Guide/Reference

[Bazzookabear]

All knowing ones, I was wondering if you would be able to part with some of your wisdom with me. I am a lvl 24 BLM with 12WHM sub. What equipment should I have at this point? Not exactly talking uber things, but just your normal items one should have at this level. I just don't want to buy something that 3 lvls down the road is going to be not worth having. Just looking to be cost efficient by not buying items that I should be saving gil towards. Thank you in advance.

[kazuri]

All righty. I only have experience as a 58BLM, but I have knowledge of gears upto 75... hope this will help you in some ways.

For your weapons:
Club: Nothing big for now... a Yew Wand+1 will do (not costy at all). Upgrade into a Solid Wand at level 32. At later levels, you won't be using club, but if you're like me you'll want to keep it skilled up. Look into some of those lv60+ INT/MND clubs, or rare/ex goodies if you can get your hands on those.

Staff: Don't bother until level 40, when you can purchase a Dusky Staff (optional). Still use wand at that level, but bust out your Dusky Staff whenever you're casting a Dark Magic spell. At 51, you'll hit the joy level of Elemental Staves. I'm planning to save up and get all HQ, but unless you're not made of gil, don't bother. Have at least the basic- Dark, Ice, Thunder, Water, etc. At higher lvs you can get misc staves for fun, but you'll probably end up using your Elemental Staves all the way in EXP/HNM. By the way, you can now sell your Dusky Staff if you bought one. Dark Staff > Dusky Staff. Try to get them all eventually... HQs are better but once again kinda costy. :d

Scythe: This is for fun... not required. Try a Mandibular at 46, and try getting a Gravedigger with a BC at 70+ if you want.

Onto Armor:
At 24, you should at least have the following setting: Black Tunic, White Mitts, Black Slacks, Sandals, Eremite's Ringx2 (Knowledge is good too), Black Silk Neckerchief, etc.. get the idea?

At 29 you'll hit the great lv where you can equip Seer's set. Invest on getting +1s, you can use them upto 40... and even 60+. If you don't have enough funds, at least get HQs on Seer's Crown and Seer's Pumps. During your 30's, you can get Custom M Boots... MP+12 and INT+3. You can then sell your Seer's Pumps(+1). At 40 you have the option to get Combat Caster's set. If you have full Seer's+1, no need but I'd get them for looks and solo (ATK+5, EVA+5, STR/INT+2, etc). At 60s get Shaman's Cloak and Wizard's set... and at 68 Black Cloak. Vermillion Cloak at 59 would be nice, but if you're trying to be gil-safe, no need. Errant set at lv72 is great, get them all if you can. And of course, Zenith-Sorcerer's stuff if you can obtain them at endgame.

For your accessories (rings, earrings, back, waist, ammo)...
Waist: Shaman's Belt at 28, Druid's Rope at 40, Petinent's Rope at 60. Shouldn't need to upgrade again after that. As the poster below states, Ocean Sash is a possibility, but imo Petinent's Rope will be better. No need to buy new gear... '-'

Rings: From Eremite's/Knowledge Rings, up into Wisdom Rings at 36 and then Zircon/Genius Rings at 54. Then Diamond/Omniscent at 72... Snow/Aquilo Rings at 74 if you can afford.

Neck: Black Silk Neckerchief > Intellect Torque > Elemental/Dark Torque... that's basically it.

Earrings: At 30 get Morion Earrings, obtain a Moldative Earring at 47, then it's your choice from there. A Boroka Earring at 49 is nifty, but pretty hard to obtain. Also, I forgot to mention Healer's Earring. If you're subbing WHM, the latent takes effect. Another -1 enmity could mean another spell you could cast; which could add another 200-300 or so. Pretty nifty, eh? If you also have the chance to defeat the Ark Angels and obtain an Abyssal Earring.. use it. Dark Skill/INT+ from 1 earring... love.

