Question on AF longevity

[wolfjorg]

Ok I got BLM to 75 and raised RDM to 38, turned around and took DRK to 74, now Im looking at RDM to take to 75. I was wondering after you complete the AF quest for pieces, how long does RDM af last?

I usually see RDM75 in AF still or other pieces of gear. What is better 65+ for RDM? and does it get costly after that?

[arkaine23]

Re: Question on AF longevity

AF hat and Body should never collect dust. Legs and even gloves and boots get some play when you're soloing, if you're built defensively anyway...

Hat- godly for nuking, used more generally for fast casting
Body- Godly for enfeebling and for when casting and you don't want to be interrupted
Legs- macroed for enhancing magic spells or when there's no better piece
Hands- only for soloing for its +parry
Feet- only for soloing for its +shield

[Mog]

Re: Question on AF longevity

AF hat and Body should never collect dust. Legs and even gloves and boots get some play when you're soloing, if you're built defensively anyway...

QFT. I ALWAYS see 75 rdms wearing the hat and body. Considering there really isn't anything better besides AF2, hat and body should last you until endgame.

[LoneGamer]

Re: Question on AF longevity

AF Hat and Body last to 75. AF Gloves are okay, if you don't have anything better. For Humes, there's Marine Gloves, probably among the best RDM gloves in the game - 35 MP, 4 INT, 4 MND, 3 CHR. Tights lasted until Errant for me, and because I'm crazy like that, I used Warlock's Boots in my MND swap to avoid the -1 MND on Custom Boots until 70 and Ogre.

[Mhurron]

Re: Question on AF longevity

As has been said your AF body and Hat are pretty much always useful, and if you were really hurting for gil, the whole set could last you from the moment you get it on. However as RDM seems to be a job of gear swapping, they probably won't be your only body pieces. The hat on the other hand will probably never have a replacement.

For instance, fighting IT the +skill on the body is invaluable, but on VT and lower your natural enfeebling skill probably wont need much help so at 72 you'll probably also want to be carrying around the Errant body. AF feet and hands are not really party oriented so you might be replacing them with Wise or Errant pieces. If you feel like it your AF legs will probably be replaced most of the time again with Wise or Errant.

As for cost, Wise is a on the pricey side, Errant seems not so much. Red Mage, as far as partying armor goes, is pretty cheap. There are things you can get that will improve your performance that you'll spend gil on, but thats the same for any job.

[Gwynn]

Re: Question on AF longevity

...and because I'm crazy like that, I used Warlock's Boots in my MND swap to avoid the -1 MND on Custom Boots until 70 and Ogre.

Heh, I did the same thing! I also used the Gloves to swap out with my Devotee's to avoid the -INT (though that seems more obvious)...

[Aeni]

Re: Question on AF longevity

In my personal opinion... the only thing I've ever gotten a boost to my performance from are the warlock tights.

(1) The gloves come off for the superior RSE gloves (At my level anyway)

(2) If I can get a drop or cough up 6 mil, I'd much rather the River Gaiters than that pathetic excuse of a boot.

(3) Chapeau and Tabard came off and say hello to the VC. I don't get so much resist on my enfeebling anymore thanks to the staves. So much so that I rather see the 1mp/tick benefit than an offchance resist happening which doesn't happen enough. (Having all this surplus +mnd from things like p.rope really helps)

All in all, I'm really looking forward to AFv2 and the Wise Gear (JSE) sets for RDM. Couple that with some Errant and other pieces, I can safely say that the AF set will be in the hands of a certain NPC more times than in my MH.

[Sigmara]

Re: Question on AF longevity

I m more like Aeni.

Some part will always have some utility but you will really wear them less once you got errant and it should keep going like that untill you got your hands on rar/ex end-game gear. At that point you will just store AF.

AF will help you to go to end-game but dont be shy and try other stuff once there.

Most of the time, others members of the PT who spent millions on gear will be happy to not see a RDM full AF and not swaping much.

[Aeni]

Re: Question on AF longevity

AF hat and Body should never collect dust. Legs and even gloves and boots get some play when you're soloing, if you're built defensively anyway...

Oh, I kind of saw this and forgot to respond to this point. Now, the way I do things might be different from others, so let's just say this is from my personal experience.

