Samurai: Guide to Races and Subjob Selection

From FFXIclopedia, the free Final Fantasy XI encyclopedia

CAUTION!

This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and are meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide. Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone.

Contents 1 Job Overview 1.1 Strengths 1.2 Weaknesses 2 Race Selection 3 Support Jobs Options 3.1 Warrior 3.2 Thief 3.3 Ranger 3.4 Dragoon 3.5 Monk 3.6 Dancer

Job Overview Available after completing the quest Forge Your Destiny, the Samurai job focuses on the mastery of weapon skills and skillchains. Samurai excel at the use of Weapon Skills due to their ability to rapidly gain Tactical Points and use them to their advantage. Strengths Gains TP faster than any other job in the game. Weapon skill positions on the skillchain chart are wide and varied, allowing Samurai to skillchain with nearly every other job in the game efficiently. Access to powerful Great Katana weapon skills. Capable of One-Man Skillchains with Sekkanoki and Meikyo Shisui. Weaknesses No built-in natural accuracy enhancing bonuses. Very gear dependent job.

Race Selection

Final Fantasy XI allows players to choose between five different races, each with its own strengths and weaknesses in terms of stats. While certain races' stats are better matched to some jobs more than others, the differences are never so profound as to prevent any race from playing any particular job (except for Elvaans and Black Mage). All players can excel at any job they so choose, provided they have the skill and the equipment; the race selection is mostly an aesthetic decision.

Support Jobs Options

The following options are just examples and are not the only choices. Feel free to experiment and above all, have fun!

Warrior

Samurai choose Warrior as their support job for Berserk and Double Attack. While early on in levels, Provoke is useful for backup tanking, and later on is good for 1st Voke when teaming up with a Thief. Increased Strength helps with damage output. This choice will probably lead to the most invites.

Thief

Samurai choose Thief as their support job for Sneak Attack. At level 30, when combined with physical weaponskills, it produces incredible spikes of damage. Trick Attack at level 60 allows a Samurai to take the hate generated by his weaponskills, and put it on the tank. Increased Dexterity also helps with Accuracy. However, unlike Thief main jobs, there is no damage multiplier for Sneak Attack and Trick Attack, Sneak Attack is simply a critical attack that doesn't miss and Trick Attack only transfers hate. Beyond level 60, popular consensus between Samurai is to use Macro switching to stack on as much Strength bonus as possible. Tachi: Yukikaze, Tachi: Gekko and Tachi: Kasha have damage modifiers that is 75% Strength based. Coupled with Sneak Attack the sacrifice of any and all Accuracy equipment is justified as in most cases the weapon skill will not miss. All Samurai Great Katana weapon skills will stack with Sneak Attack or Trick Attack, as they are physical based attacks with some Elemental Properties.

Ranger

Samurai is one of the few jobs which can benefit from a Ranger support job. The actual tactical uses of Ranger abilities vary from Samurai to Samurai. One of the most obvious benefits of the Ranger support job is access to the Archery weapon skills. However, Samurai Archery skill caps as a C+ skill, and as a result Accuracy and Attack are affected compared to a Ranger. The usefulness of Ranger support job may therefore be influenced by the choice of targets, as Samurai Archery use will be more effective on lower evasion enemies. Use of Archery for TP gain is also a common tactic, as Store TP operates by multiplying TP gain, and is more obviously useful on long delay, high TP weapons like longbows. Access to the job trait Accuracy Bonus can also come in handy. If anything at all, Samurai will sub Ranger just so they can spam Sidewinder when using Meikyo Shisui.

Dragoon

Samurai sub Dragoon primarily for the extra TP from Jumps, which can help provide enough TP for a 3-step self-Skillchain without the use of Meikyo Shisui. Dragoon is a particularly good DD subjob between levels 20 and 29, when it gives Jump and Attack Bonus, while Warrior sub only gives Provoke and Defense Bonus. Dragoon sub also activates the Wyvern Earring and Wyvern Mantle, which both have nice effects for level 30.

Monk

Although not as popular as the Warrior subjob, Monk can be an excellent subjob for Samurai for either soloing or partying. The Boost ability can be used to increase the damage of weapon skills, and its low recast time allows it to keep up with the Samurai's high TP gain rate. Focus can be used to temporarily increase ACC in order to lessen the chances of costly misses. Counter and Dodge are primarily used for soloing purposes, alongside Seigan and Third Eye. However, if this job is selected, the loss of provoke causes the Samurai to become unfit as a tank in parties, regulated to the use of a (powerful) damage dealer unless a white mage is nearby to keep up their HP.

Dancer

While this may not seem to be an intelligent subjob selection, Dancer sub makes a Samurai a very strong solo machine. With a Soboro Sukehiro, the Samurai can produce enough TP to be able to keep himself fully healed, while still doing Weapon Skills. Drain Samba makes the process much easier, as two-handed weapons drain roughly 20 HP per hit. The healing capabilities of this subjob can be increased by equipping high VIT items like Genbu's Kabuto and Saotome Domaru before using Curing Waltz II. This subjob is particularly useful for Campaign Battles, where there may not be a White Mage or Red Mage around to keep a Samurai alive. Coupled with Seigan and Third Eye, a Samurai can become a strong tank, using Animated Flourish to keep hate.