TPing In Bracelets Mandatory?

I like how you contradict yourself. Is your sam for solo or not?? Why merit third eye for solo but then dump even MORE merits into an ability you only use in pty situations?

Do you even know what overwhelm does for you when you're "solo"..since you're ALWAYS facing the mob..

I could understand Thir Eye merits if you really were into soloing anything tougher then EP but I strongly doubt you solo anything other then birds in wajoam. Please tell me I'm wrong.

Um, no. Store TP is useful in EVERY situation. Even for soloing when the more TP you can get will help you kill the mob even faster...at any rate, I do not miss that often and I TP in askar body and dusk gloves. Does that make me or anyone else a noob for doing so? No. Surprised that nothing has been mentioned about those. In dynamis I can achieve a 5 hit build with COR's sam roll with the aftermath affect from Kaiten. WS in Alky bracelets only, and to the OP I have not noticed any SAMs on Seraph using bracelets to TP in.

There may be valid reasons, but the reasons given by Ravax are contradicting and thus HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE.

You do understand that one parties in situations other than meritting, right? I'm sure you do because you've got a lot going for you. You party during mobs leaders don't want you to melee, for instance. There are no absolutes. I never said that my Samurai never sees a party. I said I don't tend to merit with Samurai and that's where I think Store TP does its best work. And I'll reiterate. I absolutely do see the value of Store TP. I just don't think it'll improve my Sam for what I use it for as much as I think third eye merits will. I expect things to change in the future, too. So I've put it on hold. When I know how I perform with Usu body, I'll figure out if I want to go for more Store TP.

Yes. I know what overwhelm does for your WSes when you solo since you're always facing the mob. Do you know what the difference in WS damage between you and me is? 4%. I put a lot of thought into how I spend my merits and as far as spending merits on my Sam goes, my rationale is thus. I had 6 merits stored up from ENM lately and I had to ask myself whether I should increase my Sam merits - pretty much one upgrade for Shikikoyo or Overwhelm - or put it somewhere else. In exchange for keeping that category how it was, I got to increase ice potency twice and elemental magic skill twice. As far as my general strength is concerned, it made more of an impact than 2% damage to my WS would. The merits will be complete when they're the most advantage thing for me to focus on.

As for soloing? Yeah. I don't solo Colibris. The toughest thing I've soloed so far is VT Phuabos in sea. It doesn't sound like much when you think of terms of how much time you gain when meritting the ability. I hate the sound of it. Just 5 seconds off the recast of Third Eye. But I can't tell you how many times I've stared at that timer and thought "Wow. Those merits would come in pretty damn handy right about now." On the other hand I've never said "Wow. If only I'd gained .8 more TP on that last strike."

You'll notice the word "most" there. That wasn't an accident. I know more TP per strike is useful everywhere. That's what makes it a hard choice for me. I also never labeled Askar users as Noob. It just confuses me. I don't feel the Store TP justifies the hit taken in accuracy. But that depends on what's being fought.

There's also a thing called "Double Attack 2%" ..

It confused you, so you called me "sad" .. You passed judgment on me w/o knowing anything about me.. you based that purely on my Polearm statement... then desperately defended yourself when I questioned your merits and say they're ,mostly for Solo...

The context of this conversation was SAM in a party situation..

I'm done with this convo.

Oh don't worry. The sad thing was pointing at your polearm use. Not your Askar. No one's desperately defending themselves. Instead you're exhibiting the classic "losing an argument" behavior. Make personal insults about the person (i.e. calling them HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE) and trying to fabricate contradictions in their explanations while using it as a reason to attack the person further.

If it'll help, yeah I was out of line to say you made me sad with that statement. If it offended you so much that you have to try to find something to attack me over in response, then I sincerely apologize.

It's just funny to me that I've been able to explain my reasoning for the decisions I've made when you haven't said a word that explains your own. Why use a polearm over a GK at 75? And for you to say "the context of this conversation was SAM in a party situation" is laughable. You're the one that brought merits into it at all. We were talking about gear choices. I wonder how HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE you'd think that is if you looked at it from any angle but your own.

from my last experiment i tried merited third eye with seigan and it was still 30 seconds which leads me to beleive it don't stack unless they have done some update to let it stack, if so then i will redo merits for that purpose, but for now i will keep my store tp merits at 5 lol

Seigan cuts the recast in half. So if you merit it all five times, Third eye has a recast of 50/2 if Seigan is up. It definitely kicks in because I'm able to put Third Eye up before it wears off with just one merit in it.

