Getting back into WHM. Some questions!

[mobkon]

Im just getting back into the game after being off for a little over a year. I have a WHM 37 and I decided to continue to lvl that up considering theres always uses for high lvl WHMs. I sub SMN and have astral rings, so I actually have a decent amount of MP. I guess I have just a few questions that I mainly forgot over the past year:

1. what types of food other than yagudo drinks should I be taking into PTs with me? juices? pies?
2. what gear should I be looking to get soon? right now I have seers+1 tunic with all the RSE gear for my elvaan.
3. What spells are expected of me at my level?

thanks

[hongman]

Re: Getting back into WHM. Some questions!

1. If you are going to for more +MP, go with Rolanberry Pies (+50) or Marron Glace (+86). If you are ook with MP and want to concentrate on potency, grab some Goblin Mushpot from L Jeuno gobby shop for +10MND.

2. I cant really answer this one....

3. By now you should have Erase as a key spell, as well as all the teleports - if you get invited to a party tht requires a teleport to Altepa or elsewhere, and you dont have the spell the party could well be pissed. Also great to ahve to make some gill

EDIT: Marron Glace is actually MP+13% and +1hMP

[Lasareth]

Re: Getting back into WHM. Some questions!

I'd recommend ginger cookies for food. Having a huge mp pool is useless if you can't recover mp fast enough to keep up with your party. +5hmp is really nice, especially at lower levels.

On that note, the seer's body is good for whm since it gives hmp. You might want to switch out to a mp body armor when you reach the mp cap with the seer's on (while resting), though. For the most part, focus on mp, as whm is really just a mp curebot anyway. If you're planning on enfeebling with slow or paralyze, get some mnd rings and other mnd equipment to macro in.

Spells you need up to 50 are stona, all teleports, protect/shell, and all your cures/regen. Barspells are good and useful if you can afford them.

[hongman]

Re: Getting back into WHM. Some questions!

I skipped Cookies as the OP had mentioned Yag Drinks...but hey, cookies are a good deal if you are not eating. Hell you can even do Yag drinks AND cookies

Choice is yours really, I suggest you experiment and do what you think is most effective.

On another note, RSE will last you a fair while if you're elvaan, especially the boots and gloves. I used mine all the way up to AF, its simply the best pieces you can use for Elvaan mages at that level.

[Olorin401]

Re: Getting back into WHM. Some questions!

Im just getting back into the game after being off for a little over a year. I have a WHM 37 and I decided to continue to lvl that up considering theres always uses for high lvl WHMs. I sub SMN and have astral rings, so I actually have a decent amount of MP. I guess I have just a few questions that I mainly forgot over the past year:
1. what types of food other than yagudo drinks should I be taking into PTs with me? juices? pies?

Ginger or Wizard Cookies. I used to use pies for my WHM until I figured out how much more useful recovering MP is than base MP.

2. what gear should I be looking to get soon? right now I have seers+1 tunic with all the RSE gear for my elvaan.

I used Seers Tunic +1 and Elvaan RSE Gloves/Pants/Feet until I got my AF. That's how good it was for me. For headgear I would recommend Silver/Electrum Hairpins. Other slots I would recommend Holy Phial (Neck Lv25), Powerful Rope or Reverend Sash (Waist, Lv40/42), Talisman Cape or White Cape (Back Lv18/32), and Geist Earrings (Lv.38). The Astrals are great - keep those for a while!

3. What spells are expected of me at my level?

Cures! :D All the elemental Bar spells, all the -na spells available to your level, Erase, Raise, Teleports, and once you hit 40 Haste.

[Shinhiryu_Kage]

Re: Getting back into WHM. Some questions!

Welcome back.

Played WHM to 75 on a previous character, was mithra, and my highest max mp pool got to 1480. I was pretty popular in SKY/HNM hehe.

If it was me, I'd say find any piece of gear w/+MP or -enmity on it and stick w/it, as a rule of thumb. I liked to play with the maximum MP possible you can obtain and lowest aggro rate. My definition of WHM = magic stamina. If your pool can last a terribly long time, then xp chains will never be a problem for virtually any situation you can encounter as WHM. Plus, being able to Curaga 1-4 in party w/o aggro = priceless.

I personally would not focus on any MND, Enfeebling Magic, or any other stats. (Though +HP is not a bad idea.) This is just me. I always felt if I was doing anything else in party besides: healing, casting anti-spells, or buffing, with the occasional Flash spell mixxed in for a tank, then I was potentially putting my party at risk of dying. And given this, you really have to time your anti/bar/flash spells to ensure no one suddenly gets in an emergency and needs an immediate cure. Some people and their playstyles will disagree that MND and Enfeeblemagic are important for certain situations. I'll let them elaborate.

