Dia 2/Choke....or Dia 2/Frost. And numerous other questions

[Vesper]

This basically coinsides w/the conversation posted earlier about using Dia2 or Bio2, however, Im sorta interested on adding a slight twist.

Dia2 + Frost = Mob DEF lowered and ability to hit mob more often.(Barring no resist and you have ES up if you would happen to get one).

I'd pretty much guarntee this to be used on High DEF mobs(Crabs, Quads, Beetles).

Dia2 + Choke = Mob ATK is decreased and ability to hit mob harder(Again, barring resists, ect, ect..)

This would as said befor be used on high damage output mobs
(Raptors, Goblins, Orc's)

The reason Im bringing this up is becasue Im really trying to find out what, (or even if), as a WHM I should be worrying about doing alot of the debuffing that goes on in a PT. As it stands, I am WHM/BLM, the only other caster in our static is a RDM/BLM. I've had several people tell me that I shouldn't even worry about debuffing, just stick to healing the tank, but I know there's more than just that to being a good WHM for your PT. :confused:

As I've gained levels the job has gotten really confusing for me. From gear(jewelry to be more specific), which spells are a "must have", which heal to use when to keep my enmity down as low as possible, and finally one of the biggest, which sj would benifit my PT the most in the average XP setting.

I know have to be doing at least a halfway decent job, as I've asked lvl60-70's who I would be grouped helping me skill up Staff(still haven't figured out why I need to do that, I don't solo nor melee in XP PT), they've complemented me on my curing, and ability to keep up w/status ailments. Anyway, any and all advice, help, assistance ect lol would be greatly appricated.. THx in advance.

[Rones]

Dia 2 is excellent for you to cast, but don't waste your time on frost or choke. Both are elemental spells, meaning they use your elemental skill and not your enfeebling skill. This makes those about as effective as all those wonderful blm nukes.

The reason Im bringing this up is becasue Im really trying to find out what, (or even if), as a WHM I should be worrying about doing alot of the debuffing that goes on in a PT. As it stands, I am WHM/BLM, the only other caster in our static is a RDM/BLM. I've had several people tell me that I shouldn't even worry about debuffing, just stick to healing the tank, but I know there's more than just that to being a good WHM for your PT.

The reason people say this is because rdm has higher enfeebling than you and decent enough elemental to land choke or frost. This allows them to be more mp efficient than you at enfeebling the monster. Of course, there will be times you have a bard instead of rdm and will be main enfeebler, but if there's a rdm around, you most likely won't do anything more than dia 2 or paralyze if the rdm is having mp problems. What you will find yourself primarily doing when grouped with a rdm is regen/cure/status/haste. Beyond that, nothing more to do.

From gear(jewelry to be more specific)

Mp first, mnd second. Create a couple macros that swaps between them as needed.

which spells are a "must have",

Cures, regens, protectra/shellra (skip single versions), status fixes (erase you can wait until 65+ to pick up).

which heal to use when to keep my enmity down as low as possible

Cure 3 is your best bet until you gain cure 5.

which sj would benifit my PT the most in the average XP setting.

We have a great discussion in this thread over that topic. Lots of good points are brought up for all the possibilites, so take the time to check it out and see which would benefit your setup the most.

[Venkelos]

A thought...

If you want something to do, split Haste duties with the RDM. If you only have two Mage-types I'd guess that there are quite a few Melee, Haste costs the same and Refresh and your RDM will prolly appreciate if he gets to nuke even a little bit between all that hasting, debuffing, and refreshing. I know sometimes I just like to blast 'em if my Convert timer is comin' up. If you grab a /smn and find yourself with extra MP you could also drop Aerial Armor on occaision, or even the Carbuncle Defense one. That adds 10% to Def, so it is always useful! Just my thoughts, I'm a BRD in one static and a RDM in another, and the one I'm a RDM in only has two Mages, too.

[eriiko]

Originally posted by Rones
Cures, regens, protectra/shellra (skip single versions), status fixes (erase you can wait until 65+ to pick up).

>.>
Why on earth would you wait until 65 for erase?
I would say you really should have it at or before 50.

[Dux]

Originally posted by eriiko
>.>
Why on earth would you wait until 65 for erase?
I would say you really should have it at or before 50.

I never needed it before 65 either.

[eriiko]

So, I must assume, that no crabs have ever spammed str down?
And your tank has never been hit with def, or eva down, before 65?

Correct?

[Rones]

Crabs spawn str down so often and for such a short duration I have trouble bringing myself to erase it. Usually I'm resting when the crabs does it anyway, passing up 40-80 mp to cast erase when it will either wear off in 25 seconds or crab will redo it. You can literaly spend the entire fight just casting erase, by the time you finish erasing 3 melees, the crab redoes it.

Evasion down is good to erase in the case of nin tanks, but for plds it doesn't make a huge difference. Either way, its not critical, you can certainly get by fine without erasing it with minimum lose in performance.

Only time it is truly needed I have seen is against the super high lvl spiders who do a slow that overwrites haste. In this case, you have to erase the slow and then rehaste the melee.

[mdn]

i have erase and i'm a blm :| i can't even count the number of times i've been exping and someone gets bio or something and the whm is like "i'm sorry i don't have erase" so i have to cast it. buy your spells

[Rones]

I can count on one hand the number of times I exped against something that cast bio or dia. Even then, no one needs to be resting except the mages, and mages can cast stoneskin on themselves to handle bio or dia dmg.

[Icemage]

The only XP-worthy monster I've seen at level 32ish to level 65ish that would make Erase worthwhile are Desert Dhalmels in Eastern Altepa Desert. Their Defense Down attack is a killer, and you simply cannot fight them without Erase. They're otherwise very easy kills, and are a great source of XP if you can Erase. You can also use to to spam on Ninja tanks against spiders around that level, but meh.. I hate XPing on spiders.

Str-Down from Bubble Shower gets spammed constantly. Erase is a complete waste of MP on that.

Bio III is a big deal, post-patch. It deals tons of slip damage, similar to Poison II, and needs to get Erased ASAP no matter who it's on.

Pure WHM duties really aren't terribly taxing. Regen on tank and anyone who's beat up a bit, use efficient cures and make use of Divine Seal whenever possible to improve efficiency.

Dia II is sometimes optional. Only time I see it making a difference is on enemies with really high defense, or which use strong +defense specials, but you may want to use it if for no other reason than it will help you cap Enfeebling Magic, and the casting cost is a lot more reasonable than it used to be. More Enfeebling Magic helps Silence stick better - while it's OK to let an RDM handle Paralyze and Slow, there's no such thing as too many attempts to Silence a monster that's about to bust a level III -ga spell on you, or some Ancient Magic on your tank.


Icemage