Whats better?

[Callisto]

the number one (priority) upgrade based on those sets is to get her her own noble's. don't do any major expenditures before that (minor <50k expenditures are ok) it's weird* to see a whm with a serket ring and no noble's and that could be her if she got the serket first.

Yeah, she is currently rounding up all the non-shining cloth mats and we're basically just waiting on Kirin to put out a cloth so that she can have her own, the last few have been Osode/W.Legs happy but no cloth(not a complaint by any means).

does she have any other cleric/ AF+1 pieces yet? buffing(barspell?) set is dead on, just keep piling +enhancing and +barspell into it. most whitemages have a dedicated barspell macro (basically what you listed here) and then some will do a dedicated stoneskin macro (I don't bother, but I'm also hume so the 20hp or so I'm short doesn't matter so much to me).

She's got the head as well, was wearing that until she could use Turban. Waiting on legs to drop, we had a Jeuno that dropped 3 a while back but she was too low to enter Dynamis at the time, lol. She'll get em eventually. No Sea access yet so that's about it, but what else is good for AF+1?(aside from body for the reason you mentioned)

Otherise for the buffing set I just put MND anywhere there wasn't Enhancing skill that she could get already so that she didn't need a separate Stoneskin set, Blessed Briault was a bit of a compromise, not as much MND as Errant but a solid chunk and she can cast Barspells in the same buffing set. Working on a Kirin's Pole to swap into SS as well.

HMP is pretty straightforward: put a /wait 18 in the macro before the body switch. this way you'll get the majority of that first 20 second tick with auto-refresh, but still switch to your +5hmp body in time for that first healing tick.

Ah ok, thanks, I knew there was a point where the +5 HMP overtook it but wasn't sure exactly what it was.

Otherwise waiting on her to do SCH sub before I try to get her Cure Clogs again, that fucking Buffalo is the new Dune Widow I swear, I'm 0/10 on it so far so I gave up until she has /SCH ready to go.

[Halion]

I'm kind of annoyed at my WS set ups and would appreciate any criticism offered, I'm especially annoyed at the body slots and the slight differences between Ares/Heca/Zahak. Assuming infrequent merit parties, mostly Limbus, Dynamis and other melee-friendly EG things. Near-future plans Askar Zuccheto and Ares Cuirass, questionable-availability-based future plans Hecatomb Mittens and Hachiryu Haramaki. Merits, assume none for now unless it makes a significant difference because I'm undecided on how I want to flip them.

These two never seem to give me the peaks I would want.
Rampage & Raging Rush - Wood-Man ~ Man-Joy ~ Perdu Voulge/ Fire Bomblet/ Optical Hat/ Soil Gorget~PCC/ Assault Earring/ Brutal Earring/ Haub+1/ Askar Manos or AF1+1/ Rajas/ Flame or Thunder/ Foragers/ Warwolf/ Haidate/ Heca Leggings


I usually don't even use this because of whiffs.
Wheeling Thrust - Thalassocrat/ Pln. Qln./ PCC/ Assault/ Brutal/ AF1+1 Mail/ AF1+1/ Rajas/ Flame/ Foragers/ Warwolf Belt/ Conte Cosciales/ Heca

Too heavy on ACC?
Penta Thrust - Thalassocrat/ Pln. Qln./ Shadow Gorget/ Assault/ Brutal/ Homam Corazza/ AF1+1/ Rajas/ Flame/ Foragers/ Wyrm Belt/ Conte Cosciales/ Heca

[Amele]

She's got the head as well, was wearing that until she could use Turban. Waiting on legs to drop, we had a Jeuno that dropped 3 a while back but she was too low to enter Dynamis at the time, lol. She'll get em eventually. No Sea access yet so that's about it, but what else is good for AF+1?(aside from body for the reason you mentioned)

ah. yeah the cleric head isn't bad for -enmity, it's probably the worst piece in the set though; I use w.turban over it too. (well, mostly I wear either w.turban or z.crown+1 but it's mostly personal preference at that point)

Otherwise waiting on her to do SCH sub before I try to get her Cure Clogs again, that fucking Buffalo is the new Dune Widow I swear, I'm 0/10 on it so far so I gave up until she has /SCH ready to go.

how much do they cost on your server? honestly I'd just buy them on the AH. (edit: looks like you could get a pair for about 50k if you bought them today) I would use the clogs on any sub honestly, 15% is almost as much as you'd get out of 5/5 merits (will stack with the merits too if she goes that route.)

as for merits, does she know what she wants yet?

