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Can someone explain gearing?Follow

#1 Oct 21 2013 at 9:39 PM Rating: Good
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So I've only been crafting for the past month and half and haven't been playing my main DoW at all. Needless to say, I'm only a level 45 monk with some dungeon gear drops and some gear bought with the GC seals.

What exactly is AF/Relic/DL gearing? I see these terms come up in chat, but I have no idea what kind of gear they are. How do you get these? How do they rank in terms of each other? How do you know which gear is considered "acceptable" for a particular dungeon?

Thanks
#2 Oct 21 2013 at 9:42 PM Rating: Excellent
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832 posts
ASpaceman wrote:
So I've only been crafting for the past month and half and haven't been playing my main DoW at all. Needless to say, I'm only a level 45 monk with some dungeon gear drops and some gear bought with the GC seals.

What exactly is AF/Relic/DL gearing? I see these terms come up in chat, but I have no idea what kind of gear they are. How do you get these? How do they rank in terms of each other? How do you know which gear is considered "acceptable" for a particular dungeon?

Thanks

AF=Artifact Armor is earn through the class/job quests. Relics are job specific weapons earned after completing the main scenerio and earn through a quest line. DL Is Darklight geared which is bought through tokens called Philosphy Tomestones which are earn through running Endgame Dungeons.
#3 Oct 22 2013 at 7:46 AM Rating: Good
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1,674 posts
Just to chime in, in regards to Darklight, since you mentioned you've been very craft-focused.

There is also the comparable and crafted Darksteel and Gryphonskin (ARM and LTH-made) gear. The advantage is that this gear has stats on par with -- and sometimes better than -- their Darklight counterparts as well as materia slots to put stuff in to to make it even more superior. The drawback is that this same gear usually requires more end-game dungeon runs to get the needed materials to make them (sometimes just a few, but also sometimes double the runs or even triple the runs for a comparable piece's materials), with a few exceptions (Heavy Darksteel vs. Heavy Darklight body pieces).

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 10:02am by Satisiun
#4 Oct 22 2013 at 9:23 AM Rating: Good
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254 posts
Satisiun wrote:
Just to chime in, in regards to Darklight, since you mentioned you've been very craft-focused.

There is also the comparable and crafted Darksteel and Gryphonskin (ARM and LTH-made) gear. The advantage is that this gear has stats on par with -- and sometimes better than -- their Darklight counterparts as well as materia slots to put stuff in to to make it even more superior. The drawback is that this same gear usually requires more end-game dungeon runs to get the needed materials to make them (sometimes just a few, but also sometimes double the runs or even triple the runs for a comparable piece's materials), with a few exceptions (Heavy Darksteel vs. Heavy Darklight body pieces).

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 10:02am by Satisiun

Is there equivalent (crafted) mage armor?
#5 Oct 22 2013 at 9:50 AM Rating: Excellent
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2,232 posts
Skaditoo wrote:
Satisiun wrote:
Just to chime in, in regards to Darklight, since you mentioned you've been very craft-focused.

There is also the comparable and crafted Darksteel and Gryphonskin (ARM and LTH-made) gear. The advantage is that this gear has stats on par with -- and sometimes better than -- their Darklight counterparts as well as materia slots to put stuff in to to make it even more superior. The drawback is that this same gear usually requires more end-game dungeon runs to get the needed materials to make them (sometimes just a few, but also sometimes double the runs or even triple the runs for a comparable piece's materials), with a few exceptions (Heavy Darksteel vs. Heavy Darklight body pieces).

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 10:02am by Satisiun

Is there equivalent (crafted) mage armor?

I believe it's called Vanya.

Edit: Yup, checked google. There's a Vanya Robe of Healing and Vanya Robe of Casting :)

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 8:52am by LebargeX
#6 Oct 22 2013 at 10:11 AM Rating: Good
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180 posts
Skaditoo wrote:
Satisiun wrote:
Just to chime in, in regards to Darklight, since you mentioned you've been very craft-focused.

There is also the comparable and crafted Darksteel and Gryphonskin (ARM and LTH-made) gear. The advantage is that this gear has stats on par with -- and sometimes better than -- their Darklight counterparts as well as materia slots to put stuff in to to make it even more superior. The drawback is that this same gear usually requires more end-game dungeon runs to get the needed materials to make them (sometimes just a few, but also sometimes double the runs or even triple the runs for a comparable piece's materials), with a few exceptions (Heavy Darksteel vs. Heavy Darklight body pieces).

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 10:02am by Satisiun

Is there equivalent (crafted) mage armor?


I think that would be the Vanya set. Not 100% sure - at work and can't check my crafting log, but I am pretty sure Vanya is the high level crafted gear for casters.

Edit: LebargeX beat me to it by a long shot.

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 12:12pm by Canadensis
#7 Oct 22 2013 at 12:12 PM Rating: Excellent
1.) Get your AF gear from your 50 class Quest.

