[Vyuru]

Enough changes have been made to the Drg job that I think the current guides are a bit outdated in some aspects.

Also, the format for this has been shamelessly ripped from Armando's Pld Equipment guide because it's that awesome! And it looks much better than how I was originally making it.

This is a work in progress. I'll be adding to it as I go. Comments/suggestions are most welcome!

Gear in blue text is for healing breath equipment.

Unlocking Dragoon

In order to unlock the Dragoon job you must have a job that is level 30 or higher. The steps to unlocking Drg are:

Travel to Port San d'Oria. Go to Cargo Room A and talk to Ceraulian.

Go to the Chateau d'Oraguille located in North Sandy, underneath it is the Bostaunieux Oubliette. Talk to Novalmauge in the dungeon part of it, do not go down the trap door into the sewers! Not that you must be Rank 2 or higher to enter the Chateau.

Hop on over to the Manuscript Room in the Cathedral next to the Chateau and talk to Morjean.

Obtain a Pickaxe or two incase one breaks and travel to the Maze of Shakhrami. You can find the entrance to the Maze at K-5 of the Tahrongi Canyon. Once you are inside search for an Excavation Point, you will find them next to the giant skeletons lying in the rooms. Once you find one trade the pickaxe to it until you obtain a Wyvern Egg.

Return to Morjean.

Run on over to the Meriphataud Mountains. There will be a ??? located at K-8 against Drogaroga's Spine that you need to trade the egg to.

Travel yet again to the Chateau d'Oraguille and talk to Rahal who will give you a key item.

Travel to the hut located at F-10 of Gheslba Outpost, prepare for a BCNM fight. The NM is a level 40ish wyvern type monster. Most jobs can solo him at 45, 50 to be safe. Bring help

Defeat the NM to unlock the Dragoon job!

Job Traits

Job Traits are always active

[Lvl 10] Attack Bonus I: Grants +10 Attack

[Lvl 25] Dragon Killer: Gives you the chance to intimidate dragon type monsters

[Lvl 30] Accuracy Bonus I: Grants you +10 Accuracy

[Lvl 50] Accuracy Bonus II: Grants you an additional +12 Accuracy

Merit Job Traits

[Lvl 75] Empathy: Copies one beneficial status effect over to your wyvern when you use Spirit Link for each level of Empathy that you have, max of 5. Empathy also allows you to use Spirit Link while your wyvern is at 100 HP.

[Lvl 75] Strafe: Increases your wyvern's magical accuracy by 5 for each merit, max of 5.

Job Abilities

[Lvl 1] Spirit Surge: Recast 2:00:00, must have your wyvern out in order to use it. When you use Spirit Surge your wyvern will disappear and you will absorb some of your wyvern's stats, Jump, High Jump, and Super Jump's recast timers will be set to 0, your max HP will increase, and your Jumps will acquire additional 100% active so long as they hit effects, the full effects of Spirit Surge are:

Jump: Temporarily weakens defense.
High Jump: Reduces an enemies TP.
Super Jump: Reduces the Enmity of the person standing behind the Dragoon by half.
Your Wyvern's TP is added to yours.
You gain a boost to your damage, Str, and 25% Haste.
Your max HP is increased by about 15%
You are healed by about the same amount of health as your wyvern currently has.

[Lvl 1] Call Wyvern: Recast 20:00 Calls out your wyvern

[Lvl 10] Jump: Recast 1:30 Delivers a Jump attack, nothing fancy

[Lvl 25] Spirit Link: Recast 3:00 Randomly uses about 25%-35% of your health to heal your wyvern

[Lvl 35] High Jump: Recast 3:00 Delivers a Jump Attack, reduces your Enmity by 33%

[Lvl 50] Super Jump: Recast 3:00 Jumps high into the air with your wyvern and disappears from the screen for several seconds, reduces your current Enmity by 99%. If you use this while solo the monster's attention will shift to your wyvern. Does not work on monsters who have linked onto you, you must have some form of enmity generated in order for them to lose interest in you. If you use Super Jump as a monster readies it's special attack then, and you are up in the air by the time the monster uses it's special attack, then it will miss. Same goes for magic, if you are up in the air by the time the spell goes off it will not hit you. A Dragoon who has used Super Jump cannot be hit by anything, beneficial or detrimental, while they are up in the air.

