Weapon Skill- Skill Chain FAQ For FFXI Last Updated 5/16/2004 by Kletian999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents I: Version History II: Purpose III: Disclaimer IV: Copyright Information V: Introduction to Weapon Skills - Limit Breaks VI: Newbie Q & A: VII: Introduction to Skillchains - Renkei VIII: The Limit Break Attributes IX: Renkeis X: Weapon Skill (Limit Break) List X-2: Unlocking the Quested Techniques XI: Conclusion XII: Thanks to T: Contact Info -Kletian999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I: Version History Current Version 0.85 4/22/2004 Another Nice Update, took longer than I wanted Confimation and correction on lots of techs, G Sword, Scythe, Sword, Spear More thanks and special thanks More experimenting with Starlight/Moonlight "Elemental Limit Breaks can be resisted?" Some reorganization was in order New site with hosting permission Beginning Weapon/monster Affinity Chart Even Newer Limit Breaks have been implemented, accepting any new information 0.80 4/21/2004 Huge Update Spirits Within, Star Light, and other TP based techs updated lots of work on Katana, G Katana, Axe, Spear, Ranged updates/corrections TP Gain chart/assumptions changed. Comments added for each Weapon family Removed bad info on "critical=extra hit" from some weaponskills New Newb question Lots of "thank you"s added. 0.75 4/4/2004 Got a lot of nice info from people at Killing Ifrit on GAxe and Scythe WS Cleaned up TP chart some Admitted my guesses on G Katana WS are way off, will seek help correcting them New newb Question New site permission 0.71 4/1/2004 Lots of little things, corrected some mistakes in past update. Lots of experimenting with Star Light Introduction of "Too much TP" theory Revised some opinions. Information on Weapons vs. Monster families New Newbie question Better link to Skill cap charts. TP info for wands, hammers, katanas New Host, finally learned how to submit to Killing Ifrit 0.7 3/19/2004 Huge update Found quest info for ALL final weapon skills, gave them their own section Corrected lots of weaponskills, thanks to StarvingArtist videos More sites with hosting permission Miscellanious rewriting/rephrasing 0.611 3/13/2004 More corrections to TP gain chart New site with hosting permission Updated Hexastrike 0.61 3/11/2004 Corrected/added to TP gain chart Added mention of Double/Triple Attack on Weaponskills Changed opinions on White mages weapon recommendation Small adjustments to WS effect descriptions Added a new site with hosting permissions 0.6 (First published) 3/9/2004 Complete Skillchain information up to Lvl 250 techniques Complete list of skills up to lvl 250, but not complete effect descriptions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II: Purpose Information on Weapon skills and skill chains is either scattered or not present. My mission is to bring all the knowledge I can find into one place then fill in the gaps to make a definitive FFXI resource. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III: Disclaimer I am no expert on this game. 90% of the information I know about Weapon Skills and Skill Chaining originally came from other people, either through message boards, charts, sites, or FAQs. This FAQ will never reach a complete state without the participation of some dedicated people who have reached the higher levels and are willing to test out the information that has come to my attention. Either that or someone with inside knowledge of the game dynamics would help (/emote winks). Furthermore, this is my first FAQ, so bear with me and give helpful suggestion on formatting and content. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV: Copyright Information Even Editors of Anthologies get copyrights. 1: I promise to credit information derived from the work of others, in return I ask that no one derive a work from this without giving me credit. 2: This is intended as a Free Resource to the FFXI community, it should never be bought, sold, traded, or given as an incentive for a business transaction. 3: I wrote this for GameFAQs.com, I am willing to let other sites use it, but they must get my written permission first. Furthermore, I plan to update this guide on GameFAQs first are foremost. 4: Any posting of this work in a public medium must not be changed in any way. It's my name on this work and only I determine what is written under my name. I can be contacted at Kletian999@hotmail.com. As this account has an aggressive spam filter, Please write Renkei FAQ in the subject. If you don't here any response from me in two weeks, assume I missed your message and send it again. This FAQ is Copyright 2003-2004 Tom Dubeck- Kletian999 All trademarks and copyrights mentioned in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Current Sites with posting permission: 1: www.GameFAQs.com 2: DLH.net 3: www.Neoseeker.com 4: faqs.ign.com 5: www.order-of-judgement.com 6: ffxi.killvoid.com aka www.KillingIfrit.com 7: www.rpgdreamers.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V: Introduction to Weapon Skills - Limit Breaks As SquareEnix is not your typical MMORPG maker, they decided to give melee classes something to do besides autoattack and mash on Ability macros during battles. This game features special attacks officially called Weapon Skills, but I prefer to call them Limit Breaks as Weapon Skills resemble Limit Breaks from FF6-10 greatly, and it prevents confusion with the term Weapon Skill Level, which is how proficient your character is with a certain "type" of weapon. Limit Breaks can be used whenever a Character's TP level reaches 100% or more (up to 300%). TP goes up 2% every time you get hit and you get a varying amount of TP directly dependant upon weapon delay. Higher delay=more TP gain per hit. TP gain can be in fractions, thus causing a weapon like Scythe to get 12, 13, 12 etc. Since the TP gain method wasn't as set as I thought it was, take these figures as ballparks. TP Gain chart Hand to Hand 4-7 (depends on weapon and whether you have Martial Arts) Katana 5 Dagger: 5, 5.5 Sword: 6 Club (Wand) 6.5 Club (Hammer) 8.5 Axe: 6.5, 7 Boomerang 8 TP Staff 9.5 Spear 10, 12 Great Katana 10, 11(becomes 12 with TP Store), 12 Great Sword 11, 12.5 Bow 12 Crossbow 12 Gun 12? Great Axe 12.5 Scythe 12, 12.5 TP goes down 10% for every 10 seconds of being in healing posture (what I call a "hit" of healing). The best metaphor for TP is anger, however if you leave the area or change your equipped weapon, you TP goes down to zero (I trust this is to prevent abuses like charging up your weapon on fodder to fight difficult monsters in a different zone). Using a Limit Break will consume all your TP unless you are a Samurai using Meikyo Shisui. Samurai's TP store passive trait seems to give 10% more TP for all actions (even get 3 TP once every 10 hits). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI: Newb Q & A: Note: Newb- Newbie, someone who doesn't know better but will learn in time. Noob(n00b)- Moron, deliberately annoying, confrontational, never learns. Q: If I buy/use a new weapon, does my Weapon Skill Level go back to zero? A: No, Weapon Skill Level is based on the "type" of the weapon used (i.e. 1 handed sword, scythe, club), not the actual weapon itself. One should get their weapon upgraded often so that you are keeping up with the enemies, I recommend you keep the Minimum Level Requirement of your weapon no further than 5 levels under your current level, at least until you get the hang of purchasing weapons. Q: Are Rapiers, Scimitars, and Long Swords different types of weapons? A: No, they all count as 1 handed swords; if you are a sword user, feel free to switch between those sub-categories to find your favorite balance of Damage vs. Delay (higher numbers=slower attack), Equip-ability (Scimitars are equipped by fewer classes than the other two) and appearance. This is also true for Daggers, Knives, and Kukris (all Dagger type weapons); Knuckles and Claws (Hand to Hand type); Hammers, Clubs, and Wands (all Clubs), and other subtle variations in weapons. Q: What are the types of weapons? A: The types of weapons are 1 Handed Axe/Picks (Axe), Bow, 1 handed blunt weapons (Clubs), Dagger, 2 Handed Axe (Great Axe), 2 Handed Katana (Great Katana), 2 Handed Sword (Great Sword), Guns and Crossbows (Marksmen), Claws Knuckles, etc (Hand to Hand), 1 Handed Katana (Katana), Scythe, Spears and Lances (Polearm), Staff, and 1 Handed Sword (Sword). Boomerangs and other throwing weapons also have skill levels but no limit breaks. Q: What weapon type should I use? I am a A: Well, it depends on your current job, subjob, planned future job, job level, and personal style. The most general advice is to use a weapon type you can equip and that your job is compatible with and meets your desire for damage/delay (do you like hitting hard or often?). Feel free to experiment, as learning a new weapon is easy, and is explained in the next question. For a chart on Class-Weapon Compatibility and per level skill caps check : http://www.ausystem.org/~aushacho/gbox/ff/skill-e.html It will also tell you what Job level you can expect to learn your next Limit Break. A rule of thumb is that caps start around 5 and rise about 3 skill levels per job level, (Thus, level 10 technique at level 3, 100 techniques at 33, 200 techniques at 66) provided you are using a weapon of some proficency. The difference widens greatly later in the game, but for the first 20 levels or so there is not much difference between A to C Weapon proficency. One last thing, some types of Monsters (Skeletons for instance) are resistant to attacks by Piercing Weapons (Daggers, Spears, Bow/Marksmen), but weak to Blunt Weapons (Clubs, Hand to Hand). Also Flying enemies are weak to Piercing, but I'm still measuring if Blunt does less. Likewise, I'm unsure if Slicing weapons like Swords and Axes are enemy neutral, or have their own set of weaknesses. Check a later question for more info. Having the same weapon as a lot of other people can make shopping easier, but you might be a more interesting character with cool skillchain potential if you choose a variety of weapons. Quick recommendations: Warrior- almost anything, but Axe and Great Axe are your best bet Monk- Hand to Hand, might try Poles for fun Thief- Swords or Hand to Hand (with monk