If you bought the official strategy guide for FFXI do yourself a favor and rip out every page from the "On the Job" section. You might ask yourself, "Why is this on the WAR forum?" Well, I'm posting this for one reason. That peiece of crap guide robbed me of 30 good levels of warrior, and Im here to warn others before its too late.

When I first got my copy FFXI I was a bit skeptical, I had never played a MMORPG before. I choose WAR because I thought, "Hey it's the most 'Basic' job right? I'll just play it through and decide which class I really want to play."
After all, its only a "basic" job right?

-.-

That damn book made one of the most versatile and open classes in the game seem like less than dirt. "What, I'm expected to die for the mages? Why, they get parties and exp faster than I do." Everyone just treated me like a dumb meat shield. "What? my best weapon is an axe? Theyre expensive and slower than a greatsword. What are these ratings everyone keeps talking about?"

....

So I raised WAR with no subjob in the dunes to 18. This is hands down the HARDEST job to raise to 18, we all know how awesome dunes parties are after all right? I got berserk at level 15 and was so happy, then crushed when I found out all I was good for was to provoke and stand there. Then I went and soloed my MNK to level 15, because I was for damn sure not going to to Valk again.

/sigh

Again I go to qufim island and I am yet again the "big dumb meat shield" going around slinging my cheap greatsword and hitting the provoke macro like clockwork. Then I hit 25, and I started to realize things.

Double Attack. Defender. I could DD and tank, pretty cool. But I still have to go get my level 30 and get my awesome advanced job! I guess I really didn't pay attention to the fact that I never had to wait for a tank, or that I could deal damage if another one was there. I was always useful for something but I didnt realize how rare it was. Then I was going about one of my advanced job quests and another level 30 war was with us.

Sturmwind. Sturmwind. I watched him do 289 damage at level 30 and my jaw just dropped. What? Double Attack fired during weapon skills, and holy crap. Sturmwind rules. Hey using double attack, Great Axe is badass. I really wish I paid for it earlier. ><

So after I n00bed my way through 30 levels I realized the painfully obvious. WAR kicks ass, seriously. I took the time to go level my great axe and Im just amazed at how I can kick ass and get beat on at the same time and never worry about it. I just grab up a mage and get to work.

That damn guide had me believeing this class was nothing but a class to be played "like a Paladin,dealing modest damage, whose greatest asset is to grab and hold hate from monsters." To cap it all off the damn thing says WAR has few benefits as a main!

/fume

Modest Damage my ass. With double attack on and a trusty great axe, and reliable weapon skills, my damage is anything but modest. Few benefits as a main? I dont think so. WAR is the only class that can just let the damage fly and not worry about the heat that comes their way.

Now that I've moved on from my advanced job leveling phase going to level WAR again. I'm going back to never waiting for a tank again, being able to tear through enemys with bare weapons, and not having to hide behind someone else.

WAR post 30 is just amazing. If you are leveling your warrior now and saying "God, I can't wait to get through with this." Don't sell yourself short. This job is awesome, and a valuble member to any party for levels to come. What warrior offers you by level 25 isn't matched by many other jobs in the game. Eat your food, buy your weapons, get your rings. WAR will become an entirely new animal for you.

Don't let that crappy book waste your time like it did mine. I've played almost all the classes and have a general feel for the game.

WAR kicks ass. Its a job, not interment. Have fun with it.

I know this has been said before, but I thought maybe people would like to hear it coming from another class. I play DRK. And I am looking forward to picking up my greataxe again and taking charge of the battle.

/ja "Warcry"

remember DRK can use a Gaxe for a reason. Its cause it kicks far more ass than a gswrd and scythe could ever dream of till at LEAST 59. (i remember a drk in CN do 438 dmg with berserk and Sturmwind at 37)

Ouch. Question, is the rest of the guide good? Because if it's the same as that shoddy explaination of WAR then I won't buy it in 2 days.

