What's Better?

[FailureMidgard]

Fast Cast reduces both the casting time and the recast. However, only half the Fast Cast affects the recast (Fast Cast+10 will give 10% off the Casting speed, but it will only give 5% off recast). You're right that you would need to finish in the skill gear for the effect, but that's not important since the other stats beat the Healing Magic+10.

It's:

1% Extra off recast + Healing Magic Skill+10 v Enmity-5 + Conserve MP+5

Since this is about cures, the extra 1% extra off recast isn't as important. When it comes to Healing Magic+10 v Enmity-5 and Conserve MP+5, I think the latter is the better choice.

Edit: Haste only affects recast.

Apparently, haste and fastcast aren't additive, but are multiplicative. For example, if you have 10% haste and 10% FC recast reduction, you are actually at .9*.9 or .81 of the total recast, not .80.

If you assume 10% FC reduction (base rdm traits) and 15% haste, you get:
.85*.9 = .765
Upping that to 19 haste, 10 FC:
.81*.9 = .729
Going to 15 haste, 15 FC:
.85*.85 = .7225

So it's not actually 1% off your timer, it's more like .65%. On top of that, if you are interested in recast timers for something, and are using something like Nashira Legs, Dusk, or Swift/VBelt, it will make haste even better. Someone did the math elsewhere, and basically, if you're interested in recasts on red mage, you're better off using W.Turban and Goliard Body (and haste gear elsewhere) than AF + Relic.

[Yugl]

Very good point. I completely forgot about the multiplicative properties. Time to start correcting some of my LS RDMs. Once again, Haste rules the game!

[Tsuko_Asura]

Apparently, haste and fastcast aren't additive, but are multiplicative. For example, if you have 10% haste and 10% FC recast reduction, you are actually at .9*.9 or .81 of the total recast, not .80.

If you assume 10% FC reduction (base rdm traits) and 15% haste, you get:
.85*.9 = .765
Upping that to 19 haste, 10 FC:
.81*.9 = .729
Going to 15 haste, 15 FC:
.85*.85 = .7225

So it's not actually 1% off your timer, it's more like .65%. On top of that, if you are interested in recast timers for something, and are using something like Nashira Legs, Dusk, or Swift/VBelt, it will make haste even better. Someone did the math elsewhere, and basically, if you're interested in recasts on red mage, you're better off using W.Turban and Goliard Body (and haste gear elsewhere) than AF + Relic.

I've always known that Turban was better for recasts than AF1 hat(didn't consider Goliard though, thanks), but this all still has no baring on, say, starting out 'Ichi in AF1, and swapping to Walahra Turban to complete the cast, right? You'll still get the full benefits of the haste, yes?

[cpu]

pre-cast = Fast Cast Gear
mid-cast to end-cast = Haste Gear

Fast Cast procs when the spell starts casting, haste when it finishes. You start casting in AF hat and finish casting in turban.

[Katalyn]

I need some merit advice. Currently I'm a Mithra 75 White Mage and Summoner. I'm leveling Paladin to 75 with a friend. Also I have Thief at 62 which will follow Paladin to 75, and I plan on getting Dancer to 75 as well.

I'm trying to plan out my "all jobs" merits to gain the most advantage across those five jobs. At the moment from the merit categories HP/MP, Attributes, and Others all I have is 8/8 in MP. So the questions become what is better...

HP/MP stick as current or will Paladin get more benefit from HP then my mages and Paldin from MP? As a note my White Mage Group 2 merits are 5 Shellra V and 5 Devotion so no Martyr.

Attributes I think Strength is the way to go or is another choice better?

Do I do anything with the Enmity merits? I think Critical Hit Rate would be important too.

[ringthree]

Critical Hit Rate is the universal melee merit. There is no reason not to get it. With your jobs I would completely ignore Enmity either way. STR is always the best stat for any potential melee. It is at least 1 fSTR (read: essentially it is at least always going to increase your weapon's base damage by 1) so even if DEX or AGI might be good for SA or TA, they are not going to fundamentally improve your damage as much as the STR for all potential jobs.

[FailureMidgard]

I've always known that Turban was better for recasts than AF1 hat(didn't consider Goliard though, thanks), but this all still has no baring on, say, starting out 'Ichi in AF1, and swapping to Walahra Turban to complete the cast, right? You'll still get the full benefits of the haste, yes?

Yes, you'd still want to start with all the fast cast gear, just end with haste instead of fast cast. But, you do need a bit of haste for Goliard to beat out Duelists. Though, you only need 1% more haste than fastcast for Turban to beat out Warlock.

If you assume 11% Fast Cast (10 trait, 1 loq.), you'd need
.89*(1-haste)=.84*(1.04-haste)
.89-.89haste=.8736-.84haste
.0164=.05haste
haste=32.8 after body, or 28.8 before.
15% of that is spell, so 13.8 before body...
5 head, 4 waist, 3 glove, 2 feet.

So yea, anything you have a serious recast build on, you should pretty easily have enough haste for goliard to win (turban, swift belt, and 2x dusk isn't hard to get). If you have marches, or more haste than that, goliard will pull ahead even more.

I need some merit advice. Currently I'm a Mithra 75 White Mage and Summoner. I'm leveling Paladin to 75 with a friend. Also I have Thief at 62 which will follow Paladin to 75, and I plan on getting Dancer to 75 as well.

I'm trying to plan out my "all jobs" merits to gain the most advantage across those five jobs. At the moment from the merit categories HP/MP, Attributes, and Others all I have is 8/8 in MP. So the questions become what is better...

