. I do think that SE should give Amensiana (Amensna?, Amensina?) to WHM above the new sub job cap so WHM has that one last -na spell that no one else gets.
Haste @ 40.
Went over this when discussing RDM already, but man, this is going to be great of a lot of mage subs. BLM will love it (but will probably get it from /RDM), SCH will love it (but will probably get it from /RDM), SMN will love it (but don't they already have it from Garuda?). It will be exclusive to /WHM if the first level cap increase is only to level 80, but after that /RDM is going to have it too, and then it's not really going to matter. It's a good spell, necessary and it's probably time that other jobs get access to it even if it is through there sub job.
Cura @ 40.
See above under Afflatus Misery. Potentially interesting, but probably never going to be used.
Cure IV @ 41.
Finally, the non-RDM and non-SCH mages will get access to a decent cure, even if it is a hate-filled monster. No more Cure 3 spam. But again this is a much greater blow to WHM uniqueness than both of the Afflatus JA's combined. I think SE is going to need to give WHM a new even bigger Cure (Cure VI? I know totally original) to make up for this. If not, you might see WHM quickly pushed to the back burner because most jobs are going to be able to do the basic function of a WHM just by subbing the job. This had almost completely happened before with RDM, and while the Afflatus JA's fixed the situation, it was RDM's access to Cure IV and Haste that caused the situation to begin with.
Regen II @ 44.
I think this one is going to be play style dependent, but some people love their Regens. I don't think it will be much of a factor for most people though.
Flash @ 45.
This one is surprisingly unimportant, I think. While Flash can be nice to help out a tank, I don't know that it is a make or break spell for anyone that would want to sub WHM. That is unless NIN would want to sub WHM, and I am not really kidding here. NIN/WHM would get access to Haste, self-cures and Flash, that is potentially a whole lot of hate. NIN already largely subs DRK just for a couple of hate spells and three 5+ minute job abilities. /WHM has the potential to deliver more hate, more quickly outside of those JA's. I think it is at least worth looking into after the level cap hits 90+.
Protect III and Protectra III @ 47.
A nice additional spell for jobs that don't get access to it a convenient Protectra. Nothing to write home about, but I don't think people are going to be complaining either.
Repose @ 48.
A light-based sleep available to jobs like RDM, BLM and SCH? That is pretty powerful, and it will definitely cut into the utility of the remaining jobs that have exclusive access to light-based sleep. BLM, RDM and SCH are already known for their crowd control skills, getting Repose isn't going to overpower them, but I don't think they are going to be looking down their nose at it either.
Subbing WHM is going to offer some pretty powerful options and even if SE decides that no one else besides WHM should have access to the Afflatus "stances" it is still going to be a great sub job. So if you are a mage main, get out there and level your WHM! And if you are a NIN, at least give the /WHM some thought, because I think it might surprise you!
Two final things. First, that awesome WHM painting at the start of this article was blatantly stolen from Atua on the FFXI AH website. It's a great work! Second, this is my last post for a week as I am going on vacation. I won't be back until May 24th. Maybe if you are lucky and you wish really hard, Omoi might post something on the blog to keep you entertained while I am gone. :)
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sub-Routine: Red Mage
Convert @ 40.
The quintessential RDM ability... and before Composure was added, the only non-two-hour ability that RDM had. Get an entirely new MP pool for your HP every 10 minutes. It's one of those abilities that had SE claiming they could never raise the level cap for over 5 years, and then one day SE drops the bomb says it's one of the great things about raising the level cap. Of course RDMs the world over are going to whine and complain about losing their signature JA, but that is because after BRD, RDM is the number 1 prima donna job. News flash, everyone else is losing their signature JA's too. And lets get another thing straight, while Convert is a powerful JA, it's not god-like. It's a full MP once every ten minutes. This is probably most beneficial for WHM in the end, because most other jobs have other limitations on how they can use the MP. SMN still have to wait on Bloodpacts, BLM get a few more nukes but nothing game breaking, SCH get to do more of their... well they do everything already. It just isn't that broken to give this to other jobs.
Magic Attack Bonus II @ 40.
I can only think of one job that is going to care about this because any job that it would really matter to already has something like this available. The one job that is going to care is SCH. SCH has no innate Magic Attack Bonus and has to get them from their sub job. While SCH can get MAB II from BLM already most SCH would still prefer to use RDM as a sub because it gives them access to a wider and far more utilitarian selection of spells. Getting MAB II from RDM as a sub job pretty much eliminates any reason to consider using BLM as a subjob altogether (as is MAB II was a reason to use BLM in the first place).
