FFXI and Everquest; jobs/classes

[Annullo]

Ok I've played Everquest for like 3 years now, and I'm thinking of switching over to FFXI so I've been looking around the sites and checking stuff out and I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer.

First off I noticed that (as with pretty much all MMORPGs) FFXI gameplay and class distinctions are much like Everquest...i.e. Black Mage = Wizard, White Mage = Cleric, Dark Knight = Shadownight, Ninja = Rogue etc. So I figure the classes will play basically the same. I've been playing an end game Wizard in EQ for a long time now and have good working knowledge of how to control aggro and DMG output so I have a very solid foundation for starting another wizard/Blk Mage in FFXI; it seems like all basic knowledge will transfer i.e. Hate/Aggro, and the basics that make decide between a good Blk Mage and a dead one. I guess my question here is...do the classes lend themselves as much as I think they do to EQ equivilants, or am I mistaken?

Another question is about the corrilation between Job and Race. I know certain races lend themselves better to one job or another, and EQ is the same way...but in EQ that differences only matterd in the lower Lvs, and the more your progressed Equipment more than made up any minor deficiancies in race/job combinatoins. Example- I choose a Dark Elf wizard, which is 2nd to the Race Erudite in wizard creation, but as I progressed the Intelligence (stat) gap between the two was reduced to nothing, so basically the difference between the two later in the game was just the way they looked. I plan on playing a Elvaan Blk Mage so are the Race/Job combinations in FFXI the same as in EQ...will they gaps between race/job eventually fill as they do in EQ?

I plan on getting my Blk Mage to the end game as fast as possible (along with skills etc) and from what I've been reading Blk Mage usefullness seems like it decreases the further you play, mainly because of other classes out dmging them etc. What i'm wandering is...in what way do they out damage the Blk mage? I know that in EQ a Wizard can deal amazing amounts of damage in a very short amount of time, but many other classes will outdamage it given the time, but the wizard remains the undesputed kind of DPS (damage per second). Are the classes that outdamage Blk Mages in FFXI doing damage as quickly as the Blk Mages, and if so is there any talk of Job balencing to correct this in upcomming patches?

Sorry for the long post and all the EQ references

[MadCatXXX]

Except for some big nukes, playing a BLM is different than playing a Wizard.

Hate management is not exactly the same, you have a role to play as a debuffer/crowd controller, and with your subjob you will get new abilities (heals, ninja bombs, it really depends on the subjob you choose) making it even more special.

It might sound strange, but if you want to play something close to what you experienced with your Wiz, a RNG might be better suited.

And the job is balanced as it is, there is no need to modify anything (even though I would certainly appreciate a little love on the damage output side).

PS: I would strongly advise against playing a Galka BLM, but other than that you can always compensate with food and gear. Just make sure you let others know by writing it in your search comment (well equiped Elvan BLM > average Taru BLM).

[Icemage]

Race matters a LOT more in FFXI than it does in EQOA. As you noted above, pretty much all races are identical stat-wise at high levels in EverQuest.

The same can not be said for FFXI, and making a poor choice for race for your chosen job can spell hours/days/months of frustration if your play style does not closely mesh with what works.

Black mages aren't just about nuking in FFXI. They aren't the fastest damage dealers, but it is one of their roles, and they handle it quite well. Their utility spells are extremely convenient (Escape, Sleep, and Warp II come immediately to mind), and their ability to consistently damage virtually every enemy in the game makes them the most flexible damage dealer in a group no matter what you are fighting.


Icemage

[Lady Kelenae]

Hello~.. Ex Dark elf wizzy here turned mithra PLD~

I have to say.. FFXI BLM and EQ Wizard are pretty close.. but there are some differences.. Race of the BLM is alot more importented.. not saying that you would be a good BLM if your Elvaan.. or Galka.. you'll just have to play differently... When i played my BLM Job on my Mithra.. it felt like playing Wizard again on EQ .. kinda missed nukeing for alot of damage.. course.. only when MBing.. but it pretty fun no matter what...

I could go into more detail.. but right now.. i'm sleepy

[Irinicus]

Well it seems that we come out of the wookwork here, Ex-High Elf Wizzie here turned Taru Taru BLM. I also have to agree, the wizzie and BLM are closely related to each other. But BLM of FFxi has utility spells that the wizzie did not in EQ. The role of wizard in EQ was just a high damage dealer, actually the highest in the game, easily doing over 6,000 pts with a spell is darn good, too bad that cannot be said I think with FFxi, hehe.

