Post by Raizo on May 7, 2007 13:11:57 GMT -6
Well it seems I've finally hit 75 SMN and even though I kinda abandoned my WHM post I think I made some good points in it, so I'll try to write down some helpful things about SMN when I have some free time.
To start with. . .
[glow=red,2,300]Unlocking the job. . [/glow]. in order to unlock SMN (advanced job) you'll need to have a lvl 30 job and wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/I_Can_Hear_a_Rainbow
do everything in that link.
Seriously though in regards to getting you carbuncle ruby, bring a THF along for TH thats fine, but from what I have seen, there is no one zone where the leeches are going to drop the ruby faster. Buburimu has the lowest lvl leeches that drop it so I'd suggest killing them there. Qufim island is also a lower lvl area that I have tried. I've seen a ruby drop in either zone within 3 kills, and i've also seen it take 3 hours. Hell the one time my PT killed a leech in Caedarva Mire for fun while waiting for members to arrive and we got a ruby drop on first kill. Just stick with it, you'll get the ruby and try not to rush on getting all the weather elements. If this game was designed to be beaten in a day it wouldn't be fun. Take your time, be patient.
[glow=red,2,300]Before you start playing SMN. . . [/glow].
Congratulations! you're a new SMN! maybe you saw your rainbow in La'thien Plateau and you're ready to be all bad ass as a SMN. News Flash! Ain't gonna happen! SMN is a lot of work, and for a lot of the lower lvls you are not going to be able to solo better than any other job out there. There are a lot of subtleties to this job and there are some key things that will make your life a lot easier. Unfortunately all these things are not that easy to come by.
[glow=red,2,300]Obtaining the 6 "Basic" avatars. . [/glow]
If you do not have a higher lvl job (over65+) chances are you will not have any other avatars other than Carbuncle to start. This is fine. You do not need them to get to level 20 and try to fight the Mini-avatar fights to earn them. What am I talking about you say?
When you play SMN you have the ability to summon an avatar to fight alongside you. Carbuncle (light based avatar) is the default avatar everyone gets when the unlock SMN. In order to unlock the other 6 basic avatars which include:
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Ifrit
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Leviathan
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Shiva
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Ramuh
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Garuda
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Titan
You will need to defeat them in battle. If you click on the links you can view information on how to fight them solo as a Lvl 20 SMN in the "Trial size trial by. . ."
Or how to fight the prime versions with a group of up to 6 ppl in the Prime fights. (recommended lvl of 65+)
Note: in order to fight any of the 6 avatars listed above, you will need high enough fame in the area that you collect the Tuning Forks in. Level 3 fame is required for the Lvl 20 fights, Level 6 fame is requred for the Prime fights.
Each of the 6 avatars listed above is associated with an element. Fire, ice, lightning, water, earth, and wind. Carbuncle is light based. . . so what about Dark element? There are actually 2 dark based avatars. . . these are the hardest ones to obtain and usually require a lvl 70+ job to obtain.
[glow=red,2,300]Obtaining Fenrir[/glow]
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Fenrir
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/The_Moonlit_Path
Check out the links, this is not an easy fight for most PT setups. However 5 70+ SMN can easily defeat him as can a PT of BLM.
In order to fight him though you will need to defeat each Prime avatar at least once and collect the Whispers in order to obtain the Moon bauble which is necessary to enter the fight. So in short it is a lot of work. However Fenrir is in my opinion one of the most frequently used avatars in EXP PT's while lvling SMN. He may not be necessary, but he definitely makes life easier.
[glow=red,2,300]Obtaining Diabolos[/glow]
Diabolos is the 9th avatar. He was introduced in the Chains of Promathia expansion and therefore you must complete a certain number of CoP missions in order to unlock him.
CoP 3-5 "Darkness Named" is a lvl 40 cap Diabolos fight. Once you defeat him here you can attempt to fight a much harder uncapped version Diabolos Prime in order to be able to summon him or get his special items.
