FFXI Christmas Spectacular!

[Syngyne]

Had a good PT out in Shakrami last night. 4 people-- 12THF/RNG, 12DRK/WAR, 11RDM/WHM, and a 11WHM/BRD. We stood back and arrowed & spelled Mazekmakers to death (with the occasional finishing swipe from the DRK). 200 XP a pop, it was great.

[JValk]

this sounds just like everquest. i hope worlds of warcraft is going to be a bit less tedious than all the other ones out there atm.

[Vostok 7]

I was with a good party last night, but then everyone had to leave. I hate that.

We took down a giant and I only got 50xp probably because we had 25's in the party.

grrr I'm so lonely now that I'm the only 23. Except hatsuko... meh.

Vostok 7

[imode]

this sounds just like everquest. i hope worlds of warcraft is going to be a bit less tedious than all the other ones out there atm.

How is any game not like Everquest?

It's the same genre just with different graphics and slightly different tweaks. If you're going to make a fantasy style MMORPG it will always be compared to EQ and no doublt, will share more than just a few similarities. World of Warcraft will be exactly the same and possibly even worse. I'd say more, but the NDA will keep me quiet for now.

WoW is currently riding solely on it's marketing properties. If it was any other company other than Blizzard, a game with such a dated concept and engine wouldn't even get a second look.

[Yohsho]

Sounds like a good deal to me. Do you happen to know if the Dark Knight's AF gear looks decent?

IIRC its the really scary black spikey armor I see all the time. I'll post a pic if I see one.

Train wreck? That's why there aren't any elvaan females running around in this game.

[imode]

http://www.datazap.net/sites/xirax/Stinky%20Olvido/

[Yohsho]

Ah man, even in AF armor I get stuck with hotpants. Thanks for the link imode.

[Vostok 7]

That PLD AF is pretty cool. Would probably look good with an IM helmet.

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

I don't know why... but the thief AF looks just too cool.

I'm out of money.... 50k invested heavily in str and dex accessories. Its a pitty really... but after watching a sam with similar equipment hit every attack against an IT while I hit 1 out of 10 really made it obvious that it was the rigth time to invest in some accessories.

Now I need to find a way of getting money till I reach lv40 or till I get around to lving my thf from lv11 to lv15/20. Mining will have to do.

Edited February 12, 2004 by Abombz!!

[Vostok 7]

The NIN AF looks sweet too! Never seen it before. If I was serious with my Mithra THF I'd work her up to getting NIN AF.

The WAR AF looks cool, but only on chicks

That THF AF is kinda cool... Very "robin hood" esq. You'd need one of those green feather'ed caps and a good bow to go along with it And that's another AF that should only be worn by chicks. (good lord I hate the yaoi factor of this game. Fanservice is great except when it's guys )

I'm seriously thinking going PLD/WAR now... I would like to be an attacker, but something about being the saving grace of a party (other than a WHM) appeals to me. But then, Yoh wants PLD too so I dunno... Maybe I should just stick with my original plan of DRK/SAM... But then I heard that DRKs aren't as desireable for partys as a PLD since a DRK is just another attacker, whereas PLDs will almost always get a party like a WHM since they have an honest to god ability. That and the PLD AF armor looks cooler than the DRK.

So I still don't know yet LOL.

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

DRKs are useless. They can take dmg was well as a blm (aka not good), they miss alot (even with thf as a sub, I have seen drks miss alot), and they are not as convinient to have. See.... ninjas and sams have other uses. Ninjas are great tanks and dmg dealers, sams, when subbing war, can do almost as much dmg as a drk, and tank as well as a war. And if drks can't be hit.... you might as well get a rng and watch him/her do twice the dmg of a drk.

Drk is a pretty unbalanced class with no other use, other then attacking, attacking and attacking. I heard rumors of square adding a summon ability to drks called "Call Demon". Now... I'm not sure it will work like the call wyvern dragoon ability, but it sounds like they are working on making drks more useful.

The only real use for a drk is if you use it as a sub for pali. You get attack bonuses, plus the palis natural defense bonus, meaning a tough pali who can do more dmg then a pali subbed war. Its a great solo machine too, since you will have more MP to cast cure, and better enfeebling spells.

