Elvaan with this job

[Sheila]

I got a PM recently and I think it's cause of this thread.
I'm starting to see way too many race/job arguments by people who don't know what they're talking about really (reading about a game doesn't count). Try to keep these from becoming off topic flamewars.

To answer the question
"why does a taru melee suck way more than an elvaan mage?"

It is because magic never misses.
You can cure people, you can cast at monsters but you will never "miss" or "do less". It is the same across all races.

BLMs don't really need INT boosts to do "as much damage as" taru, because all magic has a cap damage. MP boosting is what they need and it's very easy to get unless you are Galka.

FF games seem to favor HP, cure, melee attack, FF11 doesn't change that. Melee relies on STR DEX AGI VIT, and often needs to be proficient in at least 2 or 3. Taru doesn't really get those stats, and they don't get much HP either. So it's often the case they don't hit very hard or at all, and will never ever be able to take hits.

Then there's "oh but a taru mage has MP" well, nobody ingame cares what your max MP is, as long as you have *enough*.

No matter what your MAX MP is, people will always end up saying things like "250 MP de OK" meaning when the mages have 250 mp they fish the next monster.

You never ever will be sitting to get back full MP between battles.

It just takes too long. I feel sad when taru mages have so little HP that in BCNM or boss battles gone wrong they're the first to go or nearly die. 3 hits, sometimes even one shot from full hp and they're dead before anyone can react. All mages, even galka can't take many hits, but the few more hits you can take, at least people can react and possibly save you or you save yourself.

Still, what people do is their business and please respect that.

[Kirashi]

thanks shelia for your reply (and the pm also)
i didn't pm you because of this thread, i pmed you because i was actually playing the game and seeing problems as i do go ahead of the game.
right now i am a level 45 elvaan blm and i am starting to see the difference of int isn't that bad. for me wearing 2 -20hp +20mp rings instead of my old +2 int rings and my int is now 12-15 less than taru blm at my level. with ?¸—ì‚̈ó and mb on the same monster at with the same spell, my mb barely did 12-15 less damage, which i do not consider bad out of almost 300 damages.
even though my japanese isn't great, i have talked to a few 65+ elvaan blm, and they have said just about the same thing you did shelia. I am looking forward to one day when i can fully equip myself with ?•?@af w.
and then time to get myself some ?¢Š«‚—

and for one who think that he can know about the game by reading
"Lastly, I don't care what any of you say a Taru BLM will always be better than an Elvaan because they have better MP and better INT."
i am very certain you do not know about every items in the game, their cost in economy, their obtainability and how much each magic set damages the enermy
if you dare to say you know more about the game as a blm than me which is seeminly what you are trying to tell me "taru blm > elvaan blm", i can tell you that i know MORE about this game than you do. and no matter how bad an elitest attitude it is, it's true

[Alagor]

Hey, I'm in the beta so I'll tell you guys what I think of this argument.

In my opinion Mithra or Hume BLMs are the best. My reasoning is that the Humes and Mithra have more MP than the Elvaan BLMs but they have less hp, but the important thing is that the amount of MP they gain is just enough to keep you from running out in mid fight, and the HP bonus is nice too.

The problem with tarutaru mages is that lack of HP. I've seen many of my friends get beaten really quickly as soon as a monster becomes agressive to them.

While Elvaans have the HP to survive that I run out of mana a lot in my fights, and many times I have to resort to using my staff. I will also tell you that I have boosted my MP with as many items as I can find, and still I do not have enough MP.

This is y I believe the Mithra are the best. They have the crucial amount of MP but they also have HP.

THey also get the windurst ring if u start in windurst with a mithra or tarutaru, and the ring is also really really nice. (if u don't know its +1 agi +1 int +3 mana)

[hoizup@]

Well I was playing an Elvaan WHM/BLM myself and it does not suck but it is really frustrating when you have very low MP after one fight and a Taru can battle 3 or 4 fights before running out of MP. Elvaans have higher HP and if they get Hate it is useful but hey in a good party this should not happen and it will not happen if you party with the right people (some of the game otakus can make exp like hell, if you once get in one of those groups never leave them )

[rpgcrazy]

Uhhh sorry to be asking this but the rings that increase certain stats....when u put them on does ur stat change and then can u take it off and still have the changed stats or is ur stats only changed when its on u? thanx in advance!

