[ValkyrieSamurai]

Fae leads the way. ()/

[Fae]

hehe (° v °



I couldn't get the link to work... (ˆ—ˆ;

[TrueFiZBAN]

Very Informative thanks, i showed this to my buddy who is thinking about using Sam.

[Ukyo]

I have to say, to take that kinda time and effort just to help us be better Samurai's ... ; ; You're my hero.

[TweeK]

i'm taking up SAM as a 2nd job and i've gotta say that guide has definitely helped out ^^)b very will done~

[shishio]

2hr i like the most (since i dont have kasha yet) is tachi: yukikaze>> 2hr>> gekko>> med>> yukikaze>> gekko>> yukikaze... fun to do lol.. also just normal self renki when u have no1 to renki with normaly do med>yuki>gekko = fragmantation.. <3 self renki.. i always have fun doing self renkies without 2hr
tho SE had to messs up tp gain to make it harder to do.. but still easy

[shishio]

oh and thanks for putting up this guid XD.. now maybe there wont b as many noob sams giving some of the good ones bad names ><

[Fae]

fanx guys(ˆ—ˆ)/_

It seems 80% of the FFXI populace uses [some other] FFXI website [that has a stupid name] as their only source of information. Unfortunately (especially for us), their Samurai guide that's stickied at the Samurai forum absolutely sucks, and their Samurai forum doesn't have the constructive criticism our forum has (which is so awesome).

You're very kind for praising my guide, but I fear that it's just a dim light in the dark void of stupidity. lol

[Stuart_Unicorn]

/clap

great stuuf. i plan on becoming a sam ,but i just got the game so im only a lv3 war ; ;......so so far away til i get sam af.

[Fae]

Every journey begins with the very first step. Be preserved! (=' n ')/_

[NoPoeticJustice]

shishio :
oh and thanks for putting up this guid XD.. now maybe there wont b as many noob sams giving some of the good ones bad names ><

Sadly there will always be. This guide will make it less so at least ^^

[fairy&#124;&#124;&#124;truth]

The main thing about SAM is learning how to use Meditate and learning how to pull correctly.

I used Medi rather the same way, except in some differences than Fae does. Its the proper way to use it, you just have to preserve TP as much as you can.
Use Meditate to catch up to PT members, and using TP at 100% is the only way you can play SAM correctly.

Here is how I go about pulling, since Fae didn't have anything about it:

1) Not getting aggro.
If the enemy is facing your direction, in a 45 degree angle, you will get aggro. You can evade aggro by going to the side, and to the back of the enemy to pull

2) Not getting links.
The same rule applies to not getting aggro as with not getting links, except you cannot be to sure that you will not get a link. With practice you will master it.

3) EXP Chains

EXP Chain #0 (VT Party): You let your party rest until they have atleast 90% of their max MP.

EXP Chain #1 (VT): You let your party rest until they have atleast 85% of their max MP. Screwing up here will have a great effect on your chances of getting EXP Chain 5+.

EXP Chain #2 (VT): You let your PT rest until they have atleast 75% of their max MP.

EXP Chain #3 (VT): Now you don't have to keep track of your PTs MP that much. Just leave to pull as soon as the mob dies.

EXP Chain #4 (VT): Leave when the mob has about 5% of the HP left.

EXP Chain #5 (VT): Leave when the mob has about 15% of HP left. Have the BLM finish off the mob with an AoE spell and then focus on killing the mob for EXP Chain #6. Go all out and burn all mana.

IT Parties are much the same, except you have to pull less rapidly, and when the mob has lower health.

4) Provoke or Ranged Attack.

It really depends what you feel comfortable with. Provoke, I feel, gives me more control when Im pulling in an area where I can get easily linked or aggroed (Monastatic Cavern/Cape Terrigan/Crawler's Nest/Garliage Citadel/Quicksands/etc). Ranged attack does give you less aggro, and you will take less damage, but you have less control when pulling in the areas mentioned. SAMs don't do a lot of damage to draw aggro, so the only time you have to worry about this is when you are starting the fight. Provoke and Ranged Attack just boil down to the amount of control you have over the mob. If you aren't fast and efficent, you will take substantial damage with provoke pulls, its no doubt about it, but when it means the difference between getting a link and zoning, or losing 10-50 MP curing you, what would you take? Also by using provoke you can get around 6-9%TP from the pull, which is also an upside. Its an even trade, for extra damage, if you ask me.

5) Practicing
Get adapted to all areas, and learn to evade all aggro. You can practice by taking a Lv1 job to and running around where you can get aggro and seeing how you can avoid it. It will help you with pulling alot. You can also PT with your LS on a lower level job to practice your pulling.