Read my posts again(hint:they're on the first page).. you'll find the explanation of using askar and polearm.

Apology accepted.

Ravax,

Sounds like you're my kind of SAM (Darkmoose is my other character). We should rock out and duo sometime.

Back to the OP, TP in bracelets, no thanks. You'll find any of the following on my hands at times other than WS:

Seiryu (/RNG, Parrying Skillup, +HP)
Rasetsu (Evasion, and I want to get some +1)
Dusk (Haste)
Hachiman (Whenever I'm not using one of the others)

I'd love to get some Bandomusha Kote, but I'm starting to believe they are a myth. Killed Xolotl many times and only ever seen Zoolater Hat or nothing. O/H.Kote are great to have, but not mandatory.

As for the Askar vs. Hauby thing, I agree that for Birds and THF/NIN Mamool, you need as much accuracy as you can get.

However, I usually merit SAM/DNC, so I get +20 Accuracy from Hasso + /DNC Trait before gear. I typically TP in Askar using Soboro and 20% Haste gear. I also am usually with a BRD & COR, so most often have an accuracy effect on from either Blade Madrigal or Hunter's Roll.

I'm not too proud to ask for it, and when you're doing Birds or Mamools, it's pretty likely that you're not the only one who could use the boost.

Yes, I know I'll get hate for my meritting on SAM/DNC, but please everyone, I've heard it before and you haven't partied with me, so leave it be. It works just fine, and if you don't like it, don't do it and don't invite me to your parties. Simple solution.

Zanshin only has a chance of activating if you miss the first time. If you don't miss the first time you don't have an issue! >:P

Wow this thread side tracked a bit...
About the SAM vs colibri meripos, I'm agreeing with what Lucipherious stated. Polearm is better off than using GK. Even if not merited, it still has the better advantage with double brd/cor, because colibri are weak to piercing. For my merit colibri parties, I TP in haste gear (because my Polearm gets more TP per hit than GK, since I don't have rajas yet), and WS in ACC+ gear, to get more of a TP return to do it again.
As for arguing about Askar vs. Hauby, if you don't have rajas, TPing in Askar can still get you the 6 hit build, while WSing in Hauby would be better off. Otherwise with rajas, just keep with Hauby and goodbye to Askar. Unless it's just for fooling around.

I'm really sad that I got into this convo so late ; ;

But so far everything that Lucipherious has posted is correct.

Just use a 6 hit build with hauby?

Ya... Noob. I'm being called a noob from a guy who has a lv 17 sam... I totally don't know what im talking about...

But instead of turning this into a flame war, it'd be good to at least tell me why I'm a noob instead of just saying that to try to get me mad. I suppose I should not expect such an ability from many posters here in the first place.

Anyways, back to the point. Being cheap is 'one reason or another' why they wear what they do. It comes down to they simple do not care enough to give a ***about their performance. I prefer to just maximize my time in a merit party, what about you? And yes you can hit a wall of how many birds there are but if you do it right you can get 26-28k/hr w/o a relic in the party. Most pickup meripos at bird camps hit around 20k/hr. I like that extra 6 to 8 extra exp.

This thread is not about who isn't about flaming anyone in particular, as most forum threads tend to boil down to. It should be about sharing ideas about how to maximize someone's gameplay. Just don't be like Fairy.Berserkerjr spending your FIRST POST on the forum calling someone a noob without backing it up. Put some ideas down to explain why at least. We're all tired of trolls.

Gonna have to disagree with this one.

OP has a point but isn't too clear because of all the /ragetyping =P

I have a 75 SAM but im def. not rich and dont have access to those sweet ra/ex gear but I sure know how my job is played.

1st thing I dont think 90% of SAMs are noobs but like 30~40%....like any other jobs you got the black cheeps

2nd I enjoy GKT over Polearm but thats "IMO" also about the Askar body.... again "IMO" my TP body will stay hauby.

thats my 2gil

I've put this out there before and been flamed to hell and back, but screw it, I don't care what the peanut gallery thinks. I've been able to complete all missions to date and much more, so I know what works for me.

