Not wanting to sound like a troll or anything, but how exactly is manaburning a unique take on dynamis? From what I have heard from all my friends (including blms) who participate, dynamis is all about blm and smn. Melees and tanks are pretty much just along for the ride anyway.
The easy solution to nearly any tough fight in the game (Divine might, KSNM, hell even Absolute virtue) has been to throw enough black mages and ninjas at it until it dies. Even manaburning for exp was a huge trend until ToAU came along. Ironically enough now it's all about the TP-burns and during our R. pump run the other night the blms were all bitching about how they can't find parties anymore.
Since it doesnt sound like you've done dynamis yourself, I'll explain what it normally goes like. Puller wakes stone. Stone "summons" mobs. Mages sleepga and kite/nuke stones. Tank parties call out mobs and people assist tanks usually 1-2 mobs at a time. Melees and and especially tanks are not just along for the ride. You need BLMS because the stones are extremely resistant to melee damage. Normal dynamis is extremely slow and for me (who normally plays melee, kinda boring).
Most people said that Manaburn wouldn't make it past the baby city dynamises without a tank but they've proven them wrong. There are 4 relics on my server. All 4 attestions were gotten through Manaburn.
How many active manaburn dynamis shells do you know? Most servers don't even have one.
Ah thanks for clearing that up. Since mages are so important in dynamis I assumed the next logical step would be to cut the melees out completely. Not bashing manaburn, but since the majority sees it as the only solution to hard fights I failed to realize that in some situations it's actually more difficult. One thing I have noticed about manaburns in general is that when something goes wrong, it goes very wrong.
I've not done dynamis myself, because like you said for normal melees it's slow and boring. Not to mention death and exp loss >.< I have no intention of commiting that much time to something unless it's incredibly fun or rewarding.
As for manaburn shells I don't know of any on our server, but then I can count the number of regular shells I know on one hand. I do know a couple BLM ONRY shells though so they may have attempted it before.
Oh also,
Minstrel coat get!
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
edited July 2006
Man, this is terrible.
I just got to Qufim, and now I'm all on vacation away from my computer and shit.
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
I've not done dynamis myself, because like you said for normal melees it's slow and boring. Not to mention death and exp loss >.< I have no intention of commiting that much time to something unless it's incredibly fun or rewarding.
As for manaburn shells I don't know of any on our server, but then I can count the number of regular shells I know on one hand. I do know a couple BLM ONRY shells though so they may have attempted it before.
Oh also,
Minstrel coat get!
You should atleast try dynamis a couple times. It's just boring for me since I've done it x1988098 times. I usually dont like repeating content over and over but theres some fun to be had (especially when half your alliance gets charmga'd by the NM and you slaughter your friends). Congrats on the Minstrel coat, best bard coat for a long time (wore mine till 72). I just wish it wasn't so frumpy and ugly.
I've not done dynamis myself, because like you said for normal melees it's slow and boring. Not to mention death and exp loss >.< I have no intention of commiting that much time to something unless it's incredibly fun or rewarding.
As for manaburn shells I don't know of any on our server, but then I can count the number of regular shells I know on one hand. I do know a couple BLM ONRY shells though so they may have attempted it before.
Oh also,
Minstrel coat get!
You should atleast try dynamis a couple times. It's just boring for me since I've done it x1988098 times. I usually dont like repeating content over and over but theres some fun to be had (especially when half your alliance gets charmga'd by the NM and you slaughter your friends). Congrats on the Minstrel coat, best bard coat for a long time (wore mine till 72). I just wish it wasn't so frumpy and ugly.
I wouldn't mind giving dynamis a go, but the requirements to get into a reputable shell (ie one that I know won't totally wipe and waste everyone's time) are rather steep. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't kill for some MNK relic though. -.-
Truthfully I'm trying to avoid end-game shells altogether. I've lost many friends to them who became total gear-whoring assholes the moment they got their first god drop. I've tagged along with friends to a few only to leave again after feeling totally used and treated like shit. If I found one that was friendly or at least respectful I'd be willing to give it an honest go.
