Which aspects do you value when choosing your gear?

[Zhronne]

I'm aware I've been taking pretty "peculiar" choices over the years, when it comes to gear. I was wondering what's the stance of other players on these issues, and how many of these players can be defined if not "the best" at least "good" players.

Which aspects do you consider when picking a certain item over another for a certain build?

For example, do you aim only for pure performance ignoring everything else? Do you aim for a good "compromise"? (if so, accounting which aspects?)
Usually I don't mind compromises.
Some examples of the ones I accepted (shame on me):

MP pool convenience
I'm a galka, and I'm pretty incompetent when it comes to mage jobs since I levelled them only recently to offer my LS a slightly increased versatility for events. I have MPpool issues of course, so during my gearswaps I tend to prefer items who in addition to the stat I'm looking for also have +mp. MND items for cures, stoneskin etc for instance. I picked up Celestial Rings (or even Star) over Aquasoul Rings. Less MND (less potency) but also less "lost MP" when swapping back and forth. I find that convenient for my small MP pool.
Inventory convenience
If for example there's a waist with STR+8 equippable by 3 of my jobs, I'd probably pick that one over three different belts with STR+10, each equippable by a different job.
This may seem like the sillies of aspects to consider to some, but especially over the last months where I've found myself with 9 active jobs, it's become a big issue to handle pieces to bring around everytime I swap to a job. Ultimately it really kills a lot of my personal entertainment having to spend 20 minutes in MH looking and swapping items through all my repositories, and having to zone several times to retrieve items from the porter moogle. I also try to place items in Mog Safe/Locker/Sack/Satchel according to how often I'm gonna need them (i.e. how often I play on the relative jobs) and how many of my jobs that certain item serves.
Gil cost of the item
I tend to prefer r/e items of course, but for those you can buy, this is the more arbitrary of the aspects I listed so far. It depends a lot on how much I use that job, how much I would use that piece (is it for a macro I use every now and then? Is it for something I use often?), how better that piece is over my other current options (is the difference small? is it noticeable?), how high is the price and how much I think that piece would serve me.
If the price is really small (as much as "small" is a different threshold for all of us) I usually don't care, if the amount is considerable I usually try to consider all these aspects. The "lasting time" of the piece is something that didn't matter much at 75 and hopefully won't matter much once we reach level 99, but it's been an important aspect all through the past year. I haven't been particularly keen on spending considerable amounts of money on pieces that were particularly likely to be overthrown by better and cheaper items in a few months. (as hard as that can be to tell, sometimes)



So again, do you consider any or other of these aspects, or just aim for pure performance? How bad do you consider players like me who try to look for acceptable compromises instead of constantly striving for the best no matter what?

[Brolic]

haste and str

[RAIST]

versatility....as in how many jobs can use the gear, and whether I will use it reguarly or just in rare instances.

10 jobs 90+, 6 at 51 (I am NOT getting rid of some of the harder to find stuff just in case I opt to level some later), 4 at 0. I'm also heavy into crafting too so I sometimes hoard the more expense/tedious items when I see them drop (like wild onions and such). I also don't store all my speciallized gears with the moogle if it's a job I get on frequently (empy armor and select AF1 pieces that still have utility like SAM head and such).

So inventory is usually pretty tight--4 storage containers stay at 80/80, sometimes sack is full too...so most the time my free space is only what I manage to free up in my gobby bag. Most all my acccessories are "all jobs" items unless it is something REALLY good that covers a lot of jobs (like ones for all my mages or ones for at least 5 of my melee jobs, etc).

REALLY looking forward to when the magian lines finally cap out and I don't need to hold on to any more geodes. That's about a dozen slots I'll kill right there. And yes, I have some full stacks of some elements stashed atm for when I get everything to caps. Just for level 95 it's over 1200 geodes to +3 everything. Yes...I have THAT many magian lines. Ending these geode lines will have a big impact on space when I can start selling the @#$@#$ things off instead of stashing them for future use.

[scaevola]

haste and str

1234567890


So inventory is usually pretty tight--4 storage containers stay at 80/80, sometimes sack is full too...so most the time my free space is only what I manage to free up in my gobby bag. Most all my acccessories are "all jobs" items unless it is something REALLY good that covers a lot of jobs (like ones for all my mages or ones for at least 5 of my melee jobs, etc).


moogle portero

(that's porter moogle for you bros that don't habla espanol)

[cidbahamut]

MP pool convenience
I'm a galka, and I'm pretty incompetent when it comes to mage jobs since I levelled them only recently to offer my LS a slightly increased versatility for events. I have MPpool issues of course, so during my gearswaps I tend to prefer items who in addition to the stat I'm looking for also have +mp. MND items for cures, stoneskin etc for instance. I picked up Celestial Rings (or even Star) over Aquasoul Rings. Less MND (less potency) but also less "lost MP" when swapping back and forth. I find that convenient for my small MP pool.


