/mnk 30-37?

[Wise Donkey]

Hello everyone. My goal is 75 PLD, and to that effect I need to level WAR to 37. My plan is to finish MNK to 18, get Support Job and go WAR/MNK to 37, get PLD Job, then PLD/WAR to 75.

1-30 I will not have the option so it is a moot point, but with the /NIN craze will I be able to get the PTs 30-37 as a WAR/MNK?

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions.

[Mog]

Hello everyone. My goal is 75 PLD, and to that effect I need to level WAR to 37. My plan is to finish MNK to 18, get Support Job and go WAR/MNK to 37, get PLD Job, then PLD/WAR to 75.

1-30 I will not have the option so it is a moot point, but with the /NIN craze will I be able to get the PTs 30-37 as a WAR/MNK?

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions.

I'm sure it's not a problem. The only thing though is that you'll have a better chance of getting invites into parties if you sub ninja. At this level, warrior/ninja is still tankable, so in terms of getting to 37 faster, /ninja is your better bet.

I'm subbing monk for war until 20, then picking up with /ninja until 37. Yes, it's a pain-in-the-ass route, but I need to pick up ninja sooner or later, so why not now. >.<

You can also make your own parties. As long as you can find a tank, nobody's gonna give a damn that you're subbing monk instead of ninja.

[Wise Donkey]

As long as you can find a tank, nobody's gonna give a damn that you're subbing monk instead of ninja.

:huh: /MNK isn't a Tank 30-37? I always thought they did a decent job. Granted a NIN pr PLD is better. At what level does it become unacceptable to Tank as a WAR/MNK? I would guess at 24 with WAR/NIN Utsu... :worry:

[Mog]

:huh: /MNK isn't a Tank 30-37? I always thought they did a decent job. Granted a NIN pr PLD is better. At what level does it become unacceptable to Tank as a WAR/MNK? I would guess at 24 with WAR/NIN Utsu... :worry:

Maybe they do. It's level 30-37, so it probably wouldn't make much of a difference at this level. Hell, mnks used to tank a lot before all these new expansion packs came out, so I guess it could happen. :p

But yeah. To answer your question, war/nin becomes pretty untankable past 45.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

/MNK can be either a tank, a DD, or (to some extent) both at the same time. But I think Mog was trying to make that point that if you A) form your own party, and B) get someone else to be the tank, then C) no one in your party has the right to complain about the capabilities of a WAR/MNK tank.

Well, I suppose someone could still smack talk about WAR/MNK tanks. But you can either /blist them and continue with the pt, or just tell them to shut up (which you can probably get away with if you're pt leader).

At what level does it become unacceptable to Tank as a WAR/MNK? I would guess at 24 with WAR/NIN Utsu...
Two WAR/NINs dual tanking is more efficient than a WAR/MNK solo tanking. But it's also harder to do. Unless the two WARs cooperate well, one of them is probably going to come out as a solo tank anyways. And if they both do a crappy job, then the mages will probably be tanking.

However if we are talking about solo tanking, for the level stretch we are talking about, a WAR/MNK beats a WAR/NIN. If you were to get an invite because a pt needed you to solo tank, go as /MNK. And if the pt complains about your choice of sub, tell them they can keep looking for a tank then (note: if they invite you to solo tank as a WAR, then that means there are no other tanks seeking, so use that leverage!)

[Celeal]

Have your subjobs leveled and ready for use.

WAR/MNK at level 30 ~ 37 may not stand out or gives other OMFG impression, but in practice it can hold on its own. WAR itself is already awesome at level 30 as main job: Provoke, Berserk, Double Attack, Defender, Defensive bonus, Attack bonus, can wear most armor, great DPS 2-handed weapon (G.Axe) and strong DPS 1-handed weapon (Axe), Shield Break and Sturmwind... Warcry at level 35. The subjobs are just different favors.

WAR/NIN, WAR/MNK, WAR/THF, WAR/SAM, WAR/DRG, WAR/RNG... at given levels have the tool to be awesome. It is the great player who control the WAR make it great, not the WAR/NIN job combo alone. Unfortunately most players do not understand the concept of "a sword in the hands of a coward is useless."

At level 30 ~ 37, melee jobs like MNK, DRK, SAM, DRG... is fine without /NIN. In my opinion a level 30+ WAR who is serious to the job should have /THF, /NIN, /MNK leveled and know how to use those subjobs, have G.Axe and Axe available, ready to fill-in Tank, DD, puller, etc. Even if the party is very close-minded and only demand for WAR/NIN, it is still a valid decision of the party.

