Warrior Guide by Falaras

This Guide was created by our very own Falaras. If you see him in game or on Discord, give him a big thanks!

Why Warrior?

Between 2003 and 2012 Warrior was one of FFXI’s most exceptional jobs, thriving through every meta change to keep pace as one of the top three melee damage dealers. In Eden specifically Warrior takes advantage of the 2007 two-hander job rework which made Great Axe truly great, as well as being able to dual wield infamous 75-era weapons like the Ridill. Here Warrior sits atop the pile, easily a top 3 DPS job on the server if not the best. It also has less barrier to entry as a starting job that largely uses buyable gear instead of needing a Relic Weapon or HNM drop to truly excel. Warrior functions largely as a pure DPS job, as well as occasionally serving as a pseudo-tank by provoking incoming mobs to station them for optimal killing. Overall, Warrior is an exceptionally popular job that can easily find parties and functions in a large variety of end game events, making it a great choice.

Abilities & Traits

Mighty Strikes (1): Forces all hits to be Critical hits for 45 seconds, 2:00:00 recast.

An exceptional 2 hour ability for huge DPS burst. This will give you a 100% crit rate and also force all weaponskills to crit even if they normally cannot (i.e. Steel Cyclone or Kings Justice)

Provoke (5): Goads an enemy into attacking you, 0:30 recast.

This ability gives you an instant spike hate tool, awarding 1800 Volatile Enmity. Useful to position incoming mobs and for tanking.

Berserk (15): Attack+25% Defense-25% for 3:00, 5:00 recast.

An absolutely amazing offensive buff that every job envies. Don’t worry too much about the defensive downside, as your role should be damage dealing anyways.

Defender (25) Defense+25% Attack-25% for 3:00, 5:00 recast.

The inverse of Berserk. This is a situationally useful ability for times you may need to play defensively, but is not a common ability to use as a Warrior main.

Double Attack (25) Chance to hit twice 10% of the time.

An amazing passive trait that Warrior gets, Double Attack is a straight increase in number of swings. Can proc during weaponskills as well as auto attacks.

Warcry (35) Variable temporary Attack boost.

At 75, this ability is an AoE 9% attack boost to your party for 30 seconds every 5 minutes. Useful to use before weaponskilling to crank up that damage as well as other party members.

Aggressor (45) Accuracy+25 Evasion-25 for 3:00, 5:00 recast.

Use this to increase your accuracy, either whenever it comes off cooldown or as a boost against select mobs. For example, it would be worth saving Aggressor in Dynamis until a Thief mob is pulled if you are accuracy capped on non Thief mobs.

Tomahawk (Merited) Lowers special damage resistances.

Currently not implemented on Eden. Tomahawk is a very unique, very situational ability. This ability will remove 25% of a mob’s special damage resistance. For example Slimes have a 50% resistance to slashing, Tomahawk would drop this to 25%.

Warrior’s Charge (Merited): Forces your next hit to Double Attack 15 Minute recast.

A long-cooldown damage increasing ability to use before a big weapon skill, stack with Warcry for maximum numbers.

Merits

Category 1:

Berserk Recast: This is something you always merit, -50 seconds off Berserk when capped.

Defender Recast: No, you aren’t a tank.

Aggressor Recast: This is a possible merit choice if you are using multi hit weapons like Ridill and Joyeuse, because Double Attack has less impact on them and accuracy is more important.

Warcry Recast: Not worth it.

Double Attack Rate: The other possible merit choice, definitely worth doing if you use Great Axe and still really good for DWing.

Advice: Putting 5 points into Berserk and 5 points into Double Attack is likely your best scenario. If you have a Ridill there is the option to remove Double Attack merits to replace with Aggressor merits.

Category 2:

Warriors Charge: A popular choice worth putting even 1 point into. This ability forces your next hit, including weaponskills, to double attack. Stack this with Sneak Attack + Steel Cyclone for massive damage or just use it before Raging Rush in a normal setting.

