Race? Starting Town? After 2 months I've gotten no where!

[Kronikle66]

I've been planning this Monk out for the longest time. I ordered the game and a computer yesterday and before they all arrive, I don't want to find myself trapped into a character I don't like.

My dilemma: I don't know which race or which starting town to choose from.

Race -

I figured, if I chose Hume, I could easily switch between Monk to Summoner to Dragoon to Beast Master to Bard, etc. and not have to worry about having a horrible race. Not only that, but aesthetics lean in Hume favor in all classes except Monk. I've yet to see a Hume look cooler than an Elvaan when they're Monks.

However, most all of my time will be as a Monk which makes me look at the stats. Humes are the second to worst race to be for a Monk. Galka equals or outshines Humes in EVERY facet of melee combat, however, I hate Galka tails and how big they are. They look like big graceless oafs. Taru are the worst, yeah, next... Mithra. Mithra are in my opinion the best. But, aesthetics comes into play. I'd rather not play as some cat chick that gets hit on by all the guys in FFXI. Not to mention I hate the tail. And I don't think Mithra look "tough" at all.

Then there's Elvaan. Elvaan have the damage... big time! However, there Acc is about 8-9 points lower than a Mithra's at level 70. This makes a big difference! Unless I'm rich, keeping up to date with accuracy + equipment will be generally difficult. Aesthetically, Elvaan monks I think look totally badass, but Elvaans generally look like sh*t on any other class. Goofy giraffe necks =\.

When I compare Hume to Elvaan, Elvaan have about a 5-6 lead on Attack while Hume only have 2 lead on accuracy =(

So here I have it:

In my opinion for stats:
Taru: *
Hume: **
Elvaan: ***
Galka: ****
Mithra: *****

In my opinion for looks as a Monk:
Taru: *
Mithra: **
Galka: ***
Hume: ****
Elvaan: *****

In my opinion for looks as any other job class:
Galka: *
Taru: **
Elvaan: ***
Mithra: ****
Hume: *****

Ehe... I don't think that was neccesary but I can't seem to decide. Can some Hume and Elvaan Monks here tell me what it's like?



And then there's my starting city.

Bastok: I heard you can get "hand-me-downs" from this place as plenty of Monks start here?
Windurst: I heard Monk gear is cheap here?
San'Doria: Don't know much about this place.


Sorry for having you read that long thing. I really don't know how to put it better, I'm just royally stumped. If anyone can give me some inside experience, tips, or maybe support a different race or something, I don't know. :S

Thanks,

-Kronikle

[Frarinalga]

A monk's two main worries are Strength and dexterity. At level 75, a galka warrior/monk has the same dexterity as a hume, and only 5 strength points higher (humes have 3 points of agility, not a big deal, but it's a plus). Galka do have a friggin ass load of hp and vitality at 75 (1900 hp and 91 Vitality?! HOLY !@!$!), but monks shouldn't be taking damage, and if they pull aggro for long enough, hume monks are only 300 hp behind. But the hp and vitality benefits that galka give are huge, giving them the respected position as "Best Monk".
Mithra have a whopping 88 dexterity at level 75, but accuracy caps out at a certain point, and their hits are weaker.
Elvaan has 9 more strength than a hume, but less dexterity.
The race you choose for Monk is not a huge deal. Galka are the best, Taru are the worst, and hume/elvaan/mithra are inbetween. Just choose what you think would appeal most to you. Choosing race for a damage dealer is not a huge deal, as long as you don't choose taru

[Kronikle66]

So accuracy does cap? I never knew that. What about a town?

-Kronikle

[Cali]

It's a bit mean to say we Mithras are weak because you don't like us ;;

Back on topic, starting city doesnt matter, just choose the city your race is origined from, so Bastok for Hume/Galka etc.... since at low level, getting gears from AH is cheaper than getting from NPC most of the time... well even at high levels

Stat-wise, it doesn't really matter, I have seen Elvann mages doing as good as Taru mages, it's just that say for Elvann, most people would play mages(if they want to) at a later time, ie when they are rich enough to buy gears to make them better, I have seen Galka whm with AF running around, by that.. it means people do invite Galka whm... and people do play it, despite they are totally suckers at magery.... If planned on going monk, Mithra, Elvann, or Hume are all nice, also don't need to read the guides about stats, just play the race you like, not many care about the race when inviting people to party, or else those Mithra PLD out there are doomed, since we Mithras have low to ground VIT....

[Cali]

The weapon skill lvl does cap, and that skill lvl is related to our accuracy and attack.... but you don't need to care about accuracy issue from weapon skills, since it'll b capped all the time for the job you are playing...unless you decided to play a staff monk til 30, then change to H2H.... which is like no way

I did hear my Elvann friend complaining a lot about him missing, my mithra already missed a bit... so I assume he does miss a lot... but Elvanns are still the best attacker race, Galka defender race...

[Frarinalga]

I'm sorry, I posted the wrong link. Ignore that, just some cocky mithra in there posting bullshit
Here's the quote I wanted. Ignore the link i put up.

The thing about non-THF melee is that no matter what race you are, you're still gonna be filling in with the same equipment, because job weaknesses are much more significant than racial advantages; your base stats make barely a difference in terms of melee accuracy. This being given, higher base STR will always play the determining factor for melee jobs like DRK.

