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Is this a problem?
By CorporateClone 2024-08-21 21:50:32
I just started playing this game in June, because I completed nearly all the ML FF games and I wanted to experience XI.
Without knowing anything about the game, I chose BLM. Since then, based on the content I've read on various forums, the BLM job is no longer good due to nerfing, meta, etc. However, is it good enough to get through all the story content or will I need to pivot and switch jobs?
My trusts seem to pretty much carry me, even as lvl 99. If I can use BLM for all the story content, is there a more efficient and potent way to use the job? Good sub job? Better trust selection? Good gear that doesn't require a party to collect? I'm not looking to join an alliance or party up for end game dungeons. I just want to have fun and enjoy the story, but I'd like to not get carried by my trusts.
By Kaffy 2024-08-22 01:21:27
To maximize soloing on blm you will want trusts that will skillchain for you like Ayame so you can magic burst frequently. This requires that you engage and open the desired chain with a WS of your own, and then she will close.
You can do all story except TVR with very basic 119 gear. Enjoy!
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By Asura.Verbannt 2024-08-22 01:45:17
Blm can do most of if not all missions and story line prior to TVR, however just note that the last mission vs chaos is hard. The last part of SoA solo can be done but it's gonna be hard solo. You should not expect to solo the chaos v2 fight IIRC it was soloed once by an insanely geared blu.
I suggest reading any of the blm guides on ffxiah or bg-wiki for job related guidance and if you can find someone to play with 2-3 people and you should be able to do all the missions.
Now FYI blm is very much meta if you do sortie and odyssey. Some strats require blm, sch and geo but the era of just play one job and do all content is dead. Blm is not the worst job to start with though. Some jobs like Thf and Dnc are great but require tons of gear and access to make the jobs any thing but a carry.
In current ffxi I can't think of a job that cant be played and played well, just some require more work, and have more limits than others.
Have fun playing ffxi, I know I enjoy the time with my LS.
By Pantafernando 2024-08-22 03:43:29
IMO, BLM is just slightly better than doing story mission on WHM, whats a very darn horrible experience.
BLM main selling point is magic burst, what is depending on some number of jobs doing things like taking for you, healing the party, performing the skillchain, while you stand back just watching the best moment to cast.
Without magic burst, the dmg output is kinda unappealing, just bothersome casting tier 1/3 nukes till you can cast the big one.
And the BLM play is just that. There isnt a whole lot you can do without the job per se. If your trusts starts falling, you would feel like the titanic, just waiting your turn to be wiped.
By Pantafernando 2024-08-22 03:49:42
Personally I would recommend trying your hand on BLU or COR, that are jobs that have a lot more potential. COR in particular can also provide higher movement speed, what is a trait you will come to love when doing the bothersome FFXI missions of running around larger zones.
COR can also power up the party, and quickly change roles to a big output with proper WSs (Leaden Salute and Savage Blade), what generally makes me more fulfilled when playing.
BLU requires a whole lot more work, but its also incredibly fulfilling when you start having a strong Subduction, and starts cleaving all those bothersome fodders that are a pain in the ***, or when you need to farm some random item.
SMN is another one that I personally like playing, you also have movement speed and a strong damage potential, as well a trump card when the time rises with Astral Conduit.
Other job worth mention is MNK. You cant get more simpler than this, but gets the job done with raw power.
Shiva.Thorny
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By Shiva.Thorny 2024-08-22 05:49:32
BLM is fine for story missions, as others have said you shouldn't have any trouble soloing most of them. The last few RoV, TVR, and adoulin missions are considerably harder and you may need to improve your equipment or recruit some help(this is a game where people are typically happy to help with light content just to showcase their advancement, it is not usually hard to find).
