Mithra Warrior viable? (what combinations of advanced jobs?)

[aimeekitty]

Hi everyone! I'm trying to decide a race and job path before I really start playing so that I don't waste too much time.

I really really prefer the look of Mithra best... however, my gameplay tends to be very offense based, and I like to melee. (I like to run forward and beat the crap out of stuff.)

Also I'm guessing that my friends who are going to play with me that they are going to want to be the "hanging in the back" types. I may have convinced my husband to be a white mage, and perhaps my other friend will be a dark mage...

so that leaves me with really having to fill that "tank" spot.

Can I be a WARRIOR tank type and still be a Mithra? or is another race like Elvaan going to be much more viable? (is being a Mithra going to make it much harder for me??)


Also I was thinking about combinations for down the road and I was considering perhaps
DRG/WAR or SAM/WAR, etc.... are either of those somehow "bad"...? DRG look like so much fun but I keep hearing that in later levels they are really weak and not worth the time. Is that true?

or should I try for DRK/WAR or some combination of that?

I would love some advice before I waste hours on lvling up a character!

Thanks so much!

[Silkiv]

If you like the look you should go for it. Shadow dragon forums does a comparison of stats, there are other sites that compare also.
http://shadow-dragons.com/races.htm

Depending who you ask you'll get a wide range of answers. Some will say the only jobs that fit the needs of mithra's awesome dex and agi are Thf and Rng.

You'll have to decide whether you want to tank or dmg dealer. I did ok as a 45 Pld/War tank. Had lots of mp to spam flash and cure3. I think elvaan and galka are better War/Nin tanks since they have higher hp and vit.

Lots of Dragoons are unhappy with the tp change. Before the change they told me how godly they were with penta thrust, doing it many times in battle. Having the best spear skill cap they got it at a lower level and are more accurate and damaging with it. Of course the tp change lowers the tp they get back so they can't spam penta anymore.

Read up on some of the job forums. ?/War is popular for many adv melee damage jobs, ?/thf is another.

Good melee classes update their equipment over the levels.
Accuracy, Atk+, and Str equipment are what Melee attackers go for. Def, Hp and Vit are usually the equipment that tanks usually look for. I can admit other races have better stats in some of those areas.

Retired Pld picture of me. I got rdm to 52, taking a month break and maybe trying taru rdm later. Even if this means I wasted my time I still had fun.

[aimeekitty]

Thanks so much for the response! I really really appreciate the feedback and suggestions!

Unfortunately, I was reading up in various job forums, but I guess the problem is that everyone says the opposite of each other. Some say "this is the best!" other say "this sucks!".

if the other two members of my party are white mage and dark mage... then I probably should be the TANK then right? as opposed to just a "damage dealer"? Is that right? In which case I may not want to be a Mithra?

but basically you're saying that "yeah, it might be a bit harder, but if I really like a particular look it might be worth it to me"? (if I'm willing to take the lower stats in certain areas...?)

[Hisdon]

if you go PLD (this game's usual tank) then you will be fine, it's just that Mithra arn't the "best" stat wise at the job. Of course, in this game your basic stats usually mean jack shit (^^)b most important things that would be different would be HP/MP between jobs. As a Mithra, you'd do the same thing that other PLD's do, pump your VIT. Your HP/MP are identical to Hume, so you'll be fine.

If you go Dark Knight or Warrior, you won't be tanking much past level 30... (seems to me you enjoy heavy melee, the ones with the plate armors)

I think by tank you mean any melee that'd take hits and just be a front liner, it's different in this game. You have two kinds of melee, dmg dealers and tanks. NIN, PLD, and at lower levels WAR (in general, there are very few good high lvl tank WAR's). DRG, SAM, DRK, THF, RNG, MNK, they all deal dmg...well, THF is more of hate placement...but you get the point I hope >.>;

[Matkun]

It won't affect you that much. You'll have higher AGI, which helps WAR/NIN or NIN/War as a tank. The lower vit can be made up with items. It's the player that makes the job, not the race.

[Hisdon]

which I forgot to say, player before job/race, but honestly if you want to be your party's tank 24/7...go PLD =/ you could also go that dmg dealing class, but sometimes your pt may have some probs finding tanks

[aimeekitty]

so would mithra WAR/NIN (or vice versa) be a good tank? (as my eventual something to shoot for?)

it sounds like ya'll are saying that WAR/PLD is better for tank?

I'm guessing that I kinda "have" to be the tank of my party considering that our black mage will be the damage dealer according to what you said, right? We may or may not add more people. So we have three currently (White mage, black mage, and me currently as WAR)

[Hisdon]

Originally posted by aimeekitty
so would mithra WAR/NIN (or vice versa) be a good tank? (as my eventual something to shoot for?)

it sounds like ya'll are saying that WAR/PLD is better for tank?

I'm guessing that I kinda "have" to be the tank of my party considering that our black mage will be the damage dealer according to what you said, right? We may or may not add more people. So we have three currently (White mage, black mage, and me currently as WAR)

ok, first I'm not saying go WAR/PLD, I'm saying go PLD/WAR >.>; also you'll HAVE to pick up others for pts consist of 6 people, you'd have to pick up 1 more mage and 2 dmg dealing melee (if you are the tank)

um...read this is the best advice I can offer ;x

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/guides.html?guide=217

it's a little old but still has good basic info

[aimeekitty]

thanks, I'll try to read through it (I guess I'm just hesitant as it's huge...!)

if we HAVE to have a party of about 6 ultimately... then are you saying basically that I should choose what I enjoy the best, and then if that's not a tank, then I should just hope that we could find a tank to fill the missing role?

