I'd like to stop missing so much... >< (WAR33)

[Arwenne]

(I apologize in advance if this question for this level has already been posted, but I couldn't find anything in search.)

I was hoping I could get some advice. I'm a lvl 33 war/mnk, in Garlaige Citadel, and I'm missing at least 50% of my hits. When you're swinging a great axe, that's just downright embarrassing.

Here's my set-up:
Centurion's axe - (capped)
Eisen armor
Royal Squire's Mufflers
Spike necklace
Beetle +1 earrings x 2
Balance rings x 2
Warrior's Belt +1
Wolf Mantle +1
Meat Mithkabobs

What can I do to improve my accuracy? I feel like a leech on the pt when I miss that much. :/

[Ellipses]

Shikaree Ring and/or Archer's Rings (or Bowyer Ring if you can get it) would help a bit. How's your RSE compare to the Eisen pieces?

[Aeolus]

Sushi is you friend, ditch the meat.

[qaitakalnin]

I agree with Aeolus, if you feel you are missing to much then switch to sushi. The question you have to ask yourself though is are you gaining enough tp to sc with your sc partner (if you are doing an sc that is). Not only that but remember with a great axe you just flat dont swing as often as some others. I carry two food with me when i go out as war sushi and kaboobs, i would recomend the same to all wars.

[Feba]

Ditch Garlaige. Fight mobs more in the 38-40 range than the 40-43 range

[Karinya]

Most likely the problem is not you, but the party's choice of monsters. 33 is pretty low to almost everything in Garlaige and there's really not much you can do about it (other than go somewhere else for another level or two). A bard or corsair would help.

If you fight beetles, you MUST have a dispeller (rdm 32+ or bard 33+). Their eva boost move is crazy and nobody will be able to hit an IT beetle with it on.

Subbing THF will guarantee you a few hits, though. :) And some wickedly powerful WS with a great axe.

Don't take the advice of the above poster and use sushi. At that level, a party that's relying on sushi to hit will (a) still miss a lot, because sushi's acc bonus is small at low levels and (b) hit weakly, especially on high def mobs like beetles, and as a result will kill PAINFULLY slowly. Find a better party setup or monsters closer to your level. Sushi has its place, but the 30s are not it.

Especially beware of parties where you are 2 (or more!) levels below the highest level member of the party. Any DD is gimped in this situation.

And finally... whatever you do, don't expect to ever have good accuracy on a monster worth 200 exp before chain bonus. Nobody does. Just don't fight monsters that far above your level. Remember, 2 mobs worth 120 exp each is more exp than one worth 200 that takes just as long to kill. Killing more monsters faster is the secret to great exp.


P.S. Your gear is fine, except for the balance rings. Replace them with STR. DEX doesn't have enough useful effect except for THF. Although I do agree with Ellipses's suggestion to take a look at your RSE, several races have at least one nice +STR piece. What race are you?

[Aeolus]

33 isnt low for garliage, You can get 200exp of the bats non chained. Only reason 33 could be too low would be idiot party members but that wouldnt affect his acc.

[Feba]

33 isnt low for garliage, You can get 200exp of the bats non chained. Only reason 33 could be too low would be idiot party members but that wouldnt affect his acc.


"OMG! 200EXP! SUCH GOOD XP LOL!" *five minutes later* "YAY! 200EXP! GOOD EXP WOOT"



seriously. Think about that.


Anyway, I highly recommend Eastern Altepa, the mobs there are more your level, so you'll get better chains, and have fewer ACC problems.

[Murphie]

33 isnt low for garliage, You can get 200exp of the bats non chained. Only reason 33 could be too low would be idiot party members but that wouldnt affect his acc.

Yeah, but how long will each fight take, and how much time will they have to wait between each bat?

[Aeolus]

No downtime and fights can chain to 5 easy so not long.

[Arwenne]

Thanks for the great replies. :)

I've never been able to get a pt in E. Altepa yet (yes, I have the gate crystal)... I'll have to see what I can do about that. Anything's gotta be better than Garlaige. :/

My RSE stats:

Custom Vest
(Body) Hume Female
DEF: 18 HP +32 VIT +3 INT -1 CHR +1

Custom F Gloves
(Hands) Hume Female
DEF: 6 HP +12 MP +4 STR +3 DEX +3 VIT -1
AGI -1

Custom Pants
(Legs) Hume Female
DEF: 12 MP +32 STR -1 MND +3 CHR +1

Custom F Boots
(Feet) Hume Female
DEF: 5 HP +4 MP +12 DEX -1 AGI +3 INT +3
MND -1

Looks like maybe the gloves would be good for my warrior?

