Looking for a DD to do VW that does not req an E/R/M

[Fishyface]

Long story short im looking for a DD that i can either buy a wep or work on a magian wep for and still do decent damage in voidwatch

E/R/M for me and my situation are nearly impossible for 3 reasons

1) I have not decided on a main job yet so working on one only to switch my main the next week would be foolish.

2) I have 1, and only 1, other person i can rely on for my emp. I do not have an ls or any group of friends that i can rely on to help me with this.

3) I will not pay someone to merc my drops for me. Ive been screwed out of many other items because people split when its your time to get stuff, so im not gonna lose money over it as well.

All job suggestions and weps are welcome. No job is offlimits as im kind of neutral about all jobs.

[Draylo]

Relic and Empy are soloble, but are a large time investment if you're doing it that way. It all boils down to your commitment to getting them. There are a large variety of jobs that can solo in Abyssea with just AF3+2, BST is one of them that is easy to gear and use. Relic is in the same boat, you can solo it all since its just buying currency.(with the exception of the final magian trials which you can pay people to help you do. Farm 1.5~2m gil a dyna run on your BST and save up to pay someone to finish the trials with you.)

[Mirage]

The best you could do is probably a TP bonus Kantonotachi on SAM and use Shoha, or maybe an OA2 greatsword on DRK for Resolution.

Those options might be pretty close to lv85 empy weapons, but good luck convincing the player base of that.

[SpankWustler]

If absolutely nothing else matters but the (lack of) time and effort needed to make a decent weapon, then making a Magian TP bonus Great Katana and using almost solely Tachi: Shoha is probably your best bet.

There might be some decent AH options for somebody looking to Resolution all the things, too.

[saevel]

The best you could do is probably a TP bonus Kantonotachi on SAM and use Shoha, or maybe an OA2 greatsword on DRK for Resolution.

Those options might be pretty close to lv85 empy weapons, but good luck convincing the player base of that.

They crush their respective 85 emp counterparts. 95+ is a different story.

Mostly has to do with the first two being easy and cheap to get to 99 with minimal barriers to acquisition. OaT GSWD and Kano are both considered more then acceptable weapons @99. Kano is probably the only one that needs a 2nd thought due to the limitations of Shoha in a super buffed situation.

[Mirage]

If they crush the 85 versions, how do they fare against the lv90 versions? Lv90 empys are a lot more common than 95+ after all, and it is what you'll "usually" see in VW pickups.

If TPbonus Kanto and oa2 GS is as good as lv90 empys, then my recommendation is stronger than I initially thought.

[Fishyface]

The best you could do is probably a TP bonus Kantonotachi on SAM and use Shoha, or maybe an OA2 greatsword on DRK for Resolution.

Those options might be pretty close to lv85 empy weapons, but good luck convincing the player base of that.

Very good suggestions thank you. I figured it would have to be either drg drk or sam but i wanted to hear what others had to say about it.

All i want to do with this DD is do VW, merit, and some other silly things like missions and such. So its really hard for me to justify spending 50% or more of my playtime everyday to soloing/duoing an emp wep instead of having fun. An emp weapon wouldnt be an issue if any of the reasons i posted above didnt apply.

[saevel]

If they crush the 85 versions, how do they fare against the lv90 versions? Lv90 empys are a lot more common than 95+ after all, and it is what you'll "usually" see in VW pickups.

If TPbonus Kanto and oa2 GS is as good as lv90 empys, then my recommendation is stronger than I initially thought.

The 99 OaT GS easily beats Cada @90. Reso is a 100% STR WS so the OaT's lower DMG value doesn't impact it nearly as much as people think. The 40~45% (think the proc rate goes up at 99) proc rate means it's building TP like crazy which turns you into a Reso spamming machine.

The Kano is a "it depends" situation. 99 Kano will put out really big shoha's but doesn't have access to Fudo which has higher fTP. Shoha has an attack bonus which becomes useless once your packing six to eight songs with chaos and fighters. So really a 90 Masa and 99 Kano are about even depending on the fight and buffs. 95+ Masa beats 99 Kano and 99 Amano beats the 99 Kano.

[Demon6324236]

Easiest is probably DRK. OAT GS is great at 99 with not a ton of investment so even if you change your mind on what you want to do, you will not feel like you wasted to much time. Your TP set should probably look like...

OATGS/PoleG/-----/FireB
AF3+2/Ranco/Bruta/BaleE
AF3+2/AF3+2/Rajas/?????
Athel/Goadin/Calme/Ace's

That will be a good enough TP set to put you at the same level as most Emp/Relic DDs in VW. As for WS just 5/5 Resolution and then stack on STR for your WS set and your good to go. Some of the best STR pieces to get easily are Heafoc Hands and your AF3+2 Legs/Feet, also the best Neck/Belt for Reso is Soil so make sure you get them. With all of that you will be fine to do VW, or really most endgame. I myself use gear very similar to what I am telling you and out DD most DDs I come across in VW.

[Fishyface]

Lots of insightful posts here thank you! Ive scoured ffxiah for these kind of answers and it seems to be high treason over there to suggest anything but e/r/m ONRY.

[Zarchery]

Well, aside from the suggestions here, you could level up WHM, BRD, or BLM. Those seem to get a pass on the equipment front.

[Mirage]

For WHM, you're still expected to have good gear, it's just that RME isn't part of the good gear when it comes to WHM's main role.