Merited Job Abilities

[Lvl 75] Deep Breathing: Recast 15:00 Each additional merit reduces the recast timer by 2:30 for a max of 5. Deep Breathing roughly doubles the power of a wyvern's Elemental Breath and Healing Breath.

[Lvl 75] Angon: Recast 3:00 Lowers an enemy's defense by 20% Initial duration of effect: 30 seconds. Each additional merit increases the duration of effect by 15 seconds for a max of 5 upgrades.

Polearms, General Info

Spears typically have a delay of 396, and lower damage than a lance. Lances have 492 delay and higher damage than a spear.

396 delay = 10.2%TP/hit
492 delay = 13.3%TP/hit

The game keeps track of TP under 1%, so 4 hits of a Lance will return 53%TP, and you will not see the additional .2%TP

60 worth of delay = 1 second, so:

Spear: 396/60 = about 6.6 seconds per swing
Lance: 492/60 = about 8.2 seconds per swing

Assuming all swings hit the monster, and that you are starting at 0% TP:

Spear: Needs about 10 hits to reach 102%tp which is about 66 seconds
Lance: Needs about 8 hits to reach 106.4%tp which is about 65.6 seconds

And assuming I did the math right, this shows that both polearms will arrive at 100% TP at about the same time, so that debunks the spear gains TP faster arguement that I hear so often.

It's worth mentioning that a weapon's TP/hit will carryover to the first hit of a WS and to Jumps. So a Jump with a Lance equipped will return 13.3%TP if it hits. Double Thrust will return 13.3%+1%TP, note if you miss with the first hit you only get back 1%TP.

Furthermore, lances have a higher base damage than spears do. This extra damage will increase the damage that your Jumps and Weaponskills do.

In short, while there is maybe one or two exceptional spears, use a lance!

Polearms

Levels 1-10

[Lvl 1] Harpoon...........| 8 Dmg ~ 396 delay ~ 1.21dps|
[Lvl 7] Bronze Spear....|16 dmg ~ 396 delay ~ 2.42 dps|

Levels 11-20

[Lvl 14] Brass Spear....| 25 dmg ~ 396 delay ~ 3.79 dps|
[Lvl 20] Platoon Lance.| 37 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 4.51 dps|
OR
[Lvl20] Fuscina...........| 31 dmg ~ 396 delay ~ 4.70 dps| Additional Effect: Lightning Damage

Notes

Platoon Lance is the best, Fuscina is worth mentioning in case you cannot obtain a Platoon Lance.

Levels 21-30

[Lvl 30] Royal Squire's Halberd...| 37 dmg ~ 396 delay ~ 5.61 dps|

Notes

I dislike that this gives lower TP/hit than the Platoon Lance, however you do more damage with this, so it seems a worthy upgrade.

Levels 31-40

[Lvl 34] Lance..................| 51 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 6.22 dps|

[Lvl 40] Behourd Lance(R)..| 60 dmg ~ 478 delay ~ 7.53 dps| Agi+2

Notes

The Behourd Lance is pretty cheap, even though you'll only use it for a few levels I'd go ahead and pick on up.

Levels 41-50

[Lvl 42] Peregrine(R/E).........| 61 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 7.44 dps| Dex/Vit+1

[Lvl 48] Mythril Lance..........| 69 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 8.41 dps|

Notes

The Peregrine is almost identical to the Behourd Lance, use whichever you prefer.

Levels 51-60

[Lvl 53] Holy Lance................| 74 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 9.02 dps| Additional Effect: Holy Damage

[Lvl 58] Darksteel Lance..........|78 dmg ~ 507 delay ~ 9.23 dps|

[Lvl 60] Grand Knight's Lance....| 80 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 9.76 dps| Acc+7
OR
[Lvl 60] Dark Mezraq...............| 81 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 9.88 dps| Additional Effect: Impairs Evasion

Notes

It's a tossup to me between the GKL and the Dark Mezraq. The Evasion Down on the Dark Mezraq activates on a pretty decent basis, so it does benefit the party, but the +7acc on the GKL is really nice. I like to compare it to smacking the mob upside the head with a Scorpion Harness. Either one is fine IMO, it's more a matter of personal preference.

Levels 61-70

[Lvl 70] Collosal Lance....| 88 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 10.73 dps| HP+25 Str+3 Vit+5
OR
[Lvl 70] Engetsuto.........| 85 dmg ~ 480 delay ~ 10.62 dps| Acc+2 Store TP+1

Notes

Either one is good. While I prefer Lances, the Engetsuto can be quite a bit cheaper sometimes so it's worth mentioning.

