E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

[Macht]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

I've heard of my friends getting as high as 3000 damage slug shots in merit parties on /WAR (flying mobs only)
Is this plausible or is someone yanking my chain? I'm positive that's enough damage to easily 1-shot most mobs at around 1/3 HP (maybe more?)

Well put it this way, I'm close to breaking 2k on normal mobs as RNG/WAR. Ranged attacks get like a 50% bonus to damage with flying mobs, so a 2k shot would become 3k on a flying mob. On side note I can solo VT bats and other flying creatures, sidewinder easily getting between 1.5k - 2.2k without a lot of effort.

Depending on what you fight 2k can take 100% health close to about 40% left, why I generally aim for that damage to hit the mob when it's around 1/2 health. Many of the bats though that are T-VT to me usually about 2.2k takes it to about 20% left, bats don't seem to have much health so they are decent to solo.

[Chanse]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

Wow, thanks for all the info... can't wait to try /WAR... now maybe I can sell some of my knifes? lol maybe ill keep them for BCNM stuff.... Fire Staff ehhh... I am sooo getting one.. Thanks again FFXI Forum!!

Chanse

[Caspian]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

Ebow and Sbow can hit for the same dmg shot for shot under the right conditions (moon phase), however Ebow's delay is lower, so technically its better.
However, don't let that get you down, I'm 75 and still use Sbow (and know many 75's that still use it), I've started camping Eastern Shadow again and hoping for a Vali's sometime soon.
I can imagine 3k+ ws's. Great gear, full merits, /war, soul voiced minx2, diaII, red curry, flying mob. Doable, especially if your ws crits (only had that happen a handful of times, though.)
As far as going /war, I've been on a /nin kick lately, just because I use it for random stuff, and cheap invis shadows are nice. I've started meriting with /war and will do gods /war so long as we aren't farming sky beforehand. Really you just have to walk a closer line with hate and don't go overboard.
I imagine I'll always go /nin to things like dynamis, though. You are going to get hit some, aoe's just have huge range and there isn't always room to back far enough away. Plus you're likely to miss bard songs if you wander off too far.

[Amarok]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

My Ranger is lvl 67 now, and I was lucky enough to get Vali's Bow when I was lvl 55 (using my MNK to solo Eastern Shadow). If you put "Vali's Bow" into Google, my blog entry about getting it is the first site returned (Amarok & Rokada). It wasn't camped much when I went for it, but it will still most likely take a conciderable amount of effort to get it just because of the awkward pop cycle. IMO though, don't let that put you off trying, it becomes a very nice piece of gear, and people will hopefully repect you for putting in the effort to get it yourself.

I also got the Selene Bow for lvl 60, but actually never equiped it, and I ended up dropping it to free up the space (can always get another one if I ever wanted too). I'm comfortable with Vali's Bow since I can concentrate on +r.acc gear and I know my DMG output is going to be pretty consistant.

I've so far never tried RNG/WAR. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up the dual wield hawkers+1 (now Fransisca in slot 1) with +r.acc stats, and even with /NIN and Vali's/Demon Arrows, I'm pulling hate off a PLD with SAM/THF SATA on him in xp parties.

At lvl 67 the x.bow vs bow options start to show themselves, since the Othinus' Bow is very much like a long bow in its delay and DMG output (great for slug shots and barrage). I find myself doing something along these lines in xp parties:

• Start with x.bow, pull with acid bolt
• Chuck in a few more acid bolts at the start if 1st one didn't get defense down effect.
• Fire a holy & blind bolt if it suits the mob/party setup.
• Get to 100% TP with Darksteel bolts, and fire off slug shot
• Switch to Vali's Bow with Demon arrows, maybe barrage/sharpshot if its up.
• Finish up with a powerful sidewinder, and its usually time to pull the next mob, so time to switch to x.bow again.

I've also had fun with using shadowbind if I pull a link. With AF Hands you get an almost guaranteed 45 second bind on the mob as long as no-one else vokes it or attacks it in anyway.

Ranger is a cool job in FFXI and I find it a ton of fun to play.

[Omni]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

FIRE STAFF

forget those silly daggers and axes. you will have enough rng acc. as it is.

that's too much equip switching for my taste amarok :p

[Spider-Dan]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

Every time I use /WAR, I end up regretting it. What's the point of having all this insane damage output if you can't use it when the mob has any sort of decent HP remaining?

With the changes to Third Eye, I greatly prefer /SAM as a "max damage" sub. Seigan+3E provides just enough survivability to prevent a non-killshot dynamis slug from signing my own death warrant.

/WAR is great for screenshots, but not much else IMO. I have tried to give /WAR a chance time and time again, and every time I am dissatisfied with the results.

[Omni]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

I go /sam to a lot of things too and from my experiences its just OK. It's not as survivable as I would have liked it to be. Third eye is no where near as reliable and you must be quick on the spot to activate else it sometimes wears in all the melee confusion that dynamis can bring. The damage per ws/shot isnt much greater than /nin but you win on getting to let more slugs go than any other rng sub.

/sam reminds me of luke warm water. it's not great but its not bad.

tbh, all 3 of the popular rng subs are pretty meh. /war makes rng too big for their all britches, /nin makes them soft and too defensive and /sam is just so mediorce... ok dmg and ok defense.

