[Jager]

Got some questions, but beware of length. Just look for the quotes. ("")

Currently, my gear is:

66DRG/33SAM
(DoT/WS/Jump) # means item previously mentioned
Main: Dark Mezraq
Sub: Pole Grip
Ammo: Smart Grenade/#########/Bibiki Seashell
Head: Valkyrie's Mask/Drachen Armet/#########
Body: Scorpion Harness/########/Drachen Mail
Hands: Spiked Fingers/#########/Rush Gloves
Legs: Feral Trousers/##########/########
Feet: Marine M Boots/#########/Drachen Greaves
Neck: Chivalrous Chain/#######/#########
Earrings: Assault & Spike/######/#########
Rings: Rajas Ring & Ulthalam's/#####/#####
Waist: Swordbelt +1 or Potent/Potent/Swordbelt +1 or Potent(Depends on my acc vs. mob's evasion)
Back: Amemet Mantle +1/########/######
Food: Sole Sushi or Coeurl Sub (Depends on my acc with Potent Belt vs. mob's evasion

I have O-Hat, Assault Jerkin, Collossal Lance, and Barone Cosciales all ready for the next level, and I plan to have Tarasque Mitts +1 in my possesion in the near future. So my gear will look something like this:

LV70 DRG/SAM
(DoT/WS/Jump) # means item previously mentioned
Main: Colossal Lance
Sub: Pole Grip
Ammo: Smart Grenade/######/Bibiki Seashell
Head: Optical Hat/Drachen Armet/########
Body: Assault Jerkin/Scorpion Harness/Drachen Mail or Barone Body
Hands: Tarasque Mitts +1/########/Rush Gloves
Legs: Feral Trousers/###########/Barone Cosciales
Feet: Marine M Boots/##########/Drachen Greaves
Neck: Chivalrous Chain/########/##########
Earrings: Assault & Spike/#######/##########
Rings: Rajas Ring & Ulthalam's/####/########
Waist: Swordbelt +1 or Potent/Potent/Swordbelt +1 or Potent (Depends on my acc vs. mob's evasion)
Back: Amemet Mantle +1/#######/#######
Food: Sole Sushi or Coeurl Sub (Depends on my acc with Potent Belt vs. mob's evasion


The problem I have is the Sylph Market got flooded with the items I sell to make money with, and it has been making it difficult to get all the items I want, plus my own doubts have been kicking me. My questionable items are:

"The Barone Body"
A +2 per tick Regen, 13ATk, and Jump Modifier. Is it worth the 600k to get it? It's a great soloing piece, and that's my reason to get it along with the jump mod for any situation.

"The Barone Headpiece"
There's only one reason why I'm getting this, a parry build. A Dragoon's Parry is a C (Evasion C-), which is why I would build on my highest defending skill than wear the Ohat. Alltogether, with the gear I have planned, I can make a +37 Parry (Barone Head holding 10 of it). With Seigan up working with my parry, it be nice to have that kind of defense and mitigate damage for the PLD and WHM, plus save the NIN some shadows. So, the question is, is it worth the 100k to get the item or just stick with what I already own, the O-Hat?

*Maybe I can make some DRG Evasion Build. O-Hat and Drachen Greaves +1 make +20 Evasion with +27 Parry to the side (DRG Hands +1 and Wyrm Mail)

Lastly, the "Barone Feet"
2STR 5ATK 3Parry, better DoT piece than the Marine M Boots, right? What about that +2 Emnity? ...I can pull hate from a PLD just from attacking normally, and I don't have emnity + or -. I think I know the answer to this, but I want to be reassured. Is the Barone Feet worth getting over the Marine M Boots (60HP 3STR 3DEX 2VIT 2AGI -3INT -3MND -3CHR) as a DoT piece?


In the end, when I obtain LV75, I'm looking at a nice financial plan.
Valkyrie's Mask > O-Hat & W.Turban = 70k back into my pocket
Spiked Fingers > Tarasque +1 = 130k profit

That 200k almost buys my Thalasocrat! And I haven't decided yet if I should sell more. I have this tendency to get the gil for the items I want, buy it, then hit the level so I can use it instantly, then sell the old stuff.

