[Janeba]

.::Warrior Guide & FAQ::.

Warrior Abilities & Traits

Sassi's Warrior FAQ
Everything you need to know!

Mini FAQ

What is a warrior? :con

Warriors specialize in the arts of battle, warriors act as shields, protecting their comrades from the enemy attacks. They are able to use almost any weapon efficiently and are a key part to an effective party. Warriors also have the potential to be fierce melee, with their attack boosting job traits and abilities.

What does a warrior do for parties?

Warrior is invited for multiple roles :
a) Melee
Tank
c) Support Tank / SATA partner

Roles

A As a melee you go through the following procedure:

1. Use multiple macros to swap in gear for TP gaining and weapon skill. Accuracy and Attack for TP gain, and ALOT of strength for weapon skills.
2. Equip yourself with the best equipment, from your weapon to your belt.
3. Come prepared with food, ninja tools, and macro swapping equipment.
4. Use your abilities in conjunction with each other to maximize damage (Berserk, Aggressor, etc....
5. If needed, know when to hold back on hate when doing alot of damage.
6. Choose from either Sushi or Meat foods.

B As a tank you go through the following procedure, note, more tanking covered under end game section:

1. Use macros to swap around enmity, vitality, defense and even haste equipment.
2. Either use damage and one of the melee foods listed above, or focus stictly on defense by eating fish like Steamed Crab of a Fishkabob.
3. If you're using damage to keep hate, try not to use defender unless it is a last resort.
4. Keep an eye on your provoke timer, and use warcry if hate begins to become shakey.
5. If subbing ninja, keep an eye on shadows, and perfect your casting.
6. When subbing monk use boost at every possible moment to keep hate.

C As a support tank / SATA partner you will go through the following procedure:

1. Provoke the mob so the main tank and thief can setup.
2. Use your melee damage to keep the monsters attention, try NOT to resort to defender.
3. Preferrably sub ninja, since you're only tanking for a short while hate won't be a problem and you shouldn't get hit.
4. Use warcry to help boost the thief's WS damage.

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Warrior Summary Through the Levels

1~29

At first, warrior acts like pretty much every melee, undefinded, and just soloing their way to the valkrum dunes. Subbing monk the preffered choice. In the dunes you should try to keep up to date with the latest armor since you and probably another melee will be the tanks of the party. Your damage isn't amazing but it isn't terrible. In the later levels , with berserk, you will slightly gain an edge against other melee and become mroe defined as a fighter, but still serve as a tank well. At level 24, ninja sub becomes viable since you can now use utsusemi, but doesn't really become useful until 30+ since the mobs at that level use double attack moves (Mandragora). You probably will be fine using monk subjob the first 30 levels of warrior.

30~59

At level 30 another sub becomes viable and that sub is thief. The main use of this subjob is for damage, using sneak attack in conjunction with a weaponskill like sturmwind can be devastating. 30+ warriors can still tank, with either ninja or monk sub, but the more levels you gain, the less likely you are to be invited to tank. At level 50 ninja sub shines, because now it will be enhanced with Dual-Wield II making you hit faster, do more damage, and hopefully hold hate better. Also at this level you can offhand weapons like viking axe to pump or stats you are weak in, or axes are very thin at this level you could offhand a good sword. At 55 you get the best weaponskill for axe, rampage. With the right combination of strength and accuracy, the damage can be quite mind boggling. At this point are pretty much meleeing in all your parties, but two warrior/ninjas make quite the pair since they can tank while keeping up incredible damage. At level 59 you are able to equip the haubergeon which I HIGHLY suggest you stop and equip, this piece is essential to warrior and you WILL be considered gimp without it. You should be able to make decent gil farming.

60~75

At level 60 you should have your full AF which adds +15 enemity. This is HUGE for tanking later on and really brings warrior back into the tanking game. At level 60 you get one of great axes strongest weaponskills, raging rush which you will want to have when you face the old man. 60+ I found myself going back and forth between ninja and thief depending on what the party wanted. Either a SATA partner that does big rampage damage with /nin, or sneak attack + trick attack onto say a ninja tank who might need a little help holding hate. After 60 a whole new shelve of versatility opens up for warrior. On the push to 75 more expensive gear will come your war, just make sure to take time out and farm for it. At level 70, maat shouldn't be too hard of a task and if you need help refer to the warrior FAQ. Once you reach level 75, the game just really begins and a whole new world of things open up to you... (covered in the end game section).

