Raise your item level to 119 by completing a tutorial quest!

[Pixela]

"Records of Eminence is undergoing a small update, with new objectives providing a useful alter ego and guiding you on the path to increasing your item level! Completing all the objectives will raise your item level to 119!"

Wonder what this ends up being, I'm guessing sparks gear mk2?

Also a new trust, I hope it's a geo one that offers a large chunk of +accuracy and -dmg

[Moppet]

The language is loose enough that it could just mean it guides you through obtaining 119 gear that's already available in the game. Like reforges, Oboro weapon, etc.

[OmnysValefor]

Even if it's not just a guide, "119" is a silly concept. Delve weapons, Delve II, Ambuscade, Alluvion Skirmish gear, Sinister Reign, level 119 UNMs, level 135 UNMs, all of it drops gear labeled with the same number but Delve gear is not remotely as powerful as Reisenjima gear.

That said, they did just introduce very exciting stuff through Ambuscade. We shall see.

[Olor]

where is this said?

Ohhhh... here... well that is interesting: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/campaign/wcb/index.html

I guess they are realizing that there are huge gaps in the gear ladder for returning players...

[Pixela]

where is this said?

Ohhhh... here... well that is interesting: http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/campaign/wcb/index.html

I guess they are realizing that there are huge gaps in the gear ladder for returning players...

I think the problem is they based a lot of things on the item level, for instance the stats of trusts are based on your item level and XP gained in Escha zones is based on on it too (higher Ilevel = more XP gained). So this is long overdue.

[Hercule]

http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/789747KclubV2.jpg

Yes please ^^

[machini]

Even if it's not just a guide, "119" is a silly concept. Delve weapons, Delve II, Ambuscade, Alluvion Skirmish gear, Sinister Reign, level 119 UNMs, level 135 UNMs, all of it drops gear labeled with the same number but Delve gear is not remotely as powerful as Reisenjima gear.

That said, they did just introduce very exciting stuff through Ambuscade. We shall see.

Yeah, not all 119 equipment is created equal. They have had massive power creep while refusing to raise the item level cap to reflect it.

It was a poorly implemented system, continuing to be poorly implemented. If they're going to make item level virtually meaningless, just remove item levels entirely, and delevel all item level mobs by 20 levels.

[Raydeus]

Even if it's not just a guide, "119" is a silly concept. Delve weapons, Delve II, Ambuscade, Alluvion Skirmish gear, Sinister Reign, level 119 UNMs, level 135 UNMs, all of it drops gear labeled with the same number but Delve gear is not remotely as powerful as Reisenjima gear.
I want to think it isn't about that, but rather about removing the penalty you suffer due to level difference when trying to do content in ilvl117 or lower gear since you get penalized twice as a new or returning player. Once due to the stats on the gear itself and then again due to the extra 2+ lvl difference.

So if they made it so your ilvl would remain 119 regardless of gear once you completed the quests then you could focus exclusively on the stats in the gear itself instead of worrying about losing a few ilevels anytime you macroed a lower level piece of equipment or weapon.


PS > That was my main problem with ilvl gear when it was first introduced, since the moment you increased the ilvl of new items most of the lower level pieces you had became instantly obsolete, completely removing any sense of accomplishment in favor of the power creep gear treadmill.

[Catmato]

I want to think it isn't about that, but rather about removing the penalty you suffer due to level difference when trying to do content in ilvl117 or lower gear since you get penalized twice as a new or returning player. Once due to the stats on the gear itself and then again due to the extra 2+ lvl difference.

So if they made it so your ilvl would remain 119 regardless of gear once you completed the quests then you could focus exclusively on the stats in the gear itself instead of worrying about losing a few ilevels anytime you macroed a lower level piece of equipment or weapon.

I'm confused. Is there some reason that your actual item level matters aside from trusts?

[Olor]

I'm confused. Is there some reason that your actual item level matters aside from trusts?

