White Mage DD /nin Mojo

[sevenpointflaw]

So, having finally reached end game, I'm looking at various gear setups for soloing, taking things I shouldn't be taking, and going out in style when I bite off more than I can chew.

Specificly, I'm looking at trying to find the best balance - as fine tuned as possible - for Tarutaru WHM/NIN (75/37) stat wise.

I'm hoping that people have suggestions as to specifc gear suggestions, weapon suggestions, etc. I recall reading somewhere that with bless + haste + specific weapons, +acc gear, etc., its possible to break 13-16TP attack cycle, and break 10-12sec. for hexa strike (hearsay, dunno, havn't done the math).

So far as I can tell, the biggest issues that WHM have to over come when facing EM and harder are Accuracy and damage output (the later being especially true for tarutaru). Secondary to that is HP mitigation (evasion) and MP conservation (no convert, yo!) which are equally important. That is, how much HP can you save for yourself with minimal MP usage.

For weapons I'm looking (as an ultimate goal), I'm going for Mjollnir (off-hand) and Morgenstern (main-hand), but as thats sorta like a goal among goals, I'mm leave that be for the pruposes of this thread.


Actually, don't mind my rambling, looking at non-weapon gear, I have this lined up so far:

Optical Hat
Blessed Mitts/Trou/Pumps
Elusive Earing x2 (possibly replace one with supimimi or whatever +DW earing is eventually)
Life Belt
Bellicose Mantel
Reverend Mail

With darksteal maul +1 x2 that comes out to +30 Eva, +30 acc, +30 attack. What I'm not sure about is wether +30 acc / 30 attk is better than +40 acc / +20 attack (which is what I would get with a Seawolf/Searobber cudgle combo)

The reason I ask, is that my idea runs along the line of melee damage done by WHM is more than 50% WS... Especially once hexa strike comes into play. That being the case, just hitting on normal attacks to get TP is more important than hitting hard, and STR and non-weapon +Attk gear can be swapped in for WS.

Really, since I havn't done this yet, it comes down to me not knowing... What is the difference bewtween Acc+30 and Acc+40? Is it needed on anything other than HNMs? Is it needed even in situations like HNMs?

Wirth regards to merits... How much does taking club, crit rate, etc., actually help for these "impossible" battles?

Likewise... Evasion... +30 over kill, or is more +Eva always better? I can gladly sacrifice +Acc for +Eva if it makes things smoother, etc.

Any feedback from people that liking doing insanely stupid stuff like poking big mobs as WHM would be helpful


Thnx in advanced.

[Irisjir Callard]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

My only feedback is that someday I'm going to have my own version of this thread for hume instead of tarutaru....

I hope.

Goodluck and don't forget your Reraise (3)!

[Nazo]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

/cheer

As a budding taru whm / nin myself I was hoping to see some good advice on this thread too. It sounds like you're way ahead of me already (I'm only up to true strike and I don't have the funds to go for all out melee gear), so not much in the way of advice I can give but I'd appreciate your thoughts as you progress.
Just gotta keep working on getting that hexastrike...

[Caspian]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

What level mobs are you planning on soloing? Strictly EM and less w/ maybe a few T thrown in for good measure? If thats the case, then I wouldn't think overloading on accuracy would be all that important, and that +30 would be fine so long as you have club capped or near capped. If its severely underleveled I might suggest getting a little bit more, but once you get closer to cap more attack would help you kill it much faster since you shouldn't be seeing much of a difference if any at all with the extra +10 acc.
Skilling club merits would make a big difference, but I don't know that I'd suggest overlooking the other things you'd want to merit as a WHM for endgame in favor of meriting club for soloing. (Maybe after you've done what you want in other areas.) I've heard meriting crit rates also makes a difference and would come into play with any melee jobs you chose to play as well.
Thats my take on it (sorry its not much) seeing as how I have about, oh, 0 experience on endgame and even more 0 experience on soloing, especially as a mage job. Most of what I recommended is just info gleaned from how other jobs function in that regard. Anyway hope it was atleast somewhat useful.
Also, what food do you plan to use? Or is that up in the air as well. That would likely play a role in what equips you end up using.

