Whats better?

[Ferien]

The endless debate...

Finally got Haidate, debating the merits of it for RR. Elvaan, so 66 base DEX, can only bring that up to 105~110 if I use all of my available DEX gear. Current other option is AF2, Ares whenever the fucking gears decide to drop. Along that same vein, where do AF belt and Warwolf fall? I've always liked the STR/DEX on Warwolf, but if it's not giving me the crits, I don't see a point.

[Max™]

It's always giving you acc, and it's pretty much going to give more crits than -5 Dex, so it's a matter of total accuracy.

Haidate is what, 12.5 Acc?

[Air]

Another question on the "Should I use Brave Grip?" trend.
Dragoon here, I'm thinking about using it over Pole for the obvious Drakesbane spam. Has anyone noticed notable effects of the grip on the WS damage? Or should I just stick to my DA+2%?

[sleekmotorwurkz]

So Ive decided to pick up sam after about 3 years of it sitting at 37. I do have a lot of left over gear from other jobs (aces helm, askar stuffs, bando kotes, kittypants, fumas) how feasable is it to get away with no shura abj's as a 75 sam? We do sky once every few months now, so I dont see them coming anytime soon.

[Ayn]

The only Shura pieces that really matter for SAM are:

Shura Head: It's 1 more point of strength versus an Ace's helm. If you're really aching for that extra point, you could upgrade the AF+1 helm from Limbus, though you'd be losing the accuracy.

Shura Legs: The only comparable piece I can think of here is uh.. AF+1 legs from Limbus (those are +5 STR too right?) You could get Usukane legs from Salvage, but that's totally dependent on how badly the chariot in Arrapago wants to dick you over on the 35 piece and how many Phobos's Masks LBC wants to throw at you before giving you the 25s.

Alternatively, there's Hachiryu Haidate, if you can muster the people to do ZNM Cerb.

Uh, long story short, you should be fine and there are comparative (and in the case of Hachiryu/Usu, better) alternatives to the ugly orange.

[Bakthi]

Once I complete Ares's Flanchard (believe it or not, I have the 25 and 35 but not the 15, so I need a random drop from Arrapago gears), is there any reason to keep Aurum Cuisses? This would be for WAR and, eventually, DRG. Examples of ludicrously niche applications are acceptable!

[nekura]

The only Shura pieces that really matter for SAM are:

Shura Head: It's 1 more point of strength versus an Ace's helm. If you're really aching for that extra point, you could upgrade the AF+1 helm from Limbus, though you'd be losing the accuracy.

Don't forget Wyvern Helm!

[Amele]

Don't forget Wyvern Helm!

would be better to +1 the myochin head and restore the AF set (or just drop the rest w/e) - saves an inventory space.


to the original question: excepting rana (where I would probably ws in haidate anyway for the extra acc) usu hizarayoi and hachiryu haidate should both be better for y/g/k ws than shura legs.

shura head doesn't really have an easily accessible direct replacement, but any of the hybrid acc/str heads should work. (usu somen, aces, etc.) alternatively, you could get the new str+6 beastman head from the wotg boxes bc's.

[Valyana]

Once I complete Ares's Flanchard (believe it or not, I have the 25 and 35 but not the 15, so I need a random drop from Arrapago gears), is there any reason to keep Aurum Cuisses? This would be for WAR and, eventually, DRG. Examples of ludicrously niche applications are acceptable!

For DRG, Aurum could still be useful when you need the acc. For WAR, in that situation you'd use Haidate.

[onigami]

Once I complete Ares's Flanchard (believe it or not, I have the 25 and 35 but not the 15, so I need a random drop from Arrapago gears), is there any reason to keep Aurum Cuisses? This would be for WAR and, eventually, DRG. Examples of ludicrously niche applications are acceptable!

for drg, no. i'd prefer to wear the conte cosciales from 70-74. if ur hurting for acc (high eva mobs?) ur doing something else wrong. /toss those aurum.

[Eraphiel]

I wouldn't use Aurum for anything given Ares' as an option. If you're hard up for acc (which on drg really shouldn't be an issue), you can just upgrade the af1 pants for 9acc. Also, if you solo at all on it, then they're pretty much the best af1 upgrade you can do: extra 5% whp = better HBs.

[Wolfknight]

So Ive decided to pick up sam after about 3 years of it sitting at 37. I do have a lot of left over gear from other jobs (aces helm, askar stuffs, bando kotes, kittypants, fumas) how feasable is it to get away with no shura abj's as a 75 sam? We do sky once every few months now, so I dont see them coming anytime soon.

don't really sky drops then for sam, til AF+1/usukane/hachiryu for ws, the legs from bastok aren't terrible since they have 4 str.

