What's Better?

[Raen Ryong]

Working on DRK to 75 but I had some Q's, first merits...I was assuming something along the lines of:

5 Souleater Recast
5 Last Resort Recast
5 Diabolic Eye
4 Desperate Blows
1 Dark Seal

Would there be a better setup? I'm not sure how much difference DB actually makes in regular merit situations so idk if it's really worth capping it.

Second is weapon, Moliones's set was relatively cheap so I grabbed it to ding into already, but I was wondering how it'd compare to Perdu + Lava's/Kushaw/e's Rings, since I'll have no room for Scythe merits and I think I'll only be able to muster about 388 Acc unbuffed with Moliones's and 395 with Perdu, but I know the base D dropoff would be pretty sizeable vs. the 20 Attack gain, and with Diabolic Eye or Abs-Acc up I'd probably be using Blitz which would drop 6 attack from breaking the Mandy ring combo.

5 LR Recast is excellent, 5 SE Recast if you're going to spam it every time it's up - otherwise 5 LR Effect.

5DE/5DB is my favoured build because Dark Seal can actually lead to you doing less damage in a zerg because you take longer to engage.

Perdu will almost always beat Moliones set, especially in your case~

Will you have a Rajas Ring? If not and you don't want to use Aurum Cuirass/Carbonara/ACP Body, look into a 528 Scythe like Tredecim; you won't 6hit otherwise! (Just since you suggested double mandy rings when acc/rajas or blitz/rajas would generally be better).

[Midnightjade]

Hands. At least in terms of straight Cure strength/-Enmity mix. Body is a good resting piece but Enfeebling skill is meh to me, Divine is important for Repose but there aren't that many situations where a 75 WHM is actively debuffing. It's worth having a set for when you do, but not worth prioritizing AF+1 for it.

Thanks. ^^

[Callisto]

5 LR Recast is excellent, 5 SE Recast if you're going to spam it every time it's up - otherwise 5 LR Effect.

5DE/5DB is my favoured build because Dark Seal can actually lead to you doing less damage in a zerg because you take longer to engage.

Perdu will almost always beat Moliones set, especially in your case~

Will you have a Rajas Ring? If not and you don't want to use Aurum Cuirass/Carbonara/ACP Body, look into a 528 Scythe like Tredecim; you won't 6hit otherwise! (Just since you suggested double mandy rings when acc/rajas or blitz/rajas would generally be better).

No Rajas, I was hoping to just ride Guillo/Insurgency hits to 6-hit instead of aiming for a natural.

I'm looking at the following for TP:

Scythe/Rose/Bomblet
Turban/PCC/Abyssal/Brutal
Hauberk+1/Homam/Rings
Cuch/Swift/Homam/Homam

I don't have access to Aurum body anytime soon, I have Askar which I'd use for having enough acc buffs up to support it.

[Raen Ryong]

Oh, Rose Grip; alright, am dumb. Completely forgot about that for some reason.

Yeah, you can 6hit Perdu with a 3/4+ tolerance on Guillotine, same as those with Rajas. Will be your best Scythe in that case.

[Xerlic]

First off, after finishing MKD, I went with Galea with STR +4, WS Acc +15, and WS Dmg +2%. I'm positive similar questions were asked for this setup vs. STR +6 headpieces, but would this headpiece beat Gnadbod's in most situations for GKT and Pole?

I'm looking to work on my Penta gearset for SAM. Current setup is:

Tomoe/Pole/---/Tiphia
Hisho/Shad Gorg/Brutal/Bushi
Haub+1/Bando/Rajas/Sniper+1
Cuch/Virtuoso/Shura/Usu

0 Polearm merits. I'm a taru, so base DEX is 68. This should cap me on birds with Crab Sushi. Actually, my math says 406 acc, so that's 94.5% acc, I think. With the Galea, would swapping the Sniper +1 for a Flame Ring be the best upgrade?

[NynJa]

5DE/5DB is my favoured build because Dark Seal can actually lead to you doing less damage in a zerg because you take longer to engage.

