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TO ALL NEW WARs: How to be awesome
How to be an awesome WAR:
1) Use Shield Break
You MUST use a Great Axe and start fights with Shield Break, until at least Level 55. Even if you're /NIN. The reason is simple: Shield Break's Evasion Down (-40 Evasion) beats anything any other WS has to offer. It borders on broken. Giving the mob -40 Evasion is like giving everyone in your party +40 Accuracy. Since every 2 Acc you gain (or every 2 Evasion the mob loses) increases your hit rate by 1%, Shield Break will make everyone's hit rate jump up by 20% (e.g. if you were hitting 60% of the time, now you'll hit 80% of the time. That's actually a 33% improvement!)
To give you an idea of how massive/broken Shield Break is:
- Sword Madrigal (Lv.11 BRD song) maxes out at +15 Accuracy, while Blade Madrigal (Lv.51) maxes out at +30 Accuracy (equipping a Travesiere +1 will add 4 more Acc.)
- You need to have 250 Accuracy for HQ sushis (+16% Acc) to give +40 Accuracy. That won't happen 'til around levels 50-60.
- Haubergeon, the best buyable body armor for melee DDs in the game, only gives 10 Acc and 5 DEX.
Yet Shield Break is useable as soon as you get your first Great Axe at level 5. To sweeten the deal, using Shield Break after the mob uses an Evasion Boost move (such as Lizard's Secretion, Pugil's Water Shield or Beetle's Rhino Guard) will remove and overwrite the Evasion Boost effect. Mob's self-buff moves tend to be terribly potent and will slow down your kill speed to a crawl, and RDMs don't get Dispel until Level 32, so being able to overwrite Evasion Boost moves is a huge plus. (Just be forewarned that the very same moves can also overwrite Shield Break, so you'll have to reapply it every time the mob uses an Evasion Boost move.) Not to mention Shield Break will also help you land Acid Bolts.
In short, you'll want to start every fight with Shield Break until you're strong enough to start consistently doing 500-700 damage WS's (and even then, depending on the camp, the mobs, and the other DDs, Shield Break might still be worth it.)
Note: Evasion Down is an ice-based effect. Although ice-resistant mobs are very rare, it's still important to know that any mob with high ice resistances can resist Shield Break's Evasion Down, lowering the duration (and occasionally making it not land at all.) The most noteworthy mobs besides Fire and Ice Elementals are Gigas and undead.
2) Use Acid Bolts
Acid Bolts, like Shield Break, are also epic win, despite the fact that almost no WAR uses them, and parties don't ask for them. Acid Bolts inflict a -12.5% Defense Down effect. That's the equivalent of giving every melee in the party a +14.3% Attack. Use Shield Break first to lower the mob's Evasion, then stick an Acid Bolt on the mob. (Note: landing more than one doesn't improve the effect.) Needless to say, you'll want to keep your Marksmanship capped, and you'll want to at least get some +Ranged Accuracy rings to swap into in your Ranged Attack macro.
Like Shield Break's Evasion Down, Acid Bolt's Defense Down effect can also overwrite (and be overwritten by) mob's Defense Boost moves. That means you can use them to get rid Pugil's Water Wall, Crab's Scissor Guard, and Crawler's Cocoon. As mentioned above, being able to remove these effects before Dispel comes along is a huge benefit to any party. (And even after Dispel comes along, it helps to be able to save the RDM some MP.)
Sleep and Bloody bolts can also be useful in emergencies.
Note: Defense Down is a wind-based effect. As above, wind-resistant mobs are rare, but don't try sticking Defense Down on Wind/Ice Elementals, Colibri, or Puks.
3) Use your Utsusemi shadows
If you're going to go /NIN, you'd better damned well use those shadows as often as possible. That means pulling hate on purpose when your shadows are up. The reason is simple: it's better for you to lose 6 shadows than it is for the tank to take 6 hits. That's 6 hits' worth of HP the healers will have to Cure back, and 6 hits' worth of hate the tank lost. If your tank is a NIN or another WAR/NIN, then you're helping him keep his shadows up. If you're not going to be pulling hate then change subs to something more useful, like /THF, /SAM, or /DRG.
On Armor Break and Full Break...
Under ideal circumstances, you'll want to use Shield Break. Armor Break does give a very nice -25% Defense (the equivalent of +33.3% Attack), but Accuracy is a more useful stat than Attack - more Attack makes you hit harder, but Accuracy doesn't just raise your damage by making you hit more often, it also lets you get TP faster so you can WS more often as well. In addition to that, the mob can only have one Defense Down effect, so it's better to use Shield Break + Acid Bolts than just Armor Break alone. However, in the rare event that you party with another smart WAR wielding a Great Axe, one person can use Shield Break and the other can use Armor Break for maximum rape.
Full Break is even less useful because it only gives -20 Evasion and -12.5% Defense. It also gives the -12.5% Attack and -20 Accuracy, but except in special situations, increasing every melee's damage with that extra -20 Evasion from Shield Break is more effective than lowering the mob's offensive stats.
On Iron Tempest and Sturmwind...
Iron Tempest sucks. Don't use it. It does the same damage as Shield Break without the epic Evasion Down debuff.
Although Shield Break is usually the best option, there may be special events such as missions and BCNMs where you simply want to inflict a massive amount of damage to the mob immediately. Sturmwind will meet those needs, especially if stacked with Mighty Strikes.
One last thing!
Keep your axe skilled up too. You'll regret it later if you don't.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Follow those tips and your parties will be MUCH better (although they probably won't notice your insane awesomeness so don't expect any compliments out of them.)
