What gear do you use?

[SkuLLy]

so i've pretty much grinded 1-27 in 3 days. you guys have been immense help with spell location info, but i still haven't asked what exactly it is you all have equipped.

my current gear is pretty ghetto (firesword, aspis, beetle harness / boots, republic subligar, sandoria gloves, dodge headband, warriors belt+1, and 2 +2INT rings) and i'm looking to upgrade it soon, so what would you all recommend i look into?

[Masaharu]

If you really wanted to, you could wear RSE until you have access to AF armor.

[Altruist]

Your almost to 30 so I would pick up a mercenary captain's belt, RSE pants and feet (ooh hot pants^^), Armor doesn't matter much, maybe whatever level 30 CP gear you have acess to. There really aren't any good affordable earings, but if you have the cash get two morion earrings, Maybe a morion tathlum, +int is needed to help with your MB resists, gravity and dispel resists aren't very comon until your 60's (but even dispel hits with only +11 int at 68 when I have my +mnd gear on). If you have cash get some +mnd and +int rings, saintly and eremites are cheap and good. At 40 get soem electrums, also try to get hairpins, they help and aren't too expensive as a hume.

Also try to get a wand most are under 5k.

[SkuLLy]

i was planning on the following for level 30..

Centurian Sword
Aspis (holding onto this doodoo shield until i see something better )
Merc Capt Doublet / Cent Mail
Sandoria Gloves / RSE Gloves
RSE Pants
RSE Boots
Merc Capt Belt
Wolf Mantle +1
2x Eremites Rings

I'd prefer not to rock the whole RSE setup until AF, but if there is nothing better, I guess I will.

Electrum rings sitting in my moghouse already.

[Sukashi]

Centurion's Sword / Yew Wand (I want my AF1 -_-)
Targe
Brigandine
Silver Hairpin
Carapace Gloves
Carapace Leggings
Onyx Earring
Onyx Earring
Electrum Ring
Electrum Ring
Friar's Rope
Justice Badge
Red Cape
Custom Slacks

I should really get to doing RSE for Gloves and Boots

[Elrundir]

I'm currently Level 31, so I'm not too far off from you. Some of this equipment might not be wearable by you because of this, but it might give you some ideas at least. Oh, and this is based on memory, since I obviously can't log in and type this at the same time.

- Centurion's Sword / Eremite's Wand (waiting for next wand [is it Chestnut?] at level 32)
- Targe
- Silver Hairpin (Electrum at 40, if I can afford it )
- Brass Finger Gauntlets
- Cotton Doublet (hoping for a Mercenary Captain's Doublet, but no such luck yet)
- Dhalmel Mantle
- Linen Slops (desperately want Custom Slacks, but haven't done that whole thing yet)
- Mage's Sandals
- Justice Badge (Will eventually be replaced with Holy Phial, I hope)
- Friar's Rope
- Onyx Earring
- Onyx Earring
- Eremite's Ring (again, hope to replace with Electrum ASAP)
- Eremite's Ring (see above)

Well, I think that covers everything...

[fyrewyre]

Level 33 Elvaan RDM/NIN
Head-Silver hairpin
Neck-Spiked necklace
Body-Centurion
Hands-RSE
Waist-friars (still saving for something better...)
Legs-Studded pants (undeceded about 16 def vs RSE at 12def)
Feet-RSE
Back-Wolf gorget
Rings-San d'orian and Amethys
earings im still debaiting on which to use
Im using two small swords for now till i get an extra 20k
if i feel like melee i throw off the targe and put on an extra sword and brass headgear (defense macro)then walk into the frey.

Just my opinion...you are pretty much far behind if you took three days to get to 27. Check on your magic/weapon skills and level them as well as the other stats there cause they are VERY important. when you reach 30 -33 your magic stats should be Lv93-100 and weapons should be around 95-9?. sometimes i run into something that i definatly cannot take on and nuke or swing at it for a .05 boost in whatever stat (yeah i die but its worth it :D ) the reason its important is because higher numbers activate things like: block, evade, guard, parry (i parry constantly), and magic/weapon skill ups.