[dirtyclown]

Hello everyone. My goal is 75 PLD, and to that effect I need to level WAR to 37. My plan is to finish MNK to 18, get Support Job and go WAR/MNK to 37, get PLD Job, then PLD/WAR to 75.

1-30 I will not have the option so it is a moot point, but with the /NIN craze will I be able to get the PTs 30-37 as a WAR/MNK?

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions.

I subbed Monk from 30-37 as a Warrior. Unless you plan on leveling Warrior past 37, don't bother getting Ninja leveled to 18. You're not going to be doing wtfpwn damage with dual axes, and Utsusemi is made of lol so there's no real point in using Ninja sub at that level other than to please retards. Do yourself a favor, do not please retards. They can have a very drastic effect on your sanity later on.

[Wise Donkey]

:biggrin: Thanks for the laugh dirtyclown, I think I will take your advice.

[Celeal]

I subbed Monk from 30-37 as a Warrior. Unless you plan on leveling Warrior past 37, don't bother getting Ninja leveled to 18. You're not going to be doing wtfpwn damage with dual axes, and Utsusemi is made of lol so there's no real point in using Ninja sub at that level other than to please retards. Do yourself a favor, do not please retards. They can have a very drastic effect on your sanity later on.

I had been to successful level 30+ Party setup like WAR/NIN x2, or NIN/WAR + WAR/NIN, or WAR/NIN x2 + THF x2, or WAR/NIN x3.

It is not about pleasing retards. It is about knowing what WAR is capable, what a WAR is not capable, and what is the limitation.

To have only one subjob and refuse to level other subjobs, regardless of war/nin only or war/mnk only, is like all you have is a nail and a hammer, and every problem/solution because hitting the nail with the hammer.

Even a WAR/NIN post level 55 with Rampage and deal wtfpwn damage with dual axes is not the only play-style of WAR. It is this kind of misconception that makes WAR/MNK, WAR/THF, or other subjobs having a hard time to get party invites.

[Wise Donkey]

I had been to successful level 30+ Party setup like WAR/NIN x2, or NIN/WAR + WAR/NIN, or WAR/NIN x2 + THF x2, or WAR/NIN x3.

It is not about pleasing retards. It is about knowing what WAR is capable, what a WAR is not capable, and what is the limitation.

To have only one subjob and refuse to level other subjobs, regardless of war/nin only or war/mnk only, is like all you have is a nail and a hammer, and every problem/solution because hitting the nail with the hammer.

Even a WAR/NIN post level 55 with Rampage and deal wtfpwn damage with dual axes is not the only play-style of WAR. It is this kind of misconception that makes WAR/MNK, WAR/THF, or other subjobs having a hard time to get party invites.

If I were taking WAR past 37, I would definately have all SJ ready. I think what dirtyclown is saying is that since I am only going to 37, there is no need to spend the outrageous ammount of time it would take to get all those SJs ready for use. As an ex-THF, I fully understand the value of the right SJ, in the right PT, at the right time.

[dirtyclown]

I had been to successful level 30+ Party setup like WAR/NIN x2, or NIN/WAR + WAR/NIN, or WAR/NIN x2 + THF x2, or WAR/NIN x3.

It is not about pleasing retards. It is about knowing what WAR is capable, what a WAR is not capable, and what is the limitation.

At that level range? Yes it is. The cons outweigh the pros for using Ninja as a sub in the level range we're talking about, and only an idiot who doesn't care about what you're doing as a Warrior other than you can hit things and are somewhat sentient wants Ninja sub and only Ninja sub. I call it pleasing retards. I know what I can do with what I have to work with and I also know that most people only look for 3 letters when they want to invite me to PT. Being able to do things and having social approval to do them are two different things.

To have only one subjob and refuse to level other subjobs, regardless of war/nin only or war/mnk only, is like all you have is a nail and a hammer, and every problem/solution because hitting the nail with the hammer.

Even a WAR/NIN post level 55 with Rampage and deal wtfpwn damage with dual axes is not the only play-style of WAR. It is this kind of misconception that makes WAR/MNK, WAR/THF, or other subjobs having a hard time to get party invites.