[Callisto]

She's got the head as well, was wearing that until she could use Turban. Waiting on legs to drop, we had a Jeuno that dropped 3 a while back but she was too low to enter Dynamis at the time, lol. She'll get em eventually. No Sea access yet so that's about it, but what else is good for AF+1?(aside from body for the reason you mentioned)

ah. yeah the cleric head isn't bad for -enmity, it's probably the worst piece in the set though; I use w.turban over it too. (well, mostly I wear either w.turban or z.crown+1 but it's mostly personal preference at that point)

Otherwise waiting on her to do SCH sub before I try to get her Cure Clogs again, that fucking Buffalo is the new Dune Widow I swear, I'm 0/10 on it so far so I gave up until she has /SCH ready to go.

how much do they cost on your server? honestly I'd just buy them on the AH. (edit: looks like you could get a pair for about 50k if you bought them today) I would use the clogs on any sub honestly, 15% is almost as much as you'd get out of 5/5 merits (will stack with the merits too if she goes that route.)

as for merits, does she know what she wants yet?

Nice lol, those were 200k when I was trying to farm them for her, imma buy them when I get home.

As far as merits, was probably looking at just enough to get by as a main alliance WHM, she really wants to level BLM and have that as her main, but for the time being she's still going to be one of our main WHMs for some events. Was thinking 5 Barspells, enough Cure Cast time to hit the 35% tier using Light Arts and Cure Clogs, then for Group 2 maxed Devotion, 1 Martyr, then probably the rest into Shellra. I was under the impression that Protectra V was relatively useless.

At any rate she's likely to get most her merits from things like Sky farming since she'll be spending her spare time on SCH sub and BLM probably, so she's got a bit to think about it.

[Amele]

ok; as a main ally whitemage you'll want max barspell; and then either 3 or 5 merits in Shellra V: 3 if your main tanks have aegis (and she's usually tank whm), 5 if they don't (or if she's usually a secondary whitemage in the ally).

after that you're on the right track; but you don't need to rush it beyoned the shell and barspell merits. devotion and martyr is preference; pro V you shouldn't even unlock. if you don't go 5/5 in barspell/cure speed; I'd suggest dumping the rest into regen: although now that divine seal = divine veil I could see an argument for knocking a couple seconds off that recast.

it sounds like she prefers cure speed - but it's not critical; can do barspell/regen if she likes her regens more than fast cures.

[Callisto]

ok; as a main ally whitemage you'll want max barspell; and then either 3 or 5 merits in Shellra V: 3 if your main tanks have aegis (and she's usually tank whm), 5 if they don't (or if she's usually a secondary whitemage in the ally).

after that you're on the right track; but you don't need to rush it beyoned the shell and barspell merits. devotion and martyr is preference; pro V you shouldn't even unlock. if you don't go 5/5 in barspell/cure speed; I'd suggest dumping the rest into regen: although now that divine seal = divine veil I could see an argument for knocking a couple seconds off that recast.

it sounds like she prefers cure speed - but it's not critical; can do barspell/regen if she likes her regens more than fast cures.

Before anything else gear wise I need to get off my ass and call Microsoft so that I can mail in our borked 360, so that she can play on it when it gets back. I feel awful having her try to play WHM on a PS2, lol.

[jibini]

oh, yeah. get a fourth mace for casting buffs (regen, haste, barspells, etc).

Thats a good idea, I wouldn't have thought of using a fourth mace for WHM casting buffs like that.

Personally I like the Capricorn Staff for things like haste and erase, where lowering the recast is important.

In fact, I generally use it for anything that's not a cure/enfeeble.

[Eldelphia]

oh, yeah. get a fourth mace for casting buffs (regen, haste, barspells, etc).

Thats a good idea, I wouldn't have thought of using a fourth mace for WHM casting buffs like that.

Personally I like the Capricorn Staff for things like haste and erase, where lowering the recast is important.

In fact, I generally use it for anything that's not a cure/enfeeble.

Yeah me too. I was going to mention this

Insomnia earring is really nice for a taru, especially as you mention no Sea yet. And, /SCH is good for that too as it gives you more HP than /SMN or /BLM.

