WAR,DRK,DRG > SAM?@60

[Ziggystardust]

Hi, first post on here. I got SAM up to 60 the other night and have noticed a few things. Im missing a ton or everyone else gets there tp before I do (everyone I mean either a WAR,DRK,or DRG what I've had in my pts as of 59-60).

My gear isnt best, I use my AF for hands,legs,feet a rlyknights chian for body, centurions headgear, spike earrrings, rylguards collar, lifebelt, and a lightning bow. I still keep up with others with a Hauby just obviously cant do more dmg then them.

My dot and ws dmg are compareable, sometimes better sometimes worse. But it seems like I have to max out on food or have berserk constantly up to even keep pace with others. I eat squid/sole sushi and tonosama riceballs.

A for-instance, last night was in a pt with a DRG. He had a SH and all kinds of acc+ gear, and we were fighting raptors in VoS(vt's for the most part I believe). His dot and ws were 75% higher then mine, while I was using the rice balls which I believe give 100 attack? Anywho his skewer was stomping my jinpu's enpi's and yukikaze. I was just wondering is this normal? (I'm using a jinpachi nq cant remember what polearm he was using but had 80dmg over my 69dmg.)

I was just wondering when I'll beable to run with the high rollers like ppl who wear haubys and have all the rediculose gear, without having them myself or atleast until I can get my hands on them. When does SAM get out of this rut or am I the only 60 SAM experiencing these woes.

[Dega]

When I hit 60 a lot changed for me personally. I found I could shift more towards being one of the main damage dealers instead of just keeping the SC's and MB's being optimal. It added a lot of diversity for me at that point. Fact given, I did have a Hauby, and some other gear you would probably consider 'Redicilous'.

I'm not the l33test samurai ever, but I always found much fun in optimizing my gear, trying out different combo's for accuracy, damage, ws damage, and attack. You can obviously still be a good samurai without optimal gear, but I would advise not comparing yourself to people who do have that goal. A drg in SH sounds like someone who is trying to optimise his performance, and drg already ranks higher on the main melee damage dealer list then Samurai. To outperform him you just can't expect to win on base stats alone.

On an other note, the added effect of riceballs with AF hands is nice I guess, but since you are missing a hauby, I would advise jumping into the sole sushi, so your accuracy is at least near optimal with your current gear set up.

[Outlaw]

Sam does kinda suck at lvl60. Here is a list of what i wore at 60. (Im 66 now and have a haub)

Weapon: Get a Gold Musketeer's uchigatana if u can afford it or a Zanbato.
Sub: N/A
Ranged: Lightning Bow or +1 version
Head: Walkure's mask if u can manage if not anything that has STR +
Hands: Federation or Windurstian Tekko for Acc or Ryl Knights gloves
Body: Ryl. Knights Chainmail
Legs: Sam AF (you can use these for a long time so dont waste money on them)
Feet: Personally i used AF boots till i hit 63 then bought Tiger ledelsians
Waist: Life Belt
Ring 1: Venurer's Ring
Ring 2: Sun Ring
Back: Jaguar's Mantle if u can afford, if not whichever will give u ATK, STR; if not available just grab a decent Def one.
Neck: Ryl. Guard's Collar

Hope this helps.

[Dega]

Samurai at 60 doesn't suck... Just have to play with your equip and test your set up.

And no offense, but PLEASE don't use AF feet. Get federation Kayhan or your RSE as hume I think.

Also, if you want higher damage don't get musketeer great katana. Look at the damage and weep. Get either a Jindachi(+1) till zanbatto, or a dayhanna if you can afford it.

[Gwynn]

Samurai at 60 doesn't suck... Just have to play with your equip and test your set up.

And no offense, but PLEASE don't use AF feet. Get federation Kayhan or your RSE as hume I think.

Also, if you want higher damage don't get musketeer great katana. Look at the damage and weep. Get either a Jindachi(+1) till zanbatto, or a dayhanna if you can afford it.

Hume RSE feet gives +INT. I believe you're thinking of Hume RSE gloves, which give +3 STR +3 DEX.

[Ziggystardust]

Thanks for the great suggesttions. I was worried about the lvl 25 hand and feet gear the windurstion set being way to low but I saw an even higher lvl SAM in jeuno wearing them lol so I dunno maybe I will get them again to try it out, I did use those for a while btw. I also switch between my custom gloves and AF gloves depending if I bring my riceballs out. I also have a Zanbato waiting for me at 61 which I'm only 5k away from at this point. Thanks everyone I will try some different things out ^^V.

[Outlaw]

I didnt post the Hume RSE gloves because im not a hume, and i just post from my own experiences. Gold muskateer's uchigatana is a decent weapon +4 acc and + 4 attack and the delay is realitivly low compared to the zanbato. I reccomend buying both and if u have a rdm that can haste u then use zanbato, if not use uchigatana. Thats what I did. Also yes AF boots kinda suck but since im usually pulling for the party the evasion is nice. (Eva is at 217 with boots). If you don't pull then maybe u want something else. Its ur choice

[Ziggystardust]

I never though of it like that, maybe I will invest in a GMuchi thats a good point. Everyone's been really helpful and I am grateful ^^V.