Deal less damage if the mob dies before SE wears off, sure...but you'll do less damage overall if the mob fails to die, and by your logic if shit goes wrong, you'd be more likely to wipe at 1-5% because you were missing that little extra damage that DS Drain2 would deliver both from the drain as well as Souleater damage.

Err... I think you read what I said backwards? I think Soboro/Yoichi is better than Amano anywhere that you don't have huge RAcc issues with Namas.

My appologies, you said merit mobs at first. Anyways, I was parsing against a couple relics(one of which was an Amano) and fully geared/merited DD jobs, and my partially-merited poorly-geared SAM/WAR with stage 4 bow came out on top. And the best is opening with Sekkanoki Namas-Namas-Light combo, getting hit once, and immediately losing hate.

It really is that broken, I cant wait to use it in the real world.

[PeaceNLove]

First off, after finishing MKD, I went with Galea with STR +4, WS Acc +15, and WS Dmg +2%. I'm positive similar questions were asked for this setup vs. STR +6 headpieces, but would this headpiece beat Gnadbod's in most situations for GKT and Pole?

I'm looking to work on my Penta gearset for SAM. Current setup is:

Tomoe/Pole/---/Tiphia
Hisho/Shad Gorg/Brutal/Bushi
Haub+1/Bando/Rajas/Sniper+1
Cuch/Virtuoso/Shura/Usu

0 Polearm merits. I'm a taru, so base DEX is 68. This should cap me on birds with Crab Sushi. Actually, my math says 406 acc, so that's 94.5% acc, I think. With the Galea, would swapping the Sniper +1 for a Flame Ring be the best upgrade?

Yes, +2% WS damage outdoes the STR from Gnadbod's helm for Y/G/K, and it will be better for polearm in general due to the major boost in accuracy allowing you to pump out more stats in other slots.

A better swap when accounting for Galea accuracy would be Forager's for Cuchulain Mantle, in my opinion. But, with your current setup you can squeeze more accuracy by picking a better Ear2 (active Minuet, Fowling, Hollow) and using Byakko's over Shura, and still be able to swap the Flame Ring in. Shura should not even be considered over Byakko's for Penta seeing as you get more base damage and accuracy from the latter. My apologies if you don't have Byakko's, though; it wasn't mentioned.

[Xerlic]

Yes, +2% WS damage outdoes the STR from Gnadbod's helm for Y/G/K, and it will be better for polearm in general due to the major boost in accuracy allowing you to pump out more stats in other slots.

A better swap when accounting for Galea accuracy would be Forager's for Cuchulain Mantle, in my opinion. But, with your current setup you can squeeze more accuracy by picking a better Ear2 (active Minuet, Fowling, Hollow) and using Byakko's over Shura, and still be able to swap the Flame Ring in. Shura should not even be considered over Byakko's for Penta seeing as you get more base damage and accuracy from the latter. My apologies if you don't have Byakko's, though; it wasn't mentioned.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I did think the ear2 was out of place as well.

I do have Byakkos, but I'm curious about the Byakko's over Shura though because I was under the impression that Penta couldn't crit. Or is it because of the secondary modifier? In that case, would Usu be a better choice over Shura?

[Cream Soda]

What's better for DNC TP?

Azoth/Joyeuse/empty/Black Tathlum
Turban/Pcc/Brutal/Diabolos'
Etoile Casque/Dusk/Toreador's/Rajas
Cuchulain's/Vbelt/Etoile Tights/Enkidu Leggings

Azoth/Behemoth's+1/Empty/Black Tathlum
Turban/Pcc/Brutal/Diabolos'
Raparee Harness/Dusk/Toreador's/Rajas
Cuch/Vbelt/Etoile Tights/Enkidu's Leggings


No dagger merits, no sword merits btw

Set 2 w/ crab sushi, puts me at 85% hitrate w/ dagger

Set 1 w/ crab sushi puts me at 92% hitrate w/ dagger, 70% w/ sword

I don't think Raparee combo'd w/ Raparee would be a viable combo for me, as that brings my sword hitrate to 62.5%

[Raen Ryong]

Well, if we presume you have 2000 HP and 2400 with Drain II, say;

Souleater damage added = 240 vs 288
Drain II initial damage = 400

Mkris: Delay 192, hits per round average = 1.9
@68%~ haste, delay = ~61

Drain II's casting time is 3 seconds.