[Maju]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

What level mobs are you planning on soloing? Strictly EM and less w/ maybe a few T thrown in for good measure? If thats the case, then I wouldn't think overloading on accuracy would be all that important, and that +30 would be fine so long as you have club capped or near capped. If its severely underleveled I might suggest getting a little bit more, but once you get closer to cap more attack would help you kill it much faster since you shouldn't be seeing much of a difference if any at all with the extra +10 acc.
Skilling club merits would make a big difference, but I don't know that I'd suggest overlooking the other things you'd want to merit as a WHM for endgame in favor of meriting club for soloing. (Maybe after you've done what you want in other areas.) I've heard meriting crit rates also makes a difference and would come into play with any melee jobs you chose to play as well.
Thats my take on it (sorry its not much) seeing as how I have about, oh, 0 experience on endgame and even more 0 experience on soloing, especially as a mage job. Most of what I recommended is just info gleaned from how other jobs function in that regard. Anyway hope it was atleast somewhat useful.
Also, what food do you plan to use? Or is that up in the air as well. That would likely play a role in what equips you end up using.

Pretty much what I would say.

On EM and low T mobs you don't need much accuracy, so go with atk instead. Also, meriting crit rate seems to be incredibly effective and is recommended for anyone who plans to level a melee job.

[Alex Andrews]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

As a WHM, you won't evade much on anything above EP. I have maxed evasion merits, and evaded maybe twice in an hour the last time I solo farmed DC Phuabos in Al'Taeui.

The key thing, really, is haste gear so your shadows are always ready (and casting Ichi over your last Ni shadow like all good ninjas do). Have stoneskin up and/or Flash when no shadows are up.

For damage output, haste gear, Suppo (for 5% delay reduction) and Brutal earring (for 5% double attack). With full blessed, suppo, brutal, and a swift belt, I've been able to parse 80% of a WAR's (joyeuse + axe WAR) damage in Limbus.

As far as MP goes, you really only need enough to slow the mob, haste yourself, and stoneskin and/or flash as needed. Autorefresh from nobles is usually enough for a while, but ultimately, if you need more you can always either switch to staff for Spirit Taker, or use a martial wand for Starlight (on EM's or above, Starlight with a martial wand will likely return more MP, and can never miss)

Merit-wise, crit merits are definitely worth it. Club merits are, too, but only if you're only leveling WHM to 75. For every merit, you get 2 skill, which is 2 extra attack and around 1.5 accuracy (which is a whopping 16 attack and 12 accuracy if you get all 8 offensive combat merits in club).

[sevenpointflaw]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

Food is entirely up in the air at this point, as it is the easiest to change in the long run. I already do carry +Acc, +mp, +hmp, and +attk foods on me at all times, using whichever suits the situation.

arrowing down the accuracy and evasion question some then, lets look at some alternate gear:

Optical Hat v. Walahra Turban
Lose +10 eva and +10 acc, gaining +30hp/mp +5% Haste.

Honestly, I've been considering doing this anyhow, as the turban is also a great XP/Merit piece for WHM. While an optical hat would still be nice, the turban brings +haste up to a whopping +15% before casting any spells. That would still leave me with +20acc and +20 eva.

And if +Eva really does come out to be as trifling as a couple extra evades an hour, then that leaves the option of ditching earings as well. Certainly supi-whatever with the +Dual Weild would be awesome, but I can also think of any number of earings to replace with. Spike or Fenrir earings for +Attack, Triumph for +Str, Adroit Earring for +Dex.

Really, its a shame that Wyvern earing is so craptastic! XD

Really though, from what everyone has said so far, the +15% haste might be the way to go....

[Nazo]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

Oh that Turban is sweet, I hadn't seen that. I think I've got around enough IS standing to get it. I know what I'm gonna do when I get home tonight

[Ayrlie]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

i don't have all the WHM melee gear, but I have been soloing fallen mage/major in citadel at 75, along with tomb mage/warrior in eldime. I was soloing dromas in fei'yin at 69-70 or so as well.

