Seeking Info

[Anderithe]

Okay, it's been a long time since I played my Thief. Ever since I hit forty I've been at work, upping my gear and my subjobs. Getting eleven-thirty-twenty-two levels as Warrier, Ranger, and Ninja respectfully went slow... considering I was getting about a level every other day.

For those who can't count that's about sixty-three levels over the course of one-hundred-twenty-six days. *Okay, now I'm thinking I moved a little faster... :lol: *

Anyway, I'm ready to take Thief to forty-five, some quick farming, and on to fifty. I'm worried though.

Sure, my pulling isn't the least bit rusty, I've been running pulls with every subjob, and my understanding of hate tilt in the party is still good too. I haven't forgotten how to do my job, run my skillchains and ect ect ect, but I've become aware of some... 'holes' in my knowledge.

For example, just how hard it is for mages to find the time to do everything they do? It's safe to say I'm going to run into a lot of Red Mages from this point on, and up until now I haven't partied with that many.

Red Mages that know how to burst is a rare commodity it seems as of late, and I have no idea how to help them learn if need be. I also don't know their wheel of debuffs, or even the kind of recast they get on refresh.

Then there are the White Mages. While it's not hard for me to understand their duties, I have no idea what changes come for them from this point on that i should be aware of.

Factor in my inexperiance with Dark Knights extent of magical prowess and I'm feeling a little short.

Could anyone give me some advice for the future? One of the things I do best as a Thief is work with the parties, and keeping the pace on pulls and SATA.

What I know has made a big difference in the XP my parties have gotten, and has landed me the reigns of a party that almost fell apart before I pieced it back together and made it even better. This has happened to me on several occasion, and I consider it a good thing.

*Although I hate being the leader.*

I like being able to do that, and knowledge is power. Please empower me, as I am feeling uncertain. Thank you in advance.

 

[Devi]

Can you repeat the question? o. O

 

[Neche]

Anderithe just wants us to give him(her?) a general synopsis about the playing habbits of Redmage, DRK, WHM, ect, the ones he(she?) listed. Is that it?

 

[Legomyeggo]

Um... Pull when ready...?

 

[Devi]

Pulling: Make sure there's enough MP to last the fight, and a little extra incase something goes wrong.

Whitemages: Just keep an eye on their MP...not much else you can do, maybe ask for Haste if there is time and mp to spare.

Redmages: Depends on who the RDM is, that is, is s/he a new RDM, or have they level another job to upper levels and seen how they(RDMs) work...

Darkknights: Do not have "Excellent magical prowess". They have a few usefull self serving spells, if you expect anything from DRKs, it's that they will build TP much slower than you if you have decent ACC and are dual wielding...

Anything else?

 

[deathsvengeance]

Darkknights: Do not have "Excellent magical prowess". They have a few usefull self serving spells, if you expect anything from DRKs, it's that they will build TP much slower than you if you have decent ACC and are dual wielding...

Honestly I think it depends on the drk, I've been in a number of parties where they build TP faster than a MNK for example. I know in Rappa's static, Drac and Rappa tend to build TP at about the same rate.

I think it depends on the DRK's equip, whether he/she has snipers rings, lots of added dex and accuracy, etc. DRKs are very well know for having a gimped equip so... that's probably why the majority build TP slower than a good DRK.

Also, a DRK's absorb spells do help the party, not just themselves.

 

[Rappa]

The Absorb line of spells are certainly not "self-serving". What the hell am I going to do with absorbed VIT? Nothing, but the mob we're fighting is going to take more damage from our attacks until it wears. Abs-INT before a MB makes it do at least 5% more damage. Abs-AGI helps the other DDs in a pt hit the mob. Etcetc.

A DRK will build TP a little bit more slowly. It isn't an accuracy problem most of the time (unless they have crap gear because a DRK HAS to have good gear to succeed), it's because they are casting those spells so the other DD can hit the thing better or whatever other debuff is needed for a particular fight.

 

[Ecks]

What can I say that hasn't already been said about a Dark Knights role. Not much. Our Absorb spells certainly arent "Self-Serving" It's kind of a side effect really..and the fact that they are indeed "absorbing" spells. I typically start out my battles using them, unless we fighting a mob that is simply just too strong against magic and will most certainly resist my attempts. I keep my Dark magic leveled appropriately and make sure that it caps before I level.

I use a certain pattern when I use my absorb spells and I always begin with Abs-Mnd. Why? It's my belief, and from all my experience using it in my battles it makes the mob more succeptable to enfeebling magics or perhaps just magic in general. This could be a dual advantage to both its mnd being weakened and mine being enhanced, which is most likely the case. When it lands I can almost always successfully land all my other abs spells on a mob. Not that I use all my abs-spells. I have yet to run across a mob that abs-chr would be considered useful against, but since I do have the spell im sure somewhere it may come in handy.

I then use Abs-Vit to decrease the mobs defenses so to say. It can and does make a huge difference. Do I benefit from this spell, sure.. but the effect doesnt really help a Drk with anything an a tiny bit of added survivability if we start getting attacked. Generally not needed for that purpose.

Abs-Dex could be considered a self serving spell, its about one of the few absorb spells that we Dark Knights do gain from, increase in dex means we will crit a bit more often for a little while and hit a bit more often for a little while. While its negative effect on the mob may not be as noticable as the benefit given to the Dark Knight, it helps all the same in weakening the mob in another aspect of its fighting capabilities.

I sometimes use Abs-Agi after this point, another non self serving ability, generally used against those quick mobs that like to attack a lot really quickly.. it slows them down, so the tank doesn't have to take as many hits. Its benefits are hardly noticable on a Drk; there, but not noticable.

I generally end with Abs-Str, sometimes skipping Abs-Agi and using this first given the mob and how much time may be left before the mob is finished. Abs-Str.. useful ofcourse, lowers the mobs str and improves ours, self explainitory. I use this last because by this time im usually ready or close to being ready to preform a skill chain. Added Str helps with most Great Sword and Scythe weapon skills.

By this time no more spells will be needed to be cast as a good party will either have killed the mob by now (which has actually happened to me, died before I could even get all my abs spells off) or have it at 40-50% health, which the oncoming skill chain/magic bursts destroy the mobs HP even more.

Now using these spells is only really beneficial if your a Dark Knight with decent to great gear. Otherwise your not going to even land the hits you get between casting spells, which will make you unready to do a skillchain before the mob dies, pretty much nullifying a nice advantage of having those buffs while they last.

Man.. im actually kind of tired after typing all this.. I also got about 5 hours of sleep today. >.>;

I hadn't been sure of what exactly Abs-Int contributed towards a mob fight, though if it does infact make the magic bursts stronger I may be adding that on the end of my casting cycle for Abs-Spells. I always just thought that abs-mnd helped with the magic bursts as well as the enfeeblings as it seemed to help that way as well.