Trusts are pretty huge... and it definitely affects pet jobs who do certain gear swaps for sure. Not sure if it does more

[Diavolo]

Trusts are pretty huge... and it definitely affects pet jobs who do certain gear swaps for sure. Not sure if it does more

Only one item slot per pet job affects their level: ammo for SMN, ranged for PUP, main weapon for BST and DRG.

[Secondplanet]

I'm personally laughing with how the legendary weapons are being treated, you got i119, then i119 with afterglow and then the new i119 with increased stats and afterglow but all remain i119. I was already against the idea of having levels on equipment but this is getting out of hand. Either raise the item levels higher to reflect their stats or scrap the already meaningless and rather misleading system.

[Selindrile]

I'm confused. Is there some reason that your actual item level matters aside from trusts?


Only one item slot per pet job affects their level: ammo for SMN, ranged for PUP, main weapon for BST and DRG.

Also: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Item_Level

For monsters above the player's character level, the average item level will impact the amount of experience received.

Ninja: The chance of a shadow being absorbed with Utsusemi varies according to the level of the weapon equipped in the main weapon slot.

Though I believe this is specifically referring to physical attacks that absorb multiple shadows, item levels supposedly lower the amount of shadows they clear, so, pets, trust, experience, and ninja shadows, are I think the only things that are derived from iLevel.

I am in the camp that believes this is just going to be starter i119 gear that they're talking about, and that item levels, as implemented, is a system that got implemented awkwardly at best.

[Pixela]

If you are in Escha Ruan and kill a mob you can cap XP at around 6.3k per kill with a 119 weapon/armor, if you have a weapon/armor that has no ilevel you get around 2.2k Not sure what it is for a 117 weapon but it's still a horrible disability that should not exist, the people who need more xp are not the ones decked out.

[machini]

I'm personally laughing with how the legendary weapons are being treated, you got i119, then i119 with afterglow and then the new i119 with increased stats and afterglow but all remain i119. I was already against the idea of having levels on equipment but this is getting out of hand. Either raise the item levels higher to reflect their stats or scrap the already meaningless and rather misleading system.

It was a poorly implemented system in multiple ways, and refusal to raise the item level cap to reflect the increasing power of gear is but one of those ways.
Another would be stat vomit on gear. By stat vomit I mean how everything has loads of STR, DEX, etc, on it. It makes it hard to judge what actually has increased stats over the baseline without a lot of switching back and forth between items to compare them. It also blurs job differences, since you can lump together jobs on a single piece of gear that would have different base stat progressions. A much more elegant way to do it would simply to have item level determine your base statistics, just like normal level does. Then there's no stat vomit, and you can clearly see that this piece of gear his 20 DEX on it, or this piece has 15 Evasion.

[Catmato]

It was a poorly implemented system in multiple ways, and refusal to raise the item level cap to reflect the increasing power of gear is but one of those ways.
Another would be stat vomit on gear. By stat vomit I mean how everything has loads of STR, DEX, etc, on it. It makes it hard to judge what actually has increased stats over the baseline without a lot of switching back and forth between items to compare them. It also blurs job differences, since you can lump together jobs on a single piece of gear that would have different base stat progressions. A much more elegant way to do it would simply to have item level determine your base statistics, just like normal level does. Then there's no stat vomit, and you can clearly see that this piece of gear his 20 DEX on it, or this piece has 15 Evasion.

Maybe the new director will do the players a favor and eliminate item levels and just let us level up past 99.

[machini]

Maybe the new director will do the players a favor and eliminate item levels and just let us level up past 99.

Unless they make certain JAs, like Composure, not accessible via subjob, like NIN JAs, I don't see that working.

Also bear in mind they would have to go back at this point through ALL item level gear and redo the stat vomit.

[Pixela]

I'm personally laughing with how the legendary weapons are being treated, you got i119, then i119 with afterglow and then the new i119 with increased stats and afterglow but all remain i119. I was already against the idea of having levels on equipment but this is getting out of hand. Either raise the item levels higher to reflect their stats or scrap the already meaningless and rather misleading system.

