Need help with Fighter build

[OrangeGuy]

Currently a level 45 Fighter, having second thoughts with my skill build.

I decided to give up the skill that raises the power of Power Strike and Slash Blast, and go with Ground Smash. Just to make sure, is this the right choice? Or should I be doing something else.

[JoeTang]

Currently a level 45 Fighter, having second thoughts with my skill build.

I decided to give up the skill that raises the power of Power Strike and Slash Blast, and go with Ground Smash. Just to make sure, is this the right choice? Or should I be doing something else.

Ground Smash first, and I believe Final Attack following it would be best since Ground Smash is your primary attack skill. Unless you're actually training with, or intending to train with Slash Blast would I recommend you put into Improved Basics before Final Attack, but I'm not that far yet to tell how useful either is. By now, you should have maxed Mastery and 5~6 Booster as well though. It really depends on where you are because Ground Smash is only used on mobs of 3, and any more should almost always be Slash Blasted.

[OrangeGuy]

Huh? Doesn't Ground Smash hit 3 monsters for 300% damage? So that would hit a total of 900% damage, while Slash Blast is 180% on 6 monsters. Slash Blast seems to only outdamage Ground Smash on mobs of 6.

Hit level 48, maxed Ground Smash has replaced both Power Strike and Slashblast for me. Currently maxing Rage over Final Attack, is that a good idea?

[JoeTang]

Huh? Doesn't Ground Smash hit 3 monsters for 300% damage? So that would hit a total of 900% damage, while Slash Blast is 180% on 6 monsters. Slash Blast seems to only outdamage Ground Smash on mobs of 6.

Hit level 48, maxed Ground Smash has replaced both Power Strike and Slashblast for me. Currently maxing Rage over Final Attack, is that a good idea?

I'm really used to the heavy utility of Slash Blast being able to hit, knockback, and kill more monsters at once, which is a heavy benefit.

On four monsters, you can Ground Smash them x amount of times, but the last one you'll have to continue Ground Smashing x amount of times again. Alternatively, you could just Slash Blast them for fewer total hits to finish all four. It does depend a lot on where you're training and how strong you are, but people should look at a skill beyond its %/s.

Max Final Attack, in theory, adds an extra 60% per hit on average, but it's probability based. Rage is constant. It's really up to preference, but I do believe that a Final Attack build, or even a Fundamentals build would be better in terms of training, especially if you can rely on something like Warrior Pills in the mean time.

[OrangeGuy]

But if I go the Fundamentals build, what would I have to give up?

[JoeTang]

But if I go the Fundamentals build, what would I have to give up?

A Fundamentals build would be ending with 11 Booster, but you're right, it can be completely skipped altogether if you don't want to give anything up.

[ghostofhalo]

If you plan on doing BPQ (Balrog PQ), get fundamentals and sacrifice elsewhere. Remember, Balrog cancels any skill that is after the 2nd job advancement. Otherwise skip it. Most people recommend Ground Smash. I'm not bothering with it and will cap it at 11 (or 1 and put 10 into the first job). It has poor range (200, or the same as Shout's horizontal range) and its damage is only good against 2-3 mobs compared to the other two attacks in the first job. Others will recommend passing on Sword Booster and capping it at 11 (110 seconds) which is fine. It won't last as long (by 90 seconds) and costs more MP (8), but that's not too much of an issue. Here's a small comparison:

Maxed Fundamentals and maxed 1st/2nd/3rd job attacks:
Power Strike - 260% + 120% = 380% against 1 enemy (380%) base speed (810ms)
Slash Blast - 180% + 70% = 250% against 6 enemies (1500%) base speed (810ms)
Ground Smash - 300% (does not receive a boost) against 3 enemies (900%) base speed (810ms)
Brandish - 240% x2 = 480% on 3 enemies (1440%) 840ms
Shout - 220% (no bonus) against 10 enemies (2200%) 1500ms

It's all a manner of opinion of course. Brandish will easily replace Ground Smash, but Slash Blast remains marginally stronger than Brandish if you can hit 6 enemies (and Final Attack will roll 6 times for a chance rather than 3 times). Again, it's not too much to care about since the 4th job replaces everything prior, but it's nice to think ahead.

[JoeTang]

If you plan on doing BPQ (Balrog PQ), get fundamentals and sacrifice elsewhere. Remember, Balrog cancels any skill that is after the 2nd job advancement. Otherwise skip it. Most people recommend Ground Smash. I'm not bothering with it and will cap it at 11 (or 1 and put 10 into the first job). It has poor range (200, or the same as Shout's horizontal range) and its damage is only good against 2-3 mobs compared to the other two attacks in the first job. Others will recommend passing on Sword Booster and capping it at 11 (110 seconds) which is fine. It won't last as long (by 90 seconds) and costs more MP (8), but that's not too much of an issue. Here's a small comparison:

Maxed Fundamentals and maxed 1st/2nd/3rd job attacks:
Power Strike - 260% + 120% = 380% against 1 enemy (380%) base speed (810ms)
Slash Blast - 180% + 70% = 250% against 6 enemies (1500%) base speed (810ms)
Ground Smash - 300% (does not receive a boost) against 3 enemies (900%) base speed (810ms)
Brandish - 240% x2 = 480% on 3 enemies (1440%) 840ms
Shout - 220% (no bonus) against 10 enemies (2200%) 1500ms

It's all a manner of opinion of course. Brandish will easily replace Ground Smash, but Slash Blast remains marginally stronger than Brandish if you can hit 6 enemies (and Final Attack will roll 6 times for a chance rather than 3 times). Again, it's not too much to care about since the 4th job replaces everything prior, but it's nice to think ahead.

Ground Smash may seem like it has poor range, but my God is it hard to hit anything with Slash Blast. You do raise a valid point though. I was definitely considering that Fundamentals be more important for a Crusader since they don't get any six-mob skills excluding Coma which requires you to build up orbs though.

And Shout is terrible. It's too slow to be of any real practical use for damage.