WHM has damage bonuses against pots and bones (both very weak to blunt attacks like clubs).

[sevenpointflaw]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

The Fallen Majors/Mages I've been tanking since Nobles/Blessed combo on WHM/BLM since 70. Protect + Shell + Flash Pull + Stoneskin + Slow + Haste + Paralyze + Dia II. From there, just Flash + Stoneskin any time stoneskin goes down, and recast debuffs and buffs as needed.

[Tirrock]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

If I were to go solo melee stuff as WHM/NIN, I'd concentrate on +ATK food and +haste, as well as +ATK in spots I couldn't get haste on. While stacking ATK would probably help your damage more as WHM than haste (unless you're fighting EP pots), you'll very likely need all the haste you can get for keeping your shadows up.

Also, I'd have staff leveled as high as I could (230 is best, just for accuracy/attack, but 215 would work). Spirit taker can help you out a ton on long fights, since WHM lack a natural MP recovery job trait/ability. You can probably get a primate staff fairly cheap. (Latent active while eating panama, same as opo-opo crown.)

How much accuracy you have depends on what you fight and what level it is. I'd shoot for 80%-90%, personally. You could wear life belt for a lack of anything else to wear while meleeing. (Cast haste on yourself, then swap out hierarch belt for life belt.)

I don't know if I'd bother with evasion, WHM have such poor evasion anyway.

[sevenpointflaw]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

The idea behind a +haste setup as /nin is two fold. First, recast timers. The more often flash, stoneskin, utsusemi, and aquaveil are available (slow and paralyuze for fast hitting mobs), then the greater your chances of survival. But it is also for straight damage output.

Rather than focusing on a slight increase that accumulates over time (+attack), I'm trying to focus on incresing the rate at which I can output large ammounts of damage (without sacrificing already precious MP).

+15% haste from gear + haste spell (is that over the haste cap?) + deal wield mojo (30% delay reduction from DW1, DW1, earing) = hexa spam, which, when it comes WHM melee, is the best way to do damage.

With a secondary focus on +dex and +crit gear instead of +attack I think that that overal the +Crits alone would make up for a flat +Attk. Leaves food open for tank/mp/hp/attk/acc options depending on mobs.

Looking some stuff up at the moment regarding the haste cap and crit rates, but when I done I'll post some numbers.

[Tirrock]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

The haste "cap" is supposed to be 70% or higher, if it has one at all. In gear I've heard it has a limit of 25%, but a WHM wouldn't hit that anyway.

I only suggested +ATK gear for slots you have nothing else to do with. Which...actually probably wouldn't be much, considering the lack of equipment a WHM can use with +ATK anyway. One earring if you don't have brutal earring. (Or two, if you don't have brutal and suppa.) In the case of WHM/NIN soloing, I'd say haste > ATK. But, there is no haste food, so you may as well pump up your damage in food.

Now I remember what I was going to talk about...merits. Crit merits are awesome for damage. I'd only merit club skill if you're having accuracy issues AND you don't want to level any melee job. (Unless you don't mind spending merit points then losing them later.)

[sevenpointflaw]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

I -may- level BLU some day... Eventually... Maybe. If learning spells stops sucking after 10.

Having not actually gotten any merit points yet, is it a choice between club skill -or- +crit%? Cause with my gear selection I will always have +30 acc at my finger tips just from gear, to say nothing if I add +acc earings into the mix, and +acc food. I would think that +crit stacked with morgenstern (+6% crit on that weapon) would be the way to go.

More and more it seems that EVA is becoming less and less important as having even tons more as whm won't neccessarily "tip the scale in your favor" more than killing faster (which has the added benift of reducing the overall amount of MP you need because of less recasts).

Honestly for DD as whm it is shaping up to be haste > crit/dex > acc > mp > atk...

Guess I'll learn first hand soon enough.

[Tirrock]

Re: White Mage DD /nin Mojo

I'm just giving my guesses based on my experiences as melee jobs mostly. I haven't tried WHM solo seriously since my SMN was 61. ><

+6% crit hit rate on a weapon + 4% in merits (the current cap) does have a very nice ring to it.