MP pools really shouldn't be an issue at this point. Hunt down some refresh gear for an idle set. You can keep a maxMP build on hand but I wouldn't devote pieces to it, just cobble it together from whatever you have for all your other gearsets. If it is really such a problem, look into staggering your gear swaps so you only swap out a piece of gear once you've used up the MP+ it was providing you. I swear it drives me batty to know there's so many mages out there who will put together maxMP builds, and then proceed to cast stuff that swaps out 100+ MP before it can even get spent.

I only maintain two jobs(working on a third), so I go for pure performance. It's what you should be aiming for.




How bad do you consider players like me who try to look for acceptable compromises instead of constantly striving for the best no matter what?

You're ok as long as you're aware of your shortcomings and make efforts to improve when possible.

[RAIST]

1234567890



moogle portero

(that's porter moogle for you bros that don't habla espanol)

Porter moogle is not all that convenient. It's more convenient for me to have all my universal items in satchel/sack, and the rest in safe/locker. That way, I just go to one location and swap all my crap out in one spot regardless of what city I'm in without having to track down some storage NPC elsewhere. Storage has all my other stuff that I rarely need and can't store with a moogle/NPC, so if I need to get at that oddball stuff I can just use tabs, OP, or warp taru to hop to home nation real quick.

[Deadvinta]

I go gaga for gear that enhances specific job traits or abilities, so all the artifact stuff is my favorite. Other than that, I love seeing haste or double attak %.

[Greatguardian]

Opportunity cost, relative gains, and realistic means.

I don't look down on non-ideal players. I do look down on people who don't try at all and wear retarded shit that has no place on anyone who cares.

Take the time to work out what's best for you to wear in each situation right now, what pieces would impart the most noticeable/potent gains, and how much work each of those pieces is going to take. Know what the best is, then know what the best is for you right now and how you can best work towards the ideal.

When comparing opportunity cost, remember that your time is valuable. If you're choosing between camping a 2-3 hour NM with a 50% drop rate or farming 200k gil for an item, farm the gil. You can make more than 200k/hour easily through multiple avenues which are all accessible to players of any "status". Cruor farming and Dynamis lowman/solo are both very easy, viable avenues for free gil.

Pursue large gains before small ones. No one cares if you have a Pyrosoul for WS if you lack a Zelus Tiara or relevant AF3+2 for TP. Likewise, you don't need MND+7 rings on a mage when MND+5 rings are dirt cheap and you need the gil for more relevant gains elsewhere. Be smart about your money, and be smart about your time. They are both valuable, and don't deserve to be wasted.

No one has any dirt on a player who's smart about what he does and puts in the effort to do well.

Edit: Oh yeah, and macros. Even if you don't have awesome gear, or even very much gear to swap yet, make sure to swap what you can around when you do stuff. More than anything else, it shows that you give a damn.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Porter moogle is not all that convenient.Extremely convient, but my claim slips never leave my inventory.

[Meyi]

I prefer to get the best I can. If it's a lot of money I really don't mind dropping the money into it because it makes me happy to have that piece of armor. If it's rare/ex and I need a lot of support to kill it, I will sometimes pass it up depending on just how good it is and if there's anything close enough to it.

I don't mind if anyone plays for convenience sake. From my experience it doesn't seem that the +2 MND will make that much of a difference on cures, and some extra MP is great for races that don't have decent MP pools. As long as you actually have beneficial equipment pieces in slots they belong in, I'm happy.

Gear swapping is also a great way to show you care.

[Ritsuka]

MP pools really shouldn't be an issue at this point. Hunt down some refresh gear for an idle set. You can keep a maxMP build on hand but I wouldn't devote pieces to it, just cobble it together from whatever you have for all your other gearsets. If it is really such a problem, look into staggering your gear swaps so you only swap out a piece of gear once you've used up the MP+ it was providing you. I swear it drives me batty to know there's so many mages out there who will put together maxMP builds, and then proceed to cast stuff that swaps out 100+ MP before it can even get spent.

I only maintain two jobs(working on a third), so I go for pure performance. It's what you should be aiming for.



You're ok as long as you're aware of your shortcomings and make efforts to improve when possible.

MP was never realy an issue its not how much MP you have its how you use what you have (lol and no not that way) What goods s#$% load of mp if you blow through it fast. Learn the conserve your MP and dont cast un needed spells. If you cant do something cuz it use's to much MP then don't. If you do need the few mp yes there gear that helps but there also food. There's a simple rule for a mage to follow which nobody EVER DOES "if your not healing you kneeling"
If you cant control your MP amount then you should consider a differnt job

[Meyi]

MP was never realy an issue its not how much MP you have its how you use what you have (lol and no not that way) What goods s#$% load of mp if you blow through it fast. Learn the conserve your MP and dont cast un needed spells. If you cant do something cuz it use's to much MP then don't. If you do need the few mp yes there gear that helps but there also food. There's a simple rule for a mage to follow which nobody EVER DOES "if your not healing you kneeling"
If you cant control your MP amount then you should consider a differnt job


Sometimes you have to blow through wads of MP, and when you do, it's nice to have a big MP pool.

HMP gear is also amazing for outside of Abyssea. Really easy to find and definitely worth packing around.

[Atomic_Skull]

Whatever is the most effective build.