It was asked early in the thread, and I'll say I don't use multiple gear sets for TP and WS. Am I cheap? Not really when it comes to gear. Am I lazy? Objectively speaking, no I don't think so. For me it's about ease of use. There are two main factors that keep me from using multiple gear sets. First is lack of item space. This problem is likely going to be solved once I get a mog satchel, but I do have multiple jobs, so for the moment space is an issue.

Second and more pressing is lack of macro capacity. I don't use the windower. I don't care if you do, I'm not saying you're cheating, but I just don't use it. It's not my style. If I could switch all the necessary pieces of gear to WS and switch back all in one macro, believe me I would. Having to use 5 different macros just to WS doesn't sit well with me, nor does it promote ease of use.

Onto the subject of merits, you know call me crazy, but as a gamer, I believe in a little thing called "fun". And attempting to factor in more numbers than an accountant isn't fun for me. I'm not aiming to be the best, I'm aiming to have fun. That's not to say I don't conduct myself with an air of professionalism. I show up, on time, with whatever sub and items are necessary for whatever it is I'm doing. I pay enough attention to what's going on so that I don't make a stupid mistake and get people killed. I know where to go, what to fight, and how to fight it. As long as you're capable of doing what I just laid out, should anyone care what gear you use?

That being said, I use Third Eye merits myself. My gear gives me a 6-hit without +2 TP, and I've been saved countless times by that lovely 25 sec Third Eye. But I don't do birds, I do campaign. I don't like having to deal with people's preferences (Fenrir is happily devoid of gear elitists, but suffers from the occasional stuck-up BRD that refuses to pt unless their ideal pt setup is met) or piss away gil on Shihei (THAT would be where I'm cheap. 0 operating costs, tyvm).

Tl;dr.

I know this concept may sound foreign to all of you simple-minded DDs out there, but upping the damage on your melee hits does increase your overall DoT (Yeah. Who would have guessed it?)
In the case of DRK, the 11 STR adds a substantial amount to damage per hit, and the fact that DRK has the second highest melee ACC means that -4 ACC from the DEX is NOT going to affect your performance too drastically.
You get a lot more than a 3% damage boost over time meleeing in Alkyoneus' Bracelets, and all of the damage is added to normal melee swings, which any DD (Other than SAM) will tell you that's where they get the bulk of their damage from.

Long story short, STR+11 > Attack+5 Haste+3% for melee attacks. It won't get you any faster to your WS, but honestly, the trend seems to be to work on where you're lacking in damage output (WS) at the expense of overall DoT. Read: Better WS damage over time = worse TPing damage over time.
In the end, an all-Haste build and an all STR build for TPing both average out to about the same, unless you're stacking Haste past that 50% mark, which DRK wouldn't have great luck with anyway, considering they're, well, DRK. Chances are they won't be getting Haste OR double Minuet, so the Haste gear factor is almost made completely moot.

Say what you must, but don't hate me just because you're too narrow-minded to allow anyone to play a job differently from the way YOU play it.

There is no right way to gear a job. There are only wrong ways. And upping your melee damage in favor of a 3% increase in attack speed is not a wrong way.

Roughly 2-3/110~ damage so say about 2.7% DoT damage + possible small pdif boost damage.



-2% acc from a base of 90% is a loss of 2.2% DoT + WS frequency, 2.5% if you're at 80%... etc. That already equals or beats the Alky bracelets depending on if you're getting 3 or 2 fSTR from the STR.



For argument's sake I'll negate the attack from both sides since STR=>atk from Alky will more or less equal that. We'll also assume you have 15% in gear not including gloves and a haste spell to be harsh on the Haste;

STR11 -4acc vs Attack5 Haste3
+2.7%~ TP -2.2% TP/WS vs 4.3% TP/WS
+0.5% TP -2.2% WS vs +4.3%TP +4.3%WS
0.5% more damage during the TP phase and 2.2% less weaponskills vs 4.3% more damage during the TP phase and 4.3% more weaponskills ...

Not even gonna be close!



The trend is producing damage from both but not sacrificing weaponskill damage, since Haste (and accuracy) are very good at amplifying both at once. What you don't get is epeen damage per hit, but you get a lot more hits so it easily evens out.



