BLM Gear - MAcc and Elemental DoTs

[DIABEETUS]

Being a blm, I'm starting to come to the point where I need to manage inventory very carefully, which brings me to how far do you go when bringing gear?

For MAcc gear, particularly Balrahn's ring, Omega ring, insect ring, goliard hands and more, how beneficial are these to carry around? Do you macro in Macc into all your enfeebs/dark spells? I got capped enfeeb and elemental merits, it's been a long time since I've had a enfeeb resist, and anything that does resist is most likely HNM, or RDM enfeeble-able only. I got a pretty decent enfeeb (+43ish) and dark set (+37ish) as is, but I don't know if it's worth lugging around extra pieces that offer macc only.

While on the topic of Balrahn's ring, if you are a career BLM, why? I could see BRDs and RDMs choosing it, but I as a BLM I never go to salvage/assaults as BLM, usually on melee so I'd figure Ulthalam's would be better. Any distinct advantages?

Lastly, for elemental DoTs, what gear do you guys bring to cap out on INT? Do you guys macro in elemskill gear+ for resists at all? I'm finding a hard time reaching the cap as taru, and again would require a lot of situational/expensive gear to be brought around, like mahatma hands.

I'm a taru blm and atm I carry full dmg set, elemskill set, dark set, enfeeb set, hmp set, sorc. ring set, stoneskin set and idling set.

[pchan]

Being a blm, I'm starting to come to the point where I need to manage inventory very carefully, which brings me to how far do you go when bringing gear?

For MAcc gear, particularly Balrahn's ring, Omega ring, insect ring, goliard hands and more, how beneficial are these to carry around? Do you macro in Macc into all your enfeebs/dark spells? I got capped enfeeb and elemental merits, it's been a long time since I've had a enfeeb resist, and anything that does resist is most likely HNM, or RDM enfeeble-able only. I got a pretty decent enfeeb (+43ish) and dark set (+37ish) as is, but I don't know if it's worth lugging around extra pieces that offer macc only.

While on the topic of Balrahn's ring, if you are a career BLM, why? I could see BRDs and RDMs choosing it, but I as a BLM I never go to salvage/assaults as BLM, usually on melee so I'd figure Ulthalam's would be better. Any distinct advantages?

Lastly, for elemental DoTs, what gear do you guys bring to cap out on INT? Do you guys macro in elemskill gear+ for resists at all? I'm finding a hard time reaching the cap as taru, and again would require a lot of situational/expensive gear to be brought around, like mahatma hands.

I'm a taru blm and atm I carry full dmg set, elemskill set, dark set, enfeeb set, hmp set, sorc. ring set, stoneskin set and idling set.

I'm a carreer RDM, but got BLM leveled with all merits etc. From my understanding/experience BLM's enfeebling sucks on big stuff. Like you can't land, say, slow or paralyze on ultima while as rdm it's "easy".

Balrhan's ring & omega ring : easy choice here. Marco them for sleep (and drain/aspir/stun if you got macro room I guess) bind gravity etc. Like when you move around in sea/sky/puddings/limbus etc.. cos yeah in limbus you get resists if you don't equip good gear.

elemental dots : well first I don't use them a lot (only play BLM on limbus boss / Einherjar wing Is as far as endgame goes). But to me it seems that the 150+ INT barrier is out of reach, even with alkalurops. I have 64 base INT only as elvaan etc, so I go for elemental gear + alkalurops, as long as i have 100+ INT.

My BLM gear is usually 60/70 with food and meds. I don't bring "special day/weather" gear or "iddle" gear.

[Jingseng]

While on the topic of Balrahn's ring, if you are a career BLM, why? I could see BRDs and RDMs choosing it, but I as a BLM I never go to salvage/assaults as BLM, usually on melee so I'd figure Ulthalam's would be better. Any distinct advantages?

I'm only addressing this specific question. I have 75 drg, blu, sam, and now sch. I chose balrahn's.

The reason being what do you get out of the ring when NOT in assault. +4atk and +4acc... what the hell am I honestly going to give up for this ring? Rajas? hell no. Flame/Thunder? nope. So really, I have no use for it, outside of assault. It's inventory -1.

For Balrahn's however (and this is before I started doing Einherjar), +4macc is arguably useful. You don't get that on a lot of pieces, so it's a nice option to have when needed. Additionally, auto refresh on a ring, even if it's only assault, is damned useful... more so than assault-only-rajas. If i need to, I can eat sushi. Yag drinks don't last nearly as long.

