Advice with sam/rng

[luisa]

I know theres alot of threads about sam/rng but this one is a lil diff. I have been using sam/rng since lvl 57 and now im 61, have almost mastered the issue of staying alive by using side winder when mog is at half health, thats when i go crazzy and dish out as many sidewinders as i can, wich usually works, and havent died alot since i hit 60, have died about 3 times since i hit 60 but thats cause of people now knowing how to do their jobs, any ways i have a question, i have read about how str is the main modifier in most cases on ws, and i heard about a secondary modifier, my question is, to do bigger dmg with sidewinder,is str the main modifier or is it he agi? well heres what i have for gear, maybe you guys have any sudggestions on it.


head: i forgot what my head piece is called but it gives me str+3 and +3 agil.
Body: the jarida body piece with rng acc n att +5
legs: forgot the name of my pants but is from the same set as of my head with str+3 and agil +3.
feet: is from the akinji set with rng acc+3.
back: the mantle that gives att and rng att+15
hands: o.kote att+20
neck: spectacles rng acc + acc 7(might be 9 dont remember)
rings: str+3 rings
earrings: the ones with rng acc+2 and the lvl 30 earrings with laten affect of rng acc+3---(these become active since i have rng sub)
katana: lvl 60 katana with att n acc+
belt: some new belt that has acc n rng acc +5
bow: the bow that has 18 rng att with 2 rng acc
amo: i use the arrows that has rng acc + 15 and some other arrows that have rng acc +5
food: squid sushi and if i run out i use dorado.

Sorry for not knowing the exact names for them usually dont look at the names just the stats, but what u guys think? Saw a 63 rng hitting a puk for over 700 and i notice i normally can do from 5-670 and the only times i reachd 700 to 800 was with brd castting stuff on me and so i was wondering if theres anything wrong with my gear or if theres any sudgestions im up for it (any gear or ways to increase dmg sudgestions).

One more thing, i really dont miss my reg rng att but out of 20 ws try i hit about 13-15 of them.

[Malacite]

AGI has a higher percentage in the calculation (30% vs 12% STR) but STR still factors in more heavily as it adds to your ranged attack and is calculated against the mob's VIT rating.

That said, pile on the STR.

[Amele]

to improve your ws accuracy with Sidewinder, try waiting for more TP before firing (say, 50% more) so if you normally fire at 100%, go at 150% - go at 175-200% if you normally fire at 150% etc.

I'm sure a post on the ranger forums about slug/winder will give more information.

[Cometgreen]

Even at that lvl, Rangers pile on as much accuracy as possible to make sure Slugwinder lands, so unless you do use GKatana WS at times, substitute your STR rings with Scorpion +1. Rangers generally don't pile up on strength until after lvl 70 when we get our final Accuracy Bonus trait, so a 61 SAM/RNG probably shouldn't use STR when +Racc is available.

[Zempten]

On this topic, do you guys know how far you have to stand for the full effects? I think it was around 4? but wiki said something about standing 7 away, but then they mentioned something about that was calculated pre RNG un-nerf so I'm all confused.

here is the link...

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Distance

It's all the way at the bottom

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Yeah, I'd actually advise against the STR rings, soooo many SAM/RNGs i've seen don't succeed with the combo because they:

(1) lack of the best accuracy options, rings are the cheapest and biggest boost of any slot you can get.

(2) they also use Scorpion arrows. The beauty of SAM/RNG is wasted on the cheapness and low damage of these arrows. Get the Demon Arrows and grab Kabura when the time comes, you're not going to be burning arrows like a RNG with Meditate, Store TP and Soboro on your side.

If you must have scorpion arrows, use them for Barrage and save Demon/Kabura for Sidewinder.

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

On the topic of optimal range, I have read that it is just outside maximum melee distance now. Personally as SAM/RNG I just spam Sidewinder at melee range. With Sharpshot up, it might be worth moving back as far as 10.0 for maximum damage. However, I was always tanking, so I could only take advantage of maximum damage while pulling.

(I really should check when the original posts in these threads were made before writing a big response.)

I enjoyed playing SAM/RNG from Lv60 to Lv72 as well. Sushi is definately a must. I would suggest going all out ranged accuracy gear during Barrage and Sidewinder. You should build more for ATK while building TP since you now get 1DEX=1ACC and 22ACC from RNG SJ.