HP/MP stick as current or will Paladin get more benefit from HP then my mages and Paldin from MP? As a note my White Mage Group 2 merits are 5 Shellra V and 5 Devotion so no Martyr.

Attributes I think Strength is the way to go or is another choice better?

Do I do anything with the Enmity merits? I think Critical Hit Rate would be important too.

Str for sure, far and away the most useful stat. It also leaves the door open for more melee jobs.
8mp is fine, changing it is also fine, it's very hard to say what is "best" there, you won't get noticeably more from 1 or the other.
Player Crit+, Enemy Crit- would be my suggestion for other. It's what I did, due to the fact I have both "tank" jobs, and support jobs. Didn't feel like meriting a stat that would help some jobs, and hurt another, so enemy crit- was a decent choice.

[Squah]

Drakesbane: 11DEX or 11STR? (Alkies vs. Askar Manopolas). That's basically what it boils down to, no heca yet since my shell rarely does sky. (Elvaan, 5 STR merits)

[Starr]

probably go for the Alky's if your accuracy is fine tbh, DRG is much harder to reach dDEX cap than DRG and you aint gonna get anywhere with no hecatomb.

[Farseer]

For warrior 6hit build, chiv chain + assault earring or attila's earring + fortitude torque >< ? Only use war for merits and wanna keep my sattva ><

[Yugl]

For warrior 6hit build, chiv chain + assault earring or attila's earring + fortitude torque >< ? Only use war for merits and wanna keep my sattva ><

Assault + Fort + Ecoph Ring if that works. If not, Chiv + Assault beat the other combo.

[ringthree]

probably go for the Alky's if your accuracy is fine tbh, DRG is much harder to reach dDEX cap than DRG and you aint gonna get anywhere with no hecatomb.

I completely agree with Starr here. 11 STR is almost 3 fSTR in addition to 5~ WS mod. Dex would be about 8~9 accuracy and likely only a very small increase in crit hit rate. A crit hit would almost definitely increase the damage over the mods, but I would say on balance you are going to see a much better results from the STR over time.

I will also agree with Starr here in that you should just get Hecatomb Mittens. Almost 2 fSTR and 3 accuracy with almost the same amount of crit hit rate over Alky's.

I would like to mention here that I believe that crit hit rate is almost definitely based on dDEX but I do not believe it follows any kind of tier system. I believe it functions just like every other melee damage formula that takes into consideration level difference. There may be an overall cap, but I don't think the limited evidence up until now provides any definitive proof either way.

[ringthree]

Assault + Fort + Ecoph Ring if that works. If not, Chiv + Assault beat the other combo.

I agree with the first assessment, Ecphoria is a better trade off. I do not necessarily agree with the second.

Another alternative would be to use Rose Strap which should free you from all Store TP considerations.

[Yugl]

I agree with the first assessment, Ecphoria is a better trade off. I do not necessarily agree with the second.

Another alternative would be to use Rose Strap which should free you from all Store TP considerations.

[Chiv + Assault]
stP+1, STR+3, and ACC+5 + ATT+5 and ACC+2 = sTP+1 STR+3 ACC+7 ATT+5

[Attila + Fort]
sTP+1 + ATT+7 and ACC+6 = sTP+1 ATT+7 ACC+6

[Chiv + Assault v Attila + Fort]
STR+3 ACC+1 v ATT+2

On a 2H Melee, that STR+3 is roughly 1.5-3 ATT. Rose Strap works too unless it's apart of the build (No information on gear, so this is a lot of assumptions).

[Fogo]

In campaign only (obviously):
bull necklace (str 25) or sea gorget for ws's like KJ and RR? str 25 is a big freakin chunk and i'm interested in how it stacks up against gorgets.

[Farseer]

[Chiv + Assault]
stP+1, STR+3, and ACC+5 + ATT+5 and ACC+2 = sTP+1 STR+3 ACC+7 ATT+5

[Attila + Fort]
sTP+1 + ATT+7 and ACC+6 = sTP+1 ATT+7 ACC+6

[Chiv + Assault v Attila + Fort]
STR+3 ACC+1 v ATT+2

On a 2H Melee, that STR+3 is roughly 1.5-3 ATT. Rose Strap works too unless it's apart of the build (No information on gear, so this is a lot of assumptions).

Sorry about the lack of info. No rajas, so need to TP in stp+7, so plan was, Rose strap(4), ecphoria ring(1), brutal(1) is 6 so i need 1 stp from somewhere els, Attila's or Chiv

Edit: Perdu so 504 delay

[Yugl]

Use Chiv in that case.

[Squah]

Thanks for the input. DRG72 now, and when I ding 75 I'll most likely be WSing in:
Fay/pole/-/olibanum
askar/gorget/brutal/bushi
askar/alky/flame(DEX ring? ulth?)/rajas
Cerb/Warwolf/askar/rutters
So my quick maths tell me STR+40(+fay/flame ring) and DEX+12(+fay/DEX ring).


I need heca

[Max™]

There was no increase in Crit rate from having dDex 50+, I also think the tier idea is silly, if anything it's probably more like the haste formula.

In small quantities it's nice, when you get nearer the top end of the curve it takes off til it hits the roof.

[Starr]

The fuck Max where have you been? I thought you were clued in on everything bro but you are disappointing me as of late, there is no tiers and there never was it is a fucking exponential increase of dDEX to crit rate where the last 5~ (45-50 dDEX) is about 1 DEX to 1% Critical Hit Rate.