Back 6 years ago we had auction house level 75 weapons that were destroyed by other level 75 weapons like relics or ridill etc. This isn't something new so don't act like it is.

To do away with Ilevel now would be impossible because it's become a backbone feature of the game, trust levels are based off it and so are many XP rates. We have a small dev team, they don't need to waste time on removing something because you think some 119 weapons aren't as good as other 119 weapons. You know which are better than others by looking at the stats so why make a fuss about it?

[Secondplanet]

Back 6 years ago we had auction house level 75 weapons that were destroyed by other level 75 weapons like relics or ridill etc. This isn't something new so don't act like it is.

To do away with Ilevel now would be impossible because it's become a backbone feature of the game, trust levels are based off it and so are many XP rates. We have a small dev team, they don't need to waste time on removing something because you think some 119 weapons aren't as good as other 119 weapons. You know which are better than others by looking at the stats so why make a fuss about it?

Back in the days of 75 the difference between 75 gear and amazing 75 gear was 1-3 stat difference, ability modifier and/or a aftermath effect. But even still the difference was there but not to the extreme effect they are now. When you have i119 gear with a difference of 10-20 or even higher on stats that is a whole new level of gear.

[Selindrile]

Back in the days of 75 the difference between 75 gear and amazing 75 gear was 1-3 stat difference, ability modifier and/or a aftermath effect. But even still the difference was there but not to the extreme effect they are now. When you have i119 gear with a difference of 10-20 or even higher on stats that is a whole new level of gear.

Uh.... a lot more than 1-3 stat points different, very often, Ridill, Joyeuse, Hagun, Kraken Club, Maneater, Juggernaut, Relics, Mythics, etc etc etc, I've got gripes about some of the changes, and felt like iLevel could've been implemented better, but some weapons dwarfing others and specific ones being stand out obvious best is really nothing new, in fact I feel like people do have MORE options for endgame weapons and armor than they used to, rather than one clear winner always, I've got my gripes (don't even get me started on random augments), but, I feel like there are at least a few exceptional options on almost any given peice for the most part, rather than one "must-have" like the old days.

[Olor]

Back in the days of 75 the difference between 75 gear and amazing 75 gear was 1-3 stat difference, ability modifier and/or a aftermath effect. But even still the difference was there but not to the extreme effect they are now. When you have i119 gear with a difference of 10-20 or even higher on stats that is a whole new level of gear.

Yes, this is the problem and it means the content is too stratified so if you fall behind there is almost no way to catch up.

[CrAZYVIC]

I think square enix its killing the progression of the gear badly.

As returned player one month ago i had a "Way" to Follow and i was enjoying this path until ambuscade.

Returning player objectives

1.- Get ILV117 Sparks gear
2.- Get Reforged AF +1, RELIC +1 and Empy +1 then play Best Slow Item with this 3 sets
3.- Get Oboro weapon
4.- Play Skirmish and Escha.

They introduced ambuscade oh wait.... Ares set +1 made obsolete 95% of the gear in the game, for DRG,DRK,WAR and PLD. This gear Have Acu/Attack and damage taken reduction on, Ares set +1 its a bit Behind of Perfect augment gear in the game.

I hope this ILV119 Sparks ver 2 set its at level of AF+1 and Nothing more.

[OmnysValefor]

I have now started living as a level 99 player again, waved goodbye to all ilvl gear, equipped with level 65-99 equipment only.

[...]

While ilvl was intended for SoA and later high level areas, the fact that you can use ilvl in old areas too, meant that people did that.

And the result for me at least, was that battling previously fierce NMs became like bullying a really weak baby mob, it actually feels like bullying the poor frightened NM. I don't want NMs to be frightened of me, I want them to be angry and filled with potential to kill me. I don't want 90% of Vana to be full of NMs and mobs that I am basically bullying, I'm not a bully by nature, and I like a fair fight!

The old game does feel like paper. Even adoulin stuff like Delve and Delve II fee like paper in "119" gear, but you can hardly expect people to carry their old gearsets around either.