Thanks, I know what you mean about minstrel coat lol but then again what bard gear besides JSE isn't frumpy and ugly. Oh well for us it was just the fun of getting the drop that matters. My friend is lvling her bard so it's been our project to outfit it all by ourselves. We duo'd all of her AF armor as well as the entire Opo crown quest. Now that was such an awesome feeling of accomplishment. Still not sure how we're going to manage a Sha'ir manteel yet Duoing Vrta is always an option. :P
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
My ideal job combination I'm interested outside of RDM/BLM is COR/NIN. However, I feel like that'd be expensive as shit to maintain.
Would that be a conceivably fun / affordable job combo to level? COR and BRD hold the most interest for me besides the basic mage jobs.
I don't want to be a sub-job nazi or anything, but from everything I've seen RNG makes the best sub for corsair. My friend lvled it to 50 recently, first with nin sub then rng. When subbing nin he wasn't hitting worth shit and half his shots were missing.
With rng sub you miss out on the extra hawker knife but you gain sharpshot, barrage and other cool stuff. Plus with nin sub you'll be standing too far back to get decent gun dmg and still swing your swords. Plus you probably won't take enough hate to make the shadows worthwhile.
COR requires a buttload of Racc gear and bullets always will be expensive, so I'd say an affordable support type combo would be brd/whm. Charisma gear is cheap as hell, as are most of the instruments. Unfortunately brd really has nothing in the DD department, but for all around usefulness it's hard to beat a bard. :P Plus you'll get invites like crazy. People just love them. The downside of it is that brd is probably the most monotonous job in the game. But if you can stand ballad > minuet > madrigal > elegy ad nauseum then bard is definitely for you!
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
The downside of it is that brd is probably the most monotonous job in the game. But if you can stand ballad > minuet > madrigal > elegy ad nauseum then bard is definitely for you!
White Mage:
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
Cure III
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
Cure III
Erase
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
etc...
Just_Bri_Thanks on
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
The downside of it is that brd is probably the most monotonous job in the game. But if you can stand ballad > minuet > madrigal > elegy ad nauseum then bard is definitely for you!
White Mage:
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
Cure III
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
Cure III
Erase
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
etc...
I've levelled both and in my oppinion bard is worse..though not by much. It's the added tedium of having to position yourself right every time. Trying to ballad a party with a pld and SATA consistently is a nightmare. Not to mention whm is in charge of alot of other things like -na and bar spells. It's a shame because bard gets so many neat songs yet you'll only ever cast a handful. I think they could fix it by letting players have the 2 atk/refresh/etc songs, then an etude/carol/poison,sleep,para resist song.
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
edited July 2006
I can't think of any job that doesn't boil down to tedious repetition, though.
So does FFXI still do that thing where if you cancel your account, they delete your character?
PS:What's end game content in this game like compared to say, WoW if you've played it. IE, in WoW, wiping 10-15 times while learning a new dungeon is par for the course, but if that happened in FFXI, you'd probably level down every night.
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You could be anywhere
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
So does FFXI still do that thing where if you cancel your account, they delete your character?
PS:What's end game content in this game like compared to say, WoW if you've played it. IE, in WoW, wiping 10-15 times while learning a new dungeon is par for the course, but if that happened in FFXI, you'd probably level down every night.
1) they don't remove accounts often anymore
2) usually the idea is "don't die"
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
I can't think of any job that doesn't boil down to tedious repetition, though.
RDM is just :
debuff
heal
re-debuff
heal
shaking my fist at you so hard
I like to try and do other stuff, but parties tend to bitch.
It's not that you should do other stuff; it's just that there are so many options present at all times for a RDM. Convert makes the job unique. Every 10 minutes, you get full MP back. I am of the mindset that every point of MP spent on any kind of spell has the potential to aid the party (though certainly some spells more than others, and those spells should get priority). Which means every 10 minutes, every point of MP that you could have spent but didn't is a wasted point that you never get back. My philosophy for RDM was that a RDM should run completely out of MP every 10 minutes on the dot, no sooner, no later. My other philosophy was that a RDM should never not be casting a spell unless they are resting. Abiding by these while diligently maintaining Refresh, Haste, and debuffs can be an art.
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
I can't think of any job that doesn't boil down to tedious repetition, though.
RDM is just :
debuff
heal
re-debuff
heal
shaking my fist at you so hard
I like to try and do other stuff, but parties tend to bitch.