Levels 71-75

[Lvl 71] Imperial Neza(R/E)....| 92 dmg ~ 478 delay ~ 11.55 dps| Depending on day increases elemental WS damage

[Lvl 75] Thalassocrat...........| 94 dmg ~ 492 delay ~ 11.46 dps| HP+10 Dex/Vit+2 Additional Affect: Impairs Evasion

Notes

I left some weapons out mostly because this is more of a guide for people taking their first or perhaps second job to 75. As such I tend to view gear that may take an alliance to get as unreasonable, even if I do think that they would be a good weapon such as the Cletine or the Skystrider/Supremacy Earring combo. This is also why you will not see a Maat's Cap listed anywhere in this guide except for this sentence, no matter how nice it is.

Grips

[Lvl 30] Brass Grip +1...........|Dex+2|

[Lvl 55] Mythril Grip +1.........|Str/Vit/Acc+2|

[Lvl 60] Pole Grip..................|Double Attack +2%|

Head

Levels 1-10

[Lvl 1] Bronze Cap................| Def 2|

[Lvl 1] Copper Hairpin...........| Def 0 HP -2 MP +5|

[Lvl 10] Faceguard................| Def 5|

[Lvl 10] Brass Hairpin............| Def 0 HP -4 MP +10|

Levels 11-20

[Lvl 17] Lizard Helm...............| Def 7|

[Lvl 20] Silver Hairpin.............| Def 0 HP -6 MP +15|

Levels 21-30

[Lvl 27] Brass Mask................| Def 11|

[Lvl 30] Merc. Cpt. Headgear..| Def 10 Str/Dex +1|

Levels 31-40

Nothing

Levels 41-50

[Lvl 43] Valkyrie's Mask.......................| Def 16 MP +10 Att +7|
OR
[Lvl 43] Walkure Mask.........................| Def 11 HP +15 Att +6|

Levels 51-60

[Lvl 60] Drachen Armet(R/E)................| Def 16 HP +12 Mnd +5 Resist vs Lightning +10| Wyvern uses breaths more effectively

Levels 61-70]

Nothing

Levels 71-75

[Lvl 72] Pahluwan Qalansuwa(R/E).....| Def 15 Acc +7 Att+5 RAcc +7|

[Lvl 75] Walahra Turban(R/E)..............| Def 0 HP/MP +30 Haste +5%|

Neck

Levels 1-10

[Lvl 3] Pile Chain(R/E).........| Def 0 HP+3 Acc+1|

Notes for levels 1-20 neckwear:

Beyond the Pile Chain, nothing really stands out for a melee during these levels, or else while they may be interesting you will be gaining levels so rapidly that they will rapidly become obsolete by lvl 21. The Pile Chain IMO is the only really good neckpiece until level 21, if you either do not have one, or are unwilling to farm for one, just go with whatever. If you do choose to go for a Pile Chain, best of luck 'cause I'm on chest 30+ and have yet to see one >.<

Levels 11-20

Notes

If you have the Pile Chain, stick with it, if not, wear just about whatever you'd like.

Levels 21-30

[Lvl 21] Fang Necklace........| Def 0 Str/Dex +2 Mnd -4|

[Lvl 21] Spike Necklace.......| Def 0 Str/Dex +3 Mnd -6|

Notes

Splurge on the Spike Necklace, there are very few pieces of HQ gear that I would highly recommend buying, this is one of them.

Levels 31-40

Notta

Levels 41-50

Hope you're liking that Spike Necklace!

Levels 51-60

[Lvl 56] Coral Gorget..............| Def 5 Acc +3 RAcc +3|

[Lvl 56] Merman's Gorget........| Def 7 Acc +5 RAcc +5|

[Lvl 60] Chivalrous Chain........| Def 5 Str +3 Acc +5 Store TP +1|

Notes

If you really want a possible upgrade then it would be one of these. However if you got the Spike Necklace then I wouldn't consider it worthwhile to switch to a Coral, and with a Chivalrous Chain at 60, I view the Merman's Gorget as a waste of gil. My recommendation would be to get neither and wait for a Chivalrous Chain, but I thought it was worth mentioning these two gorgets.

Levels 61-70

[Lvl 70] Chanoix's Gorget(R/E).......| Def 0 Acc +2 Wyvern HP+50|

Levels 71-75

Notes

Stick with the Chivalrous Chain unless you have Sea access, in which case see the Tweaking Your Gear section that has yet to be written but is forthcoming.

