Comprehensive Gear Guide for Bst!

[Reauland]

Hello all :)

In the spirit of making our happy lil forum one-stop shopping for Bsts, I'd like to get a gear guide going here.

What with all the gear you can't just simply browse the AH to find and the limitations inherent to a wiki format, it's not always the easiest thing in the world to stay apprised of what gear's even available to us. With that in mind, I'd like to hear your thoughts on optimum gear sets for Bst. In order to keep this concise, I'd suggest we limit the discussion to topped out (presently 90) Bst. There are a few items from lower level that I'm gonna throw out here as an honorable mention just so anyone new to Bst knows about them:

Bst Perpetual Motion Killing Machine:
Main : Rune Axe (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Rune_Axe)
Sub : Rune Axe (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Rune_Axe)
Body : Gaudy Harness (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Gaudy_Harness)

For those not familiar with this, it's how a fighting Bst can have a constant 10 hp/every other tic Regen. Even with as little as one mp merit, you're golden.

Now without further ado, the gear sets. If you feel there are any that I'm overlooking, please feel free to add them in reply. I'll add/edit them in the OP as the info comes in.

Gear Sets

Charm Set(ffxiah) ( http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/213649 )

TP Set(ffxiah) ( http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/213639 )

Rampage Set(ffxiah) ( http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/213643)

Rampage: Delivers a five-hit attack. Chance of critical varies with TP.
Modifiers: STR:30%

That’s pretty much all you need to know about Rampage. That being said, though, it’s not necessarily all you need to know about multi-hit Weapon Skills. Historically(and I think it’s safe to say that any game that’s been around for near a decade has a history), multi-hitters like Rampage, Asuran Fists, Hexa Strike, et al., rely first and foremost on accuracy – the more hits you land, the more damage you’re likely to do. DEX also plays a role in multi-hitters with its further contribution to accuracy and the increased chance for a critical hit.

*Points of Contention
Neck: Soil Gorget is of questionable benefit on multi-hit Weapon Skills and always has been.
Notable mention to Ire Torque +1 (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ire_Torque_%2B1) for a massive STR boost at the cost of some Acc.

Ear1: Choices for stats on the Moonshade Earring are Acc +4 or Att +4 and TP Bonus +25 or “Occasionally grants damage bonus based on tp +5%”. Acc/Att plus the +25 TP bonus, I could see this being an excellent Spampage piece; however, this is a one-off mission earring, so depending on your dedication to the melee world, you might opt for a simple STR earring in its stead.

Body: Testing by some of our Bstly stalwarts leans very decidedly in the direction of Guasape for Rampage due to its killer bonus. Target- and gear- dependent, Twilight mail (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Twilight_Mail) is a solid choice as well.

Legs: Heca Subby is a nice piece, no doubt. It really comes down to whether you see more benefit from Att +22, DEX +9, or the flat +15 DEX boost from Byakko’s Haidate (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Byakko%27s_Haidate), especially with the augments we’re seeing through skynergy.

Primal Rend Set(ffxiah) ( http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/213644 )

Uggalepih Pendant finds a situational contender in Artemis' Medal (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Artemis%27_Medal). At its best, it surpasses the pendant by 2 MAB, and at its worst, it provides a sizable boost to Macc. Remember, to see a benefit from Uggy pendant at all, you must have some mp(merits work), and some way to drop it below 50%(Rune Axes do the trick for me).

Cloudsplitter Set(ffxiah) ( http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/213646)

Pet Damage -% Set(ffxiah) ( http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/213647)

Due to the recent cap on -pdt(~87.5%), in Abyssea you can drop an item here(Neck) or there(Back) and still hit the cap. These remain excellent pieces and of full benefit outside of Abyssea.

Reward Set(ffxiah) (http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/214783)

As noted by Gotter, this is the set to use when you don't care about losing tp. As reward+ caps at 50%, our AF3 earring (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ferine_Earring) is only of benefit when we're in a situation where we want to save our tp and melee with higher-damage axes than our Zoraal Ja's. You can also spam the MKD finale for a +4 MND cape.