It's not that you should do other stuff; it's just that there are so many options present at all times for a RDM. Convert makes the job unique. Every 10 minutes, you get full MP back. I am of the mindset that every point of MP spent on any kind of spell has the potential to aid the party (though certainly some spells more than others, and those spells should get priority). Which means every 10 minutes, every point of MP that you could have spent but didn't is a wasted point that you never get back. My philosophy for RDM was that a RDM should run completely out of MP every 10 minutes on the dot, no sooner, no later. My other philosophy was that a RDM should never not be casting a spell unless they are resting. Abiding by these while diligently maintaining Refresh, Haste, and debuffs can be an art.
I'm level 22.
I can, uh, Cure II and Gravity shit.
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
It's not that you should do other stuff; it's just that there are so many options present at all times for a RDM. Convert makes the job unique. Every 10 minutes, you get full MP back. I am of the mindset that every point of MP spent on any kind of spell has the potential to aid the party (though certainly some spells more than others, and those spells should get priority). Which means every 10 minutes, every point of MP that you could have spent but didn't is a wasted point that you never get back. My philosophy for RDM was that a RDM should run completely out of MP every 10 minutes on the dot, no sooner, no later. My other philosophy was that a RDM should never not be casting a spell unless they are resting. Abiding by these while diligently maintaining Refresh, Haste, and debuffs can be an art.
White Mage is not so difficult:
Don't let anyone die.
Do your best not to get hit, but if you do get hit, take it like a... well, whatever you are.
Use as little MP as possible.
Just_Bri_Thanks on
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Just wondering, is anyone else interested in ballista at all? I gotta say as monk I love it. It's like being the schoolyard bully. All the nerdy little bards and black mages run away from you screaming "Don't break my glasses eeeernng!"
Ok maybe not like that but it's still fun as hell and a complete 180 from pounding on regular mobs. If you don't get a retarded team it's a really rewarding experience. Or heaven forbid your team plays JP style (Standing just out of melee range sniping people to get tp then run up and 1-shot a mage then spend the other 50 mins quarrying).
If anyone's interested, a few of the key rules I've learned are:
1. Everyone subs nin, deal with it. Even as mnk I find nin really useful. When rushing a rdm my shadows will eat their gravity bind and sleep usually. Not to mention Tonko, which leads me to the next rule.
2. The element of surprise is crucial. Especially when dealing with mages. Invis up and rush one, otherwise they'll see you coming and bind/sleep/nuke you a mile off.
3. Ballista is a game of numbers. If you see a lone bard or rdm standing out in the middle of nowhere it's a very good chance that its a trap, and he's waiting to lure you back to his waiting team mates. Always try to isolate someone (preferably a mage or weak armored melee) and gang beat them for an easy gate breach.
4. Blue mages will always own you. It's a fact of life..every match I've been in so far blu/nin totally kicked my ass. Their access to instant stun/knockback spells for very little mp is just too broken. Best I can tell you is never 1 vs 1 unless you are damn sure what you're doing. Always take them with a partner, preferably one who can silence.
5. Ignore the annoying jobs and concentrate on the weak ones. In the higher caps rdms, plds and a few other jobs are just too much hassle to take down. Avoid them if at all possible.
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FandyienBut Otto, what about us? Registered Userregular
edited July 2006
After reading through the BRD spell list, all I want to do is get to level 30 and unlock.
Fuck COR.[/code]
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
After reading through the BRD spell list, all I want to do is get to level 30 and unlock.
Fuck COR.
Bard is kinda cool, but I liked how the original EverQuest did bards better.
In FFXI you can get two effects on your guys per bard and two on the ememies.
In EverQuest you could get as many effects on whoever as you could "twist" songs. The best I ever heard was seven effects total with a single bard, but forget about holding a conversation. Twisting took too much effort and key pressing to allow for anything else really.
Edit: Genkai 2 complete, thanks to Mrblack!
Edit 2: I got my White Mage AF pance!
Just_Bri_Thanks on
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
EverQuest Bard was the worst ever. I am convinced that whoever designed the class had never played a video game before.
