Random Question Thread XIX: Welcome to Flavor Country

[Shalafi]

Im not so sure Pup has second best evasion only THF has better so it can pretty much blink tanking very well.

Nah, NIN still has higher evasion skill.

THF > NIN > DNC, MNK, SAM > PUP

[Innuendo]

Well you're right about the skill levels, but he said evasion, so he's factoring in the evasion bonus traits. Pup gets evasion bonus 4, which according to wiki is +48 evasion. If you count those then you get:
Thf (421) > PUP (383) > DNC (376) > NIN (354)

Though if your NIN is subbing DNC they get evasion bonus II which brings them up to 376. Furthermore, evasion bonus V being level 76 makes little sense, and if it's true there could have been more levels of it since 80 cap.

[Nightfyre]

What's an overall good laptop to play FFXI on that has good graphics, decent processor and good memory? My budget is $1000. I was thinking of getting a MacBook cuz I heard you can run it using BootCamp and Windows but is this effective or is it a hassle? Would it affect other programs like spellcast/windower/mappy/Clipper etc? Otherwise what's a good laptop to play FFXI on without lag/fps issues that can still do non ffxi things well with decent battery life for under $1000?

A Macbook would technically work with BootCamp, but if they're still using shitty integrated cards on the lower end models it's not going to work well.

[Byrthnoth]

Well you're right about the skill levels, but he said evasion, so he's factoring in the evasion bonus traits. Pup gets evasion bonus 4, which according to wiki is +48 evasion. If you count those then you get:
Thf (421) > PUP (383) > DNC (376) > NIN (354)

Though if your NIN is subbing DNC they get evasion bonus II which brings them up to 376. Furthermore, evasion bonus V being level 76 makes little sense, and if it's true there could have been more levels of it since 80 cap.

Generally when people claim NIN is evasive, they're factoring in Kurayami: Ni (Acc-40), Evasion Bonus 2 from /DNC or /THF, and possibly the Evasion stance (Innin?).

Also, as far as I know, Evasion Bonus potency have been from Thief monster /check tests. I'm not certain the last Evasion Bonus trait's potency is correct because I don't know that there is a monster population that gets it. I think people were just assuming it kept mirroring the RNG Accuracy Bonus trait, which has been true so far.

[Whammyns1]

Not seeing a whole lot of bandwagon NINs... I think the whole rising cost of tools is more related to jobs like MNK and BLU carrying elemental tools for extra grellow procs when a NIN isn't around.

Really? Seems like everyone on my server plays Ninja and has a Kannagi. I started leveling it right before the cap increase and Abyssea, although i will admit that since it became such a strong job i started to focus more on gear for it. I guess i am guilty of bandwagoning too. On the flipside, i leveled SAM a month ago now that it is now longer a bandwagon job! Its fun to play, but the survival on Ninja is so much nicer.

As far as being expensive, i have never really had an issue. With the new tools that are out, and capped Ninja Tool Expertise merits, i dont really find myself buying tools all that often. I dont really spam elemental spells, but blind/slow/para/TP down on every mob. The merits and using Yonin definitely make a huge difference.

[Whammyns1]

Generally when people claim NIN is evasive, they're factoring in Kurayami: Ni (Acc-40), Evasion Bonus 2 from /DNC or /THF, and possibly the Evasion stance (Innin?).

Also, as far as I know, Evasion Bonus potency have been from Thief monster /check tests. I'm not certain the last Evasion Bonus trait's potency is correct because I don't know that there is a monster population that gets it. I think people were just assuming it kept mirroring the RNG Accuracy Bonus trait, which has been true so far.

Yonin boosts evasion, not Innin

[lolwut]

Does this still apply under brew as well due to the large amount of mab gained?

Good question. Could math it out pretty easily, but I have no clue how much mab brew gives. If I were just taking a guess, I'd bet on GC.

[Nightfyre]

Brew gives 900 MAB iirc. NIN tools aren't too bad; if they're too expensive on the AH you can just buy the universal tools in Bastok. Easier on your inv anyway; I only carry a couple of non-universal tools.

[Radec]

Long as GC works for Ranged WS (since using vulcan's) it'll win easily. Easy test once servers back if untested, (I didn't follow the full GC testing discussion) but ultimate would be next best choice otherwise.

[Yugl]

What's an overall good laptop to play FFXI on that has good graphics, decent processor and good memory? My budget is $1000. I was thinking of getting a MacBook cuz I heard you can run it using BootCamp and Windows but is this effective or is it a hassle? Would it affect other programs like spellcast/windower/mappy/Clipper etc? Otherwise what's a good laptop to play FFXI on without lag/fps issues that can still do non ffxi things well with decent battery life for under $1000?

http://www.alienware.com/Landings/la...430&redirect=1

[Syntex]

What job should I level next?