Edit: Great job by the way. /ja Warcry

Edited, Sun Oct 17 16:39:19 2004 by BlaineMirfin

I'll admit, (though i don't have the guide) I always thought War was what you 'dealed with' when you couldn't find a pld, drk, sam, nin, and any other job. Any time I saw a war, I figured that he was just lvling his sub. Then I got to Cnest. At lvl 40 I saw a war. ???? What was he doing here? He passed 37, there is no need to play warrior again. Then I talked to him. He didn't want drk, pld or any other job. He was a warrior! I thought, sure, why not, I'm not going to complain, he pays to play, do what you want. So we partied. Oh yeah, I'm a whm, I'm just reading other forums, interested in what other jobs have to talk about. Well, I'd be damned if he didn't steal that plds job right from him. He was dealing damage I've only seen with drks, he was ripping into those beetles. His def wasn't as high as a plds, and without his own cures he took a little bit more outta my mana pool. But, damage on par with drk, tanking and keeping hate like a pld, even more so. Basic job my tushy. Anybody who can get past the skeptics, like I once was, and get to lvl 40, I'd more than welcome you. You aren't just something to 'put up with', you are a versatile, great job. I'd be more than happy to work harder to keep you up to health.
/salute

i've actually emailed brady about their guide, and how innaccurate it was in their descriptions of pretty much all jobs.

but sadly it does little to change anything. you should check out their website

Actually, I'd say thief is harder :|

Thf definately is the hardest. Once you get big enough to party you find out you are pretty useless until you hit 15 and get sneak attack, then it just goes uphill from there. Once you get sa you start becoming awesome, but before that >.< Although I hear whm is the hardest to get to lvl 10, but after that its clear sailing and buckets of pt invites. War I found very easy to get to 18 with no subjob, monk I had a subjob but I soloed that to 14 with no problem and joined pts after that and went Galka Beatdown on things, very fun, might lvl it after I finish warrior.

I found warrior to be a nice, easy job to level up to 18 because you have provoke, and people need that, whether or not you have a subjob. So, if you don't have a sub, people still invite you because they need a tank. With thief, I just happened to solo it to 12 before I started partying, and people wanted me in their party because they needed a puller. So, I guess it just depends on the parties who are looking for people on that day. If you are trying to level up a whm, try subbing monk if possible, until you are ready to join parties. Much easier when you have higher defense and you do decent damage barehanded. When I tried to raise a whm with no monk sub, I'd run out of mp after every battle, because I was doing no damage at all, while taking a lot. Good topic. Warriors are fun, and yes, they do rule!

This is straight out of page 41 of the Bradygames Spring 2004 guide under the WAR section:

"Unless you have a distinct path prepared to take Warrior up toward a deadlier job (such as Dark Knight), get into the mindset of being a protector from the onset."

You have to wonder what the BradyGames people were thinking when they wrote their extremely vague and biased guide. Did they even play the game to write it?



Sadly I thought this too for my first 20 lvls. I didn't even know a PLD existed so I knew we needed a WAR to tank... but besides Provoke I had no idea what they did. I saw most WARS equipping scythes and Greatswords and missing most of the time. I didn't know until I started coming here and got into a static with a WAR/MNK how adjustable and awesome they were to be able to fit into any pt. I wish more people would wake up and realize how great this job is, even now I still here sometimes "What?? Why do you need WAR after 30??"



What about subjobless THF? >.< No real damage until 15, can't get a pt cause there's tons of THFs lfg already, can't even solo EP without having a bit of fear for your life, you get poisoned you are really screwed.



*scans falling apart guide* Argh, that's almost exactly what it says too! "As a primary job, WAR has few benefits." What the hell? Then in the next line they say "The only problem with WAR is that it is even better as a support job!!" And it doesn't even LIST WAR/MNK as a main/sub... take anything stated in the guide very lightly, especially when it comes to jobs.

How they can even say that warrior lacks in benefits as a primary job is unknown to me.

Agressor... one of the BEST job abilities in the game. Sure, MNK gets Focus, but that doesn't boost accuracy nearly as much. And face it, MNK isn't often the choice sub for any jobs.

Warrior tanks have to keep hate with damage.. if you're tanking with a Gaxe, you cannot afford those missed attacks. This is where Aggresor comes in handy. My Gaxe is still only 91 at lvl 52 >< ( {Skill} {up} {Can I have it?} ) but when I go to skill up, I go to Rolanberry with my Neckchopper, and sub 25 MNK (Neckchopper Acc. +5, MNK = Focus) and just pop an eel kabob, focus, aggressor.. then start bustin gobbie heads.. mwahaha.

I currently dual wield Viking Axes, with Life Belt, and 2 Sniper's Rings. and with that extra boost from Aggressor, I RARELY miss.