Magic Defense Bonus II @ 45.
While pretty bland at first this might be a nice little bonus for tanking jobs that already like to sub RDM for dealing with more magic damage intensive fights. PLD already sub RDM for fights like JoL because they can pull a lot of hate and don't need to worry about shadows at all. The problem is that Magic Defense Bonus II only provides +2 MDB over MDB I, while MDB I provides +10 MDB, so the upgrade is comparatively very small. It is an added bonus for those that would be subbing RDM anyway, but it definitely isn't enough to justify switching if you weren't going to do so already.
I am not going to go over every possible spell that RDM is going to get as a sub but I will go over the notable ones.
Raise @ 38.
While this is available for those mage jobs that generally sub WHM, this is a nice added boost to BLM that may need to raise a fallen comrade or if someone forgets to put up Reraise. This is nowhere as good Reraise, but it is something that may make life a little easier for people that want to sub RDM anyway.
Refresh @ 41.
This is the great grand-pappy of all the new things that we will be getting through subjobs as the level cap increases. This one is more game changing than anything else, including Convert. Almost all jobs are going to sub RDM because of this spell, as a constant 3MP per tick is just that good. While there will again be complaints from RDM about the loss of the main reason they are being brought to events (if any RDM thinks the only reason they are brought to events is because of Refresh then they must not know how to Enfeeble at all), SE has already hinted that they will be giving RDM a new Refresh II replacement to keep them in the refresh game. My guess is that it will be better than Refresh and it won't stack with Refresh, so all the prima donnas don't go crying home to mommy.
Sleep II @ 46.
While definitely not unique to the RDM sub job, it is just another added benefit when you are going to be subbing RDM anyway for those other bonuses. It gives mages a bit more real crowd control options if they have the enfeebling skill to use it properly.
Protect III @ 47.
Another little perk for those BLM out there that are going to be loving /RDM for other reasons. Take a little more of a physical beating before you die a horrible death because all of your crowd control got resisted.
Cure IV @ 48.
Another spell that you are going to get through a different sub job and much earlier too, but again, you are going to want to be subbing RDM for other reasons and having Cure IV now means that you are basically capable of doing what a RDM does right now. That doesn't necessarily mean that you will be able to fill the roll that a RDM does right now because MP and HP pools will definitely be increasing as the level cap increases and Cure IV might not be as good an idea as it is now (more Cure IV casts, more hate gained, more MP spent).
Haste @ 48.
This might sound familiar: A spell you really want, that you could get through another sub job, but you will want more from RDM. Essentially this will give all mages the ability to cast haste at least on themselves, and it may help to relieve the burden that is places on RDM and WHM to cover all of the melees and tanks with Haste. This one is so good that it might even mean that melees start to consider using a mage job as a sub. At very least it will be a major boost to PLD/RDM soloing just about everything, and it could mean that PLD/RDM takes over the "Soloing God" position from RDM.
And that's about it. RDM will get a few other spells, but nothing to write home about. RDM is going to be a really important sub job, not just for mages, but for PLD and a few other jobs as well. This is one of those sub jobs that you should level now before the first increase in the level cap so you are ready to go once the update hits.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Morning in Vana'diel: Do they know more than we think they know?
I have always wondered how the developers come up with some of the gear in the game. Some of the crap that we see makes me wonder what they are thinking when it comes to making gear. But there are times when SE adds things that make me think they have a very deep and robust understanding of what is available and how the players use it. I don’t know if it is coincidence, or if it’s intentional but I think that at least some one at SE has some idea of the greater ideal.
Let’s look at a few examples:
Store TP: This is the first place that I can see there is an obvious intention to keep the math for not just Samurai, but many different jobs to optimize the number of hits it takes to get to 100TP. It used to be that there was a very strict formula that Samurai had to use to get to 6-hit builds, and the other DD had a similar but more difficult situation most of the time. Then the Askar body was added that allowed a lot of other jobs to get a rather simple 6-hit build. Then Aurum body was added which freed things up even more, and now we have the Rose Strap. Each of these was added separately but progressively making it easier and easier for people to build and then tweak their builds to get a 6-hit build. Samurai now even has a relative cheap option for getting to a 5-hit build without having to use a rather to extreme Great Katana.