[OmnysValefor]

Uh.... a lot more than 1-3 stat points different, very often, Ridill, Joyeuse, Hagun, Kraken Club, Maneater, Juggernaut, Relics, Mythics, etc etc etc, I've got gripes about some of the changes, and felt like iLevel could've been implemented better, but some weapons dwarfing others and specific ones being stand out obvious best is really nothing new, in fact I feel like people do have MORE options for endgame weapons and armor than they used to, rather than one clear winner always, I've got my gripes (don't even get me started on random augments), but, I feel like there are at least a few exceptional options on almost any given peice for the most part, rather than one "must-have" like the old days.

A strong point.

There was AH-buyable level 75 gear that was terrible, there were the old abjurations, there was Sky drops (Byakko's Haidate), there was Relic, Relic +1, Sea gear (Homam <3, torques, ws torques).

There was Aht Urgan gear, ZNM gear, and so many other things.

Most of that stuff had the same number on it, "75", but 75 was representing our level, just as 119 represents a level. The problem of course is a Delve II'd 119 player isn't remotely comparable to someone in full 119 from Escha Ru'Aun.

So as stated earlier in the thread, and other threads, a lot of people see their average ilvl is 119 and think they're ready for the hardest content in the game. Higher gear really needs a higher ilvl so as not to confuse people.

All the gear saying 119 on it leaves the reponsibility on other players to tell each other the truth. It sucks.

[Raydeus]

I'm confused. Is there some reason that your actual item level matters aside from trusts?

Unless it was already removed there should be a penalty/bonus effect to your stats (acc, att, etc.) when fighting an enemy that is higher or lower level than you, and that increases according to the number of levels of difference. Meaning a character ilvl117 with the exact same stats as an ilvl119 would still suffer a penalty due to level difference alone.

Although I'm inclined to think the penalty is still in effect because mobs can change from T to VT if I use an equip macro that lowers my ilvl, which is also one of the main reasons I want alternative ways to unlock Empy +1 reforge with Monisette (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/50257-Vagary-alternative-to-unlock-Empyrean-1-reforge).

[Catmato]

Unless it was already removed there should be a penalty/bonus effect to your stats (acc, att, etc.) when fighting an enemy that is higher or lower level than you, and that increases according to the number of levels of difference. Meaning a character ilvl117 with the exact same stats as an ilvl119 would still suffer a penalty due to level difference alone.

Although I'm inclined to think the penalty is still in effect because mobs can change from T to VT if I use an equip macro that lowers my ilvl, which is also one of the main reasons I want alternative ways to unlock Empy +1 reforge with Monisette (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/50257-Vagary-alternative-to-unlock-Empyrean-1-reforge).

Level difference penalties were not included in Adoulin or after. Source: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/31068-Elements-to-be-Implemented-in-the-March-27th-Version-Update?p=410348&highlight=level+correction#post410348

Changing the /check is just because it changes your item level, not that there's any difference in how difficult the mob is.

[Catmato]

Unless they make certain JAs, like Composure, not accessible via subjob, like NIN JAs, I don't see that working.

That sounds remarkably like 2010 all over again.

You are right about having to redo all the item level gear.

[Pixela]

We just went from "FFXI will get no more content at all" to " content will continue, with a smaller dev team" and you want them to do something as massive an undertaking as increasing the level cap or something?

How about we leave the system as it is and not do any of that?

[Stompa]

The old game does feel like paper. Even adoulin stuff like Delve and Delve II fee like paper in "119" gear, but you can hardly expect people to carry their old gearsets around either.

No, my own choice to /toss my ilvl gear and go retro 99.0 is my own personal choice, only.

I do not ask SE to change anything, nor do I ask any other players to understand my reasons, or to follow my slightly wobbly footprints in the sand.

Why I am still posting here, and talking about this, is because I know a lot of players who did quit FFXI in 2013~ because they felt ilvl killed a lot of the old areas, and made all jobs a bit too OP. And so I am just here to say, I didn't quit FFXI, I am having a lot of fun playing 99.0 retro game. I'm rocking Meebles gear, MMM gear, VW gear, NNI gear, Magians - all my favourite gears!

