Please Help Cia Be A Better Samurai

I recently got a 85 Masa, I have noticed all the other Empy's are doing much more damage than me. Infact I have found Shoha is doing alot more.

I have fairly modest gear at the moment. I'm not a super serious gamer so stuff thats very hard to obtain will probably beyond my reach.

:) Thanks

Refer to http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/36563/bushido-the-way-of-the-samurai-a-guide/

You'll see a lot of helpful posts, and what sets you should be using with your Masamune.

Shoha is a stronger WS than Fudo. Fudo is used to maintain Aftermath.

300% Fudo -> Shoha -> Shoha -> Shoha -> Shoha -> Aftermath wears off -> 300% Fudo -> Rinse -> Repeat

Fudo is an incredible WS! If you have the att it will beat Shoha just need to learn when each is used.

Edit: And gear each one accordingly. You will need Fudo/shoha sets.

I shall do a bit of reading on that guide thanks, can someone explain the Aftermath to me? I know I get a new icon everytime I use it.

Also I'm gonna try and get 75 Igesbind hearts- make it at least 90 :)

Your melee hits do 2x damage for 30/60/90 seconds depending on your tp when you used Fudo.

Ah nice! :) I can see how Zanshin will be handy in that situation. I seen a few Sam's solo SC light for massive damage too.

Notably, a 300 TP aftermath has a higher activation rate on the double damage than the 100 TP, in addition to the longer duration.

Masa is the only weapon in the game that can do double light also. Konzen > kasha > light > fudo > light for huge epeen light skillchains.

One thing to note, if you were comparing your Masa to say, Kannagi/Twashtar/Ukon/Vere/Almace, and were doing it INSIDE Abyssea, those weapons have the distinct advantage of Razed Ruins.

As for Shoha vs Fudo, it's all in the gear. I find that personally, Fudo and Shoha are very close to each other in terms of pure damage. Shoha's 2 hits tho, wins because of the 95% hit rate cap, in this situation. However, my gear set is not fully optimized for Shoha, as I am missing Ganesha's Mala and Windbuffet Belt.

The 2 hit nature of shoha does not make it win because of the 95% acc cap. The 2 hit nature meants a multi attack can proc on each of the 2 hits making for nice spikes. (Anything after the first WS hit will take the usual acc calculation so generally more acc+ in shoha sets)

Shoha also gets a massive attack boost. So gearing att+ is less important.

As soon as pdif is close to cap on a mob though, Fudo wins because of Fudo's higher pDIF. (players attack is 2.25 mobs def)Fudo is a 1 hit WS so it gets a natural acc boost.

Edit: So many typo's I'm just going to bed. Lots of info on SAM in the guide, SAM gear 99, Tachi:shoha and amano vs masa threads.

Generally it's better to use draca couse on weaker stuff where Fudo beats Shoha in (like dynamis) as it will not only do more (a lot more!) on average with stardiver but you will whiff less due to the multi hit WS (unfortunately is the case even with my 99 Masamune but it comes very close unless it is a piercing weak mob which pole easily wins).

Fudo only really gets it's shine if you are capped attack for the mob -- otherwise like people have said here Shoha is better. 300% Fudo can be very beastly (shame about the -100 acc with that though...)!

The aftermath is 30% (100%tp)/40% (200tp)/50% (300tp) chance to proc double damage on your melee hits only (not WS!) with 30/60/90 seconds duration respectively.

The only real time I find myself using Fudo all the time vs Shoha is in Salvage II on the lower floors where gear is non existant; red curry buns cap your attack very easily in there.

Of course double skillchains it HAS to be used. You can even pull off skillchains like this one if your attack is capped (demon killer abilties help!):

Not sure about the bold bit at all (Fudo get's an acc boost not a penalty) but yeah, stardiver is a wise investment but was talking from a masa only stand point personally.

It might be an inside joke in my LS, but 300% Fudo ALWAYS misses. :P

Awesome stuff guys, Although Daffel I think you can make double Light with Namas Arrow.

Speaking of which, Atmas- I'm using SA,VV and RR although I'm not sure RR is the way forward.

Ahhhhhh I get you :D (Sorry it's late and I think my brain has actually died) ^^

I personally use Apoc, Alpha & Omega and Smiting blow with Shoha spam and don't even Fudo at all unless I have saved 300% before a fight. You will be triple attacking 25% of the time which helps greatly for both tp and WSing with Shoha and the Smiting Blow is great for this as Shoha performs a lot better at 200% tp rather than 100%. Of course the only downside is that your normal hits will be pretty pathetic compared to everyone elses that uses the RR / SS combo. This combo of atmas makes your Shohas do a LOT of damage and is comparable to the crit WS damages (but obviously will still fall to them due to their normal hits doing waaaaaay more).

I tend to use the old atma's of RR, VV and apoc lol. Should probably get with the times and just spam shoha and with full blown trip attack atmas lol

Edit: But I usually WHM abyssea anyway so it's been a while since I have been able to SAM/WAR and go all out =/

I'm surprised the OP didn't get bashed for such a question. Nice to see helpful comments :D

Haha I know I have seen many threads where arguements erupt.

I have a theory....

Do share :)

Maybe it's the blonde hair XD.

Thats not a theory, thats just observation! :) I would post what gear I currently use if I knew how to make those fancy armor boxes.

also admitting to be a newbie helps I guess.

True. Guess I'm just to lazy to type.

Welcome to the Sam club though. Very fun job.

Also, you never disregarded any advice given. A lot of people who ask for help with a job, or gear, or whatever the case may be end up looking at the advice and saying "Nah bro.".

That's what makes the vets rage lol, imo at least.

I believe in this in RL too, listen to everyone has to say. If you ask for help you should at least listen :) Another way I have trying to learn is checking what other people are using.

So anyways, thanks guys/girls for the info I'll be back in to get more advice soon :) right now there is still 3hrs till updates finish. so I'm watching Ocean's 13

:)

OMIGOSH! Cici is a sam? :3 crazy oh sista i miss you sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much if i had the $25 id move back to carbuncle just to see you^^ Grats on masa!! I wish I could help you out but im actually in love with my Tomonari at the moment and working on the delve Gkatana ^^. I will say though that Tomonari does hold its own for a buyable weapon! I have actually seen my shohas out damage at least 5 other masa SAM's so far(but please those who worked so hard im not trashing your hard work and once SE updates your dmg i wont hold a candle to you!). Im any case I had to pop on just to tell you how much I miss the whm who took on this lowly noob back in the dunes and showed me the game^^ much <3 cici!

xoxoxooxoxoxox
~Kyri~