THF is a clear exception for this as they recieve a bonus DIRECTLY from the DEX and AGI stats for sneak and trick. Since an elv lacks in both of these, it will never be able to compete with a mithra THF with the same equipment.

Your ability to hit is also largely effected by what you have in your party and what you're fighting. If you've played enough you'd know that there are some parties where you just can't hit for shit, and there are some (likely with shield break and or madrigal) where you can count all of the times you've missed in the past hour with your right hand alone. In parties like these, the higher attack power is the victor. This is considered the "best case scenario," which is what people hope for. When someone makes a party, they don't hope for one where only mithras can hit decently and their other attacker misses like hell. He'll be hoping (and expecting) that the attackers barely ever miss, dealing maximal damage each time. People always look to the ideal situation while making parties, and for this mithras will sitting in jeuno for a longer time. In terms of THF, they don't invite mithras with higher DEX and AGI because they're more accurate; they invite them because higher DEX and AGI means more damage with sneak and trick.

Let's say for a moment that the accuracy difference was that big. Say your party had 2 attackers, a mithra and an elv. The bard has 2 song to sing, usually minuet and madrigal. If the mithra can hit but the elv can't, and has difficulty charging TP, the bard will switch his song pattern to 2x madrigal. 2 madrigals will boost you to the point where you basically never miss, and the elv will end up dealing more damage. Basically, for accuracy, there's a limit. There's a point where you'll more or less always hit, and any more is redundant. For attack power, there's an unlimited barrier (well, there's the damage cap, but for level up parties you're not gonna hit it, lol).

Then there's the stereotype factor, which is much more significant than any little stat detail in which, let's be honest here, we can only make guestimates on. Mithras think that (and this is proven by the attitudes of people on the boards) they have godly accuracy compared to other classes, so that while others have to boost their accuracy, mithra can go and boost attack. The difference between a mithra and anything else is, at most, around 1 sniper ring. That's 5 out of 30 (give or take a few) points of accuracy boost, it's not a significant boost. That's not the 6/10 to 9/10 ratio that people believe... it's a difference of maybe 4 or 5 swings out of hundreds; with a little luck, an elv may even have hit more. If a mithra, thinking they're accuracy queens, walks in all decked out in STR+ items, it'll be whooshing like a they're hitting blind. Mithra or elv or galka or taru or hume, as a DRK you need +acc. Many mithras don't think about this, and it shows in parties, so in general, many mithra players (and no I don't mean you) are less reliable.

I'm sure that if you pit a hume and a mithra with players of equal skills, identical equipment, etc in a party and measured their DPS, over time their DPS would likely be identical and fluctuate on a fairly random basis... there's really a lot of stereotyping that goes into it, but stereotyping makes a big difference; it's the difference between spending time in Boyahda tree and spending time in Jeuno. Even if it's just by looking at the way they hold their weapons... you feel more confident that a hume is getting the job done.

It's a quite well-known observation that on AVERAGE (no I don't mean everyone, and I don't mean you and me), hume players have more skill than any other race. It makes sense though. Where mithras may look at their high dex and say "my dex is the pwn, I'll just increase my strength" and elvs would look at their str and say "my str is the pwn, I'll make it even higher," a hume would always sit down and really think where they should focus their equipment on, as they're on level ground for all aspects. You tend to be more observant and unbiased when you don't have an exceptionally high amount of anything. All I can say is that my experience with hume melees and mithra melees makes me more comfortable inviting hume over mithra, and it's not just me... it's most party leaders out there who, unlike you and me, are NOT biased; they base their choices mostly on their observations.

I personally wouldn't let race get in the way. Especially at higher levels, there are a lot more equipments and factors that make you different (superior and inferior) to others; you can list these in your search comment (for example, if you can go to tulia and this one elv can't, even if you're not levelling in tulia it proves that you've done the zilart missions which are, frankly, pretty hard. It's like a "tried and tested" seal) and gain the advantage. And what if they have more to offer AND are a more ideal race? Make the party yourself!

For melee attackers, race alone won't make the difference between a 4 chain and a 5 chain in a level up party (taru monk is an exception). If you got the same player playing two races, he'll do just as good on both. It's all about 1) level of comfort for the party leader, 2) what the race does to your playing style.

From Awntawn

[Kronikle66]

Wow that was helpful!

Thanks!

Now I just gotta decide whether it's worth looking totally badass as one class, or looking decent as all.

So if someone can show me a picture of a Hume monk looking badass...

-Kronikle

[Isus]

I wouldn't trade my Elvaan for anything.

[Sensei_Kaels]

i chose windurst/hume because:

galka stats seem more tank oriented, i dont want to be a tank.

mithra are female, even though i felt they had the best stats, i didnt choose them because i dont want to play a female

taru look cool, but people will care about race so much that they wont invite you into a group

elvaan are just ugly and crap for dex

i chose hume for versatility/roleplaying purposes.

windurst has best newbie area (IMO) for making money/exp. also more interesting then the ugly gustaberg area. also, weaver guild here makes monk armor very cheap. good quests.