Gear related, Opinions wanted.

[Deneb]

Ok so I reached level 50 last night, and finished genkai 1, so with that done I felt now was a good time to slow down and maybe upgrade some of my gear that ive been using for way to long, so Im curious as to what people think I should upgrade first, I have a vague idea, but i want to make sure. Equipment is as follows:

Weapon: Fencing Degen [ Wise Wizards Anelace @ 55]
Shield: Balance Buckler [ Spiked Buckler @ 59 ]
Range: Morion Tathlum [ Threw mine on accident, replacing ]
Head: Electrum Hairpin [ Go For Gold Or wait for AF hat? ]
Body: Hume Female RSE [ Waiting for AF ]
Hands: Same as Above
Legs: Same as Above
Feet: Same as Above
Earrings: Enhancing and Onyx [ <-- Ick! Thinking Wizard Earring ]
Rings: 2x Electrum 2x Eremites [ Alternate depending on role ]
Neck: Holy Phial
Back: Red Cape [ Opt for the +1? ]
Waist: Merc Captain Belt

Was also considering saving up for a dark staff, but im not sure how important this is, as in exp parties I rarely have time to sit. Theres always things to be debuffed, people to refresh, etc. Basically though im curious to know what people think should be my top priority to upgrade, and so forth to least important, thanks in advance.

[Ruic]

Hi Deneb, I'm also from Midgardsormr.

You'll have to excuse me if it seems rude, but I'm going to attempt to proselytize you into the world of equipment changing macros.

Because you say you're a busy RDM and have little time to sit, I imagine your problems are less MP associated, and you'd want more to increase your general pound for pound effectiveness, so most of my suggestions will revolve around stat bumping.

- Pick up a pair of Saintly Rings (+2 MND.) Use these when casting slow, paralyze, and silence or any of your white magic spells. These will run you 2-2.5k each on Midgard.

- Rose Wand +1 (+6 INT +6 MND.) This costs around 15k on Midgard, or at least did a week and a half ago. Use when casting debuffs or other spells.

- Royal Knight's Belt is at level 50 (+2 all stats), it costs around 50k I think. The other option is the Ocean Stone... Which is way too expensive. Last time I checked it was way over a million. This belt will net you an additional +1 to every stat and 2 def though, which is nice.

- Red Cape +1 is an awesome cape, and will last you nearly forever. (+3 MND/+3 INT) It cost me 100k when I bought mine a while back. This is arguably "endgame" RDM equipment.

In my opinion those are some realistically cheap tweaks you can make to your character to improve casting effectiveness. Well, the cape is kinda expensive, but like I said, it will last you forever.

If you're really looking to farm for quite a while and really beef your character up, there is some crazy stuff out there. My "mode" links in my sig have some things like morion earrings you may want to look at, but again, balance gain and cost, they can be expensive.

As a personal opinion, don't go with a morion tathlum, try out RDM archery. If you'd like a demonstration of what a RDM can do with a bow sometime, drop me a tell ingame. Or just send a tell if you need help with equipment change macros, or other gear ideas.

[Paradigm]

Well, first I think you need to pick up a +INT/MND wand, I think Rose Wand is level 48, and pretty cheap, even if you opt for the +1 version.

The next thing you should pick up is either an Ocean Stone(+30 MP, -5 STR, +3 INT, +2 MND, Hume only) or a Royal Knight's Belt(+2 STR/DEX/AGI/INT/MND/CHR). I'm pretty sure that Ocean Stone is not very cheap, so if you don't have a lot of cash to throw around, you may want to get the RK Belt, which is pretty much standard for post-50 RDMs.

About the earring, you have several different options. You can get Morion(+1 INT, +4 MP), Wizard's Earring as you have mentioned or, if you can get someone to help you camp it, try and kill Mysticmaker Profblix in Onzozo for a Moldavite Earring(Magic Attack Bonus +5).

You seem pretty well off with the rest, not really necessary to replace the hairpin you currently have. You could replace the Phial for a Promise Badge if you feel that you have enough MP. At 54, I would recommend buying 2x Zircon and 2x Aquamarine rings, if you have the cash. These will help further with landing enfeebles, and you can switch them out based on which enfeebles you are casting.

About staves... I personally have a Dark Staff, and I find it very useful, even if I only get to rest for 1 or 2 ticks before I need to restart the refresh cycle. It also helps my Aspirs and Drains to land easier, and even helps with Blind. Ultimately, it's a matter of preference, and with some RDMs, you'll see them switch staves based on which enfeebles they are casting(Ice for paralyze, Earth for Slow, etc etc). However, if you want to get multiple staves, Dark should be at the top of your list, followed closely by Ice and Light.

I hoped that helped you out with a few decisions that you'll be making in the next few levels.