subjob) to start, then Dagger 30+ White Mage- Hammers (Club) for melee damage, wands/staves give MP and stats. Black Mage- Wand or Staff, but focus on stat bonuses over actual fighting Red Mage- Swords, maybe a debuff dagger Paladin- Swords, Clubs, Greatswords Dark Knight- Scythe, Greatsword Beastmaster- Axe Bard- Sword or Dagger for Melee, Monster Signa (Staff) for Charisma boost Ranger- Dagger, Axes, or anything that boosts ranged pow/acc Summoner- Club or Staff, but focus on stat bonuses over actual fighting Ninja- 1 handed Katana, stat boosting weapons Samurai- Great Katana and/or Spear Dragoon- Spear Q: I want to learn a new weapon, what's the best way to raise my skills? A: There are two strategies you can use; the first realies on facing enemies that are way above your skill level and getting .4 and .5 per hit, but not hitting often; the other relies on systematically visting zones where your skill will let you hit the enemy regularly and get .2 and .3 per hit. For the first method, make sure the enemies are weak enough to not hurt you much unless you created a skill raising party (popular to raise skills above 100) as your damage output and accuracy will be pitiful. Use every accuracy enhancing thing you can get easily: Ranger sub (10), Bard's Sword Madrigal, Battle gloves, Life Belt, Bard's Hunter's Prelude and Sharpshoot for Ranged, and a high enough job level difference to have high DEX compared to enemy AGI. Likewise, try to find slow moving, low evasion/High defense mobs. You might also want to focus on monsters that give good cash/items when killed to make the experience more productive. While this method works if you have the accuracy boosts (very cheap way to level bow and markmenship skill), I find the gradual method is more available to those without great accuracy or skill parties. The gradual method basically involves killing the enemies that your weapon skill would rate as tough for its level. Here's a helpful chart of skill ranges and areas. 0-20 Newbie zones, first 10 near town gates, last 10 away from gates 20-40 Crag (Dem, Holla, Mea) zones, remember how difficult the enemies were and fight accordingly, as enemies are scattered around. 40-60 Subjob zones, Start in Valkurm and move to Buburimu towards the end as enemies are stronger in Buburimu. 60-80 Qufim 80-100 Khazam 100+ getting more difficult to solo, Jeuno Border zones As you notice, the chart reflects the common leveling path to level 33, any zone I recommeded can be replaced with whereever you leveled during those level ranges. A very simplified version of the cap formula per level is 5+3*level. So to raise your skill to 125, you'd need to go to a place where level 40 people level and fight there. You can do this process either with your main job or by using another job for the sole purpose of leveling a weapon you are behind on (not recommended though unless you like the other job) The reverse of this process, say, leveling Spear before playing as a Dragoon, carries the benefit of making the pre-party levels easier (as no one solos more than Even Match much and tough enemies are the ones that raise you to your caps). The precapped skills is one of the big reasons why leveling a subjob seems a lot easier than when you first started (the other reasons are of course, your equipment, subjob, and experience). Q: If I switch jobs, what happens to my Limit Breaks and Weapon Skill Levels? A: The Short Answer is that nothing is lost forever; you can only improve over time. The Long answer Everything you have earned as one class will be remembered; by you may not be able to use it when you switch jobs. For Example, let's say a Level 20 warrior named Bob decides to build a Thief Subjob. Bob had trained in both swords and greatswords, so we'll say he has 50 weapon skill level each. As a Thief, he cannot equip Greatswords so he cannot use any of those skills. Thieves can use swords, however, Bob is now a Level 1 Thief (for simplicity, he hasn't actually done the subjob quest yet, so he will not be subbing warrior), thus his weapon skill level is capped below 10, which means until he levels up, he cannot use any sword skills yet. Instead at level 1 he will have a capped skill of around 5, as soon as he levels up, his skill will jump to the next cap till he reaches his original level of 50. So as soon as Bob reaches level 3 or 4, he will get Fast Blade again. However, an important point to note is that some skills can only be used by specific jobs, even if other jobs can reach the level to learn them. Red Lotus Blade, the skill level 50 sword technique, is limited to Warriors, Paladins, and Dark Knights. So even when Bob gets to sword level 50, he cannot use Red Lotus Blade. If at any point he wants to switch back to Level 20 Warrior, his sword level will automatically return to its former glory. If as a Thief he was able to get sword skill above the original, to say 55, then the warrior will have a sword skill 55 as well. If Bob had subbed Warrior, his sword level cap would have been determined by the highest cap offered by his two jobs. At Thief level 1, his Warrior sublevel 1(sublevel is no more than half of Job level rounded down, except for level 1) might have offered him a higher cap on sword skill. Once his sword skill cap got back to 50 he could use Red Lotus Blade as he has a warrior sub. Q: I'm having problems doing Skillchains... A: That's a statement, but I'll answer it anyway. Once you have a chained planned out (you should have your party plan a chain in advance) the rest is timing (to ensure the chain is planned smoothly, set a macro like "/p " that will let the others know when you are ready. Also, have the start guy confirm that you want to chain on a given enemy, nothing is worse than wasting a chain on an easy enemy and then narrowly losing to strong one that aggressively attacked you). While Master LL's FAQ recommends reading the log for the "preparing" statement, I found I had an easier time using another method. Don't start counting until the technique is actually done (it's easier to see for one), then press your Limit Break Macro (you have macroed your limit breaks right?) between the count of 3 and 4. I say this because the second is a lot slower that it normally feels when timing matters; not only that but the system is much kinder to late entry than those who come in too soon. This may be because of the server's clock slowing down due to the pyrotechnics of the weaponskills, but I can't say for sure. Anyone, once you get the timing down you'll probably never miss a chaining again. For Magic Burst timing, refer to Master LL, he's a Red Mage, I'm a Thief, he knows more about Magic. Q: How do I Macro Limit Breaks? A: Go to your "Macros" menu under the second page of your Main menu. Choose to either overwrite the Macros in the Macro Set 1 or switch to another Macro Set by pressing up and down (from 1 to 10). The Macro sets are divided into little cells labeled Ctrl or Alt + a number. Select one then select the Name field to give it a name, then the lines below it and input the following: /ws "Your Ability Name with Proper Capitalization" Here's a breakdown /ws- the shorthand command for do a weapon skill "Your Ability Name etc"- pretty self explanatory, it HAS to be in quotes if there is a space in the skill name i.e. "Fast Blade" in contrast to Shadowstitch - tag that stands for current target, for non weapon skills, things like for yourself or - for your party members are also useful. If you forget the then you will either get an error or the Blue Targeting Cursor and must press enter for the ability to happen, similarly to what happens when you use the menus. allows you to target something beside current target, and you can make cycling easier with or . Q: How do I combine abilities with Limit Breaks to do maximum damage? A: Many jobs have abilities that give attack up or multiply damage for attacks, and they are very effective when combined with Limit Breaks in Chains. This is because most Limit Breaks multiply your attack damage and Renkei's base damage (before elemental strengths and weakness) is 50-300+% of the damage of the technique that caused it. Some abilities like Berserk or Last Resort can be activated well in advance of your limit break. Others like Sneak Attack and Boosts have to be carefully timed so that they aren't wasted on a regular attack. The general consensus is a 1 to 2 second wait time between the activation of each ability and Limit Break is enough to ensure that all of them process and the effects are properly stacked. Thus it is easiest to create a Macro that has all the commands entered in separated by "/wait 1" or "/wait 2" lines. If you do this remember to add the wait times to your count for the chain. Take my favorite macro: /ja "Sneak Attack" (ja stand for Job Ability) /wait 2 /ws "Fast Blade" /p Cool Phrase to go along with my special attack (talks to party for the purpose of showing off and preparing them for chain) I only count to 1 after seeing a technique before pressing this macro. If I had two abilities with a /wait 2 separation, I would need to press it one second before my friend's technique occurred. In this case, you should put wait 1 between your lines to keep the waiting under 3 seconds. If you are first in the chain, the timing is not important, just make sure everyone else is ready. One more thing, being last ensures more damage % in your Renkei, so the strongest attack should go last if possible. Q: When should my group do a Skill Chain/use their Limit Breaks? A: Skillchains are both cool looking and effective for doing extra damage. You generally want to save them for the beginning of a harder battle as you come to the end or your Exp chain. Yet at the same time, you don't want people waiting with over 100TP for too long, as two 100TP limit breaks are usually stronger than 1 200TP limit break. When there are major differences between TP gain amoung members, you need to decide who to include in the chain or whether to chain at all. Earlier in the game, the average renkeis will be doing very small damage by itself, the power of Skillchains really comes from the magic bursts at that time. If your party doesn't have someone to burst, and members like the tank or samurai are getting 200 TP in the time it takes