Blade: Hi setup

[Ryozen]

Tathlum unless you need the evasion.

Generally speaking, if you're NIN, you're likely /WAR, and Provoke serves the same purpose as a ranged attack.

[Orenwald]

Tathlum unless you need the evasion.

Generally speaking, if you're NIN, you're likely /WAR, and Provoke serves the same purpose as a ranged attack.

My ungur gives me 7 more yalms and 5 more TP than provoke, just sayin' xD

... that and I like to throw my boomerwanger, lemeealone ;_;

[Mojo]

I still keep Ungur's Boomerang handy. It's good for soloing, although I've generally never used it inside of Abyssea due to how awesome Qirmiz Tathlum becomes in there.

In regards to difference weaponskill bonuses and the like~

Any weaponskill that can crit has some kind of bonus to the critical hit rate based on TP. Something like +10%/+30%/+50% critical hit rate on 100/200/300 TP would be an example of what I mean. This will be added onto your base critical hit rate, which is determined by dDEX (capping out at +20% critical hit rate when you have 50 more DEX than the mob's AGI), merits (+4%), and misc. pieces of gear. Each weaponskill can be different and there are exceptions. True Strike, for example, has a 100% critical hit rate and the accuracy of the WS varies with TP. I remember reading a general rule of thumb I remember coming across on Studio Gobli for most crit modified weaponskills, but I can't remember what it was and I don't remember where I found it...

Either way, base critical hit rate is going to be much lower outside of Abyssea so pieces like Loki's Kaftan take a huge hit. The damage increase a weaponskill receives is still on par with a normal hit (pDIF +1.) At it's worst (when your cRatio is maxed), a crit will increase your overall damage by around 40%~ or so. So it's definitely nice to have, although without an precise understand of how Blade: Hi's critical hit rate changes with TP, it will be difficult to actually quantify the benefit of a lot of gear.

As far as accuracy goes, all weaponskills receive an accuracy bonus to their first hit. That was the reasoning behind the general rule of thumb about not worrying about accuracy for single hit weaponskills as much as multihit. However, no weaponskill is going to benefit from having more accuracy than is needed to achieve 95% melee accuracy. This occurs easily on non Abyssea mobs without trying for it, so I don't even consider it.

There's no rule as far as attack vs secondary mods go. This idea was popularized by MNKs because the secondary mods are low for Asuran Fists (10% STR 10% VIT.) In their case, there was very little benefit to stacking those attributes while attack would still provide a steady increase in damage (like it does for every other weaponskill.) However, each weaponskill is different. Victory Smite, for instance, has a 60% STR mod. There is a huge gain in stacking STR for that. There's going to be a balance that's changes for each weaponskill and situation that would determine what is better.

[Orenwald]

@Mojo I know what you mean, however I just all around feel naked without my ranged attack... they should make a Shuriken (that stacks to 99) with Crit damage + on it... I'd abuse the living crap out of those @,@

[Elysianne]

huzzah, I feel less bad now. I haven't even bothered to get that Tathlum because it doesn't have EVA+8 nor can I throw it @.@

Well, you could throw it, you'd just likely slap yourself afterwards. I did that with the smart grenade. Not my best move for sure.

[Mojo]

I just realized that I forgot to account for alpha (as I often do, for some reason) when calculating WSC. Also forgot that Red Curry gives +1 AGI. This changes pre ring WD to 133 with Stormsoul adding either 3 or 4 (2.26% & 3.01% marginal gains, respectively.) The pre ring AGI values that will yield +4 to WD are too sporadic to list with a simple pattern. Either way, I guess that means Blade: Hi will likely always favor Epona's, although in some cases, not by much.

[wish12oz]

Oh hey, somehow I glanced over this thread and didn't notice it.
Critical hit based on TP WS's (like Hi and Jin) always do much better damage when you actually get the critical hits. So it's best to gear for that, then depending on the WS and the way it works, stack ACC/STR/ATT/WS mods, whichever ends up being best.

With RR and GH and cruor buffs inside abyssea, you can be sure your crit rate from dex is capped and that +50% crit rate from atmas is going to pretty much guarantee you get those crit hits. So stuff like Loki's over AF3 body is obviously going to be better. Outside abyssea I would suggest trying to break 130 dex and using as much +crit rate as you can get. At 90 I parsed for awhile on aura statues (lolullipopfarming), and a bit in einherjhar, and a bit more at mammool ja sp on mammools. My WS average was 300-400 higher with my outside abyssea WS set on, compared to my inside abyssea set.
you can view them here:
Inside: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/197129
Hat is 4str ws acc15, and 4agl ws damage +2%, my fSTR probably isnt capped and definately wont be with the 99 kannagi, but my +crit damage is capped, and I keep yonin up full time so the acc isnt really terrible.
Outside: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/197128
You could probably argue against the cape and hat, but I'm sticking to my story that +crit rate is best. Which is why I also include so much dex in this build. I have 133 total on my mithra with this.

