Advice on how to be a good player

[Destai]

um yeah... *gestures to title*

[Citizen Bleys]

kind of a broad topic...could write a novel on that. Can you be a bit more specific?

[Lionx]

Well theres one general rule: Dont suck :D

You might want to be specific as to your job and lvls. Also what do you want to know? Crafting? Party etique? Doing well at your job? Equipment? Be more specific.

[Destai]

I guess just what you expect from other players and what characteristics you want to invite them in your party. I've only started two days ago and want to know what people expect.

[Citizen Bleys]

You should have up to date equipment/spells/etc. If you have a subjob, it should be *fully* levelled. (i.e., for a level 10 war, your sj should be level 5, in which case I will assume that when you ding 12, your sj will ding to 6, or you will leave to level it)

If no subjob, there's nothing you can do -- you'll be passed over for someone who has one.

Also, you should have an appropriate subjob. For warrior at low levels, this means monk. For whm, it should be blm or smn, and for blm it should be whm and nothing else. Warrior should never sub whm. Rdm should rarely or never be subbed. I will always pass over a /rdm sub for something more appropriate (I'd rather have a drk/blm than a drk/rdm, although for preference, drk should have war or thf subbed)

Two things that I would never invite into an exp party are people who have drg or brd subbed. Drg and brd are main jobs. Without the 2hr, drg is gimped, meaning that drg is always gimped as a sub. For bard, you need to have an instrument equipped to be effective, and you can only equip an instrument with a brd main. About the only time I'd consider brd as an acceptable sub is if you're a bst subbing it for the chr bonus--but then you'd be soloing anyways. Bst are OK for parties, as long as they don't charm, and you only need chr for charming.

At lower levels, I also tend to invite someone who's close--so if you're in the teens, put up your seek flag and stay in the Dunes. At higher (post-Kazham) levels, I'll tend to invite someone who is either in Jeuno or who has a search comment indicating that their HP is in Jeuno so they can Warp/deathwarp back in a jiffy. Jeuno's the gateway to the wider world.

And speaking of search comments--use one! A search comment can tell more about you than just your job, such as exp to next level (important if you might become too high for the party) I usually have a format like such:

@10000 tnl / HP: {Jeuno}
{English} / {Japanese} {Party} OK
(Any additional info I wish to add at the time, such as stat boosts, food type, or occasionally "nihongo de jouzu ja arimasen")

[Lionx]

Also, you should have an appropriate subjob. For warrior at low levels, this means monk. For whm, it should be blm or smn, and for blm it should be whm and nothing else. Warrior should never sub whm. Rdm should rarely or never be subbed. I will always pass over a /rdm sub for something more appropriate (I'd rather have a drk/blm than a drk/rdm, although for preference, drk should have war or thf subbed)

I find SMN before 50 without Auto Refresh to be a big waste, you lose Bind which really helps on the Aquans you meet ie crabs and pugils.

RDMs are fine up til around 40ish i would say as a sub, being that around then BLM gets you Conserve MP. If you are a BLM, RDM sub until a certain lvl is fine. But WHM is more preferred because of status heals and bar spells. Fast Cast is not that great but RDM sub is acceptable in a little ways at least til 40. Then WHM or BLM sub on a mage is more acceptable. However around 66 RDM sub becomes acceptable again when you can learn Dispel.

The thing with your sj is that its to re-enforce your main job, not to make up weaknesses. At least in a party situation, when you are soloing you can sub whatever you want.

DRG/BRD sub before 20 i would find acceptable, it has been sorta proven that BRD sub before 20 for some jobs are pretty effective. Paeon and Madrigal(or Minuet) is very good to have and outweighs some other subs. Like THF, cant tank for jack even with WAR sub, however a BRD sub makes it work actually better. A DRG with BRD sub can use healing breath in the all aweful Dunes when ppl are in deep crap. All you have to do is sing Requiem and bam healing breath when you low life. I also sub BRD when theres a RDM or when theres no refresher around high lvls, a WHM/BRD can help boost the power of going through chains post 50 with Ballad I. You just have to know how to keep up with the busy-ness. Of course none of these thigns apply next to DRG/BRD pre 20 when theres a REAL BRD in your party.

I wouldnt say people staying in the Dunes, LaThine or Konschat is a good place to ask too. Some people Solo there when theres no party.