Back: At 32, Black Cape+1, at 60 Sapient Cape, then at 71 Rainbow/Prism Cape. You don't "need" to get the Sapient Cape seeing as how Black Cape+1 has 1 more INT boost... but Sapient Cape has enmity-. And the icon looks cooler. :d

Ammo: Morion Tathlum > Phantom Tathlum. Nothing else, really...

Good luck~ hope this guide was useful for ya.

PS: I edited... mkay?

[Nodoka]

>Have at least the basic- Dark, Ice, Thunder, Water, etc.

Water? :X That should be one of the last ones you get.


>At 24, you should at least have the following setting: Black Cloak

Wish I had Black Cloak at 24.


>Petinent's Rope at 60. Shouldn't need to upgrade again after that.

Since he's Hume, the RSE belt at 70 is good. 45 MP and 4 INT.


>Earrings: At 30 get Morion Earrings, obtain a Moldative Earring at 47, then it's your choice from there. A Boroka Earring at 49 is nifty, but pretty hard to obtain.

The subjob earrings are pretty good, -1 enmity if youre /whm and +2mp recovered resting if youre /rdm.


Still a good guide. ^^

[Icemage]

Dusky Staff is skippable - Solid Wand works just fine all the way up to elemental staves.

HQ staves totally unnecessary (nice if you've got 10-15 million gil just lying around, but very, very, very few people do).

Penitent's Rope is arguably more powerful than any of the RSE belts for mages. -Enmity > all at end-game.

Black Silk Neckerchief is about the only marginally useful piece of neckwear for black mages that isn't ridiculously rare until well into the 60s.

Morion Earrings/Phantom Earrings are so overrated it's not even funny. +INT is cute but really stops having much impact on your damage output at later levels - does it honestly matter if your nukes land for 10 more damage, when your base damage is 400+? I certainly don't think so. Moldavite Earring blows away the competition as far as damage goes, and you can use the subjob JSE earrings in the other slot. I've got an Abyssal Earring from 18AA BCNM waiting for me at level 72, too, and there's also the +1INT +1HMP R/EX earring from the new NM Boroka in Riverne Site #B01.

Seer's Gear is OK, and you don't need the HQ versions for all of them. Seer's Crown +1 is probably worth the investment (+3 INT vs. +2), as are Seer's Gloves +1 (+2 INT/+2 MND vs. +1/+1). The other pieces aren't useful in their HQ versions - Seer's Tunic only adds 1 more DEF and 1 more MP, as do the pants and boots - in fact, Inferno Sabots are a better choice at level 41 than Seer's.

Ring-wise, Electrum Rings are handy at level 40 (you could also buy really overpriced Astral Rings, but if you can live without them until 40, Electrums work just fine).

Also note that, depending on your race, RSE might be an option - Galka RSE adds impressive amounts of MP and INT for instance.


Icemage

[kazuri]

I was really rushing so didn't think it all out. -o-;

I find Water Staff extremely useful, espicially during the mid 50's to 60 while killing crabs... Water III MB was great and Water Staff helped greatly. Most people don't bother though. :/ It's your choice. Xd You could skip Dusky Staff, but it's not terribly expensive and Dark Skill+4(or was it 3? 5?) is pretty good. Although, once you get a Dark Staff.. you could sell it again.

I meant at lv24 to have... Black Tunic, not Black Cloak. Sorry If you have enough gil, try obtaining Mage's Tunic instead. With that, you can skip getting Seer's Crown/Tunic. If you go HQ with Seer's however, Seer's Crown+1 has INT+3, so the Mage's Tunic won't be worth it. Do whatever you want; you don't even have to get HQs.
And about the lv30 subjob earrings, I don't think they'll be that great... +2MP a tick if you have RDM sub is fantastic but you won't be subbing RDM often until 60+ when you can Dispel/etc with it. -1 enmity is good... but I wasn't thinking once again. -o-
Abyssal Earring is perfect (Dark Skill+, INT+), but not everyone has those... aim for it if possible.

