FFXI Gameplay & Indepth Job/SJ Guide v1.0 Copyright (c) Silverforce 2004 (bahanime11@yahoo.com.au) 1. Introduction 1.a - The Basics & Macros 1.b - Gil Making tips 1.c - Crafting/Fishing 2. Jobs & Subjobs Indepth 2.a - Warrior 2.b - Monk 2.c - Thief 2.d - White Mage 2.e - Black Mage 2.f - Red Mage 2.g - Paladin 2.h - Dark Knight 2.i - Ninja 2.j - Samurai 2.k - Dragoon 2.l - Bard 2.m - Summoner 2.n - Beastmaster 2.o - Ranger 3. Game Mechanics 3.a - Hate/Aggro System 3.b - Magic 3.c - Physical 4. Party Strategy 4.a - Finding/Making a Party 4.b - General Tips 4.c - THFs need love too! 4.d - OMG we're all going to DIE! ---------------- Version: 1.0) 25/5/2004 First revision and release on my website ---------------- 1. Introduction 1.a - The Basics & Macros 1.b - Gil Making tips 1.c - Crafting/Fishing 2. Jobs & Subjobs Indepth ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.a - [WARRIOR] A very versatile melee job. With passive and active abilities that boost both defense and attack, a WAR is able to fill in both roles with ease. It's also one of the few jobs that can peform very well with a wide variety of sub jobs. Primary Weapons: Great Axe, Axe Secondary Weapons: Greatsword, Spear, Scythe (eeww), Sword, Bow Primary Race: Galka, Elvaan Secondary Race: Mithra, Hume Optimal Subjobs: MNK, THF, NIN, SAM Optional Subjobs: RNG [WEAPONS] WAR have the highest skill rating for Great Axes(A+), and coming close second, Axes(A-). These two weapons are both good depending on your role. Axes tend to be used by WAR/NIN, for dual wield. Where at lvl 50 war/nin, will get the ninja's 2nd Dual Wield speed boost, making 2 Axes a very powerful combo (2 relatively cheap viking axe with +20 accuracy?!! *drools*). Great Axes on the other hand, is for *general* purpose use, while i use the term "general", it does not degrade it in any sense, since for most cases, Great Axes are the best. The greatest asset (besides versatility) a warrior can bring to his party, is the "Break" weaponskills. Shield Break is not so important when you first get it, and up to lvl 30, it isn't "great", but after that, it becomes one of the most important WS in a WAR's arsenal. The effects is huge, as IT enemies will often check (con) as Low Evasion after a shield break. To put it in simpler terms, a succesful shield break is worth twice as much as a Sword Madrigal from a BRD. The reasons why it becomes important at high levels, is IT enemies have absurd evasion, and fights tend to drag on for several minutes. In that period of time, after shield break, the meleers in your party will connect many more hits they would otherwise have missed. This alone, makes up for the lack of initial damage of the WS itself, and much more. Sturmwind(WAR lvl23, 2 hitter, uber damage for it's lvl range) is a great WS. It can end fragmentation, and a solid WS for WAR/THF, as a Sneak Attack (SA) Sturmwind can produce huge damage. As a WAR, it's a tough decision, should you use TP for shield break or sturmwind? (when outside of skillchains ofcourse) I'll offer this scenario for you to decide which is best: It's mid way in the fight, the enemy has 50% HP or more. You've managed to get 100% TP. In this situation, i recommend Sturmwind, as the rest of the fight, allows you to build up to 70-100% TP easily. But when its near the end of a fight, and the enemy is about to die, do not finish it off with Sturm, it's a waste of TP, as in the next fight, you can begin with SBreak and enjoy it's benefits for the entire fight. Ofcourse, if your PT requires you to participate in a skillchain, for a few MB, then go ahead and use whichever WS fits the pt's need. However, if your PT insist on skillchaining, with no one magic bursting, or the renkei damage itself is pitiful, refuse, and go shield break instead, as over the duration of the fight, all the extra hits connecting from everyone, will mean a much higher damage output. This is more evident when you PT with members who are too poor to afford +accuracy gear. At high lvls where you have access to raging rush (GAXE 200WS, 3 hitter), and rampage (AXE 175WS, 5 hitter), these two WS replace raging axe (AXE 10WS, 2 hitter) and sturmwind in it's usage. Even higher yet, Axe has exclusive WS (Mistral Axe - very damaging) which can lead to lvl 3 renkei Light, while Great Axe can produce Dark. Other Weapon choices: Greatsword/Spear - these two are required to perform distortion skillchains, and very important if the PT has a THF in it, as double thrust > viper or power slash > viper are the bread and butter. Out of these two weapons, i recommend Greatsword. The reason is because it has a higher skill cap, and importantly, WAR cannot equip lances, only low delay spear. Greatsword delay is higher, with a bigger base damage, not to mention better skill rating. (refer to physical damage in game mechanics for more info) Scythe - /em slaps you. Seriously, Scythe WS are lame (until lvl 60+), add this to the fact that WAR cannot use the big long delay scythe, well, don't do it. Sword, only time you'll even consider using it is for red lotus blade to perform fusion with a monk (or war/nin builds ultilizing the stats on the sword with a main hand axe). Bow is optional, for pulling (but a boomerang does better), or damage with war/rng. [RACES] Since a WAR may be required to tank or deal damage, i suggest Galka as the most optimal choice, since their very balanced STR/DEX suits melee purposes, and uber VIT, enables great tanking. Elvaan is a very close second place. Mithra/Hume WAR are alright, but Mithra's lack of VIT, therefore, should not try to focus on being a tanking WAR, though war/nin with utsusemi can help this somewhat. [TANKING]: SJ- MNK or NIN Contary to popular uninformed beliefs, a WAR is a fine tanker, if played correctly. Please refer to the aggro section in game mechanics to fully understand and appreciate the task. :) There are several reasons to use subjob MNK when tanking. The best one, is counter. Counter is so good, it's almost unfair. Why? Everytime counter kicks in (approximately 10% of attacks), you've dodged the blow thereby negating any damage done, and get in a free attack, that does x1.5 damage on the enemy. It's like a sneak attack and blink all in one. It's useless on main MNK, since they do not tank, and don't get hit for counter to work, but on WAR/MNK, it's super. The other good reason is Boost. Boost has a built in mini-provoke, the aggro it generates scales up in levels, so it's good when lvl 20, and still good when lvl 60. Dodge, Focus, extra HP, extra VIT, are so great reasons to use /MNK. The Focus + Aggressor = Uber Accuracy combo should be known to all WAR, Focus lasts 2 minutes, 5 minute cooldown, Aggressor lasts 3, with 5 cooldown. By using these two, a WAR will have an accuracy buff up always. This frees their item slot for DEF and VIT items that helps their tanking, without sacrificing accuracy. The key to tanking is good and constant usage of Provoke + Boost. Provoke every 30 seconds, Boost every 15, and hate is yours to keep unless your PT has an over zealous BLM/RNG/DRK. When you have access to Warcry at lvl 35, you can use it every other fight. It has a huge provoke built into it. When i tank as a WAR/MNK, i alternate, in one fight, I'll use Dodge, the next fight, Warcry. Dodge will allow an easier time at tanking since you get hit less, hence, hold hate better. NIN is the other tanking alternative. The advantage is being able to use utsusemi, and obtaining dual wield. When first getting dual wield, the speed bonus is insignificant, but after getting to lvl 50, for 2nd dual wield, 2 Axes with +stats can reach the point where the DPS rivals that of the Great Axe. However, the WS on the other hand, is lacking until level 55. Raging Axe & Rampage are very powerful due to DW (refer to Ninja section for further details), but no shield break, it's a bummer. However, once you have access to Mistral Axe WS, pts will want you to use Axes to create light skillchain with dark knights. This combo requires a 2nd provoker in the PT to function well, since utsusemi ICHI has a 4 second cast time, and gets interupted a lot. You will need someone to provoke the monster off you, then apply Ichi, provoke it back. However, at the start of the fight, you can get in a casting with ease, due to already having shadow images up absorbing hits. After the first 2 free ichi casting and absorbing 6 attacks, you will need that crucial 2nd provoker. :) Of the veterans giving their opinions, there are some who prefer NIN, while others MNK. Myself, after trying both, i found it much easier keeping aggro as a WAR/MNK. I am also somewhat biased towards great axes, so dual wield will not benefit me much. However, when my WAR reached 50, i got ninja up and now using great axe & axe/sword combo, Viking Axe + Espandon sword with +12 attack depending on what the PT needs. It should also be noted that sj MNK or NIN can be damage dealers as well, when they do not need to