Killer Trait Set

Kiting Set

Hybrid (pet pdt + tp) Set

Aoelian Edge Set

SATA Set

Pet MDT Set

Any and all input is both welcome and appreciated ^^

Gear List

Weapon
Apollo's Staff (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Apollo%27s_Staff)
Aymur (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Aymur_%2890%29 )
Farsha (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Farsha)

[url=http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Trial_2389]Richardet's Axe +2(OAT Weapon) (]Guichard's Axe +2(soooo many good options here. STR, DEX, -PDT, and EVA, for starters) [/url)
Rune Axe (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Rune_Axe)
Zoraal Ja's Axe (http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Zoraal_Ja%27s_Axe)

Sub
Tatami Shield ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Tatami_Shield)
Pallas’s Shield ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Pallas%27s_Shield)
Reign Grip ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Reign_Grip)

Ranged
Killer Shortbow ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Killer_Shortbow)

Ammo
Flame Sachet ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Flame_Sachet)
Tsar's Egg ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Tsar%27s_Egg)

Head
Anwig Salade ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Anwig_Salade)
Ferine Cabasset +2 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ferine_Cabasset_%2B2)
Twilight Helm ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Twilight_Helm)

Neck
Ferine Necklace ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ferine_Necklace)
Ire Torque +1 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ire_Torque_%2B1)
Promise Badge ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Promise_Badge)
Shepherd's Chain ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Shepherd%27s_Chain)
Uggalepih Pendant ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Uggalepih_Pendant)
Artemis’ Medal ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Artemis%27_Medal)

Earrings
Brutal Earring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Brutal_Earring)
Hecate's Earring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Hecate%27s_Earring)
Melody Earring +1 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Melody_Earring_%2B1)
Epsilon Earring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Epsilon_Earring)
Moonshade Earring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Moonshade_Earring)
Neptune's earring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Neptune%27s_Earring)
Novio Earring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Novio_Earring)
Suppanomimi ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Suppanomimi)

Body
Ferine Gausape +2 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ferine_Gausape_%2B2)
Twilight Mail ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Twilight_Mail)

Hands
Beast Bazubands ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Beast_Bazubands)
Beast Gloves +1 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Beast_Gloves_%2B1)
Dusk Gloves +1 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Dusk_Gloves_%2B1)
Ferine Manoplas +2 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ferine_Manoplas_%2B2)
Heafoc Mitts ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Heafoc_Mitts)

Ring
Aquasoul Ring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Aquasoul_Ring)
Dawnsoul Ring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Dawnsoul_Ring)
Epona's Ring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Epona%27s_Ring)
Rajas Ring ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Rajas_Ring)

Back
Aisance Mantle +1
Atheling Mantle ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Atheling_Mantle)
Fortis Mantle ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Fortis_Mantle)
Oneiros Cappa ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Oneiros_Cappa)

Waist
Anguinus Belt ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Anguinus_Belt)
Aristo Belt ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Aristo_Belt)
Crudelis Belt ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Crudelis_Belt)
Primal Belt ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Primal_Belt)
Soil Belt ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Soil_Belt)
Twilight Belt ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Twilight_Belt)

Legs
Byakko's Haidate ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Byakko%27s_Haidate)
Ferine Quijotes +2 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ferine_Quijotes_%2B2)
Teutates Subligar ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Teutates_Subligar)

Feet
Beast Gaiters +1 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Beast_Gaiters_%2B1)
Ferine Ocreae +2 ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ferine_Ocreae_%2B2)
Monster Gaiters ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Monster_Gaiters)
Suzaku's Sune-ate ( http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/wiki/Suzaku%27s_Sune-Ate)

Notes
First and foremost, thanks to you all for your participation, information, and testing. More than anything else, it’s the Bst community that makes Bst great.

Edits:
5/12/11: Added Aeolian Edge, SATA, Pet MDT, Killer, Kiting, Hybrid (pet pdt + tp) sets. Exchanged the Killer Bow in tp set for the one piece of Att + ammo that I’m aware of us being able to use. Will continue dropping links as time permits.

