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First off, I know someone's going to flame me, so let me open up saying this: I bear no hatred for WAR/NIN. I may've retired my WAR job for now, but I DID use WAR/NIN in situations that called for it. I'm not trying to flame or bash or troll with this post. I'm here for an intelligent discussion about the cons in particular of dual weild. Why the cons? Because I'm sure you're all familiar with the pros. There used to be a time where WAR/MNK was the default, and WAR/NIN was rarer, almost exotic; it was seen as optional, and not many knew of what it could really do. Those times are long gone now, however. WAR/NIN seems to have taken over as the default job combo, leaving MNK as optional once you hit 30. In the high levels, WAR/NIN can do some very impressive things - I'm not going to deny that. The problem arises when newer WARs try to replicate endgame WAR/NIN DoT as low as level 20, when it simply isn't possible. So I'm going to try to dispel a few myths about Dual Weild, and put it in perspective to other options. I mainly write this from a DDing point of view, because nowadays the terms "Dual Weild" and "DoT" seem to be almost interchangeable. WAR/NIN can mitigate damage very well under the right circumstances, I won't deny that either. But please, if you disagree with me, back yourself up with logical arguments. There's nothing more frustrating than someone simply posting "your whole post is wrong. I'm right. That's all." I don't pretend to be always right, but PLEASE, if you disagree, I want you to *argue,* not flame. And once again, remember: this applies mainly to Dual Weild I and the pre-Rampage levels! When I say Dual Weild, I'm most likely NOT talking about Dual Weild II unless I say otherwise.
Now that that's taken care of...let's begin. First of all, Dual Weild does NOT increase your TP gain. Yes, it reduces your Delay by 10%. In fact, let's emphasize that: it reduces your Delay by 10%. TP-per-hit is based on the Delay of your weapon. When Dual Weild reduces your weapon's Delay, it also reduces the TP you gain per swing. The average axe has a delay of 276 and gains 7.25 TP each time it hits. With Dual Weild, the Delay of the average axe gets bumped down to 248; however, the TP gain also gets bumped down to 6.59. Single-weilded, the average axe reaches 100 TP in 14 swings. Dual-weilded, a set of average axes will reach 100 TP in 16 swings. Single-weilded, 14 hits would take 64.4 seconds (60 delay = 1 second.) Dual-weilded, 16 hits would take 66.08 seconds. Hell, the single-weilder got 100 TP first; not that it really matters, it's a very marginal difference, marginal enough to be disregarded. So, on average, we can say single-weilding and dual-weilding gets TP at the same rate.
Of course, now I'm just making it sound like Dual Weilding is bad! What about the increased attack speed? Oh, it's there. Just keep in mind that it's still pretty close to being twice as slow as single-weilding. It's a 10% reduction in Delay. Like I stated earlier, the average axe would go from having 276 Delay to having 248. During the course of a 2-minute time period, a single-weilded axe would've swung 26.09 times, while the dual-weilded axes would've swung 29.03 times. However, keep in mind this - Utsusemi: Ichi has 4 seconds of casting time. The delay of each axe when dual-weilded is 4.13 seconds. If you're backup tanking, (which is very probable - if you've got both shadows and Provoke, you're most likely going to be expected to use them,) for every time you cast Utsusemi mid-fight, you've pretty much forfeited one of those extra swings. If you're duo tanking, which is a pretty common scenario with WAR/NIN, you're going to be casting Utsusemi: Ichi as fast as you can, and I'm sure you know it's on a 30 second timer. And yes, you technically do have more chances to Double Attack because of the increased speed, but that's IF you're not slowing yourself down with Utsusemi, and also keep in mind that Double Attack has a roughly 10% proc rate...in the long run, you'd need around 10 extra hits to get an extra Double Attack.
Actually...if you're using Utsusemi constantly, you're actually SLOWING DOWN your TP gain. You'd be hitting pretty close to the same ammount of times as if you were single-weilding, but you're hitting for less TP. As I said earlier, over the course of two minutes, you'd hit 26 times single-weilding an axe. Hitting 26 times while single-weilding will give you 188.5 TP (yes, the decimal counts.) Hitting 26 times while dual-weilding, on the other hand, will net you 171.3 TP. That's a 17.2 TP difference. Why is it that WAR/NINs seem to have such a great TP gain in the higher levels, then? Well, at level 48, there's Viking Axe. It gives +10 Accuracy. When you're dual-weilding them, you have a 20 Accuracy advantage over other DDs. Most WARs will eventually replace this on their main hand, but keeping one in your offhand for the accuracy is a common practice. WAR also has Aggressor, which gives Accuracy+25 for 3 minutes, working in their favor. At 60, many DRKs and SAMs and in a few rare occasions even MNKs and DRGs (depending on the WS they'll use) will start using THF sub to SATA big WS numbers onto the tank. This implies losing Double Attack from WAR sub, and that hinders their ability to gain TP. This doesn't hurt SAM nearly as much, of course, but it does hurt the DRK, and we all know how much competition there is among DDs. At 70 it's possible to use a Joyeuse, which by its very nature gains TP faster than other weapons (except Ridill, but this is much harder to come by.) This also skews TP in WAR/NIN's favor. There's a pattern here, though - it seems to me that Dual Weild's real value isn't coming so much from the Haste as it is from the bonuses your off-hand weapon has. Unfortunately, pre-50, there aren't any weapons with major bonuses.