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Weapons

Weapon Skill List

Warrior is great with pretty much alot of weapons. But here are the 4 you'll want to have leveled up.

Great Axe Rating: A+ (276)

Best Scenario: Can be used in conjunction with subbing thief. With this maat fight is alot easier and in the end game, making darkness with Steel Cyclone is an orgasmic experience.

With great axe you can pull out large weapon skill damage when subbed in conjunction with thief. SA + Surmwind, SA + Raging Rush, SA + Steel Cyclone all produce large results in damage. Not only does it process big damage, Gaxes have high DMG and a delay from around 504-529. The negative with Gaxe is TP gain can be slow at times, but with the recent update we have given a boost in TP per hit

The Breakers

Shield Break = [sky]Ice[/sky]
Armor Break = [green]Wind[/green]
Weapon Break = [blue]Water [/blue]
Full Break = [orange]Earth [/orange]

100% TP = 3 minutes
200% TP = 4 minutes
300% TP = 5 minutes

There are 3 scenarios when a Break WS is performed - Full effect, Half resist, total resist.

1) [grey]Total Resist[/grey] - usually when the enemy is strong against the element of the Break WS itself. For example: Using Shield Break vs Skeleton enemies (they have high resist vs Ice). That means there will be no evade down for the enemy.

2) [orange]Half Resist[/orange] - usually when the enemy has no weakness/strength against the Break WS. This means the time interval of which the Break is valid is halved. For example, Shield Break, if not half resisted, has around a 3 minute window of which evade down is in effect, but if half resist, it only is in effect for 1 minute and a half.

3) [red]Full effect[/red] - usually when the enemy has an weakness to the Break WS. For example, Shield Break vs Crawlers. It has full effect in that 3 minutes

Defining weaponskills: Sturmwind, Raging Rush , Steel Cyclone

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Axe Rating: A- (269)

Best Scenario: Goes hand in hand with ninja. Whore yourself out to make light with mistral axe/decimation, rediculous rampage damage and perfect for merit parties.

Dual-Wielding axes at 55 is what makes /nin so powerful. At level 55 it gets one of the best weaponskills for it levels and beyond, rampage which pretty much makes /nin sub work so well. As for using this with /thf, you won't find the same great damage, but i've seen plenty of nice SA + 300% Calamitys. Mistral Axe is a fun toy as well ^^

Defining weaponskills: Raging Axe, Rampage , Mistral Axe/Decimation

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Sword Rating: B (250)

Best Scenario: Offhanding with ninja sub.

The 1h sword is very useful in the 50s because there are a shortage of axes. So, a solution to this problem is buying a sword such as the bloodsword or Tactician Magican Espadon (+12 Attack). Also, at higher levels, swords are given some amazing traits, notably extra hit procs. An example is the sword Joyeuse, with the effect of occasionally swining twice with a 50% proc rate. Not to mention there is also the Dissector, Company sword, and Ridill to look forward to. Sword like Ridill and Joyeuse make big gaps between regualr Axe/Axe warriors. Also, you will be needed to have this sword at 175+ skill to use spirits within on NMs where regular meleeing is pointless.

Defining weaponskills: Spirits Within , Vorpal Blade

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Great Sword Rating: B+ (256)

Best Scenario: HNM for light skillchains.

Greatsword only has one reason to be leveled really, making light. Although Great axe is warriors highest rated weapon, sadly, it lacks the ability to make light. Thats where this baby comes in, with the weaponskill groundstrike combined with Sneak Attack, not only will you make light, but pull some very nice damage doing it as well.

Defining weaponskills: Ground Strike

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Ranged Slot

There are some people who aren't sure what to put in their ranged slot so here are some suggestions.

Throwing

Boomerangs - In the early levels slap these on to save your money instead of buying arrows. WARs may be used for pulling so just be prepared. At level 55, there is the combat casters boomerang +1, which adds +4 ACC and +4 RACC in areas outside of your nations control. This Boomerang is a definite buy for EXP and is very useful.

