[Karinya]

Originally Posted by Armando

I think for general usage the system works well. If there's some low level piece of gear that happens to be reeeeally good and none of your high level gear can simulate it for some reason then just bring that piece if you really want to use it. The system still lets you bring your normal gear and still have acceptable stats without having to shift around your whole inventory or having to mule for 15 minutes. Having to take 3-4 accessories with me is much better than having to get appropriate gear for every slot.

Unless your normal gear isn't normal gear because you regularly wear a stat piece like Hairpin. (Do you really want to argue that a DEF piece would be better for THF, RNG, COR, NIN, DNC? It's even worse for the NIN because he's wearing it for the stats *and* the eva, and gets neither under syncing. Possibly while still being expected to tank.)

It's all very well for a tank to lol at base stats, but for a lot of jobs even base stats do more for their performance in most situations than DEF. (THF, of course, being the biggest outlier in this regard.) So that's what they'll be geared for - and then they scale down to crappy DEF and no stats. MP and hMP apparently count as "stats" that get destroyed when you scale, too, so mages pretty much might as well be naked. (Their wand might scale to a level-appropriate wand, at least until 51 when they start using staffs instead.)

And, of course, you generally won't know what level you're going to be asked to be until after you get a tell. So do you start carrying around (say) your Pilgrim's Wand all the time because you might need it? Or tell every party you have to go back to your MH (and possibly the AH) before you can join them? (At least the Pilgrim's Wand isn't on a mule. But some of your other replacement pieces might be.)


I think a lot of people may end up just rejecting requests to sync to certain level ranges, which will undermine (albeit not completely destroy) the value of implementing the system at all. Certainly I'm going to think twice before syncing my DNC to anything below 24 again - which is only 8 levels below the level I actually am. That's more freedom than people used to have to build parties, but far from the revolution some people expected.

[Armando]

It's all very well for a tank to lol at base stats, but for a lot of jobs even base stats do more for their performance in most situations than DEF. (THF, of course, being the biggest outlier in this regard.) So that's what they'll be geared for - and then they scale down to crappy DEF and no stats. MP and hMP apparently count as "stats" that get destroyed when you scale, too, so mages pretty much might as well be naked. (Their wand might scale to a level-appropriate wand, at least until 51 when they start using staffs instead.)

Base stats are lol for practically any job. Name any job, and losing 4 of its respective base stat won't be game-breaking in any manner. If a THF's gear scales down with no +stats it's because there was likely no +stats to get at that level to begin with.

The losses in stats seem pretty negligible if you ask me compared to the value of actually having the job you needed for the party, at the right level. And like BBQ showed, in some slots you actually gain stats as if you had multiple pieces of gear equipped at the same time (hairpins with defense and a bit of MND/INT.)

Ninja does get screwed over more than others but the loss isn't completely staggering because a NIN should gear for damage first and evasion second for EXP. I wouldn't disagree with giving them scaled down Eva but they could likely still function as things are now.

[TheGrandMom]

So whatever happened to Skill > Equips? Since, in this debate, equips = stats why can't we just be glad we are able to make parties easier with the jobs we need?

[Taskmage]

You know level sync has to be huge if Ramsoomair actually made a comic.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Originally Posted by TheGrandMom

So whatever happened to Skill > Equips? Since, in this debate, equips = stats why can't we just be glad we are able to make parties easier with the jobs we need?

People want thier cake and epeen, too.

Silly TGM.

[Armando]

Fun fact: Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the Defense ratings BBQ was getting out of SCH AF are analogous to the Studded Armor set, which has the same Defense as the Lv.24 Iron Chainmail set except for the body (Studded Vest has 1 more Def than Chainmail.)

And SCH can't use that set. Lol.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

yeah I found it kinda odd my DEF was so much higher on the AF given the Seer's was level 29 and pretty much top tier mage gear for that level. I wonder if other AF would do the same.

