{Help me out}

[Raitox]

I've been playing for a few months.... and have really been bothered by my characters appearance. I picked an Elvaan male, with black hair, and whilist walking around, I have seen much better looking Elvaans (what did I miss?!) and better looking humes. I am tired of my low MP (Trust me, its all spent after one mob, especially when I play as WHM), and I'm tired of getting "lolelvaanmp" from certain people... Is there anyway to feel better about my character, or am I stuck looking at my "unpretty" Elvaan self?

[Murphie]

Re: {Help me out}

Elvaan aren't unpretty! And they don't make crappy mages either. Anyone who tells you that doesn't know much about making the most of your MP.

Your only options if you want to get different stats is to start over or learn to live with the ones you have. Otherwise, if you just want a different face, you can change it (if you play on the PC) by switching out the .dat file for it.

[Mizuko]

Re: {Help me out}

Meh, I'm kind of tired of my character's appearance after like...more than a year of playing, so I mess around with .DAT swapping.

That's really all you can do unless you wanna start all over again :x

[Yuanlung]

Re: {Help me out}

I usually make and remake a few version of my main character with different races and faces and actually take them a ride in game to see if I really liked it. The character creation may not tell the whole story of what the character really looks like in game. You might want try that if you do decide to remake.


While Elvaan isn't totally crappy in mage jobs, their rather melee-friendly stats can be limiting to some extent, and will affect your play style and experience. Eventhough this hardly matter as long as you are having fun, it does not seem to be the case now since you are posting this.

Maybe it would help to creat an additional (don't delete your char yet!) character of a different race/face, maybe hume or taru, since you seems to like mage jobs, and take it a test run to see if it's worth a rebuild?

[Irisjir Callard]

Re: {Help me out}

"lolelvaanmp" was defeated by "lolelvaanmnd".
"lolelvaanmnd" gains 248 experience points.


Seriously, though, as a whitemage, I almost wish I'd made an elvaan character. For one, all the male elvaans are good-looking. Every. Single. One. Mmm...especially the guy with the shaggy hair...needs to be groomed...taken care of...

Anyway!

By contrast, most of the females are kinda iffy on the "good looking" chart.

But my point, and alas this is something people don't really get to access until later on in the game, is that hMP/refresh effects (hMP=mp regained while resting, certain items push this number up, and refresh effects=juices by and large) are by far better than MP, for almost every job and setup (And I say almost, because there are situations for everything). Unfortunately, you don't get access to a whole lot of hMP gear till the later levels (Pilgrims wand, level 10, +2; baron's slops, level 20, +1; Seer's Tunic, level 29, +1; not to mention cookies which go up to +5 for normal quality) are about all the low-level hMP gear I can think of.

I'm 64 and I wear my seer's tunic yet, while resting...neither it nor my dark staff (level 51, +10 hMP) come out of my inventory ever for any reason even if I'm playing a job that doesn't have MP/can't use either one/is far too low level to equip either one.

But in the end, I have this near-infinite mana pool because in 3 seconds I can scratch up another 30ish-40ish MP but you know what my problem is?

I can't stick a Parylize for a hoot, and my Cure V sucks. These problems might seem distant at your level, but here I sit thinking A. where did the time go and B. I really need to get more mind boost gear.

[Raitox]

Re: {Help me out}

I can change my face and race by switching .dat files? Where are they, and the other faces/races?

[Myaku]

Re: {Help me out}

http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/dat...rendering-294/

Browse. Swap. Enjoy.

[avhmia]

Re: {Help me out}

I can't stick a Parylize for a hoot, and my Cure V sucks. These problems might seem distant at your level, but here I sit thinking A. where did the time go and B. I really need to get more mind boost gear.

MND is easier to compensate for in your 70s when you have access to blessed and errant gear. I think I have +47 MND and I don't really even make an effort to wear +MND stuff XD

When you get access to good MND equipments, and get your healing skill up higher, your C5s will get lots better. I think mine at at 737 right now, with a light staff and no Noble's A Noble's would push me over 800.