I hear NIN is god mode right now so should I level nin to 90 and deck him after I get my MNK/RDM/SMN to 90 with decent gear?

Or how about BLM? Both jobs are at 37 and I do need to level them as subs but I wanted to know what people think in regards to which job to level.

I have some mage stuff and some ninja stuff so it could go either way.

Also maybe elaborate on why you chose which one.

[Yugl]

WHM NIN BLM. Pick one.

[Syntex]

WHM NIN BLM. Pick one.

I CAAAAAAAAAAAN'T DECIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEE.

Help me choose... AKA convince me...

[TheDirtyHobo]

I CAAAAAAAAAAAN'T DECIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEE.

Help me choose... AKA convince me...

Do you like smashing things in the face? NIN

Do you like smashing things in the face with magic from a distance? BLM

Do you like watching/enabling other people smashing things in the face? WHM

[Rikura]

You can do all three as WHM! (ok sorta, not really...)

[Kaisha]

Well, with the XI downtime I guess I may as well ask for some opinions.

Been playing catch up earlier this month when I resubscribed, nabbed Abyssea as well so I can XP and do stuff with my LS. Ended up hitting 90 on my main jobs (RDM/SMN/PUP/SCH) much faster than anticipated, so I'm left wondering what the current merit builds are popular at 90 as I'm stuff a little behind in terms of who uses what.
(apparently my mains are not even that preferred for end-game Abyssea ;/)

I got my current builds/ideas in mind in the spoiler, wouldn't mind some input so I'm not wasting merits...

Spoiler: show

RDM- Only job I fully meritted so far, which is 5/5 Convert, 1 Wind ACC, 2 Earth/Ice Acc for Cat 1, and 5 Slow2, 4 Para2, 1 Phalanx 2 on Cat 2. Was contemplating ditching the Phalanx 2 and going 5/5 for Para2 as Abyssea and SCH kinda makes it seem useless at stage 1.

SMN- preference seemed to have went from Physical attacks to Magical since lvl75. LS mate told me to go 5/5 for Physical/Magical ATT on Cat1, and 5/5 Heavenly Strike on Cat2. How does that favour with atmas? That would also leave me 5 to spend in cat2 still, so would I be better off doing 5/5 in another BP, or do 1 in the others just so I have access to all BPs for the job?

lolPUP- so far I got 5 in Range and Magic skill for Cat1, and still working on Cat2. The build in mind I have is 1 in both Role Reversal and Ventriloquy as they're handy to have, and then 4 in each of Fine-Tuning and Optimization.

SCH- I'm not really sure of, and have only a couple merits in. There's nothing that stands out as must-have for me, so I'm currently looking at 5 in Helix Acc/Att for Cat1, and 5 in Stormsurge for Cat2, although Abyssea atmas make Stormsurge feel like a waste.

The site I used to frequent for job-specific info, KillingIfrit, looks like a ghost town nowadays and hardly has decent lvl90 info.

[Eldelphia]

RDM- Only job I fully meritted so far, which is 5/5 Convert, 1 Wind ACC, 2 Earth/Ice Acc for Cat 1, and 5 Slow2, 4 Para2, 1 Phalanx 2 on Cat 2. Was contemplating ditching the Phalanx 2 and going 5/5 for Para2 as Abyssea and SCH kinda makes it seem useless at stage 1.

SMN- preference seemed to have went from Physical attacks to Magical since lvl75. LS mate told me to go 5/5 for Physical/Magical ATT on Cat1, and 5/5 Heavenly Strike on Cat2. How does that favour with atmas? That would also leave me 5 to spend in cat2 still, so would I be better off doing 5/5 in another BP, or do 1 in the others just so I have access to all BPs for the job?

SCH- I'm not really sure of, and have only a couple merits in. There's nothing that stands out as must-have for me, so I'm currently looking at 5 in Helix Acc/Att for Cat1, and 5 in Stormsurge for Cat2, although Abyssea atmas make Stormsurge feel like a waste.
[/spoiler]

The site I used to frequent for job-specific info, KillingIfrit, looks like a ghost town nowadays and hardly has decent lvl90 info.

RDM kinda depends on what you're doing but tbh Convert is the no brainer and everyone tends to mix up the rest a bit. You either go for Para or Slow II and then some combo of others. I dropped Phalanx II and now I wish I hadn't. I don't always /SCH on RDM and its nice in Salvage etc. Your mileage may vary.

As for SMN, people are responding to the atma right now. Physical numbers can be amazing as can magical. Honestly no one seems to agree on this. I opened up all the merit BPs and then put the rest of my points into Heavenly Strike and Windblade.