[Humehero]

I agree with the 2 previous posters. A few additional thoughts - as for the Fencing Degan, I switched to the Crimson Blade at 49 and the WWA @ 55. I have a Talthum for parties and I use the Composite Bow +1 and Scorpion arrows, its insane how fun it is to use a bow while farming or going /rng to hunt NM or whatever.

Also, I still use my AF pants however I switched my RSE Gloves/Boots with my AF at their respected lvl's. I also changed to the Tat. Mag. Coat rather then my AF Body.

I have both the Dark and Light Staff, and I plan on buying the Ice staff soon. These have really fallen in price on my server so I farmed like mad man to pick up the Light staff this week - it was 145K : ). If you can afford it I would pick them up - I would say Dark then Light or Ice depending on you playing style.

RK belt is a great upgrade to the Mer. Cpt. Belt, I went with the +1 version (lvl 52 i think it) plus it was cheaper than the regular belt and give + in ranged attk. * nice bonus if you use a bow *

Also, I think the Promise Badge is better the the Holy Phail IMO.

[Jinxie]

In my opinion, I wouldn't bother with the Ocean belt. +30 MP is enticing, but within the next 10 levels you will be getting your AF which gives plenty of extra MP. Plus, the RK belt boosts stats that are often overlooked on RDM, while not bringing any stats down. Also, if you are San'Dorian, you can spend 16k Conquest Point to get the belt, as long as San'Doria is ranked 1st or 2nd. Which in turn lets you save your gil for more expensive and less unobtainable items.

[Deneb]

A few things I overlooked but flashed upon when it was mentioned.

I have a rose wand [ Not +1 ] that i do rotate out for debuffs, is it really worth it to get the +1 version?

Also Royal Knight Belt, I have the CPs for this and have been debating getting one, since you all seem to think it is a good idea ill definately get one the next time i log in.

The two saintly rings ill definately pick up and give a try, as even with the rose wand sometimes its hard to get a debuff to land.

I rarely actually melee with my sword as im trying to watch debuffs wearing off, refresh wearing off, monsters buffing that needs dispelling etc. Should i go for the rose wand +1 or the crimson sword? Or both?

I rarely do run out of mp as it stands now, refresh and sitting for a tick here and there normally get me to convert and then rinse and repeat, so maybe i should do away with the electrum rings all together? Or keep them for converts to squeeze out that extra cure to regain health?

The earring thing the moldavite or wizards sound the best i think, but i just recently came back to game and found the LS I was in and most of my friends in game have quit, so it would likely have to be something Id do solo heh.

Also, Redmage archery? Thats a entirely new concept to me, maybe ill grab a bow when i get back in game and try it out a bit, it does sound like it could be fun and widescan for tracking NMs

Lastly, staffs, seems to be a win win situation if you have the money, and I could probably squeeze off enough to get one, been working on doing all the teleport quests to sell the scrolls, as it stands now i have no plans to ever make use of whitemage, being a healer just isnt me. Thanks for all the opinions so far, if youve got any more keep em coming!

[Ruic]

Not to come in with a really negative post, but please, please skip over the Crimson Blade. The Knight Sword at 47, and the Temple Knight Army sword at 50 have significantly better DPS, and are much more stylish. Crimson Blade looks like onion sword just FYI.

Wands are for casting, swords are for meleeing. A sword that wants to be a wand is for... errr... I don't know? It is best to simply carry a wand and the best DPS sword you can get. While the Crimson Blade gives you comparable INT, it ignores MND completely.

Small tweaks like wand+1 and red cape+1 are helpful, but not imperative...

Think of 1 INT or MND as roughly 2/3rds to a whole point of enfeebling skill if it is black or white magic, respectively. (Sorry, I can't find the post with all the math and evidence I got this info from, was a different board and a long time ago.)

[Deneb]

Onion Sword! :sweat: Truthfully I rarely if ever melee, even when farming for stuff, i tend to just cast spells its so much faster hehe. I might just see about upping my wand to the +1 if money permits and keeping my Fencing Degen for show, at least for 5 levels when i could use a wwa, i just like to have a sword when i run around town to look more menacing.

[Paradigm]

Yeah, I can see that if you're San d'Orian with enough CP for RK Belt anyway, then you may as well go with that. I would say that the +30 MP is more than enticing, and the -5 STR certainly isn't going to hamper anything that you bring to a party, and the extra stats from the RK Belt besides INT and MND aren't very important to a party either(It's for this exact same reason why end-game RDMs often wear pieces of the Errant set, despite the fact that they gimp your other stats). Because I play a Taru, I can't relate as much to having too little MP, but if you have plenty of MP even without the Electrum Rings, then it sounds like you really won't need the extra MP from the Ocean Stone.

You don't really need the Rose Wand +1 - some people go all out for gear, other's don't. I'm sure you're fine with the normal Rose Wand.