[Aeolus]

The Custom F Gloves are pretty good as they give you +1 Acc from that 3Dex and if youve got an uneven number of +Dex adding that 3 on will give you +2 Acc not to mention that nice +3 Str but if your still not hitting when eating sushi youll want to keep Royal Squires Mufflers seens as they have +3 Acc I think, if its only +2 then go with the Custom F Gloves.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Only reason 33 could be too low would be idiot party members but that wouldnt affect his acc.
Potentially, idiot party members could have an affect on his acc.

Was there a BLM in the pt? If so, was he casting Frost on the mob (and making sure it sticks)? Frost lowers the mob's AGI, so all the melees will have better acc.

Was there a RDM in the pt? If so, was he casting Gravity on the mob? Gravity directly lowers the mob's evasion.



If you want to raise everyone's acc, you can try switching your WS to Shield Break. If you're currently part of the SC, you may have to do some talking to convince the rest of your pt that Shield Break is worth changing up the SC. The -evasion Shield Break gives is huge, something on the order of either -20 or -40 evasion to the mob. How much gil would you have to spend to get similar +acc? Keep in mind that all melees will benefit from this (including the cash strapped ones who haven't been able to invest in that pricy +acc gear).

[Ellipses]

I would definitely give the Custom Gloves a shot. They're a popular choice with most of the Hume melee I've seen around that level range.

[Murphie]

No downtime and fights can chain to 5 easy so not long.

Well, that depends on the party setup, and how many other parties there are there. I'd vote for going somewhere else just based on the fact that Garlaige is a ridiculously popular leveling spot alone.

[Arwenne]

Speaking of Shield Break - I just got Full Break last night. Is that just a better version of Shield Break?



(and I'm a girl... only stating that because I'm being called 'him'...lol)

[Murphie]

I think you got Armor Break, not Full Break. That's a much higher level Weaponskill.

Armor Break lowers mob DEF, while Shield Break lowers EVA. I'd stick with Shield Break.

[Arwenne]

Yeah - Armor Break! XD That's what I meant. I got mixed up because right after I got it a LS mate started talking about Full Break. lol

[Aeolus]

Well, that depends on the party setup, and how many other parties there are there. I'd vote for going somewhere else just based on the fact that Garlaige is a ridiculously popular leveling spot alone.

Yea but that applies to every party you have anywhere.

On second thoughts just go with the Custom F Gloves. 1 Acc is little sacrifice for 3 Str :eek:

[Murphie]

Which is why I said that it depends. :wasted: Ideally they'd get 200+ exp per kill and chain #5 every time, but it's unlikely. When in a really good party, I always direct them elsewhere. I've never gotten consistent Chain 5s in Garlaige. At least not upstairs.

[Ziero]

Don't eat sushi at 33. Use Rice Dumplings, best Att%+ AND a solid +5 acc. At 33 GC will be slow and painful for a DD, with bats att down and beetles high Def sushi will only hurt you. Yes you want your RSE hands, they are awesome for wars. I used them all the way to 50 myself. If you haven't lvled thf, you prolly should as War/thf is an awesome DD. War/mnk is best at tanking though.

Generally, you're fine. Your choice in exp mobs is a bit too high, but all your gear is great (save for the rings which were mentioned before).

Though, just a suggestion, nothing you *need* to do or anything but was something I found to be pretty fun. Buy a Twicer >_>

In an emergency situation Twicer+MS = ZOMGWTFPAIN. I got one at that lvl and it saved my, and my pt's hides many times over. Still got it with 5 charges left too. Shame it's 31 though, that thing would be broken in promys =/

[kuu]

Well a DD that fights high eva with eva boast skill monsters and no sushi..is...

Is like a ranger shooting at point blank.

[Armando]

Just Shield Break things in the face. Shield Break gives Evasion -40. Just make sure it's not a mob that has an Evasion up move, because they mutually overwrite each other. The other alternative is to eat Sushi and spam Armor Break (Defense -25%) but Armor Break and Acid Bolts don't stack. Also, Shield Break lowers the mob's evasion far more than Sushi increases your Accuracy. Also, Shield Break's effect is ice-based, Armor Break's is wind-based.