If you are one of those people who felt that ilvl was a bit too Hammer Time, you can still find a balance and enjoy the old game areas and old content. You don't have to quit, lol. There's a lot of old areas NMs that are fun to solo on 99.0. and a lot of content that is fun and exciting without ilvl.

I also know people who went retro 75, and locked a new character at 75, using Merits as a lock. They play all the old 75 era stuff. That's cool and all, but I chose to go retro 99.0 because I like the versatility that 99 brings, and the areas it opens up for solo/lowman. I just felt that 119 was too much, and it made me feel like I was a bad person when I kill Lilith Ascendant in 3 seconds. She takes 25~ minutes in 99.0 gear, and she dishes out the punishment too lol.

[Catmato]

We just went from "FFXI will get no more content at all" to " content will continue, with a smaller dev team" and you want them to do something as massive an undertaking as increasing the level cap or something?

How about we leave the system as it is and not do any of that?

It's not like our discussions have any bearing on what the devs do. But yeah, let's leave the broken item level system in place.

[OmnysValefor]

I don't think ilvl should be removed. I didn't like it at first, and I'm not fond of it now, but it's here to stay and it would require significant resources to transfer everything over.

When ilvl first hit, the very first stuff was ilvl 100. There was 106, 113, 115, 119 and probably others, because this gear increased in power. While Kariyeh (the bayld stuff) made a mockery of our previously-hard earned gear. Manibohzo (delve 113 plate) laughed at that. It was sensible that this stuff was higher ilvl because it was clearly more powerful.

But now we've been stuck at "119" for almost three years, and the gear just keeps getting stronger and stronger. I realize that if our current gear said i129 on it, newbies in sparks would feel overwhelmed, but it's deceptive for the game to let them think they're so close when they're miles away.

It makes the players look like elitist when they look at someone in "full 119" and tell them that their gear simply isn't good enough.

And if you're a nice guy, telling someone that--or being told that, really really sucks.

[Olor]

I realize that if our current gear said i129 on it, newbies in sparks would feel overwhelmed, but it's deceptive for the game to let them think they're so close when they're miles away.

It makes the players look like elitist when they look at someone in "full 119" and tell them that their gear simply isn't good enough.

And if you're a nice guy, telling someone that--or being told that, really really sucks.

Honestly I think most people would much prefer the ilevel reflected the actual power level - for a noobie I imagine it is much more overwhelming to learn not all 119 gear is 119 gear and to have to know the systems etc so they can make sensible comparisons of items.

[Selindrile]

We just went from "FFXI will get no more content at all" to " content will continue, with a smaller dev team" and you want them to do something as massive an undertaking as increasing the level cap or something?

How about we leave the system as it is and not do any of that?

I know that's what we've been seeing Pixela, but did they actually say that as a mission statement at some point? If so I missed it.

And Omnys, it seems I've disagreed with you on a few topics lately as I've posted but on iLevel, we're pretty much on the same page on this one at least it seems so.

[Cabalabob]

While ilvl gear isn't the most elegant solution since as a SMN, I have i119 in gear but I'm currently i114 because all my best gear is stuff like RF gear. But I have a gearset to be 119 just for summoning trust. Which is a pain. I half hope they'll add a i119 body and leg slot with a can't equip head, hands and feet gear effect on it that gives buffs to trust like trust: acc/attack etc. That makes you 119 and gives trust buffs just so I have a reason to have a gear set specifically for summoning trust.

But I don't agree about power creep, yes there's a difference between delve and reisenjima gear but the same could be said about the 75 era and even the 99 era. You had your entry level gear then your endgame stuff. 75 it was relic gear then you got stuff from sky, limbus and einherjar which was far superior. Aby had the perle set etc. Then you got emp gear which was far superior, this is no different except people are getting hung up on the fact it has an ilvl tag on it.

[Catmato]

this is no different except people are getting hung up on the fact it has an ilvl tag on it.