[RAIST]

Extremely convient, but my claim slips never leave my inventory.

If the porters were always right outside your mog exit (or at least close by) then I might agree somewhat....take a look at where they stuck the Porter for Bastok. Completely out of the way. Many of the others aren't too bad, but it is still an extra stop you have to run to before heading out to an event--like running out around the Lower Jueno guidestone to use the porter, versus just hitting the moghouse and then simply exiting to Port Jueno.

It's simply easier to have all the stuff you typically need right there in one spot where you are already going to change jobs vs having to potentially run around a bit more.

[Sonshou]

Look. Best dress first served.

Thats why I always get a set of equip. a few armor piece can mix and match, but most of the time mix and match doesn't goes too well.

[Mirage]

For the couple of jobs I play the most, I don't let inventory limit me from getting a few extra pieces of gear, and (if they aren't ex) I'll buy them if I can afford them, and hunt them if I have the resources to do that.


For the jobs I only play semi-regularly, I try to conserve inventory slots and gil by getting pieces that are good enough to use for many jobs. Getting the empy armors +1/+2s for whichever job i level is however something I always do.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

If the porters were always right outside your mog exit (or at least close by) then I might agree somewhat....take a look at where they stuck the Porter for Bastok. Completely out of the way. Many of the others aren't too bad, but it is still an extra stop you have to run to before heading out to an event--like running out around the Lower Jueno guidestone to use the porter, versus just hitting the moghouse and then simply exiting to Port Jueno.

It's simply easier to have all the stuff you typically need right there in one spot where you are already going to change jobs vs having to potentially run around a bit more.It's your own fault for being in lastok, the other nations are conviently placed. Also I actualy do keep all of my whm out and in my safe for fast access. But when you have everything leveled, 100/100+1 and 44/100+2, they're a god send.

[Zhronne]

It's your own fault for being in lastok
Clearly it's his fault for choosing Bastok and not the Developer's fault for having placed the Porter Moogle in an uncomfortable place.
They put it there because of balance, so that nobody would set his HP in Bastok except the losers.

[Greatguardian]

Clearly it's his fault for choosing Bastok and not the Developer's fault for having placed the Porter Moogle in an uncomfortable place.
They put it there because of balance, so that nobody would set his HP in Bastok except the losers.

Despite the sarcasm, I find myself completely agreeing with this post in earnest. Screw Bastok.

[Zhronne]

Why does 98% of the playerbase hate Bastok so much? I'll never understand ;_;

[cidbahamut]

Why does 98% of the playerbase hate Bastok so much? I'll never understand ;_;

Jealousy is the only explanation I've been able to come up with.

[Tamoa]

I like Bastok! And I hate Windurst...

[RAIST]

It's not just Bastok that makes it less convenient...other nations can be just as problematic, especially something like Jueno where everyone gathers in a different zone than the porter moogle. You guys are missing the entire point about having to go to two different moogles instead of just one.

Going from point A to B to C is less convenient than simply going from A to C. You have to go to your moogle/moghouse to job change. If all your stuff is on you or with your moogle, you just swap gears right there when you job change, vs having to ALSO swap gears with another moogle.

[Zhronne]

Wonder if putting the Porter moogle inside mog houses would cause too much stress on the servers and that's the reason why they didn't do it, or if it's just a game design (BALANCE!!!) choice.
If it's the second I call bullsh*t, if it's the first then I guess... we regrettably have to accept it (PS2 limitations yo!)

[Economizer]

Why does 98% of the playerbase hate Bastok so much? I'll never understand ;_;

Try getting there without having a being a citizen, or having a specific warp there. Not even the Outpost Warp is close, and even the two suspiciously close maw warps aren't very close. If it wasn't for a stead stream of city warp items for the occasional times I need to go there, I'd be driven mad.

As per the city itself... it isn't San d'Oria horrifically bad.

[Mirabelle]

PLaying on 360 means some compromises due to macro length (refuse to press a trigger and button combination more than twice since it slows response time to much and fails often in a laggy situation). That means I'll often settle for a second best piece if it serves double duty and can be worn for both TP and WS. THe way my macros are set up I usually need at least 3 pieces of all purpose gear. And I usually put lowest priority on earrings since they generally offer the least bang for the buck as far as stats are concerned.

[svengalis]

Try getting there without having a being a citizen, or having a specific warp there. Not even the Outpost Warp is close, and even the two suspiciously close maw warps aren't very close. If it wasn't for a stead stream of city warp items for the occasional times I need to go there, I'd be driven mad.

As per the city itself... it isn't San d'Oria horrifically bad.

Atmacite Refiner says hi.

[Ezikiel]

i value 1. is it storable somehwere 2. can other jobs use it

[Calatilla]

Atmacite Refiner says hi.

Before Voidwatch warps were added Bastok was the worst city to get to, the Outpost is miles away, no other city outpost requires you to run across an entire zone, and then zone into another area, and run across that one just to get to town. OP`s are supposed to be convenient, bastoks isn't.

Now though, with VW warps, moogle warps, stable collars etc its not hard to get there. I've never disliked bastok, i just hated how retarded it was to get to.