Tomahawk: Talked about in the abilities section, situationally useful, especially for Sea and Limbus. Currently not implemented on Eden

Savagery: Gives +100 TP bonus per merit while Warcry is up, and half that to your party. This will benefit the Sams in your PT more than you, but is still good for you. Recently fixed, get 3/3!

Aggressive Aim: Please never merit this.

Advice: There is no real competition currently because Tomahawk does not work, 3/3 Savagery and 3/3 Warrior’s Charge are the only options. Neither of those should be super high priority nor are they game changing like Samurai’s Overwhelm or Dark Knight’s Desperate Blows, but they will provide a nice DPS boost over time. Warrior’s Charge, especially just 1 point, is really fun for giant 3000 TP Steel Cyclones.

Meriting Priority Order:

Honestly everyone has a different opinion on this. I personally think it should look like:

Great Axe > Crit  > Double Attack > Berserk > Warrior’s Charge 1/3 > Savagery 3/3 > STR > HP > WC 3/3.

I can see arguments for moving around Great Axe, Crit, DA, and Berserk though. Crit will benefit all jobs and even not 75 jobs so that can be a great first merit. Some people can’t even do Great Axe because it doesn’t fit into their combat skill merit plan. It’s situational but I thought I would at least say what I would do because I do get this question a lot.

Sub Jobs

Samurai:

This is your highest DPS sub job for the majority of situations. As a sub Samurai you will have to use a Great Axe in order to gain the use of Hasso and Seigan. Hasso adds 10% JA haste, 10 Accuracy, and a scaling amount of STR that caps out at +5 at max sub job level. Haste in general is your most important stat as a Warrior so getting an additional 10% is a massive DPS increase. Other offensive things this sub adds are Meditate for TP gain, Store TP for 6 hitting, and Zanshin to raise your hit rate. Defensively Seigan and Third Eye work together to give you the ability to dodge physical attacks and weaponskills, but tend not to have 100% uptime or be consistent. Currently Seigan is also glitchy on Eden and sometimes just doesn’t block damage.  

Ninja:

This is your other main sub job and is generally used for its amazing defensive utility. Ninja sub job gives you access to Dual Wield which allows you to use Axes and Swords. Great Axes are still exceptional when subbed Ninja however, and in most situations will be better unless you have access to a Ridill. Utsusemi allows you to dodge basically any single target hit and multi hit WSes. This sub is very popular in EXP PTs and content in which a Warrior is taking hate.

Thief:

This is an end game sub job only, in which you utilize Sneak Attack to force lage single hit Steel Cyclones, and Trick Attack to plant hate on to tanks. A situational sub, but one you may be expected to have to join an end game linkshell. Also a very useful subjob to have for farming because of Treasure Hunter, gotta make that money!

Ranger:

Ranger is a strong low level subjob offering a +10  Accuracy Boost at level 10 subbed as well as Sharpshot to increase Ranged Accuracy when using a crossbow. Used primarily in the 20-30 range when the defensive utility of Utsusemi is not needed and the offensive utility of Samurai is not available before 50.

Dragoon:

Dragoon is a strong low level subjob offering a +10 Attack Boost and Jump at level 10 subbed. Used primarily in the 20-30 range when the defensive utility of Utsusemi is not needed and the offensive utility of Samurai is not available before 50. Wyvern Earring at 30 is also insanely powerful.

Monk:

The general starter sub job because of it not needing to be unlocked like Ranger and Dragoon. Offers Boost and Counter but overall very little. Should only be used by new players at very low levels.

