New WD + Iron Body
Some stuff for Warriors to think about if they nerf the WDEF calculation to make it a lot stronger.
If you've already made a Warrior and gone into 3rd job, if you didn't take Iron Body, you're not going to take it now.
But if you are making a Warrior and/or haven't taken Final Attack yet, there's something interesting I've noticed.
With a Bowman, if you skip Final Attack, you get exactly enough points to go back in finish Focus if you keep Blessing at 3, AB at 1 and DS is maxed.
Check out how it works with a Warrior:
5 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
0 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Total=61 of 61 points.
2nd job of Fighter/Page:
20 Mastery
0 Final Attack
20 Booster
20 Rage/Threaten
30 Power Guard
Total=90 of 121 points.
With your 31 leftover points, go back to Warrior:
16 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
20 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Exactly 31 points. 11 points to take HP Recovery to max @ 16 from 5 and then 20 into Iron Body.
Now I don't hate Final Attack on Warrior like I hate it on Bowman. Actually, I don't hate it. I hate that it gets you killed. Warrior, who cares? But FA for Warrior is just an extra Slash Blast. I think I can live without it.
If you make a Warrior, maybe it would be good to skip Final Attack. If WDEF gets that much better, it at least tips the scales for me.
Now for Spearman.
There's two ways to do this as well. Hybrid is good because the damage difference in 3rd job really is stark. I have mixed feelings on Hybrids. Their raw power is undeniable. A DK without Buster on Spear is much less useful at things like Zakum. When you're dealing with millions of HP, being 30% weaker on EVERY HIT...ouch.
I think that if you're trying to be responsible, Hybrid is the way to go. But if you're trying to be true to it, going Pole Arm or Spear is the way to go. While I prefer Pole Arms for speed (common weapons), if you do go Spear only, the fact you have a weaker mob attack only hurts you, while if you go Pole Arm only it hurts your party on Zakum or Papalauts or whatever. The only defence I have for Pole Arm-only is that if you do indeed use a Surfboard, the deficit in damage is mitigated by the boost in speed. So the fact you're doing way less damage isn't quite so bad since you're getting in way more hits.
Standard Spearman (assuming same Warrior build from above):
20 Mastery
0 Final Attack
20 Booster
20 Iron Wall
30 Hyper Body
16 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
20 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Total=182 of 182 points (121 and 61)
So 20 Iron Wall and 20 Iron Body? Invoke Iron Wall and then Iron Body and you have +40 WDEF and +20 MDEF. But in a way WDEF has the jury out on it since you don't have a shield, no chance of Shield Mastery, and will never have a bunch of DEF anyway. So it's hard to say if it would matter. Also, if you left Iron Wall at 3 (you have to take 3 for unlock) you could get the MDEF from a Cleric/Priest's Bless anyway. A Priest without a DK is like a football player without a helmet.
In a way, this WDEF thing getting better almost sorta makes the Hybrid argument for you because doing the aforementioned Fighter/Page build doesn't have nearly the effect of a Hybrid and sorta makes a standard build with Final Attack seem silly.
Now let's look at a Hybrid build:
20 Mastery S
20 Mastery PA
0 Final Attack S
0 Final Attack PA
20 Booster S
20 Booster PA
20 Iron Wall
20 Hyper Body
6 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
0 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Total=182 of 182 points.
All of this WDEF stuff points out the weakness of a Spearman/DK's defence. In fact, even without knowing HOW it will be affected, it makes me MORE inclined to make a Hybrid because I figure "why bother?"
I actually think that if I really wanted Iron Body with a Spearman, I'd take it in first job and just skip Slash Blast...which is what I usually do with a Page/Fighter anyway. You don't want to skip Power Strike because even with Buster, PS works much differently and is always good in it's own way because of focused damage.
Anyway, since those guides I made are in the memories I feel obligated to support and update them, especially because it's not really my info that's changing, it's the game that's changing and I'm having to adjust.
There you go.
BTW, check my math, I just did all of this from memory.