tank, slap on berserk, and give things a severe beating with enhanced accuracy or two axes. Note: WAR prior to 50, have higher DEF than PLD, since Defender (lvl25) gives 25% DEF boost. Also note, WAR AF set has absurd amounts of +Enmity on it, therefore, whether you want to or not, you'll prolly end up taking aggro anyway. ^^; [DAMAGE DEALING(DD)]: SJ - THF, SAM, RNG Firstly, let me state this fact: A WAR geared for DD can rival any other melee DD job out there. Why? With Double Attack (~10% default, 20% with AF boots), Aggressor (lvl 45 ability, increases base accuracy), good Great Axe WS, a DD WAR has the "equalizer" it needs. Now let's get on to the SJ choices and analysis. /THf - This is an obvious one, you get to use Sneak Attack. A great axe critical is heavy damage, with sneak attack every minute, it ensures two things: a hit, and big damage. A sneaked Sturm or Raging Rush is a lot of pain. At lvl 39, i've pulled off a 377 sneaked sturmwind on an IT mob. At lvl 49, 400+ damage *consistently* (Gigant Axe *drools*). These are pretty good damage for their level range, actually, top of the line damage. WAR/THF is a powerhouse. /SAM - The end game subjob of choice, lvls 60 or above ONLY. The only real advantage is Meditate, which is a lvl 30 SAM ability. On a sub, it gives 60TP. Resuse is 3 minutes. The other bonus is third eye, it's an instant dodge, able to dodge enemy WS. A well timed third eye can save you 500+ damage at high lvls versus certain mobs (bats/spiders anyone??). Mediate + Minor TP Store + Enhanced Double Attack = a lot of TP gained. TP that can be used in the same battle, for an early shield break, then midway Raging Rush, then having enough TP for the next fight for another early shield break.. and the cycle continues. PS. As i mentioned, for 60+ only. For goodness sakes, don't make things worse on yourself and your PT by using /sam before 60. /RNG - Honestly, I did not think this would work, given my assumed belief that since WAR have a low bow skill, they will miss heaps. How wrong i was when i put it to the test, since having played RNG already, i had archery skill capped, and all the RNG accessories (a lot of +range accuracy). You gain an important passive, Accuracy Up, this applies to melee as well as range attacks. Active ability sharpshot enables bow WS to connect. Why did this combo work? I had around +30 range accuracy in total in my RNG item macro, and would switch to it when shooting the bow, and reverting to the normal melee item when not shooting. This however, is not the only reason why it worked so good (so good that it had me astonished and all the pts i was in, saying "WTF" [including a jp RNG in my pt, who was ;; since my berserked bow shots hitting for 125 when his was hitting for 90 on IT soldier crawlers]). The real reason why this work, is shield break. I build TP to use shield break at the start of the fight, then proceed to whip out my bow. The enemy's evasion now severely debilitated, and +30 RNG ACC, most bow shots hit. In one PT, i was required to do piercing arrow > viper bite, and this worked very well. With only a few piercing arrow missing in several hours of exping (IT enemies). Ofcourse, this has been working fine up to lvl 50. I assume it will not do so well as one get to 60+ since the weapon skill cap widens, and a WAR's low bow skill will start to be much more noticeable. But between 30 and 50, WAR/RNG can deliver some serious damage, especially lvl 40 onwards, since the Iron Musketeer armor set has +5 range accuracy on each piece, a very nice armor for WAR/RNG. Also note during this period, you will be fighting annoying worker, soldier, rumble crawlers, with their Coocoon ability, almost all melee will hit for 0 when the coocoon is up (bless RDM & BRD!). But range attacks, will pierce through it and do significant damage. Why is this worth mentioning? You gain ZERO TP for attacks that do NIL damage. [SUMMARY] Warrior is still unpopular in NA FFXI community at large. It's one of the most underated job in FFXI currently, and most of my own friends in FFXI have bad memories of WAR, since they used it to get to 30 for advance jobs, and often did not play it correctly ("i'm using sword/shield, since i'm going to be a PLD!!"). This will change in time, and a good change, since WAR is truly a very versatile job. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.b - [MONK] Once, laughed at and teased, Monks these days enjoy a greater respect, well, from veterans anyway. :) The term DPS (damage per second) applies to MNK more than most, since upon initial observation, the unwise would say "oh, mnks suck! they only punch for 25 damage ><", but the wise, would know to add both punches, and note the delay (high lvl monks atk fast). Primary Weapon: Hand to Hand (Knuckles) Secondary Weapon: Pebbles!??? ("snatch the pebble from my hand, grasshopper" ^^;) Primary Race: Galka, Elvaan Secondary Race: Mithra, Hume Optimal Subjobs: WAR Optional Subjobs: SAM [WEAPONS] Purely knuckles, no other choice really. The job itself would make this pretty obvious, and so far in over 70 days of playtime, i have not seen a monk player with anything else. Luckily, Monks have access to some of the best WS sets. First obtaining Combo, which is a very strong WS for the early levels. Then the useful Tackle, with stun atribute, which is crucial for certain situations (goblins preparing bombs etc). Backhand Blow has a % to critical, when it does go critical, the damage is actually absurd. The next upgrade is Raging Fist, a 5 fold attack, which replaces Combo. High end wS includes Dragon Kick, a single strong attack (coupled with SA/TA for good effect), and Asuran Fist, one of the most uber WS in FFXI. It's important to note, that monks are the masters of making Fusion renkeis, but the WS required to lead into Fusion is severely limited, requiring sword, great katana, or bow. This is their only real weakness, since without someone to lead, Monks cannot take advantage of the power of their own WS. If you do have someone with red lotus blade, tachi: kagero or flaming arrow, then a raging fist fusion is a deadly skillchain. (Light SC is possible, but only at very high levels, so most of the time, you'll be stuck with fusion only). The other option, is producing Impaction, which has multiple sources to lead, and is a good choice when the mob you are fighting is weak to thunder, the downside? Not many mobs are weak to it, and an impaction renkei will produce minimal damage. It does help if your PT has a bard with threnody, or a NIN with elemental ninjutsu to lower resists before the skillchain starts. [RACES] Galka or Elvaan make great monks. A Monk's role is purely to deliver damage, nothing else. Elvaan have superior strength, and for monks, it's very crucial since stat & atk affect knuckles a lot more than regular weapons. However, Galka also have superior strength, and also high dexterity. Both are equally good imo. Mithra and Humes monks are alright also, but simply, not the best. While Mithra have the highest DEX, for a monk, this isn't so important, since their weapons, gear, and ability means MNKs are one of the more accurate melee jobs out there. Taru.. up to you, i wouldn't recommend it though. heh [DAMAGE DEALING]: SJ - WAR One of the common mistakes newbie monks make, is equiping knuckles which have lower delay than their counterpart, at the expense of base damage. The base damage on knuckles affect the final damage output greatly, 1 or 2 extra is a significant increase. It should also be noted, that the base delay for punches is already high, a 40 delay vs a 90 delay knuckle, makes no real difference in the final delay, but the majority of the time, a huge damage difference. Therefore, aim to get the highest damage knuckle as possible, always. :) There is a common misconception that monks are weak vs crabs and such, due to their "hard shell". It is partially correct, but not the real reason. Monk damage output is purely dependant on ATK vs DEF, and a minor increase in DEF will make a big damage reduction (applies twice, since monk hits 2 times, instead of 1 powerful blow which can "punch through DEF" better). Crabs and such, have very high DEF, this is the reason MNK perform less than great vs these mobs. However, this is also why i recommend only WAR as a SJ, due to berserk, +25% ATK, Double Attack (can occur in WS, raging fist with WAR sub can sometimes become a 8hitter or more!!), and ATK UP passive. If a MNK can con a MOB as "Low Def", then his punches will tear it up good. While on this train of thought, it should also be noted that Monks who wish to excel at DD, will NEED a pair of Ochiudo's Kote gloves. These are expensive, but i recommend you get it anyway. +20 to base attack, is a significant increase, since this is modified by food, berserk, atk passive and BRD songs. Other items of importance are belts, with haste on them, and +STR. Like most other DD, 2 sniper rings are also a must. If you