The only thing I want and do not have is a 4 agl earring. I think that would probably do better then the 10 att one, but it seems useless to buy one. Every update they've added new higher stat earrings, so it would probably be a waste to buy one now. Unlike the rings, the HQ is the good one, at least with the rings its just a synergy synth to get the next tier up, and they dont HQ. So that seems safe IMO.

[Kuroganashi]

Kannagi SET MUST HAVE:

Accuracy +
Critical Hit Rate +
Critical Hit Damage +
Attack +
AGI+
DEX+
STR+

MAIN STATUS that BLADE: HI uses are: AGI / Critical Hit Rate / Accuracy

Howerver as we all KNOW:

DEX = Critical Hit Rate / Accuracy / Critical Hit DMG
STR = Attack and WS DMG
AGI = Evasion + / Critical Hit DMG / Range Attack / Range Accuracy / Parrying / Guard / Shield and some part on HASTE

AGI+40~52 = HASTE+1%

but HASTE+1% is not Equivalent to AGI+40~52

So my KANNAGI settup got a BUNCH of HASTE / DUAL WIELD / AGI / STR / DEX / ACC / Critical hit DMG / Critical hit Rate (MEIRTED 5/5)

I use :

Main: Kannagi
Sub: Kamone / Enchu +2 (OA 2-4 times) / Sekka +2 (AGI+9 EVA+20)
Ammo: Qirmiz Tathlum
Range: (sometimes) Ungur Boomerang
HEAD: Iga Zukin +2
BODY: Ninja's Chainmail
HANDS: Ocelot's Gloves
LEGS: Iga Hakama +2
FEET: Iga Kyahaan +2
NECK: Iga Erimaki
BELT: Twilight Belt
BACK: Atheling Mantle
EAR 1: Brutal Earring
EAR 2: Suppanomimi
Ring 1: Rajas Ring
Ring 2: Ulthahm Ring


and for Weapon Skill time :

Main: Kannagi
Sub: Kamone / Enchu +2 (OA 2-4 times) / Sekka +2 (AGI+9 EVA+20)
Ammo: Qirmiz Tathlum
Range: (sometimes) Ungur Boomerang
HEAD: Bersail Cap
BODY: Loki's Kaftan
HANDS: Ocelot Gloves
LEGS: Oily Trousers
FEET: Iga Kyahaan +2
NECK: Iga Erimaki OR Soil Gorget
BELT: Soil Belt
BACK: Atheling Mantle
EAR 1: Brutal Earring
EAR 2: Suppanomimi
Ring 1: Solemn Ring
Ring 2: Breeze Ring

OR

Main: Kannagi
Sub: Kamone / Enchu +2 (OA 2-4 times) / Sekka +2 (AGI+9 EVA+20)
Ammo: Qirmiz Tathlum
Range: (sometimes) Ungur Boomerang
HEAD: Bersil Cap
BODY: Loki's Kaftan
HANDS: Koga Tekko or Ocelot Gloves
LEGS: Iga Hakama +2
FEET: Iga Kyahaan +2
NECK: Iga Erimaki
BELT: Twilight Belt
BACK: Atheling Mantle
EAR 1: Brutal Earring
EAR 2: Suppanomimi
Ring 1: Rajas Ring
Ring 2: Ulthahm Ring

[Pharaun]

There is so much wrong in that post that I don't even know where to start. BRB, need to go /headdesk for a while to try and smash the stupidity out of my brain.

[Greatguardian]

Kannagi SET

You seem to not understand how .. any, of the primary stats work.

DEX influences Critical Hit rate up to dDex = 50. That is to say, Player DEX - mob AGI = 50 is the highest DEX will affect crit rate. DEX does not affect Critical Hit Damage. At all.

STR does not affect WS Damage. STR affects fSTR, which is a function of player STR vs monster VIT. Increasing fSTR increases Weapon Damage Rating until fSTR is capped. Know what else affects Weapon Damage Rating during Weaponskills? WSC. That is, WS mods. AGI as a 60% mod is more than twice as potent as fSTR even when fSTR is uncapped during WS.

AGI DOES NOT AFFECT HASTE. That needs super bold emphasis. Does not happen. Ever. They are not related. At all. AGI does not affect Critical Hit Damage either. AGI is your WSC mod. That is it.

There is absolutely no reason ever to Weaponskill in Haste gear or Dual Wield gear. Ever.