The Body definitely does not stay on for soloing. I've known 2 75 RDMs who solo as RDM/NIN. I've played on a friend's account before and solo'd EMs as a 75 RDM/NIN as well. I personally like the +10 acc from an SH and couple this with an O-Hat which gives better utility for meleeing, which is generally what soloing is about 95% of the time. You'd then be popping sushi or meat.

I can see how the AF Hat helps and that might be the only reason why it wouldn't be stored. But I fail to see how the body is going to help you with meleeing at all. If you're getting in trouble, then either (a) you're soloing something you shouldn't be fighting in the first place aka Fafnir or <insert your monster here> or (b) you need to focus on watching your timer. I've seen too many RDMs who are trying to solo get lulled by the first 40% of the fight then panic when the monster behaves erratically or differently from the first 40% of the fight (That is, swing swing swing use TP move swing recast stoneskin). I'm not even sure if -spell interruption is going to help you at all if you don't already have a backup plan for such a situation or are just sloppy period.

[Gobo]

Re: Question on AF longevity

Here's my take on AF, and might as well throw in AF+1, Relic and Wise just for their sake of existance. (Spoiler tagged cause they are long.)

Artifact

Chapeau:
Unless you are converting with Zenith Crown/casting a White magic based enfeeble/need extra Enfeebling from Elite or Relic hat, this is pretty much a keeper. It benefits PT/End game/soloing. +3 INT and +10 Elemental is good for Black magic enfeebles as well as MBing in PTs with set SCs.

Fast Cast (giving you Fast Cast IV) helps when you need to get a sleep of quickly in a Merit PT or sleeping a mob in Dynamis before it and its friends trash your puller. Its also good for helping toss a quick Cure III to save the tank before the WHM can finish casting Cure V. For soloing, the Fast Cast not only cuts down on the casting for SS/Phalanx/Utsu ichi and Ni but also lowers their recast so you can have them ready to cast again when you need them.

Tabard:
Everyone likes this for the +15 Enfeelbing. Its useful in lvling PTs fighting ITs as well as HNMs (though you really have to stack this to make it work on some...) Stacked to 309 Enfeebling, RDMs can resleep the Pots in CoP 8-3 without ES fairly reliably.

The +10% interuption down, while seemingly useless when you get it, becomes very useful later on. Being able to resleep mobs in Dynamis that are pounding you for 100-250, and not get interupted is very nice. Same goes from casting Utsu after Stoneskin is been broken.

I wear it when I solo all the time. Spending 5 mil for +10 acc vs an EM and down with 250 (255 if you have suppa) skill isnt worth it imo. Nor is the +10 evasion with 210 skill. We dodge like brick walls, +10 non skill isnt going to help that much.

Gloves:
Solo piece, thats it. Mithra RSE, Elvaan RSE1&2, Hume RSE2, Galka RSE1&2, Master Casters Braclets and so on are all better in that slot for non solo stuffs.

Tights:
MND enfeebles and Enhancing stuffs. Worthless for PT instuations post 72. Decent for SS macro in Endgame, but you should hit 350 damage cap on Stoneskin by then with MND and natural skill alone.

Boots:
Solo pretty much. RSE1 for Hume(not for MND spells) Elvaan and Galka is better. RSE2 for Mithra, Elvaan and Galka is better as well.

AF+1

Chapeau:
Adds 5 MP and 2 INT. Not a big boost, but still best nuking head piece in the game

Tabard:
Adds 20 MP, +2% Spell interuption down and +5 HMP. Looses 5 CHR. Best upgrade imo.

Hands:
Adds 2 MP, 2 DEX, 2 INT, 2 MND +5 Parry skill, looses +10 Darkness resist. Still melee mainly, meh for nukes and enfeebles (there is still better stuff)

Legs:
Adds 5 MP and 2 MND....not worth the upgrade, stick with NQ for buffs and Errant for enfeebles.

Feet:
Adds 4 MP, 3 INT, 3 MND, looses +10 Water resist. Decent piece, basically removes a gear swap. Same +INT and MND as Yigit feet.

Relic

Chapeau:
+15 Enfeeble and Auto-Refresh. Other than nuking, why on earth would you want to remove this. Gives an extra 200 MP every convert cycle.

Tabard:
Its a Healing toy really. It looks cool, I am sure having Fast Cast V is hot, but really other than getting in a spell quickly (maybe for claiming or healing) there really is better stuff out there. Maybe macro it in when you are casting Utsu and know you wont get interupted or something.

