Tips From Job Masters

Let's talk about being white mage main- don't!

My only tip:

#suckless

Anyone playing RDM in a party setting and buffing others... enhancing duration set and use of Composure is NOT OPTIONAL. "Enhancing duration +x" on gear is applied to the base duration before multiplying by Composure bonus, so it's far more potent than it may appear from reading the item description. Empyrean armor set has a great set bonus effect for composure, increasing duration for enhancing spells cast on others based on # of pieces.

It's also super helpful to YOU when your hastes last 12 minutes and people aren't bugging you to recast.

Nobody expects a brand new to the job RDM to have maximum possible duration and all drops, but there's some really easy to obtain stuff that should be seen as mandatory, then you can upgrade from there. Great resource would be to familiarize yourself with this page.

Baseline RDM enhancing stuff, really no excuse not to have this if you're participating in endgame event:
- USE COMPOSURE (I shouldn't have to say this, yet...)
- 5/5 Empyrean armor set (especially head/legs/feet, since there are no AF/relic duration upgrades for those slots), and even the non-ilevel version has the augments composure effect
- Adoulin JSE cape (Ghostfyre), or Ambuscade cape is a solid alternative
- Embla sash (1000 Domain Invasion points)

(the above pieces will nearly TRIPLE your duration on others during composure with 20/20 duration JPs)

Work from there to get:
Ammurapi Shield
AF+2~3 hands
Relic +2~3 body
JSE neck/+1/+2 (1% per augment level)
20/20 Enhancing duration job points

You may also want to go with Enhancing Duration for group 2 merits depending on your use of RDM, though there are reasonable arguments for different specs based on what aspect of the job you want to focus on (e.g., more enfeebling focus, enspell damage for Su4/Su5 sword users, etc.)

BONUS!
SCH, if you're casting Storms, Regens, or enhancing magic on others... you also really need to be using Perpetuance (w/ Empy hands)+Accession with enhancing/regen duration gear. It's a little more annoying than RDM since you have no choice but to get several Telchine pieces with enhancing duration augments, but do it. Not only will people appreciate you for it, it saves YOU valuable time and strategems when you don't have to redo buffs nearly as often.

Other mage jobs should certainly consider their enhancing duration too, but for RDM and SCH in particular it's downright vital.

The don't exist. They're someone's cureplease powered 2nd box.

WHM is probably by far the most effortless foot in the door to endgame content.

But by far the most punishing soul sucking job in the game. The second someone dies it because whm didn't heal them not because they didn't have a DT set on or anything like that. It generally too easy to blame healer for ***in game.

It's even easier to ignore the idiots that do so.

That being said, in my experience, WHMs often lack the experience or critical thinking to determine priorities or what to do in many situations.
So while it's an easy endgame access, it requires some experience and quick thinking, which most people just don't have.

I haven't met more than 3 WHMs that I trusted blindly in the 16 years I've spent on this game. Its not for everyone, for many reasons.
But hey, if someone is willing to learn and put in the work, they'll be loved.

WHM also requires a good connection to the server with low latency or you'll find yourself failing despite quick thinking/reactions.

imho all jobs that need you to react quickly quite frequently to whats happening like WHM, tanks or any job on stun duty require low latency.

No, even years ago when a 5 hit was truly a 5hit this wasn’t the case: now with every job having massive MA/stp isn’t even less of a issue. Over TPing is rampant in today’s game. WSing as soon as possible is best. The 2 second delay is 2 seconds.

There are jobs like MNK that in certain situations it’s best to hold TP to 2000, But the same anticipation can and should be used.

I was just considering attack rounds, not overflow from multi-hits

getting 6 WS with 5 rounds is better than getting 5 WS with 6 rounds if that 6th round puts you deeper in overflow (most of the time)

This one goes to the RUNs who treat the job as PLD. While I had my alt on Asura I encountered RUNs that would just aggro/hold hate on monster, and not engage it.

