I’ve been in many parties these past few weeks, and admittedly most of them have been complete garbage for the most part. There are always those few that shine, though–the ones where you can net 12k~14k EXP/hr, and actually have a good time doing it! Regardless of the party, there are always a few stupid people and a few smart people amongst the crowd that can either ruin your day or make you wonder, “Just where has this person been the past 70-odd levels?” In this blog entry I’m going to detail how I feel personally about grouping with each job, and the how I react as a Ranger to the differences in good and bad players of the job types.

Warrior

I remember back in the day, Warrior used to be considered little more than the ‘ultimate melee subjob’. Not many people took WAR seriously, but those who did were impeccably powerful. The case still holds true today–a Warrior with capped Polearm skill can completely decimate in ToAU-style EXP parties. Unfortunately, most Warriors limit themselves to Dual-wield axes or great axes, and they seem extremely prone to either forgetting they have shihei in their inventory or to mashing the Hasso stance as often as possible. I love competing against a good WAR (shout out to Bigsyke of Ragnarok for being a said good WAR), but any other type of WAR I don’t really care so much about. After all, they’re just a subjob.

Monk

I’ve partied with Monks off and on through leveling other jobs, and of course merit parties. There’s even a Black Belt Monk in my Nyzul/Salvage set. However, I always seem surprised when I look at parse numbers as to just how powerful most Monks can be. The one I party most regularly with, Emoproboy, usually winds up within 5~10% of my own damage. Considering I’m a Ranger with a 1.25x damage bonus on most EXP mobs, that’s nothing to scoff at. As a result, I tend to smile when I see these under-appreciated players in my party setup; while they’re not usually the type to make me push my limits, they’re fun to hang around.

White Mage

Having a WHM of my own in Liyel, I know pretty well what the job is capable of, and what its limitations are. Not to mention I know an absolutely stupendous WHM, Chymerial, who was able to heal a relic-level merit party without any issues… and it was her first merit party ever. o_O That aside, I have to facepalm when I see some White Mages in my party. The common WHM, even with an external form of MP regeneration via Refresh, Ballads, or both, seems to have intense issues with keeping people properly healed. If I’m in a party at Caedarva Mire, there are Jnuns all around that tend to like low-HP Ranger flesh–tossing me a Cure III or something before the next pull would be great. Despite that, the really good WHMs seem to enjoy complaining about how bored they get. Just for them, I’ll sub Samurai and see how well they can cure a Ranger with a 95% ranged accuracy rating and a natural 6-hit build.

Black Mage

…Who invites Black Mages to ToAU parties outside of slimes/jellies/etc?

Red Mage

If I ever find a Red Mage better than Zephiriz, I’ll let you guys know. Luckily I’ve been blessed with some fairly competent RDMs while leveling RNG, allowing me to pull as often as I want to without their MP dropping even a slight bit. These RDMs are usually pretty quiet, but they know the difference in joking around and getting down to EXP mode. On the other hand, I find myself stuck with a lot of RDMs who sub BLM and believe that they can main heal properly. I’m sorry, but with the amount of gimps out there who can’t be assed to bring their own Echo Drops to an Imp party, the healer basically needs Silena.

Thief

The only use I’ve found for a Thief lately is getting cell drops in Arrapago Remnants (thanks, Rhy). I haven’t partied with any as a Ranger since like… Qufim Island? I have a feeling that it may be due to pulling overlap. Parties could invite a Thief to pull, but who wants that when there’s a Ranger seeking who can pull and deal significantly more damage?

Paladin

Flash… Provoke… Reprisal! I absolutely adore a good Paladin! Very few classes are able to keep hate off of me without so much as blinking their eyes, and a good Paladin is certainly one of them. I began leveling Ranger to be set with a good friend of mine, Starfaye, who just happened to be the most epic Paladin that I’ve had the privilege of grouping with. Ever since she quit, though, the Paladins I’ve seen have mostly been pretty big whiners. They’ll engage before taking hate off of me (the initial action, especially being a fairly damaging hit, generates quite a chunk of enmity), and more often than not complain about not getting Silena when EXPing in Caedarva Mire on Imps. If you know that a majority of your job’s function is in magic, and that the party can’t survive well without you doing your job, and there’s a way to make it so that you can perform your job better… why are you going to slouch about it? I’ve had it explained to me by an LS member who is also PLD75 that, “It’s the mage’s job to Silena. I’ve spent enough money on the gear and food that keeping up with Echo Drops too is just too much.” Sorry, but I can’t buy that. I’m leveling RANGER for Christ’s sake; I’ve got to keep up on two types of arrows, two types of food, the gear to ensure my damage and accuracy are fairly balanced, I can’t sell gear because I’m in Level Sync parties way too often, and on top of that… I still go the extra mile and get Echo Drops! Maybe I should farm a bit more to buy gimpy Paladins some cheese to go along with their whine.

Dark Knight

Aww. How cute. You used Berserk/Last Resort/Soul Eater to make your Weapon Skill do 600~800 damage? Let me see what my Sidewinder… oh, sorry. 1400~1700+ without nearly as many buffs. Come back and play later, you glorified spell-casting Warrior. Maybe I expect too much out of DRKs being that I hang out with one that wields an Apocalypse, but they can at least try to break the 15% mark in parse. Geez. Accuracy gear, people, not STR! Sun rings for TP are bad for your health!