If you want to feel more like the star with your group of trusts, you'll need to set up skillchains. You can use trust combinations that will skillchain on their own (Tenzen and Iroha will do decently), or skill up staff and use trusts that'll skillchain with you (Shattersoul is good for opening darkness, many trusts close that). As an earlier poster mentioned, Ayame is great for opening skillchains, which will be easier to time (you wait for her to WS, then use the following WS to make a skillchain, then immediately cast). The downside is, if you are closing the skillchain, you will not have enough time to get 2 magic bursts off of it. Regardless of the method, you'll need to learn some of the elements and focus on bursting quickly when you see the skillchains.
If someone who was endgamed out and fully representing the best BLM had to offer went into your fights with your trusts, they would absolutely demolish the trusts. BLM isn't useless, and it's not weak, but this is a game that heavily rewards time investment and as a casual player you'll have to decide how much time you want to spend relative to the results you'll enjoy.
Getting 500 job points to wear the Ea Armor would boost your magic burst damage substantially. Farming some fast cast pieces to macro in for cast starts would increase your throughput on all nukes. The Spaekona's Coat gives you near-limitless MP on targets you can effectively damage by shaving 2% of your damage dealt off of your mana cost (which is often the entire cost of the spell). These are all things that can be done solo in your situation, but they take time.
By CorporateClone 2024-08-22 06:34:36
Thank you for all the information, everyone!
I will admit that I didn't know Skillchaining and MB were a thing until very recently, so I'll learn how to do that, for sure.
I did start farming for better gear. I did all the BLM Artifact quests and then I started farming the Dynamis for Relic gear, but that's when I really started to feel useless. Ha.
I'm also playing the expansions in order and I'm almost done with ToAU, so a little less than halfway, I suppose. I figured if I needed to change jobs or do something different, now would be the time to do it.
This game has been great, overall, but the 20+ years of content, mechanics, jobs, currencies, missions, quests, various realms, etc. It feels very daunting for a new player to consume.
[+]
By RadialArcana 2024-08-22 06:45:11
Dancer is the best job to experience the story and do basic stuff, you can unlock it at level 30. The quest to unlock the job is easy and it's a breeze to level up with trusts.
Movement speed, free sneak and invisible and self cures from TP.
By Pantafernando 2024-08-22 07:18:45
Yeah, one thing to point out is to try as many jobs as possible, and not being restrict to one.
I say that because anything up to XIII, no FF games had such well crafted job system like 11. Many titled game in the series just had some different spell set between jobs, maybe one or two unique abilities, some jobs generally were like extremelly situational like most attempts on using tank jobs, debuff/buff jobs. Most numbered title series you could just roll with dmg dealers and heals, as they tend to base the game in somewhere around lv40-60, so you could just go to 99 and bypass like every single battle design with raw power (aside maybe the megabosses).
While FF11 jobs have an entire skillset and styles to play. Entire sets to benefit a specific dimension.
I really never few any job in FF even remotely close to how fun is FF11 job system.
So, try for it. Im not sure where you will see the same thing in other game
By Taeketsu 2024-08-22 08:02:00
Thank you for all the information, everyone!
I will admit that I didn't know Skillchaining and MB were a thing until very recently, so I'll learn how to do that, for sure.
I did start farming for better gear. I did all the BLM Artifact quests and then I started farming the Dynamis for Relic gear, but that's when I really started to feel useless. Ha.
I'm also playing the expansions in order and I'm almost done with ToAU, so a little less than halfway, I suppose. I figured if I needed to change jobs or do something different, now would be the time to do it.
This game has been great, overall, but the 20+ years of content, mechanics, jobs, currencies, missions, quests, various realms, etc. It feels very daunting for a new player to consume. Id recommend leveling a job like thief (or whatever melee you prefer) with solo capability and farming. It doesn't take long to get to 99 these days and you'll learn better mechanics for melee jobs which will ultimately help you be a better blm magic bursting.
BLM and whm are probably the worst jobs by far to do solo content alone with, not that you can't, but it's certainly not the most efficient or fun
BUT- this is a 20+ yr old game with vast amounts of things to do. Play your way, and enjoy the ride. Its cool to take advice but ultimately the buck stops with you, and you should play how you want to.
