Can you guys help me decide something?

[Darius]

Im trying to decide which sword to buy and im kinda leaning toward the Mercenary's Greatsword over the Braveheart. Both are great swords but in the long run, which will be more "worth it"? If I bought the MGS, Id equip some +dex/+acc items to help me hit alot more often. Braveheart would be +str/+att items.

Any feedback would be nice. Thanks! :)

[ScottNUMBERS]

What level are you and what are the attributes of those two Swords?

[Darius]

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/images/items/weapons/gswords/Mercenary's-Greatsword.jpg

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/images/items/weapons/gswords/Braveheart.jpg

[Eminem's_No.1_Fan]

NO WE CAN'T!!!!!
well i cant anyway.

[Darius]

I think ill be going with the Mercenary's GS. Its damage is just more appealing to me. +dex items so I hit more often and that should pretty much settle it. :p

Has anyone else here used this sword before?

[ScottNUMBERS]

That's a pretty tough choice you got there. If you were that in desperate need to know which one, you could get both. Use each one and record the results, equip the one that does the most damage and sell the other.

[Darius]

I could do that. After thinking about it (im at work so im kinda bored) I decided to go with the Mercenary and then go and farm the Braveheart in the Palborough Mines. Figure it wont be that hard since the majority of the monsters in that area are very low levels. The only hard part is gonna be waiting for the NM to spawn every 1 hour if I dont get the sword the first time. Could take days to get. But whatever. :)

[Rostum]

Personally I'd go with Mercenary's Greatsword.

[Crossblades]

Personally I'd go with Mercenary's Greatsword.

[Vincentsinnerdemon]

Regardless of what u choose u should equip as much acc/dex+ gear u can as DRK. Attack is DRKs specialty and even gets job traits that increase it so I always go acc/dex+ before attack.

[Lionx]

Well this is lvl 20, you only get +10 and you shouldnt have such trouble at those levels, i personally would use the +ATK sword.

[Darius]

Regardless of what u choose u should equip as much acc/dex+ gear u can as DRK. Attack is DRKs specialty and even gets job traits that increase it so I always go acc/dex+ before attack.

Im only a 20 WAR and soon to be a PAL. I dont plan on being a DRK but the thought has crossed my mind. I like being a tank better though. I like being in the battle and not on the outside of one casting spells. It makes me feel like im actually doing something. I dont know. But yea, I figure that since Im going to be a PAL/WAR that I will be using this weapon for quite some time so I want to make the right decision on which one to get, and the MERC sword is the one I want. Ill farm the Braveheart so I can sell it though. :D

[themagicroundabout]

That's a pretty tough choice you got there. If you were that in desperate need to know which one, you could get both. Use each one and record the results, equip the one that does the most damage and sell the other.

I agree with Scott here. To find the weapon that really suits you, you need to experiment.

[Ouch!]

First of all, as a WAR, you really should be using a great axe or an axe. The skill cap is much higher, which means more accuracy and more attack (each skill point is roughly one point of both accuracy and attack).

Second, as a PLD, you shouldn't be using a great sword in exp. parties. Ever. PLD will always tank with the sword and shield combination. Losing such a valuable asset as a shield for slightly more damage (which isn't what the PLD's purpose is anyway), is a bad option. Giving up the chance that your shield will significantly reduce the damage you take on any given hit is just dumb. Aside from that, PLD's shield mastery would go to waste. Great sword isn't worth it in most situations, and by the time you can really put it to use, you'll be able to skill it up on your own and in skill up parties anyway.

[strawberryman]

Second, as a PLD, you shouldn't be using a great sword in exp. parties. Ever. PLD will always tank with the sword and shield combination. Losing such a valuable asset as a shield for slightly more damage (which isn't what the PLD's purpose is anyway), is a bad option. Giving up the chance that your shield will significantly reduce the damage you take on any given hit is just dumb. Aside from that, PLD's shield mastery would go to waste.

Well, in some situations PLD tanks with Earth staff, but that's high level stuff. :p

But, yeah. WAR should use GAxe or Axe.

[Lionx]

You could try GSword vs Bones in KRT with Spin Slash with proper gear in MNK burn PTs. I dont know how good this is since the patches but back in the days, it was fine for those parties.

[Vincentsinnerdemon]

I appologize for the mix-up on your job choices but the only job that really uses great sword is DRK as was said before PLD should use sword and shield.

[Rostum]

Second, as a PLD, you shouldn't be using a great sword in exp. parties. Ever. PLD will always tank with the sword and shield combination. Losing such a valuable asset as a shield for slightly more damage (which isn't what the PLD's purpose is anyway), is a bad option. Giving up the chance that your shield will significantly reduce the damage you take on any given hit is just dumb. Aside from that, PLD's shield mastery would go to waste.

