Dear Red Mages of Vana'diel,
It has come to my attention that a wave of gimpness has gripped much of the Red Mage populace of Final Fantasy XI. I am writing this to let you know that our JSE gear, the Wise set, is not as good as people seem to believe it is. Simply put, Wise gear rarely ever is.
I know that some people are very upset with this fact; their very reality is crumbling around them. But we have to face the facts, for the most part there are much better alternatives to Wise gear for the most important functions that our job performs. The purpose of this post is the compare and contrast these gears.
Head
Wise Cap Lv.72 DEF:24
MP+13 Accuracy+2 Ranged Accuracy+3 Magic Accuracy+5
Warlock's Chapeau Lv.60 DEF:23
MP+20 INT+3 Elemental magic skill +10 Enhances "Fast Cast" effect
Elite Beret Lv.74 Def:28
Divine magic skill+4 Enfeebling magic skill+4 Elemental magic skill+4
Summoning magic skill+4
The 5 magical accuracy on Wise Cap makes it a decent piece for enfeebling and dark magic spells. The 10 elemental skill and 3 INT on Warlock's Chapeau makes it a far better piece for magic bursting (the 5 INT on the +1 version is even more attractive), and the Fast Cast simply cannot be beat when it comes to Refresh and Haste. But, the 4 Enfeebling skill on Elite Beret means that Wise Cap is only marginally better for enfeebling spells.
Body
Chasuble Lv.72 Def:43
MP+20 Accuracy+5 Magic Accuracy+5 Enmity-2
Warlock's Tabard Lv.58 Def:44
MP+14 CHR+5 Spell interruption rate 10% down Enfeebling magic skill+15
Warlock's Tabard+1 Lv.74 Def:44
MP+34 Spell interruption rate 12% down Enfeebling magic skill+15
MP recovered while healing+5
Errant Houppelande Lv.72 Def:42
STR-7 DEX-7 VIT-7 AGI-7 INT+10 MND+10 CHR+10 Enmity-3
MP recovered while healing+5
The 5 magical accuracy on Chasuble is only useful for Dark magic spells. The 15 Enfeebling magic skill on the free Warlock's Tabard simply stomps all over the Chasuble's face. Testing on magical accuracy shows that it is a generic stand in for magical skills, since 15 is greater than 5, if you enfeeble in a Chasuble you should delete your character right now. Some people will say that the 10 INT on Errant Houppelande make it arguably equal to the accuracy on the Chasuble, I shall make no such claim. People also have said that Chasuble is a decent Convert piece since it has 20MP, if MP is that important, upgrade to AF+1 or get some rings.
Hands
Wise Gloves Lv.72 Def:16
MND+4 Accuracy+3 Ranged Accuracy+2 Enmity-2
Devotee's Mitts Lv.27 Def:5
MP+8 INT-4 MND+5
Devotee's Mitts+1 Lv.27 Def:6
MP+9 INT-3 MND+6
Mst.Cst. Bracelets Lv.65 Def:0
In areas outside own nation's control: INT+1 MND+1 Enfeebling magic skill+7
Elemental magic skill+7
Yigit Gages Lv.72 Def:17
INT+5 MND+5 Evasion+4 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+2
The only benefit from the Wise Gloves is trumped by a pair of gloves that can be equipped at level 27. Although there is a negative INT stat on the Devotee's Mitts, it is easily remedied with a gear swap since INT and MND are never used at the same time. Yigit Gages are also available and have MND and INT to remove one gear swap from your macros. Every Red Mage should own a pair of Master Caster Bracelets, the 7 enfeebling skill when Signet is active in areas not under your region's control (including Dynamis and Sea) makes them the ultimate enfeebling power hand wear.
Legs
Wise Braconi Lv.72 Def:32
MP+17 Accuracy+1 Magic Accuracy+2 Enmity-4
Errant Slops Lv.72 Def:38
STR-5 DEX-5 VIT-5 AGI-5 INT+7 MND+7 CHR+7 Enmity-3
Mahatma Slops Lv.72 Def:39
STR-6 DEX-6 VIT-6 AGI-6 INT+8 MND+8 CHR+8 Enmity-4
Duelist's Tights Lv.73 Def:33
MP+16 DEX+5 Elemental magic skill+10 Enhances effect of "Spikes" spells
The leg slot comes down to a matter of priorities. Personally, I do not think that it is at all subjective to say that comparing 2 magical accuracy to 7/8 INT/MND is silly- the potency from Errant/Mahatma will help your spells more than 2 accuracy. (Especially considering the presence of even NQ elemental staves.) Spells like Paralyze and Slow mean nothing if you do not have the oomph behind them to actually make them work. (Proc rate for Paralyze and percentage of speed reduction for Slow.) Duelist's Tights are also a much better piece than Wise Braconi for magic bursts because of the amount of skill.
Feet
Wise Pigaches Lv.72 Def:14
INT+4 Accuracy+2 Ranged Accuracy+3 Enmity-1
Duelist's Boots Lv.71 Def:15
MP+15 MND+4 Evasion skill+5 "Magic Atk. Bonus"+4
Yigit Crackows Lv.72 Def:11
INT+3 MND+3 Evasion+5"Magic Atk. Bonus"+2
Warlock's Boots+1 Lv.74 Def:15
MP+16 AGI+3 INT+3 MND+3 Shield skill+10
Finally, we get to a slot where Wise is clearly better than anything else with one more INT than the two closest competitors. (The only other RDM-equipable footwear with +4 INT are T.M. Pigaches+2, and those only work with Signet in areas under your nation's control.) Duelist's Boots are included because of the 4 MAB for magic bursting.
Summation
Out of the 5 pieces in the Wise set, only two of them (feet and head not counting Relic) are clearly better than gear that is readily available, and even then the differences are marginal at best. The majority of situations you can buy better gear off of the auction house, get better gear through conquest or assault points, open up a coffer for AF, upgrade your existing AF through Limbus, or go to city Dynamis runs.
The problem with magical accuracy is that it is never in high enough quantities to be worthwhile, skill that you find on Artifact and Relic armor is better simply because there is so much more of it. (Two to tem times more depending on the item.)
Thank you for your time, and happy Red Magery.