5/13/11: Dropped in Rampage set along with commentary. Added Xilk's links Also, ran up against the 10k character limit already, so expect big format changes in the future :P

5/17/11: The aforementioned formatting changes - ffxiah gear sets and a list of all the gear they contain.

5/24/11: Brought back Killer Shortbow and Ferine Gausape to TP and Rampage sets. Added some exposition to Primal Rend. Dropped in the reward set with commentary. Organized the gear list. Expect more alterations as more great "skynergy" augments are discovered.

6/7/11: Tons and tons and tons of links in the Equipment List.

[Gotterdammerung]

u forgot aoelian edge set and sata mistral set and pet MDT set and killer set and kiting set and hybrid (pet pdt + tp) set

[Xilk]

Are you sure this isn't a "Returning bst coming back since before level cap went above 75 and doesn't know all the new gear" thread?

Ideal TP set: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/208383
Ideal Rampage set: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/212841
Primal Rend: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/144327
cloudsplitter: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/212843
pet tank: http://www.ffxiah.com/item-sets/210696

for magical WS's: cloudsplitter & primal rend & the daggers, the neckpiece can be a toss up between uggalpih and artemis' both have advantages/disadvantages over each other.
I've not really bothered looking at sets for Aoelian Edge or Charm.

Keep in mind, these sets do not consider the new gear added in the may update. There may be some changes.

Disclaimer: There may be some slight variations on these sets as situations and preferences vary.

[Reauland]

This is a guy that's been here through it all and seldom gets straight answers. Thanks for the links.

Also - adding in the suggested sets.

[Gotterdammerung]

Sorry didnt give u a straight answer.
I had my reasons tho.
Reasons:
A. buncha new gear just put my sets back into the incomplete category.
B. its a time consuming request and i didnt actually have time when i read this.

[Xilk]

This is a guy that's been here through it all and seldom gets straight answers. Thanks for the links.

Also - adding in the suggested sets.

You're very welcome Reauland. I can tell you're an experienced bst :P just a friendly punch in the shoulder is all.
Its a great idea to make the SE forums more worthwhile.

W/ the new feathery sets and the change to crit damage + Its hard to say exactly how to go about it though.

[Reauland]

You're very welcome Reauland. I can tell you're an experienced bst :P just a friendly punch in the shoulder is all.

W/ the new feathery sets and the change to crit damage + Its hard to say exactly how to go about it though.

lol I hear ya. When you say feathery set, we talkin Twilight gear, right?


A. buncha new gear just put my sets back into the incomplete category.

I know exactly where you're comin from, Gotter. With all the additions over the past few months, my mind is reeling with all the possibilities. Once upon a time, gearing Bst for melee was rather simple - if Warriors want it, you probably should too; but ever since the introduction of our AF3, Bst has become increasingly divergent from dual-wield warrior. Sure, there's still some overlap, but we used to not even really have all that many options between increasing our personal damage or increasing our pet's.

As time marches on, I'm sure we'll come to a general consensus :) Those ffxiah links are a great place to start. Any idea who created those sets?

[Gotterdammerung]

best reward:
Zoral Ja x2 (Palla's shield for non dual wield subs)
Pet food Eta (Zeta is plenty fine)
Twilight helm
Twilight mail
Augmented +4 mnd back from MKD final fight
Promise Badge
Neptune's Pearl X2 (1 Ferine earring for single wield subs)
Ogre Gloves +1
Aquasoul ring x2
Crudelis Belt
Haven Hose
Monster Gaiters


Best reward set for no tp loss:
As above except remove zoral ja's

and add in ferine earring.

[Xilk]

lol I hear ya. When you say feathery set, we talkin Twilight gear, right?



I know exactly where you're comin from, Gotter. With all the additions over the past few months, my mind is reeling with all the possibilities. Once upon a time, gearing Bst for melee was rather simple - if Warriors want it, you probably should too; but ever since the introduction of our AF3, Bst has become increasingly divergent from dual-wield warrior. Sure, there's still some overlap, but we used to not even really have all that many options between increasing our personal damage or increasing our pet's.