Throwing Ammo - No reason to buy any throwing ammo really if you have a boomerang or a crossbow. Only until the 50s you get some good options. You have the Goblin Grenade, with +1 STR. Not really noticeable but its something. At 58 you can nab the Tiphia Sting if you can pay for it, really good stats for a throwing weapon. But at 63, you will definately want to pick up the Bomb Core. +12 Attack just isn't something to pass up. Make sure to disable your throwing macro, there is nothing worse than tossing a brand new bomb core at a clipper. A new item just released in the expansion pack is the Bibiki Seashell, with its +4 VIT, is a great item for tanking and steel cyclone.

Archery - Not much here. Only bow worth mentioning is the Lightning Bow. +2 DEX is better than nothing I guess.

Marksmanship - Marksmanship is a big bonus to level for warrior. Excellent for soloing, and excellent for ballista. Why? Because of the status bolts. Sleep, HP drain, defense down and a few others are the real reasons to level this. If you can, pick up a Velocity Bow. The low delay will help get off your status effects quicker.

[Janeba]

(Continued)

Subjobs

Warrior is really flexible, but it all depends on what subjob you choose.

Monk

Monk as a subjob has very little lifespan. For the first thirty levels it is hands down the best subjob for a warrior. But after that THF and NIN excel in areas where it used to. At 50+ I have seen people sub it for the extra Focus accuracy and instead of sushi use meat and come out with great damage results, but it really isn't practical.

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Thief

Thief if one of subs that power warrior in the end game as well as exp. It can do large spurts of damage when it wants to, and at 60+ passing hate is a very nice addition. For farming TH1 is noticeable for me atleast and I bring it where I go camping NMs. At higher levels , 300% TP + SA + Steel Cyclone/Ground Strike is the main reason to sub this. A great subjob every warrior should have leveled, but is often neglected.

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Samurai

Practically useless before 60+ Meditate is the main reason this sub is worth using. 60% TP every 3:00 minutes can really add up, also handles itself pretty well in ballista. Third Eye when you are able to predict can be a real life saver. Also very nice for HNM on mobs warrior can't melee on.

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Ninja

WAR/NIN is THE subjob, as sad as it is, you can go 1-75 with this subjob and not many people would give a damn. This sub is the most well rounded for damage, tanking, and overall survivability. Utsusemi for tanking. Tonko is very useful for getting around and shadows are really helpful in ballista. But the main reason people sub this is because of the dual-wielding aspect. In your main hand you can place a axe with alot of power and off hand another axe or sword with stats to buffer and support with usually lower delay or damage. With the right combination, you can top charts on the parse. At higher levels, the weapon selection is amazing and your offhand can have weapons with multiple hit proc and more. A WAR nin with a nice balance of attack, accuracy and haste is tough to top, and if you get a hand on a multi-proc weapon, you'll be able to surpase plenty of other players. This subjob works in dynamis too, in keeping you alive and is preferred in merit parties which can sometimes tend to have lack of mage support. With this sub 74+ your soloing abilities are increased and can serve as a great tank end game.

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Dragoon

This subjob works best in either as a beginning warrior, or as an endgame warrior. At the lower levels this sub will give you a boost on TP as well as damage with jump ability, and provides and accuracy bonus while you're eating meat. End game though, this thing is a monster. You're able to gain the same amount of TP as a /SAM does in 3 minutes. 2 jumps and 1 high jump (probably even more with barone on) wil land you 60%+ TP! Not only that, you've still got the accuracy bonus, so it provides slight leeway in equipment. So already you've got fast TP gain, but the haste+ possibilities are incredible. With DRG sub you get +5% haste from the Wyvern earring, and if you have a refresher, equipping a rune axe will add you an addition +9% haste. Couple that with a swift/speed belt, byakko's haidate, some dusk equipment and you'll be seeing a nice improvement in attack speed, hopefully helping great axes slightly pitiful TP gain (in comparison to WAR/NIN). One of the best things about Great Axe is this though, when you do jumps, you are able to PROC double attack on the jump, for even more TP and damage. A WAR/DRG with a ridill is possibly the strongest combination. Imagine triple proccing on both your high jump and jump, and imagine how fast you'll be attacking with that extra 5% haste from the wyvern earring. This sub may seem wierd or unfamiliar to others, but in fact it is undeniably a contender with WAR/NIN. It may not be as practical, but if you can afford/work for it, can be just as good.