Body

Levels 1-10

[Lvl 1] Any

[Lvl 7] Leather Vest.......| Def 7|

[Lvl 10] Scale Mail..........| Def 11|

Levels 11-20

[Lvl 16] Bone Harness...| Def 14|
OR
[Lvl 17] Lizard Jerkin.....| Def 15|

Levels 21-30

[Lvl 21] Beetle Harness....| Def 17|

[Lvl 27] Brass Scale Mail...| Def 21|

[Lvl 30] Merc. Cpt. Doublet....| Def 20 Dex/Agi +1|

Levels 31-40

[Lvl 33] Magna Bodice...........| Def 18 HP +24 MP +4 Dex +1 Int +1| <<< Elvaan female RSE
[Lvl 33] Magna Jerkin............| Def 18 HP +24 MP +4 Dex +1 Int +1| <<< Elvaan male RSE
[Lvl 33] Savage Seperates....| Def 18 HP +32 Str +1 Chr +1| <<< Mithra RSE
[Lvl 33] Wonder Kaftan.........| Def 18 HP +36 Str +1 Vit +2 Mnd +1| <<< Tarutaru RSE

Levels 41-50

[Lvl 42] Earth Doublet...........| Def 27 Vit +4 Earth elemental resistance +5|

[Lvl 45] Brigandine................| Def 32 HP +10 Dex +2 Vit +2|

[Lvl 45] Brigandine+1............| Def 33 HP+15 Dex/Vit +3 Str/Agi/Mnd/Int/Chr+1|

Notes

Let me just say that I totally abhor the way the Brigandine and this is one of the few places where I will take looks over functinality. Yes, the Brigandine is better than the Earth Doublet, but I can't stand looking like some add for Purina. The price of the Brig+1 is normally absurdly high, so I would not recommend getting the +1 here, also the benefits won't last you long and they are small in my mind.

Levels 51-60

[Lvl 50] Wyvern Mail(R/E)......| Def 36 Wyvern HP+65 HP Recovered by healing +1|

[Lvl 55] Jaridah Peti..............| Def 42 HP -25 Acc +5 Att +5 Racc +5|

[Lvl 55] Akinji Peti................| Def 43 HP -25 Acc +6 Att +6 Racc +6|

[Lvl 57] Scorpion Harness......| Def 40 HP +15 Acc +10 Eva +10 Water/Dark Resistance +15 Ice Resistance -20|

[Lvl 57] Scorpion Harness+1...| Def 41 HP +20 Acc +12 Eva +12 Water/Dark Resistance +20 Ice Resistance -20|

Notes
Jaridah vs Scorpion

In general, if you're hurting for accuracy you should go with the Scorpion Harness. If you're doing well on accuracy, then the +att on the Jaridah Peti will help more. The prices on both of these pieces of gear has fallen, so that is no longer a consideration for myself. Both pieces of gear are quite nice, and I would say that there is no wrong choice between the two of them and that the choice is more of a personal one rather than one is clearly better than the other.


Levels 61-70

[Lvl 67] Assault Jerkin(R/E).....| Def 42 HP -1% Acc +3 Att +18|

Notes

This piece of gear is VERY worth the effort in order to obtain it. Camping NMs is not one of my favorite activities but I am very glad I did it and I am eternally thankful to the people who helped me camp Ose for it. If you get this piece, pretty much skip the lvl 71-75 portion because this is what you'll be wearing to TP in. Although it's worth it to take a look at the Barone Corazza, I know some people like to wear it for the added TP to jumps.

Levels 71-75

[Lvl 70] Barone Corazza..........| Def 43 Att +13 Adds 2hp/3s Regen Enmity +2 +2 TP to Jump and High Jump|

[Lvl 70] Conte Corazza...........| Def 44 Att +14 Adds 2hp/3s Regen Enmity +3 +3 TP to Jump and High Jump|

[Lvl 72] Amir Korazin(R/E)........| Def 44 Att +12 Eva +12 Enhances Zanshin|

[Lvl 72] Pahluwan Khazagand(R/E)....| Def 42 HP +20 Acc +10 Racc +10 Hhp +2 Increases rate of critical hits|

Notes

The Pahluwan Khazagand should be more or less obsolete by the time you can get it, however if you want an accuracy piece and didn't pickup the Scorpion Harness this is a decent one to have. In exp parties though I'd really doubt that you'd need this however, so it's more of an honorable mention.

