Shoot first?

[Okuza]

ACC and EVA gear is very situational and you really must parse it or you will have no idea at all what it is really doing for you. For instance, I just recently decided to test out using even more ACC on THF. Added +15 ACC and the parses shifted by about 3% on hit rate; 3% is within the error factor. So, +15 ACC did absolutely nothing for me.

The only time ACC will really make much difference is when you can shift the /check message. If you can make it go from High to Nothing or to Low evasion, then you'll get a worthwhile result. Also, ACC gear will tend to up the averages for your multi-hit WS's. I usually laugh at level 40s that brag about how nice sniper rings are. I *know* exactly how little that +10acc is doing at that level. Somewhere around 60 is where it makes a bit more sense, but you still need a TON of +ACC before it really will make a difference.

EVA is always good for a NIN tank. It's just a matter of is EVA better than Haste or ATK for this situation? On XP stuff at any level, if the NIN has good mage support (always has haste spell, critter always debuffed with slow & dia), the NIN can go all-out on ATK/DD. The more the mages suck, the more EVA the NIN will need to swap in. Swapping in EVA usually means swapping out ATK/DD.

An example: soloing steelshells for skillup in bohyada (DC to T), my NIN's evasion rate parsed ~70%. That was while wearing full +r.acc and then as much EVA has I have. Soloing Aquarius (full haste then eva), it was 65% evasion and 8% parry. Versus XP (T to IT mix) in full ATK gear, EVA rate is usually 15~20%, parry ~5%. EVA gear does make a huge difference even versus IT++, it's just that usually there are more important stats to focus on; eg. for sky gods, you need haste, enmity, def, and vit -- not much space left for evasion.

+10 Accuracy on the hauby over the +6 str on the sipha body piece will make a difference. Having +10 acc for rings instead of 3 makes a difference. A well kitted out player will outparse a poorly kitted out player any day of the week, it's not easy to get those items, but it's certainly worth it for the enjoyment you get with the feeling that you are infact doing the best you can do.

Yes, those do matter. Yes, you might outparse others. But, by how much!? I've parsed those stats comparing me to me (the only really valid parsing you can do). You're talking about a +1-3% gain. OMG, call your friends! You're a DD god now.

When you're at 75, it's all about struggling for that last 1% here and there because that's all that remains for your character to progress and improve. Before then, do it for fun if that's what you like, but you certainly don't need all that expensive armor. Nice weapons really do matter a lot, but armor not so much. People are so funny about armor. I've been running around in full THF AF2 for about a year and half now -- I still get tons of /checks and "omg, your gear is amazing!" And I have to laugh -- thf af2 just sucks. Your average level 60 thf runs about wearing far more effective fighting gear. I just wear it in town for the rarity & wow-factor. Rawr! Go-Go-Gadget placebo-armor!

[Pheonixhawk]

However it sounds like it is the same crap as when I left of having to stand around for hours button mashing to raise skills, Sorry I just do not find that fun or reasonable to be in game.

Hey hey now, raising skills can be fun. Like lvling mnk

Mnk training

or skilling up an every funner job. Like Ninja

Ninja trainin

[Keavy]

With the holidays fast approaching and all the good games coming out I don't see myself playing much FFXI until next year and when I do come back i'll probably level Bard or something else because I am sick and tired of getting yelled at because a fifteen-year-old brat's character had to go five goddamn seconds without Haste because I missed the recast not to mention the fact that I wasted 60K on food for my last three parties because they broke after the leader and one of the melee's got into a fight over which area we should level in. I hate to say it, but I miss the days of Dunes --> Qufim --> Jungles --> Citadel --> CN --> Desert --> Quicksand Caves.

Unrelated but needs to be mentioned: A good friend of mine whose name I can't reveal recently got to spend mucho quality time with LoZ on Wii and Gears of War and he said they're both so f***in' awesome that you won't care what PS3 brings to the table.

Back on topic, I think its the player community that is ruining FFXI. We bitch too much about getting 5-6K exp an hour minimum, about how gilsellers make the game bad, and about how without Rank 6, Level 75 something, or CoP Ch. 2 you can't do anything. I think we all need to lighten up a little and get back to FFXI being a game.

[Stockyboy]

Yes, those do matter. Yes, you might outparse others. But, by how much!? I've parsed those stats comparing me to me (the only really valid parsing you can do). You're talking about a +1-3% gain. OMG, call your friends! You're a DD god now.

