[IfritnoItazura]

Interested in what other PLDs think of Champion's Galea:




It makes an amazing piece for multi-hit WS with augments like:

STR+4 / WS Acc+15
AGI+4 Increase / increases WS damage (+2%)

But, PLDs at Lv.75 don't really rely on Vorpal Blade or Swift Blade for damage anymore, except with short lived targets for which Atonement would be a waste. We also already have Iron Ram Sallet for enmity (+5) to use with JA, and Walahra Turban for haste (+5%) for Ni or TP gain (or can use Askar Zucchetto).

Instead, how about something a bit rarer, like a head piece for cure use?

MND+4 / Cure potency+3%
Magic Damage Taken-2% / Enmity+4

That would be nearly as much enmity modifier as the Iron Ram Sallet, with 3% more HP cured, which should result in better enmity generation than curing with the Sallet. Harder to call when compared with Bahamut's Mask (enmity+8) or even Aegishjalmr/Hydra Salade (enmity+7), but those gear are likely much harder to obtain for most people.

* * *

It's also possible to create an arguably better Utsusemi casting gear:

Enhance "Fast Cast" effect (+3%) / "Blood Pact" ability delay -3
MND+2 / Enhance "Fast Cast" effect (+2%)

Fast Cast +5% beats Walahra Turban for Ni for sure, though I'm uncertain I'd be comfortable with Ichi w/out Koenig Schaller (Shield Skill+5). A better compromise may be:

Enhance "Fast Cast" effect (+3%) / "Blood Pact" ability delay -3
VIT+4 / Shield Skill +5

Will need to make make up the 2% Haste loss else where for Ni (likely Homam Cosciales for the lucky/driven people) to maintain the equivalent of 15% equipment haste baseline, but for Ichi it one ups Koenig Schaller easily (same shield skill, plus 0.24s cast time reduction and 0.9s recast reduction).

* * *

Circling back to weapon skill, it seems like it's possible to build a slightly better Atonement-use head gear than the Iron Ram Sallet.

AGI+4 / Increase WS damage (+2%)
Magic Damage Taken-2% / Enmity+4

Small group situation aside, those Bahamut's Mask (enmity+8) or Aegishjalmr/Hydra Salade (enmity+7) probably should use those instead, of course.

* * *

Are there other potentially good build for Champion's Galea?

[Yellow Mage]

I'm no Paladin, but . . .

Originally Posted by IfritnoItazura

Fast Cast +5% beats Walahra Turban for Ni for sure,

Actually, no. One point of Fast Cast only gives half the amount of recast reduction as one point of Haste, and therefore the only job that has anything that beats Walahra Turban in that regard is Red Mage with the Warlock's Chapeau.

[Armando]

Going with Acc+10 Attack+5 Haste+3% to make it some crazy all-purpose mix of defense and offense that surpasses O-Hat and Walahra Turban without sacrificing the Defense or +HP that could go in that slot. Besides possibly the shield skill, which I really have no use for since I don't tank "big things," none of the other bonuses seem like a big enough improvement over what's already available. Enmity bonuses can easily be replaced by Iron Ram Sallet and Fast Cast can be replaced by W.Turban everywhere save for Utsusemi: Ichi where you might say that combined with Nuevo Coselete Fast Cast and perhaps a Loq Earring you could get the cast time low enough to cast it between swings for a normal mob.

I have Atonement so the WS Acc doesn't appeal, the extra WS Damage IF combined with Enmity+4 would only be a very, very marginal improvement hate-wise over Iron Ram Sallet's +5 Enmity, and I'm not wasting my reward just for marginally more hate when I cure either.

Basically the only stat that could've swayed me was the Shield Skill, since I loathe the Koenig set and have absolutely no plans to do Sky, but I have no use for it right now. The offensive combo, however, outperforms each individual DD hat available to me, and arguably helps me tank even in situations where my damage per hit is awful simply by letting me Atonement more, while retaining Defense and HP. And it wouldn't be PLD-specific, which is nice, because I'll eventually be taking WAR and DRG to 75.

[Lmnop]

Originally Posted by Yellow Mage

Actually, no. One point of Fast Cast only gives half the amount of recast reduction as one point of Haste, and therefore the only job that has anything that beats Walahra Turban in that regard is Red Mage with the Warlock's Chapeau.

I didn't believe you so I looked it up. Interesting.

In fact, I might say this makes Fast Cast more appealing of an option. Afterall, there are other slots for pure haste.

But then... what's 4 seconds -5%?

[Takelli]

Hmmm... If Chr has NOTHING to do with magic, then why does it increase fast cast just like Mind, and Int (On the Agument)? Makes me think...

Just like why Warlock's Tabard has a +5 Chr on it as well, AND increases enfeebling magic skill, as well as Spell interuption rate down 10%. :/

---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Yellow Mage

Actually, no. One point of Fast Cast only gives half the amount of recast reduction as one point of Haste, and therefore the only job that has anything that beats Walahra Turban in that regard is Red Mage with the Warlock's Chapeau.