[Genmu]

"What's Better"

For Sidewinder is there anything better for feet? Some feet like Rutter and Skadi have str+3, but nothing really even close to this. Usualy you guys ask for situations, food etc, but in this case where agi is racc AND highest % dmg mod in the WS, this is pmuch an all situation question, from barrage to ws to HNM to meripo. I use Scout socks+1 for tp. Would be even better than that?

Hachiryu Sune-Ate Rare
[Feet] All Races
DEF: 30 AGI+10 Evasion+5
Enhances "Zanshin" effect
Set: Enhances "Store TP" effect

For Jin meripo, sushi, mamools mostly

Hachiryu haidate Rare
[Legs] All Races
DEF: 42 STR +10 Attack +5
Enhances "Zanshin" effect
Set: Enhances "Store TP" effect

vs

Byakko's haidate RareExclusive
[Legs] All Races
DEF: 42 DEX +15 Resist Vs. Lightning +50 Haste +5%

vs

Usukane Hizayoroi RareExclusive
[Legs] All Races
DEF: 30 STR +5 DEX +5
Attack +10 Haste +3%
Set: Enhances Haste effect

[Rhoa]

I attempted a search for my question and didn't find one, so I'm hoping this hasn't been asked here before. If it has, I apologize.

My question is in regards to axe/axe vs man/joy for Warrior dual wield. On birds and other piercing-weak mobs man/joy seems the obvious choice, but in other situations would woodville/maneater out perform it? Or would the dps from the 2x attack rate on joyeuse still make up for the lost base dmg. Same question for man/jugg vs. Man/joy.

As a sidenote, I do not have access to a ridill as my LS doesn't camp HNMs. Also, I do have Perdu Voulge and love /sam, I just still like to swap into my dual wield set for some situations.

In case it helps, my DW gear. Pretty basic: Bomblet, Turban, PCC, brutal, suppa, hauby, ulthalam's, sniper, forager's, swift, Byakko's and Unicorn. G1 merits: 2 zerk, 2 agg, 1 warcry, 5 DA

[Skeelo]

Another question on the "Should I use Brave Grip?" trend.
Dragoon here, I'm thinking about using it over Pole for the obvious Drakesbane spam. Has anyone noticed notable effects of the grip on the WS damage? Or should I just stick to my DA+2%?

Once i got drakesbane i picked up a brave grip. just from light testing i did with it, ive had a noticable increase with it. You will get a constant increase in dmg with brave grip, you will only get benefit 2% of the time with pole grip

[Wortie]

Which would WHM prefer?
Errant Cape or Ixion Cape?

[Ohemgee]

Depends on where you have Enmity-

Overall Ixion Cape is a hands down choice, but I have Errant in for all cures but 5.

[Eldelphia]

Which would WHM prefer?
Errant Cape or Ixion Cape?

For what?

For Cure V - maybe Ixion
For MND based enfeebles - maybe Ixion
For all other cures/agas/flash/~na? - Errant

Kind of depends on your gear/race. Ixion is a BLM piece IMO... but if you happen to get a cape, then sure use it on WHM but errant nice for -EMN build. Put it this way, if I got an Ixion cape, I wouldn't sell my errant.

[Mabon]

What's better for an hmp setup and why? I would love for some one to also show some calculations. This is mainly for blm/whm and I guess rdm:

Just looking at the five major equipment slots here, I have a few options:

1) Full yigit: +8hmp with refresh

2) Full hmp no refresh: right now i have +14 total (Oracle's cap + gloves, errant/yigit body, yigit legs, goliard feet)

3) Hybrid: noble's + the above for hmp+9 and refresh. No refresh body on blm yet so option one or two. Rdm = Af2 hat, but can't wear oracles no hands so refresh +9hmp (body, legs, feet)

Obviously option two is for blm/whm only. Option 3 is better for rdm. Once I get G head, is +11hmp w/o refresh better than option 3?

Question here really is how much +hmp is needed to overcome a 1 tick refresh and how long do I have to rest for a set with refresh to out perform one without? Please show your work

[Drex]

Auto-refresh equates to about 6.67 hmp on the first tick, and 3.33 hmp for every tick after that. The longer you rest, the more the pure resting set pulls ahead.

However, if you interrupt your rest between ticks, then you get some mp from autorefresh you wouldn't have gotten from resting gear. For example, if you rest for 28 seconds, you'll only get 2 ticks of hmp, but if you had autorefresh you would've gotten 2 more mp from that before you stood up.

So, if you usually rest in long chunks, pure HMP set will usually win. In my case, I use a pure hmp resting set on BLM because usually I'm resting to full when I stop to rest. If you rest in short bursts (WHM and RDM in my case) then the autorefresh will generally be more important (noble's, vermy/chap/dalmy/whatever).

If you have Duelist's Chapeau you should always rest in it.