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Dark Knight

(Coming Soon - Need some insight on it, anyone?)

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[sea]E N D G A M E[/sea] (In progress)

End game warrior like I have said before, there is ALOT to do. Heres a small breakdown of some of those things and how to equip yourself.

Breakdown:
I. Equipment
II. Tanking
a. WAR/NIN
b. WAR/WHM

Not Included here: Information on Meriting and a Compilation of Endgame Weapons can all be found in Sassi's FAQ.

Equipment

WAR/NIN

Head: Walahra Turban/Adaman Celeta/Optical Hat | WS: Hecatomb Cap/Unicorn Cap
Neck: Temperance Torque/Peacock Charm/Fortitude Torque/Royal Guard's Collar/Grand Temple Knight's Collar | WS: Elemental Gorget/Chalrous Chain/Spiked Necklace
Ears: Suppanomimi/Brutal Earring/Assault Earring/Fenrir's Earring/Merman's Earring/Minuet Earring | WS: Triumph Earring
Body: Adaman Hauberk/Haub-ergeon or -erk/Byrnie | WS: Hecatomb Harness/Kirin's Osode
Hands: Dusk Gloves/Tarasque Mitts/Warrior's Mufflers/Adaman Mufflers | WS: Gigas Bracelet/Hecatomb/Fighter's Mufflers
Rings: Rajas/Sniper's/Woodsman's/Toreador's/Mars' | WS: Flame/Triumph/Ruby
Back: Amemet(+1)/Forager's
Waist: Speed/Swift/Life Belt/Swordbelt+1/Haste Belt/Ninurta's Sash | WS: Warrior's Stone/Warwolf Belt
Legs: Byakko's Haidate/Barone Cosciales/Dusk/Galliard | WS: Warrior's Cuisses
Feet: Adaman/Amir/Dusk/Unicorn/Fighter's Leggings | WS: Hecatomb Leggings

*For WAR/DRG, the only changes to equip are : Wyvern Earring for TP gain, and replace Suppanomimi with any other Earring.

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Tanking

Endgame, with good support and people to back you up, warrior is able to tank anything. Here are some subjobs and how to equipyourself for the role.

*Information provided by the following people : Berdysh, Nny, Dazd, Vandervecken, if I missed someone, please PM me.
More information on tanking can be found here: http://ffxi.killvoid.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=121909&d=0

Equipment

This is a nice check-offlist to help you tank.

[ ] Haste Gear Set
[ ] Enmity Gear Set
[ ] HP Gear Set
[ ] DD Gear Set
[ ] DEF Gear Set (Most of the time this is the same as the HP gear set.)

WAR[purple]/NIN[/purple]

Body-AF1/Kirins Osode
Hands-AF2/Dusk Gloves/Koenig Hands
Head-Genbu's Kabuto/Walahra Turban
Ammo-Rosenbogen/Bibiki Seashell/Fenrirs Stone/anything that gives hp/vit
Neck-Harmonia's Torque/Iron Musketerrs Gorget
Earrings-Pigeon Earring(+1)/Bloodbead Earring
Rings-BQ ring/Jelly Ring/Vit rings
Back-High Breathe Mantle
Belt-Warwolf Belt/Speed Belt
Legs-Byakko's Haidate/Barone Cosciales/AF2
Feet-AF1/Unicorn Leggings/Dusk Ledelsans/Suzakue's Sune-Ate
Food- Dorado Sushi
Weapons- E. Staff/Koenig Shield/Macahuital+1

Use anything from that list that you have and make macro's to swap in enmity gear for vokes/warcries. If you have the space carry around full AF1 set to macro in the pieces that give more enmity over other gear from certain slots. With all that you can get a total of 40-50 enmity and you'll rarely if ever lose hate. This is a total defensive set up so you can change alot of that out for pure DD gear depending on the mob you're tanking and whenever you feel comfortable enough doing so.