Fast Cast ALSO decreases casting time as well. Gotta remember that.

[Armando]

Hmmm... If Chr has NOTHING to do with magic, then why does it increase fast cast just like Mind, and Int (On the Agument)? Makes me think...

Fast Cast works on BRD songs.

But then... what's 4 seconds -5%?

3.8

[Takelli]

Originally Posted by Armando

Fast Cast works on BRD songs.

Oh... Hehehe.... Bard completly slipped my mind for a moment there XD

But Brd can't equip this item though. Although some aguments might be nice for Bard on there as well.

[Armando]

The Augments are the same for all 3 helmets, just all 3 ACP body pieces had the same Augments to choose from as well.

[Yellow Mage]

Originally Posted by Takelli

Hmmm... If Chr has NOTHING to do with magic, then why does it increase fast cast just like Mind, and Int (On the Agument)? Makes me think...

Bards. To a lesser extent, BST/Mages. And to an even lesser extent, Mages/BST.

Originally Posted by Lmnop

In fact, I might say this makes Fast Cast more appealing of an option. Afterall, there are other slots for pure haste.

But then... what's 4 seconds -5%?

3.8 seconds. With first tier Fast Cast (10%) and the mob Slowed, I can still very much get Regen interrupted while solo, provided I'm caught with Stoneskin down.

[Callisto]

I'm going to be spending my MKD hat on WAR, otherwise I likely would go with the Fast Cast/Shield skill option for Ichi. Combined with the Counter effect on the base hat I think it's the most valuable individual Ichi piece you could have outside of maybe AF+1 feet.

Regarding the Fast Cast on the hats, as something that very likely would be a swap piece, I do want to point out that many times the actual casting speed boost on Fast Cast gear won't kick in until the gear has been on for a second(usually when you blink back in after swapping it's good to go) so I wouldn't count on that so much as the recast time reduction. Considering most PLDs generally use Koenig Schaller for Ichi it's still an improvement either way.

The Cure Potency/Enmity option would be the second most attractive, mostly because my Cure 3 seems to cap out at 202 in my current gear but my actual Cure 3 swap macro leaves a bit more max HP to be filled than that, would be nice to be getting the most out of that macro.

Edit: looking at the base hat, I realize I would be losing 15 HP compared to M.Head or Turban, so that may actually be a pretty useless change.

[IfritnoItazura]

Hmm. I always seem to goof on Fast Cast vs. Haste. However, Fast Cast is hard enough to come by that it still looks enticing.

Also, I thought Counter is tied to evasion, so didn't give it much thought for PLD use.

Originally Posted by Armando

Going with Acc+10 Attack+5 Haste+3% to make it some crazy all-purpose mix of defense and offense that surpasses O-Hat and Walahra Turban without sacrificing the Defense or +HP that could go in that slot.

I like this idea for a idle/TP piece.

Originally Posted by Armando

Fast Cast can be replaced by W.Turban everywhere save for Utsusemi: Ichi where you might say that combined with Nuevo Coselete Fast Cast and perhaps a Loq Earring you could get the cast time low enough to cast it between swings for a normal mob.

I don't think anything replaces Fast cast; under laggy condition or when fighting fast hitting monsters, I've had Ni interrupted repeatedly. Part of it is the just lack of skill, but Fast Cast seems like the third best thing to a PLD when it comes to Utsusemi. (Reprisal > Shield skill > Fast Cast)

Originally Posted by Armando

I'm not wasting my reward just for marginally more hate when I cure either.

Iron Ram Sallet is 5% more enmity for each cure compared to no head gear. The potency+enmity piece I proposed would result in 7.12% more enmity, so the difference is ~2%--it's like having the Aegishjalmr instead of the Iron Ram Sallet. Also, 3% more cured is slightly more safety.

My play style heavily relies on Cure to produce enmity, especially when I kite or co-tank. YMMV, but 2% more enmity from cures would not be trivial for me.

Originally Posted by Armando

Basically the only stat that could've swayed me was the Shield Skill, since I loathe the Koenig set and have absolutely no plans to do Sky, but I have no use for it right now.

I would get the Koenig head (and did), and the hands for /DNC's Waltz macro just because it's easy to get. Tanking Byakko was fun, and I would like a chance to try my PLD against the likes of Seiryu and Kirin as well. Actually, even kiting Genbu was good--I used it to tweak my strategy and adjust macros. (lol.)

Sky is not a bad place for a PLD to gain experience.

Originally Posted by Armando

And it wouldn't be PLD-specific, which is nice, because I'll eventually be taking WAR and DRG to 75.

If you plan to spend major time on WAR and/or DRG, a WS setup may be the best option for you, since accuracy while TP'ing isn't a huge problem for two-handed weapon users.

