[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by sp4rk

After talking with the group, they want me to DD fully. Once again ive been hearing good things about wars dps, and am not sure if War/nin would still be good for dps or should I stick with War/Sam with a Great Axe and murder things lol.

"DD fully" is a bad mentality for WAR players.

When a tank has critically low HP, or when a monster is tearing into a DD or mage, a Provoke from a Warrior can buy time for healers and tank to catch up. There's no better setup than WAR/NIN to effortlessly switch between DD'ing and emergency tanking. Utsusemi is also great for going over tank's threshold for a bit of time without taking hits.

Besides, a good WAR isn't just there to make damage. One of the first weaponskill a WAR can have is Shield Break. Sturmwind at Lv.23 will easily outdamage it, but the evasion-40 effect from Shield Break is so useful, the better players will continue to use it long after Sturmwind is available.

Be smart, fully.

[sp4rk]

Oh yeah I definitely know what my role in a group is in terms of being an emergency tank. Just wanted to make sure that i am of more use than just to provoke when sh*t hits the fan.

[sp4rk]

Ive been reading that War/drg with all the haste gear and the jumps might be a better choice for dps than War/Nin. Could this be true?

[Aylmer]

I personally like War/Sam for dmg output with GA, but as for DD and Tank combo War/Sam isnt good until Seigan at 70. Nin will give you a decent take from both roles at earlier levels.

[Nuriko]

DRG gives an early attack bonus and Jump, as well some added gear options. You do, however, give up the shadows /NIN gives you, and those can save your skin ... or somebody else in the PT.

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by sp4rk

Ive been reading that War/drg with all the haste gear and the jumps might be a better choice for dps than War/Nin. Could this be true?

What exactly do you mean by "dps"? I gather you don't mean the "Dmg-value/Second" rating FFXI players use to evaulate weapons. Do you mean "the average damage-output/second"?

When well geared and played aggressively, I've seen SAM, WAR, DRG*, BST*, MNK, DRK, and RNG do quite well in terms of total damage output over the length of typical exp or merit parties. (*Yes, pet output must be counted--no exception.) If the focus is absolutely on damage, you've plenty to choose from, though it seems a bit easier to squeeze out high output on SAM and MNK than other jobs.

In any case, aside from the Jumps, the strength of /DRG is based in large part on the Lv.30 Wyvern Earring, which gives a 5% Haste effect, and an innate Accuracy bonus trait when Lv.60+. Hasso from /SAM (WAR50+/SAM25+) will beat that with 10% Haste effect, plus match the Accuracy+10, plus toss in a small amount of STR. Then, there are also Meditate and Store TP for better TP gain.

If using a two handed weapons, /SAM should win the DD contest--except for Samurais themselves--those can use /DRG.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by sp4rk

Ive been reading that War/drg with all the haste gear and the jumps might be a better choice for dps than War/Nin. Could this be true?

/DRG will likely do more overall damage, but it will tax your healers more than /NIN, since you have no damage mitigation. If you do your job well as a DD, you will pull hate, and being a drain to your healer's MP will become an issue.

[Celeal]

In practice, the less damage mitigation tools you have as DD, more control on damage output as needed. In other words, instead of going max damage output at all time, you hold back conditionally.

A dead DD outputs zero damage while he is lying on the floor.

Years ago in traditional exp. parties, it is common to see DD (non /NIN) stop hitting, with their back facing the mob to shred hate. Instead of spamming WS whenever TP@ 100% like nowadays, the DD(s) would hold back until they can setup some form of burst damage, like Skillchain + Magic Burst. Basically, if the tank lose hate but the mob dies very soon afterward, usually damage done to the party is little.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by Celeal

In practice, the less damage mitigation tools you have as DD, more control on damage output as needed. In other words, instead of going max damage output at all time, you hold back conditionally.

So what's the point of choosing a sub to increase damage if you then have to change your behavior to deal less damage?

About the only thing you can really control with damage output is when you use your TP. If you decide to use WSs less often as a result of picking a "better" DD sub that lacks damage mitigation, I doubt you'll wind up accomplishing the task of increasing your damage overall damage output.

---------- Post added at 11:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Celeal

Years ago in traditional exp. parties, it is common to see DD (non /NIN) stop hitting, with their back facing the mob to shred hate.

Years ago, it was also common to over hunt against IT++ mobs, and go for bigger exp "spikes" rather than better overall exp/hour. It wasn't common practice because it was necessarily a good idea. It was common practice simply because it was common practice.

[Celeal]

Originally Posted by LyonheartLakshmi

So what's the point of choosing a sub to increase damage if you then have to change your behavior to deal less damage?

About the only thing you can really control with damage output is when you use your TP. If you decide to use WSs less often as a result of picking a "better" DD sub that lacks damage mitigation, I doubt you'll wind up accomplishing the task of increasing your damage overall damage output.

I do not say or imply those are "better" or "worst" subjob/tactic. The OP inquires about WAR/DRG, and that was my feedback.

As for the OP with a (partial) static party, he can afford a wider subjob selection, as compare to DD who is seeking for pick up parties.

After level 74, DD/NIN is very good. Before that level, with just 3 shadows from Ichi, some players do a great job, some players don't --- like still being the MP sink, or haven't use as much of shadows. Depends on who is behind the character, some "control" or "help" may still be needed.

In exp. party, there are situation that DD can work well without /NIN, like BLU/THF for instance. A good THF, or DD/THF (level 60+) Trick Attack + WS on tank is still functional.