[Cailo]

Even though we dont do that crazy wiz damage as a blm, with blm/whm the utilility is insane. Like someone else said, there is escape, warp2, and sleep. But there is soooo much more. With whm sub you will get a ton more debuffs, invisibility/sneak/deoderize, raise, regen, curing, elemental resistance buffs, protect, shell, and someday you will get teleport. Also, for a class that gets a lot of hate, blind and stoneskin are really nice defensive spells that you will get someday with whm sub. And of course there is the healing power you will get that is a lot more useful then you would think. As for blm spells, there is the line of ga spells for mass damagea and sleep/debuffs on multiple targets. This is amazing for farming smaller creatures for cash. As for blm spells you will get drain and aspir which are great. There is an entire line of blm only debuffs. With the patch there is stun for interupting mob specials. You get bind for holding mobs in place. Then there's the spike line of spells that are a little useful when you take damage.
A lot of people complain that blm doesn't do as much damage as rng, but imagine if they did. People would complain about that instead. No one would play rng and it would be completely unfair to every other class.

[Cailo]

hehe, sorry. When i said that blind was a defensive spell, i ment blink. It makes the mob miss you two times, which is more than enough time for the war to take the agro back.

[Deedlit]

The reason there is a big different bewteen eq wizzies and ffxi blm's is that race is ultra important. In EQ, you could make up for race deficiencies by getting gear (most not level restricted, where it is in FFXI), and only certain races could be certain classes to begin with.

In FFXI your base stats increase as you level - not just hp/mana. Therefore, the different is there from the start, and tends to increase exponentially as you level.

If you are set on becoming a BLM, you should go with taru for loads of mp, or Mithra/Hume, if you want to be able to take a beating.

[Brene]

Just to add my two cents, as an Elvaan Black Mage, you'll have to overcome two set-backs.

One is you'll have the second lowest MP to start with out of all of the races. As a Elvaan though, you'll have the second highest HP of any BLM. There are items that you can equip to switch HP to MP so that will help.

The other is you'll have the lowest INT rating of any of the races, and that determines your Black Magic. There is also equipment to alter that as well.

Most importantly, you can't control your stats. You can't put points into any thing, they just increase on their own as you level.

[Discordian]

I know someone in my LS that was hardcore on the blm side of things untill he hit level 30. Then he switched to Paladin. His drawback was that he is a taru and it having a slightly difficult time making the transition.

If you do this go alllllll the way with tantaru or go with mithran or hume so that you can fallback into something that might feel better.

[Talindra]

Strange thing is, being a BLM in this game reminds me of my mage in EQ, only without a pet. I debuff, then nuke. And the nice thing is that I don't have to summon a million things to help my party. I like being able to warp, which is basically gating in EQ. Crowd control using sleep reminds me of my bard in EQ. Oh, we also get a spell called Tractor which is summon corpse with much more limited distance. That and the Drain (for hp) and Aspir (mana drain) spells give us a necro feel.

The thing that mixes things up is the idea of subjobs. You'll have more options open to you depending on what you pick. Just don't pick whm unless you want to be like an EQ shaman or druid :sweat: .

With me, I was a dark elf magician, then wood elf bard, then Erudite cleric.

Being a BLM in this game has been fun. I'm not too sure if I will stick with it after 30 though.

Oh yeah, Theif is more like Rogue, Dark Knight is like a Shadow Knight without a pet or feign death and Dark Knights do more damage than tank.

[Tobold]

I think the main difference between FFXI and EQ is that in EQ you could never change jobs. In FFXI everybody has at least two jobs, and many people have 3 or more. The question is not "what class do I play", but "what do I play from level 1 to 18", then "what class combination do I play once I have the subjob", and finally "do I take an advanced job at level 30, and which one".

That makes races like Hume or Mithra highly attractive, as they are good in every job. A Taru is a far more specialized race. Not that much better as a mage, but much worse if you ever want to play a fighter class.

I went for a Taru mage anyway, but I got a second character (for $1 per month), and that one is a Galka Warrior. So whenever I feel the need to just smash something, I switch characters, not jobs.

[VoodooXX]

The only comparison that should be made between the Black Mage and the Everquest Wizard is that they are the best direct damage spell casters in the game. All other similarities end there.

As Talindra said, we do alot...and actually...the only 'game class' they are similar to is the traditional FF Black Mage.

A sheep is not a mountain goat...they are similar but nothing more.

[allizard]

I suppose EQ Monk = FFXI Monk. The highest damage dealer in long term combat. Except we don't get feign death.

I used to be a rogue in EQ and the FFXI thief is pretty close also.

[Valdaar]

monk highest damage dealer? Did you stop playing in beta?