Gear analysis at level 43

[cidbahamut]

This is going to be a long one folks, so buckle up.

So I'm almost finished leveling my initial subjobs, White Mage and Black Mage, which means it's time to reassess my gear lineup before I plunge back into Red Mage.

I've done a fair bit of research on my gear, but I've always found that it's good to temper my intuition with the wisdom of more experienced players. Any feedback you folks can provide would be very much appreciated.

Without further ado, let's dive right in.

Weapons

Yew Wand +1
This has been a pretty solid piece of gear for a long time now. I've resisted picking up a Solid Wand simply because of how often I've found myself in level sync parties or linkshell events where it's better to have that +4 INT/MND rather than have it scaled down or dropped altogether. If gil and inventory space permit I do intend to pick up a Solid Wand before moving on to Elemental staves, but this one isn't really at the top of my list of things that need updating.

Centurion's Sword
Just for soloing/farming really. I don't have a proper melee setup so I don't bother bringing this out in parties. Still, it's sorely outdated at this point. I'd like to pick up my AF sword, but the last time I tried that I got eaten by three lizards and an orc.

Shield

Royal Squire's shield
Size 2, +evasion. I suppose it's just there to help in case I draw aggro. Also decent for soloing/farming. I don't really know what else to put in this slot, so I'm open to suggestions.

Head

Traveler's Hat
Everyone loves +MND, right? I figure as long as I'm in a party I might as well stack more spellcasting stats. I think there are a few other options, but they involve hunting elusive NMs for months on end, only to get outdated rather quickly.

Red Cap
Usually town gear or for when I'm doing stuff on my own time. It's pretty much the most stylish head piece I can get until Warlock's Chapeau.

Neck

Black Silk Neckerchief
Best I've got for my INT set so far.

Holy Phial
Best I've found for my MND set in this slot.

Earring

Morion Earring x2
I'm fulltiming these since I don't really have anything else to go in this slot. There must be some other options here, but I don't know them.

Body

Baron's Saio
Solid backline caster piece. Short of dropping a few hundred thousand to get that one piece that gives +2 MND, I can't really see a better option from here to my AF body.

Steam Scale Mail
A decent solo/farming piece that's on loan from a friend. This could probably use an update, if for no other reason than to get it back to my friend(I've had this thing for months now). I'm contemplating picking up a Wool Doublet +1 so I can pretend I have an evasion set.

Pilgrim's Tunica
I need to remember to put this in my hMP macro before I put my flag up on RDM again. This was a recent acquisition as I was wandering through Jeuno on my Black Mage checking bazaars. Definitely should have picked it up earlier.

Hands

Brass Finger Guantlets
Yeah...this is probably the slot most in need of some love. I think there's some +MND/-INT mitts I can grab off the AH, but given my aversion to -Stats I want to pick up some +INT gloves as well to offset them in my INT set. I was trying to pick up some Garrsion Gloves, but I haven't seen any on the AH and organizing people for Garrison runs is a lot like herding cats.

Rings

Knowledge Ring
For the INT set, could stand to be upgraded at this point.

Wisdom Ring
For my INT set.

Saintly Ring x2
Looks like I'm skimping on my MND set, which probably isn't a great idea. I'll be hunting down some better MND rings as gil permits. Again, they're doing the job just fine for level syncs and LS events but they will eventually get upgraded.

Back

Black Cape +1
I've been fulltiming this because I'm too cheap to pick up a White Cape +1, especially since I can now just throw on a Red Cape +1.

Waist

Friar's Rope
I generally idle in this because I haven't gotten around to including it in my MND set.

Mohbwa Sash +1
This gets switched in for my hMP set and then swapped back out, even though it has more defense than Friar's Rope. I'm not sure that's the right way to play it, but it's been working out so far.

Legs

Combat Casters Slacks
I really enjoy pretending I have an evasion set. This is what I wear when I'm not /healing.

Baron's Slops
Gets swapped in for the hMP set and then swapped back out. Not much else to say about it really.

Feet

Rambler's Gaiters
I plan on fulltiming these until I get my AF boots, and maybe even then. After the headache I went through of getting them I fully intend to make use of these things. Also it's another piece with evasion.

[Callisto]

Re: Gear analysis at level 43

Buzzard Tuck is a nice, cheap upgrade on the Sword.

Get a pair of Devotee's Mitts, they will last you a very long time. At 45 you can do a couple of easy quests to get the Engineer's Gloves to switch out for nuking so you aren't hit with the -INT, or you could just switch into any other gloves you have for the time being.

For the back you can wear Red Cape+1 now, get that, it'll last until 71.

At 48 you can also buy Magic Cuisses which should be rather cheap on the AH, usually 5-10k.