Random Question Thread IV: ROCKY WINS

[ringthree]

I like PLD/DNC myself, I'm not sure why anyone would do PLD/RDM over that. The benefits of /RDM are generally all in the damage-mitigation area, and you don't want to lower the amount of damage you take. You want to take a lot of damage and cure yourself a lot. /DNC is better for that, between Waltzes and Aspir Samba, and it's nice to be able to get rid of status effects on yourself.

For cdgreg you'll definitely want to be as RDM, I'm not sure what the best subjob is though. /WAR is probably a pretty good choice with Joyeuse. You'll generally want to try to pull a mob off and solo it, because you want to take damage, and it might be difficult to keep hate off of others. Please don't pull it too far away though, keeping it within easy sight of the fortifications is nice. I really hate having to search half the zone at the end of a battle to find the one jackass that pulled a mob off to some obscure corner to solo.

PLD/RDM lets you tank multiple mobs and doesn't require giving up your main source of offensive damage (Atonement). XP and AN is based on damage cured and damage dealt, and /RDM gives you a little bit better balance in this regard.

Neither is a bad choice though.

[Starr]

FFXIGEAR is down

[ringthree]

While we're on the subject, how does MNK/DNC fair in the world of Campaign?

I tried it and immediately went back to SAM/DNC. It's decent, but it doesn't have a means of defending yourself like SAM, NIN or PLD does. So if you get an extra mob or two you aren't going to be able to deal with the extra damage. Also MNK kind of sucks against Campaign casters.

[Siniroth]

FFXIGEAR is down

Yeah it has been down since yesterday, I miss it already

[belzedar]

I've made several arguments about why I prefer /RDM, and but to answer a couple specific points:

/RDM using phalanx and/or stoneskin REDUCES the damage you take, thereby reducing the exp you are gaining from taking damage and leaving you less to cure. /DNC however lets you take more damage and you can also cure it using TP if needed.

Would you ever equip a Terror Shield, Patronus's or Jelly Ring (or if you had one, a Defending Ring) in campaign? By your argument I think anyone relying on taking and curing more damage would say no.

As others have said, /RDM allows you to do more damage. Besides using all your TP on atonement, you also get Dia II, en-spells, and can dispel defense boost.

Or, if I feel like it, I can just fight one mob, leave aspir samba on fulltime to keep MP up to use to cure (for more notes) and just spam the crap out of Atonements for damage.I rarely need to use TP for curing unless I choose to tank multiple mobs, tank an NM, or am low on MP (can just chivalry if I really need it).

I'll concede that /DNC is more survivable for tanking multiple mobs at once. But if you're only fighting one mob and aren't using TP for curing, why not just go /RDM, do more damage, and fight one mob at a time?

1 reason I prefer /DNC is because I am from Sandy and participate in Sandy battles for 98% of my campaigning. Jagibod's Warmachine tends to spam Blastbomb and having an Erase is life saving.

To me, this is the most compelling advantage of /DNC. Although, I spend most of my time in Sandy too, and fighting orcs I don't actually need to remove any status effects very often - orc forces are plds, drks, rngs, mnks, drgs, blms and thfs.

TL;DR: Both subs work well, and you can cap your exp and notes with either. Which is better is largely a matter of personal preference.

[Thunder]

XP/AN is capped by time (xp/minute). Even with the repeating xbow and bronze bolts, you will cap out easily. Why do you want to tank mobs anyway?

If I use a method that will cap my XP/AN without spending much gil on ammo and never pulling hate (therefore never having to waste TP with curing waltz), why wouldn't I use it?

Yes, going with Hellfire +1 and silver bullets will have you pull hate and either die or sit there spamming waltzes. In the end, you're XP/AN will be the same.

I doubt you're really capping your exp with just kc melee and 27 DMG slug shots.
Nobody would be trying to maximize their job/subjob for campaign if that was true. Plds wouldn't have to tank just afk on mobs meleeing in joyeuse. Same with sam, it's utter bullshit that you're capping exp/an with just KC melee damage and slug shots from a 27DMG weapon.

Edit: what's your damage look like per slug shot?

[Siniroth]

What would best Category 1 Merits for rng? Rapid Shot and...
Unlimited Shot for more PP Arrow WSing?
or Sharpshot for more acc?

And for that matter what are people's thoughts on Category 2 merits for rng? 5/5 Snapshot and... some combination of Flashy/Stealth Shot?

[Thunder]

What would best Category 1 Merits for rng? Rapid Shot and...
Unlimited Shot for more PP Arrow WSing?
or Sharpshot for more acc?

And for that matter what are people's thoughts on Category 2 merits for rng? 5/5 Snapshot and... some combination of Flashy/Stealth Shot?

I did rapid shot and unlimited shot because I didn't like sharpshot's timer not being next to barrage and because I don't know how much racc it gives to tweak gear for while it's up.
Cat2 I just did 5/5 snapshot 4/5 recycle and 1/5 flashy shot for zergs.
Recycle's pretty neat and flashy shot was just so I could have it for zergs.
Stealth shot will increase your damage over time on longer fights but I just prefer recycle instead of that noise.

Edit: By stealth shot increasing your damage I mean you'll have to stop dmg/die later than other rngs without stealth shot would.

