[IfritnoItazura]

Going to level RNG from 20 to 40, mostly as support job for my SAM.

With tanks and healers in severe shortage (even more so lower levels than higher levels), it looks like I'll be mixing quite a bit of soloing with big-gap Level Sync parties. Thankfully, Archery is 156 and Marksmanship should be ~100 from other jobs, so those skills aren't really a concern, at least for some time.


One problem I do have is I can't recall what the heck RNGs use at those levels for equipment--been years since I touched the job. So, searching on FFXIAH, I came up with this list of items which look reasonable to me:

Melee Weapon:
(Do I even need to care before R.Acc+ knives? Main reason I'd want an Axe is that Archery and Marksmanship WS's seem rather unimpressive at lower levels, so maybe Raging Axe would be better use of the TP.)
Lv.20 Battle Axe +1 (Have)
Lv.28 Military Pick (If in stock on AH and if Raging Axe worth bothering with.)
Lv.28 Archer's Knife (Should have two somewhere)
Lv.30 Hawker's Knife (Don't want to spend gil on +1's...)

Archery:
Lv.16 Power Bow +1 (Have)
Lv.30 Great Bow +1 (Have)
Lv.40 Battle Bow +1 (Have)

Arrow:
(Can get bone arrowheads arrows themselves synthed by LS members, I think.)
Lv.15 Fang Arrow
Lv.29 Horn Arrow
Lv.40 Scorpion Arrow

Marksmanship:
Lv.20 Almogavar Bow (Have)
Lv.25 Power Crossbow (Have)
Lv.30 Zamburak +1 (Have)
Lv.40 Thug's Zamburak (Have)

Bolts:
Lv.15 Acid Bolt
Lv.20 Sleep Bolt (Solo use, mostly)
Lv.25 Bloody Bolt (Solo and occasional party use)
Lv.25 Venom Bolt (party use)
Lv.30 Holy Bolt

Head:
Lv.15 Kingdom Bandana (Have)
Lv.24 Empress Hairpin (Have)

Neck:
Lv.14 Ranger's Necklace (Have)
Lv.33 Peacock Charm (Have)

Ear:
Lv.16 Bone Earring +1 (Useful?)
Lv.21 Beetle Earring +1 (Useful?)
Lv.30 Genin Earring (Don't have; probably skipping.)
Lv.35 Drone Earring (Have)

Body:
Lv.16 Trailer's Tunica (Have)
Lv.30 Noct Doublet +1 (Have)

Hands:
Lv.15 Njord's Gloves (May actually have this. lol.)
Lv.15 Kingdom Gloves (Have)
Lv.27 Devotee's Mitts (+1) (Not sure which I have; Holy Bolt setup)
Lv.30 Noct Gloves +1 (have)

Ring:
Lv.16 Bone Ring +1 (Have)
Lv.21 Beetle Ring +1 (Have)
Lv.29 Bowyer Ring (Have)
Lv.35 Horn Ring +1 (Have)
Lv.40 Marksman's Ring (Have)

Back:
Lv.18 Dhalmel Mantle +1 (Have? If not, whatever...)
Lv.21 Night Cape (Have)
Lv.24 Nomad's Mantle (Have; may upgrade to +1.)

Waist:
Lv.18 Brave Belt (Have)
Lv.30 Mercenary Captain's Belt (Have; Holy Bolt only?)

Legs:
Lv.15 Njord's Trousers (Don't think I have, but need to check MH more carefully.)
Lv.20 Royal Footman's Trousers (Have)
Lv.24 Martial Slacks (Probably skipping)
Lv.25 Republic Subligar (Have)
Lv.30 Noct Brais +1 (Have)
Lv.31 Savage Loincloth (Have; Holy Bolt build?)

Feet:
Lv.7 Leaping Boots

My character isn't rich, but I can afford to buy some reasonable gear (even for keeps), I think. Not really sure what good is RNG30 or RNG40 beyond some CoP mission runs, but always nice to have options.

I do wonder if I should get some lower delay bows for Level Sync proposes; supposedly that can yield very strong weapons with damage capped to best NQ weapons of synched to level, while the delay remain the same.

Mostly, I just want to make sure my list didn't leave out anything major--and if there are tricks and tips to carry less stuff around for RNG... (Yeah, contradictory impulses... Bring the kitchen sink, and travel light...)

* * *

Then, there's the question of soloing. I think I how to solo worms on RNG--and that's about it.

Guess I can start in North Gustaberg (S) for Stone Eaters, then move to Korroloka Tunnel for Land Worm, and then maybe Qufim. Where to go for worms after that, not so sure.

If camps are crowded, though, should I try moving targets? I assuming /DNC and Bloody/Sleep Bolt are the best bets?

* * *

Last question, food.

I'm leaning toward Squid Sushi Lv.25+, and Rice Dumplings before that. Really should have other R.Atk food options, but which? And at what levels?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

After Korakola Tunnel is where you're going to start to struggle. There's really nothing worth soloing for a stretch about 3-4 levels after 28 and your next target would be Attowah Chasm or the south end of Grauberg.

Grauberg is the more advisable of two camps as no worms there will link at all, ya just gotta watch for that wandering higher level goblin. He likes to patrol that area and kill unsuspecting players.