Insomnia/Antivenom aren't bad at all, until you get access to Magnetic/Loquacious/Novia or have a heap of gil, I think they're fine. I wear Mag/Loq and had insomnia/anti beforehand.

Rings I go with Tamas/Troopers, macroing in a MND ring where relevant.

As for AF+1. Hat is the highest MND piece you can get for that slot. Hands are ok but it's Healing Skill v Haste on Blessed and so I stuck with the Blessed because lower recast timers win for me.

I want the AF+1 body because I do enfeeble, but right now WHM AF+1 puts me into a world of invent pain as I already carry full relic and yigit. So I'd say the hat then the the body as being the best pieces but both are situational.

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/profile.xml?61362 has my basic gear in but I have so much macro gear that it doesn't show it all.

Walmart/Zenith Crown
Ajari/Grandiose
Cleric's/Noble's/Nashira
Blessed/Zenith/Cleric's
Hierach's/Qiqirn Sash +1
Blessed/Zenith/Cleric's
Cure Clogs/Blessed +1
Loq/Mag/Relaxing
Tamas/Troopers/MND ring/BQ ring
Hedgehog Bomb
Dryad/Staves/Capricorn and Staff strap + Fourth Mace
Yigit Set
Errant/Lieutenant Cape

I pull together a HP set, a MP set, an EMN set and a standard WHM set from that lot.

Aiming for a Novia and maybe Morgana's choker some day.

[Kaslo]

So I'm wondering for ZNM Cerberus's Fire Zerg during the last 10%ish for a PLD what would be better, getting resist pieces for each slot or wearing the 4 Iron Ram pieces currently available.

The biggest question is legs where I have a choice between Iron Ram and Crimson Cuisses (sp?)

Also, is there any good resist body out there for PLD? I don't have access to Ares or wBody

[Callisto]

So I'm wondering for ZNM Cerberus's Fire Zerg during the last 10%ish for a PLD what would be better, getting resist pieces for each slot or wearing the 4 Iron Ram pieces currently available.

The biggest question is legs where I have a choice between Iron Ram and Crimson Cuisses (sp?)

Also, is there any good resist body out there for PLD? I don't have access to Ares or wBody

Assault Breastplate. And if you have a good enough Fire build with proper support(Barfira/Carol), that's probably going to win out over the slight MDB boost from Iron Ram. The full Iron Ram set isn't going to give as much resist from the set bonus as just building a full on resist set.

[Kaslo]

So I'm wondering for ZNM Cerberus's Fire Zerg during the last 10%ish for a PLD what would be better, getting resist pieces for each slot or wearing the 4 Iron Ram pieces currently available.

The biggest question is legs where I have a choice between Iron Ram and Crimson Cuisses (sp?)

Also, is there any good resist body out there for PLD? I don't have access to Ares or wBody

Assault Breastplate. And if you have a good enough Fire build with proper support(Barfira/Carol), that's probably going to win out over the slight MDB boost from Iron Ram. The full Iron Ram set isn't going to give as much resist from the set bonus as just building a full on resist set.

Well I think what gives me trouble is determining between Resists and mDEF bonus. What is the corolation between Resist and mDEF?

[Amele]

So I'm wondering for ZNM Cerberus's Fire Zerg during the last 10%ish for a PLD what would be better, getting resist pieces for each slot or wearing the 4 Iron Ram pieces currently available.

The biggest question is legs where I have a choice between Iron Ram and Crimson Cuisses (sp?)

Also, is there any good resist body out there for PLD? I don't have access to Ares or wBody

Assault Breastplate. And if you have a good enough Fire build with proper support(Barfira/Carol), that's probably going to win out over the slight MDB boost from Iron Ram. The full Iron Ram set isn't going to give as much resist from the set bonus as just building a full on resist set.

Well I think what gives me trouble is determining between Resists and mDEF bonus. What is the corolation between Resist and mDEF?

there isn't. magic defense bonus doesn't affect resistance rates, it's just damage reduction (but not linear like -magic%) part of the magic damage calculation is: (100+MAB) / (100+MDB) - this is done after resistance is determined.

MDB is basically like -magic% but not as strong. in exchange for being not as strong it doesn't actually have a hard cap.