Bradygames obviously only played (if they even did play) the jobs to 30, and based their information on what they had gathered. Frankly, Warrior is one of the best classes out there, and I don't just say that because I'm a Warrior... have you seen Rampage and Raging Rush? dear god... those are amazing.. truly amazing.

This reminds me of a funny, well maybe more frustrating, encounter in the Dunes. I was returning to level MNK sub for my WAR, to in turn sub to PLD (yeah i know, haven't touched in a while ... Have decided WAR all the way). Anyway when the PLD in the party found out i was leveling that way he insisted that i was wasting my time and should just sub PLD to WAR while leveling it. It turned into in all out argument (i couldn't resist) and he actually started quoting Brady's Guide book on the benefits of subbing PLD "word for word" in party chat as if it was his brainstorm. Of course I called him on it, but alas I could not convince him of it's blatant ignorance.

Oh well live and learn ... btw this forum rocks and thanks to all you real WARs sharing your knowledge and being the true WAR guide.

/ja WarCry

Dang, take a look at this. Looks like Bradygames might have finally realized that they screwed up on the earlier versions. The upcoming Nov 23 edition has been renamed the "Final Fantasy XI Atlas" and seems to stick to that name. The description mentions nothing about jobs or strategy at all. Must have learned to stick to their strengths...

Sweet. Rate up for actually getting through to them. ^_^

I'll probably pick up that atlas when it's released.

It helps to have those maps of dungeons that you need a coffer to get the map for.. I.E. Boyahda(sp?), Sea Serpent Grotto, Quicksands...

But, I'll have to peek through it a bit before I pay anything for it.. Bradygames has gained a pretty lousy rep. with me.

I personally loathed leveling WAR when I tried at one point to do so for SAM sub, to the point where I just gave up and stopped it at 17 (yes, I was using gaxe/axe and shield). However, I have huge amounts of respect for those who do enjoy WAR; it's one of my favorite melee jobs to party with. WAR+RNG is near the top of my list of DD combos (Raging Rush -> Slug Shot... <drool>), and WAR with 1h axe makes for an excellent light chain opener.

So, take heart. I've seen an increasing number of higher-level WARs on my server recently, which makes me perfectly happy. ^^

in the 2nd guide they simply expanded the fall version (and changed a few things SLIGHTLY in the job section) i just use it for references such as mob lvls and the like For that its very useful and skill chians as well (till lvl 50 >_< they really needed to extend that and get the few bugs outta it)

words cannot express my deep hatred for what that book says about us...

when i was lvl 16 i bought that book. Now i only started pting at lvl 15 so it was all new to me so i figured the book would help me...WRONG!!
At this point i was a great sword user which the book basically said was a dumbass choice and then the section that said "The first one to fight, Last one to come home" almost made me give up playing war for mnk. That book almost screwed me over so i decided to do the opposite of what it said. I kept my bone harness until lvl 30 used a great sword and used berserk at the beggining of every fight and my macro for berserk was "Screw you Bradygames i keep it real! <call>"

1 more reason you should burn that blasted guide:





-.-'

I'm going to refer to these jobs as they should have been, standard & extra. None of this advanced bs.

I bet that if there were extra jobs that functioned basically the same as WHM RDM and BLM the Brady Guide would be saying they are better than WHM RDM BLM as well, and or bad-mouthing WHM RDM BLM.

just wondering but does the guide say that
4 melee 2 mage parties are ideal?

I got that Guide when I got the game. Read through it really quick. Looked at the War section. My goal was to be a Drk cause it seemed bad-ass. And even then it didn't seem right. How can a job that gets def and attk boots and have skills to do both well not be a good job? I mean, you can tank or deal damage? How is this not good?

I didn't know the whole g.axe thing for quite some time and used a gsword with that char. Since I've been using g.axe cause if for no other reason, the WSes are top notch, better than most other weapons at many many levels.

I like reading the WAR section of the brady guide, other than the job abilities and whatnot, it seems like a big joke. War is, without a doubt, in the top 3 for classes that have the most biased against them, especially post 30.

I don't understand how the Brady guide can instill the image that wars are nothing but a sub and should stop at 37, but it has.

At least we're not drgs, eh? ><

One of my friends bought the Brady Guide so I picked it up to browse through. I must say that it was quite enjoyable for a laugh.

Its quite obvious that that version was written before the TP nerf since it bashes everyone who doesn't have a big multi-hit weapon skill switch to something else, and had so much completely untrue information that I had serious doubts that anything in there was worth reading.