Haste: Haste is an even more interesting situation. The obvious place to look first is the Usukane gear. When it was first introduced the Usukane gear was amazing, but it was the first time after the general move toward haste gear that SE offered a tradeoff between the maximum haste that was available in that slot and a piece of gear with less haste but clearly better stats overall. There are other factors like Usukane gear fitting perfectly with the Black Belt to get to the equipment haste cap. As time has passed there have been more and more pieces that fit in this pattern, like Askar Head and Aurum feet. There are now more options to replace what used to be cookie-cutter pieces. This fits in well with the notion that is gaining greater acceptance that maximum haste is only especially good at very high accuracy levels and below that things are less clear.
This is maybe a little melee-centric but the gearing choices for gear for many different jobs are all becoming more complicated because there are varied and effective alternatives to the old “must-haves”. And I don’t think that is just because more gear has been added, but more because SE really does know what they are doing most of the time. Shocking I know, but it can’t just be coincidence.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Latent Effect: Wyvern Earring
Ding! Level 30! Finally! What does this mean? Well, for start-up players, they can finally go obtain the advanced job they are interested in leveling all the way to 75. For some of us, we will already be leveling what will become our third or fourth or tenth level 75 job!
All that great gear and awesome abilities to look forward to, you feel stuck in the repetitiveness of level 30, and are looking for a great way to speed up your low level experience point parties. You know that leveling a heavy damage dealing job is in your future, but still unsure of what to pick let alone gear selections, and sub-jobs. There are quite a few options but today, we will discuss a great low level sub-job for damage dealers level 30+, and one of the best latent effect earrings for damage dealers for the levels to come.
The Wyvern Earring - level 30 - Latent Effect: Haste +5%. Eh? 5% Haste on an earring? That's right! All that lovely haste at such a low level will allow ANY DD (damage dealer) to do their job a bit better. How to activate the latent effect? Set your support job to Dragoon (I know a few people who want to say set your main job to Dragoon) and wear this earring and shazam! +5% Haste!
Now. The next question is, does setting our support jobs to Dragoon, and adding 5% haste in one of our earring slots, increase our damage output over subbing the more popular Warrior or Samurai sub-jobs?
While /WAR may be the sub-job most low level parties want you to show up as, some parties really could care less. They might just need a heavy DD. And while at level 30+, Berserk, a level 15 ability of Warriors, will boost your attack significantly for a 3 minute period, subbing DRG (Dragoon), will give you an Attack Bonus job trait, which is always active. Couple that with the use of Jump, a 90 second ability we can obtain at level 10 DRG which is an instant, free attack round, and the Haste +5% on our earrings, and any Two-Hander will definitely pull some extra hate. Be careful though, pulling hate will sometimes put a strain on your mages, so make sure you have a way to defend yourself.
Let us fast forward a bit to level 50. Our /WAR now gives us Defender, which increases defense while decreasing attack, and the ever popular Double Attack job trait. Subbing SAM adds Hasso to our lineup of attack bonus job abilities, which increases STR, accuracy, and attack speed. Sounds to good to pass up eh? Well, at level 50+ we start seeing some haste gear in our setups, and like many other bonuses, the more haste you have, the more noticeable it is. Almost everyone will be adding a Swift belt (haste +4%, ACC +3, ATT -5) to their setups at 50, some lucky players may even add a Velocious belt (haste +6%) at 55. SAMs get the Fuma/Sarutobi Kyahan (haste +3%) at level 39 as well. WAR's and DRK's get a Blitz ring (haste +1%) With the extra 5% haste on the earring, along with say, a Swift belt and Sarutobi Kyahan for your SAM, youll have 12% haste at level 50, an extra attack round in Jump, Meditate from your main job, Hasso. . . See where I'm going? All this attack will increase your MP sponginess (a real word) so again, make sure you have some way to defend yourself. SAMs get Seigan and Third eye, the abilities to anticipate physical attacks. DRKs get Weapon Bash and Stun, both which stun the target, giving your party members time to help your dying behind. WARs only get Defender, so don't spam your abilities unless you enjoy tanking with your face. (This method of tanking usually ends up with someone in the dirt.)