2.) Finish the story line.

Congratulations, you are at End Game! Now read this: http://intothemists.com/ffxiv/chart_for_end_game/images/endgameflow.jpg
(Note that post-patch the Stone drops have been increased from this chart)

3.) Now you start running the level 50 dungeons the acquire Tomes of Philosophy (and Tome of Mythology, more on that later.)

4.) Use Tomes of Philosophy to start buying Darklight Gear in Revenant's Toll.

5.) Start working on your Relic Weapon quest.

6.) Start killing Primals! Ifrit is first. Get a weapon drop from one of them to help you through HM Titan.

7.) (Optional) Get some equipment drops from Amador Keep. Just a tad less powerful than Darklight Gear - better than AF.

STOP - Do you have a nice set of 65+ Level Gear? At least one level 60+ Weapon? Ok, Advance to Hard Mode Titan.

The reward for Titan HM is your Relic Weapon, so now you and can start working on Relic +1 and AF2 gear (Need Tomes of Myhtology).
From what I have seen HM Titan is the major gear/skill check. That's what I am working on right now.

Good luck!

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 2:15pm by Gnu
#8 Oct 22 2013 at 4:53 PM Rating: Excellent
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197 posts
Satisiun wrote:
Just to chime in, in regards to Darklight, since you mentioned you've been very craft-focused.

There is also the comparable and crafted Darksteel and Gryphonskin (ARM and LTH-made) gear. The advantage is that this gear has stats on par with -- and sometimes better than -- their Darklight counterparts as well as materia slots to put stuff in to to make it even more superior. The drawback is that this same gear usually requires more end-game dungeon runs to get the needed materials to make them (sometimes just a few, but also sometimes double the runs or even triple the runs for a comparable piece's materials), with a few exceptions (Heavy Darksteel vs. Heavy Darklight body pieces).

Edited, Oct 22nd 2013 10:02am by Satisiun

From what I can see, a HQ crafted piece has an equivalent stat budget to the same Darklight piece (e.g. HQ Darksteel Hands has same stat allocation as DL Hands), with the added benefit of being able to meld materia to it (potentially 5 times).

Now, the piece will be fully allotted to your attributes (i.e. as a MNK, you won't get any value from attaching +STR materia to a piece), but you can significantly tweak your secondary stat budget. Skill Speed, Accuracy, Crit Rating & Determination can all be added, depending on the native stats of the piece (you won't be able to add Acc to a piece already with Acc, but you would be able to add Det to it).
#9 Oct 23 2013 at 12:25 PM Rating: Good
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1,674 posts
carmelita wrote:
From what I can see, a HQ crafted piece has an equivalent stat budget to the same Darklight piece (e.g. HQ Darksteel Hands has same stat allocation as DL Hands), with the added benefit of being able to meld materia to it (potentially 5 times).

Now, the piece will be fully allotted to your attributes (i.e. as a MNK, you won't get any value from attaching +STR materia to a piece), but you can significantly tweak your secondary stat budget. Skill Speed, Accuracy, Crit Rating & Determination can all be added, depending on the native stats of the piece (you won't be able to add Acc to a piece already with Acc, but you would be able to add Det to it).


You're mostly correct.

Several pieces, despite having an existing stat, can still have their native stat boosted further. The HQ Darksteel Haubergeon, for example, has +19 Skill Speed to begin with, but can still get another +8 more from materia. Of course given that the DS Haubergeon lacks Determination in favor of Critical Hit Rate (the DL has Determination), I'd personally recommend compensating for that loss of Determination with some Savage Might materia before boosting existing stats further or adding something else (like Accuracy, unless you're really lacking in advance of the Dark Coils).

Same with the Heavy Darksteel Armor (combined head + body piece). It has +30 parry already but as much as +12 more can be added to it.

On that note, more people need to consider touching the DS/Vanya/Hippo gear with more than just a wary poke. It's true that not everyone knows a crafter who can pimp them out in it, but if you know a 50 Armorer, or a 50 Leatherworker, or a 50 Weaver, definitely see if it might be better for you overall since you'll be in Darklight for a while, given the 18 weeks worth of capped Mythology requirement for full relic (21 weeks if you count the +1 relic weapon). Some pieces are not worth the time and effort, true (I'm looking at you, Vanya Trousers, with your 3,400 tomestones worth of Potash/Coke/Animal Fat), but others are well worth either a few more runs over their counterpart (DS Haubergeon vs. DL Cuirass), and some even cost less due to a fluke in Tomestone prices (1125 Tomestones/12 runs for 9 Coke for the Heavy DS Armor versus 14 runs for the Heavy DL Armor). In fact, I'd throttle any Paladin who did have access to a 50ARM but got the DL body/head anyway since the DS has Determination, a much more important stat, versus Critical Hit Rate.

(I wouldn't really throttle them; just saying.)

Edited, Oct 23rd 2013 2:27pm by Satisiun
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