But for that 28-32 gap, I'd really just suggest sucking it up and looking for parties or building them. RNG really starts to shine after picking up the archer's knives at 28 and the second Accuracy bonus trait plus Barrage at 30.

[IfritnoItazura]

I'm pretty convinced of RNG's strength, but "build your own party" is no go when there are no tanks to be had. Even looking to the LS is iffy in my case; out of last seven LS parties or so, for six of them I was the tank. Don't think I want to tank on RNG.

Since I've given up on replacement invites, much soloing is in my future.

Edit:
Found this food: Pot-au-feu (JP info)

STR+3
AGI+3
R.Atk+15% (Cap:40)*
R.Acc+10% (Cap:40)*
* R.Atk & R.Acc figures not verified, yet.

Looks almost like the perfect food--nly Rice Dumpling may be slightly more enticing, if planning on Raging Axe.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Originally Posted by IfritnoItazura

I'm pretty convinced of RNG's strength, but "build your own party" is no go when there are no tanks to be had. Even looking to the LS is iffy in my case; out of last seven LS parties or so, for six of them I was the tank. Don't think I want to tank on RNG.

Since I've given up on replacement invites, much soloing is in my future..

I refuse to believe there are no tanks at low level. While you might limit the definition to Ninja and Paladin, I tend to extend that definition to WAR/MNK, WAR/NIN, WAR/BLU, BLU/WAR, SAM/WAR or just get a couple DNCs to bounce hate at low levels.

And all these jobs are a dime a dozen, to be quite frank.

But hey, its your gil. I partied from 16+ on RNG.

To me, soloing means sleep and bloody bolts. Sleep and Bloody Bolts are about 20k a stack each last I recall. Sleep arrows are a joke, so there is no soloing with Bow. And if I'm going to completely rely on Utsusemi and Sleep Bolts to protect me from taking damage, that means I have to pay a hefty price to solo.

Can I solo? Sure. Will I solo for EXP? Not bloody likely. Not even if I decided to level RNG again on Foobar as a sub.

[IfritnoItazura]

Getting a bit off topic, but...

Originally Posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten

I refuse to believe there are no tanks at low level. While you might limit the definition to Ninja and Paladin, I tend to extend that definition to WAR/MNK, WAR/NIN, WAR/BLU, BLU/WAR, SAM/WAR or just get a couple DNCs to bounce hate at low levels.

Actually, I did a search just before posting the last one; there really were no PLD, NIN, or WAR seeking, Lv.15-40. ('No' as in "big fat zero".)

I'd only use BLU to tank if the player say so in comments, plus BLU/WAR tanking doesn't work well before Bludgeon. SAM/WAR is a lousy single tank for the most part--I've tried it many times--it has a hard time holding on to the critter, especially before Seigan. If anything, I'd use DRG/WAR to tank over SAM/WAR before Seigan. SAM/WAR x2 or x3 for tanking setup work well post Seigan, though.

DNC bouncing with another NIN or WAR at low level works ok, but I don't like DNC x2--they won't have enough curing load, and can't tank on damage output.

I suppose it doesn't help that I don't consider a single NIN sufficient tank before Lv.37 anyway.

Originally Posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten

And all these jobs are a dime a dozen, to be quite frank.

Don't know about that. At least for WAR, I always do specific search for them when trying to build party under 30, and they were pretty rare for a past few months.

Originally Posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten

But hey, its your gil. I partied from 16+ on RNG.

Don't get me wrong; I want (working) parties, but they are not easy to form unless you already have tank(s) to begin with. Even healers are on short supply on some nights.

Soloing makes me sleepy... But, camping /search for an hour fruitlessly makes me grumpy, especially since I don't like making PUG parties to begin with. Sleepy is the lesser of two evils.

Originally Posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten

To me, soloing means sleep and bloody bolts. Sleep and Bloody Bolts are about 20k a stack each last I recall. Sleep arrows are a joke, so there is no soloing with Bow. And if I'm going to completely rely on Utsusemi and Sleep Bolts to protect me from taking damage, that means I have to pay a hefty price to solo.

I'm OK with soloing EPs with FoV, while keeping the seek flag up. I'll melee for Drain Samba if it's not a worm. *shrug* I don't anticipate using large numbers of Sleep/Bloody Bolts, but:

Ifrit prices:
Sleep Bolt Quiver: 24k/stack now (~29k normally)
Bloody Bolt Quiver: 40k/stack now (~30k normally)

Bloody Bolt took a price hike recently, but even at 40k, it isn't exactly a horrible price for 1188 of these very useful little things. (Works out to be a bit under 34 gil per shot.)

Edit:
A friend reminded me last night there's another food option for low level RNGs:

Flounder Meuniere

• DEX +6
• MND -1
• R.Acc +15
• R.Atk +14% (Cap: 25@178 Base Ranged Attack)
• Enmity -3

[Jarre]

You could do fields of valour quests in M Mountains or parshow with exp ring to speed up solo levelling during those 3 levels.

[Nuriko]

If there's one spot I really liked @30, it was North Gustaberg [s], just north of the bridge on the way to where Palborough is in the present ... I went /DNC and used arrows, and had no downtime at all...