Keep in mind, those assault only effects work for Nyzul... during which, for a blm, Int +4 mnd +4 and auto refresh and macc beat out Omega (and maybe snow, depending on how hard up you are for that +1 int).

[clef]

I prefer to use equipment that may have magic accuracy and some other stat that may be useful in another situation, like Goliard Clogs. I myself can't justify carrying an Insect Ring because I would never remember to equip it to make use of them. I got Balrhan's before Omega and used it for enfeebling and dark magic along side Tamas. I haven't had a lot of time with Omega + Tamas to justify storing away Balrahn's to save a spot, but its under consideration. But Omega + Balrahn's probably wouldn't be a bad combination.

I believe elemental debuffs are underestimated and not utilized enough in appropriate situations. For a Taru BLM, its easy to break the 150 INT tier with equipment that a career BLM would carry for other situations. For other races theres better equipment to make up for the difference in natural INT.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/r...lef/maxint.jpg

Comes with 307 elemental magic and 5 magic acc. If I sub /WHM, I swap Morrigan's Body for Errant and Omega Ring for a Snow Ring to get 150 INT (drops to +2 magic acc). I'd like an Alkalurops one day, but don't do ZNM right now.

[Omniyoji]

which brings me to how far do you go when bringing gear?

You should only bring gear you need for what you are about to do. Personally I carry the most gear on me when I solo. Other events, level sync etc don't utilize every piece I own.

For MAcc gear, particularly Balrahn's ring, Omega ring, insect ring, goliard hands and more, how beneficial are these to carry around? Do you macro in Macc into all your enfeebs/dark spells?

Yes, M.Acc is very useful for my enfeebles (and my drain & aspir too... I guess). I hope you only carry two of those rings above tho... <.<

I got capped enfeeb and elemental merits, it's been a long time since I've had a enfeeb resist, and anything that does resist is most likely HNM, or RDM enfeeble-able only.

Like I said above, only if it's required. Sure if I can spare the room I'll carry M.Acc for drain & aspir, but usually it should be the RDM enfeebling on the harder stuff.

While on the topic of Balrahn's ring, if you are a career BLM, why? I could see BRDs and RDMs choosing it, but I as a BLM I never go to salvage/assaults as BLM, usually on melee so I'd figure Ulthalam's would be better. Any distinct advantages?

This one's easy to answer, and I believe another poster mentioned it above. The stats on the ring don't conflict w/ multiple uses. Most career BLMs are mage onry and don't care about their melee. You brought up the point of never doing Ass/Sal on mage but melee instead. Go through all the possible options of usage for that piece of gear before deciding "I don't need it".

Lastly, for elemental DoTs, what gear do you guys bring to cap out on INT? Do you guys macro in elemskill gear+ for resists at all? I'm finding a hard time reaching the cap as taru, and again would require a lot of situational/expensive gear to be brought around, like mahatma hands. I'm a taru blm and atm I carry full dmg set, elemskill set, dark set, enfeeb set, hmp set, sorc. ring set, stoneskin set and idling set.

Every piece I use for my elemental enfeebles have another use except for the errant cuffs. If I'm going to be using the spells then bringing the cuffs are inv -1. I don't wear elemental skill due to my gimpy gear. I'm sure the extra skill would help my spells get less resisted on HNMs...

This is what I wear:

Kirin's Pole: for Stoneskin
HQ Bugard strap: for nuking
Sweet Sachet: for nuking
Demon Helm+1: for nuking
Enlightened Chain: for nuking
Abyssal Earring: for nuking
Errant Hpl: for resting/Stoneskin
Errant Cuffs: for Elemental Enfeebles
Snow Ring: for nuking
Snow Ring: for nuking
Prism Cape: for nuking
Penitents Rope: for nuking
Mahatma Slops: for nuking
Rostrum Pumps: for nuking

Only one piece above has 1 use. I only carry it if I'm going to use it.

If you are indeed having inventory issues, remember what I said above... only equip yourself for what you're about to do.

[bolkin]

Kiss you inventory space goodbye when you level Blm

[cdgreg]

Kiss you inventory space goodbye when you level Blm

70/70 isnt even enough space to carry blm gear sets.

[SephYuyX]

100 isnt even enough.

