[Zoltar]

Curious what purpose this lvl 40 hat serves, since wiki doesn't list it as a quest item...

Stats: Accuracy -10, Ranged Accuracy -10, Evasion -10, Rare/Ex

Why would you fight an NM to get it?

[cidbahamut]

Only thing I can think of is the -10 to evasion for making parry skillups easier, but even that sounds pretty fishy.

[Mhurron]

Bragging rights.

/Bye-Bye, Taisai

[Mog]

It's good for skillups.

I have one, I still need to cap evasion. ;;

[Tickmeoff]

Taisaijin - FFXIclopedia, the Final Fantasy XI wiki - Characters, items, jobs, and more

Information

Taisaijin is widely believed to be a joke-NM based on an in-game joke that isn't commonly known among English-speaking players. The Red Mage magic spell Refresh was introduced to Final Fantasy XI in the February 5, 2003 update.

At the time Refresh was introduced, the methods and locations for obtaining the scroll were still largely unknown. As the story goes, before the whereabouts of Refresh became known, one Japanese Red Mage claimed that he had gotten a Refresh scroll as a drop from a Taisai in Ranguemont Pass. The rumor eventually spread, and for a period of time, Taisai were being farmed constantly for the scroll. The truth is, that Red Mage lied. Refresh is not, nor has it ever been, a drop from Taisai. That Red Mage had discovered one of the actual methods for obtaining Refresh and proceeded to monopolize that source, profiting from the advantage since there was no competition for it and everyone was deceived into farming Taisais.
This incident would give rise to an in-game joke among Japanese players. When another player asked where to find a newly introduced item that no one yet knew how to obtain, a common phrase became: "I found it on a Taisai". It's because of this joke that the NM is called Taisaijin.

"From" is usually "から(kara)"　or "より"(yori) in Japanese, and the actual phrase used in the running joke is "峠のTaisaiが○○を落とした" or translated literally "Taisai of Ranguemont Pass dropped it.".
"Taisaijin" is actually "太歳神" in Japanese, which literally translates to "The diety Taisai". Here is some reference from FF11用語辞典, a Japanese version of ffxi wiki.

Taisaijin drops a Scroll of Refresh and Spelunker's Hat, a piece of equipment called the "Anti-Optical Hat" due to it having completely opposite stats to the Optical Hat, which also drops from a Hecteyes mob. Square-Enix added the Refresh drop as irony, where, if players do not kill Taisai for a long enough time, Taisaijin, a mob which does actually drop the scroll, will appear. Spelunker's Hat was likely added as a nod to the fact that people were farming Taisai, which had no useful item, meaning Taisaijin has nothing a player would want (besides as a trophy item, though the title itself, Bye-Bye, Taisai, can be considered a trophy

Pretty much.

[Solymir]

A friend of mine did a Nyzul run one day with a pick up group and this item was appraised afterward. He decided to lot it just for fun knowing it wasn't a "gem". Someone else lotted after him and won. Then about 10 minutes later my friend gets a /tell from the lot winner, "What's so special about this hat?". So you could say this hat is good for some Lol's.

[Zoltar]

thanks all for the replies, I guess you can wear it to look silly...lol

[Durahansolo]

If it is true that Maat's stats are based on yours when you walk into the BCNM, maybe it'd be good for Maat fight?

[Mhurron]

Originally Posted by Durahansolo

If it is true that Maat's stats are based on yours

But it's not.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by Mhurron

But it's not.

Superstition, but it couldn't hurt.

[Elwynn]

Originally Posted by Durahansolo

Superstition, but it couldn't hurt.

Actually it can "hurt". WHM can come in with an MP build, cast buffs, then switch to a defensive build, and not have so much MP to recover. Protect IV/Shell IV takes quite a bit of juice. (Reraise does too, but you can get that from an item.) Also, you're wasting extra time by removing/equipping shit, and you have that much more chance to make a mistake.

[Zoltar]

I would just wear it to parties for the 'wtf factor'.

[Neverslip]

I often wondered after hearing about this item in reference to possible skilling up use if it had some wierd hidden effect people hadn't figured out yet... i.e. "When equipped Absolute Virtue takes triple dmg and calls for it's mommy" or something absurd. I don't trust SE as far as I could kick them.

Originally Posted by Zoltar

I would just wear it to parties for the 'wtf factor'.

I like my Gobbie Coif + Carapace gear for that... oh the lolz and endless examinations I get. Gets things sold in my bazaar though... people thinking I am advertising the ability to make/sell those coifs.