Whats better?

[Wolfknight]

No he doesn't. 288 GKT skill, low DEX...

106 is low dex wtf, do you consider high dex then, I have 100 dex on my sam gear and I only see two slots that could give dex really that don't already[iota ring/cuch mantle], according to acc calc at 399 which will give him at 91% hit on birds, capped on non-thf/nin mamool, 87% on wyverns at MJS and 70% on nin with stats he listed and hasso, I say has enough acc for most regular stuff really, so foragers.

[Callisto]

Hit 75WAR a few days ago, trying to figure out what to buy/aim for next(Byakko's Haidate aside, those are obvious) to flesh out my WS sets.

Here's what I have so far, I typically use Perdu/Pole Grip/Bomblet except for toying with Fort Axe:

RR:
Askar/Aqua/Hollow/Brutal
Hauby/Heca/Flame/Flame
Amemet+1/Warwolf/Warrior's/Rutters

KJ:
The same except for Thunder Gorget, Woodsman as 2nd ring, and Potent Belt

SC:
Genbu's/Aqua/Merman's/Brutal
Osode/Pallas'/Flame/Flame
Amemet+1/Warwolf/Warrior's/Rutters

Anything pressing other than Byakko's that I'm missing? I'm kinda in the area where all I see for upgrades are like minor amounts of STR for large amounts of gil...

And is Rampager worth looking into for merits if I already have Perdu?

[Wolfknight]

bleh, ive seen most other potst and im still a bit foggy on a few things,

First of all ill list my merits
Elvaan
75 sam:
8/8 GK
4/4 evasion (Vs 4/4 parry?)
5/5 STR
5/5 Store TP
5/5 Meditate
5/5Overwhelm
1/5 Shikikoyo
4/5 Ikishoten (for luls)

First off unless you do HNM to warrant Shikikoyo at all, drop it and Ikishoten, and go 5/5 blade bash once you get use to having it, it can safe your or other people's lifes alot if you use I love mine being on five minute timer for stun, and I'd say go for parry cause I seem to parry lot more than I evade.

Current Gear:
Weapon: Hagun
Sub: Pole grip
ranged/ammo:Olibanum satchet (dreaming of ifrit's bow)
TP- Wturban (working on Ace's helm)
Haubergeon (want: askar korazin but my friend keeps telling me get Haubie +1)*plz dont talk about Nuevobergeon....
Hachiman Kote +1 (dint have raja's ring for a nice time, also this is swaped in meditate macro thanks to 6/6 str peices swaped in str gear macro)
Want: Askar manapolas but VS dusk gloves/+1
Chiv Chain (Vs swap Pcharm, but i dont have any efficient macro to swap another peice.| Working on Justice Torque)
Swift Belt (Working on Velocious)
Bushi/brutal
Byakko's Haidate
Fuma's Sune-ate (looking torward usukane sune-ate)
Forager's Mantle
Raja's/[ulthalams vs iota ring]

if you get askar hands, I'd recommend swapping to hachiman feet full-time and tping askar/ws alky, and askar body is terrible on sam unless you're /dnc much better off spending tags for askar helm or hands for sam, and ring ultha/iota whichever you can get easier. Also you can ws in different hands and not lose 6-hit with HQ kote. Beside Askar body you seem to have right idea of what you need to work towards.

WS- Shura Zunari-Kabuto (working on ace's helm vs +6 str one in the past that i forget name)
Chiv Chain(working on Snow gorget)
bushi/brutal
Askar korazin vs Haubergeon +1(for HNM|work in progress) and Osode (merit)
Hachiman Kote +1 (i want to use myochin kote +1 but it wont fit in macro any sugesstions?) | Myochin kote +1 vs Alky braclets |*Note: im also paranoid about my acc scince I don't thave parser idk what my % is.
flame/rajas
warwolf belt
Forager's mantle
Shura Haidate VS Usukane legs (yes we all want Hachiryu and I'm looking torwards both soon) just wana know whats more worth while for ws.
Rutter Sabatons

use alky yuki/gekko/kasha have huge acc mod hard not to cap acc on them, legs usukane beat shura, and body I'd say either is fine really I use KO personally for most stuff on ws. Neck Gorget should be top priority it will increase ws dmg more than any other gear besides hagun. Helm shura is fine but if you get ace's not really gimp to full time, and the orc helm +6 str is best besides maats cap for sure on YGK

yah i want to know whats the best balance, i dont like losing too much for something else cause i cant macro in alot of peices due to my macro problem that also needs help scince i use ps3 to play.

