What's Better?

[Byrthnoth]

I think that the chore of skilling up summoning magic is a little overstated in some cases. Currently I'm a level 73 summoner with level 78 summoning magic, and I'm actually kinda looking forward to going out and farming crap with Carby while I skill up. I mean, there's no penalty from having under-cap summoning magic skill, so anything that a 75 summoner with capped skill can do, you can do as one with uncapped skill.

Things I'm planning to do to cap my skill:
1) Farm Ghrah M chips with Garuda (I want Karura Hachigane first).
2) Besieged!
3) Farm various types of Hakutaku eyes on SMN/THF. (I have 13 and would like to complete my sets <_<;
4) Break the Summoner Nyzul WS staff as SMN/SAM (I need to get 75 first).
5) Potentially break the Retribution staff, not that I'd ever have a use for it. (Need to skill up staff first)

It'll take me a few hours, but most of my list are things I was planning to do anyway. One piece of advice I have is to sub a job other than WHM when you go out to do stuff. It forces you to spam healing BPs on yourself, so you skill up faster. Last time I did this, I #4 brought me from ~80 to 200 skill, and #1 brought me to 220 in about one stack worth of chips. The skillup rate these days really isn't bad.

[homerun]

What's better for COR QD for damage?
8AGI/1r.acc/1.ratk earring set
or
3AGI (Drone) & Moldavite Earrng

Agi doesn't add damage for QD so the latter.

The first set would be good for light/dark shot tho.

[Dominico]

Whats better for DRG: Assault Earring or Aesir Ear Pendant?
I've been using the Brutal/Assault combo for as long as I can remember, but alot of people have been saying that Aesir beats out Assault.

[Fereydoon]

You should probably keep in mind that without capped or near capped summoning skill the merit BPs are fucking worthless. I don't know how you leveled SMN, but it's a very large timesink to cap skill if you ABed it ;x

I'm pretty good on skill so far. It's at ~250 from just doing stuff on SMN. Dinged 73 before maint started. :D Yay now I can use relic feet over AF feet!

I probably won't make an effort to cap SMN magic skill, I tend to get skill ups from just fighting stuff, etc. And considering SMN is my only job over 41 I'll be fighting more things on it. xD

Another question. When should one use /sch and when should one use /whm? I've been leveling /sch recently and it's currently at 31.

[Cream Soda]

DA on the first hit only, still beat destroyers

?

[pchan]

It's doesn't beat destroyers because it's only 40% rate, the math was assuming 50% OAT and it came to be ~1% ish better. With 40% it's crap unless someone finds out weird behavior with DA trait. However the D+21 one is better (not by much <1%).

[Dathus]

Posting for a LSmate's RNG

Kreigs/Fransisca/E.Bow
?/Breeze/Triumph/Suppa
KOsode/Seiryu/Rajas/Flame
Amemet+1/Buccaneer's/Pahluwan/Skadi

Maat's Cap vs Moogle helm with STR/WS.Acc/R.Atk/R.Acc?

Also, what else could he be looking at for upgrades?

[solanis]

Another question. When should one use /sch and when should one use /whm? I've been leveling /sch recently and it's currently at 31.

I'm no mathologist and not a "real" SMN, but this seems pretty straightforward to answer. Neither sub will change the potency of your BPs, and both provide you with the same tier of cures and status effect spells. The question is then about healing v. sublimation and safety.

In situations where your avatar will almost always be out, you can't rest anyway. /sch is probably best for this.

It's a little stickier when you will have time to rest. /sch doesn't give you stoneskin or blink. This means that you will be relying on sublimation entirely to refresh your MP, aside from siphon and the 2MP/tick from your gear and job trait. Siphon is (Summoning Skill-50)x(Bonus%), so assuming capped skill w/o gear and proper elemental matched to day (since weather isn't viable to account for), you're looking at 240.9 MP every 5 minutes, or .8MP/sec. This is available to both subjobs though, so it doesn't matter.

My naked mithra SMN/SCH without HP merits has 890 HP. This is 222 MP over the course of 2mp/tick(3sec) = 333 seconds, or 5.55 minutes. We also have to add in the 30 second cooldown, which rounding gives you 222 MP about every six minutes, also assuming you use sublimation as soon as it is charged or timer is ready, for ~.52MP/sec overall.

The alternate is healing, as /whm. Let's assume a very very basic hMP set: Pluto's (+10), Errant body (+5), and Hierarch Belt (+2). That's 44MP/base tick, which after 1 min of waiting for BP = 250 MP, or 4.16MP/sec. Obviously, this is superior, especially considering your hMP set will be better than this and you'll be eating food. /whm will also give you an additional 19 base MP, which is minor but exists.

Depending on how much time you find yourself with an avatar out vs. resting, and also adding in the safety bonus of stoneskin and blink *AND ERASE, I think /whm is better. Feel free to correct my maffs if I forgot something.