Basically, if the mob doesn't have Evasion Up moves, or isn't strong to Ice, Meat + Shield Break for the win. If it doesn't meet those requirements, and it doesn't have any Defense Up moves, Sushi + Armor Break for the win.

Be sure to notify your other DDs, though. Having a party full of sushi-eating DDs and using Shield Break is kinda redundant. I always carry extra Meat Mithkabobs on me just in case for when I want to spam Shield Break.

[Ziero]

Again, sushi at those lvls is pointless as it will give you very little actual acc while killing your att. If you know you're going to be fighting beetles, bring a Rdm or Brd. Heck I think even Blu gets a dispel around those lvls to use. If you fight High eva beetles(before they buff) without a Rdm then that's a bad pt set up for that camp. The best thing to do would be for your entire pt to find better hunting grounds as anything that checks high eva when you're fully geared at 30ish is too high to kill reliably.

Chaining high VT-Low IT mobs is better then struggling to kill a single IT++ mob. That fact goes for all lvls. Overhunting is never a good idea and should only be done with the right set up at times when you have no other choice.

[Ellipses]

BLU doesn't get Geist Wall (dispel) til 46.

[Raydeus]

At lvl 33 you are barely at an acceptable level to fight there, in this case gear and food will make the big difference between killing without much troubles or struggling till you get a few levels.

(Note that I'm talking about the time when you start playing and dont have most of the good gear most veteran players have, like the pin, boots etc. if you have all the good gear you wont have too many acc problems really.)

I guess the best choice I can think of is to use all the +str gear you can (using +dex in places where you cant boost str) and eating sushi, and then after you gain a few levels you can switch to +dex/acc gear and eat mithkabobs to boost your dmg since your acc on those mobs will get much better as you lvl up.

Also consider leveling marksmanship and using bloody/holy bolts to boost your dmg and TP gain, I used them while leveling DRK (WAR has better skill rating than DRK btw) and it boost my damage by a lot, not to mention I never had troubles with my HP because of Bloody :biggrin:

It's pretty much the same everytime you move to a new camp, you start with bad acc and slow xp and end with fast xp and better acc, but then the xp drops too much and you have to move to the next camp.

Good luck :thumbsup:

[nanatsu]

Ziero is right. Sushi is very pointless at that level because it relies on your base acc, which isn't enough at that level to get you more than +2 acc or +3 at the most. a flat out +5 acc from rice dumplings is more than what you'd get from % based increase from sushi, plus you get some atk and str to boot. That completely destroys sushi for melee purposes. Sushi does not come into play until you get close to 50, where the % increase beats out the flat +5 from dumplings. Sushi at low levels is just a waste because as long as you're not overcamping, accuracy shouldn't even be that much of an issue at such a low level.

At 34 you can do a quest for Venerer Ring (+3 acc - http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/6225 ), provided you have CoP. At level 40 get a Tilt Belt. It's a cheap +5 accuracy. Honestly, mufflers + rice dumplings should be all you need to hit consistently with the Venerer Ring as a just in case.

[kuu]

Not exactly. If you want a combination, that's your choice, but acc wise, sushi is way to go.

It's no where as low as 2 or 3 i think it was +10~ or so at 30s. Give or take stat modifiers.

It lowers more then a rank of /check evasion then wearing acc. Even when I dual wield centurians at 30. +6acc doesn't do as much as plain old sole.

Unless you're using lesser sushi. I don't know where you're getting 2-3.

Earily levels there's always tenticle sushi, which has a low cap, but high %.

[Murphie]

I used Tentacle Sushi in the jungles because those mandies are so hard to hit, and quite frankly, it didn't make much of a difference. Plus, my damage kind of sucked. I had the best gear I could possibly have for those levels. I just went back to meat and stopped worrying about whether or not I was hitting every time.

I'd prefer to go the Rice Dumpling route at that level if I wasn't going to eat meat.

[nanatsu]

If you're following the 2 dex = 1 accuracy theory, then yeah it's way less than 10. At around level 33 I had a little more than 40 dex. That means my base accuracy was around 20~. That meant that Sole Sushi would give me around +2 acc. Now as far as I know, the % increase only affects your base accuracy, what you get from your natural dex. Meaning that a mithra will get 2~ accuracy from the % increase of sole sushi at level 33. You can tack on as much extra dex as you want to give you more accuracy, but you're still lacking atk. Which is a no-no. I don't even care about the +dex from sole sushi. If you don't have balanced stats then you're an inbalanced melee.

