How do you high lvl RDM's keep up with your sword skill?

[Dtec]

With cycling refresh, enfeebling, helping with MB an backup curing, I don't have time to melee, so my sword skill is kind of behind. What is the best way to raise it? Thanks ^^

[Deodorant]

By meleeing. Unless you're the main healer, in many cases there's no compelling reason to not melee. You won't get many sword swings, but your skill gain is typically enough to keep your sword skill relatively up to date.

Otherwise, join key hunt or skill up parties.

[Jei]

once you lot refresh, say, from 41 all the way to 55, training sword skill isn't bad but can be hard to cap. normally because you don't have much time to swing and land enough hits considering you have to keep on with your refresh and many other spells.

My suggestion is not to worry much about it at these levels. Once you're 54 you can start bringing up your skill close to cap easily by joining coffer key hunts. And even better after 55+, you need TONS of EXP to level up, which generally gives you more than enough time to cap your sword (20K a level is not funny hehe)

To make the best out of your little melee chance, you should get a life belt or shield+sword that add accuracy. Put them on when you have chance to melee.

[Masaharu]

Like Jei said, I kept mine capped through key hunts/quest item hunts. Unless you get lucky, you might be stuck doing Genkai 1 for a while, so that's one opportunity to raise your skills. Make sure you don't face the front of an exoray though, and keep stoneskin up on yourself against liches.

I also participated in many Coffer key hunts with my LS where I could melee as well. You'll probably spend quite a bit of time doing key hunts, so they're an excellent way to raise your melee and magic skills.

[Weezingpipes]

Skill up parties can be a fun alternative to exping, and oddly enough easier to find people for. Just find a few folks to kill monsters under your level but still high enough to raise skills on due to low skill or whatever. There was a decent website which said which monsters you can skill up on depending on skill ranking per level, but I don't have the address. Anyway I think you can get skills to 150ish in most weapon skills (depends on skill ranking) in Crawler's Nest and kill the monsters easy enough with a few people 55+ so thats a pretty good place to start. Also its more beastmen/kindred seals, keys, sellable drops etc usually. If your weapon skills are particularly low I always leveled weapons in Batallia downs. If you fight things which are too high compared to your skill level while you are more likely to get 0.4 and 0.5 skill ups, you miss so often the gains are incredibly slow.

Of course beyond 150 I'm not entirely sure where to go for 175+. Coffer/key/AF hunts can be good places to skill up usually, most people don't mind that, just depends on how challenging the key droppers still are I guess. I usually avoided it in key parties but in alliances fighting to wherever we are going I used a different weapon for free skill ups which oddly adds up if you do enough AF alliance fights.

[Apple Pie]

Here's where I used to go. Hope this helps.

150+: Monastic Cavern
http://www5.sppd.ne.jp/grendal/FF11/skillup150.gif

Orcish Predator [LV53-57]
Orcish Veteran [LV52-56]
Orcish Zerker [LV54-58]
and Orcish Warchief [LV55-59].

Orcs are good ones to play with since they don't have any dangerous WS. You can raise the skill up to 191

180+: Crawler's Nest
Knight Crawler [LV60-63]

180+: Garlaige Citadel - coffer keys help

Fallen mage [LV59-62]
Fallen major [LV59-62]
Over Weapon [LV59-62]
Vault Weapon [LV59-62]
Magic Jug [LV62-64]

/WHM is preferred for Blina.

180+: The Eldieme Necropolis - coffer key help

Tomb Mage [LV60-62]
Tomb Worrior [LV60-63]

/WHM is preferred for Blina

190+: Castle Oztroja - coffer key help
http://www5.sppd.ne.jp/grendal/FF11/skillup190.gif

Yagudo Assassin [LV64-68]
Yagudo Conductor [LV63-67]
Yagudo Flagellant [LV62-66]
Yagudo Prelate [LV65-69]

[Apple Pie]

You can go to these places as a skill-up party, too. Try shouting at the Garden in Jeuno for recruiting and you'll soon get a lot of tells.