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Diabolos
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Waking_Dreams
Diabolos is by far the hardest avatar to obtain, as of right now I personally still do not have him. However I have been told he is not very useful in most situations and is mostly only used in end-game activities. I'll post more on him if and when I obtain him.
So for the rest of my guide I will not include Diabolos in any strategies or whatever else I may list, unless I have have heard or seen concrete evidence that he is useful in a certain situation.. .
[glow=red,2,300]Summoner/
subjobs[/glow]
WHM I don't care what you've heard, I don't care if you don't want to "main heal" I don't care if you don't want ppl to even consider you as a main or backup healer. Suck it up because SMN/WHM is the most popular choice of subjob for a reason.
1) PTing - sure you don't need to /WHM to get a PT, but it's going to help a lot. Considering SMN can only use Blood Pacts once every 60 seconds unless you have time reducing gear, you will not be the most effective DD in the PT. Especially during most lvls under 70. Having the ability to help cure PT members is a huge plus, although sometimes ppl may ask you to be the main healer which can be a downer. Since you are /WHM you only have access to lower lvl WHM spells and can't even effectively main heal until at least lvl 22 when you get Cure 2.
2) Solo - soloing as SMN you will most likely want to /WHM for the benefits ofhealing magic and damage reducing buffs like Protect, Shell, Stoneskin, Blink and other spells like Reraise later on.
3) did I mention this is the best way to get an EXP PT? O i did? OK good.
Look guys/gals I've been invited to PT's before as DD/buffer and not expected to help heal as we had a WHM. That doesn't mean it's not going to help to give the WHM or whoever a hand. Firstly it will help them conserve MP and keep the PT rolling faster, not to mention help share hate involved with healing and therefor help avoid a dead WHM. remember you can always just flat out say no to being main heal.
Right well that about covers subjobs. . . seriously. If there are any real huge benefits to other subjobs i'm not really aware of them. As far as I know /BLM or anything like that will not affect your avatars Magic attacks as they are TP based moves. Your avatars TP determines this not yours.
Well it's a start. . .
Anyways check back in once in awhile there'll most likely be some new stuff here.
To start with. . .
[glow=red,2,300]Unlocking the job. . [/glow]. in order to unlock SMN (advanced job) you'll need to have a lvl 30 job and wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/I_Can_Hear_a_Rainbow
do everything in that link.
Seriously though in regards to getting you carbuncle ruby, bring a THF along for TH thats fine, but from what I have seen, there is no one zone where the leeches are going to drop the ruby faster. Buburimu has the lowest lvl leeches that drop it so I'd suggest killing them there. Qufim island is also a lower lvl area that I have tried. I've seen a ruby drop in either zone within 3 kills, and i've also seen it take 3 hours. Hell the one time my PT killed a leech in Caedarva Mire for fun while waiting for members to arrive and we got a ruby drop on first kill. Just stick with it, you'll get the ruby and try not to rush on getting all the weather elements. If this game was designed to be beaten in a day it wouldn't be fun. Take your time, be patient.
[glow=red,2,300]Before you start playing SMN. . . [/glow].
Congratulations! you're a new SMN! maybe you saw your rainbow in La'thien Plateau and you're ready to be all bad ass as a SMN. News Flash! Ain't gonna happen! SMN is a lot of work, and for a lot of the lower lvls you are not going to be able to solo better than any other job out there. There are a lot of subtleties to this job and there are some key things that will make your life a lot easier. Unfortunately all these things are not that easy to come by.
[glow=red,2,300]Obtaining the 6 "Basic" avatars. . [/glow]
If you do not have a higher lvl job (over65+) chances are you will not have any other avatars other than Carbuncle to start. This is fine. You do not need them to get to level 20 and try to fight the Mini-avatar fights to earn them. What am I talking about you say?
