Sam atmas

[Amoklauf]

I think Alpha&Omega is a good substitute for RR because it boosts both types of damage. So even if you're holding back to avoid ruby or ganking, it'll still be a good choice. That having been said, RR is so strong, even at a 30/70 melee/WS split, it'll be better than Smiting Blow. I personally think it's between VV/A&O/Apoc and VV/RR/Apoc.

[ericnuke]

I'm still playing around with my Masamune but so far I like...
Apoc: rr3, triple attack (for aftermath)
VV: regain, str+, double attack (again for aftermath)
RR: dex+, crit+ (again aftermath)
From what I've seen so far Masamune does pretty good ws's 1k up to 4k (depending on mob I'm sure can be more) but my biggest gain I see is keeping the aftermath on and critting like a mad man for 800-1k and see a double attack or triple attack kick in. I'm sure there are better atmas for other situations, but these 3 are most common for my Masamune atm.

[scaevola]

So even if you're holding back to avoid ruby or ganking,

This is really more a general point than SAM-related per se, but you shouldn't generally be trying to avoid ruby in really any situation I can think of.

That said, I'm kind of interested in seeing a TP Bonus Keito/RR/Apoc/Gales build with Jinpu, because from what I've seen it's just behind Y/G/K in Abyssea even without Gales; an easy way to build amber single-target is not the worst niche for SAM to fill in Abyssea.

[hiko]

This is really more a general point than SAM-related per se, but you shouldn't generally be trying to avoid ruby in really any situation I can think of.

That said, I'm kind of interested in seeing a TP Bonus Keito/RR/Apoc/Gales build with Jinpu, because from what I've seen it's just behind Y/G/K in Abyssea even without Gales; an easy way to build amber single-target is not the worst niche for SAM to fill in Abyssea.

jinpu is weird, it's an hybrid WS, doesn't do constant dmg like other ele WS, can fully miss, can do anything from 100 to >3k (with 0 buff for magic)

[scaevola]

It's an ele WS that behaves like a physical WS but does wind damage and is thus modified by Gales. What's not to like?

The biggest problem with amber farming is not that elemental weapon skills are weak; it's that they are weak, difficult to build up without investing atmas and thus limiting the rest of your damage, and most of all require you to land kills with them when they scarcely do more damage than your regular attacks.

Aeolian Edge is curently very popular for amber farming and people assume this is entirely because it's AoE, but the cleave aspect of it would not be enough to recommend a WS that does scarcely 500 damage from jobs that crit regular swings for 250 every half-second or less. The real benefit of Aeolian Edge is that it allows you to disengage when a mob is at 1-3% health and build TP on something else, killing it with the AoE. This prevents accidental death by melee, which is a huge, unavoidable problem for Aeolian and amber farming in general unless you're forgoing crit atma to give yourself more of a "kill window" for Aeolian. And if you do that, well, you're immediately giving up the benefit of any amber accuracy you've gained by tanking your kill speed.

Jinpu, however, is quite strong, and becomes stronger with all the atmas you'd want to set anyway. It can easily get up to 2k damage with a conventional (if above-average) setup and thus enables a SAM to not only build amber quickly and reliably, but with a lot more flexibility than a THF or DNC "cleaving" with Aeolian. I've always wondered why it isn't considered more of a selling point for SAM.

[Lotmorning]

Depending on gear/GK using Atma of the Plaguebringer/Apoc/VV was a nice combo for me. I had a normal 6 hit build (normal 450 delay) then 5 hit with Orthus GK, however I soon discovered that with Atma of the Plaguebringer I was able to take my 5 hit build down to a 4 hit. Couple that with Apoc (triple attack), VV (Double attack), and also the extra Double attack chance on Plaguebringer, I was a WS machine able to self SC with self and even 3 WS light at times by self (not even using Sekkanoki). This was an amazing set up for SAM tanking in abyssea with HP of 3k+ and Seigan Third Eye and 0 sacrafice to gear slots and haste.

[Jacs]

For SAM atma choices, you always want VV/Apoc, and the third you choose based on situation. I'm pretty sure that Scorpion Queen is the tops of the Store TP atmas, damage-wise anyways. Plaguebringer could be useful for the Regen, but the 10% crit rate of SQ should beat out Plaguebringer's double attack and Suneater's conserve-TP. I don't mean to burst your bubble about Plaguebringer, but the likely 5% double attack on it probably isn't doing a whole lot for you compared to what other atmas can do.

If you have a true 5-hit and any sort of haste buff, it shouldn't be hard to make self SC's. Without any buffs at all, I can 2 step SC (Fudo+Fudo=Light) with just Meditate.

[Ryozen]

For SAM atma choices, you always want VV/Apoc, and the third you choose based on situation. I'm pretty sure that Scorpion Queen is the tops of the Store TP atmas, damage-wise anyways. Plaguebringer could be useful for the Regen, but the 10% crit rate of SQ should beat out Plaguebringer's double attack and Suneater's conserve-TP. I don't mean to burst your bubble about Plaguebringer, but the likely 5% double attack on it probably isn't doing a whole lot for you compared to what other atmas can do.

If you have a true 5-hit and any sort of haste buff, it shouldn't be hard to make self SC's. Without any buffs at all, I can 2 step SC (Fudo+Fudo=Light) with just Meditate.

Giving up Razed Ruins is a huge loss of TP-phase damage. It's not only for jobs with critical weapon skills.

[Neisan_Quetz]

It's not as big a loss for SAM because they don't have a critical hit weaponskill. It's a fair option if you have Masamune for Aftermath but it's not as big a gap between other atma as jobs with critical hit weaponskills. Alpha/Omega can fare competitively for example.

[Ryozen]

A&O is a good option for SAM, but you'd be better off switching out the non-RR/Apoc atma. Ensuring dDEX is capped and getting an additional 30% crit rate/damage is very substantial, even for jobs without critical hit WS.