Leveling Tips

• The general weapon path a Warrior should go through 1-75 is:
  • Great Axe 1-51
  • Polearm 51-60
  • Great Axe 60-75
• Shield Break, your first Great Axe Weaponskill, applies -40 Evasion debuff to the target. At low levels this is probably the single strongest WS at that level as it increases the entire party's damage output.
• Crossbows and Bows are exceptionally strong weapons in the early levels, especially against piercing weak mobs. Your optimal damage setup until your 40s will likely be spamming ammo.
• Polearm is very powerful when leveling due to the popular EXP party areas being mobs weak to piercing. You will likely be expected to have a Polearm for any 51+ party and even in certain areas in the 20s/30s they are very good to have.
• Dual Wielding and using shields is not advised when leveling, it should be worse than Great Axe or Polearm.
• Food is one of the most important factors in performance while leveling. Please use food in every party, even if it’s just cheap Meat Mithkabobs. This includes Colibri parties.
• Prioritize accuracy in your equipment slots, it is very unlikely you will be accuracy capped in EXP parties and it will be your #1 damage increasing stat. Key pieces of gear to make sure you farm up and equip are Sniper’s Rings, Life Belt, and Haubergeon.
• Use a parsing program such as Deeps, Scoreboard, Parse, or KParser to monitor your accuracy so you can adjust your Food, Buffs, or Gear when needed.

Recommended Food

Cheap

Meat Mithkabob - STR+5 Attack+22% (Caps 60)

Rice Dumpling - STR+3 Accuracy+5 Attack+20% (Caps at 45) Ranged Attack+30%(Caps at 45)

Bream Sushi - DEX+6 VIT+5 Accuracy+16% (Caps at 76)

Standard

Coeurl Sub - STR+5 Attack+20%(Caps 75) Ranged Attack+20% (Caps 75)

Sole Sushi - STR+5 DEX+6 Accuracy+15% (Caps 72)

Luxury

Carbonara - STR+4 Attack+17% (Caps 65) HP+14% (Caps 175) Store TP+6

Hedgehog Pie - STR+6 Accuracy+5 Attack+18% (Caps 90)

Red Curry - STR+7 Attack+23% (Caps 150)

Hydra Kofte - STR+7 Attack+20% (Caps 150) Defense+25% (Caps 70)

Weapons

The end all be all Great Axe for Warrior. Massive base damage, Accuracy+20 and an evasion -15% proc to basically neutralize accuracy problems. Like all relics this will also occasionally hit for 2x damage on swing. The relic exclusive WS “Metatron Torment” can apply an 18.5% defense down effect on the mob that does not stack with other defense down effects. The aftermath of using Metatron Torment also gives you -20% damage taken. The only downside to this weapon is the Delay:488 makes 6 hitting harder, requiring additional STP gear slots. In general this is definitely a very powerful relic which adds a lot not only to your own damage output, but to the damage output of your entire alliance with its dual debuffing procs. This weapon also gives Warrior the ability to make Light Skillchains without sacrificing damage output, partnering well with Relic Samurais, Thieves, and a few other jobs for massive skillchain damage.

This is the current best all around Great Axe barring relic. Drops from Byakko in sky which is going to be your goal anyways because of Byakko’s Haidate and Hecatomb Hands so might as well pick this up at the same time. High damage, the 504 delay is great for 6 hitting, some extra attack, and a wind damage proc to boot!. This will however be handily beaten by Perdu Voulge when that is released. There is a buyable alternative to this weapon in Berserker’s Axe which has recently become very affordable on Eden.

Latent Effect is triggered by draining 3MP/tic, auto-refresh via Sanction works if you have MP merits.

This is one of the strongest Great Axes in the game when you have the ability to get refresh. Haste is by far the most important stat you can get as a Warrior, and 9% in a single item is nearly unheard of. If you're a new player, this gets you more haste faster. If you are well geared, you can now drop haste pieces in order to add in more Accuracy/Attack. In most situations when the latent is active, this is the best non-relic Great Axe. Only starts to fall off when you have the most expensive and best gear out there which allows you to nearly cap Haste without sacrificing the weapon slot.

