Post by Valhallodin on May 31, 2006 12:18:27 GMT -6
Well, last night, an aspiring SAM asked me to teach him how to skillchain, and rather than try to explain it while very tired and in the midst of some intense fishing, I told him I would post a guide for him on the forum during my lunch break. So here it is: Val's guide to beginning skillchains. This is by no means complete, but it should be enough to get you started.
Valhallodin's Skillchain Guide Version 1.0
Pre-Fighting
Before you can perform a skillchain, the first thing you must do is decide what skillchain you will want to be doing. There are several steps in the process.
1. Determine which party members will be potential members of the skillchain. This basically means deciding who will take part and who won't. Obviously, healers and nukers will not skillchain. A RDM will sometimes be involved if they melee, but in general they are also excluded. Also, many times the tank is not going to be included. Sometimes you can skillchain with the tank, but in general, they are there to tank and not DD, so their Weapon Skills will not contribute as much.
2. Determine what weapon type everyone is using, and what their skill level in that weapon is. Basically, you will need to know what weapon skills you will have access to.
3. Determine what mobs you will be fighting. Different mobs will be weak to different elements, and each skillchain corresponds to one element (level 1 skillchains), 2 elements (level 2 skillchains), or 4 elements (level 3 skillchains). In general, you will want to match your skillchain to the mobs weakness.
4. Select a skillchain to perform using either a skillchain chart, or a skillchain calculator. They can be found here:
Chart: adennak.com/blog/?postid=3
Calculator: ffxi.lamparty.nl/renkei/
To use the calculator, input the members name, job, subjob, weapon type, and level. Then select what level skillchains you want to use, and submit it. It's not hard to figure out really.
A few things to keep in mind:
Your higher level weapon skills are not always your best option. Sometimes a lower level weapon skill will do much more damage. For example, for SAM, Tachi: Enpi will almost always do more damage than Tachi: Hobaku, despite Hobaku being gained at a higher level. You should try to use your most powerful Weapon Skills whenever possible.
Also, sometimes using a weaker weapon skill will enable the group perform a stronger skillchain and the overall damage done will be increased.
The damage done by the actual skillchain is determined by the closing Weapon Skill of the chain. This means you should try to put the stronger or strongest of the Weapon Skills at the end to maximize the output of the actual skillchain.
Also, if you have people who will be doing Magic Bursts on your skillchains, be sure they know what element the skillchain corresponds to. Sometimes, though not usually, you can choose a slightly weaker skillchain and make up the difference with a stronger magic burst, but in general that is not the case.
Sometimes it may benefit you to set up several skillchains to use. If you have 4 people who can skillchain, try setting up 2 seperate ones. Or once you are a 30SAM and have Meditate, you should be able to participate in 2 different skillchains with a different partner for each. Also, if you are in a very solid party and you are fighting more than one kind of mob, you can set up different skillchains for the different mobs, based on what they are weak to.
In summary, your goal is to maximize the total damage done. In general, this is done by balancing many things, such as what Weapon Skills to use and when, and which skillchains to do.
While Fighting[/color]
Once you have set up the skillchain, the next step is actually executing it. The easiest way to get skillchains to work is by using macros.
The first key macro you need is a TP macro, which will tell your party members and skillchain partners how much TP you have, so they can know or anticipate when a skillchain will be done. A very simple but effective TP macro is...
/p <Samurai> TP = <tp>.
This will tell your party how much TP you have without making being too intrusive. In general, a simple TP macro is the best. Some people have messages like "<Samurai> TP = <tp>, weapon skill ready" or what have you, but in general, I try to keep it short and sweet. People will know that if you have 100 or more TP, you are ready, they do not need to be told.
Once everyone is ready, it is time to do the skillchain. In general, I use a macro no matter what place I am in the order. My general macro is...
/p <Weapon Skill> --> <t> --> 3 seconds!
/wait 2
/ws "Weapon Skill" <t>
This will give everyone a heads up that you are starting the skillchain, so your partners know to be ready and your mages know to prepare to burst.
Also, this macro will work well if you are second (or third) in the skillchain because you can hit the macro as soon as you see the person in front of you go, and the /wait will automatically time it properly. In general, it seems to me that you need to do your Weapon Skill between 1 and 5 seconds after the person in front of you goes. I think you can be even a little bit later than that, but as a rule of thumb I try not to be.
As you increase in levels, and maybe change subjobs and stuff, your macros for skillchain with get more complex. For example, on my SAM/THF, I have macros for SATA Gekko and SATA Yuki. They look like this...
/p <Sneak Attack> + <Trick Attack> + <Tachi: Gekko> --> <t> --> 3 seconds
/ja "Sneak Attack" <me>
/wait 2
/ja "Trick Attack" <me>
/wait 2
/ws "Tachi: Gekko" <t>
It is much longer, but it will still allow me to give my teammates time to prepare if I am opening, and time it properly if I am closing. The key to being a great skillchainer is knowing how to pick a skillchain that plays into everyone's strengths and the mobs weaknesses, as well as being able to time your Weapon Skill and help with the timing of other peoples' as well.
The final piece of advice I can give is to be patient. Take the time to set things up properly before you begin to avoid confusion mid-fight. Also, do not start getting on fellow party members if they mess up the chain. Instead, try to help them with their timing and understanding, rather than blasting them for being a n00b or calling them other mean names. In the end, helping them skillchain helps you and your entire party, as well as anyone else they party with for the rest of their career. Good skillchaining habits are formed by practicing them.