By K123 2024-08-22 08:32:34
I've solod the last TVR boss on SAM. Is it supposed to be hard?
By K123 2024-08-22 08:34:32
up to XIII, no FF games had such well crafted job system like 11. Many titled game in the series just had some different spell set between jobs, maybe one or two unique abilities, some jobs generally were like extremelly situational like most attempts on using tank jobs, debuff/buff jobs. Nonsense. 3+5 job systems are amazing. Even FF1 job system is still incredible if you play it over with a variety of different set ups.
By CorporateClone 2024-08-22 09:37:52
Yeah, one thing to point out is to try as many jobs as possible, and not being restrict to one.
I say that because anything up to XIII, no FF games had such well crafted job system like 11. Many titled game in the series just had some different spell set between jobs, maybe one or two unique abilities, some jobs generally were like extremelly situational like most attempts on using tank jobs, debuff/buff jobs. Most numbered title series you could just roll with dmg dealers and heals, as they tend to base the game in somewhere around lv40-60, so you could just go to 99 and bypass like every single battle design with raw power (aside maybe the megabosses).
While FF11 jobs have an entire skillset and styles to play. Entire sets to benefit a specific dimension.
I really never few any job in FF even remotely close to how fun is FF11 job system.
So, try for it. Im not sure where you will see the same thing in other game
So I've finished everything from FF1 to FF13-3, skipping over FFX11, and my favorite title in terms of Jobs and party management was FF12. Allowing me to craft my party any way I wanted and go just about anywhere wanted (within reason) was amazing. I feel like I can see a link between 12 and 11, now that I'm playing 11. Of course, that made FF13 horrible for me, since the first 2/3rds of that game was linear paths.
The reason I even chose BLM is that I played FF14 for a while when it came out and I loved the job in that game.
I'll give some of the other jobs a try and see what sticks. SMN looked fun, and I keep on reading about THF. MNK and SAM being solid choices.
Nonsense. 3+5 job systems are amazing. Even FF1 job system is still incredible if you play it over with a variety of different set ups.
I agree that most of the FF titles have their own charm, including fun mechanics and entertaining stories. Some of the games lent other ways to finish the game besides just straight leveling. When I played FF6, I figured out how to make my party invulnerable to magic-based damage, which is the final boss's bread and butter. He couldn't hurt me. lol
By Pantafernando 2024-08-22 09:47:17
FF11 and FF12 are really close, and my two favorites FF in terms of battle system by far from all of entries up to 13 (never played after that).
I consider FF12 more like a simplified system of FF11, with only 3 slots of gear instead of 12+, and 3 party members instead of 6-18.
Using fewer members in the setup really oversimplifies things in battle, as you can be DD and healer, DD and buff, DD and debuff.
When you open up the party slots, it allows you to specialize in a role/job like no precedent before, like if youre a tank, generally your dmg will be pretty weak, if youre a support job, you can contribute with dmg and healing, but you will really lack in numbers, if youre a DD, you will have really problems without all the other roles.
Knowing your niche, and playing to its limits is what makes so appealing you using a job and investing on it, actually learn it.
By CorporateClone 2024-08-22 10:09:13
FF11 and FF12 are really close, and my two favorites FF in terms of battle system by far from all of entries up to 13 (never played after that).
I consider FF12 more like a simplified system of FF11, with only 3 slots of gear instead of 12+, and 3 party members instead of 6-18.
Using fewer members in the setup really oversimplifies things in battle, as you can be DD and healer, DD and buff, DD and debuff.
When you open up the party slots, it allows you to specialize in a role/job like no precedent before, like if youre a tank, generally your dmg will be pretty weak, if youre a support job, you can contribute with dmg and healing, but you will really lack in numbers, if youre a DD, you will have really problems without all the other roles.
Knowing your niche, and playing to its limits is what makes so appealing you using a job and investing on it, actually learn it.