If you're a hume, look into getting Custom M Boots. MP+12, INT+3... that's great. I also personally think the Ocean Sash is worse then Petinent's. It has 1 more INT+, as well as enmity-3 as a bonus. The RSE has MP+45... but not worth upgrading agian imo. And... the reason why I said get all +1s for Seer's is because I tend to keep gear for lv-cap events... such as BC30, CoP stuff... so might as well get +1. I'm not really bothered by equipment costs... but the poster said be gil-safe. o-o

Still didn't think it all through, but meh. The guide is pretty basic... I'll edit it now.

[Bazzookabear]

Oh yea, it might be more helpful if I told you what I already have.

Silver Hairpin
Yew Wand
Elm Staff (from quest)
Asbestos Mitts
Solea
Linen Robe
Linen Slops
Justice Badge
Friar's Belt
(2) Ermite's Rings
(2) Onyx Earrings

What should I update first and foremost?

Thanks for everything so far, very helpful

[kazuri]

Ok, let's see..

Silver Hairpin and Linen Robe: Sell those and buy a Black Tunic. That thing gives INT+1, better then both of those. A Royal Footman's Tunic will do also. Upgrade into Seer's Tunic/Seer's Crown+1 at 29.

Yew Wand: It's worth getting the +1 version of this, seeing as how it's pretty cheap. Keep it until you can upgrade into a Chestnut/Solid Wand at lv32.

Elm Staff: Go ahead and sell it, not worth. But if you want, keep it and solo with it for keeping your staff skill updated. Don't need any other staves until 51, and Dusky Staff at 40 is pretty nice too.

Asbestos Mitts: I guess this is OK. Keep it until level 29 when you can buy Seer's Mitts+1 (the HQ is worth the cost.)

Linen Slops: It's not that bad. Although there is Mage's Tunic at lv20 that offers INT+1, it's pretty costy and most people think it's not worth the gil. Just keep it until level 29 when you can upgrade into a Seer's Slacks. I'd recommend buying Mage's Slacks and sell it when you can wear Seer's, though.

Justice Badge: Get a Black Silk Neckerchief. You won't have to upgrade for a long time.

Friar's Belt: This is the best thing you can have for now... be sure to get Shaman's Belt at 28, or wait until Mercenary Captain's Belt at lv30.

Eremite's Ringx2: Keep these until level 36 for Wisdom Rings or 54 for Zircon/Genius Rings. Wisdom Rings are pretty costy and most people don't get them. It's your choice; Zircon Rings at lv54 have the same stats.

Onyx Earringx2: Nothing really better at your level. Buy a Healer's Earring at 30 (keep WHM subbed) and 1 Morion Earring(lv30). You can replace a Morion Earring for a Cunning Earring(lv29).

Hope this helped~

[Bazzookabear]

Yes, it was most helpful. Thank you for taking the time to post for me, I know you didn't have to, but I am glad you did. If you think of anything else that might make the road a bit easier, pleaser post again!

[kazuri]

Sorry for posting so much, but I have a bit more advice/tips. o_o;

You don't have to go HQ at all. Although I tend to, it's not necessary. Don't take it the wrong way. ^-^
Also, if you're in need of gil, and have lots of Beastmen's Seals, I recommend BC30: Creeping Doom to you. I can hook you up with a strategy via PM sometime. The drops can be pretty good, and it's fun to do with 2 other friends.

Good luck to you. :]

[Bazzookabear]

So far, so good with the advice. I have been able to update a couple of items. It took a little while, but gained enough fame to do "Horror of the Airship" quest for the Black Neckerchief. Also was able to purchase the Black Tunic and sandals. I have only gained one level (25) due to the amount of questing I have been doing. Yes, I am very interested on different ways of making some gil. Lately, just gaining the gil I get from the various quests and selling off items I don't need or will use. So, if you could, drop me a line.

Thanks