Vermillion Cloak, Serket Ring, and Ninja Tanks.

[Rodin]

I have a question for you experienced WHM's out there. Is it really needed to get a Vermillion Cloak when you have a Ninja tank and a RDM? My set has a NIN tank, and he wants to take off time at level 52 (after AF2) to farm for some endgame equipment. This includes a Scorpion harness, a Byrnie, and a Vermillion Cloak. I'm wondering if I should get the Vermillion, or forget it and farm for a Serket Ring. Most of my set has jobs already at level 70-75, so farming won't take too long, maybe about two weeks for everything, but I'm just wondering if it's truly necessary for it. But, I could also mine straight through for those two weeks in Ifrit's Cauldron and get both XD. Thank you for your help.

[Sadeira]

neither is necessary, you can go to level 75 with just AF and possibly astral rings.

those are luxuries, imo, and although it would make a difference in an exp party, it would be a marginal difference. such equipment is useful during hnm fights where you need to squeeze out every last drop of mp. since you're not there yet, i wouldn't worry about getting either unless you afford it or someone gives it to you

[Rodin]

Wow, thanks for the quick help. I already have two astrals. It's just that my set pt's leader is almost hellbent on getting all of those items I'll try to pursuade him otherwise.

[Icemage]

I posted in another thread here that I don't even use my Astral Rings as WHM anymore. The extra MP is of limited use - I use Demon Ring +1s(lv68) instead. My vermillion cloak, on the other hand, you'd have to pry out of my cold, dead hands.

Since level 50, the most effective pieces of WHM equipment I've acquired have been:

Level 51: Dark Staff
Level 50/51: Healing Staff/Light Staff
Level 59: Vermillion Cloak
Level 72: Errant Houppelande

Those pieces of equipment outshine all the rest of my gear combined as far as effectiveness is concerned. You could also sub a noble's tunic (assuming you could afford one) in place of the V. Cloak, but the noble's is WHM-specific, so if you're planning on levelling more than one mage job to 59+, I think the cloak is a better investment.


Icemage

[Manatra]

I'd say if you can buy a Vermillion Cloak, go for it, it's 1200 extra MP an hour, which adds up. 1200 MP is about 1 less sitting down for you.

[Rawls]

I'd have to agree with Icemage. Max MP doesn't mean a whole lot in xp parties, even less so with a good NIN tanking (in a party earlier with a NIN in Cape Terrigan on Manticores i started to MB Blizzaga out of boredom/excess mp).

What i feel are the primary concerns for WHMs... or should be anyway, are;

1. MP Recovery (i.e., using errant for resting etc.)
2. MP Efficiency (gogo Light Staff/Regen III)
3. Max MP

The only time max MP would become a higher priority are the stronger HNMs (Unfortunately the strongest i've fought has been Za'Dha... would've been the yag god but i died opening that door by the key droppers:dead: ) or so I've heard.

Even though I think MP recovery is a high priority in a xp pt I still don't think my vermillion was 100% needed just really nice to have.

[Feenicks]

In my opinion, armor with Refresh effect is most effective on SMN, but WHM definitely does benefit from it too. The more MP you regain, standing or sitting, is less downtime for everyone.

[Manatra]

Originally posted by Rawls
I'd have to agree with Icemage. Max MP doesn't mean a whole lot in xp parties, even less so with a good NIN tanking (in a party earlier with a NIN in Cape Terrigan on Manticores i started to MB Blizzaga out of boredom/excess mp).

What i feel are the primary concerns for WHMs... or should be anyway, are;

1. MP Recovery (i.e., using errant for resting etc.)
2. MP Efficiency (gogo Light Staff/Regen III)
3. Max MP

The only time max MP would become a higher priority are the stronger HNMs (Unfortunately the strongest i've fought has been Za'Dha... would've been the yag god but i died opening that door by the key droppers:dead: ) or so I've heard.

Even though I think MP recovery is a high priority in a xp pt I still don't think my vermillion was 100% needed just really nice to have.

Max-mp is the same as in exp parties as in HNM battles. If you have a choice of max MP or more MP-regen, it's MP-regen. The only time max-MP might become more important is in the god battles since they're so short. Everything else like KB/Aspi/Fafnir/Nidhogg/Kirin tends to gravitate more towards longer fights and thus max-MP is less of an issue than keeping your MP up.