Personally I used a Partisan+1 polearm since it gives you significantly greater DoT than a Great Katana while fighting piercing weak enemies. At Lv70, you may want to consider changing over to using an Engetsuto polearm instead of a bow. I have both Shigeto Bow and Engetsuto builds, and I find that my polearm build produces equal or greater damage after the 1DEX=1ACC and 1STR=1ATK changes. I'm now eating meat, which has greatly raised my DoT without sacrificing WS DMG.

Personally I preferred to play in a small party of 2 or 3 when leveling SAM/RNG. SAM/RNG, RDM/WHM, and THF/NIN make an awesome party for killing Marsh Murre in Caedarva Mire at Lv60-63, Puk in Wajaom Woodlands at Lv63-67, Tragopan in Bibiki Bay at Lv67-70, and Darters in Boyahda Tree at Lv70-74. You will find it incredibly fun to spam the crap out of Sidewinder while tanking with Seigan+Third Eye.

FYI: When fighting in smaller parties and using Sushi, my Sidewinder accuracy was about 85-90% at ~110TP. I remember Sidewinder damage being in the mid 600s until I got Hachiman gear, Schiltron Spear, and Shigeto Bow. With the better gear, I was getting into the low 800s.

Using Demon arrows for Sidewinder and Scorpion Arrows for pulling and Barrage will make this work better. Also your thief can help out with Acid bolts. Have your RDM cast Paralyze, Slow, and Dia II. The RDM shoud only cast Cure IV and rest while you don't need healing. This can also be done with a NIN or PUP instead of THF as long as your RDM uses Crow gear to lower their enmity. I also had success with DRG against Puk, but they will take a little too much damage against enemies that they cannot intimidate.

[Zempten]

Well I was planning on using Soboro for TP gain and spam Sidewinder. I have Polearm at lvl 142 atm so maybe I'll skill that up first. Although I'm sure that my DMG with soboro will be poor with Sushi. I usually use meat to justify using Soboro. I have the same gear as the OP . . . .

Main: Soboro
Sub: Mythril Grip +1 (maybe going to use Polearm Grip)
Ranged: War Bow +1
Ammo: Demon Arrows
Head: Siphia
Neck: Spectacles
Ear1: Vision Earring
Ear2: Beater's Earring
Body: Jardiah Peti
Hands: Jardiah
ring1: Scorp. Ring +1
ring2: Scorp Ring +1
back: Jaeguar
waist: Precise Belt
legs: Jardiah
feet: Jardiah

was that your same setup Ryo?

[Malacite]

Soboro is required for SAM/RNG, as is sushi.

We only get a C+ rating, which means 230 skill at level 75. Every ounce of ranged accuracy helps.

Also, Soboro is a very good weapon, period. Only time I wouldn't use it is on major bosses that you don't want to feed TP to and when subbing THF.

[Amele]

personally I prefer either a hagun or a D:80 weapon for most general purpose use. (kumokirimaru looks sexy but I haven't gotten one yet ; ; )

soboro is nice and all but the tp-gain rates do increase the amount of mp your mages have to use, even in simple stuff like merits.

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

Your RNG ACC gear looks top notch. I had 12 less RNG ACC pre-level 70, so I think you should be alright with enemies up to 8 levels above you while eating sushi. Also I do not have a Soboro since I have less playtime than forum time these days. The annoying thing about going SAM/RNG is fighting Colibri. With Jaeger Mantle and Deadeye Gloves, I don't see why you wouldn't try using meat in this situation.

My only experience in a full 6 man xp party as SAM/RNG while eating sushi was fighting Imps at Lv71. It really sucked for me though because my polearm occasionally hit for 0 DMG. My Sidewinder still did about 500 DMG when it hit. You should not have this problem with Soboro and loading on STR/ATK while TPing.

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

I definitely encourage people experimenting with SAM. It is fun having four good weapons (Shigeto Bow, Engetsuto, Soboro, and Hagun) to choose from depending on what you want to go do and how much money you want to waist doing it.

I'm sadly unable to find good uses for SAM/RNG after the 2h updates. Tuesday I went back to where I used to XP in Boyahda Tree fighting Darters (Lv75-78) and Steelshells (Lv73-76). It was just my two characters: Nonomii (73RDM/WHM) and Ryoii (73SAM/WAR).

I used to come as SAM/RNG, and I would use Sole Sushi, Shigeto Bow, and Schiltron Spear. I was hitting Sidewinders for 800 DMG with 90% accuracy, but my polearm damage wasn't great. I could just barely clear the room of Darters before they respawned.

