An equipment dilemma that's been giving me headaches.

[JayblahX]

Well, I figured since everyone else was doing it, I should jump on the wagon. Hence, my own "help me!" thread.

This particularly dilemma has been giving me headaches, tearing at the fabric of my soul, and destroying my sanity.

Exaggeration aside, I'm having a tough time making a choice.

Here's the deal:

I have about 450,000 Gil liquid at the moment.

I currently use (I boldfaced the item I use more often if multiple are listed):

Bone Patas +1
Ochiudo's Kote / Temple Gloves
2x Spike Earrings (whatever the HQ one is called)
Spike Necklace
Amemit Mantle
2x Sun Rings / NEW: 1 Sniper Ring
Temple Cyclas
Fuma Kyahan / Temple Gaiters
Life Belt / Brown Belt
Master's Sitabaki
Mrc. Cpt. Headgear / Temple Crown

Now, this is the choice that's been weighing on my mind:

Alot of MNKs typically say that Ochiudo's Kotes no longer make a noticeable impact at 50+. I continue to use my Kote however, because I feel they do. I've not run any decisive tests, so I have a hard to proving that they do, but the perception that they are better than Temple Gloves boosts my Monkly confidence. Also, Kotes are among the crowning achievements for a MNK, and its hard to get rid of a "status" symbol.

With that said, if Kotes really aren't that worthwhile, I could sell them and earn enough cash to buy a Spartan Cesti and come close to or possibly buy one Sniper Ring.

So:
1. I lose my beloved Kotes, but gain Spartan Cesti and Sniper.
2. Or, I keep Kote, and farm up 100,000 gil to buy Spartan Cesti only.
3. Sell Kotes, putting me at or near 1,000,000 gil, and save towards a high end item like Spectacles or Scorp. Harness.

Any advice?

One thing: I have the possibility of joining a static PT soon (one which includes a BRD). Please keep that in the back of your mind when you provide advice.

EDIT: Neglected to add in my neck and back slot: Spike Necklace & Amemit Mantle respectively

[2.0]

You did fine without sniper rings until now right? Monk don't need them. Sell the damn kote too. It's time. Use the money to get that weapon and that amemit back piece at 61. And Pallas Bracelet.

Also if your people are cool see if you can get the spartan cesti for free or a discount at the balgas dias bcnm 60. If you can do that get those two things (bracelet and back piece) then put the rest towards spectacles. After that you should be okay.

[JayblahX]

I didn't do fine without Sniper Rings, that's the problem, and why I'm desiring to buy atleast one. Still not sure.

When we fought CN Beetle's without a BRD, and when Focus wasn't up, it was whifftastic even for me.

When I went to Valley of Sorrows without a BRD (thankfully only once), and when Focus wasn't up, Velociraptors gave me some trouble, but Peryton's simply made me their whiff-bitch.

Thanks for the reply all the same.

[2.0]

Accuracy in this game is weird though. You don't really seem to notice it getting better unless you raise it by a good amount. That's why i'd think that buying just 1 sniper ring would be a waste for a monk and 2 sniper rings is probably out of your budget. I really think that if you can get the weapon and spectacles you'll be in good condition.

[Sharma]

Sell your kote, they are a status symbol I agree but when I got them I was fairly pleased, then I changed to Temple Gloves and changed between Ochi Kote and Temple gloves and was somewhat disappointed by the fact that there was pretty much no difference at all.

I would say that post 55, str gives a better bang for your buck.

Spartan Cesti, although the very large delay on them, are outstanding and a lot cheaper than say Cross Counters (Which are at about 2.4mil on Bismarck).

They will last a long while up until you can grab enough cash for Cross Counters.

I'm using lifebelt now, somewhat pleased as well, due to being Mithra, combining Focus, Lifebelt and my naturally high dex my Raging Fists damage has gone up quite significantly due to being able to land more hits with it.

[Zalius]

So bascally I guess I won't even bother with Kote. Expecally since if I get monk that high i'd just end up selling it anyway. I keep telling people in Fenrir that Kote doesn't make all that much of a diff on a IT+ if ya lack the +str... Goes to show no one listens heh.

[Thark601]

shinryuken?

well you'll be going my route.. i definatly say ditch the ochiudo's, buy your sparten and first snipers, and after that do whatever you can to save for your second snipers...

beyond that your in a lucky spot, and got a while till any major upgrades...
i mean amement mantle, which you probably already have, and those rings that are +6 atk -2 magic dmg? the HQ ones,


my main problems that i keep blowin money on craft >< can't save for my sparten cesti lol even tho i'm still close

[Aneyeisuponyou]

I bought spartan for 900k ( yay prices on Kujata ) but I'm still glad I have them. As I've said many times and you pretty much support what I said @ lvl 60 acc becomes much more needed for mnk. 1 thing no one mentioned though about kote is if it can in itself I've notice can change the def. con. of a mob which will change the damage and I'm pretty sure acc you have versus it. But I might not be the guy to ask, I have a hard time to decide myself >.< have like pallas, kote and af on me most the time. Which is a bit of a strain on gil.

[JayblahX]

Well, since I had the money, I spent it on the first Sniper's.

I'm quite happy I did. I was getting normal to low evasion checks without BRD on otherwise high evasion monsters (such as Velociraptors and Perytons).