[Celebrindor]

for dark magic, I'm a firm believer that +skill and +macc are the only things that matter- of course bahlrans and omega are extremely good for those (I use omega, no ToAU ring yet). I feel the same way for the "yes/no" enfeebles- sleeps/gravity/silence/bind. With my current enfeebling setup of 7/8 merits, icqira tiara, af body, enf. torque and omega ring I can consistently silence mobs in T3 einherjar and icelands dynamis. Sea NMs- no way. I could add icqira lappas, and should, but haven't yet.

I do have a question on the +150 INT for elemental enfeebles. I abuse these to no end at any group event- the combination of burn/shock/choke basically helps everyone in the zerg mentality these days and the /NIN tanking. No need to really even bust out drown/frost/rasp any more in my opinion. Anyways- I would like to see a nice, carryable setup for a hume to hit the 150 mark. I only have one merit in INT yet, and a decent setup, but even with cream puffs I can hit around 138-141ish. Thoughts?

[DIABEETUS]

If you guys are willing to carry around omega/balrahn's for darkspells and enfeebles, wouldn't you also carry around goliard cuffs as well? It offers 4 MACC for 1 inventory spot, same as balrahns. Where do you draw the line?

Not sure if there are any other pieces of gear that offer the same type of trade-off, haven't really dug around, but if I'm going to carry around balrahn's and omega purely for the use of dark/enfeebles, that's another 2 spots

On an aside, what are your guys' opinions on elemental grips vs. strap+1? I personally carry wind/ice/thunder/dark grips on me at all times, but after reading some posts, it seems the general consensus is to go with the +1 int vs 2macc. I've always had the attitude that I'd rather land a full unresisted spell consistently, than to marginally increase my dmg for less consistency. I dont know if that argument holds here though as 2MACC vs 1INT is really really small and may not make a difference. Been thinking about keeping dark grip only (more uses, sleep/drain/aspir.. stun?) and getting rid of the ice/wind/thunder grips, at least that will save me some inventory. And just to be sure, don't bother with wise strap right? Coulda swore someone said somewhere that 1int outparses 3% m.crit...?

[Ultimagi]

I don't carry around Omega and Balrahn's Rings only for a few spells, I use them for every spell that isn't elemental magic against a weak enemy. Goliard Cuffs are hardly better than alternatives for anything; Wizard's +1, Sorcerer's, and Oracle's Gloves, or Master Caster's Bracelets where applicable.
Elemental Grips are hands down better, if you can afford 8 inventory spaces instead of 1.

[tsola]

If you guys are willing to carry around omega/balrahn's for darkspells and enfeebles, wouldn't you also carry around goliard cuffs as well? It offers 4 MACC for 1 inventory spot, same as balrahns. Where do you draw the line?

Not sure if there are any other pieces of gear that offer the same type of trade-off, haven't really dug around, but if I'm going to carry around balrahn's and omega purely for the use of dark/enfeebles, that's another 2 spots

On an aside, what are your guys' opinions on elemental grips vs. strap+1? I personally carry wind/ice/thunder/dark grips on me at all times, but after reading some posts, it seems the general consensus is to go with the +1 int vs 2macc. I've always had the attitude that I'd rather land a full unresisted spell consistently, than to marginally increase my dmg for less consistency. I dont know if that argument holds here though as 2MACC vs 1INT is really really small and may not make a difference. Been thinking about keeping dark grip only (more uses, sleep/drain/aspir.. stun?) and getting rid of the ice/wind/thunder grips, at least that will save me some inventory. And just to be sure, don't bother with wise strap right? Coulda swore someone said somewhere that 1int outparses 3% m.crit...?

I bring AF2 hands for dark magic (+10 dark magic skill). If you don't have them, then yeah I would definitely bring goliard. I don't bother with any of the grips because of inventory problems. Dark grip would be for aspir/drain/sleep; thunder is for stun. Technically it would be best though. And yes, 1INT will outparse 3% crit (0.3mab).

I use about 66 slots for blm gear I believe, including echos and RR.

[DIABEETUS]

I don't carry around Omega and Balrahn's Rings only for a few spells, I use them for every spell that isn't elemental magic against a weak enemy. Goliard Cuffs are hardly better than alternatives for anything; Wizard's +1, Sorcerer's, and Oracle's Gloves, or Master Caster's Bracelets where applicable.
Elemental Grips are hands down better, if you can afford 8 inventory spaces instead of 1.

Well since we're talking about dark/enfeebs, I wouldn't count wizard's+1, and I personally don't own MCB, and if I did, I don't think I'd use them to be honest. I'd prefer oracle's gloves over them anyway, I can't stand situational nation/region crap. But I guess that makes sense, if you don't have oracle's or af2 gloves, use goliard in place until you do get them.