the others to get 100, it's actually better to let them just use the techniques as they get them, occationally chaining when convieniant. Often magical melees like Red Mage and Paladin are left out of chains entirely as they need to heal for MP (if you have Mages' Ballad/Refresh going this is not as big a deal). One last task is to coordinate the skillchain: does everyone contribute to one big chain or is it divided into smaller chains. The answer to this question depends one what is the major damage dealer. If magic bursts are your primary damage, then more small chains are better, especially if they produce an element the enemy is weak against. On the other hand, if you have a member with very damaging limit breaks such that the renkei's themselves do lots of damage (ie.Thieves, Monks, Darks, Rangers) you should take advantage of longer chains to increase the percentage of renkei damage dealt. Granted, limit break incompatibility and impatient/inattentive party members can prevent long chains from being done, and thus its easier at times to just coordinate small ones. Q: I've reached the required skill level to get a new Limit Break, and it said I learned it, but it does not show in my ability menu. Why can't I use it? A: Some jobs are better at certain weapons then others, to emphasize this, some limit breaks are "Sealed" so that only some jobs can use them, regardless of skill level. There are two seals, EX and SP. EX seals are usually given to upgrades of previous techniques, such as Red Lotus being an upgrade of Burning Blade, but they can also be given to completely unique techniques like One Inch Punch. EX seals are bypassed by having a certain job as EITHER main or sub when trying to use that technique, say a Red Mage or Thief Subbing Warrior to use Red lotus. The SP seal usually only shows up on high level techniques that are very powerful (usually level 200+); this seal makes it so ONLY characters with the proper MAIN job can use that technique. The EX and SP seals should be taken into account when choosing what weapon to use and with what sub. In the Skill lists, EX seals are marked by * while SP seals are marked by +, with the proper jobs mentioned in footnotes before the detailed descriptions. Q: Can you give more detail on how monsters are strong against/weak to certain weapons? A: Well I have discovered a way to test the strength of a weapon on a variety of enemies that surpasses small differences in Defense. Using an unnerfed "Sneak Attack" with my thief main has the interesting property of doing the same damage to really weak enemies (like tunnel worms) as it does to stronger enemies (like Acrophies). It is also true then if you try a Sneak Viper Bite, it will cause no more damage than the regular Sneak attack. This is because Sneak attack's per hit damage is limited by a cap which is controlled by Weapon Damage, ATK, and DEX. However, slight differences can emerge between certain monster types (i.e. I may do 280 most of the time but when I hit a fly or bat I do 330). Using these numbers, I can approximate the effect of monster family on weapons by using percentages. My Data so far Dagger vs. Flies +20% Bats +20% Bones -50% Claw (H2h) vs. Bones +20% Magic Pots +20% Will post more family data after repeated testing. Note this test can't work for weapons Thieves cannot equip. However, if it is found that my "group" theory of weapons (Piercing, Blunt, Slicing) is true, then it should be enough data to cover all of them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII: Introduction to Skillchains - Renkei By performing two different limit breaks on the same target spaced 3 seconds apart they can combine to create a Renkei (known as Skillchains, I prefer Renkei cause it sounds cooler and there is no confusion between the special effect and the whole combo chain). The Renkei adds elemental damage equal to a fraction of the damage dealt by the technique that caused it (plus or minus elemental weakness/resistance of the target) and allows mages to perform Magic bursts with spells of the Renkei's element. The Renkei performed depends on the techniques used and the order. To see a popular chart that covers the 1st level Renkeis and how to create 2nd level Renkeis go here: http://ffvault.ign.com/skillchains/skillchain.jpg Be warned there were some errors in this chart that do not exist in this FAQ. More in depth charts which I used as a source for Chaining Level 2 Renkeis and performing Level 3 Renkeis are here: http://home.comcast.net/~hartwickc/renkei2.gif http://files.liquid-x.net/scrap/wse.pdf Thank you Penny Arcade Forum and a More updated Japanese version of the middle chart with the latest Weapon skills to 250. I'll be trying to flesh out this FAQ with data from there. http://www5.plala.or.jp/SQR/ff11/ability-weaponskill.html Some official info on chaining has been posted on Playonline: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/vt/extra/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII: The Limit Break Attributes In an attempt to simplify the data in the charts, Each colored box represents an Attribute. I tried to make the naming of these attributes intuitive as possible so one could guess the attributes a limit break had by the name or weapon when a new party member comes along. Furthermore, it makes abbreviating easier (L could stand for Light or Lightning, W could stand for Wind or Water). It is important to realize that renkei attributes are not necessarily elemental attributes of the attack i.e. Dark Harvest is Condition (water) yet it does dark damage. Blunt (Lightning) - Mostly Blunt weapons or Stun hits with Edged Weapons, also includes Lightning Elemental techniques Fire - Mainly Fire Elemental techniques, some of the area attacks as well. Slice (Earth) - Mostly Speed based attacks from Sharp Weapons, also includes Earth Elemental techniques Air (Wind) - Mainly Wind Elemental techniques Ice - Mainly Ice Elemental techniques and some stun hits. Condition (Water) - Mostly Status Causing attacks, also includes Water Elemental techniques Pierce (Light) - Most techniques from Spear, Gun, and Bow are in this Group, very few of the Light Elemental techniques are actually in this group Dark - Rare techniques like One Inch Punch and Pentathrust, some Dark element attacks (less than you would think) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IX: Renkeis This section is made to illustrate in text what the charts displays in colored arrows. Renkeis are performed by spacing two techniques 3 seconds apart; if the attributes are compatible, the renkei occurs. Some techniques have multiple attributes; if so the game will perform the first valid chain it comes to between two techniques. As long as the group has TP, Limit Breaks can be chained, causing each successive Renkei to take a higher percentage of the Limit Break's damage. Note, once a renkei has been performed (like using) Thunder Thrust to perform Impaction, a multi-attribute technique is locked in that attribute for the chain. Therefore, only Fire or Air techniques could continue that chain, and NOT a Slice technique trying to make Distortion off of its locked Pierce attribute. One of my sources suggested this base damage percentage. Level 1st renkei 2nd 3rd 4th? 5th? Level 1 50% 60% 75% Level 2 60% 75% 100% Level 3 100% 150% 200% Thus it's good to do one or two small techs to build up a big hit. Level 1- can be chained together as long as your group has TP. Each allows one element to Magic Burst, and the element is always equal to the attribute of the chaining limit break. Sorted by Starter First Tech -> Second Tech = Renkei Name (Element of the Renkei) Blunt -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Blunt -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Fire -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Slice -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Slice -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Slice -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Air -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Ice -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Ice -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Condition -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Condition -> Ice = Induration (Ice) Pierce -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Pierce -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Dark -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Dark -> Pierce = Transfixion (Light) Sorted by Ender First Group -> Second Group = Renkei Name (Element of the Renkei) Ice -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Condition -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Blunt -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Slice -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Fire -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Air -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Blunt -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Slice -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Dark -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Condition -> Ice = Induration (Ice) Slice -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Pierce -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Dark -> Pierce = Transfixion (Light) Ice -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Pierce -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Level 1 Examples Short Easy chain (level 1 only) Combo-> Burning Blade (Liquification) -> Fast Blade (Scission) The Blunt attribute of combo combined with the Fire attribute of Burning Blade to create Liquification, then the Fire attribute of Burning Blade combined with the Slice Attribute of Fast Blade to make Scission. Long, multi-element chain (level 1 only) Blunt->Fire or Air->Slice->Condition->Ice->Dark->Pierce Combo->Burning Blade (Liquification) ->Fast Blade (Scission) ->Smash Axe (Reverberation) -> Tachi: Hobaku (Impaction) -> One Inch Punch (Compression) -> Double Thrust (Transfixation) Level 2- Deals more damage than level 1, and allows two different elements to Magic Burst at once. Because they have two elements, they don't necessarily match up to the element of chained technique. A level 2 Renkei can only be followed by another Level 2 