also my constant arguments with my samurai friend (hes hume) keep me wondering if im looking the wrong way sometimes >.>

i like staying alive (my constant /nin on most events) and i have 6k recorded deaths, i hardly /war anymore even tho i love the damage. is why i merited evasion, cause i know sam can evade but my parry skill is also 283+5 (bushi no merits, getting AF+1 legs for solo)

any input on some of these items would be appreciated but if you can tell me right off the bat what to realy use and why id be very happy.

some events need /nin[or /thf] depending on your role[MMM, Nyzul, some assaults/limbus zones], but really if you want to be able to /war at more stuff I'd say you need to invest in to -dmg% gear set[just arhat head/body HQ preferably, Jelly Ring, Askar feet should suffice] and use seigan third eye swap when TE fails and you have hate should help you stay alive a good bit and allow you to do /war fine at dynamis, salvage, most limbus[not bosses], and such. Also next time post this kinda thing in the "post my gear thread" in media section.

[FailureMidgard]

First off unless you do HNM to warrant Shikikoyo at all, drop it and Ikishoten, and go 5/5 blade bash once you get use to having it, it can safe your or other people's lifes alot if you use I love mine being on five minute timer for stun, and I'd say go for parry cause I seem to parry lot more than I evade.

Strongly disagree...if you do Einherjar, Limbus without 2x the necessary people, Salvage, or really any event on your Samurai, I'd keep Shikikoyo. I've said before, and I'll say again that I think any non-relic Sam that drops it is losing out on a decent amount of potential damage for 2.5min off Blade Bash.

I do agree with dropping Ikishoten and going 4/5 Blade Bash, however.

[Wolfknight]

Strongly disagree...if you do Einherjar, Limbus without 2x the necessary people, Salvage, or really any event on your Samurai, I'd keep Shikikoyo. I've said before, and I'll say again that I think any non-relic Sam that drops it is losing out on a decent amount of potential damage for 2.5min off Blade Bash.

I do agree with dropping Ikishoten and going 4/5 Blade Bash, however.

honestly I disagree I found myself -never- using shiki post-sekkanoki because quite frankly I am ussually wsing the highest so me giving tp to someone else tends to lower damage not raise it, so I say you're losing dmg potiental, cause only time I get over tp is from mediate in which case I'll use sekkanoki, einherjar only I see agruement for giving tp to ppl while they gather, but I'd rather get to use JA more I use daily than a JA for twice a week.

[FailureMidgard]

honestly I disagree I found myself -never- using shiki post-sekkanoki because quite frankly I am ussually wsing the highest so me giving tp to someone else tends to lower damage not raise it, so I say you're losing dmg potiental, cause only time I get over tp is from mediate in which case I'll use sekkanoki, einherjar only I see agruement for giving tp to ppl while they gather, but I'd rather get to use JA more I use daily than a JA for twice a week.

What weapon are you using? If you have a relic or something, disregard. If you are using a Hagun, while your normal WSes very well may beat someone else, your Shiki WS average is going to be dirt low.

Most all of what I do is with lower numbers, and with other very strong melee (a really well geared DRG and a Mandau THF), and there is no way that a Sekkanoki'd Hagun WS can compete with their WSes. Half of the damage, if I'm lucky.

Besides that though, any time you are saving to 300 TP, you can Sekka>WS>Shiki>WS (and hope the other person is smart/fast enough to WS before you get to using Shiki in your sequence) and get more burst than you would have otherwise. Also, lowmanning Limbus, you can start with TP the same as in Einherjar. Same goes for any KS fight you do. If you want to help with hate, you can give TP to a paladin (or he can use it for MP). And before it comes up as it did last time, if switching a sam into a party for a few seconds is that big a problem, your LS has other issues.