[Ellipses]

If you're following the 2 dex = 1 accuracy theory, then yeah it's way less than 10. At around level 33 I had a little more than 40 dex. That means my base accuracy was around 20~. That meant that Sole Sushi would give me around +2 acc. Now as far as I know, the % increase only affects your base accuracy, what you get from your natural dex. Meaning that a mithra will get 2~ accuracy from the % increase of sole sushi at level 33. You can tack on as much extra dex as you want to give you more accuracy, but you're still lacking atk. Which is a no-no. I dion't even care about the +dex from sole sushi. If you don't have balanced stats then you're an inbalanced melee.
DEX isn't the only place you get ACC from. (By the way, that's not theory, it's been tested by changing DEX gear and checking mobs for high/normal/low evasion.) You also get one ACC for every level of skill on your current weapon. At level 33, that'd be around 100 for most jobs using their standard weapons. So 15% would at at least 15 ACC before even considering the ACC from DEX.

Not that I'm defending sushi at 33. The effects are still not worth it at that level vs. meat dishes.

[nanatsu]

DEX isn't the only place you get ACC from. (By the way, that's not theory, it's been tested by changing DEX gear and checking mobs for high/normal/low evasion.) You also get one ACC for every level of skill on your current weapon. At level 33, that'd be around 100 for most jobs using their standard weapons. So 15% would at at least 15 ACC before even considering the ACC from DEX.

Not that I'm defending sushi at 33. The effects are still not worth it at that level vs. meat dishes.

Hrm well that actually makes a lot of sense. I completely forgot about the accuracy you get from skill level. Still, given the choice I'd rather go for a more balanced food like rice dumplings. Focusing completely on accuracy while ignoring your attack will make you connect more but you'll be overall weaker. I've seen plenty of sushi eaters hitting for 0 against crabs in the dunes that it's not even amusing anymore.

[kuu]

I used Tentacle Sushi in the jungles because those mandies are so hard to hit, and quite frankly, it didn't make much of a difference. Plus, my damage kind of sucked. I had the best gear I could possibly have for those levels. I just went back to meat and stopped worrying about whether or not I was hitting every time.

I'd prefer to go the Rice Dumpling route at that level if I wasn't going to eat meat.

That's a different altogether, though not unrelated to this topic.

You can have all the acc -gil can buy- and not hit too far over your level.

There seems to be some kind of satistical system where even if 1 levels over 200xp, your hit rate and damage drops like a rock.

You can see this when you magically ding, and suddenly you're killing stuff in 1/2 the time it took before. Or a wipe, ding, no more wipe.

Commonly called super IT.

We all experienced this on pupils wipes fighting at lvl17, where a pt of 18 have no problems.

Most of us have exp in situations like this, when you ding with no change in equipment, no weapon skill up, nothing, but your damage and acc shot up 20%

It gets better as you go up in level it seems, probably because it's suppose to as xp lessens pass 50 60 70.

Oh and mandies have guard, they screw all melees except rangers up. Ranger rape on onion is a great thing to see.

edit:
There are modified situations with natural monster attributes. A goblin thf that give 130xp will be like the wind, where a 200 goblin blm seems to be much easier then 200xp.

Kind of like how we beat down pathfinders at 25.

[Murphie]

So, why are you suggesting that people stack ACC on bats then? It seems to me like the exact same situation.

[kuu]

So, why are you suggesting that people stack ACC on bats then? It seems to me like the exact same situation.

The point is you're already in the situation, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

We(at least most of us) don't just say, Ok kill me, I can't hit you, so I won't try.

Wiffing 50% is better then wiffing 80%.

If you have mage backup, you stack it as much as possible, and lose chain for the sake of fighting the next good fight. (and ding!)

missing 80% +acc equip = missing 70%+ sushi missing 60% + frost, grav etc = 50% = no wipe

Getting 100tp and trying to magic burst an over level enemy is always a good way to win.

[Armando]

Regarding Sushi: Sushi IS kind of a waste at those levels (compared to the wonders of Meat + Shield Break,) but sometimes the entire party insists on using it. If you're going to be using Armor Break anyways, may as well try to hit the mob a bit more often (Armor Break + Meat + Berserk would be a bit redundant...it's not like you'll get diminishing returns, but may as well try to go with a more balanced approach.) By 33 you should be getting about 18~19 Accuracy from Sushi anyways, which is decent (102 Acc from Skill, ~15 from DEX makes 117, 117 * 0.15 = 17, not counting any +Accuracy gear).