As time marches on, I'm sure we'll come to a general consensus :) Those ffxiah links are a great place to start. Any idea who created those sets?

naw, my feathery sets, I mean like Mextli or Calmecac or CUauhtli. They are rather aztec inspired. You will only see those in the data mining threads on other forums from monday's update or pictures in the releases regarding the update.

they are very brand new. Twilight sets, we know exactly where those stand.

I borrowed one of those sets from the ffxiah bst forums. I think the primal rend set. Otherwise I made the other ones.

Killer traits gear is pretty easy actually.
Ferine Gausape & killer shortbow and if single wielding, tatami shield

None of the other pieces are really worthwhile for normal use. They are handy for testing though. (bst trousers +1, tamer's ring) who knows though w/ the recent changes. I want to see what augments I can get on suzaku's scythe and see how killer traits might be improved. I haven't tested them since update. but before update I saw 15% intimidation rate average, 9% increase to damage, and 8% damage reduction while using gausape +2.

[Reauland]

If they're givin us Aztec gear, I want a special "Fatality" animation where I remove my opponent's heart XD

As soon as I remember meh frikkin password on ffxiah, I plan on massively overhauling the format of the O.P. Didn't know we were up against a 10k character limit.

[blowfin]

Heca Subby is a nice piece, no doubt. It really comes down to whether you see more benefit from Att +22, DEX +9, or the flat +15 DEX boost from Byakko’s Haidate.

Haidate with the crit. damage augment more than likely pulls ahead of N.Legs. Particularly in Abyss.

Also, I'd opt for Flame sachet over the smart Grenade or even one of the new grips... which i forget the stats of.

I'd also suggest Temperance Torque or Ire Torque(+1) over Ziel Charm. Ire Torque you have to worry about accuracy with the NQ, but not with the HQ. Besides, if you're packing Twilight helm, Anguinus belt and Haidate, you're more than making up the accuracy loss.

Also augmented my heca mitts today with:
2 STR
2 Axe Skill
Crit Dmg. +2

[Reauland]

Also augmented my heca mitts today with:
2 STR
2 Axe Skill
Crit Dmg. +2

. . . That's hawt . . .

Also, Temp torque is a good suggestion, but I'd like to hear some opinions on that. It's basically 7 axe skill (with its commensurate gain in acc and att) versus 12 acc.

Ire torque's an excellent suggestion too, given how much acc we're packing elsewhere, as you point out.

[Xilk]

. . . That's hawt . . .

Also, Temp torque is a good suggestion, but I'd like to hear some opinions on that. It's basically 7 axe skill (with its commensurate gain in acc and att) versus 12 acc.

Ire torque's an excellent suggestion too, given how much acc we're packing elsewhere, as you point out.

I would say the Temperance torque is completely unnecessary for bst now. Ferine necklace covers anything we would use it for and has pet: double attack +2%.


Also, you are completely missing the best part of Ferine Gausape +2 which makes it better than twilight mail for rampage, and maybe even primal rend, but certainly not for cloudsplitter.
"Augments Killer Effects"
I will tell you what testing has shown this to do:
base 5% increase to damage dealt, I have confirmed this for magical and physical damage.
*AT least 2% -pdt
Killer effects + gear and Merits improve this effect.
I confirmed 8% damage+ while killer shortbow was equipped and w/ 5/5 merits.
Also 6.7% -pdt w/ shortbow and merits
This testing was done before the most recent update. I have not tested again since, although I expect this to be somewhat improved from the update notes and releases.
I have seen that where I was averageing 15% intimidation rate before the update, I have seen over 20% after the update.

a straight 8% improvement to damage is better than the 15 STR from twilights for a rampage hit. You only miss that 8% when you are fighting something bst does not normally have killer traits for. ie. dragons, demons, arcana, etc. Note that equipimg Killer shortbow adds these, and you will still get a 1% (or more w/ tatami shield & extra killer+ gear) damage to them. Killer shortbow also improves status resistances.

Whatever your opinion, I think you should at least include notes for this alternative setup. However, I do believe it solidly trumps the options I've listed, and it quite possibly has improved since I and other players tested this.