Renkei or a Level 3 Renkei. Both chaining Level 2s and performing Level 3s is done by using an ultimate technique (Skill 225+) of a weapon. These ultimate techniques will always produce a level two Renkei when chained properly. For early to intermediate players, it's not much to worry about right now. Instead, focus on a single Level 2 Renkei that will end your chain. Sequence to Create = Technique (Elements of the Renkei) Fire -> Blunt (Lightning) = Fusion (Fire + Light) Ultimate Techniques of Fusion: Arching Arrow- Bow Empyreal Arrow- Bow Mistral Axe- Axe Decimation- Axe Heavy Shot- Gun Detonator- Gun Wheeling Thrust- Spear Hexastrike- Club Tachi: Kasha- Great Katana Air -> Dark = Gravitation (Earth and Dark) Ultimate Techniques of Gravitation: Swift Blade- Sword Blade: Ten- Katana Blade: Ku- Katana Retribution- Staff Asuran Fist- Hand to Hand Impulse Drive- Spear These two are COMPLETELY different from their factors Ice -> Condition (Water) = Fragmentation (Lightning + Air) Ultimate Techniques of Fragmentation: Shark Bite- Dagger Evisceration- Dagger Dragon Kick- Hand to Hand Spin Rush- Great Sword Ground Strike- Great Sword Savage Blade- Sword Black Halo- Club Pierce (Light) -> Slice (Earth) = Distortion (Ice + Water) Ultimate Techniques of Distortion: Full Break- Great Axe Steel Cyclone- Great Axe Cross Reaper- Scythe Spiral Hell- Scythe Ground Strike- Great Sword (yes, it has two ultimate attributes) Example Beginning Level 2 Renkeis Double Thrust-> Fast Blade (Distortion) Burning Blade-> Combo (Fusion) Gust Slash-> One Inch Punch (Gravitation) Tachi: Hobaku-> Smash Axe (Fragmentation) Remember to chain level 1 renkeis before finishing with a level 2 for maximum damage Advanced Examples Chaining Level 2 Renkeis To chain Level 2 Renkeis, first start by using a level 2 sequence or an Ultimate technique, then extend the chain by using an Ultimate Technique of a level 2 Renkei that follows this chain Fusion->Gravitation->Fragmentation->Distortion->Fusion Examples: Burning Blade -> Combo (Fusion) -> Blade: Ten (Gravitation) Shark Bite -> Full Break (Distortion) -> Wheeling Thrust (Fusion) Level 3- does more damage than Level 2 Renkeis and attacks with Four Elements at once. They can be done by performing the ultimate technique of a weapon type to chain two specific level 2 Renkeis together such that four compatible elements are together. I assume it is impossible to follow up on one of these. There are only two Level 3 Renkeis: Light (Fire + Light + Lighting + Air) Fusion -> Fragmentation or Fragmentation -> Fusion Darkness (Earth + Darkness + Water + Ice) Gravitation -> Distortion or Distortion -> Gravitation (Personally, I think Square should rename these Renkeis Pearl and Ultima to reflect their odd elemental status). The leftover combinations of Level 2 Renkeis will not chain at all Fusion /-> Distortion Distortion /-> Fragmentation Fragmentation /-> Gravitation Gravitation /-> Fusion Complete Renkei list (1, 2, 3) Sorted by Starter First Tech -> Second Tech = Renkei Name (Element of the Renkei) Blunt -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Blunt -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Blunt (Fus) -> Ult. Grav = Gravitation (Earth + Dark) Blunt (Fus) -> Ult. Frag = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Fire -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Fire -> Blunt = Fusion (Fire + Light) Slice -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Slice -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Slice -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Slice (Dis) -> Ult. Fus = Fusion (Fire + Light) Slice (Dis) -> Ult. Grav = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) Air -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Air -> Dark = Gravitation (Earth + Dark) Ice -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Ice -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Ice -> Condition = Fragmentation (Thunder + Air) Condition -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Condition -> Ice = Induration (Ice) Condition(Frag) -> Ult. Dis = Distortion (Water + Ice) Condition(Frag) -> Ult. Fus = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Pierce -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Pierce -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Pierce -> Slice = Distortion (Water + Ice) Dark -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Dark -> Pierce = Transfixion (Light) Dark (Grav) -> Ult. Frag = Frag (Thunder + Air) Dark (Grav) -> Ult. Dis = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) Ult. Fus -> Ult. Grav = Gravition (Earth + Dark) Ult. Fus -> Ult. Frag = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Ult. Frag -> Ult. Dis = Distortion (Water + Ice) Ult. Frag -> Ult. Fus = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Ult. Dis -> Ult. Fus = Fusion (Fire + Light) Ult. Dis -> Ult. Grav = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) Ult. Grav -> Ult. Frag = Frag (Thunder + Air) Ult. Grav -> Ult. Dis = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) Sorted by Ender First Group -> Second Group = Renkei Name (Element of the Renkei) Ice -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Condition -> Blunt = Impaction (Lightning) Fire -> Blunt = Fusion (Fire + Light) Blunt -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Slice -> Fire = Liquification (Fire) Fire -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Air -> Slice = Scission (Earth) Pierce -> Slice = Distortion (Water + Ice) Blunt -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Slice -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Dark -> Air = Detonation (Wind) Condition -> Ice = Induration (Ice) Slice -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Pierce -> Condition = Reverberation (Water) Ice -> Condition = Fragmentation (Thunder + Air) Dark -> Pierce = Transfixion (Light) Ice -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Pierce -> Dark = Compression (Dark) Air -> Dark = Gravitation (Earth + Dark) Slice (Dis) -> Ult. Fus = Fusion (Fire + Light) Ult. Dis -> Ult. Fus = Fusion (Fire + Light) Condition(Frag) -> Ult. Fus = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Ult. Frag -> Ult. Fus = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Dark (Grav) -> Ult. Frag = Frag (Thunder + Air) Ult. Grav -> Ult. Frag = Frag (Thunder + Air) Blunt (Fus) -> Ult. Frag = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Ult. Fus -> Ult. Frag = Light (Light+Fire+Air+Thunder) Condition(Frag) -> Ult. Dis = Distortion (Water + Ice) Ult. Frag -> Ult. Dis = Distortion (Water + Ice) Dark (Grav) -> Ult. Dis = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) Ult. Grav -> Ult. Dis = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) Blunt (Fus) -> Ult. Grav = Gravition (Earth + Dark) Ult. Fus -> Ult. Grav = Gravition (Earth + Dark) Slice (Dis) -> Ult. Grav = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) Ult. Dis -> Ult. Grav = Darkness (Dark+Water+Ice+Earth) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X: Weapon Skill (Limit Break) List The following list of Limit Breaks I acquired from: http://db.ffvault.ign.com/db/View.php?view=FF.Weaponskills.List and Updated with: http://home.comcast.net/~hartwickc/renkei2.gif http://files.liquid-x.net/scrap/wse.pdf http://www5.plala.or.jp/SQR/ff11/ability-weaponskill.html http://ffxi.game-host.org/eriwilde/ffxi/renkei/weaponskill.html# StarvingArtist/Estya's Weapon skill demo videos- special thanks to hamburglar for hosting them. I'm attempting to include the actual effects of each weapon skill as well as the attribute Reference to make chaining easier. As effect descriptions are complicated, I will detail each below the chart and list the effect of Bonus TP on the technique. Attributes are ordered by Priority, this means that any given pair of techniques will try to chain with their first attribute before trying the others. Question marks in Effect means I am guessing or uncertain of what my source was telling me, question marks in Attributes means there is conflict between my sources on a skill's attribute, generally it means one chart omitted an attribute others had. Note that Weapon Skill level is capped to Job Level, and different Classes have different weapon caps based on proficiency. Furthermore certain limit breaks are sealed for use only by jobs skilled with that weapon. The second to last techniques of a weapon must be unlocked by doing a quest. The quests are all fairly simliar and are explained next section. To help you understand my description of effects, it's important to note the difference between attack multipliers and multi-hit attacks. Multi hit attacks do damage equal to your normal damage times the number of hits you connect with the technique, and you just see the total damage done. Some of the hits in a multiple hit attack can miss, dealing less damage and restoring less TP than full potential, however, this low reliablility used to be offset by the TP regained through multi-hit attacks, now you only get a hit worth of TP if the first hit lands and 1% extra TP for every other hit that lands. Double Attack and Triple Attack abilities can activate during weapons skill, thus allowing for things like 2 hit Shield Breaks and 7 hit Pentathrusts, doing much more damage than usual. I have experienced this myself, and it's a very fun occurance. Another matter is how one hit ATK up bonuses like Boost and Sneak Attack apply to a multihit tech. Initial theory held that Sneak attack only effected the first hit, but experiences with my thief main suggest that, at least for thief main, Sneak Attack works on all hits. I will experiment with subbbed Sneak Attack once I get my warrior to 30. Trick attack definately carries over multiple hits of a technique. Many multi-hit techniques also have multipliers especially at higher TP. The chart's effects and damage multipliers are either guesses based on vague official descriptions (i.e. from in game or the strategy guide) or observations at 100 TP. I've also started to mention the difference between 100 and 300 TP when I have been able to experiment. Recent TP research suggests that some techniques actually get WEAKER when taken all the way to 300 TP. I have noticed this with multiple techniques, and