A Different Way to Play

[Cynfael]

Snip

Basically, while it can seem fun to do something that not many other people do, in this case there are very good reasons why it isn't done. As Rice said, there is nothing a Jobless ACN can do that a SCH or SMN cannot do better while still retaining essentially the same utility (a SCH in particular is a far better support DPS than a base ACN).

It bears mentioning again that popping out Topaz Carbuncle (or Titan) in group content is almost always a bad idea; when it's discovered to be useful, SE hotfixes it. Fighting tanks for aggro is no bueno, and so is needlessly nerfing your personal DPS when you are in a DPS role.

Points for creativity, but no, this really doesn't work well.

[Saseal]

It bears mentioning again that popping out Topaz Carbuncle (or Titan) in group content is almost always a bad idea; when it's discovered to be useful, SE hotfixes it. Fighting tanks for aggro is no bueno, and so is needlessly nerfing your personal DPS when you are in a DPS role.

Points for creativity, but no, this really doesn't work well.

In the case of topaz, This ^
I've seen ACNs do it even in low level dungeons and it was just terrible on the tank (mainly low level tanks) and making a mess for the close range DPS. It is literally the same as when tanks fight each other for MT position and spin bosses. I wanted to throttle the ACNs that do that - it just lead to high insecurity, even in low level content. It was wonders when a tank died, AFKed or left the dungeon (or open-world content like FATES and such) - but the opposite when there was already a player tank doing their job.

In terms of not having soul crystal on... that was me, back when I was a fresh 30-something PUG (as I leveled MNK first, before I mained WHM, so I was still fairly new to the game, also). I didn't even realize what it did - all I saw was it took away some of my cross skills and thought, "what? Noes... whysss? D:" and took it back off. New player, game had only opened out of beta and I wasn't used to an MMO like this. DF'ed into a dungeon by myself (and I was still shy of DFing with strangers back then... but not anymore), got harrassed by the players for being Pugilist and I didn't understand what was wrong/bad... Ever since then, if I'm on an Alt or a new job, I won't go into a 30ish dungeon or Hest without doing the job quest - even if I was going through MSQs and over leveled and didn't pick up the job quest, or in the middle of the job quest, etc.

As for seeing someone in high level content without a job crystal.... I've seen a Gladiator in T1 and Ultima HM. While I commend the fact that they wanted a challenge or - like I had with PUG/MNK, wanted to keep their cross skills - or just wanted to be different and think outside the box - it just did not work. They couldn't hold ADDs hate, couldn't tank swap (the MT had to die to hand off to the GLad in Ultima) and was pretty much couldn't keep anything from steamrolling the party. I wanted to give the guy benefit of the doubt - maybe they didn't understand either, or wanted a challenge (they remained silent both times), but it was just not meant to be in higher level content. All the right gear, understood what we told them to do, but it was a detriment without some of the job skills (....namely Shield Oath).

Certain classes - maybe. But other classes....

I'd be all for it doing it with friends, but I wouldn't suggest DFing it unless you have a thick skin and super pro at it...

[Chihaya]

SE sort of made class inefficient and jobs are much more efficient.

You are losing a great deal of damage going as arcanist rather than summoner.
You are dropping 20 INT just for the job crystal as well as some VIT/PIE for the HP/MP.
You also don't have access to your highest single target damage ability Fester - as well as pet damage enhancing Spur and special move Enkindle.
Summoner Egis are generally stronger than Carbuncles with better abilities (though they look like shit)

Tanking pets (topaz/titan) are generally considered a nuisance to tanks unless your tank is just terribly bad.

You can still cast resurrect as a summoner, and there is no point for a dps to be casting protect or the crappy sub-level50 10% hp stoneskin when a physicks is going to heal more than that.

You may choose the way you want to play, but don't expect everyone to accept it and not frown upon your decision.

Only class I consider ok is Marauder, since when you do this, you are more interested in putting out damage as a tank role rather than actually tanking. Not saying they can't tank, but a WAR typically would do better (minus the perfect dodge).

[Gamer3427]

You may choose the way you want to play, but don't expect everyone to accept it and not frown upon your decision.

