Faluzure's Hi-Res Shots (NOT BANDWIDTH FRIENDLY)

[Kyrial Arthian]

Thanks for the pics, Fal. That Seer's Tunic looks cool. ^^ I also wanna apologize about that train last night. Like I said, someone trained it right to me and died. I had just hit level 44, and did not yet have a buffer, and I didn't want to lose my new level, so I Perfect Dodge+Flee'd out. Looking back, it was pretty irresponsible of me, and I deeply regret it. I hope everyone came out of it okay.

Also, I'd like to thank you for your informative posts. A lot of times, people ask me questions a lot like the ones you get asked, and your responses help me answer them a lot better.

[Faluzure]

To Tchernobyl: Thanks! I'm just replying about the job of how I saw them as I leveled up. I saw most aspects of every job at every level from level 10 to level 75 twice (BLM to 75 and RDM to 75). I'm on the road for a 3rd time yet again to see their roles as SMN and I'm nearly halfway there. I've never played a melee job except Thief up to level 5. The closest I've gotten to melee was my Red Mage. Even still, I pay attention to every member's role as I know someday if I choose to do melee, I'll have to go that route. In addition, I hate being gimp. In my eyes, if I'm gimpy on equipment or subjob, then I'm making a bad name for myself and setting a bad example for others. This is why I do not level Dark Knight right now. I only want to take Dark Knight to level 37 for a subjob as my Red Mage, but I have no War or Thief leveled. Again, I *could* do DRK/RDM but it would go against my beliefs.

Anyway, I sometimes feel that my replies are biased because they are strictly from a mage's point-of-view. That's why I always tell you guys to take my comments & opinions lightly. As what I say may not be what the next person says about the same job, especially those who have played the job. I do think my comments land in the right area though. As for your Warrior post, you're level 75! You don't need my comments! I'll add a piece on Warrior, just not right now. Work is busy busy!


To Kyrial: Hey Kyrial. Yeah, I didn't think it would be available so quickly. The recipe is quite easy. I was going to buy the whole set but the other pieces just don't do anything for my Summoner.

Yeah... that train was pretty bad. I was about to say something to you but I didn't. I know you were trying to save your ass but a lot of people died in your place. I didn't really care because I was soloing and testing out some Summoner skillchains with my avatar. I just casted sneak. However, a lot of people died from that train. A level 60 Thief died and asked me for Raise 2, but nobody could give him a Raise 2. Even a level 60+ Paladin had to run away. A level 70+ Red Mage came in and killed them all after a handful of deaths. I think he was hesitant at first because he said (Hmm.) and sat there for a minute. The Paladin and I joined in to help the Red Mage out afterwards.

You're welcome about the posts. I'm glad some people are learning from it. Again, I have to remind you that they are just my opinions/comments. They are not the written word or anything.

[Marvul]

Yeah thanks Fal for all the cool screenshots and all your information. But I have a question that could be easily answered by you since you have both BLM and RDM leveled to 75.

I'm a level 30 SAM/WAR and it isn't exactly what I expected... (its kinda boring) so I was thinking about picking up either BLM or RDM. My BLM is level 13 and my RDM is level 1. I am not sure which one to pick.

I'm a Hume Female, which job would my class be best playing as. BLM was fun getting it to level 13 but if I wanted to take BLM to level 75 I would have made a tarutaru because they have about twice the mp of a hume. And with RDM after level 41 it seems that all you do is Refresh > Heal > Refresh.

Any input would be well excepted.


P.S. I spent almost all my money on SAM equipment getting to level 30. How did you make money when it was actually an issue to you?

Thanks.

[Tchernobyl]

Originally posted by Faluzure
To Tchernobyl: Anyway, I sometimes feel that my replies are biased because they are strictly from a mage's point-of-view. That's why I always tell you guys to take my comments & opinions lightly. As what I say may not be what the next person says about the same job, especially those who have played the job. I do think my comments land in the right area though. As for your Warrior post, you're level 75! You don't need my comments! I'll add a piece on Warrior, just not right now. Work is busy busy!
[

Doesn't mean i don't want to hear your opinion :D I'd like to hear it from your point of view, as with all the jobs you've leveled you've probably seen all the aspects warrior, or most. And i'm curious as to the warriors in your hnm ls, what is their role, especially with the rather bad utsusemi nerf? (a lot of hnm stuff now takes off all shadows, thus making it a pain >_<)

[Roulette]

fal thanks for another great post!