cannot afford these, then equip a STR and a DEX ring. If you are rich and have gil flowing out of your pockets, i suggest you pick up Cross Counters, it is simply devastating to see a Raging Fist from a well decked out monk with these knuckles. This is actually the exact scenario whereby i gained respect for monks (many moons ago heh). I was lvling my thf and encounter a JP monk, he was putting my decked Mithra SA/TA Viper to shame with his Cross Counter Raging Fist. SAM is the optional SJ for monks. Personally, i do not see any benefits from meditate once per 3 min that can out match the benefits a WAR SJ can offer to monks. I strongly recommend SJ WAR only. [SUMMARY] This job needs more loving. Too many sit idle LFG, since there are still a lot of people out there who underestimate the potential of MNK. Yes, it is true, that a poorly equiped monk is an exp leech, but it's also true that a decked out MNK is one of the best DD there is. So when making a PT, make sure to send tells and ask Monk players, what their gear is like, before simply rejecting them. ^^ 2.c - [THIEF] It's a sad life being a THF, you are utterly crap until level 15, then half way there, other jobs replace you as the hate controller. But don't feel so bad, you'll have the last laugh when you are loaded with GILs!! That being said, THF from levels 33-59, is top tier damage dealers in a PT, as well as doing the hate control no one else can. It takes a lot of team work to take full advantage of a thf's ability, since recent changes no longer allows the uber "side sneak/trick attack". Party leaders should be aware that from 30 onwards, you should always seek to have a thf in the pt, otherwise, things tend to get very messy with the enemy runnning back and forth, maybe even killing that tarutaru whm or blm of yours. :) Primary Weapons: Dagger Secondary Weapons: Knuckles, Sword Primary Race: Mithra Secondary Race: Tarutaru, Galka, Hume Optimal Subjob: WAR, NIN Optional Subjob: SAM [WEAPONS] There is only one real weapon for a THF, which is dagger. However, dagger is only useful to a THF from lvls 33 onwards, when you have access to Viper Bite weaponskill. Before level 33, knuckles or sword is more optimal, since the key for a THF, is utlizing sneak attack + WS together. Dagger WS prior to lvl 33 (100 WS), do not stack with sneak attack, whereas Fast Blade from sword, or Combo from knuckles do stack and produce super damage. SA + Fast Blade will create a Distortion (lvl 2, ice/water renkei) skillchain, While SA + Combo will produce Fusion (lvl2, light/fire). Both are good, and use whichever depending on the sub job you have. Go with knuckles if you can sub monk for hand to hand bonuses, while use sword if you sub war. Either way, do not use dagger until level 33 outside of skill raising purposes. So when you lvl up, use dagger to cap your skill, then swich to a sword/knuckle. That way when you hit lvl 33, your dagger skill is high enough to use. (or what i did, was go lvl dagger as my rdm to cap it, so i never used dagger in exp pts prior to lvl 33). High lvl dagger WS such as Cyclone (area wind attack, damage base on TP) is great for farming. Dancing Edge is the upgrade to Viper Bite, you will receive it at lvl 60. Shark Bite (225WS) can produce lvl 3 Light skillchain. [RACEs] While some may say "you can make up for the lack of stats with items", they do not take into account, that said items, can also be worn by whomever they are trying to "catch up" with, hence, in reality, the differences can never be "made up" for. This is why Mithra without a doubt make the best thief. DEX and AGI are the two primary stat for producing high damage Sneak Attack/Trick Attack (SA/TA), since the stats themselves, add into the weapon damage, so that puny D15 dagger, is now a D120+ weapon with SA/TA activated. The three secondary races make fine thiefs, since their stats are very balanced without a major lack in crucial stats that matter most. Elvaans, they can do okay in the mid level range, but the difference will always be noticeable. The difference of 12 dex and 12 agi, together, after a SA/TA WS, can be an extra 100 damage or so. It is signifcant, but it does not mean Elvaans will be gimped, they just won't be as good, but still, overall, decent... if that makes any sense. heh [DAMAGE DEALING & HATE CONTROL]: SJ - WAR or NIN Hate control is the first and foremost primary duty to a THF, as a side effect, they produce a lot of damage. That's just a bonus. :) When in a