Yeah, I have some experience with MMOs. I played a Paladin in WoW for a while and Tanked for my Guild. I also played a shuttle mage (Warping parties to and from dungeons) way back when Ultima On-line was still a thing, which probably dates me a little.
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By Kaffy 2024-08-22 10:20:30
which probably dates me a little.
This is like an old folks home full of gamers anyway, though we do have some that aren't ancient yet.
[+]
By CorporateClone 2024-08-22 11:52:34
which probably dates me a little.
This is like an old folks home full of gamers anyway, though we do have some that aren't ancient yet.
Makes sense, considering the age of this game. I'm glad I got into it. 11 has a lot more to offer than I expected. It's not surprising to me anymore that it's still around.
Shiva.Liam
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By Shiva.Liam 2024-08-22 12:05:20
Dancer is the best job to experience the story and do basic stuff, you can unlock it at level 30. The quest to unlock the job is easy and it's a breeze to level up with trusts.
Movement speed, free sneak and invisible and self cures from TP.
This is a great idea for running through the story, DNC is one of those jobs that you can get into quickly (no need for learning spells/buying dice etc) and you can dnc/blm to warp from mission to mission, so your blm leveling was not a waste!
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By CorporateClone 2024-08-22 15:49:30
I went ahead and unlocked DNC, SMN, and SAM for good measure. I'll give'em a try and see what fits.
Phoenix.Iocus
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By Phoenix.Iocus 2024-08-22 16:37:53
FF11 and FF12 are really close, and my two favorites FF in terms of battle system by far from all of entries up to 13 (never played after that).
I consider FF12 more like a simplified system of FF11, with only 3 slots of gear instead of 12+, and 3 party members instead of 6-18.
Using fewer members in the setup really oversimplifies things in battle, as you can be DD and healer, DD and buff, DD and debuff.
When you open up the party slots, it allows you to specialize in a role/job like no precedent before, like if youre a tank, generally your dmg will be pretty weak, if youre a support job, you can contribute with dmg and healing, but you will really lack in numbers, if youre a DD, you will have really problems without all the other roles.
Knowing your niche, and playing to its limits is what makes so appealing you using a job and investing on it, actually learn it.
Yeah, I have some experience with MMOs. I played a Paladin in WoW for a while and Tanked for my Guild. I also played a shuttle mage (Warping parties to and from dungeons) way back when Ultima On-line was still a thing, which probably dates me a little.
UO! God that was forever ago.
If you want to keep going on BLM, there are a couple things that are solo friendly about it.
Mana Wall - even without job points, it's 5 minute of taking a lot less damage than most jobs. 5 minutes is a lot of time for trying to do story missions. Level 76
Spaekona's Coat - Is the upgraded version of the Wizard's Coat which is your Artifact Body. It was mentioned already and is upgradeable to current end game levels so you don't have to outgrow it. Between your spells not costing much and you using your MP to offset damage, you're actually hard to kill and can keep doing damage for a while. Way longer than mages did when this game started out.
Occult Acumen - Is a trait you get at level 85 and then again at 95. It gives you TP for spending MP. Because Spaekona's Coat refunds you a portion of the MP you spend instead of reducing the cost, you get full benefits and no downsides. You can also get this on gear much later if you find this aspect of the job fun and want to enhance it more.
You will be a fight mage. You can do the same thing on other mage jobs using a Seidr Cotehardie but without the safety of mana wall. While a lot of this is niche, you're at least starting out as trying to play the story so it doesn't matter if you're doing weird stuff so long as you're enjoying yourself. FFXI has a lot more sandbox elements than a lot of MMOs and if you enjoy them, you may find that is your reason to stay. I hope you enjoy the story.
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By Asura.Splendid 2024-08-22 19:57:37
Dancer is the best job to experience the story and do basic stuff, you can unlock it at level 30. The quest to unlock the job is easy and it's a breeze to level up with trusts.
Movement speed, free sneak and invisible and self cures from TP.
