BRD? Not required for great experience?

[Viktoria]

Originally posted by ibroyles


Oh you seem real smart with all of your "lol omg DRK" and "lol omg pwn" talk. If you don't have anything other to say than "X class pwns X class," then just don't post, you dolt.

I think the DRK forums would effectively shut down if people followed that rule.

[Miriamel]

Originally posted by Viktoria

I think the DRK forums would effectively shut down if people followed that rule.

Hahahah. :sweat:

[Stanislav]

Ok to backup my statement.. Lasts night PT

Location: Cape Teriggan
Target: Terror Pugil and Robber Crab
Members NIN THF RNG BRD WHM RDM
We made 11,000 experience points in about 2 hour with this PT.. It was pretty insane but the bard had to log off so I called a SMN to replace him.
Members NIN THF RNG SMN WHM RDM
With the summonor exp went down from 2500-3000 per 30 minutes all the way down to 1700-2000 even though the summonor very good, the problem was our normal hits weren't doing as mcuh and after SE the mobs died very slow.. Especially the pugils. This party ended up making 7000 in another 2 hours but it felt very slow. The WHM had to leave and we replaced him with a BLM.
Members NIN THF RNG SMN BLM RDM
We continued by the kill rate increased and so did the experience and it went back up but to 2400-2700 or so per 30 minutes. The BLM filled the damage gap by his 800 damage Blizzaga 2 burst and some normal nukes.

So as you can see it was never about the SMN.. It was still about the BLM.

[surlung]

4k per hour pt does not require bard.

in fact, last few times I xped i got above 4k without bard - this is with war tank.

just got to know where to fight, and how to fight.

but i must admit, bard in your pt will make that 4k per hour so much easier.

[cesaro]

I agree with Surlung, the couple times my static has managed to grab a Bard to exp with, they just seem to make it easier to get 4-5k an hour. But I don't think having a BRD is the only way to getting that much per hour.

I also agree with everyone who has said a good BLM helps the party tremendously. There has been 1 time between 60-68 that I have partied with a BLM who I felt was doing a good job, and amazingly enough, we were doing close to 5k an hour.

[Stanislav]

After having several PT before 60 (When set PT was assembling) we have built the perfect combo.

NIN RNG THF BRD RDM WHM .. (We tried BLM but there was no point becuase there was no room for an MB)

First turn out of PT

10 (With 3-4 30 minute breaks so total 8 hours.)
We managed to gain 50,000 exp.. 60->62 which is around 6000-6500 per hour. Gotta love it.. In the end BRD > BLM becuase without BRD, RNG cant hit if their life depended on it..

[Funguwari]

Originally posted by Viktoria

I think the DRK forums would effectively shut down if people followed that rule.

Ain't that the truth... I haven't met a DRK yet that wasn't full of himself.

"omfg liek omg i r teh pwnzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! liek omg i own allllllllllllll~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ guillotine iz teh best ws!~~~ omg no clazz cumz near my dmg. im gunna use souleat bersker at last resort only wit my wssss and ten cancel the abilitiz out cuz im a drk"

Yeah, I heard that before... alot.

[KamaAina]

I think the key is in the RNG :p .


First I would like to apologize about what I am about to say.


I personally think that monk is the funnest job in the game. But I would have to say that as far as damage goes a Ranger in the party is just insane. I think that RNG are almost as key to great xp as a BRD.

All this talk about what job MP regens the best, what job tanks the best, you forget that the thing still has to die. The faster it dies the less mp you use, the less important that extra ballad or refresh becomes.

I am still pretty low level I am about to hit 58. But I haven't seen downtime since.... hmmm I can't remember when at least since low 50's.

MP has not been a problem for soooo long, that I have actually changed the way I play the game. Now I don't know if this is the correct way to play it or not (I haven't partied with english speaking players for a while so I dont get much feedback except for happy smiley faces ** \(ˆ☼ˆ)/ **.