Ah, but what about WS? Dual-weilding gives you an extra hit in your WS. That's an improvement! Well...this is true, but if you were to Sneak Attack your one-handed Axe WS you'd get similar, if not higher numbers. You COULD argue that noone's going to use Sneak Attack with a one-handed Axe - but that argument still works against Dual Weild, because SA Sturmwind will blow DW Raging Axe/Avalanche Axe away in damage, and SA Shield Break will still do numbers equal to or slightly better than DW Raging Axe/Avalanche Axe. Not only that, but Shield Break gives Evasion -40. Because Accuracy and Evasion have an inverse relationship, that's like giving the whole party a 40 Accuracy advantage. That's a bigger bonus than Sushi will give you at these levels, AND still allows you to eat attack food. It's the best of both worlds. That alone offsets any advantage dual-weilding at these levels may have due to two axes having a slightly higher combined DMG than a Great Axe (and, may I remind you, that dual weilding axes with DW1 is only 8 delay faster than the average great axe...the difference in speed is marginal, and you're still slower than just about everything that isn't a Scythe.) Not only this, but Shield Break gives the whole party an accuracy advantage, not just the person who used it, which makes it incredibly valuable, and ends up raising every melee's total damage...if you were to take the sum of the increases in damage of every DD, the increased damage produced as a result of using Shield Break would be quite hefty. I'll elaborate even more, just to make sure it isn't overlooked - when you're using Shield Break, you can perform at your best. You can max out your Attack without sacrificing Accuracy. You can tell the BRD to give you Attack + Haste songs instead of Attack + Accuracy. You can replace sushi with meat. But like I said, it's not just you - the other DDs can too. When all the DDs take advantage of the free accuracy they've been given, it's a sight to behold. I'd say Great Axe has the edge when it comes to DoT at these levels.
What about atypical situations? You're not always going to be EXPing. Shields can block a substantial ammount of damage simply from the act of shielding, and some shields have some nice bonuses too. Strike Shield gives Attack +5, Balance Buckler gives Accuracy +3. Light Buckler gives Shield Skill +5, Hard Shield is probably the only kite-type shield WAR can use, and as such should block damage quite well. Lantern Shield, while moderately expensive, gives you Attack+5 as early as level 20. You don't need A+ shield skill for it to make a noticeable difference. Of course, you could've been using Utsusemi to reduce damage - but who says just because you're playing WAR/NIN you HAVE to Dual Weild? Dual Weilding is an option, not an obligation. You can take advantage of both Utsusemi and shielding for long, drawn-out boss battles; Utsusemi doesn't grant invulnerability...sometimes you don't have a second blink tanker or backup voker, or the mob swings extraordinarily fast, or has abilities that wipe shadows...whatever the occasion, there ARE times when we must fight without the aid of Utsusemi and have to take hits the old-fashioned way. What about Ballista? Single-weilding not only gives you the advantage of reducing damage by shielding, it also gives you another advantage - by having a shorter ammount of time between swings, it's much harder for the enemy to cast Utsusemi. With an Axe, he'd have to time it pretty well; with a sword, there's no way unless you're slowed, paralyzed, or miss. Dual Weilding pre-50 may give you two swings at a time, but also gives ample time to recast Utsusemi in between attack rounds...7 to 8 seconds, actually.
Now that all that's been said, I want to restate my take on all this - I'm not anti-blink tank (hell, I'm a PLD, but I won't deny that there are some things that are simply blink tanked better, period) or anti-WAR/NIN or anti-Dual Weild. However, I do think there are too many myths about Dual Weild, and some of its truths have been exagerated, or only apply to very specific situations. I'm not trying to say Dual Weild is bad - I'm trying to say it's not always the best. Remember, 90% of your power comes from the fact that you're a WAR. you have many tools for destruction at your disposal. Dual Weild is a way to enhance your destructive potential, but it alone ISN'T your destructive potential. Oftentimes Shield Break will be of far more value. Sometimes shielding will be of greater value. You CAN do similar damage even just single-weilding. Sometimes you WANT to single-weild. Sometimes your shadows aren't getting used and you could've been doing better damage with /THF sub. Keep your options open! Use your different subs and weapon combinations to your advantage! WAR is one of the most wonderfully versatile melee jobs throughout the whole game. Don't solve everything by simply equipping two weapons and bashing it until it's dead. I think that's all I wanted to say...I typed quite a handful of text, so there's a slight chance I missed something, but oh well.