[Abombz!!]

I got to say.... tarus in AFs look sooooooo damn cool and cute!!!

Its funny though.... blms seem to have gotten the shaft from Square... their AF look like a recoloring of the basic mage gear.

Edited February 12, 2004 by Abombz!!

[imode]

Drk is a pretty unbalanced class with no other use, other then attacking, attacking and attacking. I heard rumors of square adding a summon ability to drks called "Call Demon".

Heh, that was some stupid rumor that originated from a poor translation. A samurai has two main uses.

The first being he's a TP master, like a party general. A good samurai should be skill chaining at least twice every monster past level 30.

Second is his Anti-Demon protection. Strangely enough however, during the level grind, you may never even see a demon until you hit level 55 or so, and by then, a lot of the demons you may encounter will con as Easy Prey. Apparently this led to a lot of people believing that samurai was a useless class until level 60 when it could be used as a subjob for meditiation, and so when a person wanted to be a damage dealer they automatically chose dark knight, mostly due to the always present "Dark Knights are the death dealer class" descriptions. (To be fair, a dark knight can deal death, yes, but it will end up very well may end up with the dark knight being dead as well). So Square said they'd add in stronger Demon-class monsters so that Samurai wouldn't have some totally useless skills.

Dark's are hard to fight with because they attack slow, they don't hit very often, and they consume MP. This means chaining with them can be very difficult as they're often lacking in TP. Dragoon is also a liability as their greatest asset, the wyvern, is quite easily pounded by AOE attacks and the only way to heal him is to rest the dragoon. Most reliable damage dealing classes are Ranger and Monk.

In a party the Paladin is the tank. It is THE tank. A warrior makes a substandard replacement. Defender + Sentinel + Boiled Crab is a godsend. In my party from last night, I took an everage of 150 damage from each attack while the paladin took around 60. Paladin is also a very strong solo because he has disgustingly high defense, cure abilities, and a decent offense.

[Abombz!!]

Drk is a pretty unbalanced class with no other use, other then attacking, attacking and attacking. I heard rumors of square adding a summon ability to drks called "Call Demon".

Heh, that was some stupid rumor that originated from a poor translation. A samurai has two main uses.

The first being he's a TP master, like a party general. A good samurai should be skill chaining at least twice every monster past level 30.

Second is his Anti-Demon protection. Strangely enough however, during the level grind, you may never even see a demon until you hit level 55 or so, and by then, a lot of the demons you may encounter will con as Easy Prey. Apparently this led to a lot of people believing that samurai was a useless class until level 60 when it could be used as a subjob for meditiation, and so when a person wanted to be a damage dealer they automatically chose dark knight, mostly due to the always present "Dark Knights are the death dealer class" descriptions. (To be fair, a dark knight can deal death, yes, but it will end up very well may end up with the dark knight being dead as well). So Square said they'd add in stronger Demon-class monsters so that Samurai wouldn't have some totally useless skills.

Dark's are hard to fight with because they attack slow, they don't hit very often, and they consume MP. This means chaining with them can be very difficult as they're often lacking in TP. Dragoon is also a liability as their greatest asset, the wyvern, is quite easily pounded by AOE attacks and the only way to heal him is to rest the dragoon. Most reliable damage dealing classes are Ranger and Monk.

In a party the Paladin is the tank. It is THE tank. A warrior makes a substandard replacement. Defender + Sentinel + Boiled Crab is a godsend. In my party from last night, I took an everage of 150 damage from each attack while the paladin took around 60. Paladin is also a very strong solo because he has disgustingly high defense, cure abilities, and a decent offense.

So its just a rumor? Heh.... figured. The person who told me about it seemed to be that kind of "I know everything there is to know about this game" kind of person.... aka full of crap.

The thing about sam... is that it has painfully low dex. Against an IT monster, sams will almost always miss, without the help of either thief sub an/or dex accessories. Subbing war to a sam only become useful once you can use berserk, and pray that ppl don't expect you to use provoke. Once you get meditate and the second tp store bonus.... you will be WSing as often as you attack.