Beastmaster

I’ve only partied with one BST, and it’s been somewhat constant. S/he brings out a mob from another camp, typically one of the slimes or a bird, and uses it to help deal damage against Imps/Jnuns/Flies. Seems all well and decent, but isn’t it a little discomforting when the pet dies and you lose technically two party members as the BST goes off to get a new one?

Bard

%&%*&$^&$&%. There are not words enough to describe the immense amount of joy that fills my heart whenever I get to party with a good Bard. They know how to rotate songs properly to where I’m not getting Minuet overlapped with Madrigal or whatever if I step in for a bit to do Barrage/WS/whatever. They understand that I gear for ranged accuracy, and that I’ll take Minuet III to top off the Minuet IV over Prelude any day of the week. Some of the better ones even let me sit on my bum as they do the pulling. A good Bard never talks, because they’re too busy being a good Bard. A bad Bard, however, is just a heartbreaking inconvienience. If I have to move myself every five seconds because I’m in range of your song, or likewise outside of the range of Minuet, then it’s irritating. Bad Bards seem to enjoy using Minuet when I’m in the middle of a pull, and don’t put it back up until it’s already worn off of everyone–and likewise don’t even budge an inch the entire party, unless they’re going to give the mage(s) Ballad. Why do bad Bards keep getting parties? The answer is simple and rhetoric, really–it’s because they’re freaking Bards.

Ranger

Partying with another RNG always ends up becoming an e-peen competition, and more often than not I end up winning despite the steps they take to piss me off. Using a WS to keep my Barrage from getting the maximum arrow count, using a WS/Barrage right before mine on the other side of the mob to screw with the distance factor, etc. It can be fun, but more often than not it’s just a hassle.

Samurai

Just like with Warrior–a good Samurai is hard to find. Those that are, realize nearly everything that a normal party EXPs on is weak to piercing damage, and thus they equip polearm. I’m fairly competent on my own Samurai now, so I know what it can do when played correctly. It shames me to see Samurai who dare wield a Great Katana against Colibri, Imps, etc–when their polearm skill is quite more than capable of poking several large holes through the enemy. On the bright side, at least they aren’t like a certain fabled ubergimp of Ragnarok, having a party chat macro of “BANKAI” every single time they use Hasso.

Ninja

Same with Paladin more or less–bring Echo Drops and I’m a happy camper. Unfortunately, against Colibri, most Ninja tend to be larger whiners than Paladins do. “They steal my TP so I can’t get hate.” or “They’ll just reflect my spells so why bother enfeebling them?” or “I don’t carry tools for elemental wheel.” I’m sorry, but how do you expect to keep hate off of ANYONE when you only use Provoke and Utsusemi? Geez.

Dragoon

I’m fairly picky when it comes to Dragoon, being that it’s my favorite and best job. If you come into party as Dragoon wearing AF helm, scorpion harness, AF hands/legs/feet and TPing in STR rings?… Yeah, of course I’m going to be disappointed. Take a glance over at my guide–it has, albeit somewhat outdated, gear suggestions that should still point you in the right direction.

Summoner

I actually haven’t partied with Summoners lately, but whenever I do they’re basically WHMs with more MP to me. I don’t need Haste as a Ranger, so I’m not fussy about them.

Blue Mage

A scary Blue Mage, like Foxx, is going to be scary. With the right gear and spells set, they can do just about anything–short of making a jet ski out of a 2×4 and a stick of gum. That being said, I also don’t party with BLUs often… just the ones that I do get are almost always incredible. No complaints here!

Corsair

Similar story with Bard, really. Most COR I have partied with can’t figure out the range of their rolls, or how to properly utilize Lufaz’s ring. It’s always nice to have Chaos Roll replaced with Evoker’s Roll right before a Sidewinder or something. @_@ Then again, I’m probably just spoiled by Kedamonah’s epic-win COR.

Puppetmaster

I’ve never been one to say “lolPUP” without joking around. I’ve seen what a well-geared automaton can do in Limbus, and as a Black Mage that frightens me. Until I cast Thunder IV and laugh in its face, anyway. The Sharpshot frame is incredible against the typical ToAU mob, and I’ve never been let down by either of the PUPs I’ve partied with–Sziha and Ryousuke.

Dancer

Dancer doesn’t do anything for me as a Ranger, sorry. You guys might as well be one of the gimp BRD/CORs that seem to have a tendency to be just out of range of buffing me.

Scholar

Scholars have been the main healers in most of my recent Ranger parties. With the right timing of Sublimation and the like, a Scholar can go on for as long as a skilled Red Mage–if not longer. Not to forget, but I absolutely adore their abilities to make so many spells into Area of Effect. Stoneskin is love when pulling and you’ve only got two shadows left on utsusemi.

No matter what their job class, a good player will always remain in my memories, and bad players I will try to rid myself of with bleach and a cheese grater.

-Kyo

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