A boat full of high leveled players stressed this out to me on my trip studing parties and it payed off BIG time. good luck man, i've seen people get a kick out of a PT because of that and i'd really hate to see another fellow player get the same punishment >_<,

[SkuLLy]

hot damn, didn't realize 1-27 in 3 days was slow, i'll definately try to speed that up to catch up with ya fyrewyre

amethys ring is a +1 DEX ring, no? do you find yourself melee'ing often? i often find the fight goes enfeeble -> enfeeble -> enfeeble -> cure -> magic burst -> fight over. very rarely have i had the chance to pull out my sword (which is probably for the better, since its does horrible damage ).

grabbed a silver hairpin, 2x onyx earrings, and a lantern shield, thanks for the suggestions guys.

[Elrundir]

It would be in your best interests to level up Sword, though. When you have to solo and farm later on, if you don't have a high Sword-skill, you'll find the goings tough, I'd imagine. ^^ If you just pull out your sword long enough to max it when you level, your party shouldn't mind (heck, I've seen WHMs do the same thing and no one seems to care).

[fyrewyre]

im a lil too cheap to buy a balance ring cause im soooo close to refresh :D
heres how my battles go in yhutunga:

1.bio>slow>melee>cureIII towards the end of battle
no rest
2.dia>blind>slow>melee>regen
no rest
3.bio>blind>slow>melee
no rest
4&5.two more sets of three enfeebles and regens
by this time i have atleat 20 MP and its not a problem because we have enough TP to skillchain half the monsters HP away
6.melee with an EN spell for the whole battle
next battle i sit out because theres always another mage in the PT. if not, i ask them to grab another RDM and most of the time they pick up my pattern and we keep things going from chain#1-6 then swap mages and there you go. Cure in battle is never a problem cause i max my enfeeble and enhance. i rarely throw cure or cure two around cause i regen a person and cure III someone once in a while (using three enfeebles can help keep mp useses low) im fighting. the more melee, the faster things go and the larger the chains. if you barely have to pll your sword out then ..i really dont know whats happening lol. pro2 the tank, regen the puller, and throw three enfeebles (they stick with capped skills) and get your hits in and if needed you cure someone. its that easy.

you might look at me like "so..are you a RDM?" but doing this (the reason i dont repeat patterns is because i use only three enfeebles depending on which person is the tank)

[Uroboros]

It would be in your best interests to level up Sword, though. When you have to solo and farm later on, if you don't have a high Sword-skill, you'll find the goings tough, I'd imagine. ^^ If you just pull out your sword long enough to max it when you level, your party shouldn't mind (heck, I've seen WHMs do the same thing and no one seems to care).

There are enough mobs that are pretty much totally safe to melee that this isn't really a problem. Fighting crawler/crab/beetle types, there's no reason not to poke at them. Against many mobs though, it's not worth it. Why are you giving a pug more TP to Screwdriver your tank, for example. Why give gobs more bombs, especially when later on they can kill people who are in the yellow.

My gear at 30 was pretty identical to your lv30 idea, except I had Holy Phial for neck, and just a Dhamel Mantle for back, replaced with a Black Cape+1 at what, 32 I think? Centurion's Sword easily lasts until AF1, and Aspis can be replaced by Targe in early 30s I think, for less than 2k. Then you don't really need to do anything else until Electrum stuff at 40, maybe new chestpiece mid 40s since hume RSE vest is kind of bad, really just there to complete the look. Defense isn't that important - no matter your armor's rating, you're still a mage and still have mage vitality.

[Arli]

Hmm.. RDM/NIN, prepare to be hit very, very hard by the melee nerf when you hit 40. You may want to consider a different sub by the time you can cast Refresh. Anyway, back to the original question...


Since you're getting close to 30, I'd suggest going for full Centurion Scale, Centurion Sword, Mercenary Captain's Belt and a White/Black cape till you're high enough for the Red Cape. If you can afford a Lantern Shield, that's also a good peice of gear, otherwise a Targe does just as well. Rings and Earrings are still pretty optional. I'd go for the INT boosting rings like Eremite's Ring and a cheap pair of AGI earrings like the Wind Earrings for now - Evasion is important. Black Neckerchief is a great neck peice at this level for its +2 INT boost, and is a fairly easy quest item to get. If you can afford a Holy Phial, this is one of the best neck peices you can wear at level 27, hell I still wear mine in xp PTs.