SCH I can be more helpful on... I maxed out Sublimation and Helix Macc/matt for group 1 and then opened up Enlightenment (handy but not essential) in Group 2. I'd recommend Enlightenment for convenience but it doesn't need capping. I did cap Stormsurge but inside Abyssea it's not really that useful. I also opened up Focalization and I think Altruism. Group 2 merits are kinda 'meh' for SCH. I can't tell you exactly what I did where for Group 2 as FFXIAH seems to be down/glitching for me right now and obviously I can't login!

What job should I level next?

I hear NIN is god mode right now so should I level nin to 90 and deck him after I get my MNK/RDM/SMN to 90 with decent gear?

Or how about BLM? Both jobs are at 37 and I do need to level them as subs but I wanted to know what people think in regards to which job to level.

I have some mage stuff and some ninja stuff so it could go either way.

Also maybe elaborate on why you chose which one.

NIN is very powerful right now, but you already have MNK. Pro's are you can share some gear I guess (depends...) and solo more.

THF shouldn't be ruled out tbh, I've met some amazing thf and they can tank well in Aby but again... you have MNK. BLM is a lot of fun right now but you will be a proc bitch. Make sure you buy/farm all the spells and keep in mind they're pretty expensive. However BLM casting right now is like crack - especially with good atma. I can hit some crazy numbers and its good fun but most of the time you're there for procing.

WHM is a far, far better healer than RDM right now. A lot of my RDM friends are getting pissed off and just levelling WHM. WHM is amazing fun right now if you're into the whole backline thing.

[Tsuko_Asura]

RDM: Para 5/5, Slow 5/5, Ice Acc 5/5, Convert 5/5. Elemental accuracy merits are virtually useless right now, but Bind's utility may come back at some point, and no other element matter's more or less right now.

SMN: 5/5 Heavenly Strike, unless there's another atma that combines affinity and MAB like Beyond does. Your other merit is a tossup; I'd do either Wind Blade 5/5(Hastega will give Garuda the TP-edge in any situation where your avatars can actively melee for TP) or Geocrush 5/5(stun is nifty).

PUP: I know dick-all about PUP merits, but if you're just trying to pump out as much damage as you can, I have to imagine boosting your automaton's ranged capabilities to their maximum is going to produce the best results, mostly because of the tragic fact that actually using excessive maneuvers is going to rape your already mediocre damage output, and Sharpshot only requires that you engage him to be decent.

SCH: I know as much about SCH merits as PUP, but T2 merit stratagems look retarded, so I'm gonna' go with Stormsurge and Enlightenment 5/5. The former is obviously useful to some degree(moreso than dumping two stratagem charges for something stupid), and the latter should be nifty if you need a random Sleep2 or something. I suppose Helices are still neat for when you don't have time to cast a T5/4, and you can't dump all of your charges on Alacrity, so I guess Macc/Mattk are going to be your best bet. Sublimation merits are, as always, completely useless.

Now that I'm done being productive, here's some tough love: meriting and maintaining SCH and PUP is a complete and utter waste of your time. They were never really good at/for anything, and that's not likely to ever change. SMN is barely worth keeping around, and RDM is pretty much for intensive solo or duo work only. Realistically, I only see RDM becoming (slightly) more useful in the future, but I'd still strongly suggest that you consider leveling a more useful job, including, but not limited to: WHM, MNK, NIN, BLM, or THF.

Good luck.

[Mojo]

For RDM, this is what I would recommend.

1x Slow II
1x Paralyze II
3x Dia III or 3x Bio III
5x Phalanx II

I'm sure many people will advise full potency Slow II over Phalanx II, I disagree. SCH subjob does enable Phalanx to be cast without it, although typically you're only doing this for the benefit of one person anyways. This means you end up blowing 2/3 of your stratagems on it. The boost in magic accuracy is pitiful in the overall scope of things, especially with the new gear around. That leaves you with potency. dMND will likely be capped off in any situation, so it's the difference between about 35%/39% Slow II. Slow actually experiences decreasing returns, so this turns out to be only a marginal decrease in attack speed of 2.88% (2.12% when stacked with Carnage Elegy, 4.71% with Saboteur, 3.64% with Saboteur and Carnage Elegy, in case you're curious.) Either way, those are never game changing in any way. The mob would actually have to be hitting your tank for over 1000 damage per round in order for Slow II to overcome a 300 skill Phalanx II in terms of sheer damage reduction (if effects on Utsusemi and the like are ignored.) I've found Phalanx to be useful in a variety of situations other than just having it on the tank to mitigate damage (cleaving, skilling up, magian trials, etc.) I'd say its usefulness is far beyond that of some marginal Slow II potency merits.

[Tsuko_Asura]

Your assessment makes a lot of assumptions about the nature of future content. As things stand right now, there's little to no reason for a RDM to be supplementing anything melee-oriented, completely nulling the benefits of Phalanx2 and Dia3.