Agreed. I do like the nail and hammer approach, but only when it's applicable to my current situation. Unfortunately the playerbase does not agree and prefers to force a square peg into a round hole whenever they possibly can to save time and effort on their part. Self serving faggotry for the lose.

If I were taking WAR past 37, I would definately have all SJ ready. I think what dirtyclown is saying is that since I am only going to 37, there is no need to spend the outrageous ammount of time it would take to get all those SJs ready for use. As an ex-THF, I fully understand the value of the right SJ, in the right PT, at the right time.

That's exactly what I'm saying. By going out of your way, you only postpone the things that you actually want to do ingame, and that's just busywork. The way I look at it is like this: The majority of the people who I will be playing with will most likely not put forth this much effort for anything they do ingame, so why should I waste my precious time making them happy? Planning for a contingency is always good, but what's the point when all of your effort is mostly in vain?

[Lmnop]

If I were to choose between a warrior that only had NIN sub and one that only had MNK sub, I'd take the war/mnk.

Please use a Greataxe, eat some sort of food (attack, defense, whatever you want), and remember that if you wanna make war/mnk look good tanking, you gotta do voke every 30 and boost every 15. In one sentence (albeit a run-on), I described the very easy process that makes war/mnk incredible at tanking. levels 30-37 are technically prime levels for this combo, have fun with it. It will be harder to get parties, btw. Simply because most people are idiots. It's true that war/nin can be good at those levels, but it's about 10% of your parties, if that. Yet people want war/nin for 99.9%. I'm with Dirtyclown. Don't please the retards.

[Celeal]

Tanking is not the only thing that a WAR do in experience points parties. Experience points parties is not the only thing in this game...

It is worthwhile to level up jobs THF, NIN, WHM or RDM to a decent level for farming, solo, sneak/invisible, mission/quest, Promyvion, skillup, coffer, BCNM, Assault, etc. Even for PLD, outside experience point parties PLD/THF, PLD/RDM, PLD/WHM, PLD/NIN have their place.

For example, Level 30 WAR/NIN has its use for Promyvion.

Leveling MNK to 18 -> unlock subjob -> level WAR/MNK to 37 -> unlock PLD -> level PLD/WAR to 75 seems to be a good plan. However, outside of experience point parties you may find yourself limited in certain situations.

If in the future you decide to level other melee jobs besides PLD, having NIN, WAR and THF ready as subjob is definitely handy.

Since you are to leveling WAR to 37, why not get the most fun out of it? I had a very enjoyable experience with war/mnk, war/nin, and war/thf. It is so fun that I decided to level war past 37, which is not what I expected when I start this game.

If I have to start a new character, I would definitely level war, thf, nin, whm to 37 before main job to 75.

[Zempten]

Cel makes good points all around.

*thumbs up*

WAR/MNK is great for pure tanking. Of course it's hate tools are limited but with Provoke, Boost, Provoke it's almost not a problem at all. Not to mention the HP Boost and most importantly Counter and Dodge. . . . .although Counter didn't counter as much as I was hoping it to. . . it still is respectable dmg when you counter for like 90-100 DMG with your GA.

WAR/NIN is great for assisting a NIN/WAR or another WAR/NIN. As we know they only have Utsusemi: Ichi, so having someone else able to provoke while they recast their shadows is great and by having the person who provokes capable of using shadows helps the downtime (WHM doesn't have to waste MP, so more MP for next pulls)

WAR/THF is really fun for DD. This of course includes pre-charging your SA and also timing it so you can use it for SC . .. . . if you do indeed use SA + Sturmwind in a SC.

So basically like what Cel said early, level all the subs just so you can sub the proper SJ in the circumstance that your in. It's always great in this game when people are flexible because a whole lot more can be accomplished

[Wise Donkey]

If I have to start a new character, I would definitely level war, thf, nin, whm to 37 before main job to 75.

I did that with my retired THF. I had NIN, WAR, WHM, MNK, RNG all leveld to use as SJs for THF. With the time I spent on all those SJ, I was only lvl 45 by the time a lot of my friends were 75 in their jobs. I don't want to spend that ammount of time on SJs again, which is why I am going the path of PLD. PLD requires ONE(1) SJ: WAR - sure there are specific situations where PLD/NIN or other combinations would be good, but they are few and far between.

Once I am done with PLD, then I will worry about extra SJs for WAR, if I even decide to take WAR further.