This time I used SAM/WAR with Carbonara and Engetsuto. I was averaging 800 DMG (some over 1k) on weapon skills, but I was able to use Penta Thrust again after just 4 hits. Also my per hit polearm damage was double what it used to be, and I was able to clear the whole room of Darters and kill 3 Steelshells before they respawned. It was nice not having to use three different gear sets for TP, Sidewinder, and Barrage/Pulling. Also I don't miss the ammo cost one bit.

My duo pulled off 6k xp in a little under an hour (1k from ring). I'm working on getting more damage out of polearm than great katana, but I have a feeling I'll need more accuracy to make it work in merit parties. I also need to test the fTP modifiers for great katana before I count it out. I find it hard to believe great katana would do more damage against piercing weak enemies, but I could be wrong. The true test will come when I can compare Engetsuto to Soboro or Hagun against Greater Colibri. Unfortunately that could be several weeks to a month or more from now.

[Zempten]

Well if SAM/RNG can achieve the same as SAM/WAR in terms of DMG, I'd like the variety of being allowed to do either or. My LS currently has 2 other SAMs around my lvl and I'm waiting to PT with them so I can parse how things go. One has Soboro and the other one doesn't so it'll be very interesting.

[Zempten]

Well I messed with Sidewinder in a PT today on Puks. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad. I parsed 1% higher then the WAR in our PT who was 2 lvls higher then me and using a GA.

I guess what irks me the most is that I miss 2 sidewinders in a row at 130-150% TP and standing around 6 to 7 distance away from mob. Sometimes I land 3 in a row (love soboro proc with Meditate). It just seems so random compared to when using a GK's WS. Oh and I avoided using WS during Flash/Zephyr Mantle, but when I do do it on accident I don't take it into account.

Is there anyway to make it more consistant? Am I doing something wrong? I LOVE SAM/RNG so much atm it's not even funny. I guess it's because it's refreshing from doing SAM/WAR for 60 lvls. So is there anything else I should do besides meritting Archery?

[Zempten]

Oh here are some SS of how I was doing. Is this good? Over in KI they show SS of some guys doing like 1k. I couldn't come even close to 1k.

Summary of my Sidewinders and a few Barrages:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Zempten/SAMRNGSummary.jpg

Self SC with Sidewinder:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Zempten/SelfSkillchain.jpg

Sidewinder Barrage Sidewinder:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Zempten/SidewinderBarrageSidewinder.jpg

Sidewinder Barrage Sidewinder #2:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Zempten/SidewinderBarrageSidewinder2.jpg

Seems like self SC wasn't worth it and that just using Sidewinder to Sidewinder would be best imo.

I think SAM/RNG might equal SAM/WAR as I was parsing 1% higher then the 63 WAR in our PT. I was doing 31% and he was doing 30%. I would definitely do better if I didn't have to end up tanking for 1/2 the battles. During those times I used Yukikaze since I wasn't in an ideal range to shoot off sidewinders.

P.S: I'm sorry. I don't know how to make the images look more clear. I saved them as jpegs. If someone could let me know how to make them bigger I'll definitely do it so you can have a better time reading them without straining your eyes.

[Malacite]

Yeah, the only problem with SAM/RNG now is Great Katana got so powered up that it's not really worth the expense anymore.

I'd rather go /WAR or /DRG and equip an Engetsuto for birds (or hell, stick to GKT. Soboro is just crazy now)

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

Lets try to put your 650-800 DMG Sidewinders in perspective:

You have the highest damage potential of any job.
You have to hold back to avoid tanking full time.
You don't have Hachiman gear for more STR.
You are fighting enemies 7-9 levels higher, which limits your pDIFF and accuracy more than most merit enemies.
You don't have your best arrows or bow yet.
You don't constantly have def. down and/or Dia III on your enemy.
You don't always have 2 x Minuet on you.

I've seen screenshots of 2k Sidewinders from SAM/RNG during merits, but you know that the SAM/RNG was using meat, getting 2 x Minuet from a BRD, and the enemy had Dia III and defense down on it. Your damage right now is awesome and no one will do more DMG from one WS unless it is DRG or RNG or DRK with Soaleater.

Without an ideal party such as PLD, THF x 2, BRD, RDM, and SAM/RNG, you will find it very hard to play to your full potential. Saving to 300TP and stacking on ATK and STR is probably not going to help since Sidewinder just isn't that accurate and still won't do 1k at Lv61.