I think Blade Bash is better than Shiki, without a doubt, but a 7.5min cooldown timer is not the least bit bad, and I think Shiki opens up way more than enough possibilities to make it well worth 1 point.

[Blademage]

thanks for the help taking notes now, and yah i was thinking about droping iki and maybe shiki cause of the random useage, i do have HNM but its used rareley. ill be working on merits again thorugh the week thanks!

[Cream Soda]

I merit to make my damage better, not to save someone gil. If they want TP, they can go buy some sleep pots or get tp from one of the other sams since most of them have shik anyways. Not worth my time to save someone else money. 5/5 blade bash ftw.

[Max™]

Yeah, you gotta be running with a shitty crew if you're always doing the most WS damage in every situation ever as Sam.

Sorry man, Sams do it more often than anyone. Wars do it harder than anyone.



Also: giving me TP for atonement/cure spam + chivalry > lets me cap hate faster > lets you /War safer. Shiki > 5 Min Blade Bash.

[Wolfknight]

What weapon are you using? If you have a relic or something, disregard. If you are using a Hagun, while your normal WSes very well may beat someone else, your Shiki WS average is going to be dirt low.

Most all of what I do is with lower numbers, and with other very strong melee (a really well geared DRG and a Mandau THF), and there is no way that a Sekkanoki'd Hagun WS can compete with their WSes. Half of the damage, if I'm lucky.

Besides that though, any time you are saving to 300 TP, you can Sekka>WS>Shiki>WS (and hope the other person is smart/fast enough to WS before you get to using Shiki in your sequence) and get more burst than you would have otherwise. Also, lowmanning Limbus, you can start with TP the same as in Einherjar. Same goes for any KS fight you do. If you want to help with hate, you can give TP to a paladin (or he can use it for MP). And before it comes up as it did last time, if switching a sam into a party for a few seconds is that big a problem, your LS has other issues.

I think Blade Bash is better than Shiki, without a doubt, but a 7.5min cooldown timer is not the least bit bad, and I think Shiki opens up way more than enough possibilities to make it well worth 1 point.

personally I find very few of the other DDs that strong on my ls, or the mnk or blu so giving them tp is meh so thats part of my reasoning since doing rana > gekko is very strong, if I had relic DD in my ls, I'd reconsider and I've had plenty of times where if blade bash wasn't up right then it would have cost me or someone else, especially I since do SM + M MMM bosses with 4 ussually where blade bash is a live safer, since can stop badly timed tp move, give me chance to put shadows up, or stop an Aga.

[FailureMidgard]

I merit to make my damage better, not to save someone gil. If they want TP, they can go buy some sleep pots or get tp from one of the other sams since most of them have shik anyways. Not worth my time to save someone else money. 5/5 blade bash ftw.

If that was it's only use, then fine, except there's a million scenarios outside of that.

You die on an AoE mob and have some TP, you Meditate, and throw TP to a melee that isn't weakened while staying out of AoE range.

You want to help a tank's threat/dmg, be that in Salvage on a chariot you don't want to melee if you're an extra melee, to a co-tank if you're out threating them, or to a paladin in some lowman scenario (who can use it for hate or

You start with 300TP and do Sekka>WS>Shiki>WS and turn 100 TP into an entire extra WS.

Toss someone TP because I am 100% sure that if you are with anyone even half decent, their WS does more than your Seka'd Hagun WS.

And seriously, wtf @ the saving money argument. Maybe you are more outgoing than I give credit for, but if there's a lull in pulls for a moment, do you stop and sleep TP all the time? I know for a fact I don't, though it would up damage...if you don't, I don't see why a Sam shouldn't give you some free TP and up the dmg dealt by the group.
What if you kill a mob at 100-120 TP and meditate comes off cooldown 10 sec later? What if that was right before you ported to a new floor in salvage, and have to run across the floor (or pulls will be delayed for any reason, I just say running so I don't get the sleep potion argument, which I know I never use, and basically never see other people use either...doubt you do, no offense). You think you should meditate, hit 280 and sit on it, and that's good? You don't think it'd be better to meditate, give someone 100 tp, then still end up able to Shiki when you get to the pull, and meditate's cooldown will be halfway over?