PT, organize who is going to be your Trick partner, usually the TANK. Then you require a 2nd provoker to setup your fuidama (SA/TA). This is almost impossible in newbie PTs, but have patience, communicate and get it going. If you cannot, then a THF is useless. Also prime your SA/TA before pulling, or before the puller returns, this will give you a 2 quick SA/TA in succesion, and hence, ups the damage delivered by a lot. The first SA/TA goes on the tank, then 20 seconds or so later, a good tank would have built up enough hate to allow fuidama onto another meleer without the mob changing targets. If your party cannot handle this, then ask the meleer to provoke, to get the mob to face him, and you can proceed to fuidama onto the tank again. If you find that the provoke cannot get the mob to turn around, that means your tank is doing a good job, and you can then proceed to SA/TA onto the meleer. When your TP is 80% or more, save the SA/TA til when it reaches 100 before using it. If you can get in a fuidama viper with distortion skillchain at the start of the fight onto the tank, you can SA/TA onto the meleers during the fight without any trouble at all. This will maximize potential damage, and end the fight quicker. It's of great importance to SA/TA onto the tank quickly, since the meleer who is setting it up, often have lower DEF compared to tanks. If you delay too long, he will take a serious beating, causing massive MP wastage to heal him and producing uncessary aggro on the mages. This is the MOST common mistakes from THF players, even at lvl 55+ i see lazy thiefs who take way to long to SA/TA. /NIN - There's only 1 reason to sub Ninja; Dual Wield. There is two benefits from dual wielding, the 1st is the ability to equip a second weapon in your offhand, a weapon that have beneficial stats. 2nd, lvl 50 THF/NIN onwards, dual wield speeds up considerably, hence, allows faster TP buildup, which is important, since Weapon Skill combined with SA/TA is your job defining ability. What to equip in your offhand? This is an important choice. There are some good swords with +DEX on them, and some thf use it. I do not recommend this path. At high level, a THF's sword skill is severely behind, and by using a sword, you are negating any TP bonuses dual wield give, since that sword swing will miss the majority of the time on IT enemies. I suggest equipping 2 dagger, with bonuses to DEX/AGI, ATK, or accuracy. Utsusemi is not a contributing factor & should never be unless you are a total imbecile at being a THF. Neither is any "extra DEX/AGI NIN gives", since the difference is minimal compared to WAR. Overall, NIN offers more tp gains, and some extra bonuses on the 2nd weapon, both are excellent for THF mains. /WAR - Although DEX/AGI are important, so is Attack rating. ATK is a THF's weak point, since they gain no passives or active ability which help this. Please refer to my game mechanics section for full details why a lot of high level THF use WAR SJ. But simply, it is for Berserk, Atk Up, and Double Attack. My personal recommendations, is for THF/WAR, rather than THF/NIN. /WAR just has an edge over /NIN, one that is more obvious as you level up higher and face high defence enemies. I've tried both btw, so this comes from experience. Another huge advantage is you will not be using viper bite forever, when you get dancing edge, it's a 5 hit WS, with double attack kicking in, it becomes incredibly damaging, doing 1k+ damage as thf/war is easily achieved. /SAM - For meditate, at lvl 60 thf/sam. Gets extra TP, therefore, more SA/TA WS, which is what thfs are all about. It's not the best sub, but better than most other choices. Just don't use it before lvl 60. :) [SUMMARY] While THF have a lot of dex, it does not mean their accuracy is great. Make sure if you can, to macro item switch to accuracy items when not using your SA/TA or WS, so you hit more often, hence, get more TP faster and do more renkeis. THF from levels 33->60 is one of the top tier damage dealer who can keep hate on tanks, do not pass a THF when trying to form a pt in that level range if you can help it. 2.d - White Mage 2.e - Black Mage 2.f - RED MAGE 2.g - Paladin 2.h - Dark Knight 2.i - Ninja 2.j - Samurai 2.k - Dragoon 2.l - Bard 2.m - Summoner 2.n - Beastmaster 2.o - Ranger 3. Game Mechanics 3.a - Hate/Aggro System 3.b - Magic 3.c - Physical 4. Party Strategy 4.a - Finding/Making a Party 4.b - General Tips 4.c - THFs need love too! 4.d - OMG we're all going to DIE!