But in fact MP has been such a little problem, that I don't even worry about agro anymore. I used to sub nin religiously for blink. Now I just don't care, no tank at this level can pull hate off of a sidewinder (I mean they could but by the time they can it should be dead) so I get hit ALOT. I probobly take up most of my groups mp usually. Most parties I am in have a THF so I voke first at the beggining of the fight too and am taking hits of like 200 damage a peice.

But even with me "wasting" mp like crazy, we still don't have downtime. No matter what the party is have it 2 RDMs, a SMN RDM, a BRD etc. And getting "great xp" is a given usually.

Now it might have to do with the fact that I have been lucky in getting into really good parties with rank 10 JP people (I owe this to my Eurytos bow =P).

I just don't see MP as being an issue in these parties.. sometimes the RDMs don't have to convert except for once or twice a session.

But other people complain about MP and killtimes so much... makes me think maybe the secret ingredient isn't finding the right tank, or support its finding a competent damage dealer.. most people skimp in this area and grab a DRK/DRG/THF/RNG/SAM with bad gear or something.

but its not just RNG's (its just that most rangers who are higher level tend to have the "good gear" because this job REQUIRES gil). The same thing could be said about a DRK with all the BEST gear (not just up to the level) or MNK with good gear.

But most melee damager's are just so average... I think that is where the "average" xp comes from personally.

[Stanislav]

If you got Sidewinder already you know that without Bard it misses more then 1/2 of the time?

RNG with the ultimite accuracy will have such a huge misrate that even though one shot for 120 is nice the other melee will not miss as much and hit for 120 damage in the same amont of time. But if a BRD puts hunders prelude on a ranger then its just death time. My RNG friend and I chained on a Raptor (Living time.. 4 seconds) Sidewinder 1200 Dancing Edge 1100 Distortion 400 some bursts and bye bye.

Personally I think at any level RNG THF NIN is the best upfront part of the party.

People say THF is only good for Sneak otherwise their damage is horrible.. I dunno with like 260ish delay (if NIN sub) and haste THF hits for 10-30 every times with many criticals but thats not my point. THF gains TP without doing a lot of damage which is not even required becuase the skillchain will deal the damage left over. THF provides high dmg WS with good gear (1000 dmg Dancing Edge :sweat and hate control if required. THF can actually increase their damage by getting more DEX while DRK with better gear will only ahve a higher hit rate and not a higher attack.

Arching Arrow > Sharkbite
and
Sidewinder > Dancing Edge

are some of the best chains in my idea becuase both jobs will doe 1000 damage without letting the Ranger die or just risk death.

Of course I had a DRK says that its better to have a DRK with Spinning Slash end the Light chain but what for? It won't make the killing faster at all as the RNG THF chain already deals enough damage for death. Also THF is ready to chain same times as RNG and sometimes sooner while DRK gains TP slower then a ranger which delays the chain. Its for you to judge but I think RNG THF NIN are the perfect front of a PT.

[Faranim]

Want to know what the secret is to fast EXP?

Low kill times, and lots of mobs.

Ideally the fastest party would be 6 damage dealers who could kill monsters so fast they don't even get a chance to take damage. Just grab a mob, kill it before it can do any damage, and keep pulling with 0 downtime.

The reality is that this never happens, and typically people need to resort to having a "Tank" and "Somebody to keep the Tank from dieing" The more mages / Tanks you add, the slower your kill rate becomes, and the slower your EXP flows in.

The reason BRD is so desired is because it serves two important purposes.
#1 Madrigal, Minuet, Prelude, Threnody. Faster Kill times = Faster EXP
#2 Reduced Downtime. MP Regernation, Elegy (slows monster attacks = less damage taken = less MP needed = more room for damage dealers), Backup Healing + Status Cures

That doesn't mean BRD is REQUIRED by any means. BRD just makes it much much easier.

And I'll also agree with the previous post. RNG helps kill stuff really fast (with no downtime), so they are also key to a good EXP party.