Except that the entire idea behind item levels is to tell you how strong a piece of equipment is.

[Olor]

Except that the entire idea behind item levels is to tell you how strong a piece of equipment is.

Exactly lol.

First they changed the old system where gear was good based on stats... then they added this arbitrary nonsense ilevel to it - basically invalidating everything - but with the premise that gear would go up in ilevel with power - then they brought back the old style of system just with ilevel 119 and less overall choice and balance. What a mess.

They could have just continued adding gear - some of it really good, some of it not fantastic (but better than some other stuff or decent for certain macros) - but allowing the previous 11 years of ffxi gear to still have some meaning.

Instead they just wiped it out and brought in this poorly balanced mess where every new set erases the old.

And honestly we had some good old stuff - things like magian weapons or augmented abjuration gear were really cool and offered a nice customizability to players - they could have built on those systems or at least not invalidated them entirely.

Not only would that have not erased the work people put into them but given new players an avenue for making gear that they could use to climb the ladder.

[Pixela]

Except that the entire idea behind item levels is to tell you how strong a piece of equipment is.

Ilevel as a concept was abandoned and as such we will never go beyond 119, at least in terms of what people are complaining about here. The only reason the base system remains from the stall at 119 is because too many core features were built upon it. This new way to let everyone become 119 shows that as a feature Ilevel is gone and is now nothing more than a way to be "max level".

They can't remove Ilevel without massive reworks of the game, that is not going to happen at this point in time. So to all the people complaining, are you asking for higher quality 119 gear to be toned back or what? Given reality of the situation what are you trying to accomplish with the complaining exactly?

[Secondplanet]

It's not like our discussions have any bearing on what the devs do. But yeah, let's leave the broken item level system in place.

Considering that the JP boards get about 5-6 replies from the dev team compared to our 1 i have to agree with that statement. I think there was even a board on the JP portion where they could vote for the next mount that was released.

would be nice if we got a say in this game since you know.... we pay the same subscription.

[Pixela]

Considering that the JP boards get about 5-6 replies from the dev team compared to our 1 i have to agree with that statement. I think there was even a board on the JP portion where they could vote for the next mount that was released.

would be nice if we got a say in this game since you know.... we pay the same subscription.

The developers are Japanese, they probably can't read/write english at all (or not well enough to not cause a PR disaster). They can interact as posters in Japanese as they want to, they can't do that here. They don't hate us, just there is a barrier.

We get the admins here passing some things along and translating it but that's all you're going to get.

[Catmato]

They can't remove Ilevel without massive reworks of the game, that is not going to happen at this point in time. So to all the people complaining, are you asking for higher quality 119 gear to be toned back or what? Given reality of the situation what are you trying to accomplish with the complaining exactly?

I've already stated that I'd like item levels removed and the level cap raised instead. The only arguments against it have been that it would be too much work, not that it's a bad idea.

[OmnysValefor]

They can't remove Ilevel without massive reworks of the game, that is not going to happen at this point in time. So to all the people complaining, are you asking for higher quality 119 gear to be toned back or what? Given reality of the situation what are you trying to accomplish with the complaining exactly?

It's part of the game, the gear is growing so I think what most people--myself at least--are asking for is that increase be properly reflected.

This is an MMO, gear will never stop improving, that's fine. It's ridiculous that the number is the same when the gear is not remotely close to the same.

At 75, it was a different story. The gear was only level 75. Level cap, big deal. 99 is still level-cap, ilvl artificially inflates our level. Sticking to 119 causes players to believe that their Skirmish II gear is on par with Ru'Aun/Reisenjima gear and then they can't understand why the other melee has 200 more accuracy.

[Pixela]

It's part of the game, the gear is growing so I think what most people--myself at least--are asking for is that increase be properly reflected.

This is an MMO, gear will never stop improving, that's fine. It's ridiculous that the number is the same when the gear is not remotely close to the same.