My search comment says what i am good at:

@10000/20000 JPN/ENG OK! sj: BRDorBLM
(Dark Staff) : O (Light Staff) : O MND+18
RaiseII@(Bazaar)Rdy! (Roast Mushroom) O

[Destai]

*takes notes*

[Wyllius]

All I can offer is simple advice based on my meleeing and maging adventures. If you choose a melee class and you see the monster going for a mage Provoke if you can, you'll learn early on that a mage is not designed for physical combat in any way, woe betide you if you're in a pt that allows the whm to take hits per battle, it does happen, but the keynote for your blm or whm is try to keep them safe, and if your mage whips out their staff/wand and starts to hit the monster SCREAM AT THEM TO STOP AND GET THE FECK AWAY FROM THE MONSTER AND GET BACK TO CASTING, a mage will do pitiful damage with their weapon, it's what melee classes were designed for and by doing this they're bringing down the pt security as they're now in range for Area Of Effect attacks which will drain the white mages ability to keep others alive.

Ideally you'd want a tank class, a white mage, and damage dealers in the pt, while in the dunes you'll notice that there is a shortage of whms, if you do choose to be a whm, prepare for multiple blind invites for people wanting you, accept them or not, I went to the dunes with my 12 whm after leveling my 3rd job to 35 so I was used to waiting in jeuno for party messages before accepting so I was more selective in my dunes pt acceptance, didn't save me from idiots though.

You'll develop your own playing style in the game and your own acceptances from experience, all I can say is beware of idiotic subs like bleys has mentioned. if you ever see something like a war/whm or pld/whm join your pt, and they do not change their subjob then run away, war/whm sounds fantastic, a warrior who can heal himself, he'll have maybe enough mp to heal himself twice, or what about a whm/war a whm who can attack monsters and keep himself alive! no, 3 hits dead from his pitiful whm defense.

From my experience:

The job combos I have left pts from seeing:

war/whm
pld/whm
drk/pld
thf/whm
rdm/war - this one I had to think about for a while, but as I seen it a rdm needs all the mp he/she can get, voke wouldbe nice but slow/paralyse/bind/blind/gravity is as well.

[Citizen Bleys]

I think this is the first 100% serious post I have ever seen from Wyll, except maybe three in Staff.

[Miriel]

Eat food! Food is your friend. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v451/Emoticons01/nod.gif

[Wyllius]

I think this is the first 100% serious post I have ever seen from Wyll, except maybe three in Staff.

It's laced with mind controling suggestions as well.

[Citizen Bleys]

Is that why I burned down all those churches last night? I was sort of wondering where I got the idea, but I just couldn't resist.

[Destai]

Do you hold it against a player when there game crashes and they leave you alone in a monster filled area?

[Lionx]

Well no not really, connection losts are kinda typical at times =/ So no not really unless they d/c tons of times and still want to party. What control does anyone have when a game crashes anyway?

[Rostum]

Don't tell anyone how to play their job, if you think that they are doing something wrong just suggest an alternative method.

[Destai]

Got it.

[abrojtm]

If you in a War in Dunes, for the love of God don't think that moving around will make the enemies hit you less. I distinctly remember someone doing that in one of my pts before *shakes head*.

[Destai]

:D I only do that because Im a roleplay whore.

[Ouch!]

Use appropriate weapons, this goes specifically for all the idiotic sword WARs. I blame Square Enix for giving WARs the onion sword. Use an axe, or better yet, a great axe! Every job has different caps for different weapons, use the weapons at the highest cap as it makes the weapons more effective that other possible choices.

Know what equipment to buy first. If you're going to be tanking (WAR, PLD) you'll want to buy the most up to date armor first. As NIN tanks shouldn't be taking very much damage because they use their shadows you can usually focus on other things such as STR and attack increase equipment that will increase your damage and help you maintain hate. I've seen many NINs lose hate before their shadows are up because they aren't putting out enough damage to keep it off of the damage dealers.

As a damage dealer, like the ninja, focus on STR and attack increasing equipment as well as the most powerful weapons available. A lot of people like to load up on DEX hoping that it will dramatically increase their accuracy- which it doesn't. The relationship between DEX and acc. is supposedly a curve, so each extra point of DEX becomes less and less effective. Sticking with STR will add that much more damage to your attacks when connect, usually about a damage point per STR point. The only job that really, really needs DEX is the THF as it is directly related to their sneak attack, which they get at L15. At L30 they learn Trick Attack which relies on AGI. So obviously for a thief that's what you want to focus on.

For mages keep up to date on spells. If you can't afford all of them, go with the important spells that you're going to be using. While helpful, at lower levels the bar-ra spells aren't necessary, buy them if you can afford them. Load up on MP increasing equips.

As a WHM you'll want to get as much MND as you can. For a BLM you'll want as much INT as you can. For a RDM, early on you'll probably be stuck as a back-up healer, so MND is a more realistic choice, at least until /BLM becomes viable at the later levels. SMN will *always* sub WHM, so stick with the MND.

