Quickest Way to Sam?

[Vadrace]

When I leveled my NIN to 37, I 2 boxed and PL'd our group, but we have a static for the most part and we were just leveling subs. The majority of us know how to play very well. I tried to keep the mob on me and not the PL, as I was using my 52BLM to do it, and it was taking a beating at the end there. I did alright.

Anyways, I got a few questions about SAM for all you uber SAM's out there:

What is this nerf people are talking about that happened recently? (Like, end of 07 or something)

I've leveled WAR, NIN, currently leveling DRG to 37, and I plan on doing THF and RNG later, but will my DPS still be good just goin /WAR?

What are some musts for SAM? I'm currently 18, waiting for our static to round out their subs before I start the trek to 75, and I've been farming for gear and stuff. This month I've gotten the Empress Hairpen, O Kotes, and the haste boots from Castle O. I've also got Bounding Boots, but I figure I'd probably switch to Mitra RSE boots.

Also, ACC or ATK? I'm going to be having a COR in my party. I'm trying to figure out how much ACC I need to have before I start stacking ATK. From leveling to 18, and my friend leveling it to 37, it seemed like I didn't need to stack DEX in the early levels like how I used to with WAR and DRK. I seemed to hit pretty consistently with just Bounding Boots and STR rings. Any thoughts on this?

I hope I'm not coming across as needy. I'm just trying to maximize my potential. : )

[Vadrace]

Anyone have any answers for my above questions? Purty please?

[eticket109]

SAM wasn't nerfed. It was buffed beyond belief and then it got scaled back a bit. People seem to forget that first part. It used to be that 2 STR = 1 attack and 2 DEX = 1 acc, then SE changed it to 1 STR = 1 atk and 1 DEX = 1 acc for 2 handers. This was fun, but ultimately broken. They changed it again so that it's closer to a 1.5/1 ratio now.

In most cases, exp parties tend to overreach on mobs, so stacking Accuracy is the way to go. Play around with it though. Once you get past 40s and start to use sushi more, you can start layering more attack.

[Ryoii/Nonomii]

Personally I preferred fighting piercing weak enemies (25% DMG bonus against Mandragora, Birds, and Bats) with a Polearm while stacking on the ACC and DEX and eating ATK foods. Great Katana just cannot compete until you have a Soboro at Lv50.

[Malacite]

SAM wasn't nerfed. It was buffed beyond belief and then it got scaled back a bit. People seem to forget that first part. It used to be that 2 STR = 1 attack and 2 DEX = 1 acc, then SE changed it to 1 STR = 1 atk and 1 DEX = 1 acc for 2 handers. This was fun, but ultimately broken. They changed it again so that it's closer to a 1.5/1 ratio now.

Eh it wan't that broken. It was the changes to Y/G/K and 2 handed damage that did it.

[Vadrace]

And are the changes to Y/G/K you refer to have to deal with the change in the modifier at 100 tp?

[Nuriko]

Might I suggest getting THF to 15 as soon as possible for farming purposes? Also, people always seem to promote the idea of taking one job as far as you can before moving on ... might it be better to just set priorities, but seek on the job that's likeliest to get a good PT given who else is about?

[eticket109]

And are the changes to Y/G/K you refer to have to deal with the change in the modifier at 100 tp?

yeah, they changed all the modifiers around. most of the two handed weaponskills were insanely broken. those were fun times though.

[VZX]

Eh it wan't that broken. It was the changes to Y/G/K and 2 handed damage that did it.

The change from 1 DEX -> 1 acc was completely broken
Assuming most people can get 70 total DEX at 75, they recieve +35 extra acc bonus.
It feels like you're giving Accuracy Bonus III to 2 hander

[Malacite]

And yet the majority of the strongest weapons in the game are still 1 handed


I'll concede the 1:1 on DEX was somewhat over kill but it was so damn nice not having to freaking use sushi all the time while it lasted. At level 75 the 1:1 ratio averaged at about an extra 50 points for most of the jobs which while pretty nice, still wasn't all that game-breaking. It basically allowed us to fight without a BRD


The changes to Y/G/K at 100 TP along with the greatly increased damage to high def/higher level enemies was what really pushed the jobs over the limit. DRG was pulling over 3000 dmg Skewers on G. Colibri after the initial update because we basically had RNG's old uncapped damage for a while. Then SE scaled it down a bit to around where Ranged Attacks are now, and then scaled it yet again (bastards) to somewhere in between 1 handers and Ranged, as well as resetting the Y/G/K mods to what they were before (once again cementing Hagun's obscene dominance and sale price -.- )