[Sushilord]

Like in every Final Fantasy and every RPG the stat-change of the item will disappear, when the item is not worn.
So equip and then unequip will not give permanent status change.
Cuz then if you equip/unequip a ring that gives +1 INT one hundred times, you'll get 100 INT, that doesn't make sense, does it?

[DrMrLordX]

Just thought I'd throw my $.02 in here . . .

I currently play an Elvaan WHM/BLM, 23/8, on cactaur(beta)

As you may have noticed, I don't like levelling my sub. Elvaan do have two strikes against them as BLMs. They have the lowest INT and the second-worst MP of any race.

Basically:

When I am a WHM, I use a ton of +MND gear(I have +12 total currently) and only a little +mp gear(+25 mp from gear total). I see my MPs as being a limitation, but I can do more point-per-point of mana than anyone else, especially if I'm smart about how I use it. My Slow/Paralyze/Silence are less likely to be resisted than most other WHMs I see. I capped Cure II out at 90 hp at level 18. I can actually hit monsters that are IT to me for 30+ damage(sometimes) with Banish. Though Banish still sucks. By playing to my race's already-strong suit, i.e. MND, I can excel as a white mage, and a few people have already started requesting me for their party whenever they see me. I'm sure the MND advantage won't be so great later on once I've got Cure 4 capped and I'll have no other obvious milestone to reach, but then, there's always Holy . . . nevertheless, so long as I make sure that I have "enough" MP for one fight in a party of my level, I can forsake all other concerns and just focus on +MND gear and get the most bang out of each spell as I can.

When I am a BLM, I mostly use hand-me down WHM gear. I need to fix that I guess. But, soloing, it's pretty bleak. I seem to do poor damage with my spells, and I can't cast many of them. As a WHM, I can cast a few spells with a big impact(think of it as a small gas tank full of high-octane fuel), but as a BLM, I can cast a few spells with relatively little impact(a small gas tank full of low-octane fuel). I really seem to have problems with my enfeebling spells like Poison and Blind getting resisted or having very short durations as well, and I suspect that my crappy Elvaan INT may be responsible for this. Elvaan RSEs should make the BLM experience better, but you're still stuck with picking gear for INT or +mp in most cases(you don't always get both). Elvaan WHM can get by just fine selecting only +MP gear, or they can crazy-go-nuts like me and go for mostly +MND gear after they've got "enough" MP.

I have not joined any groups as a BLM yet because I'm not yet level 10.

In conclusion, I find that my Elvaan is great as a WHM, but rather sad as a BLM. I obviously do not have good BLM equipment, but I can see that choosing equipment for an Elvaan BLM will be frustrating until RSEs become available to me(level 31+ I think?). It's either INT or MP. I think I'll probably be choosing +INT gear most of the time, because my WHM sub does add a decent amount of MP.

I'm sure Elvaan BLMs do okay at higher levels when their INT and spell skills are high enough so that they've capped out their most-used damage spells, and they can focus solely on +MP gear. My guess is that they'll always have problems with enfeebling magic, though. Best to rely on a friendly RDM to cast those spells for you, no? *)

[Kirara]

all healing has cap.... they get maxed out easy, and since square changed it, healing is mostly if not all depedent on healing skill now, there's not really too much a problem for any race be whm

however i think int hurts blm a bit, eventhough the resistancy of magic are skill based, which every race gets it the same. but damage is a bit off, i partied with level 60 blm taru during my shiva fight, i was 58 at that time, my fire2 was doing about 40 less damage than his.... and his firega2 just totall owned mine -_- it was like a 70-80 damage difference i believe, and then he used flare XD which is something i dont have lol... but anyways i think elvaan mages are ok, they aren't the best.... or close to being the best, but we are an ok race/job.

the highest level elvaan mage here that i know of is shelia _(._.)_
60+ on all 3 mage job XD (except rdm)
i myself is not a high level or anything, but being a full AF elvaan blm i have to say damn i look better than midgets (it's just my opinion), and i think elvaan's black magic casting animation is the rox ;x

[DrMrLordX]

True, black magic and summoning both look cooler when an Elvaan does it.

We look kind of fruity when casting white magic though.

[CalGore]

i actually like the elvaan look. For those people who say they are way too tall for their look, you can change their size. I am gonna be a small one when the game comes out. Theres always advantages and disadvantages for every race for every job (see what i mean?) like elvaan paladin vs taru paladin. Elvaan will have the def and mind, plus hp to help him, but a taru paly can have a dif sub than warrior, and just cast cure III on himself constantly. He will keep the hate and have his health up high. So it all depends on how you look at it.