I'd hold the RSE and MP boosting gear until you get Refresh, as the added MP will be be extremely useful then. Right now, you still have a decent amout of melee viability and the boosts from the Centurion Scale with Centurion Sword will make you very effective in combat. If you want to stay on the melee path for longer, then you can pick up a suit of Iron Scale or a Brigandine as you get closer to 40.

Once you get to 41, you become a Refresh whore. Defensive and melee gear won't be as important as increasing your MP. RSE does this wonderfully but at the cost of defensive ability. You can mix and match as you please (the Centurion Visor has a nice little DEX boost). Also, try to keep your wand as up to date with your level as possible. The Centurion Sword will last you until your AF1 saber unless you have money to burn. Always try to keep your sword skill maxed if the PT situation allows. The wand is mainly for the stat boosts.

Morion Talthum can be pricey if you don't farm it yourself, and Morion Earrings are overpriced for their little INT and MP boosts. Better to use the money on a pair of electrum rings and electrum hairpin at level 40ish for the added MP.

[EDarkness]

I am an equipment nut. I have to have the best gear I can wear at any given level. I plan generally 5 or 6 levels in advance (sometimes up to 10 levels). The thing is at level 30 you get some nice stuff. At level 30 I was wearing Steam Scale and I picked up the rest of the Centurion gear for hands, feet, and legs. I had a bandana since I hate covering my face with masks and helms. I spent a lot of money on gear.

At level 50, I'm totally decked out. I have Steel Scale on with the exception of the legs which are Magic Cuisses and my head which is a Wool Cap. My armor is also +1 in places where it was available. On my back I have a Red Cape+1 and a Tiger Stole around my neck. I wear a ring that gives STR+2 and my San d'Orian Ring (that needs to be upgraded, but I like showing what city I'm with). Around my waist is a Royal Knights Belt. I have an earring that gives +2 AGI and a Beetle Earring +1 for the +3 ATK boost.

As as RDM/NIN, I just picked up a Knight's Sword+1 (which rocks the house don't believe the hype about being gimped in the damage department), and a Corrosive Baselard. Both of which cost me almost 200k total. I look forward to getting the Wizard's Analace. My dagger only hits for like 15 against ITs, but it lowers defense as a special and that comes in handy.

I will admit that going the route of the caster is much cheaper, but I have no fun running around with level 30 equipment on. If you go the caster route, then RSE will work just find. I found the DEF and the negatives too bad for me to actually wear so I got them and sold them. I'm probably the extreme side of all of us, but it's just another point of view on what kind of equipment people buy.



-EDarkness

[fyrewyre]

EDarkness im guessing your a tactician as well. I see RDM as a tactician or MP wizard (refresh AND convert as well as spells already being cast by 68%) in other words. With two centurion swords your TP will increase 11 TP every combo so thats 9 hits and your ready to participate in a skillchain. doing an extra 60 damage (without en spells) can make things go faster and thats what we all want in a PT: Chains. Every person has an idea where to go and what to do in a pt so they have an idea on what gear to use, good luck in choosing equipment skully.

[SkuLLy]

interesting choice of equip/subs you two.

if you guys really wanted to go in and melee, how come you didn't choose DRK as your sub over NIN? i'd imagine DRK being a better sub in your cases than NIN. thread hijacking my own thread.

anyway, i suppose that as always, subs are situational and party dependent. my static party throw out enough melee damage as is, hence me dropping my drg to come through and play the rdm/blm caster route.

hopped up to level 36 this evening (hope i'm still not moving too slow for you fyrewyre ), rocking out with the following..

Silver Hairpin
Cent Sword
Cent Scale Mail
Lantern Shield
2x Wing Earring
2x Eremite Ring
Wolf Mantle + 1
Merc Capt Belt
RSE Pants
RSE Boots

was thinking about grabbing a Black Cape + 1 sometime between levels 27 and 36, but they flew by quick enough that I've decided to just hold out for the Red Cape. looking forward to throwing on the Electrum Hairpin and Rings soon enough. anything else you guys think i should keep an eye out for?