Juggernaut gives massive amounts of raw stats with its Attack+30 and STR+3, but sadly has relatively low base damage. This is currently your best main hand weapon on Eden to be paired with an offhand RIdill mainly due to lack of options. The top dog Axe in era, Maneater, does not exist on Eden yet which leaves a gap that Juggernaut filles. This weapon is also relatively expensive because it is a drop off an NM that only spawns once every 2-10 days, expect to pay a pretty penny for it and maybe save up for one before you get that Ridill to make it worth buying.

The new kid in town! Woodville’s is hard to quantify until the price settles but will likely end up as a more affordable main hand Axe than Juggernaut. Should be worse than Juggernaut in most situations, but in zerg situations where you have massive attack buffs, it will be better.

For most people that think Era Warrior, they think this weapon. Ridill is exceptionally hard to get, being a rare drop off a hotly contested 21-24 hour spawn HNM and an iconic weapon that everybody will want to fight you for. If you can obtain this weapon though, it is absolutely broken. Most weapons in FFXI that have 2-3 Occasionally Attacks Twice have their damage halved or more to make up for it, while Ridill only is 5 damage less than many of the highest damage swords. This weapon alone makes War/nin dual wielding competitive with War/sam Great Axe offensively. This is truly one of the rare transformative weapons in FFXI that single handedly changes how Warrior is played at the fundamental level as far as weapon, subjob, gear, and merit selection are concerned.

The only other sword worth talking about, this is nowhere close to as good as Ridill but can function as a serviceable offhand weapon for enhanced TP gain. You can also dual wield both Ridill and Joyeuse together for a very fun flurry of attacks, but it won’t be as powerful as using an Axe in the main hand because of lower weaponskill damage. Joyeuse is unique for being a Piercing weapon instead of a Slashing weapon like most swords, this has some benefits against mobs that have immunity to certain weapon types like Jailer of Temperance or certain Limbus mobs.

Gear Sets

BiS TP

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372456

Stat Priorities: Haste (Until 26%) > Store TP (Until 6) > Accuracy (Until 400) > Attack > Strength

This set would hit 392 Accuracy (Max Merits, Hume DEX), Hasso puts it over 400.

Below are options/replacements for the above set when just starting out, make sure you’re following the above stat priorities when mixing and matching.

	Alternative 1	Alt 2	Alt 3
Weapon	Berserker’s Axe	Ulfhedinn Axe	Bhuj
Grip	Claymore Grip	Mythril Grip +1	Mythril Grip
Ammo	Bomb Core	Tiphia Sting
Head	Optical Hat
Neck	Fortitude Torque	Chivalrous Chain	Wivre Gorget
Ear1	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Ear2	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Body	Adaman Hauberk	Haubergeon +1	Haubergeon
Hands	Dusk Gloves
Ring1	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring +1	Sniper’s Ring
Ring2	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring +1	Sniper’s Ring
Back	Foragers Mantle	Amemet Mantle +1	Amemet Mantle
Waist	Swift Belt	Life Belt
Legs	Dusk Trousers	R.K Breeches
Feet	Dusk Ledelsens	Amir Boots	Fighter’s Calligae

BiS Rune Chopper TP

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372507

Stat Priorities: Haste (Until 26%) > Store TP (Until 6) > Accuracy (Until 400) > Attack > Strength

This set would hit 394 Accuracy, Hasso puts it over 400.

Below are options/replacements for the above set when just starting out, make sure you’re following the above stat priorities when mixing and matching.

