Lots of ACC and ATK, very little VIT

[Rubik]

I will be heading into the 60's with the following...

Sniper's Ring
Sniper's Ring
Merman's Gorget
Assault Earring
Spike Earring
Life Belt
Amemit Mantle
Valkyre's Mask (switch off with AF for WS)
AF Boots
AF Gloves
AF Body
AF Legs

I think this pretty much makes up for my DRGferiority complex (+28 ACC, +27 ATK if I remember all the stats right). I like the AF a lot for what it does for me and my wyvern (although the pants might bear replacing). This is all well and good but for the fact that in my static I take the initial provoke to set the PLD up for SATA with our THF. Since my wonderful gear gives me about -27 DEF I am a little concerned that I might not live long enough to ever use my nice gear. I have Defender plugged into my Provoke macro but still...

In my situation would you:

1. Set an unequip macro to remove the Sniper's Rings and Assault and Spike Earrings until after SATA is complete.

2. Do the above but also set the macro to equip some +VIT gear (and if so, what).

3. Swap some of the AF stuff for +VIT and use it all the time.

4. Switch to another type of food (i.e. Steamed Crab).

5. Convince the MNK that taking the initial provoke is a lot of fun and I am willing to let her do it out of the kindness of my heart.

6. Do nothing because my THF is awesome as are my RDM and WHM (we run a 7 member static).

I have a few levels before all this gear is equipped (currently my gaia mantle and Ogygos's Bracelets are helping compensate for the Sniper's Rings).

Any opinions?

Thanks :)

BTW I am a Mithra DRG/WAR if that helps.

[Valdrien]

Spike Earring doesn't lower defense, and Assault Earring lowers it by only a little, so the only equipment you have that is substantially lowering your defense is the Sniper's Rings. Get a pair of Phalanx Rings and macro-swap them in when you're taking hits, then put the Snipers back on when hate is back off you. Between this change and Defender you should be taking a perfectly acceptable amount of damage when the mob is on you.

VIT is something only Paladins worry about and you should not be looking to increase it. You definitely should not change food--Mithkabobs are responsible for at least 20% of your attacking power.

MNK AF has more defense than DRG AF, so having the MNK take initial voke is doable if he is similarly equipped, but I would advise against it. Once you hit 66 you will want the MNK to start subbing THF so you can do Wheeling Thrust > SATA Dragon Kick for Light renkei. So would have to change your routine back at that point anyway.

[Rubik]

Spike lowers EVA, not DEF - my bad. Interesting point about the phalanx rings. I know there is an existing debate about them Vs Verve Rings. At this point, Phalanx does sound better. I will have to look into this.

[GSDragoon]

I'm in the same situation. Most of the time I hardly even get hit by the inital provoke. Lets say the THF pulls. Enguage the enemy as it's comming. This is so you can get an attack off right when it walks by you. This is important, because the PLD will need to use flash. Flash, if it works, will save you from being hit, but it can also grab too much hate, over your provoke. That's why the hit right away is helpful. Ok, then right after your first hit and provoke, use jump. There's another potential attack for some more hate, so the PLD doesn't steal it with flash before the THF goes. The THF in my party always precharges SA+TA, so it's always a regular SA+TA at the begining. Nice and quick. Having precharged SA+TA, when the monster is about 1/2 dead, we do our DT > viper SC. The THF will do the SC on me. If the PLD doesn't have enough hate, there is high and super jump. This has been working great for me. I want to get that inital hit and jump in for TP so we can SC every fight. I have an equip macro to switch from sniper's to phalanx, but lately I haven't been using it. If flash works, it won't matter how low my defence is. Well, that's my comments.

[Rubik]

So basically...

THF RA pulls
DRG attacks
After DRG has hit, PLD flashes
DRG Provokes
THF SATA on PLD
PLD provokes

Not that a PLD is going to do a lot of melee damage, but do you have him wait to engage until after the DRG provokes to keep his hate at a minimum? I assume the DRG needs to hit before flash for this to work (which I hope will not be a major issue with my ACC).

This would be interesting to try. We have been using WAR/NIN to tank but he is changing over to RNG/NIN and we are adding a PLD so we haven't done a lot with flash yet. Gonna have to try this.

[csBahamut]

Yes, the PLD should wait to engauge, or engauge, but turn away. Kain forgot to mention that point(bad Kain, don't you know our rutine yet? j/k^^). I had problems with getting in and attack and stealing hate(after having gotten my AF).

As you go up in levels, flash's hate gain becomes less and less noticeable. I'd guess it is just a little more hate than a Cure III. I On't think you need that extra hit at the begining unless the PLD is hitting with his weapon.

Also, if you don't have a PLD tanking, the WHM can use Flash too. If the WHM has their AF, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

If done like me and Kain do, you should take one hit at most(flash isn't a definite miss with IT+).

[Rubik]

Thanks, guys. Tried it tonight and it worked extremely well. :) I skipped Defender most of the time - didn't need it. Guess I will keep skipping it - until I die a few times :p