Sorry for keeping you up.... but again thanks so much for your high leveled insight.

Ok well im all questioned out and waiting for some more great pics!

[Faluzure]

To Marvul: I see. My friend chose Samurai twice on 2 different characters and decided to abandon them. He claimed they weren't fun. He's a Dark Knight now and he likes that job a lot. Personally, I think melee jobs are really boring. Anyway... you want to be a mage huh?

As for which job is best for you, both jobs are equally great for Hume. I think Hume and Mithra both make excellent Mages. If I had to do it all over, those are the race(s) I would've chosen for my mage jobs. Hume/Mithra have decent HP as well as MP. Their MND and INT stats are very well evened out. Unlike me, you wouldn't have to spend so much money on mana items in the beginning; you can go ahead and concentrate on stat boosts. I didn't swap to stat increasing items (from mana boosting) until late 60s.

You do not have to be a Tarutaru to be a Black Mage. That is a big misconception. You can do perfectly fine at lower levels as a Hume Black Mage. Yes Tarus have quite a bit more INT and mana than all the other races but there's really little you can do about this. The equipment available to all Black Mages at low level don't really provide enough of a boost to get you near your Taru brothers. The main issue with BLMs at lower levels is not INT and mana, but the lack of Elemental Magic skill boosting equipment you have. Without that stat, you are resisted quite often. There are no low level Elemental Magic skill boosting equipment either. Its only acquired at higher levels! While I was leveling Summoner, I found my fellow Japanese Taru Black Mage getting resisted on many spells. She even did 14 damage once off Waterga II. Yesterday in my XP PT, I found a Taru BLM in our group was getting 550 damage off Freeze magic bursts constantly. I believe over all, he was only 50% successful and yes, he did have the Ice Staff. So as you can see, even the so called "best race for BLMs" can have their bad days.

As you progress to the higher levels and ultimately reaching level 75, the distinguishing line from Tarutaru Black Mage to all other race Black Mages becomes quite narrow. At 75, there really is no major difference between me and my fellow Black Mages in my LS (and we have BLMs of all races). We all do similar damage (anywhere from 10 to 100 damage differences). Quite frankly, when fighting HNMs with tens-of-thousands of HP doesn't really matter. The funny thing is, I was doing about 60 more damage than one of our most decked out Taru BLMs against a certain HNM and I was wearing standard NQ equipment! He promptly examined me to see why he was doing less damage.

The only main advantage Tarus have is at the beginning, when you have a limited access to equipment you can acquire. Unless you really do want to be Tarutaru for *just* the MP and INT increase, I don't see anything wrong with Hume. Two of the most rich & badass Black Mages on my server are Hume. I don't think anyone had it as bad as I did for mana (well maybe except a Galka too). I have the worst MP pool and INT in the game, but at level 75, you have access to every piece of equipment. My HP/MP is now 900/860. How's that for an Elvaan BLM? I can hang with some of the best of the Taru.

Black Mage is a very fun job, but it is also a very dangerous job. Whenever I think of Black Mage, I think of the the quote from Spider-man that Peter's uncle says to him: "With great power comes great responsibility." If you choose Black mage, you need to remember certain keypoints. Black Mages are very powerful, thus you need to learn to control your spells. However, being too careful makes you useless to the party but overnuking disrupts the party's efficiency. You are also there to set the pace of the party. If a monster is taking too long to kill, you're expected to finish it off to save the party's XP chain. If things get out of hand, you're expected to sleep the linked monsters. Black Mages are highly sought after as nobody can really dish out damage like the Black Mage. Some argue that Ranger's can, but Black Mages can do it instantly, whenever they want with a press of a macro.