list it where I have personally observed it. However I'm getting conflicting evidence for 300 TP failures so I'll need to reinvestigate. A possible reason for observing weakened techniques at 300 was that Magic based Limit Breaks like Gust Slash have shown cases where they get magically resisted by the enemies. The effect of INT on such techniques requires further exploration. I've also started noticing that based on a character's stats, there is a certain Damage cap to what you do regardless of the monster's defense. You can experience it yourself when you get in the 30's and 40's and kill newb level enemies. Attack multiplying techniques like Viper Bite do not let you rise above these caps, thus observation on very weak enemies can give flat results. If some of my multipliers are low, I may have observed a capped technique. Likewise, when submitting approximations, keep caps in mind and test on enemies with relative okay defense. Axe. Dominant Attributes- Air + Blunt (Lightning) + Slice (Earth) Name Skill Lvl Tp Effect Attributes Raging Axe 10 Bonus damage A, B Smash Axe 40 Stun Duration I, C Gale Axe 70 Choke Duration A Avalanche Axe 100 Bonus damage S, B Spinning Axe* 150 Bonus damage F, S, B Rampage 175 Critical Chance S Calamity+ 200 Bonus damage S, B Mistral Axe+ 225 Bonus damage Ult- Fus Decimation 240 Hit accuracy Ult- Fus, C Onslaught --- ??? ??? *Must be a WAR/BST/DRK in main or subjob +Must be a WAR/BST in main Special Thanks to Lilyanne for all her help with Axe techniques Raging Axe- 2 hits, 1x Damage @ 100TP, 1.5x Damage @ 200TP, weakens (1x) @300 Smash Axe- 1 hit attack, 1x damage that causes Stun, cancels enemy techniques. Gale Axe- 1 hit, 1x damage, causes Choke condition (Defense Down and Damage over time. Overwrites Rasp, gets overwritten by Frost) Avalanche Axe- 1 hit, 2x damage @100TP. More reliable than Raging Axe. Spinning Axe- Area attack, for x? damage, centered on user? Rampage- 5 hits, 1x damage. Hits can "critical" for extra damage. Calamity- 1 hit, 3x damage per hit @ 100 TP. Mistral Axe- 1 hit? ?x damage per hit Decimation- 3 hits, 2x? damage per hit Onslaught- Special Limit Break that can only be used while equipping the Ogre Killer(in Dynamis) or Guttler (anywhere) (BeastMaster only). Comments- Axes became one of my favorite weapons after trying out the Light Axe that I received from a Sandorian Quest. Their Damage to Delay Ration is top notch (WAY better than Sword) and have a nice mix of skills for a variety of situations. I recommend every warrior use axe when holding shield while tanking, you'll hold hate much better than a sword warrior. Bow. Dominant Attribute- Pierce (Light) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Flaming Arrow* 10 Bonus Damage F, P Piercing Arrow* 40 Ignores more Defense C, P Dulling Arrow* 80 Critical Chance F, P Sidewinder* 175 Hit Accuracy C, P, A Blast Arrow+ 200 Hit Accuracy I, P Arching Arrow+ 225 Critical Chance Ult- Fus Emperial Arrow 250 Bonus Damage Utl- Fus, P Namas Arrow --- ??? ??? *Must be RNG in main or subjob +Must be RNG in main Note: my Damage observations for later techniques may be inaccurate do to damage caps. Flaming Arrow - 1 hit, 2x Fire Elemental damage @100, 3x @200, low cap Piercing Arrow- 1 hit, Ignores enemy defense (starts at 50%?), low cap Dulling Arrow- 1 hit, that criticals for 3x? damage, lowers enemy Int, low cap Sidewinder- 1 hit attack (consumes 1 arrow), 4x Damage. Very High Damage Cap Blast Arrow- 2? hit attack (consumes 1 arrow), Must be executed in melee range as it starts with a melee combo, has twice the cap of the first 3. Arching Arrow- 1 hit, Criticals for 5x? Damage. Cap three times first 3. Emperial Arrow- 1 hit, 5x? Damage Namas Arrow- Special Limit Break that can only be used while equipping the Futatokoroto(in Dynamis) or Yoichinoyumi (Yoichi's Bow) (anywhere) (Ranger and Samurai) Comments- All Ranged Limit Breaks require at least a ranger sub to use, so don't expect to see these used for a while. Due to the very high power of Ranged Attacks, these techniques often do tons of damage, making great skillchain enders (and they draw lots of hate). The weakness of ranged limit breaks is that unlike their melee counterparts, which are generally highly accurate, they tend to miss a good portion of the time without Sharpshoot or Plus Ranged Accuracy Gear. If a weaponskill misses it does not contribute to the chain, making it a bad idea to place it in middle where it might ruin everything. Being Piercing Weapons, they do 20% or so bonus damage against flying creatures, but do less against the undead. Club. Dominant Attributes- Blunt(Lightning) + Condition (Water) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Shining Strike 10 Bonus Damage B Seraph Strike* 40 Bonus Damage B Brain Shaker 70 Stun Duration C Star Light 100 More MP recovered - Doesn't Chain Moon Light* 125 More MP recovered - Doesn't Chain Skull Breaker 150 Int down Duration I, C True Strike 175 Hit Accuracy A, B Judgment* 200 Bonus Damage B HexaStrike+ 220 Critical Chance Ult- Fus Black Halo 230 Bonus Damage Ult- Frag, D Randgrith --- ??? ??? *Must be WAR/PLD/WHM/DRK/SAM in main or subjob +Must be WHM in main Special thanks to Celestia for her continuing help on Club Shining Strike- 1 hit, 1.5x Light Elemental damage @ 100TP Seraph Strike- 1 hit, 2x Light Elemental damage @ 100TP Brain Shaker- 1 hit, 1.5x damage, Causes Stun, Cancels enemy techniques Star Light- Apparently recovers MP based on Club skill and TP. Skill/9 @100 Skill/6 @200 and Skill/3 @300 TP, no damage done. Moon Light- Recovers a percentage of EVERYONE in party's MP, no damage done. Gives back same amount as Star Light Skull Breaker- 1 hit, 1.5x damage, Lowers enemy INT. True Strike- 1 Critical hit for 3x Damage Judgment- 2 hit, 2x Damage @ 100TP HexaStrike- 6 hits, 1x damage. Hits can critical for higher damage. Black Halo- 2 hits for 3x damage each @ 100 TP Randgrith- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Gullintani (in Dynamis) or Mjollnir (anywhere)(White Mage only). Comment: Clubs don't see nearly as much melee attention as some of the other weapons. The all-job use clubs have pathetic damage for their level; wands focus on Magic bonuses over power. The only ones really worth using are Hammers for White Mages and Maces for Paladins (especially when fighting undead). White Mages don't get chances to melee much, but Hexastrike is a very strong weaponskill and essential for high level farming for White Mages. The MP regaining "Light" skills are intriguing but it's hard to say whether their effect is ever worth using. Dagger. Dominant Attributes- Air(Wind) + Slice (Earth) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Wasp Sting 10 Poison Duration S Gust Slash 40 Bonus Damage A Shadow Stitch 70 Bind Duration C Viper Bite* 100 Poison Duration S Cyclone* 125 Bonus Damage A, B Energy Steal 150 Steal more MP - Doesn't Chain Energy Drain* 175 Steal more MP - Doesn't Chain Dancing Edge+ 200 Hit accuracy S, A Shark Bite + 225 Bonus Damage Ult- Frag Evisceration 250 Bonus Damage Ult- Frag, P Mercy Strike --- ??? ??? * Must be THF/RDM/BRD/RNG/NIN in main or subjob + Must be THF in main Wasp Sting- 1 hit for normal dagger damage (weak :P) and give weak poison. Gust Slash- 1 hit for 2x Wind element damage @100, 3x@200. Pretty nice, especially on melee resistant creatures. As it is elemental, it does not stack with sneak or trick, and being magic based- it can be resisted. Shadowstitch- 1 hit for normal damage and Bind. Not incredibly useful but it stacks with Sneak/Trick until you learn Viper Bite Viper Bite- 1 hit (looks like 2) for 2x damage and causes venomous poison. Cool tech, but not that strong when not sneaked or tricked (seems to have a cap equal to regular attack damage, thus why Sneak and Trick are needed to raise cap). Cyclone- 1 hit, 2x damage Wind element (same strength as Gust Slash) area attack centered on target, great for train farming. Energy Steal- They both steal MP but I don't know by how much or whether they Energy Drain- cause HP damage as well. I assume Drain is stronger as is EX. Dancing Edge- 5 hit attack, 1x damage. This and the ones after all are non- elemental, and thus stack with Sneak/Trick Shark Bite- 2 hits for 2x damage- more reliable but not as strong as Dancing Edge. The level 3 renkeis make up for it. Evisceration- 5 hit attack, 1x? damage @ 100 TP. Mercy Strike- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Batardeau (in Dynamis) or Mandau (anywhere)(RDM THF BRD). Comment: Daggers are usually unimpressive weapons made very powerful by the usage of thief skills. Other classes can use daggers for helpful stat boosts or special debuff effects on enemies (like inflict poison or Def Down). Black Mages, Red Mages, and Paladins might find usefulness in the MP techniques of daggers, but I need to learn their effect first. Being Piercing Weapons, they do 20% or so bonus damage against flying creatures, but do less against the undead. Great Axe. Dominant Attributes- Blunt(Lightning) + Slice (Earth) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Shield Break 10 Effect Duration B Iron Tempest 40 Bonus Damage S, B? Sturmwind* 70 Bonus Damage C, S Armor Break 100 Effect Duration B Keen Edge 150 Critical Chance D Weapon Break 175 Effect Duration B Raging Rush+ 200 Bonus Damage I, C Full Break+ 225 Effect Duration Ult- Dis Steel Cyclone 240 Bonus Damage Utl- Dis, A Metatron Torment--- ??? ??? *Must be WAR/DRK in main or subjob +Must be WAR in main Special thanks to Janeba for a ton of info into the workings of break technique Shield Break- 1 hit, 1x damage and Evasion down. Is considered "Ice alligned" so Creatures that are weak to Ice get twice the effect duration, and those resistant to Ice get no effect at all, even if the skill hits. Uncertain if being "Ice alligned" means cannot stack with Sneak. Normal Effect duration: 1:30 @100, 2:00 @200, 2:30 @300. Amazing technique, benefits whole party, everyone gets TP faster and melees hold the hate. Its skillchain value is uncertain though as it can "miss" on occation and when it does hit, it can make the battle too easy to use a Skillchain on. Iron Tempest- 1 hit, 1.5x damage @ 100 TP, 2x @ 200TP & 300TP. Not as good as Shield Break unless you are Skillchaining or need a quick finishing blow. Sturmwind- 