[Lmnop]

Yes, I've been whining about Haste in general for some time. It annoys me that there really is an ultimate stat. But heck, while I'm at it I'm also still bothered at how much more important acc is than STR/Attack. If haste's behavior were ever toned down, I'd probably go back to complaining about acc.

Probably the reason I'm fond of Souleater and Haste is simply because of Homam. If you look at the whole Homam set, it just wreaks of Souleater glee. Haste, acc, HP, and sure we'll give some bonus MP because you're a DRK and not going to get much Refresh. Nerfing Haste's effects on Souleater would seriously dampen a DRK's reason to get said gear.

But counterpoint. Homam is so good that there's so much other gear that gets left by the wayside. Black Cuisses give something like attack+14 and STR+3? Who cares? Haste +3% and a handful of acc is better! This is a prime example of why Haste gear has become too effective. It's the only stat in the game (that I know of) wherein every point is always better than the last (unless you've hit a cap).

But Haste, currently, is the only thing keeping 2 handers in the same ballpark as a Ridill.

Armando: About S-E's poor haste gear decisions, that's in response to an earlier flaw they made: giving NIN access to every bit of Haste gear in the game. This is how the game was for quite some time (basically, from Zilart 'til Homam came out). Wars, Nins, and Monks were the only people with Haste gear. And they controlled Sky and KRT with it.