Give me a few, I'll go toss Kitten in Noct Set and RNG AF and see what I get in 30 cap/

[Armando]

I don't think it's AF-specific so much as it is job-specific though. Like I mentioned, both Dusk and Gallant gear would give me Eisen-equivalent Defense. Take a couple of non-AF pieces too and see if they give the same as the AF ones.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Head pieces (Promyvion-Mea)

Wyvern Helm (Level 75) DEF 11 (of 30), +0 HP (of +30 HP), STR+1 (of 5)
Hunter's beret (Level 54) DEF 11 (of 21), +0 HP (of +13 HP) +1 INT (of +3 INT)
Noct beret (Level 30) AGI+1

Can't really count the ranged accuracy on AF beret since its an invisible stat to start with, so no idea if its still in effect or not. Both Wyvern Helm and AF hat give same DEF. Might actually go with the Helm though.

Body

Not much to compare here, since again these stats aren't visible, so let's just go with DEF. Pahluwhan, Shikaree Aketon and Hunter's Jerkin all gave 22 DEF over Noct Doublet's 18.

Hands

Crimson Finger Gauntlets, Seiryu's Kote and Hunter's Bracers all gave 9 DEF compared to the 5 of Noct. AGI on Kote is a no-show, but 12 of the 50 HP showed up. CFGs gave +12 HP/MP of the +20HP/MP. Hunter's Bracers 1 of the 3 DEX, 10 of +10 HP.

Legs

War Brais - Nada on the +4 AGI, but 16 of the 27 DEF. Same DEF with Hunter's Bracce, but Bracce showed no boost to HP or MND. I'm gonna assume DEF of Pahluwhan or Haidate would be the same as the others, but I have neither.

Feet

Suzaku Sune-Ate - 6 of the 30 DEF, none of the MND showed up.
Crimson Greaves - 6 of 30 DEF again. +10 HP/MP of the +20 HP/MP. +3 AGI/DEX did not show up.
Hunter's Socks - 6 of 12 DEF, consistant with the other two. None of the +4AGI showed, but the full +10 HP did

Misc

Fire Staff - 2 of 4 STR showed up.
Axe Grip - 2 of 3 STR, 12 of +20 HP showed
Amemet Mantle +1 - 4 of 8 DEF, but nothing else
R.K Belt +1 - 1 of +2 to all stats raised, 2 of 6 DEF given.
Qiqirin Collar - 2 of 3 DEF, -4 Attack registered so we can assume the same of Accuracy.
Hollow Earring - 1 of +2 DEX applied
Drone Earring - 1 of +3 AGI applied

Piled on Raja's for +8 STR total, not bad for level 30, only gear changes I would make here are Hollow for another Drone, Qiqirn for Ranger's Necklace or Spike Necklace and switch out Amemets for just about any old mantle.

Trailer's Kukri was knocked down to match Archer's Knife with 11 DMG, probably giving slightly less Ranged accuracy than Archer's based off what we've seen elsewere. Francisisca was also apparently 11 DMG, of its 44 DMG rating.

I didn't have another crossbow to run in with, so I used Orthenus Bow. Seems like Holy Bolt procs took a severe dip. I was only getting 2 more damage per shot on Wanderers near the zone entrance. I'll probably try again later with a more comprable level crossbow and if proc damage swings up, I'll see if Light Staff changes anything.

Now, I must sleep.

[Armando]

Thanks a lot. Good stuff. As I imagined, your Def is being synced to Studded armor on RNG as well, which makes you less squishy like it did on SCH (RNG already can equip Studded Armor but who owns that, seriously? And it's lacking in stats.) The other stat boosts aren't bad all things considered. The STR on Fire Staff and Axe Grip are nice, and R.K. Belt isn't too shabby for a change.

I didn't realize you could see your weapon's modified DMG. I'll have to test that tomorrow.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Originally Posted by Armando

I didn't realize you could see your weapon's modified DMG. I'll have to test that tomorrow.

Well, that part I just watched my Attack numbers, nothing changed in anyway from when I switched from Archer's to Trailer's to Fransisca, so I just assumed the DMG was the same.

/shrug

Between Foobar and Kitten it seems like staves and straps were given a lot more leeway than other equipment. Maybe SE felt they could be a bigger exception to the rule, at least in terms of base stats.

