Is it an ELF Summoner so BAD? ; ;

[Perfect Cell]

Plz tell me if this race isnt that good ; ;

thx

[RedTalon]

Well elvaan do not have the greatest mp, and summoners are super heavy on mp. Soooo that is the main down fall of the Elvaan.

So if you are just going to sit back and cast, it might not be the best option. But if you are going to go up and fight (what I plan), then I could see it working out.

basicly do what ever you think looks coolest and you can haev the most fun with.

[tomfin10]

Elvaan summoner is the 2nd most worst choice for a summoner IMO. Summoners depend on MP and Elvaan have very little. If you really don't want to use the Tarutaru race then suggest the Mithra or Hume race for summoner.

[Mathis]

Here's a tip: Don't pick a race you don't want to be just because it's the best at the job you're going to be. Race does NOT matter that much, just be whatever race you want to be.

[Valerathon]

Yes, what StarvingArtist and Mathis just said, they're totally right. I'm kinda sick of people critisising my choice to be an Elvaan mage. There are v. interesting pros to it.

The first time I PT'd with a Taru was on San d'Oria M4, and the BLM Taru wound up getting killed by a Poison Funguar in a flook two hits (they were two critical hits in a row, and even though it was and is my standard procedure to heal Taru and Mithra mages after just one hit because of their low HP, I couldn't heal him in time to save him from that second critical hit that followed right after the first). Unlike my Taru colleauge, I can take a beating from a monster a) at the outset of a battle, when I draw and cripple it with my initial spells; or b) at any time during the battle, if someone is hurting too much. So often, I see mages stand aside and never loose a single HP during a battle. That's fine, that's sorta what's expected of us. But from the point of view of a WHM, it's inneficient. I can handle attacks and a good deal of damage, there's no reason why I shouldn't. I always have to kneel and recover after a few battles anyway, and kneeling recovers both HP and MP, so why not take HP dmg as well, and save time in healing the melees b'n battles (rather than half the bar needing a Cure II on each person, I could instead get away with a Cure on each person, or nothing at all after some battles)?

And then there's the high mind, which Starv pointed out already.

C'mon people, you know I'm right! Let's hear you say it: GO Elvaan mages! Woo HOO!!

[Spellbinder]

Although you do make valid points, most of your comments seem to come from the perspective of a whitemage and not of a summoner. From what I've read, summoners gather very little hate, as the summons are the ones doing the dirty work and not the summoner themself. They only way you could possibly gather hate is by healing more than the actual whitemages or trying to go up to the frontlines and whacking it with your weapon.

This is a quote from Sheila concerning how Summoners take damage.

Originally posted by Sheila

Hate for ifrit and other party members including yourself is a separate thing.

Curing, taunting, damaging, status changing all creates hate.

Since you as summoner are most likely not attacking to do enough, you won't get your own damage hate. You also won't be curing that much so you won't get cure hate.

Therefore if you're in a party, ifrit dies, chances are hate goes to the next party member who is damaging/taunting/curing the most.

Ifrit definately won't get hate cause summons are not as strong as members to have built up hate.

But if you are solo and hitting a monster, you and the summon will share hate and both you will get hit occasionally. It's as though you were both two party members, and chances are you may sometimes out damage the summon or start curing yourself and building hate.

So basically, the only time a summoner should ever be taking considerable damage is if they are soloing. Also, although it's true that Elvaans do surpass TaruTarus in MND, don't let it completely go to your head as from what I've read in the white mage forum, it shows that it's not a very significant difference.

Here's an exceprt from a topic in the white mage forum concering how MND effects Heal.

Originally posted by Awntawn
you won't be able to cast it nearly as many times as a taru, meaning you end up healing less total because the amount is lower.

example:

65 HP heal X MP for 20 casts = 1300 HP healed when all mp used up

70 HP heal X MP for 14 casts = 980 HP healed when all mp used up

See the difference? Eventually it gets to the point where all classes heal more or less the same (maybe off by 1 or 2 per), but the quantity of heals is much higher for taru. In terms of the same spells, quantity is much more significant than quality.

So when it comes down to it, an Elvaans ability to heal will not be significantly greater than that of other races as you level. But it really boils down to what race you want to choose, so pick what you like and enjoy. :spin:

[CalGore]

its not like summoners/white mages/black ages have no str at all and cant do any dmg... u can wack em a bit, but make sure the enemy has no hate for u so u dont die. i seen taru white mages wack bad guys when they r low on mp. obviously the monsters dont fight them cause there are warriors and others doing the big dmg

[Tidane]

Yeah, I've seen that. At first I didn't realize what they were doing, but I figured it out. I'll say whats been said, be what you want to be.

[Sheila]

Usually mages must be back, hence the term "REAR guard".

Some monsters have area attacks, some bard songs are for mages only, sometimes mages get blamed by THF fuidama by going near monsters.

Aside from a few rare cases, doing such things as a mage is disrupting.

Summon best weapon is a 2h staff. Slow delay, and just about always miss on totetote even with full skill. Summoner's worst stats are str, dex and vit across all races.

Of course if you dare to start whacking at monsters as summoner, you need the 2h staff weaponskills built up from a previous job in the first place. There's no way you will get it up as summon.

[Deedlit]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but no one's really answered this yet (and I've brought it up in several threads). If Sheila can answer this too, even better (what race is she anyway?).

Elvaan SMN/WHM. I originally (before I did much research) wanted to be elvaan cause they look cool. Now, after a bit more research, it seems that most of their sttributes, well, suck. They may have high str, but they lave lower dex than a Galka (???). They may have better mnd than a taru, but their mp is WAY lower (again, ???). They don't have ANYTHING in the top ranking in terms of stats. Why would you pick this race??

Now, a friend told me that a Mithra would be a better choice for summoner. It seems to be, that unless youre a taru, you're gonna have crappy mp. No one comes close. Mithra may have more mp than an elvaan, but not by much.

I refuse to be a taru. I don't like them. However, being as I want to be a SMN/WHM, what do I go with? Elvaan? Mithra? People say it doesn't matter, but it seems to, to an extent. I want to be effective - I don't need to be the absolute best, but I don't want to struggle, and never get accepted into PT's.

Anyone (preferably someone who's played)?

[tomfin10]

For your first question... Sheila is an Elvaan and she made it through with SMN, but they really do lack on MP.

If you really don't want to be a Tarutaru then I highly suggest a Mithra for 2nd place and Hume in 3rd... for the next best MP. I tried an Elvaan WHM but they just had too little MP... so then I tried Hume and it was pretty good, I still prefer a Tarutaru though.

Hope I helped.

[Deedlit]

*nod* you did, I just wish you said that you can do it with an Elvaan :sweat: I wish I knew how Sheila did it, esp with all the mage classes she leveled up. I'd still prefer to be an Elvaan, unless you think Mithra can also be an okie dragoon too? (something else I'd like to try).

[Deedlit]

*nod* you did, I just wish you said that you can do it with an Elvaan :sweat: I wish I knew how Sheila did it, esp with all the mage classes she leveled up. I'd still prefer to be an Elvaan, unless you think Mithra can also be an okie dragoon too? (something else I'd like to try).

[tomfin10]

Mithra will make a fine DRG... I'd choose Mithra as a 2nd best race for DRG. But be what you want to be...

[Deedlit]

Even with sub-par strength? I figured drg's were all about damage output...