The Perfect PartyFollow

for me, parties that easily link ITs for 200 xp usually include a paly, a backup tank, 2 whmes and whatever else you think that can round it off, usually something that can dish out heavy dmg.

that being said, if you want peak...
taru whm/smn
taru whm/smn
elvan paly/warrior
elvan paly/warrior
mithra ranger/samurai
taru blm/smn

hehe, as you see not very fun, but optimal. id think it be more fun to play with a...
whm/rdm
smn/whm
bard/theif
paly/war
ranger/sammurai <-- can you tell what i am yet? or soon... :p
drk/war

truth is each job/race brings something to the table that can help make your group uber if they know how to use em. nothing worse then a paly that doesnt know how to keep aggro, or a ranger that frontlines more than anything else. Oh, and the instant you see a whm pull out his club... grrr...

From what I've seen, there are a many cool combinations that work... last night for instance we were chain pulling MOBs for a constant stream of 200+ xp each kill. Party consisted of 2WHMs, 1BLM, 1RNG, 1PLD, 1THF.

Personally I kinda have fun seeing and working new combinations in groups so don't be adverse to suggesting to your friends to maybe go for different things rather then trying to just gear up for that "super group". I did that with friends and as always...different people will have different leveling speeds, so you'll end up playing separately anyway.

From my perspective, I often feel the most comfortable and secure in my group if we have:

2 provokers: one to act as a meat shield like a PLD; the other can be secondary dmg - I'm partial to THFs only because I know how versatile that class can be in emergencies and as a secondary; plus they're dead sexy)

2 healers: really not much to say here. But darn boring classes to play IMHO.

2 damage dealers: BLM, RNG.... insert any others here...but we ARE in the Ranger boards yes? :)

i think more people's opinions need to be posted up. As far as I know, for the most part, a DRK/SAM, RNG/SAM, and RNG/WAR die too often, so for dps, it i think the best is DRK/THF, they got a tiny plus with trick and sneak (even though its every minute) and can combine with the godly guillotine, AND can direct aggro, which completely knowcks off the need for a thief if lvl 60+, they already get the thf's trick and sneak attack (what else do you want a thf for besides TH?"

but yes, i think more lvl 60+ guys gotta post up with their opinions, because that's what im looking at, not hunting mandys in kazham. My friends and I want to make a great xp PT, and a GREAT dungeon PT.

Well, I can't speak from personal experience at a post 60 level...but from partying with a DRK up through the 30's I can say that I'd rather not have the DRK drawing aggro...

I think of DRKs like the opposite of PLDS...awesome damage at the expense of defense. Not to say they aren't good...just not something that I've noticed to work out very well.

Now a good THF on the other hand...plays the primary role of aggro control first...damage second. If you watch any of the uber Japanese folks manage a fight, notice that in many instances they rely on trick attack more then they would provoke. Added to that a THF with a WAR sub is fairly self reliant in such that there are enough skills in their trade to get out of trouble when $^@* hits the fan.

Would a DRK/THF combo be good? Perhaps... we may be arguing the same point - Trick Attack is valuable no matter who's carrying it.

Certainly if I had to recommend my friend to play a class for the pure FUN of it, I'd say a THF is more fun to play then a DRK IMHO. But that's just me...I have a low tolerance for just another boring melee class.

Edited, Wed Jan 14 19:28:01 2004 by Kamena

oh... and a THF as a sub doesn't work anymore after the nerf over last patch. Sneak Attack and Trick Attack only do 2x damage while the THF is subbed apposed to the 2x TO 10x damage it does while THF is a main job.

drk/thief will no longer do more dmg then rng/sam if it ever had. (which i highly doubt). this has already been said, but the sub thief multipliers have been set to 2x, doing just a crit hit.

plus you need a ranger to pull, find NMs, or whatever else. and once you weapon skills get up there, nothing can beat em.

i dont know but the set up you have seems boring, id take a bard over a red mage any day. id make the thief as a main, and you must have 2 whmes to pull in 200 xp. this also has been said. 2 healers, 2 tanks, 2 dmg dealers.

"...now i have been told that with the rdm, there is no need for bard."

