Emp Hairpin how necessary is it?

[Icemage]

Re: Emp Hairpin how necessary is it?

The vast majority of gear problems in FFXI (and really there aren't that many, relatively speaking) revolve around:

(1) Gear which is way overpowered for its level. Leaping Boots, Emporer Hairpin, Astral Ring, Peacock Charm, etc. These items should never have been low level, and should have been increased in level to 60+ and moved off of stupidly easy NMs a long time ago.

(2) Gear which simply outclasses the rest of the competition. Black Belt, relic weaponry, Kirin's Osode, Speed Belt, Kraken Club, etc. These things hurt the game balance by limiting diversity.

(3) Enemies that drop the best gear are too easy, and drop the gear far too rarely. This causes a lot of competition for a lot of wasted effort. King Behemoth, Aspidochelone and Nidhogg are often the fall guys for this, but NMs like King Arthro, Lord of Onzozo, and other weaker NMs often provide ridiculously good gear for their difficulty.

That said, I don't really think any piece of melee gear is "must have". As long as you have enough pieces of decent gear, you can perform adequately, and adequate is all that's really necessary for XP purposes. More is certainly OK, but it certainly isn't required at anything other than end-game.


Icemage

[Eauijhkuu]

Re: Emp Hairpin how necessary is it?

Think SE was trying to resolve those slight issues with certain nuances

Such as putting Emp and Leapings as drops in BCNMs,
And replacing the drops as rare exclusives?

[Karinya]

Re: Emp Hairpin how necessary is it?

But that still doesn't fix the problem that the item is far too low level for its power (or far too powerful for its level), putting it far beyond any competition for its level. I'd rather see their power reduced than their levels increased, though. Hairpins +1 DEX/+1 AGI/+5 EVA, boots +1 DEX/+1 AGI, astrals convert 10 HP->MP, etc.

All of this doesn't address the OP's question, though: although these items are more powerful than any others of their level, they really won't have that big an effect on your overall performance. You might see 5-10 more damage per Sneak Attack, which is not going to make or break your party. Knowing what you're doing is much more important for THF; and THF is also often a puller, and knowing what you're doing as a puller WILL make or break a party.

It's commonly stated that Skill > Gear > Race, but especially for a job like THF, that first step (separating skill from everything else) is a big one. Equipment won't make you a good THF or a bad THF. (Well, unless it's *really* terrible equipment, like Beestinger at level 30.) Knowing how to line up SA and TA, manage your TP, pull the right mobs without links at an appropriate pace, etc. will define at least 95% of your overall performance.