[tdh]

Two weeks after the fact...

I just hit SAM59 last night, and I'm curious about SAM/RNG. I'm waiting until Lv.60 to give it a try so I have access to Acc Bonus II (Rng/Acc+22) to really give it a try, but I've done some basic toying with it in the meantime.

I have basically the same gear as Zempten and the OP, just no RngAcc earrings or hands/feet. Spent 350k on the Akinji Peti (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Akinji_Peti) despite how ugly I think the thing is, and having SH & Hauby already available, I got it for the /RNG build. If I did grab the extra RngAcc+5 from the earrings, it would plant me firmly at RngAcc+63 with Acc Bonus II.

Now I've gone and played with Sidewinder during farming or just goofing, and against Too weak mobs SAMwinder (As I've taken to calling it.) is awesome. I've broken 2500 on some Lv.40~ish mobs, but once I was able to find an EP mob I have yet to break 800dmg. I've come close, but not yet, and figured this was a better barometer for what kind of damage I'll do in EXP.

Now part of my interest in SAMwinder was that my WS number with Soboro are low and all over the place. I've been making tanks, NIN & PLD alike, cry because my DPS is just through the roof, but my WS damage ranges from 100~400, usually averaging in the 180~220. As soon as I hit Lv.59 last night, I put on my Hauby, my Specs, and broke out my Daihannya (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Daihannya) and immediately busted off a 450 Jinpu. This is what I'm looking for, and I'm hoping Soboro & SAMwinder can make it happen.

Now that I've stated that, at Lv.60 with a Daihannya Yukikaze should do pretty respectable damage. Should I just sell back my Akinji Peti now, sell my Specs at Lv.60 and use my Chiv Chain, and just rain down Yukikazes for the kind of WS damage we all know SAM can do? Is it even worth to go SAMwinder at this point?

Or hell, does the DPS of the Soboro still out parse a Daihannya even with it's weak WS numbers? With no food and full time 3rd Eye/Seigan I was tanking with out Provoke and could WS 3~5 times a fight. Now I won't be able to WS 3~5 a fight with Daihannya, but any idea about which one would kick out the better numbers?

[Zempten]

I parsed higher then another SAM who was using a Zanbato. I was 63 and he was around 64 or 64 (I can't remeber which it was, but I know it's around that lvl b/c I was considering buy a Zanbato). Our gear setup were practically even and both /WAR. He ate Sole Sushi and I ate Hedgehog Pie. I outprased him by about 8 to 10%. From then on I told myself I'd keep using Soboro till I get to Imps.

From my experiences, your right. Soboro's DMG on WS is pretty random at those lvls. That's why I did SAM/RNG b/c the WS numbers were too random, but with Sidewinder they became alot more consistant. However, for some reason SAM/WAR's Soboro numbers are pretty consistant @ 63/64. I'm always doing 400-500 per WS and 200-300 are rare and 600-700 uncommon. I'm lvl 66 now and haven't had any further experiences.

Oh and also I enjoy doing like 3 or 4 WS with a Meditate on SAM with soboro ^ ^ I think I'm spoiled by the fast TP gain and I can't drop it until Amnesia becomes a nagging friend.

[Malacite]

I parsed higher then another SAM who was using a Zanbato. I was 63 and he was around 64 or 64 (I can't remeber which it was, but I know it's around that lvl b/c I was considering buy a Zanbato). Our gear setup were practically even and both /WAR. He ate Sole Sushi and I ate Hedgehog Pie. I outprased him by about 8 to 10%. From then on I told myself I'd keep using Soboro till I get to Imps.

From my experiences, your right. Soboro's DMG on WS is pretty random at those lvls. That's why I did SAM/RNG b/c the WS numbers were too random, but with Sidewinder they became alot more consistant. However, for some reason SAM/WAR's Soboro numbers are pretty consistant @ 63/64. I'm always doing 400-500 per WS and 200-300 are rare and 600-700 uncommon. I'm lvl 66 now and haven't had any further experiences.

Oh and also I enjoy doing like 3 or 4 WS with a Meditate on SAM with soboro ^ ^ I think I'm spoiled by the fast TP gain and I can't drop it until Amnesia becomes a nagging friend.


SAM/WAR with Soboro is just fine from 50+, especially once you get Yuki Gekko and Kasha. Just eat meat and go nuts spamming WS.