Considering Warriors hold hate through damage, alot of those DD abilities also go towards making us great tanks. Warcry is awesome for keeping hate, and double attack is just awesome period. I sometimes wish my warrior wasn't in a static so I could explore our versatility a little bit more, but considering I'd have to put up with too many people's misconceptions about my job, and considering I like the people in my static, I think in the end I am far better off.

I am going to bump you up just because you said 2 things...

"War kicks ass"
and
"Burn the Bradly's Guide"
Way to represent!

I think the Brady guide is bad because it doesn't really give any really useful specific information that you can't get here.

Help on where most people go at a specific level range would have been great. Which monsters in the area will aggro to what sense. A great guide would say "You can level off of beetles at CN at level 5x in the lower area (would tell you how to get there) and say that you need sneak and invis in the big room. I stopped playing warrior at level 31, because I didn't know where to go next. I didn't know how to get to Altepa or if I was high enough to party in Garlaige.

It doesn't give any information on how to play a class effectively. Like red mages need equipment swapping macros. Warriors should use Axe/G Axe. I used a sword as a warrior until coming to Alla and reading some posts on the G Axe.

I really only used the guide to see what spells I need for casters, quest information (though you could get the same info here), and monster level range.

I remember my n00b days, when I really wanted to be a DRK/BLM thanks to the Brady guide immortalizing the Dark Knight (and even SUGGESTING DRK/BLM /slap)

Originally I used a Scythe because they "looked cool" until approximately lvl 8 I heard about the wonder and mystery of the Great Axe.

Everything changed from there. I realized I CAN DAMAGE DEAL. Of course, then I only thought warrior was a half-baked DRK. Then I switched to BLM.

THen i got a new character, and decided to play Warrior the RIGHT WAY. I was amazed.

I seriously WHOOPED ASS. I pounded drks in dmg and wasnt afraid of getting killed when hate came my way.

When I tanked I often died because they could not provoke off of me. This still happens as a 32 WAR, but I'm currently on lvling hiatus until i lvl thf sub, though I certainly will sub mnk if I must tank.

Now basically its like "Screw DRK, I kick much more ass like this."

In fact, a friend of mine tells me that I should just main WAR and not bother with PLD, even for fun. He says I'd miss my dmg too much lmao.

Which probably would be true :P

Excerpts from Brady Guide:

Dark Knight intro: "Dark Knights are the fighters who sacrifice a sense of self in pursuit of joining back magic and physical prowess. Although poorly equipped for taking the hits, these vicious characters tear through enemies with impressive speed. As long as a Warrior or Paladin is around to distract incoming monsters, a Dark Knight wil eviscerate (do they even know what that MEANS?) hapless monsters. Anyone who prefers to give more than receive will be happy with the damage output of Dark Knight"

Lmao.

"Be confident, assertive, and serious. You have a tough job to play. Though a meat and potatoes kind of profession, Warriors gain healthy respect when they know what they are doing."

I do gain respect. NOT for being meat and potatoes. For royally whooping ass.

How they put a Warrior/thf

"This is a combination that is mainly used for farming extra items and gil out of areas. In terms of combat effectiveness, the Warrior/THief has a few evil tricks to offer. Hoever, parties can't count on Warrior/Thief characters to tank as well, so this is not the best long-term choice for Warriors.'

LMAO.

Warrior/PLD (omg WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING THE DEF BONUSES DO NOT STACK I HEAR ALL THE TIME FROM DUNES WARS THAT OMG THEY ARE BETTER TANKS THAN A WAR/MNK AT THAT LVL /rant)

"This is a reversal of the usual combination. A Warrior who has Paladin as a support job will have the ability to survive grueling circumstances. With wonderful armor, supreme defense, and the Hit Points to match, its seems like this combo would be unstoppable. What gets in the way is this duo's limited magic. Paladins usually have light magic.WHen you switch Paladin to a support job, this is compounded. Still a solid and enjoyable combination, Warrior/Paladin is all the tank you'll ever need."

More like all the GIMP I'll ever need. I have to keep explaining to people that THE DEFENSE BONUSES DO NOT STACK.

And ANYONE who BSes the Monk is going down.

Plus, they pretty much say Tarutaru in melee are ONLY good for subbing whm to backup heal. Not cool.

(They say SMN/BLM can actually use BLM spells LMAO)