Gloves:
Free "errant cuffs" pretty much, good for buffs again with +15 Enhancing, but there is other stuff out there thats better for PT/endgame situations

Pants:
I really do like using them for nuking (they are the only piece of RDM relic I have). Being able to cast Thunder III with a Thunder Staff and not get resisted on a VT-IT is very nice. Decent for soloing with +DEX and the "Enhances Spike Effects" makes Ice Spike's Paralyze very potent.

Boots:
Best Nuking feet, decent +MND feet. Also pushes Evasion up to D+...which is...not amazing. Rather use Orge for soloing.

Wise (JSE)

is meh. Imo its really a waste of gil.

Hat:
Decent for Drain/Aspir, but I'd rather use AF1s +INT or Zenith Crowns +MND for enfeebles and AF1's +elemental for nuking.

Chasuble:
AF body takes this out back and beats it with a stick for enfeebles. Probably cause I have AF2 pants, but I wear Errant here for nuking, but I guess the +5 acc can help for nukes, I never noticed a difference when I had it for 3 days. Again I also dont think the +Acc is really needed with B sword and dagger.

Hands:
moving on. Better gear out there for PT/endgame/melee

Legs:
They look cool (I like the "shorts" gear in game), I had them for a few months, but once I capped Enfeebling, I sold them back. For something like an HNM, they MAY be helpful. However if you're going to stick it, might as well stick it with the increased potency from Errant.

Feet:
See Hands.

Only other thing that might strike your fancy is Narshira Searwalls. Best Legs for Enfeebling in the game.

[Aeni]

Re: Question on AF longevity

Here's my take on AF, and might as well throw in AF+1, Relic and Wise just for their sake of existance. (Spoiler tagged cause they are long.)

Artifact

I wear it when I solo all the time. Spending 5 mil for +10 acc vs an EM and down with 250 (255 if you have suppa) skill isnt worth it imo. Nor is the +10 evasion with 210 skill. We dodge like brick walls, +10 non skill isnt going to help that much.

Whether or not it's worth spending depends on how you solo things. Also, you're totally disregarding evasion completely. While it may seem small, like your thinking with spell interruption, it benefits somewhat. Of course, add in every possible other piece you can get and you've got a lot to work with.

+15 enfeebling for an EM with merited skills and other slots already giving you this (You can swap in them) and capped skill ... c'mon, there's something about being overly redundant in this matter. On Kirin, yes, I can see that ... on soloing something that you can actually solo, no, it's not worth that slot.

[Hamlet]

Re: Question on AF longevity

RDM AF is some of the best in the game. That being said, seeing 75 rdms in full AF leads me to believe that they don't know what they're doing. At least do something about the gloves and boots.

[Gobo]

Re: Question on AF longevity

Whether or not it's worth spending depends on how you solo things. Also, you're totally disregarding evasion completely. While it may seem small, like your thinking with spell interruption, it benefits somewhat. Of course, add in every possible other piece you can get and you've got a lot to work with.

+15 enfeebling for an EM with merited skills and other slots already giving you this (You can swap in them) and capped skill ... c'mon, there's something about being overly redundant in this matter. On Kirin, yes, I can see that ... on soloing something that you can actually solo, no, it's not worth that slot.

Unlike Evasion, Spell interuption down is relatively high through because of capped skill. Why improve on something that you have relatively low skill in, when you can make something that you have a lot of even better? Capped skill+Aquaviel+Tabard+Magnetic Earring(be that your choice) means you have a pretty small chance of being interupted if/once stoneskin fails you. I don't wear the tarbard for soloing because of its +enfeeble, I wear it so I can cast easily without worring about getting interupted. Its let me tank Avatars, solo my SMN AF quests, twice and keep up stoneskin with 3 Chigos pounding the crap out of me. RDM solo is an endurace fight and imo the better the chance you have of recasting things, the better chance you have of winning. However this is my opinion and I have no right to force you to change yours.

To sum up everything, most RDMs will aggre that you will never retire your Chapeau and Tabard as long as you play the job.

[Mhurron]

Re: Question on AF longevity

RDM AF is some of the best in the game. That being said, seeing 75 rdms in full AF leads me to believe that they don't know what they're doing. At least do something about the gloves and boots.

Full AF looks better then a patchwork of gear. Since you will have some AF pieces on you means that you can't store it. You might as well wear it all and look good when it doesn't really matter.

[Jei]

Re: Question on AF longevity

I think errant slops look better than Rdm AF legs.