[LyonheartLakshmi]

A MNK friend of mine recently returned to the game. He's finally reaching the mid 60s, and he was telling me last night that he needs to save up about 3.5 million gil for gear once he reaches the 70s.

3.5 mil... wow, that's a lot in today's economy. So I asked him what he wanted that was going to cost him so much. His answer: Rasetsu +1 set.

I'm no high level MNK, so I really don't know what gear MNKs have available through the mid levels leading up to 72. Please, help me out on this one: which of the Rasetsu pieces are worthwhile for my friend to actually get? Would you sage MNKs suggest sticking with the NQ version of them, or fork out the dough to get the NQ?

My friend already has an NQ Scorpion Harness for the body slot that I lent him. I can't imagine Rasetsu Samue would be an upgrade in that slot. The hand slot also doesn't seem impressive, considering O. Kote (and if you're going to save up to buy the +1, it's only going to take a little bit more gil to get an O. Kote).

As far as the HQ, it looks like the HQ versions simply remove the latent condition on Counter+1, and adds +1 attack over the NQ.

Are they at least good situationally? Say, for example, for when you're farming or soloing?

[nanatsu]

The only piece of Rasetsu that's really worth having for a mnk is Rasetsu Sune-Ate, because it grants you atk+5 and evasion +5. And that's only if you can't get a hold of some kick boots like Wu Long or Dune Boots. All the other pieces have much better choices for their slots than what Rasetsu offers. Choosing Rasetsu over Scorpion harness is a big no no, and your friend should be aiming for Ochiudo's Kote for hands. I would even keep AF for hands over Rasetsu. Optical Hat is the best for the head piece and all you need is an alliance and a hakutaku cluster that can be farmed and crafted, or bought. if you can't do that then Pahluwan Qalansuwa is a close second and is available from Assault.

If your friend opts for a haste build then Walahra Turban for head and Fumas for feet work. There should never be a reason to equip Rasetsu head piece.

Outside of god drops like Haidate and Shura, legs should be either Republic Subligar, Strike Subligar, or even Vendor/Prince Slops would be better. Pahluwan legs are a great piece and are assault free.

Actually if you can't get any of the optimum items like O.Kotes, Optical Hat, and kick boots, then you should be filling in those slots with Pahluwan. All you need to do is plenty of assaults. But if he's saving up that much money then he should have no problem getting the optimum pieces. Rasetsu is basically the bottom of the barrel, unless you want some evasion and counter for soloing, and even then there are better pieces out there than Rasetsu for that, much less Rasetsu+1 which is an utter and complete waste of gil.

[arkaine23]

The hands are good for /NIN soloing with an evasion/counter build. Otherwise there're better options for every piece. Ice Spikes on the legs are nice if you aren't relying on shadows and counter. And the whole set has fairly high defense for a MNK though Arhat Body and Head are better when building a pure defense set. The legs, hands, and feet are pretty good for filling in the gaps in a defense set if you don't have AF+1.

But it really depends on if you solo, how much, and what style. Otherwise it situational "oh crap" swap gear for when shadow timers are down or you're silenced or for skilling up guard. And I think most players are too lazy and inventory-constrained to bother outfitting their MNK for that.