When I think about it, it's kind of ironic I'm making this thread now. Awhile back I used to argue vehemently on lolbasil for maxing FA as an archer, on those massive flame threads that cropped up every now and then. That was fun...
Anyway. Warning: Wall of text.
Final Attack, as you all know, increases PS damage over time while screwing over SB. It's also a pretty high priority skill for most fighters and pages.
Well known, basic fact: Attacking many targets at once is more effective than one at a time. It's the reason why mage ultimate training is so fast, and why you probably maxed SB before PS unless you started with no pot money.
So why is it that so many people decide to destroy SB's innate mobbing potential for the sake of single target DPS with Power Strike, which is clearly inferior to begin with?
I propose a more mobbing-oriented strategy in 2nd and 3rd job- oh wait, that's not new. Mobbing is already a warrior's strong suit. Consider this: archers skip FA primarily because it ruins their mobbing potential and move speed. So why do fighters and pages get it, when they mob much more often than archers and don't have the benefit of long range to cover for being stuck standing still?
Some may ask, "But where would you put the extra points?"
Is this even a legitimate question? Skipping FA gives you a surplus of skill points. I don't care what you do with them, but they'll benefit something no matter where you stick them.
Axe Mastery/Booster? Become a... 1.25 hybrid, or whatever you want to call it.
Iron Body? 20 mesos a touch may not be much, but you can't complain because it's still a gain. (Oh hey, I made a mini-rhyme.)
Endure? HP Recov? Go right ahead, no one's stopping you.
"But that's a waste of points! FA >>> Endure!"
FA is detrimental to effective mobbing. Zero > negative.
"Later on, you won't be mobbing."
Later on, you'll have Brandish/Blast.
I've done some DPS comparisons of PS and SB, with and without FA, for you to look at:
If the numbers confuse you (which I hope they don't but inevitably they will confuse some), what all that basically means is that FA boosts your efficiency when you attack 1-3 at a time and impedes you at 4-6.
One additional point to note is that FA also impedes when it attacks nothing, since you could be moving around rather than swinging at air. More moving equates to faster coverage of the map and faster training. It's why Haste, Teleport, and FJ - not to mention Rush - are good skills.
Also (thanks Judgment for bringing this up):
So after all this there's still one thing I don't get.
How come everyone has FA?
Anyway. Warning: Wall of text.
Final Attack, as you all know, increases PS damage over time while screwing over SB. It's also a pretty high priority skill for most fighters and pages.
Well known, basic fact: Attacking many targets at once is more effective than one at a time. It's the reason why mage ultimate training is so fast, and why you probably maxed SB before PS unless you started with no pot money.
So why is it that so many people decide to destroy SB's innate mobbing potential for the sake of single target DPS with Power Strike, which is clearly inferior to begin with?
I propose a more mobbing-oriented strategy in 2nd and 3rd job- oh wait, that's not new. Mobbing is already a warrior's strong suit. Consider this: archers skip FA primarily because it ruins their mobbing potential and move speed. So why do fighters and pages get it, when they mob much more often than archers and don't have the benefit of long range to cover for being stuck standing still?
Some may ask, "But where would you put the extra points?"
Is this even a legitimate question? Skipping FA gives you a surplus of skill points. I don't care what you do with them, but they'll benefit something no matter where you stick them.
Axe Mastery/Booster? Become a... 1.25 hybrid, or whatever you want to call it.
Iron Body? 20 mesos a touch may not be much, but you can't complain because it's still a gain. (Oh hey, I made a mini-rhyme.)
Endure? HP Recov? Go right ahead, no one's stopping you.
"But that's a waste of points! FA >>> Endure!"
FA is detrimental to effective mobbing. Zero > negative.
"Later on, you won't be mobbing."
Later on, you'll have Brandish/Blast.
I've done some DPS comparisons of PS and SB, with and without FA, for you to look at:
Comparison
tab)If the numbers confuse you (which I hope they don't but inevitably they will confuse some), what all that basically means is that FA boosts your efficiency when you attack 1-3 at a time and impedes you at 4-6.
One additional point to note is that FA also impedes when it attacks nothing, since you could be moving around rather than swinging at air. More moving equates to faster coverage of the map and faster training. It's why Haste, Teleport, and FJ - not to mention Rush - are good skills.
Also (thanks Judgment for bringing this up):
Judgment Wrote:The extra attack from FA also strikes at a speed so quickly that the mob doesn't get to recover from the KB animation, and doesn't KB the monster again, thus causing you to take possible bump damage. This is mostly noticable at Ghost Pirates/Dual GPs, a mob where you want to take as little bump damage as possible from. The only exception to the whole FA not KBing the monster again thing is, from my observations, if the FA is a slash when you're using a Slow (7) weapon without booster. (I'm not sure if this is also the case for a Normal weapon w/o booster, and also for Slow weapons with booster.)
So after all this there's still one thing I don't get.
How come everyone has FA?