At 75, it was a different story. The gear was only level 75. Level cap, big deal. 99 is still level-cap, ilvl artificially inflates our level. Sticking to 119 causes players to believe that their Skirmish II gear is on par with Ru'Aun/Reisenjima gear and then they can't understand why the other melee has 200 more accuracy.

Boost the lower grade 119 gear then right? '-' Much more accuracy and magic accuracy for all the weaker 119 gear, I agree with you!

[CrAZYVIC]

If the game will keep ILV then our devs should use that in the correct way like FF14-WoW do.

ILV119 to ILV129 Example.

ILV119

50 HP, 50 MP, 30 STR, 30 DEX, 20 AGI.
Accuracy/Attack + 15
Double Attack + 2%

ILV129

100 HP, 100 MP, 60 STR, 60 DEX, 40 AGI
Accuracy/Attack +30
Double Attack + 4%

Every 1 Year make a Jump in ILV to give us time of Grind this New items.
R/M/E/A 350 Plutons Upgrade Max To keep them Relevant
Some Battles can keep a max ILV to keep those battles relevant.
Reforge AF, Relic and Empy Should Have Updates every year too to keep them relevant.

Ambuscade Cap ILV119 - Max ILV129 even if the game keep advancing and we have ILV140+.

But having us stucked on ILV119 its Silly.

[Teraniku]

I can agree with a lot of what Stompa is saying:

-The game can feel like easy mode if you want to run around and do old content. I farmed Forgottens in the Dynamis areas in ilvl117 gear with trusts, and it's a serious cake walk depending on the job of course.

[OmnysValefor]

Boost the lower grade 119 gear then right? '-' Much more accuracy and magic accuracy for all the weaker 119 gear, I agree with you!

lol no. Raise the ilvl on gear that obviously is better gear.

Ambuscade NQ gear, which is easily obtainable for anyone should be higher than 119, Ambuscade +1 should be higher than NQ.

Partial abandonment of a system is a disaster.

[Pixela]

lol no. Raise the ilvl on gear that obviously is better gear.

Ambuscade NQ gear, which is easily obtainable for anyone should be higher than 119, Ambuscade +1 should be higher than NQ.

Partial abandonment of a system is a disaster.

So basically it's just about your epeen, gotcha.

Are people keeping in mind that changing Item level would break the game now? This isn't just about stats on the weapon, average item level is effectively your characters actual level. When you put Ilevel gear on your are increasing your level from 99 to whatever your average item level says. Go put full sparks gear on, check some monsters in Escha and then swap to 119 gear and check them again to see your level change in comparison to them. Changing from sparks to any 119 set instantly gains you what amounts to 2 character levels.

If they increased max item level to 129 that would effectively make you level 129 and all notorious monsters would instantly become even match or easy prey, all xp rates would drop to almost nothing.

[OmnysValefor]

So basically it's just about your epeen, gotcha.

Geez, it's not.

I'm glad Ambuscade is available to anyone with the time. The difficulty/reward ratio can work for everyone, even people in sparks gear.

What I'm saying is that it's stupid that Ambuscade is the same ilvl as Delve when it's FAR SUPERIOR.

The current design leads people into thinking that their delve and skirmish gear has them ready for the toughest stuff in the game. "We're both 119!"


If they increased max item level to 129 that would effectively make you level 129 and all notorious monsters would instantly become even match or easy prey, all xp rates would drop to almost nothing.

I'm not sure that that's true. Weapon ilvl would affect bst pets and trusts, but we'd still have the same accuracy, magic evasion, mnd, int, str, all that stuff. I don't see changing ilvl (and only ilvl, no other stat) as making the fights any easier, except where trusts and bst pets are concerned and both of those could be solved.

Half-abandoned system is worse than commitment or full abandonment.

[Pixela]

I'm not sure that that's true. .

Go into Escha Ru'aun and check monsters with no gear, then full sparks gear, then full 119 gear. You'll see the monsters check level change based on what ilevel gear you have on (which effectively means you level up or down based on your average item level), they will also give less XP as your ilevel increases.