[Spider-Dan]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

I go /sam to a lot of things too and from my experiences its just OK. It's not as survivable as I would have liked it to be. Third eye is no where near as reliable and you must be quick on the spot to activate else it sometimes wears in all the melee confusion that dynamis can bring.

My slug macro (for dynamis) has 3E in it.

[Omni]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

great idea! lol. still the 1 or 5 anticipates is kinda shakey for me. hopefully i get 5 when slugging a mnk mob. ; ;

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

I pretty much /WAR everywhere, I'm polishing off that /SAM sub as soon as my /WHM sub is done, but I've always felt I've used /WAR rather effectively in most situations.

Or maybe its just because I actually cap my EXP and just don't give a damn if I die. I just think if RNG/WAR as the physical BLM and play it as such.

As far as Selene goes, its easier to get so hunt Black Coney and get S Bow until you have the time to camp Eastern Shadow or BCNM60. Both bows are very good. I have the Vali's Bow now, but I will use Selene if the moon phase is right and I feel I'd benefit from the accuracy stats off Selene more than I would V-Bow.

[Spider-Dan]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

great idea! lol. still the 1 or 5 anticipates is kinda shakey for me. hopefully i get 5 when slugging a mnk mob. ; ;

As far as I can recall, I've never had less than 2 anticipates if I use 3E right as I get aggro. It's only when you get attacked late in 3E's duration that it tends to go down immediately.

I also keep Seigan up full-time, as I don't consider the 5 STR from Hasso to be worth the hassle of accidentally using 3E without Seigan up.

I pretty much /WAR everywhere, I'm polishing off that /SAM sub as soon as my /WHM sub is done, but I've always felt I've used /WAR rather effectively in most situations.

Or maybe its just because I actually cap my EXP and just don't give a damn if I die. I just think if RNG/WAR as the physical BLM and play it as such.

I care about dying because I can't do damage when I'm dead, and I really dislike trying to deal damage when I'm weakened.

It just seems to me that except for an extended fight with solidly placed hate on one person throughout, /WAR is pretty useless. Situations that would result in 0 damage to me as /SAM result in death as /WAR.

[Omni]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

Has something changed with dmg calculations since the last distance update (the post nerf-slight un-nerf)?

I'm seeing very similar numbers with o-bow/darksteel as I do with S-bow/demons and I have 5 merits into bow currently and 0 in marks.

[Spinnthrift]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

For those rangers who really want to step beyond mediocrety.. /War and the relevant gearing for it is the way to go.

And yes - being able to do two weaponskills in a burn party is mediocrety.

/Nin serve's it's purpose, yet you will always be left behind by those who can count their shots and lands consistent WS's.

For those who say they die too much - learn to count your shots.. I did when I was new, and you should too.

Fire Staff + /War will be the party member who feeds the mob less TP. Who drops out the bigs numbers and who reminds us all to step up a gear.

If you have time to swap in two weapons as well as SC twice, you're either far overhunting or geared so badly that regardless of how many hits you land - you're not being effective.

I appreciate that O-Bow is nice, but learn to use it effectively.. not boast about swapping to some R/E bow too, as in doing so - you say, I can hit 18+ times without the mob being dead. If a Ranger's doing that - they're either hitting like a badly geared Thf or overhunting by a mile. For a DD - that's not blogworthy.

Rng/War is the optimum choice if you are capable of understanding the hate line. You can deal far for damage in relation to tp given to the mob. /Nin is for those who rely on others to get to 75.

Sorry if this seems unfairly said, but when I was a newbie.. Ranger had to learn to manage the line, and deal great damage... not be mediocre.

As Omni says.. Fire Staff wins.

Peace.

[Cometgreen]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

I'm surprised and happy to hear that some rangers go /war at 75. I've only been able to merit a few times before taking my summer break, but I assumed /nin was the preferred way to go. I haven't really had a pld tank yet in meripo, so maybe that's why I've been hesitant or asked not to go /war, but I pull hate as /nin with sis kebabi as it stands. I'm also lucky to WS each fight anyway, so I imagine holding back with /war would mean I could only WS every other fight.

But it should be acceptable to go to a burn party as /war + meat? I've gone /war as much as I could throughout my career, so I'm good with managing hate, but I always assumed that, with a random pickup party, /nin is the only way to be effective.

Oh, and Selene's Bow is fine. EBow is pretty much the SBow +1, imo. I'd love to have one, but it's not necessary, and you won't suffer without it. Just get a few friends and a few carrots, and spend an hour or so in Uleguerand.

(and glad to see you're playing again, Saeriel)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: E.Bow Vs Selene Bow

But it should be acceptable to go to a burn party as /war + meat? I've gone /war as much as I could throughout my career, so I'm good with managing hate, but I always assumed that, with a random pickup party, /nin is the only way to be effective.

I've done most of my merit PTs and a lot of my EXP burn PTs as RNG/WAR, but I usually just merit RNG with friends and merit as COR otherwise, so I can't say about the general pickup EXP PTs these days as /WAR. I never had a problem with getting to go /WAR in most cases, though.

I've encouraged RNGs in my PTs to go /WAR if they want to, most will jump at the chance when offered.