Imagine a class where you can cast 3 party buffs that last indefinitely, but you can't do anything else. You can't backup heal, nuke, or even plink away for some melee damage. Your presence aids the party, but you cannot respond meaningfully in any way to any event. You stand there. Sound fun? Okay, now take that same concept except instead of standing there, you have to rapidly perform a pattern of clicks/button presses for the entire time that you are in the party.
I much prefer the FF approach. The songs are primarily what you do, but you still have time inbetween them to do other things. More options means more disparity between good and bad players, means the job is challenging and fun. If the songs took longer to cast, it would be just like EQ but with slower click/press repitition. If they took less time to cast, playing a BRD would be too much like playing whatever you've got as your subjob.
(I never heard of people doing 7 songs, the most I did was 3. I guess some higher level songs might have shorter cast times, or some equipment reduces the cast time/extends the buff time, but in the end you're not doing anything but hittin' those buttons just like before.)
EverQuest Bard was the worst ever. I am convinced that whoever designed the class had never played a video game before.
Imagine a class where you can cast 3 party buffs that last indefinitely, but you can't do anything else. You can't backup heal, nuke, or even plink away for some melee damage. Your presence aids the party, but you cannot respond meaningfully in any way to any event. You stand there. Sound fun? Okay, now take that same concept except instead of standing there, you have to rapidly perform a pattern of clicks/button presses for the entire time that you are in the party.
I much prefer the FF approach. The songs are primarily what you do, but you still have time inbetween them to do other things. More options means more disparity between good and bad players, means the job is challenging and fun. If the songs took longer to cast, it would be just like EQ but with slower click/press repitition. If they took less time to cast, playing a BRD would be too much like playing whatever you've got as your subjob.
(I never heard of people doing 7 songs, the most I did was 3. I guess some higher level songs might have shorter cast times, or some equipment reduces the cast time/extends the buff time, but in the end you're not doing anything but hittin' those buttons just like before.)
I agree with this completely. A bard in FFXI's role is such that if you're getting all your songs in and sticking your debuffs you're pretty much free to do whatever. Granted most BRDs will just backup heal but if you don't give a damn then you can easily just whack away or skillup something. I hear at end-game bard's actually make good tanks as well. O_o They can wear god gear and Mazurka garners tons of hate.
The sad truth though is that bard is everyone's bitch. As a melee I liked doing my job without anyone's input, but as bard it's different. Be prepared to get tells from everyone demanding a certain song no matter how inconvenient it is to you or bitching at you because they happened to run off to pull and missed madrigal.
I can see why alot of bards have an attitude. At lvl 30 after 5 lvls of ballad I just stopped caring. I'll do my job just fine till you start bossing me around. Then you'll get what songs I give you and you'll like it dammit. If you really bug me you'll get nothing. The sad thing is most parties don't dare kick a bard because they are so hard to come across. In 72 lvls I can count the number of bards I have partied with on 2 hands.
Posts
Ah thanks for clearing that up. Since mages are so important in dynamis I assumed the next logical step would be to cut the melees out completely. Not bashing manaburn, but since the majority sees it as the only solution to hard fights I failed to realize that in some situations it's actually more difficult. One thing I have noticed about manaburns in general is that when something goes wrong, it goes very wrong.
I've not done dynamis myself, because like you said for normal melees it's slow and boring. Not to mention death and exp loss >.< I have no intention of commiting that much time to something unless it's incredibly fun or rewarding.
As for manaburn shells I don't know of any on our server, but then I can count the number of regular shells I know on one hand. I do know a couple BLM ONRY shells though so they may have attempted it before.
Oh also,
Minstrel coat get!
I just got to Qufim, and now I'm all on vacation away from my computer and shit.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
ROBIN FALLS
WHO KNEW
You should atleast try dynamis a couple times. It's just boring for me since I've done it x1988098 times. I usually dont like repeating content over and over but theres some fun to be had (especially when half your alliance gets charmga'd by the NM and you slaughter your friends). Congrats on the Minstrel coat, best bard coat for a long time (wore mine till 72). I just wish it wasn't so frumpy and ugly.