Furthermore, I visited the dreaded Toramas in Onzozo with a party, and even without BRD buffs, I checked typically normal evasion and an occasional low.

I pretty much always have Life Belt and Sniper Ring on now. Beginning to think Brown Belt is pointless, and since I don't wear Brown Belt all that often anymore outside of farming, I'm beginning to think Fuma Kyahan are pointless.

That's 400k cash right there if both are sold, easily putting me in range to buy another Sniper Ring. If I sell my Kote, I could also buy a Spartan.

The big problem with this is I still do not want to sell my Kotes. Like the above poster said, I have fought mobs where the Kote made the difference between normal defense /check or the all-important low defense /check. Everyone knows MNK own low defense targets. The Kote has basically put almost every target I've faced at low defense since I acquired them at 35. I don't understand why people think they are useless. I probably won't sell them and just farm up the cash on my own.

[Rhayn]

Originally posted by Zalius
So bascally I guess I won't even bother with Kote. Expecally since if I get monk that high i'd just end up selling it anyway. I keep telling people in Fenrir that Kote doesn't make all that much of a diff on a IT+ if ya lack the +str... Goes to show no one listens heh.

Saying you won't buy something because eventually you'll sell it back is rather poor logic too. It's like saying a Ranger shouldn't have Leaping Boots (DEX+3 AGI+3) because their AF Boots give them AGI+4.

The Kote do make a noticeable difference at lower levels because initially the attack vs. defense curve has a greater impact on damage than the STR vs. VIT curve. However, because of the way these curves are structured, at higher levels, changes in the relationship between STR and VIT gradually grows more important than the realtionship between additional attack or defense. If you have the gil, I've heard the Kote make a noticeable difference at that level from the monks I know that have them, but that as you gain levels, the difference becomes less apparent. I suppose you just have to see for yourself whether attack or STR has the biggest effect and even then the impact changes from monster to monster.

On a side note, the Kote and Spartan Cesti are both going for about 750k on Bismarck. I'd personally consider it a fair trade, if the STR+ from AF seems to have nearly the same effect as the Kote. ^^

[Fourinkmaaya]

Zalius,
as a tarutaru (weak strength, duh) i felt that kote made a giant impact on my damage at level 34. at level 54 i changed to temple gloves though, because i felt my damage didnt get boosted enough with kote at that level.

JayblahX,
i agree that with your current equipment, brown belt would be kind of bad. but if you sell your kote to get a second sniper's ring and spartan cesti. i think you would feel a greater increase in damage by switching to brown belt.

both fuma kyahan and brown belt will feel a lot more useful with a high delay h2h weapon equipped. (spartan cesti has +113 delay)

here's my equipment:
spartan cesti
af head
af body
af gloves
af boots
master's sitabaki (af legs at lv60)
sun rings
spike earrings
spike necklace (spectacles ready at lv59)
brown belt

[Macht]

Well looking at your gear's visible stats it seems you have 3 strong focuses you can change between with them.

Boosting STR
Boosting Haste
Boosting Attack

Unless I'm thinking about it wrong you don't have a single accuracy boost item on you. The setup with the gear you show to use the most is good, but I don't recall seeing any Neck item. If you got yourself a good +10 Accuracy boost that might round the basics you have right now pretty well. The +20 Attack combined with the +10 STR looks very well setup, but without a good +10 to Accuracy and an added 86 to Delay is going to hurt you.

Even without the Ochudo's Kote and Earrings getting the +30 Attack you are getting with the +10 STR is still quite good (+10 with the basics looks like you could get it to +13 or more, did a quick simple test didn't go any more in-depth to see). The only area that the loss of 20 attack is going to effect you the most is with the WS, their output won't be as high as they would of with +30 but you are suppose to focus more on damage over time so that loss may not be as big a focus.

So selling the Kote and getting a good boost of Accuracy seems like it should help you a lot. Getting something like Peacock Charm or the Spectacles should benefit you.

EDIT:

Lol, guess I took longer to look up those stats then I realized. If you got yourself 2 sniper rings, then the +20 Attack from the kote could be more beneficial. Like I said did a quick analasis, didn't think out every change..

EDIT AGAIN:

Sorry my mind is still focused more around my own gear, so I over looked what the loss was. The loss to STR might hurt your damage over time, if you already have that loss supplimented somewere else then no worries.

Remember STR not only effect Attack (2 STR = 1 Attack) but it's suppose to also govern were the average damage you do lands on the curve created with Attack. So pushing Attack really high may result in more damage as well because it changes how the curve is, making sure STR has a good boost too will make a greater impact.

[JayblahX]

Actually, I had +15 Accuracy even with the initial setup.

I've since added 1 Sniper, to total to +20 Accuracy.

[Macht]

Originally posted by JayblahX
Actually, I had +15 Accuracy even with the initial setup.

I've since added 1 Sniper, to total to +20 Accuracy.

+15 Accuracy? Did I miss something from one of the equipments you gave? I don't recall seeing any Accuracy bonuses??

[JayblahX]

Temple Cyclas
Life Belt / Brown Belt

Cycles +5 ACC
Life Belt +10 ACC

I boldfaced what I use almost all the time as per the original post. Hope that clears it up.