[Hisdon]

Originally posted by aimeekitty
thanks, I'll try to read through it (I guess I'm just hesitant as it's huge...!)

if we HAVE to have a party of about 6 ultimately... then are you saying basically that I should choose what I enjoy the best, and then if that's not a tank, then I should just hope that we could find a tank to fill the missing role?

exactly what I'm saying however in the early 30's(30-34) there's a lack of tanks, after/before that it's pretty easy to find one

[Silkiv]

There is no "dark mage" hehe. I see you meant Black Mage instead of Dark knight. Both are damage dealers.

Many parties have 1 tank, 3 damage dealers, 2 healers or supporters (brd or rdm in later levels are wanted).

Most jobs are damage dealers. So there is almost always a over abundance of damage dealers.
It's good that you have a couple friends to adventure with. You can just find a 3rd dmg dealer (assuming you choose to be the 2nd) a supporter/healer and a tank and you're good to go.

edit: http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/sho...threadid=33949 is a example of a damage dealer abler to be a tank.. but in later levels its usually either one or the other.. either high defense armor or high accuracy/attack armor.

[aimeekitty]

would you mind talking a little about your experience? I mean, since you are DRK/Theif then... you're a damage dealer right? (I'm slowly reading through the thread you sent me to.) I'm to the part now about "Being a Party Member, Being a Party Leader".

Do you enjoy it more than, say,... being a tank?

Can I be a damage dealer type, but round myself off a bit to be a tank when/if my party can't find a tank?

I guess I just hate to think about all three of us being together in a group and then having to look around for four hours to find an appropriate tank for our party before we can play. I'd prefer to have us able to play with just 3 people (even if I have to be a tank instead of being a damage dealer), and then if we find more people to round out our party then thats "great" but not absolutely nessesary for us to play. Does that make sense? or is that flawed thinking?

[Stormwalker]

Ok. If you want to have the option of damage dealing or tanking, there is only one option for job, and that is Warrior. I am not an expert on subjobbing for WAR, some will tell you MNK is good, others will say it is not, some will tell you NIN is good, others will tell you it is not. But one thing that is basically true is the only job that can both deal damage and tank is WAR.

PLD is an excellent tank, but it cannot deal damage worth a flip. NIN can deal damage somewhat better than PLD, but if you are spending all your time casting Utsusemi and other ninjitsu abilities, you are probably not hitting as much as you would like, and you still will not be doing as much damage as a WAR in damage-dealing mode can do.

The prime damage-dealing jobs (DRK, MNK, RNG, SAM, DRG) simply do not have the defense to tank. Especially DRK, RNG, DRG, who basically disintegrate if the mob looks at them funny. They are no-compromise damage dealers, sacrificing defense for the ability to do crazy damage.

WAR is the only job that strikes a balance. With the right equipment and food, it can tank (though not as well as a PLD or NIN). With different equipment and food, it can deal damage (not as effectively as a DRK or MNK or RNG, but it is certainly no slouch when you use attack food and proper equipment. I have never had any complaints with WAR damage dealing in my parties if the WAR knew what they were doing!)

I am a great advocate of PLD tanks. They just hold aggro better than anyone else. But PLD is simply not capable of ever being a damage dealer. So if you want to do both, you must go WAR.

Now, on the subject of race... Mithra can tank just fine. They can deal damage just fine. They are not the optimal race for either one, but frankly your race does not make nearly so much difference as player skill, proper equipment, and use of food. Some of the best tanks and damage dealers I've encountered have been Humes and Mithra, in spite of the fact that they are not optimal stat-wise for those roles, because the players were skilled and it reflected in their results.

So, if you want to be a Mithra WAR, then do it. You might have to work just a bit harder than an Elvaan or Galka WAR, but if it's what you want to be, and it's what you'll be happiest with, it's worth a little extra effort to make it happen. And it's certainly well within reach.

Good luck with it!

[Hisdon]

Originally posted by aimeekitty
would you mind talking a little about your experience? I mean, since you are DRK/Theif then... you're a damage dealer right? (I'm slowly reading through the thread you sent me to.) I'm to the part now about "Being a Party Member, Being a Party Leader".

Do you enjoy it more than, say,... being a tank?

Can I be a damage dealer type, but round myself off a bit to be a tank when/if my party can't find a tank?

I guess I just hate to think about all three of us being together in a group and then having to look around for four hours to find an appropriate tank for our party before we can play. I'd prefer to have us able to play with just 3 people (even if I have to be a tank instead of being a damage dealer), and then if we find more people to round out our party then thats "great" but not absolutely nessesary for us to play. Does that make sense? or is that flawed thinking?

I like tanking and being a damage dealer, but if I really had to pick, I prefer dealing dmg. You should start as a WAR and sooner or later you'll decide from playing WAR what you'll want to be, since in the early game they tank and deal dmg. From there, you just have to pick. Personally I'll say from my experience, there's always gonna be awkward days when you can't find some job. Sometimes it's a tank, sometimes a last mage, sometimes there's no dmg dealers on O.o Don't decide based on the fact your pt needs a tank, if you find out you don't like tanking in this game, go dmg dealer, nothing wrong with that

[aimeekitty]

Thanks for all the help you guys, I really appreciate it!

I have to say, it's silly, but I really love how Summoners and Dragoons look...

but neither of those could be a tank really at all could they? (I mean Dragoon/WAR... would that be "ok" as a tank?)

is Dragoon really "that bad" ? I've been reading up on it and it seems that a lot of people are unhappy with the class (as if maybe it's gimped or something?)

I totally see what you mean about choosing what is most fun for me instead of what the party means though. I'll try lvling up my WAR for a while and hopefully by the time it comes to choose my next path I'll have a better idea of whether I'd be "perfectly happy tanking" or whether I'd really be much more happy as a damage dealer (or perhaps a more well-rounded damage dealer that can tank a bit too?)