God...
What a damn Weenie Kid ... I couldn't read that shit past the first page, dude. I'm sorry.
He's just some dumb-ass WHM (And no, I'm not hating on WHMs, because my 2nd main is WHM too.) who thinks he knows everything.
I regularly play with a Mithra THF by the name of Francheska... And my right-hand man... A Hume Male BLM named Belgarath, usually, Bigdumbface (Hume Male PLD) is with us, tankin' it up... And here's how the battle usually runs...
1. We all go to camp...
2. Set up camp...
3. Francheska hits a Silent Oil and casts Tonko: Ichi, and scouts ahead...
4. Francheska spots a potential mob.
5. Francheska uses Sneak Attack & Trick Attack, announced the monster being pulled, and uses a ranged attack and runs (sometimes "Flee"ing) back to camp.
6. I'm the "First Voker" and "Damage Dealer"... I voke the mob off Francheska with "/ja "Provoke" <bt>" and "/attack <bt>" because I'm too lazy to manually target it.
7. Bigdumbface lines up behind the mob, and we form a line. Then big vokes off me and Flashes it, then Cures himself to piss it off and really build up hate.
8. I hit "Meditate" with my Samurai Subjob. Francheska lines up behind me, and I'm behind the monster with the hate still on Bigdumbface.
9. Warcry, Aggressor, Berserk... Then "Raging Rush" (Great Axe) or "Rampage" (Axe)...
10. Francheska follows up with a "Dancing Edge"... BOOM! "Detonation" skillchain.
11. Hate is STILL on Paladin.
But that guy was retarded to say that the tank should be the only one getting damage...
Ummm... Hello? ... Shit Happens!
What about Monsters with AoE attacks? Like Rabbits, or those Perytons in Valley of Sorrows?
"Shit Happens" is the reason why I stayed a WAR, and became a "WAR/SAM" for that matter.
WAR... What I like to call "The Variable Melee"...
If I wanna tank, I can go WAR/MNK, WAR/NIN, or even WAR/PLD (Yes, PLD can be subbed... But it's not seen very often, because the "Generic" Warrior subs Ninja 85% of the time.)
If I wanna solo or farm, I can go WAR/WHM or WAR/THF and I'm good to go.
If I wanna deal damage, I can go WAR/SAM, or WAR/RNG...
Come to think of it, there's only TWO "WAR/SAM"s in Full AF, past Lv. 60 that I know of...
Me, and a Galka by the name of "Ziox".
...
But back to my original statement... Shit happens. And I'm almost always prepared for it... I always have all the necessary tools... incase someone fucks up... That's why I love "Gobbie Bag 5", "Scroll of Instant Warp" and those Sneak & Invis items... I feel like a damn commando... I'm a G.I. Joe.
I've been in alot of parties where the Paladin will suddenly D/C in mid-fight, and then the mob will go STRAIGHT for the WHM...
That's when I hit "Defender", "Third Eye", "Warding Circle", and "Meditate" and go into Tankin' mode. I show my Variable side by instantly converting from a Damage Dealer, to a Secondary Tank... And the fact that I'm an Elvaan is an even greater plus...
...What I wanna do is I wanna see that WHM actually PLAY Thief and get to the point where he / she can GET into full THF AF...
I follow Francheska around often on our little wacky misadventures through Sea Serpent Grotto, Castle Oztroja, & the Boyahda Tree... I have a much better idea of what it's like to be a THF than that guy does. So he needs to eat his words.
Personally... When SQUARE-ENIX fucked with SATA that time around late last year... That's what fucked with me.
I was in Qufim Island at the time... And I was like:
"What?! Now I have to line up behind the monster and help the THF out? I'm used to just running up to it and bashing the crap outta it."
But now, setting up an SATA formation is second nature to me...
I wanna see that guy take a melee character to a high level before he passes judgement on something he hasn't even had remote experience in.