As for Red Mage, that depends on the route you take. Lately, there has been an influx of offensive Red Mages (RDM/BLMs). I've always been partial to RDM/WHM because I opt for party support. The RDM/BLM however are different. They are semi-support & semi-offense. These type of Red Mages do have to focus on Refresh and partial healing, but they are not the primary healer. They often nuke when they can and especially attempt to magic burst in skillchains. People who choose Red Mage/Black Mage are those who want a little more flair to their job instead of Refresh/Heal/Haste. It is your decision and both are acceptable in parties. At level 75, I burst the same as RDM/BLMs. How? Well, the stat difference between RDM/BLM and RDM/WHM is not that big. In addition, I have a lot of equipment no other non-JP Red Mage has on our server.

As for money... that can be a real issue for you. Unlike melee jobs, money that goes to your spells is permanently gone. Melees have the glory of recycling their equipment for near the same price as they bought it. Even sometimes, they make a profit. Mages cannot do this. When you pay for a spell and use it, it is money that is permanently lost. You cannot "sell" back your spell. Thus it is important for mages to keep their spells up-to-date or at least get the most useful ones if money is low. Regardless of what mage job you pick, if you aren't up-to-date on your spells, that's just as bad as having a melee with crappy equipment.

In terms of money, I farmed just like everyone else. It takes a very long time, but that is how I supported myself until I was strong enough to kill weaker NMs. Even still, my main source of income is NMs that I can solo. I have never done the planting of sapplings for ore and I did not ever do the fishing for rusty caps when that was the latest trend. Because I took the time to farm for items as well as killing easier NMs, I always found myself to have enough money all the way to the upper level 60s. When a BLM farms, he/she must be very careful of possible links, as your mana is your primary source of killing things and your defense is very weak. Without mana, you're pretty much screwed. As RDM, Phalanx is a *must*. It is probably the only major spell that can turn the tide of battles. Without it, it's somewhat harder to solo as RDM.

Maybe you should try both to the mid 20s? Black mage is relatively the same all the way to 75. Red Mage's role changes with they hit their career turning point at 40 & 41 (Convert & Refresh). In the event you don't like one, you can always pick up the other. Common subjobs for Black Mage is BLM/WHM and BLM/RDM. For Red mage, it's RDM/WHM and RDM/BLM. So as you can see, even if you pick one and don't like it, you can always recycle that job for a subjob to the other.

[Marvul]

(Double Post)

[Marvul]

Wow, thank Fal. I have WHM leveled to 30 so I won't have to worry about my sub-job for a while. I might go BLM because you make it seem really fun. I just didn't know if a BLM hume was worth all the money it takes to trian a blm to a high level.

[JP_Ikari]

Hey fal, thanks for pointing out a lot of valid reasons and points as to why most people don't think some melee's are not that great. But can you care to explain to me why MNK's are not getting some love until they start beating on Skellies and such? And also, I've already asked my JPN's friend about where to level with my current SP, but I want your opinion as well on where you suggest we can level and be effective as a party, the party set is PLD/WAR, MNK/THF, SAM/WAR, BLM/WHM, WHM/BLM, and RDM/WHM all level 50-51. Thanks in advance, I know your busy and stuff, but if you get to answer this, it will be greatly appreciated. Oh my JPN's friend suggested 3rd gate in Eldiem Necropolis with this group, but I don't even know how to get there. Thanks again.

Ikari

P.S. Pics are still bad ass btw.

[mondan]

How do u take ur screenshots, do u record a movie and then single out some frames or do you do it another way. I want to take screens but i want the GUI on and in the manual it says you have to press scroll lock, which gets rid of it.

[Marvul]

He uses fraps and so do I.... www.fraps.com

[Sadeira]

[Dark Aphalite]

Very nice, a true Windurstian.

[Kyrial Arthian]

Hehe I want that stuff. How do you get the Federation Signet Staves though? I haven't seen them available as CP items, even with Windy in first, so I assume you get them somewhere else...

[Corran Horn]

Have to be rank 10