Here's a look of my 75DRG in the future
(DoT/WS/Jump/Defense) # means item previously mentioned
Main: Thalassocrat
Sub: Pole Grip
Ammo: Smart Grenade/########/Bibiki Seashell/#######
Head: W.Turban/Drachen Armet +1/##########/Barone Headpiece
Body: Assault Jerkin/Scorpion Harness/Drachen Mail +1 or Barone/Wyrm Mail
Hands: Homam Manopolas/Tarasque Mitts +1/Rush Gloves/DRG Hands +1
Legs: DRG Legs +1, Feral Trousers, or Barone/AF+1/Barone Cosciales/???
Feet: Homam Gambieras/Marine M Boots/Drachen Greaves +1/##
Neck: Chivalrous Chain/Spiked Necklace or Chivalrous Chain/#/##
Earrings: Brutal Earring & Ethereal Earring/########/###/###
Rings: Rajas Ring & Ulthalam's/###############/###/###
Waist: Swordbelt +1 or Potent Belt/Warwolf Belt/#######/Swordbelt +1 or Potent (Depends on my acc vs. mob's evasion)
Back: Amemet Mantle +1/##########/###########/### (Forager's 1 extra STR for 350k more? No thanks!)
Food: Sole Sushi, Coeurl Sub, or Red Curry?

I have lots of new gear coming in for 75, I think I need to get rid of some old gear, but which pieces?

"Should I sell Feral Trousers?"
Feral has 5ATK and Barone has 6ATK with 1 Emnity on it. But Drachen Brais +1 has 9ACC. Barone would probably be a bad choice due to my ability of pulling hate already, so it's between Feral and AF+1, ATK and ACC.

"If I sell my Feral and wear my Brais+1, should I finally stop swapping my Potent Belt and Swordbelt +1?"
I ask this cuz Potent Belt is a high-priced piece. I hate to just let it go cuz I feel I won't need it anymore. Think I should just suck it up and sell it, or will I be seeing a use for the extra 8ACC to DoT?

"I sold my Spiked Necklace when I bought my Chivalrous Chain cuz I needed the ACC. Should I buy it back?"
This may become my new swapping equip if I rid the Potent Belt. Should I get the 3STR 3DEX back or stick with the 3STR 5ACC 1StoreTP for WS gear?

"What if I kept my Potent Belt, wore that and the Chivalrous Chain, should I sell the Scorpion Harness and wear the AJ during WS instead?"
Am I making your head hurt yet? If so, welcome to my dilema.
And some miscellaneous questions... yes, just a couple more.

"If I buy Red Curry, is it really worth it?"
It's a 3 hour food, I won't eat it with colibri (I don't eat food when around colibri... ever!). But is it really a better subsitute than Coeurl Subs?

"I'm starting to wear Emnity+ gear... Is that bad?"
The Barone pieces, Homam pieces, and Warwolf all have Emnity+ Am I looking to get a can of whoopass thrown my way, or will I be able to successful jump away the hate? (Remember I have Wyrm Brais for High Jump. Instead of a 33% hate reduction, it will now be a 50%)

Let me know when your head stops thumping, and if there's anything you want to add to my gear choices, just say something.

[LadyKiKi]

"Should I sell Feral Trousers?"
Feral has 5ATK and Barone has 6ATK with 1 Emnity on it. But Drachen Brais +1 has 9ACC. Barone would probably be a bad choice due to my ability of pulling hate already, so it's between Feral and AF+1, ATK and ACC.

Yes. Buy Barone. That emnity would not be noticable. You're looking too much into it.

"If I sell my Feral and wear my Brais+1, should I finally stop swapping my Potent Belt and Swordbelt +1?"
I ask this cuz Potent Belt is a high-priced piece. I hate to just let it go cuz I feel I won't need it anymore. Think I should just suck it up and sell it, or will I be seeing a use for the extra 8ACC to DoT?

N/A

"I sold my Spiked Necklace when I bought my Chivalrous Chain cuz I needed the ACC. Should I buy it back?"
This may become my new swapping equip if I rid the Potent Belt. Should I get the 3STR 3DEX back or stick with the 3STR 5ACC 1StoreTP for WS gear?

Keep Chiv Chain. Penta Thrust is multi hit. You want Acc.

"What if I kept my Potent Belt, wore that and the Chivalrous Chain, should I sell the Scorpion Harness and wear the AJ during WS instead?"
Am I making your head hurt yet? If so, welcome to my dilema.
And some miscellaneous questions... yes, just a couple more.

