Hey Marty, I have a 2 thieves. a 51 Bandit and a 52 Assassin. Now, which one is more fun to get to 3rd job? I really don't wanna farm Voodoos and junk until 70.. but I don't wanna be broke at 70 as a dit either. I have god equips (2att/10luk PAC, 24dex robe, att FS, 10 att wgs, Red bandana 8dex/15acc, white racc mask, 9dex earrings,12 att maple shield, and a godly 64 daggger. But on sin I have the same equips, but a neva as a weapon. Gimme tips please.
First of all, Assassins. They are very end game, meaning their true power is at bosses (e.g. Anego, Zakum, anything single-target, really) because of their high DPS. Bandits are very strong at bosses, and very easy to level from 70 onwards (until 13x). Both are a pain during 2nd job. It really depends; Bandits are definitely fun during 3rd and 4th job, because they can boss really early. And mesos isn't a huge trouble at that point; A BF takes ~7m to bomb with maxed Meso Explosion, HH takes 700k-ish. This is more with lower level ME, but you'll be Level 80 in no time with bombing. The one problem is the boss situation; gotta be there after an SC for the bosses. If you want to boss early, choose your Bandit. They're a lot of fun with the early bossing, and even more fun during 4th job (just a pain to level after 13x-14x). If you're funded, choose your Assassin; they're strong, but more expensive than Bandits considering gear. They are more useful and easier to level from Level 14x ish onwards, though, if you're funded and got really good gear. The gear you described isn't really good enough for that. So my conclusion is: Continue with your Bandit, unless you can get really funded for your NL to be really strong.
Rewrote the complete AP build part, and included LUK-less bandits. It's more detailed and explained in more detail now. Will add more today if possible. And I again apologize for the amount of text at the moment; content > layout & pictures.
Thankyou for the LUK-less Bandit bit, and a thankyou on behalf of everyone else, this guide is fantastic.
Not quite: the secondary statistic of thieves wielding knives or claws is the sum of strength and dexterity, meaning the two have the same effect on your damage range. Indeed, the minimum and maximum attack of dagger or claw brandishing thieves are as follows: Maximum damage = floor((Luck * 3.6 + Strength + Dexterity) / 100 * Weapon Attack), Minimum damage = floor((Luck * 3.6 * Mastery * 0.9 + Strength + Dexterity) / 100 * Weapon Attack), where Mastery is 10% by default and the floor function returns the integer part. (Incidentally, the general expressions Maximum damage = floor((Primary Statistic * Maximum Multiplier + Secondary Statistic) / 100 * Weapon Attack), Minimum damage = floor((Primary Statistic * Minimum Multiplier * Mastery * 0.9 + Secondary Statistic) / 100 * Weapon Attack) are true for all physical attacks, given the statistics and multipliers relevant to the job and weapon being used. From the perspective of damage stability the interesting takeaway in this is that the minimum damage gained from the secondary statistic(s) is independent from one's mastery of a weapon.)
First of all, thank you for pointing out such a big mistake. I don't know what got into me. o: I'm aware of all the formulas you just listed; I, however, intentionally decided to put them at the very end for those who genuinely care about that. Most people prefer a simpler way of reading a guide, so no formulas. I probably would've noticed my big mistake made here by the time I added the formula at hand. I will re-write the LUK-less section now.
Updated. Also added several pages again. I also recorded three videos concerning BF bombing, which will be available and implemented into the guide once I finish that section. Sorry to keep y'all waiting!
Any suggestions to where to train? I can't imagine that you'll just MS your way through to 120 by HH and BF alone. Really great read! How'd you get your graphics for your banner?
You bomb BFs until 200. :l What level are you exactly? And I used BannedStory 4 and 3 for the banner.
I'm not a Bandit or anything, I just really like these kind of guides and information in case I do feel like making one. Doesn't Bigfoot have a long respawn time making training there not exactly consistent?
Where can I train as a level 77 cheif bandit? I'm tired of training at ghost ship and wolf spiders do too much damage on me.
If you took the Bombing Build (so with Meso Explosion), Bigfoot is your best friend. They are hard to find, of course... I will, by the way, try to implement the bombing videos later today. c: If you took the other build (the normal one), then you're pretty much stuck at Wolf Spiders. If they deal too much damage, I recommend you put 1-3 points in Meso Guard, since this will reduce their damage by a great amount. It's not very consistent, but still the best place to train.
Finally had time to add the Training Locations, Asssassinate mechanics and the Bombing Techniques sections, including three videos demonstrating these techniques.
You can also start Meso Explosion grinding at other locations besides bigfoot, such as Himes or Gobies.