To answer your questions:

1.) For primary food, I'd use Marron Glace after you start to hit the 650+ range of your MP pool. It will give you an addlt MP+13% (Cap: 85@653Base MP) +1MP Heal, lasts 3 hours.
Prior to that, you can use two things: Rolanberry Pie for +50MP lasts 30 mins & Snoll Gelato +16%MP (Cap: 75@468 base MP) MP Heal +1, lasts 30 mins.

Another alternative is Wizard Cookies, MP Heal +7, Resist Slow, Plantoid Killer.

Pineapple Juice, is a lost cost alternative to Yagudo... 1MP / 3 seconds lasts 4 mins (80 total), usually runs about 5-6k per stack most servers (can buy at npc vendor's like in Lower Jeuno.) Otherwise, Yagudo = uber.

2.) In a nutshell, anything +MP. Several pieces of the Elvaan RSE, the hands +24, legs +12, and feet +20 are actually very good for MP. Other gear until LV50+ and AF is as follows:

Weapon: Dolphin Staff, Whale Staff
Head: Electrum Hairpin, Gold Hairpin
Body: Mage's Robe, Royal Squire's Robe
Neck: Holy Phial
Earrings: Energy Earrings, Magician's Earring, Geist Earring, Astral Earring
Rings: Astrals & Ether (You said you had astrals, upgrade to ther for 5mp more)
Back: Talisman Cape
Waist: Talisman Obi, Powerful Rope
Ammo: Morion Tathlum

I think it will go without saying that you will be using Light Staff for the rest of your career as your main weapon. There is also Healing Staff +50MP +10% Curing and Askelpios, a club that gives you 25 Convert Hp to Mp and +5% curing. Couple that with a shield like Astral Aspis 25 Convert hp to mp, and you're doing quite well. When you get AF, you'll probably stick with only 1 or two pieces, preferably the Body piece. It's very good all situations considered. Otherwise, Hands are good. They give you 10MP + 15 healing magic skill (if you're terribly intent on getting the max healing skill), but the -4 enmity is substantial. Legs are beneficial. Try to mix and match your MP + -Enmity to where you have enough to be comfortable casting Curaga's in battle + Flash.

After level, 60, as long as you keep to +mp & -enmity and finding gear to maximize both of these stats, you'll be above par, on the high end of the WHM playstyle. Vermillion Cloak is a nice piece of equipment to own. The +1 Refresh coupled w/SMN refresh is quite uber. Noble's Tunic is ultimately what you're shooting for. Otherwise, Blessed Tunic gives 7%MP and this is what I had on my mithra.

3.) Erase @32 is a must. You're tanking and melee friends will appreciate you indefinitely if you can erase crawler slow from 32-40. (Afterwards, Haste gets rid of it, but Erase can be a better MP expense vs trying to get rid of crawler slow on 4 ppl in pt.)

Flash is beneficial for a NIN tank if he/she is between blinks and needs some help w/trying to get a blink off. It's also use for the PLD tank if you need to buy a few seconds to accomplish something. Ensure you manage your hate and keep track of it mentally as best as you can to ensure you don't pull way too much hate from your curing/flashing. Usually, its best to flash 1 - 2 times per battle. And be careful with flashing and using Curaga same battle. You'll definitely start tanking for a few hits if you do. But then again, its useful to get the tank out of a bad situation.

All Teleport spells. This will make you money, besides the obvious locomotive ability your WHM will have.

Divine Veil, while not so much a spell as an ability, is gained at LV50 and invaluable to help you save time in xp and hnms/sky/dyn/cop, etc. It's an AoE effect to your anti spells and Erase. As an example of its usefulness, if you're fighting a Giant Ram (sheep mob) and suddenly have Great Bleat (max hp down debuff) on 5 party members, you'll want to quickly use Divine Seal + Erase to remove it and follow up with a curaga 1 or 2. You won't encounter any of this until merit pts, but Divine Veil is a huge time saver to cast anti-spells on the group.

Reraise spells 1, 2, and 3. These will save your party from disbanding.

I hope this helps you in some way. While playing the WHM job quintessentially is one of the most boring jobs in the game, if you have the right attitude, it can be a big adrenline rush. Keep in mind that its better to protect others than tear them down.