[blowfin]

I would say the Temperance torque is completely unnecessary for bst now. Ferine necklace covers anything we would use it for and has pet: double attack +2%.

I believe straight Axe skill is more advantageous for Rampage than acc/attack. Why would you want pet: double attack for a WS anyway? Temperance torque is hardly worth making the effort to go and get anymore, but if you have it, it's not a bad option for Rampage.

[Xilk]

I believe straight Axe skill is more advantageous for Rampage than acc/attack. Why would you want pet: double attack for a WS anyway? Temperance torque is hardly worth making the effort to go and get anymore, but if you have it, it's not a bad option for Rampage.

ofcourse you don't need the pet double attack for WS. It just that it has more chr, and another stat that temperance torque doesn't have, meaning its more useful all around.

Please illuminate me on what else the axe skill will give. I don't think it would affect the WS anymore than +7 attack and +7 acc.

fyi, I tested gausape +2 killer effects damage + again after the update. I don't see a change. it is still 7% increase w/ 5/5 merits and 8% w/ shortbow.

I did see that suzaku's scythe ups this by and 3% which was greater than tamer's ring. I'll tinker w/ more gear tomorrw to see if gear values changed at all... I doubt it. there seems no difference in the potency of vermin killer vs bird killer (acquired at different levels I suspected maybe potency may be different, but no.)

edit: I'm curious what augments can be given to the scythe. bst don't have many scythe and this could be situationally useful or fun to tinker w/.

[Gotterdammerung]

augmented wivre gorget from tahrongi has natural stats of acc 5 and can be augmented with subtle blow 4/5 and crit rate 2/3. Makes for a really strong TP and Rampage Neck slot. Soil gorget and soil belt also do real well in neck and belt slots for rampage since gorget effects are stronger for low tp mods and rampage is a flat .5 across the board.



Also quick question about the killer shortbow. Does it remove TP when u equip it? say like biscuit to bow change. do i lose my tp when i make this switch.

And wat about bow back to biscuit?

[Xilk]

augmented wivre gorget from tahrongi has natural stats of acc 5 and can be augmented with subtle blow 4/5 and crit rate 2/3. Makes for a really strong TP and Rampage Neck slot. Soil gorget and soil belt also do real well in neck and belt slots for rampage since gorget effects are stronger for low tp mods and rampage is a flat .5 across the board.



Also quick question about the killer shortbow. Does it remove TP when u equip it? say like biscuit to bow change. do i lose my tp when i make this switch.

And wat about bow back to biscuit?

If you equip ammo like a jug or a biscuit, causing the bow to unequip, you will NOT lose tp. However, when you equip the bow again, you will lose tp.

[Gotterdammerung]

im trying to figure out how to do some tests on the killer traits to see what stacks with what. It seems for brews since stats automatically get raised to 999 that its useless to wear mnd and str gear for cloudsplitter brews. So im looking into filling some of the slots with Ferine body +2 and killer + gear to get a % increase to splitter.

I basically need to test a few things and would actually love help with it Xilk.

Need to test circle abilities (arcane circle, ect ect) to see how the killer trait granted by them works with ferine body +2 if at all.

Need to test traits from subjobs. (pld sam drg drk all give natural killer effects) Basically finding out if Ferine body +2 recognize a killer trait granted from a sub and then will merits and killer + gear enhance that subjob killer trait further.


And also need to test how the + killer generic gear affects monster u dont have killer traits for in general. Like i know its been mentioned that the bow + body will add 1% dmg to even stuff like dragons. But will the flawless ribbon also add 1% to everything? will the bst trousers add to everything, if so what %? Will the tatami shield add to everything?

I also need to test the killer earings and start trying to collect them. There kinda hard to find tho but im mainly interested in the demon earring dragon earring undead earring and arcana earring. To help make up the difference due to the lack of natural killer trait.



So if you can help with these tests or can think of a good way to test these let me know.

[blowfin]

Soil gorget and soil belt also do real well in neck and belt slots for rampage since gorget effects are stronger for low tp mods and rampage is a flat .5 across the board.