P.S. I know I've said it more than once, but I'll say it again - before you start taking my post apart, please remember that the great majority of this post is relevant to the pre-50 levels. I KNOW things change post-50/60/70. I know Rampage can do big numbers. I know level 3 skillchains do big numbers. I know Breaks start losing value as levelling becomes more and more about doing big numbers and doing speedy kills and constant chaining. This post is about the levels BEFORE WAR/NIN becomes the destructive monster that's made the job combo so infamous!
Now that that's taken care of...let's begin. First of all, Dual Weild does NOT increase your TP gain. Yes, it reduces your Delay by 10%. In fact, let's emphasize that: it reduces your Delay by 10%. TP-per-hit is based on the Delay of your weapon. When Dual Weild reduces your weapon's Delay, it also reduces the TP you gain per swing. The average axe has a delay of 276 and gains 7.25 TP each time it hits. With Dual Weild, the Delay of the average axe gets bumped down to 248; however, the TP gain also gets bumped down to 6.59. Single-weilded, the average axe reaches 100 TP in 14 swings. Dual-weilded, a set of average axes will reach 100 TP in 16 swings. Single-weilded, 14 hits would take 64.4 seconds (60 delay = 1 second.) Dual-weilded, 16 hits would take 66.08 seconds. Hell, the single-weilder got 100 TP first; not that it really matters, it's a very marginal difference, marginal enough to be disregarded. So, on average, we can say single-weilding and dual-weilding gets TP at the same rate.
Of course, now I'm just making it sound like Dual Weilding is bad! What about the increased attack speed? Oh, it's there. Just keep in mind that it's still pretty close to being twice as slow as single-weilding. It's a 10% reduction in Delay. Like I stated earlier, the average axe would go from having 276 Delay to having 248. During the course of a 2-minute time period, a single-weilded axe would've swung 26.09 times, while the dual-weilded axes would've swung 29.03 times. However, keep in mind this - Utsusemi: Ichi has 4 seconds of casting time. The delay of each axe when dual-weilded is 4.13 seconds. If you're backup tanking, (which is very probable - if you've got both shadows and Provoke, you're most likely going to be expected to use them,) for every time you cast Utsusemi mid-fight, you've pretty much forfeited one of those extra swings. If you're duo tanking, which is a pretty common scenario with WAR/NIN, you're going to be casting Utsusemi: Ichi as fast as you can, and I'm sure you know it's on a 30 second timer. And yes, you technically do have more chances to Double Attack because of the increased speed, but that's IF you're not slowing yourself down with Utsusemi, and also keep in mind that Double Attack has a roughly 10% proc rate...in the long run, you'd need around 10 extra hits to get an extra Double Attack.
Actually...if you're using Utsusemi constantly, you're actually SLOWING DOWN your TP gain. You'd be hitting pretty close to the same ammount of times as if you were single-weilding, but you're hitting for less TP. As I said earlier, over the course of two minutes, you'd hit 26 times single-weilding an axe. Hitting 26 times while single-weilding will give you 188.5 TP (yes, the decimal counts.) Hitting 26 times while dual-weilding, on the other hand, will net you 171.3 TP. That's a 17.2 TP difference. Why is it that WAR/NINs seem to have such a great TP gain in the higher levels, then? Well, at level 48, there's Viking Axe. It gives +10 Accuracy. When you're dual-weilding them, you have a 20 Accuracy advantage over other DDs. Most WARs will eventually replace this on their main hand, but keeping one in your offhand for the accuracy is a common practice. WAR also has Aggressor, which gives Accuracy+25 for 3 minutes, working in their favor. At 60, many DRKs and SAMs and in a few rare occasions even MNKs and DRGs (depending on the WS they'll use) will start using THF sub to SATA big WS numbers onto the tank. This implies losing Double Attack from WAR sub, and that hinders their ability to gain TP. This doesn't hurt SAM nearly as much, of course, but it does hurt the DRK, and we all know how much competition there is among DDs. At 70 it's possible to use a Joyeuse, which by its very nature gains TP faster than other weapons (except Ridill, but this is much harder to come by.) This also skews TP in WAR/NIN's favor. There's a pattern here, though - it seems to me that Dual Weild's real value isn't coming so much from the Haste as it is from the bonuses your off-hand weapon has. Unfortunately, pre-50, there aren't any weapons with major bonuses.
