Skill of playing FFXI

Last night I went for a brief merit party at the Mamool Ja Staging Points with Jurgos, Supermday, Styles and two others. Thanks to this merit party, I was able to get my 7th HP upgrade, and 3 more merits towards my final HP upgrade. Just two more merit points left to before I complete HP merits and I move on to focus on something else... maybe more job-specific merits, or maybe a Strength upgrade.

This was also the first real exp party I've had since I equipped my DRG at 75 so I was curious to see if I could hold up against other DDs, or if my lack of focus on DD jobs would deem me unacceptable for this sort of role. I hope I did decently, but lacking any sort of parser, I can't really tell xD Still, after poking squishy mobs with a pointy stick for an hour or so, my mind started to wander and I started thinking about what it took to be skillful at playing FFXI, and hence, came up with the idea for this blog post.

So... think about the major job types and what it takes to be considered "skilled" at each role...

DDs - SAM, DRK, DRG, WAR, RNG, BLM, etc.

At the end of the day, the goal of a DD is to do a ton of damage without getting killed. Intelligent use of the various job abilities to enhance damage, as well as to mitigate damage you take are a part of playing a good DD, but at the end of the day, what makes the difference between a good DD and an excellent DD will be gear and merits.

Basics are pretty simple... accuracy, attack, eating appropriate food and putting together gear sets for TPing and WSing. Throw in some expensive gear, and tons of merits into crit hits, strength and weapon skill and you'll get a good DD. During the actual fight, there really isn't that much you can do except use your JAs when appropriate, and WS when you hit 100% TP.

So... to be a good player in a DD role, seems to me that the main judgement in performance is in gear and merits. The hard work of being a DD is done outside of the actual job, where you prepare your gear and various macros to maximize damage done.

Healers - WHM, RDM, SCH, DNC, BLU & /WHM jobs (BRD/WHM, COR/WHM, even BLM/WHM)

Preventing people from dying, as well as removing status effects are the main jobs of the healers. This makes the main thing that healers need is situational awareness and reaction speed. A healer who is too slow to cure someone might result in that person's death. Leaving a status effect on for too long might result in the loss of damage, or the person's death.

The best healers are those that anticipate the need to cure someone and time their spells to go off at exactly the right time, leaving as little time as possible for the target to be in danger. I think the best example of this is the Tier IV ZNM mob Tinnin. In a perfectly executed Tinnin, you'll see healers casting Cursna even before the TP move Nerve Gas goes off, timing Cursna to land right after the curse effect hits the tanks. The best healer/tank combinations can even follow it up with the tank curing him/herself right after cursna, reducing the time that the tank is vulnerable to 1-2 seconds.

For healers, reaction speed is key, with the best being those who can anticipate the need to react.

Enfeeblers - RDM, WHM, BLM, BRD, DNC, COR, BLU, etc.

Similar to the DDs, enfeeblers are those that go up against the targeted mob. Hence, equipment plays a large part in the effectiveness of an enfeebler's role. After all, if you can't land that Paralyze, or that Lullaby, you can't do your job.

However, another aspect of the role is situational awareness. Enfeeblers also have to be aware when their spells wear off from the mob, or if a mob has removed it and to reapply it as necessary. Similarly, jobs who can Dispel need to know if a mob has an enhancement that can be removed, and remove it as necessary.

So... for enfeeblers, equipment and awareness are what separate good from average.

Enhancers - RDM, BRD, COR, WHM, SCH, etc.

The main job of an enhancer is to keep the enhancement up on everyone... that is, songs, rolls, haste, even appropriate weather. The best enhancers are those who can keep the enhancements up full-time without requiring prompting.

The very best would be those who re-apply enhancements as soon as they wear, or refresh them just before they wear. Being good at this would involve... well... mostly having awareness of time and getting into the rhythm of keeping buffs up.

Tanks - PLD, NIN, SAM?

This is a little strange for me... whenever I tank, I found that the problem I face is that of resource management. I want to hoard my hate tools so that I use what is appropriate for the situation. Knowing when to use Sentinel, or Chivalry to restore MP are part of looking at the situation and figuring out what to do. When tanking on SAM/WAR, sometimes I'd hold back a WS until the beginning of the next mob in order to establish hate early on, or I'd use Meditate to get an extra WS in to get more hate.

Of course, the other part of tanking is that gear does play a part... The right gear to reduce damage taken, or to have enough haste to keep shadows up full time.

Finally, tanks do need situational awareness in large events such as Dynamis or Einherjar. A good tank will be grabbing mobs as they come in, and will know who to heal in order to get hate on the mobs and what spells or job abilities to use at what time.

So... gear, resource management and awareness are critical for tanks.

In summary...

Well... at what point are you actually playing FFXI, and at what point are you letting the game play itself? How much of ones performance is dependent on you, and how much is reliant on what you have?

Maybe that's what attracts me to certain jobs over others...