I wouldn't mind giving dynamis a go, but the requirements to get into a reputable shell (ie one that I know won't totally wipe and waste everyone's time) are rather steep. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't kill for some MNK relic though. -.-
Truthfully I'm trying to avoid end-game shells altogether. I've lost many friends to them who became total gear-whoring assholes the moment they got their first god drop. I've tagged along with friends to a few only to leave again after feeling totally used and treated like shit.
Thanks, I know what you mean about minstrel coat lol but then again what bard gear besides JSE isn't frumpy and ugly. Oh well for us it was just the fun of getting the drop that matters. My friend is lvling her bard so it's been our project to outfit it all by ourselves. We duo'd all of her AF armor as well as the entire Opo crown quest. Now that was such an awesome feeling of accomplishment. Still not sure how we're going to manage a Sha'ir manteel yet
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
My ideal job combination I'm interested outside of RDM/BLM is COR/NIN. However, I feel like that'd be expensive as shit to maintain.
Would that be a conceivably fun / affordable job combo to level? COR and BRD hold the most interest for me besides the basic mage jobs.
What role in a party are you aiming to fill?
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
I like to be useful. WHM/RDM/WAR are the only classes I've played past level 10 in my FFXI history, and I enjoyed the first two a whole, whole lot.
BLM is pretty enjoyable, too. Corsairs seem like a healthy inbetween between damage dealers and BRDs, with their rolls / melee / ranged stuff.
Since you like White Mage so much, I would say stick with that. There will all the time in the world to experiment with the other jobs.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Whys that?
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/index.php/Corsair:_Guide_To_Subjob_Selection
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
I don't want to be a sub-job nazi or anything, but from everything I've seen RNG makes the best sub for corsair. My friend lvled it to 50 recently, first with nin sub then rng. When subbing nin he wasn't hitting worth shit and half his shots were missing.
With rng sub you miss out on the extra hawker knife but you gain sharpshot, barrage and other cool stuff. Plus with nin sub you'll be standing too far back to get decent gun dmg and still swing your swords. Plus you probably won't take enough hate to make the shadows worthwhile.
COR requires a buttload of Racc gear and bullets always will be expensive, so I'd say an affordable support type combo would be brd/whm. Charisma gear is cheap as hell, as are most of the instruments. Unfortunately brd really has nothing in the DD department, but for all around usefulness it's hard to beat a bard. :P Plus you'll get invites like crazy. People just love them. The downside of it is that brd is probably the most monotonous job in the game. But if you can stand ballad > minuet > madrigal > elegy ad nauseum then bard is definitely for you!
White Mage:
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
Cure III
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
Cure III
Erase
Cure II
Cure II
Cure II
etc...
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
I've levelled both and in my oppinion bard is worse..though not by much. It's the added tedium of having to position yourself right every time. Trying to ballad a party with a pld and SATA consistently is a nightmare. Not to mention whm is in charge of alot of other things like -na and bar spells. It's a shame because bard gets so many neat songs yet you'll only ever cast a handful. I think they could fix it by letting players have the 2 atk/refresh/etc songs, then an etude/carol/poison,sleep,para resist song.
RDM is just :
debuff
heal
re-debuff
heal
PS:What's end game content in this game like compared to say, WoW if you've played it. IE, in WoW, wiping 10-15 times while learning a new dungeon is par for the course, but if that happened in FFXI, you'd probably level down every night.
On the black screen
I think the characters either stick around or can be easily recovered.
I didn't try this time, though. Starting over entirely is nice.
shaking my fist at you so hard
super italics
1) they don't remove accounts often anymore
2) usually the idea is "don't die"
I like to try and do other stuff, but parties tend to bitch.
It's not that you should do other stuff; it's just that there are so many options present at all times for a RDM. Convert makes the job unique. Every 10 minutes, you get full MP back. I am of the mindset that every point of MP spent on any kind of spell has the potential to aid the party (though certainly some spells more than others, and those spells should get priority). Which means every 10 minutes, every point of MP that you could have spent but didn't is a wasted point that you never get back. My philosophy for RDM was that a RDM should run completely out of MP every 10 minutes on the dot, no sooner, no later. My other philosophy was that a RDM should never not be casting a spell unless they are resting. Abiding by these while diligently maintaining Refresh, Haste, and debuffs can be an art.
I'm level 22.
