Tiger Stole vs Spike Necklace

[Maxus]

Tiger Stole: +2 DEF and +5 Attack

Spike Necklace: +3 STR, +3 DEX and -6 MND

I have both from earlier jobs and my DRK is about ready to hit 24 and put on a Tiger Stole. But I'm thinking that keeping the Spike Necklace on for the extra DEX (more accuracy) would be more beneficial then the +5 Attack would.

I'd just like to get some other opinions on what's the better route.

(I'm currently LVL 22)

[Aeni]

Tiger Stole: +2 DEF and +5 Attack

Spike Necklace: +3 STR, +3 DEX and -6 MND

I have both from earlier jobs and my DRK is about ready to hit 24 and put on a Tiger Stole. But I'm thinking that keeping the Spike Necklace on for the extra DEX (more accuracy) would be more beneficial then the +5 Attack would.

I'd just like to get some other opinions on what's the better route.

(I'm currently LVL 22)

Simple. Spike Necklace and Mithkabob. Watch your hate soar through the roof and your damage go up by a tenfold. It's a lot better than sushi + Tiger Stole at this level.

[Amarok]

Also, I think you get +2 ATT for each +1 STR, so you get +6 ATT from the Spike Necklace. I have the spike even at MNK65 (trying to get something better from Assault), and I macro it out and in again when I Chi Blast to remove the -MND effect.

[Spinnthrift]

It's kinda iffy, you need enough attack to make mobs con as Low Defense before strength seems to have any real impact - so eating meat is a must. However, at those levels - eating Meat Mithkebobs is a waste of money, Meat Jerky will give you a large attack %, and is 1/10th the price of Meat Mithkebobs (on my server).

With a full compliment of melee gear - Mighty/Vision Rings, Beetle Earrings +1, Republic Subligar etc... you should have enough attack when combined with Meat Jerky to put yourself at the ideal damage output - which will then make the Spike Necklace ideal for wearing, as you're at the point where adding str becomes beneficial.

With a different setup, there may be times when Tiger Stole > Spike Necklace, but as Spike Necklace is a staple piece of armour throughout the majority of the low levels for pretty much every DD out there... I'm struggling to find one atm.

- Saeriel

[Aeolus]

Also, I think you get +2 ATT for each +1 STR, so you get +6 ATT from the Spike Necklace. I have the spike even at MNK65 (trying to get something better from Assault), and I macro it out and in again when I Chi Blast to remove the -MND effect.

+1 Atk from every +2 Str so you get +3 Atk from it.

[Jarre]

With the food i think you are missing the point. All of us who use a scythe know of teh poor accuracy involved with the drk so upping strength or attack isn't going to help if you can't hit anything. Sushi is the only food a dark should use lvl 10+ as the accuracy bonus is needed, some of the suishi's give 15% accuracy plus a few other stats like evasion+ and Hp+ etc. or if you can afford it Rice Dumplings which give +str as well as +5 accuracy +attack etc etc. sole sushi is sooo expensive though so i noramlly use bream sushi with a +16% accuracy bonus or Jack O Lantens (3hrs duration).

As for the tiger stole vs Spike neckless. its Spike necklass all the way the strength and dex help you more than the single +5 accuracy and +2 Def.

[Spinnthrift]

Right - having played a bunch of melee jobs up (including dabbling in Dark Knight), I can say for certain that if you have the right setup, Sushi isn't a requirement.

As has been argued on the Drg forums many millions of times over (minor but only minor exaggeration) - while your DoT will be comparative with a Sushi + Attack Gear to a Meat + Acc Gear, you'll lose out on the WS front - especially if you're using /Thf to plant hate.

Secondly - at those low levels - sushi makes very little difference. On the other hand - meat makes a very large impact. Trying to wean Fish users off and onto Meat is a long and arduous process, and like many things, including the /Drg abstraction - you have a lot of preconceived notions that are a headache to deal with.

- Saeriel

[Aeolus]

I heard that sole or squid, one of, gives +5Str or something as well as Acc+ but then I've never tried it, only ever use bream sushi on every melee job I take past 10 lol, its dirt cheap :eek:

[Ellipses]

Accuracy has never been that much of an issue at lower levels. Somehow, for years, two-handed weapon-wielders managed to survive and contribute to the world of DD without sushi. It's not like they buffed mob evasion or made any other change when they introduced sushi that made it suddenly necessary where it wasn't before. I die a little inside every time I go back through the dunes and watch all the melee eat sushi; I'd much rather be killing those crabs, y'know, quickly.

[Yagami Kunoichi]

Bream Sushi is great for skilling up, but for exp parties I always use Rice Dumplings or Hedgehog pies. Now that I'm in my 70s, some things don't require any accuracy food at all to really hit, particularly things like imps in Caedevra Mire. My normal gear is around +53-55 accuracy, which seems to be more than adequate. I Just macro in plenty of strength for weapon skills with /thf. If you're going to use sushi as a melee DD, use sole, but better yet, get accuracy gear and use meat dishes.