[Siniroth]

I did rapid shot and unlimited shot because I didn't like sharpshot's timer not being next to barrage and because I don't know how much racc it gives to tweak gear for while it's up.

That was my thought, I like having it lined up with barrage, hadn't thought about the unknown racc value though

Cat2 I just did 5/5 snapshot 4/5 recycle and 1/5 flashy shot for zergs.
Recycle's pretty neat and flashy shot was just so I could have it for zergs.
Stealth shot will increase your damage over time on longer fights but I just prefer recycle instead of that noise.


Edit: By stealth shot increasing your damage I mean you'll have to stop dmg/die later than other rngs without stealth shot would.

I figured that's what you meant for stealth shot, and I wasn't going to touch recycle really, I don't have a need to, unless I could push it up to 100% somehow for spamming PP arrow even more, but I don't think that's possible even slightly

[Thunder]

I did it using the excuse for cannon shells but I probably would have went with recycle 4/5 either way.

[FailureMidgard]

I doubt you're really capping your exp with just kc melee and 27 DMG slug shots.
Nobody would be trying to maximize their job/subjob for campaign if that was true. Plds wouldn't have to tank just afk on mobs meleeing in joyeuse. Same with sam, it's utter bullshit that you're capping exp/an with just KC melee damage and slug shots from a 27DMG weapon.

Edit: what's your damage look like per slug shot?

If you port in, fight straight, and the campaign ends with you constantly attacking, I could easily believe that capped. I used to think like you did, then I did campaign as a ~70-72 thf/nin, and on shorter battles, I was always capping. On longer battles, especially with downtime, I started to fall behind.

[Callisto]

Anyone know how much Acc Absorb-ACC drains?

[Raen Ryong]

Maximum ~20 if it's consistent with the other abs spells.

[mallister]

about 18ish iirc, same as the other stat drains.

[Tulun]

Anyone have any ideas if Spiral Hell gets a cratio boost like other ws?

[Thunder]

If you port in, fight straight, and the campaign ends with you constantly attacking, I could easily believe that capped. I used to think like you did, then I did campaign as a ~70-72 thf/nin, and on shorter battles, I was always capping. On longer battles, especially with downtime, I started to fall behind.

So all you have to do is not die to cap exp/min? And all the talk about best campaigning job is for longer battles where you cap out on one area, like say damage or hp cured? That sort of sucks.

[Argettio]

So all you have to do is not die to cap exp/min? And all the talk about best campaigning job is for longer battles where you cap out on one area, like say damage or hp cured? That sort of sucks.

Yes
Yes
and yes it does suck.

But as you get higher medals the cap does rise slightly.

[Tomino]

When talking of a RDM "Full MND Set" for Slow II casts, do people include removing some of the Enfeebling+ or Macc+ pieces in favor of MND+ ones?

For ex, MND+2 strap over Earth Strap. Or, godhelpme, MND+ neck over Enfeebling Torque maybe?

[Thunder]

Please let me know what you think is the best job/weapon combination and what my battle strategy should be. Thanks in advance.

Tried rdm/rng today with a mighty bow. Total blast. Rdm was already my favorite campaign job because of how easy it was to play(as opposed to sam/dnc where I'd have to really be riding waltz recast when I was main tanking an orc with other melees giving it infinite tp). And now it just got better because of how much easier it is to tank mobs. I always shied away from it because of lack of real damage but I guess a 53 dmg bow and even wooden arrows should cap your exp/min.

When talking of a RDM "Full MND Set" for Slow II casts, do people include removing some of the Enfeebling+ or Macc+ pieces in favor of MND+ ones?

For ex, MND+2 strap over Earth Strap. Or, godhelpme, MND+ neck over Enfeebling Torque maybe?

RDMs should use full mnd, yes, MND+ neck over enfeebling for para/slow.

All I'd advise against using full MND on is cerb/khim, sky gods, and anything over level 90. Also, to note, when swapping into MACC over MND to avoid resists on said mobs you should be aware that HQ staves are 30macc, +1 MND is equivalent to +1 MACC when the difference between the caster's and target's MND is at or below +10, +1 MND is equivalent to +0.5 MACC when the difference is above +10.
So generally speaking you should just use the 1 MND = .5 MACC rule.

[Max™]

Pld/Dnc, use TP for ASPIR Samba.

Cure yourself as needed, drop atonements like crazy.
Get low on MP? Use TP to stay alive til your MP is back, ethereal + Aspir samba + refreshes.
Get silenced/bio/blind/slow/bound/grav? Erase yourself.
Everything back to normal, plenty of MP?
Cure yourself as needed, drop atonements like crazy.

Pld/Rdm
Buff up, destroy with atonement spam, be like unto an unbreakable god to these feeble mobs.

Get silenced... hope you brought an echo.
Get grav... lame.
Get bio... well, just eating stoneskin... lame still.
Get low on MP? Hope Chivalry is up.
Chiv isn't up?
Got a dark staff and a safe spot to rest?


Both have their ups and downs, BELIEVE me I've done both more than enough to comment on their strengths and weaknesses.

Pld/Rdm feels buffer, it's quite fun too.

Pld/Dnc gives better exp, you're spamming the JA category, debuff the monster category, maxing out all three damage categories, dealt/cured/taken, and you have a toolbox of toys for ANY situation.