When you're at 75, it's all about struggling for that last 1% here and there because that's all that remains for your character to progress and improve. Before then, do it for fun if that's what you like, but you certainly don't need all that expensive armor. Nice weapons really do matter a lot, but armor not so much. People are so funny about armor. I've been running around in full THF AF2 for about a year and half now -- I still get tons of /checks and "omg, your gear is amazing!" And I have to laugh -- thf af2 just sucks. Your average level 60 thf runs about wearing far more effective fighting gear. I just wear it in town for the rarity & wow-factor. Rawr! Go-Go-Gadget placebo-armor!

When I out DD'd the Rng by 25k dmg in one party (came out the top DD) yes, I did consider that a pat on the back.

[Murto]

Just like how LOLBst is never considered a decent PT DD.

Compare me to a Mnk75/nin however and you can see the difference without Parser.

Like, what gets me is why ppl never invite Drgs to pts. They're among the best Melee DD's in the game. I've seen Drgs do normal dmg hits that make Sams and Gaxe-Wars wet their pants. Putting aside the fact they have a flying-blue-thing-of-doom, and Jumps, adding even more dmg.
And Pups too.

Theres really no point in shelling out 100x more gil for something thats just 1 or 2 extra Acc or 1 or 2 extra attack though. Hell, at lvl 75 i still use a lvl 56 Bst Axe in my offhand for Merit pts. Ppl always say to me "Get a Maneaters axe, ditch that lvl 56 piece or crap". I tell them to Gtfo. My axe is +7 str, and something no War can ever use. Everyone is entitled to their own style, something i respect and cherish in my playing. Its the reason I'm a Bst, i got sick of the whole "You cant lvl Job-X without "this" shiny piece of gear". I lvled a first job that gets away from all that bs and sticks to having fun, as opposed to worrying about not-being-gimp.

Ppl get too caught up in the whole "OMG liek, i'm a NINJA! i have kirin and byakko's and i have LOTS OF PWNAGElolz, i do liek blade:jin and it dies and i go ROFLCOPTER and you ph34r my pwnage" factor of having to be leet.

Keep that business to crap games like WoW and Guildwars, dont bring it here

[Stockyboy]

E-peen numbers is what keeps me in the game.

EDIT: My friends too.

[Murto]

Hehe, yea, despite what I just said, I will add that when i merit in Axe Burns with a War75 friend of mine, we always try to race eachother to get the highest Rampage dmg of the night ^^;

[Stockyboy]

A challenge is more fun, that's for sure.

[Okuza]

ppl never invite Drgs to pts. They're among the best Melee DD's in the game. I've seen Drgs do normal dmg hits that make Sams and Gaxe-Wars wet their pants. Putting aside the fact they have a flying-blue-thing-of-doom, and Jumps, adding even more dmg.

DRG are really good DD, especially versus winged. The reason they're likely unloved is the most popular parser doesn't include any of the damage from that flappy Gecko-of-Lag. That plus DRGs always wear blue.

Blue isn't as cool as black. And the name -- DRAG+GOON. Really not very cool. DRG needs a coolness make-over. Either that or just give up and play Ninja. Ninjas are cool. They wear black. They use TWO swords with funky japanese names. They flip out and kill things! OK, only Taru NINs flip-out, but they're all cool.

'Course even a blue-wearing 'goon is cooler than a prancing BRD. BRD desperately needs a dash of cool. I swear that if SE changed the name of "Bard" to "Necromancer", replaced the swirling musical notes with little screaming skulls, and called 'em "blood rituals" instead of "songs" that we'd have more "Bards" playing the game than we'd know what to do with.

Then we could all build perfect groups in 10m, get 15k XP/h, and live happily ever onward with all the new cool kiddies.

[Murto]

Soloing for 75 lvls, then joining Axe Burn merit pts and trying to keep up to War's without having all the buffs they have (ie: Berserk, Agressor, Warcry, Warriors Charge, Attack Bonus, Double attack, Useful AF) is a challenge, thats for sure XD

[Karou Ariyen]

You don't need 3rd party tools to see how much I can severly outdamage Ayr too ^^

[Stockyboy]

Personally, you'll never keep up with a War/Nin in meripo imo, so you're prolly better off going /Drg with haste/atk gear, atleast you could use tatami shield. /Nin really is a strange sub. I see it as a kind of sub you use to avoid taking dmg while nerfing dmg at the same time; for Wars this is perfectly plausable because of all their JAs but seeing as Bsts don't get those a more DD geared sub would be best (/Drg or /War, but /Drg has some nice JTs and TP building abilities(lots of haste and jumps))

[Sugami]

When I out DD'd the Rng by 25k dmg in one party (came out the top DD) yes, I did consider that a pat on the back.

