RSE 2 (level 60+ gear) Question

[Nanila]

I'm curious what some of you think about using the RSE 2 gear. For mithras, they have a nice set of Hand armor that I'm considering using.

River hands:
Def 11ish +6 Vit +60 hp -5 Agi


Think I should get that and use it instead of the AF gloves? The hp/vit boost is quite nice, and I don't think the Agi will effect me to much. I know i'll be losing out on some dex and 2 enmity by not using my AF though.

So which do would you consider using if you had the choice? The RSE 2 gloves (the ones I mentioned) or AF.

[Biterman]

I am still considering this too (6 levels away). Hp boost for the cost of +2 enmity.

I would like to believe it can be situational, like on some XP mobs it will be better to have the extra HP, than 2 enmmity and viceversa.

With your gloves you get a real nice vit boost, with mine I get:
Def 11 HP+65 STR+6 VIT+2 AGI-3

Um, well what I am trying to say is that the +6 vit and hp boost on yours can justify them over AF gloves. ^^

[Nemes]

I wouldn't wear them, and not only because of the enmity you'd lose. The AGI you lose is way too important. AGI is actually your strength. With those gloves on, you'd simply be a little better than Humes just kidding


I did buy them though, for HNMs, and see how they work with those.

[Loial]

While that VIT boost looks real tempting, you can't underestimate the usefulness of all that enmity+ you get.

I just was able to start using my enmity+3 shield (stacked with the AF enmity+8). I think I'm at the point where I may have too much. In my particular situation, my PT depends on the other melee to turn the mob around via WS and/or provoke to lay the SATA + Shark Bite on me for extra hate. Not only does all this added enmity make it a little more difficult for the mob to turn, but I've also seen a SATA on the other melee (say a DRK) turn the mob around only to have me smack it once with my Toothpick of Gluttony to turn it back to me.

Now, I don't want to get into a conversation about "is there such a thing as too much enmity?" But, if you lose 25% of that enmity from your AF to slap in that VIT boost, be prepared to adjust your "gauge of how much hate you have."

If you use your hate tools correctly, you can probably do fine with that RSE piece, but I'd recommend holding onto your other AF for certain.

[imac2much]

I agree with Loial. RSE2 gloves are great for non-xp purposes... namely in your case that HP boost would be useful in HNM battles when HP owns all. However, in XP PT's, I really don't see how the extra HP will be that helpful. The VIT boost is nice however... maybe it just depends on the party configuration. In some parties, you don't want ALL the hate (as in Loial's example), so in those cases maybe your RSE2 gloves would be helpful. I use my own RSE2 gloves (+MP) when I'm tanking NMs and such for friends so I can gain more MP back with Spirit Taker...

Off topic, but I just had a party last night that was similar to yours, Loial. My PT config consisted of PLD/WAR, THF/NIN, WAR/NIN, BRD/WHM, BLM/WHM, WHM/SMN. The WAR/NIN could never get enough aggro to turn the mob with Mistral Axe if I fought normally... even with Zerk, Warcry, Aggressor, and +enmity gear... as WAR/NIN he just doesn't do enough damage. Thus I really had to tone down my aggro holding, especially when he and the THF were close to 100% TP... and I even had to always do first voke so the THF could fuidama a regular hit onto the WAR. Then when setting up for skillchain I had to turn off targetlock and face away from the monster for a few seconds while WAR gained hate. In these instances, I believe your RSE2 gloves would be superior to AF gloves.

However I think those are rare occasions. Usually if I PT with a THF, I'm usually with a 2nd melee who can easily pull the mob (RNG for Heavy Shot > Shark Bite or MNK for RLD > Howling Fist > Shark Bite). But if you're with a weak WAR or DRG (since Wheeling Thrust is the most pathetic 225 WS I've seen), you may need to tone down on the hate.

On a sidenote, I always feel rather useless in these kinds of PTs. Any PT where I need to hold back my hate makes me feel that a NIN could do my job better (don't get as much hate as us but don't take nearly as much damage either). Of course there are other PT configs where I believe a PLD outshines a NIN, but these are not one of them.

......on another sidenote, while fighting Tormentors in Den of Rancor, I got petrified sometime in the battle and the WHM didn't cast Stona for a while. So I just stood there motionless as WAR managed to get aggro with Mistral Axe, and the THF subsequently tricking Shark Bite off me. I just thought it was worth a laugh since I felt like a Trick Attack Dummy Statue or something... kinda like those Decoy statues or whatever you can use in WoW to tank for you

[Lan'Urk]

I find that +emnity is always helpful... makes you use less skills on the moments you need to hold aggro (specially when you have a SAM doing Jinpu>>Penta>>Gekko, there is not much you can do when hes doing all that damage) With my full AF, and Espadon +1 (due to the low delay) I just use provoke right b4 Gekko, and usually thats enough to hold the aggro, if not I bust rampart and that does it.... now if I had less enmity I would probably need to use an additional skill per SC... which could be dangerous...

Like Rugal said, I feel the same way PTing with THFs makes me feel totaly useless, or fighting Goobues in boyhada as a matter of fact.... I just get my ass kicked and NIN could do 100x better.
by far my favorite set up as PLD is PLD/WAR DRG/WAR SAM/WAR BLM/WHM WHM/SMN RDM/BRD.... its just wonderful... the SAM is going nuts with his double WSs, and BLMs doing double MB on 3 steps renkei, its just awsome... a NIN would just soil his pants in that kind of PT....lol

~Lanurk

[Loial]

*Temporarily returned*

/cheer!

Welcome back, Rugal!

The PT setup I was mentioning is a bit interesting, but works wonders: PLD SMN RDM THF THF RNG/NIN

It is a rather dangerous setup for the RNG/NIN, but with a well equipped RNG/NIN, they can bust out Light chains 2-3 times a battle. Of course, it is necessary that when the RNG lets loose with Arching Arrow, that the mob MUST turn without fail so that Shark Bite can land on me. So, I have to watch very closely how much hate I have. There's a big difference between a Shark Bite for 1000 with Light damage of 500-1000 and a failed Shark Bite for 200 damage and 100 Light damage.

Many PLD will see later on in the their careers that their job becomes more "hate management" than it does "hate holding." You can either A) struggle and use a lot of MP and abilities to keep hate off that RNG doing thousands of damage because you are trying to keep hate affixed on you 100% or B) make good use out of the hate management tools that your THF can give you and make sure you have more hate than the mages, and just a little more hate than your DRK, RNG, MNK friend so they can "steal it."

/derailing thread off

Rugal is on the money with the "RSE2" items. If you plan to use them, use them sparingly. Like in Rugal's and my case, if Galka want to use the MP+65 bracer, he has to be willing to absorb that VIT-5 (very hard to do that as a PLD). However, if you play it right, you can always swap out your gloves for your AF mid-battle and all is well. But you can't go overboard. I just got access to use an MP+60 VIT-4 belt. While between those two items, that gives me a whopping 125MP, but a VIT-9, I'd probably be crazy to use it. There's that nifty Desert Stone that has MP+40 but DEX-5. Losing 5 DEX as a PLD is a lot easier to deal with than all that VIT.

So, you just need to play it smart and try out a few things and see what works best for you.

[Baradak]

Don't forget about the galka VIT advantage over other races. Using the belt + gloves would bring you more in line with an Elv Vit and MP wise. Tradeoffs are good.

[Baradak]

Don't forget about the galka VIT advantage over other races. Using the belt + gloves would bring you more in line with an Elv Vit and MP wise. Tradeoffs are good.