	Alternative 1	Alt 2	Alt 3
Weapon
Grip	Claymore Grip	Mythril Grip +1	Mythril Grip
Ammo	Fire Bomblet	Tiphia Sting	RSE Sachet
Head	Optical Hat
Neck	Fortitude Torque	Chivalrous Chain	Wivre Gorget
Ear1	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Ear2	Merman’s Earring	Fowling Earring	Coral Earring
Body	Adaman Hauberk	Haubergeon +1	Haubergeon
Hands	Adaman Mufflers	Fighters Mufflers	Tarasque Mitts +1
Ring1	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring +1	Sniper’s Ring
Ring2	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring +1	Sniper’s Ring
Back	Foragers Mantle	Amemet Mantle +1	Amemet Mantle
Waist	Swift Belt	Life Belt	Swordbelt +1
Legs	Dusk Trousers	R.K Breeches
Feet	Amir Boots	Armada Sollerets	Adaman Sollerets

BiS Raging Rush

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372461

Stat Priorities: Accuracy (Until 400) > STR > DEX > Attack.

This set would hit 392 Accuracy (Max Merits, Hume DEX), Hasso puts it over 400.

Below are options/replacements for the above set when just starting out, make sure you’re following the above stat priorities when mixing and matching.

	Alternative 1	Alt 2	Alt 3
Weapon	Berserker’s Axe	Ulfhedinn Axe	Bhuj
Grip	Claymore Grip	Mythril Grip +1	Mythril Grip
Ammo	Bomb Core	Tiphia Sting	RSE Sachet
Head	Hecatomb Cap	Voyager Sallet	Optical Hat
Neck	Fortitude Torque	Peacock Charm	Chivalrous Chain
Ear1	Minuet Earring	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Ear2	Triumph Earring	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Body	Adaman Hauberk	Hecatomb Harness	Haubergeon +1
Hands	Hecatomb Mittens	Fighter’s Mufflers
Ring1	Flame Ring	Ruby Ring	Toreador’s Ring
Ring2	Ruby Ring	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring
Back	Foragers Mantle	Amemet Mantle +1	Amemet Mantle
Waist	Potent Belt	Life Belt
Legs	Warrior’s Cuisses	R.K. Breeches	Dusk Trousers
Feet	Hecatomb Leggings	Rutter Sabatons	Heroic Boots

BiS Steel Cyclone

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372462

Stat Priorities: STR > VIT > Attack.

Accuracy does not matter for single hit WSes.

Below are options/replacements for the above set when just starting out, make sure you’re following the above stat priorities when mixing and matching.

	Alternative 1	Alt 2	Alt 3
Weapon	Berserker’s Axe	Ulfhedinn Axe	Bhuj
Grip	Mythril Grip +1	Mythril Grip
Ammo	RSE Sachet	Goblin Grenade	Lucky Egg
Head	Hecatomb Cap	Genbu’s Kabuto	Voyager Sallet
Neck	Fortitude Torque	Chivalrous Chain	Spike Necklace
Ear1	Minuet Earring	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Ear2	Triumph Earring	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Body	Armada Hauberk	Adaman Hauberk	Hecatomb Harness
Hands	Pallas Bracelets	Hecatomb Mittens +1	Hecatomb Mittens
Ring1	Ruby Ring	Victory Ring	Sun Ring
Ring2	Flame Ring	Ruby Ring	Victory Ring
Back	Foragers Mantle	Amemet Mantle +1	Amemet Mantle
Waist	Potent Belt	Swordbelt +1
Legs	Conte Coscailes	Barone Coscailes	R.K. Breeches
Feet	Hecatomb Leggings	Rutter Sabatons	Heroic Boots

BiS Physical Damage Taken (PDT)

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372463

Stat Priorities: -Damage Taken >  -Physical Damage Taken.

Layer this set over your TP set in order to survive in tough situations. Useful for lowering specific mob ability damage (Like Pecking Flurry or Eagle Eye Shot) or just to equip when tanking and taking too much damage for the healer to keep up.

There are essentially no available replacements for this gear set.

BiS Magical Defense Taken (MDT)

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372464

Stat Priorities: -Damage Taken & -Magic Damage Taken (Until cap at 25%) > Magic Def Bonus

Layer this set over your TP set when a mob is casting a heavy magic spell on you.

This is not a cohesive set, it is more a list of options. You only need 25% MDT total with Shell V so plan accordingly.