I can, uh, Cure II and Gravity shit.
White Mage is not so difficult:
Don't let anyone die.
Do your best not to get hit, but if you do get hit, take it like a... well, whatever you are.
Use as little MP as possible.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
http://www.supermegacomics.com
http://www.wonderfulstories.org
Ok maybe not like that but it's still fun as hell and a complete 180 from pounding on regular mobs. If you don't get a retarded team it's a really rewarding experience. Or heaven forbid your team plays JP style (Standing just out of melee range sniping people to get tp then run up and 1-shot a mage then spend the other 50 mins quarrying).
If anyone's interested, a few of the key rules I've learned are:
1. Everyone subs nin, deal with it. Even as mnk I find nin really useful. When rushing a rdm my shadows will eat their gravity bind and sleep usually. Not to mention Tonko, which leads me to the next rule.
2. The element of surprise is crucial. Especially when dealing with mages. Invis up and rush one, otherwise they'll see you coming and bind/sleep/nuke you a mile off.
3. Ballista is a game of numbers. If you see a lone bard or rdm standing out in the middle of nowhere it's a very good chance that its a trap, and he's waiting to lure you back to his waiting team mates. Always try to isolate someone (preferably a mage or weak armored melee) and gang beat them for an easy gate breach.
4. Blue mages will always own you. It's a fact of life..every match I've been in so far blu/nin totally kicked my ass. Their access to instant stun/knockback spells for very little mp is just too broken. Best I can tell you is never 1 vs 1 unless you are damn sure what you're doing. Always take them with a partner, preferably one who can silence.
5. Ignore the annoying jobs and concentrate on the weak ones. In the higher caps rdms, plds and a few other jobs are just too much hassle to take down. Avoid them if at all possible.
Fuck COR.[/code]
Bard is kinda cool, but I liked how the original EverQuest did bards better.
In FFXI you can get two effects on your guys per bard and two on the ememies.
In EverQuest you could get as many effects on whoever as you could "twist" songs. The best I ever heard was seven effects total with a single bard, but forget about holding a conversation. Twisting took too much effort and key pressing to allow for anything else really.
Edit: Genkai 2 complete, thanks to Mrblack!
Edit 2: I got my White Mage AF pance!
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Am I the only one that can't view that?
Edit: OK, I saw it now. That is kinda cool.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Imagine a class where you can cast 3 party buffs that last indefinitely, but you can't do anything else. You can't backup heal, nuke, or even plink away for some melee damage. Your presence aids the party, but you cannot respond meaningfully in any way to any event. You stand there. Sound fun? Okay, now take that same concept except instead of standing there, you have to rapidly perform a pattern of clicks/button presses for the entire time that you are in the party.
I much prefer the FF approach. The songs are primarily what you do, but you still have time inbetween them to do other things. More options means more disparity between good and bad players, means the job is challenging and fun. If the songs took longer to cast, it would be just like EQ but with slower click/press repitition. If they took less time to cast, playing a BRD would be too much like playing whatever you've got as your subjob.
(I never heard of people doing 7 songs, the most I did was 3. I guess some higher level songs might have shorter cast times, or some equipment reduces the cast time/extends the buff time, but in the end you're not doing anything but hittin' those buttons just like before.)
I agree with this completely. A bard in FFXI's role is such that if you're getting all your songs in and sticking your debuffs you're pretty much free to do whatever. Granted most BRDs will just backup heal but if you don't give a damn then you can easily just whack away or skillup something. I hear at end-game bard's actually make good tanks as well. O_o They can wear god gear and Mazurka garners tons of hate.
The sad truth though is that bard is everyone's bitch. As a melee I liked doing my job without anyone's input, but as bard it's different. Be prepared to get tells from everyone demanding a certain song no matter how inconvenient it is to you or bitching at you because they happened to run off to pull and missed madrigal.
I can see why alot of bards have an attitude. At lvl 30 after 5 lvls of ballad I just stopped caring. I'll do my job just fine till you start bossing me around. Then you'll get what songs I give you and you'll like it dammit. If you really bug me you'll get nothing. The sad thing is most parties don't dare kick a bard because they are so hard to come across. In 72 lvls I can count the number of bards I have partied with on 2 hands.