That concludes this beginning guide. I will try to put together a proper guide sometime when I have more free time, but this should be enough to get your started.
Valhallodin's Skillchain Guide Version 1.0
Pre-Fighting
Before you can perform a skillchain, the first thing you must do is decide what skillchain you will want to be doing. There are several steps in the process.
1. Determine which party members will be potential members of the skillchain. This basically means deciding who will take part and who won't. Obviously, healers and nukers will not skillchain. A RDM will sometimes be involved if they melee, but in general they are also excluded. Also, many times the tank is not going to be included. Sometimes you can skillchain with the tank, but in general, they are there to tank and not DD, so their Weapon Skills will not contribute as much.
2. Determine what weapon type everyone is using, and what their skill level in that weapon is. Basically, you will need to know what weapon skills you will have access to.
3. Determine what mobs you will be fighting. Different mobs will be weak to different elements, and each skillchain corresponds to one element (level 1 skillchains), 2 elements (level 2 skillchains), or 4 elements (level 3 skillchains). In general, you will want to match your skillchain to the mobs weakness.
4. Select a skillchain to perform using either a skillchain chart, or a skillchain calculator. They can be found here:
Chart: adennak.com/blog/?postid=3
Calculator: ffxi.lamparty.nl/renkei/
To use the calculator, input the members name, job, subjob, weapon type, and level. Then select what level skillchains you want to use, and submit it. It's not hard to figure out really.
A few things to keep in mind:
Your higher level weapon skills are not always your best option. Sometimes a lower level weapon skill will do much more damage. For example, for SAM, Tachi: Enpi will almost always do more damage than Tachi: Hobaku, despite Hobaku being gained at a higher level. You should try to use your most powerful Weapon Skills whenever possible.
Also, sometimes using a weaker weapon skill will enable the group perform a stronger skillchain and the overall damage done will be increased.
The damage done by the actual skillchain is determined by the closing Weapon Skill of the chain. This means you should try to put the stronger or strongest of the Weapon Skills at the end to maximize the output of the actual skillchain.
Also, if you have people who will be doing Magic Bursts on your skillchains, be sure they know what element the skillchain corresponds to. Sometimes, though not usually, you can choose a slightly weaker skillchain and make up the difference with a stronger magic burst, but in general that is not the case.
Sometimes it may benefit you to set up several skillchains to use. If you have 4 people who can skillchain, try setting up 2 seperate ones. Or once you are a 30SAM and have Meditate, you should be able to participate in 2 different skillchains with a different partner for each. Also, if you are in a very solid party and you are fighting more than one kind of mob, you can set up different skillchains for the different mobs, based on what they are weak to.
In summary, your goal is to maximize the total damage done. In general, this is done by balancing many things, such as what Weapon Skills to use and when, and which skillchains to do.
While Fighting[/color]
Once you have set up the skillchain, the next step is actually executing it. The easiest way to get skillchains to work is by using macros.
The first key macro you need is a TP macro, which will tell your party members and skillchain partners how much TP you have, so they can know or anticipate when a skillchain will be done. A very simple but effective TP macro is...
/p <Samurai> TP = <tp>.
This will tell your party how much TP you have without making being too intrusive. In general, a simple TP macro is the best. Some people have messages like "<Samurai> TP = <tp>, weapon skill ready" or what have you, but in general, I try to keep it short and sweet. People will know that if you have 100 or more TP, you are ready, they do not need to be told.
Once everyone is ready, it is time to do the skillchain. In general, I use a macro no matter what place I am in the order. My general macro is...
/p <Weapon Skill> --> <t> --> 3 seconds!
/wait 2
/ws "Weapon Skill" <t>
This will give everyone a heads up that you are starting the skillchain, so your partners know to be ready and your mages know to prepare to burst.
Also, this macro will work well if you are second (or third) in the skillchain because you can hit the macro as soon as you see the person in front of you go, and the /wait will automatically time it properly. In general, it seems to me that you need to do your Weapon Skill between 1 and 5 seconds after the person in front of you goes. I think you can be even a little bit later than that, but as a rule of thumb I try not to be.
As you increase in levels, and maybe change subjobs and stuff, your macros for skillchain with get more complex. For example, on my SAM/THF, I have macros for SATA Gekko and SATA Yuki. They look like this...
/p <Sneak Attack> + <Trick Attack> + <Tachi: Gekko> --> <t> --> 3 seconds
/ja "Sneak Attack" <me>
/wait 2
/ja "Trick Attack" <me>
/wait 2
/ws "Tachi: Gekko" <t>
It is much longer, but it will still allow me to give my teammates time to prepare if I am opening, and time it properly if I am closing. The key to being a great skillchainer is knowing how to pick a skillchain that plays into everyone's strengths and the mobs weaknesses, as well as being able to time your Weapon Skill and help with the timing of other peoples' as well.
The final piece of advice I can give is to be patient. Take the time to set things up properly before you begin to avoid confusion mid-fight. Also, do not start getting on fellow party members if they mess up the chain. Instead, try to help them with their timing and understanding, rather than blasting them for being a n00b or calling them other mean names. In the end, helping them skillchain helps you and your entire party, as well as anyone else they party with for the rest of their career. Good skillchaining habits are formed by practicing them.
That concludes this beginning guide. I will try to put together a proper guide sometime when I have more free time, but this should be enough to get your started.