[Rawls]

Ah ok thanks for explaining that manatra :sweat:

Lv 70 and still ignorant

[Miriamel]

Sure, all of the items you mentioned are luxuries.... but they sure make an impact. While MaxMP isn't terribly important, it's nice to have an MP buffer for emergencies and somesuch. However, I'd put serket ring at the very very end of the list.

MP refresh and MP regain while sitting are what counts for EXP. HNM-wise, MP regain while sitting isn't as important, since you don't get to sit often.

Vermillion Cloak I would not sell or lose for anything really (unless I had all mage jobs at 73 and a dalmatica), it's far too nice and important. Heck, I even use it when I rest as BLM. It also stacks nicely with SMN auto refresh, very important for especially KB, Kirin and Fafnir/Nidhogg.

Astral Rings are always good to have, for any mage class you'll ever take up, since equipable at lvl10.

[Rodin]

Okay, thank you for all of your replies, and opinions. Right now I'm thinking about farming for some HQ staves, and some subjob latent effect items. Does any Whitemage have some tips on farming for me? Like where to, what to do, and how to do it. I need about 1.1million for the items (I'm subbing SMN, so I think that some of these items will be better for that, i.e. Magician's Earring (+30mp) and the Avatar belt, with the HQ staves, for soloing/farming.) If you don't want to give away a big secret, just PM me please.

[sudo]

with HQ light staff and avatar belt, and vermillion cloak, you can get a free carbuncle as a whm!

though it'll be a gimpy carbuncle but it's at least pretty fun to know that you can.

Otherwise I'd say the belt is a toy. Fun to play with but won't change your game play like it was night and day.

As a whm/smn, you won't really want to pop shining ruby much since it's a nin tank and that extra pro/shell isn't as useful compared to you casting flash more often.

Same goes to aerial armor. it's just not all that useful for the mp costs.

The earring I agree is a wise investment. You can't find anything for that slot that's better really.

HQ staffs, I'd say:

HQ Ice, HQ earth, and HQ light are the most important.

ice for paralyze, earth for slow, light for free carbuncle and also for banish and flash.

Other HQ aren't all that important for whm.

Whm farming:

Mining is a good choice. It's not easy to kill things till after hexastrike.

Try gardening if you can plan out a month's worth of time to get the gil. You can make some great profits with growing elemental ores but this requires some 200k initial investment in materials and furniature.

Consider teleport taxi, if I get sick of crafting or mining, I often just tele taxi and I can make about 20k/hr just doing something mindless and chatting in the LS.

if you choose to farm, I perfer pashbrow's marshlands (spelling error)

Kill leeches for blood, goobules for tree saplings, and crawlers for silk. Beastmen for fun. Elementals there are good for crystal drops as well.

[namfoodle]

The biggest problem with the vermy is the lack of -enmity. While you're in a set party with a NIN, enmity becomes an issue when the NIN can't get up shadows again and you're forced to throw out a few extra cures. The Vermy, while somewhat nice, isn't really all that important (in my opinion). I went from 65-75 without a rdm or a bard because my tanks wanted more damage and I got to learn how to ration myself properly. A lot can be accomplished with a -enmity + max mp build. The refresh thing is a lot over the course of time but what happens when you need that MP now?

[Jei]

Heh by the time you can wear V. Cloak you should have your AF already (head lv54 -1enmity, body lv58 -4enmity) so IMO you shouldn't even take enmity into consideration. WHM 99% I'm sure already have /equip light staff in their cure macro. Doesn't hurt to add 2 more lines to put on your AF body and head pieces too and macro your V cloak back on after you cast. Just like macroing your dark staff on when you sit.

[_11of8]

All of that extra regen and MP makes for some nice double MBs with holy and Banish III on light SC. My set PT of NIN/WAR, WAR/NIN, MNK/WAR, RDM/??? WHM/BLM, and BRD/WHM does quite well, and our WHM has capped Divine due to the MP she has and bursting on Light chains. PT makeup and equipment can and does help in the long run, if you're not healing, so why not do some damage while you're at it? That's what +MP and MP regen can do for you.