On another note of carrying all EIGHT grips, maybe I'm a gimpblm or something, but I don't EVER carry all staves with me. Light/Fire/Water NEVER leave my MH, I just can't find a practical use for them ever. It's a very rare day when I have to nuke something that's element SPECIFIC. Even elementals that are strong vs 1 element, I'll just nuke Blizzard or Thunder, one of which should be neutral to that element. Not to mention I'm 5 Blizzard and 5 Thunder potency, which means to maximize my dmg/mp efficiency ratio, it only makes sense to nuke with those 2 only. Am I alone in this view? Or do you guys actually carry around all 8 staves, and nuke w/ Water4 or Fire4 occassionally? I use Aero4 occassionally, but it's only because I carry Auster's around for Gravity, but even then, it's VERY rare for me to use it.

[Avarice]

Your name is win.

[Omniyoji]

On another note of carrying all EIGHT grips, maybe I'm a gimpblm or something, but I don't EVER carry all staves with me. Light/Fire/Water NEVER leave my MH, I just can't find a practical use for them ever. It's a very rare day when I have to nuke something that's element SPECIFIC. Even elementals that are strong vs 1 element, I'll just nuke Blizzard or Thunder, one of which should be neutral to that element. Not to mention I'm 5 Blizzard and 5 Thunder potency, which means to maximize my dmg/mp efficiency ratio, it only makes sense to nuke with those 2 only. Am I alone in this view? Or do you guys actually carry around all 8 staves, and nuke w/ Water4 or Fire4 occassionally?

No, that's normal. If you don't need it, don't bring it.

Yes, using blizz & thunder only is fine.
As long as the mob isn't resist to either element they become more mp efficient than your other nukes.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...te/example.jpg


LoL liberty medical...

[Ultimagi]

You're trying to justify using Goliard Cuffs, and I'm telling you that there's better alternatives for every spell you will ever cast. If you're that worried about inventory space, make up for it in some other slot, because the amount of skill available in the hands slot is too much to throw away for 4 Magic Accuracy.
If you have the Obis, Sorcerer's Tonban, Staves, and Grips, it becomes more efficient to use the day and weather bonuses where applicable than to stick to the mundane 2-hit wonder combo.

[Vxsote]

This is what I wear:

Kirin's Pole: for Stoneskin
HQ Bugard strap: for nuking
Sweet Sachet: for nuking
Demon Helm+1: for nuking
Enlightened Chain: for nuking
Abyssal Earring: for nuking
Errant Hpl: for resting/Stoneskin
Errant Cuffs: for Elemental Enfeebles
Snow Ring: for nuking
Snow Ring: for nuking
Prism Cape: for nuking
Penitents Rope: for nuking
Mahatma Slops: for nuking
Rostrum Pumps: for nuking

My setup is similar, but with a few substitutions. Philomath is dirt cheap and same INT as the Enlightened Chain. I have a Tamas instead of 2nd snow. Sorc. belt is obviously an improvement over penitents, but difficult to obtain. I also use AF head +1 instead of DH+1 (and yes, I know I'm gimping my nukes slightly). I don't currently need Errant cuffs to hit 150 with Kirin's Pole, but I might consider them for hitting 150 with an elemental staff.

If you're looking for additional possible improvements to the above, there are a few... but not many of them are easy or cheap to get. Prudence Torque is 5 INT. Goliard Clogs are 4 INT. Morrigan's Slops are 10 INT. Mahat. Hpl. is 11 INT. Mahat cuffs are 6 INT. Gleeman's/Ixion capes are both 5 INT. You can stick a morion/phatom +1 earring on your second ear for 2 more INT. And you can use Maat's Cap for 7 INT. That's all I can think of off hand.

As a general thought about resists... I've found that in some cases, sticking a debuff with 150 INT isn't worth the trouble because I cannot currently do so without using Kirin's pole, and they are often resisted (fully or partially). The extra potency is nice, but not if you have to keep recasting over and over again. In these situtations, I just use my elemental staves and elemental skill gear (keeping INT over 100 still) to maximize the chance of sticking the debuff for full duration. Soon, I hope to be able to hit 150 INT with the elemental staff of my choice, at which point sticking the stronger debuff will become much more practical. And finally, whatever your setup, consider if you can stick your debuff with AF hands/+1 instead of the errant/mahatma hands, as that will also help greatly with resists (and potentially save you an inventory slot).