I know full well that people are going to frown upon my play style, and I also know that people will immediately assume it's stupid because of the fact that it does have lower stats and lacks the pure DPS. I don't begrudge them for their opinions. I'm simply asserting that I can, and do, make it work, and am asking if there's anyone else out there who does the same. I also know full well how the internet operates. I knew when creating this thread that the only opinions I would get are negative, and that no amount of attempting to convince people other wise would change their minds. Still, even if no one accepts the way I do things, I still felt the need to at least mention that it was possible for the one or two people out there who are interested in seeing things in more of a "grey" fashion than the black and white most players choose to view the world in.....

Is my play style perfect? Of course not. Would I be a better pure DPS if I played full SMN? Probably. Would I be having as much fun playing as yet another generic DPS, with nothing to push me to try harder besides trying to get slightly higher raw DPS? Absolutely not. When I go in as an Arcanist, I've always had to deal with criticism, and always will. This pushes me to try harder to prove myself more, and makes those moments when the random players, who were criticizing me, start to complement me, all the sweeter....

I play the way I play, and I succeed. In the end, I'd be a fool if I expected everyone or even anyone to accept me. I suppose my real reason behind creating this thread was out of curiosity not just as to whether there was anyone out there besides me who plays in such a way, but out of curiosity as to whether there was anyone out there besides me who occasionally liked to try and view things through a different light....

[RiceisNice]

,,
I play the way I play, and I succeed. In the end, I'd be a fool if I expected everyone or even anyone to accept me. I suppose my real reason behind creating this thread was out of curiosity not just as to whether there was anyone out there besides me who plays in such a way, but out of curiosity as to whether there was anyone out there besides me who occasionally liked to try and view things through a different light....

The thing is, this would only really apply to content that isn't end-game or you overgear it, specifically Coil or new content when it's released. Unless I'm doing coil with shiggles with my friends, we'd never take in someone who wants to stay ACN for the heck of it. It's not good for the party because no matter how you look at it, it's a huge drop in performance no matter how you keep saying "I still make it work".

[ElieDavion]

Summoner Egis are generally stronger than Carbuncles with better abilities (though they look like shit)

Tanking pets (topaz/titan) are generally considered a nuisance to tanks unless your tank is just terribly bad.
.

summoners will get a egi glamour system someday in the future (so you could be rp arcanist while actually be summoner

and yeah tank pets are annoying if a tank pet gets aggro in lower lvl content of me i dont even bother getting it back if it dies and the arc/sum is next not my prob cuz i prolly gave him/her a fair warning before

[VanilleFang]

I don't understand why you don't just become a SCH. You would lose your Topaz but...

[Gamer3427]

I don't understand why you don't just become a SCH. You would lose your Topaz but...

I actually do play as a SCH for my secondary class. I have also completed all the quests for both SMN and SCH as I was interested in the story behind them. However, part of my way of looking at it is that I know full well I'm not the most spectacular healer out there, I can manage 4 and 8 member runs fairly easily, but I'm not that great at Raids when healing, and if I'm trying to do anything more than simply heal as one, then I'm probably hurting the team more than I'm helping. So when I heal, I heal. Playing as I do on my arcanist though means I can sacrifice a little DPS to make the healers jobs a little easier if something goes wrong, and can delay a boss for a little while if the tanks are bad or go down, at least enough to give us a better chance at recovery.....

[RiceisNice]

...

More often than not, you help your healers more by making things die faster (thus less outgoing damage); the adds on Angra Mainya, stomach walls on Cerebrus just to name a few. I mean honestly on the other end of the spectrum, Arcanist heals are exactly the same as summoner heals and titan-egi functions exactly like topaz, except you're straight up sacrificing the dps aspect of both areas.

[LoveableZoe]

You shouldn't have to "help" a healer. Healers are geared and tailored to heal. Just because someone isn't at 100% doesn't mean that the healer needs help. In coils, there are specific times where the whole group needs to be to be at 100% and SS to help alleviate a big hit. Other times it's okay for them to be hovering around 50-75%. You have to trust that they know what they're doing.

Without a premade group, I have my doubts that you'll be able to push into higher level content as an arcanist + topaz. Not trying to be harsh or anything... just being honest. If I were running coils and had an arcanist join with a topaz carbuncle out, I would probably either ask you to leave and re-enter as a SMN, or just leave. :/ If you can find a premade that will be okay with it though, more power to you. Just don't be shocked with DF or PF groups not being okay with it.