[knyte]

i have a bias here with war sub but anyway....

my experience with war sub is that the dmg can be kind of spotty every now and then. not very consistant, even with a hauby. with a thf sub, dmg was more consistant at around 800 with SA+Yukikaze.

although i did have mostly the same set up as you do. what rings you using? once you hit 60+ STR becomes crack for sam, be sure to invest in it as much as you can. other than that your setup is ok. there will be times where other melee jobs will out dmg you. thats ok, sams can put out decent numbers on its own. just have fun, and remember: we sams are a burst dmg type of DD, no other job can lay claim to this category. we have the capability to crank out big dmg in very short amounts of time with meditate and our 2hr, and a soboro but thats beside the point >.>

go watch some sam vids. there is one by deleqioux where he does 8 ws' in a row using a soboro. now equip a better main weap there and as much str as possible and do the math. lots of dmg potential in there me thinks

[crowly]

SAM DoT just blows...it's a burst job like Knyte said. Focus on your WS above everything else.

[Mobius the Ronin's Muse]

I'm sorry but SAM damage doesn't suck in the least, it's simply a matter of using the right food & equip... Personally I prefer /war in xp pt's mostly for the extra atk & double attacks. because I'm elvaan I also max out my dex and acc... here's how:

Main: GMU (lower delay and +4 acc makes it vastly superior to the higher damage/delay on Zanbato for an Elvaan hands down)

Range: Lightning bow (+2dex, low delay for pulls)

Head: Ryl Knights Basc (+dex +str) with AF head macroed in for medi

Neck: Mermans Gorget (+acc)

Body: Royal Knights Chainmail

Hands: Royal Knights Mufflers (these are NOT optional, +3 acc instead of a meager +3 atk makes quite a difference)

Legs: Royal Knights (+2 dex +2 str, if I'm hitting solidly, I switch to af legs for a touch more str)

Feet: My main weak point generally I go with RK feet for +2 agi to help a bit on r.acc for pulls

Rings: Venerers Ring (+3 acc), and either a +3 dex or +3 str ring depending on how much I'm connecting

Back: Amemet Mantle (kinda speaks for itself)

Food: Tentacle Sushi (acc+ double atk+)

Now, there's a few exceptions to this... When I'm SATA partnering I macro in af feet & hands for +7 enmity if I'm finding it hard to pull hate (any more than that & the tank doesn't need sata imo), when there is a brd in the party and I'm connecting well with acc+ songs I switch to af hands and tsonoma rice balls (with berserk this pushes my attack up to about 550, which at 65 aint too bad ). Occasionally I'm lucky enough to borrow a friends hauby, I'm currently saving for my own because lets face it... +10 acc +10 atk +5str +5 dex puts an elvaan sam in a league of their own.

With these stats I find that I keep pace with all other melee jobs quite easily, the key is to remember you have zanshin @ 60 & double atk is your best friend (dex makes Double Attack more frequent, and Tentacle Sushi is not to be overlooked).

Oh, and using meditate wisely is absolutely crucial to making your samurai shine (but I didn't need to tell anyone here that now did I? )

Edit: yes, post 60 your'e going to want to be able macro in a whole bunch of str for your WS's, but even without it correct usage of meditate will make up for the slightly lower damage on a lower str yuki or gekko

[Tadekatsu]

Well, I'm SAM 59, and I'm actually finding that my damage is going up considerably..
IMO it's due to your gear.

Now, it's already been said that a Samurai can do just fine without going gear crazy and being a complete elitist. BUT, in your op, you mentioned being outdmg'ed by quite a bit, and well, if you want to change that, its time to buff up!

First off. Grab a Hauby, that should be a high priority, not only is it an amazing piece of equipment, but it will also last you a very long time... like uh, endgame! Pick one up, you'll notice the difference immediately.

For a weapon, GM Uchi, Zanbato, and Daihannya, pick one of those three, Daihannya is great, with +3 STR.. I've got one, and it's sweet.

Headgear.. Obviously you'll be using the Myochin Kabuto quite a bit.. but pick up a Sipahi Turban if you can.. It gives a nice boost to your STR (+3 I believe), and it looks positively badass! And plus, you can still macro in the Myochin for Meditate.

Rings, Pick up some acc! Sniper's or Woodsman, and if you cant afford two of those, grab a Venerers. Also, a pair of Sun rings is a fairly cheap 6 STR for those WS.

And I strongly suggest Sushi.. Tuna is some of the cheapest and it still gives you a good Acc. boost. Sole is awesome because it gives Acc. AND str.

Other than that, I think everything else has already been mentioned. The above list is a big part of my exp setup, and I do at least = dmg to most DD's I pt with, and nobody beats me in tp gain.. RNG give me some competition though! Like I said, you can do fine without this gear.. but if you truly want to excel, good gear will really help you!

[DakAttack]

As a Dragoon I can comment that you will most likely not match them in damage hit for hit, but a few levels later you can easily whip out 1000+ damage Gekkos and Yakuzas(watev) while they're popping out 400 damage Wheeling Thrusts.