I guess the "fastest" EXP party would probably be 5 RNG/NIN and 1 BRD/WHM. BRD would just double minuet the rangers, pull a mob, let the Rangers fight it, and then rinse and repeat with 0 damage taken and no downtime. If you wanted to get really fancy the BRD could pull while fighting the current mob, and sleep it nearby for immediate chainage.

Of course, the typical party is nowhere near skilled / rich enough to pull something like that off. We usually add a Tank, and have 2-3 Mages, and only 2-3 Damage Dealers. Which is what "slows" down the flow of experience.

Also, Hunting area and population of mobs makes a big difference.

[replica]

Stanislav, I'd like to see you hit for 1k damage on Dancing Edge~

Being an up and coming elvaan thf myself, and knowing other well respected ones on rag, I've heard that our dancing edge is only around 6-700 tops. Mithra on the other hand, I've seen 900-1k

[Corrado]

In the tree last night fighting darters.. 3 rng/nin, 1 brd/whm, 1 blm/whm, 1rdm/blm.

Chained for 7 hours straight at around 6~7k per hour.. total madness that it actually worked :sweat:

[Cali]

Well said, stanistav...

NA BLM needs reeducation, I haven't met a bad JP BLM so far, so sorry for the generalisation... to make you feel better, I have seen NA PLD tanking better than JP(that JP PLD almost killed me)...

BLM shouldn't be nuking 24/7, they get too much hate just a cast, 2 or 3 cast, and they can tank the battle... but wait, to the BLM's view, that's tank's fault for having a 30sec recast provoke instead of 1sec... My friend from LS, a BLM60(now, some people will stop saying 'shut up n00b'?), she heal and enfeeble most of the time, as a BLM, and when the monster has little HP, she spams magic, even use ancient magic without causing ultimate hate, how many BLM you've seen doing that? and exp is actually better with her nuking so little at start.

Though, BRD isn't bad either, with their songs, the party does work faster, not to mention the BRD speciality, lullaby, best for mob control...no, please don't wake the next monster up right after battle, you will 1st kill bard(caused hate from lullaby), and then you will kill your party... if you let the extra linked mob sleep, actually, you don't have to worry, you can all rest and chill while the mages refill, BRD doesn't rely on MP, so as long as the mob isn't waking up before the recast, BRD can hold them there forever....

The chance of good BRD to the chance of good BLM is about 3:1... you don't get that many BRD to start with, and not many are interested til they learnt the job.

[Lythe]

Ok ok, but DRK is more fun... you get to deal 150 dmg normal hits and light or dark SCs with 2000dmg :D

Also DRK's don't need a specific setup, like a
Penetration => Scission setup IE Piercing => Viper
or Enpi => Dancing edge

And Nin Rng Thf isn't the best frontline, either...

You forgot about Nin Rng Rng.. (on rare occasions)

But in reality, Nin War Rng, Pld Mnk Mnk, Nin War Drk, Nin Drk Rng would work just as fine, maybe even better before 65/66 since no 1 minute downtime is needed for Trick/Sneak. So, that reduces the 'wait time' for any SC to start.

I'm just saying that Drk gets more variety in the game, where as Thf has to stick with the Distortion/Light setup. Both jobs can get the same amount of exp/hr... just that I think Drk is more fun ^^

And to comment on the Brd/Blm/Smn roles...
I want to try Brd Blm Smn
Minuet III & IV, Acc up and Acc down on mobs, Nuke...
It's like a full break from the warrior given by the mages... with out the 1/3 effect of it :D

[tazirai]

Re: BRD? Not required for great experience?

Depending on the PT setup Brd isnt needed but helpful.
If you have a PT where the attackers are all abotu accuracy and attack.
say a Samurai + rng , or DRk and rng. then bards songs will help greatly.

Mages dont come into play as much since bard will primarily buff them with ballads1-2.

But if you need to be able to hit accurately. bard and summoner makes a good combo.

Usually in this setup I'll do my accuracy buffs and the bard will do theirs. Ill throw on a Blink or stoneskin, but im normally using carbuncle to MB and/or heal the attackers using the rat.