It would of been better to throw my 2,000gil in the river

[SmartieKjm]

then waste it on shock.

what in the chocobo is this spell supposed to do...it does 0 damage....lol...i cannot believe i need waterga and instead wasted my 2,300gil on shock.

anyone not to that level yet...pass on shock...unless there is some hidden power to it im not seeing...i wouldnt even take it for free...it just wastes a macro spot.

[Morphy]

The shock/rasp/burn/choke etc spells are mainly intended as stat debuffs, and do minor damage over time. I've tested them by casting them when mobs are almost out of hp and they have falled dead from it. Shock's MND down affect reduces a mob's magic defense for you to nuke it more effectively and Burn will

[SmartieKjm]

Aghhh i see.

still seems pretty useless to me...but at least i know what it does now thanks.

[peacemaker]

Some good uses of the elemental status lowering spells:

Cast Shock to lower the monster's MND defense before casting blind and/or other status spells.

Cast Frost to lower monster's DEX to build TP.

Cast Burn to lower monster's INT before MB. This one is quite important especially at lower levels when sometimes the battle's outcome can depend on your MB, you don't want it to miss.

These ones I have found a bit less useful:

Cast Rasupu to lower monster's VIT for better physical damage dealt on the monster.

Cast Drown to lower the monster's STR for less physical damage on you and your PT.

[Rostum]

Wouldn't Rasupu be good for a party that has more melee characters than casters? As then they would be able to do great damage with their physical attacks? Or is it only for the caster?

[Icemage]

Whoah, hold on a minute. There's a bunch of bad information in the above post.

Rasp : -5 DEX, lowers enemy's chance to hit in melee

Choke: -5 VIT, lowers enemy's defense (physical attacks do more damage)

Burn: -5 INT, lowers enemy's magic power (applies to Spells only)

Drown: -5 STR, lowers enemy's melee damage

Shock: -5 MND, lowers enemy's magic defense (increased damage from spells, better accuracy from enfeebles)

Frost: -5 AGI, lowers enemy's evasion, increased chance of successful physical attack by players (melee and ranged)


Of these, Choke and Burn are the least useful. Few enemies rely on spells exclusively(Burn), and Choke has less than half the impact of Dia, which costs less MP, casts faster, and always hits.


Icemage

[Rostum]

Thanks Icemage for clearing that up.

[SmartieKjm]

wow thanks guys...

the way you described it makes it sound alot more useful...i will try and implement some of this into my arsenal.

[rewo]

Good info.

[Morphy]

honestly, I rarely use them... BUT they are there when I need them. I have not bought them all.

[jasmill]

One question for Icemage or any high level mage. Shock lowers mind, so I would do more damage with my spells to a mob that is shock debuffed. Is it worth the mana and time to debuff a very tough/inc tough monster? Or would I do better getting off another nuke? I remember in EQ, malosini, and the other magic debuffs were a must. Is it as important in FFXI to magic debuff them? Or a waste of mana?

[horridge8]

i find it essential. most battles are won/loss with just a few hp difference. if the blind you casted makes the mob miss you just one mroe time so you could get another nuke off then it kept you from dying. or maybe you use shock and you do just enough dmg with your nuke to kill the mob before you or someone in your party dies? if not all but most of the debuff spells are essential IMO. if it means winning or losing a battle, then i think it might be a good idea to use it

[zsedc]

refering to http://www1.odn.ne.jp/leeshine/ff/ffetc.html

MND is for status adnormalies resistance, not total magic resistance. INT is for resistance against black magic. So as peacemaker posted, use burn before MB, not shock.

[Xeross]

Originally posted by zsedc
refering to http://www1.odn.ne.jp/leeshine/ff/ffetc.html

MND is for status adnormalies resistance, not total magic resistance. INT is for resistance against black magic. So as peacemaker posted, use burn before MB, not shock.

Shock sounds like a very useful spell. Especially if you are having a hard time getting slow/blind/paralyze on the mob, all of which are VERY helpful.(Makes taking down IT's so much easier its not even funny)