To get along with others, I recommend you set rules like this

- Except for PLD, RDM, and WHM, /WHM is required for self-healing.
- Strong WS like Guillotine is prohibited
- Tell them how long your PT stays there in advance and only invite those who can keep awake until then.
- Free lots
- If there's already a leveling PT there, move to other places.

I never melee in a leveling PT unless I'm asked to do so but always have my sword skill capped. When you go the right place and play with right mobs, I get 7-8 skills up in two ours or less.

Bring Accuracy+ gears and fast weapons. Sub BRD for Ballad and Madrigal songs and they'll all be happy if there is no BRD in your PT.

[Jei]

lately a skill up PT going to sea grotto is getting popular. they want 65+ tho for that place.

[yuna544]

Well it's not the best way and certainly not the fastest/safest way to do it, but I solo my WS. Was in a level up PT @1 for Vorpal Blade and 2 people dropped and never came back.. so it was PT break and very late at night ><! So they leave and I go back to Kuftal to try and get my .1 skill needed for Vorpal... without dying. So I grab a tsuyoi Robber Crab and solo it getting my .1 skill needed for Vorpal ^^. This way isn't fast/safe or snything >< but it gets you what you need if you're close and don't want to be in a key PT for hours.

[Arli]

Castle Oztraja's a great place to get your skill up fo Vorpal/Dancing Edge (2 more levels to go ;_.

For folks just starting to train skill from zilch, you can usually raise up to 90-100 on the Evil Weapons just outside Jeuno in Battalia. I recommend you do it at level 50 though to do it solo without too much difficulty. If you're lower, say level 40ish, you can gain alot of skill off of Dancing Weapons by Delkfutt's Tower in Qufim.

For some reason, they raise skill alot faster than most of the mobs I've had to endure training my dagger and club skill. If you're also training bow, I recommend the worms in Korroloka provided there isn't an xp team around. Just remember to cast Gravity on them first to make them a little easier to hit.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: How do you high lvl RDM's keep up with your sword skill?

Good info here. Now I'll get back on track to skilling up Archery

But in any case, for RDMs, sub BLM and fight crabs. You can go up to VT crabs, maybe IT, but i either couldnt find IT or didnt have the fortitue to take em on, but VT Robber crabs successfully raise parry/shield/sword/evasion for me.

Double Post Edited:
Oie, i said BLM sub for Aspir and Drain, but i suppose DRK sub gives same spells, but earlier, and gives all the attack bonuses in addition to the Job Abilities. So depending on which is properly leveled, DRK can be your friend if you sub it. Of course >.> I like BLM for Escape/Warp when things get bad or I want to log off. Its up to you.

[Jei]

Re: How do you high lvl RDM's keep up with your sword skill?

quite an old thread but worth updating the info it seem. Right now, ppl still form skill up PTs here and there but mainly to work out their latent on trial weapons and not much about the key anymore. These are great if you're below 70 they can cap your skill.

After 70 you need stronger enemies and sky skill up PTs are the best imo. alternatives are boyada steel shells, which, as rdm you can go solo skill ups once you can /37nin.

Even easier, steel sheel, get yourself weapons with 1 damage (relic sword but kinda slow, ceremonial daggers) sleep them and start hitting them for 0.

[little ninja]

Re: How do you high lvl RDM's keep up with your sword skill?

im not a rdm, but i dont mind if they lvl there sword while we exp. that is aslong as they can keep up with their other tasks.. but then again you guys love to push your luck. had a rdm the other day trying to skill his dagger. now that piss's me off.

[Jei]

Re: How do you high lvl RDM's keep up with your sword skill?

not in level 73+ PT tho. chaining bones/weapons really need mages to concentrate on casting and conserve mp as much as they can.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: How do you high lvl RDM's keep up with your sword skill?

Yeah, I cant wait till i can actually start enfeebling again. . . As it is, I finally capped about 10k into 63 simply because pt wasnt letting me cast all i wanted cause the WHMs and BLMs felt they needed to cap their magics ><. Ya know, "In case RDM isnt around." I told them that joke wasnt even funny, and I went back to Refreshing. I mean, who in their right mind pts w/o RDM anymore :-D