1) Use Shield Break
You MUST use a Great Axe and start fights with Shield Break, until at least Level 55. Even if you're /NIN. The reason is simple: Shield Break's Evasion Down (-40 Evasion) beats anything any other WS has to offer. It borders on broken. Giving the mob -40 Evasion is like giving everyone in your party +40 Accuracy. Since every 2 Acc you gain (or every 2 Evasion the mob loses) increases your hit rate by 1%, Shield Break will make everyone's hit rate jump up by 20% (e.g. if you were hitting 60% of the time, now you'll hit 80% of the time. That's actually a 33% improvement!)
To give you an idea of how massive/broken Shield Break is:
- Sword Madrigal (Lv.11 BRD song) maxes out at +15 Accuracy, while Blade Madrigal (Lv.51) maxes out at +30 Accuracy (equipping a Travesiere +1 will add 4 more Acc.)
- You need to have 250 Accuracy for HQ sushis (+16% Acc) to give +40 Accuracy. That won't happen 'til around levels 50-60.
- Haubergeon, the best buyable body armor for melee DDs in the game, only gives 10 Acc and 5 DEX.
Yet Shield Break is useable as soon as you get your first Great Axe at level 5. To sweeten the deal, using Shield Break after the mob uses an Evasion Boost move (such as Lizard's Secretion, Pugil's Water Shield or Beetle's Rhino Guard) will remove and overwrite the Evasion Boost effect. Mob's self-buff moves tend to be terribly potent and will slow down your kill speed to a crawl, and RDMs don't get Dispel until Level 32, so being able to overwrite Evasion Boost moves is a huge plus. (Just be forewarned that the very same moves can also overwrite Shield Break, so you'll have to reapply it every time the mob uses an Evasion Boost move.) Not to mention Shield Break will also help you land Acid Bolts.
In short, you'll want to start every fight with Shield Break until you're strong enough to start consistently doing 500-700 damage WS's (and even then, depending on the camp, the mobs, and the other DDs, Shield Break might still be worth it.)
Note: Evasion Down is an ice-based effect. Although ice-resistant mobs are very rare, it's still important to know that any mob with high ice resistances can resist Shield Break's Evasion Down, lowering the duration (and occasionally making it not land at all.) The most noteworthy mobs besides Fire and Ice Elementals are Gigas and undead.
2) Use Acid Bolts
Acid Bolts, like Shield Break, are also epic win, despite the fact that almost no WAR uses them, and parties don't ask for them. Acid Bolts inflict a -12.5% Defense Down effect. That's the equivalent of giving every melee in the party a +14.3% Attack. Use Shield Break first to lower the mob's Evasion, then stick an Acid Bolt on the mob. (Note: landing more than one doesn't improve the effect.) Needless to say, you'll want to keep your Marksmanship capped, and you'll want to at least get some +Ranged Accuracy rings to swap into in your Ranged Attack macro.
Like Shield Break's Evasion Down, Acid Bolt's Defense Down effect can also overwrite (and be overwritten by) mob's Defense Boost moves. That means you can use them to get rid Pugil's Water Wall, Crab's Scissor Guard, and Crawler's Cocoon. As mentioned above, being able to remove these effects before Dispel comes along is a huge benefit to any party. (And even after Dispel comes along, it helps to be able to save the RDM some MP.)
Sleep and Bloody bolts can also be useful in emergencies.
Note: Defense Down is a wind-based effect. As above, wind-resistant mobs are rare, but don't try sticking Defense Down on Wind/Ice Elementals, Colibri, or Puks.
3) Use your Utsusemi shadows
If you're going to go /NIN, you'd better damned well use those shadows as often as possible. That means pulling hate on purpose when your shadows are up. The reason is simple: it's better for you to lose 6 shadows than it is for the tank to take 6 hits. That's 6 hits' worth of HP the healers will have to Cure back, and 6 hits' worth of hate the tank lost. If your tank is a NIN or another WAR/NIN, then you're helping him keep his shadows up. If you're not going to be pulling hate then change subs to something more useful, like /THF, /SAM, or /DRG.
On Armor Break and Full Break...
Under ideal circumstances, you'll want to use Shield Break. Armor Break does give a very nice -25% Defense (the equivalent of +33.3% Attack), but Accuracy is a more useful stat than Attack - more Attack makes you hit harder, but Accuracy doesn't just raise your damage by making you hit more often, it also lets you get TP faster so you can WS more often as well. In addition to that, the mob can only have one Defense Down effect, so it's better to use Shield Break + Acid Bolts than just Armor Break alone. However, in the rare event that you party with another smart WAR wielding a Great Axe, one person can use Shield Break and the other can use Armor Break for maximum rape.
Full Break is even less useful because it only gives -20 Evasion and -12.5% Defense. It also gives the -12.5% Attack and -20 Accuracy, but except in special situations, increasing every melee's damage with that extra -20 Evasion from Shield Break is more effective than lowering the mob's offensive stats.
On Iron Tempest and Sturmwind...
Iron Tempest sucks. Don't use it. It does the same damage as Shield Break without the epic Evasion Down debuff.
Although Shield Break is usually the best option, there may be special events such as missions and BCNMs where you simply want to inflict a massive amount of damage to the mob immediately. Sturmwind will meet those needs, especially if stacked with Mighty Strikes.
One last thing!
Keep your axe skilled up too. You'll regret it later if you don't.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Follow those tips and your parties will be MUCH better (although they probably won't notice your insane awesomeness so don't expect any compliments out of them.)
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