Well, in some situations PLD tanks with Earth staff, but that's high level stuff. :p


Not in exp. parties. Shield is much more efficient now.

Edit: Even in something like dynamis, shield does the job just as well -- and can give you the extra stats you need (i.e. enmity). I haven't tried using a shield to kite anything in Sky though.

[Ouch!]

Like I said, in most circumstances it won't work. There are the few when it does, but they're few and far between. I'm just trying to put it out there so he's not under the misconception that he can/should use great sword from square one.

[Yeargdribble]

Well since they've added Shield Mastery Earth Staff is almost gimp for endgame PLDs. Almost all of our PLDs have switched to Sword+Shield for tanking everything.

As for the 2 swords, you can go with either and use a food that benefits the failings of the other. I personally carried both of them around for my DRK and depending on whether or not my PT wanted to overhunt I'd use acc or atk. If you are fighting T-VT (even low IT) mobs then definitely the Merc. If your PT likes to overhunt on IT++ mobs and you are at the bottom of the spread then the Braveheart is great.

[Darius]

I know what you mean Ouch! In the later levels I will be using sword+shield but right now I dont even have a PAL yet. My highest level is a 20 WAR and once that hits 30 im going straight to PAL. Also, I got my sword+shield (both) to 53 before I ever started using great sword at all. Im just using great sword now, at lower levels, because its killing mobs faster than the 1 handed swords that are available to me. My goal in the end is to have 250 sword+shield and 250 great sword. So at the moment im leveling them both together. I can always stop leveling and questing and go to a weaker area and level up the one thats lacking too.

Thanks for the info though. :)

[Yeargdribble]

I don't think you really kill the mobs faster by using a Great Sword. Sure it's bigger and hits harder, but it also hits less often than a one handed sword. Beyond that, PLD has B skill in GSwd and A+ skill in Sword. This means that your GSwd will miss more often than your Sword would.

Also, PLD isn't meant to do damage and kill the mob faster. PLD is meant to be able to take damage the most efficiently to bring in more efficient XP. Not using a shield hurts you and your PT in many ways. For yourself, you will not get all of the shield skill ups that you really need to continue being a competent PLD. For your PT, you will become more of an MP sponge since you won't be absorbing more damage with your shield. With the addition of Shield Master to PLD there's really nothing that can outperform the sword+shield combo.

[Darius]

Thats cool.
Ill go to the AH and see if theres a sick lvl 20 1h sword then, and a shield too haha

[Lionx]

If you are a WAR use GAxe, Sturmwind > all other WS at those levels.

[Yeargdribble]

Yes, GAxe for WAR at those levels is the better way to go. I think the most confusion about that issue comes from both the Brady Guide and the fact that SE decided to not make any Great Axes that could be used before level 5,thus giving WAR a Sword to start with.

[Darius]

Yea....I havent even touched an axe yet. I started with a sword so I figured id just keep using it. I once saw a WAR the same level as me (when I was lvl 11) using an axe and doing 20+ more damage than I was doing. I was thinking WTF! But I was a noob and im still learning this game (only been playing a month now) so things are starting to fall into place. I started leveling my current sub job and got 9 levels in one day. My WAR took about 3 days to get to level 9. Better understanding = better gameplay. :)

I personally think its too late for me to go use an axe now since im so close to 30 but once I get my PAL going ill be using the sword+shield till its skilled at 250.

[Vertisce]

Buy an Onion Sword...those things rock!

[Markus. D]

plus ATK.

[Vincentsinnerdemon]

No you should spend a day with a GA just skilling up in a place that has TW and EP to you. Thats what I had to do with mages when I was bored and wanted my staff/club skill leveled.

[Ouch!]

I agree, taking the time to level up great axe is a very good move. Even if you're close to 30 and plan on stopping there to switch to PLD, you have to be aware that at some point you'll have to jump back on WAR and level to 37 so your sub isn't gimp for your PLD. Some would suggest that you keep axe leveled as well, but I never found it to be much of an issue. Axe/shield combo isn't terribly common. More often than not, it's WAR/NIN with dual axes, but at levels that early, I'm of the party that doesn't believe that dual-wield is worth it.

Anyway, leveling great axe is definitely beneficial, and if you get help from other players once the mobs become too difficult for you to solo, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Lionx]

Actually i would level it for Shield Break alone..thats -40 Evasion right there. Sturmwind is just a bonus o.o