I think the only reason to play as a dragoon is pentathrust. Once I get it, I doubt I will even think about using the Wyvern. Seriously... with meditate, pentathrust is like Gods wrath or something (I have seen it happen... its not just my imagination. )

As for Pali... the only problem about soloing as a pali is that it takes the whole attriction war from low lv lving to the next lv (thats alot of lvs O_O). Meaning.... 1 or 2 criticals form a mob... and chances are you will never be able to catch up on the"race" and you will be defeated. Thats why subbing drk for a attack bonus is a nice idea... so at least you can deal dmg as well as a war.

[Vostok 7]

Alright... PLD/WAR it is then. I partied with one last night (lvl 25 PLD/WAR mithra). Whats funny is usually PLDs of my same lvl have less HP than I do at this moment subbing MNK (424hp... She had around 400-410hp) but the difference is, she could take damage alot easier, plus she could heal herself. It made me want to be a PLD

I see alot of DRKs running around, but as you guys have said, I could never really see an advantage to them. I could almost always out hit and out defend one. The only advantages I've seen them have are BLM casts, which, if you have a dedicated BLM on your party, are practically useless as well.

Usually, the DRK in my parties are the first to die.

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

It all comes down to how well you can play your part and how good your pt members are.

I have seen 2 drk/thf deal a truck load of dmg in the shortest time possible, and I have seen drks do no dmg at all in a battle.

But the same is true about every other class in the game.

And while drk may seem useless as a main job, if you plan on being a dmg dealer, drk ranks right up there with sam. Trust me.... even 1 attack bonus makes alot of difference.

Edited February 13, 2004 by Abombz!!

[Vostok 7]

It all comes down to how well you can play your part and how good your pt members are.

I have seen 2 drk/thf deal a truck load of dmg in the shortest time possible, and I have seen drks do no dmg at all in a battle.

But the same is true about every other class in the game.

lol that is true of about every class in the game...

There's many times I can be out hit by a similarly level'd WAR... (which is one reason why I want a braveheart at the moment).

PLD just makes alot of sense to me. I always seem to be the tank anyway, so why not just dedicate myself to that?

Vostok 7

[imode]

Alright... PLD/WAR it is then. I partied with one last night (lvl 25 PLD/WAR mithra). Whats funny is usually PLDs of my same lvl have less HP than I do at this moment subbing MNK (424hp... She had around 400-410hp) but the difference is, she could take damage alot easier, plus she could heal herself. It made me want to be a PLD

I see alot of DRKs running around, but as you guys have said, I could never really see an advantage to them. I could almost always out hit and out defend one. The only advantages I've seen them have are BLM casts, which, if you have a dedicated BLM on your party, are practically useless as well.

Usually, the DRK in my parties are the first to die.

Vostok 7

PLD/WARs were never meant to be HP monsters because they don't need them. At my level I have more than 200 hp more than my group's paladins do. However, at level 23-25 or so, it's stll possible that anyone can tank. You're still in the subligar stage so everyone's probably running around with either beetle armors or those expensive chainmails. At this stage, everyone technically has the same defense and with the right food, a monk or dark can take hits just as well as a warrior or paladin. It's later on when you really start seeing the evil gap between classes. American players look at my 1100 hp and insist that I can tank. And I tell them no, I can't. A Paladin with defender + sentinel + boiled crab has a defense rating over 400. My monk's defense doesn't even crack 200. Worse yet, I do counterstance + berserk (don't ever do this btw) and my defense is at 28. Half the time, just for acc and dex bonuses, I wear sub level 40 gear.

[Vostok 7]

We had a MNK/WAR pulling for us last night. The PLD and I kept trying to volunteer but he insisted

Then we had a DRK/WAR who would voke the mob off the PLD any time she got into the yellow. Finally she said "Don't voke it off me! Save it until you absolutely have to!" and he goes "oh, ok."

At least I knew better than to voke off a PLD.

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

It all comes down to how well you can play your part and how good your pt members are.

I have seen 2 drk/thf deal a truck load of dmg in the shortest time possible, and I have seen drks do no dmg at all in a battle.

But the same is true about every other class in the game.

lol that is true of about every class in the game...

There's many times I can be out hit by a similarly level'd WAR... (which is one reason why I want a braveheart at the moment).

PLD just makes alot of sense to me. I always seem to be the tank anyway, so why not just dedicate myself to that?

