Random Question Thread XIX: Welcome to Flavor Country

[DNAval]

/sigh fuccccck

[Isiolia]

Actually, I think you start accumulating them as soon as you start the quest, he just won't give you any more than the initial stone until you finish.

[Julian]

Actually, I think you start accumulating them as soon as you start the quest, he just won't give you any more than the initial stone until you finish.

This is correct.

[Chun Liroy]

Nin expensive to use now adays?

[Ocara]

Nin expensive to use now adays?

Was it ever? With more gear being rare/ex and less big ticket items to waste money on, most people are sitting on enough money to make tools a negligible cost.

[Chun Liroy]

A few years ago, it was fairly expensive, yeah. And that's what I'm referencing. But thanks. It's also fairly useful nowadays also?

[Fievel]

A few years ago, it was fairly expensive, yeah. And that's what I'm referencing. But thanks. It's also fairly useful nowadays also?

Great tank, top tier DD, and has most of the WS's to trigger red !! in abyssea, it's very useful.

[Isiolia]

NIN is one of the most used jobs in Abyssea - it does great damage there, evasion soloing, has a lot of procs it can do, including unique ones, and so on.

Costs of NIN consumables has probably doubled to tripled since Abyssea hit as a result of NIN becoming bandwagon again...but it's not unrealistic for an established player. For a new player, the cost could once again be a barrier like it was back in the day. On the flip side, basically every job is dirt cheap to gear.

[Chun Liroy]

I'm levelling drg atm, and I had planned on levelling blu, but I don't think either of those offer very much versatility.

E: and how is pup and cor now adays?

[Byrthnoth]

PUP is the same qualified joke it has always been* and COR is a hard sell in Abyssea considering the things they offer (more STP, more DA, and more Attack) are things Atma give us plenty of.

*Obviously a good player with a mediocre job is better than a bad player with a good job. And they're sometimes more useful than a Black Mage that can't Stun.

[Ophannus]

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?

[Francisco]

Costs of NIN consumables has probably doubled to tripled since Abyssea hit as a result of NIN becoming bandwagon again...but it's not unrealistic for an established player. For a new player, the cost could once again be a barrier like it was back in the day. On the flip side, basically every job is dirt cheap to gear.

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.

[Yugl]

I'm levelling drg atm, and I had planned on levelling blu, but I don't think either of those offer very much versatility.

E: and how is pup and cor now adays?

DRG, like RDM, is one of those "It's nice to have once everything else is accounted for", but it's not granting much else abyssea-utility wise. It is useful if you prefer to do blue!! during piercing though.

BLU has actually gained utility through abyssea and in some cases will be your primary tank if you're solely looking to proc yellow!! with the minimal amount of people (BLU/NIN + WHM/RDM + BLM/BRD).

[tenkiki]

I'm levelling drg atm, and I had planned on levelling blu, but I don't think either of those offer very much versatility.

E: and how is pup and cor now adays?

Cor has one of the best elemental WS available (great for brew, low enmity) and can help mages do 10/20% more damage via QD(assuming they don't care for their epeen wildfires...). But yeah, buffs from rolls leave something to be desired.

Pup is a good soloing job in abyssea. With /nin, it has access to 2 red procs, 6 blue procs, 10-12 yellow procs (if you want to risk trying bliz/thunder3), a good crit ws, high evasion+flash, cure6, and a mini-sekka. It's no mnk|nin+whm duo, but for only playing one account, I like it. Hardly use it for group events, but it can cast high damage nukes without pulling hate, using deactivate like blm's enmity douse. Damage won't be as high as a blm spamming nukes, but it will be safer.

Speaking of wildfire, what's the best third atma after lone wolf and smoldering sky under regular/brewing conditions? I've heard both griffin's claw and ultimate, but not sure which is better.

[Chun Liroy]

The reason I'm done drg is because it was my main job before I quit and it is by far my favorite. I always enjoyed blu and was in the process of levelling it when I got banned so I wanted to level it up, especially with all the awesome it seemed to have attained.

[lolwut]

Cor has one of the best elemental WS available (great for brew, low enmity) and can help mages do 10/20% more damage via QD(assuming they don't care for their epeen wildfires...). But yeah, buffs from rolls leave something to be desired.

Pup is a good soloing job in abyssea. With /nin, it has access to 2 red procs, 6 blue procs, 10-12 yellow procs (if you want to risk trying bliz/thunder3), a good crit ws, high evasion+flash, cure6, and a mini-sekka. It's no mnk|nin+whm duo, but for only playing one account, I like it. Hardly use it for group events, but it can cast high damage nukes without pulling hate, using deactivate like blm's enmity douse. Damage won't be as high as a blm spamming nukes, but it will be safer.

Speaking of wildfire, what's the best third atma after lone wolf and smoldering sky under regular/brewing conditions? I've heard both griffin's claw and ultimate, but not sure which is better.

Ultimate will boost your QDs as well, even without a set bonus proc, a QD in Abyssea is a mini ws on it's own. Should be superior for overall damage.

[TheDirtyHobo]

Honestly, PUP is probably one of the better non-empyrean DDs, Stringing Pummel is almost comparable to Victory Smite. They just have pretty weak natural tanking capabilities, and if you can afford a pure DD slot without worrying about defense, you may as well bring a WAR.

[Mercilessturtle]

but it can cast high damage nukes without pulling hate, using deactivate like blm's enmity douse. Damage won't be as high as a blm spamming nukes, but it will be safer.

Pulling hate is pretty much a non-issue for blms though, you take one hit and the mob turns back to the monk or nin. Having your automaton get hit with an aoe is worse for pup than pulling hate is for a blm. Pretty much the only thing pup nuking is useful for is Lugarhoo since automatons can't get intimidated.

[Atoreis]

They just have pretty weak natural tanking capabilities

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

[tenkiki]

Ultimate will boost your QDs as well, even without a set bonus proc, a QD in Abyssea is a mini ws on it's own. Should be superior for overall damage.

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

Also, again not much of a party pup, so my experience with the job is primarily from soloing, mostly punch/evade/proc, cure when needed or heavy nuking every minute or so. Was also fun seeing it cast while moving. Not as useful in parties now with limited kite fights, but still nice when soloing via pinning/kiting.

With tanking, he may be referring to not having any hate tools aside from WS-> tactical swap -> WS. It does hurt soloing as hate reset usually kills off the automaton. But to make up for it, we can stona ourselves while petrified, allowing for safe solos of some NMs like tammuz and chesma.