[Avidon]

My drk uses a oat gs and i out damage all other melee's. i tank all the time whether i want to or not. And i cant keep up with the tp. Before im done woth my current ws, i have 100% tp ready for use. That is if you have haste and last resort up.

The only down fall is no access to a aftermath, but over time you do wayyyy more dmg than the majority. If like i mentioned before, you have those right conditions. I am very happy with that weapon.

[Fermion]

The Kano is a "it depends" situation. 99 Kano will put out really big shoha's but doesn't have access to Fudo which has higher fTP. Shoha has an attack bonus which becomes useless once your packing six to eight songs with chaos and fighters. So really a 90 Masa and 99 Kano are about even depending on the fight and buffs. 95+ Masa beats 99 Kano and 99 Amano beats the 99 Kano.

Actually when I'm buffed that high, I switch to polearm and spam Stardiver (which parses surprisingly well, thanks to TP bonus moonshade, correct gorget and belt + overwhelm). Except the few situations, such as Legion, where acc. matters (but I've heard Namas spam with an occ. atk 2-4 GK is pretty powerful in Legion as well). But back to my point, my rule of thumb is: low buffs = Kanto, high buffs = Stardiver. I don't really see where Masa fits in for me.

[saevel]

Actually when I'm buffed that high, I switch to polearm and spam Stardiver (which parses surprisingly well, thanks to TP bonus moonshade, correct gorget and belt + overwhelm). Except the few situations, such as Legion, where acc. matters (but I've heard Namas spam with an occ. atk 2-4 GK is pretty powerful in Legion as well). But back to my point, my rule of thumb is: low buffs = Kanto, high buffs = Stardiver. I don't really see where Masa fits in for me.

Yes SD + Draca is the other option for super buffed scenarios. I was merely using the most common GKT's for comparison between the big weapons.

[Fermion]

Yes SD + Draca is the other option for super buffed scenarios. I was merely using the most common GKT's for comparison between the big weapons.

I agree with what you said earlier. I was just using your quote as a jumping off point to share my own experiences.

But honestly OP, just make sure you macro your temps and pay attention to proc calls. If you can do that, eat food (YCB at least, preferably RCB) and have decent gear, you're already a benefit to any alliance you're in for VW.

[Zirael]

Long story short im looking for a DD that i can either buy a wep or work on a magian wep for and still do decent damage in voidwatch

E/R/M for me and my situation are nearly impossible for 3 reasons

1) I have not decided on a main job yet so working on one only to switch my main the next week would be foolish.

2) I have 1, and only 1, other person i can rely on for my emp. I do not have an ls or any group of friends that i can rely on to help me with this.

3) I will not pay someone to merc my drops for me. Ive been screwed out of many other items because people split when its your time to get stuff, so im not gonna lose money over it as well.

All job suggestions and weps are welcome. No job is offlimits as im kind of neutral about all jobs.
I'd say you should level BRD or WHM or BLU (procs) and go as support, because chances are, you'd be taking DD slot from people with R/E/M weapons and other relevant gear. You'd do more good by curing/singing/hasting. If/when you get a job you like geared sufficiently to your liking you can go DD on that. You can also try go as whatever job you like playing, as long as you got all weapon skills and it isn't Provenance Watcher or Botulus Rex, you'll be fine.

[Afania]

Lots of insightful posts here thank you! Ive scoured ffxiah for these kind of answers and it seems to be high treason over there to suggest anything but e/r/m ONRY.

Pretty sure if you ask on FFXIAH they'd tell you about OAT GS and TP bonus GK, both weapons are mentioned on AH over and over again. There are DD jobs that just needs R/E/M to perform well, such as WAR BLU MNK, and SAM DRK happened to be DD jobs that can get away with other options because their powerful merit WS.

[fernando]

what about WoE weapons,there not good enuff?

[Caketime]

what about WoE weapons,there not good enuff?

Most people are not awesome enough to traverse the Echoes, but from what I've seen of your Almace vs. Brunello, Bruno's not too bad for WS numbers, it just lacks the Dex mod and Aftermath effect. But really I think the solution to the problem of joining shout groups is to not join shout groups and make your own instead. Random people are jerks.

[SpankWustler]

what about WoE weapons,there not good enuff?

Because of how the trials are designed, and how unproductive Walk of Echoes can be now, it's often easier to just make an Empyrean weapon that will be left at 85-90 for a very long period of time than to make the "easier" version. Plus, unlike the level 99 version of the lesser weapon, the lower level Empyrean has room for growth if a number of someone's loved ones die and his or her FFXI playtime then increases.

This will probably change if Coins of Lack of Advancement Because they're Always Coins of Ruin can ever be sold over auction or bazaar, which has been mentioned as a strong possibility by a Development Bro if I'm remembering correctly.

[Caketime]

Honestly, I've spent hundreds of hours helping Fern build his Bruno and Almace, there's not really much difference in the time factor between the two weapons. Echoes can be less productive on one run, but the next you're netting bags of Dies and coin pouches, and if you're lucky maybe even some NomNom Mittens. With Empy weapons, you have slow but steady progress and are only held back by kill speed and the other players competing with you for the same items. If you figure 3 days of casual NM destroying for an Empy trial, it's probably about the same for an Echoes trial, depending on your server's enthusiasm for Walks.

[Angarato]

I like drg with oat polearm. but drk probly stronger with oat greatsword