WAR[purple]/WHM[/purple]



Credits & Sources

I would like to thank starfire and helping me revise the guide to be more userfriendly and more informative. I would like to thank tongyang for writing up that information on the breaker WS and laicram for showing me where to find it. I would also like to thank KillingIfrit.com for the information on the weapon skills and abilities and stickying this guide. I also want to thank spartan for writing up the warrior end game equipment guide and especially Sassi for letting me link her FAQ to this ^^. If I forgot anywell /tell me . Dazd, Nny, Cetra, Spartan, Luminaire Vandervecken, Dirian and Berdysh for helping me update the latest version of the guide.I also want to thank Elladan for being my WAR mentor since day 1 on Leviathan If I missed you give me a PM so I can add your name.

[Janeba]

I don't

know how good it would be. Low mana pool, and ninja would tank better since it willget hit

less using utesumi. With those defense spells u get hit and lose hate. Also ninja would

outdamage it. Im not sayin WAR/RDM has bad str but combining 1h sword and 1h axe is deadly.

Then the slight increase in speed. I dont relly think WAR/RDM would work. Besides /nin is so

much more fun:D

[starfire]

Link to Suggestion Thread

[b00sdr1v0rz]

[

quote]dr00sb1v0rz :
would WAR/RDM be anywhere decent with en- spells, phalanx,

dispel, and bar spells?.......i would think a great axe hitting for an extra 10-15 each time

due to elemental damage would be excellent....and phalanx on a war would be near pld

proficiency....dispel + full break? nice.....
[/quote]

wtf is with this guy? he'

like me minus the brains and the funny

[Janeba]

*bump* ok i added some new stuff to it. just a tid bit of info

[Matheau]

En-spells from a sub RDM will do about 2 damage a hit. It will not be significant extra damage.

WAR/RDM only has one really, really good advantage. PHALANX. Other then that, I wouldn't put much stock in RDM as a sub for WAR.

[Magister]

My 2gil on the subject of sub jobs for war. This assumes that your subjob is exactly 1/2 of your WAR level. The levels listed are for WAR Lvl not your subjob level.

MNK: Lvls 1-75
MNK is the bread and butter subjob for WAR. You can't go wrong w/ this combo and in fact before the Rise of Zilart expansion, this was the best subjob for WAR. I went LFG w/ a THF sub and stood next to another WAR w/ a MNK sub. Guess who got a party first? If you said the /MNK, you'd be correct.

WHM: Lvls 1-30
WHM is a better alternative than a PLD for tanking. At these levels you'll have more MP than a PLD and just as much DEF. Since you'll be using an AXE or a GAX, you'll also be doing more damage so will be able to hold aggro better.
Lvls 30-36
WHM sub still works but you'll be about as effective as a PLD tank. PLDs will have more DEF but you'll be able to use more Cure spells.
Lvls 37-50
WHM sub still works but you'll definitely need a BRD or lvl 41 RDM to use it. Otherwise, you'll lose too much TP from resting to make it work.
Lvls 51-75
WHM sub sucks. Period. End of Sentence. The Blink spell sucks compared to NIN Utsusemi and Stoneskin doesn't keep as much damage off you.

THF: Lvls 1-29
THF sub pretty much sucks unless you're hunting orcs, yagudo, quadav or goblins. You're better off w/ another sub.
Lvls 30-59
THF sub pretty much for farming. A case can be made for using THF sub for DPS. The extra DEX helps w/ getting critical hits more often. Combine that w/ gear that increase chance of a double attack, and a compelling arguement can be made for this as a sub. Not a good choice for tanking unless you've got 2 tanks - You and another (PLD, NIN, WAR)
Lvls 60-75
THF sub rather useless in EXP parties. For skill up parties, it's not a bad choice. Specially if you can trick off another tank (PLD, NIN, WAR). You'll notice when farming tigers in battalia and you try to Sneak Attack + Trick Attack, the damage isn't any greater than Sneak Attack alone. For DPS you're better off w/ SAM or MNK sub.

SAM: Lvls 1-59
Not really a good choice. You'll get some TP faster but not by a whole lot. Store TP doesn't apply to when you get hit. HP is still less than a MNK sub. 3rd Eye doesn't really help that much w/ gaining aggro since most mobs do double attacks.
Lvl 60-73
This is where /SAM shines. Meditate will get you 60 TP for free. You'll be able to renkei 2x in exp parties at the very least.