Keep SH for level cap stuff/other jobs. AJ is the piece to wear

"If I buy Red Curry, is it really worth it?"
It's a 3 hour food, I won't eat it with colibri (I don't eat food when around colibri... ever!). But is it really a better subsitute than Coeurl Subs?

No, it's not. If you die you lose it. Unless you're doing something really easy or you're rich.

"I'm starting to wear Emnity+ gear... Is that bad?"
The Barone pieces, Homam pieces, and Warwolf all have Emnity+ Am I looking to get a can of whoopass thrown my way, or will I be able to successful jump away the hate? (Remember I have Wyrm Brais for High Jump. Instead of a 33% hate reduction, it will now be a 50%)

Wear it. You won't notice any difference. You're generating emnity from your hard hits anyway. Generating that little bit more isn't an end all. If you're whooping ass anyway you're generating hate. If you do notice difference, it's because everyone else around you sucks. Honest.




Your gear seems fine. Best not to focus (i.e. panic/stress over it) that much more until you hit 75. Your gear is very good and dedicated already.

EDIT: oh yeh, don't get Barone Body unless you're rich/want to look pretty/solo. AJ is fine. I brought one to walk around/idle in and use it for farming, but not much else. Don't get Barone Head or Hands. Feet is up to you depending on finance, but RSE feet is fine.

[Vyuru]

66DRG/33SAM
(DoT/WS/Jump) # means item previously mentioned
Main: Dark Mezraq
Sub: Pole Grip
Ammo: Smart Grenade/#########/Bibiki Seashell
Head: Valkyrie's Mask/Drachen Armet/#########
Body: Scorpion Harness/########/Drachen Mail
Hands: Spiked Fingers/#########/Rush Gloves
Legs: Feral Trousers/##########/########
Feet: Marine M Boots/#########/Drachen Greaves
Neck: Chivalrous Chain/#######/#########
Earrings: Assault & Spike/######/#########
Rings: Rajas Ring & Ulthalam's/#####/#####
Waist: Swordbelt +1 or Potent/Potent/Swordbelt +1 or Potent(Depends on my acc vs. mob's evasion)
Back: Amemet Mantle +1/########/######
Food: Sole Sushi or Coeurl Sub (Depends on my acc with Potent Belt vs. mob's evasion

These are my own personal preferences and what I think, there's nothing nessaceraly wrong with what you're doing.

I don't like to swap in the Drachen Armet, I lose the +att from the Valkyrie Mask which I rather like, and in addition my wyvern seems to use her breath attacks just fine, I don't see much difference in it. Other people though swear by the AF helm for breath attacks though, so this falls under a matter of personal preference.

Likewise, I think that the Spiked Finger Gauntlets will probably do more for you than the Rush Gloves for jumps. Yes, Jumps are affected by Vit, but they are also affected by Att and I think the +12att/-2vit outweighs the +4vit on the Rush Gloves.

Bodywise for Jumps, I don't know if I'd use the AF over the SH. It depends on your accuracy I guess. In general I'd say if you aren't really going to miss, go with the AF, if you might miss, use the SH. I'd use the AJ over SH/AF for TP and Jumps once you get it.

And I'm indifferent to the Bibiki Seashell vs Smart Grenade, I don't really know if +4att or +4vit would be better or not.

LV70 DRG/SAM
(DoT/WS/Jump) # means item previously mentioned
Main: Colossal Lance
Sub: Pole Grip
Ammo: Smart Grenade/######/Bibiki Seashell
Head: Optical Hat/Drachen Armet/########
Body: Assault Jerkin/Scorpion Harness/Drachen Mail or Barone Body
Hands: Tarasque Mitts +1/########/Rush Gloves
Legs: Feral Trousers/###########/Barone Cosciales
Feet: Marine M Boots/##########/Drachen Greaves
Neck: Chivalrous Chain/########/##########
Earrings: Assault & Spike/#######/##########
Rings: Rajas Ring & Ulthalam's/####/########
Waist: Swordbelt +1 or Potent/Potent/Swordbelt +1 or Potent (Depends on my acc vs. mob's evasion)
Back: Amemet Mantle +1/#######/#######

I hate the Ohat with a passion that rivals my loathing of clowns, so I'd recommend the Pahluwan Qalansuwa, and I like the stats on it better. It can be alot of work to get it though, and since you already have an Ohat you may just want to use that.

Assault Jerkin, great for all occasions.