Must have been one gimpy-ass RNG, they do serious damage in new areas due to things being weak to piercing.

Keep that business to crap games like WoW and Guildwars, dont bring it here

Hey, I actually prefer Guild Wars to FFXI just that it's full of morons (like FFXI) and the community isn't as good. Plus the last few missions are impossibly hard with stupid AI mercs.

E-peen numbers is what keeps me in the game.

Not for long, once you hit those merit parties it'll be "lolDRK {No, thanks.} NIN, WAR, MNK onry!"

That plus DRGs always wear blue.

It's purple actually and purple > all. NIN AF only looks good on Mithra, baggy parachute pants on males just look stupid but it's still adorable on tarus (as always).

DRGs that wear more than one AF piece 100% of the time past 63ish are gimp, armet and greaves just plain suck for DoT.

[Stockyboy]

When I out DD'd the Rng by 25k dmg in one party (came out the top DD) yes, I did consider that a pat on the back.

Must have been one gimpy-ass RNG, they do serious damage in new areas due to things being weak to piercing.

Keep that business to crap games like WoW and Guildwars, dont bring it here

Hey, I actually prefer Guild Wars to FFXI just that it's full of morons (like FFXI) and the community isn't as good. Plus the last few missions are impossibly hard with stupid AI mercs.

E-peen numbers is what keeps me in the game.

Not for long, once you hit those merit parties it'll be "lolDRK {No, thanks.} NIN, WAR, MNK onry!"

That plus DRGs always wear blue.

It's purple actually and purple > all. NIN AF only looks good on Mithra, baggy parachute pants on males just look stupid but it's still adorable on tarus (as always).

DRGs that wear more than one AF piece 100% of the time past 63ish are gimp, armet and greaves just plain suck for DoT.

The rng was using O-bow and DS bolts, and doing light with me, I was still better (We were in Mount Z).

The good thing is most of my friends are 75 already which means {See you again!} onry people. Or maybe I'll just meripo on Rdm. <_>

[Tivia]

Alot of the button mashing and time contributed to me quitting FFXI for sure, although my primary catalyst still regretfully remains the fact that Good groups were the exception and not the rule, I just could not deal with the sheer amount of people who could not play their job, hopefully things have changed as FFXI to me outside a few gripes was a spectacular game to me.

Maybe you should have played a job like MNK where all you do is engage, walk off make tea and come back to hit a button for your WS

And no it hasn't changed. In fact I bump into more noobs now than during my first run to 75.

Concerning the comment of enduring the game, I pose a question. If you are not enjoying Playing the Game, why are you paying for it?

I'm not playing it anymore, not really. 5mins every day to check on VioletSakura doesn't really count. I won't cancel my account as I don't really want to part with Sugami and all the hard work I've put into it plus I see myself getting back into it down the line somewhere.

One of the major problems with FFXI is the ratio of drudgery to fun. It's good that gil has value, but SE seems to have made it valuable by requiring folks to spend an inordinate ammount of time doing things that aren't fun in order to obtain the gil needed to do things that are fun.

It's not so bad at newbie levels; 1-60 is pretty much 90% fun. Any deliberate gil'ing you do is by choice rather than as a need in order to progress. Even 60-74 isn't so bad -- maybe 70% fun stuff (yes, I count XP'ing as fun). It's only when you're 75 and need end-game items in order to improve your character that the fun:farm ratio hits the floor and whimpers.

FFXI end-game is just awful, but by that time you have so much invested into a job that giving it up seems to be some kind of self-betrayal.

Well not quite true if your first job is any DD (that isn't BLM or SMN) you have to pay out big for those must have items or you're gimpo. Sniper's/Woodsmen/Venerer, Scorpion Harness, Haubergeon, Amemet +1 etc. Those are all Lv.34-61.

At 75 there's only god/sky, sea/limbus and dynamis stuff. Requires putting time into events rather than nonstop farming/mining/etc.

