SAM/WAR *Deatails Please* :)

[Galilei]

Here I am again to ask questions :D!

SAM/WAR caught my two eyes...some how and I don't know why. So! I want to know more about Sammurai subbed with Warrior.

Questions:
-What are the pros and cons of this job subbed with WAR?
-Armor and weopons...should it be updated every 5-10 levels?
-What bonuses am I looking for in gear?
-Do SAM/WAR get party invites fast, slow, or in between?

Thank you!

[neighbortaru]

Which Job Should I Play?
should be enough to get you started

[Galilei]

Ok thanks

[IfritnoItazura]

Actually, that guide doesn't answer the OP's questions very well.

Like all melee DDs, SAM look for good weapons, and upgrade as often as better weapons become available. That is the highest priority. This is a pretty simplified list, but should be more or less accurate at lower levels for what to look for in gears:

1. Weapon
2. Accuracy
3. Attack
4. Strength
5. Dexterity
6. Defense

Somepage's database is the best way to search for available gears: http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/advanced.php

As for invite rate, it really depends on which other jobs are available, and how many people there are seeking in your level range. Just realize that for most levels, people want tank, healer, and support first, and you will play second fiddle to them and compete with a lot of other DDs for the remaining slots in party.

[Galilei]

Thank you ^^

[Kisshu]

As far as SAM/WAR pros, at 10 you get provoke to help out tank, at 30 Berserk which will give you more ATT, at 50 a very nice Double Attack trait as well as an Attack trait and at 70 you get Warcry plus WAR gives most STR over all

Now, the cons IMO is mostly at the later LVs, in my experience I know that at 60+ it can be lethal for a SAM/WAR to go all out on monsters, so depending on your Tank and maybe THF you can become a MP drain for cures, however, I tried this before Seigan/Third Eye update

So over all, SAM/WAR is one hell of a job combination, just be sure to be on the safe side of the hate line

[Dymlos]

I personally prefer going SAM/WAR over SAM/THF since I have more tools to work with as /WAR unlike as /THF where all I do is SATA every 1 min. Um.. ya.. <no thanks>

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

What are the pros and cons of this job subbed with WAR?
I believe you mean:
What are the pros and cons of subbing WAR with SAM main?

Pros:
Lv10 - Provoke - Ability to spike enmity (hate) every 30 seconds
Lv20 - Defense Boost - Increase of defense by 10, slightly less damage taken
Lv30 - Berserk - 25% boost to attack for 3 out of 5 minutes, greatly increased damage
Lv50 - Double Attack - 10% chance to attack twice, increased damage and TP gain
Lv50 - Defender - 25% boost to defense while sacrificing 25% attack, method of lower damage taken
Lv60 - Attack Boost - Increase of attack by 10, little bit more damage
Lv70 - Warcry - 30 second 12.5% boost to attack, helpful for increasing weaponskill damage

Cons:
You don't get access to tons of things which help from other jobs. WAR is definitely the best if you are tanking, but RNG is nice when pulling in the early levels, DRG is nice for damage dealing in the early levels, THF is nice for controlling hate in the middle of the game, and NIN is nice for damage mitigation late in the game.

Lv1 - Sharpshot (RNG) - Increased ranged accuracy every 5 minutes
Lv1 - Wide Scan II (RNG) - Ability to find enemies on map to pull
Lv18 - Tonko: Ichi (NIN) - Invisible ninjitsu
Lv20 - Accuracy Bonus I (RNG) - 10 accuracy (5% higher hit rate)
Lv20 - Attack Bonus I (DRG) - 10 attack
Lv20 - Jump (DRG) - Extra attack every minute which builds TP and does more damage
Lv24 - Utsusemi: Ichi (NIN) - Three shadows
Lv30 - Sneak Attack (THF) - Forced critical hit from behind
Lv30 - Flee (THF) - Ability to run extremely fast
Lv30 - Accuracy Bonus I (DRG) - 10 accuracy (5% higher hit rate)
Lv40 - Wide Scan III (RNG) - Increased range on map for finding enemies to pull
Lv57 - Sidewinder (RNG) - Powerful weaponskill, great for farming Greater Birds
Lv60 - Trick Attack (THF) - Ability to transfer hate from next attack, combines well with Tachi: Yukikaze and Penta Thrust
Lv60 - Accuracy Bonus II (RNG) - 22 accuracy (11% higher hit rate)
Lv60 - Barrage (RNG) - Great way to get 100TP really fast
Lv70 - High Jump (DRG) - Jump which deals damage, gains TP, and sheds 33% of your enmity (hate)
Lv74 - Utsusemi: Ni (NIN) - Four shadows
------------------------------------------
Personally I love SAM. However, I also have a RDM on another account, so I don't have to worry about not being able to do anything alone. While SAM/RDM does grant you Sneak, Invisible, Stoneskin, and a little bit of MP to make use of all of this, you should really look into DRG as a possible job too. I'm already leveling DRG to 37 as a subjob for a Haste build, and it is tons of fun.

DRG benefits from the ability to do a limited amount of soloing with the use of a mage subjob and healing wyvern. You can make decent leveling progress soloing BST pets. Also DRG will benefit from SAM as a subjob later in the game, so you should try to level both jobs a little to see which fits you best. Another fun thing to do as a DRG/RDM or DRG/BLU is duo with a PLD/WAR or RDM/WAR who can tank for you.

[Malacite]

lol @ SAM/NIN.

Seriously, the obsession with /NIN has got to stop at some point. Hasso and Seigan increase the recast timers by 50%, so unless there are attacks you absolutely must avoid (such as magic or the poison effect from those Lamia in the ToAU missions) Seigan + Third Eye will do just fine.


The above posters pretty well covered everything on SAM/WAR, but I'm going to have to seriously argue against Ifrit's priority list.

Now that 1 STR = 1 Attack and 1 DEX = 1 Accuracy, atk and acc gear take a back seat to STR and DEX (especially STR at 60+) unless you're getting a significant boost (such as the +20 from Ochuido's Kote).


The reason for this is because all Great Katana weaponskills use STR as their stat modifier. This on top of STR generally increasing physical damage output allows SAM to pile it on for great effect. It's especially noticeable at 60+ when you start to get the last 3 WS you will ever use; Tachi Yukikaze, Gekko, and Kasha.

These 3 WS have a STR modifier of 75%. That means for every 3/4 STR, 3 DMG is being added into the equation (on top of the other benefits of high STR). This makes for some killer WS.


The last two points I want to make are you should generally be eating meat full-time now since your DEX bonus is now good enough to forgo eating sushi (unless for some reason you're over hunting and the mob is just impossible to hit) and if you haven't already, get cracking on CoP missions.


At level 50, if you're on or past the mission you fight Ouryu (4-2 I think?) you'll have access to an area called Cape Riverne #B01. In this area is a ??? where you can trade a Cluster Core to spawn an NM Cluster (3 Bombs as a single mob).

You'll need at least 10 people to take this guy down, and at least 2 people who can reliably stun it to prevent it from using Self-Destruct. If you beat it, there's a good chance it'll drop the Soboro Sukehiro.


This is one of the best weapons a SAM can use (except on thief sub; never ever use it on THF sub because of the low base damage) and it will last you all the way to 75. Before the recent patch, Soboro was at least on par with Hagun. Now (at least in merits) it can easily beat it due to the increased performance from the update and the insane number of weapon skills you can get off per fight (You should easily manage at least 4 if not 6 or 7 a fight)


That's all for now, enjoy SAM and get THF RNG and possibly DRG leveled up as well since they're also pretty cool subs for SAM.