The way some people argue for Blade Bash, you'd think it's like I'm suggesting to leave it at 15minutes or not merit it at all. We're talking about a 7.5min Blade Bash+Shiki. I guarantee you, if you are intelligent and look for openings, you will find a lot of use from Shiki.

[Cream Soda]

Either way you look at it, I don't see it being a huge difference and I just prefer to have my blade bash at 5 mins.

[FailureMidgard]

Either way you look at it, I don't see it being a huge difference and I just prefer to have my blade bash at 5 mins.

No single "thing" in this game is a huge difference. Some sams prefer /nin for safety, and yet some people on these forums say that they are doing something hugely wrong to choose safety over damage. Some SAM may choose to TP in an Arhat's+1 instead of a Hauby. It's trading dmg for safety, /shrug.

If someone really wants to have Blade Bash at 5min instead of 7.5 over Shiki, then fine, I won't argue that too much, it is personal preference (as much as /nin vs /war vs /drg really), but if people start saying "I rarely use it, I never use it", then they quite clearly are not trying to use it, are not trying to have their group do as much damage as possible, because that is a bullshit excuse, and I can -easily- make use of it to up my party's damage within 5 minutes of it coming of cooldown, every time (though granted, it lowers my personal damage/parse...)

[Wolfknight]

If someone really wants to have Blade Bash at 5min instead of 7.5 over Shiki, then fine, I won't argue that too much, it is personal preference (as much as /nin vs /war vs /drg really), but if people start saying "I rarely use it, I never use it", then they quite clearly are not trying to use it, are not trying to have their group do as much damage as possible, because that is a bullshit excuse, and I can -easily- make use of it to up my party's damage within 5 minutes of it coming of cooldown, every time (though granted, it lowers my personal damage/parse...)

I had for a very long time, til about 3 months after merit tier II was update to 5, and I honestly didn't find myself using it that much especially with SUCH a long cooldown, sure when weakened nice to give them tp but seems silly to me to merit a JA to use while weakened, I'd rather have my defense ablity sooner than give up tp for small overall dmg increase generally and I find myself using blade bash ussually shortly after it's up[or sooner wanting it lol], and shiki is just flat out useless for some stuff I do like ENMs, and MMM, since I am only DD present, or other DD is blm or smn who can't use tp.

[FailureMidgard]

I had for a very long time, til about 3 months after merit tier II was update to 5, and I honestly didn't find myself using it that much especially with SUCH a long cooldown, sure when weakened nice to give them tp but seems silly to me to merit a JA to use while weakened, I'd rather have my defense ablity sooner than give up tp for small overall dmg increase generally and I find myself using blade bash ussually shortly after it's up[or sooner wanting it lol], and shiki is just flat out useless for some stuff I do like ENMs, and MMM, since I am only DD present, or other DD is blm or smn who can't use tp.

I wouldn't merit a JA to use while weakened, but between that and a hundred other scenarios, can easily use it once every 20 minutes, IMO. Again, if you are using Shiki with a Hagun, and there is another melee with you, you are gimping your party's damage.

[Wulfgang]

With mirke waldecors on a rng, what would one prefer? between snapshot/racc+10/ratk+10.

Also, how would it compete with osode on ws?

Snapshot 5 / RATK 10, and that combo would be > Osode for TP. For WS, I'm pretty sure Osode still wins. You'd have to beseech VZX for math since he is ranged attack master.

[Wolfknight]

I wouldn't merit a JA to use while weakened, but between that and a hundred other scenarios, can easily use it once every 20 minutes, IMO. Again, if you are using Shiki with a Hagun, and there is another melee with you, you are gimping your party's damage.

I tend to be with mnks, blms, smn, blus, or other sams most often and none of them getting an extra ws every 15 minutes gonna raise dmg that much, if was with a really good drg, war, or drk reguarly might be worth it and by your logic you're gimping your surivablity w/o lower recast, you telling you NEVER need/want blade bash to be up sooner?

[FailureMidgard]

I tend to be with mnks, blms, smn, blus, or other sams most often and none of them getting an extra ws every 15 minutes gonna raise dmg that much, if was with a really good drg, war, or drk reguarly might be worth it and by your logic you're gimping your surivablity w/o lower recast, you telling you NEVER need/want blade bash to be up sooner?