Mnk was my first choice, and my preference. However always spending 3+ hours lfg finally wore on me so I swtiched to whm/smn out of necessity. At least then I could teleport if groups were nonexistant.

[ScarlettPheonix]

o-bow and DS bolts do not a good rng make >.>

I static'd with a good ranger for 20 odd levels after the r.attk nerf and he was always getting comments from people saying how they thought rng had been nerfed~ even from the occasional jp player.

Ranger is one of the jobs that really takes a fair amount of skill to play, in my opinion. All the expensive or rare/ex gear in the world really doesn't make up for knowing how to squeeze the most out of your job.

[Shirai]

In my opinion parsers have always been and always will be the biggest horsecrap there is.
I feel with all the BSTs,DRGs,PUPs and SMN anxiously awaiting parties.
I dislike burn parties, but give me an old fasion Skillchain>Magic Burst party and I'll show you what I'm made off!
Ah well, at least I'm a master soloer.



E-Peen {Do you need it?}
No parsers don't show this either.

[Stockyboy]

Your sea shots are silly D:

My personal best guillotine (/war)


It's crappy, but I only had sole sushi, no buffs or Brd D:

EDIT: Put sky instead of sea. <_>

[Murto]

You don't need 3rd party tools to see how much I can severly outdamage Ayr too ^^

I challenge that Karou, I been workin on my Dmg

And CC DOES count ; ; lol *kicks*, Stupid crab

StockyBoy Quoted: (blah, still cant figure out how to make it do 2 quotes ^^;)

"Personally, you'll never keep up with a War/Nin in meripo imo, so you're prolly better off going /Drg with haste/atk gear, atleast you could use tatami shield. /Nin really is a strange sub. I see it as a kind of sub you use to avoid taking dmg while nerfing dmg at the same time; for Wars this is perfectly plausable because of all their JAs but seeing as Bsts don't get those a more DD geared sub would be best (/Drg or /War, but /Drg has some nice JTs and TP building abilities(lots of haste and jumps))"

I have Tatami Shield, its crap for everything except soloing.
Why? Mages cant cure you, they get intimidated and cure fails. Last time i used it in a party, the whm could only cure me by using Curaga near me.

/drg on Bst is just saying "Please, kick me from the party and blist me"
Only 2 ways to go on Bst, /nin with axes or /war with scythe, and my scythe still needs to skill.

My dmg comes from having ridiculous amounts of Str a war will never see, coupled with a Merited CourierCarrie. So the small amount of dmg i may miss out on Rampage, i make up for heavily on DoT. Personally I'll admit my weak area is Att though, saving up for more acc gear so I can start using meat.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

(blah, still cant figure out how to make it do 2 quotes ^^;)

Cut and paste.

/Nin really is a strange sub. I see it as a kind of sub you use to avoid taking dmg while nerfing dmg at the same time;.

That's just about right. If you are a heavy DD like a RNG or MNK it is way too easy to become a tankish MP sponge. And then the mage starts tanking.... /NIN reduces damage output and gives you shadows. Not only do the shadows reduce the damage you take, if a shadow gets wiped by the mob, Hate is reduced. When partying with gimp tanks you must gimp yourself.

"But a NIN tank needs almost no Curing."

I have Tatami Shield, its crap for everything except soloing. Why? Mages cant cure you, they get intimidated and cure fails. Last time i used it in a party, the whm could only cure me by using Curaga near me.

WHAT!!??!!

[Murto]

Lol, it does, I'll screencap it sometime and show you
Comedy gold XD

[Okuza]

/Nin really is a strange sub. I see it as a kind of sub you use to avoid taking dmg while nerfing dmg at the same time; for Wars this is perfectly plausable because of all their JAs but seeing as Bsts don't get those a more DD geared sub would be best (/Drg or /War, but /Drg has some nice JTs and TP building abilities(lots of haste and jumps))

This is kind of funny. Sub/nin has DWII, which is 15% weapon haste (~+15% to DPS) for any dual-weild combination plus gives an extra hit to every WS (20% if you have Suppanomimi). Sub/war has DA, which is +10% to DPS and +10% to TP. Sub/war has a few other JA/JT that up DPS by maybe another 2~5% overall, but really the DPS difference between sub/nin and sub/war is mostly nonexistent for a 1H weapon user. Sub/nin doesn't nerf DPS, it is a significant increase that also includes at least 6 hits of invulnerability.