Again, thanks to everyone for their input.:)

[Ungerpurr]

War/mnk is hands-down the best tank in the game 30-37 (hell, 1-37) for several things:

1) Consistent aggro generation
2) Damage done
3) Survivability (max HP)

The only place they even possibly fall short is for damage intake, and even that, given that you're using meat food and defender 100% of the time (or can use fish food and no defender, but meat food/defender is cheaper), is debatable. You have more ATK than a pld, more def than a pld, you don't require babysitting like a nin/war or war/nin...just pure up tanking in teh face.

The only other SJ worth using for war from 30-37 (well, 30-47, really) is /THF, imo, as a DD. The overall package of war/mnk is a superior tank to war/nin when you take everything into consideration in your average PT. If the PT is full of people who will never screw up, dual war/nin or combo of nin/war and war/nin is possible. That is rarely the case. I think people sometimes forget how often (pickup) groups suck pre-50, as a rule.

I tanked war/mnk to 37 (although I had /thf available, I never had the opportunity to use it because I was always tanking). I had rock solid aggro 30 seconds into the fight. No other class combo can say that, at that level range. We're talking axe/shield and even when I was doing maybe 80-120 damage per minute (IT++), the mob couldn't be pulled off me.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

The overall package of war/mnk is a superior tank to war/nin when you take everything into consideration in your average PT. If the PT is full of people who will never screw up, dual war/nin or combo of nin/war and war/nin is possible. That is rarely the case. I think people sometimes forget how often (pickup) groups suck pre-50, as a rule.
I agree with that in most average pick-up parties. I can think of a couple cases where /NIN would make more sense than /MNK in an average pick-up party at this level range.

1. When the pt needs you to set up SATA onto a PLD. You won't be taking a huge beating if you did this as /MNK, but it does save the pt a bit of MP. Boost doesn't buy you *that much* in the DD department, and you can always use a GAxe even with /NIN.

2. When the pt needs you to pull. Shadows are nice when pulling, but that's not the biggest reason. The biggest advantage /NIN gives to a puller over /MNK is mob radar. When pulling mobs that link and detect by sound, mob radar makes a huge difference when it comes to trying to eyeball whether or not a nearby mob will link.

[Icemage]

Actually I think the strongest tank in the 30-37 range right now is hands down BLU/WAR. Coccoon + Provoke + Head Butt + Bludgeon is a better package than any other tank job combination at that level range.


Icemage

[Celeal]

I tried to tank as BLU/WAR once in Qufim, it seems to me that BLU/WAR burn so much mp per battle, even more than a PLD at that level. I don't know, maybe I was trigger happy. Too hard to resist Head Butt + Bludgeon spam.

[Lmnop]

if you're War 30+ and setting up for TA onto another tank, I'd rather go /thf than /nin. Considering having a THF around means you'll get beaten less in the long run (unless your thf really sucks) and because you can use SA Sturmwind as a mid-battle provoke with a smart thf sitting on the other side.

[Celeal]

if you're War 30+ and setting up for TA onto another tank, I'd rather go /thf than /nin. Considering having a THF around means you'll get beaten less in the long run (unless your thf really sucks) and because you can use SA Sturmwind as a mid-battle provoke with a smart thf sitting on the other side.
Since you bring up WAR/THF + THF setup, I would tag on my personal experience :)

From level 40 to 50, I got invited to a party as WAR/THF couple of times (I was lucky :thumbsup: , the party leaders allowed me to choose my subjob), and in 2 parties I was trick partner for a THF.

Even with a THF's SATA on tank, WAR/THF can still pull hate over the hate threshold if the mob is not weak to dragger damage:
1. G.Axe + attack food, when Aggressor is up, SA + Sturmwind (with either Beserk or Warcry is up), then 1 or 2 connected swing can nullify the hate control from THF's SATA Viper Bite.
2. When Aggressor is down, SA + Shield Break at the beginning of fight (attack food), then a few connected swing (double attacks, critical hits, etc) can give the Tank some trouble, if the Tank is not careful.

When geared properly, Sturmwind can hit hard without stacking Sneak Attack (before level 50, before Rampage is available). My advice is to use SA + Sturmwind depends on time and stituation, especially in parties without any THF.