Bro, one of Rune Fencer's main ways to mitigating damage is by parrying attacks from monsters. Not only you parry auto attacks, but also monster's tp moves, and becomes even more noticeable when you use Battuta. Just because you're sitting at 75% PDT does not mean you can just sit there and take damage, chances are you will get rekt if you get full dispel or the monster does some funky move. During the orc ambuscade I saw a couple of Epeo RUNs die hilariously to MNK Orc's 100 fists, because they were so lazy to engage and pop battuta to stay alive. {Turms Mittens} {Do You Have it?!?!}. Please do your healers a solid and stop being a MP sponge, and if you don't do that then just fooken play Paladin instead if your *** is too lazy to engage >:(

Nothing. I don't let this game upset me nor do I pour emotion into what other people are doing. That's not very healthy.

Now, if the question were "Is there something people do in their jobs that makes you go o_O?" I'd probably say when playing Blu, spamming random-*** spells.

Corsairs. You're more than a Leaden Machine. You're even more than a Leaden/Savage machine. There will be times you'll need proper ranged sets, including preshot/midshot/tripleshot sets, and you need more than just a TP bonus gun and a DP. You need a physical option. It doesn't have to ONLY be a Fomalhaut or Armageddon...it can be a Holliday properly augmented or something similar.

Corsair is an incredibly popular job these days, both in its demand and its numbers. As such, the days of taking a "roll only" COR are pretty much gone. If you can't DD and keep quality buffs up, there's gonna be someone else who can and you're gonna be passed over for getting to come Corsair to your groups' events. And there are mobs out there that take ***darkness damage, or the setup you use doesn't work with melee'ing, and you need other options. Because like I said- if you don't, someone else will, and they'll get to COR over you.

Also you have more than chaos/sam roll and can go to the side and give other people different rolls besides just giving the DD the same buffs you are using.

Aye. Hence a good justification to not just slap a Luzaf's Ring into your roll set permanently. I have a lock for mine so I can have a small radius on rolls when needed.

THIEF!

- What are some common mistakes you see new-to-job 99's make?
thf is an amazing class. common mistake would be to use it as a TH-tool....but some people just use it for farming so whatever...

- What is a something you notice a lot of people aren't doing that they should?
If you are dd'ing you need to be moving a lot. Your SA and TA timers should be as minimized as possible (via merits, etc) and they should be used to stack your WSs as soon as they're active. Dyna[d] wave 1 I'm typically losing in parses...by the middle of wave 2 I'm soundly first or, at minimum, top tier. The difference is there is enough time for me to TA or SA my ws's which creates massive DPS.

- What piece of gear do you think a job absolutely needs to actually be useful, if any?
Thf is a very technical gear job, way more than I can put in a paragraph. Follow the guide, it's (mostly) current and a guide to success.

- What pisses you off more than anything about how some people play the job?

Not the thfs, but for all the other DD. DON'T SIDESTEP MY TAs! My TA-WS will kill the mob (if we're talking dyna[d], etc) OR, if it's escha NM/etc thf has many tools to get the hate back off you so you wont die. I have accomplice/collaborator ready to fire if I cause the mob to direct towards you.

So ya, here's a tip for thfs...if you are using your friends for TA-WS, be ready on the gun with accomplice/collaborator..it should split the hate enough to send the mob back to the tank OR will put the hate on YOU rather then the person nice enough to stand still for you. Better I die then the one person willing to risk themselves to help my DPS.

Uuuuh, those are two different debuffs. They do stack, thought it might be said that Tomahawk is kind of a meh JA in the first place.

Angon does not stack with Armor Break or Full Break.

Bard Main is incredibly worth it. Not only do you get into the hardest content in the game, but if you go all the way with all 4 REMA its incredibly versitile.

Being able to DPS and sing and debuff it keeps you super busy for hours! I actually find it fun and I've been playing Bard for YEARS. If you don't think BRD is worth it you are doing it wrong.

Looking for thoughts from people on the best spot to cleave on paladin with Aeolian Edge.