DRK is the job which can abuse haste the MOST. When you play DRK, for at least 30 seconds out of every 4mins 10 - 5mins, you are almost guaranteed to be at 50%+ if not closer to the 80% cap.

HURRRR Since you obviously bother to look at people's FFXIAH profile tabs, you probably should have seen my Polearm set. Choo choo, clue train inc: I was making a point.

(edit: before Raenryong posted) *** lol at the last two posts, I'm not even going to bother.

I'm talking normal party situations, chances are your BRD is using at least some form of Minuet and/or Madrigal, and even then, DRK is usually low on the Haste hierarchy for RDMs and WHMs alike.

That being said, I know DRK is the only job in the game to be able to actually hit the haste cap. DRK was my first 75 and still one of my favorite jobs. I'm just saying it's unlikely that you would actually get all that much Haste in normal merit party situations.


Wait, what? When has a DRK ever been that weak? My DRK in full haste gear without food on Greater Colibri gets about a 90% hit rate for 170-180 damage per hit. STR+75ish boosted my damage to 240-280 per hit. Granted, that did add in almost 100 additional attack on top of the already +50 from the STR.

Idk about you, but an increase of about 100 damage per hit is a lot more than 2.7%. Hell, it's a lot more than your proposed 18% DoT increase from Haste. It's even more than the 25% cap in Haste, which DRK can't get anyway.

Sorry, I should've been more specific; I meant damage as in base damage, as in (D + fSTR); Typical D of a Scythe should be 93-98 and then add fSTR to it and you should have about 105-110 or so.

You mean what works for you to be lazy... sry its that way



Sorry to disappoint you once again... im lvling atm at least 7 jobs and have 5 75 4 of them full geared... no... lack of capacity cant be a reason. Get organized.



20 books each 200 Macros makes 4.000 Macros.... that not enough for you... poor sad soul~



Well tbh, to have fun you in a party you either have a good chitchat with the members cause they are cool, or you get good xp... well the second occurs much more often thats why i prefer faster xp thanks to more work by my side.

Ok enough flamin (dont forget to read my cynicism in my upper statemenst, thx ^^)

Tping in that -dex and throwing away store TP from Hachi or +3% haste from Dusk gloves.... what else would you call it when beeing a sam by yourself as beeing that dude plain stupid? Theyre fine to WS in and nothing else. (i dont even have a pair of them yet... since im a lazy b!tch but getting some as soon as my money resupplies~)

Uuuh yeah to the other stuff. Askar Body... i would soooo like to have one - the +5 store and 2% DA on that rock - would gimme a chance to wear shura/byakko (depening on situation) full time without loosing my 6 hit setup with GK

Bird Merits/Polearm... 8/8 merits here all i can say is.. it rocks - 5/5 store tp merits and some in your gear gives you 25-27 TP back from WS and i get 19 tp back per hit which in total gives me a 5 hit setup for Penta...

Anyone gonna say you will make that up by having 5/5 TE...? pls so ill have a good laugh today.

Greetz Magi ('-')/

Edit: Oh forgot that - some SAMs here even thought of lvling Ikishoten? I did my math and with 5/5 in that you'd get a 5 hit if you have a single zanshin up your way to 100%... just a thought (when reading the Blade Bash stuff...)

It's just too unreliable to put merits in tbh; assuming it has a 10% activation rate when you miss, even with minimum accuracy (20%), you have a 4/5 * 1/10 chance of seeing it, or 4/50 (8%). When you have 95% accuracy, it's 1/20 * 1/10, or 1/200 (0.5%).

I know I'm kind of going off on a tangent here, and I'm not disagreeing with you or anything, but I never understood how that minimum accuracy thing works. I mean maximum accuracy for players is 95%, and maximum evasion is 95%, so does that mean double standards for players and mobs? Because that would mean minimum accuracy for mobs is 5% and minimum evasion is 5%, which is believable, but even then, does that put their maximum evasion at 80%?

meh thought so, but i seen quite a big activation rate on polearm with that (or im just noticing them since normal hits are... well... normal lol)
Zanshin can not proc on DA either so i guess its pretty unreliable :/ (never seen 3 hits in a row so thats just an assumption, dont nail me there~)

x.x

I'm fairly sure you're right. I've never seen 4 hits with Soboro.