A good DD would deal good damage. A great DD would deal great damage while taking the least damage at the same time :thumbsup:

[tdh]

Even with a THF's SATA on tank, WAR/THF can still pull hate over the hate threshold if the mob is not weak to dragger damage:

1. G.Axe + attack food, when Aggressor is up, SA + Sturmwind (with either Beserk or Warcry is up), then 1 or 2 connected swing can nullify the hate control from THF's SATA Viper Bite.

2. When Aggressor is down, SA + Shield Break at the beginning of fight (attack food), then a few connected swing (double attacks, critical hits, etc) can give the Tank some trouble, if the Tank is not careful.
When geared properly, Sturmwind can hit hard without stacking Sneak Attack (before level 50, before Rampage is available). My advice is to use SA + Sturmwind depends on time and stituation, especially in parties without any THF.

A good DD would deal good damage. A great DD would deal great damage while taking the least damage at the same time :thumbsup:This is the problem I ran into. I've been a DD WAR for about 80% of my career now as I was fortunate enough to find an awesome Taru who wanted to level PLD. Now he knew how crazy SA Sturmwind could be, and warned me to "pick my battles." I always made sure he had a pretty solid beat on hate before I dropped the hammer. Well at Lv.50 I was managing a handful of 500 to 700dmg SA Sturmwinds, with my already high damage output, and skillchain of Viper Bite > Sturmwind, I got to tank.

I found WAR/MNK tanking with Shield & Axe from LV.15 until Sturmwind was quite nice. An old friend of mine used to tank like that, and I was surprised at how many times he would Counter and then Double Attack at Lv.25.

To address the O.P, I would personally rather have a WAR as a DD than a tank, but a WAR/NIN before Lv.48 just gets to me. Get a Great Axe and sub THF or MNK and do as much damage as you can. I know the merits behind a WAR/MNK w/ Shield Break, but I've seen how well a WAR/MNK can tank with a Shield and Axe.

[IfritnoItazura]

WAR Lv.30-40 with /NIN isn't that bad. It's not my preference, but it was what the party leaders usually wanted from me.

Have to say with NIN tanks in parties, it did make a lot of sense--they have enough trouble without me going SA + Sturmwind on them. Or, to be more precise, I got enough unfriendly attention from monsters without ever using provoke to make me wonder if there's any point to using more DD orientated suport job.

Great Axe is a fearsome tool (until Rampage from one-handed axe).

* * *

I've been invited to tank only one time Lv.30-40 on WAR, I think. The leader ask for WAR/NIN. Then, told me I was the tank after I got there. -_-;

[Lmnop]

what I was trying to address earlier is that pertinent to this thread, /mnk is great. and that's all there is to it. If you can make your own parties / get parties to accept you as war/mnk, you can do excellent.

I am a Warrior. I think Warriors with only one subjob are gimp. I think Warriors with only axe or greataxe are gimp. But that only applies to Wars level 38+. Maybe some day he'll have to take care of other subs for his PLD, but that doesn't matter yet. mnk to 18 -> war to 37 -> pld to 75 -> play around with other jobs. That's all there is to it. Party with friends and smart people on your war, PLD should take care of itself.

[ValisOfValefor]

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/4811/untitled1bc6.th.png (http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=untitled1bc6.png)

Things like this make me very sad ultimate killing machine

http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/2807/mrsydwn7.th.jpg (http://img427.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mrsydwn7.jpg)

Really the worst part to this party is that I would have taken less damage, and held hate better going /mnk.

Why, because Shadows do jack when your tanking alone at 30-37, especially because Bats and Beetles have double attack.

So I had lower offense, I took more damage, I couldn't hold hate.

In other words I was 133t.


They actually brought a PL to tank because it was such a crappy party.

I hate people sometimes :vent:

They also asked me if I could go Axe-Axe over Gaxe...

[dirtyclown]

I love people like that. They're so stupid.

[ValisOfValefor]

Hmm well that definatly wasn't bad today.

I practically forced my leader to let me /mnk cause they had two White Mages, and I was the only tank up.


I got hit for 40-50 with defender (30s with shield blocks)

With the correct defense move I got hit for about 30-40 (20s on shield blocks)


So all in all, the enemies slowly chipped away at my Elvaan hp.

Went from 34-36 ;)

Today I taught more people that /mnk rocks in the 30s. And very feasible for anyone to do.

(As long as your stubborn about it heheh ^^)

[Celeal]

Very nice :D

WAR/MNK solo tank at 30s is the way to go! With 2 whm it definitely not an issue.

