Which AF+1?

[arkaine23]

I'm really more focused on red mage, however my monk hit 70 and last night in limbus I picked up the first of two r/ex items to upgrade regular AF to AF+1. I haven't put a lot of thought yet into the upcoming gear changes for my monk as I grind the last lvls to 75....

Temple Crown: Def 21, HP+16, MND+5, Enhances Focus
Temple Crown +1: Def:23, HP+16, MND+8, Enhances Focus, hHP+1
def+2 MND+3 hHP+1

Temple Cyclas: Def 41, HP+20, VIT+3, Acc+5, Enhances Chakra
Temple Cyclas +1: Def:44, HP+20, STR+6, VIT+6, Acc+5, Enhances Chakra
def+3 VIT+3 STR+6

Temple Gloves: Def 14, HP+14, STR+4, Dark Resist +10, Enhances Boost
Temple Gloves +1: Def:15, HP+14, STR+6, Dark Resist +10, Enhances Boost, Subtle Blow+4
def+1, STR+2, Subtle Blow +4

Temple Hose: Def 29, HP+18, Guard Skill+10, Counter+1
Temple Hose +1: Def:31 HP+18 MND+4 Guard Skill+15 Counter+3
def+2 MND+4 Guard skill +5, Counter+2

Temple Gaiters: Def 12, HP+12, DEX+3, Light Resist +10, Enhances Dodge
Temple Gaiters +1: DEF:15 HP+12 DEX+5 MND+5 Eva+10, Light Resist +10, Enhances Dodge
def+3 DEX+2 MND+5 EVA+10


At first glance, the body, feet, legs, and even crown stand out if for nothing more than situational swaps, for slightly better chakra (body), chi blasting(feet/crown), or defense/counter oriented gear(legs/feet). And as I'm used to wearing the AF gloves over better options, they don't look so bad either, with the little more str and subtle blow+ (would give me subtle blow +9 & job traits).

This is my current DD gear:

Tactical Magician's Hooks +2
Paluwan Khazagand
Chivalrous Chain
Voyager Sallet (soon to have O hat & Turban)
Temple Gloves
Marine F Boots
Republic Subligar
Rajas Ring
Sniper's Ring
Merman's Earringx2 (swap one for Minuet Earring if I'm with a bard)
Tiphia Sting/Trollbane
Amemet Mantle +1
Brown Belt

On my hit list currently are:
O hat / W. Turban / Genbu's Kabuto
Dune Boots (to replace Hume RSE2)
Destroyers / Wag Bags
Byakko's Haidate
Kote of some sort with +atk (still don't even have O Kote ; ; )

If I'm lucky I'll pickup some AF2 over the next few months and maybe some sky gear. What regular AF am I likely to keep using forever? And which of that should I +1 first? Or is it all pretty pointless? Opinions please.

[Minaku]

I decided to go for the legs first. Here was my reasoning by process of elimination:

gloves: There are several options that give you more STR if you want it. I myself prefer O. kote or Melee gloves anyway.

feet: Nice evasion, but I honestly don't do that much tanking as MNK/NIN, which is what I'd use these for. For someone who did, these would be very good. The +MND is okay, but Suzaku's Sune-ate blows them away.

body: Slightly better chakra. There are several body pieces that are better than this for any situation.

This left the Crown and the Hose. With my then current Chi Blast set-up, either piece would add +3 MND to my total, and both pieces give the most MND available for their slot. So then I went to the secondary bonuses, and you have +15 guard (!!!), and +3 counter vs.... +1hHP. (yes, it's HP, not MP. Someone made a typo way back and everyone's copied it.)

Now I'm a sucker for soloing EP mobs in an attempt to level guard, so the Hose was a no-brainer for me. My second choice was the Crown. The other ones only offer some additional STR, VIT, or EVA - all things we can already get plenty of.

If I go for a third piece, it will be a tough call. I'd probably go feet > body > hands if I wasn't focusing on pieces for other jobs now. Although it's all cool stuff, I think the head and legs are the only pieces that are very useful for a role that monk often plays at endgame.

[RunningDemon]

Mina! Found you!

[Tirrock]

I wasn't aware the body increased chakra's potency. Do you have numbers on that? (It'd be sad if it made it go from 3xVIT to 3.1xVIT.)

Anyway... I'd say legs are the best if you don't have byakko's shorts. That or just save up your coins for brutal earring, which blows the AF1+1 out of the water, in my opinion. >_>

[arkaine23]

Yeah, I'm 36/75 coins towards brutal. Legs look pretty good, as I'm also a nut about leveling parry/shield type defensive skills on my red mage, and guard for monk is not any different. I've been cast as the monk tank in a gustav bones party a few times and it was great fun... +counter and +guard sound like winners over the crown+1, and I'll be able to sell my Aikido Koshita. I'd take the legs just for their +MND, but I use hume RSE legs for chi blast which already gives +3mnd in that slot... Don't have any +mnd foot gear, so feet would probably come up as second choice for me. I just love massive chakras, so the body would probably be 3rd.

BTW- Paluwan Khazagand = {mine}
I know testing of increased crits seems kinda meh so far, but I think it looks cool and I can finally give back the SH I borrowed from a friend like 4 months ago.

[Dryhus]

I wasn't aware the body increased chakra's potency. Do you have numbers on that? (It'd be sad if it made it go from 3xVIT to 3.1xVIT.)

I'm assuming that they're alluding to the fact that it gives an extra VIT +3 over "NQ" AF, thereby increasing Chakra's potency by 9 HP. (I'm sorry.)

[Minaku]

Mina! Found you!

{Run Away!}

Yes, what I meant by better chakra is what little you get from the extra VIT on the piece. As far as I know, all AF job ability "enhancements" are the same with AF+1.

[Tirrock]

I always assumed that AF+1 had slightly higher boosts to "enhances <trait>", but I'm not really that surprised that they don't though...