2 hit, 1x damage @ 100TP. Good for Fragmentation skillchains Armor Break- 1 hit, 1x attack and Defense down. Is considered "Air alligned" so Creatures that are weak to Air get twice the effect duration, and those resistant to Air get no effect at all, even if the skill hits. Uncertain if being "Air alligned" means cannot stack with Sneak. Normal Effect duration: 1:30 @100, 2:00 @200, 2:30 @300. Really, all break techniques are amazing. This one is recommended for heavy armor enemies like Beetles and Crabs. Good opener for a Skill Chain. Keen Edge- 1 hit, that criticals for 3x? damage or misses for 1x? damage Weapon Break- 1 hit, 1x damage and Attack down. Is considered "Water alligned" so Creatures that are weak to Water get twice the effect duration, and those resistant to Water get no effect at all, even if the skill hits. Uncertain if being "Water alligned" means cannot stack with Sneak. Normal Effect duration: 1:30 @100, 2:00 @200, 2:30 @300. Obviously, save this one for heavy hitting enemies, especially if you have strong offense but not a lot of healing/defense. Raging Rush- 3x hit attack, x? Damage per hit Full Break- 1 hit, 1x damage and Attack, Accuracy, Evasion, and Defense down. Is considered "Earth alligned"so Creatures that are weak to Earth get twice the effect duration, and those resistant to Earth get no effect at all, even if the skill hits. Uncertain if being "Earth alligned" means cannot stack with Sneak. Normal Effect duration: 1:30 @100, 2:00 @200, 2:30 @300. Well, this is the ultimate Break technique, the only reason you might not use it is one enemies resistant to Earth. Perfect to open for Level 3 Renkei. Steel Cyclone- 1 hit? x? damage @100 TP Metatron Torment- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Abaddon Killer(in Dynamis) or Bravura (anywhere) (WAR). Comment: Great Axe is an incredibly fun weapon. Very Slow, but Very Powerful and some Amazing Techniques. A single break technique can bring an enemy from High Stat rating to Low Stat rating for the duration of the entire battle. Furthermore, the multi-hit Weapon Skills do very impressive damage. Warriors can use this weapon both when berserking for maximum damage and tanking for holding hate. Great Katana. Dominant Group- Balanced Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Tachi: Enpi(Flying Swallow) 10 Bonus Damage P, S Tachi: Hobaku(Binding Edge) 30 Stun Duration I Tachi: Goten(Thunderous Sky)70 Bonus Damage P, B Tachi:Kagero(ShimmerOfTheHeatedAir)100Bonus Damage F Tachi: Jinpu(Blowing Mind) 150 Bonus Damage S, A Tachi: Koki ( Shining ) 175 Bonus Damage C, B Tachi: Yukikaze(Snowstorm)+ 200 Bonus Damage I, A, D? Tachi: Gekko(Moon Light)+ 225 Bonus Damage Ult- Dis, C* Tachi: Kasha(Floral Chariot)250 Bonus Damage Ult- Fus, D Tachi: Kaiten() --- ??? ??? *changed to this 12/16/2003 +Must be SAM in Main Special thanks to Godchain for all his help with G Katana techs Tachi: Enpi- 2 hits for 1x damage @ 100 TP. Used in Self chaining before the TP nerf. Tachi: Hobaku- 1 hit, 1x damage, causes Stun, cancels enemy techniques Tachi: Goten- 1 hit, 1.5x Thunder Elemental damage, nice for Crabs and Pugils, and makes Fusion Tachi: Kagero- 1 hit, 1.5x Fire Elemental damage. Connects well with other limit breaks. Tachi: Jinpu- 2 hit, 1.5x damage each, Wind Elemental damage. Can self chain with itself and a lot of others. Tachi: Koki- 1 hit, 1.5x Light Elemental damage. Tachi: Yukikaze- 1 hit, Ice Elemental damage directly correlated to current TP, regardless of enemy defense (2-3dmg per TP?). Very Strong, Causes Blindness. Tachi: Gekko- 1 hit, x? Elemental? damage, Causes Silence Tachi: Kasha- 1 hit, x? Damage, Causes Paralysis Tachi: Kaiten- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Tosukanotsurugi(in Dynamis) or Amanomurakumo (Heaven's Cloud) (anywhere) (SAM). Comment: the Great Katana is the main weapon for Samurai (ninjas can use them too oddly enough, but I doubt you'll catch one doing so after Dual Wield). Great Katana have very possibly the Best Damage/Delay ratio in the game, but there aren't very many and are usually very expensive (lots of craftsmenship). Some Samurai are disappointed with the lack of multi-hit techniques, but the few hits they have are usually very strong and they can chain with every element except Dark, allowing for long or multiple chains to take advantage of magic bursts. Great Sword. Dominant Attributes- Slice (Earth) + Ice Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Hard Slash 10 Bonus Damage S Power Slash 30 Critical Chance P Frost Bite 70 Bonus Damage I Freeze Bite* 100 Bonus Damage I, A Shockwave 150 Effect Radius C Crescent Moon 175 Bonus Damage S Sickle Moon+ 200 Bonus Damage S, B Spinning Slash+ 225 Bonus Damage Ult- Grav Ground Strike 250 Bonus Damage Ult-Grav, Ult- Dis Scourge --- ??? ??? *Must be WAR/PLD/DRK in main or subjob +Must be PLD/DRK in main Special thanks to Godchain and Meo for there help with G Sword techs Hard Slash- 1 hit, 1.5x Damage @ 100TP, 2x @ 200 Tp, 2x @ 300TP Power Slash- 1 hit, Critical for 2x Damage or miss for 1x Frost Bite- 1 hit 1x Ice element Damage @ 100 TP. Weak but does well against enemies weak to ice Freeze Bite- 1 hit, 1.5x Ice element Damage @ 100 TP. Stronger than Frost. Shockwave- 1x Damage to main target, 1.5 to extra targets, Wedge shaped frontal area attack Causes Sleep. Seems to be really good for dealing with links/Chain Farming. Crescent Moon- 1 hit, 2x Damage @ 100 TP Sickle Moon- 2 hits, 1.5x damage @ 100 TP Spinning Slash- 1 hit, 3x? Damage @ 100TP, 3.5x? @ 200, 4x? @ 300 Ground Strike- 1 hit, 3x? Damage @ 100TP, 6x? @ 300? Scourge- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Valhalla (in Dynamis) or Ragnarok (anywhere). Comment: the Great Sword doesn't seem to get a lot of attention, probably because no class has it as its Number 1 or AF Weapon. In fact, some are traumatized by the Dark Knight Flag quest which requires you to wield the worst weapon in the entire game(Chaosbringer GreatSword)! These weapons are on the lower end delay of Two Handed Weapons (when not the Chaosbringer) and usually have nice stat bonuses and effects in them. The techniques may not be very impressive early on (finding info on them has been tough due to few users), but show promise for the later game. Hand to Hand. Dominant Group- Blunt(Lightning) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Combo 10 Bonus Damage B Shoulder Tackle 40 Stun Duration C, B One Inch Punch* 75 Ignores more Defense D Backhand Blow 100 Chance of Critical A Raging Fists* 125 Bonus Damage B Spinning Attack 150 AOE Range F, B Howling Fist+ 200 Bonus Damage P, B Dragon Kick+ 225 Bonus Damage Ult- Frag Asuran Fist+ 250 Hit Accuracy Ult- Grav, F Final Heaven --- ??? ??? *Must be MNK in main or subjob +Must be MNK in main Combo- 3 hit, 1x damage @100, 1.5x @200, and back to 1x @300. Shoulder Tackle- 1 hit for 1x Damage and briefly Stuns enemy. Stunning enemies cancels special attacks like Goblin Bomb toss if you do it fast enough. One Inch Punch- 1 hit (Dark elemental?) that ignores a percentage of enemy defense. I'm guessing it start at 50% def? Backhand Blow- 2 hit (looks like one), each criticals for 2x or fails for 1x. Raging Fists- 5 hits, 1x Damage @ 100TP. Spinning Attack- Hits all enemies around you for 2x? damage. Howling Fist- 1 hit, 6x damage Dragon Kick- either 1 hit, 7x damage attack or 2 hits for 3x damage @ 100TP Asuran Fists- 8 hits, 1x damage. Final Heaven- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Caestus (in Dynamis) or Spharai (anywhere) (MNK). Comments: Hand to Hand is primarily used by Monks, who make up low damage per hit with lots and lots of hits over time. Other classes like Thief can enjoy these weapons for very powerful Limit Breaks and some status causing effects as well. Hand to Hand has also proven to be very effective versus the undead. Only jobs with H2H skill and either H2h type weapons or Nothing in either hand can use H2h Limit Breaks (unskilled jobs only use 1 hand when unarmed). Katana. Dominant Attributes- Balanced Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Blade:Rin(Critical) 10 Critical Chance P Blade:Retsu(Burn) 30 Paralysis Duration S Blade:Teki(Dripping Water)70 Bonus Damage C Blade:To(Freeze) 100 Bonus Damage I, A Blade:Chi(Earth) 150 Bonus Damage P, B Blade:Ei(Shadow) 175 Bonus Damage D Blade:Jin(Rapid)+ 200 Critical Chance A, B Blade:Ten(Heaven)+ 225 Bonus Damage Ult- Grav Blade:Ku(Sky) 250 Hit Accuracy Ult- Grav, P Blade:Metsu(AllLivingsThingsMustDie)--- ??? ??? +Must be NIN in main Special Thanks to Ajora and the other Ninjas on KI for their help. Blade:Rin- One hit that criticals for 3x damage or fails for 1x. Blade:Retsu- 2 hit attack for 1.5x damage. Causes Paralysis Blade:Teki- 1 hit, 1.5x Water Elemental damage Blade:To- 1 hit, 1.5x Ice Elemental damage Blade:Chi- 2 hit, 1.5x Earth elemental. Blade:Ei- 1 hit, 1.5x Dark Elemental damage Blade:Jin- 3 hit, 1.5x Damage, criticals for 2x Blade:Ten- 1 hit? 5x? damage, possibly does direct damage based on TP Blade:Ku- 5 hits, 1x damage per hit Blade: Metsu- Special technique that can only be used while equipping Yoshimitsu (in Dynamis) or Kikoku (Anywhere) (NIN). Comment: Katanas can only be used by Ninjas (which is odd when Dual wielding Samurais existed in history). The weapons themselves are quick but weak and the techniques often use elements and statuses over straight Damage. Like G Katana, Katanas have chain attributes all over the chart (except Ninjas have a Dark tech, but don't have a Fire Tech). Marksmen. Dominant Group- Pierce (Light) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Hot Shot* 10 Bonus Damage F, P Split Shot* 40 Ignores more defense C, P Sniper Shot* 80 Critical Chance F, P Slug Shot* 175 Hit Accuracy C, P, A Blast Shot+ 200 Hit Accuracy I, P Heavy Shot+ 225 Critical Chance Ult- Fus Detonator 250 Bonus Damage Ult- Fus, P Coronach --- ??? ?? *Must be RNG in main or subjob +Must be RNG in main Note: my Damage observations for later techniques may be inaccurate do to damage caps. Hot Shot- 1 hit 2x Fire Elemental damage @ 100TP, 3x @200TP. Low Cap Split Shot- 1 hit, Ignores enemy defense (starts at 50%?). Low Cap Sniper Shot- 1 hit, that criticals for 3x? damage, lowers enemy Int. Low Cap Slug Shot- 1 hit attack (consumes 1 ammo) 4x Damage. Very High Cap Blast