If you do not have the gil for a Barone Corazza, or are unwilling to spend it, and you did not pickup the Assault Jerkin then I would recommend the Amir Korazin. Once your accuracy is taken care of +str/att gear is your friend.

Hands

Levels 1-10

[Lvl 1] Any

[Lvl 7] Leather Gloves.........| Def 2|

[Lvl 10] Legionnaire's Mittens..| Def 3 Att +3|
OR
[Lvl 10] Royal Footman's Gloves...| Def 3 Att +3|

Levels 11-20

[Lvl 14] Battle Gloves................| Def 4 Acc +3 Eva +3|

Notes

You'll be using these gloves for quite some time to come unless you are a taru or hume.

Levels 21-30

[Lvl 27] Custom F Gloves..........| Def 6 HP +12 MP +4 Str +3 Dex +3 Vit -1 Agi -1| <<< Hume F RSE
[Lvl 27] Custom M Gloves..........| Def 6 HP +12 MP +4 Str +3 Dex +3 Vit -1 Agi -1| <<< Hume M RSE
[Lvl 27] Wonder Mitts...............| Def 6 HP +12 Str +3| <<< Taru RSE

Notes

Humes at this point can switch over to their RSE hands at this point. +3 Str is pretty good for a taru, however I would stick with the Battle Gloves and use the Wonder Mitts as a WS macro piece.

Levels 31-40

[Lvl 40] Ogygos's Bracelets.........| Def 9 HP +20 Str +5 Dex -3 Agi -3|

Notes

Nothing too terribly worthwhile at this point. You could use the Ogygos's Bracelets as a WS piece however. My own personal preference would be to stick with the Battle Gloves at this point and wait until lvl 50 and using the Enky Bracelets as a WS macro piece.

Levels 41-50

[Lvl 50] Enkelados's Bracelets.....| Def 14 HP +25 Str +7 Dex -4 Agi -4|

[Lvl 50] Spiked Finger Gauntlets..| Def 8 Vit -2 Att +12|

Notes

At this point in time I would lay the Battle Gloves by the wayside and pickup a pair of Enky Bracelets for WSing in, and a pair of SFG for TPing in. If you cannot afford the SFG then you might want to consider TPing in the Enky Bracelets, the amount of Str they give you is quite nice and you are at a level where the -4 Dex shouldn't affect you terribly much. My best advice however is to get each, Enky for WS and SPF for TP. If you chose to get the Ogy Bracelets at lvl 40 and plan on getting the SFG to TP in, I would skip the Enky and pickup the Pallas at lvl 60. Unless you have the best of gear and all other options are taken care of, a +2 str upgrade to gear that is already a +Str slot isn't that much IMO.

Levels 51-60

[Lvl 60] Pallas's Bracelets..........| Def 15 Str +9 Dex -5 Agi -5|

Notes

Pick these up if you have gotten the Ogy Bracelets. Consider picking these up if you got the Enky Bracelets. It's true what I said earlier that I don't consider a +2 str upgrade to be much, however I also don't expect anyone to pay the kinds of prices you'd have to pay for the Alky Bracelets either. You may be wearing the Enky/Pallas for awhile in WS macros, so it's just a thought to keep in mind.

Levels 61-70

[Lvl 70] Alkyoneus's Bracelets...| Def 16 Str +11 Dex -6 Agi -6|

[Lvl 70] Tarasque Mitts..............| Def 7 Chr -5 Att +10 Fire Resistance -5|

[Lvl 70] Tarasque Mitts+1..........| Def 8 Chr -6 Att +12 Fire Resistance -6|

Notes

Unless you go into HNM or other special events, Alky Bracelets will be your best form of +str gear in your hand equipment slot. Whether or not you get the Alky, if you got the Pallas Bracelets then I would TP in those and skip Tarasque Mitts. You'll have to do a price check between the Tarasque+1 and the SFG to decide which you want.

It's at this point that you should keep in mind that +att isn't everything, now that you are nearing lvl 75 a Haste build is starting to open up for you.

Levels 71-75

[Lvl 72] Dusk Gloves...............| Def 24 HP +20 Att +5 Haste +3% Decreases Movement Speed|

[Lvl 72] Dusk Gloves+1...........| Def 25 HP +22 Att +6 Haste +4% Decreases Movement Speed|

Notes

I dislike the movement speed down on these, but that is easily worked around. IMO these are the best haste pieces for the hand that you can get. Dusk Gloves +1 are better, but I would not expect anyone to have one of those due to the price.