Vostok 7

Hmmm.... for a war... you can get away with a lv20 great sword till you hit lv30. If you are planning on changing your class to an advanced class.... theres not real reason to upgrade your weapon, unless you are lving it for an advanced job. And great swords suck at holding agro.

Beyond lv25, ppl won't expect you to do anything other then be a punching bag. And great swords aren't exactly the best weapons around for chaining. I found myself using defender and provoke more then I hit anything in Johoator Jungle. Mandragoras are really hard to hit if your dex rating is too low.

The problem with being a tank... is that your usefulness is never really recognized by anyone other then experienced players and mages, and those are really hard to find in certain areas.

I never really liked Pali because, while I enjoyed my last days as a tank in Elshimo.... being devoted to tanking, and only tanking is not exactly something I enjoy.

[Abombz!!]

We had a MNK/WAR pulling for us last night.  The PLD and I kept trying to volunteer but he insisted 

Then we had a DRK/WAR who would voke the mob off the PLD any time she got into the yellow.    Finally she said "Don't voke it off me!  Save it until you absolutely have to!" and he goes "oh, ok."

At least I knew better than to voke off a PLD. 

Vostok 7

See.... thats the problem I had last night. I was tanking along with another sam, and he had 7 def points higher then me... and he insisted that I never used provoke..... untill he couldn't hold agro anymore and was yelling at me to pull the mobs off a mage.

PLD/WARs were never meant to be HP monsters because they don't need them. At my level I have more than 200 hp more than my group's paladins do. However, at level 23-25 or so, it's stll possible that anyone can tank. You're still in the subligar stage so everyone's probably running around with either beetle armors or those expensive chainmails. At this stage, everyone technically has the same defense and with the right food, a monk or dark can take hits just as well as a warrior or paladin. It's later on when you really start seeing the evil gap between classes. American players look at my 1100 hp and insist that I can tank. And I tell them no, I can't. A Paladin with defender + sentinel + boiled crab has a defense rating over 400. My monk's defense doesn't even crack 200. Worse yet, I do counterstance + berserk (don't ever do this btw) and my defense is at 28. Half the time, just for acc and dex bonuses, I wear sub level 40 gear.

See? Thats the problem I have with this game... it doesn't drop the bucket of cold water on you untill everyone got way too used to being able to tank as well as a war or a pali.

Edited February 13, 2004 by Abombz!!

[Vostok 7]

I never really liked Pali because, while I enjoyed my last days as a tank in Elshimo.... being devoted to tanking, and only tanking is not exactly something I enjoy.

I hear that... I like attacking just as much as the next guy.

I actually wish WAR was a stronger job. In my opinion it's a nice "middle road" between a dedicated attacking job like DRK, SAM or NIN and a dedicated defensive job like PLD. So I've almost considered just keeping with WAR and levelling different advanced jobs for subs, just for the bonuses.

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

I never really liked Pali because, while I enjoyed my last days as a tank in Elshimo.... being devoted to tanking, and only tanking is not exactly something I enjoy.

I hear that... I like attacking just as much as the next guy.

I actually wish WAR was a stronger job. In my opinion it's a nice "middle road" between a dedicated attacking job like DRK, SAM or NIN and a dedicated defensive job like PLD. So I've almost considered just keeping with WAR and levelling different advanced jobs for subs, just for the bonuses.

Vostok 7

A note on that.... most advanced jobs do not make good sub jobs, just because some ppl can over look the status gimpyness of certain adv jobs doesn't mean you can get away with subbing them.

And you are going to have a crap of a time finding a pt for your war. Even though Unicorn suffers of an extreme cronic lack of tanks.... if ppl want someone to tank for them, palis will be their first choice, if they can't find a pali, they will pick sam, because sam can tank as well as wars but do more dmg. If they want someone to do dmg.... war is never going to be the job of choice.

Go for an advanced class and don't gimp yourself with war.

[imode]

Ninja is not a dedicated attacker. A ninja is a tank. One-handed Katanas deal dagger style damage with sword style delays and have lousy weaponskills that deal less damage than normal hits. Ninjutsu has nothing on blackmages, especially with ancient magic. A ninja has only two thing going for him, and that's high evasion and utsusemi.