I can attest to this. When I came back in 2015 I soloed the entire story in Espial Gear, including *redacted* from Rhapsodies. I eventually went on to solo Chaos in the last mission of TVR (with far better gear than Espial). DNC is the way to go for realie reals.
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By Asura.Thunderjet 2024-08-23 03:09:54
I've solod the last TVR boss on SAM. Is it supposed to be hard? I DID IT ON rdm as well was not bad
By Pantafernando 2024-08-23 03:13:26
Yeah, right.
I suppose you also cleared using espial/outrider, under 100jp and low tier trusts, just for the fun.
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By Asura.Thunderjet 2024-08-23 03:21:36
Yeah, right.
I suppose you also cleared using espial/outrider, under 100jp and low tier trusts, just for the fun. Cleared TVR with epsial? impossible he meant ROV dont skim read its bad for your health u will turn to a chiuaua soon
By Pantafernando 2024-08-23 03:27:31
Why are those chihuahua haters poping in this forum lately?
Why arent those guys behind bars?
By Pantafernando 2024-08-23 03:32:26
How can you not like such a friendly guy?
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By Sylph.Timepassesbye 2024-08-23 08:44:18
I just started playing this game in June, because I completed nearly all the ML FF games and I wanted to experience XI.
Without knowing anything about the game, I chose BLM. Since then, based on the content I've read on various forums, the BLM job is no longer good due to nerfing, meta, etc. However, is it good enough to get through all the story content or will I need to pivot and switch jobs?
My trusts seem to pretty much carry me, even as lvl 99. If I can use BLM for all the story content, is there a more efficient and potent way to use the job? Good sub job? Better trust selection? Good gear that doesn't require a party to collect? I'm not looking to join an alliance or party up for end game dungeons. I just want to have fun and enjoy the story, but I'd like to not get carried by my trusts.
You can enjoy the story on and job you wish, I want to make that fact abundantly clear. Blm does have some perks over other jobs however, being able to natively get warp without needing to invest(though a minor investment) in a ring or scrolls of instant warp to get around. they also have access to retrace making past missions go faster.
the job itself has a lot of versatility, there are some things you will struggle with solo however. AF gear was on at the appropriate levels, at 99 and in the current I level era, the blm AF is fairly insignificant. the legs are a potent drain/aspir piece and that body will essentially make most magic burst free to cast, but at a heavy cost to mab. Relic you'll likely be unable to get solo because of the requirement of completing objectives in dyna D and needing 3 people to enter, so at best, you can get +2 without partying. Realistically though, for a story playthrough, you wont be using any of the relic, it's honestly not that great and even in end game content, only a couple pieces are used for niche situations. The empy set it worth investing the time to make. sortie is difficult to solo and will take you months of grinding to acquire the +2/3 set, so assuming you only get the +1 set, it's solid. ambuscade gear is also a solid place to start and you can solo most of that, though that will also take time.
you'll want to get a solid tank trust, a healer and someone to make skillchains. iroha 2 is great for that, though on a fairly long cooldown. shantotto 2 is also great, but you'll feel carried. a rdm is nice to keep your mp topped off and the last option is entirely up to you.
you didn't mention anything about subjobs, but you should at the very least have rdm and sch available. Whm is more niche, but also an option. if you do domain invasion, you can get a solid staff for blm though there but it'll take some time to augment properly. most accessories can be quested or farmed.
in summery, it's completely possible that you can solo the vast majority of the story on blm, but you will struggle with some fights.
Carbuncle.Maletaru
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By Carbuncle.Maletaru 2024-08-23 09:19:36
Sylph.Timepassesbye said: »Blm does have some perks over other jobs however, being able to natively get warp without needing to invest(though a minor investment) in a ring or scrolls of instant warp to get around. they also have access to retrace making past missions go faster.