Negating Mkris's DMG/fSTR and Pdif, in these 3 seconds the M Kris has hit 5.6~ times, for 1344 points of damage. Deduct 400 damage from Drain II.

How long does it take 944 Souleater damage to catch up? Average difference in damage per round is 48 * 1.9 = 91.2, 10.35~ rounds, or roughly 11 seconds, 14 seconds into the zerg.

So yes, in perfect conditions DS Drain II will win. However, when you consider things like

1. Bahamut's Stoneskin not being dispelled properly or such
2. This is assuming a perfect 3 second difference between Drain II usage and not; any longer than this and you start to steadily put it into the favour of not casting it. It's very easy to lose up to 5~6 by the time you engage, especially if you have to swap out weapon etc.
3. Your Drain IIs do 400.

On the other hand, if your max HP is lower, the more impact that Drain II adds to your zerg.

Overall I wouldn't really recommend it, but to each his own.

[NynJa]

Once again that all entails that the mob dies...yes your methods let you flex your epeen by letting you win parses. Does that mean you're doing the most amount of damage?

Makeshift numbers, but it will get my point across. You land ~3 hits per sec, in any scenario. SE hits for 200, adding drain2 does 230 avg. We'll add 4 seconds of casting drain2 time. Drain2 will deal approx 300 dmg.

Mob is alive for 20 seconds, dead before BW wears off:
You dont cast drain 2, and go right in. You hit approx 60 times at 200 dmg each, so you deal 12000 dmg in those 20 seconds. If you had casted drain 2, you would have dealt 16 seconds worth of damage, which is approx 11040 dmg+300 drain so approx 11300 dmg.

What happens on a longer fight, approx 45 sec, where bloodweapon wears off (for simplicity sake you have a whm and a rdm curebombing after BW wears):
You dont cast drain 2, and go right in. You hit approx 135 times at 200 dmg each, so you deal 27000 dmg in those 45 seconds. If you had casted drain 2, you would have dealt 41 seconds worth of damage, which is approx 28290 dmg+300 drain so approx 28500 dmg.

See what I mean?

[Raen Ryong]

Oh, I'll agree there. The majority of zergs don't last that long though.

[PeaceNLove]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I did think the ear2 was out of place as well.

I do have Byakkos, but I'm curious about the Byakko's over Shura though because I was under the impression that Penta couldn't crit. Or is it because of the secondary modifier? In that case, would Usu be a better choice over Shura?

Right, it can't crit but the DEX gets you more accuracy and base damage being a STR20%DEX20% modified WS. Byakko's nets you 11.25 accuracy and +3D from mods. Shura is 7 accuracy, +1D from mods, and +1.25D from fSTR. The better piece is quite evident from these numbers.

If you can spare 7~8 accuracy, then Usu legs would be your best bet, giving +3.25D and the attack. If you can spare all 11~12 accuracy that you'd lose without Byakko's, Hachiryu legs are probably ideal with +4.5D and a little less attack than Usu.

[Nishida]

RDM/NIN

Guesipire / Joyeuse
Justice Sword / Joyeuse
Enhancing Sword / Joyeuse
Oberon's Rapier w/ DMG+3-4~ and Sword Enspell damage / Joyeuse

Which combo would be the most ideal with enspell 2 active and Death Blossom WS in most situations?

[Andradi]

Joyeuse/Justice Sword

Not sure why you're using tier2s with that, though.

I recently picked up Jsword, the TP gain is absurd. It chews through stones like you wouldn't believe, however.

[Marcicus]

Looking on some advice for my WAR atm:

TP:

Perdu/Pole/-----/Fire Bomblet
Turban/PCC/Brutal/Assault
EBody/Dusk/Rajas/Blitz
Foragers/Swift/Haidaite/Aurum

Raging Rush:

Perdu/Pole/----/Fire Bomblet
Heca/PCC/Brutal/Assault
Ebody/Heca/Rajas/Iota
Foragers/Warwolf/Haidate/Heca

King's Justice

Perdu/Pole/----/Fire Bomblet
Heca/PCC/Brutal/Triumph
Ebody/Heca/Rajas/Flame
Foragers/Warwolf/Heca/Heca

If I remember correctly, I'm @ 408 acc as Hume in my TP, and 405(will have to recalculate later) for RR and KJ. I also have 8/8 Great Axe merits. I'm working on getting gorgets atm, but in the meantime would using Kubira Beads instead of PCC be helpful? I'm leaning towards yes, but I haven't had any real time to test the two.

