How to play war/nin?

[ZQM]

Originally posted by Ziguld
As war/nin its generally better to focus on being a damage dealer than a tank. You could solo tank, but its just not as effective as a pld or nin tank. If you have a nin + thf in pt you'll be 1st voke and take no damage because of utsusemi. Remember to always blink 5 with the utsus if possible. Saves mp on heals.

You can dodge 6 instead of 5 with Utsusemi. Just cast the second utsusemi when you have one shadow left (and if it was a typo and you meant 6, sorry).

Also, it really depends on your PT setup and where you're fighting which determines what tank does the best. THF + RNG vs Flies, I perfer a WAR. Why? Fights end within seconds even without SC, and the extra damage the a Warrior adds just makes the fights quicker unlike a NIN or PLD could do. Piecing Arrow > Viper Bite (and later Sidewinder > Dancing Edge) with a Blizzaga burst takes out 2/3rds-3/4ths of the mobs health. You'll also probably be alternating tanking with the RNG, since they do so much damage against flies that even fuidama does't help much. :sweat:

[imstimpy]

I'm kind of with Bigokk on this one. I started up WAR/NIN when everybody was still saying it was a worthless job combination. I haven't leveled too quickly, but I've put down a lot of time learning the ins and outs of the job. I've had some compliments from a number of higher rank JP players regarding the way I play the job. That's not to say I know everything or that what I say is correct, it's just that others feel I'm doing it well too.

I know many see WAR/NIN as the only combination to play; in truth, I've found that it fits with the WAR as yet another tool for use to pull out based upon party configuration and need.

If you are in a ninja party, the best thing you could do is go /NIN and remove the need for a WHM. If you are the main tank then /NIN or /MNK will be most helpful. If you have a PLD who can hold the hate and you haven't quite reached Rampage, then /THF will bring in the damage. If you need to create distortion, then /NIN with spinning axe or /THF with a polearm is optimal. If you are fighting a high evasion mob weak to ice then /THF with a great axe is needed for shield break. If you are fighting beetles in Garlaige with no THF but a BLM with waterga II, then /THF with sturmwind is the big damager. If you have a void in axes available, great axe and a different sub may be the ticket (vice versa too). If you need a sword for its weapon skill (haven't yet and I'm at lv54) then go /NIN, put it in your main hand and put a meaty axe in the off hand. If you are looking to maximize your stats for a given situation, go /NIN and put a sword in your offhand since many of them have some pretty amazing stats. If you are tanking and want some extra hate post rampage, spam it and glue the mob onto you. Post raging rush, go great axe and choose a fitting job. If you need to close light, go axe; dark, go great axe.

If you say that using a great axe with a WAR/NIN is just dumb, then you are being a bit close minded. Granted, you will have the possibility of doing more damage with dual axes, at some stages using a great axe will give more damage, be required due to the mob you are fighting, or will work into a skillchain better. It is situational, but not bad. I'm fighting robber crabs in Kuftal Tunnel right now and haven't quite got Rampage yet. These high defense guys get overrun by a great axe and if you have a couple melees then shield break works wonders. I've been the only tank against them and have done so as WAR/NIN using axe and great axe. I've also fought them as an offensive WAR/NIN as well as a WAR/THF. Just depends. My most recent example takes place during a lv30 expeditionary force. Axes are 8 levels old at this time so the best weapon of choice is a great axe. You need two provokes for this and a means to stay alive when you first activate the flag. I used a great axe and WAR/NIN to blink out some of the initial mess.

Note that with AF1-2, if you swing more often then you have a greater chance of having double attack fire. This creates a situation for more TP and more damage. Conversely, you can push through high defense with the great axe and when you crit it can often double the damage of that hit. Double attacks on this often yield considerably more damage than an equivalant attack with dual axes.

Finally, when tanking, I play in a manner similar to tomiko where I will blink the first 6 hits and then another set or two during battle when I can squeeze in a cast. A big no-no is to try and cast utsusemi when you cannot get it off or keep trying on a failure. This leaves you standing there taking damage, but not dealing damage. Aggro leaves you shortly afterwards and then you have to bring it back and hope it doesn't kill anybody.

[tomiko]

I agree with most of the war/nin tactics on this thread.
War/nin with dual wield Axes WILL do more damage than war/nin with Great Axe. I kept nin sub all the way tho... I couldn't part with my shadows. :sweat:

3 more points on blink1 tanking:
1. Ask drk or blm to Stun if you are try getting another blink in... some are cool and do this anyway when they see you cast in battle.
2. Carnage Elegy lvl 59 brd song will slow mobs so much that you can get your blink in anytime if you cast at a beginning of a hit. This combined with a rdm/whm slow will slow the mob by 70%!
3. Smn PT Stoneskin lvl 40? will generally let you take 0 dmg for one hit. And if you are hit for 0, it wont interrupt your cast.

Combine all these...brd acc+atk... smn fenir acc+evade.. drk+blm mega dmg... yes its amazing, dont expect less than chain#5

Imstimpy: Its funny... My static brd friend is called Stimpy... and you are a mithra warrior as well.

[ZQM]

Originally posted by tomiko
3. Smn PT Stoneskin lvl 40? will generally let you take 0 dmg for one hit. And if you are hit for 0, it wont interrupt your cast.

And don't forget SMNs get group blink at 25. Allthough it isn't guarenteed miss like Utsusemi is, it still kicks in most of the time and helps a lot when re-casting Utsusemi.

[imstimpy]

I forgot about the assistance of a BLM or DRK. My most successful tanking party (most exp/hr) was with a JP DRK who stunned everytime I would cast utsusemi mid-battle. It was the first time anybody actually assisted me in that manner and it helped bigtime! Most of the time, it seems that BLMs are busy casting something so it is hard for them to assist. They can do it, just that most don't (even more so when it is an NA player).

[offtopic]Ironically, my screen usually is Stimpy. I've since changed to a name known by but a few, however neither fit a Mithran.[/offtopic]