SAM/RNG

wtf is everoyne talkin about when they say SAM/RNG was nerfed? lol
Honestly im tired of all the 3billion Bandwagon Sams
but i feel like goin back on my sam but as /rng this time around
But i found a bunch of forums that say its gimped now?
True? False?

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Distance

Point being, since SAM fights right next to the mob the Sidewinders are less awesome.

Yeah it's basically just the RNG distance nerf, only way you'll get maximum damage and acc out of a RA on SAM is to stand out of melee range.

It's fun to use, and it's not too difficult to back off a few steps for sidewinder, but even on merit mobs the potential to miss is high and the skill cap SAM has for archery is kinda sad. If you really wanna max out on this, try and get a Shigeto Bow +1 and if possible a sea gorget to enhance sidewinder would help immensely.

Archery merits is optional but imo it seems like a waste to spend them all on secondary skills, especially one that is lesser than polearm for samurai. But to each their own. Have fun with it!

Booooo polearm

SAM/RNG was quite possibly the most fun I had leveling, ever. With the right gear and food, its a blast! As a side note, its only worthwhile if you are Soboro spamming WS. The TP gain with a standard GKT is too slow to make this combo shine (IMO).

Firing off Sidewinders in quick succession always made me giddy.

Fail

BOOOOOOOOOOOO

The whole point of /RNG really is to capitalize on the piercing advantage made against flying mobs which tend to take up a vast majority of mobs when it comes to meriting. However, side by side, polearm has a 10 point higher skill cap compared to archery. With access to spears such as Gondo-Shizunori, Tomoe, Engetsutso +1, and Levaithan's Couse, it makes for a cheaper and typically more successful method of pushing high dmg weapon skills on birds. Not to mention capping it's skill via merits puts you at B+ skill cap which is nothing to sneeze at.

/RNG is more fun though. With Soboro you get to use Sidewinder so much. Just my opinion though. I don't want to waste merits in polearm cause it would just be a sub weapon for SAM. I use Archery elsewhere. So it really depends on your situation. I think in the end /RNG is still viable though.

True, it all comes down to preference really. I will admit /RNG is definitely more fun than using a spear. However for those looking to simply "maximize" their dmg output for bird merit pts, I would recommend polearm. Unless you're hardcore SAM and have it as your #1 main, or have RNG and or DRG to 75 as well, I find it a waste to spend merits on a secondary skill, as it's always best to capitalize on a job's primary skill that is used above others. I was going to say caps the highest but then COR & PUP would end up going with lol throwing and dagger -.- <^> you SE.

Heh, my SAM is only 66, but I went from 57 to 66 as /RNG. Soboro makes it better, but at the same time, you skew all of your damage to WS, so you have to make sure you've a solid WS gear set..

The method I used most often was literally to just run back to WS.. Parsing it against other SAMs using a GKT or Polearm, I usually beat them out, in the long run, even with the short time spent running around, but where it really shined was in damage spikes. Meditate, Sekkanoki, Barrage, all with Sharpshot on could pump out ridiculous damage in a very short amount of time. Was drooling over 70 and using my Shigeto Bow+1, but I ended up getting caught in COR, and then that just had me all over the place (leveling subs, somehow got NIN way past sub level, and even settled on MNK, somehow..)

Doesn't have the damage potential you'll get from Yoichi+Soboro which still allows you to go /WAR and WS with Namas Arrow, without the accuracy issues you get with Sidewinder.

In all, though, even with a solid build, you're unlikely to do that much better than a GKT or Polearm SAM, and you have to pay for another consumable in order to get even that slight bit ahead. However, /RNG is easily one of the most enjoyable things I've done on SAM, with the closest second being /DNC with Soboro..

I use SAM/RNG against Odin and Ixion with a fair amount of success, I usually parse in the middle of the pack of RNGs. You'll never beat a top geared RNG but it can be pretty fun, especially since with STP IV trait you get automatic 5 hit with shig +1

That's great you're able to land on HNMs. I suppose the only reason I'm somewhat weary of /RNG is because to really make it functional you need really really good gear to justify it's lower skill cap and short range of particular access to the stats necessary to pull it off on things other than merit mobs.

Used my set up on odin on wednesday as sam80/rng40 and I out parsed everyone even the good rngs and I was holding back.

I was actually not expecting that at all and said "are you shitting me?" When the lead rng read me the parse I did 12% dmg

That's awesome... I'm just curious as to what your gear set is?

P.S. i <3 sam/rng. i dont have those leveled on my account but ive played it on my best friends before he quit and went to World of Gaycraft

493 Day Necro.impressive

unless you have the pimpest sam/rng setup ever then that just means your rng's arent A) going all out and B) they are gimp.

in a fight with any lenght at all a well geared/merited rng/sam shouldnt be getting outparsed by a sam/rng.

i know my ls rng burns JoL/Odin/Ixion's and the sam/rng's parse bout middle of the pack but never outparse the better geared rng's we have.

specially with rng having access to more JA's like double shot,merited abilities,etc. more rapid shot gear for faster RA's. higher combat skills for RA's and better ranged weapon's (Siege Bow ftw).

im not saying it couldnt happen, but it shouldnt be. and question, did the rng's in ur parse die more than you? maybe that had something to do with it.

sup zorander... you better be bringing your *** over soon. cant believe you still holding it down on that dead server that was once glorious Bahamut ; ;.

nah the rng that came in second died 4 times i died 3 kept pulling hate i had to hold back. The Rng were doing about 1000ish sidewinders i was doing 693dmg sidwinder on average and was doing normal ranged attacks for 105ish dmg a hit.

Honestly at 80 i had no problem hitting odin i even landed most of my sidewinders when blinded that makes me think i can go with a little less r.acc and stick some more str in my ws set up