Beginner Samurai

[Kiryn]

Okay I been enjoying Samurai a lot since I got the job. And I really wanna take it to 75. Then maybe next Dark Knight or Paladin. But i'm having some problems with it.

Third eye abilitiy which I know it gives you a free evade. But i'm having trouble know when it's best to use it. I always use it at the wrong time. But like in Valkrum Dunes. Right now i'm SAM19/WAR9. I wait til I get a message saying the tp move of the mob readies it. Then I hit Alt+3 which is my macro for it. But it fires too late and i still get hit, then I get the chance to evade it. . But I won't know when to use it cause I don't know when the mob will use its special or whatnot.

When should I start leveling up Ranger for later on Samurai/Ranger? I don't really want bother leveling THF right now cause, i'm too impatient with trying to get SAM high. I know its a bad thing.

I have all my gear up to date. I got the lvl 20 GK (Maxed out GK skill at 60 @ level 19). I have Cotton Matahachi +1(sp?). Waiting for level 21 for Spike Necklace. Bone Earrings x2. Still using Power GI til level 24 for my Chainmail set. And other stuff I can't remember.

So I don't know if i'm setting up my Samurai good or am I just screwing it up right now also?

I'll post more of my equipment later since about to go to bed.

[Kisshu]

I haven't realy tried /RNG myself, but from SAM30 you got atleast 2 choices:

/WAR will give youa little more power for each hit and Berserk can be realy good when fighting mobs that boost their defence like crabs and crawlers, also, you can act as a backup tank and trick partner if there is a THF in the PT post 30.

/THF gives you a little more DEX than /WAR, giving you a slightly higher chance to land critical hits. If you pull hate you got the Evasion job trait to avoid taking hits. /THF should be used from LV 30 when you get access to Sneak Attack.

All in all, /WAR gives more DoT damage compared to /THF because of higher STR and Berserk while /THF is more about spike damage from Sneak Attack WS. Which on you choose should depend on your play style.
Personally I used /WAR all the way to LV 65 where I started to use /THF, post 50 SAM/WAR was realy powerfull with access to Double Attack, Berserk and Hasso, but a PT with 2 jobs that can tank /THF realy works well for hate holding.

[Clever Ninja]

/RNG or /DRG would be better actually from 20-30 due to the accuracy boost, you'll only need Warrior if your tanking or are the second voke for someone. DRG especially since you'll get access to jump, which will give you a free hit with Jump whenever its on cooldown.

[IfritnoItazura]

/RNG or /DRG would be better actually from 20-30 due to the accuracy boost

SAM30/DRG15 does not have Accuracy Bonus. (Dragoon does not get that until Lv.30.) DRG does give an Attack Bonus, though, at Lv.10, so SAM20/DRG10 and above would have it.

Edit:
Many monster's TP attacks are just too fast to catch. Since your SAM probably won't be tanking for long, I'd just use Third Eye when:
A) Pulling. (Third Eye > range attack)
B) Just before Weaponskill (so you can anticipate one hit if the monster gets mad at you).

Support job wise, I would guess /WAR is a must have, Lv.1-75. /THF isn't as important until your SAM hits Lv.60. The optional ones are /RNG and /DRG.

Between Lv.20 and Lv.30, SAM/RNG is probably the best damage output combination for SAM. It's played like Ranger one out of every five minutes. Basically, every time Sharpshot is up, move far away from the monster, and spam arrows. With good bow and arrows, it works quite well, and the overall damage can be competitive with THF's and DRG's over the course of the party, even before Hasso.

However, if you need to skillchain, SAM/DRG works better in the Lv20-30 range--Jump is a free swing, sort to speak. Great way to build TP with high damage/high delay weapons.

At Lv.30, /WAR's Berserk pretty much is what you'd want. Nothing else is as effective, IMO, with the possible exception of /DRG if one has the latent gears.

Aside from elitists (such as myself >_>; ) who consider /WAR to be sub-optimal before Berserk, no one would hassle a SAM/WAR before Lv.30 either, making it the one Lv.1-75 support job to have.

[raidenn]

I never used /RNG on Xp parties. It just isnt useful. Its good for soloing if you have Barrage and Sidewinder. Of course theres always that big chance that you will miss with it so I dont consider /RNG reliable. (AND YOU WILL MISS A LOT) Also you will need to waste time moving away from the mob to take a shot. This is also annoying to other party members especially if the mob keeps bouncing around.

/THF only works if you have access to Sneak Attack. (If you have no Thf in the party, you will function as hate control and sometimes the puller)

/WAR works since SAM always goes as the backup tank anyway. (STR , Berserk, Provoke, Warcry are very very useful)

/DRG is used only for soloing if you want to try out performing a skillchain by using Jump and Meditate.

[Clever Ninja]

Ah, thought the DRG Accuracy Boost was at 10, my mistake >_>. /DRG is still a great DD option before berserk though. I'm raising RNG myself on my Galka to use on my 25SAM.

And raidenn, I've seen SAM/RNG do crazy damage. Aside from spamming Sidewinders, the only time they really do range damage is when Sharpshot is up, other times they just melee away. My RL friend leveled SAM like this and was always at the top of the parser. The main problem with SAM/RNG is you basically need to static with a tank or THF if you don't want to gimp yourself in damaging, cause if you try to play like normal you'll grab aggro off a normal crappy PUG tank.

[raidenn]

I have /RNG fully leveled already. Weaponskill damage from Sidewinder is pretty good, almost as good as Sneak Attack + Tachi Gekko. However the spike in damage usually screws up hate control for the tank.

I prefer to stick with /WAR because of Double Attack, Str bonus and Berserk as well as Warcry. Damage doesnt have to always count with Weaponskills but also your common hits. Also, I dont want a mob chewing on my mages if my tank loses hate. Thats why we have Seigan + Third Eye. Also /WAR is more party-friendly job anyway.