Ah, but what about WS? Dual-weilding gives you an extra hit in your WS. That's an improvement! Well...this is true, but if you were to Sneak Attack your one-handed Axe WS you'd get similar, if not higher numbers. You COULD argue that noone's going to use Sneak Attack with a one-handed Axe - but that argument still works against Dual Weild, because SA Sturmwind will blow DW Raging Axe/Avalanche Axe away in damage, and SA Shield Break will still do numbers equal to or slightly better than DW Raging Axe/Avalanche Axe. Not only that, but Shield Break gives Evasion -40. Because Accuracy and Evasion have an inverse relationship, that's like giving the whole party a 40 Accuracy advantage. That's a bigger bonus than Sushi will give you at these levels, AND still allows you to eat attack food. It's the best of both worlds. That alone offsets any advantage dual-weilding at these levels may have due to two axes having a slightly higher combined DMG than a Great Axe (and, may I remind you, that dual weilding axes with DW1 is only 8 delay faster than the average great axe...the difference in speed is marginal, and you're still slower than just about everything that isn't a Scythe.) Not only this, but Shield Break gives the whole party an accuracy advantage, not just the person who used it, which makes it incredibly valuable, and ends up raising every melee's total damage...if you were to take the sum of the increases in damage of every DD, the increased damage produced as a result of using Shield Break would be quite hefty. I'll elaborate even more, just to make sure it isn't overlooked - when you're using Shield Break, you can perform at your best. You can max out your Attack without sacrificing Accuracy. You can tell the BRD to give you Attack + Haste songs instead of Attack + Accuracy. You can replace sushi with meat. But like I said, it's not just you - the other DDs can too. When all the DDs take advantage of the free accuracy they've been given, it's a sight to behold. I'd say Great Axe has the edge when it comes to DoT at these levels.
What about atypical situations? You're not always going to be EXPing. Shields can block a substantial ammount of damage simply from the act of shielding, and some shields have some nice bonuses too. Strike Shield gives Attack +5, Balance Buckler gives Accuracy +3. Light Buckler gives Shield Skill +5, Hard Shield is probably the only kite-type shield WAR can use, and as such should block damage quite well. Lantern Shield, while moderately expensive, gives you Attack+5 as early as level 20. You don't need A+ shield skill for it to make a noticeable difference. Of course, you could've been using Utsusemi to reduce damage - but who says just because you're playing WAR/NIN you HAVE to Dual Weild? Dual Weilding is an option, not an obligation. You can take advantage of both Utsusemi and shielding for long, drawn-out boss battles; Utsusemi doesn't grant invulnerability...sometimes you don't have a second blink tanker or backup voker, or the mob swings extraordinarily fast, or has abilities that wipe shadows...whatever the occasion, there ARE times when we must fight without the aid of Utsusemi and have to take hits the old-fashioned way. What about Ballista? Single-weilding not only gives you the advantage of reducing damage by shielding, it also gives you another advantage - by having a shorter ammount of time between swings, it's much harder for the enemy to cast Utsusemi. With an Axe, he'd have to time it pretty well; with a sword, there's no way unless you're slowed, paralyzed, or miss. Dual Weilding pre-50 may give you two swings at a time, but also gives ample time to recast Utsusemi in between attack rounds...7 to 8 seconds, actually.
Now that all that's been said, I want to restate my take on all this - I'm not anti-blink tank (hell, I'm a PLD, but I won't deny that there are some things that are simply blink tanked better, period) or anti-WAR/NIN or anti-Dual Weild. However, I do think there are too many myths about Dual Weild, and some of its truths have been exagerated, or only apply to very specific situations. I'm not trying to say Dual Weild is bad - I'm trying to say it's not always the best. Remember, 90% of your power comes from the fact that you're a WAR. you have many tools for destruction at your disposal. Dual Weild is a way to enhance your destructive potential, but it alone ISN'T your destructive potential. Oftentimes Shield Break will be of far more value. Sometimes shielding will be of greater value. You CAN do similar damage even just single-weilding. Sometimes you WANT to single-weild. Sometimes your shadows aren't getting used and you could've been doing better damage with /THF sub. Keep your options open! Use your different subs and weapon combinations to your advantage! WAR is one of the most wonderfully versatile melee jobs throughout the whole game. Don't solve everything by simply equipping two weapons and bashing it until it's dead. I think that's all I wanted to say...I typed quite a handful of text, so there's a slight chance I missed something, but oh well.
P.S. I know I've said it more than once, but I'll say it again - before you start taking my post apart, please remember that the great majority of this post is relevant to the pre-50 levels. I KNOW things change post-50/60/70. I know Rampage can do big numbers. I know level 3 skillchains do big numbers. I know Breaks start losing value as levelling becomes more and more about doing big numbers and doing speedy kills and constant chaining. This post is about the levels BEFORE WAR/NIN becomes the destructive monster that's made the job combo so infamous!
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