Shot- 2? hit attack (consumes 1 ammo), Must be executed in melee range as it starts with a melee hit. Damage cap is twice cap of first three. Heavy Shot- 1 hit, Criticals for 5x? Damage Cap Three times first three. Detonator- 1 hit, 5x? Damage Coronach- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Ferdinand (in Dynamis) or Annihilator (anywhere) (RNG). Comments- All Ranged Limit Breaks require at least a ranger sub to use, so don't expect to see these used for a while. Due to the very high power of Ranged Attacks, these techniques often do tons of damage, making great skillchain enders (and they draw lots of hate). The weakness of ranged limit breaks is that unlike their melee counterparts (which are generally highly accurate) they tend to miss a good portion of the time without Sharpshoot or Plus Ranged Accuracy Gear. If a weaponskill misses it does not contribute to the chain, making it a bad idea to place it in middle where it might ruin everything. Scythe. Dominant Attributes- Slice(Earth) + Condition (Water) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Slice 10 Bonus Damage S Dark Harvest 40 Bonus Damage C Shadow of Death* 70 Bonus Damage I, C Nightmare Scythe 100 Blindness Duration D, S Spinning Scythe 125 Area Radius C, S Vorpal Scythe 150 Critical Chance P, S Guillotine+ 200 Silence Duration I Cross Reaper+ 225 Bonus Damage Ult- Dis Spiral Hell 240 Bonus Damage Ult- Dis, S Catastrophe --- ??? ??? * Must be WAR/DRK in main or subjob + Must be DRK in main Special thanks to Godchain for all his help with Scythe techs Slice- 1 hit, 1.5 damage @100TP, 2x @200, 2x @ 300 Dark Harvest- 1 hit, 1x Dark Damage. Weak unless fighting enemies weak to darkness. Shadow of Death- 1 hit, 1.5x Dark Damage. Better than Dark Harvest. Nightmare Scythe- 1 hit, 2x Damage, Causes Blindness Spinning Scythe- 1 hit, frontal area wedge deals 1x damage to main target, 1.5x to extra targets. Vorpal Scythe- 1 hit that criticals for 3x damage or fails for 1x damage Guillotine- 4 hits, 1x damage per hit. Causes Silence. Cross Reaper- 2 hit, 2x Damage @ 100 TP Spiral Hell- 1 hit, 3x? damage @ 100TP, 6x? @ 300 TP Catastrophe- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Bec de Faucon (in Dynamis) or Apocalypse (anywhere)(DRK). Comments: Scythes are mainly a Dark Knight's Weapon, though Wars and Beastmasters sometimes use them as well. Scythes are pretty much the slowest weapons in the game, but have very high damage numbers. Early weapon skills are fairly weak but later ones prove quite powerful. Scythes occupy less common chain groups such as Ice, Condition, and Dark. Spear. Dominant Attributes- Pierce(Light) + Blunt (Lightning) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Double Thrust 10 Bonus Damage P Thunder Thrust 30 Bonus Damage P, B Raiden Thrust* 70 Bonus Damage P, B Leg Sweep 100 Stun Duration B Penta Thrust 150 Bonus Damage D Vorpal Thrust 175 Critical Chance C, P Skewer+ 200 Bonus Damage D, P Wheeling Thrust+225 Ignores More Defense Ult- Fus Impulse Drive 240 Bonus Damage Ult- Grav, I Geirskogul --- ??? ??? * Must be WAR/PLD/DRG in main or subjob + Must be DRG in main Special thanks to GOdchain for all his help with Spear techs Double Thrust- 2 hits for 1x damage @ 100TP Thunder Thrust- 1 hit, 1.5x Thunder Elemental damage Raiden Thrust- 1 hit, 2x Thunder Elemental damage Leg Sweep- 1 hit, 1x damage, Stuns enemy, cancels enemy techniques Penta Thrust- 5 hit attack, .75x damage per hit @ 100TP, 1x @ 200, 1.25x @ 300 Vorpal Thrust- 1 hit that criticals for 3x damage or fails for 1x damage Skewer- 3 hit, 1.5x damage per hit @ 100TP Wheeling Thrust- 1 hit, 1x? damage, Ignores enemy defense, starts at 50%? Not very damaging when compared to other WS at this level. Impulse Drive- 2 hit, 2x damage @ 100TP. Sadly reffered to as the "pretty Double Thrust" Geirskogul- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Gae Assail (in Dynamis) or Gungnir (anywhere) (DRG). Comments: The Spear is unquestionably dominated by Dragoons, but Samurais and Warriors dabble with these as well. A good Damage/Delay ratio and lots of nice techniques like Double Thrust and Penta Thrust make this weapon very popular early on, but there is large concern that the Skills after the infamous Penta Thrust are comparitively weak to others at that level, so many Dragoons go through a end-game Job Crisis. Being Piercing Weapons, they do 20% or so bonus damage against flying creatures, but do less against the undead. Staff. Dominant Group- Blunt(Lightning) + Dark Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Heavy Swing 10 Bonus Damage B Rock Crusher 40 Bonus Damage B Earth Crusher* 70 Bonus Damage A ,B Star Burst 100 Bonus Damage D, C Sun Burst* 150 Bonus Damage D, C Shell Crusher 175 Def down Duration A, B? Full Swing 200 Bonus Damage F, B Spirit Taker 215 Bonus Damage B, F? Retribution 230 Bonus Damage Ult- Grav , C Gate of Tartarus--- ??? ??? * Must be PLD/MNK/WAR/WHM in main or subjob Special thanks to Celestia for her continuing help on Staff skills Heavy Swing- 1 hit, 1.5x damage @ 100 TP, 2x @ 300TP Rock Crusher- 1 hit, 2x Earth Damage @ 100TP Earth Crusher- 1 front Area hit for 2x Earth Damage @ 100 TP, 3x @ 200, 4x @ 300 TP. This is a really strong technique. Star Burst- 1 hit, 1x damage. Randomly chosen Light or Dark element damage. Sun Burst- 1 hit, 1.5x Damage. Randomly chosen Light or Dark element damage. Shell Crusher- 1 hit, 1.5x? Damage, Lowers enemy Defense Full Swing- 1 hit, x? Damage Spirit Taker- 1 hit, 3x? damage, Regain MP proportional to damage Retribution- 1 hit, x? Damage Gate of Tartarus- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Thyrus (in Dynamis) or Claustrum (anywhere) (BLM SUM). Comment: Staves are mainly used by mages for magic boosts, Poles are the more melee oriented versions, which mages can use for farming and some monks try using as well (I understand 100 fists + Pole = hilarious battle). Never the less, Staves have some strong Limit Breaks, Earth Crusher being the Earliest Area of Effect Attack in the game. Spirit Taker also seems very useful to mages with its MP regain. Sword. Dominant Group- Slice(Earth) Name Skill Lvl TP Effect Attributes Fast Blade 10 Bonus Damage S Burning Blade 30 Bonus Damage F Red Lotus Blade*50 Bonus Damage F, A Flat Blade 75 Stun Duration B Shining Blade 100 Bonus Damage S Seraph Blade* 125 Bonus Damage S Circle Blade 150 AOE Range C, B Spirit Within 175 Bonus Damage - Doesn't Chain Vorpal Blade* 200 Critical Chance S, B Swift Blade+ 225 Hit Accuracy Ult- Grav Savage Blade 240 Bonus Damage Utl- Frag, S KnightsoftheRound--- ??? ??? * Must be PLD/WAR/DRK in main or subjob + Must be PLD in main Special thanks to GOdchain for all his help with Sword techs Fast Blade- 2 hits, 1x damage @100TP, I could have sworn it used to be one. Stacks with Sneak/Trick as is non-elemental. Burning Blade- 1 hit 1.5x Fire element damage. Good for Melee Resistant enemies. Red Lotus Blade- 1 hit 2x Fire element damage. Better than Burning Blade. Flat Blade- 1 hit 1x damage causes Stun. Cancels enemies techniques, a little late coming compared to Axe, H2h, and G Katana. Shining Blade- 1 hit 1.5x Light element damage Seraph Blade- 1 hit 2x Light element damage Circle Blade- Area attack for 2x? damage Spirit Within- Damage based on your current HP. Someone suggested the following effect range: 100% TP = 1/8 current HP in damage 200% TP = 1/4 current HP in damage 300% TP = 1/2 current HP in damage Making this one of the few techniques that is better to save to 300% Vorpal Blade- Unlike other Vorpals, 4 hits, 1x damage. Can critical for more per hit damage. Swift Blade- 3 hit attack for 1x damage. Does badly at 300TP? Savage Blade- 2 hit, 2x damage Knights of the Round- Special Limit Break that can only be used by equipping Caliburn(in Dynamis) or Excalibur (anywhere) (RDM PLD). Comments: the sword is a very popular weapon starting out for many jobs (that can't equip axes). Decent Damage/Delay for a one handed weapon, and very chainable Limit Breaks early on. Like Greatsword, there are often some stat bonuses in swords and Paladins use them with High Proficency (especially for Spirits Within). Note on effect descriptions: As you can tell, I am more familiar with some weapon skills than others. My sources have been helping me fill in gaps, but there are still some effects I'm not sure about. As the damage equation in FFXI is currently unknown to the public, it is hard to say how exactly the damage multiplier works, so I just made them on average hit damage. In general though, I tried to give any multipliers relative strength: I know for a fact Red Lotus does more damage than Burning Blade, and I can assume a risky critical hit technique like Vorpal Blade should do more damage than the reliable Fast Blade, especially as some techniques are learned much later on, so you would expect it to be more powerful. For "critical hit" techniques, there seem to be two models: an "All or Nothing" attack like Power Slash and Vorpal Techs, or a multihit technique that has it hits sometimes critical for even MORE impressive damage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X-2: Unlocking the Quested Techniques The following information I found on FFXI Mysterytour. I'm writing my interpretations of the "Engrish", so if a detail is off let me know. http://mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.jp/ffxi/us/index.html All quests share the feature that you must get both level 71 and the required skilllevel for the weapon before getting the quest. Then you talk to the NPC who gives you a "trial weapon" with some kind of latent effect on it. Your mission is to remove the latent effect by collecting 300 points with the weapon; the points are gathered by performing Limit Breaks and renkei on enemies that are either higher that Easy Prey or just Easy Prey and up. Normal WS 1 point Lv1 skillchain 2 points Lv2 skillchain 3 points Lv3 skillchain 5 points After the effect is cleared, you return it to the NPC, then you must go to a high level dungeon and find a ??? spot which will summon an NM. Defeat the NM and return to the quest giver to get the technique. Axe WeaponSkills Quest Go to Upper Jeuno and talk to Brutus (Choco License giver) and he will give you the Trial Pick and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Brutus