[Dooom]

Feel free to correct my maffs if I forgot something.

Only time I've really seen smns use /sch is when they don't want /whm's auto-regen to mess up their HP latents. Though I assume they just haven't bothered making a HP-down set for this.

[jimbobsonofgod]

if you need erase

sub whm

if you aren't getting refresh, sub sch.

if you are level 80

sub rdm

[Mercilessturtle]

It's a little stickier when you will have time to rest. /sch doesn't give you stoneskin or blink. This means that you will be relying on sublimation entirely to refresh your MP

You don't need SS/blink to rest. You eat your sublimation before you rest, since resting gives you more mp than the extra sublimation time would. Also, /sch gets aspir, and the dark skill to use it. You use /whm when you need erase or stoneskin.

[solanis]

You don't need SS/blink to rest. You eat your sublimation before you rest, since resting gives you more mp than the extra sublimation time would. Also, /sch gets aspir, and the dark skill to use it. You use /whm when you need erase or stoneskin.

My point was that sublimation takes a long time to charge up enough MP to make it worthwhile, even if you swapped between charging and resting. Every second you stand charging it is time you're not resting. If you didn't need erase or stoneskin and you had time to rest, I think /whm would still be better?

[Nightfyre]

Every second you stand charging it is time you're not resting.

Why not mix the two advantageously? Rest when you can, charge Sublimation while standing.

[Mercilessturtle]

My point was that sublimation takes a long time to charge up enough MP to make it worthwhile, even if you swapped between charging and resting. Every second you stand charging it is time you're not resting. If you didn't need erase or stoneskin and you had time to rest, I think /whm would still be better?

You aren't obligated to use every job ability you have. Assume you simply don't use sublimation at all. Then you are in the same spot you would be as /whm, only all those cure3s cost 10% less (plus you get conserve mp), and you can swap to dark arts and aspir once a minute. But of course, in reality you will be standing around a lot to cure people, which is when you get a little bonus MP from sublimation if you aren't getting refresh.

[Dooom]

There's always Earthern Ward if you need to rest while leaving Sublimation going, should you already be using it for whatever reason.

[Yugl]

Posting for a LSmate's RNG

Kreigs/Fransisca/E.Bow
?/Breeze/Triumph/Suppa
KOsode/Seiryu/Rajas/Flame
Amemet+1/Buccaneer's/Pahluwan/Skadi

Maat's Cap vs Moogle helm with STR/WS.Acc/R.Atk/R.Acc?

Also, what else could he be looking at for upgrades?

Not an RNG expert, but I'm almost certain Mekki Shakki + Rose Strap and other assortments of gear provide a 5-hit build. He should look into that.

[Aero]

Posting for a LSmate's RNG

Kreigs/Fransisca/E.Bow
?/Breeze/Triumph/Suppa
KOsode/Seiryu/Rajas/Flame
Amemet+1/Buccaneer's/Pahluwan/Skadi

Maat's Cap vs Moogle helm with STR/WS.Acc/R.Atk/R.Acc?

Also, what else could he be looking at for upgrades?

Depending on play style Mekki/rose may be better(5 hit with /sam; 6 with /WAR and /NIN).

Sidewinder the STR/WSacc/Racc/Rattack should be better over time just due to how inaccurate it is. Any other WS; arching arrow being my favorite; Maats will be much better.

As for other upgrades Ear2 should be at LEAST a drone earring(+3 agi); next best would be the AGI+8/Racc+1/Rattack set earrings; and triumph being the best.

Skote is awesome for slugwinder; Skadi being an upgrade depending on Racc.

Keep a Behemoth ring(+1) for very evasive mobs.

Hachiryu haidate being the best leg piece you can get; but no one will call you gimp for WSing in Pahluwan.

Skadi feet are awesome but scouts(+1) are better; as are Hachiryu Sune-Ate.

[BrayenMidgard]

just want verification:
soboro > new OAT? and both of these > hagun and raden?

[Tsuko_Asura]

just want verification:
soboro > new OAT? and both of these > hagun and raden?

For an aggressive player: OAT > Soboro > Hagun/Raden

For a more standard player: OAT > Hagun/Raden > Soboro

For limited TP-feed: Hagun/Raden

[ringthree]

just want verification:
soboro > new OAT? and both of these > hagun and raden?

My simple calculations has Soboro so far behind Hagun and Radennotachi that it isn't even close. I haven't considered every single possibility for or against Soboro, but you have to make a whole lot of (poor) assumptions to get Soboro anywhere close to either of those.

And that is on Greater Colibri. Hagun will pull further ahead on mobs with higher level, VIT and defense.

I am sure that pchan and mdkuser will tell me how stupid I am, but I used some really Soboro-favorable assumptions (like assuming that Soboro always got 100TP in three attack rounds) and it was still very far behind.

I have not calculated the OAT weapon yet, but my estimate is that it will end up being really good.