Waist

Levels 1-10

Anything or nothing. Makes very little difference.

Levels 11-20

[Lvl 15] Warrior's Belt.............| Def 1 HP +3 Vit +2|

[Lvl 15] Warrior's Belt +1........| Def 2 HP +4 Vit +3|

Levels 21-30

None

Levels 31-40

[Lvl 40] Tilt Belt(R).................| Def 3 Acc +5 Eva -5|

Levels 41-50

[Lvl 43] Sword Belt................| Def 4 Att +10|

[Lvl 43] Sword Belt+1............| Def 5 Att +12|

[Lvl 45] Vanguard Belt...........| Def 3 Str +3 Att +5|

[Lvl 48] Life Belt.....................| Def 0 Acc +10|

Notes

Between the Sword Belt and the Vanguard Belt I favor the Vanguard Belt even though the Sword Belt is a bit better. It does have less attack but I tend to favor pieces that give both. You're also in a time where you kind of want to have a bit of extra strength to raise the floor of the damage that you do. I would take the Sword Belt +1 over the Vanguard Belt though. If you need +acc, then the Life Belt is an excellent place to pick up some extra.

Levels 51-60

[Lvl 60]

Legs

Feet

Rings

Earrings

Back

Throwing
[/b]

Subjobs


EDIT: Hmm, I see it needs some slight editing to make it look pretty, I'll do that at the end though.

EDIT2: I'll be adding colors for gear that I recommend, and for gear that is worn while soloing or for HB reasons.

[Kailea]

just as a note

[Lvl 60] Pole Grip..................|Double Attack +2%|
should only be if your subbing WAR and the AF Helm at 60 should just be macroed in for WS and or healing breath macros

I know your not don yet ;p but its looking good so far

[Karinya]

You can DA with pole grip even if you're not /WAR, just like brutal or any other DA item. Of course, if that's your only piece of DA, it's going to be very rare, but it *can* happen. Even jumps can DA.

As for macroing things in, well, gear swapping and macros could get a whole section of their own.


Interesting and useful guide, but I'm a little puzzled by the gear sections (the ones that have been written so far). You list askar head but not relic? Pahluwan but not O-hat? Seems like some odd choices to me. Different people are going to have different opinions on what gear is better for what situations, and for DRG in particular the best party DD gear is not necessarily good soloing or campaign gear, but it seems to me that it's therefore better to err on the side of including anything possibly useful (including more defensive pieces like dragon and gavial, and the Iron Ram spear with -10% to all damage taken).

I would also suggest a section on subjobs because subjobs work very differently for DRG than for other jobs, and there's a wide variety of useful subjobs for different situations (WAR, THF, SAM, NIN, WHM, RDM, BLU just off the top of my head).

[Kailea]

Originally Posted by Karinya

You can DA with pole grip even if you're not /WAR, just like brutal or any other DA item. Of course, if that's your only piece of DA, it's going to be very rare, but it *can* happen. Even jumps can DA.

As for macroing things in, well, gear swapping and macros could get a whole section of their own.


Interesting and useful guide, but I'm a little puzzled by the gear sections (the ones that have been written so far). You list askar head but not relic? Pahluwan but not O-hat? Seems like some odd choices to me. Different people are going to have different opinions on what gear is better for what situations, and for DRG in particular the best party DD gear is not necessarily good soloing or campaign gear, but it seems to me that it's therefore better to err on the side of including anything possibly useful (including more defensive pieces like dragon and gavial, and the Iron Ram spear with -10% to all damage taken).

I would also suggest a section on subjobs because subjobs work very differently for DRG than for other jobs, and there's a wide variety of useful subjobs for different situations (WAR, THF, SAM, NIN, WHM, RDM, BLU just off the top of my head).

what I ment, is that yes that grip alone, is pointless, I know that it would still work, by I would rather Mithral +1 stats over a mer 2% DA

[LilithAngel]

I would also post that disclaimer in the beginning instead of the weapons section, Vy. But regardless, I agree with Karinya here, you might wanna think about adding in more equipment. Just because you're writing this with the new player in mind, doesn't mean you can't also inform them on other equipment they might want to know about later. Make it its own secion, "Gear That Needs Extra Work to Obtain" or something prettier-sounding. In your hat section, Askar Zucchetto easily falls in that section, and it's easy to assume that by 70-75, one will have at least come across a few endgame linkshells that they could have applied for and gotten into.