Basically, Meat + Shield Break > All, but sometimes Shield Break isn't a very good option (mobs that can overwrite it,) or sometimes the whole party's eating Sushi. Sushi + Armor Break can work well too, if the mob can't overwrite Armor Break.

[Murphie]

Or you could just change camps and eat meat and not have to fight tooth and nail for every victory.

Fair enough.

[Raydeus]

Eh... most sushi is +15-17% acc, at level 33 you have 103 acc and attack from skill alone , so unless math changed in the last week,thats +15-17 acc which is great. And +3-6 Dex which is pretty nice too.
Now, for a similar effect and much less gil spent Lanterns (acc +10) can work very well.

[Dryhus]

A 33 Hume WAR/NIN has 102 Axe skill and 35 DEX, which means you have a total of 119 base Accuracy. Sole Sushi would give you a 15% boost plus 3 Acc from the 6 DEX, that being 20 Acc. That's like having the accuracy of a 39 or 40 Hume WAR/NIN. It's a significant boost even at that level. Those who say it does nothing pre-40 or pre-50 completely misunderstand food boosts. People who say don't use sushi until 40-50 are saying that meat will have a greater impact on your DoT than sushi until 40-50.

40 Hume WAR/NIN....123 skill + 41 DEX = 143 base Accuracy --> Sushi gives +24 Acc ~= raising your level to 48
50 Hume WAR/NIN....153 skill + 50 DEX = 178 base Accuracy --> Sushi gives +29 Acc ~= raising your level to 59

[Murphie]

I think what most people are saying (without calling the other camp idiots, too - nice) is that the benefit from meat dishes is still of greater use than sushi. That's why it's the preferred food for those levels.

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they're saying something else entirely. Regardless, I think we can keep the name calling out of this.

[Dryhus]

If someone from the "sushi camp" wants to claim that meat does absolutely nothing for your attack after level 40-50, they'd be laying their own head on the chopping block as well.

EDIT: Bah, I guess you're right. Edited my post.

[Raydeus]

I think what most people are saying (without calling the other camp idiots, too - nice) is that the benefit from meat dishes is still of greater use than sushi. That's why it's the preferred food for those levels.

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they're saying something else entirely. Regardless, I think we can keep the name calling out of this.

Yeah, but it isn't as simple as that, there are situations where you need sushi and others where you need meat (even at the same camp!!), the best way to be effective as a DD is to observe how fights are going and use the apropiate food/gear combo.

What I usually do is fight the first few fights without food, and see how I'm doing against mobs (I switch STR and DEX acc gear in fights) that way I know if I need acc or att food.

Trying to simplify things to "only use THIS kinda food" will only make players a lot less effective than they would if they took some time to actually think about what's going on and what needs to be done food/gear wise.

[lionx]

I dont know, personally from all my melee subs lvling up around 33, i never touched much Acc gear outside of DEX from Spike Necklace, and maybe Fed. Gear here and there. I can keep up with TP fine, and i ate Dhamel Steak for the ATK. Those who ate sushi usually is minimally better with hitting, so i prefer Meat dishes over Sushi unless i miss..which i havent in all my times of lvling a sj(well..not so much that i felt like eating sushi).

[Murphie]

Yeah, but it isn't as simple as that, there are situations where you need sushi and others where you need meat (even at the same camp!!), the best way to be effective as a DD is to observe how fights are going and use the apropiate food/gear combo.

What I usually do is fight the first few fights without food, and see how I'm doing against mobs (I switch STR and DEX acc gear in fights) that way I know if I need acc or att food.

Trying to simplify things to "only use THIS kinda food" will only make players a lot less effective than they would if they took some time to actually think about what's going on and what needs to be done food/gear wise.

Good point. And I think that most good players (I know I do) approach things in this way. But the reason people suggest one food over another most of the time is because they have already been through these areas, and figured out what food worked best (for them at least). So it's not just guesswork.

Obviously there are going to be occasional variables depending on the individual and their party.

[Raydeus]

Obviously there are going to be occasional variables depending on the individual and their party.

Yep +1, since most players have different gear/skill/race/lvl mobs they fight etc. experiences what worked for someone might not work that well for another player.

Other players can give you pointers and hints of what worked against what, but the only way to really know for sure what aproach is better for you is fighting.