The above has been from personal experience. What follows is from anecdotal observations.

NIN: Lvls 1-19
Not much point in it. You don't get dual wield until WAR lvl 20 and no blink.
Lvls 20-73
You'll see a lot of WAR/NIN at these levels. So there must be something to it. Blink at WAR lvl 24 must be an attractive option. Plus, being able to dual wield means you'll have a choice of 3 A rated weapons. You can use either SWD renkei (w/ AXE in the off hand), AXE renkei (w/ SWD or AXE in the off hand), and GAX. Most WAR/NIN I've seen/passed by on the way to an exp spot use dual wield instead of GAX.
Lvls 74-75
Quite possibly the best tank there is. Utsusemi: Ichi and Ni pretty much build up hate for you. Combined w/ AF armor and your damage, there's very little that can pull hate from you accidentally. (Of course, if RNG, BLM, or WHM really tried, they could do it ^^)

PLD:
Not many people sub this for good reason. Lvls 1-59, no DEF bonus and less MP than WHM. Lvls 60-75 more DPS with another sub (MNK, THF, SAM) and better aggro holding abilities w/ /NIN.

DRK, RNG:
I've yet to see many on the Bizmark server sub either of these w/ WAR. I PT'd w/ one WAR/DRK at around lvl 28-30 but he was such an idiot I can't count him as a reliable guide.

BRD:
For skill up parties this wouldn't be a bad sub at all. In fact I'd recommend it. Who couldn't use extra accuracy or def when skilling up? Of course, it's one or the other since you can only sing 1 song ^^;

BLM:
Bad idea.

RDM:
Intriguing but not recommended. The EN- series of spells aren't that useful. They add 1-8 damage. Early on you don't have enough MP to make it worth it. Later on, they don't do enough damage to make it worth it. At lvls 64-66, Dispel and Phalanx are useful but not for exp parties. Maybe a good sub for a skill up party w/ few people participating. For skill up party, I'd rather go w/ BRD.

SMN:
The only summons w/ a useful effect is Shiva's Frost Armor @ lvl 56. All the other summons effects are beyond lvl 75 so SMN isn't useful at all for even skill up parties.

Constructive criticisms?

[Magister]

On the subject of Weaponskills:
You definitely need to keep your Axe and Sword WS up for pulling off Lvl 3 Renkei later on in the game. (WS levels 225+ all pull off Lvl 3 Renkei)

[Nu]

This guide recommends keeping a sword leveled for warrior. However, I've been leveling warrior, currently @32, and I'm having a hard enough time keeping Axe and Great Axe capped. Sword seemed like a good idea at first, but it's a HUGE strain to just keep my two A-rank weapons capped, I don't have time to pick up a B-rank weapon.

Besides, Great Axe does a Darkness level 3 Renkai and Axe does a Light, so you still have flexibility there. I don't know what the problem is with me and a sword, but I hit plenty, much more than I miss, and I hit often as I'm often one of the first to engage the foe, it's just the skillups don't come. I'm fighting VT/IT mobs nearly all the time, with sometimes chained T's, so I don't see what the problem is here. Is there any way to keep 3 weapons skilled up properly without falling behind (in my recent level, my great axe was capped but my axe capped in the very fight in which I leveled up!)?

[Janeba]

Actually, I ment to take down the part with sword. Don't bother with it

[Raif]

Actually, after level 56 when you get Darksteel Axe, there is a huge drought of good 1H Axes to use, so being able to use sword in at least one hand when dual wielding is quite useful. And when you get 70+, the best 1H weapons in the game for warrior are probably Juggernaut, Ridill, Joyeuse, and (maybe) Kraken Club, two of which are swords.

Keep that sword skill up!

[Janeba]

Yes. I saw Zacker on our server carrying Juggernaut and Joyeuse while headed to king behemoth. I'm sure he gave him the smackdown.

[YnNeB]

Little correction, you get trick attack at 60 with thief sj ^^

Good job tho^^

[Tarutaru]

you guys talk about axes the hole time are they better then great swords?

[YnNeB]

yes

[Melikepie]

sub drk at 60 for souleater :idiot

[Janeba]

no.

[Janeba]

*small update*

Beefeed up roles part AND added bigokks equipment guide.