It's only when you're not using 2x1H weapons that sub/nin has no DPS gain for you.

I have Tatami Shield, its crap for everything except soloing. Why? Mages cant cure you, they get intimidated and cure fails. Last time i used it in a party, the whm could only cure me by using Curaga near me.

Are you sure it was a whm and not a rdm? This problem is typically caused by RDM wearing Crimson gear, which causes the RDM to count as a Wyrm and suffer from Dragon-killer effects. The shield will still intimidate regular players, but it should only be at ~1% activation for that unless you have incredibly high CHR.

[Murto]

Yea, it happens with Rdms wearing crimsons most often, but its worked on Whms a couple of times. Well, at least enough to piss them off ; ;

Maybe I just lucked out and had some really funky whm? o.o

And umm, yea, my Chr woulda played a factor. Combined with my AF pants ^^, coulda been wearing Tamers ring at the time too. Meh either way twas a long time ago now.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

...Sub/nin has DWII, which is 15% weapon haste (~+15% to DPS) for any dual-weild combination plus gives an extra hit to every WS (20% if you have Suppanomimi). Sub/war has DA, which is +10% to DPS and +10% to TP....but really the DPS difference between sub/nin and sub/war is mostly nonexistent for a 1H weapon user. Sub/nin doesn't nerf DPS, it is a significant increase that also includes at least 6 hits of invulnerability.

It's only when you're not using 2x1H weapons that sub/nin has no DPS gain for you.

Please note the examples I used. RNG and MNK. Both are forced to /NIN way before DWII to.... well avoid stripping hate off NIN tanks by,.... there is just no other way to say it, reducing their damage output.

Now tell me, just who would use one handed weapons while NOT /NIN other than THFs, RDMs, and PLDs?

[Pheonixhawk]

Corsair

[Stockyboy]

/Nin really is a strange sub. I see it as a kind of sub you use to avoid taking dmg while nerfing dmg at the same time; for Wars this is perfectly plausable because of all their JAs but seeing as Bsts don't get those a more DD geared sub would be best (/Drg or /War, but /Drg has some nice JTs and TP building abilities(lots of haste and jumps))

This is kind of funny. Sub/nin has DWII, which is 15% weapon haste (~+15% to DPS) for any dual-weild combination plus gives an extra hit to every WS (20% if you have Suppanomimi). Sub/war has DA, which is +10% to DPS and +10% to TP. Sub/war has a few other JA/JT that up DPS by maybe another 2~5% overall, but really the DPS difference between sub/nin and sub/war is mostly nonexistent for a 1H weapon user. Sub/nin doesn't nerf DPS, it is a significant increase that also includes at least 6 hits of invulnerability.

It's only when you're not using 2x1H weapons that sub/nin has no DPS gain for you.

I have Tatami Shield, its crap for everything except soloing. Why? Mages cant cure you, they get intimidated and cure fails. Last time i used it in a party, the whm could only cure me by using Curaga near me.

Are you sure it was a whm and not a rdm? This problem is typically caused by RDM wearing Crimson gear, which causes the RDM to count as a Wyrm and suffer from Dragon-killer effects. The shield will still intimidate regular players, but it should only be at ~1% activation for that unless you have incredibly high CHR.

War pretty much are sub Nin onry in exp, even though there are more viable subs, just for the fact Nin reduces their dmg compared to those other jobs (See: /Drg with haste gear)

[Karou Ariyen]

CC Does NOT count :O

If you want a Pet DMG vs Pet DMG Battle lemme lvl Pup ^^

Axe dual wielding battle onry.

[Stockyboy]

CC Does NOT count :O

If you want a Pet DMG vs Pet DMG Battle lemme lvl Pup ^^

Axe dual wielding battle onry.

It should count, it's part of the Bsts dmg. Don't be like those sore loosers in Ballista and go on about how it's unfair.

(Somebody did this to me, and said if I didn't use shadows I wouldn't have won (I was Nin at the time, lol))

[Murto]

If i wasnt allowed to use CC in a party I'd probably find a way to Mpk myself XD

[Okuza]

What I want to know is when SE is going to make it so F8 doesn't target pets. It's not as if you can do anything to a targeted player pet. Shift the damn things off the NPC list and over to the player list.

Better still, make it so I can slay it if it gets in my way. <mutters about fat blue geckos squating on the trail-markings>