[Zilong]

I've recently come into possession of Nobushi Kyahan...and been wondering if 150 ATK, 90 DEF, 15% Double Attack would be worth sacrificing the slot for my Askar Head, Dusk Glove and Usukane Sune-Ate, assuming that I'd use Coeurl sub as my regular food on the haste setup.

I personally think that 9% haste might be kinda huge of a trade off for those, but ~70something attack over and 15% DA seem like a decent reparation.

[Dathus]

I'm coming up in my DRG career as well(again), and I never really looked at weapon modifiers until this time around. I know every Polearm WS is STR dependent until Penta Thrust, which is DEX and STR equal. My question, is the Gigas braceletes worthwhile to hold onto for stuff such as Wheeling Thrust and Skewer(when at lower levels) with the huge DEX penalty, but nice STR bonuses? And if that's the case, which hand gear would get me the best bonus overall to Pena Thrust?

Ogygo's: Net gain of +2 bonus on modifiers (+5 STR -3 DEX)

Enky's: Net gain of +3 (+7 STR -4 DEX)

Pallas: Net gain of +4 (+9 STR -5 DEX)

Alky: Net gain of +5 (+11 STR -6 DEX)

Looking at those, there must be(besides Hume gloves as I'm an Elvaan) a pair of gloves that can give STR and DEX in a reasonable bonus without killing either. I'm asking so I can maximize the bonuses that Penta Thrust gives, as I intend on using it as much as possible while soloing/duoing/anything with my LSmates and friends.

[Tan]

I've recently come into possession of Nobushi Kyahan...and been wondering if 150 ATK, 90 DEF, 15% Double Attack would be worth sacrificing the slot for my Askar Head, Dusk Glove and Usukane Sune-Ate, assuming that I'd use Coeurl sub as my regular food on the haste setup.

I personally think that 9% haste might be kinda huge of a trade off for those, but ~70something attack over and 15% DA seem like a decent reparation.

My personal experience w/ Riceballs.

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28761&p=1121406&hilit=nobushi +kyahan#p1121406

I think it would be a hard choice for you since you have Usukan Sune-Ate and I don't personally. So you might be better off staying with your current build but, I swapped out Fuma Sune-ate, Askar Head and Askar Gloves for Nobushi Kyahan, Myochin Kote +1 and Roshi Jinpachi. Also I'd probably recommend going /drg and using the haste earring if you were to try it out since it felt like the DA capped out under the 30% when using Shoguns.

[Tan]

I'm coming up in my DRG career as well(again), and I never really looked at weapon modifiers until this time around. I know every Polearm WS is STR dependent until Penta Thrust, which is DEX and STR equal. My question, is the Gigas braceletes worthwhile to hold onto for stuff such as Wheeling Thrust and Skewer(when at lower levels) with the huge DEX penalty, but nice STR bonuses? And if that's the case, which hand gear would get me the best bonus overall to Pena Thrust?

Ogygo's: Net gain of +2 bonus on modifiers (+5 STR -3 DEX)

Enky's: Net gain of +3 (+7 STR -4 DEX)

Pallas: Net gain of +4 (+9 STR -5 DEX)

Alky: Net gain of +5 (+11 STR -6 DEX)

Looking at those, there must be(besides Hume gloves as I'm an Elvaan) a pair of gloves that can give STR and DEX in a reasonable bonus without killing either. I'm asking so I can maximize the bonuses that Penta Thrust gives, as I intend on using it as much as possible while soloing/duoing/anything with my LSmates and friends.

I'm not a 75DRG myself but I would urge against using any of those gloves for Penta-Thrust or Wheeling Thrust (unless you are using SA), as they provide a huge huge huge ACC penalty for only a moderate STR gain. I'd personally recommend trying to round up some Hectacomb Mittens, or even DRG AF+1 both of which provide STR and DEX bonuses making them the best gloves for DRG.

[Amele]

I've recently come into possession of Nobushi Kyahan...and been wondering if 150 ATK, 90 DEF, 15% Double Attack would be worth sacrificing the slot for my Askar Head, Dusk Glove and Usukane Sune-Ate, assuming that I'd use Coeurl sub as my regular food on the haste setup.