[Ziero]

DO NOT USE SUSHI PRE 50

It does NOT help at all in those lvls.

Drk does NOT have 'poor accuracy' with two A ranked weapons. That is a fallacy at best and a blatent lie at worst. At a time when jobs using an E ranked weapon can gain 100 TP every fight, a job with two A ranked weapons will not have that much trouble. What Drks lack are the 'TP Tricks' to increase their TP gain. Where War, Mnk, Sam, Drg, Rng, Nin and Thf all get something to speed up their TP gain, Drks only get things to slow it down (spell casting). There is NOTHING about Drk that gives it poorer accuracy then any other two handed weapon user at lvl 22. And at those lvls the +acc% of sushi is almost unnoticable where the +att% of meats will make a world of difference.

My suggestion, as it's easily the best neck piece for all melee jobs until 33 (PCC/PCA) at the least, use the spike necklace and eat Rice Dumplings or Dhamel meat. Str is much harder to come by then att at your lvl and your food can easily make up the +4 att you lose over the Spiked Necklace. Around 55ish you can upgrade to an RG collar or merman's gorget when you need more Acc+, but even then the Spiked Neck can be used for WS and low eva mobs.

[Xplore]

I used Jack-o-lantern's uptill late 30's, early 40's.

http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/3893

Try both tiger stole and spike necklace, see which one you like better. You should probably keep the spike neckclace anyways for STR-swap macros later on.

[nanatsu]

+1 Atk from every +2 Str so you get +3 Atk from it.

Since you only get 3 Str from Spike Necklace, make that 1.5 atk (or only 1 atk really, since there's no such thing as .5 atk) and you got a deal :p

[Aeni]

DO NOT USE SUSHI PRE 50

It does NOT help at all in those lvls.

Drk does NOT have 'poor accuracy' with two A ranked weapons. That is a fallacy at best and a blatent lie at worst.

QFT

FYI, I got DRK to 60 pre-sushi and didn't experience too much problems, as long as I wasn't lumped into a party of gil burning RNGs who think a 15 level difference between us and the exp mob was {too weak}

[lionx]

DO NOT USE SUSHI PRE 50

It does NOT help at all in those lvls.

Drk does NOT have 'poor accuracy' with two A ranked weapons. That is a fallacy at best and a blatent lie at worst. At a time when jobs using an E ranked weapon can gain 100 TP every fight, a job with two A ranked weapons will not have that much trouble. What Drks lack are the 'TP Tricks' to increase their TP gain. Where War, Mnk, Sam, Drg, Rng, Nin and Thf all get something to speed up their TP gain, Drks only get things to slow it down (spell casting). There is NOTHING about Drk that gives it poorer accuracy then any other two handed weapon user at lvl 22. And at those lvls the +acc% of sushi is almost unnoticable where the +att% of meats will make a world of difference.

My suggestion, as it's easily the best neck piece for all melee jobs until 33 (PCC/PCA) at the least, use the spike necklace and eat Rice Dumplings or Dhamel meat. Str is much harder to come by then att at your lvl and your food can easily make up the +4 att you lose over the Spiked Necklace. Around 55ish you can upgrade to an RG collar or merman's gorget when you need more Acc+, but even then the Spiked Neck can be used for WS and low eva mobs.

Why cant there be more people like you..?! Dx

I used Spike Necklace, i used to use a Tiger Stole because of the price difference and Armando suggusted that i use the Necklace...and definetly the Necklace is alot better. The Stole doesnt suck, but STR seems so much more better esepcially with the DEX. -MND? Blah useless X3

[Aeni]

Why cant there be more people like you..?! Dx

I used Spike Necklace, i used to use a Tiger Stole because of the price difference and Armando suggusted that i use the Necklace...and definetly the Necklace is alot better. The Stole doesnt suck, but STR seems so much more better esepcially with the DEX. -MND? Blah useless X3

Melees shouldn't worry about the MND reduction. MNKs needing to chi blast can always swap out anyway, but you're not going to see 1,000 dmg chi blasts at level 24 either ....

[Malacite]

Are you mental? Sushi at lv 10? Ever hear of rice dumplings?

Stats:

* HP +17
* Strength +3
* Vitality +2
* Agility +1
* Attack +20% (Cap: 45@225 Base Attack)
* Ranged Attack +30% (Cap: 45@150 Base Ranged Attack)
* HP Regeneration While Healing +2
* MP Regeneration While Healing +2
* Accuracy +5
* Resist Paralyze

That right there is *the* single best melee food from lv 10 right up to 50. A good chunk of accuracy and a lot of offense, + increased MP recovery for the odd times you need to rest for MP. I defy you to point out a better food, since Sushi really isn't worth it until 50+ when mobs become very hard to hit w/o good accuracy gear and/or a high enough base accuracy to actually justify the sushi.

Acc gear + Attack Food > Sushi + Attack Gear IMO