[Callisto]

RDM/NIN

Guesipire / Joyeuse
Justice Sword / Joyeuse
Enhancing Sword / Joyeuse
Oberon's Rapier w/ DMG+3-4~ and Sword Enspell damage / Joyeuse

Which combo would be the most ideal with enspell 2 active and Death Blossom WS in most situations?

The best overall combo would be Justice/Joy using Enspell 1's, if you're using single hit/1-2 hit then Enspell 2's can pull ahead of Enspell 1's with ESword, but if you have access to Justice/Joy, use that.

[Midnightjade]

Joyeuse/Justice Sword

Not sure why you're using tier2s with that, though.

I recently picked up Jsword, the TP gain is absurd. It chews through stones like you wouldn't believe, however.

I agree. A friend of mine has had Joyeuse and Enhancing for a while, and recently also got hold of a Justice Sword. Joy/Justice combo completely blew him away, he says the TP gain is really high. Mix that with DB and it looks pretty nice. I use Man/Temp on my BST with Primal Rend and again the TP gain plus Nyzul WS is an attractive combination.

The only downsides to the Jailer weapons seem to be low base damage in many cases and the fact they eat through virtue stones really really fast.

[Callisto]

Looking on some advice for my WAR atm:

TP:

Perdu/Pole/-----/Fire Bomblet
Turban/PCC/Brutal/Assault
EBody/Dusk/Rajas/Blitz
Foragers/Swift/Haidaite/Aurum

Raging Rush:

Perdu/Pole/----/Fire Bomblet
Heca/PCC/Brutal/Assault
Ebody/Heca/Rajas/Iota
Foragers/Warwolf/Haidate/Heca

King's Justice

Perdu/Pole/----/Fire Bomblet
Heca/PCC/Brutal/Triumph
Ebody/Heca/Rajas/Flame
Foragers/Warwolf/Heca/Heca

If I remember correctly, I'm @ 408 acc as Hume in my TP, and 405(will have to recalculate later) for RR and KJ. I also have 8/8 Great Axe merits. I'm working on getting gorgets atm, but in the meantime would using Kubira Beads instead of PCC be helpful? I'm leaning towards yes, but I haven't had any real time to test the two.

If Aggressor is down stick with PCC for RR, you're already capping dDEX so all Kubira would give you is 4 STR in exchange for lowering the likelihood of landing all 3 hits by 7%.

For KJ I personally don't really even use it if Aggressor is down since I use Berserk/Aggressor always at the same time, and KJ isn't really worth using with Berserk down vs. RR against most endgame targets. This gives you a lot more room to play around with, you could do something along the lines of:

Perdu/Pole/Bomblet
Heca/Kubira/Assault/Brutal
EBody/Heca/Rajas/Flame
Forager's/Warwolf/AF2/Heca

[Cream Soda]

What's better for DNC TP?

Azoth/Joyeuse/empty/Black Tathlum
Turban/Pcc/Brutal/Diabolos'
Etoile Casque/Dusk/Toreador's/Rajas
Cuchulain's/Vbelt/Etoile Tights/Enkidu Leggings

Azoth/Behemoth's+1/Empty/Black Tathlum
Turban/Pcc/Brutal/Diabolos'
Raparee Harness/Dusk/Toreador's/Rajas
Cuch/Vbelt/Etoile Tights/Enkidu's Leggings


No dagger merits, no sword merits btw

Set 2 w/ crab sushi, puts me at 85% hitrate w/ dagger

Set 1 w/ crab sushi puts me at 92% hitrate w/ dagger, 70% w/ sword

I don't think Raparee combo'd w/ Raparee would be a viable combo for me, as that brings my sword hitrate to 62.5%

Any takers?