[Vostok 7]

Yeah, that's why I said I wish it was a stronger class at higher levels, so you don't have to commit yourself to one side or the other.

Though I supposed someone could just be like you and do everything

I'm really leaning to PLD now. If not PLD then I'll do something completely different like NIN or SAM.

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

Ninja is not a dedicated attacker. A ninja is a tank. One-handed Katanas deal dagger style damage with sword style delays and have lousy weaponskills that deal less damage than normal hits. Ninjutsu has nothing on blackmages, especially with ancient magic. A ninja has only two thing going for him, and that's high evasion and utsusemi.

Ninjas have an extreme draw back though..... you can only be one if you are swimming in money, or have alot of free time to go money hunting.

[imode]

Yeah, that's why I said I wish it was a stronger class at higher levels, so you don't have to commit yourself to one side or the other.

Though I supposed someone could just be like you and do everything

I'm really leaning to PLD now. If not PLD then I'll do something completely different like NIN or SAM.

Vostok 7

How about something REALLY drastic, like bard?

I actually had quite a fun time just standing there singing and singing and singing.

[Abombz!!]

Yeah, that's why I said I wish it was a stronger class at higher levels, so you don't have to commit yourself to one side or the other.

Though I supposed someone could just be like you and do everything

I'm really leaning to PLD now. If not PLD then I'll do something completely different like NIN or SAM.

Vostok 7

Sam is not a good main job class.... its a support job at heart, and you will learn it the hard way.

I don't do everything.... I simply lved all my jobs to lv11 so I could save on inv space and money. And because I wanted to try out a mage class.

Right now... I plan on getting my thf to lv15 or 20, just for treasure hunter. Then get my sam to lv40, do the dragoon class and go all the way with it. As for whm.... its an interesting job.... but I need to start earning money if I want to go with it any further.

[Abombz!!]

Yeah, that's why I said I wish it was a stronger class at higher levels, so you don't have to commit yourself to one side or the other.

Though I supposed someone could just be like you and do everything

I'm really leaning to PLD now.  If not PLD then I'll do something completely different like NIN or SAM.

Vostok 7

How about something REALLY drastic, like bard?

I actually had quite a fun time just standing there singing and singing and singing.

LOL! Once you get Mage Balad... Bard becomes the most useful party member there is.

[Vostok 7]

How about something REALLY drastic, like bard?

I actually had quite a fun time just standing there singing and singing and singing.

:lol: BARD?! And you think getting a party as a WAR is tough!

I've only ever seen Bard as a sub...

Another one I'd consider is Summoner... mmm summoning giant things.

Vostok 7

[imode]

Yeah, that's why I said I wish it was a stronger class at higher levels, so you don't have to commit yourself to one side or the other.

Though I supposed someone could just be like you and do everything

I'm really leaning to PLD now.  If not PLD then I'll do something completely different like NIN or SAM.

Vostok 7

How about something REALLY drastic, like bard?

I actually had quite a fun time just standing there singing and singing and singing.

LOL! Once you get Mage Balad... Bard becomes the most useful party member there is.

Never again will I languish in idleness in Jeuno waiting for a party invite!

[Abombz!!]

How about something REALLY drastic, like bard?

I actually had quite a fun time just standing there singing and singing and singing.

:lol: BARD?! And you think getting a party as a WAR is tough!

I've only ever seen Bard as a sub...

Another one I'd consider is Summoner... mmm summoning giant things.

Vostok 7

1- Everyone loves a bard.... and you would have no problem getting a party as one.

2-Summoning giants things? Not in this game... unless you have a full pt of lv65 players with you, so you can fight your avatars and get summons.

[Abombz!!]

BTW.... never let a drk, with outdated armor be the puller. A few days ago my pt made that mistake... and everytime he pulled something tougher then a clipper... he would be dead before he even came to our field of view.

Well.... he also insisted on it... but you know, if a drk does that, kick him out the first time he dies after a pull.

[Vostok 7]

lol bah I'm just not a "bard" type person

Vostok 7

[Abombz!!]

lol bah I'm just not a "bard" type person

Vostok 7

Bah!! Its fun to walk around with "Listen to my song!!" as your ability yell.