If not their own section, just throw everything into the appropriate section, and call out the pieces that'll take more than just a trip to the AH. IMO, any guide to Dragoon (or any job's) equipment needs to list everything. Including what the piece would normally be used for. That's the one piece of info that I see a lot of guides skip out on.

[Vyuru]

[Lvl 60] Pole Grip..................|Double Attack +2%|
should only be if your subbing WAR

And further down:

what I ment, is that yes that grip alone, is pointless, I know that it would still work, by I would rather Mithral +1 stats over a mer 2% DA

And Lilith's:

If you have a DA build, Pole. If not, Mythril +1. Simple. Don't even need /WAR.

I disagree with that.

At level 60 when you can first use the Pole Grip how much str/vit/acc do you have? How much will +2 str/vit/acc do for you? How much will an extra hit do for you?

I think that Double Attack is a very important stat for Dragoons, not something I'd sacrifice Haste gear over, but still an important stat. Most of the JA that we will use in a party is affected by DA, all of our WS that we will use in a party are multi hitters, increasing the chances of a DA with each hit. When you think about it, 2% DA means on average 1 extra attack every 50 swings. 50 swings is the equivalent to 10 Penta Thrusts. I may not know how many times I swing my lance in a exp or merit party, but I know darn well that I can do 10 Penta Thrusts in very short order as a Drg/Sam.

Then too I view the Grip slot as a somewhat special slot. I can pickup +str/vit/acc gear elsewhere, probably not all on the same piece of equipment but I can find it elsewhere. I cannot easily or readily find an alternate source of +DA gear elsewhere. Yes there is the Brutal Earring, and the Askar body as the next easiest sources of +DA gear. However both require a lengthy time commitment, being lvl 70+, and a good static. For the slot it is in I cannot think of anything that is better than the Pole Grip. The +crit damage grip might be a possibility, but in my mind that's mostly when you have it paired with a Ryunohige.


@Karinya and Lilith:

Yeah, I'm agreeing with you guys. Gear like some of the Aurum pieces needs to be mentioned, and at the very least if they're aware of the gear then they can be thinking about getting into the kinds of shells or groups that do those things. There are also a few gear setups that I'd be curious about that I'd want to mention, such as the Skystrider/Supremacy Earring combo.

I'm also thinking a brief macro section might be in order perhaps.... Nothing too indepth, just some macro samples of how to make gear swaps and spell+gear swap macros for HB. Healing Breath will be discussed prior to the job section I think, and I will be swapping some things around to make it easier to read.


Thanks for the comments and suggestions so far ^^

[Kailea]

"When you think about it, 2% DA means on average 1 extra attack every 50 swings. 50 swings is the equivalent to 10 Penta Thrusts."


what..... you mean to tell me you would take that over STR/VIT +2 ACC +2? thats just stupid -.-

if your going to sub WAR then yeah Pole grip is a good idea, if not, stay with Mithral +1

pluss what build is this thread for, because DRG has many builds to it

ACC build
ATT build
Haste build
DA build
mage build

and thats just for PTs there are many variants to these for soloing

I mean.... don't get me wrong, I love that someone is trying to make a guide like this, I would not have the patience to do it -.- but if its going to be done, it needs to be done right.

[Vyuru]

what..... you mean to tell me you would take that over STR/VIT +2 ACC +2? thats just stupid -.-

And how exactly is it stupid?

At level 60, with all your other +acc/str/att gear, how much will you be hitting for? How will +2str/vit/acc affect that? It should be such a small difference that not even a parser will pick it up and it will fall into that gray area of random damage fluctuation.

At level 60 you should have about +30 in accuracy from 2x woodsman rings, potent belt, jaridah peti, chivalrous chain, and an assault earring, and you will either be using a GKL with +7acc or you will be using a lance with a fairly potent evasion down added effect. You can increase this amount if you so choose by using a life belt or a scorpion harness. Even so, with +30 acc, not counting lance, in addition to the two handed acc formula, potential for Hasso, and +22 accuracy in job traits, what is an additional +2acc going to do for me?

At level 60 I should have about +24str in gear total when WSing, I'd say maybe +18str in gear while TPing, and I should be eating meat dishes which add, I'd have to check but I think +5 str for the most part, and I may or may not have Hasso up if I'm Drg/Sam, so again, what's another +2str to me?