Um. The damage bonus from gorget and belt only applies to the first hit of any multi hit WS, including Rampage. So you get a 0.1 fTP bonus for the first hit, and that's all. There's not many good reasons to use belt for Rampage, Gorget is still one of the better items though.


ofcourse you don't need the pet double attack for WS. It just that it has more chr, and another stat that temperance torque doesn't have, meaning its more useful all around.
ofcourse you don't need the pet double attack for WS. It just that it has more chr, and another stat that temperance torque doesn't have, meaning its more useful all around.

Please illuminate me on what else the axe skill will give. I don't think it would affect the WS anymore than +7 attack and +7 acc.

I was under the impression that raw skill for weapons, while not being much better than Acc/Attack at lvl 90, still provide a bigger boost to those stats.

Then again, looking at the wiki, seems i'm incorrect. Only 0.9 of the raw skill is taken into account with accuracy, while 100% is still considered for attack. So Ferine Necklace probably does edge out Torque for Rampage.

[Xilk]

im trying to figure out how to do some tests on the killer traits to see what stacks with what. It seems for brews since stats automatically get raised to 999 that its useless to wear mnd and str gear for cloudsplitter brews. So im looking into filling some of the slots with Ferine body +2 and killer + gear to get a % increase to splitter.

I basically need to test a few things and would actually love help with it Xilk.

Need to test circle abilities (arcane circle, ect ect) to see how the killer trait granted by them works with ferine body +2 if at all.

Need to test traits from subjobs. (pld sam drg drk all give natural killer effects) Basically finding out if Ferine body +2 recognize a killer trait granted from a sub and then will merits and killer + gear enhance that subjob killer trait further.


And also need to test how the + killer generic gear affects monster u dont have killer traits for in general. Like i know its been mentioned that the bow + body will add 1% dmg to even stuff like dragons. But will the flawless ribbon also add 1% to everything? will the bst trousers add to everything, if so what %? Will the tatami shield add to everything?

I also need to test the killer earings and start trying to collect them. There kinda hard to find tho but im mainly interested in the demon earring dragon earring undead earring and arcana earring. To help make up the difference due to the lack of natural killer trait.



So if you can help with these tests or can think of a good way to test these let me know.

Its much easier to test the bonus for each piece of equipment with magic because there is no randomizer in magical damage.

go bst/sch, /rdm, or /blm (/whm or /blu would work as well, but rather tedious)

1. Find a mob to test on. It usually works best on lower level mobs... easy to control and max stats, and low resists.
2. Cast an offensive magic spell w/out gear on and record the damage dealt. (take note of day of week and mob strengths/weaknesses)
3. Equip Gausape and cast the same spell on the same mob (its better if you do not 1-shot the mob)
4. charm mob, let it recover hp
5. adjust equipment and repeat.

The higher your numbers, the more precisely you can calculate it. You can do this same test while under a circle effect.
However, you don't really need gausape to get a damage boost from circle effects. its already +15% when a circle effect is up. This is true of Killer Instinct as well. I have not checked if it stacked w/ a circle effect, but it would not be hard to do.

Yes, flawless ribbon and tatami shield and bst trousers and tamer's ring when paired w/ gausape will all improve damage vs dragons, arcana, demons, and undead as well. The bst trousers are a bit funny though. they do not seem to help, until you get 3 or 4 other pieces already stacked on, then they kick in. I've made a bug report on this. Its gone to devs and back and I need to do more testing to push it forward again. Especially on the -pdt side. which btw, is as easy as go get hit by 1000 needles. (fantastic for the math too, as gives nice precise and consistent numbers to work with).

The gear I've tested is the shortbow, bst trousers, suzaku's scythe, tamer's ring, tatami shield.
I know another bst has tested w/ panther mask as well.

I've also tested physical damage by slaughtering level 0 mobs in W. Sarutabaruta. In this situation pdif is completely capped. so I can calculate what my highest possible hit *should* be. I can see that my max melee hits go a bit higher than this. 8% higher.