[tdh]

I parsed higher then another SAM who was using a Zanbato. I was 63 and he was around 64 or 64 (I can't remeber which it was, but I know it's around that lvl b/c I was considering buy a Zanbato). Our gear setup were practically even and both /WAR. He ate Sole Sushi and I ate Hedgehog Pie. I outprased him by about 8 to 10%. From then on I told myself I'd keep using Soboro till I get to Imps.Outta curiosity, why switch out at Imps? With Amnesia up, seems like this would be the perfect time to use the Soboro, and take advantage of Demon Killer.

From my experiences, your right. Soboro's DMG on WS is pretty random at those lvls. That's why I did SAM/RNG b/c the WS numbers were too random, but with Sidewinder they became alot more consistant. However, for some reason SAM/WAR's Soboro numbers are pretty consistant @ 63/64. I'm always doing 400-500 per WS and 200-300 are rare and 600-700 uncommon. I'm lvl 66 now and haven't had any further experiences.I guess I'll stick with it, and try SAMwinder a few times before I sell that Akinji Peti. Grab those RngAcc earrings to round out the numbers so I'm good to go on Barrage and SAMwinder. I just remember some BIG Yukikazes when I was leveling other jobs in that range, and I want those kinds of WS numbers. I'm geared pretty mean like and a pretty damn good STR build for WS (If I do say so myself.) and the Soboro just doesn't seem to shine where I was expecting to shine. Yeah I tank the entire fight, but I'm also fighting Colibri so that's not the greatest reference point.

Oh and also I enjoy doing like 3 or 4 WS with a Meditate on SAM with soboro ^ ^ I think I'm spoiled by the fast TP gain and I can't drop it until Amnesia becomes a nagging friend.Hell, I can drop 3 and not use Meditate. I've almost given up on it due to hate and actually pissing off tanks. I had a WHM tell me last night, "You can't have Haste any more." Also sometimes it seemed like a waste of Meditate because I'd pop a Jinpu or a Koki and before I can blink I already have 80% TP. I'm gonna have a hard time believing the TP build once I have Store TP merits and Hachiman gear.

Now coming from DRK, I had to update one or two weapons every few levels usually. Now I'm SAM, I've had my Soboro since Lv.50 and I almost feel lazy for not updating the weapon. haha I bought a Daihannya and thought maybe I'd try the Zanbato +1 (Really wanna keep that DLY:450. That's the only reason for +1.), but it's "Soboro; all the time" I guess I'll go that route. I'll pick up a few other Great Katana's for testing though.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

[Zempten]

Imps have amnesia. It'll prevent you from WSing. WSing at 200% or 300% doesn't justify WSing at 100% 2 times(200%) or 3 times(300%). Regardless of how low your WS number is, it is still a factor in your overall DMG. If your unable to WS then you lose chunks of DMG. I'd assume it'll be better hitting for 100+ and fire off WS at the 100% TP mark then hitting for 70-80 and firing off WS at the 200% or 300% TP mark.

I don't think Demon Killer has any effect on your DMG. As far as I know, all it does is intimidate the mob. However, I'm 66 and haven't fought imps yet so I haven't really parsed Soboro vs other GKs. When I parse, my WS total DMG are only a few thousand away from my meele total DMG (around 10k difference). That's why I said I might have to swap out when we get to imps, but I have no personal experience with it yet.

Soboro shines easily when you get it at 50, but as you lvl up it seems less and less impressive but I'm still surprised by how it parses against others up to 66. I concentrate more on my DOT and I'm satisfied with hitting the mob from 70-80 two or three times occassionally instead of the 110-120 from a Zanbato. From personaly experience the highest number I've hit with 300% TP and Hasso and Berserk was about 700-800 DMG on an IT crawler in Halvung. 700-800DMG for 300% TP when I can do 400-500 DMG for just 100% TP doesn't seem all that great to me,which is why I assumed Imps would be bad for soboro. In terms of a Zanbato, I've done anywhere from 400-700 consistantly and a rare 1k. This still doesn't make me think Soboro doesn't measure up with a range of 400-500 at 100% and gaining TP much faster then a Zanbato.I always believe that if your not allowed to eat meat (base 70-80% accuracy) then soboro won't shine enough for my personal taste.