For BRD and BST, load up on all the CHR you can. Both will most likely end up subbing WHM, so it's a good idea to get MND in equipment slots where you can't get CHR. For BRD have an array of instruments that will increase the potency of the different types of songs. Like spells, keep up with the necessary songs at all costs, usually you'll end up using certain songs a lot more than others.

That's all for now.

[Lionx]

NINs usually dont use STR to gather hate and use Ninjutsu and enfeebles to do so instead, most load up on Evasion gear since they got an A+ in the skill and can avoid many attacks before their shadows are hit.

DEX is not linear to Acc but it is generally believed that 2DEX=1 Acc. Its not that significant but DEX's main thing is to have more Crits. And guess what that DOES make you hit more...DEX does in a way raise Acc in terms of more Crits...but it is generally not as favored as Acc as Crits are not as consistant. But by no means does DEX doesnt raise Acc in any way even if indirectly. Acc is actually the one that will give dimishing returns when you get a certain ammount...its rumorued to be +40 Acc then it starts giving you dimishing returns. No basis though.

Attack i heard raises the ammount of damage you do, STR will minimize lower hits i heard..either that or its the other way around. Either way i know ATK sooner or later, like Acc gives dimishing returns.

MND i disagree for WHM having alot, MND is only useful when you are doing enfeebles when you have no RDM in your party. WHM is essentially an MP job. While it is true that MND does raise your cure cap a bit, its usaully +5 - +7 to raise it by...a whole 1 hp.

MND and INT should be sought after by RDMs, since they are enfeeblers. I would sugguest enough MND til you can enfeeble WHM type enfeebles consistantly, then go for INT for BLM Enfeebles and Nukes.

I also recommend BLMs getting elemental ATK up and Magic ATK + Bonus equips over INT as the damage formula seems to calculate INT last...and while at low lvls INT might make a difference, as you get higher, INT all it does is give you 1 more dmg point...so INT at low lvls then focus on Elemental ATK up and Magic ATK + Bonus equips..then fill in INT on those that dont have a slot for those two..or MP depending on your race.

For BST i recommend +MP equipment over MND, however as for BRD do load up on CHR Equipment. IT will make Lullaby stronger and that is important. Minuet, Lullaby, Minne, Mambo, Ballad, Madrigal, Elegy, Finale, and Paeon are the absolute basic for me...

SMN subs WHM but i still recommend MP gear over MND, as they are to heal and to manage MP, when a SMN is healing, as well as WHM, it is not a stat job but an MP job and the management of that MP. After management comes the regain rate of it. That is what seperates downtime and another chain. SMNs might want to even load up on Magic ATK Bonus up gear or INT because their avatars can do more dmg that way...other than that their MP keeps their Avatars out longer and therefore more Blood Pacts.

I agree though that WAR doesnt need a Sword at early lvls -_- i was tricked too..

[lordblazer]

WEll you can just play the game linear.Do what opthers tell you wat to do.Like if your a BArd .Even thoughy ou can throw any sub with a bard.Some idiots had to say "hey lets make the bard do more work and sub him with WHM"Wow they went well good.ME I sub it with THF yeah I'm lazy.

edit- only a few players actually care what a bard subs on it.Literally.I've been in so many PTs and only 3 of them questioned me subbing THF lol.But I'm RPing the Bard job.And Bards are known for thieving peoples money away so BRD/THF soundsed kewl to me lol.

[Lionx]

Most of the time people are happy with a BRD with the buffs they give and rather not care too much. But most people have little respect for BRDs should they ever complain about something illegitimate like LFG (especially that).

BRDs will optimally sub a WHM. What will THF give you as a sub? Gilfinder(useless...most things you exp off arent beastmen), Sneak Attack(if you ever wanna poke stuff...'wwww'), and maybe Flee..but the BRD rarely gets hate and even if they do they need to stay there and not run off like a wuss..

A BRD will be best with WHM in which if you ever find yourself in a tight spot, that CureIII and backup healing can push the chain/survival up alot. I know that happens when i have less than 100 MP because the Gobs in Gustav threw a few too many bombs in one fight...the BRD's MP gave me enough time to heal without the chain stopping because of his backup healing and ended the chain 4 quite nicely....with chain 5 much more manageable(and hence why WHM sub is better than a SMN sub for BLM..he helped too). He also saves me MP by curing certain status alignments and sometimes Bar-element spell when i am too occupied. That sure saved a few bomb tosses doing over 200 dmg. The party is only as good as the weakest link..although some weak links are more apperant than others.

The effort you put into your job really shows what player you are...and its easily seen if not in the BRD job, in another...and i will be sure to take note of gimp/rude players...and i am pretty linient on 'gimp'. =/

[Lich3636]

if you want to be a good player never and i mean never eat alot of mexican food before you play =)