As for sticking paralyze... get an ice staff and hope for the best? XD

[Mizuko]

Re: {Help me out}

I can change my face and race by switching .dat files? Where are they, and the other faces/races?

Only your character's appearance for yourself, since .DAT swapping you use can't be seen by other users. So if you .DAT swap to become a Mithra or something, you'll look like one, but still have the same stats as an Elvaan and look like one to other players as well.

[Jugil]

Re: {Help me out}

Well.. as far as your apperance, that's a personal preference. If you don't like it, you don't like it ><.

However, with regards to Elvaan mp: it's not how much mp you have, it's how you use it.

It's all about managing your mp better. As a WHM: Stuff like casting Regen (more HP/MP) as much as you can. WHM, BLM, RDM: Cast your debuffs (i.e. Paralyze, Slow, Gravity, Blind, etc.). BLM, RDM: Learn the elemental weaknesses, know how to MB effectively.

Know when to cast Dia vs. Bio.

Personally, I think Elvaan make spectacular WHM's. MP isn't that big of an issue; plus there is plenty of gear out there to account for that (RSE being one, and it's free if you're willing to take your time to quest it.)

Base stats don't make that great of a difference in the long run. Basically, play the character you like the best, regardless of stats.

Another note, the job you end up playing in the end may be 100% different than the job you started with.

Anecdote: My first character was a male Elvaan (I went RDM for my main). Basically, I was told the same thing.. “Your MP sucks, your INT sucks.” So, being a newbie, I took these peoples’ advice, and went Taru. I ended up realizing that the difference between those stats doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in the long run.

I don’t regret changing, but not because of the MP/INT thing; I just prefer being a Taru .

[Ellipses]

Re: {Help me out}

Know when to cast Dia vs. Bio.

These days, if you're trying to conserve MP, I find the answer is usually "Don't bother, because some dipstick is going to cast Bio regardless."

But yeah, Elvaan WHMs are great. Once you start chaining consistently (Ideally: sometime in the Dunes. Realistically: probably closer to Crawler's Nest), the rate at which you regain MP makes a much bigger difference than your max MP anyway, as the only time you'll have max MP is at the start of a chain. And having a high MND that lets you cast Paralyze one less time per fight than another WHM would have to helps quite a bit with that.

[Jugil]

Re: {Help me out}

some dipstick is going to cast Bio regardless.

So true. XD

[Irisjir Callard]

Re: {Help me out}

So true. XD

The only reason I Dia anymore is for skillups.

I also Silence for that reason, which has led to some interesting PT chat...

"You do know that hobgoblin martialists don't cast anything, right?"
"Yep."
"And you know that tropical rarabs dont' cast anything, right?"
"Yep."
"And catoblepas..."
"Yep."
"So....what's with the silence?"
"Skillup."
"What's a whitemage need with enfeebling skill?"
Enter the link.
Enter the successful Sleep while the BLM was swapping equipment and the RDM was refreshing someone.
"That."
"Oh..."



By the way, /thf is good for skilling up, not just farming.

/ma "Holy" Greater Manticore.
Divine skill goes up by .5
/ja Flee


Man I bet those manticores hate my ass...making them run all over the map after me...

[Asir]

Re: {Help me out}

My husband plays an elvaan mage and a galka melee, he switches back and forth depending on his mood. He's also faced some of the ridicule Raitox has faced but he's gone on to prove that it's not the size of the MP you have, it's how you use it.

One thing he's learned from me playing a mage is to use foods that give a combination of good things for your job. For example, I've gotten my hubby into the habit of using Sweet Rice Cakes when he plays BLM which give a very slight MP boost of 17 but also gives boosts to INT, VIT, MND and has HHP and HMP properties to it. This, along with all his BLM gear aids him in regaining MP quickly for the next mob as well as boosts his much needed INT stats for nuking.

Don't feel down about your choice in race, Raitox. Elvaans can be just as good as a taru providing you take the time to get foods and gear that will be the biggest help to you.