When I say 3 to 4 times, I mean in the time frame of a SC. It's not hard at all to throw 3 WS on a mob without Meditate. Had this one PT where I made Darkness three times and the Magma Crawler was dead in about 30 seconds. Yay for PLD's Cover ^ ^

IMO, you'll do your best with a PLD tank. Meditate is basically a free provoke for a SAM that fires off WS at 100% all the time. Since Cover is on the same recast time as Meditate your basically safe while spamming WS with Meditate and mobs shouldn't last longer then that otherwise spamming your WS will appear like a MP sponge. Also don't use Colibris as a judge on your future experiences. DD PLD (which will never happen on colibris at these lvls ) does much better then a DD NIN, not b/c they do better damage then a NIN, but they have more tools to keep you (the SAM) alive.

Oh and as far as Mediate goes, I'm hitting my WS macro when I'm at about 60% TP. The reason for this is b/c if I hit 3 times I can fire off my WS before the 20% TP from Meditate comes in. I just don't like see 100% TP b/c I want the next hits/meditate tick to count towards my next WS.

[tdh]

My comment about Demon Killer was for when we have hate with a Soboro and nobody can Provoke. 3rd Eye/Seigan, and then Demon Killer should help keep you from getting completely face humped. lol

Personally, I hate Imps with a passion that's difficult to describe, but all the Sheep say they're great EXP. Lv.67 at a camp that's really Lv.70+ and we get away with it because they have like 25 HP. Part of my hatred for Imps comes from being a DRK though; if I can't use Abs-TP I'm basically useless.

During the 50's I've partied with a handful of other SAMs, and so far I've been the only one with a Soboro. One SAM I partied with was geared almost identical to me, and was doing about 130dmg a swing while I was doing 50~90 a pop (Berserk, etc;). Now if a triple procs at the low end of damage from the Soboro I still out do him that round. Now I don't have access to a parser (PS2 & PS3 player), but on some occasions he would actually pull hate off me. Mainly due to his WS damage being just about double what mine were at times. I saw a few 500dmg Jinpus from him when I was topping out at about 400 on a rare occasion.

As much as I love how quick Colibri die, I'm almost excited for Puks and Crawlers just so I a tank has a chance to tank me. Thus far NIN & PLDs have had no luck at all tanking me. I've almost forgotten what Hasso was.

[Malacite]

SAM are just awesome for fighting imps. Even with amnesia, the sheer DoT from Soboro kicks their ass. Not to mention you can macro in your Myochin Kabuto to extend Warding Circle's length to 1:30.

[tdh]

Has anybody tested out the Platinum Grip (NQ or HQ) with the Soboro yet? Would the crazy proc rate on the Soboro make that Stun fire off more than just a few times? I imagine it would be even worse for our hate generation, but would it help is stretch out 3rd Eye out?

[Malacite]

I'd rather use the claymore personally. With my merits that'd give me +7% crit rate, which is pretty evil.

[tdh]

I'd rather use the claymore personally. With my merits that'd give me +7% crit rate, which is pretty evil.I have just about all of them. With Subduer I often use Claymore (4/4 Merits + 6 +3 = 13%), but with the 2handed adjustment I've been noticing far more Crits. Perhaps it's just me, I dunno. So other times I go with Axe Grip for a pure STR build. (SAM does have access to more STR items than DRK does, so it requires more pieces to build that STR+50 plus build.)

[raidenn]

Just stick with /war or /thf for awhile. /rng is just for fun really. Not useful in a XP party. Save yourself some gil, pack up some STR and improve your GKT weaponskills instead of your Archery because you will definitely miss a lot on your Sidewinders even on the most easiest mobs and its going to slow your party's progress.

Platinum grip on Soboro is just as it is with a normal GKT. The stun effect doesnt hit very often.

[CS_911]

i did sam/rng for the longest time, i was also in static pt with it, since i didnt trust other people, when it came to puks i basically almost soloed them and full time tanked them, so every ones job was to help heal and take care of the minor details, i was doing ws dmg from any where between 500- to over 1k, didnt use soboro and i technacally was ranger wanna be since i was no wear near the mob, had to do this since i took hate all the time, have some space between me and mob, but once i did 2430 ws dmg on an I.T mob, a dharmel, and i wont ever for get that cause it was the last ws and the only ws i could land on that danm thing, i think it was luck, but every one saw that and went crazzy, i think it was cause he used besserk or something. The job was fun but expansive, and as fun as it was it also came with its problems, at times i was awsome and at times i sucked, and a sam/rng b.f.f is a brd, but then againg brds are every ones b.f.f.