Forget that trash. RDM and BRD do totally different jobs and should both be in an optimal party. Anyone who doesn't include a BRD just likes to spend more downtime and make less xp plain and simple. BRD = more xp per hour no questions asked. Let's see a RDM up accuracy so everyone hits more thus kills way faster and that = more xp per hour. Let's see a RDM stack spells on BLm and WHM spells. Wow they can't. :) BRD is umlimited casting non-stop with mission critical spells no one else gets like accuracy up and BRD's songs stack. Regen, Paeon 1, Paeon 2 all on the same guy = 6 hp's per 3 seconds. If a RDM can make someone regen 6 hp's per 3 seconds then I'll forget BRD. Same with mp regen. Refresh stacks with Mage's Ballad. What caster would turn down 2 mp regen buffs? Doesn't 2 = more mp? more mp = less downtime? less downtime = more xp? ALWAYS ALWAYS get a BRD :)

Optimal:
WHM
BLM
BRD
PLD
RNG
THF or SAM

PLD can hold aggro himself. THF stands 180 to PLD and has fun all day. RNG and BLM nuke. WHM heals. BRD pumps RNG up, ranged accuracy and attack up. BRD raise mp regen and int/mnd of casters. BRD ups accuracy and attack of THF. BRD ups def of PLD with 2 songs (minne 1 and minne2). This stacks with protect line and PLD abilities to make a very very hard to hit tank who has aggro. Single persn to heal who don't get hit much. When he does he don't take much dmg. You can also chain decently with this mix. SAM can be a good alt as they rock for chaining.

I see a lot of suggestions for groups having a THF/NIN without a secondary tank, which makes no sense. You need that secondary tank (any melee char w/ sub WAR) for Fuidama to work. It's generally good sense to have a backup tank anyways.

My perfect party?

Elvaan PLD/WAR (main tank)
Mithra SAM/WAR (coordinate skillchains, thief fuidama buddy)
Mithra THF/NIN (puller, treasurefinder, dmg dealer)
Hume RDM/WHM (debuffer, enhancer, refresher, backup nuke/healer)
Tauru WHM/BLM (primary healer)
<insert BLM, RNG, or DRK here> (dmg dealer)


Edited, Fri Jan 16 16:32:56 2004 by subvert

so if i choose to be a RNG/SAM, am I gonna die my butt off? And I've asked tons of japanese people lvl 75 "who do most damage", and mostly i get rng/war, and a lvl 75 rng/sam told me he think a drk/sam can outdamage him. Now, how do these job combos survive? I heard you do sidewinder 3 times and thats it, mobs hate you like crazy. Soooo, my question is, who does more damage, RNG/WAR, RNG/SAM, DRK/SAM lvl 60+. And how do i prevent dying like no tomorrow?

to last post i havent had to much trouble with hate yet (expect for barrage) but if your that worried a level 75/37 would have utsemsi:ichi and ni so he could take 10 hits if hate wasnt recontrolled by then im sorry but you tank is useless. RNG/sam does get third eye which is one attack stoped. my oppion of "perfect pt"
NIN/War
WHM/Sum
RNG/sam
BRD/RDM
Blm/whm
THF/Nin

Galka PLD/WAR
Taru RNG/SAM
Taru RNG/NIN
Taru RNG/WAR
Taru SAM/WAR
Taru WHM/SUM

Clearly you need as many rangers as possible! Preferably taru!

I was thinking going /whm and /bst for my 2 subs. whm for the cool skills like tele, invisible, raise... and bst for the charisma bonus for Major battles. Ill have to think about red now too.

/WHM will get Teleport-Dem, Holla, Mea at LV72.

man, you guys don't know what the hell you're talking about. here's the ultimate combo...

2 firebat - strong melee splash damage
1 marines - need a bit of range i guess
2 medics - DEFINITELy need two healers so people can stimpack
1 ghost - this is to target the nuke. they look cool to, heheh.

and if you have another friend, throw in a science vessel

1. brd: best support or mp and hp regen; and all sorts of support
2. whm: less downtime. no brainer
3. pld: main tank. whm sub is better hate generator than voke. Backup healer too.
4. thf: hate control and TH
5. rng or blm: depending on the mob you go for, these two jobs are the most powerful offensive weapons
6. rng or blm

I think this is the best pt for general high lvl killings.

Taru Brd/Whm
Taru Whm/Blm
Taru Rdm/Blm
Galka Pal/War
Mithra Rng/Sam
Elvaan Drk/Sam

Im not high level, but if pally knows what hes doing i think it would work great. rdm-bard are support, whm heals, pal tanks, rng-drk deal dmg.

comments?