If you've already made a Warrior and gone into 3rd job, if you didn't take Iron Body, you're not going to take it now.
But if you are making a Warrior and/or haven't taken Final Attack yet, there's something interesting I've noticed.
With a Bowman, if you skip Final Attack, you get exactly enough points to go back in finish Focus if you keep Blessing at 3, AB at 1 and DS is maxed.
Check out how it works with a Warrior:
5 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
0 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Total=61 of 61 points.
2nd job of Fighter/Page:
20 Mastery
0 Final Attack
20 Booster
20 Rage/Threaten
30 Power Guard
Total=90 of 121 points.
With your 31 leftover points, go back to Warrior:
16 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
20 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Exactly 31 points. 11 points to take HP Recovery to max @ 16 from 5 and then 20 into Iron Body.
Now I don't hate Final Attack on Warrior like I hate it on Bowman. Actually, I don't hate it. I hate that it gets you killed. Warrior, who cares? But FA for Warrior is just an extra Slash Blast. I think I can live without it.
If you make a Warrior, maybe it would be good to skip Final Attack. If WDEF gets that much better, it at least tips the scales for me.
Now for Spearman.
There's two ways to do this as well. Hybrid is good because the damage difference in 3rd job really is stark. I have mixed feelings on Hybrids. Their raw power is undeniable. A DK without Buster on Spear is much less useful at things like Zakum. When you're dealing with millions of HP, being 30% weaker on EVERY HIT...ouch.
I think that if you're trying to be responsible, Hybrid is the way to go. But if you're trying to be true to it, going Pole Arm or Spear is the way to go. While I prefer Pole Arms for speed (common weapons), if you do go Spear only, the fact you have a weaker mob attack only hurts you, while if you go Pole Arm only it hurts your party on Zakum or Papalauts or whatever. The only defence I have for Pole Arm-only is that if you do indeed use a Surfboard, the deficit in damage is mitigated by the boost in speed. So the fact you're doing way less damage isn't quite so bad since you're getting in way more hits.
Standard Spearman (assuming same Warrior build from above):
20 Mastery
0 Final Attack
20 Booster
20 Iron Wall
30 Hyper Body
16 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
20 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Total=182 of 182 points (121 and 61)
So 20 Iron Wall and 20 Iron Body? Invoke Iron Wall and then Iron Body and you have +40 WDEF and +20 MDEF. But in a way WDEF has the jury out on it since you don't have a shield, no chance of Shield Mastery, and will never have a bunch of DEF anyway. So it's hard to say if it would matter. Also, if you left Iron Wall at 3 (you have to take 3 for unlock) you could get the MDEF from a Cleric/Priest's Bless anyway. A Priest without a DK is like a football player without a helmet.
In a way, this WDEF thing getting better almost sorta makes the Hybrid argument for you because doing the aforementioned Fighter/Page build doesn't have nearly the effect of a Hybrid and sorta makes a standard build with Final Attack seem silly.
Now let's look at a Hybrid build:
20 Mastery S
20 Mastery PA
0 Final Attack S
0 Final Attack PA
20 Booster S
20 Booster PA
20 Iron Wall
20 Hyper Body
6 HP Recovery
10 HP Increase
6 Endure
0 Iron Body
20 Power Strike
20 Slash Blast
Total=182 of 182 points.
All of this WDEF stuff points out the weakness of a Spearman/DK's defence. In fact, even without knowing HOW it will be affected, it makes me MORE inclined to make a Hybrid because I figure "why bother?"
I actually think that if I really wanted Iron Body with a Spearman, I'd take it in first job and just skip Slash Blast...which is what I usually do with a Page/Fighter anyway. You don't want to skip Power Strike because even with Buster, PS works much differently and is always good in it's own way because of focused damage.
Anyway, since those guides I made are in the memories I feel obligated to support and update them, especially because it's not really my info that's changing, it's the game that's changing and I'm having to adjust.
There you go.
BTW, check my math, I just did all of this from memory.