Pulling is an important part of what SAMs do, along with making renkei. Force your PLD or NIN to renkei with you in the party, otherwise you're wasting your time with SAM. SAM was meant for 2 skillchains in a fight, while other jobs were meant for only 1. Unless you are PTing with a good RNG, you will need the PLD or NIN to renkei accordingly.

Also, remember about SC properties; Lv1 SC is 15-35%, Lv2 is 30%-70%, Lv3 is mirrored; Lv1 consists of Induration, Compression, Transfixtion, Scission, Liquefaction, Detonation, and Reverbation (try to avoid using these); Lv2 Consists of Fusion, Distortion, Fragmentation, and Gravitation (try to use these, in every possible way until Lv3 SC); Lv3 is Light and Darkness (Use this after 65/66+, Light = Fire Thunder Wind Light :: Darkness = Water Ice Earth Dark).

Its not nessecary to memorise the SC Chart, but if you do, I suggest Aden's Renkei Chart. Try to memorize the Great Katana WS elements first, then keep track of the melees you PT with and memorise those WS properties according to how often you PT with them. IE: I dont have too good recollection of WAR and DRG elements.

This is all how I can help future SAM players.

[Cephalid]

nice ^^

[TrainwreckX]

Fae I want to thank you so much for your help with SAM. I have been a SAM for about a week now, but this has really helped me. I am a Taru SAM/RNG, and you and Kayoto have been infinitely helpful to me. I just hope I can afford to buy all the gear I need to make my SAM rox0r.

[Sosa]

As you can probably see, you've built up quite a fanbase, Fae. ^^

Thank you very much for your time and dedication in writing and maintaining this guide, I found it incredibly insightful and informative. Hopefully it will help many more future Samurai and increase interest in this often overlooked job!

[Midnight]

Thanks for Samurai guide Fae. It's real helpful

[Fae]

wow guys. . . fanx! /blush

I may revisit the guide to implement a bit more opinions on the widely used subjobs of WAR, THF, RNG, and NIN. I do have to remind people that this guide is strictly for getting people started or at least help people understand their job better. I'm sure many veteran Samurai can tell you that a Samurai would pretty much have a grip on things by LV60 and shouldn't need any kind of guide after that. (=' u ')b

Also, as some have noticed, I left out some things like how to pull, what skillchains to use, etc. This is intentional because this guide is strictly how to utilize the Samurai job. Things such as deciding on what skillchain to use or how to pull for EXP PTs is something all [melee] jobs learn from experience. (' v '*)

[Fae]

fairy|||truth :
Also, remember about SC properties; Lv1 SC is 15-35%, Lv2 is 30%-70%, Lv3 is mirrored; Lv1 consists of Induration, Compression, Transfixtion, Scission, Liquefaction, Detonation, and Reverbation (try to avoid using these); Lv2 Consists of Fusion, Distortion, Fragmentation, and Gravitation (try to use these, in every possible way until Lv3 SC); Lv3 is Light and Darkness (Use this after 65/66+, Light = Fire Thunder Wind Light :: Darkness = Water Ice Earth Dark).

Thanks for the reminder! Me and a bunch of friends have been testing the damaging properties of the skillchain, and we've come up with this conclusion: for each element in the skillchain, the damage of the skillchain is equal to 1-35% of the damage caused by the weaponskill where the 1-35% depends on the target's resistance to that element.

For example:
Let's say a 500 damage weaponskill results in making a Distortion skillchain for 220 damage against a crab. Since crabs are weak to ice and lightning but resistant to water and strong to fire, up to 175 damage is done by the ice element of the skillchain and the remainder 45 is done by the water element of the skillchain.

However, if you use Light (wind, thunder, fire, light) against a crab with a 500 damage weaponskill, you'll most likely get a resulting skillchain damage of up to 700 damage. Since--out of the four elements in that skillchain--the crab is weak to one of them but isn't strong or resistant to the rest, up to 175 damage can be contributed to the total damage of the skillchain.

1-35% damage is pure speculation... it may be more or less.

Anyway, I hope to hear some feedback on this. I've yet to see my theory proven wrong, but I'm wondering if people agree or disagree. Thanks in advance(=' n ')/_

[Alisha]

"Well, you can't gain TP while using Meikyo Shisui. (ˆ—ˆ; It's a double-edged sword; it gives you 300% TP with the cost of 100% TP per weaponskill, but you cannot gain TP while it's still in effect."

i can say with relative certainty that this is false if you meditate after the first meikyo shisue(sp?) WS when the final WS goes off you will be 1 tick away from 100tp

[Emurei]

^^ I think that has already been addressed somewhere