As for Red Cape +1, you probably don't need to bother with this either. While it is a good mid-endgame cape, you'll definitely be wanting a Rainbow Cape in your 70s, which gives the same INT and MND bonuses as a Red Cape +1, and also give an HP and MP bonus.

Also, where swords are concerned, I really didn't start too much hardcore farming until after I got a RG Fleuret(I prefer this over WW Anelace). So, it's really up to you whether or not to upgrade to the Knight's or TK Army Sword, or just wait until 55 for some better options.

[Deneb]

A question I was going to ask but forgot, how exactly do you make an equipment change macro? Any equipment changes ive been doing up till now ive always done manually which is rather annoying.

[Humehero]

Agreed Ruic - the main reason your should be useing a sword is for farming and then you want DMG. I had a special party set up where I thought the Crimson Blade was best suited where I was going to melee (mainly to keep my skill capped). I had a set party with 2 Bst and me a Rdm. Against the mobs we wre fighting I missed a lot and I still tend to when we party (I only melee if there is no AOE) but at the time the crimson blade was great because I did not have to swap my wand in and out while meleeing to cast some of my enfeebles. Now, when I party with my Bst buddies I just use a equip macro to equip my wand cast the enfeeble and swap back to my sword still my skill is capped - I have dagger and Sword capped and working on Staff's : ). Also, I NEVER melee in a normal XP party - but having a capped skill makes farming a heck of alot easier.

Marco:
/equip main "Crimson Blade"

Edit: I really dont care what my sword looks like either... but the WWA is nice looking and its a great sword.

[Lightseeker]

I would suggest getting rid of the hume RSE (-1 INT?) and replacing it with a tactician magician's coat. It's level 50, +1 to INT, MND, and CHR. I only just hit 50, but I've been told by a 69 blm/rdm friend that the Ice staff is a good investment if you're usually the one in the party who casts the elemental debuffs (shock, rasp, etc).

Edit: You might want to get rid of your RSE boots as well, as they are -1 MND.

Edit x 2: Doh! I didn't even see the INT boost on the boots. Ignore me. (Makes a mental note not to post when sleepy.)

[Altruist]

keep your RSE boots, nothing else will give you +3 int that I know of for your feet. You'll still use them at 75.

Always keep a good hairpin if your hume, use it for convert even after the hat, I'm short about 300k unfortunately from a perfect convert ratio, but will be there soon, and yes for that I need a gold hairpin.

[DM337]

Definately try to invest in a Dark Staff and an Ice Staff as soon as possible. Dark Staff helps you get every single drop of MP. Even if you don't rest a lot in parties, it greatly improves the amount of MP recovered, and it boosts the effectiveness of dark type spells, such as Sleep, Blind, Drain, and Aspir. I recently picked up an Ice Staff, and it has made a huge improvement on my nukes as a Lv. 62 RDM. Along with the 10 elemental skill from my pimp hat, I was able to get a fairly good amount of unresisted non-MB Blizzards, which was an improvement from getting absolutely no nresisted nukes without it. It also allowed me to start MBing with level II nukes more often. (previously, I had been using the level I nukes since sometime they were even resisted on MB, and I didn't want to waste lots of MP on a level II nuke to see it get half-resisted) The Ice Staff also greatly reduced how much Paralyze was being resisted, and improved my Blizzard damage nicely.

The staves can be pretty expensive, especially since you're on Midgard, (which I hear has a messed up economy) but I can assure you, they're worth every gil. If you're not too exstatic about saving up for either stave, don't worry about it, neither item is necessary for leveling in the 50s. (although I would heavily recommend all mages to get a Dark Staff by at least Lv. 60, this thing is truely awesome)

[Uroboros]

I don't understand RDMs changing from Balance Buckler to Darksteel Buckler. Balance Buckler is the cheapest place in the game to get +3 ACC and you have a B-grade weaponskill. Screwing around with my WAR's Sniper Rings on, a Life Belt, and the Balance Buckler and capped dagger/sword skill I STILL miss most of the time on VT/IT. If you're not hitting then that +3/5 to attack isn't going to help, and +3/5 to attack is pretty meaningless on its own. You want extra attack in groups of tens and twenties to make a noticeable difference. For example, you take off one Spike Earring (+5) and you won't notice a thing. You miss the bard's Minuet though (30+) and you sure will. Attack doesn't matter unless you get giant bunches of it, but an RDM is unlikely to do that. WWA and DS Buckler will have nice attack bonus for farm enemies but won't be noticeable on anything more than T, and you're dropping a large chunk of possible ACC (RG Fleuret/Balance Buckler) to get it. Then again maybe that's your intent, in which case ignore everything I said.

Still though, most RDMs that don't get ahold of an Astral Aspis or Genbu Shield walk around sporting the DS Buckler, and I don't get it. They can't ALL be wearing it just for the intention of farming too weaks with WWA and DS Buckler.