In the 2.5minute window that it would be? It happens every now and then. Less often than you claim to use Shiki, probably. I still have a 7.5 Blade Bash, and I don't just use it for the hell of it on cooldown. I let things go off that seem less threatening, that some people may stun, and I'd do that with a 5min cooldown as well.

And yea, I agree I am "gimping" my survivability. But so does going /war, so does using a Haub, etc. I feel my job as a Sam is to push damage as much as possible, that my mages can handle. There is a point it's gone too far perhaps (fulltime Hasso on a chariot), but I think this is worth the damage gain.

[Aragon of Odin]

Hit 75WAR a few days ago, trying to figure out what to buy/aim for next(Byakko's Haidate aside, those are obvious) to flesh out my WS sets.

Here's what I have so far, I typically use Perdu/Pole Grip/Bomblet except for toying with Fort Axe:

RR:
Askar/Aqua/Hollow/Brutal
Hauby/Heca/Flame/Flame
Amemet+1/Warwolf/Warrior's/Rutters

KJ:
The same except for Thunder Gorget, Woodsman as 2nd ring, and Potent Belt

SC:
Genbu's/Aqua/Merman's/Brutal
Osode/Pallas'/Flame/Flame
Amemet+1/Warwolf/Warrior's/Rutters

Anything pressing other than Byakko's that I'm missing? I'm kinda in the area where all I see for upgrades are like minor amounts of STR for large amounts of gil...

And is Rampager worth looking into for merits if I already have Perdu?

Some things will depend on wether you merit GA or not. If you plan to fully merit it these are some suggestions.
Most upgrades are Rare/Ex and requires either time @ HNM/Einhejar or Sky.

N.Head/N.Feet/B.Haidate gonna be the biggest upgrades you can get.

I use N.Head and N.Feet for all 3 WS's.

Is there a reason you use more ACC for KJ then RR? Both are 3 hit WS's, my KJ actually has less ACC then my RR because I swap out B.Haidate for Warrior's Cuisses and I use Alky's instead on N.Hands.

Triumph earring and Alky's for SC.
There are even bigger upgrades for your hardcore War, Hachiryu Haidate, Are's Body & Legs, E.Body. Costly and will only bump damage up slightly but sexy pieces none the less. Just depends how far into War you gonna get, cause the best upgrade I could see to bump your damage is free but you don't have, Rajas Ring!

I'd stick with Perdu, things a freakin monster of a GA.

[Callisto]

Some things will depend on wether you merit GA or not. If you plan to fully merit it these are some suggestions.
Most upgrades are Rare/Ex and requires either time @ HNM/Einhejar or Sky.

N.Head/N.Feet/B.Haidate gonna be the biggest upgrades you can get.

I use N.Head and N.Feet for all 3 WS's.

Is there a reason you use more ACC for KJ then RR? Both are 3 hit WS's, my KJ actually has less ACC then my RR because I swap out B.Haidate for Warrior's Cuisses and I use Alky's instead on N.Hands.

Triumph earring and Alky's for SC.
There are even bigger upgrades for your hardcore War, Hachiryu Haidate, Are's Body & Legs, E.Body. Costly and will only bump damage up slightly but sexy pieces none the less. Just depends how far into War you gonna get, cause the best upgrade I could see to bump your damage is free but you don't have, Rajas Ring!

I'd stick with Perdu, things a freakin monster of a GA.

No room left for merits, 8 Sword/8 Marks/4 Shield already, WAR is kind of a hobby job.

No reason in particular for the extra acc in KJ aside from that I know when I get B.Haidate those for sure are going into RR, and I would use Potent for RR as well if I didn't want the DEX from Warwolf for the crit rate.

I'm debating putting the Woodsman or a Thunder Ring into RR(RDM main, Tamas isn't going anywhere) since I'm still iffy about my own acc, was waiting til after I get Haidate to try it out since my WAR's pretty much in storage until then.

I'll look at the Alky's/Triumph, really just trying to get past the whole dumping 700k for 2 STR on my closet job, but I also don't have much else to spend on atm.