When I weigh all of that against +2% DA, I view the +2str/vit/acc as a marginal boost, the DA wins in my mind.

Instead of only saying "this is stupid" I'd really rather see your reasoning as to WHY you think it is stupid.

if your going to sub WAR then yeah Pole grip is a good idea, if not, stay with Mithral +1

I am not in favor of using a Pole Grip as a lvl 60 Drg/War to boost your 10% DA rate to a 12% DA rate, this is a really marginal increase. Once you hit lvl 75 and can boost it up to a 19% DA rate, then I'm interested, until then, not so much. That being said at least for Drg/War I don't know if I'd go with the Mythril Grip +1 or the Pole Grip, both would be marginal increases to my mind. I suspect I would go with the Pole Grip though because I think that would be a better upgrade rather than sticking with the Mythril+1.

pluss what build is this thread for, because DRG has many builds to it

ACC build
ATT build
Haste build
DA build
mage build

and thats just for PTs there are many varents to these for soloing

There isn't going to be any *one* build. Everything will be in it's own place, with info on what you want to TP in, WS in, and so on.

[Malacite]

0.5 fSTR and +1% to hit rate vs 2% chance to land an additional hit?

I'll take the extra hit tyvm. Claymore Grip is nothing to scoff at either if you've got Drakesbane and Critical Hit merits. Not sure what would be better though, Claymore or Brave?

[LilithAngel]

That would require a good bit of parsing I'd imagine. However, either would be welcome in a Crit build, easily. If I had a group to do Nyzul with so I could go after Drakesbane, I might be inclined to give a Crit build a try (I already have capped Crit merits, and those lovely things get all my other jobs in trouble whenever I'm in the lower levels).

A Crit build would also love to see a Pahluwan Kazagand. Or better yet, Zahak's Mail. And Cletine. And maybe even a Trollbane if you spend a lot of time in TAU Beastmen territories. And your pick of Claymore or Brave grips.

I'm sure Drakesbane would love all that.

[Lmnop]

I just skimmed the last few posts. Lemme just say this:

2% more Double Attack is pretty much always +2% damage. +1% hit rate and an unnoticeable bonus to STR simply isn't as good. /war or not.

And the only multi-hit Polearm (Love) stacks with double attack, so I don't even need to add in the "unless using a multi-hit weapon" disclaimer.

But they're both such marginal increases. I would just look at it like this: You're a DRG. You have perma-Aggressor and lots of acc gear and the 2-handed changes working in your favor. If any DD is hitting the acc cap, it's the DRG first. 2% Double Attack will never get capped.

Looking decent, Vy.

[Armando]

I have descended from Florida for but a brief instant to tell you that the correct answer is the 2% Double Attack.

Like they said, 2% is 2% whether you have /WAR or not, and that 2% extra damage is better than what the other grips offer. Also, it can kick in during WS for extra epeen damage.

[Malacite]

Originally Posted by Armando

I have descended from

Who the hell do you think you are

wb btw, for however brief.

[TheGrandMom]

Originally Posted by Armando

I have descended from Florida for but a brief instant to tell you that the correct answer is the 2% Double Attack.

Like they said, 2% is 2% whether you have /WAR or not, and that 2% extra damage is better than what the other grips offer. Also, it can kick in during WS for extra epeen damage.

Thank you, I needed that!

[Karinya]

Aside from what Lmnop and Armando said, I just want to add one more thing:

Originally Posted by Vyuru

At level 60 I should have about +24str in gear total when WSing, I'd say maybe +18str in gear while TPing, and I should be eating meat dishes which add, I'd have to check but I think +5 str for the most part, and I may or may not have Hasso up if I'm Drg/Sam, so again, what's another +2str to me?

If you're DRG60/SAM30 you WILL have Hasso up, because you don't get Seigan until 70/35. Until then the only "downside" to Hasso is being too awesome and pulling hate - but you're a DRG, so you don't even have to worry about that. (Much. You still want to check your SJ cooldown before pulling WS, Med, WS in one fight.)

I don't know if the rest of the DRGs on this thread remember hitting 60, or if they did it before Hasso and the /SAM revolution, but it's an insane power trip. You *will* laugh like a supervillain at the sheer awesomeness of Meditate added to Hasso and damaging jumps with Store TP and hate-shedding jumps so it isn't suicide for you the way it would be for other DDs.