When you play SMN you have the ability to summon an avatar to fight alongside you. Carbuncle (light based avatar) is the default avatar everyone gets when the unlock SMN. In order to unlock the other 6 basic avatars which include:
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Ifrit
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Leviathan
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Shiva
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Ramuh
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Garuda
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Titan
You will need to defeat them in battle. If you click on the links you can view information on how to fight them solo as a Lvl 20 SMN in the "Trial size trial by. . ."
Or how to fight the prime versions with a group of up to 6 ppl in the Prime fights. (recommended lvl of 65+)
Note: in order to fight any of the 6 avatars listed above, you will need high enough fame in the area that you collect the Tuning Forks in. Level 3 fame is required for the Lvl 20 fights, Level 6 fame is requred for the Prime fights.
Each of the 6 avatars listed above is associated with an element. Fire, ice, lightning, water, earth, and wind. Carbuncle is light based. . . so what about Dark element? There are actually 2 dark based avatars. . . these are the hardest ones to obtain and usually require a lvl 70+ job to obtain.
[glow=red,2,300]Obtaining Fenrir[/glow]
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Fenrir
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/The_Moonlit_Path
Check out the links, this is not an easy fight for most PT setups. However 5 70+ SMN can easily defeat him as can a PT of BLM.
In order to fight him though you will need to defeat each Prime avatar at least once and collect the Whispers in order to obtain the Moon bauble which is necessary to enter the fight. So in short it is a lot of work. However Fenrir is in my opinion one of the most frequently used avatars in EXP PT's while lvling SMN. He may not be necessary, but he definitely makes life easier.
[glow=red,2,300]Obtaining Diabolos[/glow]
Diabolos is the 9th avatar. He was introduced in the Chains of Promathia expansion and therefore you must complete a certain number of CoP missions in order to unlock him.
CoP 3-5 "Darkness Named" is a lvl 40 cap Diabolos fight. Once you defeat him here you can attempt to fight a much harder uncapped version Diabolos Prime in order to be able to summon him or get his special items.
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Diabolos
wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Waking_Dreams
Diabolos is by far the hardest avatar to obtain, as of right now I personally still do not have him. However I have been told he is not very useful in most situations and is mostly only used in end-game activities. I'll post more on him if and when I obtain him.
So for the rest of my guide I will not include Diabolos in any strategies or whatever else I may list, unless I have have heard or seen concrete evidence that he is useful in a certain situation.. .
[glow=red,2,300]Summoner/
subjobs[/glow]WHM I don't care what you've heard, I don't care if you don't want to "main heal" I don't care if you don't want ppl to even consider you as a main or backup healer. Suck it up because SMN/WHM is the most popular choice of subjob for a reason.
1) PTing - sure you don't need to /WHM to get a PT, but it's going to help a lot. Considering SMN can only use Blood Pacts once every 60 seconds unless you have time reducing gear, you will not be the most effective DD in the PT. Especially during most lvls under 70. Having the ability to help cure PT members is a huge plus, although sometimes ppl may ask you to be the main healer which can be a downer. Since you are /WHM you only have access to lower lvl WHM spells and can't even effectively main heal until at least lvl 22 when you get Cure 2.
2) Solo - soloing as SMN you will most likely want to /WHM for the benefits ofhealing magic and damage reducing buffs like Protect, Shell, Stoneskin, Blink and other spells like Reraise later on.
3) did I mention this is the best way to get an EXP PT? O i did? OK good.
Look guys/gals I've been invited to PT's before as DD/buffer and not expected to help heal as we had a WHM. That doesn't mean it's not going to help to give the WHM or whoever a hand. Firstly it will help them conserve MP and keep the PT rolling faster, not to mention help share hate involved with healing and therefor help avoid a dead WHM. remember you can always just flat out say no to being main heal.
Right well that about covers subjobs. . . seriously. If there are any real huge benefits to other subjobs i'm not really aware of them. As far as I know /BLM or anything like that will not affect your avatars Magic attacks as they are TP based moves. Your avatars TP determines this not yours.
Well it's a start. . .
Anyways check back in once in awhile there'll most likely be some new stuff here.
