Nin 70+ as damage dealer : Viable?

[Omni]

i became very intersted in this idea after reading it a few times so i decided to give it a try. i went to bibiki bay last night at 72 and everything there is VT or low IT, this the setup i had:

stun katana x2 (i had bought 2 fudos before i left ragnarok for 100k a piece and now they are 1.2 mil on remora. sold them way long ago ;

emp. hairpin
spike necklace/r.g. collar
dodge earrings x2
haubergeon
raesetu hand piece
sniper/venerer ring
amemit mantle
warwolf
arhats hakama
raesetu kyahan

squid sushi

going to try to pick up a ochuidos kote, str rings and a bomb core soon.

but with this setup i was doing a combined dmg output of 80-130 on goblins and dhamels and landing blade jin for 400-700. numbers arent as great as ive seen other people say they can be but this is a whole new game for me. ive been evasion tanking for all of my nin xp time and this looks like its going to be fun esp. when i gain another lvl or 2.

what earrings do you guys use? i have coral earrings to use but i was thinking about the earring that gives 1str 1dex and suppanomimi once i can get a ark angel alliance. any other earrings that might help out?

[Russta]

Originally posted by Omni-Ragnarok
what earrings do you guys use? i have coral earrings to use but i was thinking about the earring that gives 1str 1dex and suppanomimi once i can get a ark angel alliance. any other earrings that might help out?

I use Suppanomimi and Minuet Earring though I carry with me Fenrir's Earring and two Melody Pierce+1's. No earring stat can ever top "haste"+5% (in an attack sense) and I always party with a Bard so get the small Accuracy+3 boost from Minuet. I'd still recomend getting a Minuet Pierce even if you don't party with a Bard often as STR+1 and DEX+1 in itself is pretty damn amazing for the price.

Got an Auditory Torque last night, gonna try that on a full attack build Ninja soon...

[kisada]

What is an auditory torque?

Also I'm curious, what's your perspective on STR vs ATK for WS? I was thinking about grabbing a minuet earring, but I'm not sure if I'd rather have 1 str or the 6 atk from a Merman's earring.

[Russta]

Originally posted by kisada
What is an auditory torque?

DEF:5 Latent Effect: STR+4 VIT+4 ~ Lv47, All Jobs.

Also I'm curious, what's your perspective on STR vs ATK for WS? I was thinking about grabbing a minuet earring, but I'm not sure if I'd rather have 1 str or the 6 atk from a Merman's earring.

As a general rule, I would seldom take attack over any STR item there is. It's impossible to answer such a vague question, though, as other items available and their positives and negatives need to be considered. Would I take Alkyoneus's Bracelets over my Horomusha Kote because it's STR+11 vs Attack+15? No, because you have to consider the effect DEX and AGI-6 is going to have on your overal damage and ability to tank. Relating to that, look at what you asked - STR+1 and DEX+1 or Attack+6? What you fail to mention is you're getting an Evasion-4 penalty from the Merman's Earring which, although not much, is a penalty no matter which way you slice it. Minuet Earring not only has zero penalties but has a nice bonus in the form of Accuracy+3 (it all adds up for a three hit WS). On top of that Jin, Ten and Ku's modifiers are all STR and DEX further adding to it's more overal damage in the bigger picture.

[kisada]

Right, I definitely understand what you're saying. When considering the situations and other factors, and especially other stats, it makes that question a totally different one.

However, I think what I should have asked instead was your opinion of straight STR vs ATK, all other factors aside. This is a little more off topic but its mainly because I'm looking for ways to boost damage from sneak/ws (for heavy duty monsters, cop wyrms). Maybe you'd have greater insight because you play brd and war also, but the main reason I bring it up is because I have trouble deciding between etudes vs minuet. There's gotta be point where a large amount of atk is greater than some str, and vice versa. Any thoughts? Thanks

[Russta]

Originally posted by kisada
There's gotta be point where a large amount of atk is greater than some str, and vice versa. Any thoughts? Thanks

The key is balance.

The difference Minuet III makes on top of Minuet IV is, in my opinion, unnoticeable but seeing as we don't need Madrigal anymore ( Sushi) what else should the Bard play? I like to have STR Etude as my second song and I notice it alot but that's just me on Ninja and Warrior. Also you have to consider that Etude's deteriorate so if the Bard can't effectively keep it up it becomes less efficient than having another Minuet on. Factor in that most Bard's have to pull due to the nature of partying at 75 and you can understand why not many bother to do it.