and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Temple of Uggalepih and find a ??? at G-9 (enter from Yhoator J-9? north side?) Fight an NM called Yallery Brown, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Brutus to finish the quest. Reward Decimation Bow WeaponSkills Quest Go to Windurst Woods and talk to Perih Vashai(Chieftain?) and she will give you the Bow of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Perih Vashai and she will give you the "map of trial". Go to Cape Teriggan and find a ??? at G-7. Fight an NM called Stolas, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Perih Vashai to finish the quest. Reward Empyreal Arrow Club WeaponSkills Quest Go to Port Windurst and talk to Kuriodo-Moido (Orastery) and he will give you the Club of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Kuriodo-Moido and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Ro'Maeve and find a ??? at M-8. Fight an NM called Eldhrimnir, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Kuriodo-Moido to finish the quest. Reward Black Halo Dagger WeaponSkills Quest Go to Khazam and talk to Jakoh Wahcondalo and she will give you the Dagger of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Jakoh Wahcondalo and she will give you the "map of trial". Go to Gustav Tunnel and find a ??? at J-8 on second map. Fight an NM called Baronial Bat (I think it's a bat type ^_- Propably Giant Bat), then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Jakoh Wahcondalo to finish the quest. Reward Evisceration Great Axe WeaponSkills Quest Go to Bastok Metalworks and talk to Iron Eater(President office guard) and he will give you the Axe of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Iron Eater and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to The Sanctuary of ZiTah and find a ??? at F-6. Fight an NM called Greenman (Goobbue?), then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Iron Eater to finish the quest. Reward Steel Cyclone Great Katana WeaponSkills Quest Go to Norg and talk to Jaucribaix (Samurai quest giver) and he will give you the Tachi of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Jaucribaix and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Kuftal Tunnel and find a ??? at L-7. Fight an NM called Kettenkaefer (beetle?), then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Jaucribaix to finish the quest. Reward Tachi: Kasha Great Sword WeaponSkills Quest Go to Bastok Mines and talk to Gumbah (Dark Knight quest giver) and he will give you the Sword of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Gumbah and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Western Altepa Desert and find a ??? at E-9. Fight an NM called Maharajah (Scorpion? Cactuar?), then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Gumbah to finish the quest. Reward Ground Strike Hand-to-Hand WeaponSkills Quest Talk to Oggbi in Port Bastok (Steaming Sheep Bar) and he will give you the Trial Knuckles and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Oggbi and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Bostaunieux Oubliette and find a ??? at I-8 by the Groundwater Way. Fight an NM called Bodach, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Oggbi to finish the quest. Reward Asuran Fists. Other info: from Breal777 "The trial weapon doesn't have any great stats really, has D+16 Delay+96 Latent: 20HP +10 earth +10 water" Katana WeaponSkills Quest Go to Norg and talk to Ryoma (Ninja quest guy) and he will give you the Kodachi of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Ryoma and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Labyrinth of Onzozo and find a ??? at I-5. Fight an NM called Megapod Megalops (Crab?), then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Ryoma to finish the quest. Reward Blade: Ku Marksmanship WeaponSkills Quest Go to Bastok Metalworks and talk to Cid (in his lab, duh) and he will give you the Gun of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Cid and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to The Boyahda Tree and find a ??? at J-8 (get there from G-10 second map). Fight an NM called Beet Leafhopper(Mandragora? Bunny?), then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Cid to finish the quest. Reward Detonator Scythe WeaponSkills Quest Go to Bostaunieux Oubliette and talk to Novalmauge (walks around) and he will give you the Scythe of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Novalmauge and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Den of Rancor and find a ??? at J-13. Fight an NM called Mokumokuren, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Novalmauge to finish the quest. Reward Spiral Hell Spear WeaponSkills Quest Go to Southern San d'Oria and talk to Balasiel(Paladin guy?) and he will give you the Spear of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Balasiel and he will give you the "map of trial". Go to Sea Serpent's Grotto and find a ??? at H-6 (through a Sahagin door). Fight an NM called Water Leaper, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Balasiel to finish the quest. Reward Impulse Drive Staff WeaponSkills Quest Go to Windurst Walls and talk to Shantotto (in her manor) and she will give you the Staff of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Shantotto and she will give you the "map of trial". Go to Ifrit's Caldron, enter from an east entrance. Go to the following map from F-6. Fall downward on the following map I-8 and go into the cave near where you fell. Find a ??? at advanced map H-7. Fight an NM called Cailleach Bheur, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Shantotto to finish the quest. Reward Retribution Sword WeaponSkills Quest Go to Chateau d'Oraguille and talk to Curilla(Knight captain) and she will give you the Sapara of Trials and a "writing of practice." Once you have cleared the weapon, return it to Curilla and she will give you the "map of trial". Go to Quicksands Caves and find a ??? at I-6 (from Western Altepa Desert I-6). Fight an NM called Girtablulu, then reinvestigate the spot and you will get the "writing of a trial". Talk to Curilla to finish the quest. Reward Savage Blade ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XI: Conclusion It's funny that I originally started this FAQ with just the intention of creating a list of all the Limit Breaks and their effects. On my search, I found lots of skillchain information and ended up devoting a significant portion to consolidating the information on Renkeis into an easy to use guide. While skillchaining information was fairly prevalent, only one of my original sources even hazarded some guesses as to the effects of each Limit Break, but I have since found some good information through the Official guide and other sites, as well as contributions from great people in my LS and on Message boards. Even so, I still need the experience and contributions of others as I will never play long enough to master every weapon type in the game (It would involve getting 10 jobs, 6 of them advanced[Warrior, Monk, Thief, White Mage, Paladin, Dark Knight, Ranger, Ninja, Samurai, and Dragoon], to level 71+). What I ask of the FFXI community is to use and test the information I have compiled here. Current gaps that need addressing. 1:Comparing the damage of different Limit Breaks to get an idea on how much they multiply attack power, how many hits they count as, and what Statuses/ Elements they use. This is especially so for Staff, G Axe, and Axe. 2:It appears I have all relavent TP gain, though corrections are still welcome. 3:Decided Floral Chariot would be best translation of Kasha, if you come up with better tell me. 4:Find out Percentages of renkeis in chains of 5 skills or more (drools). 5:The effects of Sneak Attack, Trick Attack, Double Attack, and Triple Attack on weaponskills seems to be resolved. 6:Learn how to get the Ultimate weapons and get data on the new Ultimate Limit Breaks. Please also inform me of errors or unclear portions of the FAQ so I may revise them; if you can think of more newb questions to put in that section let me know. As this was my first FAQ I hope I did a good job. I take this time thank all the past and future contributors to this work. Isaac Newton once said "The only reason I see so far is because I stood on the shoulders of giants," and that line is reflected in this work. Ultimately, this is a resource for and creation of everyone who plays in Vana'Diel. I hope it positively affects people's choices in weapons and their executions of chains. Happy Adventuring everyone! /salute /bow /goodbye ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XII: Thanks to the creators and maintainers of my reference sites and charts http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/vt/extra/index.html http://ffvault.ign.com/skillchains/skillchain.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~hartwickc/renkei2.gif http://files.liquid-x.net/scrap/wse.pdf http://www5.plala.or.jp/SQR/ff11/ability-weaponskill.html http://mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.jp/ffxi/us/index.html http://ffxi.game-host.org/eriwilde/ffxi/renkei/weaponskill.html# http://ffxi.killvoid.com the people I have learned from on message boards the people I have partied with to learn from experience the members of my linkshell the author of the Final Fantasy XI official strategy guide (Fall2003) MasterLL- first Skillchain FAQ writer (that I know of) StarvingArtist- for making one of the most well known Renkei charts and cool Limit Break demonstration videos. Post publishing contributors ***Celestia*** DeadS ShadowKilla hamburglar PhoenixAmbrose Toshi ***Janeba*** Kaido nekochan Psyboy143 Marath Kayoto Crymic/Loryana Discordian Yami Kaishi Ayako ***Ajora*** Tyme Azriela Akuji ***Lilyanne*** ***Godchain*** darkdragonsdx bobtheman ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- T: Contact Info -Kletian999 I can be contacted at Kletian999@hotmail.com. As this account has an aggressive spam filter, Please write Renkei FAQ in the subject. If you don't here any response from me in two weeks, assume I missed your message and send it again, but I'm usually very good at replying. Tom Dubeck Avernus 46/26/20/10 Male Hume Thief/Warrior/Ranger/Samurai: Caitsith