The problem w/ most the killer + gear is that is not very practical. I suppose using brew it would be the best option when you don't have a MAB piece in the slot, but for earrings, and now ring, there are better MAB pieces. Tamer's ring would be pretty awesome if it were not for the conditions on the latent trigger. below 75% hp and 100% tp is just too annoying.
I saw +2% from Tamer's ring. I saw +3% from Suzaku's scythe. +1% from any other piece of gear. Bst trousers didn't stack until you got up to +4% from gear. I am pretty sure it will work w/ the killer effects of /drg, /pld, /drk, or /drg. I could test that easily tomorrow, but again if brewing... /rdm w/ the MAB2 w/ +24% will be better for magical WS.
I'm interested in a few of the new pieces in this update. There is a belt w/ plantoid killer+ and gloves w/ bird killer+ that might be useful to us.

[Gotterdammerung]

Brew puts your mab to 900 making mab still useful but diminished.

Thats why im interested in this flat % increase to dmg. And yeh this was pertaining to brew only. Just as an idea to push out more numbers when everythings capped or giving diminished returns.

[Reauland]

Just a quick question before I go to sleep(nightowl here):

Do the augmented/merited killer traits also grant any discernible bonus to accuracy?

I'm asking this solely in regards to making the necessary tweaks to tp and Rampage setups.

[Xilk]

Just a quick question before I go to sleep(nightowl here):

Do the augmented/merited killer traits also grant any discernible bonus to accuracy?

I'm asking this solely in regards to making the necessary tweaks to tp and Rampage setups.

Acc/eva and other have been asked about. It would take a MUCH larger sample to check this. This mainly would be a consideration for the tp setup.... which the body piece already has 18 acc/atck/eva and 2% haste which these stats alone make it our best tp piece. So neither I nor anyone else I've read has bothered to actually test this. I don't expect I will .

The Velox harness has the same haste, and the new Mextli harness 3% dual wield and an 8% haste SET bonus. This could make a better tp piece... when we find out what the set includes, If in a high haste situation we can get that 3% from dual wield from support jobs. So, in classic SE style "Its situational" Do you want that 3% speed improvement? or do you want the pdt, and damage + from gausape?

[Xilk]

for the charm set: epsilon earring is an improvement :P

[blowfin]

Brew puts your mab to 900 making mab still useful but diminished.

Thats why im interested in this flat % increase to dmg. And yeh this was pertaining to brew only. Just as an idea to push out more numbers when everythings capped or giving diminished returns.

MAB is still worth stacking as it`s been proven to not be capped by brew. Certainly if you`re brewing something where the killer effects will kick in it`s going to be worth stacking the extra killer effects, but probably still not at the expense of MAB. Also, thinking about brewing, the ASA pants with the 4 MAB are still a very nice option.

You could almost guarantee that 1% intimidation rate boost to your damage is going to beat 1MAB under a brew. The question is where can you slot in Killer Effect gear into an MAB slot that`s going to trump that amount of MAB you can get there.

[Gotterdammerung]

1% more dmg on the top of my brew represents about a 590 dmg increase to Cloudsplitter. If i can stack together the 12.5% boost to dmg it puts me into the 65-66k+ range for cloudsplitter. Possibly even breaking 70k if the circle effect dmg boost stacks. I'm pretty sure i cant reach those numbers by switching in MAB instead.

[Xilk]

1% more dmg on the top of my brew represents about a 590 dmg increase to Cloudsplitter. If i can stack together the 12.5% boost to dmg it puts me into the 65-66k+ range for cloudsplitter. Possibly even breaking 70k if the circle effect dmg boost stacks. I'm pretty sure i cant reach those numbers by switching in MAB instead.

Wow. those are big numbers. Definitely competing w/ the Cor on brew :D

[blowfin]

I'm pretty sure i cant reach those numbers by switching in MAB instead.

I'm not saying you would. However, from what I know about brews and MAB, I think your best results are going to come from maintaining your MAB build and then including the killer effect gear where you can. Where the mob is suitable for it to be used. I can't see any way a % or two from killer effects is going to beat 6, 7 or 8 MAB.