[Yellow Mage]

Originally Posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten

Well, that part I just watched my Attack numbers, nothing changed in anyway from when I switched from Archer's to Trailer's to Fransisca, so I just assumed the DMG was the same.

IIrc, if I were to switch from a Dagger to a Sword (or vice-versa) on RDM, and I had capped skills for both for that level, then switching around my weapons (which had different DMG values, of course), then my Attack number stayed the same. Of course, that could just be my memory deceiving me, so I'll have to get on RDM and get a friend to Level Sync me down so I can see.

EDIT: confirmed at level 12, switching between Dagger and Spatha made no difference in Attack.

[Ellipses]

I just got the chance to try syncing for the first time with the friend that just re-joined. Oh my god, this is an entirely different game for me now. Such a blast! So looking forward to screwing around like that.

I'm a-gettin' all misty over it. :D

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

I might have found a notable hole in Level Sync, but I've not had a chance to log in yet to see if I'm right about this. If I'm right, it could mean a couple things:

(1) If you're a 75 RNG or COR, you may have just become a new breed of powerleveller at low levels.
(2) If you're a 75 COR or THF, when synced, the playing field between these two jobs and BRD at any level of pulling just got a lot more evened out.

So we know that most weapons and armor scale to be slightly lower than the best for that level, with the exception of DEF ratings in places, it seems. We also know that nothing about Delay changes in Level Sync.

So what about weapons like Loxley Bow, Peacemaker or Repeating/Machine crossbow?

From my times pulling on COR, I've been known to be an advocate of the Peacemaker for doing so. When you Slug with Peacemaker, while the damage is less, its still pretty good considering the base DMG of the gun. Its fairly decent on DoT, but not so not for TPing

Let's look at Loxley Bow.

DMG: 12, Delay: 120 Ranged Accuracy +12

So the first of the good HQ Bows you can get already beats it out in DMG, so I doubt the base DMG of this weapon would really be affected since it as already been exceeded even by NQ. There is nothing comprable to this weapon at any level of the game in terms of Delay at low level.

See where I'm going with this? The intent wouldn't be to WS so much as notch up some really crazy DoT on RNG at low level.

Yeah, I'll be back later, I need to find a buddy to Sync with.
______________________________
OK, small update.

DMG is still crappy on Loxley, it may have actually scaled, but I think that can easily be remedied if you had a BRD or COR duoing with you giving you Minuet or Chaos/Hunter's. The Delay is unaffected just as SE stated it would be, though, which means Peacemaker, Loxley and Repeating Crossbow bring some worthy pulling competition back to the levels BRD is so prominent a puller now.

I was synced down to level 19 and used my proposed ideal gear set for 30 cap RNG that I outlined in a prior post. All the STR, save for the STR and DEX given by Rajas Ring was removed.

Rajas now gives +1 STR/DEX starting at level 10 and scaled to +2 STR/DEX as soon as I was scaled up to 20 with the WHM I was duoing with. So CoP Rings are now useful earlier and scale normally from 30+ as it would be expected to. Pretty sure the Store TP on Rajas remains locked til 30, though.

I think either my Axe Grip or Fire Staff also gave up +1 STR when I synced up to 20 since I didn't see any change from my Wyvern Helm, it just gave DEF and nothing else. Since the grips seemed to be more generious with giving up stats early, I'm going to assume it was the grip and not the staff.

I may use Level Sync to merit on my RNG more than I would my COR, it would keep my expenses lower if I did, though I certainly won't turn down a high arrowburn if it comes along. On my Mage or soloist jobs, I'd willingly sync to just about any level, I think. COR I might pull out for friends, but its just bullets are a bigger expense all-around and better on my gil if I exploit Level Sync to my RNG's advantage instead.

[Rothy]

From my observations, level syncing is an excellent feature.. even if the equipment scaling is kinda.. retarded. The higher level people have been in parties with held their jobs perfectly (Sept for one WHM..) and even with the gear scaling, have been some of the best people I have partied with.

I know I'm repeating what everyone has already said but I decided that I would like to put my own two gil in.