Past level 60 is where this earring and sub-job lose some of their flare. Most heavy DD's will start to sub SAM for Meditate, a DD's dream job ability. More instant TP at a 3 minute recast, coupled with Hasso, will make you the MP sponge you've always wanted to be. Prepare to pull hate while subbing SAM. While subbing DRG, we receive an Accuracy bonus trait which is very nice for any DD. As for /WAR, we gain an Attack bonus trait. Unless your main job is SAM, /SAM gives us the best bonus at 60+ to deal some serious damage.
At 70+, /SAM is almost always the best bet for a heavy DD. The biggest advantage you get from subbing SAM is at level 70, is from the ability Seigan, allowing you to anticipate some attacks, and not die as much. Subbing DRG at 70 is a very nice alternative though. ATT and ACC bonus traits which are always active. With Jump at a 90 second recast, and High Jump at a three minute recast, we receive 3 attack rounds (two Jump, one High Jump) in 3 minutes. Again, those extra damage rounds, along with haste +5% on the earring, will most definitely pull some serious hate.
Sammy says:
Get this earring for all your two-handers at their lower levels. Haste +5% is a really big stat bonus to pass up, and /DRG is a really powerful sub-job until Meditate on /SAM becomes available. Even closer to 75, the Jump and High Jump abilities, along with the Haste, will help your character burn through mobs a bit faster, and make your mages burn some more of their precious MP on you!
My favorite job for this earring? SAM/DRG. Meditate, Hasso, Weapon Skill, Jump, High Jump, Weapon Skill, Seigan, Third Eye? Seems unbeatable to me.
My favorite SAM/DRG setup?
Want to poke birds on your SAM? (Note to Ringthree: =Þ)
Have fun with your player, and make yourself as useful as possible to every party you join. No one likes to be gimp, but everyone LOVES to pull hate. Find any useful information here? Think I'm a dum-dum? Leave a comment! Next week, I am going to discuss the ever popular Square Enix Security Token, and its latent effects. Until then, Happy Hunting!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
You Are Not Your Walahra Turban.
You are not your... is a series of articles dedicated to profiling a variety of equipment. Brought to you every Monday, this series will discuss why it is a good piece of gear, why it fills your needs, why you should get it or any other reason it could be useful. It could be something obvious, or it could be something off the beaten path, but it will always be useful in some way or another. Today's column is a history lesson in FFXI gearing, the Walahra Turban helped to start the time of the cheap haste builds and fundamental changed melee builds forever after.
Ahh, old reliable. The Walahra Turban was the most exciting find the day of the Treasures of Aht Urhgan release. It helped to ring in for all an era that had already begun with certain jobs, the era of the haste build. Once introduced it was possible for pretty much all jobs to have access to a decent haste build from one source or another.
The Stats: In appearance the Walahra Turban was nothing more than a plain looking dark gray/black turban with a white feather, modeled after the Nashira Turban from Limbus. The stats were quite remarkable for the time and are still quite good for some jobs and builds today. The HP and MP bonuses made it viable for both melee and mage classes and the +5% Haste is still the most you can get in the head slot, thought you can build a +5% Haste head piece from the final reward from A Moogle Kupo d’Etat.
The quality of the Walahra Turban is largely dependent on how many other Haste buffs you are getting and your other stats. In high accuracy, high Haste situations, the Walahra Turban is still more effective than almost any other head piece available. As those conditions decrease other items like the Askar Zuchetto come into play with there increase in STR and DEX. Now of course there will be people on both sides that demand that one is better than the other and say you are stupid for picking one over the other, but in like so many places in FFXI it’s just not that cut and dry. The Ace’s Helm is considered to be more effective than the Walahra Turban in almost any circumstance because of the added stats on it.
The Get: This one is definitely more interesting than most gear quests in the game. And if it wasn’t for .dat mining it might have been a lot longer before people actually found out how to get one. There is an NPC in Al Zhabi that you can give Imperial Bronze Pieces to that will use the funds to increase the defenses of Al Zhabi against Beastmen attacks. If you give 1000 of the Imperial Bronze Pieces to Gajaad he will give you a turban all for your own and before that for every 100 coins you give him he will give you an additional Walahra Water which is a decent little bonus.
#1 ~ Monk
#2 ~ Samurai
#3 ~ Ninja
#4 ~ Dragoon
Chaotic Pellucidity
Teabags and KY Jelly
The Bloggaru!