I'd TP in Barone Cosciales, the +1 enmity really is not noticable at all. It kinda does start getting noticable though once you stack it with say the Warwolf belt. However I'm also not seeing any tanking going on in merit parties at all, jumps, Seigan+TE, and Meditate can all compensate for taking hate as well though, so it's not really an issue in my mind so long as you don't get hate right at the start of a fight with Penta Thrust while TE/Jumps are down.

I kind of liked the Fowling Earring for the +acc, but being a mithra I also liked to TP in Pallas Bracelets which had a little -acc on them, so again this falls under personal preferences and personal gear builds. One person's build may not work with another person's play style.

"The Barone Body"
A +2 per tick Regen, 13ATk, and Jump Modifier. Is it worth the 600k to get it? It's a great soloing piece, and that's my reason to get it along with the jump mod for any situation.

It is SO not worth it. The Jump Modifier from the Barone Cosciales will be enough to prevent you from being stuck at that 97%-99%TP, as well as being /sam and what little +store TP gear you have, for most of the time. Furthermore, +2hp/3s isn't that impressive to me, it's nice, but not 600k nice. What IS 600k nice though is the Saurian Helm, which boosts Healing Breaths by roughly 50% (I've heard 57%ish). I'd rather buy the Saurian Helm than the Barone body, especially since they are comparably priced on my server.

I don't know if I'd bother with a parry/evasion build unless I was planning on tanking/soloing, and before I thought about it then I'd make sure my skill was capped, or near as capped as I could get it. If you want to build on your parry skill I highly recommend soloing Chigoe, they're great for it and where the main reason I got my parry skill up to the 140s.

As for feet... I think I'd rather go with Amir for DoT over either of those. I dislike having a bunch of +enmity though so I'd say no on the Barone feet.

"I sold my Spiked Necklace when I bought my Chivalrous Chain cuz I needed the ACC. Should I buy it back?"

Never!

"What if I kept my Potent Belt, wore that and the Chivalrous Chain, should I sell the Scorpion Harness and wear the AJ during WS instead?"

Keep it for any lvl capped events. I kinda like the Jaridah Peti better than the SH myself, so if you are looking to make some cash back you might want to consider selling the SH and switching to that. However I also use/d the GKL at lvl 60, and while I think either the SH or the Peti is fine, the SH might work better for you since you use the Dark Mezraq which needs it's added effect to go off in order to get that nice +acc boost.

"If I buy Red Curry, is it really worth it?"

I have yet to get into a merit party where it was worthwhile to spend vast amounts of gil on food, so my answer is gonna be no. In LS merit parties we go in for fun, so I'm kinda indifferent on food there, I'd certainly be more willing. But like I said, we go for fun as a group and not for maximum exp/hr, so I'm not overly in favor of the more expensive foods. If you really wanna spend gil on some good food, you might want to consider Rabbit Pies, although they are expensive if you don't have cooking leveled or a friend with cooking leveled.

The Barone pieces, Homam pieces, and Warwolf all have Emnity+ Am I looking to get a can of whoopass thrown my way, or will I be able to successful jump away the hate? (Remember I have Wyrm Brais for High Jump. Instead of a 33% hate reduction, it will now be a 50%)

I suspect you are going to be looking at a whoopass thrown your way, although I can't say for sure.

Something to keep in mind is that merit parties are vastly different from normal parties. You're kinda starting to wear the same amount of +enmity that alot of tanks wear, for normal hits, and you hit/WS harder than a normal tank as well. IMO you're in a pretty good merit party regardless of exp/hr if the war/nin or nin/war bother to Provoke off of someone who has hate and shadows down. I have just yet to see any real cooperation in a merit party. That being said, there are normally ways to deal with hate issues like I mentioned above. You have 2x hate shedding jumps, you can Meditate to kill the mob faster, you have Seigan+TE, so you've got alot of options. My general experience is that so long as you don't fire off a WS at the start of a fight while your timers are down, you should be in pretty good shape.

The important thing to remember is Seigan+TE. Yes, you might still have shadows up, but it might be only one shadow left for all you know and the timer is still at say, 8-15 seconds. That's where I tend to run into trouble at anyrate.