Note: Puks are a non-starter because they absorb wind dmg :(

Im currently doing frogs in Reisenjima, but Id be curious to know if anyone has better spots for max exp/hour.

PLing my alt and farming merits for doing HTMBs

Leveling with Trust to lv99 don't really help you learn anything useful about the job other than making some WS macro. The fun only begins when you play with other people and fail spectacularly.

I mean you pretty much solo and the Trusts would be doing most of the fighting. You would just bounce your brilliant ideas to a wall and hit yourself in the process. It's not until you start doing it wrong in front of other people in a party that you get pointed out.

I know a guy who leveled his War to lv99 and just joined a CP party with lv50 gear. The guy used the gear for a long time and it worked for his leveling to lv99 so he didn't change it.

"But"

Yeah I dunno about other places but from my experience, for the most part, you aint getting into groups if you dont have all 4 REMAs.

Asura is so packed with maxed out bards, even peeps have maxed out bards on their mules they bring along.

Bard is a good main to play as a second or third job, and if you have like 600mil to drop on it.

Otherwise, I would recommend avoiding that gil sink.

Same problem with Pld (Aegis) and Geo (Idris).

For some jobs people just see REMA as required unfortunately.

I mean, those people would say that for all jobs.

Got a DD? Must have an afterglow in order to do their PUG.
Got a WHM? Yagrush is a must for them!
Got a GEO? Idris is a must!
Got a PLD? Aegis/Ochain is a must! Burtgang for those true asshats.
Got a COR? Rostram/Compensator/Regal Necklace is a must! Death Penalty is a must! Naegling is a must! If you don't have all 5, you aren't getting invited!
Got a BRD? Mastered REMA is a must!

I hate playing with those people, I generally outparse them on my naked Chango WAR.

Technically only "need" emp/aeonic, still a grind but so is every job

i'm not sure what you're doing in 2020 if you don't have REMA as a goal. it's a pretty realistic expectation to do most things in game, and all types of weapons can be soloed or bought. they aren't needed to clear all content, and many people take it too far, but they are more accessible than ever.

if you're new or returning, for better or worse, that's just how it is now.

this is kind of the point.

EDIT: Specifically, that BRD is the one job in the game where you can reasonably be expected to have every single REMA, as well as hundreds of millions (if not billions) of gil's worth of items and equipment. It's the most expensive job in the game bar none and that's not even for hypermaxing the job, but just for the essentials.

I think REA is nowadays pretty required for endgame BRD. Pickup/Ambu/etc? Nah- a Gjallarhorn 3 song is probably fine for almost all of that. And Carn to me (even as a Carn owner) is more something a BRD does for themselves than for their party members...it truly does maintain your sanity.

And the only reason I feel that REA is required for endgame work is that there are so many bards available anywhere you go- you can be picky.

In regards to being reasonably expected to have every single RMEA, COR might not require all the RMEAs to be functional/accepted in events, it is a job that if you want to play it in alliance settings these days you likely have dropped over a billion gil's equivalence in RMEAs, RP'ing gear, and HQ sets. Again, its not a question of "being able to do the content"- its a question of there just are so many CORs running around any more a party leader can be picky. You really shouldn't expect to get to come COR to a wave3 Dyna-D win if you're running with Kaja Sword and Doomsday.

Or, in my case, get lucky and get an Orpheous's Sash from gobby box and making your Daurdabla for the low price of 10 mil.

Although brd is definitely a shitty starting job I don't think it's nearly as expensive as people make it out to be. The essentials are empy, ghorn, HQ whistle, and aeonic. Aeonic is free and the whistle and horn wouldn't even pass 100m combined. Past that you just need reforge, which aren't super expensive compared to other jobs like cor or thf or rdm. Even making a dps set is pretty cheap, ayanmo for tp and relic for ws if you want to be basic yet effective. I've spent far more on rdm than I ever have on brd and both of those jobs are nearly maxed out. Someone said earlier brd is a great second or third job and that nails it perfectly. Once you can consistently clear ambu each month it's pretty simple to gear up.