[Karinya]

The two things that really stand out for me are the magic damage reduction, a very hard to find stat (which also comes with enmity between relic and Iron Ram), and the base counter, which is even harder to find and seems horribly wasted on a swapin piece. And then you still have another augment to add - shield skill equal to koenig, for example. (Between the counter and shield you would probably end up taking noticeably less physical damage in a face-to-face fight.)

But since I already have Homam, Koenig, W.Turban, and Iron Ram, and I'm keenly interested in Askar, it's unlikely that I will get it at all, or develop it for PLD if I do. It's hard for a relatively easily accessible piece to outperform all five of those - as it ought to be, of course. More likely I'll end up trying to do something with Anwig for my COR since I don't already have a lot of COR gear for it to compete with - maybe the racc/ratk combined with agi/ws damage, which I think would outperform any other piece I can think of (Zha'Go could compete for regular shots but not WS).

[Armando]

Iron Ram Sallet is 5% more enmity for each cure compared to no head gear. The potency+enmity piece I proposed would result in 7.12% more enmity, so the difference is ~2%--it's like having the Aegishjalmr instead of the Iron Ram Sallet. Also, 3% more cured is slightly more safety.

My play style heavily relies on Cure to produce enmity, especially when I kite or co-tank. YMMV, but 2% more enmity from cures would not be trivial for me.

Well, gotta consider that you're not starting out at 0 +enmity. Last I checked you can easily hit +30 these days with the IR set and a few other miscellaneous pieces like Harmonia's Torque, Warwolf Belt and Hercules' Ring, and ACP body. So that waters down the difference mildly. The fact that Cures are only a part of your total enmity (even if it's a significant part of it) also waters it down further in terms of overall impact to your performance.

And like Karinya said it'd also be a terrible waste of +3 Counter.

If you plan to spend major time on WAR and/or DRG, a WS setup may be the best option for you, since accuracy while TP'ing isn't a huge problem for two-handed weapon users.

Well, yeah, but you just hit the nail on the head right there. 2-hander users don't have problems. This helmet is worth more to me on PLD than what it would help a DD job. And even then, it would still be arguably superior to full-timing an O-hat or W.Turban or Askar Zucchetto as a DD.

As for Sky, it doesn't sound like my idea of fun. I wouldn't want to sign up for a Sky LS just because I want Koenig head and fast pants. I'd rather join a Limbus shell or a ZNM shell or maybe even Einherjar. Well, who am I kidding. If I got fast pants and Homam I'd not touch endgame any further. I don't mean to criticize anyone who does like endgame, but after getting certain pieces the rest are minimal improvements and e-peenery. They're not enough to make me give up hours of my time over. Truth be told I'm just in this for the missions.

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by Armando

Well, gotta consider that you're not starting out at 0 +enmity. Last I checked you can easily hit +30 these days with the IR set and a few other miscellaneous pieces like Harmonia's Torque, Warwolf Belt and Hercules' Ring, and ACP body. So that waters down the difference mildly. The fact that Cures are only a part of your total enmity (even if it's a significant part of it) also waters it down further in terms of overall impact to your performance.

I'm at the point where most any equipment upgrade is just for incremental improvement. 2%+ enmity for something I do a lot actually does look attractive, believe it or not.

Not as much as getting Homam Cosciales, of course, but for the value/effort ratio I think it would be, it's making me want to purchase the mini-expansion. Not sure if it's more valuable than Fast Cast, though...

Originally Posted by Armando

And like Karinya said it'd also be a terrible waste of +3 Counter.Well, yeah, but you just hit the nail on the head right there. 2-hander users don't have problems.

What I meant was two-hand weapon users don't need the accuracy for TP'ing as badly as the Haste; should be relatively easy to get to 85%+ melee accuracy on attack food. For multi-hit WS, which both WAR and DRG do use, setting Champion's Galea to WS seems most beneficial, since you flat out want get to the 95% accuracy ceiling in as few slots as possible. Well, that's just my opinion.

Originally Posted by Armando

I don't mean to criticize anyone who does like endgame, but after getting certain pieces the rest are minimal improvements and e-peenery. They're not enough to make me give up hours of my time over. Truth be told I'm just in this for the missions.

That's too bad; I think most PLDs would enjoy Kirin and its Shijin.

[Armando]

What I meant was two-hand weapon users don't need the accuracy for TP'ing as badly as the Haste; should be relatively easy to get to 85%+ melee accuracy on attack food. For multi-hit WS, which both WAR and DRG do use, setting Champion's Galea to WS seems most beneficial, since you flat out want get to the 95% accuracy ceiling in as few slots as possible. Well, that's just my opinion.

Definitely. But it's not like you'll do something absolutely amazing with the 3 equipment slots you can now dedicate to Attack or STR thanks to having an excess of 15 Acc from the helmet either.

That's too bad; I think most PLDs would enjoy Kirin and its Shijin.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to try my hand at them. But I wouldn't want to do them on a weekly basis, and I certainly don't have any interest in farming pop items.