How is rate of shield block from WAR at level 30s? From the number you posted, are you using size 2 shield?

[ValisOfValefor]

Well shield blocking wasn't that much (despite the size 2 shield)

About 35% of the time it blocked, not big but saved me a lot of times when the crawlers decided to double attack.

Today was more a parry day for me though.

(Also I already have evasion, parry, and shield capped from paladin to 50)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

WAR/MNK is perfectly fine for pure tanking. The definition of "Tanking" in FFXI has been twisted into something it really isn't - avoiding damage or "blink-tanking." No, tanking drawing the attention of the enemy with damage and enmity and taking a hit for the party. Its about getting the enemy to focus on you, not just avoiding hits.

WAR/NIN is a terrible tank before 50 because they do not have the tools to generate the same level of enmity as WAR/MNK could. They can't keep hate at all, meanwhile WAR/MNK can hold the mob's attention with Provoke, Boost, Dodge and Defender. The only edge WAR/NIN really has at that level is they can get away better with Berserk than WAR/MNK could, but they still won't hold hate like WAR/MNK.

[Shinhiryu_Kage]

Was in a party the other day with 4 WAR/NIN 1 RDM 1 BRD LV38-40 and made 5k an hour xp in Crawlers. So WAR/NIN doesn't suck in large numbers lol.

I support the WAR/MNK idea 30-37, however. -waves flag-

[Lmnop]

and it used to be that war/nin tanking was a big "if you can find other war/nins" but since everyone's war/nin these days, it's quite easy to make these layouts. But no matter how good the party is, I've seldom been lucky enough to get CN empty enough for that good of exp. Kill speed usually isn't a problem, ideal CN layout is prolly to always have a bard grabbing new links and be very good at keeping them lullabied. Anywho, I bid thee high-five for being able to get that many CN pulls.

[Armando]

I realize this thread is old and has been bumped, but I may as well chime in, for the benefit of any new WARs that may be reading this now. A lot of sagely advice has been given, but I just want to add one thing (ok, two.) SA Sturmwind is nice; SA Shield Break used right is almost always better (that isn't to say that Shield Break requires SA to be godly, though; it's ridiculously powerful all on its own.) And Shield Break + a party of DDs eating meat = instant win. Of course, it's not always feasable depending on how cooperative your party is. But when it is...oh, boy.

[Lmnop]

for the less Martyr-blooded of us:

Shield Break all the time -- only use Sturmwind right when you use it to see it, for farming, and for trying to kill a bad pull/link quickly (assuming it's almost dead when you get tp, if it still has a decent chunk of life, you'll likely create more damage via shield break anyway).

My full time exception, counter to Armando, is SA Sturmwind. I never once did SA Shield Break in exp. It's very nice, and he's prolly right that it'll help more than SA Sturm. But... I, for one, forgive you for going after the big numbers on this one. :P It's just too fun to be regularly breaking 400 on Soldiers.

Another point for Armando's argument though, is that in addition to indirectly matching the damage of SA Sturm (via the -evasion), you probably also get significantly less hate. I'm pretty sure mobs hate Shield Break more than direct damage WSs, due to damage hate + enfeeble hate, but I think it'd still be less than what you'd get out of huge Sturms.

And since so many people love to hop on how big of an mp sink war/thf is, they in particular should think on SA Shield Break.

[Armando]

Actually, seeing as Shield Break's effect occurs more or less as a (hidden) added effect, I don't think it generates any extra hate because of it. But yes, much like you said the logic behind that was:
1) Far, far less likely to turn you into an MP sink at the time (although it certainly is possible to do SA Sturmwind and "get away with it!")
2) It makes Shield Break guaranteed to land, and as icing on the cake puts out some pretty good numbers with it.
3) Every melee's (and BLU!) performance will shoot up assuming they're eating meat.
4) Balances the hate a lot better - the damage from SA Sturmwind dumps all the hate on the user, but when you Shield Break, part of Shield Break's damage comes from everyone else's increased performance, much in the same way that a BRD brings damage to the party in his/her own way. Because it boosts all the melee's performances, it helps the tank as well (plus the fact that you didn't do some incredible spike damage) and indirectly makes the mages safer, since all the melees are getting more hate and they aren't.

But if you have a party that lets you do 400 damage Sturmwinds closing 240 damage Fragmentations with 100+ damage Thunder bursts, by all means, bust out the spike damage!