I personally think that 9% haste might be kinda huge of a trade off for those, but ~70something attack over and 15% DA seem like a decent reparation.

this came up (kind of) in random questions recently. basically it comes down to whether:

9 str, 4 dex, 9% haste, 87 attack, 7accuracy, 7 store tp is worse or better than:

4 dex, 150 attack, and 15% double attack.

assumptions:
1) wearing a body that doesn't have store TP on it. (i.e.: not askar or usukane)
2) would have 6 hit setup with usukane sune-ate
3) fighting a mob with approximately 330 defense (level 80ish).
4) sam/war, brutal earring, 2% DA strap.
5) attack of about 456 for baseline setup. (minuet II inc.) without food. (intentionally low-balled to give favor to large attack boosts from rice).
6) dpdif_average varies as dcRatio (this is naive but we don't have a model to fit against this so it's nearly impossible to state with any certainty. this assumption also tends to exaggerate value of attack.)
7) the level adjustment term for 2handed melee is 0.05 (mildly naive; it was changed once, I think it was changed back. favors extra attack)

baseline: not wearing feet,hands, or head.

comparison:

for the 'normal gear':
going to six hits from seven hits is going to increase your weaponskill rate by approximately 16.7% (7/6) - approximately 46% of a hagun sam's damage comes from weaponskill (varies depending on gear and target etc) so this is a dps gain of about 7.5%.(7.6%)

likewise, assuming normal haste amounts (swift belt, b.haidate, haste spell, march II) gaining 9% haste will result in a dps gain of about 14% (13.8%).

gaining 9str will result in an fstr gain of approximately 2. assuming 98 str in TP (for easy numbers) and 67 vit mob (g.colibri) this is a net gain of about 2.5% (2.4%) dps on regular hits; this is hard as hell to calculate on ws since it depends on if you keep the rice ball gear on or swap for other sets; we'll leave it alone for now.

7 accuracy is 3.5% hit rate, assuming a base accuracy of 90% this is ~4% (3.8%) dps gain.

87 attack* is worth about: 25.2% (1.398 cRatio / 1.116 cRatio).

all of this added up is about 62% over the baseline.

now for the rice ball side of the equation;

we gain 15% double attack and 150 attack; this is a dps gain of about 13%(12.8%) and 43%(42.8%) respectively, for a total gain of about: 60%.


this is sloppy (there's a small number of inaccuracies because I isolated all the terms instead of looking at them all together) but it's representative I think.


*I actually forgot to add the 6 attack from strength but it's not a big deal since this setup already wins anyway.

[Dathus]

I'm coming up in my DRG career as well(again), and I never really looked at weapon modifiers until this time around. I know every Polearm WS is STR dependent until Penta Thrust, which is DEX and STR equal. My question, is the Gigas braceletes worthwhile to hold onto for stuff such as Wheeling Thrust and Skewer(when at lower levels) with the huge DEX penalty, but nice STR bonuses? And if that's the case, which hand gear would get me the best bonus overall to Pena Thrust?

Ogygo's: Net gain of +2 bonus on modifiers (+5 STR -3 DEX)

Enky's: Net gain of +3 (+7 STR -4 DEX)

Pallas: Net gain of +4 (+9 STR -5 DEX)

Alky: Net gain of +5 (+11 STR -6 DEX)

Looking at those, there must be(besides Hume gloves as I'm an Elvaan) a pair of gloves that can give STR and DEX in a reasonable bonus without killing either. I'm asking so I can maximize the bonuses that Penta Thrust gives, as I intend on using it as much as possible while soloing/duoing/anything with my LSmates and friends.

I'm not a 75DRG myself but I would urge against using any of those gloves for Penta-Thrust or Wheeling Thrust (unless you are using SA), as they provide a huge huge huge ACC penalty for only a moderate STR gain. I'd personally recommend trying to round up some Hectacomb Mittens, or even DRG AF+1 both of which provide STR and DEX bonuses making them the best gloves for DRG.

Oh, I quite intend to get AF+1 gloves and Heca hands(They're going free-lot soon in my LS) for 75, but I'm talking about pre-70 hands.