	Alternative 1	Alt 2	Alt 3
Ear1	Coral Earring
Ear2	Coral Earring
Ring1	Merman’s Ring	Coral Ring	Unfettered Ring
Ring2	Merman’s Ring	Coral Ring
Back	Resentment Cape	Lamia Mantle

BiS Dual Wield TP

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372477

Stat Priorities: Haste (Until 26%) > Dual Wield > Accuracy > Attack > Strength

This set would hit 373 on Main Hand, 360 Offhand.

Below are options/replacements for the above set when just starting out, make sure you’re following the above stat priorities when mixing and matching.

	Alternative 1	Alt 2	Alt 3
Mainhand	Don’t Dual Wield	Without a Ridill	And Juggernaut
Offhand	Don’t Dual Wield	Without a Ridill	And Juggernaut
Ammo	Bomb Core	Tiphia Sting	RSE Sachet
Head	Optical Hat
Neck	Chivalrous Chain	Wivre Gorget +1	Wivre Gorget
Ear1	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Ear2	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Body	Adaman Hauberk	Haubergeon +1	Haubergeon
Hands	Dusk Gloves
Ring1	Toreador’s Ring	Rajas Ring	Sniper’s Ring
Ring2	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring
Back	Foragers Mantle	Amemet Mantle +1	Amemet Mantle
Waist	Swift Belt	Life Belt
Legs	Dusk Trousers	R.K Breeches
Feet	Dusk Ledelsens	Amir Boots	Fighter’s Calligae

BiS Rampage

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/372504

Stat Priorities: Accuracy > STR > DEX > Attack.

This set would hit 372 Accuracy on the Main Hand, equal in Accuracy to the TP set.

Below are options/replacements for the above set when just starting out, make sure you’re following the above stat priorities when mixing and matching.

	Alternative 1	Alt 2	Alt 3
Weapon	Don’t Dual Wield	Without a Ridill	And Juggernaut
Grip	Don’t Dual Wield	Without a Ridill	And Juggernaut
Ammo	Bomb Core	Tiphia Sting	RSE Sachet
Head	Hecatomb Cap	Optical Hat
Neck	Peacock Charm	Chivalrous Chain	Wivre Gorget
Ear1	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Ear2	Triumph Earring	Merman’s Earring	Coral Earring
Body	Adaman Hauberk	Haubergeon +1	Haubergeon
Hands	Hecatomb Mittens	Alky Bracelets	Pallas Bracelets
Ring1	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring +1	Sniper’s Ring
Ring2	Toreador’s Ring	Sniper’s Ring	Flame Ring
Back	Foragers Mantle	Amemet Mantle +1	Amemet Mantle
Waist	Potent Belt	Life Belt
Legs	Warrior’s Cuisses	Dusk Trousers	R.K. Breeches
Feet	Hecatomb Leggings	Rutter Sabatons	Amir Boots

Random Items

https://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/373037

This is not a coherent set, but just items you may want to pick up that could be useful in your adventures. Most of these items can be used with programs like Ashitacast or Gearswap in order to make sure they are applied in the proper situation. For example I have a rule in my Gearswap to weaponskill in Vampire Earring whenever it is Night Time.

Imperial Ring: Absolutely best in slot in Assaults and eventually Salvage for TP.

Vampire Earring: Best in slot for WSing during Night Time.

Fenrir’s Earring: Straight up better Merman’s Earring during the Day Time.

Warrior’s Mask: Macro in for longer Warcrys.

Regen items: Making an idle set to swap to these when out of combat is a great way to get passive HP back to keep you going. With a full set you can get 7HP/tic at low health, nothing to scoff at.

Berserker's Torque: This applies a poison effect when equipped which allows you to break out of sleep, absolutely amazing for events like Dynamis.

Opo-Opo Necklace: The opposite of Berserker’s Torque, you can gain some TP while asleep. Ideally you won’t be asleep for long, but hey it’s something.