When you see someone in full sparks gear they are level 117, when you are in 119 gear you are 2 levels higher than them.

[OmnysValefor]

No no, I know that the /check stuff is true. I'm not sure that the fights will actually be any easier whatever number the weapon says on it.

IE, take a completely solo naked warrior, give him a 119 g.axe with 242 skill, 242 parry and 300 damage. The fight will be exactly the same as if you gave him a lv 99 weapon with 300 damage, 242 accuracy, parry, and attack (if one existed).

[Catmato]

I'm not sure that that's true.

It isn't. Average item level has no effects besides trusts and exp rates.

[Catmato]

Obviously those crabs would not aggro you if you were really level 119, a full 20 levels higher than 99, when those mobs were IEP and really were borderline aggro already. They are aggroing your 119 Jobmaster, because you are still level 99, and still just inside the aggro limit.

That's not really accurate. Everything that was aggressive to a level 75 player is also aggressive to a level 99 player.

[Catmato]

I know that it's not really about aggro, I was just saying your example isn't a valid one. Mobs that were aggressive at 75 don't care if you're 76, 99, or 119. Gaining 24 levels didn't make a difference; 20 more levels still wouldn't make a difference.

[Catmato]

And they would not do that if you were level 119. Because EP mob plus 20 levels equals TW mob. This proves that ilvl is gear level, not player level.

Yes they would. A level 60 Robber Crab in Kuftal Tunnel is EP and aggressive at 75. The same Robber Crab is EP and aggressive at 99. There's a 39 level difference between you and the crab and it still attacks you. Levels past 75 have no bearing on whether mobs attack you. Even if average item level raised your effective level, the crab would still attack you.

[Catmato]

Although a lot of EP mobs at 75 are infact TW at 99. But that is not the point lol.
That's exactly the point of what we're discussing. No, there are no mobs that are easy prey at 75 which are too weak at 99. If you can tell me any mobs that you think fit this criteria, I will level a job to 75, switch to merit mode, check them, and post my results even if I'm wrong.


If a person says "my character is level 119 now" and mobs that were EP at 75 are still EP at 119, that is 44 levels of the mob staying EP. You must accept that a mob can not stay EP for 44 levels.

And 75-99 is 24 levels of EP, at a stretch and in some cases only. 75-119 is a staggering 44 levels of a mob checking as EP, and is completely different.

I've been agreeing this whole time that item level doesn't change your actual level.

[OmnysValefor]

Stompa there are only two cases where the difference between level and artificial level matter:

Subjobs: If we were 119, our subs would be level 59.

Bosses that remove and restrict gear are more brutal for the temporary duration. On the flipside, salvage is easier with the stat debuff because our gear puts the stats right back until we can unlock the stats.

Anything else is just semantics.

The problem with the creeping climb of ilvl gear is that the stupid number is telling uninformed players one thing when in fact some players are effectively 125 perhaps with the great deal more stats they may have.

[Vold]

Considering that the JP boards get about 5-6 replies from the dev team compared to our 1 i have to agree with that statement. I think there was even a board on the JP portion where they could vote for the next mount that was released.

would be nice if we got a say in this game since you know.... we pay the same subscription.
I don't know, something tells me we english speaking folk are now the dominate players for this game...they may have to start listening to us. Just check the JP forums. Maybe I'm using fuzzy math here, but their general section is ALOT less active than ours right now, if I'm getting the gist of where their general is located in Japanese. I really do think most of the JP abandoned the game after PS2 support ended but maybe I'm wrong...

[Pixela]

I don't know, something tells me we english speaking folk are now the dominate players for this game...they may have to start listening to us. Just check the JP forums. Maybe I'm using fuzzy math here, but their general section is ALOT less active than ours right now, if I'm getting the gist of where their general is located in Japanese. I really do think most of the JP abandoned the game after PS2 support ended but maybe I'm wrong...

It doesn't work based on numbers, it never did. The JP players of XI and XIV were always a minority, it works the same for Korean games.

It's not about numbers it's just that the devs speak that language and so can interact fully to those players.