I agree with you about the -DEX being a bit of a loss for ACC. I used them on my Mithra(who had DEX to spare), but now on my Elvaan, I'm paying more attention to my gear and I want to be the best I can. Current gear @44:

Obelisk Lance
Brass +1
RSE Sachet
Voyager Sallet
Spike Necklace
Merc. Captain's doublet(Upgrading to Home Dep...Err...Brig next level)
Battle Gloves (Oggy's for WS just because of STR modifier)
Republic Subligar
Bounding Boots
Tilt Belt(Brave Belt for WS)
Woodsmanx2(Puissancex2 for WS)
Optical+Beetle+1
Traveller's Mantle

Not much of a choice for back-pieces but I think my gear is set for a while. I just need to know more for the hands. I've taken DRG to 75 once, but was never 100% on my gear set, and I want to do it again, but be the pimpest I can be.

On that note: Patrocleus helm. Yes or no? I can camp him and kill him solo, so I want to know if my time is worth it.

[Tan]

I'm coming up in my DRG career as well(again), and I never really looked at weapon modifiers until this time around. I know every Polearm WS is STR dependent until Penta Thrust, which is DEX and STR equal. My question, is the Gigas braceletes worthwhile to hold onto for stuff such as Wheeling Thrust and Skewer(when at lower levels) with the huge DEX penalty, but nice STR bonuses? And if that's the case, which hand gear would get me the best bonus overall to Pena Thrust?

Ogygo's: Net gain of +2 bonus on modifiers (+5 STR -3 DEX)

Enky's: Net gain of +3 (+7 STR -4 DEX)

Pallas: Net gain of +4 (+9 STR -5 DEX)

Alky: Net gain of +5 (+11 STR -6 DEX)

Looking at those, there must be(besides Hume gloves as I'm an Elvaan) a pair of gloves that can give STR and DEX in a reasonable bonus without killing either. I'm asking so I can maximize the bonuses that Penta Thrust gives, as I intend on using it as much as possible while soloing/duoing/anything with my LSmates and friends.

I'm not a 75DRG myself but I would urge against using any of those gloves for Penta-Thrust or Wheeling Thrust (unless you are using SA), as they provide a huge huge huge ACC penalty for only a moderate STR gain. I'd personally recommend trying to round up some Hectacomb Mittens, or even DRG AF+1 both of which provide STR and DEX bonuses making them the best gloves for DRG.

Oh, I quite intend to get AF+1 gloves and Heca hands(They're going free-lot soon in my LS) for 75, but I'm talking about pre-70 hands.

I agree with you about the -DEX being a bit of a loss for ACC. I used them on my Mithra(who had DEX to spare), but now on my Elvaan, I'm paying more attention to my gear and I want to be the best I can. Current gear @44:

Obelisk Lance
Brass +1
RSE Sachet
Voyager Sallet
Spike Necklace
Merc. Captain's doublet(Upgrading to Home Dep...Err...Brig next level)
Battle Gloves (Oggy's for WS just because of STR modifier)
Republic Subligar
Bounding Boots
Tilt Belt(Brave Belt for WS)
Woodsmanx2(Puissancex2 for WS)
Optical+Beetle+1
Traveller's Mantle

Not much of a choice for back-pieces but I think my gear is set for a while. I just need to know more for the hands. I've taken DRG to 75 once, but was never 100% on my gear set, and I want to do it again, but be the pimpest I can be.

On that note: Patrocleus helm. Yes or no? I can camp him and kill him solo, so I want to know if my time is worth it.

Unfortunately I think you are going to be stuck w/ Battle Gloves for a long ass time. The only gear that I could really see being better is something like Spiked Finger Gauntlets at 50 or Fourth Division Henzens later on. (On a side note that Fourth Division gear might be something to look into as it provides pretty solid STR boots for DRG in slots you normally can't round em up till 75.) From my personal experience as Penta-Spam on SAM I always wanted to focus on ACC. Since its a multi-hit WS the secondary modifier's are pretty weak and you are going to get more damage out of your WS from stacking ACC to make sure you hit all 5 of those hits than you will from pushing STR/-DEX gear in the hands. So I think stick w/ Battle gloves and push your STR into other slots where you can't get ACC.

Patrocleus helm is probably going to be your best meleeing head piece you can get till Turban. If you are up for it give him a go because it will be worth it. If you don't get it really quick, I wouldn't sweat it too much since you have Voyager's Sallet which is another good melee head piece.

[Meat]

Shadow clogs vs Goliard Clogs vs Oracle's Pigaches