Tight-Wad's Corsair Guide

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My name is DarkTrance, I play on the Gilgamesh server with a main job of Dark Knight 75. Corsair interested me because of many reasons, the unique buffs, the demand for support jobs, and style that Corsair portrays. While I'm sure the idea of being "Cheap" about any job will make some hard core players cringe, I do think that if your a casual Corsair you can choose not to buy every dice and every gun, and every ridiculously expensive piece of gear. If you have any comments please direct them to the talk page, and please check out my other guide in it's completion Darktrance's Armor Guide.
 
:NOTE-Currently Remodeling this Page, as such it's a bit sloppy at the time, will have it spiffed up better soon, I hope :)
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==All About Dice (click for more info)==
Phantom Roll is a job ability that uses dice and "luck" to determine what AOE buffs will effect the party. Based on the number that gets rolled, your party will receive a bonus appropriate for each die. These die all have their own unique lucky # that will be the 2nd best bonus that one could offer for their party. Add four to that number, and it's the worst bonus (but still a bonus) that a party can receive. Eleven is the best possible roll for every die, but also takes the most risk to get there. While some Corsair's will always stop rolling once they reach a roll of 6, others take the risk (1:6) and try for higher numbers to improve their rolls and buffs for the party. How you choose to roll will be to your own playing style, but a roll of 12 is considered a bust and the party will lose their buff and you will be negatively effected by it for a duration. Typically in a 3 roll setup, I'll roll on 6, and on a 4 roll setup, I'll play it by ear.
==Swords, Daggers, Guns, Bullets & Darts, yes Darts (click for more info)==
The type of weapons you utilize will largely depend on your own personal playing style. Most will agree that Guns are the greatest way to deal damage, and also the most expensive. Swords are often the best melee weapon because of higher damage and accuracy bonuses, however very few swords offer any bonus to Ranged Attack, which means they do not compliment guns very well. Daggers choices for Ranged Attack bonuses are more accessible, but will mean your sacrificing melee damage for Ranged Attack options. You can help find a balance by going Ninja and equipping one of each, but it really comes down to your own choice.
As a Corsair, you've a unique job and are in high demand. Most parties won't pay much attention to your melee because they'll be too busy wowed by the bonuses Corsair can give them, which is why so many Subjobs work for the job depending on each player's style. Guns don't become an essential tool until lv 40 when Quick Draw becomes available, and they become more than just a deadly attack that takes forever to go off. Until lv 22 Bullets, Guns really don't pack much punch in exp parties on their own.
==Corsair Armor Selection and Party Roles (click for more info)==
===Sub Job Options===
Being a job in demand, don't be afraid to experiment with subjobs as long as you got some of the proven ones ready to go. 
====Cheap Sub Jobs====
Dancer - You gain Accuracy Bonus @ 60 and Evasion Bonus @ 30. Doesn't really get worthwhile til lv 30 with Curing Waltz becomes available. With Samurai Roll you can quite seriously, shoot, cure, shoot, cure indefinitely. At lv 40, you gain Quickstep, which can lower evasion up to 24 points. This is nice, because you might be able to free up Hunter's Roll for a roll for damage if you can keep their evasion docked. -24 evasion would be the same as 9% evasion down on a lv 75 Thief. If your doing rolls and steps and curing, your likely not to have time for Ranged Attack, and will save money.
Bard - Adds little to damage, but juggling four rolls and one song keeps you hoping quite a bit, and doing less melee. Your gear choice would probably be more ranged than anything, but you can pull with songs and save yourself having to swap equips and other such issues. This saves you ammo, and that's always a plus. Your melee attacks won't gain anything, but your party will receive an extra nudge in the right direction even if you can only keep one song up. Not ideal for pulling for same reasons as Dancer, no defense.
Ninja - In the sense that you can use Ninjutsu to pull with, this also saves ammo. As mentioned before, your bullets won't likely land on mobs your pulling as the sweet spot for guns is 4.5-7', while max ranged attack, which is what you typically use for pulling, is 24.9'. Big difference. While ninja tools cost gil as well, tools like Hyoton: Ichi are very cheap to make. Also, if your pulling, you'd probably want this subjob for shadows anyhow. 
Red Mage, White Mage - Gives you access to Blink and other beneficial spells. You can also use Rapier Belt with Red Mage which makes Swords more attractive. You could pull with spells, but you'd need to watch for Elemental aggro, and it wouldn't take long for you MP to dwindle.
====Expensive Sub-Jobs====
Ranger - If you use a Ranger sub, then your setting out to do damage. I do not recommend pulling with this sub, as you have no defensive traits. With this sub, your likely to focus almost exclusively on Ranged Attack, which means bullet spam. Barrage is deadly, but will create a large enmity spike and spend ammo quicker. Hands down, this is the best subjob for damage.
Ninja - This job can go either way as a sub. If your using it for damage, with dual Archer's Knife's and spamming bullets to be DD. Only in a Support/Fishing roll is ninja cost effective, in a DD roll, your going to do large damage but be safer than Ranger. It also means those shadows that saved you as you are pulling, now are getting knocked out from drawing more attention through damage, and depending on your tank, you might end up using them repeatedly. If you do choose to do three roles in a party (Support, DD, Fishing), then you will be bleeding gil.
====Un-Orthodox Sub-Jobs====
While I haven't done them yet, I plan to play around with other options here. If you have experience with these subs, I'd love to hear it on my talk page.
Black Mage - I've seen this listed in other places to enhance Quick Draw with magic attack bonus. Offers nothing in terms of defense. Supposed 5 Magic Attack Bonus = 10 dmg (see Corsair: Guide by Yemaya. By that logic, you'll get +24 magic attack bonus from the job, which should equal +48 damage to quick draw. You'll also get some semi-defensive spells like Ice Spikes, but they won't likely save you. Would be a unique use for Wizard's Shield.
Samurai - This might not seem like a valid option, but it can be made into one. This would focus on Weaponskills and equipping Fire Staff, You could use Seigan/Third Eye, which will protect some against physical attacks. Meditate will give an near-instant burst of TP, though likely less so than Barrage, though you'd get it without the enmity or damage spike. Your focus would turn entirely to Ranged Attack, and weaponskills. You'd also get Store-TP with this job of 15%. With this job, it would be like combining Ninja and Ranger, but with less damage and less defense. It would be cheaper in terms of shadows, but a complete focus on bullet spam would make it not terribly cost effective. Hasso and Zanshin would be worthless, as neither job has staff skill. Not viable until lv 60-70.
Dragoon - Again, haven't attempted it, but it could have some uses. High Jump can help get rid of hate, though I'm fairly certain it's dependent on melee accuracy, so you couldn't short yourself there. Also would help with TP gain, give +10 Attack Bonus, +10 Accuracy Bonus. You'd get access to some haste gear, but it would do little for Ranged Attacking. It offers some well roundedness to the job, but beyond that I am uncertain.