Any job can sub BLM, and the "investment" is 5k CP. Retrace is nice but there are home points in all the cities in the past. Set your HP in the past and then warp there, no Retrace needed. Even if you have your HP set somewhere else, all you need to do is warp to your HP then HP to the past, it's a delay of less than 10 seconds. You'd spend significantly more time walking at 12% (or lower) move speed on BLM as compared to Chocobo Jig, Chocobo Mazurka, Bolter's Roll, and/or 18% move speed gear from other jobs.
BLM can still solo most (all) of the content, but it's not ideal IMO. If you're enjoying BLM go for it, but it is not the fastest or easiest to do things on.
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By Sylph.Dmhlucky 2024-08-23 09:44:04
This game is amazing overall and i feel like it has some of the best job representations in the franchise.
14 was ok as paving a path for jobs, but with most jobs being combo focused or chain/circle ability focused jobs, its not deep.
XI is very deep with all of their jobs, and while there's several DPS jobs, no 2 feel the same.
Blm is in theory the best nuker. But, its also gear and skill dependent. If you want to max a job, there is no cheap job, there's just less expensive jobs.
Play the game how you want, definitely experiment, play around with the job options, dabble in a little bit of everything. Blue Mage in this game is an Amazing representation of the job, Possibly the best in the series IMO.
Also, early game progression is Nothing like Endgame. Every job ramps up, you get more haste, faster attacks, more idle/regen/refresh, less downtime, access to gear which limits MP usage (or more importantly returns some upon cast)
I started as a Whm 20+ years ago, and while I still play the job, its just not suited for soloing some content. Every job has their place in this game.
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By Sylph.Timepassesbye 2024-08-23 09:53:06
Carbuncle.Maletaru said: »Sylph.Timepassesbye said: »Blm does have some perks over other jobs however, being able to natively get warp without needing to invest(though a minor investment) in a ring or scrolls of instant warp to get around. they also have access to retrace making past missions go faster.
Any job can sub BLM, and the "investment" is 5k CP. Retrace is nice but there are home points in all the cities in the past. Set your HP in the past and then warp there, no Retrace needed. Even if you have your HP set somewhere else, all you need to do is warp to your HP then HP to the past, it's a delay of less than 10 seconds. You'd spend significantly more time walking at 12% (or lower) move speed on BLM as compared to Chocobo Jig, Chocobo Mazurka, Bolter's Roll, and/or 18% move speed gear from other jobs.
BLM can still solo most (all) of the content, but it's not ideal IMO. If you're enjoying BLM go for it, but it is not the fastest or easiest to do things on.
I did say it was minor, but the reality is that if they like playing blm, my post was to encourage them enjoying playing it. as for movement speed, all jobs can get the 18% ring, and while yes, not initially, but it is accessible, but all outside travel has mounts, so you're only talking about areas where those can't be used, which again, while not insignificant, it does lessen the need for movement speed items.
Another point in Blm's corner is that it's not required to get the quested weapon skill to be relevant. Sure, a geared warrior will wipe the floor with a blm in a raw 1v1, but that's not what's being discussed here. blm has the ability to deal significant damage from distance, something others jobs lack without TP. I'm not suggesting that playing blm is the best option out there, but again, if they enjoy the job, then so be it. I got through all level 75 content on blm and smn back in the day, it's easier now with gear, warps, mounts and such, but I still enjoyed progressing on the job I enjoyed.
I just started playing this game in June, because I completed nearly all the ML FF games and I wanted to experience XI.
Without knowing anything about the game, I chose BLM. Since then, based on the content I've read on various forums, the BLM job is no longer good due to nerfing, meta, etc. However, is it good enough to get through all the story content or will I need to pivot and switch jobs?
My trusts seem to pretty much carry me, even as lvl 99. If I can use BLM for all the story content, is there a more efficient and potent way to use the job? Good sub job? Better trust selection? Good gear that doesn't require a party to collect? I'm not looking to join an alliance or party up for end game dungeons. I just want to have fun and enjoy the story, but I'd like to not get carried by my trusts.
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