And as a point of comparison, the ideal haste build that I'm looking at for my 75 Drg/Sam is:


Weapon: Thalassocrat
Grip: Pole Grip
Ranged: Mamool Bane
Head: Askar Zucchetto
Body: Askar Korazin
Hands: Dusk Gloves
Legs: Barbarossa's Zerehs
Feet: Aurum Sabatons
Neck: Chivalrous Chain
Rings: Rajas/Blood Ring
Earrings: Assault/Brutal
Waist: Swift Belt
Back: Amemet+1

I have some of it, still working on others (getting closer to a Rajas Ring and a Brutal Earring!) And we'll just have to see how this build works once I get it all together.

And I'll echo Kiki's comment, don't stress about the gear so much. IMO you seem to be focusing on the min/max aspect of it a little too much, and if that's your thing then that's fine, but keep in mind that nobody is expecting that level of gear swappage from you. And that last bit is mostly directed at the swapping of Tarasque Mitts+1 for Rush Gloves for jumps (which I don't think I'd do, I think the +att is more usefull).

Anywho, that's my 5gil on it! I hope it helps.
______________________________
Oh, one last thing. Does that Smart Grenade's added effect proc on normal weapon hits, or just when you throw it? If it procs on normal weapon hits, it might not be wise to use it because the added effect: Fire damage might over ride the added effect: Evasion Down on the Dark Mezraq/Thalassocrat.

I don't know if it does, or how it works, but it's just something that popped into my head.

[Jager]

Thank you Vyuru and LadyKiki for replying to my questions. I will admit I look too much into enhancing a part of my job, so I'm glad to have ppl give it to me straight.

With that, yes, the rush gloves are history. Chiv Chain, Potent Belt, and SH will be saved for extra ACC purposes. (I may need them for the endgame events.) I'm still stuck on wanting the Barone Body, and I am willing to make money for it. If I can get all the ingrediants and find a crafter, I'll save about 150k if I'm not charged a synth fee.

I would like to reply back some of my thoughts on what has been discussed. Kiki gave me straight answers that I have agreed with, so I'm not bashing Vyuru in anyway. My replies are opinions too.

I don't see much difference in it. Other people though swear by the AF helm for breath attacks though, so this falls under a matter of personal preference.

I wear the helm to have my wyvern breathe the most effective breath. There's been times pre 60 where the breath was the wrong one, and the damage was a big difference from the correct one. The +7ATK wouldn't be able to make that difference during the WS in my opinion, so I wear the helm.

I don't know if I'd use the AF over the SH. It depends on your accuracy I guess.

I do miss, but not enough to want to switch to the SH.

I don't really know if +4att or +4vit would be better or not.

I've treated Jumps like Weaponskills, and I've always been told the stat modifiers are more effective than base attack.

"The Fowling Earring"
I've never really felt the earring was going to play any use for me vs. Spike or Assault. I have plenty of ACC, the 1STR doesn't make up for the 5ATK, and I don't know if I should pay 100k for intimidating birds as a DRG. (PLD on the other hand might find some use to that vs Suzaka and Thiazies)

"The Saurian Helm"
I have never seen this item till now, I will look into it.

"Dusk Gloves & Swift Belt"
I know a guy that can make Dusk Armor. If I can get my hands on either the gloves or the leather, I'll see if I can get him to make some for me. For the Swift Belt, my LS has been making runs to get this item, but I so far haven't stepped up to want one myself. I am now considering getting it.

"Amir, Pahluwan, Askar, Barabossa, and Aurum"
I have not tossed these armors aside, I unfortunately don't take the time to obtain them. I'm hoping to spend more time in Assaults after completing my 3rd 75 job. (DRG is my 2nd 75, 3rd is at LV51).

Originally Posted by Vyuru

Oh, one last thing. Does that Smart Grenade's added effect proc on normal weapon hits, or just when you throw it? If it procs on normal weapon hits, it might not be wise to use it because the added effect: Fire damage might over ride the added effect: Evasion Down on the Dark Mezraq/Thalassocrat.
I don't know if it does, or how it works, but it's just something that popped into my head.

I have never seen the Fire damage effect go off during my attacking, so I believe the effect only happens when you throw it.

Thank you again Vyuru and LadyKiki.

[Armando]

I do miss, but not enough to want to switch to the SH.

Unless your hit rate is over 90% (in which case part of the +5% hit rate SH would give would be wasted, or you're already at the 95% cap) you should wear SH. Accuracy is the most important DD staff in the game, after Haste.

I've treated Jumps like Weaponskills, and I've always been told the stat modifiers are more effective than base attack.

Unless you're a SAM, that advice is awful. However, 4 Attack is small enough that the difference between it and 4 VIT would be negligible.